July 1, 2025 • 52 mins
What happens when you hit burnout after 30+ years in corporate leadership—and decide it’s time to build something of your own?
In this episode of The OBM Show (also available as a video), I’m joined by Manu Loths, an Accredited OBM and founder of Breitinger Consulting. After decades of working in senior roles across Germany and New Zealand—including CFO, GM, and Head of Operations—Manu knew she wanted more flexibility, more purpose, and more control over her time.
Instead of looking for another executive role, she enrolled in OBM School’s Accreditation program, implemented every piece of the curriculum, and built a business that now runs at full capacity—with a team, long-term clients, and a growing agency vision.
🎧 Inside the episode, we cover:
– How Manu transitioned from corporate burnout to OBM clarity
– The moment she realized she could be choosy about clients
– Her systems-first approach to both operations and finances
– A turnaround story from a sixth-generation family business
– Her plan for scaling through team and agency infrastructure
– Why age, experience, and leadership are OBM superpowers
“This is what I used to do for others—now I do it for myself, my way.”
Whether you're stepping out of corporate, thinking about your second act, or wondering how to turn decades of experience into your own business—this episode is packed with inspiration, structure, and actionable strategy.
—-------------------
Thanks for tuning in to The OBM Show - your go-to podcast for Online Business Managers and entrepreneurs who want to scale strategically and sustainably.
If this episode resonated with you, be sure to follow the show and leave a review. It helps more aspiring and established Online Business Managers find this content and grow their businesses with confidence.
✨ Ready to take the next step?
Grab your free OBM Starter Kit → obmschool.com/starter
Explore more tools and trainings → obmschool.com/resources
Learn about becoming a CPD-certified Accredited Online Business Manager → obmaccreditation.com
🧭 Not sure where to start?
Find out your OBM Archetype and get personalized next steps → obmschool.com/quiz
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Until next time, keep building the business behind the business.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:01):
you
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the OBM Show, the podcast that pulls
back the curtain on what itreally takes to thrive as an
online business manager and helpbusinesses scale without burning
out.
I'm your host, Sarah Noked,agency owner, OBM mentor, and
founder of OBM School.
I've been working in the backend of online businesses since
(00:23):
2009, building systems, managingremote teams, and mentoring OBMs
who make businesses run likeclockwork.
Now, I've seen what works, whatdoesn't, and the messy middle
that no one talks about.
Here, we get real about thetools, strategies, and stories
that drive sustainable success,plus the tech mishaps, growing
(00:47):
pains, and lessons learned alongthe way.
If you're ready to stop spinningyour wheels, step into your
leadership role, and see whatactually happens behind the
scenes of thriving businesses,you're in the right place.
Let's get started.
Let's get started.
Today, I am thrilled tointroduce a remarkable
entrepreneur whose journey istruly a testament to resilience,
(01:10):
reinvention, and leadership.
After spending over 30 years inleadership roles across a wide
variety of industries fromconstruction to retail to
pharmaceutical work, Manu Lossdecided to take a bold leap.
Following a career that spannedcontinents from Germany to New
Zealand, which is amazing, androle that ranged from CFO to
(01:33):
head of operations, Manu foundherself at a crossroads seeking
a new path that aligned with hervalues and passion for impactful
work.
In 2024, Manu founded BreitingerConsulting, a business built on
the belief that operations andfinances only work well when
they work together.
She has grown her practice fromzero clients to full capacity
(01:57):
with a team supporting hermission.
As an alumni of the OBM School,Manu credits the program with
helping her build a businessthat matches the high standards
that she delivered through hercorporate career.
She's not only deliveringoperational excellence to her
client, but also making ameaningful impact by supporting
charities, a cause that's veryclose to her heart.
(02:20):
So in today's conversation,we're going to really dive into
Manu's transition from corporateleader to budding agency owner,
the challenges, the wins she'sexperienced along the way, and
the personal and professionalgrowth that fueled her success.
We'll also explore how she'sredefining what it means to
build a business with purpose,authenticity, and structure.
(02:43):
Manu, welcome.
I am so excited to interviewyou.
I have been waiting to find thisperfect opportunity to line up
our time zones so I could haveyou on the OBM show to share a
little bit of your journey.
So welcome, welcome, welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (02:58):
Hi, Sarah.
Lovely.
Thank you so much for having me.
Really excited.
SPEAKER_00 (03:03):
Yeah.
So you've had a reallyincredibly successful corporate
career before launching your OBMconsulting business.
I would love to start with someof those mindset shifts that
were important for you when youmade the move from corporate to
entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Yeah.
Last year, mid last year, I wasjust burned out.
I have been working 34 years inbusinesses and it was just, I
came to the point where I didn'twant to work 50, 60 hours every
week anymore.
It was just hard.
And so I quit my job andthought, okay, I have a holiday
(03:43):
and then I find another job,which wasn't first so easy
because, you know, I'm over 50and it was hard to find a role
that really aligned with me andthat I wanted to do so I thought
okay I start my own businessfirst I saw you know I'm
(04:03):
specialized in finance andoperations and that's really my
my fuel and I thought I'd callmyself a process and systems
consultant nobody knew what thisis it was just horrible.
I started marketing thebusiness.
Nobody knew who writing orconsulting is.
It was a real struggle.
And then on Facebook, you poppedup.
(04:27):
That is me.
That is exactly what I'm doing.
I am an online business manager.
Because there was more than Iwas marketing myself.
I was marketing myself or thebusiness as doing
implementations of processes andsystems.
But OBM was so much more.
(04:48):
OBM did actually sum upeverything that I have done
throughout my career.
And I was always a big believerthat finance and operations go
really close hand in hand.
So Amen,
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
sister.
Amen.
It is like, I think that's oneof the things I definitely want
to talk about on today's podcastis the financial piece because
it's sort of this, you know,swept under the carpet.
Nobody really talks about it.
And a lot of the times as a veryexperienced online business
manager with a rich corporatehistory.
I mean, you can't deny that someof these clients are just in
(05:24):
over their head with thefinancials.
SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
Oh, yeah.
Look, pretty much everyone whenyou come into a business,
because you come into a businessand I always say a business is
very personal.
None of them is doing it becausethey just have fun.
They all want to earn money.
We all want to earn money.
Exactly.
They want to earn money.
And they They want to either,you know, they need to support a
(05:48):
family, they need to support ahusband, they need to pay off.
There is a reason why they needto earn money and they struggle.
So it's really personal.
It comes into the business.
So For me, that was always apart, a big part with the
finances to get that sorted aswell.
And also make the client awarethat you are aware of that as
(06:13):
well.
Because, you know, they want toget everything under the
business head and whatever.
But if you are coming into thebusiness as a partner, then they
see you as that partner.
And they will be more open withyou as well because
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
they...
I mean, Manu, I'm always soimpressed by your just tenacity
and I think your naturalentrepreneurship.
Leadership is just huge for you.
Like, I mean, I feel like youhave such a mindset around
leadership.
What other mindset shifts didyou make when you kind of moved?
Because, you know, you had thisreally rich corporate
(06:51):
background.
career.
You could have just very easilyeventually would have probably
found another role in, you know,corporate leadership, but it
just put your head down and justkind of continued on your way.
What are some of those bigmindset shifts that you felt
inside of you that needed tocome out?
For me, it was
SPEAKER_02 (07:07):
one thing was my values.
I wanted to work with clientsthat have aligned values.
Yes.
Yeah.
I can now select clients.
I can say, you know, I havealways throughout my career and
the people that I worked for,employers on the same level like
(07:29):
my clients.
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
Yes.
So
SPEAKER_02 (07:30):
it's like when they have values that I can't, you
know, really go with.
SPEAKER_01 (07:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
Or they are not matching with mine.
That is the same thing.
for my clients it's the samewhite flags that were appearing
when I worked for an employerare with clients it's exactly
the same so it's The moneyissues, when they have problems
about money, if they don't valueyour stuff, if they don't value
(08:02):
your work, if they have just ingeneral, you know, views that I
can't share, and I don't want towork for those people.
And that's what I can choosenow.
I'm not stuck
SPEAKER_00 (08:13):
with...
It's like freedom.
I know.
It's like freedom.
You can just change yourclients.
You can walk away.
And also, I think it reallychallenges us emotionally,
spiritually.
with some of these clientsbecause you really do have to
ask yourself, what are myvalues?
Are these clients aligned withmy values?
It's one of my big fourconsiderations I talk a lot
(08:34):
about on this podcast and on theYouTube channel, a lot about the
four great things a client needsto have.
They need to be making money andhave a solid business model.
They need to have that mindsetdelegation.
They need to also be veryconfident around just their
abilities.
And so I think it's so soimportant when we are thinking
(08:56):
of this client to recognize thatyou need to have aligned values.
If the values aren't aligned oryou get it, sometimes you get
into these businesses.
And that's why, I mean, I know Iharp a lot about this, but like
a discovery call, would youagree, Manu?
Like discovery calls arewonderful to really understand
if the client is possibly a goodfit, but it's really only after
(09:17):
you have that first strategicplanning session where you
really understand the innerworkings and the client
themselves and how it all fitstogether.
And you can really then see ifthe values align.
I don't think it's apparentright away at the beginning.
SPEAKER_02 (09:33):
I see it in the discovery call.
SPEAKER_00 (09:36):
Yeah, you see it right away.
I
SPEAKER_02 (09:37):
see it right away.
And it's a couple of flags thatthey come up very quickly is if
they postpone my calls.
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:47):
Oh, yeah.
Bye.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (09:49):
goodbye.
If I don't get what I ask, ifthey are just too difficult from
the very beginning, I think, no,I don't want to go ahead.
If it starts difficult, it'sgoing to be a nightmare.
So no way.
And I really trust my gutfeeling.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
I feel like that's not just the mindset shift.
It's like a gut feeling shiftwhere I'm...
Choosing to be an entrepreneurbecause I no longer want to also
be putting up with that.
Like I'm choosing who I workwith.
I am picking my clients.
And I think it's such an amazingthing, Manu, because when we
first spoke, I guess it mighthave been a year ago, maybe even
(10:31):
less, you have in such a shorttime gone from, you know, a few
clients to running at fullcapacity.
And now, I mean, even, you know,we were speaking prior to this
interview about how you'rescaling your team now.
What do you think, you know,especially for those women
listening here that are maybe intheir 50s that are debating to
(10:53):
themselves whether they'vemissed the boat on
entrepreneurship?
I feel like I just, it gives mechills.
I'm not, I don't want to becheesy here, but it's like, such
a meaningful thing.
Like what do you think were someof those key factors that, and I
can think of a few, that reallydrove you to quote unquote
(11:14):
success, being full capacity,now really being very quickly in
a situation where you can pickand choose who you're working
with.
And also you're insightfulenough to even pick some clients
on your roster, the charitiesthat you really are aligned
with, to keep that wheelturning, to just keep giving
back and bringing it forward andrinse and repeat.
(11:36):
What do you think led to thatsuccess for those listening
thinking, oh my God, I want tobe in Manu's shoes?
What do I need to do to reverseengineer putting myself where
she is?
I have this rich leadershipcorporate career, like
certainly, because I don't know,like, I mean, I'm rambling a
little bit now, but I know evenwhen I was in corporate and
before I stepped into, and I wasexactly like you and I heard the
(11:57):
OBM, I was like, oh my God,that's so me.
I'm an OBM.
It sort of takes all mycorporate skills and and puts it
together in this role.
But I still in those shoes, inmy corporate shoes felt like I'm
not so sure that these corporateskills can move into the OBM
role.
Like how do I, how did youmanage to do it so quickly?
I think you need a plan.
SPEAKER_02 (12:16):
You need a plan.
You need to sit down and writedown what do you want?
You know, what is what you wantto get out of this?
And for me, it was pretty,pretty clear what I wanted.
So I I wanted to have thefreedom to work from wherever I
can work.
I wanted to be the master of myown time.
(12:38):
I wanted to spend time away.
We have a beach house.
I can go to the beach house andwork from there.
Can I come work with you at yourbeach house?
That is the best.
It's the best.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
With the dogs, hanging out.
SPEAKER_02 (12:54):
I can take the dogs, exactly.
And I knew that.
I didn't want, I haven't had theexpectations to work less than I
worked before.
I worked the same hours.
Right.
It's for me, not for someoneelse.
Yes.
minute that I invest into thisbusiness.
It's mine.
(13:14):
It's for me.
It just gives back to you.
Yeah, exactly.
That was part of the plan.
One plan was my age, because,you know, I turned 55 this year.
And I thought, okay, no, I wantto build up something in the
next couple of years that Ican...
agency model was always on mylist.
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
I
SPEAKER_02 (13:35):
always, because, you know, I, I treat this exactly
like I have been working before.
I had teams.
I was leading companies or, um,uh, corporations and, and, I had
my teams that I delegated.
I delegated work.
I made the strategy.
And it was so satisfying whenthat came together.
(13:57):
And that's exactly how I worknow.
And that is where I want to be.
That, you know, I have myclients.
I make the strategy.
I am, you know, overseeingthings.
And then I will have otherpeople helping me, supporting me
to make a great business out ofthe businesses that I work for.
And that gives me really,satisfaction, you know, and it
(14:19):
makes me happy.
When I see those companiessucceed, that makes me happy.
But I can only reach this levelon an agency level.
And the other thing is, I wantedto have a business where I can
then at one stage come to apoint where I say, okay, I work
20 hours every in five years andjust oversee things.
(14:41):
I have until then trained OBMsthat can take on more
responsibility.
I have still an income where Ican kind of semi-retire.
I can travel.
I can do this from wherever I amin the world.
And I can enable also, myhusband has also his own
business.
I can enable him to slow down.
(15:03):
You know, that is my goal.
That is what I want to achieve.
And that is, you know, nothingthat I think I am too old for.
SPEAKER_01 (15:12):
No.
SPEAKER_02 (15:13):
Because I have those experiences now that I bring in.
It's not just the experiences.
It's also about work.
It's also, you know, in thepersonal skills to act with
companies.
And I think also...
On top of it, you know, if youcome into a business where you
have a younger business owner,you know, they listen to you
(15:36):
because, you know, they know youhave those skills and you have
those experiences.
And sometimes a wise word aswell, our shoulder to
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
cry.
Our shoulder to cry and amen.
Amen.
We really, we spoke about thisjust prior to hopping on and
pressing record, but there'ssuch a need to partner and
really provide.
And I think that it's so elusiveand we don't always realize
that, you know, clients arelonely.
Our clients, our entrepreneurclients are lonely.
(16:07):
They don't necessarily havesomebody to lean on and to
support.
share the dirty back end oftheir business, which a lot of
the times is the financials.
I know you do incredible workfor people sorting out their
financials.
You've literally picked upbusinesses from the you know,
(16:28):
the rubble, put them backtogether again, you know,
created a budget for your clientwho had that event that we were
talking about.
That was just, well, she wasover her head.
The financial projections werelike, you know, if you do this
event, you're going to gobankrupt.
You know, how can we bring itback down?
to scale so that it's in a placewhere we can be proactive about
(16:49):
at least breaking even slashmaking a small profit, but not
losing money.
It's just such a critical rolebecause it's like sometimes I
think about the OBM role and Imean, I know that we do amazing
things for our clients, butsometimes it's really hard to
put into words what thattransformation looks like,
especially when it's adifference of like the business
(17:09):
failing or the businesscontinuing.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, totally.
And they have, you know, theyhave partnerships at home, they
don't want to confess thatthings are not going well.
So they need someone to talk andto talk honestly as well.
Their things are shit and theyneed to sort it out.
Yeah, yeah.
Being honest.
Yeah.
(17:31):
So they can share this with mebecause we work on it and they
can share the good stuff then.
Yes.
Everything.
(18:03):
Yeah, I have just, I had someonethat I have run their business
for and they were really, theywere so close from losing
everything when I came.
Wow.
For what reason?
Tell us more.
Tell us the
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
juicy.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
It was
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
management.
It was absolutely management.
Was it the entrepreneur beinghaphazard manager in their
business or someone
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
else?
Look, it was a business that'saround for 160 years.
SPEAKER_00 (18:30):
Oh,
SPEAKER_02 (18:30):
wow.
It was in fifth or sixthgeneration.
Oh, wow.
But I hear this so often.
One architect once told me,Manu, I need you because I went
to architecture school.
They taught me how to designbeautiful houses, but they
didn't tell me how to run abusiness.
SPEAKER_00 (18:47):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (18:48):
And that is exactly the point.
They are so good in the thingsthey are doing and their skills,
what they do.
why they set up their business,but they are horrible in
managing their businesses.
And that was one case.
They were really unstructuredand they tried for years and
years to hire managers for theirbusinesses and they all made it
(19:10):
worse.
But because they had so lessmanagement skills, they couldn't
really see the signs and theflags before it was too late.
All the time.
They just got rid of their lastmanager.
And then I met them while I wasstill in another role.
And we were talking.
And I said, okay, look, I comefor a day.
(19:31):
And I look at...
your files and I see what I cando.
And I give you a little bit ofadvice.
There was nothing that I wantedto work for them.
It was just a, you know, becauseI know them and I thought, okay,
I helped them a bit.
SPEAKER_01 (19:45):
So
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
I was sitting there going through things.
And then I said, okay, look,this is, this is what you can
do.
Gave them a little bit of astructure.
Okay.
Look into this, get someone forthis, get someone for this.
And after that meeting, theysaid to me, do you want a job?
And I said, look, I have afull-time role.
I, you know, it's paid well.
(20:06):
I can't just leave.
And they said, please, pleaseconsider it.
And I said, okay, look, you sendme the logins to your books.
I have a look over the weekendand then I come back to you.
So, because I wanted to makesure I come into the business
that can afford me and haspotential
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
to grow.
That's interesting.
Looking into the financials tosee that the business can afford
me.
SPEAKER_02 (20:30):
For me, when I look into their books, that is for me
like looking into their life.
You see everything.
You see how they spend theirpersonal money.
You see everything.
And you see where they can makesavings and where they can make
huge changes.
Yes.
(20:50):
I looked over the weekend intothat and I said also I wanted to
have a forecast with jobs, whatthey could get and what they
have in the pipeline.
So after I reviewed everything,I thought, oh my gosh, they have
huge potential.
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
They
SPEAKER_02 (21:05):
can really grow.
They can do really well.
So I started with them andwithin a year, I employed 13
people.
We had a project manager.
We had an admin person.
We had several builders.
We had apprentices, asalesperson.
So we had all sorts of peopleemployed within a year.
SPEAKER_01 (21:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (21:29):
They were doing really, really well.
Wow.
was going up five times whatthey had before wow they were
really doing well but they hadanother problem they were um
they had a property and um thatwas pretty much their life
because it was their income mainincome stream for a while
because they rented it alwaysout right burnt down in a
(21:53):
wildfire but they needed to earnthe money to rebuild it that's
crazy wow what a What a gift.
With a bigger income, they wereable to rebuild this house.
And that house was just on granddesigns.
And it still gives me goosebumpsbecause that is rewarding.
(22:19):
Every time I see this house, Ithink, amazing what they've
done.
SPEAKER_00 (22:24):
And what a symbolic transition.
This house that's sort oflike...
You know, the bread and butterof the business, unfortunately,
doesn't need to be, but it is.
And it's sort of this, you know,security blanket burns down.
Yeah.
You build the business up againin a way where it doesn't, you
know, it's not hinging on thesuccess of this house.
(22:45):
And then they rebuild thisbeautiful house that ends up,
you know, winning awards andstuff like that.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Yeah, it's in features on TV, you know.
And that is what...
I love to do.
And that is what I can do nowfor businesses that I love.
At the beginning, because Iworked a lot in construction and
for trade people, I thought thatwas my vibe.
SPEAKER_00 (23:06):
Right, because that's what we talked about at
the beginning.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
Yeah.
But with all the networking thatI'm doing and where it's going,
it goes more into womenentrepreneurs now.
And I love working with them.
I just love to empower women andjust be there, you know, and
when their confidence goesbecause the business is not
working because they have nosystems, they have no structure.
(23:31):
And then We can change this.
And I see what they are able todo and to empower them with that
tool.
That is so satisfying.
And it's
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
fun.
It's fun.
It's amazing.
And I definitely want to shedsome light because I know our
listeners or our video, ourYouTubers are thinking to
themselves, like, that's great.
Manu's had this wildlysuccessful OBM career.
Pretty much in the last year,you've really built a stable
business.
You've been choosy about whoyour clients are.
(24:05):
And I think there's so much tothat.
And one of the things that Irecognized in you from the
beginning, and we spoke about alot at the beginning, was your
tenacity for networking and yourI think natural just network
that was already in placebecause, you know, of your just
rich corporate history, but alsothe fact that you have a family
(24:28):
of entrepreneurs, you know, yourhusband's an entrepreneur, your
daughter's an entrepreneur.
So you also have like that sortof network around you.
What advice you have to offer tomaybe those listeners who are
like, I want to get this going.
Where, where do I start?
How do I start getting clients?
What advice would you give?
Get
SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
out on media and, and, Personally as well.
So, you know, because I was incorporate roles the whole time,
I never needed social media.
I never needed LinkedIn.
So I opened my account when Iopened my business.
I had zero followers.
I wasn't connected to anyone.
(25:06):
And that was scary.
That was scary at the beginningto get out.
And how do I do this?
So get out.
Take advice as well.
You know, it's just like, likewe say, we supporting people,
they pay for a better system.
So that is for yourself exactlythe same.
You need to invest in thosethings.
(25:27):
And even if they feel scary atthe beginning.
Yes, it does feel scary.
Oh yeah.
But you need to get this rightfrom the very beginning because
how you show up, that is whatpeople remember.
So the better you get thissorted at the beginning and the
faster you get this sorted, themore traction you get.
And for me, I did a brandingworkshop, which clearly gave me
(25:49):
the confidence to get out as me,as my authentic self.
That was really important for mebecause at the beginning, I
marketed the business and nobodyknew what that was.
It was about me.
I needed to get out.
People hire me because of myskills, of my experiences, and
(26:09):
not because of a name of abusiness.
SPEAKER_01 (26:12):
So
SPEAKER_02 (26:12):
that changed how I
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
appeared on.
And that can be very, that canbe scary for a lot of people
because you're like, oh my God,putting myself out there,
putting myself on my website.
That was for me too.
But,
SPEAKER_02 (26:24):
you know, I started posting about my experiences and
brought that together withsamples and what i have done for
other clients how personalexperiences um influenced my my
whole uh working life i i getout like that you know without
(26:46):
sharing too much personal detailyou find a balance you don't
need to you know put your pantsdown no no no yeah absolutely
not it's just like you
SPEAKER_01 (26:57):
know
SPEAKER_02 (26:58):
that's not you know linkedin is not facebook um It's
professional.
So, you know, but if you keepthis on a level where you can
share experiences or samples,just get yourself out.
And one thing that was really,really good, what I did at the
very beginning, I hadprofessional photos taken.
SPEAKER_01 (27:19):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:20):
And I think that is super important because I'm not
a selfie taker.
I'm horrible.
I agree.
I agree.
A hundred percent.
It's ugly.
And it was horrible.
My kids told me how horribleLeave it to your
SPEAKER_00 (27:34):
kids.
Leave it to the kids
SPEAKER_02 (27:35):
to
SPEAKER_00 (27:52):
be
SPEAKER_02 (27:52):
honest with us.
I share because I want thatbusiness to get work as well.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
It's like a give and take, give and take.
And I think that's the magicalthing about being in this role
in business is that you canreally give and you can take and
give and take.
And it just, it's like the giftthat keeps on giving when we can
share and lift each other upand, you know, be in these great
circles.
Yeah.
that you've put yourself in.
Yeah, because it's always comingback.
(28:28):
Whatever you give, it's alwayscoming back.
It's such an energetic thing.
And it's also like, be carefulwhat you wish for.
Now you have this, it's likemore money, more problems, as
they say, but now you have afull roster and now you're on
that next stage of like, scalingthe business, bringing on the
VAs, working with your own OBMsto support more clients so that
(28:48):
you can be at the beach housemore, be spending more time with
the hubby, just be living likethis authentic life.
Like how rewarding is that?
And I feel like this whole timeyou have just been leaning into
your personal skill set that youhave acquired.
And I know this to be truebecause even when I look back at
my corporate life and, you know,even the nine to fives I've had
(29:09):
and university and all thatstuff, I'm like, I see how
everything was like preparing mefor this role.
You know, it's just so, it's soremarkable in that way.
This crazy OBM journey.
Totally.
So for me, it's
SPEAKER_02 (29:21):
one is the LinkedIn, get out, do networking.
Yes.
A couple of times are reallyscary, you know, to get yourself
out, but do it.
You know, the combination ofLinkedIn and network is, in
person works so well I go toevents and people come to me and
say I have never met them beforeand they say I saw you on
(29:41):
LinkedIn I follow you you know Ilove your content and you know
people know me and I don't needto introduce myself because they
already know what I'm doing
SPEAKER_01 (29:52):
and
SPEAKER_02 (29:52):
then they talk and then you know I had it the other
day I went to an event and therewas someone I met on LinkedIn
and she's referring me toeveryone and I never touched her
anywhere else other thanLinkedIn and then she puts on
her post if you never havespoken to Manu you need to give
(30:13):
her a call and if you need helpin your business I don't even
know this woman from, you know,I met her through LinkedIn.
That is the combination withthose tools.
And also, you know, don't havethe expectation you are perfect
with everything.
I'm not.
I'm horrible in marketing andI'm horrible in tools.
And I'm not touching this.
SPEAKER_01 (30:34):
It's
SPEAKER_02 (30:35):
just like, I'm not doing this.
I just do a couple of thingsthat I do for my clients when
they need systems, processes,things like that.
But I would never do a marketingcampaign for a client because
that's not my cup of tea.
But I have people that can dothis.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:54):
I
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
have a network that I refer to.
That's such an important piecebecause I think when people
think of the OBM role, they'relike, oh, I need to be
proficient in launching andmarketing.
And it's just not like that.
You know, I think it's a pickand choose and then recognize
that where you are lacking ornot feeling so confident or
maybe not even desiring to dothat, you can bring in the right
(31:16):
people to support you.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
Yeah.
And make those connections.
Definitely helped me, you know,to get more skills there.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:24):
And also how workflows work in those
particular areas that I haven'ttouched before.
So that was really good becausenow it gives me a better
understanding.
And I actually implementedsomething about it with my
client as well that I couldn'thave done without the launch
management part.
Right.
(31:45):
So that was definitely a bigvalue for me also because it's
so far back that I did.
It's, you know, I startedstudying business in 1986.
So that is typewriter.
That is, you know, I don't knowhow you say in English.
We said short, short language,short language.
(32:06):
So, you know, it's just like Iwas recording on records, not
just tapes.
We had
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
records.
SPEAKER_02 (32:14):
So, you know, and from that, then to, you know,
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
our century, it's, Yeah, having like Google Drive
and now Gemini and ChatGV, it'slike...
AI, you know?
Yeah, it's so remarkable.
That's the other thing that Ithink is so maybe just
overlooked is like, at leastthis is a career and an industry
that is rapidly developing andevolving.
(32:40):
Yes, on one hand, you could belike, oh, it's scary.
It moves so fast.
You know, how will I keep upwith all these things?
And on the other hand, I'm like,but that's the beauty of it.
The fact that...
We have to sort of pivot quicklyand clients need OBMs to help
them pivot quickly.
Even in that example of theevent that you were planning
with your client, being like,hey, this ain't going to be
(33:05):
successful.
You're not going to make therevenue that you need.
We're going to go belly up here.
Let's pivot and let's look atthis differently i just think
there's so many you know serviceas a software sass programs and
in different things that we canuse different tools online that
make this fun for me yeah funand interesting and evolving and
(33:25):
not stale and stagnant like someother stuffy corporate careers
that are you know you're doingthe same thing day in day out
you have no real real quality oflife or time to like dream about
being at your beach house andhaving this flexible like Yeah,
yeah.
(33:53):
You just got to be there to kindof hold the hand and put some
KPIs in place and put some plansin place and then sort of see
where things go and be open andhonest.
What I find as well, you know,because
SPEAKER_02 (34:05):
maybe because I have those experiences where
everything started really basicand went with manual work.
I see now how businesses gocrazy.
You know, they want to automateeverything.
They want to have AI agents foreverything.
And then they overlap.
Yeah, yeah.
And then it's very impersonal.
(34:39):
realize, okay, it goescompletely crazy.
So they don't use it anymore,but it is.
So that is another thing that Iscale everyone back and say,
okay, look, take a step backbecause they automate so many
things that they don't even knowwhat's automated and it comes
its own life and they can't stopit.
Yeah, exactly.
It's a beast.
(35:01):
So that is where I'm scalingback then as well and say, okay,
stop.
You don't need us.
Let's just go back to automate.
But, you know, do it with aplan.
Do it with a plan.
Is it actually necessary toautomate it?
That is another thing.
You know, you automate onlyrecruiting tasks and, you know,
(35:24):
and you do everything with AIthat you can't automate with
something else.
And then it's working.
And it is kind of those things.
But I think there's, you know,when you come into an OBN role
and you have worked before andyou know how it was working
before and, you know, the worldrolled as well, you know, it
didn't stop.
(35:44):
It didn't fall apart justbecause we have that AI.
SPEAKER_00 (35:48):
That's right.
That's a good, very good point.
SPEAKER_02 (36:19):
You know, with the vault that came through the OBM
school, you have a base witheverything, you know, and I can
work on that.
And it's easier to...
To manage, because that issomething that I found at the
beginning that was sooverwhelming, where I thought,
how the heck do I manage allthose SOPs, all those systems,
(36:42):
all those manuals, and all ofthat.
But I was lucky as well that Ijust started when AI became a
thing.
And I did, at the verybeginning, when I started my
business, I did two Microsoftcertifications with AI.
And that helped me reallybecause, you know, I needed an
assistant.
And that's how I see AI now.
(37:04):
Yes.
You know, and it enabled me todo much more that I was able to
do without it.
SPEAKER_00 (37:12):
An assistant.
Yes.
So like, how do you use how doyou leverage?
Tell us more.
I also I feel like AI is myassistant as well.
But I also feel like I canalmost abuse it in a way because
I'm like, no, sometimes heavilyleaning in or I'll, you know,
instead of spending like 20minutes, I'll spend like two
hours researching something orgoing down some rabbit hole.
(37:33):
I'd love if you have anyexamples of how you use AI or
how you use this assistant.
So I
SPEAKER_02 (37:42):
stick to what I always do.
There's one truth.
There's one system that Keepseverything.
That is like, you know, I haveGoogle where all my files are
saved.
That is the truth.
I have a little bit of acombination because I'm a
Microsoft girl, but I have, youknow, but I managed to keep this
(38:03):
in one, you know, I have thedesktop version.
So I have everything on mycomputer, but still use Google
as well.
Right.
So that works really well.
And that's the same with AI,right?
So I'm not playing with athousand different tools.
I tried Copilot.
I tried all sorts of AIs.
(38:23):
They come with Google.
They come with ClickUp.
They come whatever.
They don't work.
You know, nothing, nothing,nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (38:30):
I know.
It's so funny.
Yeah.
They all have these AI andyou're like, well, but it just
doesn't work that well.
Yeah.
That's what I find as well.
SPEAKER_02 (38:37):
It doesn't work.
So, you know, for me as chatGPT, that's my source of truth.
And that is where I work.
Then I have everything in onesystem.
So if I ask something, I know Ihave asked this before in that
system.
So and I have projects in it.
So and all projects getinstructions.
(38:59):
They all get the sameinstructions.
bass instruction, how I want tosound my voice.
You know, for example, I'm inNew Zealand, so everything is
New Zealand English.
I don't like the dashes.
I know, no dashes.
Yes.
So I instructed that I hatethem.
And then do you find that itstill puts them though?
(39:21):
Not that often anymore.
So, you know, I fine tuned myprompt and every time it does
it, I Copy it and then say, no,that's not what I want.
And I hardly get them
SPEAKER_00 (39:32):
now.
That's good.
SPEAKER_02 (39:33):
So I think one prompt that you can ask is keep
my sentences short.
And instead of a dash, use apoint.
Right.
Something else.
Anything
SPEAKER_00 (39:47):
else.
SPEAKER_02 (39:47):
Something else.
I'll finish the sentence andstart a new one.
And that works.
So it works most of the times.
My chat GBD has a name and Iasked it what it wants to be
named.
Because I thought, you know, ifI interact with it the whole
time, so it has to have a name.
So it has a name.
And I have my project.
So one is the grammar, justspelling grammar check, where I
(40:10):
dump everything in that I wantto just have text.
to have checked, but that alsohas an instruction spelling
grammar check, but also give mea better version.
So then I have a spell checkedversion but I also have one with
ideas that I might take theninto mine and that works really
(40:34):
well so I would say 80% I usemine and I have sentences that I
copy out then sometimes of thesuggestions that I get from it
so that's cool and I have foreach client as well but you know
don't do names it's client Aclient B whatever and yeah you
(40:54):
got
SPEAKER_00 (40:54):
to be careful about privacy for
SPEAKER_02 (40:56):
sure totally totally don't um client um information
yeah yeah in it you know I'mcareful there, but I know
there's also Copilot andwhatever.
And Copilot has access to yourwhole data and document
everything that you have on yourfiles.
(41:17):
You know, there is already a bitof a, so that's why I work, you
know, work with the paidversions and make sure, you
know, you go at the beginning inand review your settings that it
can't use your data properly.
to research and to improveversions.
You can play a lot with theprojects because you have to
(41:37):
learn for everything, getinstructions.
And so the more detailed yourprompts are, the better you get
out of it.
That is what I found.
And even, you know, even forClickUp, I have a ClickUp
project in my chat GPT.
I have everything about ClickUpin that project.
I don't ask it in ClickUp.
(41:59):
I ask ChatGPD.
And oh my gosh, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (42:03):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (42:04):
Oh, it gives you everything.
Whatever you see, whatever youwant to do, it tells you
everything.
SPEAKER_00 (42:09):
Yeah, it's sort of like the curse and the blessing
in a way.
It can make life so simple, butalso the using it itself can be
a little bit of a time suck, youknow, if you're not careful.
I
SPEAKER_02 (42:20):
have not a feeling that, yeah, because I use it
just to get information.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Use it for research or, youknow, I never go in and say,
write me this.
It's just, yeah, it's just tomake things better.
SPEAKER_00 (42:34):
Those are good juicy AI tips you shared with us.
I think it's so good, you know,setting up the instructions,
making sure it knows your voice.
I'm having projects for veryspecific things.
Actually, we, last week we hadan AI.
I know you weren't on becausesometimes the time zone is
difficult for you being in NewZealand, but.
Oh yeah, there was 2.30 atnight.
Yeah, I know.
(42:54):
But I
SPEAKER_02 (42:55):
want to watch it.
I have it on
SPEAKER_00 (42:56):
my list.
It was great because we, youknow, Gemini and Google have
rolled out a whole bunch of newthings that sort of are a little
bit competitive more withChatGPT.
So we were like doing the prosand cons and the prompt sheets
and some of those resources.
Because I agree with you.
I think there's a lot of AI outthere, but as an OBM, I'm really
still just using like Gemini,ChatGPT, like Basic.
(43:19):
I'm not using any of those, youknow, more, I think, niche AI
tools to like createpresentations or, you know,
create a video.
Yeah.
Or create a website.
I don't have
SPEAKER_02 (43:30):
the time.
No, I don't have the timeeither.
And I don't
SPEAKER_00 (43:45):
want to spend that time.
for now in its sort of likeinfancy a lot of these programs
(44:07):
are are not necessarily wherewhere they need to be yeah i
think it's important to mentionthat
SPEAKER_02 (44:12):
yeah and they sometimes do things you don't
want them to do um i found thisin click up you know i had um
custom fields ai custom fieldsthey got their own life and they
were just doing crazy thingsthat i didn't even ask for
exactly So I thought, okay, nowI get rid of you and I put a
(44:33):
formula in.
So, you know, it's still anautomation and yeah, It works.
It works perfectly.
And if I wanted to stop, I canstop it.
That's the other thing.
You know, if you do everythingwith AI and all sorts of tools,
how do you stop this?
You need a register where youenter all your AI prompts.
(44:54):
After a while, it becomes somuch that one prompt is actually
a contra to another AI prompt.
SPEAKER_00 (45:01):
And
SPEAKER_02 (45:01):
then you break it because it doesn't know what to
do.
So it does just random stuffthat it's, Then he thinks it's
right, but
SPEAKER_00 (45:09):
it's not.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It really is nuts.
SPEAKER_02 (45:12):
Yeah.
So I think with the whole vibeand that people say, um, a Irish
replacing me.
No,
SPEAKER_00 (45:19):
no, no,
SPEAKER_02 (45:20):
because we see already.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (45:22):
Right.
Exactly, yeah, yeah.
So I think that it's such a,you've been sharing so much
about your journey and being sohonest and I think open with
everything that's been going on.
It's been such a pleasure tohave you inside of our OBM
school community.
I always say that every OBMbrings to the table like a very
(45:43):
unique set of skills and you areby no means an exception.
You know, we come with all ofour special toolkit of all of
these amazing things.
Was there like an unexpectedbenefit that you gained from
being part of our unique OBMschool community?
Or did something about the OBMaccreditation program impact the
way that like maybe you set upyour business?
(46:04):
I know you mentioned the SOPvault.
So
SPEAKER_02 (46:07):
yeah, for me, it was the vault.
A lot of things were that Ialready did for years.
But you know them, but puttingthem down on paper is a
different thing.
So yeah, It's the structure thatcomes with it where, you know,
okay, I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
But, you know, getting thistogether and actually articulate
(46:30):
it as well.
What are you doing?
That definitely helped.
That was one thing.
And definitely, you know, thesales part and the marketing
part.
SPEAKER_00 (46:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (46:40):
That was, you know, I'm always saying I'm a
strategist.
I'm a doer in business.
parts you know where I havefinance and operations but
definitely not in marketing andsales and that changed a lot for
me also to market myself youknow to to lounge and you can
even you know yeah some peopledo it in your way exactly
(47:03):
exactly so you know you don'tneed to do this exactly how it
is there do it in your way and Ithink that is where I can see
people stuck In the program,when they think, oh, I needed to
do it exactly the same way.
No, no, you don't need to.
You do it your way.
That is all guidelines.
(47:25):
And you do it the way thatyou...
Right.
(47:46):
And the other way around.
So it's, you need to adjust thisto your personality, to your
clients, to your environment, toyour team.
Yeah, but you have a base, youhave a base in a structure.
And that was,
SPEAKER_00 (48:00):
yeah, that's what I always, that's what I always
tell people.
I'm like, OBM school is great,because it helps to lessen that
learning curve.
You know, I think for a lot ofus, like we have that natural
tenacity for entrepreneurshipand leadership, and you have a
lot of experience, you werealready on your way building a
beautiful business.
And I think just OBM schoolcomes and it helps with some of
those templates and thestructure and the foundation so
(48:23):
that you can build faster, thatyou can build in a way and have
that feedback from a communityand our mentors and our team and
feedback on projects and thefeedback and accountability as
well.
Well, there's a lot to be saidfor, you know, a swift kick in
the bum to get your businessmoving or to help you get
(48:44):
unstuck from maybe some sort oflimited belief you have around
your mindset, what you can do,what you can't do.
I mean, you have really just, Ithink, shed light on the power
of relationships and leveragingyour corporate leadership and
relationships to connect youwith other people and to create
(49:06):
this wonderful reputation foryourself.
And honestly, Manu, it's justThank you for sharing your
incredible journey with ustoday.
Your story to me is such apowerful reminder that it's
never too late to pivot.
It's never too late to reinventyourself.
It's never too late to buildsomething that not only supports
your livelihood, but absolutelyaligns with your value and your
(49:28):
passion.
And you've done that soamazingly.
And you've set such a greatexample.
And I think there's something somagical about the school.
It's not about me and what I'vedone as an OBM.
It's collectively ourexperiences and how we lead in
these positions.
You know, your experience, youknow, from leading major
organizations to launching, youknow, Breitinger Consulting and
(49:51):
creating absolute impact foryour clients.
Every time I talk to you, you'resharing these amazing,
inspirational, and every time Italk to them, I'm like, oh my
God, that needs to be a casestudy.
Oh my God, you need to take thatscenario, pop it into JBT and
create something beautiful foryour blog.
You know, your dedication tostructure and systems and
(50:11):
finance and just leadership andalso just giving back with the
charities that you work with.
It's really remarkable to me andit's an honor to have you on the
ranks of our accredited OBMs.
And I hope that for anyonelistening or watching today
who's contemplating their nextbig move or wondering if they
can really start over or startseemingly later in life, Okay,
(50:36):
you know, it's uneven.
Your story proves that with theright strategy and support and a
little bit of courage, you canreally do this and you can live
out your dream of having thatwork-life flexibility.
So thank you for sharing with usyour wisdom and encouraging our
listeners and our YouTubeviewers that, you know, if you
(50:57):
can dream it, if you can imagineit, you can really, really make
it happen.
You really have shown that.
So thank you for sharing yourstory today, Manu.
SPEAKER_02 (51:05):
Thank you so much.
Look, I will miss this goalbecause, you know, everyone was
so lovely and you were justamazing and empowering all All
the time as well.
I love your positivity and justyour smile.
SPEAKER_00 (51:17):
Well, you got our alumni community for life.
So we will all stay connected.
And, you know, I hope tocontinue supporting you as you
scale this beautiful agency.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_02 (51:28):
you so much.
SPEAKER_00 (51:30):
Thank you for tuning in to this very special episode
of The OBM Show.
If Manu's story resonated withyou, if you are at a crossroads
in your career, if you'recraving more purpose in your
work, or if you're wonderingwhether it's too late to start
something new, I hope that youwalk away today feeling deeply
inspired.
Because Manu is living proofthat it's never too late to
(51:54):
rewrite the script and build abusiness that reflects your
values, supports your lifestyle,and creates life lasting impact.
Whether you are just startingout or looking to scale, our OBM
School community is here tosupport you every step of the
way, just like it did for Manu.
If you want to learn more aboutthe OBM accreditation, connect
(52:15):
with fellow accredited OBMs, ordive into more resources like
this one, head over toobmschool.com.
And if you love this episode,please take a moment to
subscribe, leave a review, andshare it with someone who needs
to hear it.
Your Your support helps us reachmore incredible listeners like
you.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep leading with heart, and
(52:37):
keep building the business andlife you deserve.
you
SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Welcome to the OBM Show, the podcast that pulls
back the curtain on what itreally takes to thrive as an
online business manager and helpbusinesses scale without burning
out.
I'm your host, Sarah Noked,agency owner, OBM mentor, and
founder of OBM School.
I've been working in the backend of online businesses since
(00:23):
2009, building systems, managingremote teams, and mentoring OBMs
who make businesses run likeclockwork.
Now, I've seen what works, whatdoesn't, and the messy middle
that no one talks about.
Here, we get real about thetools, strategies, and stories
that drive sustainable success,plus the tech mishaps, growing
(00:47):
pains, and lessons learned alongthe way.
If you're ready to stop spinningyour wheels, step into your
leadership role, and see whatactually happens behind the
scenes of thriving businesses,you're in the right place.
Let's get started.
Let's get started.
Today, I am thrilled tointroduce a remarkable
entrepreneur whose journey istruly a testament to resilience,
(01:10):
reinvention, and leadership.
After spending over 30 years inleadership roles across a wide
variety of industries fromconstruction to retail to
pharmaceutical work, Manu Lossdecided to take a bold leap.
Following a career that spannedcontinents from Germany to New
Zealand, which is amazing, androle that ranged from CFO to
(01:33):
head of operations, Manu foundherself at a crossroads seeking
a new path that aligned with hervalues and passion for impactful
work.
In 2024, Manu founded BreitingerConsulting, a business built on
the belief that operations andfinances only work well when
they work together.
She has grown her practice fromzero clients to full capacity
(01:57):
with a team supporting hermission.
As an alumni of the OBM School,Manu credits the program with
helping her build a businessthat matches the high standards
that she delivered through hercorporate career.
She's not only deliveringoperational excellence to her
client, but also making ameaningful impact by supporting
charities, a cause that's veryclose to her heart.
(02:20):
So in today's conversation,we're going to really dive into
Manu's transition from corporateleader to budding agency owner,
the challenges, the wins she'sexperienced along the way, and
the personal and professionalgrowth that fueled her success.
We'll also explore how she'sredefining what it means to
build a business with purpose,authenticity, and structure.
(02:43):
Manu, welcome.
I am so excited to interviewyou.
I have been waiting to find thisperfect opportunity to line up
our time zones so I could haveyou on the OBM show to share a
little bit of your journey.
So welcome, welcome, welcome.
SPEAKER_02 (02:58):
Hi, Sarah.
Lovely.
Thank you so much for having me.
Really excited.
SPEAKER_00 (03:03):
Yeah.
So you've had a reallyincredibly successful corporate
career before launching your OBMconsulting business.
I would love to start with someof those mindset shifts that
were important for you when youmade the move from corporate to
entrepreneurship.
SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Yeah.
Last year, mid last year, I wasjust burned out.
I have been working 34 years inbusinesses and it was just, I
came to the point where I didn'twant to work 50, 60 hours every
week anymore.
It was just hard.
And so I quit my job andthought, okay, I have a holiday
(03:43):
and then I find another job,which wasn't first so easy
because, you know, I'm over 50and it was hard to find a role
that really aligned with me andthat I wanted to do so I thought
okay I start my own businessfirst I saw you know I'm
(04:03):
specialized in finance andoperations and that's really my
my fuel and I thought I'd callmyself a process and systems
consultant nobody knew what thisis it was just horrible.
I started marketing thebusiness.
Nobody knew who writing orconsulting is.
It was a real struggle.
And then on Facebook, you poppedup.
(04:27):
That is me.
That is exactly what I'm doing.
I am an online business manager.
Because there was more than Iwas marketing myself.
I was marketing myself or thebusiness as doing
implementations of processes andsystems.
But OBM was so much more.
(04:48):
OBM did actually sum upeverything that I have done
throughout my career.
And I was always a big believerthat finance and operations go
really close hand in hand.
So Amen,
SPEAKER_00 (05:02):
sister.
Amen.
It is like, I think that's oneof the things I definitely want
to talk about on today's podcastis the financial piece because
it's sort of this, you know,swept under the carpet.
Nobody really talks about it.
And a lot of the times as a veryexperienced online business
manager with a rich corporatehistory.
I mean, you can't deny that someof these clients are just in
(05:24):
over their head with thefinancials.
SPEAKER_02 (05:26):
Oh, yeah.
Look, pretty much everyone whenyou come into a business,
because you come into a businessand I always say a business is
very personal.
None of them is doing it becausethey just have fun.
They all want to earn money.
We all want to earn money.
Exactly.
They want to earn money.
And they They want to either,you know, they need to support a
(05:48):
family, they need to support ahusband, they need to pay off.
There is a reason why they needto earn money and they struggle.
So it's really personal.
It comes into the business.
So For me, that was always apart, a big part with the
finances to get that sorted aswell.
And also make the client awarethat you are aware of that as
(06:13):
well.
Because, you know, they want toget everything under the
business head and whatever.
But if you are coming into thebusiness as a partner, then they
see you as that partner.
And they will be more open withyou as well because
SPEAKER_00 (06:29):
they...
I mean, Manu, I'm always soimpressed by your just tenacity
and I think your naturalentrepreneurship.
Leadership is just huge for you.
Like, I mean, I feel like youhave such a mindset around
leadership.
What other mindset shifts didyou make when you kind of moved?
Because, you know, you had thisreally rich corporate
(06:51):
background.
career.
You could have just very easilyeventually would have probably
found another role in, you know,corporate leadership, but it
just put your head down and justkind of continued on your way.
What are some of those bigmindset shifts that you felt
inside of you that needed tocome out?
For me, it was
SPEAKER_02 (07:07):
one thing was my values.
I wanted to work with clientsthat have aligned values.
Yes.
Yeah.
I can now select clients.
I can say, you know, I havealways throughout my career and
the people that I worked for,employers on the same level like
(07:29):
my clients.
SPEAKER_01 (07:30):
Yes.
So
SPEAKER_02 (07:30):
it's like when they have values that I can't, you
know, really go with.
SPEAKER_01 (07:37):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (07:38):
Or they are not matching with mine.
That is the same thing.
for my clients it's the samewhite flags that were appearing
when I worked for an employerare with clients it's exactly
the same so it's The moneyissues, when they have problems
about money, if they don't valueyour stuff, if they don't value
(08:02):
your work, if they have just ingeneral, you know, views that I
can't share, and I don't want towork for those people.
And that's what I can choosenow.
I'm not stuck
SPEAKER_00 (08:13):
with...
It's like freedom.
I know.
It's like freedom.
You can just change yourclients.
You can walk away.
And also, I think it reallychallenges us emotionally,
spiritually.
with some of these clientsbecause you really do have to
ask yourself, what are myvalues?
Are these clients aligned withmy values?
It's one of my big fourconsiderations I talk a lot
(08:34):
about on this podcast and on theYouTube channel, a lot about the
four great things a client needsto have.
They need to be making money andhave a solid business model.
They need to have that mindsetdelegation.
They need to also be veryconfident around just their
abilities.
And so I think it's so soimportant when we are thinking
(08:56):
of this client to recognize thatyou need to have aligned values.
If the values aren't aligned oryou get it, sometimes you get
into these businesses.
And that's why, I mean, I know Iharp a lot about this, but like
a discovery call, would youagree, Manu?
Like discovery calls arewonderful to really understand
if the client is possibly a goodfit, but it's really only after
(09:17):
you have that first strategicplanning session where you
really understand the innerworkings and the client
themselves and how it all fitstogether.
And you can really then see ifthe values align.
I don't think it's apparentright away at the beginning.
SPEAKER_02 (09:33):
I see it in the discovery call.
SPEAKER_00 (09:36):
Yeah, you see it right away.
I
SPEAKER_02 (09:37):
see it right away.
And it's a couple of flags thatthey come up very quickly is if
they postpone my calls.
Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:47):
Oh, yeah.
Bye.
Yeah,
SPEAKER_02 (09:49):
goodbye.
If I don't get what I ask, ifthey are just too difficult from
the very beginning, I think, no,I don't want to go ahead.
If it starts difficult, it'sgoing to be a nightmare.
So no way.
And I really trust my gutfeeling.
SPEAKER_00 (10:08):
I feel like that's not just the mindset shift.
It's like a gut feeling shiftwhere I'm...
Choosing to be an entrepreneurbecause I no longer want to also
be putting up with that.
Like I'm choosing who I workwith.
I am picking my clients.
And I think it's such an amazingthing, Manu, because when we
first spoke, I guess it mighthave been a year ago, maybe even
(10:31):
less, you have in such a shorttime gone from, you know, a few
clients to running at fullcapacity.
And now, I mean, even, you know,we were speaking prior to this
interview about how you'rescaling your team now.
What do you think, you know,especially for those women
listening here that are maybe intheir 50s that are debating to
(10:53):
themselves whether they'vemissed the boat on
entrepreneurship?
I feel like I just, it gives mechills.
I'm not, I don't want to becheesy here, but it's like, such
a meaningful thing.
Like what do you think were someof those key factors that, and I
can think of a few, that reallydrove you to quote unquote
(11:14):
success, being full capacity,now really being very quickly in
a situation where you can pickand choose who you're working
with.
And also you're insightfulenough to even pick some clients
on your roster, the charitiesthat you really are aligned
with, to keep that wheelturning, to just keep giving
back and bringing it forward andrinse and repeat.
(11:36):
What do you think led to thatsuccess for those listening
thinking, oh my God, I want tobe in Manu's shoes?
What do I need to do to reverseengineer putting myself where
she is?
I have this rich leadershipcorporate career, like
certainly, because I don't know,like, I mean, I'm rambling a
little bit now, but I know evenwhen I was in corporate and
before I stepped into, and I wasexactly like you and I heard the
(11:57):
OBM, I was like, oh my God,that's so me.
I'm an OBM.
It sort of takes all mycorporate skills and and puts it
together in this role.
But I still in those shoes, inmy corporate shoes felt like I'm
not so sure that these corporateskills can move into the OBM
role.
Like how do I, how did youmanage to do it so quickly?
I think you need a plan.
SPEAKER_02 (12:16):
You need a plan.
You need to sit down and writedown what do you want?
You know, what is what you wantto get out of this?
And for me, it was pretty,pretty clear what I wanted.
So I I wanted to have thefreedom to work from wherever I
can work.
I wanted to be the master of myown time.
(12:38):
I wanted to spend time away.
We have a beach house.
I can go to the beach house andwork from there.
Can I come work with you at yourbeach house?
That is the best.
It's the best.
SPEAKER_00 (12:52):
With the dogs, hanging out.
SPEAKER_02 (12:54):
I can take the dogs, exactly.
And I knew that.
I didn't want, I haven't had theexpectations to work less than I
worked before.
I worked the same hours.
Right.
It's for me, not for someoneelse.
Yes.
minute that I invest into thisbusiness.
It's mine.
(13:14):
It's for me.
It just gives back to you.
Yeah, exactly.
That was part of the plan.
One plan was my age, because,you know, I turned 55 this year.
And I thought, okay, no, I wantto build up something in the
next couple of years that Ican...
agency model was always on mylist.
SPEAKER_01 (13:34):
I
SPEAKER_02 (13:35):
always, because, you know, I, I treat this exactly
like I have been working before.
I had teams.
I was leading companies or, um,uh, corporations and, and, I had
my teams that I delegated.
I delegated work.
I made the strategy.
And it was so satisfying whenthat came together.
(13:57):
And that's exactly how I worknow.
And that is where I want to be.
That, you know, I have myclients.
I make the strategy.
I am, you know, overseeingthings.
And then I will have otherpeople helping me, supporting me
to make a great business out ofthe businesses that I work for.
And that gives me really,satisfaction, you know, and it
(14:19):
makes me happy.
When I see those companiessucceed, that makes me happy.
But I can only reach this levelon an agency level.
And the other thing is, I wantedto have a business where I can
then at one stage come to apoint where I say, okay, I work
20 hours every in five years andjust oversee things.
(14:41):
I have until then trained OBMsthat can take on more
responsibility.
I have still an income where Ican kind of semi-retire.
I can travel.
I can do this from wherever I amin the world.
And I can enable also, myhusband has also his own
business.
I can enable him to slow down.
(15:03):
You know, that is my goal.
That is what I want to achieve.
And that is, you know, nothingthat I think I am too old for.
SPEAKER_01 (15:12):
No.
SPEAKER_02 (15:13):
Because I have those experiences now that I bring in.
It's not just the experiences.
It's also about work.
It's also, you know, in thepersonal skills to act with
companies.
And I think also...
On top of it, you know, if youcome into a business where you
have a younger business owner,you know, they listen to you
(15:36):
because, you know, they know youhave those skills and you have
those experiences.
And sometimes a wise word aswell, our shoulder to
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
cry.
Our shoulder to cry and amen.
Amen.
We really, we spoke about thisjust prior to hopping on and
pressing record, but there'ssuch a need to partner and
really provide.
And I think that it's so elusiveand we don't always realize
that, you know, clients arelonely.
Our clients, our entrepreneurclients are lonely.
(16:07):
They don't necessarily havesomebody to lean on and to
support.
share the dirty back end oftheir business, which a lot of
the times is the financials.
I know you do incredible workfor people sorting out their
financials.
You've literally picked upbusinesses from the you know,
(16:28):
the rubble, put them backtogether again, you know,
created a budget for your clientwho had that event that we were
talking about.
That was just, well, she wasover her head.
The financial projections werelike, you know, if you do this
event, you're going to gobankrupt.
You know, how can we bring itback down?
to scale so that it's in a placewhere we can be proactive about
(16:49):
at least breaking even slashmaking a small profit, but not
losing money.
It's just such a critical rolebecause it's like sometimes I
think about the OBM role and Imean, I know that we do amazing
things for our clients, butsometimes it's really hard to
put into words what thattransformation looks like,
especially when it's adifference of like the business
(17:09):
failing or the businesscontinuing.
SPEAKER_02 (17:11):
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, totally.
And they have, you know, theyhave partnerships at home, they
don't want to confess thatthings are not going well.
So they need someone to talk andto talk honestly as well.
Their things are shit and theyneed to sort it out.
Yeah, yeah.
Being honest.
Yeah.
(17:31):
So they can share this with mebecause we work on it and they
can share the good stuff then.
Yes.
Everything.
(18:03):
Yeah, I have just, I had someonethat I have run their business
for and they were really, theywere so close from losing
everything when I came.
Wow.
For what reason?
Tell us more.
Tell us the
SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
juicy.
SPEAKER_02 (18:16):
It was
SPEAKER_00 (18:17):
management.
It was absolutely management.
Was it the entrepreneur beinghaphazard manager in their
business or someone
SPEAKER_02 (18:25):
else?
Look, it was a business that'saround for 160 years.
SPEAKER_00 (18:30):
Oh,
SPEAKER_02 (18:30):
wow.
It was in fifth or sixthgeneration.
Oh, wow.
But I hear this so often.
One architect once told me,Manu, I need you because I went
to architecture school.
They taught me how to designbeautiful houses, but they
didn't tell me how to run abusiness.
SPEAKER_00 (18:47):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (18:48):
And that is exactly the point.
They are so good in the thingsthey are doing and their skills,
what they do.
why they set up their business,but they are horrible in
managing their businesses.
And that was one case.
They were really unstructuredand they tried for years and
years to hire managers for theirbusinesses and they all made it
(19:10):
worse.
But because they had so lessmanagement skills, they couldn't
really see the signs and theflags before it was too late.
All the time.
They just got rid of their lastmanager.
And then I met them while I wasstill in another role.
And we were talking.
And I said, okay, look, I comefor a day.
(19:31):
And I look at...
your files and I see what I cando.
And I give you a little bit ofadvice.
There was nothing that I wantedto work for them.
It was just a, you know, becauseI know them and I thought, okay,
I helped them a bit.
SPEAKER_01 (19:45):
So
SPEAKER_02 (19:45):
I was sitting there going through things.
And then I said, okay, look,this is, this is what you can
do.
Gave them a little bit of astructure.
Okay.
Look into this, get someone forthis, get someone for this.
And after that meeting, theysaid to me, do you want a job?
And I said, look, I have afull-time role.
I, you know, it's paid well.
(20:06):
I can't just leave.
And they said, please, pleaseconsider it.
And I said, okay, look, you sendme the logins to your books.
I have a look over the weekendand then I come back to you.
So, because I wanted to makesure I come into the business
that can afford me and haspotential
SPEAKER_00 (20:24):
to grow.
That's interesting.
Looking into the financials tosee that the business can afford
me.
SPEAKER_02 (20:30):
For me, when I look into their books, that is for me
like looking into their life.
You see everything.
You see how they spend theirpersonal money.
You see everything.
And you see where they can makesavings and where they can make
huge changes.
Yes.
(20:50):
I looked over the weekend intothat and I said also I wanted to
have a forecast with jobs, whatthey could get and what they
have in the pipeline.
So after I reviewed everything,I thought, oh my gosh, they have
huge potential.
SPEAKER_01 (21:04):
They
SPEAKER_02 (21:05):
can really grow.
They can do really well.
So I started with them andwithin a year, I employed 13
people.
We had a project manager.
We had an admin person.
We had several builders.
We had apprentices, asalesperson.
So we had all sorts of peopleemployed within a year.
SPEAKER_01 (21:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (21:29):
They were doing really, really well.
Wow.
was going up five times whatthey had before wow they were
really doing well but they hadanother problem they were um
they had a property and um thatwas pretty much their life
because it was their income mainincome stream for a while
because they rented it alwaysout right burnt down in a
(21:53):
wildfire but they needed to earnthe money to rebuild it that's
crazy wow what a What a gift.
With a bigger income, they wereable to rebuild this house.
And that house was just on granddesigns.
And it still gives me goosebumpsbecause that is rewarding.
(22:19):
Every time I see this house, Ithink, amazing what they've
done.
SPEAKER_00 (22:24):
And what a symbolic transition.
This house that's sort oflike...
You know, the bread and butterof the business, unfortunately,
doesn't need to be, but it is.
And it's sort of this, you know,security blanket burns down.
Yeah.
You build the business up againin a way where it doesn't, you
know, it's not hinging on thesuccess of this house.
(22:45):
And then they rebuild thisbeautiful house that ends up,
you know, winning awards andstuff like that.
SPEAKER_02 (22:51):
Yeah, it's in features on TV, you know.
And that is what...
I love to do.
And that is what I can do nowfor businesses that I love.
At the beginning, because Iworked a lot in construction and
for trade people, I thought thatwas my vibe.
SPEAKER_00 (23:06):
Right, because that's what we talked about at
the beginning.
SPEAKER_02 (23:08):
Yeah.
But with all the networking thatI'm doing and where it's going,
it goes more into womenentrepreneurs now.
And I love working with them.
I just love to empower women andjust be there, you know, and
when their confidence goesbecause the business is not
working because they have nosystems, they have no structure.
(23:31):
And then We can change this.
And I see what they are able todo and to empower them with that
tool.
That is so satisfying.
And it's
SPEAKER_00 (23:44):
fun.
It's fun.
It's amazing.
And I definitely want to shedsome light because I know our
listeners or our video, ourYouTubers are thinking to
themselves, like, that's great.
Manu's had this wildlysuccessful OBM career.
Pretty much in the last year,you've really built a stable
business.
You've been choosy about whoyour clients are.
(24:05):
And I think there's so much tothat.
And one of the things that Irecognized in you from the
beginning, and we spoke about alot at the beginning, was your
tenacity for networking and yourI think natural just network
that was already in placebecause, you know, of your just
rich corporate history, but alsothe fact that you have a family
(24:28):
of entrepreneurs, you know, yourhusband's an entrepreneur, your
daughter's an entrepreneur.
So you also have like that sortof network around you.
What advice you have to offer tomaybe those listeners who are
like, I want to get this going.
Where, where do I start?
How do I start getting clients?
What advice would you give?
Get
SPEAKER_02 (24:45):
out on media and, and, Personally as well.
So, you know, because I was incorporate roles the whole time,
I never needed social media.
I never needed LinkedIn.
So I opened my account when Iopened my business.
I had zero followers.
I wasn't connected to anyone.
(25:06):
And that was scary.
That was scary at the beginningto get out.
And how do I do this?
So get out.
Take advice as well.
You know, it's just like, likewe say, we supporting people,
they pay for a better system.
So that is for yourself exactlythe same.
You need to invest in thosethings.
(25:27):
And even if they feel scary atthe beginning.
Yes, it does feel scary.
Oh yeah.
But you need to get this rightfrom the very beginning because
how you show up, that is whatpeople remember.
So the better you get thissorted at the beginning and the
faster you get this sorted, themore traction you get.
And for me, I did a brandingworkshop, which clearly gave me
(25:49):
the confidence to get out as me,as my authentic self.
That was really important for mebecause at the beginning, I
marketed the business and nobodyknew what that was.
It was about me.
I needed to get out.
People hire me because of myskills, of my experiences, and
(26:09):
not because of a name of abusiness.
SPEAKER_01 (26:12):
So
SPEAKER_02 (26:12):
that changed how I
SPEAKER_00 (26:13):
appeared on.
And that can be very, that canbe scary for a lot of people
because you're like, oh my God,putting myself out there,
putting myself on my website.
That was for me too.
But,
SPEAKER_02 (26:24):
you know, I started posting about my experiences and
brought that together withsamples and what i have done for
other clients how personalexperiences um influenced my my
whole uh working life i i getout like that you know without
(26:46):
sharing too much personal detailyou find a balance you don't
need to you know put your pantsdown no no no yeah absolutely
not it's just like you
SPEAKER_01 (26:57):
know
SPEAKER_02 (26:58):
that's not you know linkedin is not facebook um It's
professional.
So, you know, but if you keepthis on a level where you can
share experiences or samples,just get yourself out.
And one thing that was really,really good, what I did at the
very beginning, I hadprofessional photos taken.
SPEAKER_01 (27:19):
Yes.
SPEAKER_02 (27:20):
And I think that is super important because I'm not
a selfie taker.
I'm horrible.
I agree.
I agree.
A hundred percent.
It's ugly.
And it was horrible.
My kids told me how horribleLeave it to your
SPEAKER_00 (27:34):
kids.
Leave it to the kids
SPEAKER_02 (27:35):
to
SPEAKER_00 (27:52):
be
SPEAKER_02 (27:52):
honest with us.
I share because I want thatbusiness to get work as well.
SPEAKER_00 (28:06):
It's like a give and take, give and take.
And I think that's the magicalthing about being in this role
in business is that you canreally give and you can take and
give and take.
And it just, it's like the giftthat keeps on giving when we can
share and lift each other upand, you know, be in these great
circles.
Yeah.
that you've put yourself in.
Yeah, because it's always comingback.
(28:28):
Whatever you give, it's alwayscoming back.
It's such an energetic thing.
And it's also like, be carefulwhat you wish for.
Now you have this, it's likemore money, more problems, as
they say, but now you have afull roster and now you're on
that next stage of like, scalingthe business, bringing on the
VAs, working with your own OBMsto support more clients so that
(28:48):
you can be at the beach housemore, be spending more time with
the hubby, just be living likethis authentic life.
Like how rewarding is that?
And I feel like this whole timeyou have just been leaning into
your personal skill set that youhave acquired.
And I know this to be truebecause even when I look back at
my corporate life and, you know,even the nine to fives I've had
(29:09):
and university and all thatstuff, I'm like, I see how
everything was like preparing mefor this role.
You know, it's just so, it's soremarkable in that way.
This crazy OBM journey.
Totally.
So for me, it's
SPEAKER_02 (29:21):
one is the LinkedIn, get out, do networking.
Yes.
A couple of times are reallyscary, you know, to get yourself
out, but do it.
You know, the combination ofLinkedIn and network is, in
person works so well I go toevents and people come to me and
say I have never met them beforeand they say I saw you on
(29:41):
LinkedIn I follow you you know Ilove your content and you know
people know me and I don't needto introduce myself because they
already know what I'm doing
SPEAKER_01 (29:52):
and
SPEAKER_02 (29:52):
then they talk and then you know I had it the other
day I went to an event and therewas someone I met on LinkedIn
and she's referring me toeveryone and I never touched her
anywhere else other thanLinkedIn and then she puts on
her post if you never havespoken to Manu you need to give
(30:13):
her a call and if you need helpin your business I don't even
know this woman from, you know,I met her through LinkedIn.
That is the combination withthose tools.
And also, you know, don't havethe expectation you are perfect
with everything.
I'm not.
I'm horrible in marketing andI'm horrible in tools.
And I'm not touching this.
SPEAKER_01 (30:34):
It's
SPEAKER_02 (30:35):
just like, I'm not doing this.
I just do a couple of thingsthat I do for my clients when
they need systems, processes,things like that.
But I would never do a marketingcampaign for a client because
that's not my cup of tea.
But I have people that can dothis.
SPEAKER_00 (30:53):
Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_02 (30:54):
I
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
have a network that I refer to.
That's such an important piecebecause I think when people
think of the OBM role, they'relike, oh, I need to be
proficient in launching andmarketing.
And it's just not like that.
You know, I think it's a pickand choose and then recognize
that where you are lacking ornot feeling so confident or
maybe not even desiring to dothat, you can bring in the right
(31:16):
people to support you.
SPEAKER_02 (31:17):
Yeah.
And make those connections.
Definitely helped me, you know,to get more skills there.
SPEAKER_00 (31:23):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (31:24):
And also how workflows work in those
particular areas that I haven'ttouched before.
So that was really good becausenow it gives me a better
understanding.
And I actually implementedsomething about it with my
client as well that I couldn'thave done without the launch
management part.
Right.
(31:45):
So that was definitely a bigvalue for me also because it's
so far back that I did.
It's, you know, I startedstudying business in 1986.
So that is typewriter.
That is, you know, I don't knowhow you say in English.
We said short, short language,short language.
(32:06):
So, you know, it's just like Iwas recording on records, not
just tapes.
We had
SPEAKER_01 (32:13):
records.
SPEAKER_02 (32:14):
So, you know, and from that, then to, you know,
SPEAKER_00 (32:19):
our century, it's, Yeah, having like Google Drive
and now Gemini and ChatGV, it'slike...
AI, you know?
Yeah, it's so remarkable.
That's the other thing that Ithink is so maybe just
overlooked is like, at leastthis is a career and an industry
that is rapidly developing andevolving.
(32:40):
Yes, on one hand, you could belike, oh, it's scary.
It moves so fast.
You know, how will I keep upwith all these things?
And on the other hand, I'm like,but that's the beauty of it.
The fact that...
We have to sort of pivot quicklyand clients need OBMs to help
them pivot quickly.
Even in that example of theevent that you were planning
with your client, being like,hey, this ain't going to be
(33:05):
successful.
You're not going to make therevenue that you need.
We're going to go belly up here.
Let's pivot and let's look atthis differently i just think
there's so many you know serviceas a software sass programs and
in different things that we canuse different tools online that
make this fun for me yeah funand interesting and evolving and
(33:25):
not stale and stagnant like someother stuffy corporate careers
that are you know you're doingthe same thing day in day out
you have no real real quality oflife or time to like dream about
being at your beach house andhaving this flexible like Yeah,
yeah.
(33:53):
You just got to be there to kindof hold the hand and put some
KPIs in place and put some plansin place and then sort of see
where things go and be open andhonest.
What I find as well, you know,because
SPEAKER_02 (34:05):
maybe because I have those experiences where
everything started really basicand went with manual work.
I see now how businesses gocrazy.
You know, they want to automateeverything.
They want to have AI agents foreverything.
And then they overlap.
Yeah, yeah.
And then it's very impersonal.
(34:39):
realize, okay, it goescompletely crazy.
So they don't use it anymore,but it is.
So that is another thing that Iscale everyone back and say,
okay, look, take a step backbecause they automate so many
things that they don't even knowwhat's automated and it comes
its own life and they can't stopit.
Yeah, exactly.
It's a beast.
(35:01):
So that is where I'm scalingback then as well and say, okay,
stop.
You don't need us.
Let's just go back to automate.
But, you know, do it with aplan.
Do it with a plan.
Is it actually necessary toautomate it?
That is another thing.
You know, you automate onlyrecruiting tasks and, you know,
(35:24):
and you do everything with AIthat you can't automate with
something else.
And then it's working.
And it is kind of those things.
But I think there's, you know,when you come into an OBN role
and you have worked before andyou know how it was working
before and, you know, the worldrolled as well, you know, it
didn't stop.
(35:44):
It didn't fall apart justbecause we have that AI.
SPEAKER_00 (35:48):
That's right.
That's a good, very good point.
SPEAKER_02 (36:19):
You know, with the vault that came through the OBM
school, you have a base witheverything, you know, and I can
work on that.
And it's easier to...
To manage, because that issomething that I found at the
beginning that was sooverwhelming, where I thought,
how the heck do I manage allthose SOPs, all those systems,
(36:42):
all those manuals, and all ofthat.
But I was lucky as well that Ijust started when AI became a
thing.
And I did, at the verybeginning, when I started my
business, I did two Microsoftcertifications with AI.
And that helped me reallybecause, you know, I needed an
assistant.
And that's how I see AI now.
(37:04):
Yes.
You know, and it enabled me todo much more that I was able to
do without it.
SPEAKER_00 (37:12):
An assistant.
Yes.
So like, how do you use how doyou leverage?
Tell us more.
I also I feel like AI is myassistant as well.
But I also feel like I canalmost abuse it in a way because
I'm like, no, sometimes heavilyleaning in or I'll, you know,
instead of spending like 20minutes, I'll spend like two
hours researching something orgoing down some rabbit hole.
(37:33):
I'd love if you have anyexamples of how you use AI or
how you use this assistant.
So I
SPEAKER_02 (37:42):
stick to what I always do.
There's one truth.
There's one system that Keepseverything.
That is like, you know, I haveGoogle where all my files are
saved.
That is the truth.
I have a little bit of acombination because I'm a
Microsoft girl, but I have, youknow, but I managed to keep this
(38:03):
in one, you know, I have thedesktop version.
So I have everything on mycomputer, but still use Google
as well.
Right.
So that works really well.
And that's the same with AI,right?
So I'm not playing with athousand different tools.
I tried Copilot.
I tried all sorts of AIs.
(38:23):
They come with Google.
They come with ClickUp.
They come whatever.
They don't work.
You know, nothing, nothing,nothing.
SPEAKER_00 (38:30):
I know.
It's so funny.
Yeah.
They all have these AI andyou're like, well, but it just
doesn't work that well.
Yeah.
That's what I find as well.
SPEAKER_02 (38:37):
It doesn't work.
So, you know, for me as chatGPT, that's my source of truth.
And that is where I work.
Then I have everything in onesystem.
So if I ask something, I know Ihave asked this before in that
system.
So and I have projects in it.
So and all projects getinstructions.
(38:59):
They all get the sameinstructions.
bass instruction, how I want tosound my voice.
You know, for example, I'm inNew Zealand, so everything is
New Zealand English.
I don't like the dashes.
I know, no dashes.
Yes.
So I instructed that I hatethem.
And then do you find that itstill puts them though?
(39:21):
Not that often anymore.
So, you know, I fine tuned myprompt and every time it does
it, I Copy it and then say, no,that's not what I want.
And I hardly get them
SPEAKER_00 (39:32):
now.
That's good.
SPEAKER_02 (39:33):
So I think one prompt that you can ask is keep
my sentences short.
And instead of a dash, use apoint.
Right.
Something else.
Anything
SPEAKER_00 (39:47):
else.
SPEAKER_02 (39:47):
Something else.
I'll finish the sentence andstart a new one.
And that works.
So it works most of the times.
My chat GBD has a name and Iasked it what it wants to be
named.
Because I thought, you know, ifI interact with it the whole
time, so it has to have a name.
So it has a name.
And I have my project.
So one is the grammar, justspelling grammar check, where I
(40:10):
dump everything in that I wantto just have text.
to have checked, but that alsohas an instruction spelling
grammar check, but also give mea better version.
So then I have a spell checkedversion but I also have one with
ideas that I might take theninto mine and that works really
(40:34):
well so I would say 80% I usemine and I have sentences that I
copy out then sometimes of thesuggestions that I get from it
so that's cool and I have foreach client as well but you know
don't do names it's client Aclient B whatever and yeah you
(40:54):
got
SPEAKER_00 (40:54):
to be careful about privacy for
SPEAKER_02 (40:56):
sure totally totally don't um client um information
yeah yeah in it you know I'mcareful there, but I know
there's also Copilot andwhatever.
And Copilot has access to yourwhole data and document
everything that you have on yourfiles.
(41:17):
You know, there is already a bitof a, so that's why I work, you
know, work with the paidversions and make sure, you
know, you go at the beginning inand review your settings that it
can't use your data properly.
to research and to improveversions.
You can play a lot with theprojects because you have to
(41:37):
learn for everything, getinstructions.
And so the more detailed yourprompts are, the better you get
out of it.
That is what I found.
And even, you know, even forClickUp, I have a ClickUp
project in my chat GPT.
I have everything about ClickUpin that project.
I don't ask it in ClickUp.
(41:59):
I ask ChatGPD.
And oh my gosh, it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (42:03):
Amazing.
SPEAKER_02 (42:04):
Oh, it gives you everything.
Whatever you see, whatever youwant to do, it tells you
everything.
SPEAKER_00 (42:09):
Yeah, it's sort of like the curse and the blessing
in a way.
It can make life so simple, butalso the using it itself can be
a little bit of a time suck, youknow, if you're not careful.
I
SPEAKER_02 (42:20):
have not a feeling that, yeah, because I use it
just to get information.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Use it for research or, youknow, I never go in and say,
write me this.
It's just, yeah, it's just tomake things better.
SPEAKER_00 (42:34):
Those are good juicy AI tips you shared with us.
I think it's so good, you know,setting up the instructions,
making sure it knows your voice.
I'm having projects for veryspecific things.
Actually, we, last week we hadan AI.
I know you weren't on becausesometimes the time zone is
difficult for you being in NewZealand, but.
Oh yeah, there was 2.30 atnight.
Yeah, I know.
(42:54):
But I
SPEAKER_02 (42:55):
want to watch it.
I have it on
SPEAKER_00 (42:56):
my list.
It was great because we, youknow, Gemini and Google have
rolled out a whole bunch of newthings that sort of are a little
bit competitive more withChatGPT.
So we were like doing the prosand cons and the prompt sheets
and some of those resources.
Because I agree with you.
I think there's a lot of AI outthere, but as an OBM, I'm really
still just using like Gemini,ChatGPT, like Basic.
(43:19):
I'm not using any of those, youknow, more, I think, niche AI
tools to like createpresentations or, you know,
create a video.
Yeah.
Or create a website.
I don't have
SPEAKER_02 (43:30):
the time.
No, I don't have the timeeither.
And I don't
SPEAKER_00 (43:45):
want to spend that time.
for now in its sort of likeinfancy a lot of these programs
(44:07):
are are not necessarily wherewhere they need to be yeah i
think it's important to mentionthat
SPEAKER_02 (44:12):
yeah and they sometimes do things you don't
want them to do um i found thisin click up you know i had um
custom fields ai custom fieldsthey got their own life and they
were just doing crazy thingsthat i didn't even ask for
exactly So I thought, okay, nowI get rid of you and I put a
(44:33):
formula in.
So, you know, it's still anautomation and yeah, It works.
It works perfectly.
And if I wanted to stop, I canstop it.
That's the other thing.
You know, if you do everythingwith AI and all sorts of tools,
how do you stop this?
You need a register where youenter all your AI prompts.
(44:54):
After a while, it becomes somuch that one prompt is actually
a contra to another AI prompt.
SPEAKER_00 (45:01):
And
SPEAKER_02 (45:01):
then you break it because it doesn't know what to
do.
So it does just random stuffthat it's, Then he thinks it's
right, but
SPEAKER_00 (45:09):
it's not.
It's crazy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It really is nuts.
SPEAKER_02 (45:12):
Yeah.
So I think with the whole vibeand that people say, um, a Irish
replacing me.
No,
SPEAKER_00 (45:19):
no, no,
SPEAKER_02 (45:20):
because we see already.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (45:22):
Right.
Exactly, yeah, yeah.
So I think that it's such a,you've been sharing so much
about your journey and being sohonest and I think open with
everything that's been going on.
It's been such a pleasure tohave you inside of our OBM
school community.
I always say that every OBMbrings to the table like a very
(45:43):
unique set of skills and you areby no means an exception.
You know, we come with all ofour special toolkit of all of
these amazing things.
Was there like an unexpectedbenefit that you gained from
being part of our unique OBMschool community?
Or did something about the OBMaccreditation program impact the
way that like maybe you set upyour business?
(46:04):
I know you mentioned the SOPvault.
So
SPEAKER_02 (46:07):
yeah, for me, it was the vault.
A lot of things were that Ialready did for years.
But you know them, but puttingthem down on paper is a
different thing.
So yeah, It's the structure thatcomes with it where, you know,
okay, I can do this.
I can do this.
I can do this.
But, you know, getting thistogether and actually articulate
(46:30):
it as well.
What are you doing?
That definitely helped.
That was one thing.
And definitely, you know, thesales part and the marketing
part.
SPEAKER_00 (46:39):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (46:40):
That was, you know, I'm always saying I'm a
strategist.
I'm a doer in business.
parts you know where I havefinance and operations but
definitely not in marketing andsales and that changed a lot for
me also to market myself youknow to to lounge and you can
even you know yeah some peopledo it in your way exactly
(47:03):
exactly so you know you don'tneed to do this exactly how it
is there do it in your way and Ithink that is where I can see
people stuck In the program,when they think, oh, I needed to
do it exactly the same way.
No, no, you don't need to.
You do it your way.
That is all guidelines.
(47:25):
And you do it the way thatyou...
Right.
(47:46):
And the other way around.
So it's, you need to adjust thisto your personality, to your
clients, to your environment, toyour team.
Yeah, but you have a base, youhave a base in a structure.
And that was,
SPEAKER_00 (48:00):
yeah, that's what I always, that's what I always
tell people.
I'm like, OBM school is great,because it helps to lessen that
learning curve.
You know, I think for a lot ofus, like we have that natural
tenacity for entrepreneurshipand leadership, and you have a
lot of experience, you werealready on your way building a
beautiful business.
And I think just OBM schoolcomes and it helps with some of
those templates and thestructure and the foundation so
(48:23):
that you can build faster, thatyou can build in a way and have
that feedback from a communityand our mentors and our team and
feedback on projects and thefeedback and accountability as
well.
Well, there's a lot to be saidfor, you know, a swift kick in
the bum to get your businessmoving or to help you get
(48:44):
unstuck from maybe some sort oflimited belief you have around
your mindset, what you can do,what you can't do.
I mean, you have really just, Ithink, shed light on the power
of relationships and leveragingyour corporate leadership and
relationships to connect youwith other people and to create
(49:06):
this wonderful reputation foryourself.
And honestly, Manu, it's justThank you for sharing your
incredible journey with ustoday.
Your story to me is such apowerful reminder that it's
never too late to pivot.
It's never too late to reinventyourself.
It's never too late to buildsomething that not only supports
your livelihood, but absolutelyaligns with your value and your
(49:28):
passion.
And you've done that soamazingly.
And you've set such a greatexample.
And I think there's something somagical about the school.
It's not about me and what I'vedone as an OBM.
It's collectively ourexperiences and how we lead in
these positions.
You know, your experience, youknow, from leading major
organizations to launching, youknow, Breitinger Consulting and
(49:51):
creating absolute impact foryour clients.
Every time I talk to you, you'resharing these amazing,
inspirational, and every time Italk to them, I'm like, oh my
God, that needs to be a casestudy.
Oh my God, you need to take thatscenario, pop it into JBT and
create something beautiful foryour blog.
You know, your dedication tostructure and systems and
(50:11):
finance and just leadership andalso just giving back with the
charities that you work with.
It's really remarkable to me andit's an honor to have you on the
ranks of our accredited OBMs.
And I hope that for anyonelistening or watching today
who's contemplating their nextbig move or wondering if they
can really start over or startseemingly later in life, Okay,
(50:36):
you know, it's uneven.
Your story proves that with theright strategy and support and a
little bit of courage, you canreally do this and you can live
out your dream of having thatwork-life flexibility.
So thank you for sharing with usyour wisdom and encouraging our
listeners and our YouTubeviewers that, you know, if you
(50:57):
can dream it, if you can imagineit, you can really, really make
it happen.
You really have shown that.
So thank you for sharing yourstory today, Manu.
SPEAKER_02 (51:05):
Thank you so much.
Look, I will miss this goalbecause, you know, everyone was
so lovely and you were justamazing and empowering all All
the time as well.
I love your positivity and justyour smile.
SPEAKER_00 (51:17):
Well, you got our alumni community for life.
So we will all stay connected.
And, you know, I hope tocontinue supporting you as you
scale this beautiful agency.
Thank you.
Thank
SPEAKER_02 (51:28):
you so much.
SPEAKER_00 (51:30):
Thank you for tuning in to this very special episode
of The OBM Show.
If Manu's story resonated withyou, if you are at a crossroads
in your career, if you'recraving more purpose in your
work, or if you're wonderingwhether it's too late to start
something new, I hope that youwalk away today feeling deeply
inspired.
Because Manu is living proofthat it's never too late to
(51:54):
rewrite the script and build abusiness that reflects your
values, supports your lifestyle,and creates life lasting impact.
Whether you are just startingout or looking to scale, our OBM
School community is here tosupport you every step of the
way, just like it did for Manu.
If you want to learn more aboutthe OBM accreditation, connect
(52:15):
with fellow accredited OBMs, ordive into more resources like
this one, head over toobmschool.com.
And if you love this episode,please take a moment to
subscribe, leave a review, andshare it with someone who needs
to hear it.
Your Your support helps us reachmore incredible listeners like
you.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep leading with heart, and
(52:37):
keep building the business andlife you deserve.
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