July 22, 2025 • 38 mins
Are you ready to take your business to the next level but feel overwhelmed by the systems, processes, and team structure needed for sustainable growth? In this episode, I sit down with Nicole Powell, CEO of Halcon Marketing Solutions, to discuss the essential steps entrepreneurs must take to build an infrastructure that supports scale without burnout.
In this episode, we cover:
The biggest mistakes business owners make when trying to scale
How to create systems that streamline operations and free up your time
The power of delegation and hiring the right support
The role of marketing and brand positioning in long-term growth
Whether you're just starting or looking to refine your existing business model, Nicole shares actionable strategies that will help you build a foundation for long-term success.
FREE RESOURCE: Ready to reclaim your time and build a business that works for you? Grab my Ultimate Time Audit & Productivity System here camillewalker.co/timeaudit
Nicole's Website: https://www.halconmarketing.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/halconmarketing
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-powell-brand/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/halconmarketing/
Connect with Camille:
- Website: CamilleWalker.co
- Instagram: @camillewalker.co
- More Episodes: Call Me CEO Podcast
- Email: callmeceopodcast@gmail.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nicole (00:00):
The marketing is kind of going to result in whatever it
results in.
But what I want my team toleave with is like man, I loved
working there.
Man, it was a great place towork.
Camille (00:19):
So you want to make an impact.
You're thinking about startinga business, sharing your voice.
How do women do it that handlemotherhood, family and still
chase after those dreams?
We'll listen each week as wedive into the stories of women
who know this is Call Me CEO.
Welcome back everyone to CallMe CEO.
(00:41):
This is your host, CamilleWalker, and I'm so thrilled you
were here.
Here we celebrate mothersbuilding businesses, and there
are so many different kinds andtypes and ways of doing things,
and from the very beginning,when I started my blog, we
called it my mommy style,because everyone has a style of
being a mom.
People thought it was a fashionblog.
It's not, and I feel likethat's kind of what I want to
(01:03):
focus on today, too, is how areyou building a business
according to your style?
What is the thing that you aredoing to build an infrastructure
to make your business work foryou, your motherhood and your
way of doing things?
And so I'm so thrilled becausewe have Nicole Powell on the
today, and she is a speaker, anentrepreneur, a neuromarketer,
(01:27):
and she has been featured in alot of places Disney, espn, fox
networks.
She's been busy, you guys.
She's also a mother of two andshe runs a marketing business
called Halcon MarketingSolutions and also has
fractional CMOs.
So we are going to dive intothis because she has a really
cool story to share, as well ashow she built a sustainable
(01:50):
business her way, and I hopethat you find something within
our conversation that helps youto do it your way.
So, nicole, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
Oh my God, what a fantastic.
Nicole (02:01):
I'm like embarrassed, like, what a fantastic intro.
Thank you so much.
Well, that's you, my friend.
What a fantastic.
I'm like embarrassed, like whata fantastic intro.
Thank you so much.
Well, that's you, my friend.
I know, but I'm still, I stillget that like oh yeah, who is
that?
Camille (02:11):
Oh, that's cool, that's cool.
Nicole (02:12):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
This is a topic, and motherhoodand entrepreneurship is
something I'm so passionateabout, so I'm really looking
forward to this.
Camille (02:25):
Yeah, me too.
Now tell our audience a littlebit more about you, where you
live, how you got intomotherhood and business.
It sounds like you kind of doveinto it in a big way, so take
us through your journey a littlebit.
How did it unfold?
Nicole (02:37):
Sure, so I'm.
I'm currently in St Louis, butI actually am originally from
New York City.
No-transcript.
(03:11):
I was like I'm done, I'mleaving.
This is not for me.
So I started from the literalbottom, like bottom, like
property management, propertydevelopment and you know, I had
to eat my humble pie because I'dbeen working for so long and
all of a sudden I'm like I don'tknow what I'm doing and
everyone's teaching me.
But it was actually the bestexperience of my life because it
(03:34):
exposed me to a differentenvironment, different world.
Just it was awesome and Idecided, hey, I miss marketing,
let me go dabble in someconsulting.
I feel like that's every personwho starts their own business,
this is just going to be a sideproject, a hobby, right?
And then obviously it got a lotbigger.
(03:54):
There were more requests formore things and I decided, okay,
maybe this is it.
Had I ever thought I'd be abusiness owner, that would be a.
No, I never thought this, butit kind of blossomed into me
starting my own business in 2018.
And then Halcon Marketing,which I said, which you
mentioned earlier, and then Ihad my first baby in 2019.
(04:18):
So it was very eventful 2018,2019.
Very eventful 2018, 2019.
And then I had my second childin 2021, and all while growing
this, my third baby.
I actually posted about ittoday, about I made this.
Camille (04:35):
I made this and I also made this.
I have three children.
Isn't that cool that as mothers, we get to be and business
owners.
You really are a creator ofsomething new and watching it
grow and develop, and it reallyis.
It's like having another baby.
Nicole (04:49):
Yeah, it is.
It is, and it comes with thegood and the bad, does it not?
But you still love it anyway.
Camille (04:56):
Yeah, Tell me I want to hear a little bit more about.
I love that it startedorganically for you, where you
stripped yourself of thatexpectation of like oh, this is,
I'm in this marketing corporateworld, I'm climbing this ladder
, obviously like a huge, huge,successful career, taking a beat
and then coming back to it inan organic like oh wait, maybe I
(05:19):
did like that.
Like, tell me how that happenedfor you, Because I feel like a
lot of times we can sometimeslose sight of the joy, of the
reason why we were attracted tosomething in the first place,
and that's when we circle backto it we're like wait, I'm
actually kind of good at thisand I actually kind of like it.
So tell me, take me throughthat.
Nicole (05:38):
So when I left the marketing world, or made that
adjustment, I started thisproperty management agency and
obviously they caught wind thatI had all this marketing
experience.
So then they decided to ask mehey, we're opening up a new
development, can you help uswith some marketing?
So this was different from mycurrent job description.
(06:00):
I was like sure I'd love tohelp and in that experience it
really exposed me to differentkinds of businesses.
Because was like sure I'd loveto help and in that experience
it really exposed me todifferent kinds of businesses.
Because, as you can imagine,working in the corporate side of
marketing you're dealing withthe bigger national names, right
, but in this capacity I waswith small businesses like
families, you know local.
Third, you know local companiesthat were started, you know, by
(06:24):
their grandparents, likesomething super small, and then
that mixed in with just atotally different environment of
like a total group dynamic, Iwas like really happy to go to
work, I love the people I wasaround.
It was relatively like lowstress.
And then that's when it kind ofregistered in my head where it
(06:45):
was like it wasn't necessarilythe marketing, the thing itself
that I didn't want to do.
I think I was just doing it inenvironments that I didn't
particularly thrive in or likeright.
So that realization is actuallysomething that I devote a lot of
(07:06):
my time to in my currentcompany is to create that
environment that I always wantedat every place, like, granted,
I don't want to shoot down anyother previous places I've been,
there's been a lot of greatplaces but a lot of not so great
places.
So I kind of took all thoselearnings and said the marketing
is kind of going to result inwhatever it results in, but what
(07:28):
I want my team to leave with islike man, I loved working there
, man, it was a great place towork and it worked, meaning like
we had results.
So that's kind of what I pulledfrom that experience.
Like, hey, when I start thisnew business, I want the culture
, I want the environment tofoster creativity, versus really
taking creativity becauseyou're so burnt out and you're
(07:51):
just like sick of traveling andall the negativity around you,
right?
So that was like how Itransitioned and made that
decision.
That man, I really likemarketing.
It just it wasn't the marketingthat was off, it was just the
environment I was in.
Camille (08:05):
So change the environment right.
That is such good insight, andI feel like that's actually
something that comes up a lot incoaching is a lot of times that
focuses on how much money do Iwant to make or what's the end
goal for where do I want to bein one year, five years?
And I really tried to peel thelayers back and say, but how do
you want to feel today?
And how do you want to feeltoday, and how do you want to
feel in a week?
And what do you want to lookback and say my business feels
(08:26):
like this and my life feels likethis.
And I think that's where thereal magic comes, because then
you're really touching base withthat environment and that way,
the way that you feel and theway you show up, and that's
where the best creativity isgoing to come from, especially
in your field.
Nicole (08:45):
And that's where the best creativity is going to come
from, especially in your field.
Yeah, you hit the nail on thehead, that's.
I think we feel powerless a lotof times, like this is these
are the cards I'm dealt, butit's not like you have.
You have every tool.
You have the power to changeyour environment, right?
It's all about how you thinkabout it and taking the action.
Camille (09:04):
I love that.
Okay, so we were talkingpreviously before we pressed
record and you had mentionedthat a huge scale for you and
success has been able now tobuild a business that you can be
with your children and spendingthat time with your children,
but you really needed to buildan infrastructure and systems
around making that possible.
And infrastructure and systemsaround making that possible.
(09:24):
Could you share with us how youdid that, because I feel like
that is key again to creatingthat environment with your life
so that you can have thatsuccess on both sides,
absolutely so.
Nicole (09:38):
I think I mentioned earlier, I started the business
in 2018, got pregnant and had mychild in 2019.
So there was no real transitionperiod between Nicole, the
go-getter, who wants to havethis great business, to there's
this huge life change.
Now, what do I do?
So I was, I'll be honest,everyone.
(09:59):
I was not prepared andsometimes I still feel like I'm
still kind of figuring it out.
Camille (10:04):
Can you ever really be Motherhood kind of takes you
where it takes you.
Nicole (10:07):
I'm way better now than I was.
So it was so difficult to calmthose inner kind of voices that
said you should be making more,you should be doing this.
You started your business, likewhat are you doing?
What's going on?
I really had to shift mymindset and really understand my
priorities, like, yes, I'mfully devoted to my business,
(10:29):
but I also want to take care ofmy kids.
Part of the quote unquotetraditional work week Right.
So I started out part time likeone.
After the maternity leave stuff, I was only working three days
a week and then spending twodays with my sons, and a huge
part of that, honestly,obviously initially I had to
(10:50):
generate some revenue to help meout, but was getting that
support system to help me buildthat infrastructure.
So one thing that I really now,in hindsight, benefited from was
that time that I couldn't takeon 50,000 clients because I had
the bandwidth and the focus tosay, okay, I theoretically can't
(11:12):
add more to my plate right nowbecause my goal is to be also
with my kids.
So what do I need to do to setmyself up to scale?
So, creating the processes thatI need right, making sure that
my tools, the software that Iuse, fit how I think, which is
(11:32):
huge, and we're very lucky thesedays that we have all of these
opportunities.
But also, I had to know whatand fully accept what I don't
know, right.
So I was spending all this timedoing my bookkeeping, doing
this, and I wasn't necessarilyspending my time where it needed
to be in order for me to buildthe infrastructure and also keep
getting clients.
So I decided, hey, there'salways that initial fear where,
(11:55):
like, well, what if I don't makethe money to be able to pay for
this person?
But you really have to thinkabout, well, am I doing the
things in my workday that allowme to make the money?
So, like, how do you make thatchoice right?
So I hired first, you know, abookkeeper, like an accounting
person.
And then the next person Ihonestly hired was a virtual
(12:17):
assistant who helped me with I'ma very creative mind and the
operations, the SOP, oh my gosh,I was like no, no, even like
the meeting stuff or court.
I was like no, please help meScheduling email it yeah,
totally it was so hard and so Ihired a VA and that was actually
(12:40):
a game changer for me.
So she's no longer with me.
She's.
She's gone and become a motherand changed her trajectory as
well.
But that initial time framegetting the support that I
needed so I could remember thatmy goal is to make sure that
this is a stable business, rightwhen environment is key, where
(13:03):
I have the support systems formy team in order to help them be
creative versus like boggingthem down with admin work but
also making sure that I have thetime to be with my kids.
That was really beneficial tome growing this business.
If I didn't take that time thenand also didn't have that goal
of having two days with my kids,I think I would have gone full
(13:25):
steam ahead and not taken thattime to think about all the
other things that are so crucialto having a successful business
.
Camille (13:32):
Yes, I love that you put in the scale of success
being that boundary of.
I want these two days to besacred and blocked off, that
it's just me and my kids, andthen I can use this other time
to use my time to the best of myability, and that's something
that I talk with people aboutall the time is that
(13:53):
entrepreneurs, we tend to bemore the big thinking, the
creative.
We also are distracted.
We have squirrel moments wherewe're like, oh, look at that
shiny thing or this or that orwhatever.
You need someone, a virtualassistant on your team who helps
you stay in line, who helps you, where you can bounce your
creative ideas off of.
(14:13):
And even if they're just like,oh yeah, that sounds cool, like
it's so nice to have someonelike that, that's like on your
team but also sees the structureof it of like OK, but that
means we need to set up thiscalendaring system.
That means that we need torespond to these emails this way
.
This means that we need towhatever, whatever those things
are, and so I love that you setthat up and knowing I need to
(14:34):
create space and support forthis, which is what I help
people do, so that you can havethe bandwidth to do the
money-making activities, becausethat's not something everyone
can do.
So really defining and decidingwhat that is is so helpful.
Nicole (14:50):
So, camille, to add to that, this is a funny story.
So I call my virtual assistant,erin.
Shout out to Erin, she'sfantastic.
Camille (14:58):
Yes, Erin.
Nicole (14:59):
Yeah, I call her my boss .
I, I know, I know when I'moverwhelmed, right, I know that.
So there's certain months whereI felt like I put I overwhelmed
myself, so I actually will tellher if I do.
If I do three events per week,I get too overwhelmed, blah,
(15:21):
blah, blah, blah.
But I'm also that person who'slike sure I'll go, sure, sure.
So I literally have her veteverything for me and then she
pokes me and says hey, rememberwhen you told me that you
shouldn't be doing this, thatand the other, because you feel
like you're irritable and thenyou get mad at your kids for no
reason.
True story.
Um, yeah, this is that time.
(15:43):
So, no, you're not doing that.
So there's that.
It's so funny because we're thebosses of our business, but
like we need somebody to hold usaccountable.
And I found that my VA hasalways been the one to hold me
accountable and say like hey,remember when you said this?
Like you're not listening toyourself.
(16:04):
So, I'm going to control whatyou need.
Camille (16:08):
Well, that's so smart that you had the foresight to
say that and say hey, I need youto be this person.
I feel like my husband is thatperson for me, but I don't
always want to hear it from him,so it's nice to have another
person that's not your partnerto be like.
Hey, I can see the full scopeof your calendar here.
Remember, this is a boundarythat you put in place and I'm
(16:31):
here to help you keep it.
So that's brilliant.
Nicole (16:33):
Yeah, boundaries are for for lots of folks, but
especially for entrepreneurs, isso crucial.
Camille (16:39):
Yes, cause you could be working night and day all the
time.
There's always something thatcan be done.
So to put that into perspective, of these are my hard stops,
and this is a safeguard.
That's actually brilliant.
Yes, so tell me a little bitmore.
Where you said you put someinfrastructure in place, can you
(16:59):
get a little more nitty grittywith me?
What, what does that mean Like?
What programs do you like?
What systems did you use?
Not that it'll apply toeveryone, but maybe people can
glean some ideas that work forthem.
Nicole (17:12):
So ultimately I felt when I was doing a lot of things
manually so I think I'm fromthe era of like everything's a
Microsoft document oreverything's via email and all
of those things and then I justwasn't fully aware of all of the
things that have been inventedto help me with my work, right?
(17:34):
So whether that's contract,there's contracts, and then
ensuring things are contractsare automatically sent, signed,
filed, and then you haveonboarding documents getting
sent out.
You know billing, like how todo auto billing, and all of
those things that if I was sofocused on just getting the
(17:54):
client, getting the client,getting the client, it would
actually be sucking my time todo all of those things manually
and do the research to figureout what processes work.
And then also, a huge thingthat has really helped me is
like organization.
You know I obviously deal withclients.
We have a lot of creative filesall of that, like how do I keep
(18:15):
those organized?
So it's not just I understandit, but if I have someone from
my team who I eventually willwant to hire also understands it
.
And the thing about process andoperations and all of those
things.
It's never static, right, it'scontinuously evolving.
But if you start from zero andthen you start bringing in all
(18:38):
of these folks and it's just acomplete mess and it actually
goes against that environment,that positive environment that
I'm trying to foster, ifeveryone's like I don't know
what I'm doing and then I don'tcan't find anything.
So those were like theinfrastructure things that were
really important to me.
And also, when I initiallystarted, I had a lot of
(18:58):
freelancers and all of thatstuff, you know, making sure
that they had the tools thatthey need, that they had.
You know, we use ClickUp now.
Clickup is huge and this I'llbe honest with you I did not
start off with ClickUp.
Someone on my team actually waslike, hey, I think we need this
, but if I could turn back time,any sort of project management
(19:18):
tool was really helpful, but ifI didn't have that time to
really hone in on finding out,like, what works, what doesn't
work, for me it would have beena complete, utter disaster as I
tried to scale Right.
Camille (19:33):
Yeah, so you like ClickUp.
Who do you like to use forcontracts?
Nicole (19:37):
For, like, sending it out.
So I actually use Adobe.
I use Adobe for all of mycontracts, so our contracts are
pretty customized, so there'salways a ton of changes.
But when I first started, Iused HoneyBook because I didn't
have a ton of packages right, itwas just me myself and I.
So I used HoneyBook.
I uploaded all the contracts onthere.
(19:58):
They do invoicing as well.
Obviously, as I got bigger andI had like an account, we do use
QuickBooks, but QuickBooks doesa lot of automations and all of
that streamlining.
What else?
I use Slack now I don't know ifeveryone's familiar with Slack
just to have those funconversations, but also business
conversations.
Gmail obviously we all loveGmail, yeah, so that's pretty
(20:23):
much, I think, everything that Iuse.
Camille (20:28):
Are you drowning in your to-do list, stuck in the
day-to-day tasks that keep youfrom scaling your business?
You didn't start your dream tobe buried in busy work.
You started it to make animpact.
That's why I am here to helpyou find how the truth and the
beauty of delegation will helpyou to reach those goals much
more quickly.
I am offering a free discoverycall to help you identify
(20:51):
exactly what you need to do andhow to find the right virtual
assistant, which are actually.
I have many graduates from mycourse 60 Days to VA who are
masters in many, many differentskill sets, so that you can find
the right virtual assistant foryou and you're able to be the
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Imagine focusing on what you dobest while a skilled VA handles
(21:15):
the rest.
It's time to ditch theoverwhelm and step into your
next level of success, and youcan book your free call below at
camillewalkerco.
We can build your dreambusiness together.
Do you like?
How?
Who do you?
What do you use for collectingpayments?
Do you use Stripe?
Do you use like what's your?
So we go through QuickBooks, oh, through QuickBooks.
Nicole (21:37):
Yeah, so we do everything through QuickBooks
and I think a huge part of it isbecause my that stuff makes me
nervous.
So, like my, my accountantbranch I mean financial
strategist, who was the one Imentioned she's still with me
six, seven years later.
That's like her preference.
I was like okay, let's run withthat.
Camille (21:57):
That makes sense.
I mean we use QuickBooks forfinalizing and doing all the
contract payments, like towardthe end of the year, but I don't
use that for collectingpayments.
Nicole (22:05):
I use a different thing.
Camille (22:07):
So that's really cool.
I didn't know that had a systemwithin it.
I'll have to look into that.
Yeah, it's great they do allthe things.
That's really helpful.
Okay, so we're talking a littlebit about infrastructure for
the business.
Now, is there anything on themotherhood side that you've
figured out, systems and ways ofdoing things that make your
life a bit easier on that side?
Nicole (22:27):
Yes, so obviously daycare is the clutch.
Camille (22:31):
Yes, Having that help Cool.
Nicole (22:33):
Shout out to daycare, um , but also again setting those
boundaries.
So I struggle with, I struggledwith this, um.
I sometimes I struggle it withit now, but I have a planner and
I end my day at that time and Iknow if my kids are there I
cannot be trying to multitaskwhile they're there.
(22:55):
So setting that boundary formyself.
Also, having a steady stream ofbabysitters on call is also
very, very valuable to me.
Babysitters on call is alsovery, very valuable to me.
But at that time, when I wasworking three days and then
being with my kids for those twodays, I really created kind of
like a system with my internalteam to know like you should,
(23:19):
you can only contact me on thosetwo days if it's absolutely
urgent and you contact me viatext Like I'm not going to check
.
If you text me, I know, oh mygosh, like this is the thing,
there's a fire, yeah.
But it's also communicatingthat because I also had to be
self-aware about my personalityand how I know I'm going to.
(23:43):
If I get an email, I'm going todrop it and say, okay, over,
drop what I'm doing and saywhat's going on, what's going on
.
I know that about myself, so Ihad to communicate that to the
folks that were on my team andworking with me and say, okay,
like these are, uh, these arethe circumstances where you need
to reach out to me, but pleasewait until Tuesday.
(24:04):
So another thing is I updatedmy email signature to say, like
what my in-office days were toallow, to make sure clients
understood that.
So it's not just internalboundaries, but I think there's
this thought that you know, ifyou're a service-based business
like there's no such thing asboundaries, like you know you're
(24:26):
getting paid, so the client,you know whenever the client
reaches out, that's it.
And I really don't believe that.
Like, I really do think thereare a ton of wonderful clients,
especially if you're a mom.
You know I have a lot of momclients who are mothers, who
understand, you know theboundary setting and if a kid is
sick, please don't expect thisperson to be able to like do
(24:49):
everything at the drop of a hat.
So making sure that clients arefully aware of my own
boundaries and the days and thetimes that I work and setting
that out of office, so those arethe little things that I do
with the business that ensurethat I am actually with my kids
and not distracted.
Camille (25:08):
That's brilliant.
Those are all such good tips,nicole.
I would love to hear, becauseof the work you do marketing, oh
my gosh.
I feel like if there's onething that people need help with
the most in their businesses,marketing is top of the list.
I know it is for me, and whereyou're specifically working with
people on the neuro side ofmarketing and like what's
(25:28):
actually working right now, whatis advice that you could give
to business owners right now formarketing that is really
profitable in terms of time formoney?
Nicole (25:40):
So I think the biggest thing that people do.
I'm going to start with amistake first.
Okay, cool.
I think the biggest thing that Isee.
Well, two things, sorry.
So the first thing I see that alot of businesses do is that
they think they know what theirbrand is because it's in their
head and if someone asks them,they can say it.
(26:03):
Right?
So they think I have a brand, Ihave brand strategy because I
know and I have a logo and Iknow that my business is this
and I know my target consumer isthis.
So that's it, I'm done, right?
Well, if it's all in your headand it's not, we all know that
if we write stuff down, it justcements it even more and it
makes more sense and we tend tosee some contradictions and some
(26:26):
things that we want to change,right?
So if you go into any sort ofmarketing thinking that you know
your audience and you know yourmessage all because it's in
your brain, or you did somethingquickly in 30 minutes, that's a
first mistake, right?
So a huge part of what I wantpeople to realize is there's so
(26:47):
much noise.
I mean you hear it all the time.
You look at your own habitswhen you're scrolling, how many
ads you get all the peopletrying to talk to you.
You cannot reach your targetclient or your target customer
just by saying what everyoneelse is saying.
So whatever you think is inyour head is probably what
(27:08):
everyone else is saying that'sin your industry, right?
So you need to take a step backand really refine that brand
strategy.
Like what, beyond thesuperficial need of your target
audience, what else is in theirhead?
Like, what do they need?
What are their fears, what aretheir challenges?
(27:44):
You need to really dive deepand know your audience better
than they know themselves foryour marketing to work.
Because there, my ideal customer, I'm probably going to say I
paint houses, this is my pricebefore and after shots, right?
So what I'm saying there,that's the superficial level,
(28:05):
right.
Right?
So what I'm saying there,that's the superficial level,
right.
So now you got to dig deeper.
In order for your marketing tobeat out other people, you need
to understand like, ok, well,that's great and all, but what
else does my customer actuallyneed?
But they might not say.
They might say they're a friend.
They might say to their theirspouse, could it be the trust
issue?
(28:25):
Could it be the timelinessissue?
Could it be this and the other?
That might mean more to yourcustomer than what the room
actually looks like at the endof the day, or how much it costs
, right, and where's your area.
So I went off on a tangent there.
But that's like the firstmistake and the second mistake
is bringing all of that intoevery touchpoint.
(28:47):
So social media, websitesignage, anything, podcast,
whatever, anything.
I think most folks stop at oneplace and in order for people to
really absorb and understandyour brand, it needs to
infiltrate everything thing,every ounce of every touch point
(29:11):
that is going to be directed orgiven to your target.
It has to be all over the placein order for your brain to
really remember it one and alsomake those associations between
the traits you want in yourbusiness.
That was a long answer.
Camille (29:27):
No, that's good insight , because I think it's peeling
back what we think we know.
And then also, but what doesthat mean on a deeper level?
That takes a lot of.
I think that takes someonereally great like you to be like
, oh, but what about this, andwhat about this and what about
this?
It's a lot of like why, why,why, why?
Why?
Questioning, which takes work.
I know I've done that a fewtimes and I'm still like I could
(29:48):
refine it more.
You know what I mean, so Ithink that's great.
And then, on the other side ofit, to put it everywhere, I
think one thing that is easy forme to get lost in is thinking
I've said it enough and alsoassuming that people see
everything that you doeverywhere and they don't.
And so it's just thatconsistency.
And if you struggle with thatconsistency, to hire someone to
(30:10):
help with that consistency,because I think that that energy
expenditure or someone to helpwith that consistency, because I
think that that energyexpenditure or that decision
fatigue is so real where we'relike, oh, but I've already done
this, I've already put it there,I've already said this this
many times it doesn't matter,it's like getting someone else
in there that helps it beautomated so you don't have to
think about every single timeyou're doing it.
Would you agree with that?
Nicole (30:31):
I absolutely agree and I think we just have to look at
marketing our businesses likeany relationship with a human
right.
So I'm not going toautomatically trust a person I
just met, right, we're going tohave to hang out a little bit
more.
We're going to have to get toknow each other a little bit
more.
It's not going to beinstantaneous, right.
(30:51):
Or if I hire someone to babysitmy kids, I'm going to want to
see references, I'm going towant to see credentials, right.
So it's the same thing withyour business.
If you're only saying whyyou're awesome one time, one
place and not saying the samething over and over, you're not
building that relationship andthat trust.
So I think a lot of folks likeseparate the two, like what we
(31:15):
do in our personal lives andthen what we should be doing in
our business.
But you got to look at everybusiness relationship in the
same way that you do yourpersonal life, like what do you
expect from people when youfinally trust them?
That's what you should bedelivering to your audience as a
business.
Camille (31:33):
What would be an effective strategy?
A lot of people listening haveonline businesses.
I'm not going to assumeeveryone does, that's not true,
but for an online businessthere's a lot of places to be
and to show up and to feel likeyou need to be all the places.
What would your advice be tothem, where they're like well, I
want to do it, but I can't doeverything.
Sure, it would be good advicefor them.
Nicole (31:56):
Sure.
So if you're an establishedbusiness and you're already out
there, so you're already, youhave a website, you have all of
those things.
The first thing you need to dois find out where people
actually are and what channelsyou're currently getting revenue
from.
So, for example, if I look atmy website traffic and I see
(32:18):
that I'm on Google and I'm alsoon a billboard, and then I'm
also on all of these otherthings or social media Instagram
, facebook but then I'm seeingthat, hey, like, people are
actually going to me via thischannel versus this channel,
then you know like, hey, I'mgetting a pretty decent return
(32:39):
and people are converting fromthis channel.
Let me focus on that a littlebit more.
I think it's reallyunderstanding your data and your
current metrics to see whereyour customers are coming from,
because ultimately, that's wherethey are, that's where they
live.
For example, I am not on TikTok.
I know TikTok's all the rage,but I am not Because I feel like
(33:01):
my target customer isn't there,right?
And then secondly, so what'sthat kind of happens?
You need to.
If you're doing your ownmarketing, like you also need to
be mindful of your bandwidth.
It is way better to domarketing very well than to be
everywhere and it's, you know,lackluster.
(33:21):
It doesn't have a message,right?
So if you're doing marketingyourself, if you are posting for
your own socials and there'slots of noise of people telling
you what to do, where to be,what to do, if you cannot do it
well, you need to take that stepback, look at what's actually
creating money for you andcreating revenue for you and be
(33:42):
in those places, because,remember, we're focusing on the
places.
That's driving revenue, right.
So we should not be at placeswhere it's just kind of noise
for people.
Camille (33:59):
That's good advice, and I think it also is one of those
things to make it a metricdecision instead of an emotional
one, which, again, I think it'sreally nice to have someone
like you to kind of take a stepback, like that larger
perspective, because as businessowners, I think we can get very
emotionally wrapped up in ourown perspectives and maybe you
need that outside perspective ofhey, but look, this is where
these clients came from, or look, this is where these sales of
(34:19):
your product happened.
Let's double down there and notworry about the other place
that maybe everyone says youshould do, but that's not
actually what's turning the tidefor you.
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, this has been fantastic,fantastic information.
I have two questions that I askall of my guests, and then, on
(34:41):
top of that, I'm going to askwhere people should go to find
you.
So let's start with the first.
I ask everyone that comes on myshow what are you reading,
watching or listening to?
And you can answer one for eachor just pick one whichever of
those.
And then the next is amotherhood moment that you would
want to share.
Nicole (35:01):
Sure.
So the first one is I amcurrently trying to watch season
one of the Last of Us inanticipation for season two.
My husband's already watchedall of season one.
When does it come out, is it?
Camille (35:19):
in the summer.
I thought it was end of April?
Nicole (35:21):
No Okay.
Camille (35:25):
It's a zombie show, you guys.
Oh my God, it's crazy.
It's good, but it's crazy.
I watched that in Australia.
I was flying from Australia toAmerica and my son was 16 at the
time.
He's like, mom, let's watchthis together.
And I'm like, oh, but he's likeit'd be so fun.
And it actually was such a funmemory to watch that with him.
Nicole (35:39):
It gets kind of gory, but it's like I love zombie show
.
So, yeah, yeah, you're myspirit animal.
I just literally just watchedit, bawled my eyes out on
another zombie movie, like lastweek.
Yes, oh, my God, like, why areyou crying?
It's a zombie movie, I'm like.
No, but it's actually a reallygood plot.
Yeah, so I'm trying to catch up.
And then a motherhood moment.
(36:00):
Actually yesterday, I guess, myson's my five-year-old.
He's very into baseball and itwas like his first game of the
season and I remember his firstgame last year and he was just
scr, first game of the season.
And I remember his first gamelast year and he was just
scrambling, didn't, couldn't hit.
And now he's just in just thisin a year he's doing super well
(36:21):
and I guess it just reminded me.
One, you know life happens sofast.
And two, you know, if you keepworking at it, if you keep
practicing, it's a nice reminderlike you'll get there, you know
you'll see that achievement.
Camille (36:35):
Oh, I love that.
Oh it goes so fast, you guys,and it's so.
It is so sweet to see your kidsto grow and develop and also to
see them struggle and overcomeand build resiliency, and sports
is a very in youryour-face wayof seeing that, literally from
the sidelines.
So, yeah, that's oh, I lovethat.
And then for our audience thatloves you already at this point,
(36:58):
obviously, and wants to findyou online or talk to you more
about your services, where canthey find you?
Nicole (37:06):
Sure, so they can find us at Halcon Marketing
H-A-L-C-O-N marketingcom and onInstagram.
I'll just give everyone myInstagram at Nicole Powell Brand
.
Camille (37:19):
Okay, perfect.
Well, this has been wonderfulto have you on the show.
Thank you so much, thank you.
Kavila, it's been so fun.
All right, well, everyone,thank you for tuning in.
If you found this helpful,please subscribe, give us a
rating and tell other peopleabout the show.
Any review, any share is a hugehelp to giving women the
inspiration and tools that theyneed to build successful lives,
(37:41):
businesses, and fall in lovewith their style of doing their
business, their way, and if youneed any help with coaching
through that or finding anassistant, I'm here to help you
as well.
You can find me on Instagram atcamillewalkerco and call me CEO
podcast.
Have a great day.
See you next time.
Hey CEOs, thank you so much forspending your time with me.
(38:04):
If you found this episodeinspiring or helpful, please let
me know in a comment and afive-star review.
You could have the chance ofbeing a featured review on an
upcoming episode.
Continue the conversation onInstagram at callmeCEOPodcast,
and remember you are the boss.
The marketing is kind of going to result in whatever it
results in.
But what I want my team toleave with is like man, I loved
working there.
Man, it was a great place towork.
Camille (00:19):
So you want to make an impact.
You're thinking about startinga business, sharing your voice.
How do women do it that handlemotherhood, family and still
chase after those dreams?
We'll listen each week as wedive into the stories of women
who know this is Call Me CEO.
Welcome back everyone to CallMe CEO.
(00:41):
This is your host, CamilleWalker, and I'm so thrilled you
were here.
Here we celebrate mothersbuilding businesses, and there
are so many different kinds andtypes and ways of doing things,
and from the very beginning,when I started my blog, we
called it my mommy style,because everyone has a style of
being a mom.
People thought it was a fashionblog.
It's not, and I feel likethat's kind of what I want to
(01:03):
focus on today, too, is how areyou building a business
according to your style?
What is the thing that you aredoing to build an infrastructure
to make your business work foryou, your motherhood and your
way of doing things?
And so I'm so thrilled becausewe have Nicole Powell on the
today, and she is a speaker, anentrepreneur, a neuromarketer,
(01:27):
and she has been featured in alot of places Disney, espn, fox
networks.
She's been busy, you guys.
She's also a mother of two andshe runs a marketing business
called Halcon MarketingSolutions and also has
fractional CMOs.
So we are going to dive intothis because she has a really
cool story to share, as well ashow she built a sustainable
(01:50):
business her way, and I hopethat you find something within
our conversation that helps youto do it your way.
So, nicole, thank you so muchfor being on the show.
Oh my God, what a fantastic.
Nicole (02:01):
I'm like embarrassed, like, what a fantastic intro.
Thank you so much.
Well, that's you, my friend.
What a fantastic.
I'm like embarrassed, like whata fantastic intro.
Thank you so much.
Well, that's you, my friend.
I know, but I'm still, I stillget that like oh yeah, who is
that?
Camille (02:11):
Oh, that's cool, that's cool.
Nicole (02:12):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here.
This is a topic, and motherhoodand entrepreneurship is
something I'm so passionateabout, so I'm really looking
forward to this.
Camille (02:25):
Yeah, me too.
Now tell our audience a littlebit more about you, where you
live, how you got intomotherhood and business.
It sounds like you kind of doveinto it in a big way, so take
us through your journey a littlebit.
How did it unfold?
Nicole (02:37):
Sure, so I'm.
I'm currently in St Louis, butI actually am originally from
New York City.
No-transcript.
(03:11):
I was like I'm done, I'mleaving.
This is not for me.
So I started from the literalbottom, like bottom, like
property management, propertydevelopment and you know, I had
to eat my humble pie because I'dbeen working for so long and
all of a sudden I'm like I don'tknow what I'm doing and
everyone's teaching me.
But it was actually the bestexperience of my life because it
(03:34):
exposed me to a differentenvironment, different world.
Just it was awesome and Idecided, hey, I miss marketing,
let me go dabble in someconsulting.
I feel like that's every personwho starts their own business,
this is just going to be a sideproject, a hobby, right?
And then obviously it got a lotbigger.
(03:54):
There were more requests formore things and I decided, okay,
maybe this is it.
Had I ever thought I'd be abusiness owner, that would be a.
No, I never thought this, butit kind of blossomed into me
starting my own business in 2018.
And then Halcon Marketing,which I said, which you
mentioned earlier, and then Ihad my first baby in 2019.
(04:18):
So it was very eventful 2018,2019.
Very eventful 2018, 2019.
And then I had my second childin 2021, and all while growing
this, my third baby.
I actually posted about ittoday, about I made this.
Camille (04:35):
I made this and I also made this.
I have three children.
Isn't that cool that as mothers, we get to be and business
owners.
You really are a creator ofsomething new and watching it
grow and develop, and it reallyis.
It's like having another baby.
Nicole (04:49):
Yeah, it is.
It is, and it comes with thegood and the bad, does it not?
But you still love it anyway.
Camille (04:56):
Yeah, Tell me I want to hear a little bit more about.
I love that it startedorganically for you, where you
stripped yourself of thatexpectation of like oh, this is,
I'm in this marketing corporateworld, I'm climbing this ladder
, obviously like a huge, huge,successful career, taking a beat
and then coming back to it inan organic like oh wait, maybe I
(05:19):
did like that.
Like, tell me how that happenedfor you, Because I feel like a
lot of times we can sometimeslose sight of the joy, of the
reason why we were attracted tosomething in the first place,
and that's when we circle backto it we're like wait, I'm
actually kind of good at thisand I actually kind of like it.
So tell me, take me throughthat.
Nicole (05:38):
So when I left the marketing world, or made that
adjustment, I started thisproperty management agency and
obviously they caught wind thatI had all this marketing
experience.
So then they decided to ask mehey, we're opening up a new
development, can you help uswith some marketing?
So this was different from mycurrent job description.
(06:00):
I was like sure I'd love tohelp and in that experience it
really exposed me to differentkinds of businesses.
Because was like sure I'd loveto help and in that experience
it really exposed me todifferent kinds of businesses.
Because, as you can imagine,working in the corporate side of
marketing you're dealing withthe bigger national names, right
, but in this capacity I waswith small businesses like
families, you know local.
Third, you know local companiesthat were started, you know, by
(06:24):
their grandparents, likesomething super small, and then
that mixed in with just atotally different environment of
like a total group dynamic, Iwas like really happy to go to
work, I love the people I wasaround.
It was relatively like lowstress.
And then that's when it kind ofregistered in my head where it
(06:45):
was like it wasn't necessarilythe marketing, the thing itself
that I didn't want to do.
I think I was just doing it inenvironments that I didn't
particularly thrive in or likeright.
So that realization is actuallysomething that I devote a lot of
(07:06):
my time to in my currentcompany is to create that
environment that I always wantedat every place, like, granted,
I don't want to shoot down anyother previous places I've been,
there's been a lot of greatplaces but a lot of not so great
places.
So I kind of took all thoselearnings and said the marketing
is kind of going to result inwhatever it results in, but what
(07:28):
I want my team to leave with islike man, I loved working there
, man, it was a great place towork and it worked, meaning like
we had results.
So that's kind of what I pulledfrom that experience.
Like, hey, when I start thisnew business, I want the culture
, I want the environment tofoster creativity, versus really
taking creativity becauseyou're so burnt out and you're
(07:51):
just like sick of traveling andall the negativity around you,
right?
So that was like how Itransitioned and made that
decision.
That man, I really likemarketing.
It just it wasn't the marketingthat was off, it was just the
environment I was in.
Camille (08:05):
So change the environment right.
That is such good insight, andI feel like that's actually
something that comes up a lot incoaching is a lot of times that
focuses on how much money do Iwant to make or what's the end
goal for where do I want to bein one year, five years?
And I really tried to peel thelayers back and say, but how do
you want to feel today?
And how do you want to feeltoday, and how do you want to
feel in a week?
And what do you want to lookback and say my business feels
(08:26):
like this and my life feels likethis.
And I think that's where thereal magic comes, because then
you're really touching base withthat environment and that way,
the way that you feel and theway you show up, and that's
where the best creativity isgoing to come from, especially
in your field.
Nicole (08:45):
And that's where the best creativity is going to come
from, especially in your field.
Yeah, you hit the nail on thehead, that's.
I think we feel powerless a lotof times, like this is these
are the cards I'm dealt, butit's not like you have.
You have every tool.
You have the power to changeyour environment, right?
It's all about how you thinkabout it and taking the action.
Camille (09:04):
I love that.
Okay, so we were talkingpreviously before we pressed
record and you had mentionedthat a huge scale for you and
success has been able now tobuild a business that you can be
with your children and spendingthat time with your children,
but you really needed to buildan infrastructure and systems
around making that possible.
And infrastructure and systemsaround making that possible.
(09:24):
Could you share with us how youdid that, because I feel like
that is key again to creatingthat environment with your life
so that you can have thatsuccess on both sides,
absolutely so.
Nicole (09:38):
I think I mentioned earlier, I started the business
in 2018, got pregnant and had mychild in 2019.
So there was no real transitionperiod between Nicole, the
go-getter, who wants to havethis great business, to there's
this huge life change.
Now, what do I do?
So I was, I'll be honest,everyone.
(09:59):
I was not prepared andsometimes I still feel like I'm
still kind of figuring it out.
Camille (10:04):
Can you ever really be Motherhood kind of takes you
where it takes you.
Nicole (10:07):
I'm way better now than I was.
So it was so difficult to calmthose inner kind of voices that
said you should be making more,you should be doing this.
You started your business, likewhat are you doing?
What's going on?
I really had to shift mymindset and really understand my
priorities, like, yes, I'mfully devoted to my business,
(10:29):
but I also want to take care ofmy kids.
Part of the quote unquotetraditional work week Right.
So I started out part time likeone.
After the maternity leave stuff, I was only working three days
a week and then spending twodays with my sons, and a huge
part of that, honestly,obviously initially I had to
(10:50):
generate some revenue to help meout, but was getting that
support system to help me buildthat infrastructure.
So one thing that I really now,in hindsight, benefited from was
that time that I couldn't takeon 50,000 clients because I had
the bandwidth and the focus tosay, okay, I theoretically can't
(11:12):
add more to my plate right nowbecause my goal is to be also
with my kids.
So what do I need to do to setmyself up to scale?
So, creating the processes thatI need right, making sure that
my tools, the software that Iuse, fit how I think, which is
(11:32):
huge, and we're very lucky thesedays that we have all of these
opportunities.
But also, I had to know whatand fully accept what I don't
know, right.
So I was spending all this timedoing my bookkeeping, doing
this, and I wasn't necessarilyspending my time where it needed
to be in order for me to buildthe infrastructure and also keep
getting clients.
So I decided, hey, there'salways that initial fear where,
(11:55):
like, well, what if I don't makethe money to be able to pay for
this person?
But you really have to thinkabout, well, am I doing the
things in my workday that allowme to make the money?
So, like, how do you make thatchoice right?
So I hired first, you know, abookkeeper, like an accounting
person.
And then the next person Ihonestly hired was a virtual
(12:17):
assistant who helped me with I'ma very creative mind and the
operations, the SOP, oh my gosh,I was like no, no, even like
the meeting stuff or court.
I was like no, please help meScheduling email it yeah,
totally it was so hard and so Ihired a VA and that was actually
(12:40):
a game changer for me.
So she's no longer with me.
She's.
She's gone and become a motherand changed her trajectory as
well.
But that initial time framegetting the support that I
needed so I could remember thatmy goal is to make sure that
this is a stable business, rightwhen environment is key, where
(13:03):
I have the support systems formy team in order to help them be
creative versus like boggingthem down with admin work but
also making sure that I have thetime to be with my kids.
That was really beneficial tome growing this business.
If I didn't take that time thenand also didn't have that goal
of having two days with my kids,I think I would have gone full
(13:25):
steam ahead and not taken thattime to think about all the
other things that are so crucialto having a successful business
.
Camille (13:32):
Yes, I love that you put in the scale of success
being that boundary of.
I want these two days to besacred and blocked off, that
it's just me and my kids, andthen I can use this other time
to use my time to the best of myability, and that's something
that I talk with people aboutall the time is that
(13:53):
entrepreneurs, we tend to bemore the big thinking, the
creative.
We also are distracted.
We have squirrel moments wherewe're like, oh, look at that
shiny thing or this or that orwhatever.
You need someone, a virtualassistant on your team who helps
you stay in line, who helps you, where you can bounce your
creative ideas off of.
(14:13):
And even if they're just like,oh yeah, that sounds cool, like
it's so nice to have someonelike that, that's like on your
team but also sees the structureof it of like OK, but that
means we need to set up thiscalendaring system.
That means that we need torespond to these emails this way
.
This means that we need towhatever, whatever those things
are, and so I love that you setthat up and knowing I need to
(14:34):
create space and support forthis, which is what I help
people do, so that you can havethe bandwidth to do the
money-making activities, becausethat's not something everyone
can do.
So really defining and decidingwhat that is is so helpful.
Nicole (14:50):
So, camille, to add to that, this is a funny story.
So I call my virtual assistant,erin.
Shout out to Erin, she'sfantastic.
Camille (14:58):
Yes, Erin.
Nicole (14:59):
Yeah, I call her my boss .
I, I know, I know when I'moverwhelmed, right, I know that.
So there's certain months whereI felt like I put I overwhelmed
myself, so I actually will tellher if I do.
If I do three events per week,I get too overwhelmed, blah,
(15:21):
blah, blah, blah.
But I'm also that person who'slike sure I'll go, sure, sure.
So I literally have her veteverything for me and then she
pokes me and says hey, rememberwhen you told me that you
shouldn't be doing this, thatand the other, because you feel
like you're irritable and thenyou get mad at your kids for no
reason.
True story.
Um, yeah, this is that time.
(15:43):
So, no, you're not doing that.
So there's that.
It's so funny because we're thebosses of our business, but
like we need somebody to hold usaccountable.
And I found that my VA hasalways been the one to hold me
accountable and say like hey,remember when you said this?
Like you're not listening toyourself.
(16:04):
So, I'm going to control whatyou need.
Camille (16:08):
Well, that's so smart that you had the foresight to
say that and say hey, I need youto be this person.
I feel like my husband is thatperson for me, but I don't
always want to hear it from him,so it's nice to have another
person that's not your partnerto be like.
Hey, I can see the full scopeof your calendar here.
Remember, this is a boundarythat you put in place and I'm
(16:31):
here to help you keep it.
So that's brilliant.
Nicole (16:33):
Yeah, boundaries are for for lots of folks, but
especially for entrepreneurs, isso crucial.
Camille (16:39):
Yes, cause you could be working night and day all the
time.
There's always something thatcan be done.
So to put that into perspective, of these are my hard stops,
and this is a safeguard.
That's actually brilliant.
Yes, so tell me a little bitmore.
Where you said you put someinfrastructure in place, can you
(16:59):
get a little more nitty grittywith me?
What, what does that mean Like?
What programs do you like?
What systems did you use?
Not that it'll apply toeveryone, but maybe people can
glean some ideas that work forthem.
Nicole (17:12):
So ultimately I felt when I was doing a lot of things
manually so I think I'm fromthe era of like everything's a
Microsoft document oreverything's via email and all
of those things and then I justwasn't fully aware of all of the
things that have been inventedto help me with my work, right?
(17:34):
So whether that's contract,there's contracts, and then
ensuring things are contractsare automatically sent, signed,
filed, and then you haveonboarding documents getting
sent out.
You know billing, like how todo auto billing, and all of
those things that if I was sofocused on just getting the
(17:54):
client, getting the client,getting the client, it would
actually be sucking my time todo all of those things manually
and do the research to figureout what processes work.
And then also, a huge thingthat has really helped me is
like organization.
You know I obviously deal withclients.
We have a lot of creative filesall of that, like how do I keep
(18:15):
those organized?
So it's not just I understandit, but if I have someone from
my team who I eventually willwant to hire also understands it
.
And the thing about process andoperations and all of those
things.
It's never static, right, it'scontinuously evolving.
But if you start from zero andthen you start bringing in all
(18:38):
of these folks and it's just acomplete mess and it actually
goes against that environment,that positive environment that
I'm trying to foster, ifeveryone's like I don't know
what I'm doing and then I don'tcan't find anything.
So those were like theinfrastructure things that were
really important to me.
And also, when I initiallystarted, I had a lot of
(18:58):
freelancers and all of thatstuff, you know, making sure
that they had the tools thatthey need, that they had.
You know, we use ClickUp now.
Clickup is huge and this I'llbe honest with you I did not
start off with ClickUp.
Someone on my team actually waslike, hey, I think we need this
, but if I could turn back time,any sort of project management
(19:18):
tool was really helpful, but ifI didn't have that time to
really hone in on finding out,like, what works, what doesn't
work, for me it would have beena complete, utter disaster as I
tried to scale Right.
Camille (19:33):
Yeah, so you like ClickUp.
Who do you like to use forcontracts?
Nicole (19:37):
For, like, sending it out.
So I actually use Adobe.
I use Adobe for all of mycontracts, so our contracts are
pretty customized, so there'salways a ton of changes.
But when I first started, Iused HoneyBook because I didn't
have a ton of packages right, itwas just me myself and I.
So I used HoneyBook.
I uploaded all the contracts onthere.
(19:58):
They do invoicing as well.
Obviously, as I got bigger andI had like an account, we do use
QuickBooks, but QuickBooks doesa lot of automations and all of
that streamlining.
What else?
I use Slack now I don't know ifeveryone's familiar with Slack
just to have those funconversations, but also business
conversations.
Gmail obviously we all loveGmail, yeah, so that's pretty
(20:23):
much, I think, everything that Iuse.
Camille (20:28):
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day-to-day tasks that keep youfrom scaling your business?
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I am offering a free discoverycall to help you identify
(20:51):
exactly what you need to do andhow to find the right virtual
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(21:15):
the rest.
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next level of success, and youcan book your free call below at
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We can build your dreambusiness together.
Do you like?
How?
Who do you?
What do you use for collectingpayments?
Do you use Stripe?
Do you use like what's your?
So we go through QuickBooks, oh, through QuickBooks.
Nicole (21:37):
Yeah, so we do everything through QuickBooks
and I think a huge part of it isbecause my that stuff makes me
nervous.
So, like my, my accountantbranch I mean financial
strategist, who was the one Imentioned she's still with me
six, seven years later.
That's like her preference.
I was like okay, let's run withthat.
Camille (21:57):
That makes sense.
I mean we use QuickBooks forfinalizing and doing all the
contract payments, like towardthe end of the year, but I don't
use that for collectingpayments.
Nicole (22:05):
I use a different thing.
Camille (22:07):
So that's really cool.
I didn't know that had a systemwithin it.
I'll have to look into that.
Yeah, it's great they do allthe things.
That's really helpful.
Okay, so we're talking a littlebit about infrastructure for
the business.
Now, is there anything on themotherhood side that you've
figured out, systems and ways ofdoing things that make your
life a bit easier on that side?
Nicole (22:27):
Yes, so obviously daycare is the clutch.
Camille (22:31):
Yes, Having that help Cool.
Nicole (22:33):
Shout out to daycare, um , but also again setting those
boundaries.
So I struggle with, I struggledwith this, um.
I sometimes I struggle it withit now, but I have a planner and
I end my day at that time and Iknow if my kids are there I
cannot be trying to multitaskwhile they're there.
(22:55):
So setting that boundary formyself.
Also, having a steady stream ofbabysitters on call is also
very, very valuable to me.
Babysitters on call is alsovery, very valuable to me.
But at that time, when I wasworking three days and then
being with my kids for those twodays, I really created kind of
like a system with my internalteam to know like you should,
(23:19):
you can only contact me on thosetwo days if it's absolutely
urgent and you contact me viatext Like I'm not going to check
.
If you text me, I know, oh mygosh, like this is the thing,
there's a fire, yeah.
But it's also communicatingthat because I also had to be
self-aware about my personalityand how I know I'm going to.
(23:43):
If I get an email, I'm going todrop it and say, okay, over,
drop what I'm doing and saywhat's going on, what's going on
.
I know that about myself, so Ihad to communicate that to the
folks that were on my team andworking with me and say, okay,
like these are, uh, these arethe circumstances where you need
to reach out to me, but pleasewait until Tuesday.
(24:04):
So another thing is I updatedmy email signature to say, like
what my in-office days were toallow, to make sure clients
understood that.
So it's not just internalboundaries, but I think there's
this thought that you know, ifyou're a service-based business
like there's no such thing asboundaries, like you know you're
(24:26):
getting paid, so the client,you know whenever the client
reaches out, that's it.
And I really don't believe that.
Like, I really do think thereare a ton of wonderful clients,
especially if you're a mom.
You know I have a lot of momclients who are mothers, who
understand, you know theboundary setting and if a kid is
sick, please don't expect thisperson to be able to like do
(24:49):
everything at the drop of a hat.
So making sure that clients arefully aware of my own
boundaries and the days and thetimes that I work and setting
that out of office, so those arethe little things that I do
with the business that ensurethat I am actually with my kids
and not distracted.
Camille (25:08):
That's brilliant.
Those are all such good tips,nicole.
I would love to hear, becauseof the work you do marketing, oh
my gosh.
I feel like if there's onething that people need help with
the most in their businesses,marketing is top of the list.
I know it is for me, and whereyou're specifically working with
people on the neuro side ofmarketing and like what's
(25:28):
actually working right now, whatis advice that you could give
to business owners right now formarketing that is really
profitable in terms of time formoney?
Nicole (25:40):
So I think the biggest thing that people do.
I'm going to start with amistake first.
Okay, cool.
I think the biggest thing that Isee.
Well, two things, sorry.
So the first thing I see that alot of businesses do is that
they think they know what theirbrand is because it's in their
head and if someone asks them,they can say it.
(26:03):
Right?
So they think I have a brand, Ihave brand strategy because I
know and I have a logo and Iknow that my business is this
and I know my target consumer isthis.
So that's it, I'm done, right?
Well, if it's all in your headand it's not, we all know that
if we write stuff down, it justcements it even more and it
makes more sense and we tend tosee some contradictions and some
(26:26):
things that we want to change,right?
So if you go into any sort ofmarketing thinking that you know
your audience and you know yourmessage all because it's in
your brain, or you did somethingquickly in 30 minutes, that's a
first mistake, right?
So a huge part of what I wantpeople to realize is there's so
(26:47):
much noise.
I mean you hear it all the time.
You look at your own habitswhen you're scrolling, how many
ads you get all the peopletrying to talk to you.
You cannot reach your targetclient or your target customer
just by saying what everyoneelse is saying.
So whatever you think is inyour head is probably what
(27:08):
everyone else is saying that'sin your industry, right?
So you need to take a step backand really refine that brand
strategy.
Like what, beyond thesuperficial need of your target
audience, what else is in theirhead?
Like, what do they need?
What are their fears, what aretheir challenges?
(27:44):
You need to really dive deepand know your audience better
than they know themselves foryour marketing to work.
Because there, my ideal customer, I'm probably going to say I
paint houses, this is my pricebefore and after shots, right?
So what I'm saying there,that's the superficial level,
(28:05):
right.
Right?
So what I'm saying there,that's the superficial level,
right.
So now you got to dig deeper.
In order for your marketing tobeat out other people, you need
to understand like, ok, well,that's great and all, but what
else does my customer actuallyneed?
But they might not say.
They might say they're a friend.
They might say to their theirspouse, could it be the trust
issue?
(28:25):
Could it be the timelinessissue?
Could it be this and the other?
That might mean more to yourcustomer than what the room
actually looks like at the endof the day, or how much it costs
, right, and where's your area.
So I went off on a tangent there.
But that's like the firstmistake and the second mistake
is bringing all of that intoevery touchpoint.
(28:47):
So social media, websitesignage, anything, podcast,
whatever, anything.
I think most folks stop at oneplace and in order for people to
really absorb and understandyour brand, it needs to
infiltrate everything thing,every ounce of every touch point
(29:11):
that is going to be directed orgiven to your target.
It has to be all over the placein order for your brain to
really remember it one and alsomake those associations between
the traits you want in yourbusiness.
That was a long answer.
Camille (29:27):
No, that's good insight , because I think it's peeling
back what we think we know.
And then also, but what doesthat mean on a deeper level?
That takes a lot of.
I think that takes someonereally great like you to be like
, oh, but what about this, andwhat about this and what about
this?
It's a lot of like why, why,why, why?
Why?
Questioning, which takes work.
I know I've done that a fewtimes and I'm still like I could
(29:48):
refine it more.
You know what I mean, so Ithink that's great.
And then, on the other side ofit, to put it everywhere, I
think one thing that is easy forme to get lost in is thinking
I've said it enough and alsoassuming that people see
everything that you doeverywhere and they don't.
And so it's just thatconsistency.
And if you struggle with thatconsistency, to hire someone to
(30:10):
help with that consistency,because I think that that energy
expenditure or someone to helpwith that consistency, because I
think that that energyexpenditure or that decision
fatigue is so real where we'relike, oh, but I've already done
this, I've already put it there,I've already said this this
many times it doesn't matter,it's like getting someone else
in there that helps it beautomated so you don't have to
think about every single timeyou're doing it.
Would you agree with that?
Nicole (30:31):
I absolutely agree and I think we just have to look at
marketing our businesses likeany relationship with a human
right.
So I'm not going toautomatically trust a person I
just met, right, we're going tohave to hang out a little bit
more.
We're going to have to get toknow each other a little bit
more.
It's not going to beinstantaneous, right.
(30:51):
Or if I hire someone to babysitmy kids, I'm going to want to
see references, I'm going towant to see credentials, right.
So it's the same thing withyour business.
If you're only saying whyyou're awesome one time, one
place and not saying the samething over and over, you're not
building that relationship andthat trust.
So I think a lot of folks likeseparate the two, like what we
(31:15):
do in our personal lives andthen what we should be doing in
our business.
But you got to look at everybusiness relationship in the
same way that you do yourpersonal life, like what do you
expect from people when youfinally trust them?
That's what you should bedelivering to your audience as a
business.
Camille (31:33):
What would be an effective strategy?
A lot of people listening haveonline businesses.
I'm not going to assumeeveryone does, that's not true,
but for an online businessthere's a lot of places to be
and to show up and to feel likeyou need to be all the places.
What would your advice be tothem, where they're like well, I
want to do it, but I can't doeverything.
Sure, it would be good advicefor them.
Nicole (31:56):
Sure.
So if you're an establishedbusiness and you're already out
there, so you're already, youhave a website, you have all of
those things.
The first thing you need to dois find out where people
actually are and what channelsyou're currently getting revenue
from.
So, for example, if I look atmy website traffic and I see
(32:18):
that I'm on Google and I'm alsoon a billboard, and then I'm
also on all of these otherthings or social media Instagram
, facebook but then I'm seeingthat, hey, like, people are
actually going to me via thischannel versus this channel,
then you know like, hey, I'mgetting a pretty decent return
(32:39):
and people are converting fromthis channel.
Let me focus on that a littlebit more.
I think it's reallyunderstanding your data and your
current metrics to see whereyour customers are coming from,
because ultimately, that's wherethey are, that's where they
live.
For example, I am not on TikTok.
I know TikTok's all the rage,but I am not Because I feel like
(33:01):
my target customer isn't there,right?
And then secondly, so what'sthat kind of happens?
You need to.
If you're doing your ownmarketing, like you also need to
be mindful of your bandwidth.
It is way better to domarketing very well than to be
everywhere and it's, you know,lackluster.
(33:21):
It doesn't have a message,right?
So if you're doing marketingyourself, if you are posting for
your own socials and there'slots of noise of people telling
you what to do, where to be,what to do, if you cannot do it
well, you need to take that stepback, look at what's actually
creating money for you andcreating revenue for you and be
(33:42):
in those places, because,remember, we're focusing on the
places.
That's driving revenue, right.
So we should not be at placeswhere it's just kind of noise
for people.
Camille (33:59):
That's good advice, and I think it also is one of those
things to make it a metricdecision instead of an emotional
one, which, again, I think it'sreally nice to have someone
like you to kind of take a stepback, like that larger
perspective, because as businessowners, I think we can get very
emotionally wrapped up in ourown perspectives and maybe you
need that outside perspective ofhey, but look, this is where
these clients came from, or look, this is where these sales of
(34:19):
your product happened.
Let's double down there and notworry about the other place
that maybe everyone says youshould do, but that's not
actually what's turning the tidefor you.
So, yeah, that's awesome.
Well, this has been fantastic,fantastic information.
I have two questions that I askall of my guests, and then, on
(34:41):
top of that, I'm going to askwhere people should go to find
you.
So let's start with the first.
I ask everyone that comes on myshow what are you reading,
watching or listening to?
And you can answer one for eachor just pick one whichever of
those.
And then the next is amotherhood moment that you would
want to share.
Nicole (35:01):
Sure.
So the first one is I amcurrently trying to watch season
one of the Last of Us inanticipation for season two.
My husband's already watchedall of season one.
When does it come out, is it?
Camille (35:19):
in the summer.
I thought it was end of April?
Nicole (35:21):
No Okay.
Camille (35:25):
It's a zombie show, you guys.
Oh my God, it's crazy.
It's good, but it's crazy.
I watched that in Australia.
I was flying from Australia toAmerica and my son was 16 at the
time.
He's like, mom, let's watchthis together.
And I'm like, oh, but he's likeit'd be so fun.
And it actually was such a funmemory to watch that with him.
Nicole (35:39):
It gets kind of gory, but it's like I love zombie show
.
So, yeah, yeah, you're myspirit animal.
I just literally just watchedit, bawled my eyes out on
another zombie movie, like lastweek.
Yes, oh, my God, like, why areyou crying?
It's a zombie movie, I'm like.
No, but it's actually a reallygood plot.
Yeah, so I'm trying to catch up.
And then a motherhood moment.
(36:00):
Actually yesterday, I guess, myson's my five-year-old.
He's very into baseball and itwas like his first game of the
season and I remember his firstgame last year and he was just
scr, first game of the season.
And I remember his first gamelast year and he was just
scrambling, didn't, couldn't hit.
And now he's just in just thisin a year he's doing super well
(36:21):
and I guess it just reminded me.
One, you know life happens sofast.
And two, you know, if you keepworking at it, if you keep
practicing, it's a nice reminderlike you'll get there, you know
you'll see that achievement.
Camille (36:35):
Oh, I love that.
Oh it goes so fast, you guys,and it's so.
It is so sweet to see your kidsto grow and develop and also to
see them struggle and overcomeand build resiliency, and sports
is a very in youryour-face wayof seeing that, literally from
the sidelines.
So, yeah, that's oh, I lovethat.
And then for our audience thatloves you already at this point,
(36:58):
obviously, and wants to findyou online or talk to you more
about your services, where canthey find you?
Nicole (37:06):
Sure, so they can find us at Halcon Marketing
H-A-L-C-O-N marketingcom and onInstagram.
I'll just give everyone myInstagram at Nicole Powell Brand
.
Camille (37:19):
Okay, perfect.
Well, this has been wonderfulto have you on the show.
Thank you so much, thank you.
Kavila, it's been so fun.
All right, well, everyone,thank you for tuning in.
If you found this helpful,please subscribe, give us a
rating and tell other peopleabout the show.
Any review, any share is a hugehelp to giving women the
inspiration and tools that theyneed to build successful lives,
(37:41):
businesses, and fall in lovewith their style of doing their
business, their way, and if youneed any help with coaching
through that or finding anassistant, I'm here to help you
as well.
You can find me on Instagram atcamillewalkerco and call me CEO
podcast.
Have a great day.
See you next time.
Hey CEOs, thank you so much forspending your time with me.
(38:04):
If you found this episodeinspiring or helpful, please let
me know in a comment and afive-star review.
You could have the chance ofbeing a featured review on an
upcoming episode.
Continue the conversation onInstagram at callmeCEOPodcast,
and remember you are the boss.
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