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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:04):
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (01:04):
Today I'll be chatting with Tracy Beavers.
I first met Tracy in a businessgroup that we were both members
of.
She has a background in salesand marketing in corporate
America, but she has over timebuilt her own absolutely
independent coaching andtraining business.
She became my business coach andwe've grown into friendship.
Tracy has such a genuine heartto help and encourage and it
(01:26):
shows all the time.
All the time.
So whether you already have anestablished business or you're
just considering somethingoutside the nine to five, I
think you'll want to hear whatTracy's got to say about
establishing your why andknowing your worth hello, Tracy,
and welcome to the studio.
Tracy (01:44):
Hey, susan.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is a little shift out of mynorm, Tracy.
I don't know if you listen to mypodcast or not, but typically I
talk with other crafters, but inrecent weeks I've been focusing
a little more on business,building and you and I have
worked together, you've been mybusiness coach.
And so I thought, Hey, I knowTracy would have some great
(02:05):
things to say.
There are lots of folkslistening who are doing the same
thing.
They're entrepreneurial.
They're building a smallbusiness.
They're often working from home.
So give me a few, maybecredentials.
What has brought you to whereyou are?
What, where do you think yourvoice is?
That's a great question.
So I was raised in thegeneration where you go to high
(02:27):
school, you graduate, you go tocollege, you graduate, you get
the W two job and you stay therefor 40 years and then you get to
retire and then you get a goldwatch and a retirement party and
a cake and a pension.
And somewhere along the way,companies started to downsize,
resize, restructure, right size,whatever you want to call it.
(02:47):
And people started getting laidoff and this started happening
around 2005.
So what I decided to do wasafter.
Having been downsized afterhaving worked for toxic bosses
after having jobs That felt likeit was a jacket that felt like
it was two sizes too small, youknow It just didn't nothing ever
(03:07):
really felt quite right.
I decided to take my 20 years ofexperience and Dive into
coaching and I came to thatrealization through some really
good friends.
I was in a women's mastermindand I was at that point with
corporate again, where I justkept coming back to not being
happy.
And I was at another not happypoint again.
(03:28):
And I kept thinking, is this allthere is?
And They were really, they werelike, Tracy, you're so good in
business.
You're so good in sales.
People were always asking me andI just didn't realize it until
they pointed it out.
They said, people are alwaysasking you, how have you been so
successful in sales?
How are you gaining so muchmarket share for the companies
you're working for?
(03:49):
How are you getting millions inproduction in your portfolios?
And it just felt like breathingto me.
So it didn't feel like I wasdoing anything special.
But apparently, it's notsomething that everybody is born
with.
And so they helped me realizethat because I basically had
demand for what I was doing,which was people asking me all
the time for help, that I couldbuild a business around it.
(04:12):
And so that's how I ended uphere.
I just, I decided to startbuilding my coaching practice
alongside my full time job andmy family.
I actually built threebusinesses alongside my full
time job and my family andlooking back on it now, I'm not
sure how I did that and kept mysanity, but it enabled me to
create an exit strategy fromcorporate.
(04:32):
A lot of people are disenchantedwith corporate and they really.
They've had that realization of,Oh my gosh, this is all there
is, but they are too afraid toleave and they don't know how to
do it without.
Just quitting altogether.
And that wasn't an option forme.
Susan (04:47):
No.
And I think you hit though, upona particular really important
point, which is that you foundthis cross section of what you
are good at and what comesnaturally to you and what others
need.
And I feel like that's kind Venndiagram.
You have all this knowledge andstuff, and then you have more
(05:08):
People that are wanting to learnor needing to know things and
wherever those intersect,there's a bit of magic going on.
So you found that happy place.
Tracy (05:16):
Yes, I did.
And it's funny that it tookother people to point it out to
me, but sometimes we can't seethose things for ourselves.
Susan (05:24):
That's really true because we understand what's
going on in our own heads, butthat's not always what's going
on in other people's, right?
Tracy (05:31):
Exactly.
And then there's the, Oh mygosh, will people actually pay
me for this?
There's that poor part of it.
Getting over that fear of, can Ireally do this?
And then just jumping in andhaving faith and knowing that, I
feel I've believed strongly andI know you do too, Susan, that
we were all given gifts andtalents by God.
(05:53):
And his intention for us is touse those to further the benefit
of humanity.
And I firmly believe that whenwe align ourselves appropriately
with the universe and what we'vebeen given that the universe
just catches us.
It just opens up and thingshappen.
Things start to work and thingsstart to flow without any real
rhyme or reason people will sayI don't know how this worked
(06:15):
out.
It must have been coincidence.
And I'm like, no, it's not theway you should be aligned.
And so things just start to flowand happen.
And and it's interesting.
Susan (06:25):
Conversely, it is true that when you try to force
something or push something thatyou're not ready for, or that is
the coat that's two sizes toolarge or too small, that is a
sign that this is not the rightmoment, or perhaps you need to
pivot a little bit, right?
Because that can also be true ifit's too hard, or if it feels
too unnatural or toouncomfortable or goes against
(06:47):
your grain.
Is not the right thing.
Tracy (06:50):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Every time I feel like I'mtrying to stick a square peg in
a round hole, I'm like, okay,all right, hold on.
And I just have to back up fromit and say, okay, God, I can
take a hint.
I don't know what you're wantingme to do here, but this is
evidently not it.
Susan (07:06):
Yes.
The way that I got to know you,Tracy was all through also
through business associates andgroups that we are both part of.
And you stood out in that crowdbecause you are naturally a
friendly, encouraging, welcomingperson.
person, that is your gift.
And so you have turned thisinto, okay, since this comes
easily to me, let me show youhow to do it.
(07:28):
And you're all about creatingvisibility for our small
businesses.
What are some of the tenets ofbeing visible?
Tracy (07:37):
That's a good question, especially in the online space,
because, coming from buildingbusinesses.
At a corporate local in personlevel, if you will, and
switching gears into building inthe online space.
I thought it would be it.
People make it look easy and Ithought it was gonna be a lot
easier than it was, but what Irealized was the key to it is
(07:58):
visibility and that takes onmany forms.
being visible on social media,finding the platform where your
ideal clients are hanging outand creating content that is.
doesn't have anything to do withthem buying anything from me.
(08:19):
Rather my approach and thereason why I've been so
successful in sales for so manyyears is because I take the sale
out of the equation and I don'tthink about the transaction
itself.
What I think about is making aconnection a very genuine human
kind Warm connection withanother warm, kind human
(08:39):
and
finding that common ground and finding and building
that relationship and findingout what they need and then
being of service and bringingvalue to them in some way that
to me.
is easier than ever thinkingabout myself or, hey, sign up
for my program or, anything thatwould be self serving.
(09:00):
And so when I've all these yearswhen I have focused on just
that, it's always come back tome.
So being visible on a socialmedia platform to me means
showing up with content thatattracts my ideal clients to me
because it is educational.
It is valuable.
It is what they need and whatthey want and what they're
(09:20):
looking for.
And then people get curiousabout you when they start seeing
you.
Often enough, and they begin tofollow you and then they want to
know you better.
Which leads to most of the timethen landing on your email list,
which you and I both know is oneof the foundational pieces to a
successful online business ishaving an email list.
(09:40):
So the goal of being visible isto lead that person through your
sales funnel in a very genuinerelational way, knowing that
they'll find their spot in thefunnel some, at some point.
And then being on your emaillist and being visible in their
inbox with regular weeklycontent emailing ideally once a
(10:02):
week to stay top of mind.
Visibility also has to do withbeing a guest on a podcast like
I'm doing right now with you.
This is creating visibility forme and awareness of me with your
audience and I never would havemet them otherwise probably.
It's true.
Susan (10:20):
It's true.
Thank you.
Tracy (10:21):
So it's just figuring out where are the places that I can
show up and add value and be ofservice and that will gain more
eyes on you, more awareness ofyou, which is what I call
visibility.
Susan (10:34):
So it's much less I think of the home shopping channel of
years past, right?
Where you just had a period oftime that you were bombarded
with information and pushy salesand incredible deals and this is
going away tomorrow.
It's much less about that.
And it looks more like here Iam, here's what I know.
Here's what I could help youwith.
(10:56):
Do you want to get into aconversation, and you make the
offer, you hold out the hand andthen you just sit back and
relax.
And it makes it.
So low pressure.
And I know when I got to knowyou, Tracy, I was thrilled to
find you because I've talked toother coaches, marketers, et
cetera, before.
And that to me was the forcedfeeling that we were talking
(11:16):
about earlier.
I thought, I can't do that.
I cannot be pushy.
I cannot.
So this way of creatingrelationship, as you say, is
absolutely natural.
It's being in the online world,it's like having a virtual
storefront.
And so what you want to do istake the face of the business,
you and show up in the placeswhere you have something to
share.
And then people can take it orleave it.
Tracy (11:37):
Yeah.
Yes.
Exactly right.
And we never know where theseconnections are going to lead.
That's why I take thetransaction out of it because
when I meet someone, when I'mnetworking online and I'm
meeting people, what's excitingto me is what do they want to be
a client of mine?
I don't know.
Or do we want to collaborate insome way?
(11:58):
I'd be on their podcast.
They could come into my Facebookgroup and do a live training and
we each gain visibility in anaudience that way.
Or Yeah.
Do they want to be referralpartners?
I have a lot of people that theydon't have a need for me as a
coach right now, but theybelieve in what I do so much
that they will send me people asthey encounter them that need a
good coach.
(12:19):
And so we just never know whenwe make connections in life
where they're going to lead.
And that's where we have to justbe of service.
Be, like I said, be of serviceand give value and have faith
that.
Thanks.
The right people are going to beattracted to you and sign up for
your stuff and the money's goingto come and the collaborations
are going to come and all ofit's going to work out.
(12:40):
The door's open.
Yeah.
Susan (12:42):
So in your experience, does it matter particularly what
you offer?
Does it need to be digital or isa physical product easier or a
service easier?
Does it matter at all?
Tracy (12:53):
That's a really great question.
For me, service is easier thanproduct.
But that's just me personally.
But I know many people who havehad great success in the in
person, local brick and mortarspace with product.
But visibility for a business isreally all the same.
(13:15):
It's that it's taking yourclient, your ideal client from
awareness and into your salesfunnel and having them find
their spot in your funnel.
Mhm.
As I said, whether that's aclient or a referral partner or
a collaboration partner orsomething like that, and it's
really the same no matter if.
they have a brick and mortarlocal business or they are an
(13:35):
online, coach like I am that hasservices globally visibility is
all the same.
You just have to find theavenues of visibility that are
going to get you the most returnon your time would be the key.
Susan (13:48):
That's true.
And I'm just, I'm thinking asyou're saying that, I'm
thinking, perhaps those of youlistening that maybe don't have
a business and don't think ofthis in terms of sales funnel.
That's one of the phrases thatwe've used, but think of it, if
you're a quilter like me, andmaybe you live in a very small
rural town and maybe, you're notlooking to build a digital
(14:09):
empire or grow a course oranything like that, but maybe
you just need to find clientsbecause beyond your physical
radius of miles.
And so your visibility comes inthe terms of, perhaps entering
quilts and shows or again, thenewsletter idea that Tracy
presented, that if you get outthere in front of people and
show what you can do on aregular basis and keep yourself
(14:31):
top of mind, that was a greatphrase too.
Like people won't remember youfrom one year to the next.
It's important to keep thosegentle and authentic
connections.
Because then you're who theythink of when whatever you offer
comes up.
Tracy (14:47):
Exactly.
And our world has gotten socrowded and loud and noisy.
That, that topic, what you'rementioning is so critical first
business success because thethings like tick tock and some
of the social media platformswhere the videos are very short
studies, recent scientificstudies have shown that it's
(15:10):
lowered our attention span thatmuch more people truly want.
to consume something in three tofive seconds.
And so we've got to have all ofthe ways We've got to figure out
what are the ways we can stayvisible and top of mind and we
have to maximize those and beconsistent with them because the
minute I stop showing up insomeone's inbox or the minute I
(15:32):
stop going to the quilt showwhatever it is that I'm doing
that's gaining me the visibilityand the traction, the minute I
take my foot off the gas is whenthey'll get their head turned
and go to someone else.
Susan (15:43):
Which is not to say, however, that you must always
be, pedal to the metal goinggreat guns, either that's,
especially for an entrepreneuror a solopreneur, as I like to
call myself, that can beimportant to, to know what your
pacing is.
So you and I have talked in ourplanning sessions, I'll have
quarters of the year that focuson different things because I
(16:03):
can't always be out there,presenting free workshops in
order to build my email list oralways be out there creating.
Quilts to hang in show.
So some of this is a bitcyclical.
I wonder if you have any tips,Tracy, for dealing with, I've
never heard this term before,but I call it marketing fatigue.
So when you're, when you are aproducer of Tik TOK videos or
(16:25):
YouTube episodes or even blogposts, and you're just weary,
what are some ways that you canrejuvenate or take a rest or
build cycles into thatproduction?
Tracy (16:37):
The, one of the best ways that helps me is.
Figuring out what is going to bemy anchor piece, what I call an
anchor piece of content.
So first of all, it's importantto decide how, what kind of
content do you want to produce?
And how often do you want toproduce it?
So is it going to be somethinglike what I do is I offer a live
(16:58):
weekly training in my Facebookgroup.
Every Thursday at 1130, that'smy anchor piece.
Other people like yourself, youhave a podcast that comes out
once a week or twice a month,however often it is.
But for me, when I firststarted, I felt I did feel that
fatigue and I felt like I had tobe everywhere all the time.
One piece of advice I got thatstill holds true is find in
(17:23):
terms of social media platforms,find the social media platform
that where your ideal clientsare hanging out, where you feel
comfortable and go all in onthat platform before you go to
any others.
For example, I started onFacebook and I went all in just
deep dive into Facebook and Iwas on Instagram.
(17:43):
But not really interacting.
Now you would see posts andthings like that, but it was
repurposed content that I hadalready used on Facebook.
So for me focusing on oneplatform at a time, then
figuring out what is my anchorpiece of content going to be.
And like I said, for me, it's aweekly live.
And from that anchor piece, allother content is created.
(18:05):
So you're not having to think ofsomething new every single day.
I have a free training that I dothat's been very popular and
it's about how you can create 90days of content in only 30
minutes.
And so you essentially justbrain dump 12 topics, which
gives you 12 weeks, which is 90days and you have one topic per
(18:26):
week.
So that could be your anchortopic for that would be my
weekly live topic that I'm goingto talk about in my Facebook
group.
And from that, everything elseis born.
So that content that I wrote formy weekly live, we can pull
little tidbits out of for two tothree social media posts, we can
(18:48):
pull content from it to create awritten blog.
We can take that video that isnot only in my Facebook group,
but also streamed onto myYouTube channel and pull that
into the blog to make it eventhat more robust for SEO by
having a video tied to it.
I could very easily take thatcontent and repurpose it into a
(19:09):
short podcast episode.
So instead of sitting herefeeling like I've got to create,
if I want to post on Facebookthree times a week, that I've
got to create three magnificentpieces of content that each talk
about something different, I'mcreating one anchor piece of
content.
And I'm using that to give birthto everything else, that's the
(19:29):
middle part of the spoke and, orthe hub, and you've got all the
spokes coming off of it.
Susan (19:34):
Oh, I hear a couple of gems in that, Tracy.
For one, I think someone oncesaid, work smarter, not harder.
I hear that theme runningthrough it.
And I also hear this the ideathat if you pre think some of
this and plan it a little bit,not only does it get you ahead
of the game.
But it helps whatever you'representing to be much more
cohesive and thematic, right?
(19:56):
People know what you're about.
You're doing it on purposeinstead of just willy nilly
thinking of random posts.
Oh, there's all the sense in theworld in that.
And of course you talked aboutthe smart ways of using one, one
idea, one, one thought and usingit in multiple ways.
So smart.
Tracy (20:14):
It just preserves the energy, the mental energy.
Because it can be so draining tocome up with content, but we
have to build, I am all aboutbuilding a business with ease.
That's one of the things I say alot.
Things need to be simple.
that doesn't mean they are notvaluable and it doesn't mean
that that they're not worth,what you're paying for them.
But what it does mean is thatit's.
(20:36):
It's, there's no, there's not alot of fluff in it.
It's
easy, simple.
Let's build this business withease.
And that's one of the ways I dothat.
Susan (20:44):
So in a very roundabout way, you very much answered my
question, which was how do you,I was asking how do you rest?
How do you get rest from thisfatigue of producing, but no,
but you answered it, Tracy,because you said don't get into
that place.
In the first place this is howyou need to handle and manage
your production in time so thatyou don't burn out because you
(21:06):
shouldn't have to go throughthat and then rest up from it.
So it makes all the sense in theworld.
So where, if you are a beginner,If some listening are just
getting started doing this, likewhere would a beginner start?
Should they take your firstidea, which was find where your
ideal customer or audience is,like how would they know what to
(21:26):
start that would produce somegood return and really some
traction or momentum fairlyquickly?
Tracy (21:31):
That's a great question.
It really depends on what theywant to do.
So if we're talking aboutsomeone like you and I, that is
building a business in theonline space, the first thing
they need to do is decide.
Who do they want to serve?
And how do they want to servethem?
And what is the transformationthey're going to get for that
person?
Because that is the, that's thefoundational piece.
(21:54):
Because then they know, okay,who is my ideal client?
What is the messaging that I'mbringing to them?
What can I promise that I'mgoing to help them with?
And then you think through,okay, Where can I find this
person?
For me, my ideal clients arehanging out in entrepreneurial
(22:14):
groups on Facebook.
Very rarely are they onLinkedIn.
They are a lot in large partthey are on Instagram.
So I had to figure out where canI find these people and how can
I start networking because itdoesn't matter if we have an
online business.
or a brick and mortar in personbusiness and we're building at a
local level, networking andmaking those connections is
(22:38):
really key to, to getting themessage out and spider webbing
out into your, to your business.
So if you're talking aboutsomeone because I've built many
businesses on the local levelhere in Little Rock, Arkansas
where I was working for so longin corporate building
businesses, As a mortgage loanofficer and building my own
portfolio there and titleinsurance and real estate and
(23:00):
things like that.
And so that's, it's the same inthat I need to figure out who do
I serve?
How do I serve them?
And what's the transformationI'm going to give them?
And then where can I find thosepeople?
Susan (23:14):
Yeah, and those, on the face of it at first, they seem
like very deep questions and alittle bit of hard work,
honestly, to think through someof those answers, but it so pays
off because then you're notwasting effort, throwing
spaghetti at the wall and hopingsomething will stick, right?
If you know what you have tooffer and who you want to offer
it to and what is the problemyou can solve.
(23:37):
Then all the content that youproduce, whether it's writing or
speaking or videography orwhatever will speak to that and
people will shortly know whatyou stand for and who you are.
Tracy (23:48):
And here's the thing that I want people to understand that
these businesses are alwaysevolving unless we are
purchasing a turnkey franchise.
Like a McDonald's restaurant ora Chick fil a restaurant where
they basically have everythingdone And all you got to do is
(24:08):
pay your franchise fee hire youremployees and show up There's no
real decisions you have to makeBecause our businesses will
evolve like I when I firststarted I just said, okay I want
to be a business and sales coachI knew I wanted to serve
primarily women, And in thebeginning I was more of a
generalist, but it has evolvedinto honing in on my skills of
(24:31):
sales, marketing, creativesolutions, visibility, email
list growth, that kind of thing.
But if I had, I guess my messageis don't wait to get started
think it through and have someidea of what you want to do.
But get started because the moreaction you take, the more
clarity you're going to get.
(24:53):
And the business is never reallygoing to be quote unquote done
and perfect.
Susan (24:58):
Oh boy, that is, that's powerful, Tracy.
The more action you take, themore clarity you'll get.
So important to think throughthese deep questions, but don't
get hung up.
Because you don't think you havethe perfect answer because it
may change.
It may pivot a little.
It may flex and evolve.
Yeah.
Tracy (25:16):
Good point.
It's never going to be perfect.
You know that, Susan, from beingin this space for so long.
Susan (25:21):
And it would be boring if it always stayed the same.
So that's not a bad thing.
That's not a bad thing.
It keeps us on our toes, howimportant, Tracy, do you think
is the entrepreneurs?
Why?
Like, when can that?
Hold you up.
When can that be the crutch thatyou lean on?
How important is knowing whatyour why is?
Tracy (25:40):
It's so critical to understand the reason you're
doing this because I say thisall the time.
Being an entrepreneur is afreaking rollercoaster.
Some days everybody wants to buywhat we're selling and other
days nobody can remember ourname.
And it can be lonely, especiallyin this online space.
(26:01):
When I'm sitting here in myhouse, With my laptop and it's
just me and the dog.
Whereas used to when I was in asales role for a corporation, I
was out and about all the timemeeting people, networking in
person and doing all that stuff.
And so it's been a mindset shiftfor me as well.
And so when I have times where Iam saying to myself, what are
(26:22):
you doing?
You can't coach your way out ofa paper sack.
Who do you think you're going tohelp?
And then I have to remind myselfthat I have helped.
And coached hundreds ofentrepreneurs to success.
And why am I doing this?
And for me it's a multifacetedanswer.
In the beginning, it was my whywas I wanted to get out of
(26:43):
corporate America.
And I was looking for a solutionto do that.
And then the part of the facetof the why is because I want to
earn a good income for myfamily.
Do I need to be wealthy beyondmeasure?
Not in a monetary stance, from amonetary standpoint, but
certainly from a happinessstandpoint.
But we did need a certain amountof money for our family.
(27:05):
So that was part of my why.
And then the other part of mywhy was coming back to what we
were talking about at thebeginning with really feeling a
very, I don't know if I'mpicking the right words here a
very heavy, responsibility touse the gifts and talents that I
was given to help as many otherpeople as possible.
(27:29):
And so if I come back to thatmultifaceted, why of Okay,
Tracy, why are you doing this?
Okay, I don't want to work foranybody else.
That's really important to me.
I want to make a good living formy family so that our kids can
get through college without alot of debt.
And we, we don't have to live anextravagant lifestyle, but it
(27:49):
sure would be fun to be able totravel a few times a year.
I would also add to that, nowthat we're I'm talking about all
the facets of it.
My parents are getting older andI'm two hours away from them.
I could not work for acorporation and hold a job for
very long.
if my parents suddenly neededme, so this gives me location
(28:09):
freedom.
And then coming back to the, allof that, those things under the
umbrella of, how dare I not dothis?
How dare I not take what I knowand that can make a difference
for other people.
And it can also, I speak to thissometimes in keynote speeches
(28:30):
and in different public speakingevents.
But we need to consider theripple effect of our work within
that.
Why?
Because a lot of times we thinkwhen I'm speaking to real estate
agents, they'll say I'm just arealtor.
And I'm like, hold on a second.
You have to consider the rippleeffect of your work.
Okay.
Yes.
On the face of it you're helpingpeople buy and sell homes.
(28:51):
But if you look through theripple effect of everything that
you do with your scope of work,you're touching a mortgage
lender and their family.
You're touching a termitecompany and their family and a
homeowner's insurance companyand their family and their
employees.
You are helping a family getinto a house.
And those children that now havea safe place to live are going
(29:14):
to go to school with confidenceand happiness, and that's going
to ripple into the kids thatthey're in class with.
We can't just sit here and sayI'm just a quilter, or I'm just
a coach, or I'm just a whatever.
We have to, when we're thinkingabout why are we doing this?
Consider the ripple effect it'sgoing to have on the rest of the
(29:35):
people that are around us andwhat and how many blessings that
can give.
Susan (29:40):
So true.
I don't think we can evenoverstate that because there's
so many ripples that we have noidea of and may never know.
I actually had a kind of crystalclear object lesson of this a
few weeks back.
I was live streaming one day.
So this is quilting that I'mlive streaming onto YouTube and
Facebook.
And it was one of those Murphy'slaw sort of days.
(30:02):
Everything that could go wrongdid go wrong on camera, right?
And it's getting more and morefrustrating as it goes on and at
about the two hour mark, Ifinally called a halt and said,
I'm going to have to finish thislater.
And I gave some of the reasonsand so forth, but the magical
part about it was that Viewersstarted typing in responses
during the chat while I wasstill live and then emails that
(30:23):
I received afterwards and theeffect of me showing that very
real day and how I could resolvethose problems and how I thought
through them.
Was remarkable.
So again, my, my field isquilting, so it had to do with
thread breakages and, Bobintention and things like that,
but it encouraged so many peoplebecause so often what we see is
(30:46):
pretty on the surface, right?
It's been edited and polishedand, the glare has been taken
off it.
And so just that act of beingvulnerable and authentic was
really meaningful to people.
So that.
Adding all of that into yourwhy, that's what keeps you going
when you do have a tough daylike that.
You're like, people need to seethis.
(31:10):
People need to see this.
It's reality.
It's life.
Tracy (31:13):
It is.
And it's endearing.
I had a similar situation.
It's happened to me a couple ofdifferent times.
Our dog is, one of my favoritepeople.
And with the kids gone and beingempty nesters, he's the only one
that I have any companionshipwith during the day because my
husband's at work.
But there have been so manyoccasions when I have gone live
on Facebook and he has been sosupportive has some sort of
(31:34):
shenanigans going on in thebackground.
And I literally have to be like,hold on, wait a minute.
I'll be right back.
One day seriously, he had to gooutside and go potty so bad that
he was not going to stopscratching at the back door.
And I thought he was going totake the screen door down
because he's 80 pounds.
And I literally held up myfinger in the camera and I said,
OK, hold on.
Just a second.
I've got to go let the dog out.
(31:54):
And in my brain I'm mortified.
I'm like, this is sounprofessional, but do you know
how many people reached out tome and said, this is the best
thing I've seen all day.
And thank you so much.
And I was just like okay.
And so then when my clients sayto me I can't go live.
What if it's not, what if Idon't have the perfect hair and
the perfect outfit and theperfect this and the problem,
like you're talking to the girlwhose dog interrupted her live
(32:17):
and they're like, Oh yeah, Iforgot about that.
Susan (32:21):
And it's hard.
I'm a recovering perfectionist,so it's hard for me to let go of
that and say that's better.
It's not only okay, but it'sbetter to show people that
reality.
That's what's encouraging andlets them know it's okay to make
a few missteps in the journey.
Yep.
Exactly.
Oh my goodness.
So much goodness.
Now I'm getting all excited.
(32:42):
I'm going to go forth and dogreat things after this.
But before we go, Tracy, Iwonder if you've got a little
gem of wisdom that you couldleave with our listeners.
It can be about, business orjust about life or kids, or in
fact, dogs, if you want to.
Tracy (32:55):
I'm going to give you two, if that's okay.
One, I was reminded of today,cause I have a friend of mine
who is going through a toughtime personally.
And my grandfather, whom Iadored, lived to be 98 years
old.
And he always said, one day at atime, and so when I feel
overwhelmed, like I can'tbreathe everything's just
(33:18):
Swirling.
I remember my grandfather, verykind, gentle, the epitome of a
gentleman who would say one dayat a time, Tracy, we're doing
this one day at a time.
And then the other thing I wantto leave people with is
something that's that everybodycan relate to no matter if you
are building a business or not.
(33:40):
When I have days that are notsuper, I am a positive, happy,
sunshiny person, 80 to 90percent of the time.
It's just who I am.
But I do have days where I feeldown.
I feel sad.
I start to get up in my head.
I start to tell myself thingsthat are not nice, that are not
positive.
And so I created an exercisecalled recognize, re-frame and
(34:03):
repeat.
And I teach it to my clientsnow.
And in less than one minute, youcan literally rewire your brain.
into something more positive.
So you recognize the negativethought for what it is you.
And most of the time it's basedon emotion and fear.
It is not based on fact, not astitch of fact in there.
(34:23):
And
then you reframe it into something positive that is based
on fact.
And then you repeat the positivestatement.
three to five times.
And for me, what I find is bydoing that repetition, it just
washes over my brain and beginsto calm me and begins to bring
me back to the truth, not thefear, not the lie that I'm
(34:45):
trying to tell myself, not allthe emotion, but the fact that,
no, I can have an impact onother people's lives.
Sometimes we say to ourselveswho am I to do this business?
And I come back to how manypeople I've helped and the
transformations I've gotten forthem, which is based on fact
and
then I'll repeat it.
(35:06):
So just recognizing it is thefirst and most important step
because sometimes we don'trecognize how badly we're
talking to ourselves
Susan (35:15):
and
Tracy (35:16):
then reframing it into something positive that's based
on fact and then just repeatingit several times.
And it's just soothing to me.
Susan (35:27):
Okay.
So let me repeat this back tomyself.
You recognize and then youreframe and then you repeat.
So if our listeners want to takethat up for themselves, where
can they find out more aboutthat?
Tracy?
I know you, you've got a littlefreebie to have to do with that.
Tracy (35:43):
I do.
I have a little training thatwill help him.
It's a short video and aworksheet and they can go to
Tracy Beavers dot com forwardslash repeat and grab that.
And it's going to help themrewire their brain for success.
Susan (35:56):
Perfect.
That will be so helpful.
Thanks so much, my friend, fortuning in.
Tracy (36:00):
Thank you so much for having me, Susan.
And I am just so excited to behere.
I can't even tell you.
Susan (36:04):
I hope you gleaned a ton of ideas from Tracy.
She's the real deal when itcomes to business growth and
coaching.
If you're looking for some helpin this area, Be sure to check
out where to follow her in theshow notes.
She has a whole lot of resourcesavailable just for the asking.
Plus a Facebook group with freetraining each and every week.
And let us know what you thoughtof this episode too, by
(36:25):
scrolling to the very bottom ofthe show notes and leaving a
rating and review.
We love to read your comments.
Listen, if you have friends whoyou think would enjoy this
podcast as well, would you takea moment and share it with them?
You can share this particularepisode.
Or all episodes and easy choicesof where to listen can be found
at podcast.
stitchedbysusan.
(36:45):
com.
I'm Susan Smith.
And until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.
Welcome to Season 5 of MeasureTwice, Cut Once.
This whole season is anexploration into behind the
scenes of not just quilting, butbuilding a creative business
that truly lights you up.
As someone who's navigated theexciting, sometimes bumpy world
of turning a passion into aprofession, I'm excited to pull
back the curtain and share myown experiences.
(00:26):
Some episodes will be just me.
Diving deep into my personaljourney, while others will
feature guests who are alsonavigating the world of creative
entrepreneurship, will explorethe nitty gritty of building a
creative business, the lessonslearned and the unexpected
challenges that come withtransforming your craft.
Into a thriving enterprise.
And don't worry, I'm not leavingstorytelling behind.
(00:48):
Instead, I'll be weaving theminto the conversations about
what it takes to grow a businesswhile staying true to your
creative spirit.
So whether you're dreaming ofstarting your own business, or
you just love hearing aboutcreative entrepreneurship, this
season is for you.
Susan (01:04):
Today I'll be chatting with Tracy Beavers.
I first met Tracy in a businessgroup that we were both members
of.
She has a background in salesand marketing in corporate
America, but she has over timebuilt her own absolutely
independent coaching andtraining business.
She became my business coach andwe've grown into friendship.
Tracy has such a genuine heartto help and encourage and it
(01:26):
shows all the time.
All the time.
So whether you already have anestablished business or you're
just considering somethingoutside the nine to five, I
think you'll want to hear whatTracy's got to say about
establishing your why andknowing your worth hello, Tracy,
and welcome to the studio.
Tracy (01:44):
Hey, susan.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is a little shift out of mynorm, Tracy.
I don't know if you listen to mypodcast or not, but typically I
talk with other crafters, but inrecent weeks I've been focusing
a little more on business,building and you and I have
worked together, you've been mybusiness coach.
And so I thought, Hey, I knowTracy would have some great
(02:05):
things to say.
There are lots of folkslistening who are doing the same
thing.
They're entrepreneurial.
They're building a smallbusiness.
They're often working from home.
So give me a few, maybecredentials.
What has brought you to whereyou are?
What, where do you think yourvoice is?
That's a great question.
So I was raised in thegeneration where you go to high
(02:27):
school, you graduate, you go tocollege, you graduate, you get
the W two job and you stay therefor 40 years and then you get to
retire and then you get a goldwatch and a retirement party and
a cake and a pension.
And somewhere along the way,companies started to downsize,
resize, restructure, right size,whatever you want to call it.
(02:47):
And people started getting laidoff and this started happening
around 2005.
So what I decided to do wasafter.
Having been downsized afterhaving worked for toxic bosses
after having jobs That felt likeit was a jacket that felt like
it was two sizes too small, youknow It just didn't nothing ever
(03:07):
really felt quite right.
I decided to take my 20 years ofexperience and Dive into
coaching and I came to thatrealization through some really
good friends.
I was in a women's mastermindand I was at that point with
corporate again, where I justkept coming back to not being
happy.
And I was at another not happypoint again.
(03:28):
And I kept thinking, is this allthere is?
And They were really, they werelike, Tracy, you're so good in
business.
You're so good in sales.
People were always asking me andI just didn't realize it until
they pointed it out.
They said, people are alwaysasking you, how have you been so
successful in sales?
How are you gaining so muchmarket share for the companies
you're working for?
(03:49):
How are you getting millions inproduction in your portfolios?
And it just felt like breathingto me.
So it didn't feel like I wasdoing anything special.
But apparently, it's notsomething that everybody is born
with.
And so they helped me realizethat because I basically had
demand for what I was doing,which was people asking me all
the time for help, that I couldbuild a business around it.
(04:12):
And so that's how I ended uphere.
I just, I decided to startbuilding my coaching practice
alongside my full time job andmy family.
I actually built threebusinesses alongside my full
time job and my family andlooking back on it now, I'm not
sure how I did that and kept mysanity, but it enabled me to
create an exit strategy fromcorporate.
(04:32):
A lot of people are disenchantedwith corporate and they really.
They've had that realization of,Oh my gosh, this is all there
is, but they are too afraid toleave and they don't know how to
do it without.
Just quitting altogether.
And that wasn't an option forme.
Susan (04:47):
No.
And I think you hit though, upona particular really important
point, which is that you foundthis cross section of what you
are good at and what comesnaturally to you and what others
need.
And I feel like that's kind Venndiagram.
You have all this knowledge andstuff, and then you have more
(05:08):
People that are wanting to learnor needing to know things and
wherever those intersect,there's a bit of magic going on.
So you found that happy place.
Tracy (05:16):
Yes, I did.
And it's funny that it tookother people to point it out to
me, but sometimes we can't seethose things for ourselves.
Susan (05:24):
That's really true because we understand what's
going on in our own heads, butthat's not always what's going
on in other people's, right?
Tracy (05:31):
Exactly.
And then there's the, Oh mygosh, will people actually pay
me for this?
There's that poor part of it.
Getting over that fear of, can Ireally do this?
And then just jumping in andhaving faith and knowing that, I
feel I've believed strongly andI know you do too, Susan, that
we were all given gifts andtalents by God.
(05:53):
And his intention for us is touse those to further the benefit
of humanity.
And I firmly believe that whenwe align ourselves appropriately
with the universe and what we'vebeen given that the universe
just catches us.
It just opens up and thingshappen.
Things start to work and thingsstart to flow without any real
rhyme or reason people will sayI don't know how this worked
(06:15):
out.
It must have been coincidence.
And I'm like, no, it's not theway you should be aligned.
And so things just start to flowand happen.
And and it's interesting.
Susan (06:25):
Conversely, it is true that when you try to force
something or push something thatyou're not ready for, or that is
the coat that's two sizes toolarge or too small, that is a
sign that this is not the rightmoment, or perhaps you need to
pivot a little bit, right?
Because that can also be true ifit's too hard, or if it feels
too unnatural or toouncomfortable or goes against
(06:47):
your grain.
Is not the right thing.
Tracy (06:50):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Every time I feel like I'mtrying to stick a square peg in
a round hole, I'm like, okay,all right, hold on.
And I just have to back up fromit and say, okay, God, I can
take a hint.
I don't know what you're wantingme to do here, but this is
evidently not it.
Susan (07:06):
Yes.
The way that I got to know you,Tracy was all through also
through business associates andgroups that we are both part of.
And you stood out in that crowdbecause you are naturally a
friendly, encouraging, welcomingperson.
person, that is your gift.
And so you have turned thisinto, okay, since this comes
easily to me, let me show youhow to do it.
(07:28):
And you're all about creatingvisibility for our small
businesses.
What are some of the tenets ofbeing visible?
Tracy (07:37):
That's a good question, especially in the online space,
because, coming from buildingbusinesses.
At a corporate local in personlevel, if you will, and
switching gears into building inthe online space.
I thought it would be it.
People make it look easy and Ithought it was gonna be a lot
easier than it was, but what Irealized was the key to it is
(07:58):
visibility and that takes onmany forms.
being visible on social media,finding the platform where your
ideal clients are hanging outand creating content that is.
doesn't have anything to do withthem buying anything from me.
(08:19):
Rather my approach and thereason why I've been so
successful in sales for so manyyears is because I take the sale
out of the equation and I don'tthink about the transaction
itself.
What I think about is making aconnection a very genuine human
kind Warm connection withanother warm, kind human
(08:39):
and
finding that common ground and finding and building
that relationship and findingout what they need and then
being of service and bringingvalue to them in some way that
to me.
is easier than ever thinkingabout myself or, hey, sign up
for my program or, anything thatwould be self serving.
(09:00):
And so when I've all these yearswhen I have focused on just
that, it's always come back tome.
So being visible on a socialmedia platform to me means
showing up with content thatattracts my ideal clients to me
because it is educational.
It is valuable.
It is what they need and whatthey want and what they're
(09:20):
looking for.
And then people get curiousabout you when they start seeing
you.
Often enough, and they begin tofollow you and then they want to
know you better.
Which leads to most of the timethen landing on your email list,
which you and I both know is oneof the foundational pieces to a
successful online business ishaving an email list.
(09:40):
So the goal of being visible isto lead that person through your
sales funnel in a very genuinerelational way, knowing that
they'll find their spot in thefunnel some, at some point.
And then being on your emaillist and being visible in their
inbox with regular weeklycontent emailing ideally once a
(10:02):
week to stay top of mind.
Visibility also has to do withbeing a guest on a podcast like
I'm doing right now with you.
This is creating visibility forme and awareness of me with your
audience and I never would havemet them otherwise probably.
It's true.
Susan (10:20):
It's true.
Thank you.
Tracy (10:21):
So it's just figuring out where are the places that I can
show up and add value and be ofservice and that will gain more
eyes on you, more awareness ofyou, which is what I call
visibility.
Susan (10:34):
So it's much less I think of the home shopping channel of
years past, right?
Where you just had a period oftime that you were bombarded
with information and pushy salesand incredible deals and this is
going away tomorrow.
It's much less about that.
And it looks more like here Iam, here's what I know.
Here's what I could help youwith.
(10:56):
Do you want to get into aconversation, and you make the
offer, you hold out the hand andthen you just sit back and
relax.
And it makes it.
So low pressure.
And I know when I got to knowyou, Tracy, I was thrilled to
find you because I've talked toother coaches, marketers, et
cetera, before.
And that to me was the forcedfeeling that we were talking
(11:16):
about earlier.
I thought, I can't do that.
I cannot be pushy.
I cannot.
So this way of creatingrelationship, as you say, is
absolutely natural.
It's being in the online world,it's like having a virtual
storefront.
And so what you want to do istake the face of the business,
you and show up in the placeswhere you have something to
share.
And then people can take it orleave it.
Tracy (11:37):
Yeah.
Yes.
Exactly right.
And we never know where theseconnections are going to lead.
That's why I take thetransaction out of it because
when I meet someone, when I'mnetworking online and I'm
meeting people, what's excitingto me is what do they want to be
a client of mine?
I don't know.
Or do we want to collaborate insome way?
(11:58):
I'd be on their podcast.
They could come into my Facebookgroup and do a live training and
we each gain visibility in anaudience that way.
Or Yeah.
Do they want to be referralpartners?
I have a lot of people that theydon't have a need for me as a
coach right now, but theybelieve in what I do so much
that they will send me people asthey encounter them that need a
good coach.
(12:19):
And so we just never know whenwe make connections in life
where they're going to lead.
And that's where we have to justbe of service.
Be, like I said, be of serviceand give value and have faith
that.
Thanks.
The right people are going to beattracted to you and sign up for
your stuff and the money's goingto come and the collaborations
are going to come and all ofit's going to work out.
(12:40):
The door's open.
Yeah.
Susan (12:42):
So in your experience, does it matter particularly what
you offer?
Does it need to be digital or isa physical product easier or a
service easier?
Does it matter at all?
Tracy (12:53):
That's a really great question.
For me, service is easier thanproduct.
But that's just me personally.
But I know many people who havehad great success in the in
person, local brick and mortarspace with product.
But visibility for a business isreally all the same.
(13:15):
It's that it's taking yourclient, your ideal client from
awareness and into your salesfunnel and having them find
their spot in your funnel.
Mhm.
As I said, whether that's aclient or a referral partner or
a collaboration partner orsomething like that, and it's
really the same no matter if.
they have a brick and mortarlocal business or they are an
(13:35):
online, coach like I am that hasservices globally visibility is
all the same.
You just have to find theavenues of visibility that are
going to get you the most returnon your time would be the key.
Susan (13:48):
That's true.
And I'm just, I'm thinking asyou're saying that, I'm
thinking, perhaps those of youlistening that maybe don't have
a business and don't think ofthis in terms of sales funnel.
That's one of the phrases thatwe've used, but think of it, if
you're a quilter like me, andmaybe you live in a very small
rural town and maybe, you're notlooking to build a digital
(14:09):
empire or grow a course oranything like that, but maybe
you just need to find clientsbecause beyond your physical
radius of miles.
And so your visibility comes inthe terms of, perhaps entering
quilts and shows or again, thenewsletter idea that Tracy
presented, that if you get outthere in front of people and
show what you can do on aregular basis and keep yourself
(14:31):
top of mind, that was a greatphrase too.
Like people won't remember youfrom one year to the next.
It's important to keep thosegentle and authentic
connections.
Because then you're who theythink of when whatever you offer
comes up.
Tracy (14:47):
Exactly.
And our world has gotten socrowded and loud and noisy.
That, that topic, what you'rementioning is so critical first
business success because thethings like tick tock and some
of the social media platformswhere the videos are very short
studies, recent scientificstudies have shown that it's
(15:10):
lowered our attention span thatmuch more people truly want.
to consume something in three tofive seconds.
And so we've got to have all ofthe ways We've got to figure out
what are the ways we can stayvisible and top of mind and we
have to maximize those and beconsistent with them because the
minute I stop showing up insomeone's inbox or the minute I
(15:32):
stop going to the quilt showwhatever it is that I'm doing
that's gaining me the visibilityand the traction, the minute I
take my foot off the gas is whenthey'll get their head turned
and go to someone else.
Susan (15:43):
Which is not to say, however, that you must always
be, pedal to the metal goinggreat guns, either that's,
especially for an entrepreneuror a solopreneur, as I like to
call myself, that can beimportant to, to know what your
pacing is.
So you and I have talked in ourplanning sessions, I'll have
quarters of the year that focuson different things because I
(16:03):
can't always be out there,presenting free workshops in
order to build my email list oralways be out there creating.
Quilts to hang in show.
So some of this is a bitcyclical.
I wonder if you have any tips,Tracy, for dealing with, I've
never heard this term before,but I call it marketing fatigue.
So when you're, when you are aproducer of Tik TOK videos or
(16:25):
YouTube episodes or even blogposts, and you're just weary,
what are some ways that you canrejuvenate or take a rest or
build cycles into thatproduction?
Tracy (16:37):
The, one of the best ways that helps me is.
Figuring out what is going to bemy anchor piece, what I call an
anchor piece of content.
So first of all, it's importantto decide how, what kind of
content do you want to produce?
And how often do you want toproduce it?
So is it going to be somethinglike what I do is I offer a live
(16:58):
weekly training in my Facebookgroup.
Every Thursday at 1130, that'smy anchor piece.
Other people like yourself, youhave a podcast that comes out
once a week or twice a month,however often it is.
But for me, when I firststarted, I felt I did feel that
fatigue and I felt like I had tobe everywhere all the time.
One piece of advice I got thatstill holds true is find in
(17:23):
terms of social media platforms,find the social media platform
that where your ideal clientsare hanging out, where you feel
comfortable and go all in onthat platform before you go to
any others.
For example, I started onFacebook and I went all in just
deep dive into Facebook and Iwas on Instagram.
(17:43):
But not really interacting.
Now you would see posts andthings like that, but it was
repurposed content that I hadalready used on Facebook.
So for me focusing on oneplatform at a time, then
figuring out what is my anchorpiece of content going to be.
And like I said, for me, it's aweekly live.
And from that anchor piece, allother content is created.
(18:05):
So you're not having to think ofsomething new every single day.
I have a free training that I dothat's been very popular and
it's about how you can create 90days of content in only 30
minutes.
And so you essentially justbrain dump 12 topics, which
gives you 12 weeks, which is 90days and you have one topic per
(18:26):
week.
So that could be your anchortopic for that would be my
weekly live topic that I'm goingto talk about in my Facebook
group.
And from that, everything elseis born.
So that content that I wrote formy weekly live, we can pull
little tidbits out of for two tothree social media posts, we can
(18:48):
pull content from it to create awritten blog.
We can take that video that isnot only in my Facebook group,
but also streamed onto myYouTube channel and pull that
into the blog to make it eventhat more robust for SEO by
having a video tied to it.
I could very easily take thatcontent and repurpose it into a
(19:09):
short podcast episode.
So instead of sitting herefeeling like I've got to create,
if I want to post on Facebookthree times a week, that I've
got to create three magnificentpieces of content that each talk
about something different, I'mcreating one anchor piece of
content.
And I'm using that to give birthto everything else, that's the
(19:29):
middle part of the spoke and, orthe hub, and you've got all the
spokes coming off of it.
Susan (19:34):
Oh, I hear a couple of gems in that, Tracy.
For one, I think someone oncesaid, work smarter, not harder.
I hear that theme runningthrough it.
And I also hear this the ideathat if you pre think some of
this and plan it a little bit,not only does it get you ahead
of the game.
But it helps whatever you'representing to be much more
cohesive and thematic, right?
(19:56):
People know what you're about.
You're doing it on purposeinstead of just willy nilly
thinking of random posts.
Oh, there's all the sense in theworld in that.
And of course you talked aboutthe smart ways of using one, one
idea, one, one thought and usingit in multiple ways.
So smart.
Tracy (20:14):
It just preserves the energy, the mental energy.
Because it can be so draining tocome up with content, but we
have to build, I am all aboutbuilding a business with ease.
That's one of the things I say alot.
Things need to be simple.
that doesn't mean they are notvaluable and it doesn't mean
that that they're not worth,what you're paying for them.
But what it does mean is thatit's.
(20:36):
It's, there's no, there's not alot of fluff in it.
It's
easy, simple.
Let's build this business withease.
And that's one of the ways I dothat.
Susan (20:44):
So in a very roundabout way, you very much answered my
question, which was how do you,I was asking how do you rest?
How do you get rest from thisfatigue of producing, but no,
but you answered it, Tracy,because you said don't get into
that place.
In the first place this is howyou need to handle and manage
your production in time so thatyou don't burn out because you
(21:06):
shouldn't have to go throughthat and then rest up from it.
So it makes all the sense in theworld.
So where, if you are a beginner,If some listening are just
getting started doing this, likewhere would a beginner start?
Should they take your firstidea, which was find where your
ideal customer or audience is,like how would they know what to
(21:26):
start that would produce somegood return and really some
traction or momentum fairlyquickly?
Tracy (21:31):
That's a great question.
It really depends on what theywant to do.
So if we're talking aboutsomeone like you and I, that is
building a business in theonline space, the first thing
they need to do is decide.
Who do they want to serve?
And how do they want to servethem?
And what is the transformationthey're going to get for that
person?
Because that is the, that's thefoundational piece.
(21:54):
Because then they know, okay,who is my ideal client?
What is the messaging that I'mbringing to them?
What can I promise that I'mgoing to help them with?
And then you think through,okay, Where can I find this
person?
For me, my ideal clients arehanging out in entrepreneurial
(22:14):
groups on Facebook.
Very rarely are they onLinkedIn.
They are a lot in large partthey are on Instagram.
So I had to figure out where canI find these people and how can
I start networking because itdoesn't matter if we have an
online business.
or a brick and mortar in personbusiness and we're building at a
local level, networking andmaking those connections is
(22:38):
really key to, to getting themessage out and spider webbing
out into your, to your business.
So if you're talking aboutsomeone because I've built many
businesses on the local levelhere in Little Rock, Arkansas
where I was working for so longin corporate building
businesses, As a mortgage loanofficer and building my own
portfolio there and titleinsurance and real estate and
(23:00):
things like that.
And so that's, it's the same inthat I need to figure out who do
I serve?
How do I serve them?
And what's the transformationI'm going to give them?
And then where can I find thosepeople?
Susan (23:14):
Yeah, and those, on the face of it at first, they seem
like very deep questions and alittle bit of hard work,
honestly, to think through someof those answers, but it so pays
off because then you're notwasting effort, throwing
spaghetti at the wall and hopingsomething will stick, right?
If you know what you have tooffer and who you want to offer
it to and what is the problemyou can solve.
(23:37):
Then all the content that youproduce, whether it's writing or
speaking or videography orwhatever will speak to that and
people will shortly know whatyou stand for and who you are.
Tracy (23:48):
And here's the thing that I want people to understand that
these businesses are alwaysevolving unless we are
purchasing a turnkey franchise.
Like a McDonald's restaurant ora Chick fil a restaurant where
they basically have everythingdone And all you got to do is
(24:08):
pay your franchise fee hire youremployees and show up There's no
real decisions you have to makeBecause our businesses will
evolve like I when I firststarted I just said, okay I want
to be a business and sales coachI knew I wanted to serve
primarily women, And in thebeginning I was more of a
generalist, but it has evolvedinto honing in on my skills of
(24:31):
sales, marketing, creativesolutions, visibility, email
list growth, that kind of thing.
But if I had, I guess my messageis don't wait to get started
think it through and have someidea of what you want to do.
But get started because the moreaction you take, the more
clarity you're going to get.
(24:53):
And the business is never reallygoing to be quote unquote done
and perfect.
Susan (24:58):
Oh boy, that is, that's powerful, Tracy.
The more action you take, themore clarity you'll get.
So important to think throughthese deep questions, but don't
get hung up.
Because you don't think you havethe perfect answer because it
may change.
It may pivot a little.
It may flex and evolve.
Yeah.
Tracy (25:16):
Good point.
It's never going to be perfect.
You know that, Susan, from beingin this space for so long.
Susan (25:21):
And it would be boring if it always stayed the same.
So that's not a bad thing.
That's not a bad thing.
It keeps us on our toes, howimportant, Tracy, do you think
is the entrepreneurs?
Why?
Like, when can that?
Hold you up.
When can that be the crutch thatyou lean on?
How important is knowing whatyour why is?
Tracy (25:40):
It's so critical to understand the reason you're
doing this because I say thisall the time.
Being an entrepreneur is afreaking rollercoaster.
Some days everybody wants to buywhat we're selling and other
days nobody can remember ourname.
And it can be lonely, especiallyin this online space.
(26:01):
When I'm sitting here in myhouse, With my laptop and it's
just me and the dog.
Whereas used to when I was in asales role for a corporation, I
was out and about all the timemeeting people, networking in
person and doing all that stuff.
And so it's been a mindset shiftfor me as well.
And so when I have times where Iam saying to myself, what are
(26:22):
you doing?
You can't coach your way out ofa paper sack.
Who do you think you're going tohelp?
And then I have to remind myselfthat I have helped.
And coached hundreds ofentrepreneurs to success.
And why am I doing this?
And for me it's a multifacetedanswer.
In the beginning, it was my whywas I wanted to get out of
(26:43):
corporate America.
And I was looking for a solutionto do that.
And then the part of the facetof the why is because I want to
earn a good income for myfamily.
Do I need to be wealthy beyondmeasure?
Not in a monetary stance, from amonetary standpoint, but
certainly from a happinessstandpoint.
But we did need a certain amountof money for our family.
(27:05):
So that was part of my why.
And then the other part of mywhy was coming back to what we
were talking about at thebeginning with really feeling a
very, I don't know if I'mpicking the right words here a
very heavy, responsibility touse the gifts and talents that I
was given to help as many otherpeople as possible.
(27:29):
And so if I come back to thatmultifaceted, why of Okay,
Tracy, why are you doing this?
Okay, I don't want to work foranybody else.
That's really important to me.
I want to make a good living formy family so that our kids can
get through college without alot of debt.
And we, we don't have to live anextravagant lifestyle, but it
(27:49):
sure would be fun to be able totravel a few times a year.
I would also add to that, nowthat we're I'm talking about all
the facets of it.
My parents are getting older andI'm two hours away from them.
I could not work for acorporation and hold a job for
very long.
if my parents suddenly neededme, so this gives me location
(28:09):
freedom.
And then coming back to the, allof that, those things under the
umbrella of, how dare I not dothis?
How dare I not take what I knowand that can make a difference
for other people.
And it can also, I speak to thissometimes in keynote speeches
(28:30):
and in different public speakingevents.
But we need to consider theripple effect of our work within
that.
Why?
Because a lot of times we thinkwhen I'm speaking to real estate
agents, they'll say I'm just arealtor.
And I'm like, hold on a second.
You have to consider the rippleeffect of your work.
Okay.
Yes.
On the face of it you're helpingpeople buy and sell homes.
(28:51):
But if you look through theripple effect of everything that
you do with your scope of work,you're touching a mortgage
lender and their family.
You're touching a termitecompany and their family and a
homeowner's insurance companyand their family and their
employees.
You are helping a family getinto a house.
And those children that now havea safe place to live are going
(29:14):
to go to school with confidenceand happiness, and that's going
to ripple into the kids thatthey're in class with.
We can't just sit here and sayI'm just a quilter, or I'm just
a coach, or I'm just a whatever.
We have to, when we're thinkingabout why are we doing this?
Consider the ripple effect it'sgoing to have on the rest of the
(29:35):
people that are around us andwhat and how many blessings that
can give.
Susan (29:40):
So true.
I don't think we can evenoverstate that because there's
so many ripples that we have noidea of and may never know.
I actually had a kind of crystalclear object lesson of this a
few weeks back.
I was live streaming one day.
So this is quilting that I'mlive streaming onto YouTube and
Facebook.
And it was one of those Murphy'slaw sort of days.
(30:02):
Everything that could go wrongdid go wrong on camera, right?
And it's getting more and morefrustrating as it goes on and at
about the two hour mark, Ifinally called a halt and said,
I'm going to have to finish thislater.
And I gave some of the reasonsand so forth, but the magical
part about it was that Viewersstarted typing in responses
during the chat while I wasstill live and then emails that
(30:23):
I received afterwards and theeffect of me showing that very
real day and how I could resolvethose problems and how I thought
through them.
Was remarkable.
So again, my, my field isquilting, so it had to do with
thread breakages and, Bobintention and things like that,
but it encouraged so many peoplebecause so often what we see is
(30:46):
pretty on the surface, right?
It's been edited and polishedand, the glare has been taken
off it.
And so just that act of beingvulnerable and authentic was
really meaningful to people.
So that.
Adding all of that into yourwhy, that's what keeps you going
when you do have a tough daylike that.
You're like, people need to seethis.
(31:10):
People need to see this.
It's reality.
It's life.
Tracy (31:13):
It is.
And it's endearing.
I had a similar situation.
It's happened to me a couple ofdifferent times.
Our dog is, one of my favoritepeople.
And with the kids gone and beingempty nesters, he's the only one
that I have any companionshipwith during the day because my
husband's at work.
But there have been so manyoccasions when I have gone live
on Facebook and he has been sosupportive has some sort of
(31:34):
shenanigans going on in thebackground.
And I literally have to be like,hold on, wait a minute.
I'll be right back.
One day seriously, he had to gooutside and go potty so bad that
he was not going to stopscratching at the back door.
And I thought he was going totake the screen door down
because he's 80 pounds.
And I literally held up myfinger in the camera and I said,
OK, hold on.
Just a second.
I've got to go let the dog out.
(31:54):
And in my brain I'm mortified.
I'm like, this is sounprofessional, but do you know
how many people reached out tome and said, this is the best
thing I've seen all day.
And thank you so much.
And I was just like okay.
And so then when my clients sayto me I can't go live.
What if it's not, what if Idon't have the perfect hair and
the perfect outfit and theperfect this and the problem,
like you're talking to the girlwhose dog interrupted her live
(32:17):
and they're like, Oh yeah, Iforgot about that.
Susan (32:21):
And it's hard.
I'm a recovering perfectionist,so it's hard for me to let go of
that and say that's better.
It's not only okay, but it'sbetter to show people that
reality.
That's what's encouraging andlets them know it's okay to make
a few missteps in the journey.
Yep.
Exactly.
Oh my goodness.
So much goodness.
Now I'm getting all excited.
(32:42):
I'm going to go forth and dogreat things after this.
But before we go, Tracy, Iwonder if you've got a little
gem of wisdom that you couldleave with our listeners.
It can be about, business orjust about life or kids, or in
fact, dogs, if you want to.
Tracy (32:55):
I'm going to give you two, if that's okay.
One, I was reminded of today,cause I have a friend of mine
who is going through a toughtime personally.
And my grandfather, whom Iadored, lived to be 98 years
old.
And he always said, one day at atime, and so when I feel
overwhelmed, like I can'tbreathe everything's just
(33:18):
Swirling.
I remember my grandfather, verykind, gentle, the epitome of a
gentleman who would say one dayat a time, Tracy, we're doing
this one day at a time.
And then the other thing I wantto leave people with is
something that's that everybodycan relate to no matter if you
are building a business or not.
(33:40):
When I have days that are notsuper, I am a positive, happy,
sunshiny person, 80 to 90percent of the time.
It's just who I am.
But I do have days where I feeldown.
I feel sad.
I start to get up in my head.
I start to tell myself thingsthat are not nice, that are not
positive.
And so I created an exercisecalled recognize, re-frame and
(34:03):
repeat.
And I teach it to my clientsnow.
And in less than one minute, youcan literally rewire your brain.
into something more positive.
So you recognize the negativethought for what it is you.
And most of the time it's basedon emotion and fear.
It is not based on fact, not astitch of fact in there.
(34:23):
And
then you reframe it into something positive that is based
on fact.
And then you repeat the positivestatement.
three to five times.
And for me, what I find is bydoing that repetition, it just
washes over my brain and beginsto calm me and begins to bring
me back to the truth, not thefear, not the lie that I'm
(34:45):
trying to tell myself, not allthe emotion, but the fact that,
no, I can have an impact onother people's lives.
Sometimes we say to ourselveswho am I to do this business?
And I come back to how manypeople I've helped and the
transformations I've gotten forthem, which is based on fact
and
then I'll repeat it.
(35:06):
So just recognizing it is thefirst and most important step
because sometimes we don'trecognize how badly we're
talking to ourselves
Susan (35:15):
and
Tracy (35:16):
then reframing it into something positive that's based
on fact and then just repeatingit several times.
And it's just soothing to me.
Susan (35:27):
Okay.
So let me repeat this back tomyself.
You recognize and then youreframe and then you repeat.
So if our listeners want to takethat up for themselves, where
can they find out more aboutthat?
Tracy?
I know you, you've got a littlefreebie to have to do with that.
Tracy (35:43):
I do.
I have a little training thatwill help him.
It's a short video and aworksheet and they can go to
Tracy Beavers dot com forwardslash repeat and grab that.
And it's going to help themrewire their brain for success.
Susan (35:56):
Perfect.
That will be so helpful.
Thanks so much, my friend, fortuning in.
Tracy (36:00):
Thank you so much for having me, Susan.
And I am just so excited to behere.
I can't even tell you.
Susan (36:04):
I hope you gleaned a ton of ideas from Tracy.
She's the real deal when itcomes to business growth and
coaching.
If you're looking for some helpin this area, Be sure to check
out where to follow her in theshow notes.
She has a whole lot of resourcesavailable just for the asking.
Plus a Facebook group with freetraining each and every week.
And let us know what you thoughtof this episode too, by
(36:25):
scrolling to the very bottom ofthe show notes and leaving a
rating and review.
We love to read your comments.
Listen, if you have friends whoyou think would enjoy this
podcast as well, would you takea moment and share it with them?
You can share this particularepisode.
Or all episodes and easy choicesof where to listen can be found
at podcast.
stitchedbysusan.
(36:45):
com.
I'm Susan Smith.
And until next time, may yoursorrows be patched and your joys
be quilted.
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