June 2, 2025 • 33 mins
Solopreneurship can be empowering, but also incredibly isolating. In this honest conversation, I’m joined by fellow fractional CMO Carly Ries to talk about the emotional toll of working alone and how it quietly impacts our business growth.
We explore what it really takes to stay grounded and connected as a solo business owner, plus simple ways to create community, regain momentum, and get out of your own head. Tune in if you’ve ever felt stuck behind the scenes of your own business.
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Episode Transcript
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Janice Hostager (00:04):
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
(00:29):
I don't know if you're anythinglike me, but I can kind of be my
own worst enemy.
I mean, the voice in my headcan be brutal, especially if I'm
starting something new or goingout in an area where I have
maybe a little less confidence.
Essentially, that's every day,since I'm an entrepreneur, we're
always learning, helping,changing, leading and growing,
(00:53):
so overthinking and staying inour head can be detrimental.
Our brains are really good atplaying it safe, so it will do
its best to talk us out ofanything that's even remotely
risky and, as you know, there'snothing safe about being in
business.
That's why staying connected toother people who understand is
(01:13):
such an important element ofentrepreneurship.
For me, the value of havingentrepreneurial friends came to
light when I talked to myhusband at the end of his day.
I'd lament about something thathappened or didn't happen like
I wanted it to, and he'd listenpatiently.
Now he teaches entrepreneurshipat the university level, so he
could sometimes give me somereally good advice, but it
wouldn't relate to what I wasgoing through, because my issue
(01:36):
wasn't really about business.
It was about the challenges ofisolation.
Running a business solo cansometimes feel like a solitary
journey, but it doesn't have tobe that way.
My guest today is Carly Ries.
She's a fellow fractional CMOand marketing expert with nearly
20 years of experience workingwith everything from local shops
(01:59):
to Fortune 500 companies, andsince 2020, carly has worked
with a solopreneur hub calledLifestar and co-hosts the
Aspiring Solopreneur podcast.
She's also the co-author of thesoon-to-be-coming-out book
called Solopreneur Business forDummies.
Important disclosure I did havesome tech issues during this
(02:20):
recording, but the audio doesimprove partway through the
episode, so please bear with meand keep listening, and be sure
to stay to the end, where Carlytalks about ways that you can
connect with other entrepreneursonline, all for free.
Now here's my talk with Carly.
Hey, Carly, welcome to MyWeekly
Marketing.
Carly Ries (02:39):
Oh, Janice, I'm so excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Janice Hostager (02:42):
So when we talked a few weeks ago about
coming on the podcast, yourecommended this topic.
So tell me about, becauseyou're a fractional CMO just
sort of like me.
We have very similar background, actually, in that.
So tell us about yourentrepreneurial journey, though
that made you focus on this andhow you got into talking about
isolation and things thatentrepreneurs go through.
Carly Ries (03:05):
Yeah.
So I, after college, went andworked for Corporate America,
like so many of us do, and mynow husband, boyfriend at the
time he was working remotely.
This is back in 2013, 2014.
He was like what if we wereable to travel full-time while
working full-time?
And I was like that sounds socool, let's become digital
nomads.
So, full-time while workingfull-time?
And I was like that sounds socool, let's become digital
(03:26):
nomads.
So I was still working forCorporate America, but I was on
the road and I was travelingaround the country, which sounds
so cool.
Until you find out that I wasworking 15, 16-hour days and
didn't see anything that we weretraveling to go see.
We were in Yosemite Valley andI was in the RV working the
whole time.
We were in middle-of-nowhere,illinois, and I was working the
(03:53):
whole time.
We were just all over thecountry and I wasn't able to
enjoy it and I was like therehas to be a way to be able to
work, and work full-time, whilealso enjoying everything that
life has to offer.
I'm a millennial, so maybewe're just impatient.
We're just like we want toenjoy everything while we're
working.
So I really was like what can Ido to get that lifestyle?
(04:13):
What can I do to move forwardwith my professional career but
go to the beach if I want to ona Saturday instead of working
all day on a Saturday?
Well, I ended up going out on myown, and at that point I had
years of experience and I knew Iwent out as a marketing
consultant and I had the toolsin my toolbox.
But we were on the road and I'mvery extroverted and I realized
(04:38):
very quickly it wasn't themeetings that I missed, it
wasn't the timesheets that Imissed, it was people, and it
was being around people.
And as great as it was beingwith my husband on the road,
there was this feeling of oh mygosh, am I doing this alone?
There was a feeling of not onlyisolation from happy hours or
(05:01):
isolation from the work culture,but that I don't have anybody
to ask if I don't know how to dosomething.
I don't have an IT person.
I was so used to delegating.
I was working in a marketingagency and I was on the strategy
side, and so we had a PPC team.
We didn't even have a socialmedia team at this point because
social media was still so new,but we had different departments
(05:22):
that you would delegate to, andI was like, oh my goodness, a
social media team at this point,because social media was still
so new, but we had differentdepartments that you would
delegate to.
And I was like, oh my goodness,I thought I had all the tools
in my toolbox, but I didn'trealize how much I delegated and
I felt very alone and I didn'tknow where to reach out to for
these resources when I neededthem.
And so now, working for acompany that focuses on
(05:44):
solopreneurs and running abusiness of one isolation is a
big thing that I talk to peopleabout, because you depend on a
community for the success ofyour business, whether you
realize it or not.
And so that's where I am today.
Janice Hostager (06:01):
Very cool and that is so true.
I mean, I think, anybody that'srun a business for a while and,
unless you're an extremeintrovert, I think of my husband
, who would just be happy, as aclam, just hold up in an office
all day, just like working,because he does research, he's a
college professor, he's got aPhD and so that's his thing,
(06:21):
like he loves to just explorethe you know the topic and go
deep in things.
But a lot of us, especially ifwe are even a little bit
introverted, we get that feelingwhere the walls are closing in
on us and we just gotta get outand talk to real people.
So what do you feel like?
How do you think that affectsproductivity and mental health.
Carly Ries (06:44):
It's cute, I think.
Well one.
I mean.
When you talk about isolation,people think like, oh well, who
do I interact with if I'mworking by myself?
And I think they immediatelythink they have to join
networking groups or go to thoseawful young like young
professional or professionalhappy hours that are just so
uncomfortable.
And that's not the case.
(07:06):
When I think of isolation, Ithink of accountability partners
and finding somebody that oncea week you just grab a whether
it's in-person or virtual cup ofcoffee with, and that's getting
that human interaction.
But also saying, oh, I have tomeet this deadline for a client
or I want to get my marketingplan done, but I'm really bad at
(07:26):
holding myself accountable.
Have an accountability buddy,and then you get that social
time while also being moreproductive.
I have found working fromco-working spaces for people
that are on their own, justbeing in that kind of office
environment, knowing thateverybody's there trying to get
something done, can really helpmotivate you.
You don't even have to interactwith them.
There's just something aboutbeing around people that are
(07:49):
working that makes you want towork more too.
I actually there's an app thatI have called Coffitivity, and
it's just.
It's a background noise from acoffee shop and they put it on
my computer even when I'm athome and I feel like I'm around
a bunch of people that are at acoffee shop with their laptops
up and it just for whateverreason it really helps to get
(08:10):
things done.
So I think having theseaccountability groups,
surrounding yourself withprofessionals, but also
surrounding yourself with peoplethat like to do things that you
like to do outside of workwhether you're a runner, join a
running group or, if you likedoing improv, join an improv
group and be around people thatlike doing those things, so that
you can take a break from theworkspace and come back
(08:32):
re-energized, re-motivated toget your work done because you
did something you enjoyedoutside of work for a little bit
.
So I do I for introverts orextroverts, I think there's
something to be said aboutestablishing a community of
sorts for your mental well-being, but also your productivity
long-term.
Janice Hostager (08:51):
I totally agree with that on so many levels.
But yeah, I actually have kindof thrown together an idea of
just creating a business buddyand I have one, like she's a
friend, she's an entrepreneur.
We get together, probably notevery week because we don't have
time for that, but I do haveget together with a monthly.
Now we can just we talk aboutbusiness, we can talk about
stuff that's going on in ourlives and have personalized,
(09:15):
because we all know that thoseboundaries are a little blurred,
especially if we're workingfrom home.
Right, we've got kids thataffects us.
We've got husbands that affectsus.
We've got friends that thataffects us.
We've got husbands that affectsus.
We've got friends that affectsus, you know.
So I think that you're spot on.
I think we all need some humaninteraction and, oh, sorry, Go
(09:36):
ahead.
Carly Ries (09:36):
No, go ahead Even for those introverts in our life
, our husbands, my husband's theexact same way.
He could go camping and be inthe middle of nowhere for a week
and be perfectly content.
But when you're working byyourself, since you're so siloed
, you have nobody telling youwhen your ideas are good or bad.
You will think all of yourideas are brilliant, but until
(09:56):
you vocalize them to somebodyelse or share your ideas with
somebody else, you may be goingdown the wrong path and nobody's
there to stop you from it.
So, even if you're introverted,find that accountability person
to say, yes, this is the rightway to go, or no?
What are you thinking?
Pump the brakes, which is huge,which I forgot to mention from
productivity for thoseintroverts out there.
Janice Hostager (10:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, it's interesting that, ofcourse, my brain's going like
three different directions rightnow, but I do want to talk to
you about, you know, gettingfeedback, because I've been
putting together a new onlinecourse and my problem is because
I'm such a marketing nerd.
I think that everybody wants tolearn all these things about
marketing, but in reality, youknow, you want to get from point
(10:41):
A to point B in the quickest,easiest way possible, right?
So I face the same thing and Igo to a co-working space a
couple times a week just to dosome deep work on this course.
Otherwise, I would never get itdone at home.
Even my dog distracts me.
It's sad, but the thing that Ihave found which is kind of
(11:02):
interesting is that I will notnecessarily vocalize, but I will
be using chat, gpt to help mewith some of that Like.
Like, okay, here's my outlinefor this module.
Is it too much, is it toolittle?
And it will tell me.
It's like you know this allsounds great.
It's giving me affirmations.
This is a little scary, but youknow it all sounds great.
(11:23):
But I think you should takethis out and this out and
instead add this and this andit's like thank you.
You are my you know, my aibusiness coach.
But it's important to do that,whether that's ai or if it's
just a human.
You know, because my, my, mybusiness buddy will also do that
for me.
She was like what are you doing, you know?
(11:45):
For for me she's more of a uh,like a leadership coach and and
more of a mental health person.
She's like stop doing all thisthing, you need to focus on this
.
So she tells me the hardlessons I need to hear, the hard
things I need to learn here.
She won't necessarily affirm meso much.
Carly Ries (12:03):
Yeah, and the thing is, you could be a professional
in your space.
I mean, we're both marketersand it's funny because sometimes
I need to take my own advice asa marketer and get out of my
own way.
I mean, I'm so by the booksthat a friend of mine who's not
in marketing could be like well,have you thought about this?
And I'm like, well, thatdoesn't fall into the SEO.
(12:23):
Like that's not how you do metadescriptions and page titles
and all that.
And it's like, oh yeah, thehuman side wants this.
But since I'm classicallytrained in marketing, I want to
go this way.
But you do have to.
It's better to get somefeedback from something that's
not necessarily in your space.
Yeah, to show you what you maynot be thinking about because
you're so one track mindedTotally.
Janice Hostager (12:46):
So my calendar is stacked up like Lego blocks.
I'm assuming manyentrepreneurs' calendars are
kind of like this.
So it seems like when you canfind a way to delegate or
automate or eliminate a task,something new fills that void
right.
So it's not just a matter of oh, I got that off my plate, now
I've got this free time.
Do you think that that kind ofcontributes to isolation?
(13:06):
Are we putting too much on ourshoulders?
Do you think that we just likedon't build in time for
relaxation and thought?
Carly Ries (13:17):
I'm actually going to share a personal story that
doesn't even have to do withwork, but I've started
incorporating it in myprofessional life.
We have a free weekend.
I feel like I'm like, okay, wecould go to this museum, we can
go hiking, and I just block itoff.
My husband likes room foropportunity.
He doesn't want to plan things.
I am the planner, he is the.
(13:38):
Let's go with the flow, seewhat happens.
And so this is about a year ortwo ago.
I was looking at my calendar andthere were blocks on Saturdays
and Sundays that said room foropportunity, and my husband had
put those on the calendar to belike, look, we have plans, quote
unquote, but we don't haveplans.
(13:58):
And it was like this is a goodtime for you to just take a
minute, not plan anything,because something's already on
the calendar, and just see whathappens that day.
And I was like you know I needthat in work.
So I have started puttingworkouts on the calendar like
real, like I've been wanting.
I know everybody says this isthe year I get in the best shape
of my life, but I really wantedto make that a goal this year
(14:21):
and so I have it as a setmeeting on the calendar.
The contractors I work with knowyou do not interrupt me at this
time.
I look at it like I had ameeting with you today.
I like I have an interview.
Mm-hmm, I do not move it.
And you have to do that withfirst for any kind of personal
time, even if just blocking offMonday mornings to go sit in a
(14:41):
coffee shop and let your mindwander.
I have also found that if I puthiking on the calendar, my best
business ideas come away fromthe computer.
When I'm on my computer, I'mfocusing on my to-do list, on
the tasks that I need to getdone.
When I'm off on a hike, I'mthinking big picture.
I'm thinking that thing I wasfocusing on is pointless.
Why am I still working on it?
(15:02):
I should be doing this instead.
And that's where the bigpicture thinking comes from.
And so many people don't givethemselves the time to do that.
And that's where I personallyhave seen the biggest shifts in
my business have been away fromthe computer.
Janice Hostager (15:18):
Oh, I 100% agree.
Yeah, even when I'm liketraveling, it's just because
I'll usually say to myself, okay, I'm going to grab a book and
finally get this book read, orI'm going to be working on this
on the plane, and I just don'tgive myself those boundaries, I
don't set those boundaries well.
So I too have been this lastyear, have been setting gym time
(15:41):
on my calendar and when mycalendar tells me to do
something, I'm going to do it.
You know, even if I have otherwork that needs to be done,
because you burn out, you know,and then you're no good to
anybody, and especially clientwork and all of those things can
easily creep in and fill thosevoids.
(16:01):
And also we all have ideasright of things we want to
implement in our own businesses,so those can fill our voids
really easily.
So I love that.
I love that you're doing that.
I think that's so important.
Carly Ries (16:13):
Well, and with calendar blocking, the two
things that I have found workfor a lot of people is to like
you and I, we have this on thecalendar for one hour.
I put it on the calendar fortwo because I was like this
leaves room for me to prepare.
Before the cause it was it was30 minutes before one hour and
30 minutes after.
It gives me time to prepare,come up with any questions I
(16:35):
might have for you, and thenafterwards one leave room for if
you and I just felt liketalking for a while, which I
feel like you and I could veryeasily do, since we're basically
the same person.
But also, okay, that's 30minutes, I don't have to rush
into something else.
I can start on a to-do list.
I could go for that hike andjust padding the must-get-done
(16:55):
things so that you have thattime for the email to respond to
the social comments you need torespond to, because those creep
in and you don't have timeallocated towards it.
So I like padding the actualthings on my calendar with the
fluff.
But also, as business owners,we're go-getters and so, like we
(17:18):
were saying, we fill ourcalendars.
But, as aspirational as we are,things change throughout the
week and you can have an entireweek blocked off and get to
Thursday and realize you didn'tactually do a lot of things that
you had scheduled Mondaythrough Wednesday, because you
just kind of over it.
So every night before I go tobed or not even before I go to
(17:39):
bed, but before I start windingdown with the family and
everything the last thing I doas part of the workday is I look
at what I actually did from thecalendar that day and then see
what I need to rearrange thenext day.
So you stay on top of it.
So you're still calendarblocking, but you're just doing
it.
You're revising it as the weekgoes so that you don't drop the
ball on anything.
Janice Hostager (17:59):
Right, yeah, that's a good way of doing it.
I tried just so many differentmethods.
I've tried the calendarblocking for tasks.
I use Blue, which is kind of anewer app.
It's sort of like Asana.
I've used Asana, I've usedClickUp, I've used a to-do list.
(18:19):
I mean there's a lot of ways tokind of keep track of everything
and even, like pencil and paper, you know just anything that,
just so you don't lose track ofall the different types of jobs
that you need to get done,especially for clients, because
that's always my worst fear isthat I'll have committed to
something and totally justspaced out on it, which happens
when you get too busy.
(18:40):
Yeah, oh yeah.
So what do you think about interms of mental health, like,
especially self-doubt?
I notice that in times when I'mreally isolating and really
focused on just nose to thegrindstone, getting stuff done,
I start.
My mental health definitelygoes down for sure, and
(19:04):
especially the feelings ofself-doubt start creeping in
because I'm not gettingaffirmations from anybody else
and I guess that probably speaksto my own psychological makeup,
because that I need somebody tosay good job, everyone's so.
Oh goodness, we're the sameperson for overcoming feelings
(19:24):
like this, especially if you'refeeling alone in your journey,
like other than, like youmentioned a buddy for sure.
What about networking groups,like?
I know that there's some thataren't great, but do you
recommend people join themanyway, or a mastermind or
something like that?
Carly Ries (19:40):
Yeah, I found that some people are more comfortable
to start online just becausethere's that awkward feeling of
going into that new room andbeing like hi, I'm Carly Reese.
What's your favorite color?
You know if there isn't a nicebreaker or something.
So I'm all for networkinggroups if you're comfortable in
that setting, but there are alot of online communities that
(20:01):
you can join.
I'll probably do a shamelessplug for art at the end of the
episode, but I definitely thinkit's worth surrounding yourself
with people.
But going back to the impostersyndrome, I think is what some
experience when we're goingalone.
Yeah, I am marketers.
When I went out on my own, Ithought I knew everything and I
(20:22):
very quickly realized I didn't.
And I know a lot.
But instead of focusing on whatI do know, it was well, I don't
know this.
What was I thinking?
I jumped ship already.
I need to go back, and I thinkthe first thing people need to
remember is everybodyexperiences this.
Everybody has that in theirhead.
That's like what are you doing?
And that's just kind of thename of the game.
(20:44):
So if you can accept that earlyon, then that's a first step.
I've also found that when yourdoubts come in, that's often
before a big breakthrough andyou're just scared of what
you're trying to push forward.
Whether you're about to launchsomething or pitch a new client
so many times or ask for a payraise or an increase in your
(21:06):
rates, people are like I don'tdeserve this pay increase, I
don't deserve this.
But then when they ask for it,they get the pay increase and
it's just that little guy onyour shoulder just trying to
tell you can't when you reallycan, and so there's comfort in
numbers.
Everybody goes through this.
(21:27):
I also encourage people to justtake baby steps or be
productive in some way whenthey're starting to get these
feelings of imposter syndrome,even if it's cleaning your
kitchen, like, just do somethingproductive.
Because that feeling ofaccomplishment will make you
feel like, oh okay, like I couldconquer this.
Maybe, since I have themomentum with cleaning my
(21:47):
kitchen, I can at least draftthe email task for the rate
increase.
I don't have to send it, but atleast I'm going to draft it.
That'll make me feel good.
And then, when you're feelinggood about that, you're like all
right, I have some confidencegoing.
I'm going to hit send and thenhit send and just continue to be
productive with those babysteps and eventually you'll get
to the thing you're trying toachieve, even when that voice in
(22:10):
your head is telling you youcan't.
So I think those are huge.
It's just like like hit theground running, get some stuff
done and then also do somethingto put a smile on your face, or
just put a smile on your face,whether you're doing something
to make that happen or not, andjust that, those endorphins I'm
(22:30):
not going to get science-ybecause I don't know the terms
I'm looking for, but just thatfeeling of feeling good can do
wonders for your productivityand can get you out of that funk
of I don't deserve this, I'mnot good enough.
When, really, if you go for arun, go paint, go do whatever
makes you happy, you come backand you're like that makes me so
happy, I'm feeling so muchbetter.
I can totally put this in myhead.
(22:53):
So just kind of gettingyourself in a good mindset, get
that momentum going, can dowonders, when that voice will
inevitably start speaking to you.
It's just the nature of thebeast.
Janice Hostager (23:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I have had 30 years of
marketing under my belt and Istill think, oh my gosh, I don't
know about enough about this tobe advising somebody on this.
And I've been in, I was an artdirector, I've done copywriting,
I've done PR, I have done, justyou know, print buying, I've
(23:28):
done like the whole entire gamutalmost of ads I've done.
And I still feel like thatsometimes, you know, it's like I
just what if I dropped the ballon this?
And I think it probably has itsroot in perfectionism or who
knows, I don't know.
I think you're right.
I think most every entrepreneurgoes through that, especially
(23:48):
solopreneurs.
Uh, if you're just, if youspend too much time in your own
head, I think so I I love that.
You recommend just doingsomething.
You get a quick win, like cleanthe kitchen.
Carly Ries (24:01):
it's like okay, I can do this, I can do the bigger
things, right when I also, um,I think, oh gosh, I just lost my
train of thought.
I was going to say something soinsightful and now I forgot.
Um, it'll come back to me atsome point.
But yeah, I mean, just justremember that everybody goes
through it.
And oh, I remembered, um, useit as a way to stay on your toes
(24:23):
and not become complacent.
As a solopreneur or anentrepreneur building something,
if things are working, you kindof just kind of like it becomes
clockwork.
You kind of get stuck in yourways and you forget that you
need to evolve with where yourbusiness is evolving.
You need to keep up on yourcontinuing education and when
you've got imposter syndrome,it's kind of a kick to be like,
(24:44):
oh, if I'm not comfortable withthis, it's because something's
changing and I need to getcomfortable with this.
For example, I'm a millennial.
I should love social media, orso I've heard.
I'm not comfortable with it.
I mean, so many of my peers arecreating reels, and obviously
the generations below me.
(25:04):
It's like second nature to them, but I'm really uncomfortable
with creating reels.
I don't have TikTok.
Maybe I'm an anomaly, but Iknow I have clients that need
this.
And so when they came to me andthey're like what do you
recommend for reels?
I was like well, what do yourecommend for me?
I don't know, I have no idea.
And instead of caving into thatimposter syndrome of I don't
(25:27):
know, I spent a night learningabout reels and learning about
videos on social and ways to notgo viral but ways to expand
your reach and all of that.
And now I feel better about meas a marketer because I learned
something new and I wouldn'thave felt that way if I didn't
have that little guy being likeyou don't know what you're doing
(25:48):
.
Janice Hostager (25:49):
And it's so true.
Carly Ries (25:49):
So that's what you need to stay current in whatever
profession you're in.
Janice Hostager (25:55):
That's a really , really good idea because, for
sure, in marketing, oh my gosh,it's like shifting sand under
your feet every single day.
In fact, I was on a podcastyesterday with just someone who
was talking about the changesthat take place daily in
Facebook ads and I know I havefelt like so stupid because I've
been doing Facebook ads foryears and I go in there and
(26:16):
something's changed, somethingnew has changed.
And if it's like that inmarketing, I'm sure it's like
that in every profession,especially now that we are going
into a time of life where AIruns so many things and
integrated with so many things.
We're all learning at thispoint.
Carly Ries (26:37):
Yeah, it's exciting.
It's the new frontier, eventhough a lot of us are a little
nervous about it.
If you embrace it, it could begreat for you.
Janice Hostager (26:46):
Yeah, yeah, let's see here A little more
editing.
Here I think I kind of coveredeverything, so I think these are
(27:08):
some really great ideas forjust staying connected and
feeling a lot less like we'reholed up in four walls and have,
you know, with our own thoughts, which is sometimes the most
dangerous place to be in theworld.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour business, lifestar, because
I think that you really arehitting a niche there that I
(27:31):
think is important to addressfor sure.
Carly Ries (27:34):
Yes, well, I'm biased and I agree with you, but
when you hear aboutentrepreneurship, you hear
people that want to make theirmillions and sell and you want
to get investors make this wholething.
And then, on the other end, youhear about freelancers or the
gig economy and people that justwant to take projects here and
there, and we felt like thatthere was a big gap missing of
(27:58):
people that want to beentrepreneurs but don't want to
hire employees.
They just want to run abusiness that fits their
lifestyle, allows them to picktheir kids up from school,
allows them to do that middayhike or go to Europe if they
want to, while still making agood living.
But they don't have to be thenext gazillionaires, they just
(28:20):
want to make a living thatsupports their life.
So that's exactly what Lifestardoes.
Lifestar with two R's.
We help solopreneurs reallyjust navigate the ups and downs
of solopreneurship.
There are people that don'tknow how to do lead gen or sales
or they need productivity hacks, and we provide community, we
provide a space for them tobounce questions off of experts
(28:42):
and we really just give them thetools and the building blocks
they need to run a successfulcompany of one.
So I've been working for thiscompany.
I was on a podcast yesterdayand he was like well, where do
you see yourself?
There's no part of me that Imean.
I'm a fractional CMO, I onlycontract with Lifestar.
I could do other things andcertainly have the freedom to do
(29:03):
so, but I love this company andI love what it stands for, and
I think we're just at thebeginning.
So, yeah, I can't wait to seewhere this all goes.
So you weren't involved instarting the beginning, so, yeah
, I can't wait to see where thisall goes.
Janice Hostager (29:13):
So what?
So you weren't involved instarting the business.
You came on a little laterright, I was.
Carly Ries (29:19):
I was ground level.
So the CEO, joe Rando, is themost wonderful human being on
the planet and his vision forthis is truly to help people,
like he just cares people.
He's one of those guys thatsays he cares about making the
world a better place, but heactually does, and he had this
(29:40):
app idea back around 2019 or soand there were some ups and
downs with that.
He brought me on originally topromote this app, and then we
found this need and I came onthe first week of March 2020.
So it was a very interestingtime to start a new position.
(30:01):
But over the years, we pivotedaway from the app for a variety
of reasons and now we've createdthis community instead.
So I was on the ground level.
I just wasn't here during theapp development portion, but I
was at the beginning of Lifestarand what it currently is today
and was instrumental in findingour new niche.
Janice Hostager (30:21):
And what I love about it is that it's free to
start right and you can jump inand really connect with other
entrepreneurs right.
Carly Ries (30:29):
Yes, so we have this intro tier which is lifestarcom
backslash intro cleverly namedand it has a community of
entrepreneurs and people areengaging in that community
throughout the day, just randomquestions.
We even have a water coolersegment where you can join this
water cooler Zoom link and justpretend like you're at an office
(30:49):
water cooler since so many ofus miss that and the Zoom link
is always open and one of ourteam members is always on there,
hilarious, like chatting withsomebody.
But we have like yeah, we justwe have Monday meetups where you
can chat with other peopleagain just to get like, combat
the isolation but get thosequestions answered that so many
(31:10):
of us have.
So that's free.
We have monthly events.
We have that networking event,solopreneur Problem Solvers,
where you bring one of yourchallenges with you and then you
go into a breakout room and youtry to solve your challenges
together and help others andit's just really cool how many
collaborations come out of that.
And then we have a monthlyeducational event called Success
(31:30):
Sessions where we have anexpert come in to talk about
next week it's taxes because wewant people prepared for the
entire year, not just scramblethat month before.
So we have that.
People talk about marketing, pr, and all these are designed
specifically for solopreneurs,not just the general education.
You would get around thesetopics.
And then we have free resourcestools.
(31:52):
It's just a great way to getstarted, and all of that that I
just mentioned is completelyfree and always will be.
That is a promise made by theCEO.
Janice Hostager (32:02):
Oh, very cool.
It's just perfect timing too.
It sounds like it started in2020, when everybody was feeling
the walls closing in right, ohyes, during COVID, yeah.
Well thank you so much, carly,for chatting with us today, and
this is such an important topic.
I really am glad that youfilled us in on some options
(32:24):
that we have, because nobodywants to be stuck alone and
feeling uninspired when theyhave opportunities that are easy
to connect to.
So I appreciate it.
Carly Ries (32:36):
Well, I appreciate you and thank you so much for
having me on the show.
Janice Hostager (32:39):
Okay, there's one more thing I want to add.
There are actually 41 millionsolopreneurs in the US, so if
you're feeling isolated ordiscouraged, please reach out to
someone who understands.
You're feeling isolated ordiscouraged, please reach out to
someone who understands.
Remember you are not alone, sodon't sit too long in your
discouragement.
(33:00):
For information about anythingwe talked about today, including
the link to the free Lifestarcommunity, visit
myweeklymarketingcom.
Forward slash 110.
In the ever-changing world ofmarketing, there's always
something new to learn, so besure to subscribe so you'll
always stay up to date.
Thanks so much for joining metoday.
I'll see you next time.
Bye for now.
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
(00:29):
I don't know if you're anythinglike me, but I can kind of be my
own worst enemy.
I mean, the voice in my headcan be brutal, especially if I'm
starting something new or goingout in an area where I have
maybe a little less confidence.
Essentially, that's every day,since I'm an entrepreneur, we're
always learning, helping,changing, leading and growing,
(00:53):
so overthinking and staying inour head can be detrimental.
Our brains are really good atplaying it safe, so it will do
its best to talk us out ofanything that's even remotely
risky and, as you know, there'snothing safe about being in
business.
That's why staying connected toother people who understand is
(01:13):
such an important element ofentrepreneurship.
For me, the value of havingentrepreneurial friends came to
light when I talked to myhusband at the end of his day.
I'd lament about something thathappened or didn't happen like
I wanted it to, and he'd listenpatiently.
Now he teaches entrepreneurshipat the university level, so he
could sometimes give me somereally good advice, but it
wouldn't relate to what I wasgoing through, because my issue
(01:36):
wasn't really about business.
It was about the challenges ofisolation.
Running a business solo cansometimes feel like a solitary
journey, but it doesn't have tobe that way.
My guest today is Carly Ries.
She's a fellow fractional CMOand marketing expert with nearly
20 years of experience workingwith everything from local shops
(01:59):
to Fortune 500 companies, andsince 2020, carly has worked
with a solopreneur hub calledLifestar and co-hosts the
Aspiring Solopreneur podcast.
She's also the co-author of thesoon-to-be-coming-out book
called Solopreneur Business forDummies.
Important disclosure I did havesome tech issues during this
(02:20):
recording, but the audio doesimprove partway through the
episode, so please bear with meand keep listening, and be sure
to stay to the end, where Carlytalks about ways that you can
connect with other entrepreneursonline, all for free.
Now here's my talk with Carly.
Hey, Carly, welcome to MyWeekly
Marketing.
Carly Ries (02:39):
Oh, Janice, I'm so excited to be here.
Thank you for having me.
Janice Hostager (02:42):
So when we talked a few weeks ago about
coming on the podcast, yourecommended this topic.
So tell me about, becauseyou're a fractional CMO just
sort of like me.
We have very similar background, actually, in that.
So tell us about yourentrepreneurial journey, though
that made you focus on this andhow you got into talking about
isolation and things thatentrepreneurs go through.
Carly Ries (03:05):
Yeah.
So I, after college, went andworked for Corporate America,
like so many of us do, and mynow husband, boyfriend at the
time he was working remotely.
This is back in 2013, 2014.
He was like what if we wereable to travel full-time while
working full-time?
And I was like that sounds socool, let's become digital
nomads.
So, full-time while workingfull-time?
And I was like that sounds socool, let's become digital
(03:26):
nomads.
So I was still working forCorporate America, but I was on
the road and I was travelingaround the country, which sounds
so cool.
Until you find out that I wasworking 15, 16-hour days and
didn't see anything that we weretraveling to go see.
We were in Yosemite Valley andI was in the RV working the
whole time.
We were in middle-of-nowhere,illinois, and I was working the
(03:53):
whole time.
We were just all over thecountry and I wasn't able to
enjoy it and I was like therehas to be a way to be able to
work, and work full-time, whilealso enjoying everything that
life has to offer.
I'm a millennial, so maybewe're just impatient.
We're just like we want toenjoy everything while we're
working.
So I really was like what can Ido to get that lifestyle?
(04:13):
What can I do to move forwardwith my professional career but
go to the beach if I want to ona Saturday instead of working
all day on a Saturday?
Well, I ended up going out on myown, and at that point I had
years of experience and I knew Iwent out as a marketing
consultant and I had the toolsin my toolbox.
But we were on the road and I'mvery extroverted and I realized
(04:38):
very quickly it wasn't themeetings that I missed, it
wasn't the timesheets that Imissed, it was people, and it
was being around people.
And as great as it was beingwith my husband on the road,
there was this feeling of oh mygosh, am I doing this alone?
There was a feeling of not onlyisolation from happy hours or
(05:01):
isolation from the work culture,but that I don't have anybody
to ask if I don't know how to dosomething.
I don't have an IT person.
I was so used to delegating.
I was working in a marketingagency and I was on the strategy
side, and so we had a PPC team.
We didn't even have a socialmedia team at this point because
social media was still so new,but we had different departments
(05:22):
that you would delegate to, andI was like, oh my goodness, a
social media team at this point,because social media was still
so new, but we had differentdepartments that you would
delegate to.
And I was like, oh my goodness,I thought I had all the tools
in my toolbox, but I didn'trealize how much I delegated and
I felt very alone and I didn'tknow where to reach out to for
these resources when I neededthem.
And so now, working for acompany that focuses on
(05:44):
solopreneurs and running abusiness of one isolation is a
big thing that I talk to peopleabout, because you depend on a
community for the success ofyour business, whether you
realize it or not.
And so that's where I am today.
Janice Hostager (06:01):
Very cool and that is so true.
I mean, I think, anybody that'srun a business for a while and,
unless you're an extremeintrovert, I think of my husband
, who would just be happy, as aclam, just hold up in an office
all day, just like working,because he does research, he's a
college professor, he's got aPhD and so that's his thing,
(06:21):
like he loves to just explorethe you know the topic and go
deep in things.
But a lot of us, especially ifwe are even a little bit
introverted, we get that feelingwhere the walls are closing in
on us and we just gotta get outand talk to real people.
So what do you feel like?
How do you think that affectsproductivity and mental health.
Carly Ries (06:44):
It's cute, I think.
Well one.
I mean.
When you talk about isolation,people think like, oh well, who
do I interact with if I'mworking by myself?
And I think they immediatelythink they have to join
networking groups or go to thoseawful young like young
professional or professionalhappy hours that are just so
uncomfortable.
And that's not the case.
(07:06):
When I think of isolation, Ithink of accountability partners
and finding somebody that oncea week you just grab a whether
it's in-person or virtual cup ofcoffee with, and that's getting
that human interaction.
But also saying, oh, I have tomeet this deadline for a client
or I want to get my marketingplan done, but I'm really bad at
(07:26):
holding myself accountable.
Have an accountability buddy,and then you get that social
time while also being moreproductive.
I have found working fromco-working spaces for people
that are on their own, justbeing in that kind of office
environment, knowing thateverybody's there trying to get
something done, can really helpmotivate you.
You don't even have to interactwith them.
There's just something aboutbeing around people that are
(07:49):
working that makes you want towork more too.
I actually there's an app thatI have called Coffitivity, and
it's just.
It's a background noise from acoffee shop and they put it on
my computer even when I'm athome and I feel like I'm around
a bunch of people that are at acoffee shop with their laptops
up and it just for whateverreason it really helps to get
(08:10):
things done.
So I think having theseaccountability groups,
surrounding yourself withprofessionals, but also
surrounding yourself with peoplethat like to do things that you
like to do outside of workwhether you're a runner, join a
running group or, if you likedoing improv, join an improv
group and be around people thatlike doing those things, so that
you can take a break from theworkspace and come back
(08:32):
re-energized, re-motivated toget your work done because you
did something you enjoyedoutside of work for a little bit
.
So I do I for introverts orextroverts, I think there's
something to be said aboutestablishing a community of
sorts for your mental well-being, but also your productivity
long-term.
Janice Hostager (08:51):
I totally agree with that on so many levels.
But yeah, I actually have kindof thrown together an idea of
just creating a business buddyand I have one, like she's a
friend, she's an entrepreneur.
We get together, probably notevery week because we don't have
time for that, but I do haveget together with a monthly.
Now we can just we talk aboutbusiness, we can talk about
stuff that's going on in ourlives and have personalized,
(09:15):
because we all know that thoseboundaries are a little blurred,
especially if we're workingfrom home.
Right, we've got kids thataffects us.
We've got husbands that affectsus.
We've got friends that thataffects us.
We've got husbands that affectsus.
We've got friends that affectsus, you know.
So I think that you're spot on.
I think we all need some humaninteraction and, oh, sorry, Go
(09:36):
ahead.
Carly Ries (09:36):
No, go ahead Even for those introverts in our life
, our husbands, my husband's theexact same way.
He could go camping and be inthe middle of nowhere for a week
and be perfectly content.
But when you're working byyourself, since you're so siloed
, you have nobody telling youwhen your ideas are good or bad.
You will think all of yourideas are brilliant, but until
(09:56):
you vocalize them to somebodyelse or share your ideas with
somebody else, you may be goingdown the wrong path and nobody's
there to stop you from it.
So, even if you're introverted,find that accountability person
to say, yes, this is the rightway to go, or no?
What are you thinking?
Pump the brakes, which is huge,which I forgot to mention from
productivity for thoseintroverts out there.
Janice Hostager (10:18):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, it's interesting that, ofcourse, my brain's going like
three different directions rightnow, but I do want to talk to
you about, you know, gettingfeedback, because I've been
putting together a new onlinecourse and my problem is because
I'm such a marketing nerd.
I think that everybody wants tolearn all these things about
marketing, but in reality, youknow, you want to get from point
(10:41):
A to point B in the quickest,easiest way possible, right?
So I face the same thing and Igo to a co-working space a
couple times a week just to dosome deep work on this course.
Otherwise, I would never get itdone at home.
Even my dog distracts me.
It's sad, but the thing that Ihave found which is kind of
(11:02):
interesting is that I will notnecessarily vocalize, but I will
be using chat, gpt to help mewith some of that Like.
Like, okay, here's my outlinefor this module.
Is it too much, is it toolittle?
And it will tell me.
It's like you know this allsounds great.
It's giving me affirmations.
This is a little scary, but youknow it all sounds great.
(11:23):
But I think you should takethis out and this out and
instead add this and this andit's like thank you.
You are my you know, my aibusiness coach.
But it's important to do that,whether that's ai or if it's
just a human.
You know, because my, my, mybusiness buddy will also do that
for me.
She was like what are you doing, you know?
(11:45):
For for me she's more of a uh,like a leadership coach and and
more of a mental health person.
She's like stop doing all thisthing, you need to focus on this
.
So she tells me the hardlessons I need to hear, the hard
things I need to learn here.
She won't necessarily affirm meso much.
Carly Ries (12:03):
Yeah, and the thing is, you could be a professional
in your space.
I mean, we're both marketersand it's funny because sometimes
I need to take my own advice asa marketer and get out of my
own way.
I mean, I'm so by the booksthat a friend of mine who's not
in marketing could be like well,have you thought about this?
And I'm like, well, thatdoesn't fall into the SEO.
(12:23):
Like that's not how you do metadescriptions and page titles
and all that.
And it's like, oh yeah, thehuman side wants this.
But since I'm classicallytrained in marketing, I want to
go this way.
But you do have to.
It's better to get somefeedback from something that's
not necessarily in your space.
Yeah, to show you what you maynot be thinking about because
you're so one track mindedTotally.
Janice Hostager (12:46):
So my calendar is stacked up like Lego blocks.
I'm assuming manyentrepreneurs' calendars are
kind of like this.
So it seems like when you canfind a way to delegate or
automate or eliminate a task,something new fills that void
right.
So it's not just a matter of oh, I got that off my plate, now
I've got this free time.
Do you think that that kind ofcontributes to isolation?
(13:06):
Are we putting too much on ourshoulders?
Do you think that we just likedon't build in time for
relaxation and thought?
Carly Ries (13:17):
I'm actually going to share a personal story that
doesn't even have to do withwork, but I've started
incorporating it in myprofessional life.
We have a free weekend.
I feel like I'm like, okay, wecould go to this museum, we can
go hiking, and I just block itoff.
My husband likes room foropportunity.
He doesn't want to plan things.
I am the planner, he is the.
(13:38):
Let's go with the flow, seewhat happens.
And so this is about a year ortwo ago.
I was looking at my calendar andthere were blocks on Saturdays
and Sundays that said room foropportunity, and my husband had
put those on the calendar to belike, look, we have plans, quote
unquote, but we don't haveplans.
(13:58):
And it was like this is a goodtime for you to just take a
minute, not plan anything,because something's already on
the calendar, and just see whathappens that day.
And I was like you know I needthat in work.
So I have started puttingworkouts on the calendar like
real, like I've been wanting.
I know everybody says this isthe year I get in the best shape
of my life, but I really wantedto make that a goal this year
(14:21):
and so I have it as a setmeeting on the calendar.
The contractors I work with knowyou do not interrupt me at this
time.
I look at it like I had ameeting with you today.
I like I have an interview.
Mm-hmm, I do not move it.
And you have to do that withfirst for any kind of personal
time, even if just blocking offMonday mornings to go sit in a
(14:41):
coffee shop and let your mindwander.
I have also found that if I puthiking on the calendar, my best
business ideas come away fromthe computer.
When I'm on my computer, I'mfocusing on my to-do list, on
the tasks that I need to getdone.
When I'm off on a hike, I'mthinking big picture.
I'm thinking that thing I wasfocusing on is pointless.
Why am I still working on it?
(15:02):
I should be doing this instead.
And that's where the bigpicture thinking comes from.
And so many people don't givethemselves the time to do that.
And that's where I personallyhave seen the biggest shifts in
my business have been away fromthe computer.
Janice Hostager (15:18):
Oh, I 100% agree.
Yeah, even when I'm liketraveling, it's just because
I'll usually say to myself, okay, I'm going to grab a book and
finally get this book read, orI'm going to be working on this
on the plane, and I just don'tgive myself those boundaries, I
don't set those boundaries well.
So I too have been this lastyear, have been setting gym time
(15:41):
on my calendar and when mycalendar tells me to do
something, I'm going to do it.
You know, even if I have otherwork that needs to be done,
because you burn out, you know,and then you're no good to
anybody, and especially clientwork and all of those things can
easily creep in and fill thosevoids.
(16:01):
And also we all have ideasright of things we want to
implement in our own businesses,so those can fill our voids
really easily.
So I love that.
I love that you're doing that.
I think that's so important.
Carly Ries (16:13):
Well, and with calendar blocking, the two
things that I have found workfor a lot of people is to like
you and I, we have this on thecalendar for one hour.
I put it on the calendar fortwo because I was like this
leaves room for me to prepare.
Before the cause it was it was30 minutes before one hour and
30 minutes after.
It gives me time to prepare,come up with any questions I
(16:35):
might have for you, and thenafterwards one leave room for if
you and I just felt liketalking for a while, which I
feel like you and I could veryeasily do, since we're basically
the same person.
But also, okay, that's 30minutes, I don't have to rush
into something else.
I can start on a to-do list.
I could go for that hike andjust padding the must-get-done
(16:55):
things so that you have thattime for the email to respond to
the social comments you need torespond to, because those creep
in and you don't have timeallocated towards it.
So I like padding the actualthings on my calendar with the
fluff.
But also, as business owners,we're go-getters and so, like we
(17:18):
were saying, we fill ourcalendars.
But, as aspirational as we are,things change throughout the
week and you can have an entireweek blocked off and get to
Thursday and realize you didn'tactually do a lot of things that
you had scheduled Mondaythrough Wednesday, because you
just kind of over it.
So every night before I go tobed or not even before I go to
(17:39):
bed, but before I start windingdown with the family and
everything the last thing I doas part of the workday is I look
at what I actually did from thecalendar that day and then see
what I need to rearrange thenext day.
So you stay on top of it.
So you're still calendarblocking, but you're just doing
it.
You're revising it as the weekgoes so that you don't drop the
ball on anything.
Janice Hostager (17:59):
Right, yeah, that's a good way of doing it.
I tried just so many differentmethods.
I've tried the calendarblocking for tasks.
I use Blue, which is kind of anewer app.
It's sort of like Asana.
I've used Asana, I've usedClickUp, I've used a to-do list.
(18:19):
I mean there's a lot of ways tokind of keep track of everything
and even, like pencil and paper, you know just anything that,
just so you don't lose track ofall the different types of jobs
that you need to get done,especially for clients, because
that's always my worst fear isthat I'll have committed to
something and totally justspaced out on it, which happens
when you get too busy.
(18:40):
Yeah, oh yeah.
So what do you think about interms of mental health, like,
especially self-doubt?
I notice that in times when I'mreally isolating and really
focused on just nose to thegrindstone, getting stuff done,
I start.
My mental health definitelygoes down for sure, and
(19:04):
especially the feelings ofself-doubt start creeping in
because I'm not gettingaffirmations from anybody else
and I guess that probably speaksto my own psychological makeup,
because that I need somebody tosay good job, everyone's so.
Oh goodness, we're the sameperson for overcoming feelings
(19:24):
like this, especially if you'refeeling alone in your journey,
like other than, like youmentioned a buddy for sure.
What about networking groups,like?
I know that there's some thataren't great, but do you
recommend people join themanyway, or a mastermind or
something like that?
Carly Ries (19:40):
Yeah, I found that some people are more comfortable
to start online just becausethere's that awkward feeling of
going into that new room andbeing like hi, I'm Carly Reese.
What's your favorite color?
You know if there isn't a nicebreaker or something.
So I'm all for networkinggroups if you're comfortable in
that setting, but there are alot of online communities that
(20:01):
you can join.
I'll probably do a shamelessplug for art at the end of the
episode, but I definitely thinkit's worth surrounding yourself
with people.
But going back to the impostersyndrome, I think is what some
experience when we're goingalone.
Yeah, I am marketers.
When I went out on my own, Ithought I knew everything and I
(20:22):
very quickly realized I didn't.
And I know a lot.
But instead of focusing on whatI do know, it was well, I don't
know this.
What was I thinking?
I jumped ship already.
I need to go back, and I thinkthe first thing people need to
remember is everybodyexperiences this.
Everybody has that in theirhead.
That's like what are you doing?
And that's just kind of thename of the game.
(20:44):
So if you can accept that earlyon, then that's a first step.
I've also found that when yourdoubts come in, that's often
before a big breakthrough andyou're just scared of what
you're trying to push forward.
Whether you're about to launchsomething or pitch a new client
so many times or ask for a payraise or an increase in your
(21:06):
rates, people are like I don'tdeserve this pay increase, I
don't deserve this.
But then when they ask for it,they get the pay increase and
it's just that little guy onyour shoulder just trying to
tell you can't when you reallycan, and so there's comfort in
numbers.
Everybody goes through this.
(21:27):
I also encourage people to justtake baby steps or be
productive in some way whenthey're starting to get these
feelings of imposter syndrome,even if it's cleaning your
kitchen, like, just do somethingproductive.
Because that feeling ofaccomplishment will make you
feel like, oh okay, like I couldconquer this.
Maybe, since I have themomentum with cleaning my
(21:47):
kitchen, I can at least draftthe email task for the rate
increase.
I don't have to send it, but atleast I'm going to draft it.
That'll make me feel good.
And then, when you're feelinggood about that, you're like all
right, I have some confidencegoing.
I'm going to hit send and thenhit send and just continue to be
productive with those babysteps and eventually you'll get
to the thing you're trying toachieve, even when that voice in
(22:10):
your head is telling you youcan't.
So I think those are huge.
It's just like like hit theground running, get some stuff
done and then also do somethingto put a smile on your face, or
just put a smile on your face,whether you're doing something
to make that happen or not, andjust that, those endorphins I'm
(22:30):
not going to get science-ybecause I don't know the terms
I'm looking for, but just thatfeeling of feeling good can do
wonders for your productivityand can get you out of that funk
of I don't deserve this, I'mnot good enough.
When, really, if you go for arun, go paint, go do whatever
makes you happy, you come backand you're like that makes me so
happy, I'm feeling so muchbetter.
I can totally put this in myhead.
(22:53):
So just kind of gettingyourself in a good mindset, get
that momentum going, can dowonders, when that voice will
inevitably start speaking to you.
It's just the nature of thebeast.
Janice Hostager (23:06):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I have had 30 years of
marketing under my belt and Istill think, oh my gosh, I don't
know about enough about this tobe advising somebody on this.
And I've been in, I was an artdirector, I've done copywriting,
I've done PR, I have done, justyou know, print buying, I've
(23:28):
done like the whole entire gamutalmost of ads I've done.
And I still feel like thatsometimes, you know, it's like I
just what if I dropped the ballon this?
And I think it probably has itsroot in perfectionism or who
knows, I don't know.
I think you're right.
I think most every entrepreneurgoes through that, especially
(23:48):
solopreneurs.
Uh, if you're just, if youspend too much time in your own
head, I think so I I love that.
You recommend just doingsomething.
You get a quick win, like cleanthe kitchen.
Carly Ries (24:01):
it's like okay, I can do this, I can do the bigger
things, right when I also, um,I think, oh gosh, I just lost my
train of thought.
I was going to say something soinsightful and now I forgot.
Um, it'll come back to me atsome point.
But yeah, I mean, just justremember that everybody goes
through it.
And oh, I remembered, um, useit as a way to stay on your toes
(24:23):
and not become complacent.
As a solopreneur or anentrepreneur building something,
if things are working, you kindof just kind of like it becomes
clockwork.
You kind of get stuck in yourways and you forget that you
need to evolve with where yourbusiness is evolving.
You need to keep up on yourcontinuing education and when
you've got imposter syndrome,it's kind of a kick to be like,
(24:44):
oh, if I'm not comfortable withthis, it's because something's
changing and I need to getcomfortable with this.
For example, I'm a millennial.
I should love social media, orso I've heard.
I'm not comfortable with it.
I mean, so many of my peers arecreating reels, and obviously
the generations below me.
(25:04):
It's like second nature to them, but I'm really uncomfortable
with creating reels.
I don't have TikTok.
Maybe I'm an anomaly, but Iknow I have clients that need
this.
And so when they came to me andthey're like what do you
recommend for reels?
I was like well, what do yourecommend for me?
I don't know, I have no idea.
And instead of caving into thatimposter syndrome of I don't
(25:27):
know, I spent a night learningabout reels and learning about
videos on social and ways to notgo viral but ways to expand
your reach and all of that.
And now I feel better about meas a marketer because I learned
something new and I wouldn'thave felt that way if I didn't
have that little guy being likeyou don't know what you're doing
(25:48):
.
Janice Hostager (25:49):
And it's so true.
Carly Ries (25:49):
So that's what you need to stay current in whatever
profession you're in.
Janice Hostager (25:55):
That's a really , really good idea because, for
sure, in marketing, oh my gosh,it's like shifting sand under
your feet every single day.
In fact, I was on a podcastyesterday with just someone who
was talking about the changesthat take place daily in
Facebook ads and I know I havefelt like so stupid because I've
been doing Facebook ads foryears and I go in there and
(26:16):
something's changed, somethingnew has changed.
And if it's like that inmarketing, I'm sure it's like
that in every profession,especially now that we are going
into a time of life where AIruns so many things and
integrated with so many things.
We're all learning at thispoint.
Carly Ries (26:37):
Yeah, it's exciting.
It's the new frontier, eventhough a lot of us are a little
nervous about it.
If you embrace it, it could begreat for you.
Janice Hostager (26:46):
Yeah, yeah, let's see here A little more
editing.
Here I think I kind of coveredeverything, so I think these are
(27:08):
some really great ideas forjust staying connected and
feeling a lot less like we'reholed up in four walls and have,
you know, with our own thoughts, which is sometimes the most
dangerous place to be in theworld.
So tell me a little bit aboutyour business, lifestar, because
I think that you really arehitting a niche there that I
(27:31):
think is important to addressfor sure.
Carly Ries (27:34):
Yes, well, I'm biased and I agree with you, but
when you hear aboutentrepreneurship, you hear
people that want to make theirmillions and sell and you want
to get investors make this wholething.
And then, on the other end, youhear about freelancers or the
gig economy and people that justwant to take projects here and
there, and we felt like thatthere was a big gap missing of
(27:58):
people that want to beentrepreneurs but don't want to
hire employees.
They just want to run abusiness that fits their
lifestyle, allows them to picktheir kids up from school,
allows them to do that middayhike or go to Europe if they
want to, while still making agood living.
But they don't have to be thenext gazillionaires, they just
(28:20):
want to make a living thatsupports their life.
So that's exactly what Lifestardoes.
Lifestar with two R's.
We help solopreneurs reallyjust navigate the ups and downs
of solopreneurship.
There are people that don'tknow how to do lead gen or sales
or they need productivity hacks, and we provide community, we
provide a space for them tobounce questions off of experts
(28:42):
and we really just give them thetools and the building blocks
they need to run a successfulcompany of one.
So I've been working for thiscompany.
I was on a podcast yesterdayand he was like well, where do
you see yourself?
There's no part of me that Imean.
I'm a fractional CMO, I onlycontract with Lifestar.
I could do other things andcertainly have the freedom to do
(29:03):
so, but I love this company andI love what it stands for, and
I think we're just at thebeginning.
So, yeah, I can't wait to seewhere this all goes.
So you weren't involved instarting the beginning, so, yeah
, I can't wait to see where thisall goes.
Janice Hostager (29:13):
So what?
So you weren't involved instarting the business.
You came on a little laterright, I was.
Carly Ries (29:19):
I was ground level.
So the CEO, joe Rando, is themost wonderful human being on
the planet and his vision forthis is truly to help people,
like he just cares people.
He's one of those guys thatsays he cares about making the
world a better place, but heactually does, and he had this
(29:40):
app idea back around 2019 or soand there were some ups and
downs with that.
He brought me on originally topromote this app, and then we
found this need and I came onthe first week of March 2020.
So it was a very interestingtime to start a new position.
(30:01):
But over the years, we pivotedaway from the app for a variety
of reasons and now we've createdthis community instead.
So I was on the ground level.
I just wasn't here during theapp development portion, but I
was at the beginning of Lifestarand what it currently is today
and was instrumental in findingour new niche.
Janice Hostager (30:21):
And what I love about it is that it's free to
start right and you can jump inand really connect with other
entrepreneurs right.
Carly Ries (30:29):
Yes, so we have this intro tier which is lifestarcom
backslash intro cleverly namedand it has a community of
entrepreneurs and people areengaging in that community
throughout the day, just randomquestions.
We even have a water coolersegment where you can join this
water cooler Zoom link and justpretend like you're at an office
(30:49):
water cooler since so many ofus miss that and the Zoom link
is always open and one of ourteam members is always on there,
hilarious, like chatting withsomebody.
But we have like yeah, we justwe have Monday meetups where you
can chat with other peopleagain just to get like, combat
the isolation but get thosequestions answered that so many
(31:10):
of us have.
So that's free.
We have monthly events.
We have that networking event,solopreneur Problem Solvers,
where you bring one of yourchallenges with you and then you
go into a breakout room and youtry to solve your challenges
together and help others andit's just really cool how many
collaborations come out of that.
And then we have a monthlyeducational event called Success
(31:30):
Sessions where we have anexpert come in to talk about
next week it's taxes because wewant people prepared for the
entire year, not just scramblethat month before.
So we have that.
People talk about marketing, pr, and all these are designed
specifically for solopreneurs,not just the general education.
You would get around thesetopics.
And then we have free resourcestools.
(31:52):
It's just a great way to getstarted, and all of that that I
just mentioned is completelyfree and always will be.
That is a promise made by theCEO.
Janice Hostager (32:02):
Oh, very cool.
It's just perfect timing too.
It sounds like it started in2020, when everybody was feeling
the walls closing in right, ohyes, during COVID, yeah.
Well thank you so much, carly,for chatting with us today, and
this is such an important topic.
I really am glad that youfilled us in on some options
(32:24):
that we have, because nobodywants to be stuck alone and
feeling uninspired when theyhave opportunities that are easy
to connect to.
So I appreciate it.
Carly Ries (32:36):
Well, I appreciate you and thank you so much for
having me on the show.
Janice Hostager (32:39):
Okay, there's one more thing I want to add.
There are actually 41 millionsolopreneurs in the US, so if
you're feeling isolated ordiscouraged, please reach out to
someone who understands.
You're feeling isolated ordiscouraged, please reach out to
someone who understands.
Remember you are not alone, sodon't sit too long in your
discouragement.
(33:00):
For information about anythingwe talked about today, including
the link to the free Lifestarcommunity, visit
myweeklymarketingcom.
Forward slash 110.
In the ever-changing world ofmarketing, there's always
something new to learn, so besure to subscribe so you'll
always stay up to date.
Thanks so much for joining metoday.
I'll see you next time.
Bye for now.
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