April 28, 2023 β’ 53 mins
Today's conversation with Breanna Bortner is about transitioning between seasons in your business and more specifically how to navigate the season of hiring help.
Bre is the Owner of Breanna's Business Boutique. She's a Type A, Virgo, Enneagram Type 1 Midwest girl, a wife, dog mama, and business owner. She loves spending my time traveling to new places and trying new restaurants.
Connect with her below!
π₯Β https://www.breannasbusinessboutique.com/
ππ: @breannasbusinessboutique
AΝlΝsΝoΝ mΝeΝnΝtΝiΝoΝnΝeΝdΝ oΝnΝ tΝhΝiΝsΝ eΝpΝiΝsΝoΝdΝeΝ:
β‘οΈ Our Adorable AirBnB
β‘οΈ Episode 20 - A Life Changing SEO Love Story
β‘οΈ Watch this episode instead on YouTube
ππ£π©ππ‘ π£πππ© π©ππ’π ππππ, π πππ₯ π₯πͺπ¨πππ£π, π πππ₯ ππ§πππ’ππ£π, ππ£π π‘ππ©'π¨ π πππ₯ π€π£ π§ππππππ£ππ£π ππππͺπ‘π€πͺπ¨.
π Stay Fabulous with Jessi:
β¨Website
β¨Instagram
β¨Facebook
β¨Pinterest
β¨LinkedIn
β¨YouTube
β¨Podcast
β¨Entrepreneur Gift Shoppe
π―ββοΈ Join my FREE community for entrepreneurs for more tips, tricks, collaboration, accountability and live trainings
Does your brand new a refresh? β‘οΈ TAKE THE QUIZ!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessi Cabanin (00:04):
Hey girl, hey, are you ready for some real
talk? If you are a femaleentrepreneur who has ever felt
like a total failure, or maybeeven a frequent flyer of
imposter syndrome, this podcastis for you. I'm your host Jesse,
a millennial business owner, boymom and creative genius helping
women bring their businessdreams to life. After 10 years
of building numerous creativebrands from the ground up, I'm
(00:26):
ready to get real about whatactually goes on behind the
scenes of building your very ownempire feel you're opening up
brand new mindset for me and Ireally want that for you too,
because honestly, I am just soover society's definition of
what it means to live asuccessful life. So together, we
are going to create and navigatea version of success that works
for you. Together, we canredefine fabulous. Okay guys,
(00:53):
welcome to today's episode ofempowering coffee condos. I'm
Jesse founder and chiefempowerment Officer of this way
to fabulous and today is a very,very special day which you guys
can tell because the backgroundis totally different. I'm here
with Brandon bortner. She is anonline business manager and
owner of Brianna's businessboutique. She's a type A Virgo
(01:14):
Enneagram, one to Midwest gal.
She's a Minnesota wife and dogmom, okay, she loves spending
her extra time traveling to newplaces trying new restaurants.
On a sidenote she's like theunicorn that fell from this guy
for this wedding. Fabulous. Youguys won't be hearing so much
more from Brianna. In thefuture. So before we start,
Brianna, why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself. Just
(01:37):
kind of like a quick synopsis oflike where you are in your life
right now.
Breanna Bortner (01:43):
First of all, thanks for having me, Jesse.
This is so fun. This is the mostset up podcast. I mean, we've
been setting up for this forsince last night.
Jessi Cabanin (01:55):
This is a compliment or a dig.
Breanna Bortner (01:59):
I kind of feel like I'm in a spaceship. And
yeah, this is just cool. We'rein a new setting. We're having
fun this weekend. And so thanksfor having me on the podcast.
This is gonna be an absoluteblast. And also a nice to meet
all of the listeners as well. Soas Jesse said, I am Brianna. I
am an online business manager.
And just a little bit more aboutme. I mean, my roots are in the
(02:21):
Midwest. I've lived everywherebetween Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Kansas, Illinois, and now I'mback in Minnesota. So
Jessi Cabanin (02:33):
yes, I know she was in like Illinois, when I met
her. As soon as I met her andfollow her, she moved to
Minnesota, it was the beginningof our sets that love story.
Hey, sometimes long distancerelationships, you know. So
yeah, you guys will hear so muchmore about me and Breanna and
(02:53):
our story, I will link thatepisode in the show notes.
Because there's a lot of reallyrandom shit in our backstory
that I think is just really,it's really entertaining. And I
think it's also really eyeopening for other people as to
you know, getting yourself inthe room and meeting new people
and taking chances on yourselfand on other people. There's
(03:16):
just like, literally so much tothat story, I will link that
episode in the show notes, wewill not waste your time with
that today. So today, we'reactually going to be talking
about seasons of your business,and how to navigate when you are
in a season where hiring oroutsourcing is something that's
currently on your like list ofthings to address, it's likely
(03:38):
on the list of things that youare avoiding. And I say this
from experience. So we're gonnabe talking about the four
seasons of, of business. Andthis does sort of like repeat
itself every year. And it's notlike your yearly seasons, but
you you tend to follow theseasons over and over not
(03:59):
necessarily in like a one yearspan. But you do like recycle
the seasons as you grow and asyou pivot in your business. So
before main seasons are the sameseasons, you have your winter,
spring, summer and fall. Okay.
Breanna Bortner (04:12):
And we live in the Midwest, so we are very
familiar with these. And thewinter season now that I'm
Minnesota again, I mean thatseason is like seven months
long. So like there's also atestament that like seasons
aren't just you know, exactquarters or like perfect amounts
of time and like distributedevenly because the winter is a
(04:34):
hell of a
Jessi Cabanin (04:35):
lot. Like okay, who hates Chicago winter and
then moves to Minnesota? LikeArcher winters, like even worse
there.
Breanna Bortner (04:44):
Yes. I mean, what happened yesterday, we were
supposed to be driving here andJesse sends me it's such a
terrible day to be driving andthere's like these pretty little
snowflakes in her window. I waslike Jesse we got over six
inches of snow last night. I'mtrapped in my House I don't know
how to work my snowplow ourstreets aren't plowed to only
SUVs are getting out
Jessi Cabanin (05:05):
so you're in like a smaller town right? So like it
takes longer for ya.
Breanna Bortner (05:09):
Didn't really come by and clean everything up
until like between 10 and noonan hour after they canceled
school as well because there wasoutside playing in the snow. So
there was just a dumping of snowand I'm like, Jesse, come on.
It's so funny because now Ishowed up where we are in Iowa
and I have these like knee highsnow boots and there is
absolutely no snow on the groundhere. So I look like I have
(05:32):
Fortner. Okay, I do not belonghere or that I'm like last but
hey,
Jessi Cabanin (05:37):
that's okay.
Because we're exploring a newspace right are exploring a new
state and new city a new place asuper fancy Airbnb that we got
literally just so that we wouldhave a pretty background. So
okay, so let's, let's go back tothe four seasons here for a
second. So the four seasons,even though they're called
Winter, spring, summer fall,they actually have nothing to do
with the actual like weather.
(06:00):
Okay, so your winter season inyour business is more of a time
where you are slowing down alittle bit, you are resting, you
are maybe reflecting on thelast, you know, the last three
months, the last six months,you're really kind of reflecting
on the back end, and you'retaking that break. Okay, so then
spring is when you sort of comeout of that resting period, and
(06:21):
you begin doing some planningand you begin doing some mapping
of you know how you're going toget where you want to go. Okay,
and then when you move on tosummer, summers focus is
definitely more on the actualact of growing. So now you've
taken those plans, and thenthose maps, and you're actually
putting them into action. Andyou're actually getting things
done at that point. Right. Okay,so then fall is sort of more of
(06:45):
a balanced season, you're stillworking, you're still hustling a
little bit. But a lot of thingsare more on autopilot. And
you're almost starting to thinkof new ideas, right? So you're
sort of in a position whereyou're starting to think of all
these ideas and starting torealize that burnout is hitting,
right. I think that fall isdefinitely when burnout hits us
(07:06):
the most and kind of pushes usinto that winter season, right?
Because that's when we reallyneed to, like rest and reflect.
So yeah, and
Breanna Bortner (07:15):
I think also the autopilot aspect of fall,
especially for people like you,Jesse, I know you're really
creative. And so when peoplefall into that space where
things are on autopilot, andthey almost seem too easy or too
monotonous. It can kind of freakpeople out as well, for sure.
It's a blessing, you know, to beable to earn with ease and to be
(07:37):
able to do things that you loveevery day sometimes, like the
lack of spontaneity, or like thelack of working towards
something for sure. Can Make YouFeel a little bit off. So that's
why I personally like I love thesummer season because I like to
get things done and no way. Yes.
You saw like how Jessiintroduced me I am a type one
Enneagram Virgo, like hi,
Jessi Cabanin (07:59):
just go wherever we are. But how will we fit
together? Again, I will linkthat that in the show notes.
Because it's not for today. Butyeah, um, yes, absolutely.
Absolutely. I totally agree onthat. So Briana, what season
would you say that you are inwith your business? Like right
now?
Breanna Bortner (08:15):
Yeah, so I would say that me personally,
and in my business, we areslipping into winter. So we're
actually in the right season,based on the actual physical
season that we're in right now.
I'm went through I'm in acoaching program right now. And
so I'm making some changes to mybusiness internally. And so it's
causing me to like sit andreflect as like what I want in
(08:37):
the new year. So I kind of havea blank slate, new
opportunities, things that Ineed to create from the ground
up. So it's a really excitingspace to be in. There's a lot of
opportunity, and space forexpansion. But I have to plan
(08:58):
things out still. So I'm reallyjust trying to be like during
the holidays to slow down. Andlike be grateful for this space
to think about things. And inthis time, I'm doing more like
journaling, more meditation,more mindset work, to really
kind of tap into like my innerself, and uncover what I want in
(09:20):
that next season. So what is myspring going to look like?
Jessi Cabanin (09:27):
Yeah, for sure.
What kinds of things do you doin your transition from fall to
winter? Just sort of setyourself up for you mentioned
opportunity. I think that's areally important word. Because I
do feel like opportunities.
Opportunities are always outthere, right? Opportunities
always present themselves, but Ifeel like as humans and as
business owners, we don't alwayssee them or accept them because
(09:49):
we're too busy to bring thatinto our life. So how like how
what do you do in yourtransition from fall to winter?
To set yourself up to beaccepting of all of those
opportunities and those thoughtsand ideas like Have you set
yourself up for that?
Breanna Bortner (10:01):
Yeah, so I would say that you have to clear
the deck as they call it. And,um, some things that I recently
did is I actually increased mypricing. So I, you know, during
my, my summer and my fall phase,I was like, kind of reevaluating
things. And I decided that,okay, you know, I'm no longer
feeling aligned with my pricingand the deliverables that I'm
(10:22):
providing with people. So Iincreased the pricing. And so
naturally, that meant that somethings had to shift and change,
and it was very uncomfortable.
But in return, I gained thatspace that I need for that
winter season. So doingsomething like that, like
something that's like reallyuncomfortable, or something that
you've been dreading can helpyou kind of shift into a new
season. I think that's one wayto definitely propel. And get
(10:45):
yourself unstuck. Because ifyou're stuck in autopilot, yeah,
that's the comfortable place.
That's where you're happy.
That's where your, you know,your your content. That's where
like, things aren't scary, youknow, that's working at home in
your PJs, knowing that you youknow, you have clients to serve
and that you have money comingin the door and that you're
(11:07):
happy. But then, you know,there's also that, like, what if
you know, what else is? Whatelse is out there? Who else
could I be serving? Can I cast awider net? So I think that's one
thing that I did specifically toalmost, I mean, like I induced
winter, myself, it was like shewas 40
Jessi Cabanin (11:26):
weeks into fall, and she decided to induce winter
to be born.
Breanna Bortner (11:31):
Yes, it had to happen. It was like, yeah, it
was just something that wasinevitable. And luckily, I had
the right support support systemaround me at that time to really
make that possible. Because itis something that when you are
alone, and you don't havebusiness partners, or a
supportive relationship, orfriends that really understand
(11:52):
what you're going through, like,as a business owner, I think
that that season is even moreuncomfortable. So during those
transitional periods, it'sreally a good time to like find
yourself a good community thatcan support you, for sure.
Jessi Cabanin (12:06):
And I feel like, like something that triggered me
when you said that was that. Sowe have these four seasons,
right. But then we also havefour transformational seasons,
right, because you have totransform from one season to the
next. And in reality, thosetransformation seasons should
essentially be another fourseasons, because those four
seasons in between are the oneswhere it's really uncomfortable.
Because you're you're you'repropelling yourself into that
(12:28):
next season. But it's importantto note that like, when you
start to propel yourself into anew season, it should be
purposeful it should be itshould have strategy behind it,
it shouldn't just be like, I'msick of it. I'm sick of winter,
let's go into the next one. Likeit has to have meaning to it
when you propel yourself intoit. And so I think that for her,
you know, what I'm hearing isthat, you know, she was in fall,
(12:48):
she was doing really well. Shehad a lot of clients, she had
money coming in the door, and itfelt balanced while she was in
that season. And then whenthings started to feel
unbalanced when the expectationswere not there anymore, when the
maybe the boundaries werestarting to be tested a little
bit more. And things weresuddenly not balanced. Things
(13:08):
weren't not aligned. So as soonas things started to feel
unaligned for her that wasunbalanced, that that's kind of
your, your red flag to say,Okay, I think this season might
be ending, it's time to go intoour fall transition period into
winter. And so what she justdescribed about what she was
doing to open the door forwinter, that was her
transformation season and likehow she got from fall to winter.
(13:32):
So I'm curious. So most of youguys will know this after
listening to all of theseepisodes. But so Breanna and I
work a lot together now. A goodtime. Like, I feel like Briana
knows more about me than I knowabout myself, and about my
business. And so I want to know,Brianna, what season Do you
think that this would havefabulous isn't like right now,
(13:53):
let's not go into my personal.
Let's go. Let's just talk aboutthis way to Fabulous. What
season? Would you would you saythat I'm in just from working
with me inside of the businessrecently? What season would you
say that we're in right now?
Breanna Bortner (14:08):
No doubt 100%.
The state of fabulous isn'tspring. So when we first met
that those are some of the firstthings that we did together as
we were like, workflow mapping.
And we were planning out, youknow, longer term strategic
things. We weren't like tryingto get quick wins or like quick
(14:28):
cash injections. We were workingtogether to like, build a team.
And we continue to do that. Andone of the foundations of
building a team is getting theright systems in place. So for
the past few months, we've beengoing over all of your systems,
we've been cleaning things up,we
Jessi Cabanin (14:47):
haven't been going over things we've been
just like dumping them inrehaul. We've been starting over
we've been Brianna fIyingeverything about this,
Breanna Bortner (14:56):
and it's so foundational to what you're
going to be doing in the nextseason. because when you bring
on new team members, and whenyou're, you know, you're
expanding the current clientsthat you're supporting and
bringing new people in the door,you have this vision, which, if
you guys know, Jessie, she'slike the vision queen. She's
like, Yeah, it's insane. She hassuch a strong idea of what she
(15:21):
really wants, which is soamazing. But she has this
vision, and then it's going tocome to life because of the
things that we've been doing thenitty gritty kind of
uncomfortable things that aren'tso fun to do by yourself. That's
what we've been doing the lastfew months working together. And
so it's really setting you upfor a great summer, which will
(15:41):
likely come early 2023. So Iwould
Jessi Cabanin (15:44):
say I almost kind of feel like we are approaching
the transition from spring tosummer. We have been planning
and we have been mapping. Andactually one of the main things
that we are doing on our retreatthis weekend in Cedar Rapids is
really kind of finishing a lotof the mapping and the planning
of this next growth season. Andso I feel like it's exciting.
(16:09):
It's almost like we are, we'renot in that transition phase
yet, but we're tiptoeing we arelike, we are like just getting
our toes in the water right now.
And we are so close to just likediving into the water. Come
2023, which Oh, my God is acouple of weeks away.
Breanna Bortner (16:22):
Yeah, we're tying the knot. We're making it
like all pretty and I thinkit'll be
Jessi Cabanin (16:27):
Yes, I feel like this retreat, we are sort of
like sealing the deal. Yeah, weare like we have all these
plans. We have all these, allthese things when we were
planning and mapping. And I feellike this weekend, we really
wanted to just get away from allof our other distractions, so
that we could really focus onlike the partnership that we're
building, and how we're buildingeach other's companies. And so I
just kind of I think it's reallyit's really interesting. So we
(16:49):
are definitely in a, like Isaid, approaching that summer
season where hiring is becominga must like the growth that has
happened in the last 12 months,has definitely put this way to
fabulous in a position ofneeding to either start
outsourcing or hiring or we'reliterally building a team,
right? So Brianna, no matter howwe look at what we want to do
(17:14):
together, we literally just kindof like consider ourselves as
partners at this point, becausewe are constantly going back and
forth every day about eachother's businesses and about all
these ideas. But so she youknow, has gotten more into me
about why hiring right now. Itlike why I'm in the season I'm
in and how we're going to getout of that season. Right. And
Breanna is getting a lot ofresistance for me. Because I you
(17:36):
know, another story for anotherday. But you know, I'm having
some PTSD of my past my pastlife in business and having a
team and having it fail. And youknow, we had a really long
discussion yesterday about thefear of being successful again,
because you know, I do feel likeI find myself sometimes waiting
for a shoe to drop, I just, youknow, things start to go well,
(17:58):
and all of a sudden, I'm like,I'm getting the bunker prepped,
I'm like, ready for like theworld to end again. Right.
Breanna Bortner (18:04):
So one of like, the top five things that hold
people back is for sure fear ofsuccess or failure on the
complete flip side. So
Jessi Cabanin (18:12):
totally. And I mean, in fairness, some are I
think, are are afraid of both, Iwould say the person I am today,
that business owner and todayI'm not afraid of failure, I
have completely changed mymindset of failure into being
something to learn fromsomething to know what I don't
want something to know, whatworks and what doesn't, what
feel aligns and what doesn't.
And so for me, failure hastotally flipped into this, like,
(18:35):
you know what, I hope I fail atthis because I want to learn
something from this to continuegrowing. So I'm really excited
about that part. But I want totalk a little bit more about
hiring in general, because Iknow that a lot of my listeners
are similar people to me. Andthey are, you know, trying to
grow their small businesses andthey are likely feeling in that
stuck season where they don'tknow what's next. They they feel
(18:58):
too much on autopilot, they feellike growth is almost not
available because their owntheir only them. You know, I
feel like a lot of my following.
And just my my associating injust people I'm with in general
are a lot of solopreneurs. And Iget that I've been a solopreneur
for a long, long time. But Ithink a lot of people are in the
(19:20):
position of realizing that inorder to scale both vertically
and horizontally, they can't doit themselves. They have to
bring in something to help that.
So I want to talk a little bitmore about hiring and where that
falls. So what do you thinklike, in your opinion, what
season does hiring typicallyfall into?
Breanna Bortner (19:40):
So I would say that hiring like spans across a
few of the seasons. So obviouslyin winter when you're resting
and reflecting, that's the timewhere you're asking yourself
like do I love what I do eachday? Am I passionate about it?
Are there areas of my businessthat no longer energize me? Are
there certain areas that arebringing me down. Those are
(20:01):
likely the areas once youpinpoint them that you want to
outsource, if you want them tocontinue being part of your
client experience, for sure. SoI would definitely say winter is
kind of the time when you startto even just like play with the
idea of like, okay, could thecould I bring someone else into
this mix that loves to do thisthing that I'm dreading?
Jessi Cabanin (20:21):
Winter I feel like is almost like, the more
calm thoughts of like, maybe Ishould hire versus like being in
a busy season being like I haveto
Breanna Bortner (20:29):
hire. Yeah, this is like the ideal I would
say the ideal not like thefrantic. Oh, yeah, I need to
hire somebody. And then like,just because you're in the right
headspace,
Jessi Cabanin (20:38):
you can actually think clearly logically. Okay,
continue about what it what thatlooks like in other seasons.
Yes. So
Breanna Bortner (20:45):
then as you get out of winter season, and you go
into spring, you're actuallyplanning out okay, like, what
does the job description looklike for this person? You know,
like, financially? How many likehours? Or what type of packages?
Can I be? Right now? Yeah, yeah,definitely, you know, what do I
envision for this person longterm? You know, if it is a long
term type hire that you'reneeding, like, am I do I want
(21:08):
someone for just a short termproject? Or do I envision this
person who I start handing offone project to, and then they
get two, and then they getthree, and then, you know, we
can start collaborating,collaborating more and more. So
I think that's in spring, you'reactually mapping out like
envisioning getting comfortablewith the feeling, and actually
writing out what their tasks andthings that they will take over
(21:31):
look like. And then also,ideally, in the springtime, is
when you're going to bedocumenting things that they
need to know. So that says, whenyou're writing out SOPs or
getting organized with yourdigital files, this is the time
where you're getting thingstidied up, because no one wants
to come into an organization,that is a hashtag hot mess. So
(21:55):
Jesse, just he's like, don'tthrow me under the bus. And
this. There are so many peoplethat are in that same boat that
are just hiring frantically, andthe back end of their businesses
mess. And so if you can thinkabout things and get them
organized and clean, have yourlogins have your folders, make
(22:17):
sure that they have access tothe right things, those are the
things that you're going to bedoing in that spring. And then
obviously summer is when youhire that person, that's when
you're like growing and gettingthe things done. That's when
you're seeing the progressthat's being made. Because you
get to work on the things thatyou love. And now you have this
person on the side, who's alsohelping you kind of move the
(22:38):
needle. So the summer is reallywhen you actually start to see
the fruits of your labor. Andwhen you actually get to, you
know, maybe sit back and relax alittle bit more, especially
slipping back into, you know,that fall where things are
balanced in autopilot. That'swhen you have the person fully
(22:58):
trained in, they're reallycomfortable with your brand.
They understand yourpreferences, they know where
things are. They know theirexpectations. So when I say that
hiring and outsourcing fallsinto all of the seasons, it
really does. It starts with thewinter, when you're reflecting
and then it ends in the fall,when you have this new hire that
(23:22):
has panned out perfectly and isa good fit, because you've taken
the time and you've done thedeciphering that's needed in
order to pick the right personrole.
Jessi Cabanin (23:31):
Exactly. And I think you can really like the
way you just described that Ithink it is really obvious how
what we mean about like, howthis is a cycle. This is this is
a cycle. Now you get to a pointwhere, you know, I brought in
Breanna and I felt things startto balance out a little bit
more. And then we kept growing.
And now things are out ofbalance, again, a little bit.
And so now we're really startingto realize, okay, so as we fall
(23:52):
out of balance, let's find howto get ourselves back to
balance. And so it really isthis cycle of all of those
different seasons. So I want totalk a little bit about
Breanna Bortner (24:05):
about the gift that I brought you for today.
But but so we were talkingearlier and one of like we've
said we're opposites and manydifferent things like Yeah, but
we were talking earlier and oneof my favorite things in the
whole wide world. You've nevertried, oh God. And so like, I
feel like we're gonna getthirsty today. But I brought a
(24:27):
kombucha and like Kombucha is myfreakin drink of choice.
Jessi Cabanin (24:32):
Katie's gonna lose her mind when she sees
Breanna Bortner (24:35):
like I need kombucha. I have maybe like one
to two a week. And I was scaredthat this was gonna happen if I
didn't open it beforehand, but Iwanted you to be part of the
excitement because it was likethe champagne I hope of
probiotics. Okay, okay, good.
I've had ones that actually fitover all over the carpet. So it
is bubbly. So blue Just in casethey want to sponsor us, this is
(25:00):
a health aide kombucha one of myoh my gosh, can you hear the
bubbles? I can hear the bubbles,but maybe you can definitely
heard the licks. Yeah, so it'sjust like a bubbly, fruity,
fermented drink. That is this isyour probiotic in liquid form.
So I feel like we're gonna bedoing a lot of talking today.
Jessi Cabanin (25:23):
Like, that's good. That's I'll take a little
bit.
Breanna Bortner (25:30):
So I want to get
Jessi Cabanin (25:31):
this is all about hopping out of like, your
comfort zone, right. So as we'rein this almost transition
period, we're testing. We'retesting some boundaries. We're
testing some limits. We'retrying new things. We're trying
new places. So you know, Okay,cheers. Drink this on air. Hmm.
(25:54):
Almost smell smells like applecider vinegar. Easter eggs. Like
it smells like when you're likecoloring?
Breanna Bortner (26:00):
Eggs. Oh, because they've been coloring
them? Yeah. Yeah, it smells likeapple cider vinegar. Bucha.
Jessi Cabanin (26:06):
But interesting.
drink of choice. Okay, well,it's not bad. I get I encourage
you to try it if you haven't,because it won't bother you.
Breanna Bortner (26:14):
And the best part is that like your gut feels
so good afterwards.
Jessi Cabanin (26:18):
Okay, so let's, let's dive in a little bit
deeper about hiring. So Brian issomeone obviously I brought into
my company for numerous reasons.
But she's also someone who'svery much helping me right now
in this transitional season inbringing other people in. So
what would you say if someone isout there listening that is in a
(26:39):
similar position where hiring issomething that avoiding just
like me, but it's it's becominglike a necess? Like absolutely
necessary thing to survive andto continue moving forward? What
questions would you like havethem asking themselves to like,
qualify if maybe they're readyto hire? Or if maybe they need
to wait until that next season?
Breanna Bortner (27:03):
Yeah, a good question. Definitely. And it's
good to kind of slow down whenyou're in this phase, and really
think about, you know, somemental questions like some, for
some people hiring is reallyhard because they have to let go
of their baby, they theirbusinesses, their baby, their
processes, their baby, theirsignature, whatever they do is
(27:25):
their baby. And so you have tobe like mentally ready to let
go. Because no one wants to comeinto an organization where the
business owner, like number onehoards all the work doesn't give
any, or is a micromanager. Andthat's one of my biggest pet
peeves as from being both anemployee, a corporate HR
(27:49):
employee, and also being abusiness owner who goes into
other people's businesses andhelp them no one wants to be
micromanage. And the reason whyyou're being micromanage is
because someone cannot let go ofcontrol. So you do have to be
mentally ready to give up thingsand be open to the fact that
they might look different thanhow you would do them. Right. So
(28:12):
there's lots of financialquestions, obviously, about
outsourcing, you know, and thatkind of dictates the type of
role that you hire where youhire them from, how many hours
or what type of package you buyfrom them. So you need to ask
yourself some financialquestions like do you just have
some extra cash reserves? Tohire out for a project that's
(28:34):
been on the backburner? Or doyou have enough money to like
sustainably purchase a packagemonth after month after month
because you want to grow alonger term strategic
relationship? Is there a train
Jessi Cabanin (28:48):
coming
Breanna Bortner (28:51):
so I guess there's a train at this Airbnb
Jessi Cabanin (28:55):
Okay, so you we got the mentally we got the
emotionally and we got thefinancially so those are the
three main kind of topics ofquestions you want to ask
yourself to kind of qualifyyourself to see if you're ready
for the next step. But let'stalk a little bit about what
else to think about like if youdecide if you qualify yourself
(29:17):
as I am ready to hire this likeI this ticks all my boxes,
hiring is definitely my nextstep. What is the thought
process at that point? Likewhat's important for them to
think about?
Breanna Bortner (29:28):
Yeah, I forget who says it but it's like the
like you hire people becauselike you don't hire people that
like know less than you like youshould be hiring people that
know more than you. And so, whatI like to say like when you're
hiring like are you going to behiring a generalist, someone who
is you know, maybe can cast abroad net over email management
(29:52):
and social media and lightwebsite updates. Are you going
to hire someone that you know isa gem or listing those areas? Or
are you gonna hire somebodythat's a specialist that does
one thing really good and lovesto do it. And that might, that
one thing might be the thingthat you hate, or that you think
is exhausting, or that you thinkleads you to burnout. So I would
(30:15):
ask yourself, you know, thattype of question too. But then
ultimately, that person that youbring in, like, bring in someone
that understands your vision,give them clarity, when you're
on that initial consult, call,which you should definitely do
10,000% Make sure that theyunderstand your vision, and that
they are kind of a forwardthinker, and that they can bring
(30:41):
some like new ideas and likefresh perspectives to the table,
and you should be open for that.
So you know, you want them tohave a brain almost kind of
opposite of yours. And I thinkthat's why Jesse and I, we hit
it off right away is because ourbrains work so differently. And
when we work together, likefreaking magic happens,
Jessi Cabanin (31:03):
for sure. And I feel like there's an aspect to
it where like, I'm fascinated bythe way that your brain works,
because it's like, polaropposite of mine. And so like, I
think it also I've made themistake of hiring people who are
too similar to me, because forso long, I thought that all I
needed was a clone of myself,all I needed was someone who was
(31:23):
just like me, so that I wouldhave a second me. I thought that
for so freakin long. And I thinkwhen I met Briana, and when we
started doing some of the stuffwas when I really started to
realize that like, havinganother meet, God help us all,
if we had to have me. God helpus all, if there was two of
Jesse in the same company, threejustice in the company. That's
(31:46):
another story for another day.
Like, God forbid, that thatwould like that would decline so
fast. That was like, we wouldnever be able to accomplish the
things that we are uncapable ofdoing. I think of being
Breanna Bortner (31:58):
married to yourself, I've thought of thank
you for, like, I would hate todate myself. Oh, my gosh, I
would destroy myself like you.
Jessi Cabanin (32:10):
I mean, it's true.
Breanna Bortner (32:11):
So you think about like your romantic
partners. Every relationshipevery marriage that I am friends
with, or couples that we hangout with complete opposites. You
have an introvert, you have anextrovert, you have the some
person that's always hot, theperson that's always cold, you
have you know, you have theperson who's super ambitious,
the person who's maybe not,there is always ying and yang.
And that should be like that inworking relationships as well.
Jessi Cabanin (32:34):
Absolutely. And I think that one of the really
unique parts about me andBrianna coming together, and
what she just mentioned, wasunderstanding the vision. So I
think that, like, when we firststarted talking and working
together, you know, we weredoing some trade for service, we
were you know, we were kind ofexploring what, like, what this
friendship could be like, whatthis business partnership could
(32:55):
be like. And, you know, I thinkthat the thing that really
remained common was that we, wehave this vision of helping
women chase their dreams, and besuccessful and redefine what
success means to them. And soyou know, I feel like, it's just
really important, really, reallyimportant, the vision part,
because if someone is the polaropposite of you, but they get
(33:17):
the vision, that person is goingto help you get there because
that person is like the key toall the doors that you can't
open, right, that person is thelike, supplemental knowledge
that you need. And so I justfind it really fascinating how
differently our brains work,because it forces me to sort of
like test my own thinking limitsto test the way I look at
(33:39):
things. And so I can go intosomething another day and say
what we're gonna do, instead ofwhat Jessie would do, Jesse is
really confused, Jessie'slooking at this thing, and she's
so confused, and she wants towalk away, but what we'll bring
on to do. So I feel like it'svery, it's a very fascinating
like, cycle.
Breanna Bortner (33:54):
Yeah. And so back in my corporate days, I was
a, I was in corporate HR forabout five years. And although
it was not for me, I did learn alot. And throughout that time, I
had various different likefunctions that I was involved
with as gender. I was ageneralist for HR. So I did
hiring, I did firing, I didemployee training, Benefits
(34:15):
Administration. I did all thatsort of stuff. And one thing
that I thought was sointeresting when I was in the
hiring space, is how importantlarger organizations think that
it is to hire someone who hasexact industry knowledge and
who's been in the exact industrythat's like, always part of the
job description. And I'm like,but what if we didn't hire
(34:37):
people who had exact industryexperience, and we hired people
from other industries, and welearned how they do things. And
we opened the door for like, anunbiased third party walking in
saying like, Oh, well, you know,what, you know, in this
industry, you know, we kind ofshake things up and do it this
way. And it works really well orlike, Oh, I like how you guys do
(34:57):
it here. So not only You know,having those those boundaries up
and not always having thosedoors close to people, you know,
let's say you're a weddingphotographer, and you're like,
Well, I only want an adminassistant who's worked in the
wedding industry. It's like,Well, why not try it? I think
it's always a great option totry someone who has different
industry experience as well,because they can bring a lot to
(35:18):
the table.
Jessi Cabanin (35:19):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure. And I feel like thereis, there's something to be said
to just about the relationshipthat you sort of end up
building, because you're justyou're you're, you're evolving
as a human, like you're evolvingis in your business, but you're
also evolving as a human. And Ithink that like, when you come
together, and we understand thevision, that vision grows, that
(35:40):
vision evolves, that visionpivots, that like being able to
do that, in a vision withsomeone is incredible experience
to be able to have this visionthat I thought was so big, and
then you bring in someone elsewho thinks about it even
different, even even moredifferent than like you caught
up. And all of a sudden the sizeof that vision, just like
(36:00):
tripled, right? And then thatand then that vision seems huge.
And then you go through theseasons, and you go through the
hiring and then you're back atyour back at that one feeling
huge. And now it triples again.
You know, and I feel likethere's just a, there's a
momentum, a serious momentum tohaving someone on your team who
is the opposite way who canforce you to look at things a
(36:22):
different way. I think that'slike the key to momentum. Yeah,
so definitely, um, okay, sothose are all really great tips
for things to think about, likewhen you're in the hiring stage
when you're in that season. Now,let's talk about where so I know
for me personally, I've had areally hard time figuring out
(36:44):
where to find these people. Sowhat would your recommendations
be or tips be for? Like when nowyou're to that step where you
know, you're ready to hire VAnow, like, where do I go?
Breanna Bortner (36:53):
Yeah, and this is where I think a lot of people
get stuck is because it's like,how do I find the right people.
So there's a few differentavenues that you can do. One of
them is from the third partysites. So using sites like
Fiverr, or Upwork, I think theseare great, like entry points,
like you want to kind of testthe waters, you want to maybe
(37:14):
hand off like, Hey, I have thisshort term project, I'm a little
bit, you know, booked out andbusy right now, I would love to
bring someone in and see whatthey do for what they can do for
this project, whether it's aninternal project or a client
facing project, I think that's agreat place to start and get
your toes wet. And there youhave the support, you know, from
Fiverr, or Upwork, to kind of,you know, manage the
(37:38):
relationship. Kind of anotheroption would be an agency. So
there are agencies for VAs orsocial media managers, that type
of model is different in that,like, you're assigned an account
manager, you have someone thatlike, interviews you about the
role. And that's really forthose positions that are like
(38:00):
longevity, like you like I wantan admin assistant that can be
on my team that will grow withus that will understand the
vision, we want to worktogether, you know, one plus
years, that's a great route togo as well. And then in that
type of model, you pay theagency, you know, the agency
pays the contractor middlemen.
So that's another option. But myfavorite of all of them and how
(38:25):
I find my clients and how Irecommend, recommend other
people find their it's thereverse, right, I find my
clients and then they find me asa contractor. It's through
networking, it's through abusiness groups that I'm in,
it's through showing up tovirtual events, or in person
events. It's Facebook groups.
(38:47):
I've found few of my clientsthrough Facebook groups, or
posting like job ads in Facebookgroups. There are some like VA
matchmaking services that areonline as well that are
completely free of charge, youknow, where you enter the
details of your engagement, andthey match you with someone that
whose profile or interestsalign. So that option is my
(39:12):
personal favorite. I've had themost luck with that. On top of
just you know, searching yournetwork, right, if you have a
copywriter that you'd like towork with, I would likely ask
you if I needed a copywriter.
Absolutely. And
Jessi Cabanin (39:26):
I think that's where like word of mouth comes
in and why it's such a powerfultool that is really undervalued.
I think that word of mouth canseem hard. Because if you're not
doing the work on the outside,all the sudden trying to get
word of mouth. That's not how itworks. Word of mouth is a long
game. Word of mouth is makingsure that you are taking every
opportunity you can to build arelationship with people because
(39:49):
as soon as someone trusts you,they're going to refer you to
someone else. And what happenswith referrals is that if
somebody you trust refers you tosomeone they trust, there's
already a trust factor in thatrelationship. Even if you've
never met them, and I am walkingproof of, of word of mouth being
an astronomically amazing tool,because my entire almost my
(40:10):
entire career in the weddingindustry was based on word of
mouth, I never paid a dime toadvertise my invitation company
in the 10 years that I had it, Inever paid a dime to advertise.
And I broke the million dollarlike point at that. And to do
that, without throwing tons ofmoney into advertising is like,
I want people to understand thatjust because you want to grow
(40:32):
your company does not mean I'mnot gonna sit here and say that
the you know, spend money tomake money is not true, it is
true in certain instances, butlike dropping your money into
advertising that you have nocontrol over is just like the
biggest waste of money I haveever, like ever, ever heard of.
So. So I
Breanna Bortner (40:50):
find it to throw money at your problems
ever
Jessi Cabanin (40:55):
alcoholic them instead. So, okay, so let's talk
a little bit about what it'slike to even hire someone like
an online business manager likeBrianna, because I feel like for
a lot of people, and OBM is agreat first hire, to start
taking away a little bit of thesmall things that take time. And
(41:18):
so I think this is true foralmost any industry that in OBM
is probably a very, very highlyrecommended first hiring tool.
And I also feel like maybe it'sjust Breanna
Breanna Bortner (41:31):
V. VA or an OPM is usually a good first step.
Because
Jessi Cabanin (41:35):
what what is the difference between a VA and an
OPM? What's the difference?
Breanna Bortner (41:39):
Yeah, so VA virtual assistant. That's how I
started my business. And so forthe first three months, I was
doing virtual assistant work, Iwould say in that type of role,
it is more client led in whichwe would show up to a meeting
and Jesse, you would be givingme tasks. And then I would
(41:59):
complete them. I would say forgenerally, most VA engagements
that that's it, you know, theycomplete the tasks, and then
you're like, oh, I should givethem more work. And then you
give them more tasks, right. Andthen these, these are generally
across the spectrum of admin orbilling or social media, things
(42:20):
like that. And I realizedquickly that I didn't fall into
that space, I had Miss titledmyself as a virtual assistant,
because where I was reallythriving was actually giving
direction, being proactive,pivoting with the customer
giving them ideas. And so Ifound that an online business
(42:41):
manager where I could getinvolved in more areas of their
business where I could be givingthem recommendations, setting up
the systems. And actually likeleading, instead of being
delegated to, that's where Ifound my strong suit was. And so
if you're looking for someone tokind of take control to be like,
you know, this is what you needto do. This is what contractor
(43:03):
he needs to do. And this is whatI'm going to do. And then we're
going to meet back again nextweek, and then we're going to
decide what the next steppingstone is, then an online
business manager would be theright person for you. So you
kind of have to decide, are youlooking to just delegate? Or are
you looking for someone to kindof take the reins, manage the
team and manage the projects?
Because I would say that's moreon the OBM side of things.
Jessi Cabanin (43:26):
So the VLSI seems pretty cut and dry, pretty
transactional? Yeah, pretty,like here's a list, do it and
then come back, and we'llrecycle this. So the OBM, how do
Breanna Bortner (43:38):
there's a season for both? I should
definitely say there's for sure.
A season for both. There'snothing I was a VA, there's
nothing against vas, I have aVA. And so there is a season for
that. And there's a space forthat. And so there's nothing
wrong with it.
Jessi Cabanin (43:52):
So if a VA is pretty cut and dry, it's a
pretty straightforwardengagement. What are the options
from an OEM standpoint? Likewhat what are your options as an
OEM? What do you offer yourclients as far as like, options
in ways to engage with you?
Breanna Bortner (44:10):
Yeah, yeah. And that differs by OBM. But I would
say the bread and butter of mostopium business is either a, like
a VIP day or session model, orit is a retainer. So the
retainer as we know, it is thelong term, either like a three
to six to 12 month engagement,where we're committed to working
(44:33):
with one another, where we havethese big ideas in these big
projects that we're breakingdown into smaller action,
actionable tasks, and executingthem together and with the
remainder of the team if there'sother contractors involved. And
so that retainer, if you were inthe season where you were like,
(44:54):
I know that I have you know,these big visions right, like I
have this membership I want toget off the ground or I have
this like, massive sales funnelthat I want to build, or, you
know, I'm doing a full overhaulon all of my systems that makes
sense to engage someone longterm. Those aren't necessarily
things, you know, your projectof hiring and building your
(45:16):
team, that's not somethingthat's going to be done in one
day, for sure. So we're, we're,you know, we're kind of looking
into the future together. Forthe VIP sessions, I offer half
days, which are four hours oflike focus and accountability
and work either together orseparate. And that really is for
(45:37):
the person that is like, Okay, Ihave this project, and I just, I
just need to get it done. Youknow, I've said that I'm going
to update my website, or I'vesaid that I'm going to create
this lead magnet and build theautomation and my email
marketing tool, and I justhaven't gotten to it, it's been
on the back burner, that's theperfect opportunity to get your
(46:00):
toes wet and work with someonefor half day or a full day,
whatever options they have, andget to understand their working
style and get to understandlike, the deliverables and
results that they have, and getthat quick win with a super like
fast turnaround. So those arethe two options that I generally
(46:20):
see, sometimes people do, youknow, one off intensive or like
goal setting sessions, thingslike that. But I would say, like
to get like the most power outof whatever engagement you
choose, I would choose like aVIP day, or a retainer for
three, six or 12 months.
Jessi Cabanin (46:40):
So for this way to fabulous, the way that we
started, just to give you alittle perspective on you know
where I was and what I did toget to where we are now, when I
first met Brianna, we jumpedinto a more of a VIP type of
relationship, because I thinkthat we were at a point where I
was at a point where I was notat all sure what the hell I
(47:04):
needed to do, okay, so if youare out there feeling like you
are a total hot mess, the veryfirst thing you need to do is
book a VIP day with Brianna andshe will like help you figure
that out, then that turned intoa second VIP day where we
started to do, we started to diga little deeper, and then it
turned into more of a retainertype of relationship, because we
realized that a lot of thesethings were not quick wins. A
lot of these things were notthings that we're going to get
(47:25):
done in a half a day, or eventwo half a days a month, that
was just not how it was going towork. And so, you know, we took
that time to dip our toes intothe VIP experience first, to
kind of see what we needed. Andthen we jumped into the
retainer. Would you say thatthat's pretty typical for the
majority or for clients?
Breanna Bortner (47:42):
Yeah, it's a great way to understand
someone's working style and youknow, kind of test the waters,
you know, we're talking aboutways that you can source talent.
Yeah, you could book a fewdifferent VIP sessions with
different providers and see whoyou know, really understand your
vision the most and see who youknow, whose work or expertise or
communication style, like mashthe best with you. And then from
(48:05):
there, you can inquire aboutthose longer term retainers. But
I would say the VIP sessions aregreat. They're super powerful.
They're, you know, they're jampacked with like deliverables
and walking away with things.
And I remember Jesse after ours,we have the two sessions. And
then we just kind of startedtalking about like, your like
you, I just like I need more ofyou. And so it was like, Well, I
(48:26):
do have retainer spots, likeopen at this time. And one thing
that sticks out to me is likeyou just said like, I like don't
even think I'm ready. I've neverlike hired so quickly before.
But I think it's because we hadbuilt up that trust not only for
meeting in person and hangingout, and me booking your
services. But we also got towork together over these VIP
(48:49):
sessions. And you like walkedaway with things that you felt
good about, or things that youwere like excited to use. And so
I think that also acceleratedlike your hiring decision. And
like we're talking about this,like this is ancient times, this
was like three months ago. Andlike, look how much has evolves.
Jessi Cabanin (49:08):
So do that twice.
And then we got engaged on thethird date.
Breanna Bortner (49:12):
Yes. And now yeah, now we're on our honeymoon
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Yeah, soI would say that's kind of like
the perfect story. And a greatway to start.
Jessi Cabanin (49:24):
Yeah, for sure.
So as we wrap this up, I'm superinterested to know what season
you are in. So if you'relistening and you are in like
maybe you know exactly whatseason are and maybe you can
connect with something that wesaid today that you think to
yourself like yes, I am 1,000%In that season, good for you. I
want to know what season you'rein because I want to help cheer
you on to that next season cheeryou into that transformation
(49:46):
season. Because sometimes we alljust need a little bit of extra
support, even if we don't wantit per se or we don't think we
need it. We all need a littlebit more of like a shove here
and there. So if you're outthere listening and you are are
like, I am so overwhelmed. Ihave no idea what season I'm in
or what the heck I'm supposed todo. Brianna has some tips for
you to help you figure that out.
(50:09):
So, Brian, if anybody's outthere and they're feeling this
way, you know, how can they getthat support from you? Yeah.
Breanna Bortner (50:16):
So I want you, I'm inviting you to message me
on Instagram, that's the bestplace to get in touch with me.
And let me know kind of thethings that you're struggling
with, or the differentsituations that you find
yourself in right now. And let'skind of pinpoint what season
you're in. So you know what thatnext actionable step can be. And
(50:38):
so just to kind of recap theseasons, so you can try to
pinpoint yourself. The winterseason is the resting and
reflection, the spring is theplanning and mapping, the summer
is the growing and gettingthings done. And then the fall
is the balanced and onautopilot. So you can try to
(51:00):
classify yourself. If you canclassify yourself, I still want
to hear from you. And I'll stillgive you that actionable step
forward. But if you're needinghelp, I want to open that door
for conversation because I thinkit's important to, like,
pinpoint the season that we'rein, but then also embrace it.
And like, if you're supposed tobe Resting, resting, like the
(51:22):
season that I'm in now, likefreaking rest, like enjoy that,
like sleep in an extra hour. Youknow, walk instead of run, do
the things that your body's likecraving, instead of fighting it
because you're in the season fora reason. And you have to like,
learn from it. So I think that'sthe most important piece. So
(51:44):
send me a DM. I'm sure Jessiwill put my instagram handle
absolutely in the show notes,but it is at Brianna's business
boutique on Instagram. So I lookforward to chatting with you all
and kind of helping you get getready for that next season.
Jessi Cabanin (52:01):
Yes, perfect. I will link all of that
information in the show notesfor you guys. Thank you, Brianna
so much for sitting here with metoday. Going through all this
stuff, throwing me under thebus. Thanks for that too. I am
so excited. As you guys heard.
Instagram is definitely the bestway to connect with her. Okay, I
hope that you guys found evenone tiny slice of connection and
inspiration from today'sepisode, and I will chat with
(52:23):
you guys soon. Thanks, Jesse.
All right, baby. I hope youreally enjoyed today's
conversation. I'm super curiousto know what your biggest
takeaway was from today. So goahead and share this episode on
social media. Make sure you tagme at this way to fabulous and
let me know what you connectedwith. What did you learn from
(52:44):
the episode and what action itemare you going to take today?
Until next time, guys, keeppushing, keep dreaming. And
let's keep on redefiningfabulous chatroom guys
Hey girl, hey, are you ready for some real
talk? If you are a femaleentrepreneur who has ever felt
like a total failure, or maybeeven a frequent flyer of
imposter syndrome, this podcastis for you. I'm your host Jesse,
a millennial business owner, boymom and creative genius helping
women bring their businessdreams to life. After 10 years
of building numerous creativebrands from the ground up, I'm
(00:26):
ready to get real about whatactually goes on behind the
scenes of building your very ownempire feel you're opening up
brand new mindset for me and Ireally want that for you too,
because honestly, I am just soover society's definition of
what it means to live asuccessful life. So together, we
are going to create and navigatea version of success that works
for you. Together, we canredefine fabulous. Okay guys,
(00:53):
welcome to today's episode ofempowering coffee condos. I'm
Jesse founder and chiefempowerment Officer of this way
to fabulous and today is a very,very special day which you guys
can tell because the backgroundis totally different. I'm here
with Brandon bortner. She is anonline business manager and
owner of Brianna's businessboutique. She's a type A Virgo
(01:14):
Enneagram, one to Midwest gal.
She's a Minnesota wife and dogmom, okay, she loves spending
her extra time traveling to newplaces trying new restaurants.
On a sidenote she's like theunicorn that fell from this guy
for this wedding. Fabulous. Youguys won't be hearing so much
more from Brianna. In thefuture. So before we start,
Brianna, why don't you tell us alittle bit about yourself. Just
(01:37):
kind of like a quick synopsis oflike where you are in your life
right now.
Breanna Bortner (01:43):
First of all, thanks for having me, Jesse.
This is so fun. This is the mostset up podcast. I mean, we've
been setting up for this forsince last night.
Jessi Cabanin (01:55):
This is a compliment or a dig.
Breanna Bortner (01:59):
I kind of feel like I'm in a spaceship. And
yeah, this is just cool. We'rein a new setting. We're having
fun this weekend. And so thanksfor having me on the podcast.
This is gonna be an absoluteblast. And also a nice to meet
all of the listeners as well. Soas Jesse said, I am Brianna. I
am an online business manager.
And just a little bit more aboutme. I mean, my roots are in the
(02:21):
Midwest. I've lived everywherebetween Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Kansas, Illinois, and now I'mback in Minnesota. So
Jessi Cabanin (02:33):
yes, I know she was in like Illinois, when I met
her. As soon as I met her andfollow her, she moved to
Minnesota, it was the beginningof our sets that love story.
Hey, sometimes long distancerelationships, you know. So
yeah, you guys will hear so muchmore about me and Breanna and
(02:53):
our story, I will link thatepisode in the show notes.
Because there's a lot of reallyrandom shit in our backstory
that I think is just really,it's really entertaining. And I
think it's also really eyeopening for other people as to
you know, getting yourself inthe room and meeting new people
and taking chances on yourselfand on other people. There's
(03:16):
just like, literally so much tothat story, I will link that
episode in the show notes, wewill not waste your time with
that today. So today, we'reactually going to be talking
about seasons of your business,and how to navigate when you are
in a season where hiring oroutsourcing is something that's
currently on your like list ofthings to address, it's likely
(03:38):
on the list of things that youare avoiding. And I say this
from experience. So we're gonnabe talking about the four
seasons of, of business. Andthis does sort of like repeat
itself every year. And it's notlike your yearly seasons, but
you you tend to follow theseasons over and over not
(03:59):
necessarily in like a one yearspan. But you do like recycle
the seasons as you grow and asyou pivot in your business. So
before main seasons are the sameseasons, you have your winter,
spring, summer and fall. Okay.
Breanna Bortner (04:12):
And we live in the Midwest, so we are very
familiar with these. And thewinter season now that I'm
Minnesota again, I mean thatseason is like seven months
long. So like there's also atestament that like seasons
aren't just you know, exactquarters or like perfect amounts
of time and like distributedevenly because the winter is a
(04:34):
hell of a
Jessi Cabanin (04:35):
lot. Like okay, who hates Chicago winter and
then moves to Minnesota? LikeArcher winters, like even worse
there.
Breanna Bortner (04:44):
Yes. I mean, what happened yesterday, we were
supposed to be driving here andJesse sends me it's such a
terrible day to be driving andthere's like these pretty little
snowflakes in her window. I waslike Jesse we got over six
inches of snow last night. I'mtrapped in my House I don't know
how to work my snowplow ourstreets aren't plowed to only
SUVs are getting out
Jessi Cabanin (05:05):
so you're in like a smaller town right? So like it
takes longer for ya.
Breanna Bortner (05:09):
Didn't really come by and clean everything up
until like between 10 and noonan hour after they canceled
school as well because there wasoutside playing in the snow. So
there was just a dumping of snowand I'm like, Jesse, come on.
It's so funny because now Ishowed up where we are in Iowa
and I have these like knee highsnow boots and there is
absolutely no snow on the groundhere. So I look like I have
(05:32):
Fortner. Okay, I do not belonghere or that I'm like last but
hey,
Jessi Cabanin (05:37):
that's okay.
Because we're exploring a newspace right are exploring a new
state and new city a new place asuper fancy Airbnb that we got
literally just so that we wouldhave a pretty background. So
okay, so let's, let's go back tothe four seasons here for a
second. So the four seasons,even though they're called
Winter, spring, summer fall,they actually have nothing to do
with the actual like weather.
(06:00):
Okay, so your winter season inyour business is more of a time
where you are slowing down alittle bit, you are resting, you
are maybe reflecting on thelast, you know, the last three
months, the last six months,you're really kind of reflecting
on the back end, and you'retaking that break. Okay, so then
spring is when you sort of comeout of that resting period, and
(06:21):
you begin doing some planningand you begin doing some mapping
of you know how you're going toget where you want to go. Okay,
and then when you move on tosummer, summers focus is
definitely more on the actualact of growing. So now you've
taken those plans, and thenthose maps, and you're actually
putting them into action. Andyou're actually getting things
done at that point. Right. Okay,so then fall is sort of more of
(06:45):
a balanced season, you're stillworking, you're still hustling a
little bit. But a lot of thingsare more on autopilot. And
you're almost starting to thinkof new ideas, right? So you're
sort of in a position whereyou're starting to think of all
these ideas and starting torealize that burnout is hitting,
right. I think that fall isdefinitely when burnout hits us
(07:06):
the most and kind of pushes usinto that winter season, right?
Because that's when we reallyneed to, like rest and reflect.
So yeah, and
Breanna Bortner (07:15):
I think also the autopilot aspect of fall,
especially for people like you,Jesse, I know you're really
creative. And so when peoplefall into that space where
things are on autopilot, andthey almost seem too easy or too
monotonous. It can kind of freakpeople out as well, for sure.
It's a blessing, you know, to beable to earn with ease and to be
(07:37):
able to do things that you loveevery day sometimes, like the
lack of spontaneity, or like thelack of working towards
something for sure. Can Make YouFeel a little bit off. So that's
why I personally like I love thesummer season because I like to
get things done and no way. Yes.
You saw like how Jessiintroduced me I am a type one
Enneagram Virgo, like hi,
Jessi Cabanin (07:59):
just go wherever we are. But how will we fit
together? Again, I will linkthat that in the show notes.
Because it's not for today. Butyeah, um, yes, absolutely.
Absolutely. I totally agree onthat. So Briana, what season
would you say that you are inwith your business? Like right
now?
Breanna Bortner (08:15):
Yeah, so I would say that me personally,
and in my business, we areslipping into winter. So we're
actually in the right season,based on the actual physical
season that we're in right now.
I'm went through I'm in acoaching program right now. And
so I'm making some changes to mybusiness internally. And so it's
causing me to like sit andreflect as like what I want in
(08:37):
the new year. So I kind of havea blank slate, new
opportunities, things that Ineed to create from the ground
up. So it's a really excitingspace to be in. There's a lot of
opportunity, and space forexpansion. But I have to plan
(08:58):
things out still. So I'm reallyjust trying to be like during
the holidays to slow down. Andlike be grateful for this space
to think about things. And inthis time, I'm doing more like
journaling, more meditation,more mindset work, to really
kind of tap into like my innerself, and uncover what I want in
(09:20):
that next season. So what is myspring going to look like?
Jessi Cabanin (09:27):
Yeah, for sure.
What kinds of things do you doin your transition from fall to
winter? Just sort of setyourself up for you mentioned
opportunity. I think that's areally important word. Because I
do feel like opportunities.
Opportunities are always outthere, right? Opportunities
always present themselves, but Ifeel like as humans and as
business owners, we don't alwayssee them or accept them because
(09:49):
we're too busy to bring thatinto our life. So how like how
what do you do in yourtransition from fall to winter?
To set yourself up to beaccepting of all of those
opportunities and those thoughtsand ideas like Have you set
yourself up for that?
Breanna Bortner (10:01):
Yeah, so I would say that you have to clear
the deck as they call it. And,um, some things that I recently
did is I actually increased mypricing. So I, you know, during
my, my summer and my fall phase,I was like, kind of reevaluating
things. And I decided that,okay, you know, I'm no longer
feeling aligned with my pricingand the deliverables that I'm
(10:22):
providing with people. So Iincreased the pricing. And so
naturally, that meant that somethings had to shift and change,
and it was very uncomfortable.
But in return, I gained thatspace that I need for that
winter season. So doingsomething like that, like
something that's like reallyuncomfortable, or something that
you've been dreading can helpyou kind of shift into a new
season. I think that's one wayto definitely propel. And get
(10:45):
yourself unstuck. Because ifyou're stuck in autopilot, yeah,
that's the comfortable place.
That's where you're happy.
That's where your, you know,your your content. That's where
like, things aren't scary, youknow, that's working at home in
your PJs, knowing that you youknow, you have clients to serve
and that you have money comingin the door and that you're
(11:07):
happy. But then, you know,there's also that, like, what if
you know, what else is? Whatelse is out there? Who else
could I be serving? Can I cast awider net? So I think that's one
thing that I did specifically toalmost, I mean, like I induced
winter, myself, it was like shewas 40
Jessi Cabanin (11:26):
weeks into fall, and she decided to induce winter
to be born.
Breanna Bortner (11:31):
Yes, it had to happen. It was like, yeah, it
was just something that wasinevitable. And luckily, I had
the right support support systemaround me at that time to really
make that possible. Because itis something that when you are
alone, and you don't havebusiness partners, or a
supportive relationship, orfriends that really understand
(11:52):
what you're going through, like,as a business owner, I think
that that season is even moreuncomfortable. So during those
transitional periods, it'sreally a good time to like find
yourself a good community thatcan support you, for sure.
Jessi Cabanin (12:06):
And I feel like, like something that triggered me
when you said that was that. Sowe have these four seasons,
right. But then we also havefour transformational seasons,
right, because you have totransform from one season to the
next. And in reality, thosetransformation seasons should
essentially be another fourseasons, because those four
seasons in between are the oneswhere it's really uncomfortable.
Because you're you're you'repropelling yourself into that
(12:28):
next season. But it's importantto note that like, when you
start to propel yourself into anew season, it should be
purposeful it should be itshould have strategy behind it,
it shouldn't just be like, I'msick of it. I'm sick of winter,
let's go into the next one. Likeit has to have meaning to it
when you propel yourself intoit. And so I think that for her,
you know, what I'm hearing isthat, you know, she was in fall,
(12:48):
she was doing really well. Shehad a lot of clients, she had
money coming in the door, and itfelt balanced while she was in
that season. And then whenthings started to feel
unbalanced when the expectationswere not there anymore, when the
maybe the boundaries werestarting to be tested a little
bit more. And things weresuddenly not balanced. Things
(13:08):
weren't not aligned. So as soonas things started to feel
unaligned for her that wasunbalanced, that that's kind of
your, your red flag to say,Okay, I think this season might
be ending, it's time to go intoour fall transition period into
winter. And so what she justdescribed about what she was
doing to open the door forwinter, that was her
transformation season and likehow she got from fall to winter.
(13:32):
So I'm curious. So most of youguys will know this after
listening to all of theseepisodes. But so Breanna and I
work a lot together now. A goodtime. Like, I feel like Briana
knows more about me than I knowabout myself, and about my
business. And so I want to know,Brianna, what season Do you
think that this would havefabulous isn't like right now,
(13:53):
let's not go into my personal.
Let's go. Let's just talk aboutthis way to Fabulous. What
season? Would you would you saythat I'm in just from working
with me inside of the businessrecently? What season would you
say that we're in right now?
Breanna Bortner (14:08):
No doubt 100%.
The state of fabulous isn'tspring. So when we first met
that those are some of the firstthings that we did together as
we were like, workflow mapping.
And we were planning out, youknow, longer term strategic
things. We weren't like tryingto get quick wins or like quick
(14:28):
cash injections. We were workingtogether to like, build a team.
And we continue to do that. Andone of the foundations of
building a team is getting theright systems in place. So for
the past few months, we've beengoing over all of your systems,
we've been cleaning things up,we
Jessi Cabanin (14:47):
haven't been going over things we've been
just like dumping them inrehaul. We've been starting over
we've been Brianna fIyingeverything about this,
Breanna Bortner (14:56):
and it's so foundational to what you're
going to be doing in the nextseason. because when you bring
on new team members, and whenyou're, you know, you're
expanding the current clientsthat you're supporting and
bringing new people in the door,you have this vision, which, if
you guys know, Jessie, she'slike the vision queen. She's
like, Yeah, it's insane. She hassuch a strong idea of what she
(15:21):
really wants, which is soamazing. But she has this
vision, and then it's going tocome to life because of the
things that we've been doing thenitty gritty kind of
uncomfortable things that aren'tso fun to do by yourself. That's
what we've been doing the lastfew months working together. And
so it's really setting you upfor a great summer, which will
(15:41):
likely come early 2023. So Iwould
Jessi Cabanin (15:44):
say I almost kind of feel like we are approaching
the transition from spring tosummer. We have been planning
and we have been mapping. Andactually one of the main things
that we are doing on our retreatthis weekend in Cedar Rapids is
really kind of finishing a lotof the mapping and the planning
of this next growth season. Andso I feel like it's exciting.
(16:09):
It's almost like we are, we'renot in that transition phase
yet, but we're tiptoeing we arelike, we are like just getting
our toes in the water right now.
And we are so close to just likediving into the water. Come
2023, which Oh, my God is acouple of weeks away.
Breanna Bortner (16:22):
Yeah, we're tying the knot. We're making it
like all pretty and I thinkit'll be
Jessi Cabanin (16:27):
Yes, I feel like this retreat, we are sort of
like sealing the deal. Yeah, weare like we have all these
plans. We have all these, allthese things when we were
planning and mapping. And I feellike this weekend, we really
wanted to just get away from allof our other distractions, so
that we could really focus onlike the partnership that we're
building, and how we're buildingeach other's companies. And so I
just kind of I think it's reallyit's really interesting. So we
(16:49):
are definitely in a, like Isaid, approaching that summer
season where hiring is becominga must like the growth that has
happened in the last 12 months,has definitely put this way to
fabulous in a position ofneeding to either start
outsourcing or hiring or we'reliterally building a team,
right? So Brianna, no matter howwe look at what we want to do
(17:14):
together, we literally just kindof like consider ourselves as
partners at this point, becausewe are constantly going back and
forth every day about eachother's businesses and about all
these ideas. But so she youknow, has gotten more into me
about why hiring right now. Itlike why I'm in the season I'm
in and how we're going to getout of that season. Right. And
Breanna is getting a lot ofresistance for me. Because I you
(17:36):
know, another story for anotherday. But you know, I'm having
some PTSD of my past my pastlife in business and having a
team and having it fail. And youknow, we had a really long
discussion yesterday about thefear of being successful again,
because you know, I do feel likeI find myself sometimes waiting
for a shoe to drop, I just, youknow, things start to go well,
(17:58):
and all of a sudden, I'm like,I'm getting the bunker prepped,
I'm like, ready for like theworld to end again. Right.
Breanna Bortner (18:04):
So one of like, the top five things that hold
people back is for sure fear ofsuccess or failure on the
complete flip side. So
Jessi Cabanin (18:12):
totally. And I mean, in fairness, some are I
think, are are afraid of both, Iwould say the person I am today,
that business owner and todayI'm not afraid of failure, I
have completely changed mymindset of failure into being
something to learn fromsomething to know what I don't
want something to know, whatworks and what doesn't, what
feel aligns and what doesn't.
And so for me, failure hastotally flipped into this, like,
(18:35):
you know what, I hope I fail atthis because I want to learn
something from this to continuegrowing. So I'm really excited
about that part. But I want totalk a little bit more about
hiring in general, because Iknow that a lot of my listeners
are similar people to me. Andthey are, you know, trying to
grow their small businesses andthey are likely feeling in that
stuck season where they don'tknow what's next. They they feel
(18:58):
too much on autopilot, they feellike growth is almost not
available because their owntheir only them. You know, I
feel like a lot of my following.
And just my my associating injust people I'm with in general
are a lot of solopreneurs. And Iget that I've been a solopreneur
for a long, long time. But Ithink a lot of people are in the
(19:20):
position of realizing that inorder to scale both vertically
and horizontally, they can't doit themselves. They have to
bring in something to help that.
So I want to talk a little bitmore about hiring and where that
falls. So what do you thinklike, in your opinion, what
season does hiring typicallyfall into?
Breanna Bortner (19:40):
So I would say that hiring like spans across a
few of the seasons. So obviouslyin winter when you're resting
and reflecting, that's the timewhere you're asking yourself
like do I love what I do eachday? Am I passionate about it?
Are there areas of my businessthat no longer energize me? Are
there certain areas that arebringing me down. Those are
(20:01):
likely the areas once youpinpoint them that you want to
outsource, if you want them tocontinue being part of your
client experience, for sure. SoI would definitely say winter is
kind of the time when you startto even just like play with the
idea of like, okay, could thecould I bring someone else into
this mix that loves to do thisthing that I'm dreading?
Jessi Cabanin (20:21):
Winter I feel like is almost like, the more
calm thoughts of like, maybe Ishould hire versus like being in
a busy season being like I haveto
Breanna Bortner (20:29):
hire. Yeah, this is like the ideal I would
say the ideal not like thefrantic. Oh, yeah, I need to
hire somebody. And then like,just because you're in the right
headspace,
Jessi Cabanin (20:38):
you can actually think clearly logically. Okay,
continue about what it what thatlooks like in other seasons.
Yes. So
Breanna Bortner (20:45):
then as you get out of winter season, and you go
into spring, you're actuallyplanning out okay, like, what
does the job description looklike for this person? You know,
like, financially? How many likehours? Or what type of packages?
Can I be? Right now? Yeah, yeah,definitely, you know, what do I
envision for this person longterm? You know, if it is a long
term type hire that you'reneeding, like, am I do I want
(21:08):
someone for just a short termproject? Or do I envision this
person who I start handing offone project to, and then they
get two, and then they getthree, and then, you know, we
can start collaborating,collaborating more and more. So
I think that's in spring, you'reactually mapping out like
envisioning getting comfortablewith the feeling, and actually
writing out what their tasks andthings that they will take over
(21:31):
look like. And then also,ideally, in the springtime, is
when you're going to bedocumenting things that they
need to know. So that says, whenyou're writing out SOPs or
getting organized with yourdigital files, this is the time
where you're getting thingstidied up, because no one wants
to come into an organization,that is a hashtag hot mess. So
(21:55):
Jesse, just he's like, don'tthrow me under the bus. And
this. There are so many peoplethat are in that same boat that
are just hiring frantically, andthe back end of their businesses
mess. And so if you can thinkabout things and get them
organized and clean, have yourlogins have your folders, make
(22:17):
sure that they have access tothe right things, those are the
things that you're going to bedoing in that spring. And then
obviously summer is when youhire that person, that's when
you're like growing and gettingthe things done. That's when
you're seeing the progressthat's being made. Because you
get to work on the things thatyou love. And now you have this
person on the side, who's alsohelping you kind of move the
(22:38):
needle. So the summer is reallywhen you actually start to see
the fruits of your labor. Andwhen you actually get to, you
know, maybe sit back and relax alittle bit more, especially
slipping back into, you know,that fall where things are
balanced in autopilot. That'swhen you have the person fully
(22:58):
trained in, they're reallycomfortable with your brand.
They understand yourpreferences, they know where
things are. They know theirexpectations. So when I say that
hiring and outsourcing fallsinto all of the seasons, it
really does. It starts with thewinter, when you're reflecting
and then it ends in the fall,when you have this new hire that
(23:22):
has panned out perfectly and isa good fit, because you've taken
the time and you've done thedeciphering that's needed in
order to pick the right personrole.
Jessi Cabanin (23:31):
Exactly. And I think you can really like the
way you just described that Ithink it is really obvious how
what we mean about like, howthis is a cycle. This is this is
a cycle. Now you get to a pointwhere, you know, I brought in
Breanna and I felt things startto balance out a little bit
more. And then we kept growing.
And now things are out ofbalance, again, a little bit.
And so now we're really startingto realize, okay, so as we fall
(23:52):
out of balance, let's find howto get ourselves back to
balance. And so it really isthis cycle of all of those
different seasons. So I want totalk a little bit about
Breanna Bortner (24:05):
about the gift that I brought you for today.
But but so we were talkingearlier and one of like we've
said we're opposites and manydifferent things like Yeah, but
we were talking earlier and oneof my favorite things in the
whole wide world. You've nevertried, oh God. And so like, I
feel like we're gonna getthirsty today. But I brought a
(24:27):
kombucha and like Kombucha is myfreakin drink of choice.
Jessi Cabanin (24:32):
Katie's gonna lose her mind when she sees
Breanna Bortner (24:35):
like I need kombucha. I have maybe like one
to two a week. And I was scaredthat this was gonna happen if I
didn't open it beforehand, but Iwanted you to be part of the
excitement because it was likethe champagne I hope of
probiotics. Okay, okay, good.
I've had ones that actually fitover all over the carpet. So it
is bubbly. So blue Just in casethey want to sponsor us, this is
(25:00):
a health aide kombucha one of myoh my gosh, can you hear the
bubbles? I can hear the bubbles,but maybe you can definitely
heard the licks. Yeah, so it'sjust like a bubbly, fruity,
fermented drink. That is this isyour probiotic in liquid form.
So I feel like we're gonna bedoing a lot of talking today.
Jessi Cabanin (25:23):
Like, that's good. That's I'll take a little
bit.
Breanna Bortner (25:30):
So I want to get
Jessi Cabanin (25:31):
this is all about hopping out of like, your
comfort zone, right. So as we'rein this almost transition
period, we're testing. We'retesting some boundaries. We're
testing some limits. We'retrying new things. We're trying
new places. So you know, Okay,cheers. Drink this on air. Hmm.
(25:54):
Almost smell smells like applecider vinegar. Easter eggs. Like
it smells like when you're likecoloring?
Breanna Bortner (26:00):
Eggs. Oh, because they've been coloring
them? Yeah. Yeah, it smells likeapple cider vinegar. Bucha.
Jessi Cabanin (26:06):
But interesting.
drink of choice. Okay, well,it's not bad. I get I encourage
you to try it if you haven't,because it won't bother you.
Breanna Bortner (26:14):
And the best part is that like your gut feels
so good afterwards.
Jessi Cabanin (26:18):
Okay, so let's, let's dive in a little bit
deeper about hiring. So Brian issomeone obviously I brought into
my company for numerous reasons.
But she's also someone who'svery much helping me right now
in this transitional season inbringing other people in. So
what would you say if someone isout there listening that is in a
(26:39):
similar position where hiring issomething that avoiding just
like me, but it's it's becominglike a necess? Like absolutely
necessary thing to survive andto continue moving forward? What
questions would you like havethem asking themselves to like,
qualify if maybe they're readyto hire? Or if maybe they need
to wait until that next season?
Breanna Bortner (27:03):
Yeah, a good question. Definitely. And it's
good to kind of slow down whenyou're in this phase, and really
think about, you know, somemental questions like some, for
some people hiring is reallyhard because they have to let go
of their baby, they theirbusinesses, their baby, their
processes, their baby, theirsignature, whatever they do is
(27:25):
their baby. And so you have tobe like mentally ready to let
go. Because no one wants to comeinto an organization where the
business owner, like number onehoards all the work doesn't give
any, or is a micromanager. Andthat's one of my biggest pet
peeves as from being both anemployee, a corporate HR
(27:49):
employee, and also being abusiness owner who goes into
other people's businesses andhelp them no one wants to be
micromanage. And the reason whyyou're being micromanage is
because someone cannot let go ofcontrol. So you do have to be
mentally ready to give up thingsand be open to the fact that
they might look different thanhow you would do them. Right. So
(28:12):
there's lots of financialquestions, obviously, about
outsourcing, you know, and thatkind of dictates the type of
role that you hire where youhire them from, how many hours
or what type of package you buyfrom them. So you need to ask
yourself some financialquestions like do you just have
some extra cash reserves? Tohire out for a project that's
(28:34):
been on the backburner? Or doyou have enough money to like
sustainably purchase a packagemonth after month after month
because you want to grow alonger term strategic
relationship? Is there a train
Jessi Cabanin (28:48):
coming
Breanna Bortner (28:51):
so I guess there's a train at this Airbnb
Jessi Cabanin (28:55):
Okay, so you we got the mentally we got the
emotionally and we got thefinancially so those are the
three main kind of topics ofquestions you want to ask
yourself to kind of qualifyyourself to see if you're ready
for the next step. But let'stalk a little bit about what
else to think about like if youdecide if you qualify yourself
(29:17):
as I am ready to hire this likeI this ticks all my boxes,
hiring is definitely my nextstep. What is the thought
process at that point? Likewhat's important for them to
think about?
Breanna Bortner (29:28):
Yeah, I forget who says it but it's like the
like you hire people becauselike you don't hire people that
like know less than you like youshould be hiring people that
know more than you. And so, whatI like to say like when you're
hiring like are you going to behiring a generalist, someone who
is you know, maybe can cast abroad net over email management
(29:52):
and social media and lightwebsite updates. Are you going
to hire someone that you know isa gem or listing those areas? Or
are you gonna hire somebodythat's a specialist that does
one thing really good and lovesto do it. And that might, that
one thing might be the thingthat you hate, or that you think
is exhausting, or that you thinkleads you to burnout. So I would
(30:15):
ask yourself, you know, thattype of question too. But then
ultimately, that person that youbring in, like, bring in someone
that understands your vision,give them clarity, when you're
on that initial consult, call,which you should definitely do
10,000% Make sure that theyunderstand your vision, and that
they are kind of a forwardthinker, and that they can bring
(30:41):
some like new ideas and likefresh perspectives to the table,
and you should be open for that.
So you know, you want them tohave a brain almost kind of
opposite of yours. And I thinkthat's why Jesse and I, we hit
it off right away is because ourbrains work so differently. And
when we work together, likefreaking magic happens,
Jessi Cabanin (31:03):
for sure. And I feel like there's an aspect to
it where like, I'm fascinated bythe way that your brain works,
because it's like, polaropposite of mine. And so like, I
think it also I've made themistake of hiring people who are
too similar to me, because forso long, I thought that all I
needed was a clone of myself,all I needed was someone who was
(31:23):
just like me, so that I wouldhave a second me. I thought that
for so freakin long. And I thinkwhen I met Briana, and when we
started doing some of the stuffwas when I really started to
realize that like, havinganother meet, God help us all,
if we had to have me. God helpus all, if there was two of
Jesse in the same company, threejustice in the company. That's
(31:46):
another story for another day.
Like, God forbid, that thatwould like that would decline so
fast. That was like, we wouldnever be able to accomplish the
things that we are uncapable ofdoing. I think of being
Breanna Bortner (31:58):
married to yourself, I've thought of thank
you for, like, I would hate todate myself. Oh, my gosh, I
would destroy myself like you.
Jessi Cabanin (32:10):
I mean, it's true.
Breanna Bortner (32:11):
So you think about like your romantic
partners. Every relationshipevery marriage that I am friends
with, or couples that we hangout with complete opposites. You
have an introvert, you have anextrovert, you have the some
person that's always hot, theperson that's always cold, you
have you know, you have theperson who's super ambitious,
the person who's maybe not,there is always ying and yang.
And that should be like that inworking relationships as well.
Jessi Cabanin (32:34):
Absolutely. And I think that one of the really
unique parts about me andBrianna coming together, and
what she just mentioned, wasunderstanding the vision. So I
think that, like, when we firststarted talking and working
together, you know, we weredoing some trade for service, we
were you know, we were kind ofexploring what, like, what this
friendship could be like, whatthis business partnership could
(32:55):
be like. And, you know, I thinkthat the thing that really
remained common was that we, wehave this vision of helping
women chase their dreams, and besuccessful and redefine what
success means to them. And soyou know, I feel like, it's just
really important, really, reallyimportant, the vision part,
because if someone is the polaropposite of you, but they get
(33:17):
the vision, that person is goingto help you get there because
that person is like the key toall the doors that you can't
open, right, that person is thelike, supplemental knowledge
that you need. And so I justfind it really fascinating how
differently our brains work,because it forces me to sort of
like test my own thinking limitsto test the way I look at
(33:39):
things. And so I can go intosomething another day and say
what we're gonna do, instead ofwhat Jessie would do, Jesse is
really confused, Jessie'slooking at this thing, and she's
so confused, and she wants towalk away, but what we'll bring
on to do. So I feel like it'svery, it's a very fascinating
like, cycle.
Breanna Bortner (33:54):
Yeah. And so back in my corporate days, I was
a, I was in corporate HR forabout five years. And although
it was not for me, I did learn alot. And throughout that time, I
had various different likefunctions that I was involved
with as gender. I was ageneralist for HR. So I did
hiring, I did firing, I didemployee training, Benefits
(34:15):
Administration. I did all thatsort of stuff. And one thing
that I thought was sointeresting when I was in the
hiring space, is how importantlarger organizations think that
it is to hire someone who hasexact industry knowledge and
who's been in the exact industrythat's like, always part of the
job description. And I'm like,but what if we didn't hire
(34:37):
people who had exact industryexperience, and we hired people
from other industries, and welearned how they do things. And
we opened the door for like, anunbiased third party walking in
saying like, Oh, well, you know,what, you know, in this
industry, you know, we kind ofshake things up and do it this
way. And it works really well orlike, Oh, I like how you guys do
(34:57):
it here. So not only You know,having those those boundaries up
and not always having thosedoors close to people, you know,
let's say you're a weddingphotographer, and you're like,
Well, I only want an adminassistant who's worked in the
wedding industry. It's like,Well, why not try it? I think
it's always a great option totry someone who has different
industry experience as well,because they can bring a lot to
(35:18):
the table.
Jessi Cabanin (35:19):
Yeah, for sure.
For sure. And I feel like thereis, there's something to be said
to just about the relationshipthat you sort of end up
building, because you're justyou're you're, you're evolving
as a human, like you're evolvingis in your business, but you're
also evolving as a human. And Ithink that like, when you come
together, and we understand thevision, that vision grows, that
(35:40):
vision evolves, that visionpivots, that like being able to
do that, in a vision withsomeone is incredible experience
to be able to have this visionthat I thought was so big, and
then you bring in someone elsewho thinks about it even
different, even even moredifferent than like you caught
up. And all of a sudden the sizeof that vision, just like
(36:00):
tripled, right? And then thatand then that vision seems huge.
And then you go through theseasons, and you go through the
hiring and then you're back atyour back at that one feeling
huge. And now it triples again.
You know, and I feel likethere's just a, there's a
momentum, a serious momentum tohaving someone on your team who
is the opposite way who canforce you to look at things a
(36:22):
different way. I think that'slike the key to momentum. Yeah,
so definitely, um, okay, sothose are all really great tips
for things to think about, likewhen you're in the hiring stage
when you're in that season. Now,let's talk about where so I know
for me personally, I've had areally hard time figuring out
(36:44):
where to find these people. Sowhat would your recommendations
be or tips be for? Like when nowyou're to that step where you
know, you're ready to hire VAnow, like, where do I go?
Breanna Bortner (36:53):
Yeah, and this is where I think a lot of people
get stuck is because it's like,how do I find the right people.
So there's a few differentavenues that you can do. One of
them is from the third partysites. So using sites like
Fiverr, or Upwork, I think theseare great, like entry points,
like you want to kind of testthe waters, you want to maybe
(37:14):
hand off like, Hey, I have thisshort term project, I'm a little
bit, you know, booked out andbusy right now, I would love to
bring someone in and see whatthey do for what they can do for
this project, whether it's aninternal project or a client
facing project, I think that's agreat place to start and get
your toes wet. And there youhave the support, you know, from
Fiverr, or Upwork, to kind of,you know, manage the
(37:38):
relationship. Kind of anotheroption would be an agency. So
there are agencies for VAs orsocial media managers, that type
of model is different in that,like, you're assigned an account
manager, you have someone thatlike, interviews you about the
role. And that's really forthose positions that are like
(38:00):
longevity, like you like I wantan admin assistant that can be
on my team that will grow withus that will understand the
vision, we want to worktogether, you know, one plus
years, that's a great route togo as well. And then in that
type of model, you pay theagency, you know, the agency
pays the contractor middlemen.
So that's another option. But myfavorite of all of them and how
(38:25):
I find my clients and how Irecommend, recommend other
people find their it's thereverse, right, I find my
clients and then they find me asa contractor. It's through
networking, it's through abusiness groups that I'm in,
it's through showing up tovirtual events, or in person
events. It's Facebook groups.
(38:47):
I've found few of my clientsthrough Facebook groups, or
posting like job ads in Facebookgroups. There are some like VA
matchmaking services that areonline as well that are
completely free of charge, youknow, where you enter the
details of your engagement, andthey match you with someone that
whose profile or interestsalign. So that option is my
(39:12):
personal favorite. I've had themost luck with that. On top of
just you know, searching yournetwork, right, if you have a
copywriter that you'd like towork with, I would likely ask
you if I needed a copywriter.
Absolutely. And
Jessi Cabanin (39:26):
I think that's where like word of mouth comes
in and why it's such a powerfultool that is really undervalued.
I think that word of mouth canseem hard. Because if you're not
doing the work on the outside,all the sudden trying to get
word of mouth. That's not how itworks. Word of mouth is a long
game. Word of mouth is makingsure that you are taking every
opportunity you can to build arelationship with people because
(39:49):
as soon as someone trusts you,they're going to refer you to
someone else. And what happenswith referrals is that if
somebody you trust refers you tosomeone they trust, there's
already a trust factor in thatrelationship. Even if you've
never met them, and I am walkingproof of, of word of mouth being
an astronomically amazing tool,because my entire almost my
(40:10):
entire career in the weddingindustry was based on word of
mouth, I never paid a dime toadvertise my invitation company
in the 10 years that I had it, Inever paid a dime to advertise.
And I broke the million dollarlike point at that. And to do
that, without throwing tons ofmoney into advertising is like,
I want people to understand thatjust because you want to grow
(40:32):
your company does not mean I'mnot gonna sit here and say that
the you know, spend money tomake money is not true, it is
true in certain instances, butlike dropping your money into
advertising that you have nocontrol over is just like the
biggest waste of money I haveever, like ever, ever heard of.
So. So I
Breanna Bortner (40:50):
find it to throw money at your problems
ever
Jessi Cabanin (40:55):
alcoholic them instead. So, okay, so let's talk
a little bit about what it'slike to even hire someone like
an online business manager likeBrianna, because I feel like for
a lot of people, and OBM is agreat first hire, to start
taking away a little bit of thesmall things that take time. And
(41:18):
so I think this is true foralmost any industry that in OBM
is probably a very, very highlyrecommended first hiring tool.
And I also feel like maybe it'sjust Breanna
Breanna Bortner (41:31):
V. VA or an OPM is usually a good first step.
Because
Jessi Cabanin (41:35):
what what is the difference between a VA and an
OPM? What's the difference?
Breanna Bortner (41:39):
Yeah, so VA virtual assistant. That's how I
started my business. And so forthe first three months, I was
doing virtual assistant work, Iwould say in that type of role,
it is more client led in whichwe would show up to a meeting
and Jesse, you would be givingme tasks. And then I would
(41:59):
complete them. I would say forgenerally, most VA engagements
that that's it, you know, theycomplete the tasks, and then
you're like, oh, I should givethem more work. And then you
give them more tasks, right. Andthen these, these are generally
across the spectrum of admin orbilling or social media, things
(42:20):
like that. And I realizedquickly that I didn't fall into
that space, I had Miss titledmyself as a virtual assistant,
because where I was reallythriving was actually giving
direction, being proactive,pivoting with the customer
giving them ideas. And so Ifound that an online business
(42:41):
manager where I could getinvolved in more areas of their
business where I could be givingthem recommendations, setting up
the systems. And actually likeleading, instead of being
delegated to, that's where Ifound my strong suit was. And so
if you're looking for someone tokind of take control to be like,
you know, this is what you needto do. This is what contractor
(43:03):
he needs to do. And this is whatI'm going to do. And then we're
going to meet back again nextweek, and then we're going to
decide what the next steppingstone is, then an online
business manager would be theright person for you. So you
kind of have to decide, are youlooking to just delegate? Or are
you looking for someone to kindof take the reins, manage the
team and manage the projects?
Because I would say that's moreon the OBM side of things.
Jessi Cabanin (43:26):
So the VLSI seems pretty cut and dry, pretty
transactional? Yeah, pretty,like here's a list, do it and
then come back, and we'llrecycle this. So the OBM, how do
Breanna Bortner (43:38):
there's a season for both? I should
definitely say there's for sure.
A season for both. There'snothing I was a VA, there's
nothing against vas, I have aVA. And so there is a season for
that. And there's a space forthat. And so there's nothing
wrong with it.
Jessi Cabanin (43:52):
So if a VA is pretty cut and dry, it's a
pretty straightforwardengagement. What are the options
from an OEM standpoint? Likewhat what are your options as an
OEM? What do you offer yourclients as far as like, options
in ways to engage with you?
Breanna Bortner (44:10):
Yeah, yeah. And that differs by OBM. But I would
say the bread and butter of mostopium business is either a, like
a VIP day or session model, orit is a retainer. So the
retainer as we know, it is thelong term, either like a three
to six to 12 month engagement,where we're committed to working
(44:33):
with one another, where we havethese big ideas in these big
projects that we're breakingdown into smaller action,
actionable tasks, and executingthem together and with the
remainder of the team if there'sother contractors involved. And
so that retainer, if you were inthe season where you were like,
(44:54):
I know that I have you know,these big visions right, like I
have this membership I want toget off the ground or I have
this like, massive sales funnelthat I want to build, or, you
know, I'm doing a full overhaulon all of my systems that makes
sense to engage someone longterm. Those aren't necessarily
things, you know, your projectof hiring and building your
(45:16):
team, that's not somethingthat's going to be done in one
day, for sure. So we're, we're,you know, we're kind of looking
into the future together. Forthe VIP sessions, I offer half
days, which are four hours oflike focus and accountability
and work either together orseparate. And that really is for
(45:37):
the person that is like, Okay, Ihave this project, and I just, I
just need to get it done. Youknow, I've said that I'm going
to update my website, or I'vesaid that I'm going to create
this lead magnet and build theautomation and my email
marketing tool, and I justhaven't gotten to it, it's been
on the back burner, that's theperfect opportunity to get your
(46:00):
toes wet and work with someonefor half day or a full day,
whatever options they have, andget to understand their working
style and get to understandlike, the deliverables and
results that they have, and getthat quick win with a super like
fast turnaround. So those arethe two options that I generally
(46:20):
see, sometimes people do, youknow, one off intensive or like
goal setting sessions, thingslike that. But I would say, like
to get like the most power outof whatever engagement you
choose, I would choose like aVIP day, or a retainer for
three, six or 12 months.
Jessi Cabanin (46:40):
So for this way to fabulous, the way that we
started, just to give you alittle perspective on you know
where I was and what I did toget to where we are now, when I
first met Brianna, we jumpedinto a more of a VIP type of
relationship, because I thinkthat we were at a point where I
was at a point where I was notat all sure what the hell I
(47:04):
needed to do, okay, so if youare out there feeling like you
are a total hot mess, the veryfirst thing you need to do is
book a VIP day with Brianna andshe will like help you figure
that out, then that turned intoa second VIP day where we
started to do, we started to diga little deeper, and then it
turned into more of a retainertype of relationship, because we
realized that a lot of thesethings were not quick wins. A
lot of these things were notthings that we're going to get
(47:25):
done in a half a day, or eventwo half a days a month, that
was just not how it was going towork. And so, you know, we took
that time to dip our toes intothe VIP experience first, to
kind of see what we needed. Andthen we jumped into the
retainer. Would you say thatthat's pretty typical for the
majority or for clients?
Breanna Bortner (47:42):
Yeah, it's a great way to understand
someone's working style and youknow, kind of test the waters,
you know, we're talking aboutways that you can source talent.
Yeah, you could book a fewdifferent VIP sessions with
different providers and see whoyou know, really understand your
vision the most and see who youknow, whose work or expertise or
communication style, like mashthe best with you. And then from
(48:05):
there, you can inquire aboutthose longer term retainers. But
I would say the VIP sessions aregreat. They're super powerful.
They're, you know, they're jampacked with like deliverables
and walking away with things.
And I remember Jesse after ours,we have the two sessions. And
then we just kind of startedtalking about like, your like
you, I just like I need more ofyou. And so it was like, Well, I
(48:26):
do have retainer spots, likeopen at this time. And one thing
that sticks out to me is likeyou just said like, I like don't
even think I'm ready. I've neverlike hired so quickly before.
But I think it's because we hadbuilt up that trust not only for
meeting in person and hangingout, and me booking your
services. But we also got towork together over these VIP
(48:49):
sessions. And you like walkedaway with things that you felt
good about, or things that youwere like excited to use. And so
I think that also acceleratedlike your hiring decision. And
like we're talking about this,like this is ancient times, this
was like three months ago. Andlike, look how much has evolves.
Jessi Cabanin (49:08):
So do that twice.
And then we got engaged on thethird date.
Breanna Bortner (49:12):
Yes. And now yeah, now we're on our honeymoon
in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Yeah, soI would say that's kind of like
the perfect story. And a greatway to start.
Jessi Cabanin (49:24):
Yeah, for sure.
So as we wrap this up, I'm superinterested to know what season
you are in. So if you'relistening and you are in like
maybe you know exactly whatseason are and maybe you can
connect with something that wesaid today that you think to
yourself like yes, I am 1,000%In that season, good for you. I
want to know what season you'rein because I want to help cheer
you on to that next season cheeryou into that transformation
(49:46):
season. Because sometimes we alljust need a little bit of extra
support, even if we don't wantit per se or we don't think we
need it. We all need a littlebit more of like a shove here
and there. So if you're outthere listening and you are are
like, I am so overwhelmed. Ihave no idea what season I'm in
or what the heck I'm supposed todo. Brianna has some tips for
you to help you figure that out.
(50:09):
So, Brian, if anybody's outthere and they're feeling this
way, you know, how can they getthat support from you? Yeah.
Breanna Bortner (50:16):
So I want you, I'm inviting you to message me
on Instagram, that's the bestplace to get in touch with me.
And let me know kind of thethings that you're struggling
with, or the differentsituations that you find
yourself in right now. And let'skind of pinpoint what season
you're in. So you know what thatnext actionable step can be. And
(50:38):
so just to kind of recap theseasons, so you can try to
pinpoint yourself. The winterseason is the resting and
reflection, the spring is theplanning and mapping, the summer
is the growing and gettingthings done. And then the fall
is the balanced and onautopilot. So you can try to
(51:00):
classify yourself. If you canclassify yourself, I still want
to hear from you. And I'll stillgive you that actionable step
forward. But if you're needinghelp, I want to open that door
for conversation because I thinkit's important to, like,
pinpoint the season that we'rein, but then also embrace it.
And like, if you're supposed tobe Resting, resting, like the
(51:22):
season that I'm in now, likefreaking rest, like enjoy that,
like sleep in an extra hour. Youknow, walk instead of run, do
the things that your body's likecraving, instead of fighting it
because you're in the season fora reason. And you have to like,
learn from it. So I think that'sthe most important piece. So
(51:44):
send me a DM. I'm sure Jessiwill put my instagram handle
absolutely in the show notes,but it is at Brianna's business
boutique on Instagram. So I lookforward to chatting with you all
and kind of helping you get getready for that next season.
Jessi Cabanin (52:01):
Yes, perfect. I will link all of that
information in the show notesfor you guys. Thank you, Brianna
so much for sitting here with metoday. Going through all this
stuff, throwing me under thebus. Thanks for that too. I am
so excited. As you guys heard.
Instagram is definitely the bestway to connect with her. Okay, I
hope that you guys found evenone tiny slice of connection and
inspiration from today'sepisode, and I will chat with
(52:23):
you guys soon. Thanks, Jesse.
All right, baby. I hope youreally enjoyed today's
conversation. I'm super curiousto know what your biggest
takeaway was from today. So goahead and share this episode on
social media. Make sure you tagme at this way to fabulous and
let me know what you connectedwith. What did you learn from
(52:44):
the episode and what action itemare you going to take today?
Until next time, guys, keeppushing, keep dreaming. And
let's keep on redefiningfabulous chatroom guys
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes present: Aubrey OβDay, Covering the Diddy Trial
Introducingβ¦ Aubrey OβDay Diddyβs former protege, television personality, platinum selling music artist, Danity Kane alum Aubrey OβDay joins veteran journalists Amy Robach and TJ Holmes to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Join them throughout the trial as they discuss, debate, and dissect every detail, every aspect of the proceedings. Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise, as only she is qualified to do given her first-hand knowledge. From her days on Making the Band, as she emerged as the breakout star, the truth of the situation would be the opposite of the glitz and glamour. Listen throughout every minute of the trial, for this exclusive coverage. Amy Robach and TJ Holmes present Aubrey OβDay, Covering the Diddy Trial, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.