February 4, 2023 • 21 mins
Welcome to the Transitioning Solopreneur Podcast. In this episode, we discuss when is the best time to hire in your business.
Grab a Branded Notebook to Take Notes
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Books Mentioned in this Episode
UnCloned Marketing: How to Challenge the Norms with Profitable Marketing Campaigns
https://unclonedlink.com/9370gl
Vivid Vision: A Remarkable Tool for Aligning Your Business Around a Shared Vision of the Future by Cameron Herold
https://amzn.to/3HH7aEq
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936661837/ref=cm_sw_r_as_gl_api_gl_i_H6GXR7DRE3CAJYEKMHPE?linkCode=ml1&tag=audriarichmon-20
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Audria Richmond® (00:14):
Hello, everybody. This is Audria
Richmond®. Welcome toTransitioning Solopreneur. I'm
very excited to welcome you tothe very official, first
episode. We are going to becovering a lot.
I'm very excited about thisparticular podcast because I
(00:35):
feel like it's gonna be a placefor me to come and be honest, be
transparent, really give you aplatform to really kinda listen
to all the things that's goingon when you're a transitioning
solo solopreneur. Because I feellike oftentimes as solopreneurs,
we really are kinda working insilo. We don't really have a lot
(00:58):
of people to talk to. That's whyit's, you know, it's very
important that you get insideof, you know, some type of
entrepreneurial community. Thatway you're not going through
things alone.
But before we dive into thisparticular episode, I first want
to introduce myself for thosewho may not know who I am. My
name is Arjuria Richmond, and Iam a marketing and launch
(01:19):
strategist. I consult, coach,and advise CEOs and their
marketing teams on how to launchgame changing marketing
campaigns and build unclonedbrands. If you're not familiar
with our brand, uncloned,uncloned means to challenge your
norms and be the 1st to do itfirst. And so we all are all
about individuality and standingout and become an obvious choice
(01:39):
in your industry.
So that's who I am in anutshell, and I will be your
host for this podcast for the,you know, for the rest of these
episodes. So the first episodeis called, when is it time to
hire? And the reason I wanted tostart with this episode, because
trust me, I'm I'm kind offurther along in the process,
but I think it's important tokinda know when is it time to
(02:02):
hire. When you know, what aresome things that will come up to
let you know, like, oh, snap.Like, it's actually time to
hire.
Like, I need to bring somebodyin for this. You know, I need to
bring somebody in for that. Andso, the first thing that that
come to mind is, like, when youtalk about hiring, it is not an
easy decision. Right? Sometimesthey just sneak up on you.
(02:24):
You know it's time to hire.Like, okay. I can't handle these
gigs. But sometimes you cankinda be complacent if your
business is not growing fast.And then you have a spurt of
growth where you're forced tohire.
And that's pretty much whathappened with me. As a
solopreneur with our particularbusiness, you know, we're
creating courses, publishingbooks, and things like that.
(02:47):
And, you know, we're runningmasterminds in programs, and
they've always been fairlymanageable, whereas just me or
an executive assistant. So Ireally have a need had a need to
have, like, a huge big team. Butin 2020, outside of the
pandemic, there were some otherthings that happened, and we're
gonna get into that.
But I think it's important totalk about, like, when is it
(03:09):
time to hire? Because, you know,if you don't really know how to
identify those things, you couldprematurely be hiring too fast.
You could be overpaying way toosoon. And it's important to kind
of know, when to do it. Andanother thing I want to talk
about, and I probably need tomake a note of this real quick
because I'm making some noteshere.
(03:29):
I want to talk about, like, yourfront end and Maggie and help.
Right? And I don't hear a lot ofpeople, talking about that. I
kind of started with back end asopposed to front end. And I'm a
tell you the importance ofhaving both.
So let's get into when is ittime to hire first, and then
we'll get into the difference inthe in the type of people you
(03:50):
need. I'm telling you, like, youwanna pull out your notebooks.
You wanna get your pen andpaper. Just a little quick plug,
we do sell uncloned notebooks atunclonedot shops. You can go to
our shop, grab a brandednotebook if you wanna be able to
take some notes, inside of ourour notebooks.
But let's get into, when is ittime to hire? In 2020, I
(04:12):
published my 3rd book, which iscalled Unclown Marketing, How to
Challenge the Norms withProfitable Marketing Campaigns.
And with that book, is is youknow, this is my 3rd time.
Right? And is this being my 3rdbook that I'm publishing?
Really, it's my 4th book, but Icall it my 3rd book because my
3rd book was like a workbookcalled Yes Experience. But I'm
(04:34):
what I'm saying is, like, my 3rdbook book. Right? Where chapters
and segments and things likethat. So this is my 3rd book.
I published it in 2020. And whenI published the book, I like, I
know the book was good, but Iain't know it was gonna be like
like this. Like, I'm thinkingbecause I had to cancel my, book
launch, and I'm like, how am Igonna do a book launch? This is
(04:55):
the first time I wanna do a booksigning. My first two books
didn't have a book signing.
So I'm like, oh, I really wanna,like, you know, put the book out
there in a big way. We had beganto rent space and all the
things. And then come to findout, it was like, oh, the
pandemic. So we had to prettymuch figure out, like, how do I
still have a major marketingcampaign with and still be able
(05:19):
to sell books in the middle of apandemic. And I have to say, by
far, it's my best book launch.
Right? Like, today. And it has alot to do with the fact that it
was a pandemic because it forcedus to innovate with our
marketing campaigns. So when weput the book out there, you
know, my initial goal was tosell, like, you know, a couple
(05:40):
hundred copies of the book, andthen we got to a 1,000, and then
we got to 2,000 copies. Andbefore you knew it, like, we
were just selling the booknonstop.
And since that book came thebook came out in 2020, we're
still selling that book everysingle day like clockwork into
all the way here in 2023. Sothis is one of those books I
like to say that put me on themap. Right? And during that time
(06:01):
when people was reading thebook, they were able to see,
like, oh, this girl is actuallypretty smart when it comes to
marketing. Like, she coldblooded with it.
And, you know, as a person whohasn't went to school, to learn
marketing, I'm self taught. Iwas really, like, changing the
game for marketing booksbecause, 1, as a black woman,
people were reading the book andwas like, wow. This is crazy.
(06:24):
Number 2, people loved howdigestible the book was, how
relatable the book was, and howeasy I made marketing. Right?
Because, you know, somebodywho's self taught, you're not
gonna be super technical. Eventhough I am a technical person,
I was able to make marketingvery, you know, very accessible
to everybody. And so when thebook came out, I'm getting
(06:46):
opportunities out the wazoo.Like, people like, hey, I want
you to be on this podcast. Canyou come and get on this
Instagram live?
Can we book you for this? Can wehire you for that? Can we join
this program? Can you join this?And let me say this.
Right? My first book is called,are you ready for the yes? And
that book is all about preparingyourself for opportunity.
(07:07):
Luckily for me, I had alreadybeen preparing a lot of these
systems and processes, when thebook came out. So I had already
had my programs.
I already had, sales processesand systems for all the products
that we sold. But but there wasa side of the business that I
hadn't really thought aboutcapacity, and I talk about
capacity a lot. And during thistime, a lot of people wanted to
(07:32):
work with me 1 on 1. Right? Wedidn't really have a lot of
problem with our group programs,but particularly 1 on 1.
People were coming to me and waslike, hey, I want you to put
together my marketing campaign.And this was also when I was,
like, heavily on Clubhouse.Right? So I'm on Clubhouse.
Clubhouse is popping.
I'm kinda one of the top peopleon Clubhouse. Then, you know,
(07:54):
the book is out. Everybody isbuying the book. The book launch
is doing great. And so all ofthese things are happening all
at once.
Right? And this was the firsttime that I would like to say I
saw the max capacity with mybusiness. I was maxed out
because I had a mastermind. Istill have a mastermind, but at
the time, this is the 1st yearus of us operating the
(08:14):
mastermind. So I'm doing all the1 on 1 clients with my clients.
They all had 1 on 1 access tome. We also had at the time, we
we also had, like, in additionto the 1 on 1, people were
booking me for VIP days. Mycalendar was booked, like, every
other weekend, I was doing a VIPday. In addition to that, with
the book launch, we were doing,like, marketing campaigns and
(08:36):
releases and video content andwebinars and virtual conference.
And all of this is really on theback of me, you know, our
graphic designer at the time andan executive assistant and my
husband.
So and, we also had a brandambassador manager, which he was
part time at the time as acommunity manager. So even
though we had some contractors,because these weren't employees,
(08:58):
these were contractors helpingus, it still wasn't enough. It
it wasn't enough help that Ineeded. Right? Which brings me
to this idea of front end versusback end.
Typically, when you are, youknow, when you first hear people
say hire a team, build a team,hire a team, the first thing
that most people say, especiallyin the small business world, get
(09:20):
you a VA. Right? Get you a EA ora VA. A VA stands for virtual
assistant. EA stands for anexecutive assistant.
And, typically, when people arelike, hey. Get you a VA or EA,
they don't really you I I knowthey mean well. Right? But I
think that one of the thingsthat we don't get the
opportunity to really understandis, like, what do I need to
(09:42):
actually grow my business? Like,I had so many back end people
that I was working with.
I had an I had 3 agencies that Ihad worked with. I had an
executive assistant. I had, agraphic designer. I had, you
know, the community managers,but all everybody that I'm
saying were back end people. Ineeded front end people, meaning
(10:07):
client facing, helping me do doclient delivery and, deliver the
work.
Right? I needed to replicate myintellectual property to other
people to be able to deliver tomy clients because, you know,
our brand is all about becomingthe obvious choice in your
industry. And so that's that's apretty in demand, thing that
(10:29):
people want mainly because ifeverybody is telling you to be a
clone or be like everybody else,and I'm over here like, hey.
Become the obvious choice. Thatbecomes enticing, but I've won't
I only have so many hours.
I only have so much bandwidth.Right? And so it it caused a
problem, a good problem, butthis was the first time I was
able to see that I needed anthat I had like, I needed help.
(10:51):
Right? And so as I'm doing allof this and I'm going through
all of this, I'm like, you knowwhat?
I need to hire. And so the firstthing I thought to do was hire 2
marketing managers. And I cansay at the time when I hired
those 2 marketing managers, thatstill wasn't gonna help because
I still needed to put systems inplace, And I was transitioning
(11:12):
out of a lot of differentservices and moving into a
different type of service. Andso oftentimes, they were just on
the calls watching me workbecause I was unclear. I didn't
at the time, I didn't have a avivid vision.
We'll talk about that here in amoment. But, like, at the time,
I wasn't really clear on where Iwas taking people, and this was
the first time that I had tomanage people outside of myself.
(11:35):
See, I'm used to having an ideafor a project, have people go
and work on the project, andthen, you know, work with the
client and be done. But now itwas time for me to train other
people on how I get my client aresult. I'm having to train
people on how to conduct a VIPday or or train people on how to
(11:56):
coach, train people on how toadvise our clients.
And that was very difficult evenwith a book. Right? I thought,
like and this is another thing.Like, you can give your people a
book, but that's not enough.Right?
You think, like, oh, read thisbook or go through this course
or watch this training. There'snuances that that are not picked
up when they're reading book.There are nuances that take
(12:17):
place when you're notnecessarily going through the
you know, when you're, you know,when you're going through the
courts. So when they're actuallyimplementing what you're saying,
the way that they interpret thecourse may be totally different
than your intentions. And you'rehaving to, like, correct course
correct a lot of differentthings, AKA management.
Right? And so this idea of,okay. I wanna grow this
(12:41):
business. I wanna get out of notonly me being doing the VIP
days, but how do I certify otherpeople to be able to do that?
And I kinda hit a wall in mybusiness.
So at the end of 2020, goinginto 2021, I'm like, okay. I'm
about to take this hiring thingseriously. I had hired the the
marketing managers, and theywere on for a few months. It did
(13:02):
not work out. And, honestly, Ididn't know how to lead.
That was really the main issue.Like, it wasn't that I was,
like, a bad boss, but,literally, they would just come
to the they would literally meetwith me every day. We would sit
on Zoom, and they didn't reallyhave any clear direction on what
I wanted to do. And I wasfiguring this thing out. A part
of me was also ashamed becauseI'm like, oh, how do I lead
(13:23):
people?
Okay. I will, I need to get thistool in. Okay. Well, baby, I
think we need a centralized toolother than Voxer, because I was
so used to using Voxer for myMastermind clients. I'm like,
alright.
We need to get on Slack, butthen I ain't really know how to
use Slack. And then, like, allof this stuff was, like, so new.
Right? And as someone who'sthinking about working for an
(13:45):
organization, regardless of theprice, they want to see
structure. Right?
They wanna see that you areclear. They wanna see that you
have a vision for the business.Right? And and at the time, I
was very clear in my head what Iwanted to do, but I needed to
put that thing on paper. Right?
And at the time, I was justlike, I don't know what I'm
(14:07):
doing. I know they'refrustrated. This is not working.
I'm still trying to understandlegally what I can and can't do
with them as my employees. Youknow, what are the laws in
Georgia?
I remember one time, they weresupposed to be off, I think,
around, like, Easter orsomething, and I didn't know
that it was in the handbook thatthat was the day they were they
was off. Like, it was just somuch. Right? And I'm just
(14:29):
keeping it 100 with y'allbecause I know that as a
transitioning solopreneur, a lotof people are not gonna be
transparent. A lot of people arenot gonna tell you the the grimy
truth.
A lot of people are not gonnatake accountability for being
wrong and not knowing that theydidn't know what they was what
they was doing. And I feel likethat's what this podcast is
going to be about. It's gonna beabout me coming on here and
(14:51):
telling you, like, man, the rawauthentic truth. Right? And so
after that, you know, Itransitioned out of working with
them, and I kind of went into arut.
Right? I went into a rut, andthere were 2 books that I read
that, like, changed everythingfor me. And I'll link those 2
books in the show notes. But thefirst book was, traction. I
(15:14):
actually read traction before.
No. It was Vivid Vision thentraction. Right? Vivid Vision
was all about how do you createa a vision for your
organization. It's kinda like avision board document for your
business, but in a written waywhere your team can understand
what the plan is.
(15:35):
So definitely check out VividVision by Cameron. I don't know
what Cameron Hurrell. Yeah.Cameron Hurrell. That's his last
name.
And that was the book thathelped me get vision. So now I'm
like, okay. I got vision. Okay?I kinda know what I what I
wanted to do, but still, you canhave a vision all day, but
(15:57):
vision don't treat don't teachyou management.
Right? You know, vision doesn'ttell you how to operate your
business. Vision doesn't tellyou how many people you need.
Vision doesn't tell you how tohold the people you hire
accountable. And that's wherethe book Traction come into
place.
And Traction is about, is byGeno Wichtman. It's based on the
(16:19):
EOS system, the entrepreneurialoperating system, very similar
to, like, you know, a softwaredocument or software or
whatever. And that book, when Isay change the game, change the
game. I'm gonna grab the bookreally quick so I can talk
about, like, the differentchapters in the book that really
helped me. So, like, in thebook, he talked about like, in
(16:42):
this book, he talked abouthaving a vision.
He also talk about people, theright people, the right butts in
the right seat. He talk aboutdata data component, like how to
hold your people accountable,how to set benchmarks. He talk
about how to handle issues. Andhe also go over how to have
meetings, how many meetings youshould have, who you should have
(17:03):
on your operations team not youroperation team, but your
leadership team, how frequently,you all should be making
decisions, how do you handlechange. When I tell you this
book, honestly, it was betterthan any business coach that I
had hired mainly because had Iknown some of these things as a
solopreneur transitioning into,you know, a CEO that's, like,
(17:27):
have a team, I think I wouldhave avoided a lot of mistakes.
And that's my also my hope withthis podcast is that you listen
to the podcast and you're like,okay. Bet. Like, I am going to
read these 2 books. I'm going tocreate my ViviVision. I'm gonna
read traction.
I'm gonna think through whatdoes it look like, and who do I
(17:50):
need? And this is what I willsay. If you like, hey, Audreea.
You know, I'm not at a place nowwhere I can hire and all the
things. Look.
You cannot also afford to besmall. Right? And if I can tell
you anything, one of the thingsthat's been helping me
drastically drastically handover fist is these books. I got
so many books I'm gonnarecommend to you, but I feel
(18:12):
like these 2 books were pivotalin my thought process, and it
really given me some momentum.We're gonna be talking about
hiring tools.
We're gonna be talking aboutpeople issues. We're gonna be
talking about hiring and firing.Again, I'm not an attorney. I'm
not a HR person, so take it witha grain of salt. I'm just more
so speaking from a CEO who istransitioning into well, I'm
(18:36):
speaking more so as atransitioning solopreneur, who's
bossing up to be a CEO, who'sfinally having to manage people,
and all the woes and and thingsthat come with it.
So I'm gonna conclude, thisparticular episode with that.
Like, you going to go get those2 books, Vivid Vision and
(18:58):
Traction. And this the name ofthe book is called Traction Get
a Grip on Your Business by GenaWichtman. And before we also
conclude, I do wanna tell you 2more things that you will know
when it's time to hire. Number1, you don't have any space for
business development.
You don't have any time for yourpersonal life. You're you're
(19:19):
burnt out if you you like youneed the clients, but you also
is mentally burnt out. Andyou're like, okay. I really need
the clients, but you can't evenbreak away because you don't
have no help. Right?
Or in my case, where when itreally became very evident, we
will talk about this later on inanother episode. But my mother
passed away in 2022. Right?Right after a big shipment that
(19:42):
we got in, and that was veryhard on me. And it was the first
time I had to shut my businessdown, and I had no one.
And I mean no one on my teamthat could take over our
mastermind calls, our clientcalls. And this one, it became
real that, like, hiring is notoptional. You never know when
someone is gonna pass away. Younever know when you need a
(20:04):
mental break. You never knowwhen you are just needing time
for yourself.
So hiring is not just about,quote, unquote, wasting money or
spending money. It's about youbeing able to have the freedom
to think, having the freedom togrow, having the freedom to
live. That's what hiring isabout. And I feel like as small
(20:25):
business owners, it's notpressed upon us the benefits of
hiring. I think a lot of timeswhen we think about hiring, we
think about the money aspect.
So I just wanna leave this withyou. You are in good hands. I'm
gonna tell you everything that Iknow. I am not gonna see her and
act like I know every singlething because I don't. I'm just
gonna share with you what I knowwas benefiting was benefiting
(20:48):
me, was working, was notworking.
And my hope is is that you walkaway having a better
understanding of how you want toapproach and do things with your
with yourself. So that's goingto be it. Just wanna thank you
all so, so much for tuning in tothis podcast. And until next
(21:08):
time, let's go live an UnCloned®life and build an UnCloned®
brand. Bye
Hello, everybody. This is Audria
Richmond®. Welcome toTransitioning Solopreneur. I'm
very excited to welcome you tothe very official, first
episode. We are going to becovering a lot.
I'm very excited about thisparticular podcast because I
(00:35):
feel like it's gonna be a placefor me to come and be honest, be
transparent, really give you aplatform to really kinda listen
to all the things that's goingon when you're a transitioning
solo solopreneur. Because I feellike oftentimes as solopreneurs,
we really are kinda working insilo. We don't really have a lot
(00:58):
of people to talk to. That's whyit's, you know, it's very
important that you get insideof, you know, some type of
entrepreneurial community. Thatway you're not going through
things alone.
But before we dive into thisparticular episode, I first want
to introduce myself for thosewho may not know who I am. My
name is Arjuria Richmond, and Iam a marketing and launch
(01:19):
strategist. I consult, coach,and advise CEOs and their
marketing teams on how to launchgame changing marketing
campaigns and build unclonedbrands. If you're not familiar
with our brand, uncloned,uncloned means to challenge your
norms and be the 1st to do itfirst. And so we all are all
about individuality and standingout and become an obvious choice
(01:39):
in your industry.
So that's who I am in anutshell, and I will be your
host for this podcast for the,you know, for the rest of these
episodes. So the first episodeis called, when is it time to
hire? And the reason I wanted tostart with this episode, because
trust me, I'm I'm kind offurther along in the process,
but I think it's important tokinda know when is it time to
(02:02):
hire. When you know, what aresome things that will come up to
let you know, like, oh, snap.Like, it's actually time to
hire.
Like, I need to bring somebodyin for this. You know, I need to
bring somebody in for that. Andso, the first thing that that
come to mind is, like, when youtalk about hiring, it is not an
easy decision. Right? Sometimesthey just sneak up on you.
(02:24):
You know it's time to hire.Like, okay. I can't handle these
gigs. But sometimes you cankinda be complacent if your
business is not growing fast.And then you have a spurt of
growth where you're forced tohire.
And that's pretty much whathappened with me. As a
solopreneur with our particularbusiness, you know, we're
creating courses, publishingbooks, and things like that.
(02:47):
And, you know, we're runningmasterminds in programs, and
they've always been fairlymanageable, whereas just me or
an executive assistant. So Ireally have a need had a need to
have, like, a huge big team. Butin 2020, outside of the
pandemic, there were some otherthings that happened, and we're
gonna get into that.
But I think it's important totalk about, like, when is it
(03:09):
time to hire? Because, you know,if you don't really know how to
identify those things, you couldprematurely be hiring too fast.
You could be overpaying way toosoon. And it's important to kind
of know, when to do it. Andanother thing I want to talk
about, and I probably need tomake a note of this real quick
because I'm making some noteshere.
(03:29):
I want to talk about, like, yourfront end and Maggie and help.
Right? And I don't hear a lot ofpeople, talking about that. I
kind of started with back end asopposed to front end. And I'm a
tell you the importance ofhaving both.
So let's get into when is ittime to hire first, and then
we'll get into the difference inthe in the type of people you
(03:50):
need. I'm telling you, like, youwanna pull out your notebooks.
You wanna get your pen andpaper. Just a little quick plug,
we do sell uncloned notebooks atunclonedot shops. You can go to
our shop, grab a brandednotebook if you wanna be able to
take some notes, inside of ourour notebooks.
But let's get into, when is ittime to hire? In 2020, I
(04:12):
published my 3rd book, which iscalled Unclown Marketing, How to
Challenge the Norms withProfitable Marketing Campaigns.
And with that book, is is youknow, this is my 3rd time.
Right? And is this being my 3rdbook that I'm publishing?
Really, it's my 4th book, but Icall it my 3rd book because my
3rd book was like a workbookcalled Yes Experience. But I'm
(04:34):
what I'm saying is, like, my 3rdbook book. Right? Where chapters
and segments and things likethat. So this is my 3rd book.
I published it in 2020. And whenI published the book, I like, I
know the book was good, but Iain't know it was gonna be like
like this. Like, I'm thinkingbecause I had to cancel my, book
launch, and I'm like, how am Igonna do a book launch? This is
(04:55):
the first time I wanna do a booksigning. My first two books
didn't have a book signing.
So I'm like, oh, I really wanna,like, you know, put the book out
there in a big way. We had beganto rent space and all the
things. And then come to findout, it was like, oh, the
pandemic. So we had to prettymuch figure out, like, how do I
still have a major marketingcampaign with and still be able
(05:19):
to sell books in the middle of apandemic. And I have to say, by
far, it's my best book launch.
Right? Like, today. And it has alot to do with the fact that it
was a pandemic because it forcedus to innovate with our
marketing campaigns. So when weput the book out there, you
know, my initial goal was tosell, like, you know, a couple
(05:40):
hundred copies of the book, andthen we got to a 1,000, and then
we got to 2,000 copies. Andbefore you knew it, like, we
were just selling the booknonstop.
And since that book came thebook came out in 2020, we're
still selling that book everysingle day like clockwork into
all the way here in 2023. Sothis is one of those books I
like to say that put me on themap. Right? And during that time
(06:01):
when people was reading thebook, they were able to see,
like, oh, this girl is actuallypretty smart when it comes to
marketing. Like, she coldblooded with it.
And, you know, as a person whohasn't went to school, to learn
marketing, I'm self taught. Iwas really, like, changing the
game for marketing booksbecause, 1, as a black woman,
people were reading the book andwas like, wow. This is crazy.
(06:24):
Number 2, people loved howdigestible the book was, how
relatable the book was, and howeasy I made marketing. Right?
Because, you know, somebodywho's self taught, you're not
gonna be super technical. Eventhough I am a technical person,
I was able to make marketingvery, you know, very accessible
to everybody. And so when thebook came out, I'm getting
(06:46):
opportunities out the wazoo.Like, people like, hey, I want
you to be on this podcast. Canyou come and get on this
Instagram live?
Can we book you for this? Can wehire you for that? Can we join
this program? Can you join this?And let me say this.
Right? My first book is called,are you ready for the yes? And
that book is all about preparingyourself for opportunity.
(07:07):
Luckily for me, I had alreadybeen preparing a lot of these
systems and processes, when thebook came out. So I had already
had my programs.
I already had, sales processesand systems for all the products
that we sold. But but there wasa side of the business that I
hadn't really thought aboutcapacity, and I talk about
capacity a lot. And during thistime, a lot of people wanted to
(07:32):
work with me 1 on 1. Right? Wedidn't really have a lot of
problem with our group programs,but particularly 1 on 1.
People were coming to me and waslike, hey, I want you to put
together my marketing campaign.And this was also when I was,
like, heavily on Clubhouse.Right? So I'm on Clubhouse.
Clubhouse is popping.
I'm kinda one of the top peopleon Clubhouse. Then, you know,
(07:54):
the book is out. Everybody isbuying the book. The book launch
is doing great. And so all ofthese things are happening all
at once.
Right? And this was the firsttime that I would like to say I
saw the max capacity with mybusiness. I was maxed out
because I had a mastermind. Istill have a mastermind, but at
the time, this is the 1st yearus of us operating the
(08:14):
mastermind. So I'm doing all the1 on 1 clients with my clients.
They all had 1 on 1 access tome. We also had at the time, we
we also had, like, in additionto the 1 on 1, people were
booking me for VIP days. Mycalendar was booked, like, every
other weekend, I was doing a VIPday. In addition to that, with
the book launch, we were doing,like, marketing campaigns and
(08:36):
releases and video content andwebinars and virtual conference.
And all of this is really on theback of me, you know, our
graphic designer at the time andan executive assistant and my
husband.
So and, we also had a brandambassador manager, which he was
part time at the time as acommunity manager. So even
though we had some contractors,because these weren't employees,
(08:58):
these were contractors helpingus, it still wasn't enough. It
it wasn't enough help that Ineeded. Right? Which brings me
to this idea of front end versusback end.
Typically, when you are, youknow, when you first hear people
say hire a team, build a team,hire a team, the first thing
that most people say, especiallyin the small business world, get
(09:20):
you a VA. Right? Get you a EA ora VA. A VA stands for virtual
assistant. EA stands for anexecutive assistant.
And, typically, when people arelike, hey. Get you a VA or EA,
they don't really you I I knowthey mean well. Right? But I
think that one of the thingsthat we don't get the
opportunity to really understandis, like, what do I need to
(09:42):
actually grow my business? Like,I had so many back end people
that I was working with.
I had an I had 3 agencies that Ihad worked with. I had an
executive assistant. I had, agraphic designer. I had, you
know, the community managers,but all everybody that I'm
saying were back end people. Ineeded front end people, meaning
(10:07):
client facing, helping me do doclient delivery and, deliver the
work.
Right? I needed to replicate myintellectual property to other
people to be able to deliver tomy clients because, you know,
our brand is all about becomingthe obvious choice in your
industry. And so that's that's apretty in demand, thing that
(10:29):
people want mainly because ifeverybody is telling you to be a
clone or be like everybody else,and I'm over here like, hey.
Become the obvious choice. Thatbecomes enticing, but I've won't
I only have so many hours.
I only have so much bandwidth.Right? And so it it caused a
problem, a good problem, butthis was the first time I was
able to see that I needed anthat I had like, I needed help.
(10:51):
Right? And so as I'm doing allof this and I'm going through
all of this, I'm like, you knowwhat?
I need to hire. And so the firstthing I thought to do was hire 2
marketing managers. And I cansay at the time when I hired
those 2 marketing managers, thatstill wasn't gonna help because
I still needed to put systems inplace, And I was transitioning
(11:12):
out of a lot of differentservices and moving into a
different type of service. Andso oftentimes, they were just on
the calls watching me workbecause I was unclear. I didn't
at the time, I didn't have a avivid vision.
We'll talk about that here in amoment. But, like, at the time,
I wasn't really clear on where Iwas taking people, and this was
the first time that I had tomanage people outside of myself.
(11:35):
See, I'm used to having an ideafor a project, have people go
and work on the project, andthen, you know, work with the
client and be done. But now itwas time for me to train other
people on how I get my client aresult. I'm having to train
people on how to conduct a VIPday or or train people on how to
(11:56):
coach, train people on how toadvise our clients.
And that was very difficult evenwith a book. Right? I thought,
like and this is another thing.Like, you can give your people a
book, but that's not enough.Right?
You think, like, oh, read thisbook or go through this course
or watch this training. There'snuances that that are not picked
up when they're reading book.There are nuances that take
(12:17):
place when you're notnecessarily going through the
you know, when you're, you know,when you're going through the
courts. So when they're actuallyimplementing what you're saying,
the way that they interpret thecourse may be totally different
than your intentions. And you'rehaving to, like, correct course
correct a lot of differentthings, AKA management.
Right? And so this idea of,okay. I wanna grow this
(12:41):
business. I wanna get out of notonly me being doing the VIP
days, but how do I certify otherpeople to be able to do that?
And I kinda hit a wall in mybusiness.
So at the end of 2020, goinginto 2021, I'm like, okay. I'm
about to take this hiring thingseriously. I had hired the the
marketing managers, and theywere on for a few months. It did
(13:02):
not work out. And, honestly, Ididn't know how to lead.
That was really the main issue.Like, it wasn't that I was,
like, a bad boss, but,literally, they would just come
to the they would literally meetwith me every day. We would sit
on Zoom, and they didn't reallyhave any clear direction on what
I wanted to do. And I wasfiguring this thing out. A part
of me was also ashamed becauseI'm like, oh, how do I lead
(13:23):
people?
Okay. I will, I need to get thistool in. Okay. Well, baby, I
think we need a centralized toolother than Voxer, because I was
so used to using Voxer for myMastermind clients. I'm like,
alright.
We need to get on Slack, butthen I ain't really know how to
use Slack. And then, like, allof this stuff was, like, so new.
Right? And as someone who'sthinking about working for an
(13:45):
organization, regardless of theprice, they want to see
structure. Right?
They wanna see that you areclear. They wanna see that you
have a vision for the business.Right? And and at the time, I
was very clear in my head what Iwanted to do, but I needed to
put that thing on paper. Right?
And at the time, I was justlike, I don't know what I'm
(14:07):
doing. I know they'refrustrated. This is not working.
I'm still trying to understandlegally what I can and can't do
with them as my employees. Youknow, what are the laws in
Georgia?
I remember one time, they weresupposed to be off, I think,
around, like, Easter orsomething, and I didn't know
that it was in the handbook thatthat was the day they were they
was off. Like, it was just somuch. Right? And I'm just
(14:29):
keeping it 100 with y'allbecause I know that as a
transitioning solopreneur, a lotof people are not gonna be
transparent. A lot of people arenot gonna tell you the the grimy
truth.
A lot of people are not gonnatake accountability for being
wrong and not knowing that theydidn't know what they was what
they was doing. And I feel likethat's what this podcast is
going to be about. It's gonna beabout me coming on here and
(14:51):
telling you, like, man, the rawauthentic truth. Right? And so
after that, you know, Itransitioned out of working with
them, and I kind of went into arut.
Right? I went into a rut, andthere were 2 books that I read
that, like, changed everythingfor me. And I'll link those 2
books in the show notes. But thefirst book was, traction. I
(15:14):
actually read traction before.
No. It was Vivid Vision thentraction. Right? Vivid Vision
was all about how do you createa a vision for your
organization. It's kinda like avision board document for your
business, but in a written waywhere your team can understand
what the plan is.
(15:35):
So definitely check out VividVision by Cameron. I don't know
what Cameron Hurrell. Yeah.Cameron Hurrell. That's his last
name.
And that was the book thathelped me get vision. So now I'm
like, okay. I got vision. Okay?I kinda know what I what I
wanted to do, but still, you canhave a vision all day, but
(15:57):
vision don't treat don't teachyou management.
Right? You know, vision doesn'ttell you how to operate your
business. Vision doesn't tellyou how many people you need.
Vision doesn't tell you how tohold the people you hire
accountable. And that's wherethe book Traction come into
place.
And Traction is about, is byGeno Wichtman. It's based on the
(16:19):
EOS system, the entrepreneurialoperating system, very similar
to, like, you know, a softwaredocument or software or
whatever. And that book, when Isay change the game, change the
game. I'm gonna grab the bookreally quick so I can talk
about, like, the differentchapters in the book that really
helped me. So, like, in thebook, he talked about like, in
(16:42):
this book, he talked abouthaving a vision.
He also talk about people, theright people, the right butts in
the right seat. He talk aboutdata data component, like how to
hold your people accountable,how to set benchmarks. He talk
about how to handle issues. Andhe also go over how to have
meetings, how many meetings youshould have, who you should have
(17:03):
on your operations team not youroperation team, but your
leadership team, how frequently,you all should be making
decisions, how do you handlechange. When I tell you this
book, honestly, it was betterthan any business coach that I
had hired mainly because had Iknown some of these things as a
solopreneur transitioning into,you know, a CEO that's, like,
(17:27):
have a team, I think I wouldhave avoided a lot of mistakes.
And that's my also my hope withthis podcast is that you listen
to the podcast and you're like,okay. Bet. Like, I am going to
read these 2 books. I'm going tocreate my ViviVision. I'm gonna
read traction.
I'm gonna think through whatdoes it look like, and who do I
(17:50):
need? And this is what I willsay. If you like, hey, Audreea.
You know, I'm not at a place nowwhere I can hire and all the
things. Look.
You cannot also afford to besmall. Right? And if I can tell
you anything, one of the thingsthat's been helping me
drastically drastically handover fist is these books. I got
so many books I'm gonnarecommend to you, but I feel
(18:12):
like these 2 books were pivotalin my thought process, and it
really given me some momentum.We're gonna be talking about
hiring tools.
We're gonna be talking aboutpeople issues. We're gonna be
talking about hiring and firing.Again, I'm not an attorney. I'm
not a HR person, so take it witha grain of salt. I'm just more
so speaking from a CEO who istransitioning into well, I'm
(18:36):
speaking more so as atransitioning solopreneur, who's
bossing up to be a CEO, who'sfinally having to manage people,
and all the woes and and thingsthat come with it.
So I'm gonna conclude, thisparticular episode with that.
Like, you going to go get those2 books, Vivid Vision and
(18:58):
Traction. And this the name ofthe book is called Traction Get
a Grip on Your Business by GenaWichtman. And before we also
conclude, I do wanna tell you 2more things that you will know
when it's time to hire. Number1, you don't have any space for
business development.
You don't have any time for yourpersonal life. You're you're
(19:19):
burnt out if you you like youneed the clients, but you also
is mentally burnt out. Andyou're like, okay. I really need
the clients, but you can't evenbreak away because you don't
have no help. Right?
Or in my case, where when itreally became very evident, we
will talk about this later on inanother episode. But my mother
passed away in 2022. Right?Right after a big shipment that
(19:42):
we got in, and that was veryhard on me. And it was the first
time I had to shut my businessdown, and I had no one.
And I mean no one on my teamthat could take over our
mastermind calls, our clientcalls. And this one, it became
real that, like, hiring is notoptional. You never know when
someone is gonna pass away. Younever know when you need a
(20:04):
mental break. You never knowwhen you are just needing time
for yourself.
So hiring is not just about,quote, unquote, wasting money or
spending money. It's about youbeing able to have the freedom
to think, having the freedom togrow, having the freedom to
live. That's what hiring isabout. And I feel like as small
(20:25):
business owners, it's notpressed upon us the benefits of
hiring. I think a lot of timeswhen we think about hiring, we
think about the money aspect.
So I just wanna leave this withyou. You are in good hands. I'm
gonna tell you everything that Iknow. I am not gonna see her and
act like I know every singlething because I don't. I'm just
gonna share with you what I knowwas benefiting was benefiting
(20:48):
me, was working, was notworking.
And my hope is is that you walkaway having a better
understanding of how you want toapproach and do things with your
with yourself. So that's goingto be it. Just wanna thank you
all so, so much for tuning in tothis podcast. And until next
(21:08):
time, let's go live an UnCloned®life and build an UnCloned®
brand. Bye
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