272: Women Entrepreneurs and Their Inspiring Stories of Success

Melissa Henault:

Multiple businesses this year and multiple facets between course creation, consulting, and travel. Yay. And then we have Lauren Ludecki, who runs an agency. And I like to say you went from stressful to organized in her offers, creating more predictable revenue in her business this year. Yay. Okay. Oh, do we have one more? Yes. We've got one more.

Melissa Henault:

And if I don't fall off the stage, I can just stand. We have Sarah Davenport, who's in 18 months gone from an idea to a half a $1,000,000 in revenue this year. Do you guys wanna sit in and listen to the how these ladies have been able to make it happen? Right? Alright. So I wanna make sure I don't fall off back here. Okay. I'm gonna start with Darla. Okay? So, Darla, my friend, you've really cracked the code with systems this year. And what I love is that you came into the online experience.

Melissa Henault:

, right? $: 1200

Lauren:

A few things. So the biggest thing from, especially manufacturing, and Stacia can speak to this too, is a lot of what is coming in on a bricks and mortar manufacturing business is you're getting an order in, you're producing the product, and you're shipping it back out. And so it's very transactional. And going to the online space became very relational. And for me, I knew I needed that assistance. And so learning what worked in the manufacturing space, in the brick and mortar space, I didn't know what I didn't know, but I knew I needed help figuring that out. So from a systems and processes standpoint, it was, okay, how are you showing up online? What is your brand looking like? A lot of times with manufacturing, they don't give a flip about the brand or what your logo looks like. Can you give me the product, and how much does it cost? Right? So learning branding, not my not my thing for all of you brand folks who love your logo.

Lauren:

I just slapped a logo on, called it a day, let's get to work. So it was knowing how to show up online. What are you trying to say and to whom? What does that new avatar look like? What does that ICP look like? So I had to really go back from 7 years in our manufacturing business and start all of that all over again. What does that look like? Who are you serving? Why are you serving them? That is important because if you don't know those answers, you don't know what systems and processes you need in place. Right? So it was really being able to pause and sit still long enough to rethink what I thought I know to then translate into what I needed to know to be as successful online as I was face to face. Also, there We are going through Zoom fatigue, right? But everything is, let's have a coffee chat, let's do a discovery call, all the things that I hated and still do largely, but that is the way of the online space. So I had to think differently in order to allow for what those systems and processes are that are necessary to be able to get to the fun part of the business, which is getting to talk to you and connect with you and figure out what's going on in your business, and how do we work together to solve that problem.

Melissa Henault:

Yeah. So good. So, so good. And I know everybody's kinda like getting settling in right now, and now the room's nice and quiet. This is really good. I want a follow-up question to this. It was literally a year ago you were here at this live event, and you hadn't been in the lead gen academy that long, like a couple of months. Right?

Kathy:

6 weeks.

Melissa Henault:

6 weeks. So, 6 weeks prior to this, a year ago, you'd really just started to play with the idea of consulting. You'd started putting out some invoices. You started to begin the process. Right? And to this audience, it can seem like, so in a year plus 6 weeks, you've gone from that to closing out this year at about 380,000 in revenue, which is huge. And did you win at a 100% of the things that you went after this year? And did every launch go seamless? Because Jackie and I were going back and forth about this last night. What you see here are people who relentlessly went forward anyway, even when they didn't get exactly what they wanted on day 1. So I wanted to kinda double click into that because you can look at Darla and be like, wow.

Melissa Henault:

Like, a year plus 6 weeks ago, like, here she was, and here she is today. It must have been like she must have been, what was it? Like sucking on rainbow farts or whatever, like unicorn farts? Yeah. Right? But did you hit some headwinds, and what made you successful?

Lauren:

I hit tons of headwinds. I showed up last year, did not know a single person. I knew faces in the box, right? Louise was the first person I met at the networking event, for those of you who are VIP, the other day. That was where I first met Louise and was just talking to people and they're like, this is what I do and here's who I serve and this is all those things. I was like, why am I here? I showed up to the wrong room, right? But one of the things that I have always been confident enough to be is dumb and broke, and be the dumbest and brokest person in the room. And be confident enough to say, I don't know, but I will. I don't know it yet. Right? Here I am watching Melissa with this 9 day launch and all this charisma.

Lauren:

I'm like, oh, my gosh. This is awesome. I'm gonna do live launches. I'm gonna create courses and all this kind of stuff. I don't have a course. I did 2 launches, and the max anybody ever showed up was 10, and half of them were part of my mastermind.

Lauren:

Thank you, ladies. So but that

Lauren:

we show up for each other. Right? So I was learning things I didn't know to get me to what serves me. What is going to feel right for me? What aligns with who I am, and what aligns with who I am not? And those are 2 very different things.

Melissa Henault:

So good. Okay. Last thing, really quick answer that's gonna inspire everybody. The beginning of this year, you were pushing out invoices for like $5,000. The end of this year, you've already pushed out 2 for what? $25,000.

Lauren:

Each.

Melissa Henault:

Yes. So she's raising her prices, right? Yes.

Lauren:

Yeah. You have to double down on you, because if you don't believe in you, don't ask anybody else to. And so that was one of the greatest things. Every one on one is like, okay, what are you doing? What are you doing? Raise your prices. Raise your prices. I'm like, oh my gosh. How many of you thought, am I gonna price this too high? Nobody's gonna buy. Right? If you're not, you will.

Lauren:

But, yes, that feels like a lot of money, darling. You're right. But let's talk about the value. You're not paying me for my time, you're paying me for what I know.

Melissa Henault:

Mhmm. Yes.

Genell:

They either decide to accept it or they decide not to. Mhmm. They're either gonna hire you or they're not. And you just heard Chris and Lori talk about the the blue ocean that Melissa talked about. There are plenty of other people who will just keep going.

Melissa Henault:

Yes. Alright. So good. Thank you, Darla. Alright. Let's go to Louise. Louise, I I love your story, and I know, you agree with me with this. Like, we this I love the story of the cobbler with no shoes.

Melissa Henault:

Right? So Louise is the marketer who's a genius who came in and was doing a phenomenal job marketing for her other clients, Yet no one we didn't have visibility for you to expand because there was actually some work that needed to happen inside in order for you to feel safe, to move forward and expand, and go from a 100 k year to a 370 or 80 k year this year. Right? Can you talk a little bit about your journey? Because this is Elevate 360. It's a 360 degree approach. So Darla, we really got into systems and process. But with Louise, I really like to talk about, like, what was the inner work that needed to happen for you to become this visible marketer, that's now really, really growing your business?

Louise:

Thank you. For the person who said I'm an introvert, that's me. I spent 20 years in corporate marketing, and I was the person behind the scenes. I was the person that made things happen. I had my team. I built marketing teams. I built and launched very successful brands. I rebricked brands when they were when the the they were in the toilet because of PR issues and things like that.

Louise:

And I was packaged. I was let go just before COVID. So the forced pivot

Kathy:

Mhmm.

Louise:

That was me. And then COVID happened. So it was the first time in my life that I had ever stopped, forced, but stopped and had to think about what do I want? Because I had jumped back into that, let me get another job. Let me just be a VP of somebody for somebody else's marketing team. And COVID helped me kinda sit back and go, look, no. I've been a single mom since my kids were 57. I've just been before everybody else, and I never took time to think about what do I want and what matters to me. And so when I made this decision, I was actually well down the path of being hired, and I just I said, no.

Louise:

I don't want this. I need to do this on my own and figure out what this means. So when I trudged along for the last couple of years, we'd get contract work, but it was always solving somebody else's problem. But there was something pulling me forward saying, there's more to you than this, and you're not really truly being true to yourself. I had health issues that developed because I internalized everything for so many years, and I didn't wanna do that anymore. And so when I came last year, and for those who came because you thought this was gonna be a really good LinkedIn weekend, that was also me. I knew in my heart, and I followed my intuition that I needed this mastermind. I wanted the strategy.

Louise:

I knew I'm trying to get out of this shell, this wall that I've been living behind most of my life. I know I know things. I'm an Enneagram 5, so I learn everything, but I didn't know how to put myself out there. And as hard as that work was, learning a strategy, that was easy for me. Right? I know things. I know marketing. I know all kinds of marketing and brand, and I love brand. I love the power of brand, but I didn't ever have myself in the front of the camera up until this past year.

Louise:

And even building my business, it was like, I'll do contract work, and I was successful to a degree. And then going through this program, I realized I think it was I'm trying to remember which I couldn't get through a sentence without crying. Let's be real. Because I just knew, like, there's something more, and I don't know how to I know that's where I'm blocked. It's not strategy. It's not understanding what I need to do. It's allowing the person that's inside Yeah. To really come out and shine.

Louise:

And so working with Sam, learning hypno breath work, learning how to release, addressing the trauma that I've bottled up my entire life that nearly killed me 10 years ago, That was all part of the release that allowed me this year to kind of just and I didn't notice it, but the people on the people in my mastermind started noticing it. My colleagues, my sisters, my friends who are like, you're different. And it was when I started showing up for me and allowing the person who lives who's always been this person inside, giving her permission to kinda like, just just take a step.

Melissa Henault:

Mhmm.

Louise:

Just try. You can get there. And then realizing that I'm not in this alone. Because up until this point, I think Chris was mentioning, I've always thought I'm in this alone, and I gotta figure it out on my own, and I can do this because it's what I've always done. Figure it out. You're a single mom, figure it out. You've got no family. Figure it out.

Louise:

Figure out your finances. Figure everything out Yes. Alone. It's a hard thing to let go of that control

Melissa Henault:

Yes.

Louise:

A little bit and trust. Mhmm. When you've been you've had all of these things that have taught you in the past, don't trust and do it alone. And I started to trust, and I started to lean into my accountability partners and to the the community and take a chance Yes. And realize the things that I can't do for myself, I'm still an introvert. I still and I had no presence on social media because I don't like putting myself out there. I still don't necessarily like putting myself out there because I am still an introvert and a high sensitive person. But what I've learned is those things that I can't do for myself, I can hire somebody else to do.

Louise:

Mhmm. And so working with Sarah, she's turned my life around on LinkedIn. I don't mind seeing myself out there in all these in my brand, but I don't have to be the one pushing the button. Yes. And that's been so empowering Yes. And releasing. And it's just allowed me to show up more for myself, but then also I'm attracting the kind of clients that I like to work with who appreciate the heart that I bring into everything I do.

Melissa Henault:

Yes. And it's so good. And what you hit on, I just wanna underscore before we move over to Danae, is you you did the work. And in doing the work, energetically, your friends, your family, potential clients on social media began to see the difference. And in that ability to be seen authentically and collaborating with partners in the mastermind to help you and learn to let go where you didn't need to be in charge anymore expanded you and your business significantly.

Louise:

Tremendously. I had to get out of my own way. Yes. And it's made all the difference. And I'm so excited for now, you know, it it snowballs. And I remember talking to Chris in our when he came to our coaching session, and I'm like, I'm old. Right? I'm like, am I too old to, you know, I turned 60 last year, and I'm like, to me, all my friends are retiring, and I'm like, how is it that I'm now building a business when all my friends are retiring? And what I realized was it's a mindset shift. I don't have to, I get to do this.

Louise:

Yes. Yep. And changing the mindset from I have to and all my friends are retiring to I get to do something I love, I get to work with people I love, I get to make an impact. Yep. That's changed everything for me too.

Melissa Henault:

So, so good. Yes. Alright. Let's move over to Danae, my CFO. Anybody looking for a phenomenal fractional CFO? She's amazing. We've been working together for a couple of years now. So Danae, Enneagram 8, just like me, significantly, like, linear thinker. Right? Anybody like that? She came to this event last year and was like the first to like double down and be like, I'm doing modern Entrepreneur.

Melissa Henault:

I need to do the inner work. Which really surprised me.

Melissa Henault:

I'm like, Danae is a very linear thinker. This is really out of her wheelhouse.

Melissa Henault:

And all year you've been updating me. You're like, I've I like landed this client for the $35,000 contract or this and that and you're just like, and I'm losing weight and it's all because of Modern Entrepreneur. Right? But this wasn't you a year ago. So can you talk about being willing to do the work and how it's been able to impact your health and your business. Yep.

Denae:

So last year I came and it was in one of the sound baths. They kept saying, like, it it was the one where it was the sound bath with also the breath work. Mhmm. And everybody was like, oh, if you get into it like deep enough, you'll have a vision. And I'm like, okay. Like, I don't think that's gonna happen. Well, it happened and I came here last year in a horrible place in my business. So make a long story short, my right hand woman, who's getting paid a lot of money and was running everything, she was a single mom with 4 kids, and she was not being a good employee.

Denae:

And I had so much pressure on me because I felt like I know she's not good for my business, but if I get rid of her, what am I doing to this single mom of 4 kids? And it was destroying my psyche. Like, I had so much guilt and I came to the event and I knew that was like the biggest thing that was going on for me. And in that sound bath, I was like, alright. Maybe I'll figure out what to do. And I will never forget the vision I had. So what would always happen is she would have some type of an emergency with 1 of the 4 kids and I would have to step in. So now I'm doing my job of running the company and I'm doing her job, and on top of it, paying her a lot of money. And the vision I had was her calling me, saying something, and then why she couldn't work because of her kids, and I saw her walk out her door with her kids to go take them to the park or whatever.

Denae:

And I saw me go into my office and close my office doors and leave my kids on the other side. And in that vision, I said, oh my god. I am putting her kids above my kids. Fuck that. That was the end. And that was my big breakthrough. So I went home and I'm like, okay. I have to let her go.

Denae:

And I texted Melissa and I said, I really need to talk to you. And she goes, I'll call you in 20. And she calls and I'm like, hey, like, thank you so much for calling me back. And she goes, well, when your CFO says she needs to talk to you, like, you call. And I was like, oh, it's not like a CFO thing, and I just started sobbing, and I'm like, here's what happened, like, I need to let her go, like, yadayada, and I'm gonna, like, do it today. And she's like, we've all been there, like and just, like, talked me through it. And I did it and that was what would it be? Like October 10th ish? Like, whatever. It was like 2 weeks after this event last year.

Denae:

And then I spent all of that time up until December 22nd. I had to I did 2 year audits on every single client. I just went in, did everything, called every client, let them know what was going on. And I remember being so thankful that I at least had put it behind me right before the holidays. Like, December 22nd was the day I walked out of the office and I was like, okay. I've double checked all her work. I've removed her from everything. Like, now we can step into the future.

Denae:

And that day when I left the office, I was just like, that's it. I'm not thinking about this anymore. I'm moving on. And I spent this year just focusing on doing the inner work, making sure that I never find myself in that situation again, which was tough because I felt like it had to harden me. Like I didn't I don't wanna know an employee's, like, personal life story. Like I don't wanna know any of that. Like we just need to focus on are you hurting the business or are you helping the business and that's it. And since then, my profits are up 58.96 percent and I've lost £22.

Denae:

And I'm working less without her. Literally working less because I was doing my job

Melissa Henault:

And her.

Denae:

And her job.

Melissa Henault:

Yes. So good. So good, Danae. I love that. And you guys are gonna get a chance to do some breath with sound this afternoon, so don't worry. Amazing. Yes. Let's go to Kathy.

Melissa Henault:

Cathy, what I love about your story how many of you guys have more than one offer, more than one thing? And you're like, is it possible to be successful in all of it? You've got a course. You have a travel agency. You're like, I believe you're consulting too. Like, you're doing a number of different things and you're doing them well. So what has it taken this year to teach you or for you to learn and implement in order to successfully run 3 different types of offers successfully this year?

Kathy:

Yeah. I think the biggest thing I have done that I have done differently this last year is not relying on my tool kit. Mhmm. Because relying on your tool kit, you're always doing the exact same thing you've done. And if you're not succeeding doing that, you are going to fail.

Melissa Henault:

Mhmm.

Kathy:

And so stepping outside of my comfort zone and asking for help. Mhmm. I have never been the one to ask for help in my family. I was always the one just doing all the things. And yesterday, Preston really was answering one of the the ladies in the room and growing up. And recognizing that I was the good daughter. Mhmm. My sister, my older sister caused all the problems.

Kathy:

And I just did what needed to be done. And you went to school and you plan to go to college, and I've just done that my whole life and it's not serving me anymore. And it hasn't been serving me this last year. So through conversations with Jackie, conversations with Lisa, this community, I leaned into that. And it was, what do I need to do? I'm a process gal. I, no offense to the people, I don't do people well. And that sounds hysterical as a consultant, but you just have to do the work as a consultant. Yeah.

Kathy:

Yeah. And so, recognizing, oh my God, I have to get uncomfortable and I have to tell my story. And Darla was challenging me the other day to really share my story. And Tisha and I had a 30 minute phone conversation. She's like, I've learned more about you in this call than I have in seeing you on all these other calls. Mhmm. And I know, like, great things are coming because I'm in that zone of uncomfortable.

Melissa Henault:

Mhmm.

Kathy:

And it's now working with people that have the skills I don't have.

Melissa Henault:

Mhmm.

Kathy:

The marketing skills I'm lacking to get them to help me to put that out there. But just the close network I've had has always served me so well. Mhmm. And recognizing that network has a network. Yeah. And leaning into it.

Louise:

Yes.

Kathy:

And I'm the process gal. So like the business side of it was easy. Like you have some systems and you can do all the things and so you can manage all of that stuff. But I saw so many travel advisors struggling with their business. Oh my God, I can't keep up on all the details. Dude, I got you there. Like there's a CRM tool. Like let's put it in.

Kathy:

I'll show you how to use it and let's get it done. And like that's my sweet spot. And it just leaning into that and being able to share that has made all the difference.

Melissa Henault:

So, so good. Anybody else resonate? Anybody, like, not here for the people, but you consult? I'd love that. Like, don't get me wrong.

Kathy:

I do adore people. I just I'm better in the 1 on 1.

Melissa Henault:

No. No. I get it. Well, it's like Laurie said, like, she's one to many, and Chris is very much a one to one. Stay in your swim lane. Right? I love that. Let's go to Lauren. Do you have a microphone? Okay.

Melissa Henault:

So I love this. So anybody run agencies? Yeah. Okay. I love your story because I know when you started in the mastermind with Jackie and I, we sat down and it was like, you had you had a pipeline of a ton of really great clients, maybe some not your favorite, but also just, the way you were pricing, and billing, what kind of ended up you didn't really have this predictable revenue strategy. Right? It was kind of this very stressful for you. Right? Can you speak a little bit to how you've gotten more organized this year with kind of taking the reins in how you're billing in your business and maybe how you're choosing who you're doing business with to really gain back control and get more time back in your life?

Lauren:

Yeah. That's interesting. Because when I joined the mastermind, I thought I was gonna be helpless. Like, look at my P and L. What am I doing wrong? Like, all the fine details, but you guys literally right away was like, you need to change your billing. And I was like, how? Like, I don't I don't know how to do that. This is what I've been doing for 10 years. Unfortunately, it was hourly, and it was just a nightmare.

Lauren:

And all my contractors are hourly, and so, like, the 1st of the month was a nightmare. Like, it took up all my time. It took up the whole weekend, all the things. So you guys had me switch to a retainer, which has taken a lot of time to transition clients that have been with you for 8 years into retainer. And some of them have not liked it. And one of them was I had to stand my ground and find my value, which you guys taught a lot about me this year, that there is value in it. And it's not an hourly trading time for money. So, that was a big thing.

Lauren:

It was really standing my ground. I remember one client being like, but what's in it for me? And I was like, well there's actually things in it for you too. There's value based, all the things and it's more predictable for you to have the resources that I can provide to you and things like that. And they're like, alright. Well, if we have to, we'll do that. But we're gonna find somebody else. And I was like, cool. Go for it.

Lauren:

Because they weren't serving me, they would never get on a call with me, they just wanted me to be the monkey pushing the button. And I was no longer the person that should be pushing the button. Right. And, I'm still dealing with that today, because I have other clients and all these ladies know I have somebody to go home and fire and make Part of business. Yeah. Just and it's I've been holding on to that scarcity factor and there's just been little tidbits of, like, opening up to, like, having that abundance and I already have other clients, like, coming to me and I'm like, maybe I will have this ability to come back and not start them hourly, start them on a retainer and do those things and I have been really blessed to have someone on my team that I can really bounce ideas with. And she's transformed everything in terms of the organization of my company, because we're, I'm on ClickUp as my management tool. She went in and did everything, built SOPs, so now it's like, I'm out of that, and actually can go and find the business and be the be the strategist behind it all.

Melissa Henault:

Yes. Mhmm. So good. So good. How many of you guys need to take control of how you're invoicing and billing your clients to create more calmness and predictable predictability, predictable revenue in your business. Right? Thank you so much for sharing, Lauren. And I know it can be uncomfortable to have to push back and especially with clients you've been working with for a period of time to kind of transition that. It's also an opportunity to upgrade who you're working with.

Melissa Henault:

Right? Okay. Last but not least, Sarah, coming to you my friend. We've talked about a lot here. I think that one of the things, out of many, that you've done phenomenally has been a great example. I know you guys witnessed me launch, and some of you were like, that is way too much work. I could never do that. 18 months ago, you had an idea. Sarah's had a a series of different experiences in business.

Melissa Henault:

She's been successful in other areas, but when you came to us, it was more of, I have some ideas, but I'm not quite sure where to go or or what I'm gonna do. That was about 18 months ago that you really you 18 months ago, you really doubled down and you're like, okay. I'm gonna birth some things. I'm gonna take action on it. And I think you're inspiration to these guys because that was 18 months ago, and this at the end of this year, you'll close out. I've said it once or twice, but I want everybody to hear it. Your estimated closeout in revenue this year is what?

Sarah:

Right right around half a $1,000,000.

Melissa Henault:

Right around half a $1,000,000.

Sarah:

Right? Yeah.

Melissa Henault:

arla, you're hitting a half a: 100000

Sarah:

No, not at all. In fact, I really leaned into LinkedIn to start with, not really knowing what I was doing. So I know I talked to a couple people here who are, like, I don't really even have a business, but I like LinkedIn, but I don't know what I'm doing. That was me. I was actually a LinkedIn dropout. I did her course and I didn't do it, and then I signed up and paid a second time. And I'm like, oh my gosh, okay. If I've invested this money, dang it, I'm gonna figure it out.

Sarah:

So I did, and I fell in love with LinkedIn, but I really wasn't sure what I was selling or doing. I just like, I'm a people person. Right? A TV anchor, journalist, like, I love talking to people. And I sat in her mastermind, not this year, but the year before. And I remember Chris Harder speaking. I raised my hand. I'm like, I have this random idea for a business. And and he's like, yeah, you need to go do like, that's that's great.

Sarah:

And here's why. I'm like, oh, okay. So then I started asking fellow mastermind people, and I remember Jackie talking about these funnels and opt ins. I'm like, I have no idea. You are speaking a whole other language. Like, what is a funnel? Like, I mean, my husband changes oil with a funnel. Like, what's a funnel? Like, I have no idea. So I just decided to go all in and lean into all of the things that you offer with BGS and obviously the Legion Academy and obviously the Mastermind and take it all in and bet on myself.

Sarah:

I'm like, these people know what they're doing. Melissa's curated a group of amazing women and men that are together as coaches in the academy and in Mastermind and that have put all these programs together. I need to figure this freaking stuff out. So I decided, and that was in February, and I launched in May. And it actually did really well, the first launch. I was like, oh my gosh. This actually works. Like, this is great.

Sarah:

And I think I have a funnel and an opt in. So I did it again 2 months later to crickets. Like, nobody showed up to my life.

Melissa Henault:

Have you

Melissa Henault:

ever experienced that?

Sarah:

Crickets. Yep. Okay. And I'm like, what happened? Everybody, like, loved this idea, like and it was nobody showed up, so no one was going to buy. And then I found out that the emails actually never went out, and when they did, they had the wrong time on them. So they were all ready to show up, like, 3 hours later, which I found out the next day. So they all showed up on my Zoom after I was, like, crying myself over a bottle of wine or 2. And I didn't know.

Sarah:

And at that point, I was not about to go on a launch. So I have had some really, like, horrible failures as you start, but you either fail forward, right, or you fall backwards and you quit. And I decided I was gonna fail forward, and I was gonna keep failing forward until I figured this freaking stuff out. I'm from New Jersey also, so the freaking, you know. So I I finished up the year last year, having launched that business, and it was going pretty well. And I think last year's revenue, I have to look, it was like maybe 45,000 last year that I brought in, up from this fledgling idea. And I joined the mastermind You've

Melissa Henault:

grown, like, a: 1000

Sarah:

I don't do numbers. So, Danae, what is that? Okay. Okay. I know. That's so mean. Yeah. Anyway, yeah. I I I do storytelling.

Sarah:

I don't do numbers. So You're being awesome. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. So we go I joined the mastermind again. I'm a repeat offender, I guess. And I get in again, and this amazing woman next to me, who I'd never met, was sitting in the mastermind, first event, and I'm telling her about my business. And I said, I love teaching people storytelling, leaning into sharing their story authentically to convert clients.

Sarah:

Right? Because sometimes we sit in front of a blank screen, we don't know what we're talking about. We're like, I'll just throw something out there. And you end up putting out a post that's like, with your favorite coffee cup. Make it a great Monday. And that does nothing. That does nothing. That's so Instagram, and that does nothing for you. And people do that all the time.

Sarah:

And I'm like, I love telling people how to actually bring clients in through connecting with their head and their heart. She comes up to me. She's like, excuse me. Pardon me. You light up when you talk about storytelling. You light up when you're, like, talking about LinkedIn. Like, who gets excited about LinkedIn? I do. Like, I love LinkedIn.

Sarah:

Like, it's like my jam. And, she's like, you need to dig into that. And so thanks to some other mastermind members, Jackie and Lisa and then Melissa and going, I think I wanna do this. I launched a storyteller's experience months just literally 3 months later again and leaned into building out my LinkedIn marketing agency and it has just snowballed. But I was willing to sit there in the snow and pack the snowball together and roll a little bit and roll some more and roll some more when you're freezing outside and your toes are falling off and you're miserable and your hand warmer's cold, but you're like, I gotta keep doing this. I'm out there with the dang snowball. I'm in I live in Texas, so I'm talking about snowballs. So, anyway, and I'm rolling it down the mountain, and before you know it, it's a freaking avalanche now, and I couldn't stop it if I wanted to, and it's so much fun.

Sarah:

But I sat in the snow, and I froze my toes off when no one else was looking, and I built the business in the dark when no one knew that you had your head down. And then all of a sudden, it was like, oh my gosh. It's like they said to you, like, overnight success. No, the the hard work that goes in that people don't see, but it's worth it. So, don't quit before payday. Yes. Don't quit before the money comes in because it's gonna come. If you're passionate about it and you're putting together your god given gifts and your passions and your talents, like, it will happen.

Sarah:

Just don't quit before payday.

Melissa Henault:

Oh my gosh. So inspiring. Are you guys inspired? So just just get the frostbite. Let a finger freeze off, and it'll be alright. Right? Oh my gosh. You ladies are so inspiring. Thank you so much for telling your stories. And I just you guys are so inspiring.

Melissa Henault:

And also, the last thing I'll say is the community and how you guys have supported each other is priceless. So many of these domino effects are from how you've supported each other and how you've seen opportunities for each other, and that's that's the sweet stuff. So just congratulations to all your success and thank you for being an inspiration for all of these guys.