What Works | Small Business Podcast With Tara Mcmullin

The Nitty Gritty * How Mike transitioned from growing his design and marketing firm to creating FreshBooks, an invoicing software tool for small business owners * How a strong value of honesty seeps through the company and results in an open and transparent team that makes the product better * Why Mike created a pretend competitor to test new product features, how they tracked that project’s milestones, and when they knew that their new version would be a success If you’re a small business owner, no doubt that you’ve heard of FreshBooks. In fact, you might even use the software to bill your clients. But what you might not have heard is how FreshBooks came to be and how it’s improved over time. Mike McDerment, FreshBook’s cofounder and CEO, joins the podcast today to talk about how he structured his design agency to create more time to work on FreshBooks, why they used a secret company to test new features before launching them to the FreshBooks customers, and how important strong values are to create a str

The Nitty Gritty * Why Natasha sold her digital offerings business arm to focus solely on 1:1 work — and how she gained two clients through sending out an email * How she found ways to bring more of herself into her business * Why Natasha uses affirmations to become the best business owner she can be and what her daily routine looks like * Where she noticed limitations in her personal life and how they impacted her business Natasha Vorompiova wants to help you amplify your impact through systems. That might look like organizing and optimizing your inbox or clarifying how your business operates. But Natasha isn’t just passionate about systems: she’s always looking for ways to optimize her own life and limitations to show up with more clarity in business. In this episode, she shares just how she does that through affirmations, paring down to just one-on-one clients, and much more. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Bringing your whole self into

The Nitty Gritty * How Christy’s sustainability values inform her minimalist and unique jewelry designs — and where she sources diamonds and gemstones from * What her weekly schedule looks like — from meeting with clients, working in the studio, sketching, and tending to longer-term projects * Who she hires to create a sustainable business model from accountants to lawyers to web designers to marketers * How Christy infuses her multicultural background into her work The jewelry trade isn’t always known for its sustainability — especially when it comes to sourcing diamonds. Today, that’s changing because jewelry designers like Christy Natsumi are making conscious choices to source diamonds and gemstones from vendors with honest supply chains. Through that thoughtful choice — and oh so many more — Christy creates change through her business: from where she sources raw materials from to the local artisans she hires in San Francisco to the unique and timeless designs she produces. We release new episodes of Wh

The Nitty Gritty * Take a look at Srini Rao’s daily writing routine — from the apps to the systems — that enable him to write 1,000 words a day, every day * How creating for one — rather than many — invokes higher quality work * Why looking at the long-term view helps you avoid the comparison trap * Thoughts on mastering the creative process so that your work makes a lasting impact on your audience, customers, and clients Srini Rao writes at least 1,000 words a day and yet the majority of them you’ll never read. Why does he write so much, knowing that most of it won’t see the light of day through a blog post, an email, or a book chapter? Srini argues that within that daily practice comes some of your best work… and the essential opportunity to master your craft. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Using a daily writing system to do the work “The seeds of your most resonant work are actually created in private. When you’re creating this much in

The Nitty Gritty * What boundaries Charlie Gilkey and Angela Wheeler, founders of Productive Flourishing, set to coexist between business and life in a healthy way — plus, some of the rules they follow, like no screens in the bedroom (or in the hot tub!) * How their work styles differ — and how they make space for both * Why open communication is at the core of everything they do, including their relationship with each other and their team Ever thought of starting a business with your spouse? It takes strong boundaries, vision, and understanding to do it right: something that Charlie Gilkey and Angela Wheeler, founders of Productive Flourishing, have refined over the last 10+ years of working together. Of course, running a business and being in a relationship together results in unique challenges. How do you carve out time, outside of business, for your spouse when you work together all day? How do you determine who does what work — in the business and at home? How do you make sure you aren’t driving each

The Nitty Gritty * Why Alison Pidgeon left her Director role at two outpatient clinics to start Move Forward Counseling, a group mental health practice based in Pennsylvania * The reasoning behind Alison’s choice to stop taking new clients — plus, how she divides her time between counseling and running the business * What makes growing a group mental health practice work. In the conversation, Alison shares how she approaches team building and culture creating to keep her practitioners happy * How she structures pay for the other therapists in the group practice and what money goes where Sometimes, the way you’ve worked for years doesn’t work anymore. Life changes and responsibilities shift. That was the case for Alison Pidgeon. As the former director of two outpatient clinics, Alison started feeling the itch to go out on her own. She was burned out, and with two small children at home, Alison yearned for more flexibility. So she made some big changes. Alison left her position as director and started her pr

The Nitty Gritty * From the ideal diet to meditation to work style, learn how Michelle embraces her Ayurvedic dosha type * How Michelle’s rebel brain held her back in traditional work environments — and how she unleashed it so she could do her best work * Why Michelle embraces three-day sprints for deep diving into client work and balancing that with three-day sprints for working on CEO type tasks As a startup cofounder and high achiever, Michelle Warner eventually hit a wall. She completely wore out her adrenals from working countless hours every day. But, instead of pushing through it and carrying on, Michelle’s body forced her to stop. That’s when she decided to get curious: how could she live and work in a way that aligned with her natural strengths instead of constantly pushing against them? As she began to understand both how her mind and body work optimally, Michelle appreciated what once caused her so much frustration: time management. Today, Michelle designs her business to fit her life instead of

The Nitty Gritty * How Bridget’s struggle finding tops that fit her body type encouraged her to make her own — and how that pursuit turned into Têra Kaia’s first top, TOURA * The six words the Têra Kaia (formerly Aret Basewear) team uses to influence their branding, whether that’s photo styling or product developing * Their journey for finding a local athletic wear manufacturer that could make high-quality garments at an affordable price point — and what led Bridget to switch manufacturers * What their ambassador program looks like and why Instagram is their main marketing channel * How they ensure that customers find the right fit every time by using a sizing guide and a free exchange program — and how that value drives product design and informs customer service On today’s episode of What Works, Bridget Kilgallon, co-founder of Têra Kaia (formerly Aret Basewear), a collection of minimal basewear for the outdoorswoman, openly shares her journey bringing a physical product to market. From hand-sewing and t

The Nitty Gritty * Why moving to Salt Lake City from San Diego inspired Nailah to start Color Outside — and how the free meetup transformed into the company it is today * How Nailah budgets, markets, and plans retreats — and why she hosts them in places that you wouldn’t normally take a vacation * How she uses private Facebook groups to connect with her people right away, plus her approach to sharing and posting content within it * What’s included in every retreat–including renting out an entire home, hiring a private chef and a photographer, offering unique activities, and more–plus, the pricing strategy Nailah uses to calculate costs–including profit As a new mom and a newcomer to Salt Lake City by way of San Diego, Nailah Blades Wylie sought community and adventure to reconnect with herself. That’s why she founded Color Outside, a meetup-turned-travel company for women of color who are ready to create unapologetic, joy-filled lives through outdoor adventure. In today’s conversation, Nailah shares how sh

The Nitty Gritty * How Beryl runs the Momtography® training program, how she landed on the price point, and how she promotes her teachers once they’ve successfully completed the initial training program * Why Beryl’s first step to licensing her work included hiring Autumn Witt Boyd, an intellectual property lawyer, to legally prep Momtography® for distribution * How she finds qualified people to work with, how many teachers she’s currently working with, and her vision for the future of Momtography® Today’s guest, Beryl Young, returns to the podcast — and this time, she’s sharing everything behind licensing her signature work, Momtography®. So far, Beryl’s licensed twelve teachers, with plans to expand to all 50 states in the U.S. in the future. In this conversation, Beryl talks about how she started Momtography®, how she prepared her content for licensing (including hiring a lawyer!), and what it felt like to transition from the creator to the leader. If you’ve ever considered licensing your work — or want

 The Nitty Gritty  * What inspired Chris to start building CozyCal, a simple and easy-to-use online scheduling tool for small business owners and solopreneurs * Why Kat Lu decided to leave her healthcare consulting career to work on product development and customer support at CozyCal full-time * How Kat and Chris manage their roles in the company as a couple (and how their backgrounds influence how they operate) * What channels they use to grow CozyCal including the WordPress Plugin Directory, webinars, podcasts, and affiliate programs * Why they use Intercom over email for real-time feedback and communication with their users — and how that informs their development process Kat Lu and Chris Tan never set out to build a SaaS company… but when a friend needed an easy way to schedule appointments online for her naturopathic practice, Chris decided to develop a minimalist calendar to automate the process for her. That service is now CozyCal, a simple-to-use online scheduler, that helps users generate leads and

The Nitty Gritty * How Jacquette uses different themes every month to inform the activities and questions she poses during her monthly dinner series, The Comfort Circle™ * Why Jacquette increased the event pricing from $75 to $150 per person and what went into the decision to host the dinner in the same restaurant month after month * How the dinner series works into her larger business model — and why she’ll be offering self-hosted dinners as well as firm-hosted ones * What’s the future of The Comfort Circle™? Jacquette says that it might include retreats Financial behaviorist Jacquette Timmons helps people talk about uncomfortable things. One of the ways she does that is through The Comfort Circle™, an intimate gathering where she walks her guests through curated topics about money and life over a three-course meal. In this episode of What Works, Jacquette shares her perspective on discomfort and why it’s crucial to success, how she uses different topics to curate The Comfort Circle™ experience, and where

The Nitty Gritty * The red-yellow-green system Jess Ostroff and the Don’t Panic Management team apply to every potential new client relationship and new hire to help them take the emotion out of it, particularly when it’s not the right fit * What Jess does if a potential client isn’t ready for their services yet, like helping them systematize their business so they’re ready for an assistant in the future * Why Jess chose to only hire United States-based and college-educated virtual assistants This week’s guest is Jess Ostroff, founder and Director of Calm at Don’t Panic Management, a people-first virtual assistant agency founded in 2011. In addition to running the Don’t Panic team, she’s also a speaker and author of Panic Proof: How the Right Virtual Assistant Can Save Your Sanity and Grow Your Business. In this episode, Jess shares the process she uses to vet new clients and new hires, plus how she operationalizes red flags to help her identify make-or-break situations using a red-yellow-green system. For

When I got married 11 years ago, I was depressed, ashamed, and feeling like I had no opportunities left — in the way only a 25-year-old can feel. I had always planned to keep my maiden name, which was Seefeldt, but I also planned to be a successful academic with a published work or two under my belt by the time I got married. Instead, I was a grad school drop out working as a retail manager earning less than $30,000 per year. When I met my husband, I was so depressed that I hadn’t been able to eat solid food in about a week. My weight had plummeted and, instead of a solid size 8 and 145 pounds as I’d been most of my life, I was struggling to keep my size 0 pants on my boney frame. I was a complete mess. Marrying my husband — in my tortured mind — seemed like the only solid opportunity I had left. Of course, when you’re that depressed and unwell, making the decision to get married is never a good one. You could be marrying the best person on earth, even the best possible match for you, and you’d be in trouble

The Nitty Gritty * Jaime’s lessons from hiring virtual assistants in the Philippines — and why she eventually hired an employee local to her * How Jaime and her team use Asana to manage projects and assign tasks * What books and tools Jaime uses to track employee time — and how she uses that as a tool to ensure employees are doing what they love with their time * Hear more about Jaime’s approach to the not-so-fun aspect of running a business: firing employees * The difference between an owner and an operator — yet how crucial they are to each other’s success Jaime Masters is a business coach and host of the Eventual Millionaire blog and the going-on-seven-years podcast series. In this episode of What Works, Jaime walks us through her process for hiring and keeping employees happy. She also shares her tactics for firing underperforming employees in a fair and diplomatic way. Curious about the resources that Jaime mentions on this episode? You can find them all at this link! We release new episodes of What W

The Nitty Gritty * How Lauren and Jason Pak, cofounders of Achieve Fitness, use their Instagram to educate and inspire their audience — and why they chose Instagram as Achieve Fitness’ main marketing platform * What their weekly social media schedule looks like and how they plan, create, and edit that content * How the first four years of business helped the duo master the day-to-day operations and why they now feel confident to delegate to team members * What their strategy for hiring new team members looks like and how they infuse empathy and kindness into everything they do, including weekly team meetings Lauren and Jason Pak are the cofounders of Achieve Fitness, a gym based in Boston, Massachusetts. While personal fitness is what they do, their why is even more compelling. This husband-wife team set out to change the industry: they want to make the fitness industry a more approachable and positive place to be. While the pair got into personal training by accident in 2007, their approach to growing the

The Nitty Gritty * How Sarah Bray, entrepreneur, author, and digital strategist, transitioned from working exclusively for herself to joining the smart and passionate team at &yet, a design and development consultancy * What it means to be an intrapreneur in the modern creative world — and what drew Sarah to the &yet team * How to fuel your self-confidence, especially if you’re moving from the entrepreneurship world to a team culture * Why Sarah and the &yet team create resources, like Leadershippy, that serve the company culture as well as the public to inspire, educate, and support them on their work/life journey Have you ever felt that you could never work for someone else, other than yourself? Sarah Bray, entrepreneur, author, and digital strategist, felt the same. That is: until she saw how she could give more life to her ideas by working on a team. Despite working independently for years, today, Sarah works as the Chief of Strategy at &yet, a design and development consultancy based o

The Nitty Gritty * How Cathy and her songwriting agency, Catch the Moon Music, manage music inquiries and how they close deals * Hear all the details on Mochas and Music, Cathy’s unique way of putting her music in the hands of music supervisors (hint: it worked!) * Why she uses live events to bring together songwriters and music supervisors together in one room, plus why she started a course for songwriters * How she turns outreach on its head by approaching clients in a way that’s authentic to her, and equally important, valuable to them On this week’s episode, we talked with Cathy Heller, songwriter and President of Catch The Moon Music, a songwriting agency for T.V., ads, and film based out of Los Angeles. In our conversation, she shares where her love of music stems from, how she used closed doors as an opportunity to create her own path, and why she’s now offering courses for other songwriters. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Using “n

The Nitty Gritty * The story behind Susan’s personal breakthrough that prompted her to leave a two decade fashion career to launch Art & Eden, a sustainable clothing line for kids * How Susan transformed her approach to business from fast to slow * What processes Susan and the Art & Eden team put in place to stay accountable to their sustainability values * Where — and why — they give back a portion of their profits to social equity projects as a part of their Buy Better, Do Better mission After two decades in the fast fashion industry, Susan Correa decided to leave her career as the sole breadwinner of her family to pursue a more sustainable approach to fashion. Today, Susan is the founder of Art & Eden, a sustainable clothing line for kids that approaches fashion in a slower, more intentional pace and weaves in social equity projects into the foundation of the business model. Listen to this episode of What Works to hear more from Susan on what transformed her mindset to create a business that

The Nitty Gritty * What inspired Sarah to launch Startup Pregnant (and how that concept pivoted from book to podcast) * Sarah’s strategy for securing sponsors before launching a podcast (hint: it’s all about knowing your target audience and what their pain points are) * What new resource Sarah’s working on to meet the precise needs of her community Sarah Peck is a writer and the host of Startup Pregnant, a weekly podcast where she explores and reimagines what parenting, entrepreneurship, work, and motherhood looks like. Listen to this episode of What Works to hear more about Sarah’s journey in launching Startup Pregnant, plus her vision for the podcast and her body of work. We release new episodes of What Works every week. Subscribe on iTunes so you never miss an episode. Securing podcast sponsors before launching “If somebody’s going to put dollars for advertising somewhere, they’re going to spend it on Google ads and Facebook ads because they’re better. But I can happily lose that game because what we’re