Creative Warriors

There’s a shift going on in the world and I’ll bet you’ve noticed it – and that shift is, shop local! That’s why today’s episode features my conversation with Wendy Batten, a self-described ‘chief cheerleader for independent shop owners.’ Although the focus of today’s episode is primarily on those of us self-employed folks who manage brick-and-mortar retail locations, I believe much of what Wendy and I discuss is relevant to all small business owners. Among other topics, we discuss how the pandemic has increased awareness of the importance of small businesses, small shops, and shopping local in general, especially as they impact the vibrancy of ‘main streets’ and ‘downtowns’ in communities across the country. We talk about the importance of working with your communities and local leadership – something that’s applicable to all small-businesses folks! – as well as how every one of us can help support small businesses in our own communities. Wendy Batten is a small business coach and chief cheerleader for indep

Honestly, telling people about the importance of meaningful connections in business today almost seems trite. Unfortunately, many of us, myself included, aren’t as good as we need to be or want to be at actually making and maintaining meaningful connections. But what if we had a system for doing it? And what if we could understand the 5 most important aspects of gaining and maintaining connections? What that help? I hope so – because that’s what we’re talking about in this episode. In my conversation with Vincent Pugliese, we discuss how building a network consistently over time, through a lens of generosity rather than selfishness, is what will help us build connections that will pay off (and not just financially!). Along the way, we talk about standards and expectations in relationships, the importance of spending time on and with people who value what you do, and the collaborative elements of connection. Vincent is the author of The Wealth of Connection and Freelance to Freedom, a keynote speaker, and the

Of course, we’re all curious about what makes people successful, but what if you could learn the four elements that make up the ‘Success Factor?’ How valuable would that be for you? Today, we’re going to explore those four elements in this enlightening interview with Dr. Ruth Gotian. In our conversation, we talk about what Ruth has identified in her research as being the common elements that make high-achieving people so successful. We discuss the importance of ‘emulating mindsets’ rather than ‘copying habits’ to customize mindsets in ways that leverage your unique set of skills and circumstances, and we talk about the importance of transitioning people with high potential into high achievers. Plus, Ruth shares what surprised her most about her findings. Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former founding Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has been hailed by the journal

Turning your creative ideas into income is certainly not easy: it takes bravery, commitment, and a good business head – which can often seem contradictory to creativity. Today we’re going to talk about what it takes to turn your creative ideas into a viable business, so you can live the life of your dreams. In my inspiring conversation with artist and entrepreneur Miriam Schulman, we talk about ‘talent’ vs. ‘success,’ the vital importance of marketing, and why right now is the best time to turn your creative ideas into a successful business. Throughout the conversation, Miriam shares her experiences and advice for how to move on from a ‘traditional’ career to have a successful, ‘creative’ business. Today's guest, Miriam Schulman, is an artist, author, and host of The Inspiration Place podcast. Miriam has helped thousands of creatives around the world develop their skill sets and create more time and freedom to do what they love. Her signature coaching program, The Artist Incubator, teaches artists go from so-

You are likely creating friction in your business which is causing you to work harder than you need to and you're not even aware of it. How do I know this? Because you're not alone. In this episode I share the reason you are working harder than you need to and what to do about it. I'm confident you'll persist and accomplish everything you set out to accomplish. But at what cost? How much harder did you make it than it needed to be? Find out.   Contact Jeffrey – Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!   Valuable resources to help you –   The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Empl

Community and a sense of belonging are two essential elements in the self-employed life. In this episode, my guest Joshua Greene and I look at why and how community, especially in business, has changed in recent times. We first talk about the concept of a “wavy” career path – a descriptor which suits a lot of us self-employed folks – and why someone on a wavy career path might need community even more than someone with a more traditional (linear) career path. We explore the critical importance for a "businesses of one" (e.g. a self-employed solopreneur) to be inspired and lifted up by others – which is difficult to do without a community! Other topics we discuss include feeling connected vs. feeling lonely, the unexpected importance of "loose ties," the burden of making decisions alone, and how having a community can actually make your business itself better. And of course, we talk about the solutions that Joshua’s company Groove aims to provide to solopreneurs to give them access to supportive community. As

Are you comfortable in your skin? I mean really comfortable? Comfortable with who you are, and what you offer the world? We know that being comfortable with who we are impacts our success – and that’s why in today’s episode, I talk with the almost-completely-covered-in-tattoos Drew Plotkin, successful entrepreneur and author of Under My Skin: Baring It All, One Tattoo at A Time. In this entertaining and inspiring interview, we discuss Drew’s extraordinary professional life, in which perceptions about his physical appearance have given him unique opportunities to subvert expectations. We talk about how being true to yourself and confident in that truth can give you the courage to forge your own path regardless of your profession, and how your own signature style can become a competitive advantage – or even your personal trademark. DREW PLOTKIN is an Emmy® award-nominated producer and founder of the Launch DRTV agency, where he has created and directed award-winning TV broadcast commercials for major celebritie

Have you ever had a delayed response to something that took you by surprise? Like a time of great joy followed by unexpected sadness? It happens in business, too, and this delayed response in business after a big change in the world can prove to be devastating. Listen in to understand more and to find out what you need to do to ward off the dangers of the period post-pandemic (or any other big change).     Contact Jeffrey –   Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!       Valuable resources to help you –     The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business In

Excellent, even exceptional, customer service isn’t enough today…because it’s what your customers expect. So how do you go beyond impressing your customers with exceptional customer service, so that your customers become obsessed with you and your business? Today’s guest, Jon Picoult, helps answer that question as we discuss concepts from his new book, From Impressed to Obsessed: 12 Principles for Turning Customers and Employees into Lifelong Fans. In our conversation, we discuss topics that can help transfer how you approach creating your interactions with your customers, such as: the difference between ‘customer experience’ vs. ‘customer memory,’ opportunities for strategically crafting a customer experience process, and quality vs. quantity when providing information to your customers. Jon Picoult is the founder of Watermark Consulting and a leading expert in customer and employee experience. He has been featured by dozens of media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, NBC News, a

While we would love success to be linear and full of ease and flow, the reality is success is a series of flow and resistance. Find out how resistance is an indication of growth and how you can breakthrough periods of resistance to get to the other side.     Contact Jeffrey –   Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!       Valuable resources to help you –     The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!     Take the Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel like you're all over

We’ve all been running our business online for a long time now. You’d think we’d have this down by now! But there always seems to be more to learn. What you’re about to hear is some of the most practical advice pulled together in a single source that I’ve ever encountered –advice to help you turn your passion into profits. In this down-to-earth conversation, Matt McWilliams and I discuss some of the most important topics from Matt’s new book, Turn Your Passions into Profits (releasing in January 2023), including avatars, leadership, relatability, ‘capturing’ vs. ‘getting’ attention, community, and more.   If you want to grow your influence, have a bigger impact, and make more money in the process, Matt McWilliams is your go-to guy. Entrepreneurs and companies such as Shark Tank's Kevin Harrington, Stu McLaren, Adidas, Ray Edwards, Brian Tracy, Lewis Howes, Rich Schefren, Shutterfly, and Michael Hyatt have trusted Matt McWilliams to run their affiliate launches.   Matt is a four-time affiliate manager of the y

There’s a reason the tagline for this show is “business with a soul.” It’s because of the undeniable connection between business success and spirituality. So who better to explore this connection than the author of a book about the spiritual lives of scientists, Paul J. Mills, Ph.D. In my fascinating interview with Paul, we discuss how “spiritual” topics and perspectives are sometimes seen as “off-limits” to those engaged in scientific or business fields. But Paul makes the argument that there is an important place for the spiritual in scientific fields, and by extension, in business as well. I myself believe that inevitably, those of us who are self-employed bring our whole selves to our businesses – and so if we consider ourselves spiritual people, we’re almost inescapably going to bring that part of ourselves to our businesses. And as Paul expresses, completely closing off our spiritual side from our ‘work life’ (be it science or business) robs us of a whole realm of valuable resources that we could use in

Ever feel frustrated that business isn't going as well as you want or expected? Even more frustrated because you're more ready than ever to go big? Does it feel like you intended to take a huge step forward in the past few years but now wonder if you've stepped backwards? Yup, you're in the messy middle. Here's what you need to get out of it.     Contact Jeffrey –   Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!       Valuable resources to help you –     The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need.

Let’s begin with a quote from our guest today: “If society has lied to us about anything, it’s that putting in long hours and making sacrifice after sacrifice now will automatically allow us to live life on our own terms later.” Today, we explore this idea and its context in our current “hustle culture” with guest La’Vista Jones. For someone who’s on a personal mission to help business owners disrupt the “hustle culture” and instead build business that nourish them, I am delighted to speak with La’Vista as she shares with us her “Boss Manifesto” and her wisdom on critical topics such as setting boundaries, averting burnout, practicing self-care, pacing yourself, and avoiding “over-functioning.” La’Vista is quick to note that she genuinely loved her pre-self-employed corporate life and despite that, she still had a burnout. For those of us who love being self-employed, loving what we do doesn’t make us immune from burnout. La’Vista’s insights and her BOSS™ framework can help us all shift into a healthier “Boss

I believe having a frictionless business is one of the key components to a successful business today. Quite frankly, I personally won’t work with any business who doesn’t make it easy for me to do business with them. We business owners can easily imagine that our own customers and potential customers may feel the same way, so this discussion with my guest Bill Price is an important and enlightening conversation for all of us self-employed folks. In our chat, Bill and I discuss the definition of a frictionless experience – especially in what I like to call “high-touch” (that is, highly personalized) businesses. As I like to say: really good customer service = meeting people’s expectations. We discuss this concept, as well as how preempting a customer’s questions or needs is crucial to creating a frictionless experience. We also talk about how making it easy to do business with you can indicate respect for your customers and for the value of their time. Finally, Bill shares his insights about how to reduce fric

What do you think? Do you think we're headed for a recession? Numbers and analytics aside, what really is a recession? Having been around the block a bit and seeing the ups and downs of the world and economy, here are my thoughts and tips on how you can manage what lies ahead.     Contact Jeffrey –   Website Books Watch my TEDx LincolnSquare video and please share!       Valuable resources to help you –     The Self-Employed Business Institute You know you're really good at what you do. You're talented, you have a skill set. The problem is you're probably in a field where there is no business education. This is common amongst self-employed people! And, there's no business education out there for us! You also know that being self-employed is unique and you need better strategies, coaching, support, and accountability. The Self-Employed Business Institute, a five-month online education is exactly what you need. Check it out!     Take the Self-Employed Assessment! Ever feel li

Our guest today, Todd Henry, is truly one of my favorite authors, and I’m pretty sure he’s the only guest I’ve had on my show four, maybe even five, times. And it’s because his books, and who he is as a person, are far more real and genuine than most. He has a true in-the-trenches style that I love so much. In our conversation today, we talk about the reasoning behind the intriguing format of his latest book, Daily Creative and how the choice of format was impacted by the pandemic. We discuss the nature of creativity, the ‘long arc’ of creativity, and how creativity is an iterative, evolutionary process (emphasis on process). We also talk about how the ‘noise’ of the world around us can impact our creativity – and how to manage around it – plus Todd shares his own habits for daily creativity.   Positioning himself as an "arms dealer for the creative revolution", Todd Henry teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of six books (The Accident