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Unlocking Time Freedom with Virtual Assistants | LAYC 101
Episode 10117th February 2024 • Seasoned Women Serious Business • Isabel Alexander
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Join us in this episode as we explore the world of virtual assistants with Tobe Brockner, Founder of KATUVA. Delve into the reasons, dos, and don'ts of having a virtual assistant, backed by real experiences. Discover the unique approach of Katuva in matching entrepreneurs with the right VAs, and the transformative impact on achieving time freedom. Learn how virtual assistants are revolutionizing not just administrative tasks but also redefining the boundaries of what's possible in various industries. 

TOBE’s Bio

Tobe Brockner is the owner and founder of Katuva, a virtual assistant placement agency. Tobe has been a business owner his entire career because, as his wife of 25 years says, "He is functionally unemployable." Tobe's passion for entrepreneurship and helping business owners live better, more fulfilling lives is always on full display. Helping business owners find, train, and manage virtual assistants has been his main focus over the last 7+ years and his greatest joy is in helping other small business owners like himself free themselves from the businesses that they own and live a life of freedom and autonomy.

He lives in Meridian, Idaho with his wife Kirsten and two kids, Beau and Scarlett. In his newfound free time he enjoys fine cigars, aged bourbon, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and the Idaho outdoors.

- The Katuva Difference:

  - Tobe shares the backstory of Katuva and the entrepreneurial journey.

  - The importance of systemizing the business for strategic thinking and growth.

  - Tobe's personal experiences with virtual assistants and the initial challenges.

  

- The Process of Matching VAs:

  - Tobe explains the process of matching entrepreneurs with the right virtual assistants.

  - Utilization of DISC assessment, Enneagram personality assessments, and other tools in the hiring and onboarding process.

  - The evolution of virtual assistant roles beyond traditional admin tasks, exploring new possibilities.

- Adapting to Change:

  - The impact of the pandemic on the virtual assistant industry and how technology advancements facilitated its growth.

  - Tobe's perspective on embracing rapid change and the role of experience in navigating evolving landscapes.

-Expanding Horizons:

  - The wide range of tasks virtual assistants can handle, from admin work to innovative ventures.

  - Examples of unconventional uses, such as virtual assistants in medical professions and real estate.

  - Encouragement for entrepreneurs to think beyond conventional boundaries and leverage virtual assistants for business expansion.

  - The limitless potential of virtual assistants in freeing up time for creative thinking and business development.

  - Encouraging listeners to explore the transformative power of virtual assistants for unlocking time freedom.

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael E. Gerber

https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-About/dp/0887307280


The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris

https://www.amazon.com/4-Hour-Workweek-Escape-Live-Anywhere/dp/0307465357



https://learn.katuva.com/300-tasks-ebook?am_id=isabel425

https://learn.katuva.com/exploratory-call?am_id=isabel243

Transcripts

Speaker:

Welcome to the Lift As You Climb podcast, where it's all about the

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journey and the joy of discovering who you are now, deciding who you want

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to become, and embracing your genuine identity, influence, and impact.

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In each episode, we'll explore how life's experiences have prepared us for what

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we choose to do next and how to create our Encore, write our own script, and

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star in the next stage of our lives.

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I'm your host, your Encore strategist, and transformation catalyst, Isabel Alexander.

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Hey out there in virtual land.

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I'm Isabel Alexander, and I'm very happy to have you here with me today

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on the Lift As You Climb podcast, because today we're beginning a brand

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new series on the fascinating world and opportunity of virtual assistants

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and how they will be virtually the best assistants you can imagine

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for your business, your leadership.

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You're just great.

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Full life.

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Thanks to my special guest and my copilot on this trip, I have the opportunity

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to go inside, behind the scenes and share how this evolved the industry of

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virtual assistants, how to use them.

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to your advantage and to have mutually beneficial

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relationships for maximum rewards.

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I like very much to be able to share what I feel is An improvement, an upgrade

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in everything I do in my life, and it's part of Lift As You Climb, right?

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I'm building my success ladder, and I want to share success with you.

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So, I'm delighted to share with you Toby Brockner, who is the founder of

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Katoova, a very valuable resource for me and my business, and that I also use.

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to help my clients.

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Now before we dive into the Virtual Assistant universe, let me give

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you a little bit of context.

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I've been working with Toby and his company for almost a year now and

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finally I found somebody who had the recipe for success on how to really

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make these relationships work together.

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And why?

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Because like us, Toby's an entrepreneur, a business owner, and

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he has struggled over decades trying to find the best way to do things.

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Based on his try, try again until he got it perfect, you and I now

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today will benefit from the fact that he doesn't know when to quit.

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He's always going to make it better for us.

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Now, I am As I've shared, a very satisfied client of Katuva, and I'm adding extra

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resources from that organization.

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What's important here for you when you listen to the series is understanding

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how this makes sense for us all today, why the circumstances like the pandemic

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have made it even more essential for us and our businesses, and some.

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Free resources that Toby is generously going to share with

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you that's going to help you make some decisions about is a VA.

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The next best thing that you can do for yourself.

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So stick around because we're going to talk about Toby's

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entrepreneurial journey today.

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How he perfected the methodology and the practices that Ketubah uses today.

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And.

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We're going to learn a few more of the highs, lows, secrets, and successes

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that both he and I have experienced.

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Stay to the end.

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There's going to be some resources for you.

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And remember, I only share with you what I believe is really good stuff.

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And so from me to you today, let's dive into virtual assistants

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and are they right for you?

Isabel:

All right, everybody, as I promised.

Isabel:

We're going to take a deep dive into the reasons, the what to dos, and the what

Isabel:

not to dos of having a virtual assistant or, as in my case, more than one.

Isabel:

I've already Introduced you to my guest today, Tobe Brockner, who is the founder,

Isabel:

the creative genius behind Katuva.

Isabel:

And I am a very happy customer, a client of Katuva.

Isabel:

And I only share with you, the things I really want to endorse, that I believe

Isabel:

in, and that I have tried, and so that's why we're here today, because many of you

Isabel:

have said to me, wow, you have a virtual assistant, wow, I tried that and it wasn't

Isabel:

a good experience, oh wow, I wouldn't even know where to begin, and so that's why

Isabel:

I've asked Tobe to join us here today so that we can talk about those things and I

Isabel:

can respond or I can ask him some of the questions that you have been asking me.

Isabel:

Tobe, let's jump right in here and talk about the mysterious

Isabel:

world of virtual assistance.

Tobe:

Absolutely.

Tobe:

Thank you for having me.

Tobe:

I really appreciate the invite.

Isabel:

I am, I'm delighted and I'm very grateful for you sharing

Isabel:

your time because I know you have a lot of things going on besides

Isabel:

running a very successful business.

Isabel:

You have a lot, you have a big personal life as well, and I know because

Isabel:

I've been in your orbit for a while that is only possible because you've

Isabel:

successfully integrated VAs into your life and into your business.

Isabel:

So you can do that.

Isabel:

And you've got a fabulous team that I have enjoyed getting to know and working with.

Isabel:

I've already talked about the backstory of Katuva and your entrepreneurial journey.

Isabel:

I really would like to start with today is talking more about what makes the

Isabel:

experience with Katuva's VAs different.

Isabel:

And what is your process for matching, the wild horses like me, the

Isabel:

entrepreneurs that are going in many directions and have a very, in demand

Isabel:

life and a very demanding personality to the right VA and how you find

Isabel:

them and recruit them and train them.

Isabel:

So please.

Isabel:

Take it away, Tobe.

Tobe:

Yeah, that, that's a very oniony type of question or many layers.

Tobe:

As you peel back one you expose more and more.

Tobe:

And honestly, a lot of what we've done and what we've created is

Tobe:

based on two main components.

Tobe:

One is, I am you and I am your audience.

Tobe:

I am an entrepreneur.

Tobe:

I'm a business owner.

Tobe:

I've done that my entire career.

Tobe:

I've never worked for anybody in my life except for a three week stint

Tobe:

at McDonald's when I was 16, and they fired me because I was asking them

Tobe:

why we were doing it like a bunch of idiots, and I thought I knew more

Tobe:

than they did, and I was promptly let go, but so I am that person.

Tobe:

I am you and your audience, and so that's number one.

Tobe:

And then number two, it was just built on old school trial and error.

Tobe:

It was failing over and over and over again until we figured it out.

Tobe:

And that was a good four to five year journey that it took me because like

Tobe:

you said, that's probably the two most common things we hear from new

Tobe:

clients when they say, I need a VA is, I've been wanting to hire a VA,

Tobe:

I just never knew where to start.

Tobe:

I don't even know what to do.

Tobe:

And the others are, I'm just intimidated by the process and I don't understand it.

Tobe:

And so I'm just not going to do it.

Tobe:

I've got too many other things going on.

Tobe:

And so they don't do it.

Tobe:

The turning point for me came pretty early in my career, even before I

Tobe:

knew what virtual assistants were.

Tobe:

The mindset shift that took place was when I read a book by

Tobe:

Michael Gerber called The E-Myth.

Tobe:

Lots of entrepreneurs have read this book.

Tobe:

If you haven't, you absolutely should.

Tobe:

It's a game changer, but he talks about systemizing your company in

Tobe:

a way that allows you to work on your business instead of in it.

Tobe:

And so many of us get caught up in the day to day, and we get buried

Tobe:

in the minutia that we don't have time to plan and to strategize and

Tobe:

to do the big picture thinking that is required to take your business to

Tobe:

that whatever next level is for you.

Tobe:

And for some people that's revenue.

Tobe:

For me, it's time freedom and autonomy.

Tobe:

That's much more important to me than money.

Tobe:

I've always found that I can make plenty of money, but if I don't have the time

Tobe:

to enjoy it, it doesn't really matter.

Tobe:

And so we start with that sort of basic premise of what sort of life do you want?

Tobe:

It's not even really about business.

Tobe:

The business has always been for me, not always, but recently as

Tobe:

I've made this mindset shift, it's always been a means to an end.

Tobe:

And for too long, it was the end itself.

Tobe:

It was, I want a business that does 10 million a year in revenue.

Tobe:

And I want, a big office and I want the big house and the

Tobe:

cars and all these things.

Tobe:

And I had all of those things.

Tobe:

I had the big eight figure business, and the Range Rovers, and the pool

Tobe:

in the backyard and I was miserable.

Tobe:

I remember one day, looking at my keyring, I had so many keys on my

Tobe:

keyring for cars and boats and rental properties and offices and just on and on.

Tobe:

And I went about systematically reducing the number of keys

Tobe:

on my keyring by selling

Tobe:

off assets and things that weren't serving me at the time that were

Tobe:

just acting as an albatross around my neck and weighing me down.

Tobe:

As I let go of those things and the keyring got lighter and

Tobe:

lighter, my heart and my soul got lighter and lighter as well.

Tobe:

And all of that was possible because I was willing to say, okay, this

Tobe:

is the kind of life I want to live.

Tobe:

And now I need to figure out how to create it and just work

Tobe:

backwards and reverse engineered it.

Tobe:

And virtual assistants were a huge part of that because I had a staff

Tobe:

at one point, we had 150 employees.

Tobe:

We were, I think our payroll was around a little over 300, 000 a month.

Tobe:

which that'll keep you up at night staring at the ceiling.

Tobe:

If you've got a 300, 000 payroll every month, that's enough to do it.

Tobe:

So I started looking at ways to, how do I make the impact that I

Tobe:

want to make not only in my life, but in my clients lives and also

Tobe:

scale back the risk and the stress.

Tobe:

Virtual assistants were a natural answer, although I didn't know it at the time.

Tobe:

I read Tim Ferriss book, Four Hour Work Week, like a lot of us have.

Tobe:

He talks about virtual assistants in there.

Tobe:

That was, he wrote that way back in 2007.

Tobe:

That was probably really close to when I was first exposed to the idea, but

Tobe:

because like most of the clients I deal with, I wanted to hire a VA.

Tobe:

I just didn't know where to start.

Tobe:

I put it off for six years, seven years, and until 2014,

Tobe:

2015, I hired my very first VA.

Tobe:

It was an absolute disaster.

Tobe:

I had a second VA, absolute disaster, just on and on, until

Tobe:

we figured out the process for it.

Tobe:

And so we've taken a lot of pains to make sure that the initial hiring,

Tobe:

onboarding, training and management components are in place and they're

Tobe:

built on solid foundations using not just practical, in the trenches

Tobe:

experience, but also DISC assessment and Enneagram personality behavior

Tobe:

assessments and various things like that.

Tobe:

There, there's a lot of different things that we do to make that happen.

Isabel:

Wow, because I feel like you're telling my story here.

Isabel:

That is one of the reasons that I just connected so very quickly

Isabel:

with you and your concept, because I too had an eight figure business

Isabel:

and had staff, not 150, thank God.

Tobe:

That's a giant daycare, believe me.

Isabel:

Absolutely!

Isabel:

Every single business owner will say people is the hardest part, right?

Isabel:

And so that's why another reason why Katuva and understanding the success

Isabel:

model with virtual assistants is so critical because today, especially,

Isabel:

post the pandemic, everybody is saying:

Isabel:

"I can't find people.

Isabel:

I can't keep people.

Isabel:

I can't engage the people that I have."

Isabel:

Not to go down the HR rabbit hole just yet, but I want to, first of all, let

Isabel:

me say to everybody who's listening, if you're driving your car or on the

Isabel:

way to the gym We will, of course, include Tobe's book selections, his

Isabel:

recommendations in the show notes, because those are both excellent recommendations.

Isabel:

And I was I was thinking when did the term virtual assistant come

Isabel:

into our business vernacular?

Isabel:

Would you say that Tim Ferriss introduced us to this idea?

Isabel:

I think he introduced

Tobe:

it to the broader world of business, small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Tobe:

Big companies have been using that, although they probably wouldn't call

Tobe:

them virtual assistants and call them remote workers or customer service reps.

Tobe:

Big phone companies have been outsourcing their customer service to other countries

Tobe:

for decades going back to the seventies.

Tobe:

And so it's not a new concept among these bigger companies, but it's

Tobe:

all things that like that, they it trickles down from the top.

Tobe:

And so when a big company is doing different things, the smaller guys like

Tobe:

me and you and whoever else there, we think there's, we can't really do that

Tobe:

because we don't understand it or we don't have the tools and technology.

Tobe:

Even this business that we're running with Katuva, I don't know that it

Tobe:

could have existed even 10 years ago because of Zoom and Skype and WhatsApp

Tobe:

and the messaging, those just weren't as developed as they needed to be.

Tobe:

It was always a challenge to have reliable technology to build

Tobe:

these types of businesses on.

Tobe:

Really the pandemic, actually helped my business a lot,

Tobe:

because it did shrink the world.

Tobe:

A lot of people don't remember 2018, 2019, Zoom was pretty clunky, it

Tobe:

wasn't really what it is now, and they actually were forced to hire more

Tobe:

engineers and make the technology better, which benefited all of us, obviously.

Tobe:

And now it's a much different, much smaller world.

Tobe:

I always joke, I got a degree in international business in college,

Tobe:

but it was only because I'm fluent in Spanish, and I never used it until now.

Tobe:

We're an international business because we really are.

Tobe:

We have clients all over the world in different countries.

Tobe:

All of our VAs, obviously, are from the Philippines.

Tobe:

It's a different world right now and we have to embrace it for what it is

Tobe:

becoming, not what it was, or even what it is, because it's changing so fast.

Tobe:

Jay Paul Getty had a great quote.

Tobe:

He said, "In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy."

Tobe:

. And I really believe that.

Tobe:

I think that the experiences that we've had in the past, while they

Tobe:

will serve us as a foundation, they have to be pivoted upon in order for

Tobe:

us to maintain success in business.

Isabel:

Yeah, I was thinking the old saying necessity

Isabel:

is the mother of invention.

Isabel:

If we weren't forced into the scramble of figuring out how to do business

Isabel:

virtually, and, force technology creators to be more innovative then, wow!

Isabel:

I can't imagine.

Isabel:

We would've all just had to take a very long nap.

Isabel:

So this is good.

Isabel:

It is really great to put this in perspective, Tobe, about how this had

Isabel:

to become more mainstream and how it was possible and how that you have

Isabel:

thoughtfully leveraged technology to create a service business, a very

Isabel:

much needed service for entrepreneurs like myself, business owners like

Isabel:

myself but also people with brick and mortar establishments as well, right?

Tobe:

Yeah, absolutely.

Tobe:

Essentially, anything that you don't have to do in person, a virtual

Tobe:

assistant can do for you, and even some things that you can do in person.

Tobe:

We're experimenting right now with having medical professionals who are doing

Tobe:

client or patient intake type things.

Tobe:

They have a tablet.

Tobe:

They're on Zoom.

Tobe:

VA is on Zoom with them, and they are taking notes as they're talking

Tobe:

to the patient in the same room, and the VA is basically another

Tobe:

set of eyes and ears taking notes.

Tobe:

We went in to the real estate niche for a little while, and I was joking

Tobe:

with one of the real estate agents about, I really want to see if we could

Tobe:

have a VA do an open house, on Zoom.

Tobe:

Just live on Zoom and as people come in, they can ask them questions.

Tobe:

I think there's some licensing issues with that but, you're limited

Tobe:

really only by your imagination at the end of the day with what virtual

Tobe:

assistants can do for your business.

Isabel:

Okay, so you just inspired me to open up my own aperture and thinking

Isabel:

about like, how could I create more products and services and diversify

Isabel:

and create more value for my clients by thinking, less linearly, is that a word?

Isabel:

Linearly?

Isabel:

Just throw out the rule book and say why not?

Isabel:

What if a virtual assistant could do that for me?

Isabel:

Then what does that allow me more time, more brain space to create?

Isabel:

So I I love that there's no limit.

Isabel:

There's no upper limit on this.

Isabel:

So that's one of the things I promised everybody that I would have you

Isabel:

on a couple of episodes of this.

Isabel:

We're creating a series here right now.

Isabel:

Okay, so that's a wrap for Episode 101, the first leg of our fabulous tour

Isabel:

of the world of virtual assistance.

Isabel:

I want to thank our guest again, Toby Brockner, the founder and

Isabel:

thank him for sharing his years of experience as an entrepreneur and

Isabel:

lending all of that experience to us.

Isabel:

We've got four more episodes coming up in this series with Toby.

Isabel:

So if you liked what you heard today.

Isabel:

Wait till you know what we talk about tomorrow and the day after.

Isabel:

So subscribe, you know, do the thing, right?

Isabel:

Push the button, do this thing here, watch us on YouTube, listen to us on your

Isabel:

favorite podcast app, get the downloads, get Toby's book recommendations.

Isabel:

And you know what?

Isabel:

We're here, both of us, because we want to share with you what we

Isabel:

have learned through this great trip through entrepreneurship.

Isabel:

Come on back.

Isabel:

I'll see you in episode 102.

Isabel:

Thank you for spending this time with me.

Isabel:

I hope our conversation added value to your day and expanded your

Isabel:

vision for your legacy and impact.

Isabel:

Please join me in increasing my impact and expanding my reach to even more

Isabel:

people by sharing this episode on social media, with friends, and leaving a review

Isabel:

on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Or channel of choice to catch all the latest from me.

Isabel:

Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.

Isabel:

Connect with me and others in our community Facebook group, the Lift

Isabel:

As You Climb Movement, where you can engage, be inspired by and grow

Isabel:

with a tribe of like-minded people.

Isabel:

As I evolve as a podcaster and spokeswoman for collaboration and

Isabel:

economic empowerment, your input and feedback are especially important.

Isabel:

To me, I welcome your suggestions and questions to hello@theencorecatalyst.com.

Isabel:

Until we meet again, please remember your success may be the foundation

Isabel:

for someone else's to together we can raise success ladders around the world.

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