In the latest episode of E58, we had the pleasure of having Erica Holthausen as a guest. Erica shared her insights on writing articles for publication, building authority, and becoming a sought-after expert.

Here are 3 key takeaways from this episode:

1. Targeted Reach: Writing for association publications might just be the secret to reaching your exact target audience and building relationships. These publications are often overlooked but can be a powerful platform for showcasing your expertise.
2. Thought Leadership: Being a true thought leader is about more than just having a large following on social media. It requires deep thinking, thoughtful insights, and challenging the status quo. Prepare for resistance and backlash, but strive to be a thoughtful leader who makes a meaningful impact.
3. Reputation Matters: Building a strong reputation starts with knowing what you want to be known for. Every decision, opportunity, and article should enhance and align with that desired reputation. Don't be afraid to turn down misaligned opportunities and recommend them to someone else who is a better fit.

Are you curious to learn more about how writing for publications can boost your authority and visibility? Tune in to the latest episode of E58 and join the conversation! 🎙️📚

More About Our Guest:

Erica Holthausen is the founder of Catchline Communications, a consulting firm that equips experts with the tools they need to develop a robust body of work that bolsters their credibility and earns them a reputation as authoritative experts. Drawing on her experience as a freelance writer and editor, she guides her clients through the process of pitching, writing, and publishing articles in industry trade journals and business magazines. Her clients have secured bylines in high-visibility publications like Harvard Business Review, Inc., and Entrepreneur.

Connect with Erica Holthausen:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Connect with Erin and find the resources mentioned in this episode at hourlytoexit.com/podcast.

Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music

A Team Dklutr production

Hello ladies.

Welcome to this week's

Hourly to Exit podcast.

I have a wonderful

guest for you today, my

dear friend Eric Khen.

I always get your

Gimme your last name,

Erica.

I always get Khen.

You the T and the

H and it works.

Ah, there you go.

All right, now I've

got it settled.

So welcome.

Thank you for being

here and sharing your

wisdom with the audience.

So Erica and I go way back,

not with her last name

apparently, but we go way

back and I am very excited

to have her on today.

But before we dig into what

she does and how she helps,

audiences like ours, I'd love

Erica for you to introduce

yourself to the audience.

Yeah, so Erica Holsen.

I am the founder of Catchline

Communications and.

Live in New London,

Connecticut, which I

am currently obsessed

with this little city.

and inspired by you, Erin.

I have a little urban garden

and I had my first tomato and

first tomatillo yesterday.

Woo.

So it was very exciting.

Is this the right time of

year for tomatoes?

I don't,

They're just starting.

Okay.

So like all the

rest are green.

And then there was one that

was like, Actually red,

so it didn't last long.

I ate it before

the critters could.

Yeah.

when I used to have them,

they never got into the house.

I don't have any this year.

Get them warm off the vine

is the only way to eat those

things.

yes, yes.

Well,

please more about, what

you do and who you help.

Yeah.

So I am, effectively, I

work with consultants,

established consultants

and executives who want to.

Increase their visibility,

build their authority, and

learn how to write articles

for publications like

Harvard Business Review, Inc.

Entrepreneur, all of

that kind of thing.

So, runs the gamut from

figuring out which is

the right publication,

because there are a lot of

opportunities out there and

some that we don't think

about, like association

publications, but that.

Might be the perfect

place for you.

So it goes through picking

the right publication,

figuring out what is your

body of work, what are the

things that you're actually

going to talk about.

Then to the pitch, actually

writing the thing and what the

structure of an article is.

And then most importantly

and often overlooked is what

do you do with that article

after it's been published?

Because, Just getting an

article published in Harvard

Business Review is not

going to have the hoards

of humans knocking down

your door, so you have to

actually use it as an asset.

So how do you do that so

that you can accomplish

the goals that you set?

I mean, you said there are

a lot of things there that

I want to, circle back on,

especially the term high

visibility publications.

And you mentioned

big ones like Inc.

And Forbes and Harvard

Business Review.

but.

that may not be the

most visibility for

you and what you do.

So what does that mean,

the context of each of our

businesses?

Yeah, a hundred percent.

and I love that question

because everybody thinks

of, we talk about getting

writing articles for

publication, the first things

that come to mind are the

big business magazines.

But if your folks aren't

there, Even if they are,

but they're not as there

as they might be someplace

else, then it's not

high visibility for you.

So it's who are you

actually trying to reach?

What are you actually

trying to accomplish?

Association publications are

often overlooked, but those

can be such a powerful place

to not only get in touch with

your exact audience, but also

to build a relationship with

the folks at the association.

So I've had.

Clients who have written for

association publications.

And then guess what happens?

If you're actually providing

high quality content for their

members month after month

after month when they need

somebody to do a webinar,

to speak at the conference,

to do something else like

that, you are a natural

person for them to turn to.

Yeah.

I mean, I can say personally

that me, Forbes is a

flip through magazine.

Like I just kinda flip

through it and see anything,

I don't read it, Yeah.

Unlike, my association

magazines, which I do

actually read 'cause that

is very applicable to,

what I specifically I

want to find out about.

and one of the other things,

I mean, I know I've run into

this, when I have looked at

the submission guidelines

for some of the bigger.

publications.

I mean, they want you to

have published somewhere

else first, and so I see

sometimes yes, sometimes not

as often as you would think if

you are coming in as an expert

who is publishing that way.

They do want to see

writing samples, but those

writing samples don't

necessarily need to be with

a third party publication.

So they could be on your

blog, they could be on

on Medium, so it's more.

For coming in as an expert

where you are not being

paid for your writing.

That's what separates it

from the, freelance writers.

you're not being paid for your

writing, but you are getting

access to their audience.

They do wanna see writing

samples, but they're less

likely to care that much

about where else you have

been published if you've

been published elsewhere.

Okay.

Some do, but then you kind

of ladder up to those.

Okay.

and these are all for

publicity and not for pay?

Is that Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

Got it.

All right.

So for pay is a whole

different ball of wax.

but these are really to

get your ideas in front

of the right audience.

one of the benefits of

writing articles for

publication is that the

publication has vetted you.

So, Unlike writing a book,

frankly, which anybody can

write, and anybody can have

self-published on Amazon,

which in so many ways is

great because we have access

to so much more information.

But with writing articles

for publication, there's

an editorial team that has

vetted you and has decided,

yes, this is a person who

is worth listening to.

And with that sort of stamp

of approval Adds immediately

to, the credibility and

to building your authority

for what it is that you do.

Well, that's an

interesting way to put it.

because there, our access,

direct access to our

audience is everywhere from

podcast to our newsletter

to YouTube or, media.

Mm-hmm.

These publications, I

guess are one of the

last kind of gatekeepers.

Yeah.

So there's like that little

bit of a gatekeeping and

gatekeeping add credibility.

and part of it

is so few people.

this is still an area

that is expanding.

These publications

need this content.

Mm-hmm.

And a lot of folks don't

do it usually out of like

a little bit of fear.

And is that stepping onto a

platform that's like a little.

Like, ah, what happens

when I get this out there?

but by doing that alone,

that's a great differentiator

because if I have two

different consultants and

one has a column on ink And

otherwise they are both equal,

I'm probably going with the

one who has a column on ink.

Absolutely.

Now, when you mentioned the

need for content, ' cause

I'm still, I'm a certain

age, I was thinking paper,

but I imagine like most

of their content is online

now, so is that correct?

Yes.

Okay.

Alright.

Yes, and that's, where

the opportunity resides.

So the opportunity is not

to write for entrepreneur,

the magazine that

comes in your mailbox.

Mm-hmm.

It's the opportunity to

write for entrepreneur.com

and part of that is because

publications have always,

as long as they've been

around, they have required

advertising revenue to stay in

the black, to be able to make

ends meet when advertising

revenue moved online.

They needed more and

more content online.

Mm-hmm.

Online advertising revenue

is driven by traffic,

which is driven by search

engine optimization, which

is driven by content.

So they need way more

content than they could

possibly afford to create

if they were paying

their staff, writers and

freelancers to create it all.

So that huge need.

Offers an opportunity for

experts, then want to be

able to get in touch with

those audiences and they have

something valuable to share.

So it becomes a win for

the publication because

they're getting the content.

They need a win for the

experts because now they're on

this vetted platform that has

a much larger audience than

most of us have on our own.

And it's a win for the

reader because now I can read

articles that come through

the lens of a journalist.

Which is a little bit

different and articles that

come from folks who have boots

on the ground experience.

Right.

I love that.

Okay, so one of the terms

you've been using is expert

of course, and I know we've

had conversations before

about thought leadership

versus authoritative expert,

and tell me what your

thoughts are about that

thought leadership term.

This is such a difficult

question for me because.

the term thought leader

has been overused to such

an extent that it doesn't

mean anything anymore.

So I have always shied away

from that because so many of

the folks who are true thought

leaders are who were actually

either not remembered.

Because the thought leader

is the person out front.

So one person, Edwin

Land, a lot of people

don't know who he is.

He was the founder

of Polaroid.

Everybody knows Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was not

the thought leader.

He learned a whole bunch of

stuff from Edwin Land mm-hmm.

Who is effectively forgotten

except in certain little

nerdy circles, who have

a, Polaroid obsession.

other thought leaders who

are true thought leaders,

we do not, humans do

not do well with change.

So a true thought leader

is really, Changing the

dynamics of things and

there's going to be pushback.

Mm-hmm.

So, Dr.

Suzanne Ard is another

true thought leader.

She is.

In the nineties, she published

a piece in Nature Magazine.

was the person who discovered

that forests talked to each

other through those fungal

networks, the Microsol

networks, and a lot of

acclaim at first, and then

the forestry industry.

Went bananas and

she was blacklisted.

she almost, her career was

almost destroyed because they

didn't want to hear this.

They didn't want

this to be true.

That would require

them to the forestry

industry to fundamentally

change how it operates.

And that's scary.

It's a lot easier to just

blacklist some crazy woman

who says that trees talk.

true thought

leaders are often.

It is not a comfortable

place to be, and you don't

need to be a thought leader

to be a thoughtful leader.

Ah.

Mm-hmm.

And in fact, either

way, thought is at

the beginning of it.

People are saying, oh, I'm

putting out thought leadership

on LinkedIn every day.

No, you're not.

Like you're not.

deep thinking is behind

thought leadership.

So I think for me, the big

thing is if you want to

be a thought leader, and

if you have ideas that are

truly going to turn your

industry on its head, cool.

Go for it.

Make sure you have the support

of family members of friends

because you're going to it

because you are going to rock

a lot of boats and people

are going to get angry and

they're going to take it

out on you because humans

always shoot the messenger.

If you want to be a sought

after expert, an authoritative

expert, somebody who is the

go-to that folks know this

is somebody who really thinks

through things, who has some

insights and perspective and

wisdom to share, can do that.

And you can just be

a thoughtful leader.

I like

that.

I like that one.

Where do you think the

thought, where does

the thought leadership.

Term come from?

Do you

recall or?

Oh gosh.

It was a business magazine.

One of the editors at a

business magazine that was,

I think, affiliated with one

of the big consulting groups.

I wish I could remember

all the details.

He coined the term and, well,

he didn't coin the term.

The term was coined a

bajillion years ago when

somebody was writing about

a dead white guy and.

The person was already

dead and was considered

a thought leader.

Got it.

In some of the Connecticut

politics, basically, so

originally it was basically

referred to people who

were already dead and gone.

It was a legacy thing Was

the eighties or the nineties?

I'd have to look again,

but one of the publications

with one of the big

consulting firms was

profiling what they referred

to as thought leaders.

So it was people in their

industry who were making big

shifts and big changes and

were doing things differently.

So they, then

coined that term.

And then we mucked it up.

Yeah, exactly.

I was gonna say

it went from people whose,

contributions have stood

the test of time to those

people who are current,

mavericks, so to speak, to

like everyone with an opinion

apparently.

Yeah.

Yeah.

and it's, take all of this

with a bit of a grain of

salt because this is my

curmudgeonly approach to

the term thought leader.

If you love the word.

I'm not gonna

shame you for it.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

But you may not want to

actually do that, and that

word may not be as important.

it is also something

that is, granted to you.

It is not.

I am a thought leader.

Mm-hmm.

Saying I am a thought leader

is like saying, I am amazing.

It's just, braggardly.

Mm-hmm.

And it is usually something

that is bestowed upon you.

You have earned that

title from somebody else.

So when somebody else

refers to you as a thought

leader, puff up a little.

Mm-hmm.

Take some pride in that

because that's cool.

Right.

Well, the interesting

thing about that is,

if you are a consultant

with corporate clients,

they want some measure

of safety and certainty.

They don't want someone

who's way out of the

pack and who knows what.

Gonna happen.

Like they've kind of know

like, okay, these are the

results I'm gonna get.

I know she gets some

time and time again

and everyone's happy.

Like that's kind of

what they're buying.

They're not buying.

Yeah.

They don't, they don't

want to be leadership.

Yeah.

They don't want to be your

laboratory like Right.

Definitely not.

They have a problem.

They want a solution and yeah.

so that's the other piece

is I think that phrase

thought leader has taken

on such an oversized.

Meaning an idea that it's

lost its original meaning

and it's probably not

what your clients want.

Right.

It's

more become a sales pitch.

Yeah.

For people who wanna you.

Thought leadership

training kind of thing,

or, yeah.

because now like everybody

and their brother is

like, you can hire me to

do thought leadership.

Like, no, no, you can't.

Then it's no.

That way.

Stop it.

Now, speaking of

working with people to show

their expertise, to become

the go-to person, like who

is the ideal client for you?

How do we know we're

ready for high visibility

publications?

Yeah, great question.

So, You have to have

experience-based expertise.

that's the primary key.

So I do a lot of work

with consultants who

are quite established

in their businesses.

I work with executives and

some business coaches.

But the key is if you're

new to the field and

you're still learning,

right, please do right.

Maybe not for high

visibility publications

quite yet, because you

might be still working

out how this all works.

And please, for the love

of God, do not write a book

when you have just started

your business because

a book is, in terms of,

assets and how they become

more valuable over time.

Writing on your blog is

a great place to explore

writing on LinkedIn.

Great place to explore your

ideas, figure out your own

perspective, figure out

your point of view, figure

out your writing style

and your voice, your blog.

Same thing.

Then there's high

visibility publications

where it's like, okay.

I have a very established

perspective and I have

the receipts to back up my

perspective, so I have the

experience with clients to

back up what I'm saying here.

And then I would argue, after

you have the articles, that's

when you can also do a book.

Mm-hmm.

Because the book is going

to be like that thing is

gonna stick around for a

long time if it is good.

If it is relevant, if it is

Evergreen articles, if you

write an article and a couple

years later you're like,

yeah, I've really changed how

I think about this, nobody's

gonna see the damn thing.

Mm-hmm.

Unless you are sharing.

But a book is a huge amount

of investment of energy,

time, effort, money.

So really the best folks

are folks who have.

They've gone through that

first exploring phase.

They know who it is

that they're serving.

They have a very strong point

of view and perspective.

and one of the ways to know

if you have a strong point of

view or perspective is if you

read things in your industry

and you're like, but mm-hmm.

Or Yes.

And because they're missing

something or no, because.

That means that is indication

that you've got a strong

perspective When you start

disagreeing or wanting to

add more context and nuance

to what is already out

there, that's when you're

ready for high visibility

publications, because that's

when you are adding to

the conversation instead

of adding to the noise.

Hmm.

That is great.

Yes.

I do have noticed as well on

my side of, things that when

people are struggling, instead

of getting better at whatever,

they continue to work on

it, that they're looking for

other ways to, get exposure.

Like in your instance, like,

I'm a newbie, so I wanna get

my name out there, so I wanna.

Right.

For high publications.

On my end, someone will

have some sort of product

or a framework that

they're trying to sell.

They're not fully booked,

but they think they've got

a great framework, and so

maybe other consultants would

wanna license it too, like,

No wait until you, if you're

not fully booked yourself

and you have, don't have

proof of concept, then you're

too early and you need some

more work there to develop

a little bit more before

you're ready for the next

stage.

So, yeah.

Yeah, I love that parallel

because it's true.

You need to have proof of

concept and otherwise you're

going to waste your own

time, money, and effort,

and you don't ever wanna put

something out that is, That

permanent and that big a

deal that five years down the

line you're going, oh God,

can we just make it go away?

Yeah.

Don't that way back machine

to say what I was saying.

Right.

Like some of that is natural.

Like I look at stuff

that I wrote a while ago

and I'm like, Ooh girl.

No.

but like if it's on my

own blog, it means I

can just refresh it.

There you go.

There you go.

But other things like,

there's such a, push for

doing everything faster

and bigger and blah,

blah, blah, blah, blah.

And you can write

a book in 30 days.

Sure.

You can.

It's gonna be trash.

Mm-hmm.

But you can, There's so much

pressure to do things quickly.

You cannot think deeply if

you are trying to do things

quickly, and if you do things

quickly, They are not going

to be appreciating assets.

Mm-hmm.

They're going to be

depreciating assets.

Mm-hmm.

If you're going to write for

a high visibility publication

or put together a book, make

it an appreciating asset

that you can use over and

over and over and over again.

Great advice.

Now, back to the body of

work that, I know you like to

use the tree analogy and the

forest analogy, but, as people

are developing that body of

work, how should they think

about what to write about?

How do they make sure it's

kind of unified and it

all kind of talks to each

other?

Yeah, so the biggest

unifying force is knowing

what is the reputation

you are trying to build?

What do you want

to be known for?

Every single thing we

do, every opportunity we

accept, every article we

write either enhances or

diminishes that opportunity.

or that reputation.

Use the reputation you

are trying to build.

I want to be known for X.

Use that as the filter.

Because we will

all be approached.

It happens all the time where

we get approached by somebody.

It's like, Ooh, that's

such a great opportunity.

it's fun, it's sexy.

I get in front of all

of these folks, but

it's not quite aligned.

Mm-hmm.

When we say yes to something

that's not quite aligned,

it muddies the waters.

It makes it not a

hundred percent clear.

it is that we do and

who it is that we serve.

So instead of saying yes to

those, I always recommend

take that and you probably

know someone for whom

it is perfectly aligned.

So turn that, miss

opportunity, that's a

miss into a gift and

give it to somebody else.

But in terms of writing and

creating your body of work,

Knowing the reputation that

you are trying to build, that

is the most critical piece.

And then, okay, this

is the reputation I

am trying to build.

Collecting questions from your

client's, problems that you've

solved, all of that can help.

And you evaluate each

one against, will this

enhance or this reputation?

If it enhances,

great, go for it.

Keep writing about

that kind of stuff.

Figure out where the

gaps are in your own

work, but also figure out

where the gaps are in the

conversation that others

in your world are having.

Mm-hmm.

So if you're doing your

professional development

and you're reading things

in your industry and you're

seeing where people are either

oversimplifying something,

Or overcomplicating it.

That is a great gap for

you to fill to be able to

say like, let's actually

look at the nuance.

Mm-hmm.

Here's why this is over

complicated and here's

what you can do and why

this actually works.

Mm-hmm.

Or here's why this

is oversimplified

and what you can do.

And why it works.

that is great advice.

I'll say like, part of this

podcast is just for me to get

free advice from consultant.

I admire.

Granted, you're very generous

with your, information anyway,

but, I have and continue to

work with, what should be the

content of my body of work

because I can kind of go in

a lot of different places and

like, Kind of do sometimes.

And so, within the IP bucket,

like there's a lot of Yeah.

Little buckets in there.

Yeah.

And I do find myself

constantly pulled into

that general like, well,

what about trademarks

and what about patents?

I'm like, I don't know

what, I don't care.

Like that's, It's

not, copyright,

copyright, copyright.

And so it's been a

real struggle for me

to stay in my lane.

'cause it's really,

'cause people immediately

wanna kind of pull you

away.

And it's hard because

people pull you, but also

you want to be helpful.

Yes, And I know more

than you do about a thing,

even if it's not my right.

I want to be helpful.

Right.

But as soon as we do

that, Then, it's sort

of that like, be careful

what you're good at.

Mm-hmm.

Because suddenly you'll end

up doing all of that thing

just because you're good at it

and you're like, I hate this.

Right.

Thanks.

I'm good at it.

I hate doing it.

and then you get more

of those requests.

So yes.

Yeah, it's not easy

to stay in your lane,

but the more you can.

Have a filter.

And I think sometimes this

is also where that deep

and deep work comes in.

Sometimes you have

to take a break.

we swim in this Kool-Aid

that has so many opinions

about what we should do,

how we should do it, who

we are, who we should be,

like, all of those things.

Sometimes I think just

silencing all of that noise

so that you can connect

With your own self, with

your inner wisdom and see,

okay, yes, I can do this.

Is it, is this the

direction that I want to go?

Mm-hmm.

Or is this the thing

that I really want to do?

And the stronger that filter

can be, the easier it is to

push off some other folks,

because there will always be

some folks that you're like,

but I really wanna do this.

And yeah.

so you'll misstep every

once in a while, but

it makes it easier.

How do you find time

for deep thinking?

I have trouble

with that one too.

I'm very reactive to my

inbox, put it that way.

Yeah.

So I am being good, which

is not always, I don't open

email or LinkedIn until

10 o'clock in the morning.

I'm an early bird, so I

am, that is when my, brain

works best the later in

the day, the dumber I am.

so like 6:00 AM is

when I'm like, yes.

so oftentimes, I have had

a, free writing practice

for over 10 years now.

Every morning I take

10 minutes and I do a

free write, and it's

the way I start my day.

I try not to turn on

email or LinkedIn until

at least 10 o'clock, so I

try to carve out an hour

and a half for writing,

deep thinking work time.

This sometimes works and

sometimes doesn't because

the pull of the computer

and the pull of all these,

no, like I also turned off

all notifications and my

smartphone is the dumbest

smartphone you will ever meet.

It has no apps.

because I Sounds perfect,

had to do that for me.

Otherwise I'm like,

Ooh, squirrel new thing.

Ooh, ooh, ooh.

some of it Just that.

And then I recently

started carving out, I

take a week long mini

sabbatical every quarter.

Wow.

And that doesn't mean I'm

not working, but it means

I don't have any meetings.

Mm-hmm.

And it's a combination

of, work and not work.

I don't read any

business stuff.

Sometimes we, just

get too inundated.

Mm-hmm.

I read essays and fiction

and things that just

delight me, and I played

a little bit in my garden.

I wrote some copy for my

website because that's being

redone so that of the mind.

Helped tremendously when I

came back because I felt more

focused, more energized, more

clear about what it is that

I am trying to accomplish

and what my goals are.

similarly to that, I list,

I have right here actually.

Mm-hmm.

I have three priorities for a

quarter, no more than three.

Mm, mm-hmm.

Any more than three,

and like, I'm sunk.

I,

I'm afraid I'm not

gonna show you.

I've got, I'm gonna show

you what mine are, right?

This is a

lie.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, then there's my to-do

list, and that's a whole

different, like ball of crazy.

But, but I try to kind of

condense that down because

it's like, okay, if you're

pulled in too many different

directions, we've all

had that experience where

it's like, oh my God, I,

worked so hard today and

what did I accomplish?

Right.

I have no idea.

Yeah.

I have never done, I mean, At

some point in my career, I'll

figure this out of how to like

really make dedicated time.

Like your, when we go on

sabbatical per quarter,

that really does help

you just come back fresh.

'cause I don't know how to

get out of the thick of it.

That's something I need

to, I definitely need work

on.

Yeah.

it's hard and it took a long

time of hearing from a mutual

friend of ours, Chloe Ngu.

Mm-hmm.

saying that she takes many

sabbaticals for me to be

like, I'm gonna do that.

Like I'm gonna try that and

then I actually set it up

for this, the rest of this

year and all of next year.

Mm-hmm.

So it's already carved

out in my calendar.

'cause if it's, not

on my calendar, then

I'm definitely sunk.

that is so good.

' cause no one can

put meeting there.

No.

Right.

Wow.

That's, a little bit brave

though, don't you think?

did it scare you to do

that?

It did, it absolutely

terrified me to do it.

'cause it's that's a big deal.

It is a big deal.

Mm-hmm.

And I will say that I

chose things like my first

sabbatical was over July 4th.

Mm-hmm.

So, That's a lower

key time anyway.

Mm-hmm.

The next one is

over Thanksgiving.

Again, it tends to be a

bit of a lower key time.

Mm-hmm.

so I did kind of.

Choose dates that felt

like, okay, I could

get away with this.

Mm-hmm.

which is a terrible way to,

think about it because it's

also these mini sabbaticals

are, this is not vacation.

Right.

So that's the other sort

of reminder to myself,

because I'm terrible at

actually taking time off

to actually go on vacation.

Mm-hmm.

but it's a great reminder

to myself that it's like,

yeah, when I do this, the

dividends are so, Huge.

Mm-hmm.

And I feel clearer and

it's so much easier to

filter out the stuff that

we are bombarded with that

just isn't for me because.

There's always more than

one way to do a thing.

Yes.

All right.

Well that is fantastic advice,

and speaking of, feeling like

some guilt or being brave

in order to take time for

ourselves and do some deep

thinking, as founders of

our own businesses, I mean,

the whole reason we're doing

this is so that we can have

greater impact and bring our

own genius to, the world.

And so we really do need

to make time for those

things to make sure

that we are at our best.

So, this is a very

meta podcast and

it's hourly to exit.

'cause I have to talk

about, growing our expertise

based businesses from that

unsustainable, hourly type

of work to one that maybe we

could possibly sell someday.

So I have to ask you,

have you thought about

growing your business

to sell it sometime in

the future?

Because of you, I have, and

I've gone back and forth on

whether that is my desire.

Or not exactly what that, and

exactly what that looks like

and what are the different

ways that could show up.

one of the things that I

did just a couple of years

ago is I started small

group cohort program.

So I have a lot of.

Frameworks, like I have IP

asset sort of inventory thing.

Like I have a lot of things

and I'm like, this is cool.

I have a lot of things here.

So I think it would be

possible, which is something

that's a huge change for me.

'cause when I started it

was like, well that wouldn't

possibly be possible.

And now I'm like, actually

might be able to license

some of this stuff, right?

Mm-hmm.

So it's now at least has

a home in my head and.

We'll see, it's something

that is, I am surprised to

say it is something that I

am, is under consideration.

Mm-hmm.

It's not my current

goal and I, don't think

I am ready for it.

As you were talking

earlier with like, you

really have to have like

the proof in the pudding.

Yeah.

The proof is not

in the pudding yet.

It's still, new enough

that I'm, developing

that out, but, It's now

something that's like, oh,

this might be the thing.

Yeah.

Well, I mean, of course

the things that help you

scale and bring leverage to

your business today are the

things that possibly could

become saleable tomorrow.

So it's not about five years

from now or 10 years from now.

It's about tomorrow really.

And having a.

Better, business that,

helps you decouple your

income from your time,

which, I love to talk about.

Yeah.

So as we wrap up, we have a

couple of final questions.

One is, as you know, we

believe in creating an economy

that works for everyone,

and so I'm wondering if

there is an organization

that you'd like to share

that is helping create more

opportunities for people.

Yeah.

this is such a hard

question because there

are so many organizations

locally where I am that I

absolutely love, but I'm

going to choose Start Fresh.

Start Fresh.

Connecticut is an organization

in New London, Connecticut.

It helps resettle refugees.

So, I think it was not

even a year ago, several

refugees from Afghanistan

were brought to Connecticut.

This organization helped

settle that family and

they help get the kiddos

into school, get workforce

training for mom and dad,

get English language skills

training for anybody who

needs that they find housing.

So it's just, it's this

wonderful organization that.

Looks at the family

holistically.

It's not just like,

Hey, you're here.

Cool, and like dump and run.

Right?

it's an investment of, at

least a year, but often

longer than that to help the

family really get settled

and get what they need.

I.

Wonderful.

We will have links

to their organization

in the show notes.

And so now I, know

there's something exciting

happening in your business.

Is there something that you

can share with our audience?

Yeah.

one of the things that I

have done, it started as

an experiment a couple

of years ago, and.

I decided I would do

it as long as I found

it fun and other people

found it valuable.

And it's a monthly mini

training and q and a that

I call pitch to published.

So every month I have

a different, theme.

So we'll talk about

headlines one month or how

to structure an article or.

How do you write a pitch?

all of those different things.

So there's a theme for the

mini training, and then I

just open the floor for folks

to ask whatever questions

they have, and I do my

level best to answer them.

So it's a great

place for folks who.

Are curious about might

be curious about me.

I'm a strong cup

of tea and I'm not

everybody's cup of tea.

So it lets them know

like, awesome, yes,

you're my person, or

No, you make me bananas.

so yeah, that's,

probably the thing.

I've now been doing it

for almost three years.

Mm-hmm.

And I just, every month I

am surprised and delighted

that people show up and, We

have a great conversation.

we do, we do.

I've been to few and they

are fantastic and Erica is a

great leader of trainings and

masterminds and things like

that, so it is a lot of fun.

So we'll also have links

to that in the show notes.

Now, speaking of you're

current, where you are

currently talking about

as we record this, as the

headlines, and so of course

now you're in my head when

I'm creating headlines.

So, my newsletter tomorrow

will have headline.

IP in Haiku.

And so I think the

headline has to have a

promise and I need to,

satisfy like the promise

of the headline, right?

And so, I do have

a haiku about IP

in my newsletter.

Excellent.

Aaron Austin, making IP fun.

all right, so finally,

where can people

find you?

so my website is catchline

communications.com and

I am on delighted to say

I am on one and only one

social media platform.

So you can also find

me on LinkedIn I'm very

active there, so if you

do hop by, like say hello.

Yeah.

You and me both

on that LinkedIn,

there's that, you know?

it.

Yeah, yeah, It allows me to

maintain my sanity by just

being on that one platform.

Well,

this has been so much fun.

Thank you again for

coming on, hanging out and

sharing your wisdom with

me and with the audience.

Oh,

such a pleasure.

All right.

We

will talk again soon.