Every episode this season has focused on business strategies that apply to arts management, such as patron retention, leveraging the subscription and membership economy, ecommerce, and digital content (to name a few!).

And in this episode, we look at how these strategies apply to my own business, Changing the Narrative—and how those same strategies have guided the evolution of my business over the last year or so as we’ve scaled up. 

We walk through my personal experience with growing Changing the Narrative, including the areas I needed to step away from, as well as the areas I decided to lean into further and build out. I also highlight some of the key lessons I've learned in hiring and building an effective team, using data and analytics for direction, and how important of a tool digital content is. My hope is you will find these lessons to be both relatable and applicable to your own arts organization.

The article mentioned several times: Scarcity Mindset Is Killing Your Arts Organization

Hey everyone, I am excited to bring you today's episode

2

because it's a little different than most

of the other episodes I've ever done.

3

That is because we are spending

the entire time today looking

4

inward at my own business.

5

So this is sort of a real peel

back the curtain kind of look

6

at some things I've been up to.

7

As you know, unless this is your very

first episode, in which case Welcome.

8

Otherwise, as you know, this season on

the Offstage Mike, we are talking about

9

strategies to combat the challenges

we face in the cultural sector.

10

And every episode has focused

on strategies borrowed from the

11

business world that have proven

successful across patron retention.

12

Subscriptions, e commerce, raising money,

and digital content, to name a few topics.

13

And you literally hear those exact phrases

in my podcast trailer for this season,

14

plus some of those in the welcome intro

theme that you'll hear in a moment, right?

15

I was thinking about all of that,

and I had the idea for this episode

16

a while back now, because it was when

I was planning out all the episodes

17

for this season, thinking about

those different topics I just listed.

18

And I had one more slot to fill.

19

I had been going through the mental

Rolodex thinking on what might be

20

helpful to you all listening as I

was going through that list, patron

21

retention, subscriptions, e commerce,

raising money, digital content.

22

I realized, I mean, I always

knew this, but somehow it

23

hit different in the moment.

24

That is to say, I realized that every

one of those topics is something I

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do in my own business every day, just

like everybody working in their day

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to day jobs at cultural organizations.

27

So, to break it down, customer retention.

28

My goal since launching my business

about five years ago now has been

29

to provide so much value that

people keep coming back for more.

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And just like an arts organization,

repeat customers are worth more,

31

they have a higher lifetime value,

and they mean that the work is

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Really actually making a difference.

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And otherwise you, they, people

wouldn't come back, right?

34

Subscriptions.

35

We'll talk a lot more about this

in this episode, but I launched

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my own subscription membership

product a year and a half ago.

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I am just so fascinated these days by

the membership and subscription economy.

38

I learned as much as I could about it when

I was researching and writing my book.

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There's a whole chapter on this.

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If you've read it, you know,

deep dive just really had me sold

41

on the value and benefits of.

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What we can learn from the

membership economy and subscription

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revenue and recurring revenue.

44

And I wanted to practice

what I preach, to be honest.

45

I wanted to be working firsthand

on a subscription product.

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I was, of course, when I was in my other

full time arts administration jobs, but

47

I wanted in my work now to be employing

all the principles, strategies, and

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tactics I learned about, which makes me

that much more able to then help others

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as you all are applying these strategies.

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And your daily work, too.

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So more on that to come, but moving

down the list here, e commerce.

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Almost my entire business

now is e commerce based.

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That is the biggest part of my own

evolution and my business evolution.

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The biggest change at changing

the narrative is how much e

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commerce is a priority now.

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And wow, have I learned.

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So much and have continued to grow my

own chops in an online e commerce world.

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So a lot more to share on

this in this episode too.

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What else?

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Uh, raising money.

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This one I guess is probably where

I differ the most from traditional

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arts organizations right now.

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I just don't raise money in the

same way with individual donors

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because I'm not a non profit.

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I still occasionally write some grants

that I qualify for as a small business

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owner, as a women owned small business.

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So fine, but not the main focus

of this episode, I suppose.

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Digital content.

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This is so important to both arts

organizations and my own business

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now, probably any business anywhere.

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The concepts and strategies

are just all so similar.

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I've come to Not just know or see, but

really like deeply feel and believe.

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So similar in terms of using content to

educate, to make people want more from

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you, to be that gateway to more content

and ultimately the product that you offer.

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Content driving hunger for more.

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So all of those are topics

that I talk about all the time.

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They affect so many of us, no matter your

role in arts management, no matter if

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you are at an orchestra, opera, ballet

or other dance company, a theater.

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If you work in jazz, museum, or

other visitor based institution,

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the point is these topics affect

all of us in arts and culture.

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I draw the parallels to my own business

quite often, I feel like, but suddenly,

82

as I said, I had this moment where

it kind of hit different, and I had

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this thought of, you know, I'm Aubrey,

so talk about it, share what you're

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doing, share what you've learned.

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It's going to be helpful

to somebody listening.

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I hope that proves true and

here's the plan for what we're

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going to do in this episode.

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I have made big changes in my own business

over the last year and a half or so.

89

We're going to talk through it

all and why I chose to make those

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changes, what I did and why, why

I chose to make those changes.

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So, we're going to talk through it all,

and not just the what, but why, why did

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I make those changes, and how it relates

to the strategies and topics so many

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arts organizations and so many of you

all are also working on on a daily basis.

94

Along the way, I am also going to share

some practical, tactical tools, programs,

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software, in other words, kind of the tech

stack that I use, as I get a fair amount

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of questions on this, especially for

smaller arts organizations or students.

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Startup organizations or new ensembles.

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But some of these tools, I will say,

are even for the big organizations,

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too, and really don't depend that much

on budget size or staff size at all.

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So hopefully something in there is

helpful to different folks listening.

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I have all of that for you in a

free resource that you can get

102

if you want the list to quickly

reference, get the URLs, the details.

103

Go to my website.

104

It's aubreybergauer.

105

com slash 28.

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That's 2 8 for episode 28.

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And you can download

my total resource list.

108

That's what it's called.

109

And it has all my favorite tools,

programs, services that hopefully

110

some are helpful to you too.

111

This is now the penultimate episode

of the season, and just, I will

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tease for you here that I am working

on something really great for you.

113

Speaking of resources and tools, it is

another new free resource to help you over

114

the summer And as you're prepping for the

fall, as long as you're listening to this

115

in real time, that is, when this airs,

I will share more in the next episode.

116

So the final episode of the

season, I'll share more on this.

117

But just so you know, you

don't want to miss it.

118

If you are not on my email list, you

need to go there now to be notified.

119

New free resource.

120

So it's aubreybergauer.

121

com slash free resource.

122

And that's going to get

you on my email list.

123

So when it's time for me to be able to

share this with you, you're going to

124

get it, you're going to get notified.

125

So that's if you like free things.

126

For now, we have this episode to get to.

127

We are talking about building

a business to scale and how

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my own business has changed.

129

Welcome to episode seven of

season three of The Offstage

130

Mike, and it starts right now.

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I'm Aubrey Bergauer, and

welcome to my podcast.

132

I'm known in the arts world for

being customer centric, data

133

obsessed, and for growing revenue.

134

The arts are my vehicle to make the

change I want to see in this world, like

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creating places of belonging, pursuing

gender and racial equality, developing

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high performing teams and leaders, and

leveraging technology to elevate our work.

137

I've been called the Steve

Jobs of classical music at the

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Sheryl Sandberg of the symphony.

139

I've helped offstage roles managing

millions of dollars in revenue at

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major institutions and as chief

executive of an orchestra where we

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doubled the size of the audience and

nearly quadrupled the donor base.

142

And now I'm here to help you

achieve that same kind of success.

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In this podcast, we are sorting

through the data inside and outside

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the arts, applying those findings.

145

Findings to our work, leading out

with our values, and bringing in

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some expert voices along the way.

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All to build the vibrant future

we know is possible for our

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institutions and for ourselves as

off stage administrators and leaders.

149

This podcast is about

optimizing the business around

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the art, not sacrificing it.

151

You're listening to the Offstage Mic.

152

Have you read Core Storm's, new

State-of-the-Art Report, yet it's a

153

data-driven resource for all things

arts education in the past year.

154

This one is for all the executive

directors of nonprofit arts organizations,

155

teaching artists and other leaders

in the arts and culture community.

156

Imagine tapping into more than 10

years of exclusive class registration

157

data to uncover invaluable

insights for your organization.

158

CourseStorm has done the legwork

so you can make informed decisions.

159

Things like what day and time is

best to hold your class, when do most

160

people register, and which digital

marketing channel is most effective.

161

Discover the successes and

strategies of arts education

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programs that not only weathered the

pandemic storm, but are thriving.

163

Yes, you heard that right.

164

Thriving.

165

I love that the State of the Arts report

shares exclusive data from the top class

166

registration software company, CoreStorm.

167

I got to see trends discovered from

CoreStorm's analysis of more than

168

one million class registrations,

and you'll want to see them too.

169

So, if you're ready to elevate your

education program, don't miss out

170

on the State of the Arts report.

171

Visit Core storm.com/soar.

172

That's slash SOAR, like the

acronym for State of the Arts.

173

And download the free report today.

174

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187

Aubrey Bergauer: So, as I said

at the top, a lot has changed

188

in the last year and a half.

189

A lot has changed at

changing the narrative.

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So I am recording this now in May 2024,

if you're listening to this in real time.

191

So May 2024, and everything I'm

about to share with you began really

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in November of 2022, I would say.

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So about one and a half years ago.

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November, December, that time frame

is when I do normally a lot of

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annual planning for the year ahead.

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So November of 2022,

I was doing just that.

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At the time, I was facing a A few

challenges in my business, namely

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just how I had maxed out how many

people in organizations I could serve.

199

That's a good problem to have,

of course, but what really

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doesn't scale is time, right?

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That's true for any of us.

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We all have limits on our time.

203

I was doing a lot of one on one work,

which I realized was kind of the

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fundamental crux of the problem here.

205

I was doing one on one work in the form

of a lot of on site consulting, a lot of

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on site workshops, and some one on one

coaching as individuals would reach out.

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I just realized that, that just,

that's the reason it doesn't scale.

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There's only so many

hours in the day, right?

209

It became clear that the, the way to

scale is you move away from one on

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one to a model that's one to many.

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So also happening simultaneously is I

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November 1st, I had, this date is so

burned into my brain, I had turned in

213

the first draft manuscript of my book.

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That means I had just finished writing,

I mean, all of it, but in particular

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the chapters on monetizing education.

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I And the subscription membership economy.

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I was like, you know, talking to myself,

Aubrey, you can serve more people.

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The answer is like, hello,

staring you in the face.

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So I started making a plan to move

to that one to many scalable model

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based on monetizing the education

that I had previously offered as in

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person workshops and consulting, plus

incorporating all I had learned on

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the subscription membership economy.

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I spent all of 2023 doing that,

moving everything over, really

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changing so much of the model.

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So, what did that entail?

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Here's what that looked like.

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I always talk about changes

step by step, little by little.

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If you have followed me for probably

just about any amount of time, you've

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probably heard me talk about this.

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I talk a lot about iteration.

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Just start.

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Doing something is better than nothing.

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Like, just take a step, a small step,

whatever that looks like for you.

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Toward whatever thing you're moving

toward, you know, just begin, right?

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Do something, not nothing.

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And progress, not perfection.

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That's another one I talk about a lot.

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For me, I thought, okay, that's what this

is gonna, that's what it's gonna take.

239

You just gotta start moving.

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That meant finding ways to

make my time more scalable.

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I thought, okay, I need to reduce

the number of one on ones I do.

242

That includes number one on ones

with individuals plus the number

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of one on ones with organizations.

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Point two for me on this was

I said, Aubrey, you cannot

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give away your time for free.

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And that meant, you know, the old model

of the business was, was doing that.

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It was intake calls, for example, or

writing proposals that may never even

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result in contract work agreement, right?

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It meant.

250

Sometimes giving away time for free

was letting people, you know, pick

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my brain when they reach out to me.

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I was realizing, you know, contributing

to the problem I was having with my

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time not scaling, and I needed to stop.

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Reframe how I view my time so

that I could reallocate that

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time to serving more people.

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Okay.

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I said, also, I need to find a

way to reduce that on site work.

258

I was doing lots of long haul model

trainings, and honestly, probably

259

about like 95 percent of the content

was mostly the same for everyone.

260

I thought, okay, clearly there's

redundancy there that I can figure

261

out how to streamline better.

262

I was looking at, in terms of time,

making time more scalable, managing my

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digital presence, my own digital content.

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I had gotten better over the years at

getting more efficient, at developing

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processes that streamlined, but I

knew I needed to keep iterating on

266

that one, really finding kind of the

next way, next step, to improve that

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piece of my And again, I had just

written a whole chapter on that.

268

I, what is that chapter?

269

Three, I think, is all about

digital content driving the desire

270

for our services and products.

271

So I had just come off of writing

that chapter, reading the research,

272

consuming way more case studies

than even made it into the book.

273

And I just realized this was an area

not just ripe for improvement, but

274

an area I was under investing in.

275

I had decided.

276

I wrote a blog article that's now

kind of fast forwarding just a few

277

months ago on overcoming scarcity

mindset and investing even when you

278

think you don't have enough resources.

279

So anybody who read that blog

article, when did that come out?

280

March or maybe March of

this year, I'm thinking.

281

But anyways, put a pin in that is

the point because we'll come back to

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it as I talk about building out the

team to support these strategies.

283

But just know for now, I knew that

digital content was a strategy

284

that had paid off in years past.

285

I literally started my business.

286

It was 10 years ago as a side

hustle because of the blog content

287

I was creating at the time.

288

So I knew that content was effective

and that it was going to continue to be

289

part of the model going forward, but I

just knew that it was time for kind of

290

that next iteration, whatever I could

figure out what that would look like.

291

Moving on though, other parts of

my business, speaking engagements.

292

That was one of two things I

already had as part of my offerings

293

that were already one to many.

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And, you know, anytime you get

on stage in front of a group

295

of people, that's one to many.

296

It's also something that I

generally really like, so

297

wanted to keep that in the mix.

298

The other thing, I said there were two

things that were already one too many,

299

the other was my up level course, which

used to be called Summer Up Level,

300

I'll talk about iterating, before

that it was the Young Professionals

301

Leadership Development course, through

those iterations I already had done.

302

Leading up to 2022, three iterations

of proof of concept of this

303

online one to many model working.

304

And then also the

Comeback Planning Sprint.

305

For anybody who did that in 2021,

that was my OG course online.

306

So for anybody who did the Comeback

307

I still think about the cohort.

308

I did two cohorts of that

and you all were wonderful.

309

All of that means that I already had been

doing some one to many work offerings.

310

I wanted to continue to build on

that, build on what was working there.

311

Again, iteration, what's the next

version of this to level up for me?

312

Here are the different

offerings I came up with.

313

Knowing me, I will likely

continue to iterate and evolve.

314

And of course, that's going to happen.

315

But here's where I started.

316

Given all of that that I just laid out for

you, I decided to make my flagship program

317

the Run It Like a Business Academy.

318

The material I was sharing over and

over again in that one on one consulting

319

work, the long haul model, anything

else people were asking of me, All

320

of that, I was like, okay, this is

how we're going to reconfigure this

321

and package this up to scale better.

322

And here's one more added problem

that I wanted to solve for

323

as I was moving this forward.

324

That problem is that I had found over the

last five years of doing the in person

325

consulting work, one on one, I say one

on one, like going to an organization,

326

doing the workshops, is that organizations

wanted to bring me in, and I would go,

327

usually for like a two day kind of a

workshop or retreat, and After five

328

years of that I realized I don't think

I can foster lasting change, sustainable

329

change, lasting impact in two days.

330

Over the years, maybe even longer

than five years, because so much

331

of this started as a side hustle

before I ever left my full time job.

332

running the orchestra.

333

And so just seeing that again

and again was plaguing me a

334

little bit, I think, is the word.

335

And I realized that I need to be more of

a guide, not a get in, get out, right?

336

I talk so much, here we are again, talk

so much about being iterative, going step

337

by step, building organizational muscle,

pilot testing, and then building on that.

338

And I had just come to the conclusion that

Workshop is the opposite of that, right?

339

Like you just don't see, or at

least I wasn't seeing real change

340

that way in the way I wanted to.

341

I want the organizations and people I

work with to be successful, to crush it.

342

I saw that I needed to offer the

material in a different way and plenty of

343

organizations were having some success,

but I just wanted, I wanted more.

344

I hope this is making sense.

345

Like, you know, I just, Sometimes

you get hungry for more, right?

346

I wanted organizations to be able to

just like run, fly, not hear what I

347

had to say, feel warm and fuzzy and

inspired for a couple days, and then

348

go right back to doing what they were

doing because they didn't have all

349

the tools they needed to continue

going on their own without me there.

350

So more of a guide, not

get in, get out, right?

351

Guide, not consultant,

really, is what I would say.

352

Putting all this back together,

this Run It Like a Business

353

Academy became my vehicle to help

organizations apply the top business

354

strategies I've become known for.

355

step by step.

356

It's also the primary vehicle to move

that consulting work at organizations I

357

used to do on a one on one, org by org

basis, now to this one to many model.

358

Lastly, it's my top vehicle for

serving organizations going forward.

359

And this is really important for people

to know about me and my business now.

360

I want ongoing success with me

by their side, by your side.

361

Not get in and get out.

362

Okay, maybe this is worth mentioning,

I guess, sometimes organizations did

363

recognize their need for ongoing support.

364

I would get these calls and I would

hear what they were asking and

365

all I could think in my head was,

I don't want to be your surrogate

366

executive director or your surrogate

marketing VP or something like that.

367

on board with me with like a retainer

model to do some of that is pretty

368

pricey for organizations anyways.

369

And that's another problem I

needed to solve for were, you know,

370

the budget constraints that are

so real for arts organizations.

371

All of that, again, just supported

this idea of being an ongoing guide

372

in a more lasting way than a workshop.

373

All in a way that's scalable that

addressed, you know, a lot of the

374

issues that we're talking about today.

375

All the above issues of time.

376

Okay, let's get into some of

these like content based outcomes.

377

I knew organizations that work with

me want or need to learn things like

378

how to understand their customer.

379

How do you talk like they talk?

380

How do you know what they want and need in

order to maximize the customer experience?

381

How do you make your website

convert at higher rates for people?

382

Already coming there, right?

383

You start making more money when

you convert more of the people

384

already visiting your website.

385

How do you make them decide to have a

transaction to purchase or to donate?

386

How do you make your website

more newcomer friendly?

387

How do you retain the patrons

you're already getting?

388

Less churn, more repeat revenue.

389

That's all my long haul model stuff

that I was doing so much work on already

390

and really have become known for.

391

What do you do when you

do get more new people?

392

So you're not starting from scratch,

but you're, you know, adding on to

393

the people you've already retained

and really spin up that flywheel.

394

I now say like, wow, retention

is like compound interest.

395

That was one of the topics

to try to get in there.

396

How do you get more subscribers?

397

How do you make a strong

onboarding program?

398

How do you stop doing backwards renewals

and stop opting everybody out for them?

399

If you don't know what I'm talking

about, there's a previous episode this

400

season where I talk about all this.

401

But how do you roll all that out so

everyone stays happy, everyone meeting

402

our customers, and it's easy and seamless,

and the long timers are good too?

403

That's not just happenstance when it

works out that way, it's strategy.

404

How do you make the house

look sold even when it's not?

405

I don't talk about pricing

strategy at all in the book.

406

So for me, it's too specific

for the reader audience.

407

According to my publisher, I don't

think they were wrong necessarily.

408

But it is something really important for.

409

Arts managers dealing

with pricing all the time.

410

You know the language, so I wanted

to make sure I was teaching,

411

you know, how to price well.

412

When can you dial it up?

413

How do you keep accessible pricing as

part of your strategy in a way that

414

drives demand, not blocks other revenue?

415

And of everything I talk about and all my

content I put out there, I think I, I only

416

cover pricing strategy in the academy.

417

I'm saying this out loud

and kind of pausing.

418

Is that correct?

419

But I, I think that's true.

420

But the point is, like, I don't talk

about pricing a lot except in the

421

academy because it's just something

that's such a, like a teaching thing.

422

But anyways, how do you, another

topic, how do you write or

423

design patron retention materials

that actually do the trick?

424

Like what exactly do you say?

425

What's the psychology?

426

behind driving people to action

to buy tickets and donate money.

427

I knew organizations needed to

learn or wanted to learn how to plan

428

great donor content that doesn't

conflict with what the marketing

429

people are sending out, right?

430

Like, how often does that happen?

431

So I needed to incorporate

that into my curriculum.

432

And how do you make your digital content

and social media support all of those

433

things I've already mentioned so that they

are aligned and elevating everything else

434

you're doing, not sort of a side strategy.

435

in the corner or something.

436

All of that, all of those things I just

rattled off, that all became the backbone

437

of the curriculum for the academy.

438

How did I set this up?

439

What did I do with that?

440

So all of that became the academy.

441

Very quickly, what's the setup then?

442

How did I try to bring it home

and bring it all together?

443

One to many means I made an online

course, video lessons on all of

444

those topics, top revenue generating

strategies I've become known for.

445

It's all the things I would teach when I

would go on site somewhere, which comes

446

down to customer experience, patron

retention, digital content, supporting

447

all of that, if I had to boil it down.

448

I knew, as I said, from my

client work that teams and

449

organizations need more support.

450

So I decided to make the resource library.

451

And Every template, every checklist I

have, every cheat sheet, how to document.

452

Spreadsheet, Standard Operating

Procedure, everything I have and

453

have used, basically I made this SOP,

Standard Operating Procedure, repository

454

for the clients and organizations and

people I work with in the Academy.

455

And then lastly, for this ongoing

support guide that I wanted to be

456

able to do somehow, I wanted this live

component with me because videos alone

457

will get you far, but I thought, you

know, this real time interaction felt

458

important to me to be able to offer.

459

I came up with these

live sessions with me.

460

I call it office hours, and we

meet twice a month doing that.

461

People can come, participants bring their

questions, sometimes they bring materials.

462

Can you look at this?

463

Let's talk about what's the

psychology behind this to motivate,

464

whether it's sales or donations.

465

So we do that, and we talk it

through and things like that.

466

And then I also knew, coming off the

book, I'll wrap this up, but I knew that

467

all of those strategies were in there,

but in the book I could only go so deep.

468

So this is kind of similar to what I was

saying about the pricing conversation.

469

Book is, you know, it's at a level that

there's a reader audience that's broad,

470

you know, it could be arts managers,

it could be people like you listening,

471

it could be artists, could be board

members, could be general audience

472

members who have an interest in arts and

culture and wanted to learn about some

473

of the business side of it all, right?

474

And so that's a lot of

different constituents.

475

I wanted to still be able to meet the

need for organizations that Wanted

476

training, wanted tools, wanted the

strategies, but really needed and

477

wanted more of the deeper dive than

what, than what the book could offer.

478

So trying to solve for all

those things, called it the

479

Run It Like a Business Academy.

480

And I spent months building that out.

481

I told you it was almost all of 2023.

482

It really was through the end of

483

By happenstance through the LinkedIn

Creator Accelerator program.

484

I was in that program in 2021.

485

I had met someone who was an

editor for Masterclass, Alex.

486

I hired him to help me

bring this all to life.

487

So I did the curriculum.

488

Alex produced it, directed it,

brought in his team for lighting.

489

Camera operators, you know, editing,

all of that was just him and his

490

masterclass level experience.

491

And so he crushed it, in my opinion.

492

He did such great work and just made a

product I'm really proud of and helps

493

the goal of serving more people, still

offering that real time live interaction

494

and support and giving that entire

resource library so people have the

495

tools at the ready, all in order to help.

496

Arts organizations grow audiences,

grow your donor base, grow your

497

revenue in a sustainable way

that is way more executable than

498

a two day, one off workshop.

499

May I change all that eventually?

500

Yeah, probably.

501

Did it fill a need?

502

Yeah, I think several of them

and addressed some challenges I

503

was having in my own business.

504

Okay, that's kind of the rundown on that.

505

I'll just briefly mention

the up level course.

506

I won't say a lot because that one was

already in existence, as I mentioned.

507

It was online and scalable from

the beginning, and I realized

508

that model was largely working.

509

The differentiator, though, is that

where the academy is really for revenue

510

generation within an organization,

individuals can participate, too,

511

but it's really designed for the

strategies to be implemented within.

512

In organizational context,

no matter the size.

513

But the up level was always for

individuals wanting to up level themself.

514

That's career development,

no matter your role.

515

It's managing up, managing laterally,

how to advance to the next role,

516

the next step, the next phase.

517

Leadership skills, no matter

somebody's Title or seniority.

518

That's everyone from students about

to graduate and enter the workforce

519

to entry level to mid career to

aspiring executive directors, current

520

executive directors, senior staff.

521

I mean, so all of those different places

and steps in our career, it's really

522

meant to do leadership development

training no matter where you're at.

523

And then there's a group

coaching component.

524

With that as well.

525

So that one, like I said, worked

really well for the past several years

526

and already had that one to many.

527

All the way down to the group

coaching as part of that.

528

Yeah, so this year I guess I should

say the only change I made is that

529

it used to be called Summer Up Level.

530

Now it's just Up Level.

531

I can offer it at different

times during the year.

532

Right now the plan for 2024 is to not do

it in the summer but to do it in the fall.

533

So the wait list is open for

anybody who wants to get in on that.

534

But the idea is that the name change

offers some flexibility there.

535

That's on my website, AubreyBergauer.

536

com slash uplevel, if that's of interest.

537

But what I want to talk about really now

is the changing the narrative community.

538

Addressing another challenge was that

I wanted a lower level entry point,

539

lower price entry point for folks.

540

I mentioned the membership economy

and writing that chapter in my

541

book really had me thinking.

542

I saw the opportunities with all the

membership economy research I read and

543

just all the opportunities it brings

for businesses in literally every

544

sector, like any type of business

in any industry Membership economy.

545

I just saw the benefits.

546

I just got so thirsty.

547

I don't know what else to say to

try to put this into practice.

548

I always try to do that

in everything I do.

549

It's so important to me

to practice what I preach.

550

I wanted to explore a recurring

revenue membership for my own business.

551

I thought, I can't talk about

these concepts with others

552

unless I'm really living them.

553

out myself.

554

Anyways, it also continued to

address this one to many model.

555

I put together this

idea of this membership.

556

It includes monthly professional

development events on topics related

557

to the field, the future of work,

career advancement, basically topics

558

I personally care about and wanted an

outlet for outside of what I was teaching

559

in the academy and up level courses.

560

It does also come with monthly

open office hours with me.

561

It also provided a way for me

to address the challenge of not

562

giving away my time for free.

563

So there's a whole other lesson here

in like, how do we value our time?

564

And I so badly want to

be helpful to people.

565

I want our field to succeed so

badly that it was a real tension

566

I felt, if I'm being honest.

567

A tension that, you know, as I was redoing

the business model thinking, how do I,

568

how try to serve people who reach out and

have, you know, just random questions on

569

this or that and want to talk about it.

570

Yet, I'm trying to find this way

to make my time more scalable.

571

So, office hours and the

Changing the Narrative community

572

gave me the vehicle for that.

573

I have to say, while I'm being honest

here, I just felt so liberated once I

574

started rolling that out because instead

of turning people away, you know, I'm

575

too busy or nicely trying to say that

or the schedule's jammed or whatever.

576

Now, it gave me this opportunity

to offer the best, easiest,

577

cheapest way to meet with me.

578

It's literally only 10 to join.

579

So, so if somebody doesn't value

my time at that, then fine, they

580

can help themselves to all the free

content I put out regularly, which

581

is still true to my mission to change

the narrative for the industry.

582

All of that became the community.

583

We also have this networking

and connection component.

584

It's, I would say, the last piece of the

changing the narrative community trifecta.

585

It's professional development.

586

It's the real time.

587

access to me and being able

to just have that resource.

588

And then the third piece is

this networking and connection.

589

It started as quarterly networking

events, like more kind of virtual group

590

events when we launched in early 2023.

591

And just side note, we launched by

me sending an invitation to just past

592

clients and past course participants.

593

And I said, we're going to do a

past participant reunion in this

594

new community I'm launching.

595

Come join if you want.

596

That's how we began.

597

So that was, I think, I

598

We had maybe 20 members or so who joined

then just at that invitation, and we kept

599

growing and adding people every month.

600

And then last summer, to get back

to this networking and connection

601

piece, Alana, you're going to hear

me talk more about her in a moment

602

when I share more about my team.

603

Alana, at the time, summer of 2023,

had the idea to launch Coffee Club.

604

Instead of quarterly networking,

which honestly I think felt a little

605

pandemic- y, these like quarterly

virtual networking events, a little

606

lockdown- y, you know what I mean?

607

She said, Aubrey, I just

want to connect with others.

608

She said, I'm more of an introvert.

609

So can we do monthly one on one

matches for people who want that?

610

Like low key, I just kind of want

a little bit of one on one, meet

611

people, and we can do these quick

Zoom chats to get to know other folks

612

who, who have, you know, raised their

hand and said, I want to be here.

613

I said, I love this.

614

Do you want to lead that?

615

And she was like, yeah, I'm in.

616

So now we're about to hit

a year of Coffee Club.

617

And at the end of year survey last

year, Coffee Club was one of the highest

618

rated features of the entire community.

619

That brings me to the final thing I want

to share on this idea of the community,

620

which is, whereas I talk about so much

of what's important to my business model

621

now is one to many, What I've learned

about communities and memberships is that

622

they thrive when they are many to many.

623

That is where it gets

super exciting to me.

624

It's not just Aubrey and

a bunch of other people.

625

It's all of us kind of serving each other.

626

I don't know if that sounds

hokey, but this is a great example

627

where the idea came from within.

628

She said she wanted to lead it.

629

Now it's one of the most popular

features of the whole community.

630

Like that's many to many, or

at least a way that plays out.

631

So.

632

That's super exciting to me.

633

And yeah, everybody's welcome there,

whether artist or administrator,

634

that's the, that's the community.

635

Speaking, that's still

a big part of what I do.

636

That did not change

with the business model.

637

As I said, it was already one to

many and this year, it's a big part

638

of the business with the book tour,

just a lot of speaking right now.

639

All of that rounds out the offerings

and how I've moved things to serve

640

more people to scale up is the

way to summarize it, to scale.

641

Okay, that's the summary of kind of the

what's been going on, what's happened,

642

year and a half of making that change.

643

And I just thought it was hopefully, like

I said, helpful to somebody to hear how

644

that took place and how that unfolded.

645

Now what?

646

Now it's a year and a half later.

647

So, As you scale, it turns out, you

do serve more people, and that is good

648

news, but the downstream effect of that

is that eventually it was no longer

649

feasible for me to be a team of one.

650

which I never expected to be

in a place to grow the team.

651

I just really thought I was going

to be a solopreneur kind of forever

652

until I started putting this new model

together, which just opened my brain

653

to the idea of scaling and, and growing

the business in a different way.

654

The scaling started to work.

655

We started serving more people.

656

We started growing.

657

And by mid 2023, I really started

seeing the need for a team

658

to support this work better.

659

For me, I have to say, that is one of

the most fulfilling things is being

660

part of a team, and it is one of the

things I miss the most from the other

661

jobs I've had leading the organization.

662

When I was running the orchestra and

just having a team of people, like

663

that, I miss that more than any,

like the team more than anything.

664

So here we are.

665

So building the team, I thought I

would just quickly run down the who's

666

who and what role and how kind of the

evolution of how that was built out.

667

First up was editing the podcast.

668

That's Molly and Sarita and Daria.

669

You hear on every podcast

episode about Novo Music.

670

Daria Novo is the founder there,

and they're an all female team

671

of musicians and audio engineers.

672

So they were already on the team

673

season two of the podcast.

674

So content, right?

675

You heard me say digital

content, super important.

676

So rolling out the podcast was, for me, a

677

That's when I launched it.

678

And at the time I did it all myself.

679

That was a model of MVP.

680

So MVP, if anybody doesn't know that,

that's a real like Silicon Valley phrase.

681

I'm here in San Francisco, but MVP

is minimum viable product when you're

682

talking about Not like sports, but

instead talking about business models.

683

So MVP for the podcast was me doing

season one by myself, but that was,

684

well, I was going to say it was a

bad idea, but it was a good idea in

685

terms of a pilot project in terms of

something sustainable going forward.

686

It's not my skillset, not my strong suit.

687

So in 2022, I brought in.

688

Daria and Molly and Sarita to help edit

the podcast and yes, as many of you

689

have said, it's so much better now.

690

So fast forward, summer

691

importance of digital content.

692

I mentioned social media and

I said we'd come back to that.

693

In summer of 2023, one of my past

course participants reached out,

694

Johanna, and Johanna had participated

in my comeback planning sprint.

695

So I mentioned that was my

very first online course, the

696

OG online course I offered.

697

She reached out to me before I was

bold enough to get over my own scarcity

698

mindset and start scaling the team.

699

So I said we would come back

to this also, my own scarcity

700

mindset and overcoming that.

701

I mentioned, you know, I said I thought

I'd be a solopreneur forever, and I now

702

realize that was my own limiting belief.

703

I thought I needed to wait until I

had made more money, until I could

704

hire somebody full time, until,

until, until, and that is scarcity

705

mindset talking, I now realize.

706

So the truth is You don't have

to hire somebody full time.

707

The truth is I was

drowning and needed help.

708

And when she reached out in

709

this, but her pitch was so good.

710

Like we have to pause and I

have to tell you how hardened

711

I am to marketing pitches.

712

I've been doing this long enough

that like, you know, the emails

713

come in and I'm like, Nope, delete.

714

Nope.

715

Block.

716

No.

717

You know, I just am so

hardened to marketing pitches,

718

but her pitch was so good.

719

Just really caught my attention and

I could tell she was understanding

720

my brand and what I was trying to do.

721

So we started with a very small

arrangement that I thought, honestly,

722

she knows this too, but I thought

it was gonna go through the book

723

launch in February of this year.

724

That was last summer.

725

By December, so fast forward just a couple

of months of working together, and I said,

726

I want to put you on a bigger contract.

727

That was a big move for me to

overcome that scarcity mindset and

728

decide to make a modest investment

and bring experts alongside me.

729

Anybody, if you haven't read

that blog post, go look it up.

730

It's called Why Scarcity Mindset

is Killing Your Arts Organization.

731

This is just, this story I'm telling

is not in there, but it's just such a

732

example of, yes, I face these things

too and, and try to overcome them too.

733

She, I will say, talking about bringing

experts alongside you, she is the

734

single best social media strategist in

arts and culture I have seen, period.

735

Hands down.

736

For anybody who's followed me since last

737

something you saw online, that's her work.

738

So to give credit where

credit's due, that's Johanna.

739

And when you hear me mention classical

content in the podcast promotion

740

credits, for example, that's her.

741

I talk a lot, it's a whole chapter in

my book, on digital content, using that

742

to support our work, to drive trust

in the organization and the brand,

743

and ultimately, through that trust

and trust building, you drive sales.

744

That's another area where I just have

really tried to iterate, up level, get

745

better at practicing what I preach, using

content strategically and effectively.

746

And, of course, it was so important to

scaling up the work, serving more people.

747

So I still produce content,

too, for what it's worth.

748

Here I am recording the podcast.

749

I still write blog articles.

750

You've heard me talk about

them in this episode.

751

I do the outline.

752

I do the talking points.

753

I develop all the talks I give.

754

I'm still super, super involved in

developing content, but the social

755

strategy behind it is all her.

756

Okay.

757

Alana.

758

You already heard me mention Alana

because she runs Coffee Club in the

759

Changing the Narrative community.

760

But she is also a past client

and past course participant.

761

She's done the up level, she was already

very active in the community, and she and

762

I worked together at an organization that

had brought me in a few years ago now.

763

We had done some one on one

work together along the way, so

764

just lots of ways I'd had these

interactions with her over the years.

765

And Alana is now a data analyst.

766

She has undergone training

in the last few years.

767

Really talk about up leveling,

really up leveling those skills.

768

So as things started to scale for

me, and in combination with moving

769

so much of the business online, it

meant that things were trackable.

770

And if you know me, I am

data, data, data all the way.

771

And this was yet another area where Of

course, I want to practice what I preach.

772

The more things moved online, the more

data there was, the more people came into

773

my universe, the changing the narrative

universe, the more data to track, the

774

more the tech stack grew, you know,

on and on, more systems to integrate.

775

So January of this year, I reached

out to Alana and I said, Hey, you

776

want to come be the analyst here?

777

Do you want to come be our

analyst for all things data?

778

She said yes.

779

So from Google Analytics to

systems integration, my data

780

loving self is so happy.

781

I have somebody coming

alongside working on this now.

782

And I think hiring Alana, first I had

Johanna and then Alana, had the podcast

783

editors in place already before that.

784

I think Alana is where I broke the

dam of scarcity mindset for me.

785

I could see.

786

So clearly, suddenly, I know it's probably

not suddenly, right, but I could see so

787

clearly how investing in better data and

better analytics will grow things for us.

788

And I am now all in on this

and just could not be happier.

789

So speaking of systems and

growth and growing pains.

790

I'm going to mention this.

791

I know it's pretty in the weeds, but we

had to migrate to a new email platform.

792

Okay, why am I sharing this?

793

Because so many of you ask me about

systems and email programs and CRMs

794

and oh, we just went through all that

migration in the last few months.

795

Basically, Long story short, the old

system wasn't working anymore, we had

796

outgrown it, it wasn't supporting the new

business model that I just outlined for

797

you like I needed, et cetera, et cetera.

798

So if you want details on my tech stack,

again, it's, it's the download to go with

799

this episode to give all the details on

the different tools and programs I like,

800

and then I'll share more on how you can

get that again at the end of the episode.

801

Migrations are always a ton of work,

but so worth it for us so we can

802

provide a better customer experience.

803

So, right, I am thinking

about these things all the

804

time, even in my own business.

805

To wrap this part on email migration

up, that brings me to the next hire.

806

I guess wrapping up email migration

and breaking the dam of scarcity

807

mindset, my next hire was Jamie.

808

So for Jamie, this was different.

809

The other folks had all come

into my network before, right?

810

They were past course participants.

811

Daria and Molly, I had met

in a past professional job.

812

Jamie though, I went through a firm.

813

I knew that I needed help, not just

migrating over a lot of my email

814

automations, but we had and still have

a lot of emails coming down the pike.

815

And email support, email

marketing is what Jamie's doing.

816

I knew that as we were

doing the migration, we were

817

getting better at segmenting.

818

That means more versions

of different emails needed.

819

It means as we were producing more

and more content, you already heard

820

me talk about, that means more to

put into the weekly newsletter.

821

Like it was just more, more,

more, another way of scaling.

822

I just knew that I needed support here.

823

I knew that these next few months

were a juncture to really get the

824

email marketing in better place.

825

Like, doing the whole migration and

fixing all of that, up leveling all that,

826

just made that juncture happen, right?

827

So I brought on an experienced person who

had done so much email marketing before

828

and had a really great track record.

829

Like I said, I went through a firm.

830

I've included them in the doc for this

episode because it turned out so well.

831

So if you want the details for anybody

who needs like some temporary or contract

832

marketing support, totally recommend.

833

I would keep Jamie forever if I could.

834

Some of you reply to my emails,

like when you get an email blast

835

in your inbox, some of you reply.

836

And just know, like, Jamie

wrote that and inspired whatever

837

action that was from you.

838

If you're listening to this

episode because you clicked on the

839

email, like, she wrote it, right?

840

Anyways, like I said, I would

keep Jamie forever if I could.

841

Maybe someday, eventually,

I'll be able to do that.

842

But I mentioned this for anybody

listening who does want or need some

843

sort of temporary marketing support,

get the download for the episode

844

because I'm just so happy that I

went with the firm and It just, I was

845

skeptical, but wow, now I'm a believer.

846

So okay, moving on, along

the way, I brought on Kelle.

847

A lot of online business owners

will tell you that your first hire

848

should be a VA, a virtual assistant.

849

I've heard that, like, preached

so much by so many people,

850

and I see the logic in that.

851

Administrative support is so

critical, delegating is so critical,

852

and I'm a big believer in that.

853

Kelle.

854

As the chief executive, there

are things that only I can do.

855

And I give this advice all the

time to new executive directors.

856

They're like, I'm drowning, Aubrey.

857

I talk a lot about it

in the up level course.

858

Like, we have got to, as chief executives,

do the things that only we can do.

859

That is where we need to prioritize.

860

Spending our time.

861

So that means we've got to

bring in support along the way.

862

Administrative support, project

support is so important in that.

863

And I knew I needed to do that too.

864

I also knew the reason I didn't make VA my

first hire, like I said, I see the logic

865

in that, but I also knew I wanted revenue

generating positions in place first.

866

So that's everybody you

heard me talk about already.

867

And then I brought Kelle into the mix.

868

Kelle is now the grease that

keeps the gears turning.

869

I kind of hem and haw.

870

Did I wait too long?

871

I'm not sure, but I think

the timing was right for me.

872

And now that the business

is really growing this year.

873

I'm just so glad to have her on the

team and she's brought so much value, so

874

for anyone who puts off tasks, you can

delegate because you think it's easier,

875

cheaper, whatever to just do it yourself.

876

I've been there, but let me be the

one to give you permission to bring

877

in the support you need, whether you

are an executive director at an arts

878

organization or founder of an ensemble

or any other role where you know that,

879

yeah, support is, is a good thing.

880

I went through a firm to find Kelle too.

881

I was, again, nervous, a little

skeptical about that at first, but it

882

turns out in addition to all of her

excellent project management skills,

883

relationship skills, attention to

detail, to keep all things running,

884

like all of those things, it turns

out she also played piano growing up.

885

And just like everyone else on the

team, believes in the mission to

886

change the narrative for classical

music for arts and culture.

887

I'm just so glad we were matched,

and now I just can't imagine

888

not having her on the team.

889

Last one as I'm going through the

who's who and how we've, you know,

890

divided the labor and work ahead of us.

891

The last one and newest team member

to introduce you to is Jeremy.

892

Jeremy still has his full time job.

893

He runs marketing at an orchestra.

894

He is also a conductor.

895

That makes him exceptionally qualified,

that combination, for what I brought

896

him on to do, which is client support.

897

Jeremy is also a past participant

in several of my programs.

898

He did the up level, then he got

his organization to join the Run

899

It Like a Business Academy, and

then he joined the community.

900

Because of all of that, he's

super qualified to do client

901

support, and there is definitely

a growing need for client support.

902

I get a lot of questions from

people about, you know, am

903

I ready to do your program?

904

What does it look like for me and my team?

905

How can we implement these strategies

when we don't have tons of time?

906

Right?

907

That kind of thing.

908

And I realized that I think people

are better served when they can hear

909

from somebody who's been there, right?

910

Somebody who's done it, somebody who's

lived it, and answered those questions for

911

themselves and for their own organization.

912

Plus, he really knows the art form,

or at least knows orchestras and

913

classical music, which is who I

Mostly serve, even though I love

914

that other types of organizations

are who I also get to serve now.

915

But the point is, he's been

there, he's done it, he knows the

916

arts, and he knows the business.

917

He knows my business as

well, from the client side.

918

Now we're working on rolling out

some client support options that

919

he is leading, so more to come on

all of that, but there you have it.

920

That is a lot on how my business, how

changing the narrative, that's the actual

921

legal name of my business, how we've grown

and evolved over the last year and a half.

922

That's if you're listening to this, you

know, near when the episode comes out.

923

I am One, just hoping this is

helpful to somebody listening.

924

You know, if you're thinking about

scaling up or anything like that, I

925

hope on a tactical level it's helpful

to hear that, but I'm also just really

926

happy and excited by this iteration of

my work, and I'm just really excited

927

to be helping more people this way.

928

That's already proven true, and just

the idea that there's potential to

929

serve more people than ever before.

930

I didn't mention this one yet.

931

I love that it costs the people I work

with, people, clients, organizations,

932

that I work with, less now.

933

Like I said, we didn't even talk

about this yet, but the beauty of

934

models that scale is that you get

to pass that on to the consumer.

935

So that's a bonus, too.

936

And lastly, I I love the idea of

being more effective as a guide.

937

Kind of coming full circle to the top

now, but that is just more possible

938

now than it was five years ago in 2019

when I first went full time on my own.

939

As we wrap up here, I hope

that hearing all of this was

940

helpful to you in some way.

941

Or maybe certain parts were

helpful to some of you and

942

other parts helpful to others.

943

But like I said, it's a little

bit of a different episode.

944

And yet I still hope it inspires

you in your own journeys at

945

your own organizations too.

946

As we are all part of this

growing movement to, you

947

know, change the narrative.

948

Hey, offstagers, we covered a lot in this

episode that I don't normally talk about

949

the infrastructure of my own business.

950

From the people I hired to

the programs and tools I use.

951

I have experimented a lot over the

years, and now I have my short list of

952

favorite systems I rely on every day.

953

And I assembled it all for you

because I get these questions a lot.

954

What email program do you recommend?

955

What do you use for project management?

956

How or where did you

find qualified people?

957

It's all in my total resource list, which

is a free download for you, detailing

958

all of my favorite tools and programs and

services that might be helpful to you too.

959

Go to my website, aubreybergauer.

960

com slash 28.

961

That's two eight for episode 28.

962

And you can get my total resource list

to start making your work, your team's

963

work, and even your organization's

work more efficient and productive.

964

That's www.

965

aubreybergauer.

966

com.

967

That's all for today, folks.

968

Thanks so much for listening.

969

And if you like what you heard

here, hit that button to follow

970

or subscribe to this podcast.

971

If you're new, welcome.

972

I am so glad you made it.

973

And if you've been listening for

a while, I loved so much that

974

you were getting value from this.

975

So if that's you, please take just

two seconds to leave a quick one tap

976

rating, full on review Bye isn't even

required if you're short on time.

977

To all of you once more, thanks again.

978

I'll see you next time right

here on the Offstage Mic.

979

The Offstage Mic was produced by me,

Aubrey Bergauer, and edited by Novo

980

Music, an audio production company of

all women audio engineers and musicians.

981

Additional podcast support comes

from the Changing the Narrative

982

team and social media brand

management by Classical Content.

983

This is a production of

Changing the Narrative.