I had the pleasure of speaking with a coaches’ coach, Gill Moakes, who helps purpose-driven women get to the next level of their business. From the journey that got her to her current work to the insights and encouragement she offers her clients, Gill has a unique approach to entrepreneurship that starts with deliberately setting aside imposter syndrome and realizing your financial potential through a money mindset.

In this episode, you will learn:

• What a full-fat version of your business can look like when you get past the self-limiting stories you tell yourself
• How to look for your Big Goal and envision the micro-steps you need to take to get there
• Rethink your value by shifting from a focus on your competition to providing superior results to your client
• BONUS we had a great exchange about how leveraged IP has become even more important in today’s world

Our conversation ranged far and wide, with insights and humor and a side discussion on British accents. If you find your business needs some attention to the IP issues we raised, contact me for a consultation.

As Mentioned in the Episode:

https://www.gillmoakes.com/fix-your-money-mindset

More About Our Guest:

Gill Moakes is a UK-based business coach & growth strategist who works with coaches and other change-makers to bring the full-fat version of their dream business to life. She’s obsessed with cutting through the noise when it comes to growing your business in a way that feels right for you. Gill believes that when you’re brave enough to do things your way and you’re outstanding at what you do, then there’s no limit to what you can achieve.

Connect with Gill Moakes:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram
• LinkedIn - Heads Together with Gill Moakes
• LinkedIn - Unapologetic Retreats

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

Welcome to the Hourly to

Exit Podcast.

Ladies, I am so excited about

today's guest, Laura Posey.

Laura, welcome to Hourly to

Exit.

Thanks for having me today, Erin.

I'm excited to be

here.

Well, we have a ton to talk about,

but before we get started, would you

introduce yourself

to the audience?

yeah, so I'm Laura Posey.

I live here in Richmond, Virginia.

And, my whole job, what I do all

day, every day, is working with coaches

and consultants to show them how to

plan their entire year on one sheet of

paper, and then how to get it all done.

That is

amazing.

there's not a single person listening

to this episode right now who does

not want an easier and simpler way to

get things done.

So this is gonna be tremendously

helpful to everyone.

So I was looking at a recent,

webinar that you had on LinkedIn

where you talked about using your.

Framework to plan your entire

2023 on a single piece of paper

and be prepared for a success no

matter what the economy does.

And so when I think about your one page

business plan, this simple success plan.

I think about something that

I like to talk about, which is, is

there a Rembrandt in your attic?

And basically that is, in business

terms, not in, literally Rembrandt.

Yeah.

But in business terms, where we

have that hidden undervalued asset

that we just use in our business all

the time, and we don't even realize

how valuable it is because maybe

we haven't even put it in paper.

We just.

Goes through the process.

Every time we bring in a client, we go

through the process.

Every time we create a deliverable, we

go through that process and it's

just part of what we do every day.

And we're not thinking about the

independent value that it may have.

but when we talk, when we look at

whether or not you have a Rembrandt,

your addict, we look at all those

internal processes.

And, how do we systematize 'em if

they aren't already.

formalize 'em if we want to use

them to say, train people internally

to do what you do or to license it

to other people to do what you do, or

to turn it into a product that you

can sell separately or have available

separately.

So when I think about.

You're a simple success plan.

I'm wondering like, is that

the process that you went through

from services to framework

to product?

Yeah, I think the way so many things

start is I needed it for myself.

Mm-hmm.

And so I created it for myself and it

worked really well.

So I was like, well, let me see

if this works with my clients.

And so, yeah, started doing

that with clients.

And then over the years it's, just

evolved and grown as I've gotten

better at what I do.

now it's, really the center of everything

that we do.

Like, I just don't work with anybody

now unless we have a plan in place

first, because we all need to know

what we're trying to accomplish, where

we're going and what we're doing.

Yeah.

I mean, you say

that you, the one page plan generated

over 2 million in your business.

By that, do you mean that was, uh, that's

how you created your business or

that's how you use it, exploit it,

and there or both?

Um, a little bit of both.

Like it, it's been the.

The, I always talk in, when I'm talking

to folks about what I call a front door

offer and, you know, it's, it's the door.

You bring everybody in, and then once

they're in, then there's all sorts of

other stuff that you can do with them.

Mm-hmm.

And it's just been my front door offer

for so long now.

Mm-hmm.

Um, because it, it just sets the

foundation for everything, right?

Yeah.

So, um, not all, not all my money

comes directly from planning.

But it all starts with planning.

Well, let's back up and talk

about like yeah.

Who is your client?

Why do they come to you, and how

do you help them?

So my clients are generally coaches

and consultants.

Um, they're in the five, maybe they've

hit low six figures.

Um, and they, they don't wanna scale.

Like, they're not trying to

have a giant team and, you know,

rule the world.

They just wanna have a really kick

ass lifestyle.

They wanna make, you know, two 50 a

year personally in their bank account.

Mm-hmm.

Maybe they've got a part-time va

somebody to do their web stuff for them.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and they just wanna show up and,

and do great work.

And get paid really well and have a

lot of freedom and free time to live

the rest of their life and spend the

money that, that they're earning.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I will say that has been me for many,

many years and until, uh, recently

may not recently, I've been, you know,

looking at doing other kind of more

scalable stuff and.

And expanding.

Um, but that was absolutely, you

know, having that flexibility and

yeah, being able to go to the tennis

match if you wanna be able to hype with

the dog if you want to, but still have,

use your expertise and be able to,

um, do good work at the same time.

Exactly, exactly.

And is there something, so

what are they feeling then?

Like, what is, what is their pain when

they go, I need to go talk to Laura.

Yeah, so generally they're at that

place where, They've bought, you know,

every online course that there is

on marketing and LinkedIn strategies

and lead generation, and God only

knows what else.

Now, it's all, uh, it's all

about ai, right?

Mm-hmm.

Everybody's buying all the AI stuff

and, and they're just like, none of

this is working.

I don't know how to put all

this together.

I know all this stuff, and I'm

still not earning enough money.

Mm-hmm.

And so I sit down with him and.

And you know, say like it, you've

got all the pieces, parts that you need.

It's probably nothing else that

you need to learn.

You just need to put it in

the right order.

You gotta start with like, what do you

really want in life?

Mm-hmm.

Like, let's get really serious about

your lifestyle and figure out how much

that's gonna cost.

And then let's build a business

to deliver what it is that you really

are looking for.

And so we, you know, we walk through a

plan, you know, and we, we look at the

basic stuff like, you know, what

are your goals?

But we look at money goals, but,

you know, how much time do you

wanna take off?

How do you wanna feel in

your business?

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, what's on your bucket list

that you wanna get done, that you're

actually gonna get done this year?

Like, what are you committed

to doing that's like super fun or

super interesting?

Um, And then we start looking at

what are the changes that have to happen

in your business if you're gonna

make the money that you wanna make.

And so I use a a, a framework cuz I

love frameworks, um, that I built called

the Success Circle.

And it looks at the 12 areas of

your business.

And, and we literally like

colored in like the, you remember the

old life wheels?

Mm-hmm.

And you would color in the little

pieces of pie to see how well your

wheel rolled.

We do the same thing for business.

And it helps people realize like, oh,

this is where I need to actually invest

more time and money.

This is what's holding me back.

So we start putting together

like, what are the projects that need

to happen to make those changes?

And then how are we gonna get 'em done?

Mm-hmm.

Well, it sounds like prioritizing,

like Yeah.

Yeah.

Because you can't do do it

all.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And and I think so often it is

just folks are.

Putting all their time and energy into

the wrong things.

They're often getting the cart

before the horse.

You know, like it doesn't matter how

good your lead gen is, if you don't

know who your target audience

is, if you don't have a good offer.

Mm-hmm.

Like a really good offer.

Right.

If you don't have good core

messaging, if you don't know what

your buyer's journey is, it doesn't

matter how good your lead gen is.

Mm-hmm.

Like, you're just gonna piss 'em away.

So like, Let's get those things

in place first.

Mm-hmm.

Right.

And we can start talking about lead

gen and you probably already know

everything you need to know about lead

gen and it's not working because you

haven't done all the other stuff first.

Yeah, that is so true

because everyone, you know, I find

that a lot of.

Business coaches are trying to

turn us who aren't marketers.

Into marketers.

Yeah.

And like I'm not a marketer.

I will never be a marketer, you

know, Hey, I know what I know.

I don't know.

And so I just need answers.

For that.

Yeah.

And then I need to move on.

I don't wanna become an expert marketer.

And so, yeah, so just kind of getting

to the basics and getting to like,

so we can start implementing and

executing on, right.

Whatever the process will be is.

So

who should I have?

Who should I have conversations with?

What offer am I gonna make to them?

How am I gonna frame that offer in a way

that they go, oh my God, where have you

been all my life?

And.

You know, like what does it take to

get them to where they're ready to

have a conversation?

Mm-hmm.

And, and it's just conversations.

You don't need a fancy website.

You don't need automation.

You don't need any of that mess.

Right.

If you can talk to another human

being, huh?

You're good.

Yeah, absolutely.

I, I was talking to a colleague of mine

who was starting a new business without

a website and she was doing like, you

know, cause she just hadn't gotten to it.

Yeah.

But she had all these contacts and

her basically her business is putting

people together.

So like I couldn't talk to people.

That's what I do, you know?

And, uh, great sales without a website,

which we now think is unthinkable.

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

One of the things that makes me insane

is, I'll just make my little one IP

little detour, is how focused people

are on trademarks.

Like the first thing people wanna talk

about is trademarks.

I'm like, who cares?

Right?

You have a solution cares.

Oh, but I got this sexy logo.

Man, I don't want anybody to

take my logo.

Exactly.

Alright, whatever.

Yes.

Let's get to the basics.

I love, I love that.

Okay, so for our evolution

of like having a framework and.

Kind of productizing it mm-hmm.

And using it as a lead generator,

like what, how did that process

look for you?

Something that happened organically

and you're just like, Ooh, but luck.

Will it luck?

Did someone help you formulate that?

Um, did you use a lawyer for

any part of it?

How did that look for you?

Um, yeah, so I, I it's definitely

been, you know, an iterative process.

I started selling it literally just

one-on-one, like the people that I knew.

I, I did a lot of, um, Speaking

at one time.

So, you know, when you're on a stage,

like whoever's facing the back of

the room is the, the, you know, the

intelligent one.

People just believe what

you say when you stand on a stage.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, and so I would get up

there and I'd talk about planning and

people would come up to me afterwards

and go, wow, I really wanna learn

more about that.

Let's have a conversation.

Okay, great.

We'd make the sale.

And, and I'd work with them

one-on-one.

And, and so then I just started

thinking like, you know, tired

of traveling.

And the one-on-one is okay, but I

really wanna reach a broader audience.

Mm-hmm.

And so I just looked at, okay,

what, what it, you know, what do I do

with the individual people that works?

What is the process that I

take them through?

Mm-hmm.

And then looking at that and say,

well, how would I take a group

of people through this process?

What would be different and how

would I manage that?

Um, that group and, and how much

time do they need?

Like when it's one-on-one, we just

lock ourselves in a room for a day and

we crank it out.

Mm-hmm.

But if you've got a hundred people,

you can't get it done in one day.

So, you know, I just started looking at

like, okay, well what does it take?

Do, how much time are, are people

gonna need to take this idea that

they've learned and, and get it

done so we can go on to the next idea?

Um, and a lot of it, quite honestly,

was trial and error.

Mm.

Like, well, let's try it.

How many people can I do in a one day?

Well, I can deliver the content.

I just can't deliver.

I, I can't help everybody.

Mm-hmm.

And so, you know, then it, then I

was like, well, let me just make it

an online course.

If I'm, if instead of me repeating

myself all the time, let me just record

everything, all the training, add a

workbook to it, you know, traditional

online course, and then it just

becomes a marketing exercise, right?

That's where you do turn into a

marketer, right?

And that's where I, I sort of got

my marketing chops, was marketing

my own stuff.

And um, and then I realized like, You

know, nobody's life changes from taking

an online course.

Mm-hmm.

Because most of the time they don't

finish it and it doesn't matter.

Like, I tried every kind of thing I

could think of to like, if somebody

stopped moving forward to nudge

them and, and I just couldn't get

people to finish.

And so, um, I thought, well,

what if I just.

Do it live.

Like what if I just do the training

live and answer the questions live and

we'll do the work on the calls live

and just stretch it out and how

will that work?

And that seems to be the, the magic

formula right now.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Um, I, I just do it with, you know, a

hundred, 150, 200 people at a time.

That's a big cohort.

Wow.

It is.

Um, and I, you know, I've got a co-coach

that is on the call with me, so she's

kind of running the back end in the chat

and everything so I can just show up and

do, um, and it works really, really well.

Like people actually get stuffed done.

It is super important

to have that live component.

It is just so

important.

It mm-hmm.

It is.

And, and I think it's just

completely scalable.

Like I was.

Thinking about it the other day and

um, I was like, well, how many

people could we handle on a call

like that might I, I'm like, we

could do 500 and we could do 500

with the team I have right now, so.

Mm-hmm.

Like, right.

Let's see what that would look like.

Mm-hmm.

Well that is kind a daunting, I'll

couple of things.

One, you know, everyone kind of.

Gets the

need to the scale to go from

the one-to-one model to the one

to many model.

Yeah.

But they're not sure how it, it looks.

But there are a couple of things

that I think prevent them from

making that leap.

One is just, you know, I get paid,

you know, More for the one-on-one

stuff than I do for the one to many.

Is it going to cannibalize my

one-to-one work?

How will those clients view me if

I, so there's that, you know, the worry

about cannibalizing kind of the premium

work, let's call it.

And then the other is, you know, how

do I, if I have a relationship-based

referral-based business, How do

I grow an audience to be able to sell

one

to many?

Yeah.

Um, so the, the first question in

my experience has been, um, that

the one to many actually supports

the one-on-one to one, one to one,

and I end up with more one-to-one

than I want.

Mm-hmm Because of the w to many.

Cuz what happens is they come into the

w Toman environment and they go,

mm, I need more.

Right.

I'm, I'm, I'm a bigger business.

I, I I just need more.

Can I talk to you about that?

Do you do that?

Mm-hmm.

And so then we have the conversation and

it goes, you know, from a thousand

dollars sale to a $20,000 sale.

Right.

And, um, and it's like, okay, yeah.

Can do that.

Um, so rather

than being a replacement,

it's more like a, another ladder on

the step of working More intense.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it, it just, Again, like I bring

everybody in that one door, right?

And some of the folks that come

through that one door go, no, I need

a whole lot more.

Mm-hmm.

And then so we just have the

conversation and then we, we move

into the one-on-one.

And, um, so I think it, it actually

helps you to have one to many.

Mm-hmm.

The, the list piece.

Right.

You know, I mean, the.

Everybody's like, email's

dead, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

I've been hearing that for 15 years.

Um, it still works.

Um, and the, the beauty of email is

that it is an asset that you own, right?

You, you have these addresses

that you can use and yes, some of

'em are bad and blah, blah, blah.

But y you have people that you

can communicate with whenever

you want to.

Mm-hmm.

And.

And so growing that list I

think is really, really important.

Um, I'm not a, a giant fan of

building your business on somebody

else's platform.

Mm-hmm.

So like Facebook groups and LinkedIn

groups and blah, blah, blah, blah,

whatever the newest thing is.

Um, you know, doing TikTok videos

and, you know, I mean, just TikTok

recently, You know, states are

going, Hey, we're banning TikTok.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

It's

a pretty big state.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

I don't know anybody that's

banning email.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so I think it's, it's super

helpful to start building your list

and, and the easiest way I've found

to build a list is one to speak.

Mm-hmm.

Podcasts on stages at your

local chamber of Commerce, wherever

your people are.

Go speak and even if you don't get

paid to speak right away, get in front

of people and offer them something.

Mm-hmm.

Have a free, something that su

supplements the whatever you're

talking about.

And about 80% of your audience

will opt in.

Mm-hmm.

And so, you know, if you think about

that, okay, if I'm talking to 200

people, I got at least 150 new names.

To add to my email list.

And they're op, like they're on

their phone texting.

Mm-hmm.

The code.

Right.

And they're getting the stuff.

Mm-hmm.

And that, that's just a, a, a one

to many way to build a list.

Mm-hmm.

Now it's interesting what you mentioned

about TikTok and um, cuz I hadn't even

thought about, you know, cause we, you

know, pre the issues that we're having

in 2023, you know, we've been told

to make sure you own, you know, kind

of your audience.

And so you connecting, you're

collecting those emails even if

you don't have a list that you

have that a way to reach out to them.

But you know, the world is getting

more volatile, you know, with Yeah.

Issues like TikTok with, you know,

Twitter, I mean, people who had

massive Twitter.

Um, yeah.

And maybe that's, you know, the

less viable things that are going on

with, you know, uh, with Facebook.

And so you really are more

vulnerable than we ever have been

when we're trying to build Yeah.

You know, part, uh, any asset

on somebody else's platform.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

That that is,

uh, yeah, that is crazy.

There's a reason they call it rented

media, right?

Mm-hmm.

And, and if you're building on

rented land right.

Somebody can come along and take

your house whenever they feel like it.

Right?

Right.

They can change the algorithm.

I know like with Facebook

advertising, when Apple came in with

all the privacy restrictions mm-hmm.

It devastated.

Absolutely devastated

some folk.

Because their entire business was built

around Facebook advertising and

this data that they could no longer get.

Mm-hmm.

And it, they lost access to the data.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So it used to be when you went

into, to set up Facebook ads, I

mean, you could set up, you could

build audiences by all sorts of stuff

you should not know about people.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, Uhhuh.

Mm-hmm.

And.

And when you would, when somebody would

opt in, um, through a, an Apple device

and, and certainly Windows devices

is as well, um, Facebook would

gather whatever information they

could from that device and learn

all sorts of stuff about you.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

That, that they could then resell

to advertisers.

Oh, and Apple put the kibosh on that.

And so, you know, now suddenly

Facebook is going well.

Um, we don't know as much as we

thought we did, and the stuff that

we do know we're not allowed to

tell you anymore.

And so mm-hmm.

It really wrecked a lot of people's

businesses.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and so I, I am a big fan of having

multiple streams of lead generation.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and, and, you know, build some

on the socials.

Um, just don't.

Make it everything, right.

Builds up, you know, builds

stuff on stages.

But has the pandemic taught us?

Stages change.

Stages change.

Yes, absolutely.

Again, like I know lots of people who

were stage speakers whose businesses

disappeared overnight.

Mm-hmm.

I have a, a colleague who had

a $700,000 business just disappeared

overnight.

Mm-hmm.

That was the entirety of his

business was live.

Doing live.

Yeah.

It just

went away.

Mm-hmm.

Um, pivoted pretty quickly, right?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

But, um, So just lessons learned

and, and having watched a lot of

people get in big trouble, you know,

it's you diversify your assets.

Mm-hmm.

List, building your email list is an

asset diversify.

Absolutely.

Well, speaking of assets, I mean,

with your simple success plan, is it

registered in the copyright office?

Does it have a trademark?

How does, how, how does it,

you, you deal with the IP part

of that?

Um, yes.

So I, um, the Simple Success Plan

is a registered trademark.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I have the paper around

here somewhere.

I can look it up.

Um, yes, I used an attorney,

I'm clapping.

Yeah.

Cuz I didn't wanna deal with that crap.

Like, I just don't wanna deal

with that crap.

You definitely, yeah.

And, and, and I've been on the, the

other side of things like the, originally

the simple success plan was called,

um, the one page strategic plan.

Mm.

How turns trouble there?

Somebody owns, somebody has

a trademark on the one page.

Mm-hmm.

For like a ridiculous

number of codes.

Yes.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

And so he sent me a very nice

email and said, Hey, I own that.

Was it nice?

It was okay.

It was nice.

And we had a conversation and,

and, um, and I've, I've been on that.

Like I, I had a business, um, A

little side business and I got an email

from, or I got a letter from Media

General, uh, the attorneys for Media

General, letting me know in no uncertain

terms that they own the trademark for

the term Virginia business when it

comes to any sort of publication.

That is shocking

to me what people were able to get

trademarks for.

Yes.

I mean, like you could never today,

but there was a time and you get Yeah.

And I'm like, well, I'm not gonna

win this battle.

So change the name, right?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Change business.

Wow.

I was curious about the Weather Channel

when I said, I'm like, when I noticed

I, how do you get a trademark on

the other channel?

You know?

Well, Intel owns pretty much it.

It any word.

Followed by inside.

Um, have a, have a friend who,

uh, started a business called,

um, brand Inside.

And they were, they do, uh, branding,

but they do like internal branding

and employee development

and stuff.

Mm-hmm.

And Intel sent them a very strongly

worded letter letting them

know that they were in violation

of their trade.

And I'm like, wait a minute, wait

a minute, wait.

They make.

Chips, and this is a service

marketing company, what the hell?

And Intel was like, no, we own

all that shit.

Wow.

So, yeah.

Crazy.

Right?

That is crazy.

Well, I mean, you know, I guess it

falls into the super trademark category

of things, like anything that's

even associated with these like massive,

uh, trademarks.

Yeah, kind of.

They just gobble everything up, which

is pretty obnoxious, but you know.

This is what it is.

Exactly.

So, but

I want to, you know, kind of go back

to the point like, you know, if you'd

not been able to get Simple success

plan, you couldn't get the first

one you wanted.

I mean, there's another one.

At the end of the day, the value and

the trademark is the transformation

that you provide.

And you can exactly whatever name you

want on there, you know, who cares

what it's called.

Yeah, it is.

Yes, exactly.

Exactly.

But once you do have, you're

known for that transformation,

you do wanna make sure that.

Everyone knows that's yours, and

therefore that's why you want

that trademark.

So they know it's your, your idea,

but we should not like let the

tail wag the dog.

Is that what it's Yeah.

That we, uh, gotta

have, well, it gets into that, you

know, getting bogged down in minutia

that isn't growing your business.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Like I see folks are like just obsessed

about their website.

Mm-hmm.

You know, and they're spending

hours and hours and hours and I'm

like, You don't have any traffic,

like nobody's gonna see it.

Like just exactly right.

Put up a nice looking page.

Got some info on it.

You can add more later.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's a website.

Yeah.

I'm sure we've all been guilty

of that for sure.

Oh yeah.

I've, I've, like, these are all

lessons, like when I say, God, it

drives me crazy when people do this.

It's because I've done it.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

And, and I've learned not to do

it because I've watched it fail.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, we are about halfway through,

gosh, we are halfway through 2023, so I

don't know how that happened exactly.

Insane, insane.

Uh, but what, what new

happened in 2023?

I used to ask, you know, what do we

see ahead for 2023?

But now I'm gonna have to say, ask,

you know, what, what kind of changes

happened in 2023 as we were coming out

of the pandemic?

And, you know, People quiet,

quitting, and, you know, all kind

of gig economy.

Like what, what's going on?

I think it's the rise of ai.

Mm-hmm.

Like, that's what I'm seeing mm-hmm.

Uh, in the world.

I, I, I hear so many folks going, oh, I

need to learn ai.

And I'm like, do you even know what it

is or what it does?

Like you just, you've heard

you need to learn it and.

And I keep, you know, people that

are like, oh, it can write all your

copy, it can do all your copywriting, it

can do all of this, it can do this,

it could do this.

It, it's like, it's gonna work all

this magic for you.

And I'm like, well, yeah, it does a lot

of stuff, but you still gotta have

the right prompts.

And like, there's work that goes

into it and, and I think there's still

just no substitute for humans getting

together even on Zoom talking.

Yeah.

Yeah.

AI does not have a personality.

AI has no eq, AI can't read the room.

Yeah.

And it's like, oh, we can, we can do

a, you know, I can do a promotional

video using ai.

I don't know how to do it.

But somebody could do that.

I could say, I need a video

though of me.

Mm-hmm.

Fake me, right.

Talking about this.

Mm-hmm.

You know, and, and I could get

AI to write the script and da da,

da, da, but it's gonna suck, right?

Mm-hmm.

You know, or I could just sit down and

record a video and talk about what I

need to talk about.

Mm-hmm.

And let people see the real human,

you know, who makes mistakes and, you

know, that has, doesn't do hair and

makeup, and is just like, you know,

a normal person.

Right.

Yeah.

At the end of the day, like if what

you do is something that someone

could, you know, uh, six months ago

could have gone on Google and figured

out without you, then you're in

the same position like you need you.

Right.

That's not where you should be.

Right.

If you're an expert, yeah.

It shouldn't be just.

Out there for somebody else to

like kind of sift through, uh, a

database and come up with whatever it is

that you do that's special for Right.

Getting delivered to your clients.

That's still, that's still is necessary

to differentiate, differentiate you

from everybody else.

It's, and it, it's crazy.

I mean, they, the things that I see

people building as businesses and

I'm just like, I'm pretty sure

a machine does that already.

Mm-hmm.

Like how are you doing it differently

than the machine?

Like, you know, I love my accountant.

I adore my accountant.

Fabulous person, right?

But my accountant doesn't give me

tax strategies.

She just takes all the junk eye giver

and puts all the numbers in the right

boxes and makes things balanced.

Cuz I don't really care

about doing that.

Right.

Right.

Like I'm pretty sure a machine can

do that because there's software out

there that doesn't.

Well,

they haven't.

Yes.

She

just takes my junk and puts it

into this software that she uses.

Right?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

You know, so I'm like, Hey, how long

is that gonna be?

Like a

job.

Yeah.

Yeah.

If you're not providing some type

of strategic advice behind that, you're

not able to like say, okay, Laura,

what do you want, you know, retirement

to look like.

Let's figure out, you know, and,

and, or, you know, lifestyle issues and

how do you finance them and how, you

know, it has to be something other than

just the numbers.

Yeah.

Or, you know, if you are a writer, it has

to be something more than just, you know,

Putting together some webpages.

It has to be something

unique.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it, AI can write your book

report for you.

Yeah.

Because mm-hmm.

It book report isn't necessarily your

opinion, right?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Um, and AI's gonna be better

at the research, so if you're just

putting out facts and regurgitating

stuff, other people have said mm-hmm.

Yeah.

AI's gonna eat your lunch, but, yep.

Yep.

If you actually have an opinion

and, and a strategy and a, a viewpoint,

a framework, yes.

All those things.

Love that.

All right.

So as you know, this is the Hourly

to Exit podcast where I encourage

female founders of expertise-based

businesses to build a business that

they can hopefully sell someday.

So, As the female founder of an

expertise based business, do you

have plans to sell your business?

What's the next chapter for

your business?

Yeah, so I actually have somebody who

wants to buy it, and I just keep mm-hmm.

Um, pushing him away because I wanna get

the valuation up.

Mm-hmm.

Significantly higher.

Mm-hmm.

I also have, um, a colleague who

would be like the perfect fit to.

To take it over.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, so we're just starting

to have some discussions.

I'm not anywhere close to

ready to go.

I'm just having way too much fun.

And

so, um, that's the beauty of building

a business that you love, like

you, there's no urgency to Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, it, I, I've, I've built it to

suit my lifestyle.

Mm-hmm.

And so I work really hard in the winter.

And then I take summers off and

the rest of the time I work about

three days a week.

And that like totally suits me.

Mm-hmm.

And I, I mean, gosh, I love the income.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Um, like it's just nothing like

getting the check that, right.

So every two weeks it's like,

whoa, look.

So

when you talk about increasing the,

the valuation, like is there something

specifically that you're

working on to,

to help do that?

Yeah.

So, you know, it's always

about replacing yourself, right?

Mm-hmm.

People, people wanna buy your cash flow,

they don't wanna buy your ip, and

so it's creating the machine that

anybody can run.

Mm-hmm.

Right?

And, and the like the guy that,

that wants it, he's got other

properties and other lists and other.

Experts who do different things,

he just doesn't have this piece.

Mm-hmm.

And so it, it, it's a nice addition

to his puzzle.

Mm-hmm.

Gotcha.

Um, and, and so, you know, he'll just

market my stuff to all of his other

lists and market all of his other

stuff to my list.

Um, and because everything can

be delivered, you know, in a pretty

turnkey manner or it's mm-hmm.

Um, so it.

And obviously he can replace me

for less than what I cost, right?

Mm-hmm.

Right.

Um, so it'll throw off a pretty

good amount of cash, but yeah.

We know that

revenue generator is your ip, right?

Yes, it is.

It is

it.

No, I totally get that.

It's the, the thing is though, like, I,

so just for as an example, I have a,

a, a good friend, colleague who is

the most magnificent IP I've ever seen.

I mean it is.

So her frameworks are beautiful.

Her books, I mean, big corporate

clients, like the whole nine yards,

but she never built anything

outside of herself.

Mm-hmm.

Other than the ip.

And she tried for probably four

or five years to sell the ip.

Mm-hmm.

And could not get a buyer.

Yeah.

Um,

Yeah, it's not, we don't, we don't

create IP like, just cuz it's

pretty Right.

It is the leverage that we

get out of it.

Like how we Yes.

Deploy it.

That is where the Exactly.

Yes.

Yes, exactly.

And she just never trained anybody to

do what she does.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And so she was going to, she was

trying and, and people just said,

well, you know,

We'll just wait for you retire

and then we'll just go get it.

Like, you know?

Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I, I didn't mean that as a slam dunk.

Yeah, no, no, it's okay.

Be where I wouldn't be where

I am without all of my ip.

Right.

I mean, that, that's what's

gotten me here.

I mean, so

that's, that's how we get out of

this selling our time business is

by creating these things that Yes.

And.

Exactly.

Generate revenue without us.

Yes.

All right.

Yes.

That's, that's the key is the

generate revenue.

People wanna buy your cash flow,

and if you are a hundred percent

responsible for your cash flow, there's,

when you retire, there's, there's

no cash flow.

Exactly, exactly.

Unless you become employee machine.

Yeah.

Yes.

All right.

So, uh, we.

You know, one of our missions here is to

create more wealth in the hands of

women to create an economy that works

for more of us.

And so I love to introduce

the audience to organizations who

are doing great work in that area.

Is there one that you'd like to share

with the audience?

Yeah.

There's a, a group here in Richmond

called Safe Harbor, and they help women

who are in abusive relationships.

Safely get out with their kids.

Um, they help set them up in new

careers, new houses, um, absolutely

everything they need.

Mm-hmm.

Um, they take care of all the legal

work as well to make sure that they,

they have all the protections that

they need and, um, they're just

great organization.

Love it.

Thank you.

So we'll have that in the show

notes so everyone can find them and

support their work.

And so I know you have an offer as

well, some goodies that you'd like

to share with the audience as well.

Yes.

Yeah, I, uh, I'm a big fan of

giving people for yourself because

it, it's useful, so.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I have a, it's a single

sheet of paper.

It's called the Daily Success

Checklist.

And you do like fill it out every single

day, and it keeps you focused on your

long-term goals, keeps you focused

on your projects that you're working

on right now.

Keeps you focused on the things that

make you a healthy, whole human being

and it keeps you focused on the most

important tasks that you need to

get done each day.

And then it helps you end the day with

a reflection so that when you finish that

piece, you are done with work for the

day, whether that's at 10 o'clock in

the morning or six o'clock at night.

Mm-hmm.

And you can walk away knowing that

you have done everything that

you needed to do today to move

things forward.

It's settled.

You can go leave, work and be a

whole human being.

You can be present with your family.

You can be present in your life and not

be thinking about work all the time

and not wake up

in the 3:00 AM Not that that ever

happens to me.

Yeah,

yeah.

No, it, it, it, it's a, it's a such

a fabulous tool for just looking

at it cuz it, it.

It's one sheet of paper, like,

it's like this is what I can get

accomplished today.

Mm-hmm.

And so you do exactly what you

are capable of doing that day.

And then you're done.

Mm-hmm.

And so there's not this endless list

that's haunting you and hanging over

your, your head and it's always

keeping you focused on the important

things mm-hmm.

That are really driving the

business forward.

And there's room in there for

all the little petty stuff that

has to get done.

Cuz let's face it, there's little

petty stuff that has to get done.

Okay.

Um, But it's my number one tool

for focusing in getting stuff done.

And so you can just hop over

to the website.

It's simple success plans.com/daily.

Great.

And download it.

And there's a whole A tutorial video

and downloads and fillable versions

and printable versions and all.

Fantastic.

Well I need one of those cuz I

do have some of those 3:00 AM

moments too often.

So Yeah, and I'll get,

we'll get you with, get you Outta

those, fix me up.

So we will have the, uh, links to

all of those in the show notes as well.

Where else can people find

you?

Um, easiest places to just hit me

up on my website.

I mean, you can find me on Facebook.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I.

I have LinkedIn profile.

I never hang out there.

I hang out on Facebook.

Um, I'm not an Insta gal.

Mm-hmm.

Again, like I have a profile, I

don't do anything.

Right.

Um, so yeah, hit me up on

Facebook, hit me up on the website.

Um, you can just shoot me an email

and, uh, ask me questions.

I love to talk about business and

meet new people.

Fantastic.

Well, thank you so much, Laura.

You've been tremendously

generous and I know everyone wanna

follow up with you with those very

helpful resources.

Thank you.