Anchored Leadership: For Business Owners Ready to Lead and Not Just Manage

It can be challenging to offer raises when your business budget is tight. In this episode, I discuss practical and cost-effective ways for small business owners to show appreciation for their team members without overspending. Recognizing and valuing your employees through creative perks, flexible work arrangements, and genuine feedback can help maintain morale and motivation. Balancing financial...

It can be tempting to offer steep discounts or to host large events to show appreciation to your customers but I think we need to be cautious. In this episode, I am discussing practical and cost-effective ways for small business owners to show appreciation for their customers in personal ways that cost very little. Personalized and genuine gestures are so valued. This is where I think small busine...

In this episode of "Be the Anchor," host Kari Lotzien is joined by LinkedIn expert Tony K. Silver to discuss how small business owners can optimize their LinkedIn profiles and leverage the platform to generate leads, build relationships, and increase sales. Tony is a multi-award-winning LinkedIn profile expert. He shares practical tips and insights from his extensive experience since 2009, providi...

In today's episode, I share insights from a personal and profound experience—my daughter's university graduation—and explore the parallels between personal milestones and professional growth in small business. In this heartfelt episode, I reflect on the life lessons observed at my daughter’s university graduation, drawing parallels to the entrepreneurial journey. We discuss how societal pressures...

I’m glad you’re here for this episode today. It’s a very important one that dives deeper into my topic from the last episode. My last episode was about not wasting a conflict or crisis and that may have been a cue from the universe that soon I’d need my own advice because right now I’m facing a major health scare in our family. And now that I’m in it, in the thick of it, I have more to say on this...

Friends, I’m talking about two things today that are not very popular but that help us grow more than anything else we encounter. Crisis and conflict. They sound like things we want to avoid at all costs, I know, and certainly, an unexpected crisis or hard conflict is not enjoyable. But what I want to talk about is what happens after the crisis or conflict, what we learn, what it shows us, and how...

I’m glad you’re here for an episode that may be a little bit short but is full of necessity. I want to talk about core values. A lot of businesses talk about core values, small and large businesses alike. And that’s good! Every business should have done an activity that helps define and develop its core values as a company. What I’ve been seeing lately, though, is that while it’s wonderful to hear...

Last episode, I introduced part one of this series on living the life that you crave. I gave you background on what that means and really did deep dive into my tagline, “live the life you crave”. If you haven’t listened to Episode 31, take a quick moment now to listen and come back when you’re finished. Now, in part two, I’m going to talk about actually living that life. There are six steps I’ll s...

This episode is special for me because I am talking about my tagline. Perhaps you didn’t know until right now that I have a tagline! We’ll unpack it together. My tagline is ‘Live the life you crave’. This phrase is very important to me, it holds a lot of value, and I found it through intention and focus. The important place to start in understanding it is to define what ‘crave’ actually means. I’l...

The topic today is hitting burnout in your business. I’m not exploring burnout itself, but more accurately some of the causes and stressors in our businesses that lead to burnout. I was walking my dog earlier, thrilled that I can now have light and temperate weather after 5:00, and it got me thinking about seasons and how they affect us. There are seasons and rhythms in everything, even in busines...

Today I’m talking about emotional intelligence and why it’s so important for corporations and small businesses alike to invest in. I’m excited to introduce you to my guest for this conversation, David Cory. David Cory is a leadership development coach, trainer, keynote speaker, and he founded the Emotional Intelligence Training Company. David has worked around the world on the design and delivery...

I’m sharing about a topic that is near and dear to my heart today, friends. I’m talking about my solid, long-term, committed relationship with procrastination. That’s right. Maybe this is something you can all identify with which is why I want to address it and shed some light on it. What is procrastination? Why do we do it? When does it show up? I have many questions about my procrastination so I...

Today is an exciting episode because I get to introduce you to a brilliant woman I know you’ll be glad you listened to. Her name is Kim Kiel and she’s a brand voice expert, copy coach, and founder of the boutique copywriting agency Kim Kiel Copy. What Kim has is a true talent for capturing a client’s voice and writing elegant and persuasive copy. Today she shares insight on how to write great copy...

“How many times have you said to yourself, I just thought I’d be further by now?” That’s the question that this episode examines. Maybe you thought you’d be at a different financial stage by now or maybe you imagined you’d have a much larger team. But somehow you’re not feeling that you’re at the place you want to be or getting the results you want to get. There’s something important I want you to...

What I want to talk about today is empathy. Specifically, I want to talk about how your empathy may be hurting your business. Possibly in ways you’ve never considered before. There are ways you may be getting in your own way through empathy. Now I’m not saying that empathy is a bad trait or in any way wrong, that’s not it. I am saying there is a time and place for empathy and to ensure empathy doe...

A topic came up during our Anchored Leadership training that is a challenge faced by many small businesses. It’s something every business owner with a team will face sooner or later. What to do when a key member of your team leaves? Regardless of whether that person is going away temporarily, on an extended vacation or maternity leave, or they’ll be gone permanently, they got a new job or moved ci...

If you’ve done your strategic planning for 2024, you may have laid out some big goals, and you might be asking yourself “Is business coaching worth it?”. I’m going to be exceptionally candid with you in this episode. Business coaching is a great help but it’s not always the best investment for you and your business in certain situations. You want to ensure a return on your investment so I want to...

We entrepreneurs tend to have big dreams, big ideas, and visionary goals. Sometimes we find ourselves at the right time to set those goals into something solid. Like in January, we might decide to finally write that book or launch that course. Or when we hit a certain financial goal. What often happens, though, is that we allow other people’s criticism or skepticism to hold us back from realizing...

Something really successful people often do, when telling their stories of rags to riches or hardship to success, is they sort of gloss over the decade or so in between difficult struggle and amazing achievements. But it’s in that between time where the work is really done. And I think we need to hear how to actually navigate that decade or so when our business goes from brand new to an establishe...

A piece of advice my grandma gave to me before my wedding is what inspired this episode. I asked her, What do you think the key is to a long-lasting marriage? And she said, Well, I think that it’s sometimes you need to not say what you’re thinking. This got me thinking about how much focus we place on speaking well, on communicating our own thoughts in speech and in writing, and on being heard. Bu...

I’m putting a twist on goal setting for the new year in this episode. We are always looking for the payoff or the reward or what the destination is and we often forget to have fun in the moment of living. So while you’re setting intentions and planning for the new year, I want to set out this challenge: what goals can you set that aren’t about achievement but are simply about fun? What can you lea...

No, this episode has not come out a week late. I want to talk about what I believe is the most magical week of the year: the last week, between the 26th and January. I take this week to slow down, to spend time in pyjamas, being cozy and drinking tea. I put together a puzzle and read a book or watch a movie. I let go of the chaos. But I also do something else. I reflect. And that’s what I want to...

I have an amazing guest to share with you, someone who will inspire your marketing journey and make you feel empowered to embrace your uniqueness. Cheryl Floris is a mother and a lifelong creative who founded Hey Sunny Studio to specifically help women in business build a thriving brand. Cheryl worked in the health and fitness industry and through being involved in bettering her own wellness, she...

Today I want to take a moment to talk about joy. Not just joy itself, but about finding joy when it’s not easy to see. Right now a lot of people, people both close and unrelated to me, are going through incredible challenges - loss of loved ones, health issues, financial struggles, not being able to meet basic needs - and coupled with what’s going on in the world, it sparks confusion and a sense o...

I am talking about something that I know all too well in this episode: feeling awkward in social settings. I’m specifically talking about holiday parties and networking events for those of us who are socially anxious and who find social events stressful and nerve-wracking. You’re not alone! I’ve found some things that help me not just survive but actually enjoy networking and parties and I’m shari...