Beyond Better with Stacy Ennis

Writing a book and being successful as an author is hard work. This week on the podcast, I unpack the hardness and amazingness of the author journey, from writing to marketing and beyond, with Alexa Bigwarfe, a USA Today best-selling author, publisher, and founder and CEO of Write, Publish, Sell. In this episode, we discuss: Alexa’s moving, personal journey into publishing What authors should know...

I recently hosted an author celebration and meetup for my clients and students. It was a beautiful celebration of the amazing authors I get to work with, and I left overflowing with gratitude. I had such a good time that I was inspired to record a podcast episode with a look behind the scenes at the work I do with authors. In this solo episode, I share: A recap of the community meetup (it was so g...

Cherie is the cofounder and CEO of Saalt, a women-owned B Corp that creates reusable and sustainable period care products that replace disposable pads and tampons. You may have seen Saalt on the shelves at Target or other major retailers, but you might not know the mission behind the company. Period poverty keeps underprivileged women and girls out of school and other activities that would further...

When I met Kevin O’Connor in my book-writing program, I instantly knew he was going to add great energy to our group of future authors. It was no surprise when he not only reached his goal of publishing his book, Two Floors Above Grief , but also leaned fully into marketing, garnering nearly 100 reader reviews on Amazon—an impressive feat for any author! In this episode, we discuss: How Kevin reac...

In this week’s solo episode, I share what life is like after living in Portugal for four years. I talk about: How I feel about living in the Algarve Challenges we’re facing right now, including schools and medical care What it’s like running a location independent business in Portugal How our trip to the US impacted my feelings about living abroad One thing I’m missing professionally—and how I’m t...

During my recent trip to New York, I spent time with this week’s podcast guest, Farnoosh Torabi. We talk about how to lean into fear—how to hone it, tap into it, and make it work for you. I loved everything about this conversation, and I know you will too. Farnoosh has written multiple books, and her latest book, A Healthy State of Panic: Follow Your Fears to Build Wealth, Crush Your Career and Wi...

In this solo episode, I’m answering reader questions that focused on the same topic: How did you get to where you are—and how can I get there too? If you want to hear my long, windy story of entrepreneurship, from my first job as a high school language arts teacher in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, all the way to the location independent life I lead today in Portugal, listen in. I hope you enj...

In this week’s episode, we talk about Debbie’s journey to reach where she is today as the founder of The Offbeat Life , a podcast and website that highlights the journeys of remote workers and digital nomads. We also talk about how she makes money, both in her day-to-day work and from her travel content. Today, she has accumulated over half-a-million downloads and shares what is possible when you...

When the producer of Beyond Better , Rita Domingues, told me she’d booked an 86-year-old first-time author for the podcast, I was both curious and impressed. And as I readied for our conversation, I could see why Rita had selected her as a guest. One of the first female hospital CEOs in Canada Climbed Kilimanjaro at age 64 (!) Cofounded the Panama Hospice and Respite Foundation Breast cancer survi...

I dream big. Like b-i-g big. Big to the point that I catch surprise on even my closest friends’ faces when I share my vision. And I work with people who dream big. They share their aspirations for the keynote stage, their desire to write books of meaning, the scaled impact they want to make with their story or message. Yet we know a lot of people just won’t get it. But we don’t just talk. We take...

In this solo episode, I share my reflections on my time abroad this summer. I spent the month of August in the US, mostly disconnected from work and present with my family and friends. I hadn’t taken a meaningful trip to the US since early 2020, just before lockdowns started. And I noticed a lot of surprising things. Join me as I share my observations about environmental signals that reflect on th...

When you first enter the world of book writing and publishing, the options can feel overwhelming. That’s why I’m excited to welcome Karen McNally of Girl Friday Productions (GFP) to talk all things publishing. Karen has been with GFP for eight years. Prior to joining, she worked for Amazon Publishing, as well as Amazon’s retail division. She’s passionate about helping authors achieve their goals a...

In this week’s episode, I get to pull back the curtain on the elusive world of writing for television and movies with my guest, Katiedid Langrock, and share some behind-the-scenes on what it’s like to write for major animated series, including Barbie , Paw Patrol , and Hello Kitty . Katiedid is a screenwriter, television writer, longtime syndicated humor columnist, adjunct professor, author, and w...

For this first episode of season 5 (!), our team got to record in person! For the first time ever, three of us were in the same room—normally we work from the U.S. and Portugal. Our time together inspired us to record an episode all about our work. We cover: What it's like meeting for the first time in person The pros and cons of remote team dynamics  What it's been like for me (Stacy) to...

As part of my summer podcast replay series, I'm excited to share this week’s episode with my good friend Amanda Turner (writing as AK Turner). In this episode, she shares how her family travels two to four months a year—all while running a business  and  writing  New York Times  best-selling books. Amanda's  Vagabonding with Kids  series was inspirational for me as we were dreaming of movi...

As part of my summer podcast replay series, I'm excited to share this week’s episode with author David Morales. His book, American Familia: A Memoir of Perseverance , was released in February 2022 and already has dozens of five-star reviews and has impacted readers across the US and beyond. In this conversation, David shares the inspiration behind the book and his larger vision of impact, incl...

As part of my summer podcast replay series, I’m excited to share this week’s episode with Michael Zipursky, CEO of Consulting Success®, a consulting business that specializes in helping entrepreneurial consultants grow profitable, scalable, and strategic businesses. We talk about Michael’s journey through multiple businesses and how he transitioned from burning the midnight oil to structuring his...

As part of my summer podcast replay series, I’m sharing a replay of a powerful podcast episode with a past student, May Lam Rocco. May’s memoir , Confi-Dance: Memoirs of an Asian Businesswoman’s Journey from a Traditional Upbringing into Unconditional Love , has been endorsed by an impressive list of people, including the former president of Gucci China; the speaker-elect of the US House of Repres...

About five years ago, I sat down in my home office in Thailand to record the first episode of my podcast, which I called The Stacy Ennis Show . The little show I started with my iPhone has reached 100 episodes! It’s been a delight to see how my expertise in public speaking and interviewing—the latter developed from ghostwriting so many books—has translated into hosting a podcast. I share more in m...

This week’s podcast guest (one of my former students!) has learned how to capture attention, grow an audience, share her opinion, and use her platform—now hundreds of thousands of people—to influence for good. Giovanna Gonzalez is not only a TikTok influencer and financial educator, but she is also a soon-to-be author. During the Great Resignation, she quit her ten-year corporate career in financi...

Megan McCaleb is a masterful improv trainer, comedian, author, and the creator of Improv Team Culture, with a specialty in coaching executive leadership and their teams to adopt the simple and effective principle of "yes, and," the core rule derived from performance improvisation. In this podcast episode, we discuss: Megan’s journey as an author and what it was like to publicly share a p...

This Ask Stacy episode is full of writing and publishing-related questions from my listeners. Topics covered in this episode include: What to do if English is your second language and you’re finding it challenging to write. Whether traditional publishing is better than self-publishing. If ChatGPT is an ethical route to write a book. The average word count for a nonfiction manuscript and what to do...

I’ve collaborated with Reedsy on a few learning resources over the years, including a course and webinar, always working with Martin Cavannagh, Head of Content. He does a fantastic job running their content and has been successful positioning the company at the top of search results, helping drive a steady stream of leads to the marketplace. So when he agreed to come on the podcast to share some B...

I get emails every week from listeners and readers who want to know about life abroad. Questions cover: What is it like to uproot everything and move somewhere new? What is the visa process like? What should I consider when deciding on whether to move abroad? These questions get more specific when it comes to dating, raising a family, and everything in between. That’s why I loved this conversation...

A book launch party is a special moment for an author. After many months—often years—of working on a book, the launch party is the moment to celebrate the incredible achievement of authorhood. But here’s the thing: while a launch party can be fun and exciting, a successful party requires planning and execution. That’s why I’m so excited to get to share this week’s episode, a conversation with Virg...