No BS Mastery Podcast

Wouldn't you love to be seen as an authority figure, a respected expert professional who always has a list of prospects ready to pay the prices that you charge? This is one of the most common things that we hear from people who join our program, No BS Agency Mastery.   When people don't view you as the expert that you are, you run into all kinds of trouble running your business. Bargaining with pe...

Sarah Noel Block has been thriving inside the Mastery community, implementing our model in her marketing business — showing everyone that even though the model was designed with one to two person branding agencies in mind, the principles can apply to any creative services business. In this episode, Sarah shares one strategy in particular that anyone could use to support their business: Online Even...

Have you ever missed out on an opportunity because you were scared to take the risk? We’ve all let chances slip by because of fear at one time or another. Maybe you’ve avoided trying something new or making an investment in your business because you just couldn’t be sure it would work out so why take the risk? In the last two episodes, I talked about how investing in your business has the best pos...

If you had $20,000 to invest today, would you put it in the stock market or into your own business? One of these options could give you a 47% ROI in 5 years, but the other could give you over 1000% ROI. So which option would you choose? For years, I thought the stock market was the gold standard for building wealth. Until I realized I was sitting on a gold mine of ROI potential: my business.  In t...

Do you worry about money? Are you scared because you don’t have enough? Or maybe you have enough right now but you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop and wipe out that stability? The majority of the people I talk to have been there or are there. And I’ve been there too. I’ve been scared with $40,000 in debt and I’ve been scared with $40,000 in the bank and clients rolling in.  Everybody who wor...

How are you going to make this your best year yet? Every year inside No BS Agencies Mastery, I lead a two-day planning workshop for our students.  If you want to have your best year yet, it’s vital that you envision not only the big picture, but what steps it will take to achieve it. Today, I’m sharing my vision and planning process, from soup to nuts. Tune into this episode to hear: Our approach...

I was recently a guest on Sara Chambers’s fabulous podcast, Chicks Who Give a Hoot and I loved our conversation. We chatted a lot about Mastery, her experience in it, and talked about other people’s experiences as well. Plus we dug into mindset shifts we’ve both needed to make to be successful in our businesses and lots more. I wanted to share that conversation here on my feed. I hope you enjoy it...

Almost all of us have worked for a crappy boss at some point. And even though you have your own business now, you might still be working for one.  Getting away from bad bosses may be one of the reasons you started your own business in the first place. But it is all too easy to end up treating ourselves horribly. So to close out 2024, I want to talk about how to be a great boss to yourself so you c...

Last week, I talked about how to think about planning your year ahead when you’ve had a wildly successful year. If you’re looking back at 2024 and feeling like things fell apart instead of coming together, you are not alone. Those same students I talked about last week who had their best years ever have also had years that felt like a total bust.  If things didn’t take off quite the way you hoped...

It’s been a year filled with milestone achievements for No BS Mastery students. And the wins aren’t just about bank accounts and booked calendars. It’s taking pottery classes in the middle of the day and bucket list trips across the world and teaming up on a project with a legend in your field. It’s the freedom and flexibility that comes with owning and trusting the No BS process. So what do you d...

Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are No BS Agencies Mastery success stories. They joined the program soon after they started their business, setting the right course that works for them from the start.  Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are the founders of Brightside Creative, where they transform nonprofits and mission driven organizations into unforgettable brands, empowering them to put their mission in mot...

Let’s see if this sounds familiar: You say yes to everything. You take any project as they come up and you start them as soon as possible. You have too many clients and you’re juggling too much work. You have no work-life balance. And if you’re not up to your eyeballs in client work, you’re stressing and spinning your wheels about the next thing to cross your door. Burnout is on the horizon. Last...

Many branding agency owners and creative people find dealing with clients very difficult. In my experience, and after having coached many people through difficult client experiences, I have found that the culprit is almost always lack of clarity around boundaries and expectation management. Things often go off the rails when you can’t communicate and maintain clear boundaries with clients. That’s...

I’ve come to realize that so many people struggle to set and hold boundaries because they are afraid of being perceived negatively. Whether it’s saying no to a casual invite to a bar when you’d rather not or holding firm to your boundaries in a professional setting, having and communicating clear boundaries can be stressful.  But it is absolutely vital to your business for you to develop this ski...

Eleanor Hancock is a star student inside No BS Agencies Mastery and her transformation over the last couple of years has been absolutely phenomenal to watch. She’s an inspiration to me and in the community, and I know you’ll get so much out of hearing her story. Eleanor Hancock is the co-founder of Number 75 Design, a creative agency that specializes in creating ‘damn fine brands’ and websites for...

If you could just make the right social media posts, if you could just make your offer better, if you could just find the people who would pay the high prices, would that make you successful?  What does it really take to be successful as a one to two person branding agency? Success is about the whole picture: the business you want, the money you want to make and the lifestyle that you want. It’s a...

Money. A topic that makes so many people so uncomfortable. We all have money stories that can negatively impact us. God knows I have spent a lot of time working through those to have a healthier money story and a healthier relationship with money.  So many creatives don’t like talking or even thinking about money. But it is such an important and powerful aspect of your business. If you don’t have...

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur these days.  Start your own business! Be your own boss! It might look glamorous from the outside, but small business owners know, the truth isn’t all that. This month, we’re talking about hard truths most business coaches won’t tell you. And today, I’m going to lay down some hard truths about what it really means to be an entrepreneur. Tune into t...

Apparently, I have developed something of a reputation for telling it like it is. Students and my friends know that they can expect me to give to them straight. Sometimes that might come across a little harsh, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think there’s value in giving (and getting) no BS answers. I’ll be honest about what you can expect, what I think you’re doing right, and where I th...

I’m excited to share my conversation with a No BS Mastery star student. Caitlin Lang has been an absolute delight to have in our community and it’s been awesome to watch her take action and transform her business. Today, she shares her journey from the dot com boom to working as a freelance brand designer, to embracing the No BS way after years of struggling with the default way of running a brand...

Following up can not only cost you a lot of time in trying to craft a thoughtful email that will hopefully get a response, it can be emotionally draining and frustrating too. Especially when you need or want the work, it feels like there’s a lot on the line. This month, we’re talking about the default way that things are done in our industry and The No BS Way.  In this episode, I talk about what t...

How do you schedule your day? Do you plan your week out? Do you know what you're working on every single day?  Or are you in reactive mode and constantly playing a guessing game for when you’ll hit project milestones? Been there, done that, and trust me, there is a better way. This month, we’re talking about the default way that most agencies run their businesses and how the No BS Way can be much...

A lot of small agency owners learned how to structure and run their businesses from the agencies they’ve worked at in the past. But what if everyone's doing it in an inefficient, ineffective way?  That’s the conclusion I came to when we found ourselves deep in debt after following the default way things were done.  Now after over a decade of doing it the No BS way and teaching that method to hundr...

I am a long-time user and proponent of Squarespace for client projects and we’ve used them exclusively for over a decade. In this episode, I chat with Jeremy Schwartz, Squarespace’s Director of Channel Partner Business, about what makes Squarespace such a powerful tool for creatives and designers and how it can help you build your business. Jeremy Schwartz is a business leader and Squarespace vete...

Today, I’m excited to share a conversation with someone who has been on an absolute rocket ship ride inside No BS Agencies Mastery. Kris Byers has transformed his business and achieved phenomenal results and become a real leader and inspiration in our community. So I wanted to talk to him about what exactly he did, how his process changed, and how he’s successfully applying the No BS philosophy to...