Uncomplicating Business with Sara Torpey

One of my FAVORITE questions to ask myself (and clients) is how do you want to STRETCH next?  It's a great question for LOTS of reasons, but the biggest is that it's an OPENER.  It's the kind of questions that opens me (and them) to ideas, to things we might way to try or experiment with.  Thinking about stretching means you are leaning into learning, into experimenting, and into th...

Why are teachers EXCELLENT entrepreneurs?  Why is starting and building a business a perfect match for teaching skills?  And magic? What??!  This week on the Teachers in Business podcast my guest, former ELA teacher and now AMAZING life and business Stacey Andon and I talk about ALL the reasons why owning a business is a GREAT fit for teachers.  We share our own experiences at making this transiti...

Having a goal is a good idea, right?  I mean...it seems like a good idea, BUT.  Here's the thing. It's easy for goal-setting to go terribly wrong.  And when it does, we get FRUSTRATED - it sucks to set goals and not reach them, AND doing this over and over again KILLS your confidence.  Who wants to set themselves up for failure over and over again? I get it. I see you.  And I'm here...

Teachers have a deep understanding of how people learn.  And this understanding? This is a business ADVANTAGE (because if you've ever taken a boring course, you know that NOT everyone just gets this).  This week I'm talking with Dr. Carrie Graham about creating effective learning experiences as a teacher IN a business. 

My business model is 4 words. Nope, not 4 steps. It's 4 WORDS. Talk to more people. Period. This model is exactly what has created ALL of my business success, and it's ALL you need to create yours. And yes, you're probably thinking "That's crazy. It's NOT that simple." - but I'm here to tell you it is. The MODEL simple, but what you GET from the model is way...

Special Guest Alert!  This week the AMAZING Deb Stanley shares her story of moving from the teaching world to the worlds of business AND book authorship.  Deb is a great example of what it looks like to do it YOUR way, to make your own rules, and to find your way to clear purpose and consistent growth.  She has created a business where she gets to focus all of her time and energy on doing what she...

Teachers LOVE learning...and so we buy a LOT of courses.  Some of them we start AND finish, some we just start, and then there are the ones we buy and NEVER even touch - yikes!  This week on the Teachers in Business podcast I'm going to share the questions I ask myself BEFORE I decide to buy a course (or really, anything related to my business!).  Before you buy that next course, try these on...

Genius hour has long been a thing in schools.  It's a tool to help motivate and engage students, and one that helps them build critical thinking, problem solving, and connection skills.  On this episode of the podcast I'm going to make the case for YOU to have genius hour in YOUR business (spoiler alert: it's good for you the same way it's good for students!), and how exactly y...

Conventional wisdom is to be patient, to let it all come with time, and to wait when we aren't sure.  And I think when it comes to waiting conventional wisdom should take a hike.  Waiting, particularly in business, is a sneaky progress killer. It keeps us 'safe', small and NOT creating the life and business we actually want.  This week we're going to talk about WAITING...  I&ap...

Everyone needs a vacation sometime - even just a day or two - ESPECIALLY business owners.  But if you own your own thing, and you wear ALL the hats, how do you walk away, even just for a day or two?  This is a HUGE topic with my coaching clients right now, so this week on the Teachers in Business podcast we're going to talk about what you can do NOW so that you can actually take a vacation fr...

One of the MOST common issues teachers in the business world face is that we PLANNERS. In the teaching world, we plan weeks (months!) in advance, and have a clear path of what's going to happen when from the start of the year to the end. In the business world, planning FEELS productive.  It's laying out all the details and the steps and the flows - it's AMAZING.  But in so many case...

One of the things I hear from clients ALL the time is 'I've lost my motivation'.  Friends, motivation is like the weather - it changes ALL the time!  Depending on motivation to power you allllll the time is like planning for fair skies and perfect temperatures EVERY DAY forever (not happening).  So, what's the alternative? What about COMMITMENT?  This week on the podcast we&apo...

When business is convoluted and complicated it's also NOT fun.   And when it's not fun, you probably aren't growing either.   On this episode of the podcast, I'm sharing a new definition of simplicity along with a handful of easy to use (starting NOW) strategies to dramatically simplify your business asap.

The online business world says you MUST have a clear niche right NOW.  And if you don't? You're DOOMED.  As a result, business owners spend an ungodly amount of time freaking out about their niche in 100 different ways.  Which is ridiculous - because your niche is relevant and also totally irrelevant to your success all at the same time.  This week on the podcast I'm going to share...

One of the things clients ask ALL the time is 'how do you manage to create SO MUCH content? You never seem to run out of ideas.' One this episode of the podcast I'm sharing how I think about creating content. Then, I'm teaching you exactly how to create MORE...without also driving yourself bananas. Here's the KEY: You already have ALL the ideas and all the skills needed. I...

Is pricing your nemesis?  Does it take an insane amount of your brain space (and maybe steal your sleep)??!  No. More.  Today I'm going to talk about the three most common reasons your pricing isn’t working.  I'll share how it LOOKS in your business and life, as well as what's ACTUALLY going on.  From there I'll explain what you can DO about each one so that you can get OUT of...

You might not realize it, but your teaching skills are your unique business advantage.  They are what sets you apart from the rest. One of the MOST vital skills in a teacher's tool kit is asking great questions - and this skill translates SO well into business because asking great questions creates CONNECTION (and when people are connected to you they buy!).

One of the most common causes of my clients getting stuck is being in COMPARISON mode. We have all heard about ‘compare and despair’ and it really is a thing. Its something we have all met at some point in our work - and it really can (and does) paralyze people and impede forward progress. For me, there are two flavors of comparison mode that paralyze people. Today we’re going to talk about the tw...

Between my two businesses I have made ALL the mistakes.   And while I'm a big fan of making mistakes in order to learn and grow, I know that there are (at LEAST) a handful of mistakes I've made that didn’t need to take ALL the time and energy that I gave to them.  Today I'm sharing 3 specific mistakes I've made in my businesses - and that clients have come to me making - over t...

 Consistency is the secret sauce of business.  But it can be tricky to achieve... we all WANT to be consistent, but struggle to actually BE consistent.  This week I'm going to share the key to consistency, and the two most important questions you can ask to create consistency that will ACTUALLY work for you and your business. 

Today I have a job I love.  But that didn’t just HAPPEN.  Moving from the classroom to the business that I have today has been a journey.  This week I’m sharing two key lessons that I learned on my journey from classroom to coach that helped me create a job I LOVE, and that can help you to do the same. 

We’ve been taught to think that making decisions is hard, or that it has to be hard. But actually, most of what’s hard about making decisions is INDECISION. This week I’m going to teach you how to recognize indecision, what it means (it’s not what you think…), and how to simplify and speed up making decisions from now on.  

Success isn't created by what you DO. It's created by how you THINK. I know it sounds nutty but you can change your ACTIONS and what you do in your business 1000 times - you can try every course, every coach, every program - and still never reach your goals because you haven't changed your THINKING.  Changing your thoughts about your business, your people, your value, and yourself I...

Having a coach is great - for me it’s an essential part of business. But it’s ALSO essential to know how to be your OWN coach. To learn how to see when and how you are in your own way. To learn how to give feedback to yourself. This week I’m teaching you the handful of simple steps needed to start coaching YOURSELF right now.

Evaluation is rocket fuel for your business, in general.  In this episode I’m sharing the 4 views of evaluation - for ways to look at your work and evaluate it - that are essential for business success.