Unemployed & Afraid

If you’ve struggled with the information overload we experience in the process of building our businesses, you will take so much away from this chat. Hear Brook McCarthy share the story of creating her coaching and training business over the last 16 years, plus some powerful circuit breakers around: The decisions we don’t need to labour over What should be prioritised in the crazy early periods of...

If you’ve never felt slightly envious of another person’s success, this episode isn’t for you. If you have, you’re in good company, so how can we reflect on envy and use it as a tool for reflection, and progress?  In this episode your host Kim Kerton shares a personal story about a recent experience of joyful jealousy, how it almost derailed her business-goals, and some helpful ways to get you bac...

What could happen to your business if you started collecting rejections? If you set a goal not to achieve a big dream, but to be rejected 100 times? Imagine the potential yeses, or the “what about this’s” you never thought of. In this episode, Kim Kerton chats to Penny Locaso, Founder of Hacking Happy Co., about her journey through changing her life, career, and the many no’s that led to a whole l...

Truth is, we’re all a little vulnerable to the myriad of masterclasses, webinars and coaching must-haves in business. So how do we identify when seeking knowledge and guidance becomes toxic procrastination? In this episode your host Kim Kerton shares an insight into knowledge and outsourcing overload, and how to redirect your trust in yourself and what you already know, so that you can keep moving...

What happens when you have big business dreams, but your mind, body or current circumstance won’t let you chase them? In this episode you’ll hear from Cherie Donnellan, the creative force behind the newly launched gourmet Marshmallow brand Hella Mallow, and in the telling of how she got here she’s sharing with you: The raw and real experience of deep burnout How following our business dreams can h...

Between what to charge, what we don’t yet know and learning when and how to say no – service-based business owners have a lot to battle with. In this episode you’ll hear from Hayleigh Watson, AKA Hali Helper, about her experience developing a virtual assistant agency that specialises in helping overwhelmed women-led businesses, and all the growth that’s coming with it, including:   Our abilities t...

We decide to make a change in our business, or to start one for the first time, but in order to make it real we have to tell other people about it - insert the ick factor, because pivoting in public sucks.  In this episode your host Kim Kerton shares an insight into the personal side of professional pivots large and small, to make you feel less alone in the process.  Subscribe to the Unemployed &a...

How comfortable are you with learning on the go in your business, and could you ask for help and guidance more often than you do? In this episode Kim Kerton chats to multi-passionate entrepreneur and board director Michelle Cox about how she’s grown, and continues to refine, her portfolio career. You’ll hear about: Owning when you don’t know something for the benefit of you and others Learning on...

Do we really have a choice to be anything other than persistent when building a business? In this episode your host Kim Kerton shares an insight into finding her voice, the role of grit in business-building and coming full-circle.  Need some business solidarity? This is for you.  Join the Unemployed & Afraid mailing list at unemployedandafraid.com.au   And don’t forget to follow Unemployed &am...

Creating any new business is hard going, but especially when your idea is challenged and you have to find it within yourself to stay committed to your vision. Lauren Yehezkel, Founder of Lydy knows all about this, she’s raw and real about the experience of building her brand and shares with us in this episode: The time (and patience commitment) of bringing a new product to market The blow-out cost...

Building a business is guaranteed to come with some angry, frustrating, sad and highly stressful moments, but how can you use them to keep growing? The journey behind Lauren Karan’s building of her tailored recruitment solutions business Karan & Co is filled with deeply insightful and relatable moments. You’ll hear about: Learning to find a sense of satisfaction outside of achieving everything...

When you commit to an action for your business goals and follow the journey that’s right in front of you, and not be too attached to an end goal, what happens next is nothing short of incredible. I’ve got an brilliant conversation and business story for you today – Mike Halligan, Co-Founder of Scratch which is an epic direct to consumer healthy dog food brand – shares his very impressive and inspi...

Being in the business development phase, when you’re pumping out content, meeting people and having conversations just to have them is such a confusing time in business – it feels like you’re going nowhere and everywhere all at once. The story you’re about to hear from Natalia Tapia, Co-Founder of tech platform Graduated, will give you exactly what you need to navigate your own build phase with co...

“Acting as if” has to be one of the best business mantras out there, and this chat is full of so many more incredible and relatable takeaways for those of us dreaming of building our businesses to their heights. Viv Conway is one part of the force behind the brand Girls Get Off that if you haven’t heard of before, well, you’re welcome. The ground covered by Viv in the sharing of her own business-b...

Getting to know who you are, how you work, and how to uniquely thrive in business truly is a story of “doing the work” personally and professionally, and if you’re ready for that, I have no doubt you’re going to love this chat. Cherie Clonan, CEO of The Digital Picnic is the business friend we all need in our life, and it’s my privilege to share her story with you today. In it you’ll hear about: D...

This business story is going to be deeply supportive to what I would argue is the most important aspect of working for yourself and building a business - the personal evolution you go through that really makes or breaks - learning to look at yourself in new ways and truly acknowledge all that you’re capable of that you may not have always thought you were. Eric Mirbach is Co-Founder and CEO of Ber...

Multiple passions can mean multiple businesses – so how do you do it, and be able to pivot with each as they grow? The answer could boil down to balancing both your professional and your personal growth efforts, but as always there’s more to the story. In this episode you’ll hear from the incredibly warm Rachel Smith who is successfully building multiple businesses by ensuring her measures of succ...

Creating a business in the field you’ve spent your career in as an employee is a unique experience, but when you’re aiming for a better fit lifestyle and to work on something that matters to you, it’s an experience worth taking. My guest today knows all about it – she’s a small business owner, naturally, this is Unemployed & Afraid after all and we’re all about those SME stories, and her busin...

If you happen to be an employee currently deciding on if leaving to start your own business or simply explore something “else” is for you, this episode will be exactly what you need – we’ve both been there and are sharing some hard earnt lessons that will support you with whatever stage you’re at. My guest today is the warm and deeply intelligent Camey O’Keefe, Director of Gambol Creative, and she...

Not all business owners feel comfortable sharing their journey at the early stages or until there’s some wins on the board - thing is, that’s where the absolute gold is for us all as business builders. If we never see ourselves in the stories of others we might just give up on something that could be amazing. So, I’m very excited to share with you my chat with Teresa, Founder of Your Season an onl...

Let’s get deeply personal and under the hood of my business where, me, your host Kim Kerton, is dishing out the realities of building and monetizing a podcast brand, developing a consulting business and learning what to let go of when exploring new ideas.  I’m sharing with you:  Some recent, big, revenue stream let downs  The ins and outs of this pods financials  Deciding if and how I can continue...

The fear of sucking at something has killed more businesses [and more passions generally] than any other life variable. Thing is, being average and not knowing what you’re doing is completely unavoidable for anything new worth doing. Building a business is no different. We don’t get where we want to go without feeling challenged, confused, unsure and maybe even a little bit embarrassed while we tr...

The shift from being employed to self-employed is a unique experience that, quite simply, if you haven’t been through it’s almost impossible to explain the gut-wrenching, soul growing, soul destroying, exhilarating, terrifying feels it brings – but today’s guest really gets all sides of employment. Her name is Ali Killaly and she’s the founder of career counselling organisation Workpants, and her...

If you are joining me today at a time where you’ve been battling with a particularly frustrating business-building mindset, the one where you have a million things you want to accomplish, are unsure of exactly where to start, and have seemingly lost the creative and / or productive capability to make it happen – I see you! And this chat will be exactly what you need. Our guest today is Lisa Booth,...

You’re about to hit play on Part 4 of the Business Within Your Business Unemployed & Afraid Mini-Series, and join your host side by side in the creation of an online course - an idea that could work fantastically well for your business too... So you build a course, but how do you get it out there? How do any of us market something like this?  In this episode I chat with Mia Fileman from Campai...