Stay ConnectedHealers are often drawn to this work because of their own histories and emotional pain. the only way to thrive and avoid burnout while we help others heal is to do our own healing.
On this podcast, Annie Schuessler-Zam talks to all kinds of healers as they share vulnerable stories about pain, healing and growth.
You don't have to create your business based on what's already been done. In this moment, there's no excuse to create your business by default.
How do you create a new vision for what your business will look like?
That's the question I'm tackling today. Our guest, Michelle Auerbach, is an author and consultant for entrepreneurs and organizations. She suggests mining science fiction for some of that vision.
In my own business and the whole rest of my life, I've been on a journey of reading the work of Octavia E Butler to help me gather inspiration and a new vision.
In Parable Of The Sower and Parable Of The Talents, through the main character, Lauren, she introduces a new way of looking at the world and a new model of leadership. I highly recommend these books and also the podcast Octavia's Parables. They're incredible sources of inspiration and ideas.
We're co-creating a new world. Our businesses are part of that new world.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/134
How do you create healthy and effective financial practices for your small business?
That's the question we're tackling today.
Exploring that question for myself has been complicated.
I've been tracking every penny in my personal finances since 1997.
I've always tracked my income and expenses in my businesses.
But all that tracking didn't mean I was doing well with my money. My bookkeeping practices had a stressful and tight energy to them. Several years ago, my wife found a red plastic button that looked like it was from an old fashioned computer, with the word "panic" on it. She suggested I glue it to my desk and press it when I was doing my bookkeeping.
Although that was (sort of) funny, it kind of freaked me out. I didn't realize how stressed out I seemed when I was dealing with money. I just thought that was how that worked.
Years later, I went through Bari Tessler's program The Art of Money, and also read her book. Her work helped me start to slow down my nervous system when relating to my money.
Then I started using the Profit First system created by Mike Michalowicz. Two times a month, I walk through a process to distribute my income into different bank accounts within my business.
That process gives me a clear look at what's happening in my finances and evens out the ups and downs.
Then I hired a fee only financial advisor to help me create a long term plan.
And all of these things have helped me change the feeling I'm bringing to my money practices. I still feel myself going into reactive mode sometimes, and I still get that gripped, stressed feeling sometimes. It's just that now I've got some better thoughts and practices to lean into.
I want to introduce you to someone who has helped lots of my clients find peace and empowerment with their money practices. Let me introduce Andi Smiles, a financial consultant and educator for small business owners.
She was willing to share her own financial journey with us.
Five years ago, she was a self-described "hot mess" when it came to her own money. It wasn't that she needed more information. She knew what to do. She was a money expert helping small business owners, but her money wounds were holding her back from creating her own peaceful relationship with money.
In this conversation, Andi shares the daily money practices she follows now. Then she takes us back to the journey she went through to heal those money wounds and create a more profitable business.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/133
How do you do feminism in your business?
How do you run a thriving, profitable business while living your feminist anti-oppression values?
That's the question we're tackling today.
I'll give one small example of how feminism has played out in my business: the progression of images of myself I have put out over the last 10 years.
I've had my photos done 4 times, 5 if you include the time my wife took a bunch of photos of me because I just really needed some new photos.
For the first couple of photo shoots, I was focused on getting "good" photos taken.
That meant kind of trying to look "pretty" and also relatable.
without realizing it, I was asking my photographer to package me the way I'd seen other successful coaches being packaged: feminine, smiling, and in pink.
The last time I got my photos taken, I asked my photographer, Sarah Deragon to co-create something more interesting and less expected. I asked her to help me bring out some more masculine energy, to NOT focus on making me look "pretty" and to play with the images in a more powerful way.
We got out boxing gloves. We had me in a flight suit, then in blazers, in fedoras, with no attempt to make me look younger than I look.
Images are just one place where my feminist values come up, and it's where we start with my guest Kelly Diels, a writer and feminist marketing consultant who works with culture makers.
YOU are a culture maker, and I'm so excited to share this conversation with you.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/132
When is it time to take a brave step in your business? My guest is Jelisha Gatling. She helps therapists make the brave move of leaving their jobs and jumping all the way into private practice.
I help therapists, healers and entrepreneurs take the brave step of creating a business beyond a traditional private practice.
So we discovered that we have a lot in common. We both help people get ready enough to do scary things, and then we hold their hands while they leap.
One thing we both know through personal experience is that you can't wait until you're ready to take a brave step. You can only be ready enough.
In this conversation, Jelisha shares how it's been for her to take the brave step of creating a business for therapists.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/131
Having a list of subscribers who are into what you're doing is a HUGE game changer in your business.
If you're selling a course or membership or workshop series or really ANY kind of scaled offer, you want an email list.
I know my own email list needed to hit 600 people before I was making a significant income in my business. I still have a relatively small list, of just over 2000 people as I'm recording this. I say that to say that you don't need a HUGE list to make a good living, but you do need a list of people who want your stuff.
If you're working on getting your first 1000 subscribers or your next thousand, you're going to want to hear this.
My guest is Anya Manes, an educator and coach who helps parents have open communication with their kids so they can talk about sex and relationships.
She's grown an email list of 8000 people.
If you google how to grow an email list, you might find some helpful resources, but you'll also find some icky tactics there that don't really resonate.
An email list that was grown with those kinds of tactics is NOT the kind of email list you want. You want an email list you grew by offering value.
That's exactly what Anya Manes has done.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/130
How would you do things differently the second time around?
I've talked a lot about the stages of a rebel business, meaning a business beyond the treatment room. In episodes 118 and 119 in February, I walked us through the things you might go through as a business owner during those stages.
This week I'm talking to a business owner who's already got one thriving business, and one business that's just starting out.
I wanted to delve into what she's experiencing differently and what she's doing differently with the benefit of knowing so much more the second time around.
I'm talking to Karen Wolfe, a therapist who specializes in working with parents and children, and with a newer focus that we're going to delve into right.....NOW.
It's called embodiment and sexual polarity.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/129
As an entrepreneur creating a business beyond the treatment room, you're gonna have legal questions. I certainly can't answer them. I'm bringing you a podcast episode with someone who can: my own lawyer, Elizabeth Potts Weinstein.
Before we dived into her thoughts on your legal needs, I asked her about how she runs her own business: the systems she uses, the way she structures her time, and how she works with her team.
Then she shared some helpful and nuanced thoughts on what you need to take care of on the legal side.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/128
I don't talk a lot about being a mom and an entrepreneur, and I've resisted identifying myself as a "mamapreneur." I've always worked with tons of business owners who are NOT parents, and I didn't want to pigeon hole myself in that particular way or to alienate folks who are not parents.
...But we are going there today in a big way. I'm talking to Narissa Harris, a therapist, writer, podcaster and cultural consultant. She and her husband Art cofounded Culture First, where they provide consultation and training around cultural awareness and sensitivity. Narissa and Art are the parents of a 1 year old. In this episode, we dive in and get real about what's working for her in building their company while also raising a tiny human together.
I've had my own experiences with parenting and running my company lately. As we're recording this, we're sheltering in place. I'm spending more time with my kids, and even when I'm not the one spending time with them, they're HERE.
This is reminding me of times when my kids were younger, and it was harder to get work done. I remember a particular moment with my youngest. He used to like to be held a lot and it was OK with him if I was talking on the phone for some of that time...then he hit a certain day and it was no longer OK. I was on the phone with the landlord of a potential therapy office. We were going to talk through a couple of details, and then my baby started yelling. He wasn't distressed. He was just yelling into the phone, like "I want to join in here!"
There was nothing I could do but excuse myself, and end the call.
That was the last time I talked on the phone while holding my baby. He was not having it.
Topics Discussed In This Episode:
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/127
Hello Rebel listener. I've decided to not release a new episode this week. I stand in solidarity with Black listeners, podcasters, healers, therapists, entrepreneurs, friends and family.
I want to recommend something right now that's been so helpful to me as a white person who owns a business. Wherever you're listening to this right now, head to the podcast called That's Not How That Works. Hit play on their episode released on May 28th, 2020.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/thats-not-how-that-works/id1358150402
The podcast That's Not How That Works is always all about justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in the world of coaching and personal development. It's by two JEDI masters (meaning justice, equity, diversity and inclusion) who are also very close friends. This particular episode gives you a whole guide to some of their most important episodes.
This is an excellent time for me as a white person to look at how my business supports or stands against white supremacy, and to make long term commitments.
Now real quick, I'll recommend some podcasts by our Black colleagues. There are business coaches, healers, & other entrepreneurs in here. This list really barely scratches the surface. Check them out if you haven't already.
Authentic Wednesday with Bianca Hughes https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/authentic-wednesday-podcast/id148096971 (A podcast about embracing your imperfections and being authentically you.)
Level Up Your Course with Janelle Allen https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/level-up-your-course-podcast-janelle-allen-create-online/id1045235303 (A podcast about course creation.)
Minding My Black Business with JaNaè Taylor https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minding-my-black-business/id1276308195 (A podcast for Black entrepreneurs.)
The Money Sessions with Tiffany McLain https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-money-sessions/id1454957630 (A podcast for therapists who are leaning in to raise their fees and make bank.)
More Than Money with Jacquette Timmons https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/more-than-money-with-jacquette-timmons/id1463285733 (A podcast about money, psychology and choices.)
Racism Recovery Podcast with April Dawn Harter https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/racism-recovery-podcast/id1507043474 (A podcast to help white people prepare for racism recovery.)
Therapy For Black Girls with Joy Harden Bradford https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/therapy-for-black-girls/id1223803641. (A podcast about mental health and personal development.)
Walk A Day In My Culture with Narissa Harris https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/walk-a-day-in-my-culture/id1479616651 (A podcast that helps you keep your cultural antenna raised.)
Like I said , that just starts to scratch the surface.
If you like what you hear, or learn from what you hear, please subscribe to those podcasts, give them 5 star reviews, and share them with your colleagues and friends.
I'll be back with an episode of Rebel Therapist next time.
This here podcast has changed a lot since I started it in the spring of 2017.
My business has grown a lot, largely thanks to this podcast.
I started this podcast as a way to reach more therapist entrepreneurs and give you inspiration and information about growing your business.
I've found my voice more and more over the last 3 years. I've learned a ton about podcasting and I have discovered that I LOVE it. Since then I've gotten to support some of my clients in creating their own podcasts.
Here are a few things I've learned about podcasting:
I realized right away that I'd need to figure out how to create something different. For me, that difference has come from interviewing folks about their own businesses, rather than interviewing business experts who will tell us what to do. If someone's not open to talking about what's happening behind the scenes in their own business, they're not a fit for this show.
I myself am a business expert who tells people what to do at times. I'm not against that. For this podcast, however, I love giving you examples of folks who have created their own innovative and successful businesses. When you want to hear from business experts, I know you've got no shortage of other shows to listen to.
OK, enough about me for today! I'll share more about my own lessons learned, but now I want you to hear from some other wonderful entrepreneurs.
You're going to hear from 5 Rebel Therapists who dare to podcast. They're all leaders in creating unique and valuable podcasts.
Introducing Asher Pandjiris, Bianca Hughes, Dr. Kelsey Harper, Marielle Berg, and Nick Venegoni.
Each of them is sharing with us who their show is for, what it gives the listener, one thing they've learned in the process of creating their show, and how their podcast supports their business.
Asher Pandjiris is the host of Living In This Queer Body, a podcast about barriers to embodiment and how our collective body stories can bring us back to ourselves.
Bianca Hughes is the host of Authentic Wednesday, a podcast where she and her guests share their vulnerable, behind the scenes stories of giving themselves permission to take off their masks, let go of expectations, and embrace their own paths of freedom and authentic connection.
Dr. Kelsey Harper is the host of Warrior Grrrl, which is still in development. It's podcast for survivors of sexual assault. It brings a candid and authentic conversation about all the different things that are impact survivors.
Marielle Berg is the host of 2 podcasts: The Skillful Podcast, focusing on DBT skills, and It's Just A Cookie, for people struggling with food and body image issues, using a HAES and intuitive eating lens to help people heal from eating disorders, disordered eating, and food and body angst.
Nick Venegoni is the host of Queer Spirit Podcast, a show for spiritually minded queer folks on a path of personal healing and transformation.
Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/126
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