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.
How can you create a business if you're a disruptor in your field?
If you've got a unique voice and you're finding yourself pushing back against most others in your field, that could actually be a wonderful thing for your business.
Today's guest has carved out an important space right at the intersection of the Body Liberation and Pro-Aging movements. And she's pretty much on her own as a leader there.
Meet Deb Benfield, a Nutrition and Body Relationship Coach with over 35 years of experience working with women to heal their relationships with food, eating and their bodies.
You'll hear why Deb created a program for women in mid-life and beyond, how she designed her program and grew her audience, and what works to fill her program.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/213
I'm grateful to be running a tiny and simple business right now. I have no plans to grow this business up to 7 figures.
I was a bit hesitant to tell you that!
I feel some fear that you won't think I'm a badass, or you'll think I have upper limit problems or limited beliefs.
Maybe you won't want to hire me because I'm not as ambitious as you hoped.
Or if you're my friend who runs a larger and more complicated business, maybe you'll think I'm judging you when you hear what I have to say about running a tiny business.
(I'm not. I promise!)
But since I have the desire to be radically honest and I think this serves you, I'm sharing it anyway.
I trust you to identify the parts of this that fit for you and the parts that don't.
Note: I'm talking about service based businesses, because that's what I know best.
Capitalism tends to point us towards one vision of what it means to be a successful business owner. And that's being a business owner who always makes and does MORE.
Capitalism tends to pull us AWAY from noticing when we have enough, or even considering what enough might be.
Us feeling enoughness or satisfaction is NOT helpful to capitalism.
Here's the default vision of a successful business owner:
But when I look around at my colleagues and friends who are having a good time and feeling fairly stable financially, I tend to see a people with tiny and simple businesses.
Here's the vision of that (tiny) business owner:
Sometimes people come work with me hoping to create huge empires. I'm delighted to help them because the first phase in creating an empire should be to create a really solid small business. And that is what I help with.
When you start with a tiny, strong and simple business, you focus on creating value. And that's where every business needs to start.
Listen to the episode to hear
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/212
How do you discover the work you're meant to create? Today's episode is a master class on how to allow the collective and your spirit to pull you in that direction.
Judy Hu created a framework for boundary healing. Then she wrote a bestselling book: The Boundary Revolution: Decolonize Your Relationships and Discover A New Path To Joy.
She's a Licensed Mental Health Counselor turned Boundary Coach based in Massachusetts.
You'll hear the intensely personal and brave process Judy went through to develop and share her work.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/211
I got this question recently from someone getting ready to expand their business to beyond private practice. They want to start offering a non-therapy program within their own business.
"Should I create my own program from scratch, or should I just deliver an established method from a well-known person?"
For example, although it's not the example this person gave: Brene Brown's Dare To Lead method.
Here's my answer without knowing any of the particulars.
First of all…nothing is new under the sun. Whatever program you offer will be influenced by your learning lineages and your mentors…
So the REAL question is: will you create something new by bringing together many influences, giving them all credit, and blending them in a unique way?
OR
Will you primarily use one established method from a mentor and jump through the hoops of getting that license or certification or purchasing that curriculum, so that you can use it in its entirety and put their name on it?
To figure this out, ask yourself: What is the truest, most high quality and aligned offering you can make right now?
Which choice will be of the highest service to your participants?
A good reason to use someone else's method is that you feel clear that it is the most aligned choice.
A misguided reason to use someone else's method is that you think it will be easier to create and sell it.
Since you're creating this program within your business, you will likely be working just as hard with either choice.
Whether you sell someone else's method or create your own, you will…
In the business I'm running now, I've created my own method while giving a ton of credit to the people I've learn from.
You can't get through my program without hearing about Tara McMullin, the business strategist who has had the biggest influence on me. And you hear about many other folks whose influences are woven into my programs.
At this point I'm so hooked on creating my own processes and weaving together many influences, I can't imagine I'll ever teach someone else's entire method ever again.
But once I did! In this week's episode, I share a story about running a couples workshop using someone else's method with permission. Listen to learn from my experience so you can skip my mistakes.
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/210
Even if you already work with the niche you want to work with in your private practice, you might ALSO love having an innovative signature program as an additional way to serve them.
Danika Maddocks is a parent coach who's passionate about supporting parents of gifted and twice-exceptional kids. She's been partnering with bright kids and their families for over a dozen years as a teacher and therapist.
You're going to hear why she created a signature program for twice exceptional kids, and you'll hear how she grows her business without becoming a full-time marketer.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/209
"Has it been extra challenging to sell group programs lately?"
"How do I figure out what niche to choose and what program to create?"
"When is it the right time for Facebook or Instagram ads?"
I ran a free and open coaching call recently for everyone in our audience, including podcast listeners, clients, and email subscribers.
A record number of folks submitted questions, and I spent over an hour riffing on a bunch of them.
We had such a great response from the attendees that I decided to share the entire call recording with you.
You'll hear my answers to the questions above and more, including:
My program isn't selling. Is it priced too high?
How do I take a break from my business for a big life circumstance?
Is it OK to post or send emails sporadically? Or should I do it consistently or not at all?
How much of an expert do I have to be in my topic area?
How much of an ROI do you get from social media?
Is it a good idea to start a program with a friend?
Do I have to get my private practice stable before I start a program?
What if some things in my program were influenced by the work of others?
How do I carve out time for following through with creative ideas if I'm overwhelmed and exhausted by my caseload?
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/208
Can you REALLY make great money running a program that you love and that's based on what you do best?
Rebecca Lee does. And she's got a year-long waitlist.
As a social worker and supervisor for social workers, she felt a pull to create something totally different, something that wouldn't fit into the box of supervision or therapy or even coaching as we know it.
At first, she struggled with giving herself permission to do it.
In this episode, you'll hear how she created something that only she could create and why her family's farm is part of it.
If you've wondered if your idea is too out there, this is going to give you a big dose of permission to create your program.
Rebecca Lee is a Clinical Supervisor and Eco therapist who works with therapists, wellness professionals and healers to tap into their own rhythm, health and vision so they can create an impactful and joyful professional lives for themselves. Her work is centered around how we can re-connect with our authentic landscape through social justice, anti-oppression, seasonal landscape relationship, Yoga and Ayerveda practices.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/207
In the last episode of Rebel Therapist Podcast, talked to Claire Pelletreau about switching roles with her husband so that she's no longer the default parent.
That change made a REALLY big difference in her business.
Because she made that change she's able to take on big projects, and make more money.
And that got me thinking about what boundaries help me take on the big stuff that really makes me happy, makes a big impact and sometimes makes my business lots of money.
In that exploration I realized that I go through two steps when I'm creating a new boundary:
Until I've really made the decision that I'm going to insist on the boundary, it's pretty hopeless.
TRYING to hold a boundary before I've fully decided doesn't do it. That's a half-assed boundary.
In this episode I walk through a couple of examples of boundaries I've created recently that are helping increase my joy and capacity.
Both of these are about finally having my own home office.
This episode is NOT about me giving you advice that you need to a quiet home office too…or that you have to do what Claire did and switch roles with your spouse.
I don't know what you need or what's possible for you right now. Rather, it's about each of us figuring out what we want and need, and then when we can, claiming those boundaries for ourselves.
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/206
It's really fucking hard to be a mother entrepreneur with young kids, especially if you're the default or primary parent.
My guest this week has a robust business and she makes good money.
She realized last year that she was afraid to take on big projects in her business because as the primary parent of 2 young kids, she didn't consistently have the capacity she'd need to carry them through. She and her husband decided to switch roles. In this conversation she talks about what's changed since they made that switch.
We also talk about how we each navigate the complicated and ever changing terrain of co-parenting and doing life with our spouses.
Claire Pelletreau is a Facebook and Instagram ads expert and conversion optimization expert. Her mission is to actually help people see a return on the money they're putting into the Zuckerberg machine without the expensive help of an outside ad consultant. Claire is also the host of The Get Paid Podcast where she asks her guests everything about their businesses, including how much they charge - and how much they earn. Annie was a guest in May of 2022.
She's also my coach.
Here's some of what we talked about:
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/205
I used to ask every podcast guest: "What productivity or time management hacks do you use as an entrepreneur?"
I've stopped asking that.
I'm no longer lit up by trying to make my habits atomic or maximize my time.
The work of Tricia Hersey, Ebony Janice Moore, Tara McMullin and others has helped me (along with everyone I know) to question whether productivity is the measure to focus on and strive for.
We're here to heal, play, love and rest and BE, and when we do more of those things, we make it more possible to create the world we want.
When we're talking about running a small business, which is my lane, I find that to create something new like a new business or a new program, we need something different than productivity or time management.
We need to nurture our creative energy.
How do I know time management and productivity alone are not the answer?
When suddenly given a huge amount of time, we don't usually make as much progress as we had hoped to.
We might use that time scrolling or spinning our wheels.
Lots of folks discovered this during lock down.
So when a person asks me how many hours a week it takes to build a program beyond private practice, I could say…at least 3, better 5, and better yet 10.
But really, I find that nurturing your creative energy for an entrepreneurial project is more important than how many hours you give it.
Side note for folks running private practices:
Running a private practice might be a bit different…
It's a terrible idea, and I don't recommend it, but you may have noticed that you CAN run a private practice with scraps of energy, at least for a while. You probably know how to scrape together those scraps or energy to show up for your clients.
Here's what Katherine Eastlake says. She runs a private practice and has a program for therapists wanting to deepen embodied practice.
"I can be fairly dysregulated and settle quickly when a client walks into my room/pops up on Zoom. But when I am writing my newsletter or designing a training, I feel like I need more time and space to ground myself and orient to the process. It is a different energy with different requirements of my mind and body."
To move beyond private practice and create something new, like a signature program, you can't just add time and productivity hacks.
Pomodoro timers and to-do lists are not going to get you there.
You need to access your creative energy, and that means devoting yourself to replenishing that energy.
Here are five ways I nurture my creative energy:
1. Devote myself to the things that make me feel expansive.
I get creative energy when I devote myself to all the things that make me feel more expansive. I need to play, feeling my feelings, talk to people who inspire me, listen to podcasts and music that move me, go on walks, sing, and dance.
2. Set deadlines that people know about.
There's a sweet spot for each of us between having deadlines and having the freedom to move at our own pace.
I crave more freedom when I'm facing too many deadlines, but when completely lack deadlines, I'm not creating a lot.
Even this episode would not necessarily be here if I had no deadline for it.
I used to be so internally motivated that I could set my own deadlines that no one knew about and I'd meet them. Um…hypervigilant much? You spotted that? Yes I was.
Now I find that I need to share my deadlines with others.
3. Make room for discomfort in the creative process.
Expect really itchy moments when you have to keep trying/writing/talking/moving your pen so that the work actually happens.
Expect a 3 hour task to take 10 hours sometimes.
Expect to feel like you can't do this and know that doesn't mean you can't do this.
Expect to feel like leaving.
Let your frustration tolerance build.
All of that discomfort is part of opening up to creative energy.
4. Avoid certain things.
In order to access creative energy, I avoid…
5. Find or build a community so we're mutually supporting each other in accessing our creative energy.
Build or find a Community of other creators who commit to creating when the world wouldn't say they have to.
Entrepreneurs are a good bet because they've signed up for the tricky thing you've signed up for: They're creating what they want to create AND they're finding a way to make good money with it.
That's a different challenge than creating only for the sake of creating.
And speaking of community, I have an assignment ready for you, if you choose to accept it.
Choose someone you trust who believes in you and will give you a loving kick in the pants and send them an email. Here's your loose script:
"I'm planning on doing something brave. (Here's what it is). I may try to talk myself out of it. Will you please support me and encourage me in doing it?"
Please bcc me if you like at info@coachingwithannie.com. I'd LOVE to know that you did this assignment.
Show notes at https://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/204
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