Creative Warriors

Welcome to the 500th Episode of Creative Warriors! In just under five years, we have over a million downloads and 500 episodes. I was planning on getting a “big name” or celebrity to celebrate this milestone, but I realized that none of that really matters. What matters is the community of warriors we have built in over 200 countries and all the people behind-the-scenes who make this all possible. On this episode, I share my favorite interview, my most difficult interview, and the time someone killed a fly in the middle of an interview! I talk about the insecurity that led me to begin the podcast in the first place and open up about my struggle to live authentically. I also dive deeper into my personal life and history than I ever have before. I’ve brought on my producers, Colin Thompson and Enid Cortes from Kast Media, my booker Cheryl Kaiser, and logo designer Rachel Dennis. I didn’t know how it was going to go, but there are things we talk about that anyone who listens can take and apply to their business.

This question, "What do you own?", is both practical and philosophical. I cover multiples sides of the importance of ownership from why it's important for your business to knowing how what you own can help you carve out a place for yourself in the world. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting your most profitable customers. Fill out the simple LINGO Review applic

A lot of us Creative Warriors have lots of passion but no initiative. We have a dream and a talent, but we often don’t know where to put our energy. We can’t tell the difference between passing fancies and things that are worth doing. Fear can also hold us back from putting all of our energy into something because we’re scared that we’ll get stuck on the wrong path. If taking the first step to allow opportunity to unfold is difficult, know that baby steps are a great way to start. It’s like a pianist doing scales or a basketball player practicing their shots. You have to start with the basics and do them over and over to build up to your big dream. In his book Initiative, Joshua Spodek gives us concrete exercises, like the pianist’s scales, that we can do that develop passions and take initiative. To expose us to some of these initiative exercises, I’ve brought Joshua onto the podcast. Joshua Spodek, PhD, MBA, TEDx speaker, wrote the #1 bestselling Leadership Step by Step, hosts the award-winning Leadership a

After last week's Talking Stick episode when I suggested that the reason Warriors experience so many ups and downs is that parts of their entrepreneur ecosystem are not functioning well, I received a few inquiries asking about the entrepreneur ecosystem. In this episode, I explain the many elements of a healthy entrepreneur ecosystem. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and

Do you show up “salesy” or committed? If you’re passionate, you can be direct and demanding without coming off as a pushy salesman. Get people on your team by having a clear message that is both easy to communicate and easy for others to adopt. In today’s world, people are bombarded with messages constantly; you need to have a catchy, direct “hook” to get them to notice. Keep it around 2-5 words, make sure it’s positive, and tie it to a greater purpose. It’s time to make communication matter again. To dive into the idea of clearer messaging, I’ve brought on branding expert Michelle Mazur, Ph.D. She delivers audacious breakthroughs for business owners & speakers who want to stand out, be the best-in-class in their field, and position themselves in a category of one. She is the CEO of Communication Rebel and the author of Speak Up for Your Business and Speak for Impact. Her rebel yell has appeared in Fast Company, Inc., Entrepreneur, PR Daily, and She Owns It. To learn how to create your own “three-word re

Are the ups and downs of entrepreneurship inevitable? The nature of the beast? Or do we cause it? It's a little bit of both but I believe the biggest culprit is that specialization has caused fragmentation. Find out how to get out of this loop of running around all over the place to support what should be an integrated ecosystem of entrepreneurship. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads

You never need insurance until it’s a bad time. Do you really want to make a stressful scenario worse? Probably not. If you can understand that you’re going to need to be in the best state of mind that you can be to handle that future crisis, you’ll be able to effectively prepare. I personally am a huge insurance buyer. My father passed away without health insurance, so I’ve had health insurance since I was 19 years old. I even have health insurance on my dogs which proved to be indispensable when my dog recently got sick.  Some people might think that prevention is something that only big businesses need to worry about. But it’s really the smaller businesses that could be wiped out by one catastrophe. To talk about the importance of preventing future problems, I’ve brought on Matthew Neill Davis of Davis Law, PLLC. His firm that has three times made the Law Firm 500 for being among the fastest-growing law firms in the nation. Matthew’s book, The Art of Preventing Stupid, will show you how to make smart, mean

If systems and structure seem rigid or you feel might inhibit your creativity, here's a different way to look at systems. Find out how setting the environment for what you want can make miracles happen. You'll hear how setting the environment is the current way of doing business and how you can apply the idea of setting the environment in your daily business life. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting tra

It’s very hard to imagine retirement- it can feel like a far-off dream. It’s difficult to save for something that you can’t even imagine. Because of this, a lot of us avoid thinking or talking about money at all. It doesn’t feel good. Like a diet, budgets are something we have negative feelings toward and ultimately end up abandoning. It’s better to put your finances in a positive light. Instead of feeling like you don’t have enough money, start realizing that you are richer than you think. Come from a place of gratitude for what you have and know that it’s actually your habits that are causing problems with your finances, not your income. I used to be a major spender, so I was so happy to have John David Mann on for a third time to talk about his new book The Latte Factor. John is an award-winning author whose writings have earned the Axiom Business Book Award, the Nautilus Award, and Taiwan’s Golden Book Award for Innovation. The Go-Giver was also honored with the Living Now Book Awards “Evergreen Medal” in

Often, as creative professionals, we don’t put much thought into the idea of company culture. But even when your team is working remotely, you can build a successful culture. It all begins with you. If you have a clear idea of your company’s values, you can make sure everyone you work with is aligned with those values. Having a good company culture isn’t just about having fun- it is also insurance for the tough times. When things aren’t going right is when you get to see what you’re made of as a company. You want people to be able to band together and work towards solutions. Things like positivity, acknowledgment, and transparency will make for great workplace culture. To dive deeper into company culture, I’ve brought on performance expert and speaker Chris Dyer. Chris is the author of The Power of Company Culture, which was released in 2018. He is also the Founder and CEO of PeopleG2, a background check company that has appeared on the Inc. 5000 list of the Fastest Growing Companies. A passionate talent mana

Have you ever considered the role you play as a connector? In other words, you create something for someone so that they can reach the audience or people they want to reach. When you think about it that way, it increases the level of responsibility and possibility for impact. I talk about how this can even change the world.  The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why you're not converting traffic and leads to clients and attracting

I’ve never had a guest on to talk about a memoir, but I thought Jane Pollak’s journey would be beneficial for the Creative Warrior community. Jane was a successful artist decorating eggs bought by people like Steve Jobs and featured at The White House, but ultimately she wasn’t happy. She decided that she could no longer settle for a life of not enough. As creative professionals, we have to be proactive agents in our lives instead of victims of circumstance. If you’re feeling that you’re experiencing “too much of not enough,” you can let go of what isn’t serving you. When you know in your gut that you can’t do it anymore, it’s the beginning of living a life of enough. Jane Pollak is an author, coach, blogger, coach, and speaker. She inspires people to create income pursuing their passions.  She graduated from Mount Holyoke College with a BA in studio art and theatre and an MA in art education from Columbia University Teachers College. Her first book, Decorating Eggs: Exquisite Designs with Wax & Dye, was

Being a warrior is courage on steroids. It takes so much courage to put ourselves out there, to risk failure as well as the risk of the burden of responsibilities of success. Courage has been on my mind because of the recent Netflix special with Brene Brown. A fantastic show that I highly recommend. I break down what courage means as a warrior and expand on a couple of the ideas that Brene talks about. Be a courageous warrior.  The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal

Making your creative business profitable is a constant struggle for artists. Because our services are often something we’ve done for free, we feel guilty charging a lot of money.  We get stuck in the loop of doing work at lower rates for friends and family and undervaluing the skills we bring to the table. To change how much money you make from your hobby, you have to change your mindset. You need to charge at least as much as the average price others are charging for similar services. You also need to make your business scalable. You can do this by utilizing your online platform and charging to teach others all over the world how to do what you do. To dive deeper into the idea of making your hobby a business, I’ve brought on Creative Entrepreneur, Podcast Host, and Career Coach Jennifer Allwood. Jennifer is a mom in Kansas City, Missouri who completely transitioned her decorative painting business The Magic Brush to the online space. To learn how to take your creative business global, download this episode n

Ever have that feeling that you're working really hard but hardly getting ahead? You know....running on a hamster wheel? It's likely because you're applying a lot of effort and strategy but getting in your own way with mindset blocks. In this episode, I lay out the three components you need to be truly successful. The trifecta of success. It's a framework that I believe will work for you. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not which is why

A lot of times we set intentions, but we don’t get the results we want. This is because we are out of alignment. We have a vision, but we don’t actually believe our goals could come true. Manifestation is a powerful tool, but you have to align your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs in order for it to work. Manifestation isn’t just “woo-woo” new-age thinking. It has been proven to be effective. We simply cannot recognize what we don’t already know. How could you identify something that is the color blue if you’ve never been told what blue is? You have to have your eyes open to what you want to see. To dive deeper into the idea of manifesting, I’ve brought on author and CEO Raana Zia. Raana is the author of the book Your Hidden Light:  A Personal Guide to Creating Your Desired Life which has become a part of a business school course on Happiness at Suffolk University in Boston.  She is the founder of Your Hidden Light LLC, training people, teams, and businesses on how to efficiently and effectively achieve their

When I had back surgery, my doctor told me everything that would happen except for one thing: there would be machines on my legs pumping my blood. I woke up and immediately thought I was paralyzed. If my doctor had told me this was going to happen, it would have saved me that moment of fear. It’s true in business, too. Expectations have to be clear on both sides. What is common knowledge to you, is often a foreign idea to others. If you start with clear communication, it’s less likely that you will end up in an adversarial position with your customer. To dive deeper into the idea of better communication, I’ve brought on international keynote speaker, author, trial attorney, and podcast host Heather Hansen. Heather is an esteemed voice in her field, she has appeared on CNN, CBS, MSNBC, and Fox News, and contributed to Global Grind, Thrive Global, and KevinMD. Heather has done pro bono work with the Support Center for Child Advocates. In her forthcoming book, The Elegant Warrior: How to Win Life’s Trials Withou

Entrepreneurs don't often think of themselves as leaders. Thinking like a leader will help you think bigger and step into creating the impact you want on your community and in the world. When you think of people like Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Oprah Winfrey, do you really think of them as business owners? They are leaders. There's a latent leader in you waiting to come out! The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Mentions- Sharon Spano Time and Money episode Mike Michalowicz Profit First episode Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials spe

Balance is impossible to find. There are always challenges and unexpected responsibilities that throw off this fictional ideal. There is no perfect ratio of work life and home life that will magically solve your problems. Consonance, however, is achievable. Consonance is when all of the parts of your life line up for the same purpose. If the person you are at work is the same person you are at home, you have more of yourself to give. Stop trying to be all things to all people and instead start to live limitlessly. To dive deeper into the idea of consonance, I’ve brought on speaker and author Laura Gassner Otting. Laura inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo. Laura’s entrepreneurial edge has been well-honed over a 25-year career that started as a Presidential Appointee in Bill Clinton’s White House, where she helped shape AmeriCorps. Along the way, while serving on Hillary Clinton’s National Finance Committee, she was asked to do a TEDx talk which became so popular

Within many languages, there are accents. Similarly, when you speak the lingo of your ideal customers, there are different personalities. So while you want to attract and appeal to the narrow audience of ideal customers, you can also appeal to the broadest segment of ideal customers as possible by understanding their different personalities. Learn specific strategies to do just that on your website. The Talking Stick is in your hands now. Let us hear from you. Be part of the conversation - Join our community Facebook group, Creative Warriors Unite, at www.joinwarriors.com and share your feelings and continue the conversation. Contact Jeffrey - Website Coaching support My book, LINGO: Discover Your Ideal Customer's Secret Language and Make Your Business Irresistible is now available! Watch my TEDX LincolnSquare video and please share!  Resources - Have Your Website Brand Message Reviewed! Is your website and are all your marketing materials speaking the right LINGO of your ideal customers? Often it's not wh