259: The Power of Feasibility  Robyn Thomas is joining us today on the podcast. Robyn has an architecture degree from Auburn, and she has merged that education with her love of design to provide a one-stop architecture offer specializing in design completion and optimization. She calls it the master of done. I love that so much. Today we're going to delve into feasibility, what it is, why it's needed, and when is the right time for the conversation around it. Enjoy the podcast. Topics Mentioned: Metrics Processes Project Management Teamwork   Key Thoughts:  We sometimes get so enamored with the result that we don't look at the result and then backpedal our way through it to get to the beginning   Robyn Thomas    I'm all about feasibility... It's really saying, what are the resources available and how can we best use them?  Michele Williams    There are indicators and metrics that we can pull into our discovery call, or consultation process that we want to introduce early, way before we get into what color are the walls.    Robyn Thomas    I think that in feasibility, sometimes people again have the idea that they're fighting against you to get something done, even though it's not you, it's what you're bringing up, the budget, the timeline. You're the representation of those things.   Michele Williams  Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Robyn: Website: www.robynstudios.com  Facebook: rs.homeguidestudio Instagram: @rs.homeguidestudio Email: [email protected]  Pinterest: robynstudiosga/  References and Resources: CFO2GO Work with Me Metrique Solutions

258: 4 Strategies to Stop Being Underpaid  I am so excited to be talking to you today. I'm actually so excited that I didn't wait and get all dolled up to be on the video part of the podcast. I decided in the middle of my work session just to stop and go ahead and share this message. So, I hope you are excited as I am, because we are going to talk about four strategies that will stop you from being underpaid. Do you know what it means to be underpaid? It means a high tolerance for low pay. I think that it is a problem, especially for creatives and certainly in the interior design industry. Now, some of you may be listening to this podcast and you may be thinking, hey, no problem here, I get paid all the time. But my question would be, do you take the money out of the company with ease, without feeling stressed? Some of you may be listening to the podcast and thinking, oh yeah, I have a high tolerance for low pay. Instead, I'm a people pleaser and I want to do great things for other people. Stay tuned because we're going to talk about the four strategies that will help you not be underpaid, but to be paid fairly and to be able to have a profitable company - at the same time  Topics Mentioned: Value Worth Pricing strategy Career path  Key Thoughts:  People are paying you for what you know, or they're paying you for what you have the ability to learn and to know. Michele Williams   People are willing to pay you for what you know.  Michele Williams   Time is a currency that we spend in our calendar, and people will pay us for the time that we have available to devote to their project. Michele Williams   We're all looking at what we can hand off to somebody else's task list. Stress relief is a big deal. Michele Williams   Understanding pricing and understanding your attitude around it is really going to allow you to move forward with confidence and not cockiness. Michele Williams   Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams References and Resources: Work with Me CFO2Go Metrique Solutions

257: Design the Life You Want Nicole Comis is a life and mindset coach, and she's passionate about helping driven professionals achieve their career goals without sacrificing their personal lives. She's certified by the International Coaching Federation and she's also a neurolinguistics programming master coach. Nicole's goal is for those that she works with to recognize that success comes from living a happy, healthy, and balanced life, whatever that might look like for them. If you're feeling tired or overwhelmed or not sure what to do next, this is the podcast for you.  Topics Mentioned: Health Success Balance Mindset  Key Thoughts:  The reason why we burn ourselves out and the reason why we work our butts off is because it's our programming. Whether it's a fear or a limiting belief or that's what dad did, that's what mom did. We are programmed to think that that's what we need to do, whether it's, I need to prove myself, I need to prove I'm worthy or not, that's just what is done, or you've got to work your butt off to make money. Nicole Comis    That makes me think of what grace has been bestowed upon me and upon my life and upon those I love or those I'm watching. Seeing the grace that we get every day, that is what makes me joyful. Michele Williams    The more that you can identify your fears and your limiting beliefs and understand where those come from, the more aligned you feel, and I do tell my clients, too, to really practice making decisions based on your vision and your values. Nicole Comis    When other people's ideas and influence get like that, we have to turn it off, and then we've got to be intentional about the influences of the people that we let speak into us. Michele Williams  Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Nicole: Website: https://www.nicolecomis.com Facebook: NicoleComisCoaching Instagram: @nicolecomis Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: nicolecomis Tic Tock: @nicolecomis References and Resources: CFO2GO Work with Me Metrique Solutions Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud  Life Fulfillment Exercise Sew Much More Podcast Podcast with Jennifer Looney: Creating a Board of Directors that Support You 

256: One Size Does Not Fit All One size does not fit all. Okay, I just said it. I know that's going to be hard for some of you. But in our haste to get things done, to keep moving, to provide a service, often we're looking for that shortcut to success. We're looking to ride the elevator to the top instead of taking the stairs. Today, we will explore how to choose the right offer for our company and ultimately, for our customers.  Topics Mentioned: Templates  Metrics  Problem Solving  Business Solutions    Key Thoughts: I've used templates. I have templates. I think they're awesome, but they're only as good as they know how to be used and how to be tweaked.  Michele Williams   Simply purchasing a template without a complete understanding of the problem that it's solving is just going to create more busy work for your team, leave you lacking in the outcome desired, and it's honestly going to cause frustration.  Michele Williams   Our goal here is to help you truly understand the challenge that you have and the problem that you're solving.  Michele Williams   What we are dedicated to is empowering you to know how to read the signs, know how to determine what's needed, and knowing how to adjust your systems, whether they're purchased systems or created systems so that they can grow with your company.  Michele Williams   Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams References and Resources: Work with Me CFO2Go Metrique Solutions

255: Ignite Your Passion in Your Business With me on the podcast today is Jacqueline Green of Behind the Design company. Jacqueline is a coach, and she helps people move from a hobby into the business that they want that can be profitable. We're going to have a very robust conversation today on how to identify areas that we're passionate about and how to give ourselves the freedom to move from one direction to another, not to stay stuck. I hope you enjoy the podcast.  Topics Mentioned: Passion Pivot, Growth Mindset    Key Thoughts:  As you build wisdom, as you build your knowledge base, what was important to me in my 20s versus what's important to me in my 50s is completely different. That's what's so unique and fun, is really seeing what could this really be. And getting out of whatever mindset that we were kind of stuck in from our past. Jacqueline Green    Giving ourselves the freedom to even go through that discovery process, I think is really what you're inviting us to here, is to not feel that we have to be stuck, no matter how far we're in business, no matter where we are. Michele Williams    It's giving yourself permission to put yourself first on occasion to really look at what you really want in life and how you are going to get there. Jaqueline Green    I see one thousand opportunities within this industry to build a business, doing the parts that we always have, parts we don't love, but focusing on what you love. Michele Williams  Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Jaqueline: Website: www.behindthedesignco.com  Facebook: behindthedesignco Instagram: @behindthedesignco/ Email: [email protected]  LinkedIn: behind-the-design/ LinkedIn: jacquelinereed/ References and Resources: CFO2GO Work with Me Metrique Solutions Financial Courses with Michele Williams including “Understanding Your Financials”, “Master Your Profit”, and “Pricing Without Emotion” Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck Necessary Endings by Dr. Henry Cloud 

254: CFO2GO for Your Business On the podcast today, we're going to consider the work of a CFO or a chief financial officer. Given that most of our businesses are too small to hire this as a full-time position, we've begun to see the rise of fractional offerings in this space. Today, we're going to talk about what a CFO does, and if you need one. Topics Mentioned: Financial Planning Budgets CFO Metrics Key Thoughts: What does it mean to hire fractional? It means to share time. So that's really all that we're saying is you're sharing time with another company to have someone come in and perform those services. Michele Williams   But as we know, all CFO services are not the same, just like all design services are not the same. Michele Williams   Why would we name it CFO2GO? Because our goal is to help you understand how to do this work and then let you go do it, not to hold you tied into some long-term engagement. Michele Williams   There's nothing worse than either not knowing how to pay yourself, having the money in the account, not knowing if you can take it out, not knowing what it's meant to do, and not having a plan. We can help you solve every bit of that. Michele Williams   Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams References and Resources: Work with Me CFO2Go Metrique Solutions Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

253: Removing Fear from Video in Your Business Joining me today is Jasmin Bryant with Fear No Video. Jasmin has had a very varied background. She has worked in television, as an actress, and in the news. She is going to share with us today how we can show up on video without fear. One of the things that Jasmin and I are going to focus on is how to remove some of the self-talk that we have before we ever do it, how to get ourselves ready to go on video, and how to make sure that the message is something that we want to share. So, I invite you to listen in. Topics Mentioned: Fear Messaging Confidence Critique  Key Thoughts:  One of my mentors said something that blew my mind, which was, perfectionism is a first cousin to procrastination. Trying to get everything perfect just leads us to putting it off and putting it off until we don't do it. Jasmin Bryant    I don't think it's possible for us to criticize other people at a really high level without turning that focus and criticism on ourselves in an extremely negative, hurtful, hold us back kind of way. I just don't see that being positive. Michele Williams    For anyone who's watching, anyone who's listening, you take those breaths, and you'll feel calmer. Your message will be clearer, and you'll be surprised at how much better your video is.  Jasmin Bryant    I memorize the points in order so that I know this is kind of the route that I'd like to take as I'm sharing and then you just speak from the heart. Michele Williams  Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Jasmin: Website: Rock That Video Facebook: Fear No Video Instagram: @fearnovideo Email: [email protected]   YouTube: Fear No Video LinkedIn: Jasmin Bryant References and Resources: “Five Keys to Beat Camera Shyness” free e-book CFO2GO Work with Me Metrique Solutions Financial Courses with Michele Williams including “Understanding Your Financials”, “Master Your Profit”, and “Pricing Without Emotion”

252: The Intersection of your Financial and Strategic Plans On the podcast today, we're going to be talking about the intersection of your financial plan and your strategic plan. It's not enough to have one or the other. We really need them in combination to make our business as healthy as possible. So, listen in as we talk about that overlap between the two. Topics Mentioned: Cost to everything  Ability to evaluate and prioritize  Budgets and financial systems support  Strategy first    Key Thoughts: I would always start with strategy first, especially in a planning phase, and then look to what it's going to cost and then back up.  Michele   A company could have goals that are even bigger than what the current strategic plan is.  Michele   This intersection of the finances and the strategy is once you have the financials set to your strategy, it gives you something to measure. It allows you to set KPIs, or key performance indicators, the things that you want to measure.  Michele.   Metrique Solutions allows us to pull in that financial data from our financial accounting software, and then it allows us to do things like manage the data, analyze the data, model the data where we don't have other tools to do that.  Michele   Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams References and Resources: Work with Me CFO2Go Metrique Solutions

251: Year End Wrap Up  Joining me on the podcast today is Ceil DiGuglielmo. You probably recognize Ceil as she has been with me multiple times since 2018. She is the owner of the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Library and the host of the Sew Much More podcast. Every year, Ceil and I get together to talk about what has happened over the last year. We share our business and life experiences, our highs, our lows, what we're most proud of, and what we're looking forward to the next year. We hope that this authentic conversation that you can listen in on between the two of us will spark an interest in you to have that special someone that you can share some of your business highs, lows, and what's happening with as well. Enjoy the podcast. Topics Mentioned: Work life balance Definition of success For Now Key Thoughts:  When life has struggles in it, you do need a little decompression from that, too. As high performers, I think we just keep going. We just keep going. Ceil DiGuglielmo    It's been a year of recognizing the exhaustion from those things and learning how to set those things down. Michele Williams    I love that the mindset has changed, and I love that people are dropping statements like, yeah, cash flow is a big problem for me and that's because I just did this or just did that. Ceil DiGuglielmo   When we are in business and the impostor syndrome kind of rears up, we need to stop and say to ourselves, wait a minute, I was never tasked with knowing everything. I was tasked with having a company that would do research and development to find the answer. Michele Williams  Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Ceil: Website: The Sew Much More Podcast Website: The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library Facebook: The Sew Much More Podcast Facebook: The Curtains and Soft Furnishings Resource Library Instagram: @ceildi Instagram: @csf_resource_library Email: [email protected]  References and Resources: “The Gap and the Gain” by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan “How to Grow Your Small Business” by Donald Miller “Unreasonable Hospitality” by Will Guidara “Getting Things Done” by David Allan “Buy Back Your Time” by Dan Martell “Strong Like Water” by Aundi Kobler “Try Softer” by Aundi Kobler CFO2GO Work with Me Metrique Solutions Financial Courses with Michele Williams including “Understanding Your Financials”, “Master Your Profit”, and “Pricing Without Emotion”

250: Financials are the Foundation to Work Life Balance Joining me on the podcast today is Val Duvick. She is the owner of Val Marlene Creative. She is a Profit First coach and a business coach for those in creative industries. We're going to have so many awesome things to talk about today including Profit First, what it is like to be a creative, how to balance the energy between our left logical side and right creative side, as well as how to get to a happy, medium place where our financials are easy to look at and simple to maintain. I invite you to listen in.   Topics Mentioned: Work life balance Definition of success For Now Key Thoughts:  I tell people I'm allergic to numbers because it feels so intense that my brain just does not want to understand them, but I realized I had to if I wanted to have the type of business and work-life balance that I wanted. Val Duvick   The power of the numbers is what gives us the freedom to build the fence and to build the boundaries around our lives and our business. Michele Williams   We need to know the minimum, and we also need to know where you're headed. Once we have that in mind, we can fill in the rest, and it makes it more attainable. Val Duvick   I think part of success is recognizing those blessings so that we're not so always caught up on how much more we have to do and build and grow, but being thankful for how much more we already have. Michele Williams Contact Michele: Email: [email protected] Facebook: Scarlet Thread Consulting Instagram: @ScarletThreadATL Website: ScarletThreadConsulting.com LinkedIn: Michele Williams Contact Val: Website: www.valmarlene.com Email: [email protected] Instagram: @val_marlene_creative References and Resources: The Gain and the Gap by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan CFO2Go Work with Me Metrique Solutions Financial Courses with Michele Williams including “Understanding Your Financials”, “Master Your Profit”, and “Pricing Without Emotion”