Episodes
As I round the corner into this ninth year of podcasting and after over 700 episodes, today Iâm announcing a pause for both shows.
Listen in to hear what factors helped me reach this decision across time, money, energy, depressing industry articles, the pace of both showsâ growth, and mix of additional business factors that make this an important moment to pause and regroup. You might also appreciate the even deeper dive with my longtime friend (and first coach) Adrian Klaphaak in Pivot...
Published 02/24/24
âI donât get on the airplaneâand definitely not the stageâunless all invoices are paid in full.â
When my friend and fellow keynote speaker Joey Coleman said this to me over coffee, I started drilling him for details: Really?! How do you have the nerve to say that to a speaking client?! How do you avoid caving in to make sure their event doesnât fall apart if they havenât paid in time? What about clients who work for highly bureaucratic companies that insist on their âstandardâ net-120...
Published 02/20/24
What mysterious ingredients make a book launch successful? What number of first-week and first-year sales truly make a difference to a bookâs longevity? What can you do to turn lagging numbers around?
In a flagship illuminating post for the industry, Todd Sattersten, publisher and owner of Bard Press, shared his findings in The Magic Number. In this behind-the-business conversation from October 2023, youâll hear him generously talk me through how I could help Free Time get thereâwith a...
Published 02/16/24
Laura Mae Martin has a fascinating role as the Executive Productivity Advisor at Google in the Office of the CEOâone that she helped create six years ago (with big thanks to Jenny Wood for introducing us!). ****She coaches Googleâs top executives on the best ways to manage their time and energy and sends out a weekly productivity newsletter that reaches over fifty thousand employees.
Today weâre talking about her forthcoming book, Uptime: A Practical Guide to Personal Productivity and...
Published 02/13/24
While the title of this episode, The Framework Framework⢠is tongue-in-cheek, Iâm pulling this out of the BFF bonus vault because itâs one of the communityâs favorites.
Iâm sharing the first steps to how you can set up a framework to help bolster your IP and your business; either by scaling through programs like certification and licensing, and to make your material more memorable and accessible to the groups you care most about reaching.
I shared this in June 2023 as a follow-up to the...
Published 02/09/24
What do you do when you lose your biggest client? If you havenât already, listen to part one for some answersâ264: What to Do When You Lose Your Biggest Clientâ and save these links for a rainy day :)
The next time youâre going through something challenging in your business, remember: you are not alone! I hope you find comfort through the voices of some of my dearest friends, former podcast guests, and favorite Heart-Based Business owners who are speaking from experience about how they've...
Published 02/06/24
What do you do when you lose your biggest client? That was my Spotify search query for podcast episodes on this topic in the summer of 2023. It came up emptyâthere was not a single podcast episode on this topic. Of course not. Who wants to admit out loud and in their archives that they've lost their biggest client? In the past, I probably wouldn't have fessed up to this either. Except for the fact that now it's what I wish I could see, read, and hear. Todayâs compilation episode is here to...
Published 02/02/24
âI am great in the early, messy days and I know that about myself, so I designed my business around serving others in that stage.â
In this conversation with business strategist (genius!) Michelle Warner, we cover the three growth stages most relevant to tiny business owners, how to fix broken business models, validating product-market-founder fit, the difference between traffic-based versus relationship-based sales and marketing, borrowing aligned audiences, leading a free monthly Q&A to...
Published 01/30/24
âThings today are waaayyyyy better than Things have ever been. Cavemen had sticks. In the Middle ages they had typhoid. We have iPhones and Hermann Miller chairs and shoes with air in the soles. Inside the soles! How do they get the air inside the soles??? We are living in the Golden Age of Things, in the Golden Empire of Things.â
âShalom Auslander's Fetal Position via Beckett Drove a Deux Chevaux
I first encountered the Apple billboard a few days after Christmas. I was walking down...
Published 01/26/24
If youâre anything like me, you may find conducting online launches for your programs or events exhausting and sometimes even cringe-inducing. Thankfully, todayâs guest, Anne Samoilov, is here to help!
Anne is a long-time expert in the space who has helmed product launches for Laura Roeder, Marie Forleo, and Jonathan Fields. Today, weâre talking about why some of us find big, splashy launches so draining; how to set up automated or evergreen launches (and her take on the pros and cons of...
Published 01/23/24
âWhenever you have a choice of what to do, choose the more interesting path."
In honor of our upcoming Free Time x Long Game IRL event in Miami on February 1 and 2 (itâs not too late to join!), today Iâm bringing you a favorite episode from the earliest days of the Free Time pod. In this conversation with Dorie Clarkâaka âDCââone of my closest friendtors, we discuss how she "optimizes for interesting," says no to good opportunities, builds relationships by following her "no asks for a year"...
Published 01/19/24
Before you post anything, ask: Why am I posting this? Is this within my brand guardrails? Even still, you may find yourself in hot water someday, and itâs important to think through how you will respond (and the pop-up team you will assemble to help) in advance. Today, weâre breaking down the tricky art of crisis communications and apologies with Aliza Licht, author of On Brand, who brings two decades of PR experience to the conversation.
More About Aliza: Aliza Licht is an award-winning...
Published 01/16/24
Whatâs on your business owner to-do list? Hereâs a peek at mine, full of items large, small, and existential. This is another crossover from Rolling in Dđ¤Śđťââď¸h, a recent essay that was an unexpected runaway hitâthe most popular to date in the six months since I started on Substack.
I had no idea (as usual) whether it would resonate or not when I hit âpublish,â until my friend Adam texted to say how much he could relate. âYour comments are blowing up!â he said, sending a screenshot of other...
Published 01/12/24
âWe donât want our time to be spread thin like peanut butter on a slice of toast. You will have greater impact when you concentrate your efforts on work that is closely tied to winningâhowever you define it.â
Are you working in a frustration factory? If so, itâs important to recognize that not all friction is created equal. Some is good, to slow down decision-making in crucial moments, and some is bad, getting in the way of progress. Youâll need to tap into your inner âgreaseâ and âgunkâ...
Published 01/09/24
I'm so excited to bring you a listener submission today from Renee Rubin Ross about my summer Voxer coaching pop-up. I've done these two summers in a row now, and I've learned so much every subsequent time. In this episode, Iâll share the structure, systems, and pricing that help me create a joyful asynchronous program that keeps our calendars free of âtiny boxesâ (as my friend Sarah calls them).
More about Renee: Dr. Renee Rubin Ross is a recognized leader on board and organizational...
Published 01/05/24
âIt wasnât about being better than others, it was being ourselves, and true to our ideals in our work.â Thatâs just one of many gems from todayâs guest, Birch Coffee co-founder Paul Schlader, who says, âI donât accept anything less than absolute excellence.â
In this conversation we talk about how he stands out in the New York City noise by hiring for kindness; getting bought out when the Gershwin Hotel closed and thereby ending the lease on their first location, then parlaying those funds...
Published 01/02/24
Today is a crossover episode from the Pivot podcast celebrating eight lessons learned from over eight years of podcasting.
The Free Time podcast is now approaching its third birthdayâI launched it on March 21, 2021âa year prior to the book coming out. I encourage you to grab your copy if you havenât already, or even betterâđ give the gift of free time to a loved one in your life for 2024!
As we start to plan the year ahead, I hope that you can apply some of these pointers to the creative...
Published 12/29/23
ââSomething I always say: at the very least, do it for the plot. Do it for the story. Be bold in life, mostly because not being bold is boring as hell.â Margot tipped her head back in glittery laughter and I felt my chest expand in hope.â
Thatâs just one of many glittering conversations that the main character of Jamie Varonâs debut novel, Main Character Energy, has with her Aunt, a guiding light who helps her find her voice and pursue her publishing dream. In todayâs conversation, Jamie and...
Published 12/26/23
âIn a society that glorifies titles, visibility, reach, and the grind, taking a beat to opt out of all that isnât easy,â todayâs guest Mel Dizon writes in the origin story to her pop-up Substack.
Mel shares how she defines an accidental sabbatical; the energetic urgency and pent up ambition that let her know it was time to leave her job; the permission she needed to give herself; navigating the fears that followed; how publishing her process out loud has helped with courage and...
Published 12/22/23
Just because you use pretty words that sound nice doesnât mean they are effective. Although we know what we do because we do it all the time; itâs hard to separate that from what your audience wants and experiences. Thankfully, todayâs guest is here to help.
Ben Guttmann is a marketing and communications expert and author of Simply Put: Why Clear Messages Win â and How to Design Them.
We discuss why business owners often muck up their sales pages (what I call invitation letters), how to...
Published 12/19/23
The phrase is emblazoned at WeWorks across the globe: in large neon lights across lobby walls, bedecking laptops via swag stickers, and printed in playful cursive on the mugs that facilitate bottomless free coffeeâwith the addition of always in small print at the top.
But what becomes of the adage to do what you love when the company blasting it everywhere declares bankruptcy? What about the rest of us?
Todayâs essay is a crossover from my paid Substack, Rolling in Dđ¤Śđťââď¸h. I encourage you to...
Published 12/15/23
âThe biggest breakthroughs came from the random side projects that I had no expectation would turn into anything.â Josh Kaufman is a longtime friendtor (13 years and counting!) who I admire for his streamlined approach to running his business in a way that supports family life and creative solitude.
In our last conversation we spoke about releasing the ten-year anniversary edition of his bestselling book, The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business, that has since surpassed the one million...
Published 12/12/23
Are you running a Franken-Brand? A quick, inexpensive logo here. And then someone a few months later tries to write the brand strategy. And then another junior hire adds in graphics and you donât even know where they came from. Suddenly, you have this brand that is cobbled together, and no one on the team is feeling compelled.
Today, returning guest Adam Chaloeicheep and I are picking up where we left off in episode 259: Has your Business Brand Become a Liability, diving into Together...
Published 12/08/23
Has your business brand become stale, perhaps to the point of being a liability? After a few years, especially with major pivots, you may run the risk of losing clients and credibility. Sometimes itâs time for a tune-up and fresh tires, and sometimes, itâs time for a whole new brand engine.
As todayâs returning guest, my good friend and part of the team behind the award-winning Free Time brand, recently featured on Behance. Adam Chaloeicheep says, âItâs about building the relationship with...
Published 12/05/23