The Be Helpful Podcast

Episode 030: “It all takes persistence. I had zero connections. I got 500 in two weeks,” shares Dana Broder, founder and head stylist at Art of the Style. Dana grew up not quite knowing what she wanted to do and struggling in school due to learning differences. She was drawn to entrepreneurship, but did not know the exact avenue she wanted to go into. When a friend needed help with his style, Dana found her calling and realized that she had a gift for being a personal stylist. In spite of facing challenges with maintaining sobriety, she remained persistent and never lost hope that she would be a professional stylist one day. In today's episode, Dana shares her entrepreneurial journey and how being given a chance at the Trunk Club saved her life. Dana’s path to entrepreneurship was lined with many challenges, but she did not let them stop her for long. She was determined to hustle and make it happen for herself. When an opportunity arose to work at the Trunk Club, Dana went for it and refused to give up, even when they initially thought she was a bad fit for their work culture. Ultimately, she proved everyone wrong and went from having zero connections to selling the most of anyone in the history of the Trunk Club in her first month. It would have been easy for Dana to become too overwhelmed by the obstacles and give up, especially while struggling with her sobriety, but instead she doubled down, clung to her dream, and made it happen. To be a successful entrepreneur, it is important to be customer service focused, humble, and very dedicated. If you do not put the customer first, your business will fail regardless of how talented you may be. Learn more about Dana’s journey and how she managed to stay hopeful and persevere through every challenge thrown her way. Quotes “Many times I want to say it's not my fault. Especially with retailers not delivering. So, that literally isn't my fault, but it is my fault.” (24:45-24:57 | Dana) “If you are not customer service focused, your business will fail immediately.” (26:26-26:33 | Dana) “It all takes persistence. I had zero connections. I got 500 in two weeks.” (35:30-35:35 | Dana) “Sometimes you’ve got to humble yourself even if you are right.” (36:23-36:27 | Dana) “In my industry, I don't see anyone as a competition because nobody's me and I'm not them.” (56:44-56:51 | Dana) Connect with Dana Broder: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/styled_by_aots/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/styledbyAOTS Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/81944186/admin/ Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Episode 029: “My team is actually the biggest reason why I opted not to sell Brainchild and to shut it down instead; because I knew if I were to sell, I would have to sell my team,” explains Kiley Peters, founder of RAYNE IX, an executive consultancy for women entrepreneurs. Kiley began her entrepreneurship journey with Brainchild Studios, a digital content strategy agency. In today’s episode, Kiley shares why she chose to shut down Brainchild Studios, what she learned from shutting down a business, and why she decided to found RAYNE IX. In 2021, Kiley realized that she no longer wanted to run Brainchild Studios and was instead interested in working with female small business owners. Her love for her team members led her to shut down the business instead of sell, so that she could bring them with her to the new company. Kiley shares what she has learned from her entrepreneurship journey, along with tips for other small business owners. If you are an entrepreneur, you need to understand the value of your employees and provide ample opportunities for them to succeed. Learn more about why Kiley chose to shut down her first business and how RAYNE IX helps women entrepreneurs not only succeed, but flourish. Quotes “One of the things I love most about entrepreneurship is you build something from nothing.” (8:53-8:56 | Kiley) “Congratulations, you're a business owner. Now you get to choose if you want to continue to do the thing that you know or you want to manage people.” (12:42-12:49 | Kiley) “If you're working for somebody else and you decide you don't want to do that anymore, you give a two week notice. And then you leave, and you go on to the next thing. When you are an entrepreneur and a business owner, you don't get to give a two week notice.” (21:04-21:19 | Kiley) “My team is actually the biggest reason why I opted not to sell Brainchild and to shut it down instead; because I knew if I were to sell, I would have to sell my team.” (30:00-30:09 | Kiley) “Getting really clear on what everybody's strengths are, and then creating the opportunity for them to succeed in that way, is the greatest thing that you can do for yourself and your team.” (35:05-35:14 | Kiley) Connect with Kiley Peters: Website: https://rayneix.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kileypeters/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kileypeters/ Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Episode 028: “The idea was to create a little bit of a middle of the road option that's a more stepwise option that makes it a cool brand. That's also a stepwise way to maybe not have such an excessive amount of sugar and caffeine in a beverage,” explains Dr. Jason Romesburg, founder of Running Lights Beverage, a beverage start-up based out of Williamsburg, Virginia. Dr. Jason is a practicing neuro-radiologist who never anticipated himself pursuing entrepreneurship, especially outside of healthcare. Looking back on his journey, he found that he had been employing entrepreneurial skills while trying to build an interventional radiology clinic. In today’s episode, Dr. Jason details what he learned through attempting to start the radiology clinic and how he applied those lessons to his beverage start-up. Dr. Jason’s idea for his beverage was to make a healthier alternative to the major soda brands, one with more moderate levels of caffeine and less of an excessive amount of sugar. After making mistakes while opening the radiology clinic that caused a lot of debt to accrue, he knew that he would need to approach the beverage start-up more strategically. Instead of operating out of debt, he now understood the importance of bringing on a white coat investor, being keenly aware of everyone involved in the business, and not buying brand new equipment and supplies. For a start-up to succeed, you really have to put your all into it. If you’re going to be using your own money, consider going in with an investor so that you are not immediately operating from a place of debt. Learn more about the lessons Dr. Jason picked up along his entrepreneurial journey. Quotes “I had to start to think about selling myself, even though I didn't like to think about it that way.” (11:43-11:47 | Dr. Jason) “It's not going to work unless you really put your all into it.” (21:13-21:17 | Dr. Jason) “If I am going to do something like a business where I have to invest my money, I'm going to, first of all, know intimately the people that are involved.” (21:27-21:38 | Dr. Jason) “The idea was to create a little bit of a middle of the road option that's a more stepwise option that makes it a cool brand. That's also a stepwise way to maybe not have such an excessive amount of sugar and caffeine in a beverage.” (36:45-36:59 | Dr. Jason) Connect with Dr. Jason Romesburg: Website: www.runninglightsbeverage.com Personal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/radlifeRL/ Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Start Your Side Hustle: https://www.yencil.com Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Episode 027: “I love oxygen, because if you have never almost died before, then you wouldn't understand what I'm saying maybe. But for me, yeah, I love oxygen. Now that I'm up, everything else is fair game. I have a ton of energy, because I'm a competitor. I'm going to build my tallest building. I'm not worried about what everybody else is doing. I've got to build my tallest building,” shares Randall Townsel. Randall is a business owner and works in Chicago real estate development where he has completed over 750 residential and commercial projects. In today’s episode, Randall discusses where he gets his inspiration and motivation from. Randall was drawn to entrepreneurship from a young age, attracted to the idea of making his own schedule. At university, Randall pursued a professional football career, but had to pivot after experiencing a near death experience where he was caught in a drive-by shooting. After that Randall’s mindset shifted and he became more in love with life than ever before. His motivation comes from that mindset shift and the desire to not waste any of the time he has been given. No matter what life throws at you, don’t give up. Even if someone tells you no, that doesn’t matter in the long run. There are 1000s of opportunities out there, so just move right on to the next one. Learn more about how you can stay motivated and reach your goals so that you can make the most of the time you have. Quotes “If I want something, I'm gonna do the dang thing, and it doesn't matter who I'm lining up against.” (38:11-38:17 | Randall) “That one person said no, don't let that energy affect what you're doing. There are 1000s and 1000s of deals out there. Right? And so, if you really want something, if you're a salesperson, if you are a school teacher trying to quiet down a class, whatever you are, don't accept no. Don’t worry about no, that's nothing. A no is nothing. A no means you're on the right track. You're getting close. So I don't worry about ‘no’.” (39:02-39:37 | Randall) “Never fall in love with a piece of property, your house, rental, anything.” (40:21-40:28 | Randall) “I'm going to build my tallest building. I'm not worried about what everybody else is doing. I've got to build my tallest building.” (48:03-48:12 | Randall) “Your mindset is everything.” (49:42-49:44 | Randall) Connect with Randall Townsel: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randall-townsel-b8a55898 Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Episode 026: “Certain things I was able to do for myself, and certain things I wasn't. And I think the important takeaway here is to let that happen and to be fine with that to happen and not to blame yourself,” shares brand strategist Juliana Rogers. Juliana is a former ballerina turned business brand strategist based out of Germany. In today’s episode, Juliana talks about online brand strategy for entrepreneurs. Startup growth largely depends on not only the ability of your brand to solve a problem, but also on your strategy. Often when people consider entrepreneurship they will start to think about a brand in terms of a name and a logo, but there is a lot more to think about when talking about brand strategy. By building a brand, you are ultimately creating an emotional picture within a potential customer that influences their decisions in a positive way toward that brand. The most important thing to consider is what problem you wish to solve and who your target audience is that needs that problem solved. Then you can start to develop a product or service that solves that particular problem and begin designing your brand. To be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be able to accept help when you need it without blaming yourself for not knowing every single little thing. Learn more about the common mistakes entrepreneurs make when creating a brand and the steps you should take in order to create a successful brand that people feel they can trust. Quotes “The interesting thing is that so many people when they think of, I want to start a brand, they think in terms of name, brand name, and logo, which is brand design, but that's not brand strategy.” (23:47-24:03 | Juliana) “Attached to the brand name still is not a person, but a quality perception. And that's what building a brand is about is creating an emotional picture within the customer and influencing that emotional picture, and influencing it in a positive way so that the customer relates to the brand in a certain way and relates certain quality aspects, certain feelings and emotions to the brand.” (32:57-33:36 | Juliana) “Certain things I was able to do for myself, and certain things I wasn't. And I think the important takeaway here is to let that happen and to be fine with that to happen and not to blame yourself.” (37:47-38:03 | Juliana) “Try not to trap yourself into a name that is hard to memorize, hard to spell, because people ultimately will have to find you on the internet.” (51:40-51:51 | Juliana) Connect with Juliana Rogers: Instagram: @julianarogersofficial Webpage: www.julianarogers.com Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Start Your Side Hustle: https://www.yencil.com Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

“If you have a bank account, you have customers that are willing to pay you money. If you can solve a problem that somebody has, you're literally in business,” explains Steve Valentor, founder and president of Polynomial Ventures, a Chicago based venture capital firm. Steve has 30 years of experience within the technology industry and his venture capital firm focuses on early stage tech. In today’s episode, Steve talks about what entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs need to know about money, company valuation, and attracting potential investors. The venture capital industry has a very high rate of return, however, it also has a high amount of risk involved. Investors are looking specifically for businesses that will likely be able to return the full amount of money invested. The majority of start-up businesses will fail in the long run, so it is important to really think about what problem you are solving, who your customer base is, and what your valuation is for your company. Not every entrepreneur needs to go the venture capital route to get their business rolling. Many businesses are not suited for that route and instead can seek other means of investment that are not necessarily cash-based. Someone may be willing to supply you with an extra real-estate property for example, or suppliers may be willing to cut deals with you in order to get your business going. There are many ways to fund your business, but one important thing to keep in mind is the more money you borrow, the more you will have to return to your investors. Really figure out your valuation for your company and do not take more money than you actually need. Learn more about dos and don’ts for new entrepreneurs and find out what qualities venture capitalists are looking for in an investment opportunity. Quotes “Every business area is ripe for entry by new ambitious, creative people that want to make a difference and change the world.” (7:04-7:11 | Steve) “The more money you bring into your company, the more money you're going to have to return to your investors.” (17:45-17:50 | Steve) “The venture industry has been returning 30% over the last 50 years on average. That's remarkable. But to do that, you have to take these enormous risks.” (20:49-21:00 | Steve) Connect with Steve Valentor: Website: https://www.polynomial-vc.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenrvalentor/ More helpful content: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com Start Your Side Hustle: https://www.yencil.com Don't forget to visit the website: https://www.behelpfulpodcast.com/ Follow the show's socials: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/behelpfulpodcast/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/behelpfulpodcast/ @behelpfulpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7ZNyAUhGQYfTETUJm-hnHw Please don't forget to rate, comment, and subscribe to Be Helpful Podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts! Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to work in real estate? Or maybe you're a seasoned pro and are looking for ways to take your business to the next level. In either case, social media is a great place to start. This week we're chatting with Jen Bowles, a real estate agent turned broker who found her home in social media. Tune in to learn how she uses different platforms to connect with clients and grow her brokerage, JBO Home. You might just be surprised at some of the things she's doing! jbohome.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

If you're searching for your purpose in life, look no further than your passions! By pursuing what you love and making it your job, you can live a life that is both meaningful and profitable. Take it from our guest Lesline—a busy mom who accidentally became an entrepreneur when she followed her heart and started teaching yoga classes to other busy moms. Listen to this episode to learn how she found balance by creating her business. https://www.leslinepittman.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Do you want to be successful at anything? You do not need talent. You do need all the answers. You do not need to memorize books. You simply need a good learning strategy. At its core, learning is a brain-based activity, and brain science and our guest in this episode, Gregg Goodhart, The Learning Coach, tell us that our approach can make all the difference! GreggGoodhart.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message

Do you love hair, makeup, and beauty? So does Keiashia Wood and she's turned that love into a successful business called Key 2 Glam. Listen here to learn how she did the not-so-glamorous things like working multiple jobs and going to school simultaneously in order to pursue this glamorous gig. Now, she doesn’t just love makeovers, but she loves making over 6 figures too! key2glam.com/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/behelpful/message