How "starting" works

Connect with Lenea: @leneasims What does it mean to be in community? How can we, as people starting and running businesses, engage in true community care with our clients and customers? In an age where "community building" is all the marketing rage, join me and my good friend Lenéa Sims as she translates the practice through a decolonial lens. We'll talk about what community does for us, why it matters in our lives and how to know if you're becoming a cult leader. If you want to connect with me or come hang out at Pretty Decent, visit us at www.prettydecent.org!

  Want to join The Study? Click here to become a member: https://www.prettydecent.org/join Book a VIP Strategic Design Day with me: https://www.prettydecent.org/vip  Come hang in our free Slack café: https://www.prettydecent.org/slack As you might expect, I talk to dozens of people each week about wanting to start a creative business, sell stuff online, make things for a living or generate "passive income." I'm a giant nerd about this stuff — not just because I've seen how it can change people's lives, but also because launching is an extraordinarily creative and interdisciplinary area of study. In my years of practice, what I've learned is that no matter what you want to sell, there's one skill set at the root of all of it that you'll need to get good at: Launch strategy. Sometimes when I say that people start to sweat. The idea of "launching" calls to mind marathon Instagram lives and flashing "BUY NOW" buttons. But launching isn't as complicated as we make it out to be — in fact, the least complicated launch strategy is to simply turn to the person next to you and tell them about what you make. That's what we're talking about in this week's episode of The Pretty Decent Podcast: The least complicated launch plan. Join me as we deep dive into things like: The difference between live and evergreen launches What assets are needed to launch something What we can all learn from Vogue tote bags How to see it as an experiment (and stop taking results so personally) My decision to stop "closing the doors" and how removing urgency changed the experiment And the least complicated way to get your offer out into the world  

Connect with Dr. Bhowmik: https://www.shellybhowmik.com/  Come hang out in the Pretty Decent Internet Café: https://www.prettydecent.org/slack  Learn more about joining The Study, our private membership: https://www.prettydecent.org/join 

Is the audio quality on this episode horrifying to me? Yes. Am I still going to publish it? Maybe. In today's episode, join me as we talk about perfectionism and what it means to be okay with "good enough."  Working for yourself can be challenging, but it doesn't have to be lonely. Join us in The Study at Pretty Decent: www.prettydecent.org/join  

One of the biggest blocks I hear from clients and students is that they don't want to be "perceived." As in, "What if I talk to my Instagram story and that mean girl from college sees it?"  This is something I've experienced and worked through first-hand, which is why in today's episode I want to talk about trying in public. We'll talk about embarrassment, community spaces, experimentation and more. Can't wait to hear what you think! 

"How do I start?" is one of the most frequent questions I hear, but frustratingly, the answer is there is no right answer. In this episode, we'll explore WHY that's the case by looking into the research around how "starting" actually works. Ready to find a community of creative business owners who actually get it? Join us in The Study, a private membership here at the Pretty Decent Internet Café. Learn more at www.prettydecent.org/join    Referenced: Gollwitzer, P. M. (1990). Action phases and mind-sets. In E. T. Higgins & R. M. Sorrentino (Eds.), The handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior (Vol. 2, pp. 53-92). New York: Guilford Press.