In 2014, our business collapsed. Credit cards maxed out. $40,000 in debt. No idea how we were going to get out of that hole. Flash forward twelve months and Steve and I had generated $500,000 in sales by changing to the No BS Agencies Model. It was a huge milestone for us after we’d struggled so much. You might have heard me tell that story before.…

I’m excited to catch up with one of my favorite students from the early days of No BS Agencies Mastery.  Jason Knight shares his story and how he's used the No BS model to completely transform how he runs his business so that he can live a life of freedom and ease with his family. Jason Knight amplifies authority. He is a communication expert, bran…

I know many successful female entrepreneurs who get to certain levels of success but find themselves feeling empty or underwhelmed despite achieving their ambitious goals. I’ve been there myself. Which is why I’m excited to share my conversation with a dear friend and colleague, Amira Alvarez. Amira is an absolute powerhouse who has achieved a rema…

Picking a specific audience to speak to is a fast track to being seen as an expert. Speaking to a specific audience will help you quickly build authority in that space and stand out from the crowd. Trouble is, most people do it wrong. We've been talking about how to be seen as an expert by your prospects and clients — even before you’ve built autho…

When you sell anything creative, a client is hiring you to create something custom and new for them, that  they’re going to love and that will help them get closer to their goals. We are asking people to give us their hard-earned cash and trust us. Trust that we're going to show up and do an amazing job. Trust that we’re going to deliver something …

Wouldn't you love to be seen as an authority figure, a respected expert professional who always has a list of prospects ready to pay the prices that you charge? This is one of the most common things that we hear from people who join our program, No BS Agency Mastery. When people don't view you as the expert that you are, you run into all kinds of t…

Sarah Noel Block has been thriving inside the Mastery community, implementing our model in her marketing business — showing everyone that even though the model was designed with one to two person branding agencies in mind, the principles can apply to any creative services business. In this episode, Sarah shares one strategy in particular that anyon…

Have you ever missed out on an opportunity because you were scared to take the risk? We’ve all let chances slip by because of fear at one time or another. Maybe you’ve avoided trying something new or making an investment in your business because you just couldn’t be sure it would work out so why take the risk? In the last two episodes, I talked abo…

If you had $20,000 to invest today, would you put it in the stock market or into your own business? One of these options could give you a 47% ROI in 5 years, but the other could give you over 1000% ROI. So which option would you choose? For years, I thought the stock market was the gold standard for building wealth. Until I realized I was sitting o…

Do you worry about money? Are you scared because you don’t have enough? Or maybe you have enough right now but you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop and wipe out that stability? The majority of the people I talk to have been there or are there. And I’ve been there too. I’ve been scared with $40,000 in debt and I’ve been scared with $40,000 in t…

How are you going to make this your best year yet? Every year inside No BS Agencies Mastery, I lead a two-day planning workshop for our students. If you want to have your best year yet, it’s vital that you envision not only the big picture, but what steps it will take to achieve it. Today, I’m sharing my vision and planning process, from soup to nu…

I was recently a guest on Sara Chambers’s fabulous podcast, Chicks Who Give a Hoot and I loved our conversation. We chatted a lot about Mastery, her experience in it, and talked about other people’s experiences as well. Plus we dug into mindset shifts we’ve both needed to make to be successful in our businesses and lots more. I wanted to share that…

Almost all of us have worked for a crappy boss at some point. And even though you have your own business now, you might still be working for one. Getting away from bad bosses may be one of the reasons you started your own business in the first place. But it is all too easy to end up treating ourselves horribly. So to close out 2024, I want to talk …

Last week, I talked about how to think about planning your year ahead when you’ve had a wildly successful year. If you’re looking back at 2024 and feeling like things fell apart instead of coming together, you are not alone. Those same students I talked about last week who had their best years ever have also had years that felt like a total bust. I…

It’s been a year filled with milestone achievements for No BS Mastery students. And the wins aren’t just about bank accounts and booked calendars. It’s taking pottery classes in the middle of the day and bucket list trips across the world and teaming up on a project with a legend in your field. It’s the freedom and flexibility that comes with ownin…

Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are No BS Agencies Mastery success stories. They joined the program soon after they started their business, setting the right course that works for them from the start. Katie Koch and Jess Dyroff are the founders of Brightside Creative, where they transform nonprofits and mission driven organizations into unforgettable br…

Let’s see if this sounds familiar: You say yes to everything. You take any project as they come up and you start them as soon as possible. You have too many clients and you’re juggling too much work. You have no work-life balance. And if you’re not up to your eyeballs in client work, you’re stressing and spinning your wheels about the next thing to…

Many branding agency owners and creative people find dealing with clients very difficult. In my experience, and after having coached many people through difficult client experiences, I have found that the culprit is almost always lack of clarity around boundaries and expectation management. Things often go off the rails when you can’t communicate a…

I’ve come to realize that so many people struggle to set and hold boundaries because they are afraid of being perceived negatively. Whether it’s saying no to a casual invite to a bar when you’d rather not or holding firm to your boundaries in a professional setting, having and communicating clear boundaries can be stressful. But it is absolutely vi…

Eleanor Hancock is a star student inside No BS Agencies Mastery and her transformation over the last couple of years has been absolutely phenomenal to watch. She’s an inspiration to me and in the community, and I know you’ll get so much out of hearing her story. Eleanor Hancock is the co-founder of Number 75 Design, a creative agency that specializ…

If you could just make the right social media posts, if you could just make your offer better, if you could just find the people who would pay the high prices, would that make you successful? What does it really take to be successful as a one to two person branding agency? Success is about the whole picture: the business you want, the money you wan…

Money. A topic that makes so many people so uncomfortable. We all have money stories that can negatively impact us. God knows I have spent a lot of time working through those to have a healthier money story and a healthier relationship with money. So many creatives don’t like talking or even thinking about money. But it is such an important and pow…

It seems like everyone wants to be an entrepreneur these days. Start your own business! Be your own boss! It might look glamorous from the outside, but small business owners know, the truth isn’t all that. This month, we’re talking about hard truths most business coaches won’t tell you. And today, I’m going to lay down some hard truths about what i…

Apparently, I have developed something of a reputation for telling it like it is. Students and my friends know that they can expect me to give to them straight. Sometimes that might come across a little harsh, and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I think there’s value in giving (and getting) no BS answers. I’ll be honest about what you can expec…

I’m excited to share my conversation with a No BS Mastery star student. Caitlin Lang has been an absolute delight to have in our community and it’s been awesome to watch her take action and transform her business. Today, she shares her journey from the dot com boom to working as a freelance brand designer, to embracing the No BS way after years of …