003 – Dana Malstaff The Boss Mom Talks About Being An Entrepreneur

Hello everybody, its Neil Ball here, I appreciate you joining me today on the entrepreneur way. The entrepreneur way is about the entrepreneur’s journey. The vision, the mindset,the committment, the sacrifice, the failures and successes. I am so excited to bring you our special guest, Dana Malstaff. But before I introduce you to Dana, I have a quote for you to ponder by Claude Levi Strauss. The wise man does not give the right answers, he poses the right questions. The entrepreneur way asks the questions, so we all get the insight, inspiration, and ideas to apply in our businesses. Dana, welcome to the show. Are you ready to share your version of the entrepreneur way with us?

GUEST Oh I am so ready. Ha ha ha.

NDB Dana Malstaff is a mother, business and content strategist, coach, speaker, writer, podcaster, brainstorm faciliator, and a blindspot reducer. Dana is the author of Boss Mom the ultimate guide to raising a business and nurturing your family like a pro. And the founder of the boss mom movement. She serves boss moms who yearn for more time and less guilt when it comes to building their business, and starting or raising their family, by providing the tools they need, to get more out of their content and business, without sacrificing their family goals. When she is not creating new content, or building new strategy tools, for creative entrepreneurs. She can be found chasing her son on the beach, rubbing cheeks with her new daughter, or thinking of the next fun new family adventure. Dana, can you provide us with some more insight into your business and personal life? to allow the listeners to get to know more about what you do and who you are.

GUEST Yes absolutely, so I am a Mom, first off and I am an entrepreneur. So I have my own business, I have had for three years now. And my journey to becoming a mom and my journey to becoming entrepreneur, sort of happens simulataneously. That was not planned, but that is sort of how you know, things happen. And it brought me down this path of feeling really guilty that I wanted to create and make a business and nurture a business in this world. But I also wanted to create and nurture a family as well, and how was I going to divide that time? and every time I wanted to nurture my business, it made me feel as though I was giving away part of my heart that I should have reserved, you know all of for my son. So I began to figure out how to try and get past this guilt and thats how I came up with the Boss Mom Book. That just came out late last year, in 2015. To help women get past this guilt they feel that to really really accept and give themselves permission, that they have this passion inside them. And this nature to create and this world, and that by creating a business, it is just another kind of baby. And by doing what we love, we are then able to show our children what a life well lived looks like. And that, that in turn helps us to raise a generation that has the mindset, where it is important to do things that we are passionate about. And that you can actually grow a business and support your family, by doing those kinds of things. And that is sort of how I have built my boss mom tribe. And within it that how I actually help people execute creating a business that thrives is through the content and business strategy which really is all about this idea that we create content all day long. We create products and services and things that we want to go out and sell, but very often we don;t sit and think about the long game, we don’t think about the strategy, we don’t build a business plan. We don’t think about how all our family goals fit into our business goals and vice versa, so I help mom entrepreneurs to pull that all together. And really make sure that what they are creating in their business helps serve them in a way that really maximises the return on them reaching the goals that they want to reach in life and I execute that in my own business as well.

NDB Mmm

GUEST And that is sort of where I help people and I think alot too with content strategy I, that all boils down to also helping them figure out how do you build your tribe? How do you create content that drives people to your email lists and then also to buy your services and do all those things, so its everything that is encompassed in creating a strategy for your business that helps it grow.

NDB Do you have any examples of how you have helped somebody do what you talked about there?

GUEST Oh yeh sure so, alot of what I do with clients is I have clients where I actually just help them build their business. So we will maybe say ok, I have got somebody who is doing blogging. Well how do you become intentional with exactly what you are blogging about? To help you grow your business? So we work through, so how are you going to actually monitize your business, is it through affilliate marketing? Or is it through actually products you create? and what will that look like? and as we start to build that out, then how are we going in and creating content in your blog that drives people in that direction? So those are some instances of clients that I have helped, I have also done actual launches where we say you are creating a course, and if we look at your course, then how are we, and I call it stacking. But alot of other people might call it splintering or things like that, but how are we pulling out from that? the content of your course, to help create webinar content that drives people.

GUEST That help create optin content that helps create blog content. That when people are being pulled in to you, they are understanding your message, they are loving what they are hearing about you and they are going from loving that, to nurturing them through the cycle, of bringing them all the way to the purchase decision of your actual larger content. So how does that all fit together? And then from a larger strategy standpoint, you know I work with clients alot and talk with, I was just on a panel actually for a membership site, talking about this idea that everything you create should multi task for you. So how do you make sure that you are creating blogs that drive people to different parts of your business? and then creating blogs that you can multi task that content to maybe put in membership site. Or go into more detail, but use that content in other places, so those are some examples of just things that I have done, and helped people with from a content strategy standpoint.

NDB Ok so how do you actually make money from what you do? obviously you are helping all these people so?

GUEST Mmm yeh so I have three actually I have four main ways that I bring in income that I think is pretty well synced with how alot of people bring in income these days. So I have coaching, one-on-one coaching clients, so I max out at five, but I usually keep them at three. So the beginning of the year I usually take five, because people are wanting to get their year going. But I generally keep three clients, one-on-one throughout the year. I have a group coaching programme, I will be launching the new version of that, starting March 1st. But starting in February is when we will promote, and that is called the Decision Map Academy, which is all about a six-month programme to help you create your business plan, create your vision boards, help grow your business and build your business. So you are really confident in what you are creating, and making decisions to help that business thrive, become easier. And then I have and evergreen course called the ‘finding your course programme,’ which helps teach people how to build their course, and that runs throughout the year and I do facebook ads and different nurturing things to help grow that participant base. And then I have affilliate marketing, so people that I partner with, or smaller courses that I have on other platforms that help promote larger courses that I get a cut of that profit. Things like that, so those become the four main areas, that I pull in revenue.

NDB Thank you for that, and can you tell us something more about your book please?

GUEST Ooh yes, I could talk all day about my book. Ha thats an easy one. Yeh so its Boss Mom, its the ultimate guide to raising a business and nurturing your family, like a pro. And it is meant to be a resource guide, you know you could read it all at once, but its meant to kind of go through the stages of when you begin to think about starting your business and your family, all the way to the toddler years. And there will be more boss mom books to come out in the works of making it a fun series. But the main point of it, is that it correlates how we look at our business, and how we look at our family, and how they are both children that we nurture, and raise, and how we can learn from each other so there are chapters like, ‘is your business teething?’ and ‘is your baby and business as cute as you think?’ and you know and that kind of thing. And so it teaches you to look at your business in a way that helps you really understand that you are truly raising a business. You are not just running a business, you are raising a business. And at some point, that business is going to become to take on a life of its own and personality of its own, and you need to recognise and look at that, and be able to learn from that, instead of fighting that. Because that is how you are going to allow your company to grow into something healthy and beautiful, that contributes out into the world, and the same thing with your children.

NDB Mmm hmm

GUEST It also walks you through getting away from the guilt of how do you deal with overwhelm? How do we manage our business when we have kids and you get pregnant or you have kids and everybody gets sick for a week. You know, how do you build a business that can sustain itself when you have other priorities in your life that are really important like family. And it just walks through that, and it becomes a support system, for the women that are in the Boss Mom community to read that and know that they are not alone. That its hard to raise a family and have a business, I think its hard for men as well, as a woman, I think I come from a place of knowing what its like as woman, and so that has sort of become my tribe, but I think being a parent and an entrepreneur in any capacity is tough. We on a daily basis face priorities and what’s important to us, and what we are going to accomplish and why we are accomplishing it, and you know you say the phrase for posterity alot because we are doing things for our children and for the next generation, and so that is challenging and it helps provide the support to help women go out and create businesses that are amazing, and help raise the next generation that is going to create businesses that are amazing.

NDB And what do you enjoy most about what you do?

GUEST mmm well I am all about creating. My family growing up, we called ourselves the McGiver family because we just love to build. You know, my dad builds and restores vintage cars, my brother is a sculptor. You know, my mom does illustrations and my step-dad is a writer and so I come from a family of creators, and so that is what I do every single day is I figure out how can I create beautiful but useful things in this world that will help people run their business and raise their family. And how can I do that, that makes their lives easier. So shorten that learning curve for them. Teach them well, also while motivating them. And so every day I wake up and I have something on my plate that allows me to create and that really drives me and excites me.

NDB What is it that drives you?

GUEST MMm, I think this is different than when I was in corporate America, I think this is the difference between someone paying you and you creating a business where you are in charge of everything you make. Is that I have control over what my future looks like, you know I have the ability to say, this is what I want and I need to make this much more or I need to work with these kinds of people and I can make it so, and I think that is a beautiful driver in business is that I have that control, its also super scary that I have that control. Because that also means that I have to 100% own my failures. But then I can easily pick myself up and go, I mean the two words that I talk about that I never say anymore after having started my own business, is I never say politics and I never say red tape. Because I can be as agile and flexible as I want to be in my business, and I can pivot and I can tweak as much as I need to in my business. To get me to what I want, and that is beautiful and I think the most important thing that I help my clients with and I am really concious about in my business is I have to know what I want. And as soon as I know what I want, then its a driving force to me to do whatever I need to be able to do to get that.

NDB Mmm hmm, and how do you relax when you are not working in your business?

GUEST Mmmm, not working, what is that like? ha ha ha you know theres alot of things, one is my mornings are my kid playtime. Which is sometimes I think taking care of my kids is super stressful or super challenging. But the mornings is my time, we play. I make sure that I am consciously remembering that playing is fun. Because I think like, where you know, ‘oh I gotta get the kids things together and I gotta prep for a meeting I’m doing or an interview I am gonna be on’ and I have gotta do all these things but in the morning, we get up and its just what they want to do. You want me to get into your little spaceship or sit in your pantry and play with our cars, and pretend they are flying, yes. Thats what I wanna do and I love that, and I get to be a part of their life in a way that is really interactive. And is really about creating adventures together and that is extremely relaxing and rewarding for me.

NDB Sounds great. And do you have any role models who are entrepreneurs?

GUEST Oh gosh, I have so many role models. I was just talking about this today, that I wrote a blog on linked in some maybe year or two ago, that was about the, I think it was the 11 different types of mentors that I had talked about. And there are different times in our lives when you have them, and there is you know, your cheerleader mentors which are the people that you love that are your family and those kinds of people. And those are the ones that help support you when feel down, you know, they help tell you that no matter what you are amazing and they just love everything about you. They also don’t understand the business world that you live in. They may not be in your space, they are obviously not your ideal client, so you take their love but you weigh their advice because sometimes their advice is going to be born out of love, but not out of experience. But then, what I am finding right now, is most prominent in my space is what I call proximity mentors and those are the people that are not necessarily further along in their business than me, they are kind of where I am. And we are I would say colleagues versus someone being at a different advancement than me. So they were in proximity to each other in terms of our business, but we have different things that we are better at. So I may have written a book, but somebody else may have started a membership site that is really successful. Or somebody else might have done this group coaching, and we learn from each other by proximity.

GUEST So one that I was on a call with today and helping her with her membership site, is Jacqueline Malone, and she has the all up in your lady business pod cast and she has the chasing dreams and littles incubator, which is her membership site. And I am learning so much from her, about what she is doing and how she is running her business, that is so helpful in my business, even though we are on the same track. You know we are able to teach each other because it is just the proximity of saying, ‘here is what I have learned, and here is what I have succeeded and failed at.’ and taking notes from each other, so she is one I love. Heather Crabtree, who has the savvy business owners facebook group which is wildly popular. And she just launched a savvy business conference which is great. And so there are these women that are in my space, that are just super motivating and really wonderful to see how they are growing their business. And that is where I have been looking too lately.

NDB And you talked about mentors and obviously you do coaching, how important do you think it is to have a mentor or a coach?

GUEST Oh I think its vital, so I think there are three things you have to have to grow a business. I talk about three tools you need, And people go, ‘oh good, what software is it?’ and I go no no no, the three tools you need to start your business and grow your business, is you need a coach, you need a mastermind group, and you need a community. And so, my current coach is Don Mars, she is from Mars Marketing. She also is the co-host of the social media ‘happy hour’ pod cast. And she is amazing, and she fills a need for me which is I need to get better at what you would call the nurturing system which is once I have people in my community, how do I nurture that relationship? And that is something where I get so excited about getting people into my community that I don’t have an expertise in the nurturing part. That I am sort of new to that. So she has been really helping me hone in on that, and has just been an amazing coach, so and I always have a coach, and I always make sure the coach fills the need that I have. You know when I talk to coaches, if I want to get one, then I will talk to five or six or however many it takes to feel like not only do they get me in my brand and understand what I want to accomplish. But that they also feel the need for me, so that I don’t need somebody to motivate me or hold me accountable, I am very good at that. I need somebody that is going to help me go to the next level. So I find a coach that is at that next level. So Don fills that for me, she is amazing. And then a mastermind group, you can either do paid or not paid. I have actually yet to pay for a mastermind group, I have been lucky enough to be invited to some really amazing ones.

GUEST And the best way I have found to get a mastermind group is by through public event or not public events, but through in-person events so I will go to for instant. To Hal Rod is one of my favourite, he is a friend of mine, he wrote the miracle morning, and he does his event here in San Diago. So, every year, I go to that and almost every year I find an amazing group of people and we start a mastermind group. And from there, I got my book coached to help me write my book last year. I have gotton multiple different clients that we have referred to each other. We have helped each other grow our businesses, we have been on each others pod casts. So find a mastermind group, that works for you because that helps you understand ideas, come up, brainstorm things but also be held accountable. And in your community, I have a facebook community, multiple facebook communities that I engage in. That I have sort of found my tribe. And I reach out to them to help validate the ideas for what I am going to do in my business. So what I am going to name things, what I am going to do next, when I am going to launch things. All that kind of stuff so that it helps me make sure that I have a finger on the pulse of what my ideal client actually needs. So have a coach, have a mastermind group, and have a community.

NDB Great advice. Dana, can we just go back to the time before you were an entrepreneur? And you tell us about what difficulties you had to overcome when you started your business?

GUEST Oh yes, so I don’t know if anyone will resinate with this, so I have a feeling its possible though. When I was in corporate America, so I had big ideas about where I was going to do and be and I finally got into a spot, I was at a director position. And I was making six figures. So that was one of my goals, you know I wanted to be in a management role, and I wanted to be making six figures. So I got to that point and I was with a smaller sort of patient advocacy company, and I helped build behaviour modification coursework. So, diabetes management, tobacco sussation, that kind of thing. I loved programme development and helping people to create change and action in their lifes. Well this organisation kind of went into new management and you could see, so I think its good to always be realistic about the lay of the land, is I could see that they were sort of moving the people in management out to replace them with the people that this new management knew, you know so I was associated with the old management. You want people in that you know, totally new, could see that that was happening and I recognised to not get mad about it. Because that is what I would do, you know, I would want to make sure that there are people that fit what I am doing and get rid of the people that are not so that I can run the business the way I want to.

GUEST So I basically said, I am going to be pro-active, I went to the new head of the sort of chief marketing officer was the person and I went in and I said, ‘look I kind of see what is going on, I have a team that I love, I would like to put together a 90 day package of me sort of transitioning out before you bring anybody else new in.’ And they said they loved it, they loved my approach to it and everything like that. So I had an idea 90 days to find a new job. And I basically went out, and I told my husband there is one other company I want to work for. And if I don’t get the job, then I think I should start my own business, because I think now is a good time, we had a bunch of money saved up, we both had good incomes. We could financially handle it. He said ok, great. So I applied for this job and I was, they called me and it was between me and one other guy and they said, ‘ you know Dana, we love you, we would love to work with you but this guy just had this other experience that you don’t have, so we are going to give the job to him but we really love to find a way to work with you.’ and that is when it clicked in my mind, ‘oh my gosh, if I own my own business, and I was just a consultant, to businesses or a coach, I could do that, you could hire me for a project. You don’t have to hire me as a whole, a person that you pay and give benefits to.’ And so in my mind, it was just the perfect thing to shift my mindset. To be able to go, ‘wow being a consultant and having my own business could be amazingly successful and rewarding if people really want to work with me?’ but its not, to go in and work with one company and so that was the beginning to starting my own business and shifting that mindset about how I was going to grow my business. So I took what my friend at the ..beck wellnecks, Nicole Keating who I have been on her pod cast and love what she is doing, she is another proximity mentor that I have. That she says turning poison into medicine which is I could have taken the idea that I needed to leave my job, that you know that I was kind of being a little bit pushed out and those kind of things. And let it get me and let it be negative in my life. But I decided to use it as something that would be a positive force in my life, and it helped me jedison me into starting my own business and to what I am today, which is working with people I love, doing what I love and growing my business in a way that works for me and my family.

NDB I just love that phrase, ‘turning poison into medicine’

GUEST I know isn’t it awesome, she calls it uplevelling and unburdening which I love. I use that in my life now, like if I am going to do something in my business, how can I uplevel it? and what am I putting in my life that is not useful, thats not beneficial. Who am I putting in my life, thats not useful and not beneficial? and then when I recognise that, how can I unburden myself of those negativities and it has really helped me make sure that I am only surrounding myself with people who get me and love me, and only surrounding myself with things that are helping me bring my purpose to life.

NDB mmm hmm, thats just beautiful. And did you have any doubts that delayed you starting your business?

GUEST Well I got pregnant. Not necessarily a doubt, but I would call it a little bit of something that totally throws a wrench in things. In a sense that I had never had a baby and I never had a business and I was in a scenario of trying to figure out how to give birth to both. Which is just a whole crap load of challenges, all in itself, so I often wonder if my business would have really become super successful before, but then this is what I love about recognising how the universe, you know bends itself for you. Is that, we had my son, and I was sort of, I had a business but it was kind of you know, kind of working, I had some clients, but you know nothing crazy. I was trying to figure out exactly what my purpose was and what I was doing, and I am originally from San Diago, and we were living in Columbus, Ohio. I had my son and we would go and work at the coffee shop, and I would see like a mom with her little kid and then her mom, so like like the grandma there, and it just made me cry, like ‘oh my gosh, my family is out in San Diago and I am really close to them.’ So I told my husband, I want to move back to San Diago, and of course for him, we are like in the dead of winter in Colombus, and he is like, ‘I’ll quit my job tomorrow, I’m done and done’ like that was an easy sell. But we got here and it turns out, it was the best thing we could have ever done because San Diago is a bustling community of entrepreneurs, especially in the online service industry. There’s tons of like all the really million people follower people like Jon Lee Dumas who does ‘entrepreneur on fire’ I am now friends with him, I am having lunch with Kate Garrickson on friday. You know I am going to his book launch, I am friends with Hal. Like I am getting introduced to all these people that are really well known, in our industry because of my proximity, because of me living here. And so it turned out that my business was able to really significantly grow, because we moved here. And we would not have moved here if I had not had children, so while I think of the challenges it was to have a son and try and start a business at the same time. I recognised that the universe presented itself in a way, that by having a son, it prompted us to move in a place where my business could really thrive. So, it all kind of fits together.

NDB Mmm hmm, you wrote the book as well? about it?

GUEST yes

NDB So mistakes did you make that slowed your journey?

GUEST Well I make mistakes every day. I continue to make mistakes every day. So thats definately true, I think, I like to think that mistakes don’t slow my journey. Of course we would all love it if we could make a mistake, move past it and have some epiphany, I think ultimately, a lot of our mistakes are a series of mistakes that build up to the success. But I do think that there are two big mistakes, I think that I made and alot of people make, and one is that I thought I could do everything by myself. I thought I needed to do everything by myself. And that is a huge mistake. You are not an island, business is not products and services, business is people. And the only way to grow your business is to recognise that you need people. You need people to support you. You need people to help bring expertise in areas, that you are not an expert in. You need people to love you and promote you, and you need people to buy into what you are doing. So you know, you have to get past the idea that everything has to be made by you, done by you, originate from you. Like there is just as much as you can become successful from curating as you can from creating. So to keep that inmind, is really important. And then I think the other thing too is that, as an entrepreneur, we have the sort of wonderfulness of being able to assess and pivot when we need to.

NDB Mmmm hmm

GUEST and I think one of my biggest mistakes is when I started out, I did not do what I do now. I did more of a mindful communication coaching, it felt really inline with what I was doing in corporate America. But it really was something that I was interested in. But it didn’t, there is this Ven diagram that you need to, maybe I should send you the image so that you can have it in your shownotes. But there is this place what you are amazing at, what comes easy to you. And then you have got the box of what you are actually, what you want to do, what makes your heart sing. And then the third one is what people actually need. And you have to find that little spot in the middle where you are doing what comes easy to you, what you really love, that people need. And I think in the beginning, I was doing what I really loved, but I was not necessarily pulling it into what I am really good at.

GUEST And I was not positive of how to place it in a way that people really need. And what I discovered is when I started in a place of what am I really good at. What comes easy to me and that is, strategy, content, creation, this idea of creating content which I did in corporate America, and being a mom and being an entrepreneur and when I pulled all those together. I figured that what I am good at in terms of helping people with strategy, then I recognise that part of that strategy is being mindful and communicating to your community, so you understand what they need. Filled that part of what I love. And then being able to go out and build a community of boss moms, and understand really what they need and I was able to hone in on that centre part, and I think my mistake was waiting too long to recognise that I needed to pivot. That you need to be agile as a business. And if it is not working, you assess why and you immediately make changes because entrepreneurialism is all about trial and error, but it does not work unless you recognise the error and quickly move past it. Its called the ‘trial and error’ because trials are meant to be a short period of time. Its not meant to be over the length of your business. You know like that would like ‘business and error’. So trial and error means the second you recognise its not working. You figure out how to tweak it or pivot so that it can work. And I think the mistake is holding on too long, and we reach this opportunity cost where its like you are gambling at some point, you may have put money in but if you don’t stop, you are going to continue to lose.

NDB mmm hmmm, yeh it would be great if you could send us that Ven diagram, then we can visualise what you are talking about then, that would be nice. Can we now talk about your entrepreneurial journey a little bit Dana?

GUEST Sure

NDB Do you think culture is important from the beginning in a business?

GUEST Oh absolutely, I think culture is everything. I think that we, well I will tell you this, in the solo-preneur world and in entrepreneur world. Culture is your brand. I was just talking about this today that one exercise that I really love when I help people to create their brand, because I work alot with creative entrepreneurs and they love pintrests and their boards and things. Is that we actually visualise a home as your business, and if you were going to invite people over, how would you want them to feel? Would you want them to feel cosy? Would you want them to feel at home like they could just get in the fridge if they wanted and pop up their feet on the couch and feel like open and supported? Would you want them to feel like its edgy and new and they need to immediately take action? You know, what is it that you want them to feel? And that is the essence of culture, is that you were creating an environment, an emotional environment, that creates a certain type of reaction and interaction. And so, even if you are owning a business that is brick and mortar that has people that come to work every day, or you are in an online business where you are in social media, and you are building a community there.

GUEST Your culture is your brand, its the feel and the look and the things that you do, do you want to create a place where people feel like that can get up from their desk and play and have fun because you know, that they are actually able to get their work done better when that happens. Or are you in a place where it says ‘hey you have to be here 9-5 and this is what you have to do.’ You know, are you in an online community that says, ‘hey I want you to be open and supportive because we don’t judge here’, or do you want a place that says ‘we are all about just action’ if you are not going to give tips and practical information, then this is not the place for you. So the culture that you create, ultimately decides who will gravitate towards you. And if you are not really conscious about your culture, and the kind of branding that you want for your business, whether its a big business or just you. Then you are going to start attracting people that are not the right people, and there is nothing worse in your business than having team members or clients that are bad fits. Its bad for your soul, because they won’t value you, they will nickel and dime you. They won’t be happy, they will eventually leave. And you will have spent time and effort and love and sweat and tears on people that don’t truly get you and are not willing to pay you and it can ultimately end up being the demise of your business. So yes, culture is everything.

NDB And knowing what you know now, is there anything that if you had known it when you started out, would have helped you to shortcut the learning curve?

GUEST Yeh I think one of the biggest things, besides getting people to support you which is big. You know, getting a team of people even if you cannot afford it to get into that. I think one of the things that would have really helped shorten my learning curve and build my community faster, is so much more collaboration. Now there is a big part of my business where there are other boss moms like Jacqueline Malone, who is in the chasing dreams and littles. She does something similar to me, she actually has a community that is very similar to mine. They have a little bit differences but her and I collaborate alot, we promote each other alot, so you know doing that sort of affilliate marketing, even if there is not necessarily a pay part of that affilliate marketing but you are promoting each other. Thats huge for my business and I know other people’s businesses is that, that growing trending phrase that collaberation over competition, is so true like find your tribe, find people who also serve your tribe in different ways and find ways to collaberate with them, because they will help get you visibility, they will help get you out there, they will help you grow your business, and those are vital, so I think definately the collaborations are the place to be now.

NDB Mmmm hmm, thank you and how much does gut feeling influence your decision in your business?

GUEST Gosh you know, I would say, it is at least half. I think I used to have it be a 100% I would just go with my gut and what felt good. And what I found, in really growing my business and creating a good strategy for my business, is that I use my gut to help me create my strategy, and then I don’t have to worry about it not feeling or settling well because everything I decide in my business, I bounce it off of my business plan and my vision board of I create a business plan vision board, which is part of what my group coaching does. So that I can easily, visually look up at every decision I make, and make sure it really resonates with everything I want to accomplish this year in my business and my purpose and my ideal client. So I don’t have to really use my gut as much, because I used my gut to create a plan that I know is in line. And there are just sometimes when I get those people asking me to do things, where I am not able to see my vision board and I go ‘god I don’t know if that like fits right’ and then I am able to just come home and easily just gage at that and go now I know why.’ I know why because it is really not going to guide me here.

GUEST Or its going to use my time over here that is not going to be really helpful in a way that I want to accomplish this year, so hopefully that answers that.

NDB Yeh well its your personal opinion, isn’t it, but I was reading something the other day about this and scientists now have discovered that it is more than about just your brain, there is actually something real about gut feeling. I’m not going to try and explain it anymore but it was something that Daniel Goldman talked about, on linked in the other day and its really interesting getting to understand all of that. So Dana, life is made of constant change, whether we like or not and many will say that the only constant is change. So how do you try to keep up with change?

GUEST Yes, its happening, change is happening every single day. I think in our businesses and I am not the first one to say this but if you are riding the wave of things you have done in the past, without recognising how you will need to alter according to the way things are changing, especially now, at technology and the millenials are becoming, the people are becoming the purchasers now. That you will fall behind. So change is absolutely a huge reality in business and I was saying the other day that it is funny, when you do research to write a book, they tell you to look at what is out in the market. You know, is it a saturated topic, you know, all those kinds of things. But you only have to look five years. Anything that was written more than five years ago becomes irrelevant. So if you wrote a book that is on a almost exact topic of something that was written six years ago, and you are looking to get it published, they would not pull that old book in as a reason to say no. Its no longer relevant, and I love that, that totally puts into perspective when you are thinking about your business. Is thinking about how do I stay relevant? and I think that is the big thing with change. Is how do I stay relevant in my kids lives? How do I stay relevant in keeping myself healthy and the tools I have to do that and the beautiful part about change is that it actually creates opportunity for you. Because if you stay stagnant, then you are missing out on potential things that could make your life easier, that could help you grow. Like for instance, I was trying to use a particular project management tool, and I was trying and trying it, and just was not working for me, but I really wanted to create a place where I could manage everything in my business and my team. And then Trello came out, I am a massive fan of Trello.

NDB mmm

GUEST which is free project management tool, I basically live in Trello now, I call it my work-wife. And its a new tool, its a complete change, it took a little time for me to get used to it, but once I got used to it, it has changed the way I run my business. I am actually able to take on more clients, if I would like to do more everyday because I have this system and I have created this. But I have to accept that I needed to change. I had to accept that I needed to try something new, and there are possibly things out there that might fit better with me. I was on a, another example of this, I was on a panel today talking with a Q & A. And someone said, ‘I used to build websites and now I want to move into coaching, but the people that I talk to keep asking me to build their websites, you know what do I do?’ and I said, there is this awkward transition that you are not going to be able to get past, where you are going to have to say no, to the things from before, so you could say yes to the things of tomorrow. And I think that is truly important, when you are talking about change, you have to accept that in order to embrace change, there are things that you are going to have to start saying no to, that you used to accept, and things that you are going to have to start saying yes to. That you may be did not even realise were there. But when you recognise that, that is ok, that saying no to the wrong things means that you have space to say yes to the right things.

GUEST Is what is going to help you guide you through the change in an easier transition and ultimately grow your business.

NDB Wow fantastic answer. And what is your favourite book on entrepreneurialism, business, personal development, leadership or motivation? and can you tell us why you have chosen it?

GUEST Yes so actually you mentioned Daniel Goldman, and I believe he wrote ’emotional intelligence’ yes, one of my favourite books. I also read focus which he wrote, huge fan of him. So I would absolutely ’emotional intelligence’ is, get to know that. Just that topic in general and he is very well known in that. So that would be a huge one, a book I am reading right now, that I am in love with and its ‘big magic’ by Elizabeth Gilbert. And I think she is awesome, and I love the way she approaches the idea of creativity, so thats great and one that I think totally, like my husband has mentioned like, ‘I don’t get it, this makes no sense for business’ but the five love languages is an amazing book because you think it is for like romantic relationships, its by Gary Chapman. But its not, its about every relationship and its basically this idea, that there are five ways that we feel loved and that means that we feel valued because when we feel valued, that is when we feel love and you were talking about culture, culture is all about helping people to feel loved and valued and that you care. And when they feel that way, they trust you, and when they trust you, they pay you. You know its this nice cycle, but it starts with understanding how they needed to be loved and valued. This book gives you five ways that we feel love and it actually has an assessment you can take. That you can see how you feel love. Like, what does that look like for you? and so what is great is that you can start using the questions in there, to look at your target audience, and see how would they answer this question, and it helps you build tools that are more useful for them, helps you communicate to them and provide them with things that are meaningful. So for instance, you might have a group of people that really, that they love to receive gifts. So I have a community where my clients like valentines day, I am making valentines gifts for all of my clients because my clientelle will really feel valued in that way.

NDB mmmm

GUEST You know, maybe you have someone who wants to be verbally celebrated and that is kind of how they feel valued and you are doing that with your clients and so I think this book seems like its not for business. But I am telling you, five love languages – read it and just totally get to know it because it will help every relationship in your life.

NDB Thanks for that. everyone when you have a busy life, listening to audio books is a great way to expand your knowledge in the time when you may be doing other things, such as driving or when you are at the gym. We have a special audio for you of a free audio book of your choosing, to choose your free audio book, go to freeaudiobookoffer.com. As long as you have not already signed up then you will qualify. Dana, what I would like you to do now is to visualise the future. So what one thing would you do with your business if you knew that you could not fail?

GUEST Mmmm I think its funny, I think I have that mentality every day. There is no failing, there is only learning. I think that sounds like a yoda phrase. But I think that if I knew I could not fail, like almost as if I knew that everything was just going to happen the way I hadn’t thought it would happen which is of course never how it actually works out. But I think that I would have an empire, you know, ha ha ha

NDB Why not ha ha ha.

GUEST Why not you know, I have an empire and I have a raving community of massive amounts of boss moms around the world that are you know starting business and doing there sort of side hustles and growing things in a way that is amazing and I would have a family situation where my husband is and this is what I am building my business towards anyway, where my husband is able to quit his job so that he can really start to figure out what his true passion and purpose is, like he gave me the space to do. And create an environment or have an environment where we can go for a month and go and spend it on a dude ranch with my family. While also making money in my business. I would have a non-for-profit business that helps create resources for moms that want to start a business but cannot afford to get day care or child care or business coaching and give them those resources so that they can have that space to grow a business, because we have so many beautiful minds that may be don’t have the resources to do that, so yes it would be an empire that would be supportive and useful, while also helping me live the lifestyle that I would love to live. And yes, that is what I would love to do.

NDB I think maybe you have to have a movement to create an empire and I think you have already got that haven’t you?

GUEST Well we are starting, yes we are starting. We are well on our way, I am, one of my favourite people is Melissa Casera. And she talks about what she calls the swirl effect, which is basically she helped you write copy that infuses your personality and your business. But she talks about this idea of a movement, and she talks about the idea of pulling people on this journey and everything with you. And she talks about sharing your content and everything, and I love the way she inspires me always to create a movement that is powerful and get people excited about it, and so I feel like we are getting there. It will take time, but everything takes time.

NDB And what skill if you were excellent at it, would help you the most to double your business?

GUEST I think automation is something that I am working on alot. This year is once you figure out, you know it is hard to automate when you are still figuring things out. But now that I have got a good established business, so I say that when I had my son I was building my business and I when I had my daughter I was growing a business. And so when you are at that point when you are ready to grow, it is all about the automation. So part of the coach that I have now and what she is really helping me do is create that automation. So that a lot of things run on their own and alot of the way that I approach different things in my business, become really systematic. And by doing that, it frees up my mental capacity to be creative in the really impactful and powerful areas that will then expenentially allow me to grow my business to the next level.

NDB Mmmm hmmm. Now it is time to zoom out even further. In five years from now, if a well know business publication was publishing an article on your business after talking to your customers and suppliers, what would you like it to say?

GUEST well I would love it to say Dana Mulstaff, the boss mom movement sensation with her multiple boss mom best selling series, we could not catch her to interview her because she is off spending christmas in paris with her family. But she will be doing her ‘always booked boss mom retreat’ in San Diago in the winter and is out in her community with because of the business she has built able to go and have time to go and contribute back to her community both virtual and in person and help to raise and nurture her children, and spend time with them while also help manage a community that helps women and mom entrepreneurs thrive. Something like that.

NDB I will look forward to reading that on it, ha ha ha

GUEST I know, me too, me too.

NDB We are now at the part of the show where you share three golden nuggets with us, so Dana what is your favourite quote and how have you applied it?

GUEST Oh thats a tough one, I am pulling out a book right now so that I can tell you about it, give me one second.

NDB Ok

GUEST I forgot this was a question, so I am, there is a quote, it is a book and it is called ‘the law of divine compensation’ by Marianne Williamson. Really great book and she has a line in here that I just love and it basically talks about, lets see, say the greatest gift we give ourselves is often our willingness to change our minds. And that is one of the things I say I love about being an entrepreneur, is that we have that ability. We have that ability to pivot and to shift and when we give ourselves permission to do that, we allow ourself to seize opportunities that can truly help us and our businesses grow. And I think that is beautiful thing.

NDB Yeh that is really good that. And do you have any favourite online resources that you can share with us that would be useful?

GUEST Yeh so if you are a creative entrepreneur, I think that the savvy business group, facebook group is a great place to be. Obviously the boss mom facebook group, if you are a mom entrepreneur is a great place to be. I also like, I said, Melissa Casera is awesome, her all the resources she provides and in her email list as well she is always giving away amazing work books and things in her emails. Awesome for you to help write your copy, for your business, which I think is something that I think alot of entrepreneurs including myself, even as a journalism major, are very lacking in, there is an art to that. So I think she’s a must that you want to go and figure that out, her online research does cost a little money, its called the swirl effect, it is a workbook that I love and go back to, time and time again that really helps you hone in on that message. So I think those are to start, just some really great places to go and find some good content.

NDB Ok thanks for that, and now with all your knowledge, what is your best advice to other entrepreneurs?

GUEST I would say that to make everything that you do in your business a concious effort. That to make everything that you are creating and everything that you are doing on a day to day basis, that you are gaging in that gets a sounding board to make sure that it is actually guiding you where you want to go, which means you have to think about where you want to go. And as you have not thought about that yet, then you are potentially just creating a bunch of things that might not get you anywhere, so that strategy up front, may seem like it is in that important but not urgent quadrant, that we often neglect. But by doing that little bit of work you can absolutely help to create a business that will thrive and where you are not exerting yourselves in areas that you are not able to maximise its benefit.

NDB Everyone if you did not manage to get a note of Dana’s favourite resource or her favourite book, you can find the links on Dana’s shownotes page, just go to theentrepreneurway.com and search for Dana or Dana Mulstaff in the searchbox. Dana is there anything else that you would like to add about your business?

GUEST About my business, oh goodness, no no, I think if the whole point of these interviews and things where people are listening to these pod casts if you resonate with me, if you find that you are falling in love with me, as a tribe should with somebody that they enjoy hanging out with. Then go to the boss mom website and learn more and lets connect and lets engage. I think that is always the first step and the most important step is to just find your tribe. And then I think ultimately, even if I am not a good fit for you and being part of my community is go out and find your community, there is nothing more rewarding than finding your tribe. They will support you, they will encourage you, they will help you take action in your business which is what an entrepreneur does, is take action. And ultimately help you bring your purpose to life. Which is all we could ever hope for people that are looking to build something.

NDB Dana you have shared some absolutely great tips and advice with us today, thank you for giving us so much insightful information, it has just been mind blowing quite honestly. So thank you very much,

GUEST Oh thank you for having me, I love to talk, so this is easy.