#awinewith Stevie Dillon
MEET Stevie
Stevie is the Founder of The Course Cartel.
Find Stevie here:
Course Cartel website and Instagram @the.course.cartel.
Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:08):
Stevie, thank you so much for being here and connecting with the Spark TV community. We've known each other for a little while now. I remember we were at a networks event. I think I met you. We were both speaking at a marketing event together. How long ago
Stevie Dillon (00:24):
Was that? That was like three ago, maybe four.
Danielle Lewis (00:30):
Oh, no, it's got to be more than that.
Stevie Dillon (00:32):
So I started my business four and a half years ago.
Danielle Lewis (00:35):
Yeah, well, I remember at the time I thought you'd just transitioned. So you were talking about how you started writing really long form blog content about social media, and so I think we might've just been at that kind of the precipice of starting the business.
Stevie Dillon (00:52):
Yeah. How funny. And funnily enough, I went from writing these crazy long form blogs to going into a podcast to now, I actually just posted on Instagram last night. I'm like, I'm over Instagram. I'm over all of the changes. I want to go back to long form blogs again, so I feel like I'm coming full circle.
Danielle Lewis (01:09):
Yeah, well, I mean it's really interesting as well. We've creating a bit of content and I'm like, I'm so over hearing that there's one way to do things. It's like, is it blogs? Is it a podcast? Is it YouTube? Is it write a long caption or a short caption? I'm like, oh. So I totally appreciate the I'm over Instagram sentiment.
Stevie Dillon (01:30):
Oh, I know. I just feel like I'm the X Instagram girl. And I used to, I understood it when it was long captions. I'm like, I can do that stuff. But yeah, I just feel like I'm getting, am I getting old or am I just getting, I
Danielle Lewis (01:43):
Was just about to say, I think we're getting too old for this social media business.
Stevie Dillon (01:47):
I know. I was just listening to myself and I'm like, oh my gosh,
Danielle Lewis (01:52):
That's hilarious. Well, so before we just start chatting, why don't we kick things off by talking about said business. So what's your background? So from a career point of view, and how did you actually get to starting your own business?
Stevie Dillon (02:08):
Yeah, okay. So back four and a half years ago, I was working in marketing for a real estate agency in Brizi, and I started my blog writing. So I was learning all about social media. All of my friends were still going out every weekend, and I was just staying at home writing these blogs going, I just want to learn as much as I can. Finally, I feel like I'd finally, after years, found something that I actually enjoyed doing, and it had taken over 10 years to get there. So I was like, this is amazing. I am all in, and I feel like I'm not a really big human design person, but I've since found out I'm a generator. And once you find your purpose, it is like you're just lit up and you just kind of want to do it forever, all the time, 24 7. And I was like, I resonate with that. That was totally me. So yeah, so I went from writing the blogs into starting a podcast into people asking me, Hey, can you please manage my social media for me? And I was like, oh, this could be a business. That's amazing. And I remember I went to Europe for a month, so we did yacht week, did all of the things, and I was sitting on a beach overlooking positano, wow,
Danielle Lewis (03:29):
Take me there now please. I
Stevie Dillon (03:30):
Know sleeping on a lemon cello. I said to my partner, I was like, I actually think I could quit, which just was the hugest thing for me. I'd never thought about not being in corporate. I was like, I actually think I could make this a business. And I was like, I probably need such an analytical person. I was like, probably need another client and a half, and I could probably, and he was just like, look, why don't you just do it? What is the worst that could happen? And it clicked this thing in my mind and I was like, what is the worst that could happen? I would go back to my corporate job. So started a business and was managing social media clients for about six months, then decided I want to create a digital course, and went all in on doing that. So this is a really long story now, Danny. I'm sorry. No,
Danielle Lewis (04:16):
That's good. That's good. No context is good. Context is good. Go for it.
Stevie Dillon (04:20):
How far back do you want me to go? But yeah, so I went to Bali for a couple of months and that was another big thing for me. I was like, what? I can actually leave Brisbane and go and do this thing. That just felt completely wild to me. And so I was knocking over all of these little beliefs that I'd held for so long and so funny, you're so conditioned to even the idea of going overseas for a couple of months and not having a job. I was like, wow, this is crazy. So decided, yep, I'm going to create this course, had no idea how to do it. Spent six of the eight weeks in Bali just drinking cocktails and then decided
Danielle Lewis (04:56):
That's where all of the good ideas happen.
Stevie Dillon (04:59):
Totally. And I was like, okay, well I need to come back with something. So I wrote this manuscript, like 50,000 word manuscript, and it was like everything I knew about social media and came back and I was like, okay, I need to turn this into a course and did it the hard way. Launched the course, it was beyond my wildest dream, successful. I shocked myself and I was like, this is so exciting. So another belief knocked over. I was like, oh, I don't have to work crazy hours in order to do this. This is so cool. And then made the mistake that every course creator makes and says, if I've done it once, I can get more success by creating another course and then creating another course. And by that stage, I was pregnant with my first little boy and I decided I was going to create a new course every six weeks and then market it. And then Oh my gosh. Yeah. It's like, well,
Danielle Lewis (05:53):
How'd that go? I'm stressed out already. I know.
Stevie Dillon (05:56):
And they were not on where it's set and forget. So the first one was Facebook ads changes all the time. The second one was, podcasting doesn't change as much, but you've still got to update it. And the third one was going to be Instagram stories. And I was like, I'm burnt out. I can't do this again. And so went back to the one flagship course and from there had my little boy and decided I'm going to teach other people online courses because it's the most amazing thing in the world, and created a group coaching program called Launchpad and have been growing up for the last 18 months coming up to two years, which is crazy.
Danielle Lewis (06:35):
Yeah, that is incredible. And what did you find when you went from having all of the courses to one flagship? How did that change the game for you
Stevie Dillon (06:43):
Was Honestly, I say this. This is literally what I say to people that join Launchpad. Now what happens is it's kind of like it's hard enough to create one digital product. Everyone's like, oh, it's passive income. It's amazing. And I just, sorry. It's so not passive income. It's leveraged and you've got to do so much work. You've got to create the course and the curriculum. You've got to find product market fit first. You've got to stand out because there's so many people doing it these days. Then you've got to create a funnel and then you've got to launch it. You've got to optimize the funnel. If you're trying to do that with more than one maximum two products, that's a recipe for burnout. It's the complete opposite of the passive income that people going to digital courses for. And so even just having launchpad as my one and only products now, we still spend so much time optimizing the funnel and the data and all of those sorts of things, but it's just an all in focus, and it's like all roads lead to it, all of my marketing leads to it, all of everything leads to launchpad, and then it's optimizing one funnel to make it the best it could be.
(07:52):
Then on the delivery side, optimizing the curriculum to get the best results, which means better testimonials. And you're not doing this scatter gun approach where nothing's ever as good as it could possibly be. And yeah, it's honestly been business changing.
Danielle Lewis (08:11):
Yeah. Well, I'm so glad personally that you said that because literally I had this idea for a new course and I was like, please don't do this. Daddy l, please don't create something new. Sell what you have first.
Stevie Dillon (08:23):
Totally. But it
Danielle Lewis (08:25):
Hard to not get excited and inspired.
Stevie Dillon (08:29):
It's honestly the hardest thing. I think if you really love and enjoy doing something and creating new things, I have to stop myself every day. I am like, oh, I've got this amazing idea. And I'm like, no, read it back in.
Danielle Lewis (08:41):
Oh my God. I know. Literally I was awake at three o'clock in the morning with a new book idea, and I'm like, when are you going to write a book? What you going to write a book with you
Stevie Dillon (08:49):
Book? You should. I would read your book, Danielle. I would love that. Oh my
Danielle Lewis (08:53):
God. Well, I'm very glad about that. I think that I've wanted to be an author since I was little, and I think this is the year. I think this is the year
Stevie Dillon (09:00):
Exciting. I feel like book writings, course creation, where it's like that upfront work and then you reap the benefit forever on the backend. It's just like you need to commit to the work,
Danielle Lewis (09:11):
And that's it. And it's really interesting that you said you went to, was it Bali and took the time away? Literally what I was thinking, I'm like, I feel like I actually need to get out of my environment and just focus on one thing and actually just smash it out.
Stevie Dillon (09:27):
You have to let me know how it goes because it's on my wishlist to do as well, and I keep putting it off. I'm like, oh, I'll do it next year. I'll do it next year. And I feel like I've had my babies now the business is running really smoothly. I'm like, okay, I am in a good position that I could probably do it in the next year. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (09:45):
Definitely. Well, I'll tell you how the experience goes. I've been doing lots of research and lots of buying of other people's books to see, especially comparing self-published books and then books published on Amazon, and then books published by a publisher. And I'm like, oh my God, what am I going to do?
Stevie Dillon (10:03):
Yeah, what are you thinking? Are you thinking,
Danielle Lewis (10:05):
I think I'm going to publish on Amazon. So it seems like the most, well, the easiest way to not be hands-on in fulfillment. And whilst it's like no one's select throwing me a book deal yet. That's right. Wait for book number two. So then I'm like, Amazon seems like the best way to get that reach distribution, write it, and then I'm in charge of marketing it, but they're in charge of fulfillment. So that seems like the best approach.
Stevie Dillon (10:36):
And I feel like the marketing's the fun part. I can see your books in the background as, oh,
Danielle Lewis (10:41):
I'm obsessed. I've read. I've read none of them. Who
Stevie Dillon (10:46):
The Dime do you read with a Kindle?
Danielle Lewis (10:49):
No, I read with the physical books. I love it. Yeah,
Stevie Dillon (10:52):
Always. Yeah. So do you know what I do? I double up. This is so weird. But I will download a book on a Kindle, and if I feel like it's a book that I'm going to come back to or I really enjoy, then I go and buy the paperback version. So I'd
Danielle Lewis (11:06):
Have a special version.
Stevie Dillon (11:08):
Yeah, totally. I've got a dream of an office with a big bookshelf, so I'm like, I want to have all the business books for when that.
Danielle Lewis (11:16):
Yeah, totally. I just find, so something happens when I read two things is I kind of rest my eyes a little bit because I'm on a laptop or a phone or an iPad 24 hours a day, so it kind of gets me away from a screen, but then just magical happens when I read and it's like my brain gets to stop for a minute and everything consolidates itself and ideas actually happen.
Stevie Dillon (11:41):
It's
Danielle Lewis (11:41):
This really weird thing. So it actually takes me forever to read because as soon as I read a page, my brain just starts ticking away and I have to write things down and it's just this weird experience.
Stevie Dillon (11:51):
No, I am the same. And I get you on the, we're on screens all the time, so it feels weird being on a Kindle, like, oh, it's just another screen. But it's
Danielle Lewis (12:00):
Got a really dull kind of interface, doesn't it? So it doesn't mess with your eyes as much. Yeah,
Stevie Dillon (12:06):
It still feels on the screen though.
Danielle Lewis (12:07):
Yeah, true. I have not got into it, but mind you, I always kind of go when you actually dedicate more time to reading, then maybe buy a device for it.
Stevie Dillon (12:17):
Totally. Totally. You should have a newborn because you have a lot of time at 2:00 AM to read, but you need a Kindle. It's got the light and it's like pitch black dark. That's the story for another day.
Danielle Lewis (12:28):
Totally. Maybe not the best excuse to have a baby, but I'll put it on the pros list.
Stevie Dillon (12:34):
Really? Yeah, pros, cons.
Danielle Lewis (12:36):
Oh my God, that's so good. So then how has your role as a business owner evolved over the last few years? So kind of going from corporate to, oh my God, people are approaching me around this thing that I love, and then testing new ideas. I take it you don't do any social media management. It's all about the course now. So how did that evolve and how did you as a business owner evolve?
Stevie Dillon (13:01):
Yeah, I only had clients for maybe three or four months.
Danielle Lewis (13:07):
Oh, cool.
Stevie Dillon (13:08):
Yeah, so it wasn't a really long time. And basically the way I did it was I was like, I know I want to create this digital course. I need to give myself some space. So for that three or four months, I took on double what is a normal full-time client load, and I worked till 24 7 to bankroll having three or four months to basically give myself the space to create a course.
Danielle Lewis (13:33):
Wow, that's cool.
Stevie Dillon (13:34):
Totally risky. So yeah, I did that. Had one client by the time I got to Bali, created the course, and this was August, 2018. And then, so then launched the course in November, and by that stage I was down to nothing. I was like, this means to work out because it doesn't work out. I'm just, well, I just have to go back to service work, which was fine, but I didn't really want to do it. So the digital course kind of launched and then that sort of bankrolled me. So the launch was about 120 k, but it was all profit pretty much. There was no Facebook ads or anything, and I was like, that's amazing. That's going to fund my 2019, which it pretty much did. And then I started launching quarterly. And really the big change in terms of my place in the business was I was a course creator up until Launchpad launched. And so it was like me working by myself. I had no team, there was no one else really helping me out. And so I was learning and doing everything myself, which I actually think is an amazing way to do it because you learn the backend of everything and you learn how to do everything, which is amazing. But also it's a lot, but I do think it's important to do it. I
Danielle Lewis (14:59):
Think it helps you value the work too. I think it helps you understand how long things should take and that you are paying somebody else when you get there to actually do something that isn't kind of worth your time.
Stevie Dillon (15:12):
Yeah, I think a hundred percent. I think it can be really challenging to then go from competently being able to do everything to then pass things over. And so really that transition happened for me when Launchpad launched. And so the difference between launchpad and an online course is you create an online course, you put it out there, and then you market it. And that's pretty much, there's no delivery side. And so I launched Launchpad. The difference is it's like a hybrid. It's one-to-one a mastermind, it's curriculum, so it's curriculum based and it's also group coaching. So there's no way that I could do all of the marketing and all of the delivery by myself. And so I did a foundation launch and I was like, we'll, see how this goes. We had 40 clients come on board, and I hadn't created the full curriculum yet. So I was creating the curriculum, I was doing all of the coaching, I was doing the one-to-one calls, and I was like,
Danielle Lewis (16:16):
Oh, no,
Stevie Dillon (16:17):
Yeah, this is sinking me. It, it literally got to the point where I was like, okay, I have taken on way too much. I've bitten off way more than I can chew. And so even thinking about it, I go back to that time and I'm like, oh my God, that was so much. So kind of went from the high of like, yay, this is, it's launched and it's been so successful to like, oh my God, I've got to service it all, and you need to do an amazing job, of course, because it's the first group going through and you've got to make sure you get results. And these sorts of programs are really based on reputation. And so I was like, okay, what am I going to do? I need to scramble and get this sorted. And so I started building a team. And so we have two coaches inside of the program. We have a full-time, so two full-time coaches, full-time, marketing assistant and sort executive assistant, and then a VA as well. So we've got four people full-time now. And so my transition has really been going from doing all of the things to learning to release.
Danielle Lewis (17:24):
Yes. That's hard. That's very hard.
Stevie Dillon (17:26):
Yeah, it's really hard. And learning to become a leader over the last year as well, which I feel like is a completely different skillset to marketing and to working by yourself. And I feel like I've really had to learn that process as well. And I think I've gotten to a point now where I feel really great about that, but it took me a year to learn that. So that's kind of where I'm at at the moment. How
Danielle Lewis (17:48):
Did you go actually transitioning out of doing everything to handing it over? Did you learn any lessons actually onboarding people or how did that process look?
Stevie Dillon (18:01):
Yeah, so I did it so poorly when I was first starting out.
(18:07):
I didn't know, number one, I didn't. So what I've had to learn is that when you bring on a team, and especially when you bring on employees over contractors, is that you can't expect, and it's not fair to expect that they're going to do things to the same standard that you've done them when you've been doing it for the last three years full time and they haven't, right? And so when I first started out, I think probably the big learning I've had is I coach my clients inside of Launchpad every single day, and I coach them from not being course creators or to not really knowing what they're doing course creation wise, to becoming really competent course creators who can read data and who make decisions based on data and not emotional, all of those sorts of things. And what I've realized the biggest learning is I have to coach employees in the exact same way. So it really becomes a relationship where you're coaching them to be the best employee they can possibly be and doing that in a similar way to clients. And I think that took me a year and yeah, what was the question? But I feel like that's the biggest takeaway.
Danielle Lewis (19:26):
Yeah. Well, it was more how did that process look? Did you have any challenges, any nuggets of wisdom that we can share with people who are onboarding their first employee?
Stevie Dillon (19:37):
Yeah, so probably the biggest in terms of the really practical side is, so before I started hiring, I thought that what I needed was completely different to what I actually needed. And so I had a full-time coach come on board, and that was the first hire. And what I actually needed was someone that could take away a lot of the admin and a lot of the marketing and all of that sort of side away from me. And so the coach started in a full-time capacity, and she was like, cool, I've got about 13, 14 hours of work. And that's when I kind of went, oh my gosh, I actually need to really think about what is it that I am best doing? And a lot of that is actually the coaching side of the role and then what's best for me to outsource and give to someone else. And so making sure that you're hiring the right roles based on where the gaps are in your business, and also making sure that you're hiring not because you like someone, because they end up being the exact same person as you, and that's literally the opposite of what you need and going through the process of making sure that they're confident at the thing that you hire them for. And yeah, I definitely didn't get that right the first time around.
Danielle Lewis (20:56):
And it's really interesting. I love that thinking about what you really need support on. So I was listening to a podcast yesterday and they were talking about, so breaking down your tasks into $10 tasks versus thousand dollars tasks. So the idea is that the thousand dollars tasks, they're the ones that you do. So you are the person on the podcast, you are the coach, you're doing all of those high value things and the things, once we get off this podcast, all the admin of putting it together, that's the $10 task. There are people that do that really well, but it's probably not my skillset. And so kind of breaking everything down and going, what do I add no value to? I don't add any value editing a podcast, but I add value interviewing and being on podcasts and all of those things. So if you can kind of think about, okay, how do I get rid of all of those tasks so that I can do more of the super high value stuff? I totally got it wrong as well. When I first started hiring,
Stevie Dillon (21:52):
I think a lot of people will give you advice. You hear that textbook, you should outsource the tech, for example. And so for me, what I realized is my business is actually really unique to me. And so advanced funnel building, for example, I actually think I'm the best person to do that. And so that is probably unique to my own business. And it's not like the textbook really when you hear about course creators, it's like outsource a tech, outsource, all of that sort of thing. I actually think for me and my business and where I'm at, that's actually a thousand dollars an hour task
Danielle Lewis (22:27):
For me. Totally.
Stevie Dillon (22:28):
So actually looking really critically and being like, okay, so where is the most valuable use of your time, even if it's not what other people will say for your business type. Does that make sense? Oh,
Danielle Lewis (22:40):
Absolutely. And I think that's before we hit record, that was kind of something that we were talking about as well. There's a formula, but there is no formula. I was just saying I'm tired of hearing about how my life will change if I just get on board with reels.
Stevie Dillon (22:57):
Oh my God, don't even start.
Danielle Lewis (23:01):
So I love that actually sitting down and understanding where do you as a business owner add value and how is your business different and what does your vision for success and the business actually look like, and what do
Stevie Dillon (23:13):
You love? If you love doing something and you feel like if you gave that to somebody else, it would make you sad. Even if it's not the most logical decision, then keep it because you start your business, you want to enjoy it. And so something like funnel building for me, I'm like, I actually started giving that to a marketing person. Then I was like, oh, but I love this. I just want to do this. I miss this. So you can design it the way that you want as well.
Danielle Lewis (23:41):
Yeah. Well, and that's super exciting. I remember a few years ago now I was really unhappy in my business and I just felt like I was doing everything because everybody else wanted me to do it that way, and I had to be this certain look and feel, and I was like, wow, you're an idiot. You are the boss. You are the one that gets to make all the decisions and to design this how you want.
Stevie Dillon (24:05):
But I think you're conditioned as well. For example, we have a team meeting every week, and there's this perception that team meetings should be at nine o'clock on a Monday morning,
Danielle Lewis (24:17):
And
Stevie Dillon (24:17):
It's like, but what if you don't have to do that? And little things like that in my business I've just done for, so I'm like nine o'clock Monday morning and I'd wake up, I'm like, oh, I just don't feel like doing a nine o'clock Monday. And it's like, but you don't have to do that. You
Danielle Lewis (24:32):
Can
Stevie Dillon (24:33):
To do it. And it takes you so long to realize that you are conditioned and that you can change it.
Danielle Lewis (24:39):
Yeah. Well, and I think coming from corporate into business, it makes it a bit worse. You do. I was the same. I would sit at, when we had an office, I would sit at my desk going, oh, I have to sit here till five o'clock to set an example for all of my employees. I'm like, that's ridiculous.
Stevie Dillon (24:56):
Yeah, no, a hundred percent. I'm honestly, Danielle, I feel like this is something that I've just realized in myself just recently. It actually gets to be really, really fun if you want it to be. It doesn't have to just be work, and that sounds like the most obvious thing in the world, but I feel like you start a business and it's like, oh, this is so exciting. This is so fun. And you're running on adrenaline and it becomes a business and you're like, okay, I need to make sure that this is right and it gets serious. And then where I'm at at the moment, I don't know if it's, maybe it is kind of that four or five years in kind of go, okay, rethink the way that you're, when did things get so serious? When did you lose the fact that it's super fun and you get to enjoy every day if you want to? It's a choice.
Danielle Lewis (25:46):
Yes.
Stevie Dillon (25:47):
Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (25:48):
I love that so much. One of the things, so when I did my kind of start of year business visioning situation, one of the things I wrote down was that I didn't want to start work before midday on Mondays and that I wanted to knock off at down Fridays. And of course I work on the weekends. There's something I go, oh, I just have to do this. I have to do this. Or I'm watching boring tv, so I'm just doing some admin. So of course I work outside of those times, but I just know that Monday mornings feel poo and Friday afternoons should be playtime. So I've just factored that in now.
Stevie Dillon (26:24):
Yeah, I love that. Yeah. I've had to become a lot more regimented with my time since having kids. So even you just saying I have to do, or I do work on the weekends, I'm like, oh, I actually kind of wish that I could go back in the days when I was doing work on the weekends. Those days are long gone for me. But anyway,
Danielle Lewis (26:45):
But I think that that is case in point in you make it work for your life totally. It doesn't have to be Monday to Friday, nine to five, because that's how corporate works. It's actually what is your lifestyle? What are your life choices and how can you build a business around that? And I think we're so lucky now that we have remote teams as well. It kind of makes it a little bit easier, I think, to put that on everyone else as well and say, look, if you want to work nine to five, that's fine, but what's important is the work is getting the work done and enjoying the work and delivering for customers and all that kind of stuff.
Stevie Dillon (27:20):
A hundred percent. And I think realizing as well, why did you start your business in the first place where, so I've got a six week hold at the moment. I don't know if you know, but she's a little gorgeous little thing. But I had my first little one, two and a half years ago, and I actually don't even really remember the first three to six months of his life because I was so driven and so focused on, oh no, almost. This is almost not that he's a distraction, but I still have all of my goals and I feel so torn between kids and business. And so I spent a lot of that time trying to juggle the two, and it never really worked out. And so I feel like this time around I've got this real awareness around, actually no, I started this business so that I could do whatever I wanted and have the freedom to spend time with my kids and all of that sort of thing. So stop and enjoy it and actually do it. Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (28:22):
It's so funny you say that. So I had a coaching call with one of the Spark members yesterday, and that's exactly what she said. She said, you know what? I just turned around. So she's got, I think a two month old. She's like, I just turned around and realized that the only time I see him is when I'm feeding. And she's like, oh my God. And she literally had this epiphany moment and she's changing the way she's doing everything in business, and it's incredible. But I think almost back to our last point, which is if you don't step back and really ask yourself what you want your business to look like, you do just turn around in like, well, God, I'm 10 years in now. You do just turn around and you go, oh my God, how did all of this time pass? And I'm in this situation that I am not happy with,
Stevie Dillon (29:11):
And why did I decide to do this in the first place?
Danielle Lewis (29:14):
Yeah, exactly. I know, and it's funny, well, it's funny that I feel like all my businesses have just kind of been on whims like, oh, this is a good idea, this is a good idea, or This is the next thing, this is the next thing. And it wasn't until, and that's kind of where I got to, I think it was 2019 where I was like, oh my God, I've built this horrific thing that I don't love. And I was like, Hey, cool though. You get to change it. Really. You're in the
Stevie Dillon (29:41):
Trees anytime you want. I actually was in DM with a business friend that I've had literally since the beginning of starting my business a couple of weeks ago, and she's like, Stevie seems so lit up and you just love what you do. And she's like, I feel like I'm missing something. I'm missing that spark, and I feel like I've built this business that I just don't, I'm not passionate about anymore. And just literally what you just said, I'm like, you get to choose. You don't have to do anything. And sometimes it can feel like, oh, it's so hard to get out of it, but literally there is. If you are not, I truly, truly believe this, if you don't feel lit up and enjoy what you're doing every day, why don't you just go back to corporate? What is the benefit of doing all of this work, which we have to do because you have to feel lit up by it. Yeah,
Danielle Lewis (30:31):
I know. I am just such a huge believer in this. We are literally, so I literally have just reinvented scrunch this year. So our influencer platform, we shut down the influencer agency at the end of last year, and we've gone all in on tech and community. I just feel like community is going to be the big thing with all Web3 and NFTs and all of this stuff that's coming out. It's all going to be about community. So I'm kind of trying to anticipate the future, but I'm like, I hated being in the agency services game, and we had this foundation of an amazing tech platform. So I was like, cool, how do we build everything around that and just change? And it was one of those moments where it's like, okay, this is going to be a lot of work to rip it all apart, but I have never felt more inspired by what we're doing. So I was like, sometimes you do just need to burn things to the ground and change.
Stevie Dillon (31:28):
And so you feel like with the benefit of time, it was the best decision.
Danielle Lewis (31:33):
Totally. I have had this to-do list that will not end, and it's really hard. Obviously I had Covid last week and I'm feeling very tired and I'm just a crazy entrepreneur. So that just frustrates me that I can't just work 24 hours a day, but as I look at it, and it's all starting to fall into place now. So everything that we kind of wrote on the page at the beginning of the year, job, sport and community and membership and tech, all this awards we've got going, it was so much and it was such a big vision, but it's all starting to come together now. And it's like, but also that was scary. So Scrunch has shareholders and investors and I have to sit them down and go, oh, by the way, we're shutting down the agency and we're doing this big thing and trust me, it's going to work.
Stevie Dillon (32:22):
Yeah, that's a whole other level of responsibility and things as well, isn't it? Oh my
Danielle Lewis (32:27):
God. Also. Well, and I'm very lucky that they also see that I'm the driving force behind that. And if I think something is wrong, they kind of got to back me in that vision a little bit, but also they need to be as high energy to continue running it and growing it. So I think that if you can give yourself permission as a business owner to step back and know that you know what, if you take an afternoon or a day off to go and immerse yourself in some other environment and write things down and get things out of your head and give yourself some space, you kind of surprise yourself what you come up with.
Stevie Dillon (33:06):
Yes, a hundred percent. Even just having the white space to do it. I feel like I've just started to have that recently as well, and the ideas that are popping up we're completely rebranding and a whole heap of other things have come from it. And I'm like, if I didn't give myself that, and I only gave myself that through having that experience with Jimmy, with my first little boy and going, okay, when I have Sunny, I want to make sure that I've got lots of space. And because she's been such an easy baby, it's actually given me so much time to think and to think about the future of the business and what I want to do and what it looks like. And it's literally like, you're so right. It's transformational. I've gotten out of the every day and it's like I have so many amazing ideas, which would never have come about if I was stuck in the day to day.
Danielle Lewis (33:54):
Yeah, no, I love that so much. Okay, so in that vein, how do you make time talked? Obviously you've got a couple of kids, you've got the business, it's evolved actually. Is there a such thing as balance? How do you look after you in the mix there? What's your lens on family you business, and how do you manage it all?
Stevie Dillon (34:19):
So it's so interesting you say this, Danielle, I've actually just recorded a podcast pretty much on this exact thing because I
Danielle Lewis (34:26):
Amazing. We'll link to it. Yes.
Stevie Dillon (34:30):
I had a friend of mine, so she came over for coffee last week with her little one, and she was like, Stevie, how are you going? Because literally in the last six weeks I've had Sunny, I've had a lot of challenges with breastfeeding, and that's been a whole thing. We have moved out of our house into another house. So we moved out the day after I got out of hospital. Gosh, we've onboarded new staff members. We onboarded 12 clients into Launchpad. We've started a house build, so signed a building contract, demolished the house. Oh my God, just crazy. Literally from the outside looking in, she was like, how are you going? And I was like, it's so interesting. I literally, and I am generally someone that is going in a million miles an hour, and I would never say that. I've never felt, there's definitely been times in my business where I'm like, oh my God, this feels overwhelming, and I don't feel like that at the moment.
(35:35):
And it was so interesting to her. I was actually feel really good. And then I was reflecting on, so why when there's more things going on than ever has been ever before. And I think probably personally, it's more me starting to understand that I literally can't do everything and going, okay, so what are the things that are the most important to me in this season right now? And so that analogy where it's like you can have full burners, but they can't all be burning at full burn at the same time. You've kind of got to choose and be okay with letting something slip. And I think whereas in the past, I'd try and keep everything juggling the plate,
(36:23):
It's like, well, it's inevitable that something's going to fall down. And then you beat yourself up about it, especially if you're a perfectionist, and then it doesn't work out. So it's like a recipe for disaster. And I think the difference for me now is like, okay, what in this season of my life, which is having a newborn, having a toddler, having the business and all of the different things that are going on, the big three priorities for me are family, the house build and the business and the rebrand that is going on at the moment. And that means sacrificing other things that are really important to me. So socializing and the deep friendships, which will always be there, but aren't being nurtured to the degree that they are in another season, and being okay with that and being like three months from now, it's probably going well, it will look completely different because the priorities will be different. And just literally going, okay, so what are the three balls you want up in the air? And it doesn't have to be 16, and then of course 13 of them are going to fall. Does that make sense?
Danielle Lewis (37:22):
Oh my God, absolutely. And I love that too, because speaking of what makes us happy in business and then what makes us happy in life is I think identifying those priorities. And I don't think everyone actually takes a minute to do that. I think we all get in there, oh my God, everything has to be perfect. Everything has to be this. Go, go, go, go, go. But it's actually, I think you are spot on. It's like, you know what? That's impossible. So why not pick the most important things to you right now and give yourself the space to reevaluate it often?
Stevie Dillon (37:55):
And it doesn't mean that the other things aren't important. They're still important to you. They're just not, it's priorities. It's just not the priority. It's not what you're pouring your energy into right now. And I think that's the big difference for me because I was just getting burnt out, trying to pull my energy into all of the things, and it's just realistic, and you are literally setting yourself up for disappointment. So that's been the big realization for me, and it's still not perfect. Those three things, business, family, and house build, there's still three really big things, right? Oh,
Danielle Lewis (38:29):
Totally. Totally. Just the top three, the biggest three.
Stevie Dillon (38:34):
Yeah, they could all be full time. And I think giving yourself the grace as well, what I've realized is I don't have to do it all myself. And I think that's come definitely in the business with hiring, but also in my personal life, my partner is stay at home dad. Allowing him to take that over and do a really good job at it, trusting people and being okay with not having to do it all yourself has been huge for me because I've never done that before. And it's releasing and being okay with it, and it's been huge.
Danielle Lewis (39:07):
And you know what? I know that that's hard, but I think the way to approach it is tiny things like let go tiny things first. Don't try and go, okay, outsource this entire thing or hand over responsibility for X. If you are a perfectionist, if you're a control freak like myself. Just the little things I think is helps you get into the habit of letting somebody else do something. And I think, I can't even remember if we were recording or not, but it's like you can't expect other people to do it the way you would do it straight off the bat. So being okay as well that something can get done and the same outcome can happen, it just might not be the way you would do it.
Stevie Dillon (39:49):
That is, honestly, that is the biggest thing. And I think for anyone that's a perfectionist, being okay with releasing and knowing it's not going to be done the same way that you would do it, and maybe not to the same standard that you would do it, but is it going to get done and is it better than it not getting done? Or is it better than you doing it and feeling completely fried through the process? So yeah, I think it's almost, and I hate to say that you're doing it, but for me, it's reducing my expectations a little bit and just being okay with that.
Danielle Lewis (40:25):
And that's it. And it's interesting as well, because, so I'm applying this to launching anything and shipping anything. I went through a phase of everything had to be custom built, everything had to be perfect. The whole, and I love this about your course is because I know you teach that the entire course doesn't have to be created before you actually sign people up to it. And I've made the mistakes in the past of having everything perfect, everything the way I thought it would be, and it being a total flop because it wasn't what people really wanted. And now I'm like, whenever I have a new idea, I'm like, you have to spend an afternoon getting a landing page up, doing whatever, and you cannot invest any more time or other resources until you sell it. And once people want it and you've tweaked it and tweaked it and tweaked it till it sells, then you get to spend time on
Stevie Dillon (41:14):
It. Yes, 100%. You've got to validate it.
Danielle Lewis (41:18):
Totally. And I think that that's with everything. It's just stop holding onto these expectations that things will ever be done or ever be perfect.
Stevie Dillon (41:26):
Yeah, totally. I think in the business context with that sort of thing, that whole, and I say I'm a recovering perfectionist, I'm still a hundred percent a perfectionist. That
Danielle Lewis (41:37):
Is
Stevie Dillon (41:38):
My thing. But I do think that it comes from, it's like, okay, and I've never been a mindset person either. I've always been like, I'm a strategy girl, but now I so see the mindset side play out in our clients, in me, everything. But I do think the perfectionist side, and I've seen it in me and I've seen it enough in clients now as well, I think it's a manifestation of it's fear. So you hold onto it, and it's like a fear of, what if I'm not good enough? What if this is not good enough? And it's like it holds you. It's like the one thing that really holds you back. And so if you can get to the point where it's like, no, it's okay, release detach from the outcome, let's just see what happens. No, it's not going to be perfect. No, and that's okay. It actually, you get a lot more done. And at the end of the day, isn't it better to get the things done than not to do them at all?
Danielle Lewis (42:31):
Oh, totally. Because that's it. And that's where regret comes, because you're going, oh, I could have done that. I could have done that. It's like, well, you could have just do it imperfectly, get it out there and see what happens.
(42:42):
I find you're always surprised at what you are level of done and perfectionism is, and what everybody else expects. So I always find that I'm like, I'm shipping something. I'm like, oh, there's these 10 other things that I want in there. But I'm like, who cares? I'll hit publish and I'll optimize. So I'm all about optimization. I'm like, how every day can I make things better? 1%. Yeah, exactly. So that's my new approach is stop worrying about things being done. They'll never be done, and you'll always have a new idea. So think about, okay, what's the minimum thing I can get out there to get my idea into people's brains? And then how do I make it better every day?
Stevie Dillon (43:18):
Yeah. It's literally instead of how people are like, oh, think bigger. Think bigger. And I actually think it stops people. I'm like, no, think smaller. Literally go, okay, yeah, you've got these big dreams. And that's amazing. I'm so excited that in the digital course content, I'm so excited that you want to have a million dollar business and I want that for you. But also looking at that can feel overwhelming when you're just starting out. And then it's like, okay, well I, because that sense of overwhelm is something that I think it's a word that comes up a lot. It's like, how can you literally go from, I've got this huge vision, how do I not make it overwhelming? Overwhelm comes from a lack of clarity or not knowing what to do next and how can you break it down into the tiniest little thing and almost think smaller. And then it's like, what is the best next step? What is the best next step? Do that.
Danielle Lewis (44:12):
I love that. And even I love that too, because it's like you think about, okay, I want to make a million dollars and want to have a million dollar a year business. It's like, well, you have to sell the first one to get to that. So just focus on one. Just focus on selling it to somebody. Because once you sell it to somebody, someone said this in another podcast, they're like, if you can sell one thing, you can sell a hundred. So it's focus on selling the first one and getting that person across the line and understanding about them, and then worry about the rest of the million dollars.
Stevie Dillon (44:41):
And that's the hardest bit. That's where you're like, okay, so I need to get a fit here. And that's literally the hardest part. And the same in the context of course creation. That whole, I need to have an audience, or I need a thousand email subscribers or whatever. And people are like, oh, I feel so overwhelmed with getting that. And it's like, well, how can you get one email subscriber do that today? Because if you can get that one, whatever channel you used to do that, you can get 10 more, you can get 10, you can get 10 more. And then before you know it, you're at a thousand. But it's looking at the number where it's like a million dollars, or whether it's a thousand email subscribers or whether it's your first 10 course sales. It literally, I've seen it so many times, Danielle, it's like it literally stops people in their tracks and they're like, but I dunno where to start. And it's like, okay, so what about the next one? And they're like, oh, yeah, okay, so how do I get the next one? It's like, yeah,
Danielle Lewis (45:36):
Yeah. I love that so much. That's so good. Okay, so final words of wisdom for our Spark community. So Spark Community is early stage business founders or people who are just thinking about taking the leap into starting their own business. Are there any words of wisdom when people are, I guess, feeling that overwhelm or feeling like there, should I do it myself? Anything you wish you had have known when you first started your business?
Stevie Dillon (46:04):
Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me is you don't actually need permission to do it. I always thought even going back to before I started a business, it was always like I was waiting for permission or I was waiting for someone to tell me that I could do it or waiting for someone to tell me that I was good enough. And I think that comes from, I have so much to say about the school system and all of that sort of thing. We kind of conditioned, right? Yes. I think you have to really be aware of, no, actually I have the complete capability to do that. And if I want to do that, I can do that. And you don't actually need anyone's permission to do anything to start to quit your job, to start a business once you've started a business to pivot if you're feeling unhappy and uninspired or you literally have a choice every day.
(46:53):
And I think one thing that I probably, I think every bad thing in your life has a silver lining. And I think losing people or family members, getting sick gives you a unique understanding of how, without getting too deep, but it is getting deep about how short your life is and how much potential you have and how sad it would be if anything happened that you didn't fulfill that potential. And I think having, if I had known that 10 years earlier, I think I would've started 10 earlier. And I think there's a lot of people out there that are probably waiting for permission. Yeah. So that's probably the big thing.
Danielle Lewis (47:37):
Yeah, I love that. I love that sentiment. There's a really good quote. It's like the time's going to pass anyway, so why not do the thing?
Stevie Dillon (47:47):
Totally. And it sounds very like, yeah, you should go do it. But it's true. I think there's so many people that are stuck and aren't actually doing it. It was literally me. It was me from 20 to 35. So yeah, that's a big thing for
Danielle Lewis (48:01):
Me. I love it. Well, you are amazing. Stevie, thank you so much for joining us on Spark tv. There were so many nuggets of wisdom, so I know the community will be grateful, and I really appreciate your time.
Stevie Dillon (48:15):
Thank you, Danielle. I'm so excited about the new phase of your business as well.
Danielle Lewis (48:18):
Thank you.
