"Living Overseas Led to Her Career" with Robin Blackburn

Photo Credit: Robin Blackburn

Robin Blackburn is a content and social media marketer living in Tomball, Texas – but that’s not what she’s always done. After living overseas for five years, she decided that she wanted to pursue a career in writing copy and creating content. After returning to the U.S. – she made it happen. Now she does it with a focus on creating connections, opening conversations, and building communities.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

My first job out of college was as a French teacher. And I did this for almost 10 years when I realized it was just not something I could see myself doing for the rest of my life. I took some other jobs after that (everything from a technology instructor to teaching spin classes) – and still hadn’t found what I really wanted to do. During the time of various jobs, I had children (two boys) and then my husband’s job took us overseas for five years (to Malaysia and Poland).

What inspired you to start your business?

Living overseas was the kick in the ass I needed to figure out what I wanted to do.

I started a blog while we were overseas to fill my time and keep friends and family back home up-to-date on what we were doing. It included are travels, of course, but also just day-to-day life living in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Warsaw, Poland. It became my outlet for sharing the good, the bad, and the ugly about being an ex-pat.

When I got to Poland, I found a part-time job helping an international company with their written content – proofreading, writing copy, etc. They taught me a TON – and I loved it! It was all remote work, and the team was great it really gave me the itch to want to write for other people.

I continued working for them for about 18 months and then we returned back to the United States. At this point in time, I needed to make a decision. Would I go back to work in a traditional manner or would I try to make it as a copywriter/content creator? In my heart, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to continue to write copy and create content – and I decided to make it happen.

Where is your business based?

I currently work from my home office in Tomball, Texas – but I spend my summers in Upstate New York - and work comes with me wherever I may be. Having a business that could travel was important. I wanted to flexibility to bring work with me – and this work allows for that.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

I started by finding a few clients on Upwork. And I’ll admit that they were low-paying and not exactly the work I was looking for. But I built up my reputation as someone who consistently created good content and always delivered on time. I always put in 110% to whatever project I found because I wanted to get those five-star reviews. It was important to me that I was always receiving positive feedback and excellent reviews. Once I had that, people started telling others about my work – and business just took off.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Nowadays, I primarily rely on referrals. Everyone talks about finding clients on social media or through other sources, but I find referrals to be the best way.

Most of my clients have referred me to people in their circle and my clients’ list has grown. There is no better feeling than having a client say, “I’d like to share your contact information with Susy Q…is that okay?” Yes! It’s most definitely okay!

While I have social media and a webpage – they’re mainly for “proof of life” – so that if people need to make sure I’m “legit” they can see that I’m out there and sharing content. But I don’t rely on them to find new clients.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

My biggest challenge has been work-life balance – and I still don’t have it mastered. I try very hard to shut work down at a reasonable time each night – and not pick it back up until the morning - but it doesn’t always happen. Plus, my husband is the same way – so he’s no good at telling me to get off my phone! I guess I’m still a “work in progress” on this!

How do you stay focused?

One thing I try to do is schedule only one client meeting per day. This allows me to stay focused on content creation. Additionally, I think this helps me put that focus and attention on my client for that day. I have time to prepare for whatever may be on the agenda – without having to worry about my next call.

I also take a look at my list of projects each day and figure out what needs to get done and the approximate amount of time it will take me – creating a schedule for the day. I love a schedule! And I love being organized. It’s that organization that allows me to deliver quality content to my clients without feeling pressed for time or rushed. It also allows for on-the-fly content that clients may need in a rush!

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

When I started, my clients were amazed that I was always delivering content ahead of due dates – and that continues to be my focus. I know how to write and do research – and so do others. But people also want to know that they can depend on you. They want to know that you are going to meet or exceed their expectations – and that’s what I aim to do.

When I would talk with a new client, I often heard that they had issues with previous content writers delivering on time. I kept hearing it over and over again. I don’t want clients to worry about not getting what they need. I want there to be plenty of time for any revisions and I want them to know that I value them as a client. I put my focus on delivering quality content ahead of deadlines. It’s one of the things I pride myself on – and my clients have always shared this with others as something they appreciate.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

I have a webpage and social media, but referrals have been the most effective way for me to grow. You can never dismiss the importance of providing quality service to your clients – because when they’re happy, they’ll tell others. This has worked for me consistently. I find that I currently have a waitlist of clients because of referrals.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Don’t be afraid to say no. Occasionally, people will ask if you can do something that’s not in your scope of work or outside of your comfort zone – and while you could probably do it – you need to be able to say no. You want to showcase your expertise – and people will respect you for saying no to a project that you could do – but just isn’t in your wheelhouse. Additionally, this is a great opportunity for you to refer work to other experts in your network. I love being able to give a referral to some other business owner who has the skills and expertise to deliver on something that I can’t.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why? I’ve got to say that I love LinkedIn. It’s a great way to connect with people and there is a wealth of fantastic information available to you there.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why? I use ClickUp to manage all of my projects for all of my clients. It keeps me organized and it’s so easy to use!

Who is your business role model? Why? I have to say my father. He owned his own accounting firm and I saw all of the hard work and effort he put into that business to make it a success. He showed me that hard work does pay off – and he’s been an excellent sounding board as I’ve grown my business.

How do you balance work and life? As I said, I still don’t have this mastered. But I’m working to set better boundaries with clients – and myself – to not constantly be “on.” It’s not easy to do when your job is tied to technology, but I’m going to keep trying.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? I love to read and I love spending time in the kitchen! My family benefits greatly from my cooking!

What do you have planned for the next six months? I’m considering bringing on another copywriter to help with some projects – which is really exciting. This will allow for more growth – and maybe a better work-life balance for me.

How can our readers connect with you? You can connect with me on Instagram: @robinblackburnsmmarketing or at robinblackburnmarketing.com 

"Don’t wait until you get it perfect, or because you feel you don’t have anything original to share" with Gissele Taraba

Gissele Taraba is co-owner of Maitri Centre for Love and Compassion and the Host of the Love and Compassion podcast with Gissele.  She is a trained therapist, as well as a mindfulness and compassion teacher.  She offers coaching services to individuals and workplaces looking to introduce compassion into their organizations.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

Of course!  I have two Masters, one in research and another one in social work.  I was introduced to compassion by accident really. I was looking for a long-lasting, and effective solution to the suffering I observed at work while I was in leadership at a not-for-profit.  I was already a long-term meditator but I was unaware of the concept of compassion. Once I started learning about the power of compassion and then self-love, I went all in! Now we have a centre where we focus on reminding people of their own self-love and self-compassion and helping them unlearn everything that prevents them from being their authentic, most loving selves.  

What inspired you to start your podcast?

I think I should start by admitting that I did not think that I was ever going to be a podcaster. It was nowhere in my conscious awareness. I had never listened to a podcast nor was I aware it was a “thing”.  I was a Director of Administration at the time, and was chatting with my friend, Lara Naughton, who does work on compassion in the prison system.  She was helping me figure out how to introduce compassion into the child protection system when, unexpectedly, I asked her if she had published a book.  She had, and the book is called “The Jaguar Man.”  Long story short, this book is about her experience of being kidnapped and raped at gunpoint while on vacation and her journey of finding compassion for herself and her assaulter during and after the assault.  This story shook me to the core and I thought, “I have to share this story with others as an extraordinary example of compassion”. Someone suggested I start a podcast, and the rest is history.

How did you start it? What were the first steps you took?

I honestly did not know anything about podcasting but the universe aligned everything to make this happen.  I’m very lucky that my partner is super supportive and so he dove head in to help me find the microphone, programs I could use, and to help me perfect my craft.  At the same time, the university I graduated from was offering free podcast support, which had just started the month before, so I took the opportunity to learn what I could from them.  I have also joined Facebook groups for podcasters and have met some amazing people in the podcasting world by hosting other podcasters on my podcast, and by being a guest on their podcast.  I love being able to share podcasting stories with my fellow podcasters. We all have that story of being afraid that we didn’t record the session, or that the audio was terrible, or the video didn’t download.

For those just starting out, get yourself a decent microphone, use Zoom or Zencastr (both free), and record both audio and video. You never know how you will repurpose your content later on. I wish I had done a video of my first three podcasts, as much later on, I started a YOUTUBE channel.  Also we strongly suggest you use Descript to transcribe of all your material.  Descript makes transcribing a breeze. Uploading transcripts enables your audience who require subtitles to access your podcast and it also helps with your SEO.

 What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your podcast?

Honestly, it has been word of mouth. It has been heart warming for me to get emails from people who listen to the podcast and share how they feel inspired, motivated, moved, and how it has helped them find hope during these challenging times.  Our listeners have shared how it helped them have conversations with others about sometimes, taboo or challenging topics. I have done all the traditional things: marketing, social media and so on, but nothing is more powerful than friends sharing their favorite podcast with their friends and loved ones. 

It means so much to us that people find our podcast so transformative and impactful.  

What have been your biggest challenges when launching your podcast?

I like to think that challenges are opportunities either for re-direction or for growth so for me challenges are “feedback”.  My first challenge occurred in attempting to find more extraordinary stories of compassion.  Sometimes, the people who are the most compassionate, are not always the most comfortable sharing their stories publicly so I had to refocus my podcast more on bringing stories of how love and compassion have impacted people’s lives.  We have discussed stories of forgiveness, parenting, health, and so much more.  I think part of the challenge is that we are not looking for stories of kindness.  While stories of kindness are amazing and should be shared, generosity is not the same as compassion.  Compassion and unconditional love are about looking at all the aspects of ourselves and others that we do not like and finding a way to accept and love those aspects.  It is about how we lean into each other’s suffering, and help ourselves and each other in a way that doesn’t deplete us but recharges us.

My second challenge was finding our audience.  In the beginning, we didn’t get many downloads.  Our downloads primarily came from my family and friends who have been very supportive about our podcast.  I didn’t realize that listeners will wait until you have a good number of episodes in the bank, before they commit to your show.  We were also releasing our episodes one time per month, but we heard that it was too long to wait for the next episode, so we have moved to every two weeks due to our work schedule with the business.  I would love to be able to do something once a week but right now, every two weeks is what we are aiming for. The longer between episodes, the longer it will take to gain momentum in gaining listeners.    

How do you monetize your podcast? What are your best tips to monetize a podcast?

We currently don’t monetize, as the podcast is not our main source of income but my aim is to start monetizing this year.  We have had people approach us about monetizing but for us, it has to be the right product, and right messaging! I believe that the right opportunities will present themselves at the perfect time.

In general, there are a number of ways to monetize. You can use Patreon and have people fund your podcast. I have a number of friends who use this approach successfully.  Alternatively, you can charge your audience to get access to special episodes.  Although we have a Patreon account, it has never felt right for us to charge our listeners because we feel, especially right now with COVID19, that the world could use greater compassion and love! We want to offer our content free of charge for as long as possible, and offer it as accessible as possible. 

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new podcasters?

The best advice I received from my fellow podcasters when I was starting out was: #1- don’t wait and #2-the riches are in the niches.  Don’t wait until you get it perfect, or because you feel you don’t have anything original to share.  If you are feeling motivated to start a podcast, and the thought excites you, go for it!

#2, going too broad will make finding your audience challenging. The more specific you get about the purpose of your podcast, the more likely you will get people who are truly invested and committed to listening every week, or month. 

If you show up as your authentic self, have fun and keep producing podcasts consistently, your people will show up!

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

If you do not mean books related to podcasting, then my favorite book right now is Parallel Universes by Frederick Dodson.  It’s mind blowing. I love to stretch my thinking beyond the known. 

I am an avid reader and my “favorites” usually change depending on what my interests are currently.  There are so many amazing books out there.  My favorite blog is my own, because it is therapeutic for me to write about my experiences with compassion. 

Apps? I love TikTok. I never thought I would. I love how influencers are making an impact.  They are so bold, and it seems that they are having so much fun creating! It’s fun to see. We have started a TikTok account but you won’t see me dancing or acting, or cooking on it (laugh.)

If it is related to podcasting, then absolutely anything by Pat Flynn. He’s such a generous soul regarding podcasting.

What's your favorite business/podcast tool or resource? Why?

I love Pat Flynn’s podcast Smart Passive Income because it is super informative.  I think we all have this desire to have freedom.  We desire to be free to explore our passions, do what we love, and have experiences in life that bring us joy and happiness.  Pat’s podcast helps you find ways to make income in a way that doesn’t feel like work.  I definitely believe the future of work is not “the grind”, rather it’s more inspirational and it comes from multiple sources not just one job for example.   

What projects do you have planned for the next six months?

Oh so many exciting projects! With respect to the podcast, we are still looking for extraordinary stories of compassion so if anyone has one, please reach out to us.  I would love to have people who are actively working on bringing more love into the world like @realdaryldavis or @valariekaur on the show.

My dream is to get funding to travel the world in search of extraordinary stories of compassion and love to show that our true nature is truly compassionate.  Once we unlearn all the barriers we have to our compassion, we return to being our true, most loving selves.  I am also interested in exploring spirituality more, the power of the heart and mind, and truly diving into the concept of unconditional love in the podcast.

Regarding Maitri Centre, we now have a self-serve section and we are working on getting some of our self-serve modules on compassion at work uploaded on our website. Even though we love cohort based courses, and group work, it is not always possible for members of our community to be able to complete learning synchronously so we are offering our clients greater options.   We believe compassion in leadership is the next big thing in the workplace.

How can our readers connect with you?

We love to hear from people.  Our email is info@maitricentre.com or if you want to personally reach me, g.taraba@maitricentre.com.  If you want to check out our podcast or our centre, our linktree is here: https://linktr.ee/MaitriCentre

Thank you so much for the opportunity to podcasting journey!

"There are multiple risks and opportunity costs involved" with Adit Jain

Our co-founder and CEO, Adit Jain, has been our face and voice in the media. An IIT-D grad and Y-Combinator alumni, he prides himself on the astute understanding of what HR teams need to deliver a stellar employee experience. Post a summer training at EY, and a marketing internship at IIM Lucknow, Adit, began his entrepreneurial journey with Chatteron in 2015. A study of why Chatteron wasn’t making enough money brought him and the other co-founders to the concept of Leena AI, and there has been no looking back since then. Today, with an annual turnover now coming up to $10M, Leena AI has become one of the leading SaaS products in HR Tech.  

 Can you tell our readers about your background?

Well, I was born and brought up in New Delhi, and like any typical kid, I loved all kinds of outdoor activities - cricket, football, badminton - you name it. I was always a very outgoing child, always surrounded by a lot of friends whether engaged in playing games or enjoying my life in general. Studying took a backseat at the time. It was only during my penultimate year in school when I consciously turned into the exact opposite of what I used to be. I prioritized studying, and for two consecutive years, I spent 14-16 hrs a day just studying. After I completed my school, I took the JEE, one of the most difficult tech entrance examinations across India, and got into the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi which is in itself a prestigious University in India. From there on the rest is history!  

What inspired you to start your business?

When I first met Mayank, our Head of AI, and Anand, our CTO, my two co-founders, back in IIT Delhi, we became great friends and often found ourselves working together on a project. We worked on various projects - I remember us working on Automatic Content Summarization, Face Recognition - that gave us the initial confidence of building things together as a team. So, when we were about to complete our under-grad, back in 2015, the arena of startups was taking a rise and we thought of jumping on the train as well. We were reading a lot about global startup stories, and that inspired us to take the leap. We were already a great team and just thought of creating our own startup at that point. Even though we had jobs in our hands, we decided to not take them up and instead started something of our own.

Where is your business based?

We started the business in India but set our headquarters in the US, Wilmington, Delaware, and New York. 

 How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

There is a mistake that almost all technology entrepreneurs, i.e. young guys just out of college make, is that they look up technologies they love and then try to build a solution using that technology. And that's exactly what we did fresh out of college as well. We were in love with NLP (Natural Language Processing) and we decided to build a platform called Chatteron. We worked on using NLP - specifically conversational AI - to improve people's lives. We built the platform, went through used cases in sales, automation, etc. and Chatteron came into being. But, in hindsight, it should be the other way around. You should first identify the customer pain point and then build the technology needed to solve it, build the solution. 

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

The past year was about scaling for us at Leena AI. We have access to people, capital, and resources to do a lot of things. But I will choose to answer this question from more of an early-stage perspective. I feel that the founders themselves are the biggest champions of their product or business or brand. Initially it's about the people's promise. Customers are not buying your solution or your services, they are buying your promise to deliver that. And I feel that you yourself are the biggest asset in terms of raising awareness of the solution or product or service, whatever that you are out there to sell. 

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?

Oh! There were many. (laughs)

As you progress through your entrepreneurial journey, the kind of challenges that you face keep changing. For example, right now the biggest challenge I am facing is how to scale the business to $100M in revenue. But for us, we were hardcore techies. So learning to do sales as just a three-person team, without the money to hire a team was the first challenge we faced. In the early days, challenges were largely focused around product-market fit, and after that, it was about hiring the best people to build the best solution. That said, hiring the best is a constant challenge throughout a business’s journey. 

Now coming to overcome these challenges. As I mentioned earlier, we were hardcore techies, and sales was something we had to learn from scratch. But we gradually learned. We understood how to sell to investors and customers. Just to add to that, I was dealing with the fear of “What if someone says no?” But over time, I’ve learnt that you have to be comfortable in your skin 99 out of the 100 times you hear a no. The day you get that lodged, you improve. 

That's one, now coming to the challenge of product-market fit. Product-market fit tells you whether you should start scaling or not, and it’s critical because it tells you whether or not your business idea will be a breakout success. So, we decided to go back to our customers to understand their needs and figure out how we could effectively solve their problems. I’ve learnt that even if there are 3-4 customers whose problems your solution can solve, that there is a big win! It is important for entrepreneurs to go back to their customers, the people they are serving, who will be using the solution, and understand their requirements. As soon as you see repeatability in your customers, you know it is a fit. 

Now coming to the third point, hiring. As an entrepreneur, you need to understand the ethos, the non-negotiables, and possible red flags. Cultural fit is imperative as well, even though culture is basically fluid. As entrepreneurs or early team members, you need to have a clear understanding of the culture you want to build and hire people accordingly. 

 How do you stay focused?

As an entrepreneur, you see opportunities every day, and staying focused on your idea is quite difficult. One thing I personally use is the value bar. Am I adding value to what I’m saying or doing? Before I start something new, I try to calculate the value it will generate for that particular segment of customers. But after I am locked on the idea, I do all sorts of calculations to analyze it, basically being the devil to my own idea. Once I have spoken to multiple customers and see that the idea can be a solution to their problem, I will go ahead and give my 100% to it. 

During the early stages of my career, I have picked projects, worked on them for 3 months or so, and moved forward without giving in my 100%, and I understand that it might happen to anyone. But at the same time, it’s essential to explore different ideas and do the due diligence, and then commit to the one you find the most validating. That said, it’s possible that even after that validation, you could fail. But it’s important to remember that commitment is key to winning, and that’s what I keep in mind when focusing on anything. 

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

We are in the business of enterprise SaaS. Essentially, we help HR teams save time, we’re kind of like Siri, but for enterprises. However, at the core of it, it all comes down to the people actually using the product. If you look at the biggest companies, they were built by their administrators, i.e., HR teams, IT teams, marketing teams. So for us, the biggest differentiator is that we think like our users, and that's how we trackback to our users. That is one secret sauce that has worked really well for us! 

Second is our bias for speed, our hunger to solve more and more problems for our customers and help them get the most ROI out of the solution. The combination of these has worked really well for us from a competitive advantage perspective.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Different strategies during different points of time during our growth have really worked well for us. But by far the most important one has been customer advocacy. It’s like giving your heart and soul to your initial customers and letting them talk about your products and services. This could be in the form of video testimonials, online reviews, and sharing these everywhere for others to see. This helps bring in new prospects and is one of the things that works really well.

 What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Great question! I like to go back to Nike’s “Just do it”. A lot of times new entrepreneurs have hesitation. Needless to say, there are multiple risks and opportunity costs involved, but at the end of the day, it’s a leap you take towards opportunities. These opportunities create a learning curve, so even if you don’t make money, it will change you as a person. Which is why just do it!

 What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

I am a big fan of Gmail as well as Slack’s mobile version. These two help me stay on top of everything. 

With blogs, I follow Jason M Lemkin, who is one of the biggest influencers in the SaaS world. He’s been incredibly helpful with his insights through his blogs, YouTube, and various other channels. 

I am generally not a big consumer of books myself; I’ve moved to read summaries now. I used to be an avid reader. But I’d say my favorite book would be George Orwell’s 1984. It’s a dystopian novel that talks about how if unchecked, technology can be really hazardous but also big-brotherly. It taught me that whatever good you do, too much of it might just turn into something really bad. The book has centrally been with me to ensure that whatever we do, we have to look at moderation and avoid extremities of anything. It has been integral for me when I think about application, integration, technology and solutions, even relationships. 

 What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

Definitely Slack and HubSpot. HubSpot helps us with our CRM and Slack is just perfect for seamless communication between the team.

 Who is your business role model? Why?

I have and will continue to admire Warren Buffett. He has been my role model for a long time now. His life journey is inspiring. He started investing when he was maybe 13 or 14 years and he’s now the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway with 60+ years of investing. It shows that if you like doing something, you do it again and again, day in and day out. It might appear boring for other people, but if you love it you should continue to do so. And over time, it could change the world meaningfully over decades of work. That really inspires me time and time again.

 How do you balance work and life?

Well, that might be the wrong question to ask me! (laughs)

But I love what I do, to the point where it doesn’t even feel like work. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I hadn’t built Leena AI. It is my baby at the end of the day, and I love spending my time with it. It just never feels like I am working when I am spending time building Leena AI. 

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Definitely music. After a long day, I like to put on my headphones and listen to old-school English songs. For me, it’s the best way to decompress.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

The next six months are extremely important for Leena AI’s journey. Over the past twelve months, we’ve completed our Series B funding, and have now moved at the forefront of this category. It is crucial for us to maintain that position. We’re looking to expand into further geographies, customers, and expand the category to a much larger scale. Exciting times are ahead as we plan on increasing 4X this year and the next six months are going to be a crucial launching pad for that.

How can our readers connect with you?

Anyone can connect with me on LinkedIn or Twitter. My handles are - 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/adit-jain-75713b5a/

Twitter - @AditJain93

Links to be added –

Website: https://leena.ai/

 Picture Courtesy – Tanmay Shah

“Making Money Better for Everyone” with Dana Sitar

Photo courtesy of Dana Media

Dana Sitar is a Certified Educator in Personal Finance®. She’s written about work and money for publications including Forbes, The New York Times, CNBC, The Motley Fool, The Penny Hoarder and a column for Inc. Magazine. Dana owns the content agency Dana Media, who’s flagship site, Healthy Rich, publishes stories from budding writers to diversify the voices in personal finance media.

Can you tell our readers about your background? 

I’ve been writing and editing for online audiences since 2011, covering personal finance, careers and digital media. Along the way, I’ve always guided other writers in the craft and business of writing.

I’ve written about work and money for Forbes, the New York Times, Inc., CNBC, The Penny Hoarder, The Motley Fool and more.

I’m driven by a fundamental belief that work should be fun and money should be easy. I’m a bit of an evangelist for freelancing, remote work, positive workplace culture and financial empowerment.

I fell into personal finance writing in 2015 and worked on staff and in leadership for The Penny Hoarder, a perennial Inc. 500 company, for four years. That experience put me in the vanguard of personal finance media and gave me an early peek inside emerging financial services.

Years of consuming financial trend data, reading messages of gratitude from newly empowered consumers, reporting stories of everyday financial wins and testing hundreds of financial services solidified a love for this niche I never expected.

Since January 2020, I’ve run my own business as a personal finance writer, and expanded to create the Dana Media agency in 2021. In summer 2021, we launched the personal finance website Healthy Rich to publish stories that illuminate the diversity of our relationships with work and money.

What inspired you to start your business? 

I started Dana Media to create a platform to make good work for writers and diversify the voices in personal finance media. Through our flagship site, Healthy Rich, we’re starting a new kind of conversation about money.

Throughout my years in personal finance media, I’ve realized we’re often answering the wrong questions. We’re writing guides about how to make a budget while education is defunded, parental labor is devalued, and employers legally discriminate on the basis of our gender, race and ability. Our audiences are ashamed of debt, even when it’s the only thing that gets them through college, feeds their children or affords them the “luxuries” necessary to compete with white men in the workplace.

We tend to ignore the nuances of our relationships with work and money, because money advice comes from a bunch of people with similar (privileged) identities and backgrounds. Through Dana Media, we’re putting more voices in the mix, and through Healthy Rich, our stories are shining a big, bright spotlight on those nuances.

Where is your business based?

We’re 100% online, based in the U.S. I work out of my home in Madison, Wisconsin, and our contractors work wherever they want!

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

My business has grown organically as my career has grown. Dana Media grew out of a need for more writing capacity than I had myself, and Healthy Rich is a natural way for us to use our agency’s talent and expertise to create an asset of our own. We’re starting with content, because that’s in our speciality.

The next steps are building the first Healthy Rich product by talking with our customers to learn what they want to know about personal finance. In the meantime, we’re building the audience through lead generation. We’re taking everything one step at a time, so when we’re ready to launch the first product, we’ll have an eager audience in place.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business? 

Launching Healthy Rich with a writing contest was a great way to promote the brand while immediately providing a service to both the audience and writers we want to serve. It lets us build a fledgling community based around the opportunities and platform we can offer, rather than around what we want to sell to customers.

What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them? 

Building a brand from scratch always comes with a financial challenge. I’m bootstrapping Healthy Rich, and I’ll have run the site for at least a year before launching the first revenue-generating product, so I have to continue to support myself and fund the business in the meantime — without burning out.

Dana Media continues to generate income through writing and consulting work. Before launching Healthy Rich, I focused on increasing rates, becoming more efficient and delegating as much as I could, so I could earn more in less time and free up time to build the new brand. Now I can earn a full-time income and pay contractors by working on client projects just three days a week, so I have plenty of time and funds available to invest in growing Healthy Rich.

How do you stay focused?

My focus hinges on the business’s core mission, which is the linchpin that keeps every other piece of the business in place. We want to make money better for everyone. That includes myself, our team, our clients and our audience.

For every project I want to pursue, I can ask, “How does this make money better for everyone?” For every milestone set and task assigned, we ask the same thing, so we can stay focused on that end goal: “How does this project/client/step make money better for everyone?” It’s a simple way to keep from getting sidetracked by shiny objects and bring my focus back to any task I have to complete, because I know exactly the impact it’s going to have on the bigger picture.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition? 

My altruistic answer is that our mission sets us apart. The practical answer is that we’re developing a business model that intentionally goes against the norm of the industry, and it forces the brand to stay focused on the mission.

Dana Media’s mission is to make money better for everyone. We do that by hiring marginalized writers, like BIPOC, women, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities, whose voices we don’t hear enough in personal finance media. And we share stories through Healthy Rich that  illuminate the diversity of our relationships with work and money. 

For Healthy Rich, we’re creating a business model that forces us to stay on mission.

Most personal finance sites are advertiser-supported. That lets them make 100% of their content free for readers, which is a nice service. But it means their customer is the advertiser, not the reader — no matter how much you try to drive home the mission in that scenario, you always run up against a battle between advertiser and reader interests. Since advertisers keep the business alive, their interests tend to win out.

Healthy Rich is intentionally advertiser-free, and our revenue plan is to sell courses. That means customers will have to pay for some of our personal finance advice, but we’ll still offer a ton of value for free so we can continue to serve folks even if our products aren’t right for them. More importantly it means we can always steer the business according to our customers’ best interests.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business? 

Healthy Rich is almost 100% content and email focused. We grow the community by creating valuable content, sharing it via email and encouraging our readers to help spread the word. In 2022, our marketing efforts will be focused on list building, because that’s the main way we’ll connect with our audience and market our paid products.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs? 

Imagine the company you’d want to run if you had 100 employees (or 1,000), and shape your policies and systems to that vision from day one. I don’t think I want to run a company of 100s or even dozens of employees. But imagining the way I’d like that to look has encouraged me to develop and document systems as I go, and it reminds me to create the kind of work life I want — if I would want to offer ample flexibility, paid time off and benefits to employees, why not make sure I can do that for myself and contractors from the beginning?

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

Right now, I’m in love with Jenny Blake’s Free Time book and podcast. The philosophy behind them spoke to me right when I was turning from a solo contractor into a business owner. I don’t rely on many apps for business, but I use the Calm app for daily meditation, and that’s been an important contribution to a productive daily routine.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

In the short time since it launched in beta, I’ve come to totally rely on Google Tables. It’s my to-do list, bookkeeping software, reminders, CRM and whiteboard for when I need to brain dump and capture information. 

As I’ve expanded to add team members, it’s a perfect lean project management tool and content calendar. I love that it’s accessible as part of a Google Workplace account, and our writers can collaborate with us for free as long as they have a Gmail account.

Who is your business role model? Why? 

I’ve been a huge fan of Jenny Blake while she was working on her first brand, Life After College, more than a decade ago. I’m loving her work through Free Time now. 

Alexis Grant was an early influence and mentor for me, and I’ve had the chance to work with her on several projects over the years. I continue to follow and be influenced by her work, and I’m loving what she’s adding to the business world through her latest company, They Got Acquired.

I’ve learned a ton from Marie Forleo in the past couple of years, both from doing B-School and from following how she runs her own business (disclaimer: I did some contract work with Marie Forleo International a couple of years ago). I love the intersection of personal development and business building.

How do you balance work and life? 

I don’t keep a to-do list; I keep a calendar (in my Google Tables!). When I’m faced with an opportunity, assignment or task, I slot it into my calendar with a “to-do” date. I keep a four-day workweek, so the task has to fit into one of four available days each week. This makes it easy to avoid overscheduling and keeps work from spilling into evenings and weekends.

What’s your favorite way to decompress? 

I take a walk at the end of most work days. Walking through any city I’m in is one of my favorite activities — I can listen to a podcast or audiobook, watch people, get fresh air and move my body. It’s a perfect way to shake off the stiffness and focus of a work day.

What do you have planned for the next six months? 

The first half of this year will be focused on building the Healthy Rich community through content and email. And this fall, we’ll launch the first Healthy Rich course — EASY Money. So my time for the next six months is laser-focused on course content creation and developing a marketing plan for the course.

How can our readers connect with you?

Follow Healthy Rich by subscribing via email: https://www.healthyrich.co/subscribe and you can follow my update on social media @danasitar .

"How Two Hiking Partners are Disrupting the Outdoor Industry for Every Body" with Liz Thomas

Liz Thomas is the co-founder of Treeline Review, an outdoor media company focused on obsessively researching gear reviews for everybody.

 Liz is a former speed record holder on the 2,200-mile long Appalachian Trail and founded Treeline Review with her hiking partner, Naomi Hudetz because neither could find a women-owned, women-run place to read about outdoor gear.

Liz knew Naomi was a business partner she could rely on because together, they’ve stood off grizzly bears and mountain lions.

Now, Treeline Review is one of the biggest outdoor gear review websites with a mission towards obsessively researched gear reviews for and by people of all genders, sizes, and abilities with 50% BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ writers—unprecedented in the outdoor industry.

Can you tell our readers about your background?

I’m Japanese American and the child of an immigrant. I fell in love with the outdoors on a school field trip. As someone whose family didn’t spend time outdoors, I had to teach myself how to hike and what gear to bring.

Those lessons and a lot of hard work and practice propelled me to break the speed record on the 2,200-mile hike from Georgia to Maine on the Appalachian Trail. After years as a professional outdoor athlete, I wrote the National Outdoor Book Award-winning Long Trails: Mastering the Art of the Thru-hike (thru-hike is a term for a backpacking trip that is hundreds or thousands of miles long).

I created Treeline Review because I wanted a space where people can learn about the skills and gear they need to get outdoors—even if they don’t have a family or community to teach them.

What inspired you to start your business?

When I was a professional athlete, I struggled to find honest gear reviews written by women. Early in my career, I once had an editor tell me that he writes the gear reviews for items marketed as “women’s gear” and then puts his wife’s name as the byline because “women can’t write reviews.” I proved that editor wrong. For years, I worked for The New York Times’ product review website, Wirecutter. When their women-led outdoor team disbanded, I formed Treeline Review to continue telling objectively researched outdoor articles.

Where is your business based?

Treeline Review is based in White Salmon, Washington, a small town in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. As an outdoor business, it’s an ideal place to be. We’ve got the river, hiking, skiing, mountain biking, and mountaineering all within an hour’s drive. However, our remote team is across North America from Squamish, British Columbia, to Mexico to Colorado to Maine. Having a geographically diverse team lets us test summer gear in Southern California when our headquarters are covered in snow and winter gear in Alaska when the rest of the US is sweltering. It also allows us to test the same gear item in different climates and weather conditions, so we know our reviews reflect many users’ experiences.

How did you start your business? What were the first steps you took?

We started small, writing many of the first stories ourselves or working with former colleagues from Wirecutter. We knew what made an excellent gear review. We wanted to set the tone for the level of quality for all future stories.

We also had to teach ourselves Search Engine Optimization (SEO), a crucial part of any product review website. We used free courses from ahrefs, Digital Marketing Kitchen, and Semrush to learn the basics. Neither of us had any experience with SEO, so it was all new to us.

What has been the most effective way of raising awareness for your business?

Word-of-mouth has been the best way of growing a website like ours. When trusted friends tell each other how Treeline Review is different, it goes a lot farther than any ad space we could buy. When ski and climbing buddies share how Treeline Review helped save them time and money when making a gear decision, that means more than any awareness campaign we could run.

What have been your biggest challenges, and how did you overcome them?

As an online media company, we rely heavily on Google search. At the end of 2020–already a trying time for businesses–Google ran an update to their algorithm that impacted the outdoor industry. We had to find creative ways to spread the news about our work–from word-of-mouth and social media campaigns to working with other businesses and leaning on our communities.

How do you stay focused?

I’m powered by the feedback our readers give us. Some readers are looking for gear reviews that are detailed, well-researched, and objective—hard things to find these days. Other readers come to us because they want to read about the outdoors from people who look like them. When our readers tell us that they trust our findings and that we’re changing the industry, that makes it easy to get up and do this work every day.

How do you differentiate your business from the competition?

Two things make us different from the rest of the outdoor media: obsessive research and creating a space for all people in the outdoors.

First, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find a detailed gear review. Testing and being specific about what makes a product work is more work than short, specs-driven guides.  There’s also a lot of sponsored gear articles out there. We go deep, testing gear over hundreds or thousands of miles of backpacking or entire seasons of guiding in Alaska.

Second, the outdoor media space has always been dominated by cliché able-bodied rugged outdoorsmen. Yet the outdoors has physical and mental health benefits for every person and every type of body. Treeline Review is where people of all backgrounds can feel seen and get outdoor expertise from people like themselves.

What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?

Since we haven’t been able to go to many outdoor-themed festivals in the past two years, partnering with outdoor brands through contests and giveaways has been a considerable way to share audiences.

What's your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?

Hang in there! The first 6 months were the most difficult for me because there was so much unknown. I struggled over the big and small decisions: what to call the company, whether to be an LLC or S-Corp, what stories should our website feature, and what color to make outgoing links. I learned that the more decisions you make, the easier each subsequent decision is.

What's your favorite app, blog, and book? Why?

The Later app is my favorite for scheduling social media posts. Our audience is often active when I have meetings or am deep into writing or editing, so Later gives me back a few hours of peak productivity.

My favorite business book is Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia. It’s about creating a work culture where people can have the flexibility to do the things they love. Happier workers mean they’re more likely to stick around and grow with you.

I love the (now canceled) Start-Up podcast by Gimlet Media. Hearing about other entrepreneurs and the sticky positions they’ve been able to get out of has been a morale boost as we grow Treeline Review.

What's your favorite business tool or resource? Why?

It’s low-tech, but I love my Panda Planner Venture for Entrepreneurs. This daily/weekly/monthly/quarterly planner helps me prioritize and not overcommit. I appreciate the daily prompts: 1) what am I grateful for?; 2) what am I excited about? And 3) what’s my daily exercise and renewal plan? Answering and committing to these items at the beginning of the morning keeps me energized throughout the day and helps prevent burnout.

Who is your business role model? Why?

My business role model is Brian Lam, the founder of Wirecutter and Lifehacker before that. As a fellow Asian American and first-generation American, I’m inspired by his ability to create useful websites where people can learn about the world and expand their horizons. He values people above all. To writers and editors, he told us that when our readers purchase what we recommend, they are entrusting us with their money. There’s a duty and responsibility to our work.

How do you balance work and life?

I know too many people in outdoor media who barely ever get outside. To combat that, Naomi and I set up a workshare system so that each year, both of us can be balanced and restored by extended time in nature.

What’s your favorite way to decompress?

Going for a hike! To prevent myself from working 16-hour days, I also sign up for yoga class at the end of the day to signal to my mind and body that it is the end of my workday.

What do you have planned for the next six months?

We’re planning to get face-to-face with our readers more in 2022. We’ll start with more Facebook and Instagram Live events and (hopefully) get to meet people in person at outdoor and hiking festivals as the year progresses.

How can our readers connect with you?

We’re at www.treelinereview.com. Subscribe to the newsletter or follow us on Instagram www.instagram.com/treelinereview or Facebook www.fb.com/treelinereview.