The Builders

Today Ed Fox joins us.  Born and raised in Australia (now living in America) Ed’s been a serial Entrepreneur since he was a kid!  He was finding creative opportunities to sell stuff already when he was 7 years old.  He was building businesses when most people are still trying to figure out who they are in their teens. But this is not by accident.  Ed grew up in an environment surrounded by others in business.. almost everyone he mentions in his family had a business of some kind and influenced him.  So it was instilled in him at an early age and he had no one around that would tell him, “you can’t do that, Ed!”. One of the things that always intrigues me is how successful people come up with ALL THOSE IDEAS.  So I had to ask, “Ed, how do you come up with ALL THOSE IDEAS??”  He shares his secrets and there are some amazing takeaways that I plan to implement in some way into my own business; I have no doubt some of you’ll benefit in the same way. Enjoy the listen!

In this episode Matt dives into a topic near and dear to his heart: project and time management… getting things done. He starts out recapping how 2022 is going, networking and his experience so far with his new VR headset. Then we he shares his experience from THE TRENCHES as it relates to the main topic. A big part of how he manages his day to day is having an awesome team to help him in a variety of ways. But, as he discusses, the transition to having a team didn’t mean he got less busy. It just meant he entered a new phase of his business this past year with a new role. He talks about how he applies ‘Kaizen’, how he tracks time, how he balances and gets stuff done, self-managed teams, agile project management and so much more. And how he applies ‘Getting Things Done’ to his business.  Digging into how he captures everything into his businesses systems, processes and documentation.. and how it forms a ‘less stress’ framework. At the end he shares his vision for the coming years. Good stuff! Enjoy!

In this solo episode with Matt, he talks about ‘building’ from a different angle.. building YOU and your confidence. You can have a perfect idea and a perfect plan to execute that idea, but if you don’t have the confidence or ability to see it through, then that’s a sad state of affairs. You deserve more in your life! We have enough obstacles and things to overcome in life and business, we certainly don’t want to stand in our own way. You don’t want to be paralyzed and not take action because a small voice inside you says you’re not qualified.. Matt pulls from his personal journey building himself up over the years, building confidence, and finding himself in a place where he doesn’t allow ‘Imposter Syndrome’ to control his own pursuits. You’ll be introduced to a number of areas that he believes changed him for the better over the past 3+ decades and could help you if you focus on them.

In this solo episode with Matt Levenhagen, he talks about what him and his team are building!  In 2022 they are on a path to launch their own product called Unified Toolkit (UTK).  It is currently in development.  This is not his first product.  He’s built, launched and sold many products over the years.  So his insights will most certainly be unique.. especially around some no-hype, realistic expectations for how things will go. UTK will provide a brand new Full-site Editing WordPress Block Theme, a suite of new plugins and resources for freelancers and agencies.  It’s an ambitious project!  Matt shares the status, who’s doing what on his team and what the launch plans are.  And the ‘why’.  Why THIS project makes sense in the context of his Web Design Agency.  Enjoy!

In the first solo episode of the year, Matt talks about Virtual Reality, it’s impact on web design and businesses.  We first learn about one of Matt’s pastimes to set the stage for the topic.. why is he getting into this topic now and why the interest?  Then we learn about what VR is and how it relates to AR or mixed reality. With that foundation we delve into aspects of VR that will start impacting your own websites or the websites of your clients.  Where is it today?  You might be surprised to know someone could be looking at your website in virtual reality right now!  And where is it headed?  In what ways might a business leverage VR to sell more of their products and services? If you’re a web designer or developer, how might it present itself to you?  Do you need to worry about it?  Enjoy the episode!

In the last episode ( last solo episode ) this year, Matt Levenhagen shares 6 big takeaways. These are things that made a big difference, impacted sales and helped grow his agency. One of the great things about a podcast that shares stories from the trenches is that the lessons are relatable and translatable. Take one or a few of these and they could have a positive impact on your business as well! Or serve as a great reminder not to ignore these things. Networking had a major impact as an example. It’s something everyone can learn to do or apply in some form in their own business to get similar results. Building the team.. trying new things. When hearing them, they may sound to simplicistic.. Too fundamental. But the fundamentals are easy to let slide. And, done right, can have REAL impacts on a businesses success .. Enjoy!

This week we Rhonda Negard joined me to talk about her journey and provide advice about starting your own business. How many people are at a corporate job right now and have dreamed about being in business for themselves? She shares her advice on how to make that transition and be prepared ahead of time. Of course, in between there you’ll find many other nuggets. From networking, not being afraid to take advantage of an opportunity if you don’t know everything, learning from doing… we share our own stories when we lost a job and transitioned into something else. How do you start if one day you just find yourself without a job? So many nuggets.. enjoy the listen!

In this episode I’m joined by Bridget Willard.  She’s written marketing books, does consulting and helps people with marketing, strategy, copywriting and social media account management.  She’s got a really interesting background… we are taken on her journey to discover herself and what she’s meant to do. Mid-way through Bridget shares her challenges with mental health and how she overcame some pretty serious issues herself..  She describes that journey and how she found her way to her “why” and a better place in her life. The episode is capped by us talking about her business, website and social media.  I was curious about her company branding which centers around 'hospitality'.. so we dig into that and what it all means.  As well as how she likes to look at social media.. “Good afternoon everybody…“ “Noooooorm!”  Enjoy!

I’m joined today by Alexandra Spalato.  She’s a freelance developer and entrepreneur with several years of experience working as a WordPress expert at Codeable.  Alexandra is a co-founder of “Gatsby WP Themes” and is super passionate about the building Gatsby themes for WordPress AND Headless CMS.  So, of course, after discussing a bit about her background and journey, we dive headlong into a discussion about Headless Development! Find out the Pros and Cons having a site built using a Headless architecture.  Who’s this for and what is possible today?  What’s the future look like?  I know I learned a lot from the conversation.. and I believe our conversation hints at the future of how websites are built.  Enjoy!

My guest today is Jennifer Denney - her second time on the show!  This is a relatively focused episode around the topic of business reviews and planning.  She talks about her philosophy around end of the year reviews and what she things of them. This takes us into a fuller, more robust approach to year round planning which takes into account a great number of things including the ever changing landscape and team involvement.  And there's something just as important as what to planning what to do - I'll keep that secret so you're encouraged to dive into this dynamic episode!  Enjoy!