I Make a Living

Alli Webb was always interested in beauty, starting from her roots as a curly-haired kid growing up in South Florida. She says that going to beauty school was “one of the best decisions I ever made,” and Drybar, her ultra-popular chain of hairstyling studios, definitely proves her point. While she says she spent her childhood as a people-pleaser—”a wallflower, if I’m honest”—she’s grown into herself as a business owner and service expert.Alli spent her 20s in New York City, doing PR and styling hair until she met her ex-husband and pivoted to the stay-at-home-mom gig. “I thought it was the coolest thing ever: I get not to work? I thought I had hit the jackpot!” But after a half-decade of staying home with her two sons, she was bored. So she launched a mobile business called Straight At Home, pitching her blowouts on parental message boards and bringing a luxury that had been previously reserved for the glitterati to moms all over L.A. She quickly learned that her business model—which included paying for a bab

If your memories of ice cream are mostly from childhood, Natasha Case would like a word. Her company, Coolhaus, is bringing sweet icy desserts into the millennial mindset: she launched at Coachella back in 2009, and Coolhaus’s 2021 lineup includes mouth-watering flavours like cereal milk, cannoli, and churros, all delivered in cute illustrated packaging.  Before she even got started, Natasha wanted to “change the game” when it came to ice cream and who it was for. Freya, Natasha’s wife and co-founder, is a woman of colour, and they were both tapping their identities as queer women and millennials.  “We saw this opportunity to be pioneering,” she says. Without much food experience—Natasha was fired from her one and only catering gig—they launched into the ice cream business headfirst, convinced that if they didn’t shoot their shot, someone else would. “The recession had just hit, it was just way too risky.” Their first “ice cream truck” was a “barely driveable” former postal vehicle they had towed (!!) to 2009

Chances are that your entrepreneurial idols were born after the turn of the millennium, but Ben Towers is here to change that. He’s been working since before his twelfth birthday, getting his start on web design projects for friends and family before launching into the stratosphere: we’re talking British Royal Family, angel investment, and consultancies with companies like GSK and IHG. In 2015, he was named to The Time’s Superteens list, and since then, he’s only gotten more polished in his business practices. He’s 22, and he’s been in business for half his life. Ben has a passion for tech – he was the kid in primary school who would “be taking apart the printers,” and at a young age, he was tapped by a family friend to build her website. He brought some previous experience to the job, and filled in the gaps by watching YouTube tutorials on things like how to add contact forms. He netted himself $50 and was super jazzed. Like many youthful entrepreneurs, his first expenditure was candy. But he’d caught the bu

Trigger Warning: this episode discusses postpartum depression and briefly mentions suicidal thoughts. When Erin Bagwell decided to turn to Kickstarter to get her movie off the ground, she didn’t expect to raise over $100K in 30 days, but that’s exactly what happened. Erin’s movie, Dream, Girl, is about the real-life experiences of ten New York City-based female entrepreneurs, and it turns out audiences were hungry for this type of story. Erin watched as women who were longtime experts in their field would have to prove themselves to boardrooms full of men in order to secure funding. “Wanting to be seen as an expert, wanting to be taken seriously, that’s still a big one,” she says. She needed to tell their stories.So she pitched it on Kickstarter, and supporters were here for it. Erin credits her “really fabulous video” as the prompt that got people on board. “I spent a lot of money and I had a gorgeous video because I wanted people to look at it as a trailer. A glimpse of what the film would look like.” Erin

Most contractors get their big break with a high-profile job or a great referral. For Josh Temple, his breakthrough moment was going national on Mazda’s first-ever “Zoom-Zoom” commercial. Josh was a contractor by day, but when a receptionist at his first construction company told him he should try out sketch comedy, he fell in love with improv. His path then became a bit wilder than your average home renovator. “If you get a national commercial, you’re at least buying a car,” he laughs. Josh did double-duty as a construction company project manager and an actor in San Francisco before taking the leap and moving to Hollywood in 1999. When he arrived in LA, he didn’t do the usual waiting tables gig: instead, he kept on with construction work. “As I hustled for work, I also learned more and more about construction.” He worked across many trades—HVAC, plumbing, tiling—and while he “was cheap,” he taught himself new skills by reading up on the subject. When home-improvement shows started to gain traction, Josh sud

Make Rejection Fun- Turn the icky feelings into a game and change your mindset about the negative  approach to them.Get Comfortable with Yourself - Define what confidence means to you, identify your personal values and live them daily!Check Your Vibes- What relationships are you surrounding yourself with, what decisions are you making about work, life and the space that surrounds you. All of these elements directly impact your mood and your confidence when dealing with negative feelings.Raise Your Frequency- Snap out of your negative cycles by doing something creative!Identify Your 'Little Wins'- Do not overlook your small achievements, they are an important part of the journey, so CELEBRATE them! 

Emily Thompson’s experience starting the Being Boss podcast in 2015 is a strong argument for why you should always plan for success. She and her “business bestie” Kathleen Shannon started the podcast as a way of taking the conversations they were having about their businesses and being entrepreneurs into the public realm—and if they happened to promote their respective branding agency and web design shop in the meantime, well then, hey: that’s a bonus! But a few months in and they were already getting ads. A little while later, they casually launched getaway events like the Being Boss Vacation and signed a book deal. The podcast was taking on a life of its own. Emily was already a successful web designer: she had gotten her start with her Etsy store, having fallen in love with the idea of selling handmade things online. It was during this time that she became “enamored with branding,” and diving deep into who she was serving and why they should care about her business. Eventually, she took her expertise and p

If your business ideas have ever been more of an airball than a total slam dunk, take heart: you are not alone. Sanjay Parekh is known for being ahead of the game as an entrepreneur, but even he’s had off-days. Take Pizza Impulse, his idea for pizza delivery that relied on random demand, random supply, and push messaging. His sales total on that project was a whopping two pizza pies. “There have been stinkers like that over time, but with the stinkers, you learn a lot,” he laughs. Of course, you don’t know Sanjay because he’s a failed pizza emperor: you know him as the head of Mirage Data, a start-up that protects your data without sacrificing usability, as well as a founder of TogetherLetters. In his past, he co-founded Digital Envoy and Prototype Prime, and ran events like 2015’s Startup Riot. He’s also a host of Tech Talk Y’All, a biweekly comedy tech podcast. Is there anything this guy can’t do? (Besides running a pizza company...but we’ll forgive him for that.)Like many entrepreneurs, Sanjay got his star

For Jewish girls, the bat mitzvah is a pivotal moment of becoming a young adult and joining the adult community. For Rebecca Minkoff, who had been designing and sewing clothes since she was eight years old, the celebration was also a chance to showcase her fashion skills—and her “newly budding rack.” Pulling inspiration from the 1700s (think Bridgerton), Rebecca designed a square-necked, Empire-waist number that checked her boxes (and her parents made sure it stayed PG-13). For Rebecca, this was a foundational step in the lifelong process of becoming a fashion mogul. Now, in 2021, Rebecca Minkoff has flagship stores in LA, Hong Kong and New York City, among others; she’s also distributed by more than 900 companies worldwide. While Rebecca has enjoyed early boosts to her brand—Jenna Elfman wore her “I Love New York” shirt on The Jay Leno Show in 2001—Rebecca has also worked hard to cultivate her business’s profile. For example, when she launched the Morning After Bag (also known as the M.A.B.) in 2005, she lev

Most people go to Las Vegas hoping to shrug off the demands of work, but for Paddy Moogan, a trip with mates turned into a life-changing business opportunity. On a trip to Sin City, his friend approached him with a proposal: why not take Paddy’s expertise in digital marketing and launch their own agency, a shop where they could call the shots on everything from work culture to clients. “It felt like a good idea at the time to talk about starting a business together,” he says, and after taking thirty minutes to come up with a plan, they decided to go for it. Aira was launched in 2015. The early days took some adjustments. In the first six months, Paddy and his partners tried to divide up their roles and responsibilities, with Paddy taking on the marketing, sales, and raw strategy, while his co-founder focused on delivery and operations. But they soon discovered that divvying up the job didn’t mean better work. “Because we split our roles, we didn’t actually work together all that much, the way we had for the f

If you’ve ever started your exercise time by standing there for 20 minutes choosing a podcast, know that you are not alone. You are in the company of JJ Ramberg, who launched GoodPods to help curb that endless search for great podcasts by tapping into what your friends and favourite influencers are already listening to. “It’s like Goodreads for podcasts,” she explains, channelling the energy of the popular book recommendation site. Before launching GoodPods, JJ—who was already a podcaster herself, with Been There, Built That—talked to more than 700 people about their experiences with podcasts. Those folks ranged from established producers and hosts to the casual listeners who tuned in a few times a month. At the end of those conversations, she had a wealth of knowledge and used it to release something special. “We launched a product that people liked. These were people who really enjoyed the app and realized that there was nothing else out there like it.”JJ’s focus has long been on products that improve your

Everyone’s story matters! Lisa wants to know everything about the people pitching to her, from their business background to how many pets they have. And if you’re not the one running the day-to-day business, make sure to bring that person into your pitch strategy: she wants to meet them too.  Where do you want to end up? From passing on the business to your kids to selling in five years, make sure every co-founder is working towards the same long-term goals.  Stability is attractive. If your work history doesn’t show a lot of commitment to a role, company, or profession, investors might be less interested in committing to you.  Market research and proof of concept mean you’re coming in with knowledge and fans! Show your investors you’re armed with knowledge and customers.

Lisa Song Sutton describes herself as a “serial entrepreneur,” and her portfolio is proof. From Sin City Cupcakes—a boozy bakery she co-founded in 2012—to Ship Las Vegas, her mailbox and shipping stores across the city, Lisa’s portfolio is a truly diverse set of business assets. Add in her real estate sales team, not to mention a women’s swimwear and accessories e-commerce store, and we are wowed. Her goal is to build up lifestyle businesses to eventually graduate from running the day-to-day and take on new projects. “I’m big on legacy building,” she says.You may know Lisa from her 2014 stint as Miss Nevada. Lisa’s mother is a former Miss Korea who encouraged her to go the pageant route. Lisa got a late start in the pageant scene, making her debut at 29 (right before she aged out of the competition altogether). As part of her training, she worked with established pageant coach Bill Alverson, who focused less on what she looked like in a bathing suit and more on what she had to say. “By the time I competed, I

On this week’s Nerdisode, Nayamka Roberts Smith, aka Nai, the labeautyologist, gives us her tried-and-true methods for building an authentic and engaged social media audience.Choose a social media avenue that plays to your strengths, and make sure you enjoy it. Want to blow up on Twitter? “You have to like tweeting! You have to talk a lot.”When the creative juices are flowing, do a brain dump; stash your great ideas for a day when you’re not in the mood to create.Repurpose your content to help your audience absorb it in different ways!'Mine' other data sources for content ideas: when you search your topic ideas online, make sure you answer those Google auto-fill questions in your video or on the blog. 

Nai Roberts-Smith might be the mega-popular skincare expert labeautyologist these days, but like many entrepreneurs, she started in a dorm room. She was an amateur nail technician, complete with a wall of polish colours, and she would do nails for less than the price of lunch. “I had a group of friends who all did beauty services,” she says a barber, a few pals who did hair, and a league of friends acting as low-key brand ambassadors across campus. When she left college, she joined a salon as a nail tech but has aspirations of becoming an esthetician—a licensed professional who does facials and other skin-care treatments, usually at a spa. “I was good at nails, I liked doing it, and I felt kind of stifled by that.” But her hometown shop was full of estheticians, and they were unwilling to add Nai to their roster. She debated bringing her skills onboard cruise ships before realizing she would likely find work anywhere that was beautiful—Jamaica, Hawaii, Miami, or her new hometown, Los Angeles.In LA, Nai was “b

Earlier this week, mega-event planner and reality TV host David Tutera talked to us about his path to success; in our Nerdisode, he gives us the nitty-gritty on keeping his clients and team happy. Which questions do you need to ask to get your client’s real budget? David uses his knowledge about wedding dress designers and DJs to strategically (and diplomatically) figure out how much his clients are willing to spend.Keep your clients in the loop on expenditures! Going over budget isn’t a surprise for David’s clients.Compartmentalize your projects. A messy desk can lead to client mix-ups!Stay on top of your staff and vendors—since delays can be hard to overcome, David keeps an eye on deadlines and deliverables, and steps in where he needs to: “I know when someone’s not about to meet the goal.”When mistakes happen, don’t punish your staff: look for productive, positive solutions that fast-track success.  

We know that certain industries thrived during COVID—home renovations and online shopping, anyone?—but there’s no denying that some sectors took a major hit. We got a call from Eve, an event planner wondering how she can move forward post-pandemic. Well, we brought in the capital-E expert to answer Eve’s question. David Tutera is best known as an event planner for the stars and reality TV show host. His full business is much more diverse, including industry training events, a partnership with Macy’s, a bridal boutique, and more. David’s work focuses on “the art of celebrations. Any celebration should be about joy, and that’s how I make a living.”David is the grandchild of an Italian immigrant, an entrepreneurial flower shop owner who taught David some of the basics of running a business. At the age of thirteen, David worked the phones at the shop, listening in as his grandfather ran the show. “He was giving me these nuggets of information” about the importance of respecting staff, profitability, and paying at

If you think television journalism is glamorous, Erica Mandy is here to set you straight. She started as a “one-woman band” in a small TV news market, where reporting on location often meant that she was the photographer, camera operator, writer, editor...all while also being the on-air journalist. “That weeds out the people who are in it just to be on TV,” she laughs, comparing her small-town news experience to “grad school” for TV journalists. Over the next seven years, she worked in successively larger markets, finally landing at CBS News in Los Angeles. She was there for three years, working on-air in the second-largest TV news market in the country. But Erica’s passion wasn’t just the news—it was the news in a whole new way. In 2017, she left CBS to launch The NewsWorthy, a daily news podcast that offered a “fair, fast and fun” look at the day’s top stories, all delivered in fifteen minutes or less. When she started, audiences were tuning out the news altogether, saying it was too biased, time-consuming,

Mine your own life for inspiration! We bet you have at least a few photos on your phone that can prompt you to dig deeper into your own experiences. What’s in your notes? Check your written records on WordCounter to reveal which ideas you keep coming back to. (Morgan checks her phone’s notes app monthly!) Write your to-do list by hand. It’s an authentic record of what you’re thinking about, and sharing that with your community helps folks recognize themselves in you (and your four loads of laundry).  Listen to yourself! Literally, that is: Morgan uses Otter to verbalize her ideas and to keyword her ideas for easy tracking. Write about what makes you angry! That will help you get to the heart of what you care about. Start making a change there.ResourcesTo learn more about our guest, go to https://morganharpernichols.com/ To learn more about FreshBooks and take advantage of an offer exclusive to our podcast listeners, go to freshbooks.com/podcast Follow us on social @freshbooks, and remember to subscribe to get

Morgan Harper Nichols might be the rarest bird in the entrepreneurial aviary: she was actually looking for a nine-to-five job when she started as an internet sensation. After a half-decade on the contemporary Christian music scene, she was tired of hustling. “It’s a hard industry to be in,” she says. She was looking for something more stable, but, she laughs, with an English degree, “there aren’t a ton of Indeed posts out there.”In 2016, she put her frustration into words, shared her personal poem on Pinterest, and then forgot about it. But in a few short weeks, that poem had been repinned over 100,000 times. She had gone viral without really trying to. From there, she’s launched herself as a visual artist and poet, been picked up by publishing company Zondervan, amassed more than 1.7 million Instagram followers, done collaborations with Coach, Adobe, Vogue and Aerie, and launched The Storyteller App, where, for $2.99 a month, subscribers receive a daily infusion of her poetry and art. She credits her followe