Serve Scale Soar®

£0 to £7,125 in 4 Months: After Lauren Started A Freelance Ad Management Business

Brandi Mowles Episode 289

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0:00 | 34:46

Y'all, this spotlight episode hit different.

Lauren is a Conversions for Clients student who got made redundant in December and gave herself 3 months to make her ad management business work before she'd have to go back to corporate. By April, she was billing £6,125 with four clients, all from four completely different sources.

No fancy website. No massive audience. No "wait until I'm ready" energy. Just decision, deadline, and doing the dang thing.

In this episode, Lauren breaks down her exact numbers month by month, the four channels she used to find her first clients (none of them are Instagram, by the way), how she repackaged her offer to charge £3,000 for a foundational month plus £1,500/month retainer, and the mindset shift that took her from no self-belief to feeling invincible.

If you've been sitting on the fence about starting your service business or you're scared the timing isn't right, this is your sign.

In this episode, you'll learn:

  • How Lauren scaled from £500 to £7,600 months in her first 4 months of business
  • The 4 client acquisition channels she used (and why you only need 3)
  • How to structure a £3,000 foundational month offer that clients will pay for
  • The exact moment she fired her £500/month client (and why you should too)
  • Why "back against the wall" energy is the best place to start your business
  • The strategist trifecta approach that lets you charge premium without burning out
  • How AI is changing service delivery (and why strategists are irreplaceable)
  • The mindset shift that builds real, lasting confidence
  • What aligned hustle looks like versus the toxic version

Mentioned in this episode:

Ready to scale past $10K months without burning out?

Inside Strategist Society, I teach the strategist trifecta, the systems, and the offer structure that let you raise your rates and reduce your hours at the same time. If you're ready to stop trading hours for dollars and start building the business Lauren is now building, come hang out with us at thestrategistsociety.com.

Loved this episode?

Screenshot it, tag @brandimowles, and share it with one service provider who needs to hear Lauren's story. The more we lift each other up, the more women win.

Now go do the dang thing.


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289: Lauren Rosser

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Brandi: [00:00:00] Hello, Serve Scale Soar family. Oh my goodness, I am beyond excited because these spotlight episodes are seriously my favorite. And today we have Lauren with us, and she is one of our conversions for client students, and she made a post in the group, and I was like, "Janessa, we have to get her on the podcast."


And so Lauren, before we read that post, how about you tell my audience who you are as a person and then about your business? 


Lauren: Thanks, Brandi. So my name is Lauren. I am Australian, if you can't tell by my accent. But I actually live in y- the UK, in Dorset, where I live with my husband, who's English, and our two children.


Brandi: Ah, I love that. And tell us about your business. Who are you serving, how long have you had it? All the good things. 


Lauren: So I actually only officially started this year, so it's been, what? What are we, month four? And, uh, yeah, it just came off the back of always wanting to... Well, not ever feeling like the corporate world was for me.


And when I got made [00:01:00] redundant, or basically lost my contract at the end of last year, I thought, "Bugger it, I have to just start it now. It's now or go back and find a job," which made my skin crawl. So I was like, "You know what? I'm jumping in and I'm going to, yeah, give it, give it my best shot for three months and see how I go."


Brandi: I love this because so many people are right there where you are right now, especially with like, uh, you know, I don't know what's going on in, uh, the UK or Europe when it comes to like job situations, but in the US right now, the job market's rough. A lot of layoffs are happening, and it's rough. And there are options, like do I go find another job, which is increasingly more and more difficult?


Do I look for something else? Do I try this online thing? But there's so many like scams and things that promise the world, and so it's hard to make that decision. And so when you were in that like thought pattern of like, "I don't wanna go to corporate, I've now become redundant," what drew you to ads?


Lauren: Funnily enough, and I, [00:02:00] I know I can say this and, um, not get any backlash because I know you come from the same background, but I actually stepped into network marketing, so I have that background of I think seven years. And more recently, over the last three years, I joined a company and we did ads. We had to...


We could run ads to promote our business. So it's just something that I kind of fell into. And when I was trying to work out what my skill set was, and there is a little bit of story because I actually found you through someone else I was following. So I was following this lady, and I clicked through, and it was all about sort of setting up your own business, and I thought, "But what, what is my skill set?


Like, what could I sell? Like, my background is as a journalist, as an editor, marketing, communications, PR," so I've got like a, a very varied sort of, um, career history. But I couldn't work out exactly what I wanted to do. And, and she was talking about sort of, you know, setting yourself up as a contractor and, and, you know, working less and charging more.


But then I clicked through [00:03:00] her profile and, or her website, and I came across you, and you had obviously maybe done... You were one of her students, you were giving testimonial, but you were talking about ads. And I thought, "You know what? I really like ads." I've always like loved it in, in that part when I was growing my own business.


And I thought, "What if I could do that for other people?" So I got that sort of like, that excitement where I thought I, I could package up ads and I could do ads. So coming into your world and, and joining, um, CFC was just a natural step for me because it felt really right and it w- yeah, it just felt like something that I wanted to explore further because I just really understood ads when I was doing them.


Brandi: I love that. I think, like, network marketing and MLMs are like the gateway drug to having your actual own business. It's like that gives you belief, like even if you, like, don't do well in it. Like, I can say I did well from the outside, like my numbers look good, but, like, from bank account, I wasn't doing well.


But, like, [00:04:00] I learned so much, and it gave me the belief like, "Oh, I don't have to work a corporate job. I can have my own business. This one's not necessarily working, but this, like, opened up my eyes to what's possible." And I think sometimes that people when they've tried something else like network marketing or other things and they don't work, sometimes they get in their head like, "Oh, this isn't for me.


I can't do this." And it's not that you can't do this. Maybe you just haven't found the right thing yet. And so I love that it feels like very universe winky that you were, like, scrolling through and then saw me, and then you went down the Brandi rabbit hole. And so I love that, Lauren. So one thing I wanna go back to is this post that you posted in Conversions for Clients.


I am all about sharing wins because, one, I think wins open up possibilities for other people. It's not so much about, like, bragging on ourself, which is good for our brain anyway, but it also shows people what's possible. And Lauren, when you posted this, I, like, instantly screenshotted it and I sent it to Janessa and I was like, "We have to have her on the podcast.[00:05:00] 


Like, do whatever we need to do." And I wanna read everyone this post. So it says, "#win. I purchased CFC a year ago, and then my health and life got in the way." How many of us have had that happen? Like, life gets in the way, everything, and this is exactly why we have lifetime access to Conversions for Clients for that.


"When I was made redundant in December last year, I gave myself three months to make this work, having to go back to life of employment. I'm proud to say I got stuck in, stuck in and treated it like a full-time job doing the trainings and trying to find clients. In January, I earned 500 pounds. In February, I earned 2,000 pounds.


In March, I earned 4,850 pounds, and in April, I'm already billing 6,125 pounds. I had no confidence or self-belief in the beginning, and now I'm a different person. My first client, I was working for them already, so switched to marketing. Second client was from cold emails. Third was from a old contact I've, I'd [00:06:00] worked with, and the last was from a post I put in my local Facebook group community.


My first client, I charged 500 pounds per month. In my last week, I signed two clients at 3,000 pounds for my first month with one at 1,500 pounds per month and a 12-month retainer." Heck yes. At 12... 1,500 pounds per month for a three-month retainer. I'm now for, at four clients and lots of inquiries coming in and proposals going out.


What helped a lot with charging more was listening to Brandi's podcast on champagne clients, and a few other episodes about messaging and how to close by asking for a 50% deposit to secure a start date. And that's what I did with the last client I enrolled, due to start in two weeks. And the last two clients are more of a content strategist roles rather than the weeds doing the work.


I learned after my first two months I'm already burning out of doing all the things. I need to earn more and do less. I highly recommend listening to all Brandi's podcast episodes from the new year. So helpful. I've gone from hoping I can [00:07:00] make it work to totally wishing I'd done this years ago. The goal is 10K pounds, 10,000 pounds months and doubling my corporate income this year.


Thank you, Brandi. I'm so grateful for you, this course, and the knowledge you're sharing. And Lauren, you're not someone who's just like, "Look at my numbers." You're like, "Look at how I did it." And this is what I love about what you shared. It wasn't like, "Oh, she has great numbers." That's fine too, but it's that you shared, and I think there's so much gold in this post that people can take away.


Like, one, you probably undercharged for your first person, but you did it. You got the confidence and you got the ball rol- rolling. Also, 500 pounds, y'all, is different than 500 US dollars. It's quite a bit more money for us, so if you're looking at that. Um, then we bump those prices up, so you're doing exactly what we teach, bumping the prices up.


But then you showed us that it's not one place to find clients. We can all find clients in different areas. They all work. So using the [00:08:00] network of people you already have, using the clients that we have and switching to them to a higher tier package. Also, cold emailing. Like, this is the thing. When we start marketing, it do- like, people get so hung up there's one right only best way to market your business, and it's not true.


They all work if you actually work them. And so I love this post. And so thank you for posting it, first off, 'cause I just think it was such a beautifully written, it like... You gave so much insight into what other people could implement in your business. So we're sitting here. It's April 28th. How are you feeling about everything?


Lauren: Really, really confident. I am a different person, that was absolutely true. Um, I think I did share that, Brandi, because you always talk about sharing wins, and if you can't share it with those people in the group that, you know, are supporting each other and we're all on the same journey, then who can you share it with?


And I, I did, I wrote it and I thought, "Mm, I'm gonna get rid of it," because it, it [00:09:00] feels like, "Oh, look at me." But actually what I wanted to give was, was the journey, you know, that it is possible and, and for other women to believe that they, they can do that because, I mean, I thought I would scale, but I didn't realize I'd scale quite so quickly.


But I, like I said, I just treated it like a full-time job. I... like my life depended on it, because I really didn't wanna go into work, other work, corporate work. 


Brandi: I love that because I... this is what I always tell people, though. When your back's against the wall, and back's against the wall can look different for everyone.


Mine was, like, literally financial back against the wall. Yours is, like, the possibility of having to go back to work is, like, my back's against the wall. Like, I do not want that to happen. And I think that whenever we're kinda like forced almost to make this decision of one thing or another, it pushes us to do more.


And I think a lot of people use that as, like, their reason why not, but it's much easier to get your goals done when your back's against the wall than someone who's cushy and it's [00:10:00] fine. It's like maybe this will work, it's a side hustle. Like, if it works, great. If not, that's totally fine. That's how I feel about my sourdough.


I got it, I put a little bit of effort into it. If it works, great. If it doesn't, I go to the store and buy it, right? And so a lot of people treat their business like that, but when you need something to work, when it's this or something else that you really don't want, then that's when we see people completely blow it out of the water, and it's because you have to make it work.


So, and I... the thing is, we have people show their numbers all the time. You're in CFC. People will say like, "Oh my gosh, I just had an X amount of month," blah, blah, blah. Those people aren't on the podcast necessarily. It's the people that do very thoughtful posts like what you provided. So it wasn't a look at me, it was like, "Hey, this is what I've been able to accomplish.


Here's how I did it, and if you wanna do it too, here's the resources I would focus on." That is gold. That's the way to not be like, "Hey, look at my numbers," which I'm totally fine. Brag about your numbers all day long. But [00:11:00] your post was so insightful and so helpful, and came from a place of, like, I want other women to succeed.


And so now I know you posted this at the end of March. You said April you had 6,000 pounds booked and ready to go. So have you landed any other clients this month? 


Lauren: Um, not yet. I, I'm, I... So a- actually my numbers are slightly more than that. I worked them out again this week, so it's actually 7,600 for April.


And at the moment I've got a healthy pipeline of four and a half for next month. So my job this month is to get another client to then, um, increase that. But what I did find is that I I kind of tweaked a little bit, don't even know how, but this first... One of these clients, we agreed at £1,500 a month, potentially for 12 months.


And when I did the proposal, I thought, hang on a second, why don't I do all of this foundational work, and [00:12:00] then I'll charge them £3,000 for that first month, then move to a retainer? And actually, that's what I did, and I then copied that kind of structure for the next client when I knew that when we had a meeting, I thought, oh, I might just do th- a similar thing, and I kind of packaged it up so that I was able to then create these sort of like foundational months and then move to retainer.


So I think the next step from on top of that is to move now to a higher retainer, because one of the clients already is... Th- both of those clients are wrapped with what I'm doing. They're so happy. I've got some incredible feedback already, and they're sort of like wanting me to do all these other things, like interview them for videos for the website.


You know, there's all these different side projects and levels within their business that they want me to- Yeah ... to help them with. So actually, I think those two clients are going to grow significantly within that retainer, so whether that will go up, whether I [00:13:00] will do extra project work on top. So I'm feeling quite healthy and comfortable with the two of them at the moment.


And then from there, I'm trying to work out different packages because I, I wanna help other women do similar things to what I've done. And so my brain's sort of like I'm trying to work out who I want to help, so I'm sort of like got all these different offers, you know, and I think that's what's so beautiful around what you teach, is that the sky's the limit really.


Once you start to work out what you love doing, who you love to help, what kind of clients, you know, what they want, because it's listening to what clients need as well. Yeah. But also about sort of like how... What, what you actually physically like to do, what you love to do. I think it, you know, to be able to package that up and help those people.


So that's kind of where I'm at now, which is why I haven't thrust forward with finding new clients, because I'm kind of taking a bit of time to really look at the kind of businesses that I want to help. Is it founders? Is it [00:14:00] women? You know, is it... 'Cause I started thinking it was gonna be health and wellness, 'cause that was what I loved, and it's really taken a life of its own.


All my clients are very different. A couple of them I, I work with messaging, so they're both founders, um, young businesses, and they really just wanted to tidy up all of their content, their messaging and everything. So it's kind of just organically worked from there. And then, then I've got a couple of ads clients as well.


So it's, it's just really when I have a chat with someone, I, I really sort of ask a lot of questions about what they might need, and then I adapt my skill set to what they might need, and we kind of build a sort of like quite a unique proposal to their business and their needs and the support that they need.


And, um, yeah, it's been working really well so far. 


Brandi: I love that. And so are your, one, I wanna backtrack to the hire first month. So this is like an onboarding, like setup fee, right? And so- [00:15:00] 


Lauren: Yeah, it's... I- I picture it as foundation work, so it's sort of doing interviews with them to really get to the, the foundation of their brand and who they are and who they're there to help and sort of what they need, like, sort of to understand their brand and be able to talk about it.


'Cause a- one of them's a startup and they don't really know how to... They don't have any messaging. Their website's not great. So it's, it's really just getting all of that information, and then I go on and I start to build from there, so tone of voice guidelines, website content, and I kind of sales... You know, they might want a sales funnel.


Then they might wanna... So it's, it's kind of like the foundational work, and then we grow their business, and that could include ads. You know? That could include a sales funnel. That could include a lead magnet. That could include all these other strategy things. So I am listening to your advice from Champagne Clients, 'cause I've definitely had one of those clients I've actually let go already, the £500 a month client.


Good. They fell by the [00:16:00] wayside. As soon as I realized, my confidence grew, I thought, "I don't need that client. I can find another one and charge them three or four times the price." So I let that client go. I've... And I'm now growing these clients that are, you know, that I'm working on sort of growing the ones that I have, um, and just working out what the best offers are.


But yeah, one of the, the podcast episodes you said about doing these different things like one-off intensives or, like, your foundational month and, and, and all of that, so that's sort of the ideas I had from you to work out what, what... how I could repackage it. 'Cause it is that. I don't wanna be the doer.


Right. The first couple of months were crazy. I was learning how to do a business, setting up my s- you know, my foundations, the structures, and all the things that you teach us to, to make your life, you know, easier in business. Um, I was finding clients. I was doing all the marketing. And then when I had the clients, I had to learn what I was doing with the clients, and it, it was crazy.


And I remember [00:17:00] being exhausted, thinking, "I can't do this forever." And then all of a sudden, I had all this time in my day, and I was like, "Oh my God. I've just doubled my income, and I don't... And I've... Like, I can finish work at 3:00, pick my kids up, and not have to do anything." And that to me was the moment I thought, "You know what?


I can do this, and it's actually gonna be... I'm gonna be okay." 


Brandi: Yeah. Those first... I always say, like, when you first start onboarding clients, it is the most stressful time because it is. It's just like you're learning so much. You're having to learn your systems, get those plugged in. Even with all the systems we still give y'all, like, there is a learning curve that has to happen when we onboard.


But then once you get them onboard, the goal is to keep them long-term. Because then it becomes easy. You get less time, or you get more time in your day, you're working with them less. It just becomes, like, something that you wake up, you spend a few hours over here, you do your marketing, and then it's, like, not chaotic.


But as soon as you start onboarding, that is the most [00:18:00] chaotic time, especially when you are onboarding several people in the beginning. That can be very, very stressful. So I love that you're taking this holistic marketing approach with your clients. I think that's the best way to get results. We literally have the AI toolkit that we came out, because I think one of the biggest things that ad managers are missing is they're not creating, like, avatar guides and voice guides for their clients.


They don't know their client's avatar, and most of their clients probably don't know their avatar. And the fact that you're taking these interviews and doing that, that's exactly what I think is gonna s- make ad managers stand out and be replaceable from AI. This is something I used to pay $5,000 for a voice guide, and now the great thing is we can charge a premium price, like you're charging $3,000 for a foundational month, but with the right systems, AI can now take all those interviews and everything and create these beautiful guides that don't take a month to put out, and we can charge a [00:19:00] premium, and it only takes, like, 15 to 20 minutes.


I create this and avatar guides for every single one of my one-on-one clients because it's such a value add, and we can charge a premium, and it doesn't take a lot of our time, and we get better results for our clients 


Lauren: No, absolutely. We, um, I've s- I had, I had one of my clients say, "Oh my God, your content gave me goosebumps."


And I thought, "Well, that's amazing," but I didn't necessarily... I mean, I d- obviously didn't say that. But, um, I... It was because I asked the right questions. Yeah. And maybe it's the journalist in me as well, but I ask a lot of questions, and I get real, real clarity. And one of them, the other client was like, "My God, you've just completely taken all of our meanderings and, and everything and just put them into..."


I mean, he gave me the most incredible feedback. I wish I had it, 'cause I would read it out to you. But it was like, it's really going deep and trying to understand who they are, what they wanna say, and then giving them the tools. And once they have that clarity, you [00:20:00] know, that's worth so much value to them.


And I think, yeah, definitely it's something that I've just kind of happened upon. Maybe it's my background that, that I kind of think about doing that kind of thing. I wish I could do it with my own business. That would be really helpful. 


Brandi: Usually doing it with our own business is the hardest. Yeah. So that's not just you.


It is. And it's one of those things, like, I think people discredit, like, what they do. Mm-hmm. Because they don't realize how much clarity it actually is worth so much more than the tactics of running ads. And this is why AI will never replace us, is because if you can help people get clarity on something, that's worth so much.


I was in a $10,000 consulting client, and we were just doing her kickoff call. We were 15 minutes into the call and she was like, "Brandi, this right here was worth the entire $10,000." And all I did was help her get clarity on her ideal client. Like, that was it. Something she's been spinning her wheels eight months, working with several coaches, getting told different [00:21:00] things.


And when we can help people by asking really thoughtful questions and taking that and giving them clarity, that's worth more than the tactical side of ads. So I love that you're doing that. And then it sounds like you're applying kind of like the strategist trifecta that we teach into your business, where we do have these different packages that meet people where they are, and that allows us to scale much, much faster.


So Lauren, I feel like you've come in, and you've just been so courageous and bold and just done the dang thing. And so tell me, where do you think that comes from? 


Lauren: The resilience, the motive. I, I think it's a s- it's a bit of not having the not wanting to go back to work because that's why I got into network marketing.


It was a natural stepping stone, and I, I'm a projector in human design. It, it basically if you it means you're only good for a couple of hours, and then you burn out unless you're doing work that really does give you energy. And so sitting in a nine-to-five, it took me, you know, until in my [00:22:00] 40s to realize that actually isn't the right scene for me.


It's not the right energy. It doesn't give me energy, and I was always really bitter and resentful, which is when you're not in alignment with your design. And success is the opposite to that, and I think, you know, success for me is when you build your work around your life, not the other way around, and I've been looking for that for a really long time.


Um, and I think this was, this was it for me. This was, you know, everything. And my husband is also a contractor, and the whole AI state of the world situation meant that his work has dried up the last couple of years, and it's been very difficult for him. And I think knowing that my husband's struggling, you know, it was really down to me to help bring the money in.


I couldn't just take a holiday and hoped in three months that that would work Had to show him and prove to him that, yes, he ch- he, he backed me, he believed in me to be able to spend the money on, you know, having [00:23:00] you as a mentor and, and joining CFC, and I thought, "What can I do to bring back?" And I just had to really go deep and think, "You know what?


Got two young children. We've got a mortgage. I've gotta pay for the house." Like, I just need to make this work. There wa- there wasn't another option. 


Brandi: I love that. 


Lauren: And I think I just threw myself into it, and the self-belief has come from there because I promise you, I did not have any at the beginning.


Three months on, I am a completely different person, and I feel quite invincible now because I've worked through some of the hardest couple of months. I sh- I didn't go... I wasn't social, didn't hang out with friends. I was... I don't go drinking. I was like, "This is it. I'm knuckling down, and I'm gonna show the world that I can do this."


And it... Yeah, that's, that's where the bravery comes from, I think. 


Brandi: I love that, and I always talk about the seasons of hustle. I think there's this online culture where it's either hustle, hustle, hustle all the time or, like, cozy. [00:24:00] And it's like, well, sure, I think there is a middle ground, but I do think there's seasons of hustle.


And usually when you're just starting out and your back is against the wall, that's the season of hustle as long as it's aligned hustle, which means that you're doing the things that actually move the business forward and not focused on stuff like branding and your logo and stuff like that. But your marketing minutes, client work, onboarding, like, getting that stuff done, you may work more in the beginning.


And then, like you said, now you're looking around and you have more time. And I think so many people think that it's gonna be easy, and so they don't want to have that season of hustle, or they're over here saying they're hustling but they're doing stuff that doesn't actually matter. And you, and this is probably why I adore you 'cause you're a projector as well, you're, like, right there in that middle where I'm gonna hustle for a short season but I'm gonna focus on the right things.


Now it's not like I'm letting my foot off the gas and [00:25:00] I'm just, like, hanging out. You're in that, like, beautiful middle ground where you're still working your business like a business, but also you have breathing room. You can go out and enjoy life now, but you were willing to do the hard part to get to where you are now.


And the beautiful thing about that is it's been, like, four months. It ha- like, it's a drop in the bucket, right? And so I think that that's just so beautiful, Lauren, and thank you for sharing that with us. So what do you think success looks like for you next? 


Lauren: It's definitely doubling my income. Yeah, so it's sort of hitting at least 10K months.


I know that's a figure that a lot of people throw around, but I've been capped in my corporate role for a very long time. Um, and so hitting 10K months for me would feel like I've kind of won. Um, I mean, even replacing my income feels like I'm winning, but actually doubling that as the next step, it's just going to give us some breathing room, and we [00:26:00] have big plans next year to sell the house or rent the house out and go traveling, uh, maybe move back to Australia where I'm from.


And for that to happen, I need a mobile business. I need to know that I can support, you know, family and I can do all of these things. And actually, I'm bringing my b- my husband into the business, so I'm teaching him how to do ads 


Brandi: Yay ... 


Lauren: and funnels and things like that so I can be the face of the marketing and bring the clients in, and then he can work with me, b- which actually solves his problem too because graphic design is, is a dying art, um, at his age as well.


So yeah, I think success means being able to create a really beautiful income. We don't... My husband and I don't care about having all the money in the world. What we do care about is just not having to worry about money and being able to live the way that we wanna live that's not chained to our desks 9:00 till 5:00 every day.


We don't see the children. Um, one of our highest values, [00:27:00] our h- highest values are health and travel and family, and at the moment we're not traveling because we're always working. We don't have enough money to travel, and, um, we're never seeing our kids because we're always sat at... Well, he is always sat at the desk or myself.


So the whole point is to try and create this, you know, um, beautiful life where we can spend more time with our kids, we can travel more, we can see our family more, even if that means m- you know, going between countries more. Um, but just to be able to have that, that's, that's my definition of su- of success is to just to live life on my own terms and not feel like I have to answer to anyone anymore.


Brandi: I love that. I love that. We share so many of the same values, and so I just love hearing that, Lauren. So thank you for sharing your story. If someone was looking at you and being like, "Hey, Lauren, I heard you joined CFC," what do you, what would you tell them? Like, if they're like, "Hey, I don't know if this is right for me.


I don't know what I'm doing," what would you say to them? 


Lauren: I think it's definitely a first step. [00:28:00] It's a gateway into seeing what's possible. Um, see, work, you know, being supported by a whole group of women who are in the same situation, who are learning, who have the same values, who want the same things, and learning from each other from all different parts of the world, which is also so amazing.


Um, to be able to take that first step and learn some skills, learn how to set up your own business every step of the way, it's all there. You don't have to think about it. Everything that you've laid out, it just makes sense, and I absolutely love that you make us find clients before we know what, what we're doing.


I think it's genius. Um, and I think that's what really has, has... is different to anything I've ever learned, is to being able to find the confidence and just go out there blindly and, and, you know, put yourself out there. Create the... You know, not waste time on all the marketing. You don't need the fancy website.


You don't need all the fancy things. You literally just need to know what your offer is and what, you know, what skills, and you really do help work that out. I mean, I didn't [00:29:00] know whether it was gonna be ads. Now I'm falling back on some of my other things, and I think what the culture and the community really do help you is to figure that stuff out as well, you know, because it's, a lot of it's life experience.


I'm drawing on network marketing backgrounds. I'm drawing on journalist backgrounds. I'm drawing on, like, all these different things I've learned about social media, doing, building my own brand, and that's what I'm now selling. And I think it just opens your eyes to what is actually possible and available to you.


Um, yeah, it gives you that confidence and makes you see yourself differently and wanna market yourself differently and, yeah, just to sort of know that you do have talents that, you know, you can do this. Uh, I've had loads of women reach out. Funny you say that, um, about the job market and everything, but I've had loads of women reach out sort of saying, "I've just got made redundant," or, "How are you doing this?"


And all of that. So I know that other women are looking for this, too. Uh, moms especially, who want, you know, who want some more [00:30:00] flexibility 'cause we all know the corporate workplace is not built for moms. 


Brandi: No. 


Lauren: So, um, I think if you're a mom or if you, you know, have values that are similar to, to myself and Brandi, then I think you would feel very much at home in this space and learning these, these valuable skills and being able to set up your own life business, lifestyle business, as I call it 


Brandi: And I think that's so true, and we- we're in different worlds, like different countries, and it's so crazy how it doesn't seem to matter where you are, the workplace just does not support moms.


Like, it just doesn't. I think probably maybe Canada supports them a little bit better. They get a year off, of maternity leave. But, like other than that, like I- it's just not set up to support moms working. And so I do think that there's something so beautiful about being able to be a mom, and both of us, uh, you are the primary...


It sounds like you are the primary breadwinner in [00:31:00] your household, and having more and more women step into that role while still being present mothers, that's beautiful. Like, absolutely beautiful, and it's something that's new. And, you know, I know our family, when Austin came home full time as a stay-at-home dad, like it shook our family because they were like, "Wait, we..."


I'm from s- the South where men make the money, women stay at home. That's just how it's been, and we flipped those roles, and it's been an adjustment, and I think it's just the world is changing, and it is beautiful. Of course, it does have its downsides too, but it's making more and more women and moms financially independent, and I think that's what's really important.


Lauren: Yeah, empowering women, definitely. 


Brandi: So Lauren, thank you so much for being so open. Like, this was such a good conversation. You were so open. Your post was so open, and it shows that you are someone who just, [00:32:00] you're winning, and you want other women to win, too, and I so appreciate people like that. So thank you for sharing your story.


Is there anything else you would like to share with my audience before we end? 


Lauren: Um, just, just to believe in yourself, and I know that's really hard. But if you don't believe in yourself, no one else will, and I think that sometimes husbands aren't the most supportive. Sometimes friends, you know, you, you grow, and, and they don't understand the growth and the change in you.


But I just... just believe in yourself because you need to first before the world will. 


Brandi: I agree. Well, thank you so much for being on here, Lauren. 


Lauren: You're so welcome. It's been wonderful.


Brandi: Y'all, I think Lauren said it perfectly when she ended this episode, that you have to believe in yourself, 'cause no one else is gonna believe in you. And so I just think that that is so true, especially as women, that we just have to take more chances on ourself and do things boldly and bravely, and that's exactly what Lauren's done.


You [00:33:00] know, life happened. She had to put her business on pause, and then she came back, and she was like, "Okay, now I'm gonna do the dang thing. I'm going all in." And so many times we let life stop us, and then we think that's the end. You can always start whenever. You can start when you're pregnant. You can start after the baby comes.


You can start when the kids go to kindergarten. You can start if your kids are going off to college. The most important thing is you just start, and that is the hardest step. But when you believe in yourself and when you take a chance on yourself, it is so hard not to win. And so I want you to know, and especially it's hard not to win when you have a community that's supporting you along the way.


And if you wanna hang out with more people like Lauren, the first place to start is with our Confident Ad Manager Bootcamp. For $7 over six days, I'm gonna help you start your ad management business. I'm gonna show you how to set it up. I'm gonna show you how to price your services [00:34:00] and how to start pitching your first clients.


No experience or working for free required. So head to confidentadmanager.com and grab that $7 goodness today. And then if you're ready to join us in Conversions for Clients after that, like Lauren, you have a $100 coupon waiting for you. Yep, $100 coupon waiting for you inside of there, and that is for our podcast listeners. We usually don't tell people that ahead of time.


So go on and go to confidentadmanager.com. Grab that bundle. Get your business started in the next six days, and start pitching your very first client and do the dang thing. And until next week, my friends, go out, serve your clients, scale your business, and soar into the success you deserve.