01. From General Virtual Assistant to OBM + Systems Expert | Sam Whisnant

OBM + Systems Expert, Samantha Whisnant shares her business evolution, her wins, challenges, and lessons gathered along the way.

She transformed from a general VA into an online business manager and systems expert in just a few short years. Uncover the mindset shift that propelled her beyond the belief in hustling for success, and find out how streamlining her offerings and processes became a game-changer for her.

Sam also offers nuggets for those venturing abroad and provides a free systems quiz at www.systemswithsam.com/quiz.

Don't miss this conversation or Sam's advice for service professionals embracing the world of project-based work.

Connect with Sam:
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Listen to the Beyond The Systems Podcast
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Podcast produced and edited with love by @FerAssists

Transcript

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[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for Soulful Service Providers and Coaches. Welcome to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:21] Andrea Elibero: Well, you are in for a treat because that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth, the lessons, and the stories behind what it truly takes for Soulpreneur to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant, and aligned laptop lifestyle.

[00:00:41] Andrea Elibero: style through intentional scaling. So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey, or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow, and create a business that fully supports your dream life? Well, let's dive in.

[00:00:56] Andrea Elibero: Before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:08] Andrea Elibero: Hello. Hello. Today we have an OBM and systems expert, Samantha. Wasn't that? Maybe I said that right. Maybe I didn't. We will see. Uh, joining us. Welcome. Thank you so much, Sam. Tell me, did I say it right? 

[00:01:23] Sam Whisnant: Yes, you did. Congratulations. Most people do not. So I am impressed. I 

[00:01:29] Andrea Elibero: pride myself. Okay, so we're going to hear your scaling story.

[00:01:33] Andrea Elibero: So first of all, please introduce yourself. Tell us what your business looks like today. What do you do? What do you offer? What do 

[00:01:38] Sam Whisnant: you all about? So I'm Sam. Like she said, I am an online business manager and systems expert, and I work with coaches to automate and organize their business so they can stay focused in their zone of genius.

[00:01:51] Sam Whisnant: The main thing I do at the moment is Done For You, um, system set up. So, uh, I worked on retainer services for a while and I still have a few retainer services. Um, as an OBM, but I do a lot of done for you setups. And I also am co creating a course with my friend Alex. So that's been a really fun new development in the past few months as well.

[00:02:15] Andrea Elibero: That's awesome. And I would love to, to dive into this a little bit deeper because I love talking about kind of the business. Structure and showing people that there are so many different ways that you can structure your business, especially as a service provider. So you have some retainer clients, but you are really focused on project work, right.

[00:02:36] Andrea Elibero: Is that correct in what you do? Yes, absolutely. And. How did the course come 

[00:02:41] Sam Whisnant: about? Um, it actually just came about, uh, me and my friend, Alex, we were on a call one day and we were just kind of talking about, we've taken a lot of courses, um, together, but we were just talking about how we've had to learn so much.

[00:02:55] Sam Whisnant: The course is geared towards working with influencers and creatives, and that's who I mainly we've worked with. And, you know, the influencer industry is just popping off right now. It's so big billion dollar industry. And we were like, wow, maybe we should create something that really teaches other, you know, VAs or, you know, someone coming in from corporate, how to manage and be an OBM for influencers and creatives.

[00:03:20] Sam Whisnant: Cause we feel like there, it is just a bit different than managing, you know, maybe a normal coaching business or, you know, a normal service provider business. Um, so yeah, it just came from a conversation and we've just dived into it and it's been a really fun journey so far. Oh my God. I 

[00:03:37] Andrea Elibero: love that so much.

[00:03:38] Andrea Elibero: Uh, because you were just like, Oh, this, there's a gap and we're going to fill the gap. 

[00:03:43] Sam Whisnant: And guess what? We're going to harness that. 

[00:03:46] Andrea Elibero: Awesome. And this is what this journey is all about, you know, um, I was going to say, because you grew and whatnot, but let's talk about how you started. So Hello. Hello. What did your business look like and when?

[00:03:56] Andrea Elibero: How long ago did you start? What did it look like when you started 

[00:03:59] Sam Whisnant: your business? Oh, gosh, almost four years ago, um, later this year, which is so crazy to me. I had never envisioned myself as an entrepreneur, um, or working in business at all. I actually have a degree in biochemistry, so when I graduated from college, I did not want to continue on to medical school or any of the things, or a graduate program or a job.

[00:04:23] Sam Whisnant: And I, one of my friends was moving to Barcelona in Spain. I just decided to go travel with her. I knew I loved to travel. I'd studied abroad before. So I was like, I'm just going to take a gap year. I'm going to travel. I started teaching English online to sustain myself, which was not very sustainable. I know.

[00:04:45] Andrea Elibero: Everybody in Spain. So I live in Spain and everybody, everybody I know who's. 

[00:04:52] Sam Whisnant: It's like, it's the number one thing, right? And it's not very sustainable and I did not enjoy it. And so one day I was bored and I just went down a Google rabbit hole of, you know, how to make money while working online and traveling and, you know, whatever you look up to get the results of a virtual assistant course.

[00:05:09] Sam Whisnant: And I was there. Definite target market went through the whole webinar funnel and everything. And I ended up buying the course with just the thought of, you know, if I can just make some extra money while I'm here, you know, I have student loans. I have credit cards. Like I just need to be able to work. I would like to be able to travel a bit more as well.

[00:05:28] Sam Whisnant: I'll just give it a go. How, how hard can it be? You know, it turns out it was a lot harder than I originally thought, but I ended up making it work. And yeah, I mean, I told myself 

[00:05:38] I 

[00:05:38] Andrea Elibero: will. And what were you? Yeah. When you started out, what did you do? 

[00:05:42] Sam Whisnant: Um, I was just doing a virtual assistant work at first. Just pretty much anything I could get my hands on.

[00:05:48] Sam Whisnant: I was learning from like ground zero. So I was like, I will do anything. I told myself I would do it for a year. I would try for a year before giving up. And I mean, a year later, I was able to, you know, have a full time income and sustain myself, um, moving back to the States and everything like that. So, um, it definitely worked out.

[00:06:08] Sam Whisnant: I worked as a content manager and copywriter for a little brief period. Um, and then eventually that led me into more of the online business management and systems side of everything. So 

[00:06:20] Andrea Elibero: I love, I love meeting other people online because. You and I are twins in terms of our path, right? So like I was also a biology major and I worked as a nurse and I was like, I have to go out of here.

[00:06:34] Andrea Elibero: And I said, what can I do? Right, like what can I do online where I can still help people and make money? And I scoured every corner of the internet and figured out what I could do and same thing came across a VA. Program. I said, I can do this. If I can go to work and do this program, I can figure this out.

[00:06:51] Andrea Elibero: You're mapping what I 

[00:06:52] Sam Whisnant: thought. 

[00:06:52] Andrea Elibero: Right. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I can do this. Right. Exactly. And, and that's what I did. I was like, I have no idea what I want to do. So I did everything so I could figure out what I wanted to do. And similar to you. I was like, you know, I tried different things and I was like, okay, I accidentally created a VA agency because I was getting all these clients and, and I don't want this.

[00:07:16] Andrea Elibero: What am I doing? And then that's when I got into the online business management and did the certification for that. And then where I'm at now, which was kind of like strategist and coach and all of these fun things. So I think it's beautiful that somebody like that, lots of people, um, Start out where we started out as general VA doing all of the things charging, you know, I charged like 20 bucks an hour, I think, for my first client and, you know, to where we are now.

[00:07:43] Andrea Elibero: Um, so, so speaking of that, you went through all of these things, like all of these different iteration of your iterations of your business. Tell me about the journey. So how do you decide to do something else? How did you get into that? What were the, like, what was going on? And then how did you end up and like, really stay like, oh, this is what I like, like what I'm doing now.

[00:08:03] Sam Whisnant: Yeah, I think it was a lot of trial and error. Like you said, you have I, for me, I have to try something to know if I like it or not. That's just how, how I've realized that I am as a person. And me too, 

[00:08:16] Andrea Elibero: because we're twins. So me too. 

[00:08:19] Sam Whisnant: And so I really did just try everything, anything I was interested in. I, you know, gave it a go.

[00:08:26] Sam Whisnant: I worked a lot with, um, You know, I worked with my clients for a really long time. I, you know, was kind of like I worked with a lot of my clients for over a year, two years, and that really was a great experience because it gave me the chance to do a lot of different things for them. Instead of just do, you know, one or two things, I was able to move around in my role and try different things.

[00:08:47] Sam Whisnant: And I was a subcontractor for one of them for a while. You know, in their, in their clients, businesses, and then even whenever I started out with the OBM training and stuff like that, when I really got my first OBM client, I was super, super open to just learning how to do whatever, right. Just gaining the experience.

[00:09:08] Sam Whisnant: And it's kind of funny because for a while I was very, very intimidated by systems and you know, I thought, Oh, I, I don't know enough. I don't have enough experience. Like I don't have a background in business. I don't have an MBA, so I can't figure this. Stuff out or, you know, this, that's not the niche for me and I avoided it for so long, but the more I learned about it and the more I just got to test things with my clients and implement things, I realized how fitting it was just for my personality and how I, you know, look at business.

[00:09:39] Sam Whisnant: I really look at business as. A whole and I love to like simplify things and break things down and make things as easy as possible and one day it just kind of clicks like why are you holding yourself back from some from like a niche that you could do a good job and just because of this like little imposter syndrome.

[00:09:58] Sam Whisnant: Um, that's in your way. So it's like 

[00:10:00] Andrea Elibero: the little imposter syndrome, 

[00:10:04] Sam Whisnant: the little guy on the shoulder, like, what are you doing? You don't know anything. You haven't made it, which is, it's just so crazy to think like, if you would have told me four years ago, I would, you know, have a six figure of business and I'd be living abroad and you know, all these things like.

[00:10:22] Sam Whisnant: Maybe I would kind of believe you. I was a bit crazy back then, but like, I would never know, like, the how. I, I, I couldn't have even comprehended, you know, how that would be possible for me. 

[00:10:33] Andrea Elibero: That's so true. Like, you cannot predict the journey, I feel like. You just gotta start the journey. And to think about where you start out versus where you are now versus where you're going to go, like this course you're doing, this is something you never would have predicted that you would have been doing, right?

[00:10:49] Andrea Elibero: Even a 

[00:10:50] Sam Whisnant: year ago, I would have been like, Oh, no, I wouldn't make something like that. I wouldn't do something like that. And the opportunity came up and I was like, you know, Who am I to not go for opportunities that, you know, knock on my door. So, yeah. 

[00:11:04] Andrea Elibero: And I love what you said too, about the systems. You're like, I don't have an MBA, so I'm not qualified to do this.

[00:11:10] Andrea Elibero: And this is so, I mean, this is the imposter syndrome in one foot, you know, there's a gazillion forms that it comes in and I'm sure everybody listening can relate to this. Oh, I can't do that. Cause I don't have, you know, X training or this or that or whatever. And, you know, similar to you, I have the background of.

[00:11:25] Andrea Elibero: Science and psychology and whatnot, but not of how do you run a business, you know, like that wasn't my background and it's really beautiful that in this industry, literally like Google and YouTube, you can learn anything and. You don't need to train, you know, and whatnot. You can really, really learn.

[00:11:49] Andrea Elibero: Obviously, of course, it's, it's useful to, to have mentors and have coaches and things like that and kind of smooth the process along. Uh, but in terms of skill sets and whatnot, you don't have to have a background in anything. You have to be able to identify really what lights you up. What are you kind of geared?

[00:12:07] Andrea Elibero: Like, what are you good at? And clients don't necessarily expect you to be. The master of the thing, right? They expect you to figure it out. They don't have the time and you get to learn and each level you go, you get a higher level of client. So it's really beautiful that you get to learn as you go and you really just get to develop these skills as you go along and you don't need them at the beginning.

[00:12:31] Sam Whisnant: 100%. And that's something like I, you know, I'm teaching in my course as well as your, just what you said, your client, you do not have to know everything. You are allowed to say, I don't know, you know, I don't know the answer to that question. I don't know the solution at this time. Um, but just using yet and your vocabulary, like, I don't know that yet, but yeah, I will go and figure it out.

[00:12:54] Sam Whisnant: And I think. One of the biggest tips I can give to any service provider, but especially VAs and OPMs is, you know, if you run into a problem or if your client comes to you with a potential problem, go back to them with potential solutions. Right. It takes us 10 minutes or less probably to Google. Oh, you know, if I'm having this problem.

[00:13:15] Sam Whisnant: Here's like some options I could do, even if you've never experienced before, but maybe you have experienced it with another client, or maybe you go to them and they say, Hey, I actually have dealt with this before. I know what to do. But just the act of you putting forth that effort of Here's the problem, but I have like one to two solutions.

[00:13:33] Sam Whisnant: I'd love to share with you, you know, number one is going to be more expensive. Number two is going to be more time costly. So whichever one you think, you know, will work best. I'm happy to execute it shows so much leadership and just care. You know, proactivity in, in the business and it builds that client relationship.

[00:13:53] Sam Whisnant: So, so, so well. So I think, yeah, having that figured out mindset, being able to say, I don't know, but like also being able to critically think and come up with some potential solutions. Yes, 

[00:14:05] Andrea Elibero: and it really is as easy as googling. Like, it really, really is. Yeah, it 

[00:14:08] Sam Whisnant: really is. I google everything. Mm hmm. You know, I have for dinner tonight?

[00:14:15] Sam Whisnant: Like, google, you know. Yeah, yeah. Google is my best friend. 

[00:14:19] Andrea Elibero: I know, and you and I have been in this game for a minute. I started in 2019, so I think it's like around the same time. Oh, yeah, I I'm still googling things, you know. I don't know everything. But, I know. I was 

[00:14:31] Sam Whisnant: on Customer Service. Customer support, like on Monday, you know, just asking, Oh, they're having this problem and Google's not telling me anything.

[00:14:39] Sam Whisnant: So customer support is like my best friend. I'm like, hello, your job is to help me to answer my questions. 

[00:14:45] Andrea Elibero: And I tell my clients too, right. I tell like my OVM clients like, Oh, let me, I'm going to have support about this. Like I don't care that I don't know. But yeah, it's great. And it's great that they all have these chats.

[00:14:57] Sam Whisnant: Love it. Yeah. I love the chat feature. 

[00:15:02] Andrea Elibero: Hey, let's talk about hurdles in your personal scaling journey when you're growing your business and trying to figure out what you want to do. What has been your biggest hurdle? 

[00:15:10] Sam Whisnant: Definitely mindset. I think like we've talked about, and I'm sure you understand coming from just, you know, a non business background.

[00:15:17] Sam Whisnant: It feels like I was always climbing an uphill. Journey of I have to learn so much. I'm behind. I need to catch up. Um, I have to take, you know, 500 million courses and be coached by 10 people at a time. And I've just realized, especially this past year, like that most, you know, there are things you do need to learn.

[00:15:39] Sam Whisnant: There are skills. Of course, I've had to learn to work with clients and do what I do. And, you know, I didn't, it wasn't born knowing how to use ClickUp. Like that's definitely something I learned in the past. Couple years, but there is so much to be said for that, having that confidence and, you know, understanding your own mindset and how you approach situations and.

[00:16:00] Sam Whisnant: You know, understanding where you're self sabotaging yourself, where you're holding yourself back, um, where, what scares you, you know, about growing a business and potentially being in front of people or putting yourself out there being visible. I think even being on podcasts with something for years, I couldn't have never imagined myself doing.

[00:16:19] Sam Whisnant: And then it was, I came to a point where I was like, why not? Like, why, why is that not possible? Why am I making that not possible for me? So mindset is definitely the biggest hurdle and the biggest thing that I work on, like, basically on a daily basis at this point. Um, but it's definitely the most important thing, I think, as well.

[00:16:38] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I have my favorite story, favorite story. So this comes from, again, an OBM client, um, seven figure business where she Sleep trains. She has a huge business about sleep training babies now and she wanted to do this online like a very and she charges a lot of money, right? So she is very successful doing this for years charges a lot of money.

[00:17:03] Andrea Elibero: She wanted to create this online very affordable program that was the same based on the same thing. And she was like, Oh, do I know what I'm talking about? Do I can I can I do this? So these thoughts. The good news, the bad news is that these imposter syndrome thoughts don't go away. The good news is that they actually mean that you're growing and they mean that you are pushing the boundary because we don't have these thoughts when we're sitting on the couch watching Netflix, right?

[00:17:36] Andrea Elibero: That doesn't happen because we're chill, like, We're not in danger. Our nervous system is calm. But when we're growing and doing these amazing things, these thoughts come. So it's really about having the tools to deal with it. When these thoughts come, what do I do? Having a plan, having the tools, and the most, most, most important thing is not to let it And you really learn to just say, okay, like, yeah, I'm scared, but I'm going to do it.

[00:18:00] Andrea Elibero: Whatever. Well, like, here we go. 

[00:18:02] Sam Whisnant: Definitely. I think that's the biggest thing I've learned is like the thoughts never really go away, but you know, it's like, I can have the thoughts and then open up top and be like, okay, I'm going to get, get on with my life now and get on with what I need to do. It's not something that, you know, stops me on a daily basis anymore.

[00:18:19] Sam Whisnant: And I think it is something that's up to you. It's, it's definitely something to look into. Create that tool belt, like you said. Yes, 

[00:18:26] Andrea Elibero: like super important, especially if this is your dream, right? Like both of us moved abroad, we're living these lives, like you were just traveling around all over the place, like you're living this beautiful life that you wouldn't have been able to live if you weren't doing this.

[00:18:37] Andrea Elibero: And can you imagine if you let those imposter syndrome thoughts stop you from doing this, what would you be doing now, you know? Yeah, 

[00:18:43] Sam Whisnant: I literally could not be doing that. I think about that sometimes and I'm like, whoa, it would be a complete 180 of a different person. I think. Hmm. 

[00:18:54] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. And it's also like, it's also lots of babbling here, but it also teaches you skills that like, at least for me that I carry into my regular life too.

[00:19:05] Andrea Elibero: And I feel like I've been able to grow so much as a human from having this business that it's really a beautiful, it's a crazy journey, but it's a beautiful journey that really helps you to grow. 

[00:19:15] Sam Whisnant: I totally agree. I honestly think entrepreneurship is like such a huge personal development journey. And if you're not willing to go on the personal development, as well as, you know, professional development, you're not going to be successful or fulfilled.

[00:19:29] Sam Whisnant: Like your fulfillment and success comes just as much from your personal development and your mindset. And, you know, just deciding for yourself when you have enough and what is even success. On to you, as you know, as growing a business and having money and having all the wins as well. Yes, 

[00:19:48] Andrea Elibero: I love that you said that.

[00:19:50] Andrea Elibero: What is success to you? Because I feel like we are being fed the story of success is a seven figure business. This is not and you have employees and whatever That's not success to me. That's not what I want. And so really figuring out first what success is to you and working backwards to that from that is really key to this whole journey and not really letting yourself be pressured into doing whatever thing that like business coach Betty tells you that you have to do to grow your business and make it like, yeah, like whatever way, because really it needs to be what you want it to be and that 

[00:20:26] Sam Whisnant: makes you happy.

[00:20:27] Sam Whisnant: And I think when we define it, we realize we are. So much closer to success than we ever pictured. I know, at least for me, that's. What has happened where I'm like, Oh, it's that exercise, like write down your ideal day, write down your perfect day. I'm like, well, I already do 75 percent of this, you know, I'm on a good track there.

[00:20:46] Sam Whisnant: And the other 25 percent is not not something that's that crazy. You know, it's not something that's out of reach necessarily. It's maybe just something I need to carve out more time for. Or, you know, actually sign up for that gym membership. 

[00:20:58] Andrea Elibero: Right. That's awesome. I love that. I think it's so inspirational that in just a few years, you went from general VA to, to, you know, having all these projects with your six figure business, working with clients that you love doing these things and having your time, or at least what it seems relatively flexible.

[00:21:16] Andrea Elibero: And it seems like you're, you're You know, you've really carved out this beautiful life, which is amazing. Um, on that note, what is the top scaling tip that you've learned on your journey that you would love to share? 

[00:21:28] Sam Whisnant: Oh, that's such a good question. And thank you very much for, you know, everything you've said.

[00:21:32] Sam Whisnant: I, I truly, it's been a crazy, crazy journey, but I think the top scaling tip I could say is. Just, you know, practice resilience, like be, be a problem solver, practice resilience. I think resilience is, you know, it's a muscle that can be built. You're going to run into a lot of roadblocks and times on this journey where you're going to feel like nothing's working.

[00:21:54] Sam Whisnant: You know, this was me last week. I'm like, nothing's working. Everything's falling apart. What am I even doing? You know, you're going to have those moments or you're going to run into, you know, low months and then you're going to have high months where you're like, everything's amazing. But resilience is just, you know, learning how to keep going, learning how to pivot, just keeping the needle moving.

[00:22:14] Sam Whisnant: I think really the only fail, you know, that quote, the only failure is quitting. I truly, truly believe that because how can you fail if you, you know, if you keep going, whether that's in, you know, a specific direction, or if you decide, you know, you need to change and evolve, um, and, you know, change your business as you evolve.

[00:22:31] Sam Whisnant: I think there's nothing wrong with that. As long as you just. Keep going. If this really, really is your dream, don't give up on that. Just because, you know, a few things get in the way. 

[00:22:42] Andrea Elibero: 1, 000%. 1, 000%. The only failure is quitting. And exactly. If this is really your dream and what you want to do. We're going to make it work and 

[00:22:53] Sam Whisnant: yeah, you, you will all in 

[00:22:55] Andrea Elibero: good time.

[00:22:56] Andrea Elibero: Yes. And also like doing it. And without this pressure of like, Oh, I need to make my 10 K months. And in the six weeks that they tell me that I have to do it. Like, you know what I mean? I feel like there's like such a funny balance there where, where it is a journey and there's things we can do to clarify the journey and make it a bit smoother, but it's still a journey.

[00:23:13] Andrea Elibero: So give yourself some grace 

[00:23:15] Sam Whisnant: to like on this journey. Definitely. Cause I, I definitely struggled with that. Like comparison mindset of. Oh, you know, I'm not going fast enough or, you know, whatever, doing whatever. And I think I just, it's just, you're just taking eyes away from like what you're doing, like what your focus is, what you focus on is what grows.

[00:23:36] Sam Whisnant: Right. And if you're focusing on something else, you're not going to grow and you're not going to continue. You know, scaling, so definitely just try to keep your blinders on as much as possible love 

[00:23:47] Andrea Elibero: it. And one other question relating back to, um, your business structure currently is so you do a lot of project based work.

[00:23:58] Andrea Elibero: And was this something that. Created any sort of anxiety in terms of, Oh, I have to, when you do project based work, you're, you're having to get new clients, right? You're having to, cause it's projects. So they're not these one to two year long relationships. So how do you manage 

[00:24:13] Sam Whisnant: that? 100%. That's such a good question.

[00:24:17] Sam Whisnant: And I think for a while I did a balance. So I had retainer clients and was doing project based work. The reason I started doing project based work was like, there was just a need. Um, of people who were coming to me at the time who were like, They didn't need the retainer. They really just needed like the systems built.

[00:24:34] Sam Whisnant: And that was how I created my offer. So I think starting out on a retainer was obviously super, super helpful to me because it allowed me to find my own process. So I would definitely say if you want to do project based work, like, make sure you have a good process. That's very, very easy to sell. Um, and it's very, very understandable by, you know, just the average clients.

[00:24:56] Sam Whisnant: And yeah, and it is, it is true. Like you do have to have more clients. And so for me, that's, you know, just means putting in a plan of Hey, okay. I'm going to need more visibility. I'm going to need to be on social media a bit more, you know, I'm going to have to be growing my audience actively. I'm going to have to do that.

[00:25:14] Sam Whisnant: I'm going to guest on podcasts. I'm going to do collaborations. I'm going to make a few more reels. And, you know, it's, there are ways to compensate for that. I think You just have to be willing to do those things, right? And for me, I really love doing the project based work. So I'm also willing to, you know, put in the extra effort to get those clients.

[00:25:36] Sam Whisnant: Um, but if you don't want that and you don't want to put in the extra effort, which that was me, you know, maybe six months ago, eight months ago, then it's like, okay, well, I'll maybe take a project when it comes, but otherwise I'm just going to have to. You know, figure out something else. 

[00:25:52] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. I love that.

[00:25:53] Andrea Elibero: It's really all about alignment. Okay. This is what feels good. I love doing this. So what do I need to do to make it happen? And having that plan and I'm sure, or I'm guessing at least for you, that that plan makes it feel more secure. 

[00:26:04] Sam Whisnant: Like, yeah, 100%. Like I, when you know what works in your business and you know how to get clients, then.

[00:26:11] Sam Whisnant: You know what you need to be doing every day, right? Like, I know I, you know, need to be pitching podcasts once a week, or I know I would like to be guessing on a certain amount, or at least doing a certain amount of collaborations a month, or posting a certain number of times a week, or doing lead gen, it's...

[00:26:28] Sam Whisnant: There's so many things you can do to grow your business and you don't have to do everything for sure. Don't do everything, but pick your thing, 

[00:26:35] Andrea Elibero: right? Don't do everything, but pick 

[00:26:39] Sam Whisnant: your few things that work for you and do those really, really well. Be, be great at them. And when they work, they will work. You won't need to be doing, you know, the 500 other things.

[00:26:51] Andrea Elibero: Love it. Love it. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing all of those amazing tips and about your journey. Um, let everybody know how we can stay in touch with you, any gifts, anything like that. This is your time. Tell everyone. Thank 

[00:27:04] Sam Whisnant: you. Thank you for having me. It's always such a pleasure talking to you.

[00:27:09] Sam Whisnant: And yeah, you can find me on Instagram at SamWhizzz. It's S A M W H I Z Z Z. And I do have a private podcast feed called Systems Simplified. So if you want to learn more about systems and You know, which systems I recommend you start with in your business to make more money while just working less overall, then definitely check that out.

[00:27:30] Sam Whisnant: It is in the link in my bio. 

[00:27:33] Andrea Elibero: Beautiful. I'm going to go download that 

[00:27:36] Sam Whisnant: now. 

[00:27:37] Andrea Elibero: Thank you, Sam. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way.

[00:27:53] Andrea Elibero: Head on over to DancingLeafSolutions. com slash resources for free tools to help you do just that. And thank you again for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspire me every day.