Strategy Stacking, Drivers for Breaking Free From a Desk Job, and the Art of Staying Delusional to Achieve Goals with Shannon Lutz

In this episode, we chat with Shannon Lutz, an entrepreneur and founder of the online business called The Social Bungalow, a physical coffee shop called Bungalow Coffee, and a catering arm.  Shannon is an open book and shares her journey away from corporate to starting all three businesses and the evolution of her own approach to social interactions to stay energized and recharged.

The conversation covers her transition from a corporate employee to a self-dependent entrepreneur and goes on to discuss the strategies and challenges she surmounted in achieving success in both digital and brick-and-mortar businesses during COVID.

We also get into discussion about her upbringing, inspiration, her philosophy of strategy stacking while building businesses, and tips for people who wish to follow a similar route.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:08 Shannon's Journey from Corporate to Entrepreneurship
• 3:05 Navigating the Shift to Entrepreneurship
• 6:27 Embracing the Entrepreneurial Mindset
• 16:14 Strategy Stacking
• 18:24 A Day in the Life of a Multi-Business Owner
• 20:29 Finding Confidence
• 23:39 Personality Traits for Growth
• 27:59 Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Transcript

00:00:00.550 [Music]
00:00:17.520 hi everyone welcome to this episode of
00:00:19.880 the gateless podcast this episode we sat
00:00:23.119 down with Shannon Lutz of the social
00:00:25.680 Bungalow Shannon is so articulate
00:00:29.000 well-spoken
00:00:30.359 confident you'll really enjoy listening
00:00:32.558 to her speak and tell her story she has
00:00:35.480 a really cool story about her
00:00:37.480 motivations and drivers from moving away
00:00:41.000 from a corporate job into
00:00:42.640 entrepreneurship and she didn't just
00:00:45.000 start one business during covid but she
00:00:48.520 started three and in a scenario where
00:00:53.559 some of the odds may have been against
00:00:55.280 her she's an open book and she shares
00:00:57.920 her journey along the way
00:01:00.519 from that pivot from corporate to
00:01:02.480 entrepreneurship and how she tackled a
00:01:05.080 lot of different strategies
00:01:07.400 simultaneously in a really methodical
00:01:09.840 way we get into her upbringing her
00:01:13.439 inspiration for what she does her
00:01:15.560 philosophy of strategy stacking which is
00:01:18.320 super cool I'm definitely using that and
00:01:21.600 applying it to my own life and
00:01:23.520 businesses this episode is for you if
00:01:25.680 you're craving more freedom in your life
00:01:27.759 and you don't want to be tied to a desk
00:01:29.280 anymore this episode's for you if you
00:01:31.560 feel like you've really evolved socially
00:01:34.799 in recent years and maybe spent some
00:01:37.880 time in your 20s or just earlier in your
00:01:40.240 life overcompensating trying to be an
00:01:42.000 extrovert when really you feel drawn to
00:01:44.920 alone time and recharging alone and
00:01:47.040 there's been an evolution there and it's
00:01:49.880 really for you if you're somebody who
00:01:51.600 likes methodologies and hacks to tackle
00:01:54.399 a lot of different strategies the right
00:01:56.159 way and apply them to your life and to
00:01:57.880 your business so with that
00:02:00.360 welcome to the gatess podcast Shannon
00:02:03.159 all right welcome Shannon thank you so
00:02:05.200 much for being here we're so excited to
00:02:07.399 chat with you today so to start us off
00:02:10.080 can you just give us a quick overview of
00:02:12.360 who you are and what you're doing right
00:02:14.360 now
00:02:16.239 yeah well thank right now I'm so excited
00:02:20.319 so I own the social Bungalow which is an
00:02:22.440 online business that helps other online
00:02:24.200 businesses take their expertise and turn
00:02:26.040 it into something monetizable on the
00:02:27.879 Internet and then Market that for profit
00:02:30.440 but from there we then bursted a coffee
00:02:33.000 shop which we call Bungalow coffee in
00:02:34.879 Las Vegas and then from there we then
00:02:37.360 bursted a catering arm of it as well so
00:02:40.319 I am spread in a couple interestingly
00:02:42.280 different directions between brick and
00:02:44.040 mortar and catering and then online but
00:02:46.599 it's really fun just being in like the
00:02:48.360 bungal Odeon of all of it and doing it
00:02:50.680 as best as I can I love your business so
00:02:53.080 much I'm obsessed with your Instagram
00:02:55.080 all your posts the coffee shop I'm like
00:02:57.080 this is goals and to have a coffee shop
00:02:59.959 and just to work on your online business
00:03:02.400 at your coffee shop like what a Dream
00:03:04.280 It's amazing so tell us a little bit
00:03:06.599 about before the so social Bungalow
00:03:09.280 where you were at and what you were
00:03:10.640 doing before yeah so I was in corporate
00:03:13.920 doing marketing for 10 years prior to
00:03:15.799 kind of getting the like knock that I
00:03:17.239 could do it on my own um and I also am
00:03:19.760 glad that I waited and didn't jump
00:03:21.000 sooner because the social media and the
00:03:23.720 internet at large just got so much more
00:03:25.480 advanced to where you really did have so
00:03:27.159 many more opportunities online um but
00:03:29.319 that was five six years ago now so at
00:03:31.640 that point I had done um director of
00:03:34.519 marketing esque roles for a Publishing
00:03:36.480 Company a Fitness franchise and then
00:03:38.640 some low-key smaller companies as well
00:03:40.840 some retailers some um independent
00:03:43.280 contractor type work and that was all
00:03:45.879 really fun really good got to sharpen my
00:03:48.200 chops meet some great people um but you
00:03:50.599 definitely get to the point where you're
00:03:52.079 like okay I don't need to be Shackled to
00:03:53.680 this desk so much more distribution that
00:03:55.760 I can do with the skill set than I have
00:03:57.920 my fixed salary and my little bonus and
00:03:59.879 my little raise and I just want to break
00:04:01.680 out of this and do something else so
00:04:04.480 what was your like role when you were in
00:04:06.599 corporate like you so you were doing
00:04:08.159 marketing what was like what did that
00:04:09.840 like kind of look like so for the
00:04:12.959 publishing company I was VP of marketing
00:04:15.680 in general over the arm of the
00:04:16.959 non-fiction author authors and so with
00:04:20.000 them I would help them Market their
00:04:21.320 books so it would kind of straddle PR a
00:04:23.479 little bit as well to where we would
00:04:24.880 talk about um their book tour and like
00:04:27.280 talking with Barnes & Noble about like
00:04:29.039 endcap negotiations press releases but
00:04:31.800 then also their social strategy their
00:04:33.400 press kits in the publishing world
00:04:35.160 there's a really fun thing where you
00:04:36.240 send out G which is an early version of
00:04:38.400 the book to get all your quotes and your
00:04:40.560 early you know kind of like case study
00:04:42.400 so making those lists and doing that and
00:04:44.919 then I moved from there to a Fitness
00:04:46.639 franchise and I was specifically over
00:04:49.080 the expansion in their corporate
00:04:50.960 locations because we made a partnership
00:04:52.680 with 24-Hour Fitness where they were
00:04:54.280 getting Boutique Fitness Studios this is
00:04:56.199 way too detailed but they were getting
00:04:57.880 Boutique Studios and so I was over that
00:04:59.880 and I got shipped around to a lot of
00:05:01.520 locations as well to help them roll out
00:05:03.360 all of this so lots of fun travel but
00:05:05.720 really just helping to scale that brand
00:05:07.120 too okay so I'm curious what point in
00:05:11.240 your career you were how did the social
00:05:13.479 Bungalow start what did it look like in
00:05:15.880 the very beginning what was there
00:05:17.199 something that you were doing in your
00:05:18.360 career that you were like okay wait I
00:05:19.919 think I see a need for this in outside
00:05:22.520 of this that I can do myself like how
00:05:24.360 did that like transition start it
00:05:27.120 actually started with my I had a code
00:05:29.560 director of marketing at the Fitness
00:05:30.680 franchise who was over some of the
00:05:32.160 franchisees so we kind of straddled and
00:05:34.960 he also was kind of getting the the call
00:05:36.919 the poll to hey we could do this on our
00:05:38.759 own and we work so well together so we
00:05:40.800 together started the social Bungalow and
00:05:42.440 it was technically we called ourselves
00:05:44.039 your outsourc directors of marketing and
00:05:46.120 we helped local businesses to start and
00:05:47.880 we were looking to get more digital and
00:05:49.919 then he and his fiance ended up moving
00:05:51.639 to San Diego from Vegas and he's do we
00:05:54.000 with this fledgling business make it a
00:05:55.840 dual State situation or do we just want
00:05:57.919 to fold right now and I was like I'm
00:06:00.240 open to folding if you'll let me keep
00:06:01.919 the name because I have a vision and I
00:06:03.960 felt so silly saying it at the time I
00:06:05.560 was like I kind of want to be a speaker
00:06:07.039 and I want to be on podcast and I want
00:06:08.560 to make courses and he's pop off so I
00:06:12.160 think and from there that was when it
00:06:14.800 was actually a really beautiful
00:06:16.360 transition for me because I did it with
00:06:17.840 a partner we did it with some Capital we
00:06:19.720 did it with you know two people and then
00:06:22.039 I was able to use that nestate to fully
00:06:24.199 go into what it was now so it wasn't so
00:06:25.919 Stark ah interesting you mentioned that
00:06:28.599 you realized you this skill set that was
00:06:30.680 obviously really applicable to your
00:06:31.919 corporate jobs but you could be doing it
00:06:34.000 so much more you didn't need to be
00:06:35.160 Shackled to the desk and Shackled to
00:06:37.560 those Brands did you how did you come to
00:06:40.120 that realization did you have somebody
00:06:41.800 telling you like girl you should be
00:06:43.639 doing this on your own you could soar
00:06:46.759 from there or was it just watching other
00:06:49.000 people do it online I'm so curious where
00:06:51.639 you even got the confidence yeah great
00:06:54.199 qu me too I don't know if I really had
00:06:56.160 anybody telling me that just because I
00:06:57.680 was kind of a traditional path follower
00:06:59.199 in the people in my life were as well
00:07:00.680 and so it was more like let's climb the
00:07:02.599 corporate ranks than it was let go take
00:07:04.400 the scary move I think definitely
00:07:05.919 watching some people online throughout
00:07:07.680 the years but and this is super silly
00:07:10.319 but I wanted the freedom of I I was like
00:07:14.000 I love all the health in the biohacking
00:07:15.680 thing so I would come to the office with
00:07:17.400 my lemon squeezer and my tinctures and
00:07:19.240 all of these things i' like f k total
00:07:21.680 bag lady and it was just exhausting
00:07:24.240 every day to have to go and do this and
00:07:26.199 then you know break out my little life I
00:07:27.680 just want to go on a walk at 2 p.m. and
00:07:29.599 so there was this call for this small
00:07:31.759 nuanced component of Freedom that I just
00:07:34.360 wanted to be home and do it I'm like why
00:07:36.199 there was no like wroo work from home at
00:07:38.639 that point pre-co and all of that so not
00:07:41.240 an option and I just wanted more freedom
00:07:43.919 and I think also than the financial
00:07:45.400 component even though it's scary you got
00:07:47.000 that little bit of impostor that you're
00:07:48.720 like is this really pable for me and um
00:07:52.960 and so I think for a lot of us when we
00:07:54.479 start our businesses we do have that
00:07:56.080 heart for impact and supporting other
00:07:58.240 people but there's still such a huge
00:08:00.000 component that is honestly selfish but
00:08:01.879 in a great way because it gets you
00:08:03.000 started and it keeps you going strong
00:08:05.080 that you say I just want to break free
00:08:07.319 for me and I want to prove to myself
00:08:09.000 that I can do this and that's really how
00:08:10.840 it started for me I resonate with that a
00:08:13.879 lot especially the being obsessed with
00:08:17.039 biohacking and how hard that is to stay
00:08:20.240 in the routines that you have for
00:08:21.360 yourself to be at your Optimal
00:08:22.560 Performance when you're in a corporate
00:08:23.840 job I didn't want a global pandemic
00:08:26.159 where a lot of people suffered but I it
00:08:28.759 was oh my God I get to work from home
00:08:30.599 now forever and that's normal and I can
00:08:33.360 go on the 2 p.m walk and have my 17
00:08:37.080 different little liposomal or lip ofal
00:08:41.000 whatever squeezy packs that I want to
00:08:42.760 take totally totally resonate with that
00:08:44.560 and it makes sense that that was the
00:08:45.640 motivation like freedom and just being
00:08:47.519 able to do it for yourself and prove it
00:08:49.440 to yourself that you didn't need to be
00:08:51.480 tied to a brand as a security blanket
00:08:54.040 you could build the brand yourself okay
00:08:56.399 so thinking back to the early days of or
00:08:59.920 maybe even just when you decided to full
00:09:02.040 on make the pivot where was your mindset
00:09:05.839 where was your head space was it an
00:09:08.040 insecure time for you or was it a you
00:09:10.880 were kind of surprised by the confidence
00:09:12.600 that you have to do it I it under I feel
00:09:14.440 like you had your why but what was the
00:09:17.079 headp space like yeah great question I
00:09:19.399 think that there is such beauty when
00:09:21.040 you're starting a b business in some of
00:09:22.800 the green some of the ignorance that you
00:09:24.880 don't know the full scope of the
00:09:26.160 mountain because otherwise that's where
00:09:27.959 the real terror would set it
00:09:29.680 and that's kind of how it was with the
00:09:30.760 coffee shop too I look back at the
00:09:32.880 volume of things we learned and I like
00:09:35.160 think my lucky stars that we got truly
00:09:37.240 lucky on a couple of things that could
00:09:38.760 have gone terribly wrong I had no idea
00:09:40.920 that those things were things so there's
00:09:42.800 a a level of just all I know is right in
00:09:44.880 front of my face and I think that's also
00:09:46.480 a huge blessing when you're going out
00:09:48.279 and doing this for the first time
00:09:49.399 because all you know is to put one foot
00:09:50.959 in front of the other so I'm just going
00:09:52.839 to make the social post and make the
00:09:54.760 offer and publish the freebie and then
00:09:56.720 get on the sales call step by step by
00:09:58.839 step and then oh my gosh I have a client
00:10:00.600 but I didn't overwhelm myself with the
00:10:02.399 massive I got to build a brand and I
00:10:04.120 need a humongous email list and all of
00:10:06.200 the tactics I can pull you in a zillion
00:10:07.839 directions because it wasn't quite clear
00:10:09.640 on exactly what needed to happen except
00:10:12.120 for just the brass tax of selling an
00:10:14.040 offer and
00:10:15.480 facilitating that could not be more true
00:10:17.800 I always say to Haley and a bunch of
00:10:19.760 people have said this but if you're not
00:10:21.120 delusional you're not living and it's so
00:10:24.079 nice to not know all the things that
00:10:25.640 could go wrong and the small percentage
00:10:27.640 chance that you have succeeding doesn't
00:10:29.279 need to be the thing that you're
00:10:30.200 thinking about because I feel like it's
00:10:31.519 really paralyzing in a lot of ways you
00:10:33.200 won't even start you won't even make the
00:10:34.519 ask you won't even go for it um so
00:10:36.800 holding on to that you said it really
00:10:39.079 eloquently like it's a bit of ignorance
00:10:41.120 but it's also blind confidence in
00:10:43.440 yourself like I can do anything why not
00:10:45.760 me other people can do it why not me yep
00:10:48.480 why not me absolutely so when you
00:10:51.320 started on the entrepreneurial path did
00:10:53.760 you notice that you had to start
00:10:55.120 investing in things differently than you
00:10:58.040 were as you were in your corporate job
00:11:00.639 either investing in yourself in a
00:11:02.279 different way like did you need more
00:11:04.200 alone time than you needed before did
00:11:06.079 you need a different routine different
00:11:07.880 self-care different like things that you
00:11:10.440 were consuming to keep you grounded and
00:11:13.240 fueled in the right way that looked
00:11:15.160 different than when you were at your
00:11:16.480 corporate job yeah I would say because
00:11:19.120 you'd have eight hours plus you know
00:11:21.160 however much for a commute gobbled up by
00:11:23.760 this corporate company when you had your
00:11:25.920 sacred morning and evening alone time
00:11:28.000 it's what do I want to consume I want
00:11:30.320 something that's going to be light
00:11:31.680 distracting fill me up fun TV fiction
00:11:34.240 books not you know podcasts that are
00:11:36.160 about personal development and books
00:11:37.480 that are of the same but then when you
00:11:39.720 get into this online space and every
00:11:41.600 single year or Milestone it's new level
00:11:44.079 new double new level new Devil I just
00:11:45.519 didn't even know this would be a thing
00:11:46.720 or that would be a thing there's such a
00:11:50.160 an input of course you need to be
00:11:51.560 careful about like comparison
00:11:52.680 distraction and shiny object but an
00:11:54.440 input that's needed to keep you going
00:11:56.839 every day and I I'm a huge podcast
00:11:59.000 listener so I will just oscillate around
00:12:00.959 whatever kind of catches my eye that day
00:12:02.519 for what I feel I need sometimes I'm
00:12:04.360 like where's the Practical tacticals
00:12:05.839 other days I really want a conversation
00:12:07.399 like this to just see what kind of comes
00:12:09.040 out of it for me and what I I feel
00:12:11.000 really renewed in hearing other people
00:12:13.240 have similar experiences and how they
00:12:15.160 made it happen so yeah I mean good
00:12:17.320 question I I would say the main
00:12:19.199 difference has just been more input but
00:12:22.160 balancing that input for myself along
00:12:24.639 the way and then investing in mentorship
00:12:27.360 and Community to be able to get in rooms
00:12:29.839 with women where you feel safe and you
00:12:31.600 can all share um and of course again
00:12:35.240 practical tactical you've got courses
00:12:36.920 and in books and all that good when you
00:12:38.199 were talking earlier about starting the
00:12:40.480 coffee shop once you had you know the
00:12:42.720 social Bungalow I was curious what point
00:12:45.440 in the social Bungalow did you decide
00:12:48.199 I'm going to start a coffee shop I feel
00:12:50.040 like that's it's crazy you already have
00:12:51.920 a business and you're ready to start
00:12:53.160 another one I'm so curious about that
00:12:55.399 definitely crazy and it was like in the
00:12:56.720 middle of a little bit of a p little
00:12:59.560 pandemic so that was weird
00:13:04.320 buty you have so many you have so many
00:13:07.040 fun cute sayings it's so fun to listen
00:13:09.079 to you speak great my husband and I when
00:13:11.880 we first started dating maybe one of our
00:13:13.560 first dates we were like I want to own a
00:13:15.199 coffee shop I want to own a coffee shop
00:13:16.880 I mean who doesn't so we had that little
00:13:19.040 fun thing and then we got really into
00:13:21.360 coffee together so to the Somalia level
00:13:24.199 to where we were like talking about the
00:13:25.600 farms and all of that fun stuff and
00:13:28.160 social bung had done really well and we
00:13:30.760 had a nice nest egg and we were looking
00:13:32.279 to buy a home and we were at the point
00:13:35.320 of final chance for everything and then
00:13:38.320 the pandemic hits and so they were like
00:13:40.120 you have one more chance to pull thing
00:13:42.199 um or you know you're going to kind of
00:13:44.399 lose it and so we made the call to just
00:13:45.839 pull out because we didn't know what
00:13:46.800 would happen so we had this then Nest
00:13:49.240 Egg of money that we weren't spending on
00:13:50.759 that and we were like well you know keep
00:13:52.480 it andest it what do we do with it and
00:13:54.519 at the same time unfortunately a coffee
00:13:56.320 shop was going out of business due to
00:13:57.639 the pandemic and so the um space was
00:14:00.040 open for lease and for some crazy reason
00:14:02.959 like you said delusional dulu is the
00:14:04.959 culu I 100% was like oh I could do that
00:14:09.480 like this whole coffee shop and they
00:14:10.959 were a coffee company that had other
00:14:12.480 locations couldn't Hawk it but I'll
00:14:15.240 figure it out so we assumed their lease
00:14:17.720 and we did a basically like an asset
00:14:19.480 sale as well which was great because we
00:14:21.279 got machines and we got bunch of stuff
00:14:23.399 to start with that we didn't already
00:14:24.639 have we also got some training from the
00:14:26.759 current staff and management and and um
00:14:29.440 they kind of turned the keys over to us
00:14:30.920 we remodeled it and we opened 6 months
00:14:34.040 later basically um while we were doing
00:14:36.399 that though I decided to assume not just
00:14:38.920 the first store and it was about six
00:14:40.680 months later when we opened and I used a
00:14:43.440 lot of my digital tactics that we do on
00:14:45.600 the social Bungalow side for the coffee
00:14:47.399 shop and I think that that was a big
00:14:49.279 differentiator for us because we opened
00:14:51.079 with a really big bang and that then set
00:14:54.000 us up for a good first six months in
00:14:55.880 order to get as much foot traffic from
00:14:57.880 of course new people people through the
00:14:59.360 door as possible to then form regulars
00:15:02.240 and we're in an area of town that is
00:15:04.519 more of an event like you go there to
00:15:06.199 shop it's not in Suburbia and we don't
00:15:08.279 have a drive-thru so we're not your
00:15:09.600 everyday Starbucks we're the like I'm
00:15:11.320 going to go shop and get a coffee which
00:15:13.360 also was kind of setting us up for a lot
00:15:16.440 of how are we going to get enough people
00:15:17.839 to come down here every day and come
00:15:19.079 into the store also there's four other
00:15:20.639 coffee shops within a two block radius
00:15:22.440 of us wild stuff but one of the biggest
00:15:25.160 things that really made the difference
00:15:26.800 was that because there are so many
00:15:29.360 competitors on the street and then it's
00:15:31.040 not a go to Suburbia spot every day that
00:15:34.319 we knew we needed some way to increase
00:15:36.360 the ticket price because you just coming
00:15:38.199 to get one latte is not going to be able
00:15:39.920 to pay the bills so we got with a chef
00:15:43.120 and rolled out a full food program on a
00:15:45.199 very limited kitchen which we're super
00:15:47.279 proud of and that definitely made a
00:15:48.959 humongous difference so with the you
00:15:51.920 know how do you know if you're ready or
00:15:54.000 knowing enough to get started sometimes
00:15:55.839 you just get into it and if you know
00:15:57.560 that you're a resourceful person you
00:15:59.319 will then say okay well this is my new
00:16:01.480 situation and now with this I never
00:16:03.680 thought about ticket prices before but I
00:16:05.160 need to increase ticket prices food menu
00:16:07.199 and from here I need to train the staff
00:16:08.639 on upsells and from here I need to roll
00:16:10.199 out a merch line so that everything gets
00:16:11.839 higher and higher and higher and it it
00:16:13.880 just builds as it goes I talk a lot
00:16:15.959 about strategy stacking instead of
00:16:17.839 trying to do everything out of the gate
00:16:19.759 because that's where you do get
00:16:20.680 paralyzed and if you can kind of get one
00:16:22.560 plate spinning you'll start to build on
00:16:24.319 top of it versus feeling like everything
00:16:26.600 has to be done at once Which business
00:16:28.120 owners and life you always feel like
00:16:30.680 everything is buying for top priority
00:16:32.399 but we've got to stack them on top of
00:16:33.920 each other so we can get to that higher
00:16:35.360 level space by increasing our bandwidth
00:16:37.279 and increasing what our businesses can
00:16:39.079 do on our behalfs without us being so in
00:16:41.240 the
00:16:42.120 day-to-day I love that term strategy
00:16:44.639 stacking have you ever yeah could you
00:16:47.199 talk more about that like where did you
00:16:48.880 coin that from my
00:16:52.319 brain you got a good one thank you I it
00:16:55.839 really just came clear to me when I had
00:16:57.800 so many clients that would come in and
00:16:59.120 say okay so here is my business and I
00:17:01.440 need to roll out all of these offers
00:17:03.000 Market each one and then sell each one
00:17:04.919 simultaneously and then I'd say okay
00:17:06.679 well here's let's work on your content
00:17:08.400 this is what we're going to do and
00:17:09.559 they'd say great now how does this sell
00:17:10.839 all of my offers simultaneously and
00:17:13.439 that's not always the mission dependent
00:17:15.199 on your business type because what we
00:17:16.720 need to be able to do is laser focus
00:17:18.599 your message so that your clientele your
00:17:20.760 whole audience base can come in and say
00:17:22.559 oh you're the person who does this right
00:17:24.199 now and this is what you help me with if
00:17:25.919 I have that problem so therefore I'm
00:17:27.160 buying the offer that's on the table
00:17:28.960 and if you are not at the point of
00:17:30.640 everything being on autopilot where
00:17:32.360 sales are concerned we've got to start
00:17:34.120 with let's pick your most leverageable
00:17:36.120 offer let's make it more irresistible
00:17:38.559 message it and then create a funnel for
00:17:40.280 it and when that is running then we can
00:17:42.240 do the next one the next one and then
00:17:43.600 there you go all three of them are
00:17:44.799 selling and you've got them selling on
00:17:46.440 autopilot your content can point to
00:17:48.840 towards your work with me page and then
00:17:50.280 all of them can sell on their own but
00:17:52.160 until we get there that is where you
00:17:54.240 will distract and dilute your results
00:17:56.159 because you're trying to do too many
00:17:57.400 things at once so that just became such
00:18:00.159 a theme for myself with my clients and
00:18:02.320 what they were so woefully distracted by
00:18:04.480 all of the free content and noise of
00:18:07.600 them being actually very sophisticated
00:18:09.280 in their knowledge but unable to act on
00:18:11.600 it because they couldn't tell what would
00:18:12.640 move the needle first so stacking their
00:18:15.640 strategies became this little Hidden Gem
00:18:18.120 secret weapon in the work we do together
00:18:20.039 that I've now taken more to the
00:18:22.600 Forefront wow I love that I'm so curious
00:18:25.679 what like a day in your life looks like
00:18:28.159 yeah with running all of these
00:18:29.760 businesses do you just wake up and
00:18:31.200 you're like got to go like how do you
00:18:33.919 start how do you even start your day
00:18:35.640 yeah kind of like that which I'm working
00:18:39.600 on gonna take that up with my therapist
00:18:42.799 but my team so I've got actually
00:18:46.320 everybody is on the east coast of
00:18:47.840 America and then one gal is in Italy and
00:18:49.760 so she works an East Coast schedule to
00:18:51.520 lock up with them which is her evening
00:18:53.520 and so everybody's 9:00 a.m. is my 6:
00:18:56.080 a.m. here on the West Coast so by the
00:18:58.480 time I'm waking up they have you know
00:19:01.039 slacked me there's this there's that I
00:19:03.440 take my space I do my morning routine
00:19:05.320 but I'm pretty much up an atom and I do
00:19:07.559 prefer from a cognitive energy
00:19:09.240 perspective to work like a 7 a.m. to a 2
00:19:11.799 p.m. than to work a 9: and in that time
00:19:14.280 I'll go on a walk and I'll do my whole
00:19:16.400 thing and I'll you know maybe pop back
00:19:17.919 on in the evening but I like to do my
00:19:19.799 work in that time so I'll start on my
00:19:21.600 laptop for the social Bungalow and we
00:19:23.919 also have offices down at the coffee
00:19:26.360 shop so we at the time of assuming the
00:19:28.960 lease we also assumed the the first
00:19:31.280 story of the building is the coffee shop
00:19:33.000 and the third story are our offices that
00:19:35.080 we run all the businesses out of so I'll
00:19:37.720 be there three days a week home two days
00:19:40.080 a week kind of thing so I'll do my
00:19:42.039 morning stuff and then I'll head down
00:19:43.440 there and I'll do my coffee stuff
00:19:44.919 because I'm there boots on the ground
00:19:46.080 style but that even though it's so
00:19:48.480 constant and it's daily I have more
00:19:50.120 employees over there I have more
00:19:51.480 customers and more to do the
00:19:53.159 transformation of making your day with a
00:19:54.919 cup of coffee and a croissant is just
00:19:57.000 such a beautiful breath of Air instead
00:19:58.880 of hi can you change my business in my
00:20:00.440 life in the life my partners families
00:20:01.840 and communities at large so the
00:20:04.240 difference of that is so fulfilling to
00:20:06.400 be able to live in that duality of like
00:20:08.000 softer and and you know more extreme so
00:20:10.559 we've got a manager over there and he
00:20:12.039 manages so much of it and it's just not
00:20:13.679 as serious and so that is a little bit
00:20:16.159 more autonomous than the consistent
00:20:18.039 grind of clients and marketing and the
00:20:19.919 digital side of of what we do so yeah I
00:20:22.080 kind of split it between the two
00:20:23.000 businesses and the two locations and I
00:20:24.760 like every day to be a little bit
00:20:26.080 different so that I just keep myself
00:20:28.400 excited and fresh you you are such a
00:20:31.440 confident person confident in your
00:20:33.919 speech and what you believe and your
00:20:36.400 confident I spent some of my morning
00:20:38.480 listening to you talk on a few other
00:20:40.679 podcasts just to feel like I was getting
00:20:42.080 to know you and you definitely exude
00:20:44.640 this steadfast just belief in what
00:20:48.679 you're doing and you're really calm when
00:20:50.440 you're describing process and you're
00:20:53.200 calm when you're describing your goals
00:20:54.679 and things like that and that has to go
00:20:57.760 back to to something related to the way
00:21:00.799 you were raised or your parents talked
00:21:02.840 to you or they make gave you like
00:21:05.039 instilled or just any adult Mentor in
00:21:08.400 your life when you were younger that
00:21:09.640 instilled this inner confidence and
00:21:13.039 calmness in you I'm very curious to hear
00:21:15.640 about that if you're open to sharing
00:21:17.760 first off thank you that is
00:21:19.200 extraordinarily edifying and to see how
00:21:21.720 we're perceived because I don't always
00:21:23.279 feel calm and you know prolific while
00:21:25.720 I'm talking and to know that's what you
00:21:27.320 int it is really thank you that really
00:21:29.360 touched my heart I think it's actually
00:21:31.120 kind of the opposite like trauma and so
00:21:33.480 you learn how to be calm in these
00:21:36.919 situations and you're kind of like
00:21:39.000 military trained at a young age and it
00:21:40.679 creates that in you so and I'm always an
00:21:43.520 open book so feel free to ask me
00:21:44.679 anything but when I was younger I was
00:21:45.840 raised by a single mom and we were tight
00:21:48.720 tight tight financially and so we moved
00:21:51.039 constantly and I was every six months I
00:21:53.960 was in a new school so I was always the
00:21:55.360 new girl and I was always starting over
00:21:57.320 and I ended ended up getting to the
00:21:58.679 point where I know it was so hard on my
00:22:00.720 mom and she loved me so much and you
00:22:03.240 know we were super great but that burden
00:22:06.840 I took on so I would oh it's fine it's
00:22:08.799 fine no I'm excited for a new school I'm
00:22:10.200 happy let me go get packing I've got the
00:22:11.520 order of operations down and then my
00:22:13.559 little sister came around from we have
00:22:15.320 different dads and her dad wasn't around
00:22:17.760 a lot or in general and my dad wasn't
00:22:20.080 around a lot so then it was just the
00:22:21.320 three of us against the world but we're
00:22:22.840 10 years apart so my mom had to go
00:22:25.080 provide and I mean we lived on 34
00:22:28.520 a week for food and everything and so it
00:22:31.840 was Hamburger Helper and it was me being
00:22:34.120 also a mom to my sister and that is my
00:22:37.520 again I say my mom is incredible but it
00:22:39.600 is the additional burden of adulthood
00:22:43.559 responsibility as a child to emotionally
00:22:46.360 be okay with all of that change and to
00:22:49.559 be okay with parenting and to just show
00:22:52.000 up and grin and Barrett and to repress a
00:22:54.559 lot I definitely threw you know let's
00:22:56.799 say the first 15 years of my life was
00:22:59.559 very much so the like who needs what and
00:23:02.279 how can I help you and it I'm you know
00:23:04.480 the world is run by firstborn daughters
00:23:06.039 they say so I'm definitely have some of
00:23:08.039 that apricorn energy to me in general
00:23:10.760 plus that upbringing that made it to the
00:23:13.440 point of I can trust me and I know I can
00:23:16.960 figure it out so if I can bring me to
00:23:19.240 the table the rest is going to work out
00:23:21.960 I'll find a way and so resourcefulness
00:23:24.320 through that upbringing is really where
00:23:25.799 that comes from for me
00:23:28.600 thank you for sharing that I mean that's
00:23:30.480 like the the DNA of people always comes
00:23:33.039 from either trauma or like amazing
00:23:34.840 parents
00:23:36.080 so I really appreciate you being open
00:23:38.640 about that we have been talking about a
00:23:41.799 lot lately like shedding outdated
00:23:44.720 personality traits that we had for so
00:23:47.480 long out of necessity or survival do you
00:23:51.360 still feel like you carry with you a lot
00:23:53.440 of those I got to be the one to figure
00:23:55.720 this out I have to who who needs
00:23:58.080 something I'm going to be the one to
00:23:59.200 help you and provide it for you or are
00:24:01.039 you able to open yourself up to help and
00:24:04.120 support and not being self-sufficient at
00:24:06.760 all
00:24:08.240 costs yeah great question definitely
00:24:11.880 still have a lot of that and that you
00:24:13.799 know trying to balance that I wouldn't
00:24:16.360 say it's so much people pleasing as it
00:24:17.919 is like hero complex more that super
00:24:20.679 women woman complex that they say but
00:24:22.960 yes I I do to a point and that's
00:24:24.400 definitely a point of growth especially
00:24:25.960 in business because you can't be Cod
00:24:27.799 dependent or Superwoman for clients that
00:24:30.279 aren't willing to do the work or what
00:24:31.799 have you or how you internalize that so
00:24:34.000 that's definitely an area that I've
00:24:35.120 grown a lot in but I would say a really
00:24:37.600 interesting turning of the tide that's
00:24:39.440 happened for me is that when I was
00:24:40.880 younger because of all that I was very
00:24:42.919 introverted and very quiet I didn't have
00:24:45.200 a ton of friends because e child not
00:24:46.600 make friends because I'd have to leave
00:24:47.919 and I felt worse not with the sadness of
00:24:50.960 of us not being together I felt
00:24:53.039 responsible and guilty to leave my
00:24:54.799 friend because they would cry and why
00:24:56.000 are you leaving me and all that so I
00:24:57.480 just wouldn't get super close and then
00:24:59.520 when I had enough you know safety and
00:25:01.440 control wasn't in fight or flight in my
00:25:03.279 later teens and then early 20s and
00:25:04.880 joining the workforce and all of that I
00:25:06.600 kind of skewed really far I had tons of
00:25:08.559 friends and was so extra birded and it
00:25:10.360 was like this pendulum coping mechanism
00:25:12.520 situation and so then coming back down
00:25:14.600 to that later 20s into 30s it's I find
00:25:17.120 myself somewhere in between to where
00:25:18.640 I've got like an outgoing personality
00:25:20.440 but I am deeply introverted and so
00:25:23.279 returning back to how much more I need
00:25:26.679 to decompress and be alone and just walk
00:25:29.159 and just think is something that I I
00:25:32.200 wondered for a while I'm like am I did I
00:25:33.919 get boring what is happening with me I
00:25:36.120 used to be this I used to be that and
00:25:38.080 then I realized I'm like oh no I think
00:25:39.559 I'm just not in this like mask of
00:25:42.919 extrovert and life of the party that I
00:25:44.880 felt like I needed to be in order maybe
00:25:46.480 to be loved or to be invited you know
00:25:48.559 finally I've got control I can keep the
00:25:50.399 same friends the same job the same city
00:25:52.440 let me make the most of it let me make
00:25:53.760 everybody love me that once I got safe
00:25:55.840 and calm I got back to the point of okay
00:25:57.880 who am I really and at that point I was
00:26:00.000 like I'm softer and I'm I'm quieter than
00:26:03.840 I think that I was trying to be and that
00:26:06.200 push state of attempting to be somebody
00:26:08.200 else and be on all the time was very
00:26:10.320 taxing on me so that to your question
00:26:12.320 I'm still in the messy middle of it but
00:26:13.760 it's been an interesting kind of return
00:26:15.320 to self but in a better way and now
00:26:17.840 there's an opportunity to just continue
00:26:19.760 to work on some of the Nuance of all of
00:26:23.039 that yeah it's like you went from
00:26:26.600 overcompensating to this extroverted
00:26:29.200 person because you felt like you you you
00:26:30.880 were able to be or you that's what you
00:26:33.080 were supposed to be doing because you
00:26:34.320 had like security and some
00:26:35.720 predictability to actually coming back
00:26:37.840 to being comfortable with your raw
00:26:39.799 authentic self which maybe is more of a
00:26:42.399 what is that term like am
00:26:44.320 amover introverted extrovert I'm the
00:26:46.840 same way I that resonates with me
00:26:48.320 because I went through a really similar
00:26:50.799 experience and only in the last couple
00:26:52.399 of years I've started to re-embrace wait
00:26:55.559 no I'm actually a lot more introverted
00:26:57.039 and I love to be alone and I don't have
00:26:59.440 a hard time saying no to the social
00:27:01.679 thing I have zero fomo because I really
00:27:03.720 actually love the time I get to spend
00:27:06.039 recharging and focusing on my personal
00:27:08.120 growth and you don't really get to do
00:27:09.399 that as much when you're out all the
00:27:10.559 time and giving all of your energy it's
00:27:12.480 like the coin purse I heard somebody say
00:27:15.240 int introverts day starts with a coin
00:27:17.840 purse full and every social interaction
00:27:20.480 and thing depletes you you have to take
00:27:23.720 a coin out take a coin out and the
00:27:25.039 extroverts are the opposite you start
00:27:26.520 with an empty one and you fill it up by
00:27:28.360 social interaction no I definitely start
00:27:30.559 with my my quick purse full and every
00:27:32.960 time there's something it's pulled out I
00:27:35.840 love I wonder if that's a difference
00:27:37.120 between morning people and night people
00:27:40.000 cuz they have a full coin purse in the
00:27:43.080 morning and then they lose it all by the
00:27:44.720 end of the day and then you know sounds
00:27:46.240 like we're all morning people too like I
00:27:48.080 wake up and I'm like let's go and I'm by
00:27:49.840 4M like what are you say cannot thanks
00:27:53.960 for sharing all of that the then the
00:27:56.240 other thing that was on my mind is just
00:27:57.720 better understanding your motivations it
00:28:00.640 sounds like coming from childhood where
00:28:03.440 you did have some instability it was
00:28:05.480 sounds like it was happy but you still
00:28:06.960 had some instabilities and just
00:28:10.039 unpredictable next steps or there were a
00:28:12.240 lot of moves and things like that and I
00:28:14.039 would imagine some of your motivation to
00:28:16.200 become a successful entrepreneur is to
00:28:18.600 have that freedom and stability for
00:28:19.919 yourself but what are the other
00:28:22.080 motivations that have been driving you
00:28:23.720 to not not have one successful business
00:28:26.080 but three
00:28:28.080 um that's s the unpredictability versus
00:28:30.120 control that's such a a good word for
00:28:32.440 what it has felt like and why
00:28:33.640 entrepreneurship has been great because
00:28:35.279 even though it's more unpredictable I'm
00:28:36.760 like oh I'm in control I don't I'm not
00:28:39.039 waiting at the mercy of you know a boss
00:28:41.200 or something of that the economy I mean
00:28:42.960 a little bit but you know what I mean to
00:28:44.559 be able to sit in that driver's seat so
00:28:46.399 that's so true the impact that I get to
00:28:49.360 make with my clients as you start to
00:28:52.279 really kind of test your chops in the
00:28:53.799 first couple of years and then form your
00:28:55.480 Frameworks and then really know what you
00:28:57.480 can help somebody with and read between
00:28:59.279 the lines of what they're saying versus
00:29:00.480 what they're needing and being able to
00:29:01.919 kind of reach in and support them in
00:29:03.720 such a way that really does change their
00:29:05.480 lives gives them that control and the
00:29:08.159 knowledge of I know how to Market this I
00:29:10.080 know how to sell this like this I I aim
00:29:12.679 to be the red string through the Maze of
00:29:14.480 everything they've been doing and
00:29:15.600 they're just sitting in front of this
00:29:17.080 Labyrinth am I good enough and how do I
00:29:19.279 make this happen and I'm like come here
00:29:20.840 let's let me hold your hand and let's
00:29:22.039 make it to the other side with cash in
00:29:23.600 the bank so you're feeling really good
00:29:25.640 clear and in control of making your next
00:29:28.200 move from here because it can be a
00:29:29.519 reality we just need to get you there so
00:29:31.480 that has been really really enriching
00:29:33.679 and then on the other side of it I have
00:29:35.519 a team on the social Bungalow side
00:29:36.880 there's fewer of us but on the um
00:29:39.480 Bungalow coffee side there's more of us
00:29:41.679 and they're younger and that has been
00:29:43.640 one of the most fun things is to Mentor
00:29:46.039 people 10 years younger than me and all
00:29:48.120 of their jenzy quirky isms and they they
00:29:52.159 have like you know the world kind of
00:29:54.399 makes fun Millennials this and jenzy
00:29:56.360 that but they are such a sweet and
00:29:59.880 thoughtful validating generation and so
00:30:03.000 they just want to know what's going on
00:30:04.519 they want to validate it I watch them
00:30:06.080 operate with the customers and just each
00:30:07.960 other and it's really interesting to see
00:30:10.000 this younger crew and how present they
00:30:11.760 are for one another and then what
00:30:13.320 they'll come to me for and the ability
00:30:14.840 to just intercede into their lives I
00:30:16.840 have so much fun with them and that has
00:30:18.960 been something that's really lit me up
00:30:20.760 from a leadership
00:30:22.960 perspective Shannon you were so
00:30:24.960 inspiring to me I just have to say
00:30:28.720 you truly truly
00:30:30.159 are well thank you so one thing that we
00:30:34.480 like to ask is what anti- gatekeeping
00:30:37.399 advice would you give to a younger
00:30:39.760 version of yourself or someone who's
00:30:42.480 listening to this and is I want to do
00:30:44.480 what she's doing what piece of advice
00:30:46.320 would you give
00:30:48.080 them that is such a juicy question the
00:30:51.279 thing that comes to mind initially is
00:30:53.360 just the the a practical and a tactical
00:30:55.880 on the online side is is that and maybe
00:30:58.480 this is transferable you do not have to
00:31:00.760 wait until you think you are ready for
00:31:03.360 bigger strategies like paid ads and or
00:31:05.880 automated funnels because those are your
00:31:07.960 frontof the- line pass to get you
00:31:10.080 further faster and I think there is a
00:31:12.519 whole thought process that I have to
00:31:14.559 test and earn my stripes and work in
00:31:16.519 one-on-one and all these intense hand-to
00:31:19.039 mouth ways until I have enough know how
00:31:21.919 to put this into an automated email
00:31:23.600 sequence and point some paid ads traffic
00:31:25.159 towards it but that is one of the
00:31:26.760 fastest routes by which you will be able
00:31:28.720 to bring people into your ecosystem to
00:31:30.559 then continue refining your prowess and
00:31:32.919 scaling your business from there and if
00:31:34.679 you do that six months into your
00:31:36.720 business you'll be in a very different
00:31:38.799 place a year and a half into your
00:31:40.480 business I.E a year later than if you
00:31:42.760 had waited to do that for two three
00:31:44.840 years and tried to follow all of the
00:31:47.279 energy forward promotion tactics
00:31:51.360 exclusively okay I'm taking notes we
00:31:54.240 that's really good advice for us yeah I
00:31:56.360 know I'm like wait I have have I have
00:31:58.279 more follow-up questions on that I'm
00:32:02.200 like do you I feel like now I'm asking
00:32:05.279 for our own we can even cut this I love
00:32:07.039 it oh L I'm asking for our own our own
00:32:09.919 personal advice so do you recommend to
00:32:12.679 your clients that they that they pay
00:32:15.720 like an agency to help them with the ads
00:32:17.519 or just setup ads like what what do you
00:32:20.240 what do you recommend with that I
00:32:21.840 recommend an individual who is an ads
00:32:23.880 manager because they are going to have a
00:32:25.519 little bit of a lower price and much
00:32:27.159 hire client attention versus a large
00:32:29.919 agency not to poo poo agencies I know
00:32:32.360 many I love them they're great but when
00:32:34.120 you're starting out somebody who is you
00:32:36.360 know five steps ahead of you and their
00:32:38.039 main thing is paid ads you are going to
00:32:39.799 get so much attention because the
00:32:41.519 difference is you've got let's say one
00:32:43.320 campaign and we're we're pointing
00:32:44.480 towards a free resource that free
00:32:46.360 resource you're going to make five
00:32:47.760 different videos with different Hooks
00:32:49.159 and 10 different Graphics you're going
00:32:50.559 to give all 15 assets to this ads
00:32:52.720 manager and they're going to set them up
00:32:54.360 to the audiences and see which one
00:32:56.559 starts to perform and then we kind of
00:32:58.519 want to cut the fluff of the stuff
00:33:00.440 that's not because we don't want to put
00:33:01.440 our budget into things that are really
00:33:02.960 high priced conversions so we widle it
00:33:05.360 down to the top you know two videos and
00:33:07.399 three graphics and we've got five pieces
00:33:09.320 that were then doubling down with the
00:33:10.679 budget that then they're watching how
00:33:13.840 what what's the conversion rate how many
00:33:15.880 people are seeing it how many people are
00:33:17.279 opting into it what's our cost per lead
00:33:19.760 and they are tinkering consistently to
00:33:22.120 adjust the audience adjust the spend
00:33:24.159 adjust the timing so that you get the
00:33:26.360 best results possible and when you get
00:33:28.360 within a big agency a lot of people just
00:33:30.080 don't know a ton about ads and so they
00:33:31.960 look at it it's kind of like a billboard
00:33:33.880 where they're like hey your billboard
00:33:35.080 did great because this was the traffic
00:33:36.600 on the freeway for the past month and
00:33:38.360 you're like yeah but I haven't seen any
00:33:39.480 new customers so you'll get this kind of
00:33:41.480 Impressions based report sometimes from
00:33:43.320 a big agency versus the handholding
00:33:45.679 dissecting how to really make a
00:33:47.240 difference from a smaller
00:33:49.720 manager I love that that's great advice
00:33:53.000 well thank you so much for being here
00:33:54.519 Shannon this is amazing can you tell
00:33:56.960 tell our listeners where they can
00:33:58.360 connect with you on the internet yeah
00:34:00.720 just come see me at the social Bungalow
00:34:03.080 Instagram because that's kind of where
00:34:04.360 we can chat and then kick off into any
00:34:06.039 other
00:34:07.320 places okay awesome well thank you so
00:34:09.560 much Shannon this was awesome thank you
00:34:11.719 for having me your questions were so
00:34:13.159 thoughtful this was so
00:34:18.380 [Music]
00:34:25.879 fun
00:34:26.969 [Music]
00:34:30.839 yeah