#123 - Freedom, Systems & Your ONE Summer Project

What does freedom actually feel like inside your business?

Most of us started our businesses to escape the 9-to-5, only to accidentally build something that demands even more of us. In this episode, we explore what real freedom looks like for solopreneurs: not doing less, but building the right systems and structure so your business can run without you running yourself into the ground.

I also share my proven 7-Week Summer Project Formula, born from three years of running her popular Summer Camp for Solopreneurs, designed to help you take one focused project from idea to reality.

Whether you want to finally launch your lead magnet, set up your email automation, build your first funnel, or simplify how you show up online, this episode gives you a clear, step-by-step roadmap to buy back your time and create breathing room in your business.

Topics covered:

• Why systems — not less work — create real freedom
• The trap of building a business that can't run without you
• The 7-Week Project Formula: week-by-week breakdown
• Why hyper-specific projects with timelines get done (every time)
• How to choose your one summer project to move the needle

Your challenge: What is the one project that — if it were finished by Labor Day — would create more breathing room in your business? Pick one. Write it down. DM Deborah on Instagram with the words summer project and let's figure it out together.

Want help? Email me here and share your idea!

hello@deborahcsmith.com

Mindset to Market is a Luminous Creative Production. If you'd like to learn more about our business coaching program and group coaching container, please visit us online at DeborahcSmith.com.

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Mindset to Market is produced by Deborah C. Smith and designed to inspire and support big-hearted creatives in finding their own unique path, building a sustainable business, and creating financial, spiritual, mental wellness and abundance.

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Transcript

Something that I've noticed in my community, in my, with my clients, and within my own business is that most of us started a business because we want freedom. We want more time to do the things that we love to do. We want to be able to work when we wanna work and not be beholden to, like, a 9:00 to 5:00 structure or something that's predicted by somebody else. But then somehow we end up building ourselves into a job that's even harder to escape from than the ones that we left behind because we build based on our passion, our desire, and to be of service. And then if we don't have the right systems in place, honestly, it can become all-consuming, sometimes worse than your 9:00 to 5:00 or your 8:00 to 6:00 or whatever it is. So but what if freedom, the feeling of freedom, it's not created by doing less work? It's actually created by building the right structure. That's the question that we have to ponder. So in this episode today, we're gonna talk about what it means to have freedom inside your business and how one project this summer could create more space, more ease, and more breathing room in your business. And I'm excited to share a little bit about what I've done in my past summer camps to give you a formula for how to do this this summer. So let's get into it. Hey there. Welcome to the Mindset to Market podcast, your go-to space for practical tools and solutions to the everyday challenges of being a creative and soulful entrepreneur living in a material world. I'm your host, Deborah Smith, a holistic business coach and marketing strategist with 17 years of experience. I help my clients bust through mindset blocks and learn daily marketing practices that balance personal wellness with financial growth and impact. I'm here to offer you support with creativity, mindset, practical how-tos, and getting into imperfect, messy action so you can experience daily breakthroughs as you grow. If you're a purpose-driven entrepreneur building an online business, you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hey there. Welcome back, and thank you so much for joining me here today. Before we dive into today's topic, which is a great one, I just wanna take a moment, uh, to acknowledge Memorial Day and its purpose. Um, in my family, Memorial Day has always carried just a little bit of extra weight. Uh, my father served in the Army. My grandfather enlisted in the Navy during World War II. My Uncle Norm was a fighter pilot during World War II. And so whether they willingly stepped forward or they answered a call that history placed in front of them, I actually don't know. Uh, I sort of always assumed that they answered the call. That's sort of the way things were. But regardless, these were men who put themselves in harm's way in service to something bigger than themselves, and I... So I really appreciate, you know, knowing that about family members of mine. I do also have a cousin who I'm really close with who's active duty officer in the Marines right now, and so some of the political stuff that's going on and just gets really kind of contorted in the news, sometimes it's hard because when you know somebody who's out there wearing a uniform fighting to defend these freedoms, it sort of feels a little different. So if anybody listening to this has a, a relative or, you know, knows somebody who has enlisted in the armed forces, you know what I mean. Um, that all being said, you know, they've risked their lives to protect a set of beliefs and values that many of us are benefiting from every single day, and we do take for granted. We forget that there are soldiers and people out there in the world, men and women in uniform, who put their lives on the line to support this freedom. And it's the freedom to speak openly. You could have a podcast just like me and publish this on, you know, airwaves. This is like a wild thing that in 2026 anybody can use their own voice, have an opinion, and share it freely without consequence. Like, that is huge. They protect the freedom to pursue opportunity, which is what you're doing if you're a solopreneur, you're a business owner. You're not just working, you know, for the government or, you know... You have freedom to create something completely your own and then build it and, and create it and grow it, and it's un- really unmatched that we have these opportunities. Um, freedom to shape a life that makes us feel like we have purpose, and the ability to participate in this big, messy experiment that we call democracy. So I feel incredibly grateful for that legacy. I'm grateful for the lessons that come with it. I don't take it lightly. Um, and I've been thinking about that a lot. What does it actually mean to have freedom? Because for many, many years inside my business, I've talked about this a lot, I was actually unhappy because I'd built something that could not function without me. So if you go back to the early days of The Juice Bar, which, which started as a mobile food vending truck, um, my very first business, it was more of a j- it was like having 10 jobs. It was not freedom in the sense, um, that I felt like I had any time to do anything for myself. I, I felt completely, you know, beholden to the business. I never really had time off, and it was no fun So, but as I've grown older and I've continued to experiment and shift and learn from my lessons and build something that is systems-driven, that does have a, an operational system that operates when I am not online, um, that really has changed in my life. So I now have way more freedom. I'm doing air quotes over here on the, in my office. But what I mean by that is time for things that I love, the ability to create a schedule that reflects, you know, my health, my wellness, my family as a priority over, you know, being n- just, you know, saddled to the business and always online. So for me, that's what freedom means, and I think about this a lot. I wanna help my clients, my listeners, and anybody who is willing to participate and play, create what freedom looks like for you. It's not just something we inherit, although again, honor and respect to the men and women who defend it, but it's something that we have to protect ourselves, and so we create this for ourselves. And so this is why I wanted to talk about sort of almost the hypocrisy of the fact that we build these cages for ourselves sort of unintentionally. So you want freedom over your schedule. You want freedom to create. You want freedom to be more present with your family, right? All of us want those things. Um, we want freedom from burning out from working all the time and not having space for our real lives. And then somewhere along the way, we accidentally build ourselves another job where we are the CEO, the customer service department, social media manager, tech support. We're the content creator Occasionally we're the person crying while we're on the phone with, you know, tech support like Zapier, you know, begging them to help us make it all make more sense. And I'm laughing because I, you know, I see you if that's you. I've been there, and it's not easy when you feel like you're in the tech jungle and you don't h- you don't see a way out. But here's the truth that I've sort of landed on for my own perspective on this. Freedom, the, the feeling of freedom is not about having less structure, like not having to go to a 9:00 to 5:00. It's coming from having the right systems and structure in place. So it's swapping out somebody else's structure and building one that suits your lifestyle. And why this is so important for solopreneurs is because as you learn your own energy systems and learn about your body and learn about what helps you feel alive and lit up, you may discover, you know what? I'm not a morning person. I naturally want to sleep until noon, and then I wanna start working at 2:00. I know lots of creative people who do their very best work between the hours of, like, 10:00 PM and midnight. That's not me. I'm a morning person. But the point is, if you're working for yourself, you get to create the container and shape it in a way that, that builds upon your strengths. So the structure and the systems that you put in place have to be uniquely yours, right? So the freedom that you feel comes from getting to build a new structure, one that has systems in place that support you at your best. And systems create breathing room. They give you space. Boundaries create more energy. This is a really important concept that it took me way too long to master, and I wouldn't even say I'm a master. I now am very, very good at the boundary thing, but it's something that I had to work for. So but I'll say it again. Having boundaries, time boundaries, energy boundaries, humaning interaction boundaries, that creates more energy in your own system Time for you to focus on the thing that makes, you know, helps you get the result that you're after. So I wanna give you a little- I wanna share about something that we did last summer that was pretty cool. So for the last three years, I've been running something called Summer Camp for Solopreneurs, and it's been different each summer as I learned what was really working for people. Last summer, I think we nailed the formula. So we did something really cool. Instead of just being in a marketing program for the summer, I had everyone choose a specific project, one summer project. It's only one thing that they were gonna focus on the entire time that they were gonna complete between the beginning of July and end of August. Not 10 things, not vaguely growing my business, not vaguely being more visible, but a hyper-specific project that was gonna be time-bound and set to, you know, a, a schedule with benchmarks. And so summer camp last year was project-based only. In order to be a part of it, you had to choose one project, and it had to be... I vetted it. We did a call at first, and I had to make sure I believed I could help you get to the finish line. So results, you know, were gonna be driven by, is this actually doable in seven weeks with a week to implement? Um, and this was such an amazing program. Somebody launched their first podcast from scratch. We had a few people finally set up email systems that they'd been putting off forever. People built new lead magnets. Somebody refined an offer that they then relaunched in the fall. People simplified the way they were showing up online. And you better believe they finished those projects. Everything got done because it was time-bound. And so afterward, I kept thinking, "Why did this work so well?" And honestly, it was, like, not like anybody suddenly had more extra time. It was summer. People took full vacations during the middle of this. Nobody's life became magically easier. Nobody suddenly skilled up and had brand-new skills that they were m- you know, using. It was that they had a hyper-specific project and a hyper-specific timeline. So those are the two things that made the difference, right? People still had their kids and travel and clients and beach days and laundry and every-everyday regular life. But the thing that shifted for them was that they had a very hyper-specific project with detailed timeline for each baby step, and so nobody got stuck And here is the reality, my friend. You don't get stuck because you're lazy. You don't get stuck because you don't have the ability to overcome that block. You don't get s- none of us get stuck because we don't care enough, right? We get stuck because we're trying to do too many things. We're carrying 15 different projects around in our heads, and we wake up every day asking, "What should I work on today?" Right? R- raise your hand if that's familiar. You wake up not being sure which project you should focus on today. It's every one of us. Like, nobody listening to this didn't do this, so I, I doubt you have ever not had a moment where you were not multitasking. And so that question alone is even exhausting. You wake up and you're already confused because you already have clients, content, family, meals, responsibilities, and all the random life stuff that's happening. You don't need more decisions. You need a simple roadmap. And so all of us do better when we have a step-by-step roadmap, right? This is why formulas sell. This is why step-by-step programs sell, because people want to have their hand held and walked through it with feedback step by step. So that's what we did last summer. We created an individual roadmaps for every single project, and I gave everybody a seven-week project formula. And so right now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna share with you what was inside that seven-week project formula. And this is based on the idea of taking one meaningful project and giving it a path all the way from idea to reality. So from concept all the way to it's in the hands of somebody totally new on the internet out there consuming your new thing that you created. So here is the basic formula. I'm gonna walk you through it week by week Week one, we're doing clarity on the mission and researching. So we have to answer the questions, why are we creating this and who are we serving with it? Like, what is the point? How does it relate back to the work that you do? How does your project benefit, you know, the bigger picture of your marketing for your business and your business growth? And who is this gonna impact? Who are the people out there who you intend to help with your project? It's really important that that foundational- those questions are answered before you start, because if you don't have clarity on who you're serving and how it relates back to your, you know, your sales and your business, then you could build something that's more of a distraction, right? So don't design a podcast that isn't speaking directly to your ideal client. Don't launch a lead magnet that isn't a baby step to, you know, a bigger ticket item that you sell. And don't build on a platform that you don't love using because it takes up too much time and you don't actually wanna be doing it. Like, I've seen people start projects that are really kind of more of a diversion than they are a focused, systemic piece of their operation. So we take week one to get crystal clear that this thing you say you wanna build is actually gonna serve you and your bottom line financially and your target audience and their goal, and that it fits into the operational system that you want to be living. Because once you have a business and an operation system, that's your lifestyle. So, so you wanna build something from scratch that actually suits the way you want to live. And when it's done without that in mind, it tends to fall apart. So that's week one, mission, clarity, and research. And week two is exactly what are we building and what transformation does it provide? So now we go a little bit deeper. Exactly what is this thing gonna look like? We do a project scope. What are you building? What transformation does it provide? That's the question that we're answering in week two. And so this is really building out- what your project is, like giving it a shape, giving it a name, giving it clear construct. I'll just u- let's use a lead magnet as an example because, by the way, people talk about this all the time. Are lead magnets still a good way to grow your list? If you do email marketing, the answer is a absolutely affirmative hell yes. Email is still the easiest way to reach people directly in their inbox. It's still got the highest ROI. It does require a little bit of organizational structure to get it going, but it's definitely, definitely still working, and it is worth it to have a high-converting lead magnet. But I would say do this work of researching and making sure that people actually want the thing you're creating. So that's why we have week one and week two are very much about making sure that the thing you create is gonna be something people want, and they're g- actually gonna download it. If it- if not, then it's a waste of time. So on week two, we're just getting clear about what exactly does it look like, and with the example of a lead magnet, that might be deciding if it's, you know, a PDF that people can download, how many pages. Is there an audio that comes along with it? Is there a video tutorial that comes along with it? Or is it an audio lead magnet with a PDF that comes with it, which are two sort of different things. So we're figuring out the shape, right? In week three We move on to the system that would be necessary for this, this project to be automated. So we're looking at what you've decided to create. Let's go with the PDF lead magnet and a video tutorial. And what tools are you gonna need? What tech, what automations, what supports this, this project? What support pieces are gonna make it work without you having to be there explaining it? So if it was a PDF and a video tutorial, that means you need to design and create that PDF. You're deciding how many pages gets the information across, and then you're actually putting that into a design program or getting someone else to do it for you. So the actual thing needs to be created. But then, so you might need a design platform. Then you need a place for that thing to live online so that when people go to download it, it's coming from cloud storage or some type of storage space. Could be Google Doc, it could be, you know, a YouTube video, could be something that stands freely on your website if you have one. And you need to figure out what are the automated technical operations that need to surround that thing so that when someone requests it, they automatically get it. So do you have an email service provider set up where you have a landing page with a form? The form tags the subscriber, the subscriber then automatically gets the PDF guide and the video tutorial. Where does the video live? Is the video in YouTube? Is it in Demio? Is it in Vimeo, I mean? So each of these little small, tiny projects actually has a number of faceted things that is necessary for it to be truly automated so that you can go on vacation and still get new subscribers or paying customers. So what are all the support pieces that, that is needed for that project to exist, you know, autonomously in the universe without you doing anything? Then we move on in week four to messaging. How do we talk about this so that people actually connect with it, feel something from the words you, you speak or write, and want it? So messaging is critical for sales, right? Your messaging has to align with-- It's not about what's in it. It's not about what shape it is. It's about what they will feel if they have it. So we work a lot on messaging. Week five is about visibility. Now we have to start letting people in, get them behind the scenes. Why did you create this thing? How did you do it? Was it fun for you? You know, uh, start building some excitement around the thing, the project that you are launching. And again, if it's, for example, with this lead magnet, you can do all the same things that you would do if you were launching, you know, a new radio show. It's like you want people to be enthusiastic and curious about your work. So you're going to create messaging and content pieces and then visibility opportunities that let people in on the behind-the-scenes of what it is and why they need it. This could be guesting on podcasts. This could be writing a newsletter. It could be building organic social media content. You could certainly run an ad to a lead magnet. There's a lot of different ways that you can get visibility going, but the visibility, of course, is based on a system is in place so that if we open up the floodgate of eyeballs and attention, it's gonna lead someplace. They're gonna have a place to go to give their email address and receive, you know, the thing in exchange. So the system goes f- you know, system comes first, then the messaging, then the visibility. Then in week six, we've done all this work. The creative work has happened. The technical solutions have happened. The decision-making has happened. We need to now go back and refine and finalize those decisions and make sure that it is going to work. And in this week, I often ex- I often suggest that people actually send it out to a bunch of people in its kind of raw form and get real feedback from people that they trust. So this could just be asking, you know, a close group of friends. It could be a, you know, a, a spouse. It could be a coach. It could also be cold traffic on the internet saying like you're doing like a hand raiser piece of content and saying, "Hey, who wants to go through this little mini thing I created in exchange for whatever?" And just getting real feedback. Do people complete it? Do they download it? Do they give you... You know, what do they think about it? And then in week seven, you're already ready to launch and share this thing with the world. And it's simple because instead of starting, you know, by staring up at a giant mountain of what-to-dos and thinking, "How am I ever gonna get this done?" You have broken it down into baby steps, and your only question is, "Okay, what's my assignment this week? What is my to-do?" And then you just take those baby steps, get those tasks done, and move forward. So this project formula, this seven-week project formula, worked very well. Um, it was great to do it over the summer because it gave people kind of a leaned back- amount of time and space. There was never so much work that they couldn't get it done. Like I said, everyone involved in this project container last summer took a summer vacation and was gone for at least one week of this. Like, so there was a lot of space built in for people to just have a summer. Um, and maybe that's the memorial connection for me because it is also in the minds of so many, the beginning of summer, right? So I think the concept of freedom isn't always some giant destination, like I'm gonna wind up someplace someday and feel free. You know? It's not something looming out there waiting for us that we need to work really, really hard to achieve. It's more like it's saying no to 25 ideas and only focusing on the one thing, right? Because suddenly you're free of all those 24 other ideas. And then building support around that idea so that you can actually step away from it and it still works for you. Creating systems that let your business support your life instead of your life only supporting your business is the idea, is the goal, and I'm here to promise you that it's possible. Like, anybody can do this. And for me, taking the time to structure out a project and build a system that could help automate a lot of the tasks that I was doing manually, and buying myself back that time to do the other things in life that make me feel better, like exercising, and as I talk about all the time, spending more time with my family, and just having time to relax at meals, and just being able to shape the hours that I work. All of that stuff is based on systems. So what I wanna let you guys know, a little let you in on, is that this summer I'm gonna bring summer camp back but in a very different way. Um, as I've spoken about before, I'm kinda stepping back from my traditional work operation this summer, and I'm leaning heavily on the systems that I have built. Life has been asking me to show up a little bit differently in this season because of stuff with my, my mom specifically and my family. So instead of running my business like it's tra- a traditional business in summer or summer camp, I'm gonna bring it here to the podcast. So starting midsummer, you can look forward to joining me live in this space on this podcast for an audio version of Summer Camp series. Um, it's gonna feel almost like a coaching container, but basically audio. You will choose one project for yourself. You are free to autonomously do whatever you want, of course, but my suggestion is that you pick one thing for the purpose of this, um, listening journey, and that could be launching a lead magnet. It could be starting a newsletter. It could be creating a digital offer. It could be building your first funnel and setting up the systems that finally will free up some time for you. So the purpose is to free up some time inside your business And week by week, we'll walk through that seven-week project container. And I'm also gonna create a separate email list just for that summer camp, um, audio. So you'll get some bonus prompts, you'll get some worksheets, accountability, you know, notes, and things like that. So but before July, so you have a long time to do this, uh, I want you to just do one thing if you wanna participate, and even if you don't. Ask yourself, "What is the one project that would create more freedom in my business if it were done by Labor Day?" Not 10 projects, not a list of five projects, not even two projects. I l- I really want you to just pick one. What's the one thing that if it was done, it would really move the needle for you in buying you back some time, and the freedom to do what you want with that time? Pick one, write it down, write it in your journal, email it to me, DM it to me on Instagram, sit with it, and really think how that would feel if you had that project completed And if you want help figuring it out, of course, come find me on Instagram, send me the word summer project. I would love to hear what you're thinking. This is literally what I do. This really Foundations is a project-based group coaching program. The project just happens to be your larger business, um, and, and, you know, sort of all lead gen and sales systems. But in summer camp, what we do is we focus on one hyper-specific end result. So that is your mandate, dear listener. I want you to think about one project that would change your business and let that grow a little bit in your mind. Share it with me, make it real, share it with a friend. Don't just sit on your dream. Let it be known that you want to build something that is going to add structure to the system that's gonna buy you back your freedom. So I'm gonna leave it there for now. Happy Memorial Day. Thank you so much for listening. Please leave the show a rating or a review if you have an extra 60 seconds. You just scroll down to the bottom where you're listening and look for the stars, and usually there's a little link right there that says, "Rate this podcast." Um, I know that if you're on Apple or Spotify, you have to be actually, like, on the page of the show, but, um, I really do appreciate the people who have been taking time to scroll and leave those ratings and reviews. It helps so much. There's very little way to, besides, you know, paying for ads, et cetera, to promote this, but it matters when people rate and review because other people see it, so thank you to everyone who's done that. And again, my heart goes out to everyone who's got active duty service members who are out there protecting our freedoms. Never-ending gratitude to all the men and women who have, you know, fought for this country's freedoms and given us this opportunity to be sharing our work, our creativity, to be in the creator space. Like, that literally is the definition of freedom in my mind, the fact that we have just uncapped potential. And so I'm grateful. I do not take it for granted, and I'm so grateful to have you here with me on this journey. And until we meet again next week, may you be vibrant