The Solo Grind
Welcome to the solo grind. Your weekly coffee break with a fellow solo entrepreneur who's right there in it with you. I am Teresa Schlup the original caffeine creative and this is where real business meets real life. No hype just honest conversations about building a business on your own terms. We talk mindset, strategy, burnout, breakthroughs, and everything in between because going solo doesn't mean doing it alone.
Grab a cup of coffee, find your favorite spot, and let's talk about what it really takes to do this thing solo.
Episodes
68 episodes
3 Business Rules I Decided to Break
There are a lot of "rules" out there in the business world, and I am someone who liked to challenges the rules, when they don't make sense. Today I am sharing 3 Business Rules I decided to break that actually helped pave the way for my success ...
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Episode 67
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23:30
Becoming Pitchworthy with KJ Blattenbauer
Joining me today is KJ Blattenbauer, a publicist with 30 years of experience, who has seen just about everything when it comes to visibility. KJ and I talk about why so many of us hide behind our screens, and she shares what it actually looks l...
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Episode 66
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26:06
Getting Organized for a Thriving 2026
Your business needs to evolve to carry the weight of business growth. Let's move from survival to sustainable and get your house in order.Early on in our business there was this clear path to follow. It may not have felt clear, but looki...
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Episode 65
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26:02
Streamlining for Sanity with Tori Chassé
The new year is in full swing, and I don’t know about you, but every year at this time I take a long hard look at my business, and ask one simple question… “How can I make things run more smoothly?” Thank...
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Episode 64
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33:19
Creating True Client Loyalty From First Click
We spend a lot of time trying to keep clients happy and coming back. We tweak our services, refine our systems, and look for the next thing that will make us stand out. But real loyalty is often in the small moments that happen along the way. T...
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Episode 63
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32:10
5 Lessons I am taking with me into 2026
Today isn’t about strategies or to-do lists. It is all about reflection my friends. And as this is the final episode of 2025, I thought I would share five lessons I’m taking with me into 2026. Lessons shaped by experience, perspective, and a wh...
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Episode 62
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20:42
There is Incredible Growth in the Pause...
Today in this short and sweet episode, I am reflecting on what happens when we keep pushing through just because we can. This drive to keep going may feel necessary, even like growth, but the constant giving just a little bit more comes at a pr...
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Episode 61
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12:23
Knowing Your Strengths Is Only the Beginning
We talk a lot about discovering our strengths. But knowing what you’re good at is only the first step. The real shift happens when you stop collecting insights and start using what you know about yourself to make better decisions, avoid unneces...
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Episode 60
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26:19
When Saying "Yes" Costs Too Much with Emily Aborn
Have you ever found yourself reading a book or listening to podcast, that grabs you so much you drop what you are doing, grab your notebook and start taking notes? That is what happened, when I first listened to the episode
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Episode 59
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37:24
Saying “No” as a Growth Strategy with Lesley Myrick
When we are small business owners, especially when we're in a creative service-driven field like interior design, saying yes to every opportunity often feels like a path to growth until it leads to burnout, scope creep, and mismatched clients.<...
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Episode 58
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48:32
Let’s Redefine the Dream (Again)
This time of year I love snuggling in and dreaming about what I want to create for the new year ahead. And this year I am doing things a little bit differently Before I imagine what can be I decided to go deep and ask myself some tough question...
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Episode 57
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22:02
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Find Your Marketing Zen
Despite all the hype we hear about the "one to rule them all" marketing approaches out there, Marketing your business is a VERY personal choice. What is ideal for someone else, may not work well for you. Why? Because we all have...
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Episode 56
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25:13
Body Language, Business & What You Might Be Missing
Ever had a client say everything’s “great,” but you can just feel that something’s off? You’re not imagining it. Those subtle cues... a glance away, crossed arms, a shift in tone... can tell you more than words ever will.Today N...
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Episode 55
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55:02
When Clarity Takes a Vacation
Awww… clarity! The elusive state of knowing exactly what you want at any given moment. As solo small business owners, clarity can be hard to find sometimes. There are so many ideas out there about what we should want, as well as how we should g...
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Episode 54
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19:14
When the Dream Doesn’t Fit Like You Thought It Would
As a solo small business owner, I am never short on dreams. I have dreams for the future, dreams about where I want to take my business, even dreams about what next week will look like. But the funny about dreams is they aren't always what we h...
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Episode 53
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21:52
The DARKSIDE of Marketing
Today we're dimming the lights, lighting some spooky candles, and talking about the dark side of marketing. We're diving into the ghouls, ghosts, and goblins that haunt the business world... those manipulative tactics that give honest entrepren...
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Episode 52
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28:42
First Impressions Matter, but they aren’t everything!
Do you ever stop to think about how you are perceived by others? Not just the first impression, but every impression you make? Each impression we make is a building block for our business reputation, and unfortunately, sometimes what we want to...
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Episode 51
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27:28
When It Stops Feeling Fun… Is it time to break up?
Have you ever had one of those relationships that started off fun and exciting, but after a while you begin to realize that things just aren’t all that fun or exciting anymore, and you start wondering if things are becoming toxic? No, I am not ...
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Episode 50
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20:39
It’s the Way You Show Up That Counts
Today we are rounding off our conversation about Customer Service with ten tiny tweaks you can make to improve your own customer service game that will help with satisfaction and retention. These cost little to nothing, but offer a really big i...
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Episode 49
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27:38
Build a Stronger Business by Leaning Into Discomfort
Last week, while researching the topic of the "must have" business tools and resources, I was stunned to see Customer Service tossed at the bottom of the list, like a an afterthought. From my earliest days of being employed, customer service ha...
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Episode 48
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30:17
The Tools I don’t use for Business –– Any More!
Do you ever feel like you are drowning in "all the things" necessary to build a successful business. Tools, resources, software hardware... the list goes on and one and can get quite overwhelming really fast! Today, I am sharing how...
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Episode 47
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24:14
Doing it Solo The Challenges, Structure, and Slump-Busters
Working solo sounds amazing until you realize just how tricky it can be to keep yourself on track. Freedom of schedule can quickly feel like chaos, the quiet of home can get a little too quiet, and without a team there’s no one to lean on when ...
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Episode 46
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31:06
Let's Finish 2025 Strong with Emily Aborn
Today I am sitting down with my good friend, go-to copywriter and fellow podcaster Emily Aborn to talk about all the noise around Marketing at the end of the year and why most of it simply doesn’t work for ...
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Episode 45
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27:17
When Your Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open
Ever find yourself mid-conversation or deep into a project and your brain just… stops? That frozen moment usually has nothing to do with your skills or creativity and everything to do with the invisible to-do list running in the background of y...
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Episode 44
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18:41
Profit, Growth, and Intuition with Megan Dahle
In this episode of The Solo Grind, I sit down with my friend Megan Dahle, a business strategist and fractional CFO, to talk about something that used to terrify me—numbers. We dig into how creative entrepreneurs (yes, even the “I’m not...
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Episode 43
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38:25
