Eight Years In: Mistakes, Milestones & Magic

This episode is a little different, y’all—because BizMagic just turned 8 years old! 🥳

So I’m throwing a party in podcast form. This one’s part celebration, part reflection, and part storytime about how this wild business of mine came to be—and what I’ve learned (and unlearned) along the way.

If you’ve ever scaled too fast, hired the wrong person, clung to a million-dollar fantasy check, or wondered if you’re doing it “right,” this one’s for you.

In this episode, I’m sharing:

• BizMagic’s journey into being
• The moment I realized I accidentally became an agency
• Why 2022 was a giant dumpster fire and also one of my best teachers
• What scaling too fast taught me about systems, boundaries, and trust
• Some of the milestones that actually matter (hint: it’s not always about revenue)
• The unglamorous but essential magic of just staying in business
• Why my team is the real MVP
• And a big ol’ thank you to you for being part of this wild ride

If you’re a small biz owner who is thriving, surviving, or even just treading water, join me to celebrate the messy, magical, still-here years.

Learn more about BizMagic or the BizMagic Podcast.

Transcript

Welcome back to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast, your place for all things tech in your online business with solids. Of General Biz Chat two. My name is Patty Meyer and I am the CEO and founder of Biz Magic, where my team and I support entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed by the backend tech of their business.

We create, implement, and teach the tweaks that help our clients make a bigger impact with less stress. Today's episode is gonna be a little bit different because the day that this episode is released, which is July 1st, 2025, biz Magic is officially eight years old. We started in 2017 on July 1st, so I thought I would take this time to celebrate.

A little bit and talk about some of the things I've learned in my business, some of the things I'm grateful for, and just basically have an episode where I just talk a little bit about Biz Magic, about Biz Magic's journey, because I haven't shared that on the podcast. And yeah, just sort of my experience in, in eight years.

So. I, I know that eight years isn't necessarily like a milestone number. It's not five, it's not 10, but I think that any year that you are still standing in business is a milestone, especially in this time that we're in right now, where things have been really challenging. It's been a very difficult last.

Many years. Um, but the last two especially have felt very different for a lot of people in the online business. So that's why I wanna kind of say, I think anytime that we're still in business is a time for celebration. So why not year eight? So let's have an episode that's. Part celebration, part reflection, part love letter to my business and the people who've helped me build it.

So if we kind of go back and start a little bit at the beginning. Um, when I graduated high school, I didn't go straight to college. I felt a little bit burned out from school. I had anxiety, uh, that I really didn't know how to name yet. And honestly, I just, I wasn't ready. So I started working and my first job was at Aaron Brothers.

Um, and I became an assistant manager there within six months. And that. Was mostly because I'm nosy, because I like being in control because I really liked knowing how things worked behind the scenes. Right. What was happening, and that's the same as I've always been and am to this day, right? I like knowing what's going on, so I bounced around in retail for a little bit after that.

At one point I worked very briefly at the Container Store and. I, I'm just gonna be real here. I failed the surprise drug test. I was 21. I was living in San Francisco. I smoked pot. I failed the test, so I. That was exciting. So I lost that job and then I moved on to the next job and that was at Build A Bear.

And I really loved that. I was an assistant manager there. It was fun, it was goofy. And they closed that store, um, in downtown San Francisco because of the location. And by that point. It actually was a really great time for the store to close for me personally, right? Not for the company, but for me. But I knew by that point that the corporate world was wasn't for me.

I hated policies and enforced policies over things like my hair color. I hated feeling like I was another cog in the machine. I wanted more autonomy. I wanted more creativity. I wanted more freedom. So I took some time when I got laid off because I had unemployment and I pivoted. I'd done theater tech in.

High school and I really loved it at stage management, running lights and sound. Um, all the behind the, the, the scenes things. My first show that I worked on ever as a stage manager was a chorus line, and to this day, I remember all the songs and all of the choreography. Even though I wasn't in it, I was behind the scenes.

So I rearranged my. Resume and posted it on Craigslist and a nonprofit theater in San Francisco, uh, reached out to me and I got hired as a lighting and soundboard operator. I really didn't know what I was doing, but they trained me and I fell. I. More in love with theater. I ended up working there for 10 years.

I wore every hat possibly imaginable there. I was a lighting designer, I was a stage manager. I became the volunteer coordinator. I became the program director for a weekly program. Um, I became the technical director, and finally I was the operations manager. I managed the majority, if not all of the. Front of house facing and technical personnel in that theater.

And when we opened a new venue across the bay, um, I did it all and I, I loved it. And at the same time that I was working at that theater, I. For those 10 years, I was working part-time for a woman who was a contract recruiter. My job started with her as a personal assistant, but really quickly it morphed into a business assistant role.

I was helping her with all of the tech stuff in her business, printers, documents, systems, and along the way I was learning about remote work. Way before it was like a thing, right? So it was also my first taste of entrepreneurship because I was working in her home office and she was, uh, an independent contractor.

Um, and something really clicked with that. So between, so, so during that kind of 10 year period of time, I was working both in a business, um. Brick and mortar business, right? This theater, doing all of the behind the scenes stuff, learning all about business in that capacity, and at the same time working with an entrepreneur and learning about that and how to work remotely and running a business and taxes and you know, all of that stuff.

So eventually I left the theater because I had always believed that I was supposed to be a psychologist ever since I was little. So I decided to. Go to City College, I left my job, which was terrifying and because I loved it so much and I went towards, um, my AA in psychology and was all set to transfer to Texas a and m.

Um, because during kind of that last, second to last semester, um, at City College. I moved to Texas for unrelated reasons, and so I was like, okay, great. I'm going to go ahead and transfer to Texas a and m and that's where I'll get my, where I'll get my, uh, bachelor's. Uh, but then I found out that half my credits wouldn't transfer and I would need to take all of these classes again.

It would cost a bunch of money. I, at that point, was in my early to mid, I was in my mid thirties and. I realized I probably wouldn't be practicing until I was in my late forties to early fifties. So I took some time. I reevaluated, and that's kind of when it hit me. I was already helping people. Right. I was really good at tech.

I was good at business. I had years of experience managing people systems operation. What if I just started my own business? Although I guess at that time I didn't really think about starting a business, right? It wasn't a business. I was starting, I was wanting to work for myself. And so I knew, okay, I needed a name and, and all of that.

And so that's kind of when Biz Magic was born and one of my best friends, Tina helped me name it. We went back and forth, um, over names for quite a while, and eventually we hit Biz Magic and it just felt really right. And I started finding my clients on Craigslist. And because that's what you did back then.

And then by what felt like kind of luck to me. I was, uh, connected with and started working with Marsha Shaer of Yes, yes. marsha.com and she had a really devoted audience and they were very much my people, a lot of female entrepreneurs doing really amazing stuff. And she was doing weekly newsletters at that point, and she loved working with me, so she started shouting me out and that kind of changed everything and.

To this day, I can trace about 75% of my clients back to Marsha in some form. You know, some of them are like three or four degrees separated, but her referrals referred people and those people referred more people. And that ripple effect is really what built the foundation of biz magic. And so while that feels like luck, I want to acknowledge that I was also good at what I did.

And so there's a reason that people kept referring, but. But it was really, there was a lot of luck involved as well as, you know, the right person that I was connected to. And so I think that that's kind of the first big lesson I. Right that I learned in my business is that sometimes you get lucky and you also have to show up and you have to do great work and give people a reason to keep referring you.

But that was a big lesson. Um, and then as things picked up, I reached a point where I had to hire help. So first it was for client work and then eventually I needed my own assistance. Then, and that felt like a really huge moment to me when I realized I was drowning in emails. I needed somebody to help me kind of get outta my own way, keep me on task, um, you know, all of that.

From there, we just kind of kept growing and I just sort of accidentally turned into an agency and we had 18 people on, on the team at our, our kind of. Biggest and I, we had two retreats where people flew in from various parts of the country, um, to hang out together. Um, we hit our first 10 K month. We hit our first 20 K month, then we hit a nearly quarter million in annual revenue, um, which that's all gross by the way, which is.

Important to say, because net is another story. So it was a lot. It was a lot of really great stuff that kind of happened over the years, and it was just so much fun. But it wasn't all perfect all the time. Right? I mean, I don't think any experience in life is, and definitely no business is, I mean, there was so much good that was happening, but.

Other things that I've learned, right? In 2022, I scaled too fast. We had a huge influx of interest and instead of creating a wait list like I had done in the past, I kind of rushed to hire new client managers, uh, or account managers. And I didn't train them well, I didn't vet them well, and it backfired.

Pretty, pretty hard, and we lost clients. I had to issue refunds. I burned through money that I didn't really have. Biz Magic still wasn't super crazy profitable, so I burned through money and, and I had nothing to show for it. I, I ended up losing those three client managers because of poor hiring decisions and many clients in the process.

So I learned that. You can't scale faster than your systems, right? Don't let ego and urgency override your intuition. That was a really big lesson for me, um, to always prioritize my training and processes. When you're. Running an agency because again, I don't think I realized by that point that I was running an agency.

I, I didn't have an agency mindset. I didn't intend to become an agency, but I was, I was an agency and running an agency is different from being a solopreneur a lot, and it's different from even. Running a business with employees, it's, it's a different beast. It requires a different structure. It requires a structure and systems and delegation and clear communication.

It's, it's a whole different thing. And if you don't treat it like an agency. It, it, it's not gonna be super successful. So that was a really huge lesson for me, um, was to stop and really step into my business as an agency, treat it like an agency, and I. To not get so ahead of myself and so excited at the potential of making money and having all the clients.

Um, but to really, you know, when I started my business, it was all about the relationship. It was all about helping people. And I think that while I was still doing that, I. During this period, I had lost a little bit of that touch, right? And so that really taught me to get back in touch with that, to slow back down.

And it did teach me that I don't wanna be quite that size, that a smaller agency, should I stay an agency long term is, is gonna be a better fit for me than a bigger agency, right? So some other lessons that I learned along the way, boundaries matter. I don't work weekends or answer emails at all hours. I don't work evenings.

I, I built this business so that I could have a life, um, and have life balance, and that, that the business isn't running me. Now, sometimes I work weekends, sometimes I work evenings. But the fact is that I choose that and I choose that with intention. So. Boundaries are really huge boundaries with who I want to work with, boundaries with how I choose to be connected with the people that I work with, both in my team and in my clients.

Those are really important. I. Which leads me to another thing that I learned, which is that you get to choose your clients. I've fired clients who were disrespectful to me or my team and have zero regrets. Zero. I've fired clients who have tried to poach my team members. I've fired clients who were condescending to my team, members who hired us, but wouldn't actually hold space and allow us to do our job.

Um, they weren't fits and so. I let them go and it's the best thing that I've done in my business every time I've done it. Another lesson is that comparison is terrible. Someone else's six figure launch, seven figure business has nothing to do with my journey with my business. My business is unique. My.

Clients are unique. My team is unique, and therefore my business does not and never will look like anybody's else's business. And that is a good thing. That was a hard lesson to learn and took me a long time to learn that. And the other one I think is that staying in business is success. That's why I'm celebrating today.

Right? Just continuing to show up. Is something to be proud of. The statistics that are out there, say that. I think only 50%, and this isn't exact, I'm paraphrasing on what I remember, but I believe it's 50% of businesses last the first five years. So, and then it's even smaller percentage when it's women owned businesses.

So, and, and I think the number of women owned businesses to start with is super, super low. So it's a really something to celebrate. So being proud. Where you are I think is really important. There's, um, this check that's sitting here on my desk as I'm, I'm sitting here, um, and I wrote it to myself from Biz Magic for a million dollars, and it's post aid for July 1st, 2025.

In case you haven't guessed, I will not be cashing it. I love that it's there. It's a reminder of that kind of early version of myself who believed the online business world hype. I think that you could just make a course and the money would pour in, right? That it's just like magic. I don't believe that anymore.

Because I understand that there's so much more that goes into that stuff behind the scenes that, not that you can't be successful with a course or anything like that, but that it's that, that the online business world isn't just a, you build it, people will come because where do the people come from?

Y'all Like they have to come from somewhere. It takes networking, it takes audience building. It takes time. Like there's so much more involved that I think new business owners. Especially in the online business world, aren't told and shown. Um, and we're just sort of fed this idea of like magic, magic and, and I love it, but also it's not always realistic.

And so this check kind of reminds me of what I've learned in all these years and how much I've grown as a human and, and as a business owner, like what I've learned by being in business for all these years. And so I like that it's sitting here. Even though I can't cash it today, um, it, it, it's almost like this little sweet time capsule of how far I've come.

Right? I love that it's sitting here because though I don't believe in, in that stuff that I kind of believed in the beginning, I believe in my business and I believe in what I've built, and so I think that's a really beautiful thing to have here. So other things that I really love about my experience in Biz Magic and what I love the most is my team.

I love my team and, and every iteration of my team since the beginning, because they're like all businesses, there's iterations of teams, right? Different people come and go in all of that. But I love my team, these people. Are brilliant and funny and kind and ridiculously talented. Adriana, my right hand woman keeps everything running and keeps me accountable like nobody else.

I trust her completely. My team teaches me every day about business, about leadership. About grace, about support, and I could not do this business without them. And I love my clients. So many of them have become friends of mine and I, I get to support people who are doing incredible work in the world.

Therapists, coaches, functional medicine practitioners, artists, justice advocates. I'm behind the scenes. Helping them do good in the world, helping them shine. And that for me, ugh, it's so deeply fulfilling and it makes what I do, just everything to me. I love that I get to be my own boss. I love working for my couch.

I love snuggling my cats and talking to them during meetings. I love setting my own hours. I love. I love that I get to be myself in my business. I get to be real and passionate and sarcastic and silly, and dress down like I don't have to put on a power suit to go to work. Like I love that I get to be me, and I love this podcast.

I started it back when I was living with my mom right after I first moved to Texas and I was trying to get back on my feet after kind of leaving my whole life in San Francisco. And it disappeared for a while because life and growth and business. But it's back and this episode is 24 of the kind of revived.

Version of the Biz Magic Podcast, and I just fucking love it. I love it so much. I'm so elated that I do this podcast and that I do it for me and I do it for anybody who wants to listen and that I don't, I'm not focused on the numbers. I'm just doing it because I love it, you know? So to close all of this out.

Thank you for being a part of this journey. Whether you've worked with me in some capacity, whether you've referred someone to me, listened to this podcast, or just been in my audience cheering me from afar. Thank you biz. Magic exists because of community, a community that I really love. And because of people like you, you that listen to this, you that continue to run your business, you that are successful just because you made it another day in your business.

And I think everybody should celebrate that. So here's to eight years of. Mistakes and lessons and love and frustration and fear and magic. And here's to whatever's next. If you wanna share anything about your own business journey, you know I'm here for it. And if you need help. You wanna support me in continuing to do what I love and what I'm passionate about, let me know.

Shoot me a message. I can help you with your tech, your workflows, your systems, your platforms, your website, all the backend stuff. And I will love every second of it. I do strategy sessions with businesses on all sorts of things. Um, I'm here for you, so send me an email. patty@bizmagic.co. Or you can learn more about Biz Magic if you don't yet know much about us.

Uh, at biz magic.co. Thank you again so much for being a part of this journey. Happy Birthday Biz Magic, and, um, I appreciate you all. Thank you for listening to another episode of the Biz Magic Podcast. Like most small businesses and podcasts, we rely heavily on word of mouth. So if you like what you heard today or in any episode, please share with your friends and colleagues.

And rate, subscribe and comment on your favorite podcast platform. Till next time, cheers to your magical biz success.