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Ever wondered if “business growth” could mean something other than longer hours, bigger teams, and endless to-do lists? In this episode, I sit down with bookkeeping strategist Aneisha (https://www.yellowskybusiness.services/) for a brutally honest chat on burnout, business boundaries, and what it really looks like to build a profitable solopreneur business that puts sanity first. Yep, even lifestyle entrepreneurs get fried—so if you’ve ever wanted to hit pause (or just hit snooze for an extra hour), you’re definitely among your people. We tackle the messy stuff: signs of burnout you’re probably ignoring, how Aneisha ditched her people-heavy career and reimagined her service business for actual work life balance, and why client acquisition doesn’t have to mean sacrificing every free hour. If you’re tired of hustle culture and want a flexible business that fits your brain (especially if you’re neurodivergent or just plain human), this one’s for you. Spoiler: Anisha is not here for endless growth—she’s all about recovery, saying no, and business freedom on her own terms. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business Network: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠ → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Recognize burnout early by noticing unexpected irritability or that “why do people exist?” mood. Build your business systems around your real needs—even if that means fewer clients or shorter projects. Give yourself permission to grow slowly (or not at all) and set boundaries that protect your energy and your income. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

On this episode, Caitlan is letting you in on her favorite rebel business tactic: coloring outside the lines in business. If you’ve ever worried that your unconventional ideas make you “too much” for your industry, or if you’re tired of playing it safe just so you fit in with the cool kids (aka, the “should” police), this one’s for you. Caitlan shares about what happened when she brought Human Design into therapy, how a blizzard in Reykjavík could teach you about business, and why the best ideas usually come in the middle of the night when you’re delirious from parenthood and sleep deprivation. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠ → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways: Check in with yourself before chasing new ideas—if it feels like a “should,” it probably isn’t your thing. Give yourself permission to take small, brave steps outside the lines (fear’s normal, but so is finding your people on the other side). Take it one step at a time. She tested Human Design with clients who asked for it long before she talked about it publicly. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever felt allergic to those gimmicky "freebie" PDFs floating around the internet? (Yeah, me too.) In this episode, Sara Royf (https://www.sararoyf.com/) shares how she used free LinkedIn profile audits to grow her email list and get more clients, starting before she'd even quit her full-time job. Sara recorded 5 to 10 minute audits after work and posted the offer in local Facebook groups. About 100 audits in, a call with a local marketing whiz pushed her toward LinkedIn consulting, and people started asking her to just fix their profiles for them, which became her first paid service. Three years and 344 audits later, 12 people have bought directly and plenty more have referred her. She explains why a 3 to 4% conversion rate doesn't bother her and how to be helpful without giving away the farm. She also covers how she handed the audits to her client lead so the strategy keeps running while she's busy with client work. If you'd rather do the work after someone signs up than build a freebie that ends up in the digital graveyard, this one's for you. Want to see it in action? Request your own free LinkedIn profile audit: sararoyf.com/audit → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: https://www.theordinarybusiness.com → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy Key Takeaways Free audits grow your list because people get personal feedback on their own stuff, which no PDF can give them.Most people who get an audit won't buy. Sara made peace with that early, because the visibility and referrals more than make up for it.Keep each audit to 5 to 10 minutes with a simple format (a compliment, three opportunities, an invitation to talk) so the strategy doesn't eat your evenings.

Ever sat there staring at your long to-do list, wondering why every “simple” marketing idea somehow multiplies like dirty laundry? I feel you. In this episode, I get real with Tayler—ordinary business owner, Enji co-founder (https://www.enji.co/), and black coffee enthusiast—about why having piles of good marketing ideas means nothing if you never actually do them. This chat dives into what it’s actually like to run your marketing by yourself, with messy weeks and half-finished projects front and center. Tayloer shares how Enji was built for regular business owners—yes, your people!—who want project management tools that help you plan, actually finish, and track your marketing (instead of collecting dust in yet another app you forget about). Whether you’re sick of Instagram, want to fire half your software, or keep asking, “Is this even working?”—this one’s for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways: Give your future self a break by actually documenting your marketing plan and tracking what works (and what’s a time suck). Stop letting the “shoulds” and internet pressure call the shots—cut the stuff not working, even if you like it (RIP, side podcast). Leverage ordinary project management (color-coding, scheduling, real notes!) to keep your marketing from devolving into chaos. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever blinked and come back to 212 unread emails? Same. This group chat episode is about taking real time off, whether you call it a sabbatical, a vacation, or just ignoring Slack from your couch. If you've wondered how other solopreneurs actually build work life balance into their business without tanking their income, pull up a chair. This chat with Michelle (https://www.michellepontvert.com/), Rebecca (https://rebeccastanisic.com/), and Amanda (https://chaoscoordinationllc.com/) gets into the nitty gritty of planning real time away—batching content, prepping clients, and squashing the guilt that comes the minute you finally close your laptop. If you’re craving permission to step back—without some million-dollar-flex pressure—this is your episode. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Prep for time off by communicating early and batching work, even if it means things look wild before vacation. Trust that income can ebb and flow, and sometimes building a buffer (or letting go of FOMO) is what keeps you sane. Rehearse taking planned breaks. When life forces unexpected time off, your clients and your budget will already know how to handle it. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever noticed your business decisions getting foggier the longer you go without seeing another adult? Samantha MacKinnon (https://samanthamackinnon.com/) did. After her first son was born, she was hitting her deadlines and taking care of clients, but she felt flat, less confident, and unlike herself. So she did what a former construction project manager would do: she treated her social life as load-bearing and started tracking it. In this episode, Samantha explains how she built a "social quota" into each quarter, with a book club, a dinner with a university friend, a weekly choir, family time on the boat, and one or two carefully chosen networking events a year. Her rule is that if it's not tracked, it's not real, but the system has to flex or it breaks. A missed quarter doesn't mean the whole plan failed. She also talks about planning around childcare, dropping the guilt, and why introverts should skip the quota and find whatever makes them feel like themselves. If you're an entrepreneur looking for a version of work life balance you can actually measure, this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Put your social life on the calendar the way you schedule client work, because if it isn't recurring, it probably isn't happening.Build in flex. If you miss the quarterly dinner, pick it back up next quarter instead of scrapping the whole system.Start with one recurring plan, like a monthly happy hour or a quarterly coffee with a business friend, and build from there. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever feel like everyone else is nailing viral reels while you're just trying to get your inbox under control? Erin Perkins (https://www.mabelyq.com/), accessibility educator, founder of Mabely Q, and creator of the accessibility assistant Tactile, has been in business for 8 years without doing a single dance video or trending audio clip. She takes over the mic this week to talk about marketing without social media trends. Erin tells the story of a sales team that pushed her in 2025 to start doing trend-driven reels, and why she said no, even though it worked for other creators. She shares the two questions she asks before trying any marketing tactic: do you have the capacity for it, and are you doing it because you want to or because you feel you have to? She also talks about burning out two years ago from doing marketing she hated, and what's working now that her business has shifted from services to tech. Hint: Instagram isn't working for her, Threads is sort of working, and joining communities and actually talking to people is working best. If you'd rather build relationships than learn a new trend every week, this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Before you try a trend, ask whether you have the capacity for it and whether you want to do it or just feel pressured to.If you hate a marketing tactic, you won't keep it up. Forcing it leads to burnout or resentment.What works changes as your business changes. Erin's best channel right now is showing up in communities, which is different from what worked when she was a service business. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever wanted to break up with your email funnels, or wondered what would happen if you swore off AI and only worked a few days a week? Adam Schaeuble (https://www.podcastingbusiness.school/), host of Podcasting Business School, takes over the mic to explain how he does both. He has no ChatGPT, no Claude, and he works about 2.5 days a week. Adam once owned a gym with 500+ clients and 30+ employees, and he worked himself into the hospital three times. Now he tracks one KPI above all others: how many days he doesn't work each year. He talks about why he keeps AI out of his creative work, what 800 pages of Abraham Lincoln's letters taught him about writing, and his minimum effective dose approach: one podcast, one newsletter, and one social platform (Threads). He also shares what happened when he deleted every email funnel and all but one lead magnet and made his weekly newsletter the opt-in. His list doubled from 2,000 to 4,000, with a 68% open rate. If business freedom sounds better to you than a bigger number to announce at a mastermind, this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Set time-based goals alongside income goals. Adam's best income years have been the ones where he took 180 to 200 days off.People who opt in for a lead magnet want the freebie, not your emails. When your newsletter is the opt-in, people join because they actually want to hear from you.Now that so much content sounds AI-generated, writing in your own voice is what makes you stand out. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain on the founding launch of The Ordinary Business Network: the real numbers, my mixed feelings, the two-month launch plan I scrapped five days in, and the last day, when 29 people joined. I ran the whole thing by myself, with no copywriter, no VA, and no ad spend, while getting strep throat, celebrating my daughter's birthday, and still doing design client work. You'll hear the full breakdown: 110 members and just over $15K, making it the biggest launch of my 15 years in business. Email converted at 16% of my Ordinary segment, and 36% of new members came in cold. My engaged Slack community actually converted last. I also share why the first week was a slow drip that had me convinced I'd failed again, what fell flat on Instagram and LinkedIn, and why there's nothing to subtract from the $15K. If you're building a solopreneur business and you're tired of launch recaps that skip the messy middle, this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠ → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Track where your buyers actually come from. My email list outperformed my most engaged community by a mile.If a launch plan isn't working, drop it early. Switching to launching to everyone at once saved this launch.Most launches look like a slow trickle and then a spike at the end, not 30 sales on day one. Don't decide your launch failed in week one. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Feeling like your story isn't "epic" enough to share in your business? Reme Mancera (https://www.rememancera.com/) felt the same way. She quit a job in a windowless office at 40, and she's a private person who wanted nothing to do with the "be vulnerable" advice everyone kept giving her. Now she's a personal brand story strategist working with clients in 24 countries, and she takes over the mic to show service business owners how to use storytelling without oversharing or inventing a big hero's journey. Reme explains her idea of story connectors, which are small, meaningful moments from your life that tie back to your work. She shares her own (the day the first public library opened in her neighborhood) and a fashion copywriter client's story of growing up under her mom's sewing table, a detail that never came up until Reme asked. Out of the 10 categories in her Story Connector framework, she recommends starting with three: your audience, your values, and how you approach your work. Then she walks you through a four-step exercise for finding your first story connector. If you've ever thought, "I don't have a story worth telling," this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways A story doesn't have to be epic to be worth sharing. Something as small as getting a library card can say a lot about your values and your work.Once you know why you're telling a story and how it connects to your audience, it gets a lot easier to tell it with confidence.You choose how much you share. Storytelling gets easier with practice, and oversharing isn't required. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Feel like you're playing whack-a-mole with your business, tweaking offers, rewriting content, and posting more without seeing results? If you don't know why something isn't working, you're guessing. >> Join The Ordinary Network! In this re-aired episode, I talk about the least glamorous fix in business: market research. In 2024, during a rough season, I paused new client work and did 55 one-on-one market research calls with service business owners in six weeks. I didn't use an AI note-taker or a team, just a spreadsheet and a lot of Zoom. In exchange, people could ask me anything. I walk through how I ran the calls, why I'd pick calls over a Google Form survey every time, and the four steps I'd follow if I did it again: decide what you want to learn, choose the right people, keep your questions about their world instead of your sales page, and write down the exact words people use. I also share how many calls is enough (20 to 30, in my opinion), and what surprised me most, which was how many of my own assumptions were wrong. Key Takeaways: Stop tweaking and start asking. Real conversations show you what a poll or a "why didn't you buy?" email can't.Keep your questions broad and about their experience. Don't ask whether your headline sounds good.Pay attention to the exact phrases people use. After 20 or 30 calls, patterns start to show up, and that language becomes your copy. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever feel like email marketing is a never-ending parade of newsletters you don't actually want to read? Melissa Esmeralda, an email and funnel strategist, deliverability expert, and founder of MEO Marketing Group, felt the same. So she made her own newsletter as an audio newsletter. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business Network: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com In this episode, Melissa walks through how her Marketing Memos work: a written story in the email, then a 10-minute voice memo that answers a subscriber's question in depth. She sends two a month, picks one topic per quarter based on polls of her list, and collects questions through an anonymous form, because asking a question publicly can feel vulnerable. The setup is low-tech on purpose. She records on her laptop's Voice Memos app and hosts the files in a Google Drive folder, so she wasn't paying for a hosting platform before she knew whether it would work. She also shares how she uses Claude to write her call to action word for word (she kept stumbling over it out loud), and why her odd two-to-three-word subject lines, like "screaming pigeons," get opened without hurting deliverability. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠ → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways Your newsletter doesn't have to look like a newspaper. A story and a short voice memo can teach technical topics and still feel personal.Test a new format with the tools you already have before paying for new software.Weird subject lines are fine as long as they relate to what's in the email. If they don't, your deliverability suffers. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Re-airing a previous episode where I'm spilling the real tea on what it actually looks like to run a profitable, sustainable business, without your “number one moneymaker” being a magical inbox. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business Network: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com⁠⁠/network I've been in business for 15 years and tried every freebie, webinar, and custom quiz the internet has recommended, and my email list still doesn't pay my grocery bill. So I break down where my clients actually come from, which for me is referrals, SEO, and real conversations on social media. I also talk about how I stopped forcing the marketing I "should" be doing. If your client acquisition doesn't look like the playbook, this one's for you. → Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠⁠ → Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠⁠ Key Takeaways: Stop forcing a marketing tool that’s never worked for you—focus instead on what actually brings you clients. Know that referrals, SEO, and genuine connection on social media can be your secret sauce (no matter what the gurus say). Give yourself permission to ditch the “shoulds,” play to your business strengths, and define success on your own, very ordinary terms. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever feel like the only "serious" business owners are the ones working 90-hour weeks on willpower and too much coffee? Jacki Hayes (https://www.jackihayes.co/) skipped the hustle culture version of "all in." She runs her business alongside a part-time job, and yes, she's keeping the free gym membership. This episode gets into why mixing a part-time job with your own business is nothing to be ashamed of. You'll hear how to set boundaries that stick, be upfront with clients about your schedule, and drop the guilt about not showing up on Instagram every day. It also covers why steady income can make your business stronger, and how to cut the busy work so the hours you do spend on your business count. If you want to pay your bills and still have energy left for your actual life, this one's for you. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways: Ditch the “all in” shame—having a part-time job can make your life (and mental health) a whole lot easier. Use honest boundaries and clear communication to attract clients who get you (and actually respect your schedule). Cut the fluff in your business by focusing only on what moves the needle, so you have more time for real life. Are you a solopreneur who wants business growth without sacrificing the lifestyle business you actually wanted? Have you ever wondered if growing your business really has to mean building a team, working more hours or chasing someone else's version of success? What if staying small was the strategy, not the stepping stone? If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Subscribe and follow!

Ever wondered if you could actually grow your business without giving into the “never sleep, always grind” nonsense? I’m diving in with email strategist Allea Grummert (https://duett.co/), who’s keeping it very real about what it takes to launch a new offer, court those elusive leads, and keep your voice intact when you accidentally record 80 personalized videos. We're talking about giveaways that actually feel human, what to do when you get “only” 85 signups, and why a $4,000 service freebie isn’t some marketing power move, but a thoughtful experiment for finding your people. If you want actionable strategies, relatable stories (yes, including post-softball-sweat breakdowns), and proof that “small” can still mean sustainable and successful, you’re in the right place. → Learn more about The Ordinary Business: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.theordinarybusiness.com→ Enjoy this episode? Buy me a coffee: ⁠https://buymeacoffee.com/ordinarybusiness⁠→ Peek inside the Nosy Nelly Files: ⁠https://theordinarybusiness.com/nosy⁠ Key Takeaways: Kickstart new offers with a personal, generous approach—even if that means one big, strategic giveaway. Nurture your email list by tagging actual interests and sending real follow-ups, not just “here’s another funnel” emails. Don’t measure success by bloated numbers—a handful of the right people engaging honestly beats 10,000 ghost subscribers any day. This podcast is for business owners who are tired of hustle culture and want relatable, honest conversations about running a sustainable business that actually works for their life.