Introduction to 'This or More' Podcast
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Hello, welcome fellow entrepreneurs and big dreamers to This or More, the podcast designed to fuel your ambitions, spark your creativity and illuminate the path to success. I'm your host, Tiffany Napper, and I am thrilled as always to be on this journey with you.
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In each episode, we dive into the world of entrepreneurship, exploring strategies, tactics, and insights that are going to help propel you forward. Whether you're a seasoned business owner, like myself, five times around the block, going on 14 years, or if you're just starting out. My goal is to equip you with the tools and the inspiration you need to thrive, and I do mean thrive.
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And today, I've got something really special lined up for you.
Lessons from the Renaissance Women's Conference
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So a few months ago, I sat in the room of the Renaissance Women's Conference in Charleston, South Carolina, an event that was being put together by a client of mine, Renaissance Marketing Group. And as these rather impressive women were taking the stage and sharing their stories, I started jotting down some of the little nuggets of gold. And today, I wanna share the top 13 nuggets with you. These are 13 transformative tips
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that are going to help you not just grow your business, but also inspire you to take up more space, to step more fully into a role of leader and boss, and hopefully to make you feel really ready to tackle this day or this week with a little bit more gusto, a little bit more of a pep in your step. So turn up the volume, turn down the distractions, and grab your notebook as I share the secrets to grow and glow right here on This or More.
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Let's dive in. These are 13 nuggets of gold I took away from the Renaissance Marketing Conference. You'll notice for some of these, I'll tell you who said it. Some of them I don't because I don't necessarily remember who was speaking or specifically what they said, but this was my kind of takeaway, the little nugget that I took away from it. Okay, so let's dive in. Secret golden nugget number one.
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Quit going down the up escalator. I'll say that again. Quit going down the up escalator. The message and the moral here is notice in your life where you are fighting, where you are feeling resistance and where you could perhaps start to go with the flow.
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Or as one of my previous business coaches, Julie Solomon, used to say, find the ease. Where is the ease in this? And is it something that you've just been kind of putting off? But in reality, it's like, oh my God, it's so obvious. I could make this easier. This could be easier. I don't have to struggle. I don't have to fight this anymore. So quit going down the up escalator. Is your first nugget of gold?
Building Supportive Business Networks
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Negative goal number two, big dreams require big teams. This is something I used to have written on the top of my giant dryer race board. Because I've noticed, stereotypically speaking, as women, we have a tendency to think, I can do it. I can do it myself. Let me prove to you that I've got this. And we love to put all of that weight on our shoulders. We love to be helpers. But the truth of the matter is,
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We cannot do it all alone. I've said it a million times. I will keep screaming it from the rooftops until it is ingrained in everybody's brains that you cannot do it alone. And so when I say big dreams require big teams, remember this. You get to define the word team in this scenario.
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So, when I say a big team, it doesn't necessarily mean you've got to go out there and hire 10 people. But it might mean looking around and making sure, do I have anyone on my team? Do I have a partner? Do I have a mentor? Do I have a coach? Do I have a cohort? Do I have a mastermind? Do I have an assistant? Do I have a VA? Do I have an OBM? Do I have a specialist? Do I have anyone helping me get things done? And if not,
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It's time to take a look in the mirror and ask yourself, why have you been trying to do this all on your own and who can help you?
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If you're still trying to do it all alone, you're choosing the path of most resistance. And you're also more likely to never actually reach the finish line. It's not personal. I don't say that to be harsh. It's not personal. It's a statistic because as humans, we need other humans to truly thrive. We need them to survive. And that doesn't change just because we're suddenly talking about business.
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You still need other people to truly thrive. So big dreams require big teams. Golden Nugget number three.
Decision-Making and Leadership Traits
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I loved this one. I really wish I could remember who specifically said it, because this was literally her words. She said, choose a path, not the path. And I witness a lot of women who are fighting resistance because of indecision.
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And indecision is a decision. We've all heard that, right? Indecision is a decision. So rather than getting so hyper focused on needing to know what exactly is the path for you to get from A to Z, what if you just choose A path? What if you trust that if you choose the wrong path, quote, unquote, wrong, okay, because I don't actually believe that there's a wrong path, but if you choose the path that's not your ideal path, let me reframe.
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It's not your ideal path. Trust that you're going to be able to make an adjustment. You'll be able to pivot. And all of a sudden, you might find yourself on the right path, but you never would have gotten there if you hadn't first just chosen a path. We have to put one foot in front of the other. When we stand still and we do nothing, nothing happens, nothing changes. So choose a path, not the path. Golden nugget number four.
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This is one of my favorites because I have been, if you've been around me for a while, you know this. If you haven't go back, listen to like, I think it's episode four, my soft CEO era. When I share that story of how I embarked on my soft CEO era journey. I have been on this softer CEO journey for quite a while now. Oh gosh, eight months, something like this.
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And it has been, it has required me to rewrite some narratives that were really kind of etched in ink in my mind around this idea of having to work hard and having to hustle and also just making me realize the superpowers that we have as women. And so this one plays right into that golden. I got number four, women's super power as bosses, as leaders is that we are nurturers.
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Now I wrote this down after hearing one of the speakers tell a story about how she made a decision to improve the facilities at a factory. She was a clothing designer and she had her clothing hand-woven at this beautiful facility in India and they were having some just, I don't really remember what it was, but maybe some, you know,
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kind of issues or rumblings in the factory. And she realized that they weren't really getting, uh, here's what it was. I remember she, she witnessed that they would be taking their lunch break and they'd be sitting on the ground outside eating at their lunch because there was nowhere for them to sit and have lunch. So her idea that she presented was that, uh, they would put in these beautiful new picnic tables and kind of create like dining areas for them to have their lunches.
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And even though it was an expense, so to speak, that was going to come out of the budget, what happened was they started to notice that the workers were happier. They were more productive, more effective, and they stuck around longer. The turnover went down. So this led to her realizing that women's superpower, this is nugget number four, women's superpower as bosses is that we are nurturers.
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Let that sink in for a minute because it's one of those things that is not applauded. You wouldn't see it necessarily in a list of qualities that will make you a good leader.
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But it is innate in women that we are nurturers. And if anyone has ever made you feel like that's not a quality of a leader, I just want you to point to them the data around how much staff turnover costs. You're welcome. We're nurturers. We care about the people on our team. We care about the people helping us do whatever this thing is that we do. So rather than thinking, oh, I can't bring that to the table as a boss. I can't bring that.
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to the equation as a leader, I want you to reverse that narrative and realize that your superpower as a boss might just be that you're a nurturer. Okay, golden nugget number five of 13.
Redefining Leadership and Embracing Change
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If you were called bossy as a child, you were a future leader. I love this win so much. Heck, I've been called bossy as an adult. And again, I just giggle these days because I'm like, am I bossy or am I just organized? And am I clear and succinct in what I need us to do in order to get us to the next step? I would say it's the latter. I'm not bossy.
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But when I want something to get done and I want to give you clear instructions on how we can all do it together, some people might, unfortunately, call that bossy. So instead, I just giggle and I know it's a sign that I'm a leader, that I'm clear, and that I know how to tell a group of people how to get on the same page so that we can accomplish that thing we all want to accomplish in the end.
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Golden nugget number six, change is good. Full stop. Change is good. Full stop. A lot of times innately inside us when we approach change, we can feel a bit of resistance, a little unsettled, you know, feelings of, Oh God, I don't know. I don't know. Is it going to work? Is it going to work? Is it going to feel good? Is it going to be hard? Is it?
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All these kind of feelings of resistance can come up. So what if today you decide change is good? And I'm going to go out there and I'm going to look for opportunities to change.
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wild, I know. I want you to go out there today and look for opportunities to change. Be like a little Sherlock Holmes, just looking for opportunities to change. Notice how sometimes even just a subtle change can make the difference and you struggling and you finding massive success.
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Golden nugget number seven, step up and lean into leadership. The lean into part of this little quote was what really resonated with me. Because sometimes we think in order to be a great leader, we have to put distance between us and the person that we're leading, right? There needs to be some sort of a hierarchy. I've gotta be up on this pedestal. And that's just not the case.
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Do you need to be commanding respect to a degree? Of course, but we should all be commanding respect as individuals, people to people, right? It doesn't make you better than someone or on a pedestal. So will you have to evolve and become and learn how to become a really great leader if you want to grow a really successful business? 100%.
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100%, there's no way around it. However, when we think about leaning into leadership, what visual comes to mind for you? So does it give you this perspective shift that to be a leader, I've got to lean in, I've got to care a little bit more, I've got to be a little bit more vulnerable?
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I've got to work a little harder to make this dynamic truly work just like any relationship, right? If I lean out of my personal relationship with my partner, what's going to happen? Nothing good. But if I lean in and I show up a little bit more and I say, I'm here and I see you and I want to know you more and I want to, you know, I want to be this, I want this relationship to be even more reciprocal. If I lean in, what happens? So step up and lean into
Mental Health and Self-Worth in Business
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golden nugget number eight oh this one i know who this one was from refused to live beneath your privilege she said don't negotiate your mental health or your mental worth this was from shaniqua washington she's a digital creator in charleston south carolina she worked in corporate at walmart before she became an entrepreneur
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And she had suffered some pretty severe burnout leading and growing the department that she led. So her quote, oh, it was so good. Refuse to live beneath your privilege. Do not negotiate your mental health. We'll leave that one there. Now is the perfect time to hydrate or take a quick sip of your latte while I tell you about a tool that can help you on your journey.
00:12:51
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Studies show 88% of women-owned businesses never reach six figures in revenue. I'm on a mission to change that. Often, service-based business owners struggle to make predictable income. You're on what I call the revenue roller coaster, and it leaves you feeling really overwhelmed and frustrated.
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00:13:29
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00:13:47
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00:14:03
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That's tiffanynapper.com forward slash M T M H gain more confidence, more leads and more money with my resources, support and 30 day action plan. Let's make that money, honey. Welcome back. I'm so glad you're still here with us. It's your host and coach Tiffany. Let's continue golden nugget number nine. What got you here won't get you there.
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What got you here won't get you there. First off, kudos for wherever you are today. Let's just acknowledge you're in a great spot. And where you are right now, maybe six months ago, maybe six years ago, you never believed you'd be. And you can look back and you can look now and say, wow, I did it. I did it. I'm so proud of myself.
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And recognize that you probably want somewhere else. There's probably somewhere else you're trying to go, right? Probably a new benchmark you're trying to reach, a new goal post you're trying to reach. So just know that what got you here won't get you there. This goes back to welcoming and change. You're gonna have to do things a little bit differently.
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This might also go back to you realizing you need other people on your team to get you there. So take from this what you need to take from it, right? But just know that what got you here will not get you there. I'm going through that myself right now. I'm in a growing pain season with my coaching business. We're almost four years in and I'm starting to realize some things that I've been doing for the last couple of years got me to a certain benchmark.
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but in order for me to get past it and get to the next level, I've gotta do things a little bit differently. I've gotta empower some different people on my team. I've gotta improve some processes. I've gotta change some things up, right? So what got you here won't get you there. Okay, golden nugget number 10 of 13.
Pricing Strategies and Customer Experience
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Ooh, this one is spicy and good. Never get people to buy in on clearance and then want them to respect you at full price.
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I'm gonna say that one again. Never get people to buy in on clearance and then want them to respect you at full price.
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Whoo, that hits, right? So if you're giving people deals, if you've offered up a service at a really, really low price, and now you're asking them to step up and invest at the next level and they're giving you a hard time, maybe look back at what you first offered, right? If you got people to buy in on clearance and now you're asking them to respect you at full price, it might be a tougher sell.
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Now, to be clear, that doesn't mean I still don't believe in ladder pricing. If you listen to some of my previous episodes, especially the one on how to raise your prices, I talk a lot about how it's helpful for you to go up in price incrementally rather than make a big jump from, say, $99 to $9,000. We're not going to make that big of a jump, typically. We're going to go up incrementally. And so, of course,
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By nature, you may end up having people that drop off because they bought in at clearance and they can't afford you at full price. But just know that that's okay. That's part of it. And if you're sensing some resistance with those people who bought in at clearance, know that it's okay to walk away. It's okay to just stand firm in your full price where you are now and trust that you'll be able to find the people who value you at full price and want to pay you full price. Heck, they might even want to pay in full at full price, right?
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Golden nugget number 11. Don't let anyone dip into your cup. So here's what I mean by that. We talk a lot about making sure that you fill your cup, right? If you're running on E, go fill your cup. If you sense burnout coming, go fill your cup. And so the point of that is that we should not just pour from an empty cup, not let someone dip into our cup once it's full. No, no, no. We should only give from the cup that's overflowing.
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No pouring required, no dipping required. Our cup should be overflowing into other people. So don't let anyone dip into your cup. Whether it's running on empty, whether you're filling it up, doesn't matter. Don't let anyone dip into your cup. Tip number 12 of our 13 golden nuggets. White napkins. That's your tip, white napkins. I want you to think about white napkins, okay?
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This was brought to our attention by a woman who had built several restaurants in the Charleston area. One was called Prosecco and a Rose. And she talked about how she has these little surprise and delight moments that are standard protocol at her businesses. And in particular at this one restaurant, they do a couple of things. Number one is you're always greeted with a flower. And number two is if you're wearing lighter colored clothing, you always get white napkins.
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And if you're wearing darker colors, clothing, they have dark black napkins available for you.
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And it's something that's so simple, but it's always that little surprise and delight moment that is going to turn your one-time customer into a 10-time customer, into a customer who tells all of her friends about it, into a customer who shares about it on social media with her thousands of potential followers, into a raving superfan who then goes on to Google and yell and writes reviews, right? So white napkins, what's your white napkin moment in your business?
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What are you doing to surprise and delight each and every customer who works with you or who buys from you? And then whatever you decide that white napkin moment is, never let it be diluted. Never let it be brushed under the rug or ignored. Make sure it is always part of procedure. So what she shared about that day was how every single person who comes to work for her
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Understands the white napkin policy and what it means and how they can go above and beyond in these little moments with every person that walks through the door and how that impacts the bigger picture of the business and obviously gives them job security right.
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So golden nugget number 12 is white napkins. What's your white napkin moment in your business, in your life? How are you touching people and making an impact? And then how can you make sure that everybody on your team knows the white napkin moment, the white napkin theory? And then golden nugget number 13 of
Finding Joy in Business and Life
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13. This might be my favorite. I saved it for last. Find the joy and delight.
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in every single day. This was from Mimi Striplin. She is the founder of The Tiny Tassel, a really amazing jewelry company, again, based out of Charleston, South Carolina. And as you go and grow your business, there are gonna be ups and downs. It is a rollercoaster. There is no sugarcoating around it. But if you go into the world determined to find the joy and delight in every single day,
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I promise you, not only will your life be better, and everyone who works for you, their life will be better, but the business really and truly will be better. You will see this really crazy thing happen where your profit margins are nice and strong, and your expenses are lower, and your turnover is lower, and everything just gets to be a little bit more fun and a little bit easier. When you focus,
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truly focus on finding the joy and delight in every single day. So thank you Mimi for that wise little golden nugget that you shared up on the stage.
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Thank you so much for listening. As always, if you like what you heard, please leave me a review and share it on your social media platform of choice. Tag me at Tiffany Napper. Every little bit of love helps us grow and reach more people who are just like you, ready to receive these messages, ready to up level in their business and in their life.
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And if you want to come to Nashville, I'll be sharing my own golden nuggets from the stage at the Renaissance Women's Summit on February 24. I am the opening keynote speaker. I'm so so so thrilled and honored. So grab your latte early, get your butt in the chair, it's going to be a really really good time. You can grab your ticket at the link in the show notes below. And yes, I will be sharing more about my soft CEO journey and how you too can embark on your soft CEO era.
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Until next time, wishing you this or more, this being your current reality and more being the limitless possibilities that await you. I'll see you next time.