Full Episode Page: Mental Toughness and Resilience in Business: Rocks, Jellybeans, and Marshmallows

Episode Summary: Nick Berry discusses the importance of mental toughness and resilience in being a successful business owner.

He shares how Hall of Fame Coach Beauford Sanders taught him the analogy of rocks, jellybeans, and marshmallows to categorize one's response to adversity. Rocks are solid and unchanging, jellybeans appear solid but crack under pressure, and marshmallows quickly melt away.

The key takeaway is to aspire to be a rock and work on developing mental toughness. It is important to assess oneself honestly and seek feedback to improve. The analogy can also be used to assess and develop team members.

Takeaways

• Mental toughness and resilience are important for success in business.
• Aspire to be a rock and work on developing mental toughness.
• Assess oneself honestly and seek feedback to improve.
• The rocks, jellybeans, and marshmallows analogy can be used to assess and develop team members.

Quotes from the Episode:

• "Mental toughness and resilience are crucial parts of the makeup of a successful business owner." — Nick Berry
• "There are three types of people: rocks, jellybeans, and marshmallows. How they respond to adversity reveals their true nature." — Nick Berry
• "Everyone aspires to be a rock, but maintaining that level of resilience requires ongoing effort and self-awareness." — Nick Berry

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The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: Austin Mullins: Becoming an SEO and Content Craftsman, Agency Builder and Thought Leader

Episode Summary: In this conversation, Austin Mullins discusses the importance of effective communication in business and the value of gaining experience and expertise. He shares his journey from copywriting to sales to starting his own agency, Conversion Media. Austin emphasizes the need for personalized and relevant content marketing, considering the intent and awareness stage of the audience. He also highlights the tension between wanting a definite path in marketing while acknowledging the limitations of data visibility. The conversation covers the importance of both tangible and intangible aspects of marketing, the need for prioritization in technical SEO, the value of understanding the audience, the limitations of AI in content creation, and the SEO skills assessment and coaching program.

Takeaways

• Gaining experience and expertise through practice and exposure to different industries can enhance your skills and knowledge.
• Personalized and relevant content marketing is essential, considering the intent and awareness stage of the audience.
• There is a tension between wanting a definite path in marketing and the limitations of data visibility.
• Technical SEO should be prioritized based on estimated impact and ROI
• Content marketing is a portfolio game where not everything will work, but enough quality work will yield results
• The SEO skills assessment helps measure skills maturity and plan learning and development initiatives
• Upskilling existing team members can be more effective than hiring senior SEO talent
• You can access the free Ascent SEO Skills Assessment tool here.

Where to Find Austin:

• Conversion Media
• Ascent SEO Coaching
• Austin on LinkedIn
• Austin on X
• Austin Mullins tBOJ Guest Profile

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: tBOJ Resource: Upleveling Business Strategy with the Strategic Alignment Plan

Go here to get your copy of the Strategic Alignment Plan.

Episode Summary: Host Nick Berry delves into the Strategic Alignment Plan, a crucial framework for small business owners looking to streamline their vision, goals, and decision-making processes. Learn how this simple yet powerful tool can help you align your core values, set smart goals, and ensure your business stays on track.

The Importance of a Strategic Alignment Plan

The Strategic Alignment Plan (SAP) framework helps businesses capture both strategic and operational goals, bringing them into one cohesive place. This ensures that every team member is aligned and aware of the business’s direction, ultimately creating a common operating system that fosters coherence and alignment.

Defining Core Values and Culture

Core values are fundamental to the success and culture of a business. Nick advises that three to seven core values should guide behavior, hiring, and training. These values should be shared regularly with the team to keep them at the forefront of everyone's mind, reinforcing decision-making and gaining team buy-in.

Crafting a Long-Term Vision

The long-term vision acts as the North Star, guiding decision-making and strategic planning. He recommends setting a vision that spans three or more years into the future and revisiting it annually to ensure it remains relevant and inspiring.

Identifying Your Core Offer and Ideal Client Profile

Nick walks through how to identify the product or service around which the business is built, ensuring it meets the ideal client's needs and is profitable. He also details the importance of demographic and psychographic information in profiling the ideal client, focusing on characteristics that truly define them.

Setting SMARTER Goals and Quarterly Rocks

Nick advocates for the SMARTR goal framework—Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely, and Results-oriented. He explains how to set one-year goals that align with the long-term vision and break them down into quarterly rocks to keep the team focused and on track.

Resources:

• An Overview of the Strategic Alignment Plan

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: Scott Fay: Turning Distressed Companies into Success Stories

Episode Summary: Scott Fay has a successful track record of turning around distressed companies. He has rolled up 17 distressed companies under TCI Rood and has found a formula for success. Part of his formula has been learning that his strength is fixing broken companies rather than creating new ones.

Fay also shares his experience with John Maxwell, who called him the father of the John Maxwell team. He emphasizes the importance of valuing people and building relationships for success.

Fay's book "Discover Your Sweet Spot" highlights the principle that our reality is a result of our best thinking.

Scott shares his experience of solving problems and gaining new perspectives by putting himself in different environments. He explains why it's better to view problems as opportunities and to focus on the design issues that contribute to the problems. Additionally, he discusses the significance of language, symbols, and example in shaping company culture and the importance of addressing conflicts openly and honestly.

Takeaways

• Scott's realization that he's better at fixing broken companies rather than creating new ones.
• Our reality is a result of our best thinking. Sometimes you need to go to a different place at a different pace to gain a different perspective.
• View problems as opportunities and focus on the design issues that contribute to the problems.
• Language, symbols, and example play a crucial role in shaping company culture.
• Address conflicts openly and honestly to foster trust and clarity.

Chapters
00:07 The Formula for Business Success and Personal Significance
01:04 The Impact of Mindset on Reality and Results
12:07 The Power of Relationships and Self-Awareness
25:34 Understanding Your 'Why' and Overcoming Challenges
32:58 Problem-Solving and Design Thinking: Every Problem is a Design Issue
38:42 Leadership and Company Culture: Shaping the Environment
47:11 Building Trust and Accountability: The Role of Language and Symbols

Where to Find Scott Fay:

• Connect with Scott here.
• Get Scott's book "Discover Your Sweet Spot" on Amazon

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: Dr. Haley Perlus: The Need for Mental Toughness as a Business Owner

Episode Summary: Dr. Haley Perlus is an entrepreneur and Sport & Performance Psychologist, author, speaker and advisor. Haley works with elite executives, brands and athletes all over the world on mindset and mental toughness in achieving peak performance.

In this episode Haley shares her personal story of how her coach's pressure and belief in her led to her success as an athlete. She highlights the commonalities between athletes and business owners in dealing with uncertainty and challenges.

Haley encourages individuals to embrace discomfort, take responsibility, and prioritize success over fear of failure. The conversation explores the mental game of professional athletes, including stories about how Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, and Roger Federer have all dealt with adversity.

Haley emphasizes the importance of concentration and staying focused on the present moment. To do that, she says, you have to learn to press mute on irrelevant distractions and focus on what's relevant in the current situation.

Takeaways

• Belief and pressure from a coach can have a significant impact on an athlete's performance.
• Mindset and mental toughness are crucial for achieving peak performance in sports, fitness, and business.
• Embracing discomfort and taking responsibility are key to personal growth and success.
• Failure is an option and an opportunity for resilience and learning.
• Success requires prioritizing success over fear of failure and embracing uncertainty. Press mute on irrelevant distractions and focus on what's relevant in the present moment.
• Embrace emotions, vent them, and then quickly move forward.

Chapters
00:00 Haley's Background and Journey to Sports Psychology
06:37 The Impact of Thoughts, Emotions, and Body on Performance
19:21 Dealing with Uncertainty and Complexity in Business
24:36 Embracing Failure and Taking Responsibility
32:59 Concentration and Mental Toughness
35:01 Venting and Processing Emotions
39:31 Using Reset Tools for Recovery and Refocus
43:24 Pressing Mute on Irrelevant Distractions

Where to Find Dr. Perlus:

• DrHaleyPerlus.com
• On LinkedIn,

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: John Jantsch: Building a Business on Marketing Strategies, Systems, and Fractional CMOs

Episode Summary: John Jantsch, founder of Duct Tape Marketing, shares his journey and the milestones that led to the creation of his marketing methodology. John and host Nick Berry discuss the importance of strategy in marketing and how it can differentiate businesses in a crowded market. Jantsch also discusses the rise of fractional CMOs and the value they bring to businesses in terms of strategic thinking and execution. He highlights the need for a framework and a system when hiring a fractional CMO and the benefits of developing a trusted advisor relationship with clients. Jantsch also touches on the role of AI in marketing and the importance of using it strategically rather than relying on it for generic content creation.

Takeaways

• Marketing is a system and the most important system in a business.
• Strategy is crucial in marketing and should be the starting point for any marketing initiative.
• Fractional CMOs provide strategic thinking and execution at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time CMO.
• The role of a fractional CMO is to develop a trusted advisor relationship with clients and orchestrate the execution of marketing plans.
• AI can be a valuable tool in marketing, but it should be used strategically and not as a replacement for human expertise.
• Learning from experienced marketers, even if their marketing tactics are questionable, can provide insights into the psychology of marketing and the importance of testing and measuring.

Chapters
00:00 The Story of Duct Tape Marketing and Its Milestones
08:05 The Future of Duct Tape Marketing
14:52 The Importance of Strategy and Signs You Need a Fractional CMO
21:51 The Opportunity for Providers to Cluster Together
24:22 Elevating the Role of Marketing Consultants through Strategy
25:43 Tools for Podcasting and Content Curation
28:59 The Importance of Reading Outside of the Business Genre
32:29 Learning from Old-School Internet Marketers

Where to Find John:

• DTM.world/growth
• LinkedIn, FB, X,

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: Steve McFarland: Being an Emotionally Intelligent Business Leader (with full list of resources shared)

Episode Summary: Steve McFarland is a Master Chair of CEO Peer Advisory groups and Executive Coach with Vistage International. He’s also a Mental Fitness Coach with Positive Intelligence, and is a small business owner with 5 franchises of the School of Rock.

Steve talks about his background in big business and small business, and the lessons he has learned along the way. The conversation covers various topics related to leadership, business, and personal development. Some key themes include the power of personal experiences in shaping leadership style, the importance of building relationships with customers and employees, the value of small and nimble businesses, the concept of love in business, the impact of peer groups and coaching on personal growth, and the significance of investing in employee development.

Additionally, Steve discusses the importance of emotional intelligence and how it can be developed through positive intelligence. He explains the concept of saboteurs and the role they play in driving our behavior, and how engaging our sage can help us make better decisions. Steve also emphasizes the value of mindfulness exercises in managing our emotions and staying present in the moment. He shares his experience with peer groups and the benefits of having a support network of like-minded individuals.

Takeaways

• Emotional intelligence can be developed through positive intelligence and mindfulness exercises.
• Engaging our sage can help us make better decisions and manage our emotions.
• Peer groups provide valuable support and perspective for business owners.
• Lessons learned from past experiences shape our approach to future challenges.
• Being part of a high-performing peer group or receiving coaching can significantly enhance personal growth and performance.
• Investing in employee development is a powerful retention strategy and demonstrates a commitment to their success.

Chapters
00:00 The Power of Emotional Intelligence and Positive Intelligence
06:27 The Impact of Peer Groups on Business Owners
08:30 Navigating Big Business and Small Business Perspectives
38:44 The Concept of Love in Business
40:38 Investing in Employee Development and Training
50:41 The Impact of Peer Groups and Leadership

Where

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry

Full Episode Page: Brett Bartholomew: The Power of Effective Communication and Self-Awareness

Episode Summary: Brett Bartholomew, founder of Art of Coaching, shares his journey as an entrepreneur and the evolution of leadership communication. Brett started Art of Coaching, where they focus on guiding and leading people through the messy realities of leadership and life. He emphasizes the importance of understanding communication styles, contextual competence, communication strategy, and power literacy in effective leadership communication. One key theme was the importance of effective communication and its role in building relationships and resolving conflicts. Brett emphasized the value of self-awareness and the ability to manage one's emotional state. He also discussed the significance of feedback and the need for individuals to be open to receiving feedback in order to improve. Another theme was the use of improv as a tool for personal and professional development, to help individuals become more adaptable and improve their communication skills. The conversation provided valuable insights regarding effective communication and personal growth.

Takeaways

• Effective leadership communication requires understanding communication styles, contextual competence, communication strategy, and power literacy.
• Effective communication is crucial for building relationships and resolving conflicts
• Self-awareness and the ability to manage one's emotional state are important for effective communication
• Being open to feedback is essential for personal growth and improvement
• Improv is a valuable tool for developing adaptability and improving communication skills

Chapters
00:00 Power Dynamics in Business and Personal Relationships
19:46 Social Agility
28:59 Understanding Individual Styles
33:48 Embracing Discomfort
40:44 Improv as a Tool for Self-Discovery
51:40 Confronting Limitations
56:27 The Power of Improvisation in Communication
01:04:24 The Dark Side of Leadership

Where to Find Brett:

• ArtofCoaching.com
• Brett on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X

Send us a Text Message.

The Business Owner's Journey podcast is where entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators to share their personal stories, challenges, leadership, and strategies from their own journeys as business owners.

🟢 Official: NickBerry.info
🟢 tBOJ is hosted by Nick Berry and produced by Nick Berry, Kelly Berry & FCG.
🟢 Series Sponsors: SEOContentSurge, FR, Entrepreneur's Edge

➕ Go here to have Nick as a guest on your podcast
➕ Interested in sponsoring or appearing on tBOJ as a guest: Contact us here
➕ Learn more about Nick Berry