In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Laura Khalil, founder of Elevate talks about strategies for landing larger sales contracts. Laura emphasizes the importance of shifting from a time-for-money mindset to a value-based pricing approach. She shares insights on quantifying the value of services to clients, the significance of ROI in pricing, and the necessity of targeting the right market for larger contracts. The discussion also introduces the Elevate method, a framework designed to help entrepreneurs effectively communicate their value and secure bigger deals. Lastly, Laura emphasizes the need for consistency, support, and the ability to embrace challenges as opportunities for growth in entrepreneurship.

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Laura Khalil:

Websites: bravebydesign.net

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/laurakhalil

Instagram: @iambravebydesign

Email: lk@bravebydesign.net

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Christi Stafford, owner of Automation on a Mission, talks about scaling through automation. Christi discusses the top three things that business owners fail to account for when growing their business: waiting to start automation, lack of follow-up, and not looking at the entire customer journey.

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Christi Stafford:

Websites: https://automationonamission.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-on-a-mission

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/automationonamission

Email: christi@automationonamission.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Talaya Scott, founder of FIIT Perspective talks about the importance of financial literacy for entrepreneurs. Talaya emphasizes the need for entrepreneurs to understand their financial statements, particularly the profit and loss statement and the balance sheet. She highlights the consequences of not tracking numbers properly, such as paying too much in taxes and being unprepared for opportunities.

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Talaya Scott:

Websites: www.fiitperspective.com, www.talayascott.com

Linkedin: @talayascott

Instagram: @talayascott @fiitperspective

Facebook: @talayascott @fiitperspective

Email: talayascott@fiitperspective.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Kira La Forgia, Founder and People Operations Consultant of Paradigm, talks about the challenges of hiring, developing, and retaining top talent for small business owners. Kira emphasizes the importance of creating systems, processes, and productized deliverables to decentralize the owner from daily operations. It is important for small business owners to find information and advice that is relevant to their specific needs, as much of the existing content is not tailored to their situation.

The episode covers topics such as hiring contractors vs. employees, building a culture, and developing psychological safety within the team. Kira discusses the importance of defining and maintaining a strong company culture. She emphasizes the need for clear expectations and consistent communication to create a sense of safety and stability within the team. Kira also highlights the significance of core behaviors in shaping team culture and suggests creating a culture guide to drive desired behaviors.

Kira explores the concept of the return on investment (ROI) of hiring and how it can be measured in terms of time and money. Kira shares insights on how to improve margins and optimize team productivity through strategic HR practices. Lastly, she encourages small business owners to understand the difference between employees and contractors to avoid misclassification penalties.

Quotes

• “I think that it's really important that we use ourselves as a filter, but also to make sure that we're okay with making some mistakes along the way. You want to make sure your team understands that that's the nature of small business. It gives a lot of freedom to what we're doing.” 8:04
• “The delivery of what those candidates are going to bring to you, are going to have a much higher instance of requirement for success. Meaning that if you're hiring your very first person, now they're 50% of your business. Don't skip over the strategic HR because you're too small. Understand the weight that person is about to bring to your business.” 12:10
• “When you find a really valuable piece of talent or person with talent that you bring onto your team it's not your job to control them, but it is your job to create a space in which they can thrive.” 21:07

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Kira La Forgia:

Websites: https://www.the-paradigm.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiralaforgia/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theparadigmm/

Email: kira@the-paradigm.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Michelle Arpin Begina, Financial Change Maker of MichelleAB, talks about the challenges entrepreneurs face in understanding and managing their finances. Michelle shares the catalyst for writing her book, which was a desire to help people talk openly about money and realize their financial potential. Kiley and Michelle explore the concept of financial traumas and how they can impact our relationship with money. Michelle shares personal stories and examples to illustrate the importance of acknowledging and honoring our experiences with money. They also discuss the idea of self-sabotage and the significance of our first money conversations.

In this episode, Michelle and Kiley discuss the complex relationship between money and trauma. They explore how childhood experiences and beliefs shape our attitudes towards money and offer advice on uncovering and understanding these influences. They also delve into the concept of financial self-sabotage and the conflict between freedom and belonging. The conversation emphasizes the importance of self-knowledge and defining success on one's own terms.

Lastly, Michelle shares insights on how successful individuals treat money like a business meeting and the power of collaboration and community in entrepreneurship.

Quotes

• “The three components of self-determination are competence, connection, and freedom. Self-sabotage is often the conflict between freedom and the need to feel connected. Think about this with our money.” 24:52
• “Unless we are living a completely solo life, we are making decisions, financial decisions, that impact not only us, but other stakeholders, other family members, friends.” 25:13
• "Ask yourself, what did I experience in terms of money? What are some of the particulars? Was money talked about and how was it talked about growing up? Particularly for women, research shows that women who grew up in households where money was not talked about, or they were not encouraged as girls to know about money or talk about money, are handicapped.” 22:46

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Michelle Arpin Begina:

Websites: www.michelleab.com

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellearpinbeginacfp/

Email: michelle@michelleab.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Kiley Peters, founder of RAYNE IX, talks about reflecting on the lessons she learned from her various jobs throughout her career and how they prepared her for entrepreneurship. She shares 20 jobs she had over nearly 20 years, including babysitting, working at a movie theater, being a preschool swim instructor, serving tables, working in retail, being an apartment manager, and more. Each job taught her valuable skills such as crisis management, staying focused, attention to detail, emotional intelligence, customer service, leadership, and more. She emphasizes the importance of playing, dreaming bigger, and being authentic in entrepreneurship.

Quotes

• “My biggest lesson was to do things that light you up. Anybody who follows me should hopefully by this point understand, I'm a big proponer of getting clear on the things that you want and then building your business to support the life that you want to live.” 13:49
• “Don't be afraid to do things differently, especially if it's better. As adults, we fail to play as we get older. We play a whole lot less. And we should play more because there's a lot of creativity that is unleashed when we play. It's great for ourselves as individuals and our businesses. It's essential, and it's healthy.” 28:04
• “Get curious about the things that come most naturally to you. Because those are probably your superpowers and the things that other people would really pay you to do.” 34:55

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Stacy Calligan and Faith Hurley, Co-Founders of Pinpoint Collective, a strategic research studio, talk about the importance of leveraging human design and conducting research to inform decision-making and the design process. They debunk common misconceptions about human-centered design, emphasizing the need for research and the potential risks of not starting with it. They also highlight the importance of understanding the target audience and co-creating with clients and end consumers.

Stacey and Faith discuss the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods, as well as the importance of creating specific and detailed personas to guide the design process. Lastly, the episode concludes with the insight that entrepreneurship is a continuous journey of highs and lows, and the importance of staying aligned with the reasons for starting a business.

Quotes

• “The patterns are what we really specifically look for. So it's not about taking individualism within the research that we're trying to understand and uncover. It's about finding where those psychographics align with each other. Now those consumers or clients or customers of yours aren't gonna say it exactly the same way, but they're gonna articulate the same pain point or the same desire or the same need to be solved for.” 11:04
• “Okay, now that we know generally how this person acts in the world, what their income is, what their gender might be and maybe where they live and why they're living where they're living. What else do we need to know from them that's actually going to make an impact on how we define our offering as a company? And that's where then we go out into the world and we target those humans. We interview them. We live a day in the life of them. And the qualitative piece comes in.” 17:02
• “It's keeping a pulse on your competitors and your set. What are they doing? What is happening trend-wise beyond your industry? Just again, staying curious to what else is happening because as we all know, the world is changing so rapidly. And if you're not aware of how that's affecting people's driving behaviors or their why buys, you're gonna miss the opportunity to stay relevant with that.” 27:40

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Stacy Callighan & Faith Hurley:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pinpointcollective/

Websites: https://pinpointcollective.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/pinpointcollective/

Email: faith@pinpointcollective.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters &

In this episode of Welcome to Eloma, Rebecca Gunter, Peach in Chief of Stoned Fruit, talks about the challenges entrepreneurs face in clearly communicating their brand message. She emphasizes the importance of being authentic and embracing a unique voice in branding and messaging. Rebecca also discusses the concept of a lighthouse brand versus a searchlight brand and the importance of building a cohesive and recognizable brand through consistent messaging. Lastly, Rebecca encourages entrepreneurs to overcome the fear of standing out and to develop a relationship with fear!

Quotes

• “I think that if I had a magic wand, the one thing I would give entrepreneurs is the freedom from the fear of being themselves; using an original voice and being more cheeky or less cheeky, being bolder or more demure, whatever actually fits your brand persona.” 8:36
• “The advice I'm giving you is to stand up and stand out. And that takes a lot of bravery. And I don't have the magic wand to disappear fear from writing like yourself, and presenting as yourself, and being authentic. But I would encourage people to develop a relationship with fear and do it anyway.” 10:55
• “How you show up, the decisions you make, the core values you put forward, all of those are determined by how you're defining and articulating your brand. It doesn't matter what the output, you're going to show up as that. I call it brand embodiment, to live the brand, to really breathe into it, to stand tall with it.” 20:48

Links and follow-ups:

Connect with Rebecca Gunter:

Instagram - @stonedfruit.world

YouTube - @stonedfruit

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/rebeccalaytongunter/

Websites: www.stonedfruit.com

Email: rebecca.gunter@stonedfruit.com

Connect with Kiley

Learn more at WelcomeToEloma.com

Work with us at RAYNEIX.com

Newsletter Signup: RIXNewsletter.com

Linkedin: Kiley Peters & RAYNE IX

Instagram: @kileypeters & @rayneix

Email: info@rayneix.com