The Badass CEO

Struggling to command a room can sometimes come down to how effectively you’re using your voice. Executive voice coach, Melanie Espeland is an entrepreneur, and author who trains clients in senior roles in top companies to optimize their voice and be better leaders. She talks about her entrepreneurial journey as a woman, what many executives are doing wrong and how to keep a consistent company culture. Episode Contents Command A Room with Skills and Experience Ways To Build a Client Base Lessons Learned from Digital Marketing Using Our Networks Wisely With Ease Executive Voice Coach Service is the Espeland Method Tips from an Executive Voice Coach Potential Futures for the Profession of Executive Voice Coach The Luxury of Hindsight Links Command A Room With Skills and Experience Executive Voice Coach, Melanie Espeland Mimi: Melanie, thank you so much for coming today. I'm so excited to talk to you about your journey and you're a fellow CBS grad. And so welcome. Thank you so mu...

Photographer: Kraken image | Source: Unsplash So you have an idea, and you are trying to decide if you should have a partner. It sure is less messy to launch your company on your own, but there are some perks as well: Have a person to share the workload, and most likely, you are not paying them. Have someone to bounce ideas off of Double the network and resources Hopefully, you are each bringing different expertise and experience to the business. You can lift each other up or carry the load on the days when you are down and out. Picking a partner is one of the most critical decisions you will make. Partner fallouts are one of the main reasons startups don’t succeed. Below are some tips to make this process a bit smoother: !) Try night to pick family members 2) Try not to pick friends 3) Make sure their skills complement yours and are not the same 4) Clearly lay out the percentage of equity each person will get before you start. It is not recommended that you both own 50/50 becaus...

Photographer: Teemu Paananen | Source: Unsplash A pitch deck is a short presentation you need for your company to raise capital. It is a good idea to have a pitch deck from the beginning to make sure you are looking at all the essential aspects of your business. In essence, it is a condensed business plan. You shouldn’t have it be more than 12 pages or under 3-5 minutes to present it. You want it to be clear and concise. The primary purpose of a pitch deck is to generate excitement and interest to follow or invest in your company. Here is what I would include in your pitch deck. Explain the Problem Explain the Solution Why Now Market Size (Is the Tam big enough Business Model (How are you going to make money) Competition and Your Competitive Advantage Costumers and how you will distribute. Your Team Financials/ What metrics do you use? The Ask The pitch deck needs to explain the problem and the pain points your company will solve. How is it being done today? As a founder,...

Photographer: Scott Graham | Source: Unsplash One of the perks of having your own business is being able to deduct business expenses from your income. If you are not doing this, you are missing the boat and you are leaving lots of money on the table. But the question is what to deduct ……It can be a bit confusing so I compiled a list below. I use Bench which helps me go through each item and tells me how to categorize it and if it is deductible. If you haven’t tried Bench , you are missing out! It has changed my life. No longer do I have to stress about my books….It is seamless, personable, and VERY reasonably priced. Best yet, you get 20% discount on your first 3 months when you click here. WHAT YOU CAN DEDUCT Technology Costs Software such as Later, Active Campaign Website Costs to hosting, domains, anything you pay to keep your website running Apps or services such as Zoom, Skype, Google, Office space Rent for office space or if you work from home see note below PO Box Shi...

Kara Goldin is the founder of Hint Water, a game-changing healthy drinks to replace to soda and flavored water. She joins us this week to talk about how she built her business and the lessons she learned along the way. She talks us through her new tell-all book Undaunted and the risks she took to launch Hint and turn it into the successful company it currently is. Episode Contents Lessons from Walking the Grand Canyon Personal Motivation to Create Hint Water How Personal Stories Connect Us Sharing Business Lessons Across Multiple Platforms Questions About Financing Thinking and Doing Outside the Box Connecting to Consumers To Become Advocates Links Lessons from Walking the Grand Canyon Hint Water CEO, Kara Goldin with her book, Undaunted Mimi: Kara, thank you so much for coming on today. I'm so excited. Hint Water is my kids' favorite water. Even the other day, they came down there with the little boxes, and then we took your new Hint Sunscreen on vacation with us, and we lo...