From $8K a Year to $8K a Day: The Growth Strategy Behind It with Steph Weibring

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Welcome to from Click to Client, where we transform a confusing message into a clear, compelling story that sells. I'm your host, Chris Jones, StoryBrand marketing expert. I'm here to help you attract more dream clients with the power of story.

Kris: Steph Weibring, welcome to the show. I am so delighted to have you here today. Steph is the founder of a company called Joy Creative Shop. It is a stationary and gifting brand out of Texas, and she's also started kind of a new gig, called a different kind of CEO. So we're going to get into both of those things.

Steph, welcome.

Steph: Thank you. Thank you so much for, for having me on. I'm so thrilled.

Kris: So tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do. What's your backstory?

Steph: Sure. So I, I would say, I wouldn't say serial entrepreneur, but I'm like an entrepreneur through and through. I never, outside of being 16 and working like jobs when you were younger, I've always worked for myself.

I was [00:01:00] raised by entrepreneurs, so it was kind of built into my DNA and then once college was ending and I was like, well, what, you know, what's my path? I was that idea of working for someone, I was like, I don't know. That doesn't really seem like the best idea. So. I started a greeting card line in college just for fun.

Got a little bit of traction on it and, enough to where I was like, you know what? I'm gonna take, this is a perfect time to take a chance on entrepreneurship, right outside of school, had my parents' support and you know, a little bit of like a cushion, if you will. so yeah, so I, that was my first taste of it back in the early two thousands and truly never looked back.

so now it's joy Creative Shop is my. Full-time, direct to consumer e-commerce business. And then the idea of taking some of that knowledge of what I've learned over the past a lot of years into, some coaching, consulting and like, you know, working with others to help them build what they love.

And that's really more than anything of like a life that they love and work that doesn't feel like work. You know, just waking up excited for what they, they want to do with their day and get to choose. Yeah. And

Kris: you know how that feels. [00:02:00] I do. Because you've never been employed officially, right?

Steph: Yeah. Not, not as an adult.

Kris: Yes. Yeah, it's really rare. I totally relate to that. I started my first business at the age of eight. I just showed my partner, my first business cards

Steph: Amazing.

Kris: Back then. My mom let me. Print my own business cards. And anyway, I did end up being employed for a few years in my twenties, but I, I always knew that entrepre entrepreneurship was my path.

That was where, yeah. Immediately when I made that shift, I just knew like, oh, I'm home. This is, yeah,

Steph: this is, this is where I'm meant to. Yeah, this is for me and I do, I think there's so much value in working for someone, especially in the field that you'd want to learn from, especially now. So like if I were 20, I would be getting a unpaid anything with a top founder.

That's. You know, do doing all the things to learn from for a few years or a startup in that way, and then go on your own if that's your call. But back then, it wasn't that long ago, but it was long enough ago that this wasn't [00:03:00] really the same. yeah, I'm, I'm all for either path. I just, you know, I did what felt right at that time and thankfully never had to look back.

So,

Kris: yeah. Joy Now, joy Creative Shop is a multimillion dollar company. Am I right?

Steph: Correct. Yes.

Kris: Yeah. Yeah. So tell, walk us through how you went from college student mm-hmm. With a, with a fun idea.

Steph: Mm-hmm.

Kris: To a multimillion dollar business like that. That's an incredible journey. I wanna hear.

Steph: Yeah. More

Kris: about that.

Thank

Steph: you.

Kris: Yeah.

Steph: I know it's probably something I need to stop and reflect on more often, so when you say it, I'm like, that sounds amazing. Oh yeah, we have done that. I would say. One, I started in paper outta college and then zigzagged a few times. You know, like nothing. I always was able to support myself, but it wasn't anything significant and then really thought I'd stay home with my babies.

But again, once you have that creative itch or the brain for entrepreneurship, it's, it's almost impossible to like turn off fully. Yeah. And when you tell it that you're gonna take a pause, you go into overdrive. Not today. Not today [00:04:00] lady. So, I kind of thought when my daughter, our oldest was born, I was just stay home and, you know, really relish motherhood, which I did.

But then I also had that same feeling at the same time of okay, well now what am I now what? And so like a lot of things I was making stationary for her just for fun and was like, well I'm gonna make an Etsy shop. It was, you know, Etsy was kind of new at the time. It was very easy, low barrier entry.

And I'm just gonna put my designs with my very below average photography online and see what happens. 'cause you would you get that feedback from people of like, oh, I would. Love that. Would you make that for my daughter when she's born? And so you're like, okay, there's a little bit of a demand for it.

Nothing crazy, and then put it up on Etsy. Genuinely did not think much about it. But as I'm sure as you know, it's like you hear one cha-ching on your phone from a sale and you're like. Now I'm obsessed. How do I, how do I get more of that? And so it was a very, very slow burn, very like organic growth over the years.

I was motherhood mainly with a little bit of time to carve out and then it would start to [00:05:00] shift. I would say a few years, maybe four or five years in where it was like during the holidays especially, I was like, oh gosh, this is, I don't know that I'd say like, this is a legitimate business, but it's growing to where I'm really busy and not sure that I can handle all the things.

the story I tell is like, I, we went from 8,000 annually to 8,000 in a month, which again, these are really small numbers, but when you're, this is like a little side hustle, you're kind of like, oh, well, that actually like. I put my head down, little intention behind it. A little bit of influencer marketing paired with.

All that focus, and I went from what I did all of last year and did that in one month this year. Okay. Well that's something, you know, it just gives you a little boost of confidence to think like, okay, I could actually turn this into a business. And so from that point, again, focus being probably the. The biggest barrier for a lot of people is like, I just put my head down and I was like, this has to work.

I really want this to work. I want this to be my main job. and so over the years it got to probably about six figures, you know, mid fix six figures. And I was like, I wouldn't say over my head, but my [00:06:00] creative side was like, well, I don't know if we know all the things to run a business approaching a million dollars in sales.

and so I, a friend of mine was like. Uh, my husband just sold a company. You should talk to him. I was like, well, that's amazing. I would love to, I'm happy to talk to anyone, but you know, I make stationary. I'm not really sure that that is like, we're gonna align. And long story short, we sat down, I told him all about what I'm doing and all the dreams I had about some other ventures.

And, ended up becoming partners about a year later. And very I feel like it wasn't. I would've never sought someone out. And so when we did meet up, there was that business dating of like, okay, he has some skill sets that I don't have. And then he was feeling the same about, okay, she has some opportunity that I would maybe love to be a part of.

And so we, it's almost five years now of working together. And so that was the point of scale, if you will, of someone maybe not believing, I always believed in myself, but planted that seed of like, this could be something more. Do you want that? Like, it might be a little tricky. It might be harder or more stressful or, but like it could really be something.

And so, once [00:07:00] he planted that seed, I was like, oh, I think I do. You know, and I, I probably will need some help to get there. And I was very, 'cause motherhood is my priority right now. I'm still very much in it with three at home. So be, to be able to grow a business and. Be the primary caretaker was, I needed some help.

And so it was awesome.

Kris: So before you partnered with him, yes.

Steph: His name's Ty. Sorry, Ty,

Kris: yeah. Before you and Ty partnered together, you took it from 8,000 in a year to 8,000 ish per month mm-hmm. On your own prior to bringing, so how did you, how did you fill me in on how to mm-hmm. How you went from. Eight k per year to eight K per month.

Steph: Yeah. So, my, the short answer is influencer marketing. I had had, it was the holiday season, so again, a great time for gift guides and things like that. And I had a friend in Dallas that I knew that had a successful gift guide within her blog and, you know, her social pages. And so she had shared about us organically a little bit and you could see, that traction of like, oh, when [00:08:00] someone else, the way I describe it is we can talk about us all the time.

When someone else talks about us is when you really see that snowball effect and now it's blown out of the water with UGC and content and all of it. But back then, even, I asked to pay to be in her gift guide. You know, it was probably $500, which again, that's a lot when you're not making a ton and saw the immediate correlation between that and so.

One, working directly with her and then seeking out others in a very authentic, organic, relational way. Where these are relationships I still have. Like they're not transactional. We care about each other, both businesses, you know, the blog or the content creator and us care about each other. And so, that was really our first.

Big lever for growth. and it stayed that way probably for another, once Ty and I partnered another year or year and a half before we introduced like paid marketing, so we were solely organic probably till about a million. And then we're able to turn on, the paid to, to really scale.

Kris: [00:09:00] And then how did you find the other influencers?

Was that really just you're online or did you have a strategy for how you found the right people? Yeah, the right influencers.

Steph: Yeah. no strategy. And I feel like the more we put strategy in place, the more I'm like, can we undo this and go back to our natural way of doing it? And there's good and bad to both.

You need it to scale, but you lose a little bit of something in the middle. So I would genuinely, Look on social, I'd find influencers that we either worked with or that I enjoyed their, content and what they were, you know, they aligned with us in some way if it's values or aesthetic. And then I would either reach out to them personally just saying like, Hey, we love what you do.

We just saw you had a baby. We would love to make you some stationary, and you very rarely got a no. Every once in a while you'd get an ignore, and that's. Fine. Especially now dms are like, I don't even know how people,

Kris: yeah,

Steph: find their messaging in dms anymore. But back then, before the many chats of the world, like they would usually see it and they'd usually say yes.

And so all we would do is gift them. Just gift them something and then. More than likely they would share about it. And then I would say [00:10:00] there was a few like token influencers that were per, that were customers of ours first before we even knew they were a customer. I remember one day I was at home, I was like manufacturing at home, all the shipping from home still, and my mom was helping me and my phone was on and all my notifications were on and it was like cha-ching back to back.

I was like, something's glitching. Like something's wrong, Etsy's breaking. I don't know. So I'm like on Instagram, can't find any like proof of life, like what is happening. And then someone messaged us and they're like, my favorite influencer just shared about you. And I think she had 700,000 followers at that time.

And this is years, I mean, five, six. Six years ago maybe. And so it was like, I dunno, seven to $8,000 in sales in one day. One day. So here we are, back at that 8,000 in a year, 8,000 in a month, and then we're doing 8,000 in a day. And I was like, my mind is exploding. I don't know what's happening. I don't know what's happening.

Kris: Wow.

Steph: So I would just find people through comments. I'd see what other people are commenting. A lot of influencers, support influencers, their friends, [00:11:00] and so. It was a, there was no strategic play there. It was like, let's find friends, people that we think we'd be online like best friends with, and let's get our product in their hands and see what happens.

And I love it really has worked until now. I mean, that is still a big part of our play. and I feel like it's more impactful than the paid. Yes, we can pay someone.

Kris: Yeah.

Steph: But it's just not the same.

Kris: Yeah. Right. And then, uh, once Ty came into the mix what have you learned from him and what, what has he brought to the table for you?

Steph: Absolutely. So he and I, while we were kind of talking about maybe working together both, I went outta town with a friend and brought a book with me and then sent him a picture and it was, rocket Fuel and it's the Visionary Operator model in that book. And I was like, oh my gosh, I am. The visionary like this, I've never, I never knew what I was, I just wore all the hats.

So I was like, and then I read this description and I was like, this is me. My brain is like in the clouds all over the place. So many ideas. And what it kept stressing was having the operator to really like. Take what you are [00:12:00] envisioning and then work on it. And so I sent him a picture. He's like so funny.

He's like, I bought that book yesterday. And I was like, Ooh, okay. Interesting. You know, just like all the little signs were aligning. And so he brought one, we worked together on an executive coaching relationship first. And so I trusted him. I trusted his advice. I knew he'd done bigger things in a different industry.

We'd also taken the personality test to show that we are on very opposite spectrums of personality types, but then work really well and overlap in a lot of areas. So he has brought one organization structure, you know, a lot of the systems in place and he's also really helped to manage our team. And that was one, a huge risk to me.

We didn't have a very big team when he started and I was like, well, I need to make sure that you treat my girls like I do. And he. 1000% did. But we, you know, had a little trial partnership period so that I could make sure that I liked how it felt, and he was game for that and very open with that. And I really, really respected and appreciated that I, I felt good about every step of the way.

So he's brought [00:13:00] all the structure that I lack into it as well as, like, I tell him, I'm like, you're kind of like a yes guy. I'm like, Hey, can we do this? He's like. Yeah, let's try it. You know, where I might have overthought it or stressed about it. And so he gave me, I wouldn't say permission, but he helped me to be assured in areas that I felt like were worth a try.

We'd go look at it, the analytics and the data, and make sure it makes sense to a point. But some of it's just like a gut feel. And he would always support that decision just to test it. And then if we saw like, okay, this could work, we can then go really dig into, How it will work and how we can do it at scale.

But he's brought a really strong sense of, he made me believe in what is the bigger version of like, where we are now, which I'd never thought, I just never even dreamed that big to be on, you know, to be honest. So it's been really great.

Kris: And where are you now? Like how would you describe.

Where you are now with the business?

Steph: Yeah. Like

Kris: do you have a headquarters and you've got a full-time team? Does he work full-time or part-time?

Steph: Yeah, he is probably a little more than part-time. Okay. He does, you know, he has a couple things that he does, but we, we get a big [00:14:00] chunk of his week. we have I say it's a headquarter headquarters.

We have a cute little office in Dallas that has, we, we refinished the front to be like a stationary shop. So we're open a couple days a week. Our team is mainly virtual. Some days I love that 'cause the flex with motherhood. Other days I miss that. I would love to be around people more, but I know that this phase of life is so tricky.

So some of our team that is in Dallas, we try to meet up just as often as we can. we have seven team members now. So again, it's a really nice sized team. It's pretty lean. We don't have a lot of excess. We do work with a few agencies, for some of the bigger, like the paid marketing and all of that.

But, We're at a really, we're at a really cool point to where. We've proved out that we're legit. You know what I mean? And I do forget quite often how far we've come. So we are where I know a lot of people dream about being still not where I have ended. Like I still have a runway that we wanna get to.

And, it's been amazing. It's been really challenging because the growth is so different at this type of a level. You know, if we're talking incremental numbers now and percentages and not like. I [00:15:00] was so spoiled. We were like a hundred percent growth for years.

Kris: Wow.

Steph: And then you get used to that and then you're like, wait 30.

I was like 30 amazing stuff. This is good. I'm like, well, I know I'm just used to something different. So we're at a point of, in kind of an inflection point where one, it's challenged me as a leader learning some new skills, thinking in a very different way than I did in the beginning. I'm thankful for that 'cause I really do love the business side of things as well as the creative.

But also, wouldn't mind some of those easier days where you're like, oh, this was easy. Oh, we did that and that made a huge impact. So, but it's been, it's like they say, it's the journey of like figuring things out and then knowing where I need the most help has been the most important piece to like, I can be the bottleneck for sure.

So like, how do I get out of the way? Let the other, let the people that know more than me do that. And, yeah, but it's been, it's been amazing.

Kris: I am curious what's like the biggest thing that you've learned? Like the, the obvious answer in my brain would be letting go of control. Like when [00:16:00] things are, are small and this is your baby, right?

It's your fourth child. You have three kids. This is like your fourth. Yeah, it's baby. I think. That letting go of control would be really hard. But I'm curious, like, yeah. Looking back on this, like what has been as the founder of the company mm-hmm. And now the leader of the company. Mm-hmm.

What's been the thing you've learned? The biggest thing you've learned?

Steph: Yeah, I think letting go of control is one. I am sure you ask every control freak and they're like, well, I'm not very controlling. Both, I am when it comes to this, but I think, and this goes for personal and professional and therapy is like I, I'm a big believer in therapy and coaching and getting guidance from others.

And something that was brought to my attention early on in motherhood was to lower my standards. And some people might say like, well, that's ridiculous. I only want things to be a certain way. but when I did it in motherhood, it was such a freeing okay, I'm still gonna have the birthday party, but it's not gonna be Pinterest perfect.

It's gonna be Chick-fil-A on a tray with some chips, and we're gonna play in the front yard, but it's [00:17:00] good enough. And so for work, I think letting go of that ideal, some of the details that really don't matter. That was the hardest part for me of letting go of like, I remember asking our first fulfillment center and printer.

I was like, well, do you use like t can I, can we use mint green tissue when we package? And they're like, well, no, we don't do that. We ship for thousands of companies. And I was like. Oh, that's gonna be a deal breaker. And then sure enough, no one asked for the green tissue. Like it was fine. So lowering my standards in a way that's still, like we have very high standards for our product, how it's made and the customer experience, but we'd much rather take care of our customer in a way that they feel it than a detail that.

I might love to include a little something, and it's probably unnoticed, to the customer, but it makes it the most efficient way for us to do our job really well. So if that makes sense. It's like a little bit of control, but really like a level of perfection of like letting go of that to saying like, okay, this is good enough because it checks all our boxes.

Kris: Right?

Steph: And at the end of the day, we care about our customer getting what they ordered. As fast as possible, [00:18:00] you know, to be able to re-gift it as fast without having to repackage and all the things. So, that's been the most, I would say, challenging part, but also then realizing really quickly how impactful it is.

Yeah. And so then you buy in fully. You're like, okay, this, this makes sense, the mint green tissue, like maybe we'll bring it back in a few years. I still won't let it go. Yeah. But I'm like, it didn't. It was my preference. Right. It wasn't, it wasn't making a difference to the consumer.

Kris: I totally hear you on that.

Yeah.

Steph: I'm

Kris: so glad you shared that. 'cause I think a lot of people here today can really

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: Relate to that. And I think when you talk about the bottleneck, like that becomes the bottleneck when you are in the weeds with those kinds of details that don't actually. Make that big of a difference. Yeah. But certainly matters to you.

Yes. Honestly, the mint green tissue would matter to me. Like, I would be like, whoa, so so

Steph: awesome.

Kris: Different.

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: But but the quality of the product really matters. And this idea of like, good enough, it's good

Steph: enough, and in time, like I do believe we can get back to tissue, we, we moved.

Fulfillment in print [00:19:00] houses this past year. A huge, like year long, really big challenge for us in a great way. But we've got to a place where now we are the only brand this company fulfills for in this way. Mm-hmm. So if we do want to add in these things that we've shelved and we, we call it like a parking lot, like they're not gone forever.

They just might not be what's the priority right now. And so we might be able to bring back those things to where they still matter to us. The cost of them doesn't totally turn, you know, our, our order and revenue and margin upside down. But we're able to do that. And again, at the end of the day, it's how our team communicates to our customer in a negative situation of like an order arrive late.

Like those are our non-negotiables. Those are the standards we will never. Adjust. So on the things that we have to like, okay, what can we give a little? Yeah. That's where, you know, those things have come in and they're, it's hard for someone that's visual and a creative I want the big fancy pre-printed boxes, but then you do the math and you're like, well, then we'd have to charge more, and is that really worth, you know, so it's been fun [00:20:00] to learn, learn and implement and then see if it trusting, if the choice you made actually works out.

For the benefit of the customer.

Kris: I'm curious. you know, I've been, I've been on Etsy for a long time, you know? Mm-hmm. As a shopper.

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: And I feel like it's come a long way. Mm-hmm. I feel like it's really, it kind of went through a period where I was like, are they gonna make it? Like, is the online space gonna kind of trump Etsy and it's gonna kind of dwindle?

But they figured it out and I feel like they're better than ever. Yeah. And I just, I loved that they're. Continuing to fulfill their vision of helping creative people and their creations get into the hands of people all over the world. So For sure. Are you, have you guys, you've pivoted away from Etsy, I'm assuming, but maybe not.

Steph: We do have both. We kept it. So we are mainly, Shopify is our main source of revenue. but Etsy's significant enough. Not to leave. Yes. If that makes sense. Yeah. Like it's, it's a good chunk of [00:21:00] revenue. they have evolved, which is so great, but they still at the heart are a platform for someone like my daughter.

She's 16 now, but when she was 11, started an Etsy shop. 'cause she could and I was able to talk her through.

Kris: Yes.

Steph: And 'cause it's a marketplace, people will organically find you without. All the dollars of ad spend and all the, the sponsored posts and things. Right. So at its core, I believe it's still the same.

I know you would probably get a ton of different opinions from people that have been on. It's, it's definitely different for us than it has been in past years. Yep. But, but the platform itself is a very low barrier place to take an idea or a dream or something you just wanna test out. Yeah. And just put it up for, I think a listing is still 20 cents.

If that makes sense. Yeah. For 20 cents you can put your product out into the world and like see what happens. And for me it. Truly changed my whole life that, that platform,

Kris: totally.

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: Yeah. okay. Let's shift gears a little bit. Yeah. Tell, tell us about a different kind of CEO that this is your new offering.

Steph: Yeah, yeah.

Kris: And how did you come into this type of work? Obviously you've got the chops for it, but

Steph: Yeah.

Kris:

Steph: yeah. Well, thank [00:22:00] you. I hope so. Yeah. That's my, my goal is, and dream is to, is to help others. So it's been, it's been in my brain for many years and I feel like I actually use this skill and do the coaching, but it's always been for people I know.

Or someone that was like, Hey, it's the pick your brain type of, and I've loved it 'cause I haven't had the capacity prior to now to do more and to give more of my time to others. And so I would do it for fun. And then just over the last year it got to be like an overwhelming. Almost like a pull, like a purpose of like, I know I have what it takes to help someone change their life, whatever that means.

And if that means giving them just the vote of confidence to follow what they believe they're called to do, or tactical skills to like, let me help you. So a different kind of CEO came up because when Ty and I first started working together, he was like, well, we have to do an org chart. And I was like, what is that? I do not know these things. And he is like, well, all of our team, they, we need titles. And like that gives them a sense of like who they are. And I was like, okay, great. And he was like, so you're the CEO? And I was like, oh, I don't think [00:23:00] so. No, I don't. He is no, you are. I'm like, I don't really want to be that.

Like, I don't know what that means. And so I was like, well, I mean, I have to be, I am the only option for us in this, so how can I. Build out what a CEO looks like, but make it really authentic to me. And so the way I describe it is it's a lowercase CEO. We're not CI

Kris: love that

Steph: we're not C-suite stuff. There is no ego involved.

And I even use like descriptive words of like casual, encouragement, opportunity, like those are, that's how I describe what I am too. One our company and two to others. Like, I'm not gonna come in and be like, what you're doing is terrible. I'm just going to, I'm gonna nudge you and hopefully move you in the right direction to where you gain some traction, a little confidence.

So there's all the, all the words that coincide with the letters of CEO, but if you envision it lowercase, that's kind of a good feel for what I'm hoping to build. And I think at the end of the day, it's less about me knowing a lot to then tell someone else. What to do, but more really encouraging someone to [00:24:00] take the first step, take the next step to, okay, you have something.

And like I had lunch with a friend and you'll appreciate this. And this is where I, I got a little bit of the confidence 'cause I, I need it too. This is a new venture. There's all the fears and the insecurities around it, but, I was, she was like, I wanna build something now that in five years it's when I'm ready to move on to the next thing.

It's kind of, I talk about the seed being planted. She planted the seed five years prior and then when it's time, if her kids are grown or they're out of the school, she's working and she can then go do something different. And so, we had this really great lunch and she left and she is like. I can't get it out of my head.

This like the way you described what and the way I, what I told her was, what would you do if you have five extra hours a week? Like you don't need to dedicate 20 hours, but like an hour a day during your school week if you woke up an hour earlier, or what if you chunked out a five hours on a Saturday for just you to dream?

What would you do with it? And so I wasn't thinking much about what I said. Just said it and she was like, it's completely changed how I'm thinking about, like it's not overwhelming. It's very [00:25:00] digestible. I'm spending, so it gave me the boosted confidence to say like. Again, I'm, I don't think I'll be the most structured person ever, but like I do have some structure around how I coach and we do, there's some clarity sessions that are really just a one time like, let's sit and chat through what you're thinking about and let me give you as much of my brain and knowledge and resources and then here's a roadmap and move you on your way.

Come back if you need me, but like there's no obligation. And then the idea for more consistent of like a business coach changed my. Life in my business and doesn't have to be millions of dollars a year, but enough to where I was making an investment in myself, I had to answer the call. I had to make time for that call, and then I had to do the homework and the work.

and so there's a couple offerings that I would love to just kind of build and grow in time. And I really don't have a timeline for this. Like I'm doing it naturally already. And I do know as my time becomes more available in mine. This will grow with that, but I really feel passionate about being able to serve in that next, I'm not old, but getting [00:26:00] older and like in that next phase of life where I do have a little bit more time to give and help others with what I've learned.

So,

Kris: yeah. Oh my gosh. Uh, I love what you shared about like, what if you just had five hours. Per week to dedicate to this. Yeah. It doesn't have to be, I think our brain loves to serve up ways. This cannot be possible right now.

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: Like next year. Next year. And then sure enough, five years go by. Yeah. And nothing's happened, but a so much can be done in an hour a day so

Steph: much.

Totally.

Kris: Yeah.

Steph: Yeah. And and Joy Creative Shop was built that way. 'cause I had. I had one baby, another baby a few years later, a third baby, and I was working in the margin. Uh, and that's why there was no pressure. Luckily, I, financially, there wasn't pressure to like have to perform, but I was able to, I call it like piddling, like I was kind of piddling tinkering, but when I was ready to turn it into something.

All the foundation was there, and that's where I think that mindset is so important of like just carving out one, it's not selfish. It's [00:27:00] so, so needed. For me, it was essential. You know, I had to have some time and work was my hobby and kind of still is. And, so I, I just nudge and urge people to just like, if they have something, weigh in on them, like there's no perfect time, but just finding little incremental.

And I think an airplane ride for me is like the best gift I can give myself. I'm locked in a chair, I have like only a few hours, and so what am I gonna do At that time, you know, some people are like, watch a movie. I was like, oh no, you have not met me yet. I'm like, my brain is on. Overdrive of like, I have quiet time to, to dedicate to

Kris: right.

Steph: Whatever's next. And trust me, my brain is full of the what's next for me. In addition to like the coaching and, and hopefully it's in addition to Joy Creative Shop. You know, I don't have like an end game for that, and I know a lot of people do, but if it supports the lifestyle that I've built and gives revenue and finances to our family when we need it, like.

There's no reason why it wouldn't continue on. And then if I can take those five hours a week, take my own, you know, a dose of my own medicine, of like what, what's [00:28:00] possible for the future if I start building in a little bit of that time towards something else.

Kris: If somebody were talking to you and they had this idea like, I really wanna start this new thing or this side gig, or I'm employed and I wanna get going with, with this passion project.

Steph: Mm-hmm.

Kris: what kind of advice would you give them?

Steph: Yeah. I would. Definitely don't quit what you have. I would listen to a podcast that was like, if someone's paying you to do your job, and then you can still in the the before and after and weekends do something else, please let that continue until it's not necessary.

So don't ever stress yourself. Finances and money will be the first thing to ruin an idea. Because of the stress of having for it to, happen on your timeline. but I would think is like a lot of research and a lot of reading, a lot of like thought around what it, what, how, like what do I want to do with this?

What does this mean to me and is it because I want. Something to fill some time, something to generate income, something to give back if it's like a nonprofit. So really aligning [00:29:00] what it is that you want out of that venture. And then the most important step, and the, the step I think is the hardest is like take some kind of action on it.

Kris: Mm-hmm.

Steph: If it's paying a business coach and you have nothing to show for a business yet you are actively. Working on that thing a few hours a week because you have someone holding you accountable. Like do that. If it's paying Shopify $30 a month to have a website. So that you have some place to start building out, like, I think writing things down is hugely important for documentation.

I think now with social, I'm like, man, if I were starting over, it would look so different. But you would document every ounce of the process. So before you have anything to show, you have a year's worth of what got you to that? Like I would give anything to have that now that wasn't, it wasn't a thing then.

Yeah. but then you're, now your social page is full of, you're viral before you even launched something. 'cause people are invested in like the building of

Kris: Right.

Steph: As silly as it sounds, and sometimes it's not gonna work out, and oh, maybe you've embarrassed yourself and people saw that you failed, but like, [00:30:00] I bet those posts do better than the ones that you were super successful with.

Kris: Right.

Steph: Because they're relatable, everyone's gone through it in some way. So taking action and then I would say documenting as much as possible.

Kris: I got it. Got it. Cool. Yeah I agree with you. Hiring a coach, getting outside perspective. Yeah. To keep you from all the rabbit holes.

Steph: Mm-hmm.

Kris: That you can go down and keep you focused, give you guidance, give you encouragement, keep your head clear.

Steph: Yeah.

Kris: I think it's the best money you can spend,

Steph: agree

Kris: on yourself, and I think a lot of people early on. Or if they're just at the beginning of an idea, they think, oh, this isn't legitimate enough yet.

Yeah. And I need to wait till I'm really making good money before I can invest in that. Yeah. And when you are inside the bottle, you cannot read the label. That can only be read on the outside. So

Steph: I know.

Kris: Get a coach and if that coach is chat, PT let your coach be chat PT.

Steph: Totally. There's so many resources now, but I think the accountability piece of someone that's waiting for you on a phone call or, you know, [00:31:00] something that's on your account, it's like a workout. Like it's much more likely to happen if you've got someone on the other end waiting for you. But, oh man, I'm Claude Chat, GPT. Like, we're tight. And it's really just to kind of talk through.

Thoughts and ideas and to document, because like, they're not giving me all the answers, but I do have this record of going back when I had that first idea and I plugged it in. What, you know, so I, I think it'll be easier to, to document in the future. Because chat, I use Google Docs. In the beginning I just put all my thoughts on paper.

Yeah. and no one ever wrote back or had any feedback. Now you're

Kris: like,

Steph: oh, okay. I could probably do this a little faster. Yeah, a little easier. And the same, same for a coach, I think. That person that's just, even if they're five steps ahead of where you want to be.

Kris: Yeah.

Steph: It will make that time go so much faster and so many less problems that you might encounter without guidance.

And that was the first thing my coach asked. She's like, okay, tell me all about your business. And I was like, why manufacture? I print everything at home. And she was like, why? I'm like, why what? She was like, why would you do that? Why would you print yourself and cut [00:32:00] and ship? And I was like, well, I didn't.

I genuinely had never even thought that that was an option not to.

Because I was making something that had someone's name on the top. So I'm like, well, who prints one notepad? I'm like, one quick Google search later. Sure enough,

Kris: yeah.

Steph: There are the printers, wholesale printers that do that. And the, her asking me that such an obvious question,

Kris: right?

Steph: Was like, oh, I, I never thought that. Thank you so much for asking. 'cause now I'm gonna go spend a little time and it's, it's so hard to quantify and I will tell you, I like, I'm not frugal by any means, but like I think about every dollar that we spend or I spend and just had a call with her earlier today.

'cause I kind of brought her back into the mix of, you know, needing some encouragement during a growth season and, she gave me like one little nugget that. Could change so much about what's upcoming and it was about paid media and you just don't know. It's like sometimes you get it from someone you know that's done that sometimes, but that paid person that's always [00:33:00] going to, you're gonna show up to that call.

Like I, I feel like when you look back at the year or the six months, you're like, oh my gosh, man, that was worth tenfold of what I spent.

Kris: A hundred percent. Yeah. There's no way I would be doing the work that I'm doing without Same.

Steph: A,

Kris: a, a key, a few key coaches, a few for that I worked with over the years, right?

Yep. My first coach, I had never invested in my own self and my ownness. And that was a big deal. And he had me audit my time. That was my homework, auditing my time and really,

Steph: yeah.

Kris: You know, taking control of that and figuring out where am I leaking time. Yeah. What's worth my time. and then later it evolved.

Different coaches, different time. Yeah. But I'm such a big believer in that. And I think, and you've touched on this a little bit, but it's so often it's not that the coach has. All the answers, it's that they can ask you the right questions.

Steph: A thousand percent. And they're listening. Yeah. Yeah, they're listening.

It's just like a therapist. They just sit and look at you and they nod, and then they say one thing and you're like, [00:34:00] why not? Why not think of that?

Kris: Yeah.

Steph: But they, all they did was they were able to process, it just steps removed from the situation. And I, I think the listening part is such a. Big part.

'cause you know, when you're having lunch with a friend, you're just both chitchatting. But their job is to listen first, and then they're asking the right questions. Right. And you're usually going to answer for yourself. You're gonna answer and problem solve within that conversation. Maybe they can add to it or maybe, but they're gonna probably ask you about it the next time.

And so there you've gotten an answer from a question that no one would've asked you, and then they're gonna hold you accountable to be like, well, did. Did you do that thing we talked about? And you could say, no, sometimes it happens. No, I didn't get to it. And then if you don't, that's on you. And then if you do, then it's like, okay, now we get to sit and watch and see what, yeah, the fruits of that, like labor, that, that relationship.

But, I've never met anyone that said, I, I will say consultants. I've heard so much mixed and, and I feel the same way. So many people that know so much. But if they're not actually gonna do the work with [00:35:00] you, and maybe even for you in some capacity, depending on the relationship, it's. It just hasn't been successful in my book, but I've never met anyone that was like, oh, I hired a business coach and it was bad.

Kris: Totally.

Steph: They're like, my life changed, my business changed, my personal life changed. You know, I was able to get my time back. So yeah, I'm well.

Kris: Yeah, and, and honestly, if you do that, if you, if you work with the right coach, the investment should and will pay for itself tenfold.

Steph: Or before you're even done with the project, you're like, you know, like I said, that little piece of information, I'm gonna go act on it probably tomorrow and then I'll get to see.

But pretty sure that would've paid for today's phone call, if that makes sense.

Kris: Totally.

Steph: Yeah. Yeah.

Kris: So Steph, I wanna thank you for being here. I'd love to hear like, where can my listeners find you online?

Steph: Of course. Yeah. So, joy, creative Shop for all, all the paper goods and stationary and gift gifting essentials, is where we live online.

Same for social and then a different kind of ceo.com. And same with social is where. My goal [00:36:00] is to continue to build that personal brand, little pieces of wisdom on social, and then the offerings for coaching of just figuring out how I can help whoever finds me, if that timing aligns of like how I can best serve them in whatever they are hoping and goaling to do.

Kris: Beautiful. You have, yeah, you have such a heart to help your people and thank you. It's such a. Badass background behind you. It's really, thank you. Appreciate it. Really impressive. So

Steph: yeah,

Kris: thank you for being here.

Steph: Thanks so much.

Is your website turning away Potential clients? I can help you turn that around. Book a moneymaking messaging call with me today and we'll transform your story into your most powerful sales tool. That's all for this episode of From Click to Client. Don't forget to subscribe and follow. I'm Chris Jones and I'll see you next.