.png)
Small Business Bestie
Entrepreneurship is hard, and sometimes we could use a friend to walk a mile in our shoes. Small Business Bestie is here to provide that friendship, support, and inspiration that small business owners need from time to time.
Small Business Bestie
36: Bestie Bites - AI and CRM Strategies with Joanna Sherrow and Empowrsoft
Joanna Sherrow, the dynamic force behind EmpowerSoft, joins us to share her unconventional journey from Savvy Chic Design to spearheading a digital marketing empire. Gain insights from Joanna as she discusses embracing opportunities and figuring things out as she goes, offering invaluable advice for small business owners grappling with customer relationship management. Discover how her team’s expertise transformed the branding for Small Business Bestie and Cultivate Accounting into compelling visuals that speak volumes. 👀🔊
Explore the art of innovation with strategies like bowtie marketing, which balances client acquisition with retention for sustainable growth. Hear about the power of AI and technology to streamline operations and enrich customer interactions, freeing up time for deeper connections. Joanna’s creative problem-solving stories, like crafting custom solutions for an insurance brokerage, highlight the adaptability necessary for overcoming obstacles. Tune in for a wealth of knowledge that underscores the importance of adaptability, continuous learning, and the relentless pursuit of growth in the ever-evolving landscape of small business management.💪🤓😜
Check out Joanna here!
Canvas Rebel Magazine- https://canvasrebel.com/meet-joanna-sherrow/
Women Leading Kentucky- https://womenleadingky.com/directory/joanna-sherrow-2/
Check out the Small Business Bestie Website
Follow along on the Small Business Bestie Pod Facebook
Connect with Michelle on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bestiemichellesmock
Check out the Small Business Bestie Website
Check out Cultivate Accounting
Small Business Bestie is edited by Bourbon Barrel Podcasting
Welcome to the Small Business Bestie podcast. I'm your host, michelle. We are creating community and coaching women entrepreneurs, and we are so glad that you're here. Let's meet this week's Small Business Bestie. Let's meet this week's Small Business Bestie. Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of Small Business Bestie Bestie Bites. And today I am with one of my favorite women in all of Lexington, mrs Joanna Shero with EmpowerSoft. So Joanna has been a great friend, a great motivator, and she's so knowledgeable about small business and I'm so excited for her to share her wisdom. So, joanna, tell us about yourself and your business.
Speaker 1:Hey, Michelle, thank you so much. Wow, it's such an honor. I know you have a lot of amazing women who have been, you know, here in your show and just to be part of it is an honor for sure. So thank you for having me. Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1:Yes, so my name is Joanna Shero. I am the owner of Empowersoft. We're previously still under Savvy Chic Design, so some of you who might be familiar with that one in their area. But you know, as you all know right, businesses sometimes grow in different direction and you want to create more impact. So we are now under Empowersoft, so we are a digital marketing business, so we do a lot of website brand design, social media management together and tying up with that is our software, an all-in-one solution, CRM offering custom build CRM, because we don't want to be too much cookie cutter and as well as we offer a lot of automation, especially with the world of AI, we are integrating a lot of those and really working into that. So, yeah, so it's something like you know in technology, like I don't know how in the world that I get into all of this tech stuff, but I'm enjoying it so far, so yeah.
Speaker 2:I think your journey is so interesting because, if I understand correctly, it's like you didn't really set out to do really any of this. You just kind of happened into it and you just keep taking the next opportunity that comes your way and walking through that door to see what's on the other side. Is that kind of how it's been for you?
Speaker 1:Yes, totally. You know, I was born and raised in the Philippines, then here in the US for almost 10 years, graduate of marketing and mass communication. Never thought I'll be in the tech or design space. But you know, when an opportunity comes in, one of the things that I was like, yeah, let's figure it out. Yes, I'll say yes to that one and I'll dive in and figure it. And I think that's why the book of Marie Folio is one of my favorite books. It's everything is figureoutable. So if things kind of just put in my face, with all the stress level of course, with that one, I'm going to figure that one out. So, yeah, I mean yeah, really didn't have that formal education with what I am doing, but with the current opportunities and all the you know resources that we currently have, it's just really being able to look for it and learn and dive into it and just see what it will open up for us.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I think you and I have a lot of similarities in that that, like you know, I'm not a formally trained accountant, but somehow I'm co-owner of an accounting company because we just said yes to the opportunity and then figured it out Right and then figured it out right yes, yes and yes it's such a powerful word and just being able to move forward and also just yeah, and you know, here we are.
Speaker 1:Yes, Yay.
Speaker 2:Well, I do want to just give you a quick shout out because, like you said, you do offer those design services and all of that, and so, if any of you guys are familiar with the Small Business Bestie logo or the Cultivate Accounting logo, joanna and her team are responsible for those amazing, bright, happy, colorful, energetic, tiny little pieces of our company that I really feel like it does capture the essence of who we are and what we're doing in a way that's totally unique, and so your team was super wonderful to work with, easy to work with and I got exactly what I wanted out of that experience. So thank you for that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you so much for trusting us with a process. You know it's always. I always say, like you know, we turn visions into creations and you had that vision. You have that, you know what you want and just being able to really transform it into the visuals that can represent that. It's such an honor to do.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, well, you're really good at it. So there's a couple of things that I want to make sure that we get to while we're talking today, because one of the reasons I had you on is I feel like within PowerSoft you are really able to help small businesses with so many of the most common issues that they run into across the board, whether it's in the marketing and branding space or in the operations side of the business. So I wanted to talk about first one of the things that I hear most often from the small business owners that I work with is that they feel overwhelmed trying to track their customer relationships and their leads, and I was just wondering if you can talk to us about some simple ways that people could do that. If they're maybe not ready for an all-in-one solution, if there are ways that you know of that, they can start working on that, and then also just tell us a little bit about how you know the EmpowerSoft software might be able to solve that problem as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the very first thing is that, as a business owner, setting aside technology or the tools that you have, is really understanding your client journey. Because when you understand your client journey from the time that you acquire, from the time that you either market to your ideal clients to acquiring them and, you know, capturing the information and then having them into your sales process or whatever process that you have you're then able to identify what tool and solutions can help in those different stages. Because if you're clear, right, so like, for example, how am I going to market? Am I going to market through social media, through the regular print ads, through TV, whatever it is right, when you identify that, then you can say okay, how can I? Then what tool am I going to use? And then, how can I make sure that when I use that tool, I'm able to track all the things that I have right? So, whether you're just going to be okay, I just want a social media platform, which social media platform do you want, right? Are you going to do create consistency? No-transcript, and then you focus on that.
Speaker 1:Key things first, because as a business owner, I've been into that one. Oh, I want everything right, because we see all of the things that we do in operation. But really identifying first. Okay, my main priority is making sure I'm going to capture the leads, identifying that one, working it and then understand how you want to and then eventually, once you're ready for an all-in-one software, because an all-in-one with all disclaimers once you have an all-in-one software, it can also be overwhelming because you have all of these things like hold on, like okay, that's too many tabs, right, and everything If you have. If you decide to go into that, like for example in PowerSoft, you need to identify first which of the functionality or feature I want to dive into it first. What is the functionality? Which part in my client journey is it in, how will it help me, and then dive into that and then move on forward. So I hope that kind of just give a little bit of a tip.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I, you know full disclaimer. I jumped in with EmpowerSoft several months ago and I definitely had that moment of like freak out where we got onboarded and I was so excited because I knew all of the possibilities of ways that it could help me. And then I was like it's so overwhelming because I'm still, at the end of the day, a small business owner who's taking all the calls and doing all the email. You know, like I'm doing all of the things and then I also have to learn this new software and although I knew the potential was great, it did have a moment where I almost got like paralysis by analysis of like which of these features is most important for me at this moment, and I had to really take some time to step back and say, okay, how do I want to implement this Like, what's a good strategy to make this all happen appropriately? So, yeah, I think you're right. Like jumping into an all-in-one may sound like really rosy, but you really need to have a plan going into it. I know from firsthand experience.
Speaker 1:Yeah, totally, because you know we want to save money, right, that's why we're going to either an all-in platform, because everything is there. We want to streamline. That's the thing that we always say. Let's streamline things, but being able to really be intentional and also learning and just kind of like what you've said right, step back a little bit, because that's what I did too as a business owner who's offering an all-in-one system solution, right, I can blurt out all the functionality, but let me step back a little bit and then say, okay, let's focus on this, focus on this, focus on this right. And that's where I kind of come about with all the strategies that I'm trying to work with. But then again, you know, there's a lot of things and we wear multiple hats, but just having that in mind is a good thing to really just take note of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely so. When it comes to nurturing leads, why do you think this is so challenging for small business owners?
Speaker 1:Oh, because it's really like what's next? You know what I mean. Like you don't just think within the 24 hours or one week nurture, you're thinking of the next quarter, the next half of the year, the next of this one right, like one of the key things that we started to do with Empowersoft is actually building more of the custom CRM and it composed of different right Capturing, nurture, making sure that we can, you know, we can everything like in the process of your client journey, right, and it's a strategy. And if you are wearing multiple hats, I myself like hold on, I'm exhausted of just thinking for this month's sale, this month's, you know, content, again, I got to write again my social media posts, right, email marketing, right, all of this thing. So that is one of the challenge that we have.
Speaker 1:So, again, I'm always going back to your client journey. If your client journey, you're nurturing them because you want them to be informed, right, you want to educate them or you want to sell to them. Those are the key, like if I have to like goals and objective, and then you break it down into different, like how can you, you know, once a week, some bigger team or big company maybe, do it like every week, twice a week Just start small but consistent. I think that is the thing with nurturing Small, start small, consistent Consistency is the thing that, because, at the end of the day, why you nurture your client whether they are a client already or potential client or someone you just kind of want to capture is that you are the first in mind.
Speaker 1:That's one thing that you want to achieve. So those are sometimes like why challenge at times to nurture the nurture of your clientele?
Speaker 2:time. I've honestly made the correlation in my own mind about, like nurturing your leads or developing the habit to nurture your leads is just like any other habit that we practice forming right. It's not necessarily how grandiose the effort is, it's that you are making an effort and that it is consistent over a long period of time, and then you can build on it. And I'd never even considered that nurturing my leads was the same basic principles that I use for any other habit stacking formula, you know.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you for that wisdom You're welcome Because you know, as a small business, our main priority at times is acquiring. It's really the acquisition. So I always have this principle of the bowtie marketing. I think it's still on my YouTube because we did some revamp on our content. But so the bow tie.
Speaker 1:Just imagine a bow tie marketing, right, you have the left side and the right side of the bow tie. So when, hopefully, the left, where I'm facing the camera right now, or you know, the wall, wherever you are, right, that is what you call your acquisition. And then you need the middle versus the circle of the bow tie, is call your acquisition. And then you need the middle, where is the circle of the bow tie is like your sales, and then you then have the retention activity. Those are the two, right. So sometimes we're all focused on the left side Acquisition, acquisition, acquisition, right. And then sometimes we forget the retention. We're in.
Speaker 1:The long-term value of acquired clients already is actually higher than acquiring new. Because, like Michelle, right, like you've worked with me, you know how you've worked with me in Logo. So if you hire me and work in maybe your website or any other things, you already know and feel like, okay, joanna has a system or maybe whatever it is that you kind of have in mind, right? So I think that's one thing. Just saying in, nurturing is just making sure that, hey, you have that, you know acquisition activities and retention, and nurturing is really being able to acquire and to maintain them and keep repeating and selling to those clients who've already worked with you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely. I need a tattoo of a bow tie so I can't remember like you got to kind of like work both sides of it, right?
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, and it's a lot. It's really a lot for a small, you know, for a small business, yeah it really is.
Speaker 2:But I think that you know there are so many tools out there available to us and you know you and I were talking a little bit before we started recording just about how fast things are moving now and how much opportunity there is for AI and technology to help us eliminate some of the like stress and busy work so that we can focus more on that genuine nurturing of clients, you know, or genuine retention efforts to build those relationships. Because, at the end of the day, I think that AI is taking us to a place where we aren't going to have as much of the technical work to do and really the success of your business is going to come down to how well did you build relationships?
Speaker 1:Totally, yeah, totally. I mean when, like, just a good example for my business is that when chat GBT was not yet there, I always have the vision of content, but you know, english being my second language, and some of you know some of the hurdles that I have is that, like, how can I convey it, especially if you're not that of a communicator, in a sense, like your thoughts can transform into words that really make sense. Sometimes it's a challenge, right. So being able to really identify how can it empower you rather than being fearful of what these things that are coming in, and just really leveraging it. And just like you said, yeah, AI is coming and technology like me diving in, like no engineering background, no, everything you know, like what is happening, right, but really integrating it and diving into it.
Speaker 1:It's going to change a lot of opportunity for small business, such as, like, for example, we are just rolling out our voice AI right now that can do outbound calls. Just imagine you have hundreds in your list and we plug it in into Empowersoft and trigger it to just to call and just remind them. You know, like, just imagine that one of how much savings that you have. But then there's still human interaction, because after that them, you know, like, just imagine that one of how much savings that you have. But then there's still human interaction, because after that, right, you kind of want to explain, like your services or your offer, but just that, just that help, just think of it as a help.
Speaker 1:And if you have a friend, if you have a sales team, just imagine maybe an AI just booking for that sales team and then now your sales team are more into like talking more, because I know I work on leads, like, for example, 100 leads in a day, in a week, for example. It takes hours, two to three hours just digging in following on LinkedIn, right, all of these things. So how can technology help you, how can AI be leveraged in your business and how you can really make it to the next set of era where AI is going to be there. So I think that is one thing that we need, also a small business owner, to kind of see what's going on in terms of technology and the available things that can really help us.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I know that with like CRM and operations processes it's a lot. With like CRM and operations processes it's a lot. There's a lot of overlap and will keep their finances in spreadsheets when they're first getting started right, instead of having a custom software for that problem or to solve that problem. So I was wondering with things like the CRM, have you seen that there's like a particular kind of tipping point where, like it makes sense for you to start using a software that's deliberate for your CRM or for your lead gen or lead tracking?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think it's really just when you're all over. I think one thing right is the key is just streamlining everything. I mean, I'm guilty of it even now. I don't know if you've talked to Lindsay Paulson, who's really good with operations and all of these other things. We had a meeting that she's helping me one time with operation and all my spreadsheets are all there, and she said, girl, you're a spreadsheet, girl, but it's all over the place like one, two, three, four, five, everything right. But one thing that my personal take on this, just personal experience. My personal take on this, just personal experience when you decide now should I do CRM, is that when I just felt too much all over the place, like just too much all over the place, and then I feel like, rather than helping me, my spreadsheet is now causing me more delays on what I want to achieve. And then for us businesses, data is very important in order for us to make decisions.
Speaker 1:So just like when you're marketing, right, so, for example, you are capturing I mean, we've talked about this Like, for example, you've really built your business, michelle, with networking, right, really putting yourself out there, right Every time. And then, like, you get business cards and business cards and I bet you have this experience it's all in your desk right now. Right, it's all in your desk and you haven't even like, maybe put it in a spreadsheet or anything. So what if that you have a tool that can capture, you know, like a camera, capture that business card and send it to your CRM? You know it streamlines it, right, it helps you out. So, I think, I think it all boils down to what information you want to keep and whether you want to really streamline everything. Like, if sales are starting to fall off the crack, like you can't even monitor, it's just all over the place. It might be time to consider a CRM Because it's customer and relationship management, right, that's the reason why we get business cards. It's the reason why we make an opt-in on our marketing. We call it marketing funnel. You're giving out a free PDF of some sort, right, because you want to capture it and so you want to make sure that you put it in a place that can easily be managed and then tying it up with your nurture activities or your sales activities, and tools are presently there.
Speaker 1:But one thing I always say, though, that it's okay if you're still doing spreadsheets. You know why, you know how, when you're manually doing it, you get into oh, this is how it works, this is how it works. Now, when you're ready to move into a CRM, you then know what your pipeline like, what your journey is. Oh, I want to make sure that I capture the name, the email, the birthday, whatever it is. Right Now you're doing that, so don't kind of disregard that effort that you put in, because the more you understand how things done manually that is, then you can ask whoever whether you hire us or for custom build or whatever CRM or whoever expert is. Then you can say oh, I want to make sure I capture the name, the address, the phone number, and I want this function Because you've learned it right. You've learned what are the fundamentals you want. So now, when you have a CRM, it's more working for you in your business, because you've learned what are the essential things that you need.
Speaker 2:Now it's just with a partner, with technology, with automation and workflow and all of this jazz that is available. Okay, you said something that really, like, my mind just kind of exploded for a second. There's a tool where you can take a photo of the business card and AI will read it and add it to your CRM.
Speaker 1:Yes, so your Lead Connector app within PowerSoft should have that one.
Speaker 2:I've been missing a feature. You guys, oh, I'm so excited and you know what. That's going to save me so much money because I have an executive assistant that I collect my business cards, collect my business cards in like a little gift bag and then, when the gift bag starts getting heavy, I give it to her and I say have fun. And then she does all that data entry manually and this is going to save her so much time and save me so much money. Yes, for sure I'm paying her to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so all you have to do is have the app picture it, of course, right, because of different business cards that are so small and everything, there will still be human intervention to it to do the quality check, making sure all the key information are captured correctly, and then you can tag it whether this is a lead. This is what source it is, so just getting more organized as well, so yeah.
Speaker 2:This is amazing.
Speaker 1:I wasn't really sure what information we needed to be able to pull out today during our conversation and I just figured it out this episode was actually for me, so that I would know that that exists. Like, what are the things? So little by little, kind of just interjecting it and everything. It's just so funny sometimes like behind the scenes, guys, we need to do this, we need to do this. But then my team said Joanna our list is still this.
Speaker 2:Yeah Well, and like full disclosure, there is a very good chance that you have either told me about that feature before and I just forgot, or you sent it in some sort of communication and I was like, oh, I'll look at that later because you know busy and I just didn't look at it. So it's probably my fault that I didn't know that it's there, but I'm so excited to know it's there.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, yeah, and that's a power of, that's a power of technology, right? Sometimes like oh, okay, because, like what we said in the early beginning of our discussion is that, oh, we're prioritizing what I'd love to, but then we always have oh, the what ifs, like, oh, would it be nice to have this one. Right and just yeah, seeing what's available and what it is. And one thing that I've really learned in building website and, you know, incorporating getting all the licensure for empower soft. It's just that workarounds are like my best friend, like, okay, that functionality is not working. Let me see how I can do the workaround. And sometimes I geek out, sometimes I want to throw my laptop out. Why?
Speaker 2:is it not?
Speaker 1:working. You know what I mean, and I just want to give a shout out also to my team and also those support people, the dev team or the support people who are like every time like let's figure this out, let's figure it out and it's fine, but it is a crazy, crazy adventure, especially when technology changed today and then tomorrow it's going to be a different thing.
Speaker 2:Exactly. Yeah, the world that we're in is just moving so fast and it's so. It's just so interesting to be a part of it honestly, to just witness what is going on right now.
Speaker 1:Totally, totally, really, and especially being a woman, small business owner into the space of offering software as a service, what we call SaaS. It's fun, it's a good. I mean not to devalue any other thing, but it's just so fun. If you are somebody who wants to get into it, get into it. Like the technology, the era of AI, the time of just like integrating everything, like whew, yep, it's going to be an adventure for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, speaking of adventures, I'm going to kind of put you on the spot a little bit. Can you think of a specific story or client interaction that you've had where you were just blown away by somebody's creativity to solve a problem with their pipeline or with their lead generation or whatever, where you were like man? That was really interesting how you solved that problem.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think, like all of the clients we have. So that's a good, really good question I would think of, maybe not a CRM side, but just a client of value, because we work with a lot of either experts who are transitioning to be into the business space oh my gosh, these people I had a lead. It's not a client, unfortunately, she decided to go elsewhere, but this is why I love doing discovery calls with clients or consultation calls, because it just amazes me on their expertise. What are they trying to solve? What is the pain point they're trying to really resolve? She has been a CMO of different companies, like big brands, like really big brands, and I was like, oh my gosh, this is awesome and she's in transitioning and really teaching more of fellow CMOs, as well as CMO Chief Marketing Officer, right. And also small business when it comes to really marketing, because right now, right, like I bet you and me, we're just like on the fundamentals of marketing, like it's a digital marketing, but there's still the fundamentals of marketing, that where you know all of this pepsi, coca-cola and all the other marketings, right, I really dived into and I was just amazed, I think it the process of solving the problem and just being able to see their passion. I think that's one thing that really like wow, I'd love to help you. If not, I'd love to learn from you, right, yeah, and same thing as just like the platform, like we are currently working as well on a custom build for an insurance brokerage and they have multiple, they have multiple agents and you know, like being able to really make sure that, okay, step one, step two, how can we do it? How can we offer it? What is the next step? And it's really more on helping both the client and the agent with a result that they would love to accomplish. I hope that kind of just answered.
Speaker 1:I think it's just like different, really different ways, really different action, but just seeing their processes and really being a why. And I think one thing I love about why I love the consultation as well, for understanding a company's client journey is because every journey addresses a concern and offers a solution. Like why do you do this? Oh, the next step is this. Oh, make sure to tag this or make sure to send this. So I mean just that I decount on it. Like I decount on it, I was like, oh my gosh, so yeah, it's just a fun journey and it's just seeing them.
Speaker 1:Like every business has its own unique process. It might have the same principle. I mean, I could talk to multiple right, multiple, maybe accountant or multiple broker, multiple dental offices, but they have different steps and different needs that maybe end up with some goals, but you know, they're all different personalities and all. So when I come in and just kind of listen in like ooh, and then, you know, my brain kind of starts like, ooh, let's do this. Oh, let's do this. You know all of these things.
Speaker 1:So yeah, and I think that's one reason why I decided to kind of add the software, the CRM, all the other things, the AI and the workflows and automation, on top of the design and marketing that we offer. Because, yes, you can have a beautiful design of website or beautiful logo, but if we cannot capture your leads or we cannot capture your ideal clients or we cannot integrate it with your system and processes, it might not be serving you well. So I think that's one thing and I'm still really learning a lot. There's a lot of revamp going on in my business. There's a lot of like moving parts right now that I said like I feel like are we burning this one again and putting it up another process Like, oh, but yeah, that's a process of being a small business. I hope that answered your question.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and I think, like you know the creative solutions that we come up with small business owners a lot of times is like the solution is to start again, right.
Speaker 2:You know, are we burning this down and starting again, like, sometimes that is the solution, and that's okay, because, if you like, I don't know how many times I've seen small business owners like they have an idea in their head of how something should be, or how they want it to be, you know, or what the end result should be, and that first idea of how they're going to get there kind of gets stuck in their mind, and they're so like hell bent on taking that to the end that, even though the data is telling them like this isn't working, or even though it's like the, the customer satisfaction, is saying this isn't working, they're like no, this, this has got to happen, though, you know.
Speaker 1:And so sometimes the creative solution to our problems is like oh, this isn't working, we should start again yes and we should figure this out it is hard, especially if our business owner really invested years and time and energy with that certain direction. And then you need to shift, like, oh my gosh, am I going to be, like you know, brooding everything out? But thank you so much for that message, because that's really something I am in, that you know hole of like, is this the right decision? Are we going to move forward with this? Is this all of these things? But at the end of the day, right.
Speaker 1:I always say if we are just going to say the what if, but not try, then I can't really say, oh, this was the wrong decision or this was the right decision, right. So I think that's one thing, like for all our small business besties. Sometimes we kind of doubt, like whether this is the right or wrong decision. If we just take action in it and then we evaluate it and then move forward in it despite all the fears yes, I'm telling that one to myself everything will be okay.
Speaker 2:That's right, and you know the. I don't know if you saw today, but there was an experience that I had where I tried so hard to do something nice and like a good gesture for a friend, and I made a mistake in doing it. And I was so hard on myself in the first moments when I realized that I'd made a mistake I, you know, I gave myself that like negative self-talk, like oh you're so stupid, how did you not see this mistake? How did you not prevent it, you know? And then I caught myself, like so quickly though, and was like you are not allowed to talk to yourself that way. Like everybody makes mistakes and you are clearly not a stupid human. Like everybody makes mistakes and you are clearly not a stupid human.
Speaker 1:So stop with that talk, you know, oh my gosh, yes. Yes, I mean we are the worst critic. I think that's one thing right, because we're such high, you know, we're high level individuals of like we want to make sure we give the best customer service, the best service, the best, everything Right. But there's a lot of things like I'm just, I just like I'm just gonna give myself grace, like, yeah, I'm just gonna give myself grace. If not, I'm gonna be losing myself anytime soon.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, and I think that that's where I was trying to go with that and I kind of went on a rabbit trail, but that's where I was trying to go with that is, like you know, sometimes our best is good enough and even if it isn't perfect, like if you tried and you got some data from it, right, like you realize. Like, even if it isn't perfect, like you, you got to the finish line and you can say, oh, I tried, there were some mistakes along the way, I can revamp that next time, but I jumped in and I did it and I survived.
Speaker 1:You know, oh my gosh, I think that's our life every day. Right, jump in, all right. Wake up in the morning, jump in, all right. Okay, I think that's it.
Speaker 2:It is, it is. I wouldn't have it any other way, though. Yes.
Speaker 1:And it's fun. I mean, it is really fun, like I think like every time, like there's time, like okay, let me check on Indeed right now. What job can I apply? You don't want to realize? Nope, nope, I'm going to stick this one out, not right now.
Speaker 2:Yes, and I know I've said it a thousand times on the podcast and in group settings and all of that, but like we're in the best possible place to be doing what we're doing because there's such a great community of us out there uplifting one another and supporting one another and cheering for one another. So, you know, if you are even thinking of being a woman entrepreneur, come to Lexington, kentucky, because we get your back.
Speaker 1:Yes, oh my gosh, yeah, that's one thing. Just the amount of people that you know you get to meet and just having this conversation of, oh my gosh. Yep, I understand what you're going through. Maybe try this one. Or just the crazy you know crazy moments of like can you check this one out? You know what I mean? And check this one out. I think this is it. But, yeah, totally, and especially with you, michelle, I mean the impact that you have really given to the community, the support you know, especially with this group, the small bestie being besties.
Speaker 2:Hey, we're all besties together, right? We're all in this together, especially at 2025. It's coming soon, let's go get it. I am so excited for 2025. It's going to be an amazing year for so many women and I can't wait to watch it unfold.
Speaker 1:Totally. That's why I love following people celebrating their, their milestones and I just love every, every woman out there, you know, crashing it and following their dreams and just like going for it.
Speaker 2:All right, miss Joanna, you know we're going to link all your socials, your website, all of the things. So is there anything that you would want to leave the listeners or audience with today that we haven't talked about? I think?
Speaker 1:we've covered everything, but I think one thing is just that be empowered with your dream, be empowered with the people that surrounds you, be empowered that you create impact. I think that's one thing that I just want to remind all of us and reminding myself too.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'm going to. I'm going to text you randomly and remind you of that and I invite the same yeah, and that's why you know I want to give a shout out to Cheryl Wolverton.
Speaker 1:She has this gratitude text message 14 day and she's starting to because she's also an EmpowerSoft user, so she does this SMS and everything. Girl, this is what I need to also. You know kind of that, do that one, so that would be a good, good thing also that you know I'd love to receive that one from you.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and Cheryl was on the podcast a couple of months ago, so I'll even link her episode in the show notes here. So, if you're interested, she's an amazing coach, just so full of love and light and wisdom.
Speaker 1:Yes, yeah, I feel calm. Like Cheryl, I need the calm, the calmness in my life.
Speaker 2:Yes, absolutely Well. Ms Joanna, I am just so honored to consider you a friend and a colleague, and I'm proud of everything that you're doing. I can't wait to see what this next year brings for you.
Speaker 1:Likewise, michelle. I'm so excited for what you're creating and I got you girl Just ping me, message me or whatever it is. I'll be there.
Speaker 2:Awesome, all right. Well you guys, thanks for listening to Joanna and I talk all things crazy small business, and we will talk to you guys next time. Thanks for listening, friends. My name is Michelle Smock and I own Cultivate Accounting, a boutique accounting firm specializing in small business, and I own Small Business Bestie, where I help women entrepreneurs go from idea to launch and beyond. Check the show notes for links to my website and socials, and also please take a moment to subscribe and review. It really would mean the world to me.