Kc Rossi 0:00
Hello, hello. If I'm anything, it's consistent, however, you may be wondering where I've been for the last three weeks. And I hope you have because I want to be missed when I don't show up. So I was attending a leadership conference in Florida for the first week and directly after that got COVID. Traveling seems to be a common time to get extra exposure...and that's exactly what happened. In any event, I'm happy to be back in my recording studio, interviewing amazing guests and connecting with you.
Kc Rossi 0:32
Today I'm talking with Samantha Varner. Sam has made it her goal to help women understand they have the power to change their financial picture by building profit in their businesses. It is such a valuable topic that many of us need to hear. We talk about resolving the money mindset battle, tips to bust through your own self imposed glass ceiling, ditching the old model of pushing and grinding in order to achieve success, Sam's unique CRUSH method, and ways to help you get over any visibility intimidation. And so much more. Stick around to the end because Sam shares a couple of awesome truth bombs. I hope you enjoyed today's episode.
Kc Rossi 1:20
Are you ready to scale your business in a way that's aligned with your soul, and profitable. I'm Kc Rossi, a Business and Leadership Coach. I've been a full time entrepreneur for 30 years and love business. I help conscious leaders increase their impact and optimize their lives. Join me each week for tips and deep conversations on cultivating confidence, increasing your visibility, elevating your vibration, and leading with purpose without burning out. Let's go.
Kc Rossi 1:54
Hey, Sam, welcome to the show.
Samantha Varner 1:56
Hey, thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Kc Rossi 1:59
I'm excited to have you as a guest. I think it's so very important that we talk about profits, because I feel that even though as entrepreneurs, we go into business to make a livelihood that somehow often gets put to the bottom of the list. And we get kind of caught in this quagmire of all the other things like logos and mission statements and all the things that are important. But profits are really something that should be prioritized. And I'm so happy that you're going to be here to shed some light on it. Why did you want to focus on profits, specifically for entrepreneurs as your livelihood?
Samantha Varner 2:39
That's a really good question. So I started out originally coaching as a money coach. So I was doing money from like a personal standpoint, helping people figure out their finances on their personal side. And what became very clear very quickly is that a lot of the people that were attracted to my messaging, were people who had businesses and the reality is yes, we can budget and scrimp and save and change spending habits and all those things. But if you own a business, you have the ability to just create more income, right, as opposed to being limited by a corporate salary, and not being able to have much control over your income. So that's kind of where I, when I made that pivot from personal financial coaching into business coaching, I knew that the money side of it and the profit side of it was where I wanted to focus, because it allows the creation of that life that everybody is going into business to create less hours, more money, better balance, right. So that's how it started, at least to begin with.
Kc Rossi 3:46
Yeah, awesome. So when I think of it, I know there's lots of shades and it definitely is colored by our money mindset as well. But like if we were gonna do two different camps, you have the one camp that's like very metric focused, very analytical, you know, all about the greenbacks, and many times can prioritize profits over people. And then you have the flip side of that, where it's like, they're going with the flow, they're just putting their best work out there. They're hoping that the universe is going to bring them back something for all of their efforts, but they kind of resist looking at the metrics. And I think sometimes because we have several spiritual entrepreneurs and healers that listen to the show, I feel that many of them fall into that second camp. And there's some guilt and shame that comes with helping their clients and then profiting because it's almost like should I be making money by helping somebody alleviate suffering, for example, if they're a holistic practitioner, so talk to me a little bit about that. And if you see that and yeah, I would just love to hear more from your perspective on on those two sides of the coin.
Samantha Varner 4:59
I think you're dead on in terms of it being a constant battle for people, and especially depending on where they land in that spectrum themselves, just where they naturally feel the fit. I think my biggest words of advice are that you can't possibly offer your skills and your services and your healing, without charging money for it. Because at the end of the day, you are a person who needs to eat, and have shelter, and clothing and a life, right and you need to be capable of doing your best work without burnout without exhaustion, and burnout and exhaustion go hand in hand without feeling like you're valued without feeling like you are making money in your position in order to do the things in your life that are important. And I think we get caught up as if somehow it's a dirty word, write a dirty concept to make money. And that comes when we think of things like sales being sleazy, as opposed to sales being you presenting your offer into the world, and the people who desperately need your help in whatever capacity it is that you offer, being able to find the help that they need, and get everything that they need around that. And I think there is a way to do it that can feel comfortable, there is a way to do it that you are providing value for your clientele. You're not fleecing them, you're not there. When you think of all of the words all of the terminology that is so negative around sales, or around selling your service or your or your product. It does us a disservice to think that we're scamming people. Because I think the reality is anybody who's listening to this podcast, anybody who is out there in the world, trying to build a business that serves and helps people is not scamming them.
Kc Rossi 7:01
Yeah, absolutely. And so interesting, like one of the things that came up for me when you were saying that is when we have to almost self talk, like, I need to make a living and like put a roof over my head and like have food on the table. And I feel that a lot of people do stay in that just making enough. And it's really interesting, like I've seen across the board, like when women do a budget, and they they put their bills down, and then they actually on the other side, put their income. It's like, oh, you're just covering the nut. And I see that in the first several years of business to be really super common. So I'm wondering, what do you think gets in the way to bust through that self imposed glass ceiling because we are so much more than just making ends meet? If we're putting our heart and our soul and all of our time and effort? What do you think's getting in the way of being like, I am open to unlimited possibilities, there is no ceiling on my income?
Samantha Varner 8:04
It's a really good question. Because I wish there were a very straightforward answer. In my experience with clients. I've seen it from so many different aspects. I've seen it from just a fear around managing big money, right? There is a fear around am I capable of being a good steward for big money? Is there there's often a lot of thoughts around people with a lot of money, and what character traits do we give them? Where do we see that portrayed in the media or in society? And I think it's conversations like this that hopefully start to change the dynamic I look at my mission in my business is to create more women entrepreneurs that are making big money, right? That is my goal. Because I think generational wealth transfer happens when the women start realizing that yeah, I can make enough money to sustain myself, I can make enough money to create the life I have that vision board life, not just that, like subsistence life, but where I really, really want to be and maybe for them, that's paying for kids college and having it not not be a thing not be a problem. Maybe it's being able to travel with your family more extensively. And spending the time on those vacations are so many times that those are the things that people at least immediately can gravitate to. And I think I look at this as you have to kind of create a ladder of believability in your mind as you're getting to this process. So you have to believe I'm capable of covering what I need first, right and that that's okay. And once we've done that, then it's I'm capable of earning more and creating a better life for and oftentimes as women, it's for the people around us, right? That's something that we feel very comfortable doing that nurturing aspect of if I make more money and it avails my family to do or, or my children to do more, or my parents or my siblings, we can kind of talk ourselves into that. And I think it's okay to have it be baby steps like that it's okay to say, I can't quite comprehend the idea of being a seven figure eight figure business owner, that's really hard at the beginning, but we can get you there, right, we can graduate you up that ladder to believing that it's possible, believing that you're capable, believing that your services are worth what you're charging for them, and then what you want to be charging with them.
Kc Rossi 10:32
I love that. It is such a layered process. And I love that you are giving permission to have that stair stepped approach because I think we can oftentimes get this glossed over social media perspective of like, you know, if you can dream it, you can do it and all the manifesting things, which is great. However, I think that there's a lot of times where our mind calls bullshit on ourselves. We know this stair stepped approach, I can see the bucking bronco bucking less being our mind because it's like, not only are you proving to yourself with each ladder step that you accomplish, it's like you're building your competence, you're ready to have increased visibility, you're like, Wow, I did it. And so I really liked that approach. And I want to dig into it a little bit deeper on how much is our mindset really a contributor to our success?
Samantha Varner 11:24
It's completely and it's in, it's amusing to me now that I say that was zero hesitation, because when I started my business, I looked at mindset, and all of that sort of stuff as such a woowoo type of thing I couldn't. My brain is very tactical, it's very, like I shall just work very hard. And push through, right, I'll just bulldoze my way right to where I want to get to. And it took me a long time to realize that of course, you can do that. Right. So if you're in that mindset right now, totally normal. Most of us started there. And you can still be successful in that model, if you have trouble with the mindset. But what changes is the speed that you can start to see the shifts in your mind creates massive increase in profit way faster than when you're just fighting. You know, I feel like it's like a salmon going up river, right? You're just fighting, fighting, fighting, fighting. And you can make gains, but it's slow. And it's hard, and it's painful. But it took me a long time to learn that lesson of my mind has more to do with it than then I think, right?
Kc Rossi 12:35
Yeah.
Samantha Varner 12:36
More then I thought perhaps now I know, I know, when I hear those garbage thoughts in my head. I'm like, oh, no, no,
Kc Rossi 12:41
Exactly! Let's just name you for what you are "garbage." And moving right along, but I am right there with you. I can completely relate to that. I really subscribe to that old paradigm that in order to be successful, there was a hustle and grind that I had to do. If it wasn't working, then work harder, dig your heels in. And and I ended up with adrenal fatigue and burnout for many, many years. And I think the big piece too, when you talked about the flip of that, and really being open to the mindset piece as a crucial integral strategy's not something that's like a nice to have, but actually a strategy that is going to open up ease.
Samantha Varner 13:24
Mm hmm.
Kc Rossi 13:24
You said the old model could work. But what the other side of that equation to me feels like is burnout. What do you what are your thoughts on it?
Samantha Varner 13:34
Yeah, I think if you do it for too hard and too long, and you don't actually, I think the word ease when you use that word, I think that is the one right? It's, it can be not easy. We don't want to say easy, right? Because it's never going to be easy. Building a business is hard. Some days, it's great. Some days it's easy. Some days, it's hard, but there can be a smoothness to that creation. That doesn't feel like it's taking everything and sucking you dry have any energy or ability. And that's what mindset does. Mindset allows you to step back and evaluate and see things from a much bigger perspective and choose the tactics you're going to do with more drive to them I think with more consistency, because you are not using every ounce of your effort to move the business forward. You're doing it from a place of using your tools right you're using your tools instead of just...
Kc Rossi 14:35
Yeah
Samantha Varner 14:36
Instead of just brute force right brute force doesn't feel good to anybody for any length of time we try not to do that
Kc Rossi 14:43
Brute force is going to break something - ultimately break you physically, break you emotionally, break you spiritually, break the bank. I mean, forcing anything is is definitely the road to breaking and we're all about creating right we're all about making something, creating, architecting a life that is something that we really want. And when I look at your philosophy, I feel a lot of like freedom desires, is that a core value for you?
Samantha Varner 15:11
Absolutely, absolutely it is. It is about your business supporting your life. That is where if I can get the message across to my clients, it is that you're not building a business, for the sake of the business, the business is actually there to support you being a supporting cast member in your life that provides you the opportunities that provides you the wealth and the ability to do what you want to do in life. Because that's the point. Otherwise, yeah, you have a great business, and you make a lot of money. And you work all the time, and you don't see your family and you don't have adventures and you don't do things that light you up whatever that is. Why are we doing that? That feels terrible. It feels like we're in the salt mine by accident. Don't make yourself a salt mine. Like don't do that.
Kc Rossi 16:02
That's so true. Absolutely. And I think that that's where perspective comes in. That's where that mindfulness comes in is like, does this line up with my deep? Why is it still fun? If not, how do I adjust and pivot? Like, I think sometimes often, we go way too long before we like, analyze and reassess. And make sure that the shoe is still fitting us, you know, in a way that's like comfortable, and you know, that can bring that spring in our step and give us energy. Talk to us a little bit about your crush method.
Samantha Varner 16:38
Okay, perfect. This is my favorite thing. So when I was trying to come up with a way that I could clearly communicate to my clients, like, what are we going to talk about in this coaching, right, because there's always, you know, there's lots of different coaches in the world. And they all do things a little bit differently, I wanted to come up with what are the things that I feel like are absolutely integral to a profitable business. So for me, it is the core of your business. So mission, vision values, your Y, all of that piece is critical. So we start with the core and make sure that that's really strong, then we're going to go into the AR, which is the revenue. So we're going to get really intimate with our numbers, we're going to pull back that curtain and actually be willing to look at those and maybe sit uncomfortably with those numbers while we figure out how to deal with them. Because there's a lot of business owners out there that feel like they can't understand the numbers, or they don't know what to do with them. Or honestly, they don't know how to even pull them from the data, in order to put them onto a spreadsheet, that would be manageable. So, so critical, right, we spend a lot of time there. Then the you have the crush formula is fun, it is the utility side. So it is the delegation and the automation side. Because what ends up happening is at a certain point in your business, you have to start automating things you have to start delegating, whether it's to an automated system, or whether it's to actually human helpers, there is a time where in order to grow your profit, or just grow your business, you need to help you need outsourcing so that you can move forward. So we work on that piece. Then we talk about the s which is sales, which is probably my happy place. I think if you can get really confident with your sales skills, with your understanding of working your goal backwards to how much action do I need to take to create clients? How comfortable Am I saying my pricing? Like, are you as comfortable as telling your pricing as you are your phone number, that's where we want to get it to, we want to get it to that just ease of use for your numbers so that you don't feel stumbly when you go to talk to a potential client. So we work on that piece and the promotion and the visibility piece falls under sales. And then the last piece is the headspace, right? So there's your mindset. And it's that overarching umbrella, that really has to trickle down into each one of those other categories. So if you have your crush formula lined up, and everything is you're working on all those pieces and being aware of them. Profitability is inevitable at that point.
Kc Rossi 19:19
I love the formula. Thank you. I do too. Yeah, you've ticked every box, I can really see where that would have success. Where do you find the biggest stumbling block when you're looking at each of those pillars of the formula?
Samantha Varner 19:35
I think it depends on where clients come to me. So it depends on where they are. I feel like often newer businesses have very new business owners often have that core piece pretty tight because they're in the midst of development and dreaming and kind of like that really big picture. What Who am I as a business owner, so the core piece is often pretty, pretty well established, they often will struggle with the sales piece that is the part where they are really not sure. Like, what does it take to get my first client? What does it take to get my 10th? Client? Why does this still feel so Bumbly? Right, like, there's a lot of tripping in that stage of getting used to it. And so newer business owners, it's like, I just want to make some money, I want to prove that this can be a thing, probably to myself, right, maybe to my loved ones. But I want to figure out how how do you start getting consistent sales? That's the piece at the beginning. That's, it's hard, right? And everybody goes through that. And so we work a lot in that area.
Kc Rossi 20:43
Yeah, I see that also. And I see it really across the board. Because even after startups and like, even up to year three, like once you have an idea of like, how to conduct a successful sales call and and all of those types of things. It's are you doing it? Like, are you prospecting? Like, are you putting all of your wisdom into practice? And or are you waiting until your roster is so down? We're like, Okay, I need to do something thing, you know? Is it something that's like a well oiled machine where that cog is always turning? Or do you wait until you're in survival mode before you kind of kick in? I love that you said that mindspace is kind of that overarching, the headspace is the overarching mindfulness and mindset piece, because I can see it having a huge impact on each of those categories. So when it comes to sales, like what advice do you have for an entrepreneur that basically is like, you know, I want to do it, I'm very competent in my craft. But when it comes to kind of putting myself out there to the network's letting them know who I am and how I help. There's just some resistance there, like how can we get listeners over that hump, if that applies to them?
Samantha Varner 21:58
Okay, I think the first piece of advice I would have is that you don't have to do it the same way everybody else is doing it. I think a lot of that stumbley-ness in there is, I see this person and they're on video all the time. And I'm intimidated by video, I don't like myself on video, I hate how I sound on video, whatever that might be. You don't have to do it that way. There are 100 different ways that you can be visible and get out and introduce yourself to people. And you I think are best suited at the beginning to find the one that you find the least offensive, the least uncomfortable, right? Like choose. It's like the low hanging fruit in sales, right? Choose the way that makes you the least squirmy and get really good at that. So there might be a place for you to hang out in groups on Facebook, for instance, and you are doing a lot more of you're communicating behind your computer screen. Now, I don't suggest this in long terms. But I do think that as you're building your confidence, you can do it that way. Or you can go and meet people where you meet people anyway. Are you a runner? Do you run in a group? Is there a running store? Go hang out there, go to those events and just talk with people? Ask them? What do you do, they're going to inevitably ask you back that's the joy of humans, we're pretty good at that part, then you have an opportunity to share with in the confines of your already comfortable social network. So you don't have to like start a tick tock channel to make money in a business. It is unnecessary to do that. You can go and introduce yourself to individual businesses, in a strip mall or in a office building. Or there's, there's just so many ways to do it that we feel like we see all the same ways all the time. If you're on social media, you see people doing it a certain way all the time. If that's hard, try something that's easy. Talk to your neighbors, talk to your friends, share what you're doing with the people around you. They're going to be willing to talk you up to begin with it. Yes, it's easier. Right?
Kc Rossi 24:11
I like that a lot. And I think you're right, I think that there is a tremendous amount of pressure to chase after the latest trend. You know, whether it's reels and dancing, singing, pointing, we have to put you on the spot for a second and get specific because we do have several introverts that listen to the show that all of this sounds amazing. And it just sounds practical and just like logical. And so if we have a listener that's like, Okay, I am not the type of person that is going to be putting on these like really dynamic, funny videos like you mentioned, but I'm going to go in my own backyard and I feel like less intimidated to tap what's right there in my neighborhood or something of that nature, but they're still experiencing some resistance. What is your advice for that individual?
Samantha Varner 25:04
Start small, and honestly, just choose the one thing and then do it. And I know that doesn't feel like advice. It feels like, please don't say that to me because it is hard, right? Like, right, it's easy for, you know, it's easy for somebody who is more extroverted to say, Just do it. But the reality is, you can never have a business if you can't promote your business. So you have to be willing to do it. Now you can do it off camera, you can do it via email, you can do it all sorts of different ways. But you just start, just start with the smallest of things. And then for the love, I if I can tell you no other thing, it's go back and write down all the things that you've done. Because you're going to need those days to feel just inspired and proud of yourself. So if it is, I don't know, like I did my first Facebook Live and the camera was sideways. And I didn't know how to change the video. So I did the whole damn thing sideways. And it's up there, you can still probably find it somewhere in the in the internet.
Kc Rossi 26:12
love that you left it there, I think it's so important that people see that's why these episodes are never edited, real unscripted, because it's so important to me that we peel back the layers, just like you talked about in the revenue of crush, peel back the screen, get deep, don't be afraid. And I think it's important that people see a level of transparency and all the wiggles and jiggles and bumps and bruises that took that get people where they are because it isn't easy. And there, this is our opportunity to push our own individual growth edges. I'm not on Twitter, but what you said there's definitely a tweetable, which is if you're not able to promote your business, how can you have a business? And I think that that's really powerful. Like I think if people just sat with that, and then also went back to like, why did you start this even in the beginning? What does that longer vision that's connected to something outside of yourself and your nervousness? That is a gift waiting to be received by your prospective client. So really such good juicy things, I typically ask people to leave a bright light nugget of wisdom. But for you, my dear friend, my profit focused coach, I'm going to ask you for your number one tip to increase profits.
Samantha Varner 27:33
Hmm. It's hard to choose just one, I think it is look at what you're charging your clients and increase it. And I feel pretty confident that I can say that to your entire audience, and have it be relevant unless you changed your prices last week, the vast majority of entrepreneurs I see are under charging for their services. And that's a very easy transition at this date, I'm going to have a rate increase, it is going to be X amount depending on what the industry looks like or really where you just should be. And that's it. It's it's just cut and dry. And if you lose clients in that transition, because that's always the fear. That's okay, it makes room for somebody who's going to see the value in the new rate that you have assessed. It is okay to lose clients, I guarantee that we all have when we raise our rates, and it is necessary it is necessary in the growth of your business. So the one thing that increases your profit is just charge a little bit more or a lot more. And if you're unsure about that, that's a question to be asking to get that help and just that confidence boost there. Yes, it's critical.
Kc Rossi 28:57
Perfect. Absolutely. How can people take a step towards you and your work?
Samantha Varner 29:02
Okay, so the two best places to track me down are my podcasts, she needs grit, so you can find that on all the players. And then the other place would be on Instagram. So I am chi collective dot biz on Instagram. But if you are feeling that profit question right now, if that felt like it spoke to you, then DM me and I will give you my thoughts on what you're charging now and what I think you could charge and you can go from there.
Kc Rossi 29:28
That's an awesome gift. Sam, thank you so much. It's been really a pleasure. I know that this is going to be very helpful to the listeners. So thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule and sharing wisdom tips on how to increase our profits.
Samantha Varner 29:43
You are welcome. I'm so glad I was here. This was wonderful. Until next time, my friends breathe joy. Yes, thank you.
Kc Rossi 29:51
I hope you enjoyed today's episode with Sam. If so please share it with 3 of your friends. And as always, it's great to read your feedback www.lovethepodcast.com/brilliance. Enjoy!
