45K Months & 100K Podcast Downloads in 2 Years!

Why Hello!

Ya’ll are in for a TREAT: 100K Podcast Downloads! My long-time client and friend, Aubree Malick from Freelancer to CEO is here today to tell all. She is walking you down memory lane of what it’s like to work with me for two years, take all my courses, and fight the ‘messy middle’!

Aubree shares what was hard, what was frustrating.. and at the end of it all – IF it was WORTH IT.

Spoiler: 45K Months & 100K Podcast Downloads in 2 Years migggghhhht have been worth it. Wink!

Join us as we dig into her successes and pull out tips, tricks, and truths that you can apply to your own journey. Favor is on the other side of your faithfulness, sis. You ready?

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Happy Tuesday! You may notice something and be a little bit sad. It’s not Quick Tip Tuesday, but don’t worry, guys. It’ll be back next week with another incredible quick tip for you. But today I have a special treat. I decided to move this episode up because it’s so important for you to understand what it actually takes to have massive success using the Stef Gass business model of getting clarity, then starting a podcast, and then monetizing using courses, a program or coaching or a combination of those things.

(00:35):
So I wanted you to hear a real life human on the other side of it. I know it’s scary to invest if you’ve never said yes to working with me, or maybe you’re just new around here and you’re like, what’s all this about, maybe you’re in the middle, you’re doing Podcast Pro University, or you’re trying to figure out what your thing is and you feel like you’re just stuck.

(00:56):
You’re doing all the things, but nothing is really taking off. How long does it take to get my breakthrough? Jesus! You’re just frustrated. You are praying. You’re trying, you’re doing your best. If you keep doing the things and you keep your eyes focused on this system, you stay partnered with God, you continue to pour into what He has in store for you, I can absolutely 1000000% promise you there’s fruit on the other side.

(01:24):
So, today you, guys, are going to hear a testimony, a story, a heart share from my friend and my client, Aubree Malick, who runs Freelancer to CEO Podcast. Gosh, we have worked together on and off for two years. Aubree has done private coaching with me. She’s probably taken every course and offer I’ve ever done in my entire life.

(01:45):
And I’m so here for that, she’s extremely coachable, she’s a hard worker. And I know that she has so many amazing lessons and insights into what it really takes to say yes, to doing this business model and to sing it all the way through. She’s going to be sharing what it took, what was hard about it, what wasn’t easy, what was easy and how she made it to the other side.

(02:10):
She’s going to be sharing some tips and cool tricks and strategies that she plugged in along the way. And I think it’s just incredibly important for you to hear that if she can do it and she is just like you then so can you, there is nothing special about the secret to success. There is everything special about you and getting out of your way so that God can work through you.

(02:32):
So just grab some popcorn today. You might need a notebook and pen, but I think it’s one of those like hot tea, a hot cider coffee kind of episodes where you just get to soak and learn and be inspired. Let’s dig in to this, to this conversation.

(03:51):
Okay. Now, hold up. Wait a minute. It’s flash sale Tuesday. Did not rhyme like it did in my head. So guys, it’s the last day of the holiday flash sale. If you have not taken advantage of this holiday sale, what are you doing over there? It is time, girl. It’s your time to say yes and do the things.

(04:16):
It’s time to really explode into 2020 to make it your best year ever and have the tools to actually do it. Stop flying by the seat of your pants, Googling yourself to death and trying to throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. It’s time to finally have a system to follow, a coach and mentor that you believe in and a God centered business.

(04:40):
Head to stefaniegass.com, the last day it’s right now, it’s today, November 23rd, 2021, holiday sale, happening now. Save 20% off of any Stefanie Gass course, Clarify Your Calling, four weeks to get absolute clarity and walk away with a five pillar brand map. You will know coming out of CYC, your title, your tagline, your I help statement your pillars and your description and so much more.

(05:10):
Or maybe it’s time for you to finally start that podcast. You have clarity and now you need to go and build the audience. This is how you actually make money in this business, guys. It’s not the course, the mastermind or the thing or the product. It is the podcast. That is how you actually sell and make money and turn a profit. A very large profit BTW.

(05:33):
So podcastprouniversity.com. Your code is HOLIDAY, and this is going to be a 12 to 14 step framework if you include the bonus modules, taking you from planning, your podcast, recording, editing, launching, promoting marketing, every single tactical piece you could ever need of how to start this show and make it a success story in Podcast Pro University.

(06:00):
Guys, I have helped over 500 people just like you launch successful shows. You can just go read the testimonies. There is person after person who is having a massive success and incredible launch. They’re ranking on the charts. They’re understanding how to make this show into something scalable and evergreen that allows them to stop showing up on social 24/7 and step down instead of step up.

(06:23):
You get to step down and sit down, hang out behind a mic like what’s up, I’m wearing comfies, it’s a Sunday, I’m recording while my husband and son are putting lights up outside and my other son is playing Nintendo. I’ve got my comfy slippers on. I have got a comfy shirt. I have no makeup on. I’m drinking some kombucha and this is life.

(06:46):
I want this for you, girl. And then if you just need some help with Pinterest or launching a course, I have my Pinterest masterclass and I have my Course Crafter masterclass as well. Those are super affordable. You can get through those in a day guys, and you can also save 20%. So everything is at stefaniegass.com/courses. And your code is HOLIDAY. You’re going to want to run, this expires in 24 hours. So 3, 2, 1 grow.

(07:18):
Hi, Aubree! Welcome to the show! Have you been on my show before?

(07:22):
Yeah, this is my second time.

(07:24):
Oh man. Y’all.

(07:25):
I feel so honored.

(07:27):
You are so honored because that is super rare, but you’re one of my favorite humans. So I’m so excited that you are here and you, guys, like I mentioned the intro, I told you all about Aubree and what she does, but really why I asked her here today is because I know we see you.

(07:45):
You’re trying to do the things you’re like, I’m here. I’m listening to you, Stef. You’re bingeing all the episodes. You are trying to make something work. You’re trying to figure out what your thing could be based on your calling. You are tuning into who God’s asking you to be, and you just still feel stuck. You still feel like you’re in this messy middle and when, and if ever will, this breakthrough actually happen.

(08:11):
And so what I had told Aubrey, gosh, six months ago, we could see it, we could feel it, I was like, Aubree, I’m telling you like, you’re right there, I feel it. And it finally happened, but it wasn’t just like a break, like a small breakthrough, you know, like a log fell out of the dam and the water started trickling.

(08:30):
It was like, the lid blew off and she had a flood in her business and in her lifetime. And so I’m like, come on, girl. Cause we’re going to share with you guys today all about how it happened, why it happened and Aubree’s just going to share her heart. So welcome to the show, friend!

(08:44):
Thank you so much. I’m just so excited to be here and to share this. And I mean, I remember when I first found you coaching two years ago, I mean, I had a business, my business was doing fine. I was doing freelancing virtual assistance and I just felt this tug that I was supposed to have something more.

(09:02):
Which I remembered sharing it with you too, because I’m like, I’ve done all the things I said I wanted to do, like why I started this business to come home with my kids to have a more flexible schedule, to have the income that would support our family.

(09:15):
And I did all those things, but I’m still feeling like something’s missing and I was really struggling with that. Cause I’m like, shouldn’t I just be grateful. And I remember you were like, God, didn’t place that on you for no reason like you’re supposed to do this. And it took some time to kind of get there and to kind of figure it out and working through that.

(09:29):
But I’m so glad that I listened to that and that I stuck with it because I mean, it feels like sometimes two years feels like a lifetime, but honestly, when I look back, I’m like, I can’t believe how fast that happened, but it’s hard because we want overnight success. But truly like in two years time to be able to build a successful business and to be able to have the growth that I’ve had over time, it’s still mind blowing to me. It is.

(09:51):
So let’s rewind all the way back. You mentioned two years, we have worked together on and off more on than off for two full years. Isn’t that crazy?

(10:01):
It’s so crazy.

(10:05):
So think of my growth in two years, let alone,you’ve been with me through my growth. And I’ve been with you through your growth as your business coach and friend. It’s pretty cool. What was it? Why did you hire me? Was I the first coach you’d ever worked with? Why did you choose to say yes to me? And what were you looking for when we began working together?

(10:24):
Yeah, I mean, I had taken online courses. I had never worked with anybody in a one to one capacity, but I knew, like I said, I felt like something was off, I was wrestling with something that like you’re meant to do more like in that was really hard for me too, because again, like I said, I felt shouldn’t, I be grateful for all of this too?

(10:44):
It was a really in that and I can talk about that too even when those breakthroughs do come, like you’re working so hard for those breakthroughs to come and then when they do, there’s something on the other side of that, that you don’t anticipate dealing with too. I think I had heard you on another podcast, so I mean, you know, just kudos to you for putting your voice out there too, because that wasn’t through your podcast.

(11:05):
I heard you as a guest on someone else and I’m like, wow, I just, I was eating up everything you were saying. Sometimes you can listen to guest interviews and sometimes you’re like, you get the meat of it, but then you kind of trail off a little bit. I mean, I was hanging on every word that you were saying, and then following you online and getting to see behind the scenes and just feeling like, I feel like she gets me.

(11:22):
And more so was that I saw the way that you were building your business and it resonated so much with me about building your business organically and connecting with your community and sharing your message and your voice. That was something that I felt I was being called to do as well, because I think online, sometimes we can see, and this is really hard when you’re in it, you can see a lot of people like throwing money on ads and all this stuff.

(11:44):
And you’re like, I can’t do that yet so how can I be successful? I saw the way that you were building your business and I’m like, if she can do it, I can do it too. I knew that I had something inside of me and sometimes when you’re in it, it’s so hard to see what that next step is.

(11:58):
And I knew like if I could just have someone who has done it and who’s doing the thing that I want to do, she can pull that out of me and sure enough, you were able to, and I think, I’ve made some pivots along the way through your guidance and your coaching and figuring out what it is that I’m actually meant to do.

(12:13):
But I think the main thing was just starting that podcast and getting my message out there, I think that was, I had no idea what I was doing, but I’m so glad that I didn’t wait until I had all the pieces together because that really started the, oh my gosh, what could this be? And really the impact that it could have from the podcast.

(12:30):
Yeah. That’s really good. And a few key things, you said you found the person and then you just said yes to that. I remember you just being like, ‘Hi, I’m in’ like, we’re coaching, like we’re married, let’s do this. And we never looked back. So you said yes, without a whole lot of back and forth, you just decided to invest in yourself with which is huge. And then you took action even though you weren’t 100% sure.

(12:53):
And I distinctly remember Aubree the first six to eight months of us working together, you were battling imposter syndrome so hard because there are other people in the space of teaching people to become freelancers and talk to us about what was that like battling that. And then do you think that kept you stuck or was that part of the growing process to get you where you are?

(13:18):
That was huge. That, and comparing myself, I mean, that’s something that we all do. We see somebody else who maybe is not doing the exact same thing, but is doing something similar or maybe you started at the same time and you’re seeing that she’s having all this success and it’s really hard to be like, but why isn’t it happening for me?

(13:36):
And that’s something that I really struggled with up until this past year. 2021 was when I really, … like we pick our words for the year and all that stuff and it really wasn’t about a word, but I just decided that I was going to like leave all of that in 2020, because I knew it was keeping me stuck. I knew I didn’t want to go out and put myself out there because I was afraid of what other people were going to think.

(13:58):
And, was I stepping on any toes and what I’ve really found through this year of just lean into that and knowing that it doesn’t matter if I have all these people listening if I just am speaking to the one person who would want to hear it, like, even if I’m impacting one person like that, to me, makes a huge difference.

(14:16):
I think like coming from the teaching background too, I was just having a conversation with someone about being a teacher and having those students, those young students have those light bulb moments when they’ve been working so hard. And someone said, do you miss that?

(14:27):
And I said, you know what? I get that in a different sense because I will have people who will message me and say, oh my gosh, what you said resonated with me, or this changed my life or I’m so glad that you decided to follow your heart and do this because my life has forever changed. That to me is worth like millions. It’s worth its weight in gold. I would take that million times over.

(14:45):
I know I have to have a job and have to make money, but that, to me getting those little messages was just reassuring me that I am on the right path. And I I’m supposed to be doing this for the people who are out there for me, because whether there’s, you know, a million people out there who are doing the same thing that you’re doing, someone needs to hear your message because I’ve gone through unique experiences.

(15:04):
There’s been a lot of things that have happened in my life that has led me to where I am today. And there’s somebody else on the other side, who’s like going through that exact same thing, or just can resonate with that, or have had a lot of struggles. And a lot of things that go on that they’re like, oh my gosh, she gets it.

(15:18):
So I just really, like I said, left all of that behind it. And I’m not saying that it doesn’t creep up, but I’m leaning forward with, I need to get my message to my girl who’s listening. And that’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter what anybody else is doing. And I just stopped looking to the left and the right. And I stayed focused on what I was doing.

(15:39):
You put the blinders on and you decided to stop worrying about where everyone else was at and where you had been and you decided to go where you were being called to go. And that transformation I saw about a year in, and when we talk about your year point, you had done coaching with me, I think you had done a course or two with me at that point. You had the podcast, Freelancer to CEO, probably sitting around 10 K downloads at that point. And we had your course, did we have the course at one year in?

(16:11):
I think, yeah, we had had some iteration of something, and it’s changed and as we’ve grown, everything like that. But yeah, I had one main course, I think, when we decided like, let’s do a whole year of coaching because I really needed, I felt like I had all the pieces in place, but I’m like, something is still missing.

(16:29):
There’s some disconnect there. And again, sometimes it’s hard for you to see it when you’re in it. And so I was like, I really want to, I’m ready to let go of some of those insecurities and some of those things that were holding me back and I’m ready to take this full speed. So yeah, it was, I had a course, but it really wasn’t what it is now.

(16:47):
So at that year point, a lot of things happened. I think let’s now talk about 2021. So at that point you were feeling good. Cause I think you were seeing that it was working, you were making money. We were making, probably one to 3000 a month, probably pretty consistently. You were still freelancing yourself at this point.

(17:07):
And that was at a year in, which is where I almost expect everyone to land a year in if they’re super coachable. I don’t expect everyone to land there if they’re still all over the place. If they’re still not believing me, and spending four hours on social a day and doing all these things that are not a activity and organic evergreen growth specific, which you were really great about listening and implementing these tools.

(17:29):
So you were right where I expected you to be. And I say over and over again, if you just trust me, you will experience the breakthrough. And it’s typically between that year and a half and two and a half year mark. So let’s talk about the breakthrough year. 2021 has been a huge year for you, amazingly successful. What has happened this year to your business? And then we’re going to talk about why those things happened.

(17:57):
So I was riding on a high going into 2021. I kind of knew where everything was going. And I’m like, yes, I’m not letting these limiting beliefs hold me back. And like you had mentioned, I was still always freelancing. That was always something, it was a consistent income stream for me. And I knew like, as I’m bringing this coaching thing to life, like I needed to still make some money and slowly but surely like letting that go.

(18:21):
I had a huge client of mine, two weeks into 2021 that was more than half of my freelancing income just decide to pull the rug out from under me and say like, Hey, I’m going in a different direction. And it was in that moment that I was like, I can either let this keep me down or I can use this as fuel to be like, here you go, Aubree, this is your opportunity.

(18:45):
Now you don’t have anything to fall back on. You don’t have this to say like, oh, well, you know, this freelancing thing is still doing well. So I don’t have to really pursue this over here. It was really that moment where I was just like, okay, let’s go. And within a week I created my beginner program.

(19:02):
It was very small, it was low ticket price to start, but I’m just like, I know that there’s people who were coming to me who didn’t have the freelancing business yet. Before a lot of my audience was I have the business, I am a freelancer, I’m doing this thing, but it’s not really happening for me. I need to know what I need to do to scale it.

(19:21):
But then as the community started to grow, I had people saying, well, I don’t have the business yet, but I want to, and I want you to teach me. And so I just decided, you know what, I’ve been putting this off because I’ve been leaning on this comfort, the security blanket over here, and now it’s time to make it happen.

(19:35):
And so within a week I did that. I launched that. And that has really been the tipping point for me is when I stopped again, letting those insecurities and those imposter syndrome and all those doubts of who am I to do this and why would anybody want to listen to me? I just put that aside and really went for it.

(19:52):
And that’s kind of when things really started to take off for me because I was helping these people get started and then organically, they were telling people about it. I was getting more feedback from them in my DMs and conversations in our free community. And I was clear about what type of content I was putting out there on the podcast, really speaking to them.

(20:11):
And it was just like compounding, month over month. It was like, oh my gosh, that’s happening. And I remember saying to Stef it’s happening like you’ve been telling me, it’s just more of the same. And every time you’d say that I’d roll my eyes because I’m like, I’m sick of doing more of the same, Stef, but it really was bad.

(20:31):
And then, you know, fast forward to this past month where it was just, I know that we’re going to get into that too. But that was just like a crazy month for me. It was like everything that I had been working for and it’s not just financially tied to that, but really just trying to really grow the community because, you know, in order to make the impact, you have to have the people who are listening to.

(20:54):
And so it really was this year I’m just like, how can I grow the community? How can I get this message out to more people? What do I need to do to be more visible and to reach more people? That’s really what it was about. It all kind of came to a tipping point. And that we really, like you said, the flood gates just open.

(21:10):
They burst open because not only you’re about to hit a hundred thousand downloads on your show, which is like, I’m not so great at math, but what is that? 90%? It’s amazing. And then I told you hit me up when you have past 10 K your first 10 K a month, and I’m gonna bring you on the show, tell them what your best month has been so far.

(21:33):
It was 45,000.

(21:35):
$45,000, folks. In one month. I die. It’s amazing, Aubree. You should be so proud of that number too, because to God be the glory, helping people with what you’ve walked through, you got out of your own way and said, this isn’t about me anymore. It’s about her. You gave her everything you could on the podcast. Like you laid it all out there.

(22:03):
Finally, there’s one thing that I really want everyone to hear. You figured out the number one thing that they needed, which was how to start this freelancing business and let go of all this imposter that you were carrying around that. Cause we had conversation after conversation around I can’t talk about the beginning part of this journey, other people do that. I’m like, but Aubree, that’s what they’re wanting.

(22:25):
And you saw that and you took massive action. You created the thing. And then strategically built the podcast out to support that one pain point and it exploded. And you consistently showed up on the podcast and you consistently showed up on not everywhere, one place.

(22:43):
And you’ve partnered one place with one social platform, which is fine with me because you’re not in 27 places pouring your heart and soul into social media, which you don’t own. And you’re smart and you’ve done that right. So crazy. So everyone 100K, 45k/month in less than two years. Would that not be worth the messy middle?

(23:03):
At 1000%. I mean, and it’s so hard too, because in the messy middle year, you’re always looking ahead, right? Like what you haven’t accomplished yet. And I think the one thing that was helpful for me too, is just to almost like to look back and be like, oh my gosh, look at what I have done.

(23:19):
Look at what I have accomplished too. And it’s all preparing you for that too, because I think so often we want to, we have the dream, we have the goal, we have what we’re working towards and we would, we would love in a perfect world to be able to be picked up and placed right into that dream that we have, whatever it is that you’re working towards.

(23:38):
We want to just skip over all of the messy middle. But what we don’t realize is if that were to happen, you’d get to that place and would not be able to sustain, that you would not have the tools and the resources to be able to carry that out.

(23:49):
It might be a flash in the pan for you. It might be something that, you know, like you experienced for just like a quick glimmer of hope. And then it’s gone because you don’t know how to go through that. I’ve gone through the growing pains. I know how to recover from certain things because I’ve experienced that heartache and those failures and how can I pick myself back up from it.

(24:09):
So I know that now, even if I do experience those things, which I’m sure every new level you have, you experienced that again, but now I’ve almost prepared myself in a sense of like, I know that this is going to happen. I almost anticipate it to happen too, but how can I recover that much faster?

(24:24):
And I think that that’s the difference of, you know, wanting that overnight success. You wouldn’t be prepared for that. You wouldn’t be able to overcome that and to get over that as quickly as you could have you gone through the messy middle.

(24:37):
That’s so good. And that’s such a wisdom because you’re called to help these women. But if you haven’t been through that heartache and that pain point of wanting something to work, how can you possibly be equipped to help them through that transition? And also being in the messy middle equips you for sustainable growth.

(24:57):
Cause like you were saying, you’re resilient, you know how to bounce back and you know how to fight your way through. I remember sitting with you, this had to have been within this last year, probably at the beginning, maybe a little bit before in 2020 at the very end and you were crying and you were like, it’s not working.

(25:13):
I distinctly remember one of our hardest sessions because I felt like I know it will, but like I’m letting her down because she’s not feeling the fruit of all of this labor. You were pouring your heart and soul and making this work. I remember feeling like such a jerk when I’m like, Aubree, it’s going to work just more of the same. And like your face just falls.

(25:35):
Like isn’t there a secret, isn’t there something I’m missing here and there wasn’t. And so let’s talk about the unsecret of building that 45 K month. What were the things that had to be in place because you can’t pour fuel on something, without it being a fire first, what were the pieces are where you had to have for that 40k month to happen? Let’s talk about these tactical tangibles that we had built together. What were the pieces?

(26:05):
Well, I mean, obviously the consistency. I think that’s something that is really important and it is more of the same. It is building that consistency because now when people find out about me, yes, I’m two years into growing this coaching business.

(26:21):
I’m three years into when I first left my teaching job to start my own business, but now they’ve come to me and they come to my podcast and they realized, wow, like she’s the real deal. She’s not just started doing this. She’s been putting in the work week after week and having that free content for me that I can, learn to know, like, and trust her too. So it was the consistency.

(26:42):
I think also too, having that one long form content. I know Steff talks about not being on every social and I am very much in line with that too. That was one thing for me too, because I was feeling like I had to pour my heart and soul into Instagram and be on there all the time and show up on stories.

(27:02):
And that just wasn’t who I was. That wasn’t what I wanted to do. I wanted to show up behind my podcast and in my communities and really just connect with them there. And really just build that core community. I think that was something else that’s really helped me now to later on down the road is no matter how small my audience was, like I was pouring into them like there was hundreds of thousands of them.

(27:25):
I was really giving them the attention that they deserve because now those are the people that are out there being ambassadors for me, my business is growing without me having to do anything cause they’re out there speaking on my behalf because they’re like, she’s showing up for us. She’s been showing up for us.

(27:41):
So having that podcast, having the consistency, and then building that community, that’s been so big for me because now all of those building blocks are there in place. And now it’s just, okay, like we’ve got the foundation of the house now let’s just build story upon story until we have this full house, which we have right now. So those are, I think those things that really had to be in place for me.

(28:07):
And let me ask you a vulnerable question, feel free to answer this however you see fit. Could you have duct taped this together and gotten to this point, be honest, cause your scrappy, Aubree is Stef Gass junior, and we’re scrappy. We know how to use the Google search bar, we know how to YouTube. Could you have gotten to this point in this amount of time without investing in yourself, without coaching, without courses?

(28:32):
No, because I’m someone who, even though like, I had mentioned you want to have the goals so fast. I am that person. And I know that the way that my mind works and the speed at which I want to take things, I can’t do that by myself.

(28:49):
Sure, there are some things that I have Googled, but I know the core things of what am I supposed to be doing in this online world, you know, I had figured out the freelancing piece of things, I mean, it required a good amount of work, but it didn’t, this was like a whole other skillset that I did not have. And I did not know how to navigate on my own.

(29:12):
And I’m just such a firm believer of investing in yourself, whatever it is that you have to do to be able to make that happen. Like I tell people all the time, some people are like, well, I don’t have the money right now. And there were definitely times where I’m like, I don’t know if I can make this happen.

(29:29):
Like, I don’t know how this is going to work because you know, things are tight or I am taking a step back from my clients, my freelancing clients, so that I can grow this. If I wanted to, right now I can go up into my attic and sell a ton of junk that I haven’t touched in three years since we’ve lived here, like I could make money happen. And one thing that was really, it changed for me and I’ve gone through some personal losses since starting my business.

(29:54):
But I think I realized that I can always earn more money. There’s always something I can do to earn more money. I can never earn time back. And if someone is going to save me some of the heartache, I mean, there’s definitely things that you have to experience in business.

(30:08):
But if someone can help me navigate that, can pick me up like when I’m crying on the phone with Stef and I’m like, what am I doing? If someone can be there because my husband’s a great listener, but he doesn’t get it. So having a community around you, having a coach, having a course, a roadmap that can cut that time down in half for you so that you can navigate that messy middle a little bit faster, there just are no words, to me it’s so important.

(30:38):
There are things that we can figure out, but I think when it comes to really laying of solid foundation for where you want your business to go, you have to be willing to make that investment in yourself. I mean, I’ve spent more money than I want to say on college. And you know, it had its purpose, it has had its time.

(30:57):
But I mean, if you really think about the fraction of the costs that you’re going to spend to have someone support you and guide you and hold you accountable to the thing that really could ultimately change your life and just have you be in such a happier place like I am just overall, it has nothing to do with how much money I earn or the amount of people in my community or the amount of followers.

(31:18):
Like I just am at so much peace because there was something that was placed in my heart and Stef helped me to figure out how to get that out into the world. And so now I feel like I’m at peace. I no longer have this weighing on my shoulders anymore. I no longer feel like I’m hiding from people because there’s someone else doing what I’m doing.

(31:36):
I’m just fully being me in the most authentic way, in building my business, in the way that I really want to that feels so aligned to me. They’re just starting to worse.

(31:46):
I call it like I feel like I’m walking in heavenly places. That’s how I explain it. I’m like, it’s not even real, it’s so supernatural to get to this point and be like, really God? Cause that’s not something you could do on your own. You’ll wave a magic wand to make 45 K in a month. You are obedient. You are consistent and you are doing it for other people, which is exactly why it returned dividends the way that it did.

(32:12):
Just so good. Just all the amen’s. So there are four things Aubree said to get to that 45 K a month in two years, one: lots of consistency. So much consistency. I double down on that point and I agree with you. Number two, having long form content, obviously we choose podcasting. Why? Because it builds trust. And if someone doesn’t trust you, they’re not going to spend money with you.

(32:34):
And they’re not going to show up for you. And number three, building a community. I love that. Y’all get to pick where you want to build your community. Aubree has TikTok community. I have a Facebook group community. If you guys don’t want you to social at all, you can build a community outside of that.

(32:49):
There’s lots of options for that now. But the beauty is it allows people to start to market you on your behalf. They’re talking about oh did you guys hear Aubree’s last episode or, oh my goodness, have you done Stef’s CYC?

(33:00):
So they’re almost like marketing for you in there, it’s becoming self-managed and it’s, like-minded people finding like-minded people and that’s super powerful. And then number four, you invested in yourself, you got the coach, the mentor, you did the things that it took to get someone else to show you what to do.

(33:16):
It took me 10 years to finally sit here. It took you two. And all the people I bring on my show, they’re telling, you guys, these numbers and these stories it’s roughly two years because why? They invested in themselves before I invested in myself, they got their ego out of the way before I did, they were coachable. They were consistent.

(33:35):
And they were willing to also to pivot. Aubree came in going I’m going to try this thing. And when we were willing to keep working at it and chipping away at it and being open to the evolution of clarity. And she wasn’t afraid to try something and it didn’t work and she tried again. That’s resiliency. So amazing.

(33:53):
So Aubree, what advice or last thing do you have on your heart to share with these women who are feeling like they’re just stuck in this messy middle, or they’re not even into the middle yet? They’re in the beginning or they’re in the middle and they’re feeling like this huge breakthrough is so far away or maybe they’re even questioning is there a breakthrough for me? What’s on your heart to tell them?

(34:16):
I mean, I think the biggest thing, and I talked about how important being in that middle is and what it’s preparing you for. So shifting that, like shifting that mindset of, oh my gosh, I can’t do this anymore, shifting it and thinking about what is this preparing me for? What is on the other end of this if I keep working through this? I think that is something that was really helpful for me too.

(34:40):
And then also not to look at what you haven’t accomplished, no matter of where you are in the span of things, think about what you have done, think about what you have learned and be really super grateful for that. Because like I said, it’s really preparing you for what’s to come. I mean, I think about all the things that I’ve tried, that haven’t worked things that I’ve put out there that didn’t stick, podcast episodes and at the time when, even there, I felt like there was nobody listening to an episode.

(35:08):
I was asking people to share it. Nobody was sharing it. And I just kept saying, it will pay off. And also like Stef mentioned too, like there might be a time where you have, like, I don’t want you to go into it just thinking, I just have to keep my head down and just keep doing this because there might be a time where you have to reevaluate what you’re doing and see what is working, what’s not working.

(35:28):
Do I need to pivot, take that time to look internally and see, you know, am I doing the right thing? Maybe I’ve been trying to do this on my own. Maybe it is time to take that next step and invest in someone, so don’t be afraid to take that reflective moment with yourself, that’s huge.

(35:46):
That’s something that I do on a consistent basis is just to see, if this doesn’t feel right, if it’s not working, Stef and I have done that many of times together. When I first started my podcast, it had a completely different name. It had a completely different message. I mean, there’s still parts of it because it’s still me speaking that message.

(36:06):
But Stef and I were looking and I was saying, well, things really aren’t growing. And then we looked at things like, well, what’s your number one downloaded episode? What do people want to hear from you? And then we took that and we started to say, okay, maybe we can start to incorporate more of that and see what traction happens.

(36:19):
And that’s what it is. So being reflective, don’t give up on yourself, stay consistent with it. And I think be super grateful for the opportunity that you have in front of you and what you’ve already accomplished, what you’ve learned along the way, the confidence, the growth, all the growing pains.

(36:37):
They’re all so important part of this process. And I wouldn’t be where I am today had I not gone through that. And I’m so grateful for that because now it almost makes me that much more appreciative too and honestly looking back on it, it really was not that long. Something that I do too, that I think you do some variation of it Stef too, but writing down my goals as if they’ve already happened so that I can really put myself in that, that helps me take that messy action.

(37:06):
That helps me take that scared action because I’m thinking, okay, if I have achieved these things, how am I behaving? How am I acting? How am I thinking about myself and what I’m doing? And I just pulled out my journal from last year of things that are writing. And I remember writing those things down and thinking, oh my gosh, it’s going to take so long.

(37:23):
These are big goals like this is going to take so long to achieve these things. And I achieved more than half of the things that I wrote on that lesson. I’m like, oh my gosh. If I only would have known what I know now, you know what I mean? So sometimes it helps to just listen to these podcasts, to hear she did it too, and don’t let it be something that thinks well, if it happened for her, so it can’t happen for me, she had all these things. No, let it be something that lights a fire under you and say like she did it so can I.

(37:53):
So much wisdom in that, friend. Thank you for blessing us today and girls, if you are interested in becoming a freelancer like Aubree, I mean, gosh, you left your teaching job in like five minutes, became an amazing successful freelancer to stay home with your boys. Tell everybody how they can come check out your show and a little bit about what you offer.

(38:16):
So my podcast is called The Freelancer to CEO Podcast. You can listen to it on all the platforms, but really it’s for that mom or that teacher that’s really kind of where my community is right now. And I’ve had some people, I know you just mentioned this too Stef, cause I was just listening to one of your episodes and you were talking about like, I’ve had some people be like, well, I’m a guy like, can I do this too?

(38:38):
Of course, but you know, you have to market to somebody, you have to speak to somebody or you speak to nobody. But if you’re just feeling like maybe the career path that you picked is no longer suiting you because you’re craving that flexibility, you’re craving something where you can have a little bit more control over your schedule over what your kid’s life’s look like.

(38:58):
And you really just, haven’t been able to find that thing that could bring in that consistent income, that’s what happened for me three years ago. And it’s how I was able to leave my teaching job by becoming a virtual assistant, by supporting people like Stef, like myself, like we have these successful businesses, but we don’t do it alone.

(39:13):
We need support so that we can still keep those core values that we have to be there for our family to have that flexibility. So we have to have people to support us. So if you’re someone who thinks, you know, I would love to support a Stef or an Abree in their business and I have skills that I can use, I would love to have you come listen to the show where we talk about starting that business and growing it into something where it could be full time.

(39:34):
Like I said, Freelancer to CEO and then my website is aubreemalick.com. It’s got all the links to things, the freebies, the community, so we’d love to have you come check it out and have you join us over there. And I’m sure that you’ll get a lot of those same vibes that you get from Stef, from me because we’re just two peas in a pod.

(39:53):
We are. Thank you, friend, so much for sharing and we’ll see you soon.

(39:58):
Thanks, Stef.

(39:59):
I mean, are y’all speechless? Does she say a $45,000 month and a 100K download podcast. She’s also been ranked number top 10 VA coach by Yahoo Finance, BTW, like she’s killing it. I’m so happy for her. Look, your breakthrough is on the other side of your yes, it’s on the other side of clarity, it’s on the other side of podcasting.

(40:26):
It’s on the other side of figuring out what your avatar needs, solving the number one problem and launching that course. So again, if you need to start this whole process, stefaniegass.com/courses, please start with CYC. Please don’t skip that. It’s so important. Step two is PPU and step three is Podcast to Profit. So two seconds on this guys, if you have a show, but you want to have Aubree style success, podcasttoprofitmastermind.com.

(40:58):
That’s my 90 day immersion mastermind group coaching program for podcasters. And I’m up in their live, guys. Every single week with you, I’m training, I’m doing breakout coaching with you. I’m giving you five minute power coaching every other week. You’ve got office hours with my team.

(41:15):
We are going through scaling your show. SEO visibility, podcast pitching, Pinterest marketing, course creation, program creation, sales page revamps, sales pitching, podcast scaling, and like every single thing I’ve ever learned in between. I give you bonuses like my 48 hour flash sale, a framework, I gave you my sales page template.

(41:40):
We have special guests in there that teach you how to optimize a workflow. It is so legit. You gotta join or you can quit. I don’t know. Why do you guys hang out with me? I’m not sure, I’m such a dork, sorry, not sorry. podcasttoprofitmastermind.com, but we only have 30 spots.

(42:00):
It kicks off January 2022. We have 38 applications, I believe. So your chances of joining are starting to get a little slim. So I want you to run, get that app and this is the last opportunity to join this program at this price. It is going up the next round of P2P because the value that we have plugged into this program is absolutely priceless. That’s the word it’s priceless.

(42:29):
So, you’re going to want to run over there and get your app in now. And hey, if now’s not the time begin praying again, saving begin seeing when God has the S for you. But I believe that in order to reach your breakthrough and bust through the flood gates, friend, it’s time to say yes to P2P. All right, love you and see you back here real soon. Bye.