Launch Youniversity

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090: Turning Pain into Purpose

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
090: Turning Pain into Purpose
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Summary:

For many people looking to start a business, most of their ideas come from a place of need or desire. But sometimes, in the most unfortunate cases, the idea is born from an experience of pain.

After losing her daughter, Skylar, to a terminal illness when Skylar was three months shy of her second birthday, Ashley Jones created Love Not Lost, a non-profit organization that photographs people facing a terminal diagnosis to help preserve the memory of their loved ones. In today’s episode, Ashley shares with hosts Shane Benson and Kevin Jennings how she went from a painful idea to a successfully-launched non-profit organization that helps spread love to people during life’s darkest times.

Welcome to episode 90 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Love Not Lost | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

Plywood Presents

Dana Spinola of fab’rik

Headspace app

Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine documentary

Three Takeaways:

  • Do your research. Most people have an idea, but not sure where to start. The first step to any successful launch is seeing what’s out there. Find someone who’s doing something similar to your idea and take notes. What are they doing well? What are they doing that could use a bit of improvement? Then, apply what you’ve learned to your idea.
  • Tap into strategic resources. Feeling stuck? Reach out to people for help — most won’t turn you down for a coffee date to discuss your idea and answer any questions you may have.
  • Take breaks to be mindful. Whether you’re doing emotional work like Ashley or something else altogether, our bodies are meant to handle only so much. Check in with yourself regularly. How are you doing mentally, emotionally, and physically? Listen to what your body is telling you and make sure you’re being intentional about breaks and boundaries in your personal life and work.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

088: How To Use Real Time Storytelling To Promote Your Business

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The Launch Youniversity Podcast
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
088: How To Use Real Time Storytelling To Promote Your Business
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Summary:

Behind every brand is a good story, and how well you tell that story is the difference between gaining influence and customers or stalling your brand’s growth potential. In today’s episode, host, Kevin Jennings, talks with Clark Campbell, founder of Social Lion, a company that provides real-time social media content for brands and live events. Clark shares how brands have the opportunity to start engaging their consumers in a more meaningful, purposeful way with the use of features such as Instagram Stories, Snapchat, and Facebook Live.

Welcome to episode 88 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

Social Lion

The Launch Loop ebook

The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future

Real Time Summit

Three Takeaways:

  • Do your research. Take some time each day to watch the Instagram Stories of brands you admire. How are they telling their stories? What’s working well for them? What captured your attention? This is a learning process — make a list of the things they do well and the things they could change and then start adding these ideas to the way you tell your brand story.
  • Practice your storytelling. Choose a platform feature — whether Instagram Stories, Facebook Live, or Snapchat — and start sharing your story as it’s happening. Give your consumers a behind-the-scenes look about some element of your product or process or keep them in the loop during a live event.
  • Have a plan. Success is planned. If you’re going to be covering a live event, take a look at the activities, breakouts, and keynote speakers and decide whether you’re going to do a Facebook Live stream or snapshots of the day via Instagram or Snapchat. With a plan, you can have more thorough, thoughtful coverage.

Thank you for listening to the Launch Youniversity Podcast! If you have a question that you want to be answered on the podcast… ask us here!

 

How Launchers Lead the Way

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My oldest son is an Army Officer in the Infantry. As an Infantry Officer, he has the opportunity to attend Ranger school which is one of the toughest programs the military offers. Within the first couple of hours of arriving to Camp Rogers, ranger students begin a 61 day journey where they suffer through hunger, extreme physical pain and emotional/mental stress. All of this is an attempt to bring out the very best in themselves in pursuit of leading the men and women who protect our country. It’s humbling and remarkable. [Read more…] about How Launchers Lead the Way

048: What Does It Take to Go All-In on Your Dream? Bryan and Shannon Miles of Belay Solutions

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What Does It Take to Go All-In on Your Dream? Bryan and Shannon Miles of Belay Solutions
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
048: What Does It Take to Go All-In on Your Dream? Bryan and Shannon Miles of Belay Solutions
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SUMMARY:

You’ve heard the phrase before: high risk, high reward. Bryan and Shannon Miles of Belay Solutions are walking examples of that. As new parents in the middle of a recession, they decided to go all-in on a new-concept business. Now, seven years later, Belay Solutions leading the pack when it comes to virtual staffing.

How did they start? How have they grown it? What tools have helped them along the way?

Welcome to episode 48 of The Launch Youniversity Podcast.

LINKS + RESOURCES:

Belay Solutions

Virtual Culture by Steven Jones

Book in a Box: Turning Ideas Into Books

Basecamp

Slack

MobileDay

Workplace by Facebook

THREE TAKEAWAYS:

Know Your Runway

Starting a business means taking a financial risk. Whether it’s a big one like Bryan and Shannon, or a smaller one to get a side project off the ground… Shannon told us: Know your runway. Don’t get so caught up in the dream that you forget about the financial reality. Know how much you can put into the business and still survive. Know when your stopping point is.

Create the kind of company you’d like to work for

Culture happens, no matter what. So instead of just letting culture happen to your business, be intentional about creating it. Belay had a unique barrier to creating culture: every person works remotely. So, they use a simple (but effective) filter when evaluating office culture: If I didn’t own this company, would I like working here?

Celebrate along the way

Celebrating milestones matters more than you think. It reminds the team what the vision is and refuels their passion for getting there. Even during busy seasons, make time to stop and congratulate the team on wins.

044: Launching Customer Experiences and Dreaming Big with Billy Boughey of Elevate Live Events

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SUMMARY:

To elevate means “to lift.” And that’s what Billy Boughey is an expert at. Sometimes it’s lifting the brand of a client. Other times, it’s lifting up his team by fostering a healthy culture. And often, it’s looking at what’s trending in the world right now (spoiler alert: it’s robots) and finding innovative ways to incorporate it into an experience.

Billy is the founder of Elevate Live Events, a creative event agency based in greater Atlanta. The vision of Elevate is to help people and organizations live and lead at a higher level. They do this by creating exceptional customer experiences.

Beyond his work at Elevate, Billy is a dreamer and a doer. We believe that his encouragement and practical advice for entrepreneurs and launchers might be just the thing you need to hear today.

We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did. Welcome to Episode 44.

LINKS + RESOURCES:

Elevate Live Events

Take a tour of the elevate office (No, really! You’re invited!) by sending an email to: hello@elevateliveevents.com

Billy’s Twitter, LinkedIn and Email

Elevate Live Event’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram

THREE KEY TAKEAWAYS:

1. Good business is built on relationships. 

Billy shared about a recent events his team put on for Auburn and Chick-fil-A. For the aspiring launcher thinking: “how do you even pitch organizations of that size?” Billy answers it for you. Build relationships and add value to them. Somebody you know knows somebody who could be your first client. When you genuinely invest in people and look for ways to bring them value, you’ll be surprised at what doors open up.

2. Don’t think about what it costs, think about what it’s valued at. 

One of the most common question launchers ask is: How do I price my product or service? Billy challenged that way of thinking. Instead of figuring out the math of how much it’ll cost,  figure out how much value it’ll bring. When you’re pricing based on value, not cost, you’ll know when to selectively say no to opportunities and when to give discounts for the sake of relationships.

3. Believe in talent, believe in people and go for it. 

One thing that’s pretty obvious when you talk to Billy is his belief in his team. There’s an intentionality with their work-place culture that weaves into everything they do. Billy also shared about his perspective on keeping the interests of your team above the interests of the client. When you believe in your team and equip and empower them to do their jobs well, they’ll care for the client and the business as much as you do. Hire people you believe in and then get out of their way as they go and do what they’re best at.

040: Starting and Scaling a Creative Business with William Warren

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Starting and Scaling a Creative Business with William Warren
The Launch Youniversity Podcast
040: Starting and Scaling a Creative Business with William Warren
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Summary:

What can happen when you combine your passion with your talent? That’s where William Warren of The Sketch Effect found himself when he decided to open his own creative business. The only problem with creative businesses is, as the creator, it can be tough to scale. Today William is here to tell us about his journey to launching his own business and the lessons he’s learned so far from starting and scaling a creative business.

Welcome to episode 40 of the Launch Youniversity Podcast.

Links + Resources:

TheSketchEffect.com

The Sketch Effect on Instagram

Jeff Shinabarger of Plywood People on Episode 13 + Episode 14

Three Takeaways:

1. Control what you can control, standardize what you can standardize, teach what you can teach.
When you own a business based on creativity and artistry, it can feel like an impossible task to scale. William’s solution is wise: control, standardize, and teach where and when you can. This means that no matter who the artist is, they are using the same materials as every other sketch effect artist from canvas to markers. There’s a methodology in place to choose the colors. There’s system in place for how each artist draws different objects or writes out typography. All of these processes help grow the business with new artists, while maintaining a consistent look for all products from The Sketch Effect.

2. Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
Culture is everything when you’re growing your business. On a business side, when you have your mission, vision and values documented it tells you how to hire, fire and coach people on your team. On a personal side, don’t you want to build a business that you’d want to work at?

3. Don’t go at it alone.
William says that one of the best things he ever did was start an advisory board for The Sketch Effect. He needed more people looking out for the business, speaking into dreams, goals and plans. In addition to an advisory board, he’s involved in a peer group for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurship can be isolating, but you don’t need to go at it alone