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Profit Is A Choice

Michele Williams | Business Coach | Podcaster |Speaker

Owning every choice in your business is not for the faint of heart. Each Monday, join Michele Williams, strategic profitability coach for the interior design industry as she interviews guests who are taking control of their business one decision at a time to increase their profits. If you are an entrepreneur who wants to make money while working in your passion, this is the podcast for you.

  • 42 minutes 4 seconds
    Podcasting as a Revenue Stream
    261: Podcasting as a Revenue Stream  

    With me on the podcast today is Traci DeForge. Traci has over three decades of experience in broadcast media, executive management, and consulting for Fortune 500 businesses. She is the founder of Produce Your Podcast, and she's going to be sharing with us today how creating and having your own podcast can lead to profitable results in your life and in your business.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Marketing

    • Authenticity

    • Leverage

    Key Thoughts: 

    • I think people just have to really understand when you make the decision to start a podcast, the fundamental thing that you want to think about is your why.  Traci DeForge 

    •  

      Podcasts, truthfully, don't have to be ginormous and huge and reach the entire world. It just has to reach your ideal client for whatever purpose you have for that podcast. Michele Williams 

       

    • If you change that person's perspective with one thought and you make a difference to that one person, that could change their life. Traci DeForge 

       

    • I have met some of the most amazing people by hosting them on my podcast and talking to them. I've hired many of the people that I have talked to on my podcast because I'm usually interviewing somebody because I'm interested in what they're doing. Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Traci: References and Resources: Unfiltered Wisdom: Free Coaching from Michele’s Keyboard to You

    Are you hungry for more? Subscribe now to receive two free coaching emails per month, personally crafted by Michele! Delivered every two weeks, these emails are packed with valuable insights, actionable strategies, and thought-provoking ideas to guide you on your business transformation journey towards greater success.

    Learn More 

    19 May 2024, 10:00 am
  • 1 hour 5 minutes
    CFO2GO Success Story
    260: CFO2GO Success Story 

    With me today is Kate Wood of Worth Preserving. Kate partners with property owners, designers, architects, trades, and others to rescue, rehabilitate, and determine what is worth preserving in historic homes and buildings. Recently, Kate completed my CFO2GO program, and the results that she has had in just a few short months have been astounding. In this episode, we're going to talk to Kate to understand a little of her journey to reclaim the love she has for her work, to be able to make money doing it, and to have the ability to make magic as she works with her clients every day.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Loss Leaders

    • Financial Planning

    • Shifted Orientation

    • Practice of Financials

     

    Key Thoughts: 

    • It is the merging, that intersection between the strategy and the plan and who I am and what I'm trying to do and how I'm going to price it and how I'm going to manage the money and how I'm going to run it through my company. That intersection is where the magic happens for the business owner and for the business as a whole.  Michele Williams 

       

    • I go back to my final report and I am in Metrique every month putting in my numbers and making adjustments. Kate Wood 

       

    • Thinking about our financials as a practice gives us the ability to continually practice getting them and keeping them in alignment with all the things that we're doing. Michele Williams 

       

    • It is a constant tweaking and evolution and I'm just excited about the business now because I do think of it as a business that has value and not just to me, but to other people. Kate Wood  

    Contact Michele: Contact Kate: References and Resources: Unfiltered Wisdom: Free Coaching from Michele’s Keyboard to You

    Are you hungry for more? Subscribe now to receive two free coaching emails per month, personally crafted by Michele! Delivered every two weeks, these emails are packed with valuable insights, actionable strategies, and thought-provoking ideas to guide you on your business transformation journey towards greater success.

    LEARN MORE
    5 May 2024, 10:00 am
  • 56 minutes 8 seconds
    The Power of Feasibility
    259: The Power of Feasibility 

    Robyn Thomas is joining us today on the podcast. Robyn has an architecture degree from Auburn, and she has merged that education with her love of design to provide a one-stop architecture offer specializing in design completion and optimization. She calls it the master of done. I love that so much. Today we're going to delve into feasibility, what it is, why it's needed, and when is the right time for the conversation around it. Enjoy the podcast.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Metrics

    • Processes

    • Project Management

    • Teamwork

     

    Key Thoughts: 

    • We sometimes get so enamored with the result that we don't look at the result and then backpedal our way through it to get to the beginning   Robyn Thomas 

       

    • I'm all about feasibility... It's really saying, what are the resources available and how can we best use them?  Michele Williams 

       

    • There are indicators and metrics that we can pull into our discovery call, or consultation process that we want to introduce early, way before we get into what color are the walls.    Robyn Thomas 

       

    • I think that in feasibility, sometimes people again have the idea that they're fighting against you to get something done, even though it's not you, it's what you're bringing up, the budget, the timeline. You're the representation of those things.   Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Robyn: References and Resources:
    14 April 2024, 10:00 am
  • 17 minutes 24 seconds
    4 Strategies to Stop Being Underpaid
    258: 4 Strategies to Stop Being Underpaid 

    I am so excited to be talking to you today. I'm actually so excited that I didn't wait and get all dolled up to be on the video part of the podcast. I decided in the middle of my work session just to stop and go ahead and share this message. So, I hope you are excited as I am, because we are going to talk about four strategies that will stop you from being underpaid. Do you know what it means to be underpaid? It means a high tolerance for low pay. I think that it is a problem, especially for creatives and certainly in the interior design industry. Now, some of you may be listening to this podcast and you may be thinking, hey, no problem here, I get paid all the time. But my question would be, do you take the money out of the company with ease, without feeling stressed? Some of you may be listening to the podcast and thinking, oh yeah, I have a high tolerance for low pay. Instead, I'm a people pleaser and I want to do great things for other people. Stay tuned because we're going to talk about the four strategies that will help you not be underpaid, but to be paid fairly and to be able to have a profitable company - at the same time 

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Value

    • Worth

    • Pricing strategy

    • Career path 

    Key Thoughts:

    •  People are paying you for what you know, or they're paying you for what you have the ability to learn and to know. Michele Williams

       

    • People are willing to pay you for what you know.  Michele Williams

       

    • Time is a currency that we spend in our calendar, and people will pay us for the time that we have available to devote to their project. Michele Williams

       

    • We're all looking at what we can hand off to somebody else's task list. Stress relief is a big deal. Michele Williams

       

    • Understanding pricing and understanding your attitude around it is really going to allow you to move forward with confidence and not cockiness. Michele Williams

       

    Contact Michele: References and Resources:
    31 March 2024, 10:00 am
  • 42 minutes 14 seconds
    Design the Life You Want
    257: Design the Life You Want

    Nicole Comis is a life and mindset coach, and she's passionate about helping driven professionals achieve their career goals without sacrificing their personal lives. She's certified by the International Coaching Federation and she's also a neurolinguistics programming master coach. Nicole's goal is for those that she works with to recognize that success comes from living a happy, healthy, and balanced life, whatever that might look like for them. If you're feeling tired or overwhelmed or not sure what to do next, this is the podcast for you. 

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Health

    • Success

    • Balance

    • Mindset 

    Key Thoughts: 

    • The reason why we burn ourselves out and the reason why we work our butts off is because it's our programming. Whether it's a fear or a limiting belief or that's what dad did, that's what mom did. We are programmed to think that that's what we need to do, whether it's, I need to prove myself, I need to prove I'm worthy or not, that's just what is done, or you've got to work your butt off to make money. Nicole Comis 

       

    • That makes me think of what grace has been bestowed upon me and upon my life and upon those I love or those I'm watching. Seeing the grace that we get every day, that is what makes me joyful. Michele Williams 

       

    • The more that you can identify your fears and your limiting beliefs and understand where those come from, the more aligned you feel, and I do tell my clients, too, to really practice making decisions based on your vision and your values. Nicole Comis 

       

    • When other people's ideas and influence get like that, we have to turn it off, and then we've got to be intentional about the influences of the people that we let speak into us. Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Nicole: References and Resources:
    17 March 2024, 6:00 pm
  • 9 minutes 42 seconds
    One Size Does Not Fit All
    256: One Size Does Not Fit All

    One size does not fit all. Okay, I just said it. I know that's going to be hard for some of you. But in our haste to get things done, to keep moving, to provide a service, often we're looking for that shortcut to success. We're looking to ride the elevator to the top instead of taking the stairs. Today, we will explore how to choose the right offer for our company and ultimately, for our customers. 

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Templates 

    • Metrics 

    • Problem Solving 

    • Business Solutions 

     

    Key Thoughts:

    • I've used templates. I have templates. I think they're awesome, but they're only as good as they know how to be used and how to be tweaked.  Michele Williams

       

    • Simply purchasing a template without a complete understanding of the problem that it's solving is just going to create more busy work for your team, leave you lacking in the outcome desired, and it's honestly going to cause frustration.  Michele Williams

       

    • Our goal here is to help you truly understand the challenge that you have and the problem that you're solving.  Michele Williams

       

    • What we are dedicated to is empowering you to know how to read the signs, know how to determine what's needed, and knowing how to adjust your systems, whether they're purchased systems or created systems so that they can grow with your company.  Michele Williams

       

    Contact Michele: References and Resources:
    3 March 2024, 11:00 am
  • 40 minutes 31 seconds
    Ignite Your Passion in Your Business
    255: Ignite Your Passion in Your Business

    With me on the podcast today is Jacqueline Green of Behind the Design company. Jacqueline is a coach, and she helps people move from a hobby into the business that they want that can be profitable. We're going to have a very robust conversation today on how to identify areas that we're passionate about and how to give ourselves the freedom to move from one direction to another, not to stay stuck. I hope you enjoy the podcast. 

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Passion

    • Pivot,

    • Growth

    • Mindset 

     

    Key Thoughts: 

    • As you build wisdom, as you build your knowledge base, what was important to me in my 20s versus what's important to me in my 50s is completely different. That's what's so unique and fun, is really seeing what could this really be. And getting out of whatever mindset that we were kind of stuck in from our past. Jacqueline Green 

       

    • Giving ourselves the freedom to even go through that discovery process, I think is really what you're inviting us to here, is to not feel that we have to be stuck, no matter how far we're in business, no matter where we are. Michele Williams 

       

    • It's giving yourself permission to put yourself first on occasion to really look at what you really want in life and how you are going to get there. Jaqueline Green 

       

    • I see one thousand opportunities within this industry to build a business, doing the parts that we always have, parts we don't love, but focusing on what you love. Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Jaqueline: References and Resources:
    18 February 2024, 11:00 am
  • 15 minutes 38 seconds
    CFO2GO for Your Business
    254: CFO2GO for Your Business

    On the podcast today, we're going to consider the work of a CFO or a chief financial officer. Given that most of our businesses are too small to hire this as a full-time position, we've begun to see the rise of fractional offerings in this space. Today, we're going to talk about what a CFO does, and if you need one.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Financial Planning

    • Budgets

    • CFO

    • Metrics

    Key Thoughts:

    • What does it mean to hire fractional? It means to share time. So that's really all that we're saying is you're sharing time with another company to have someone come in and perform those services. Michele Williams

       

    • But as we know, all CFO services are not the same, just like all design services are not the same. Michele Williams

       

    • Why would we name it CFO2GO? Because our goal is to help you understand how to do this work and then let you go do it, not to hold you tied into some long-term engagement. Michele Williams

       

    • There's nothing worse than either not knowing how to pay yourself, having the money in the account, not knowing if you can take it out, not knowing what it's meant to do, and not having a plan. We can help you solve every bit of that. Michele Williams

       

    Contact Michele: References and Resources:
    4 February 2024, 11:00 am
  • 38 minutes 49 seconds
    Removing Fear from Video in Your Business
    253: Removing Fear from Video in Your Business

    Joining me today is Jasmin Bryant with Fear No Video. Jasmin has had a very varied background. She has worked in television, as an actress, and in the news. She is going to share with us today how we can show up on video without fear. One of the things that Jasmin and I are going to focus on is how to remove some of the self-talk that we have before we ever do it, how to get ourselves ready to go on video, and how to make sure that the message is something that we want to share. So, I invite you to listen in.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Fear

    • Messaging

    • Confidence

    • Critique 

    Key Thoughts: 

    • One of my mentors said something that blew my mind, which was, perfectionism is a first cousin to procrastination. Trying to get everything perfect just leads us to putting it off and putting it off until we don't do it. Jasmin Bryant 

       

    • I don't think it's possible for us to criticize other people at a really high level without turning that focus and criticism on ourselves in an extremely negative, hurtful, hold us back kind of way. I just don't see that being positive. Michele Williams 

       

    • For anyone who's watching, anyone who's listening, you take those breaths, and you'll feel calmer. Your message will be clearer, and you'll be surprised at how much better your video is.  Jasmin Bryant 

       

    • I memorize the points in order so that I know this is kind of the route that I'd like to take as I'm sharing and then you just speak from the heart. Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Jasmin: References and Resources:
    21 January 2024, 11:00 am
  • 13 minutes 55 seconds
    The Intersection of your Financial and Strategic Plans
    252: The Intersection of your Financial and Strategic Plans

    On the podcast today, we're going to be talking about the intersection of your financial plan and your strategic plan. It's not enough to have one or the other. We really need them in combination to make our business as healthy as possible. So, listen in as we talk about that overlap between the two.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Cost to everything 

    • Ability to evaluate and prioritize 

    • Budgets and financial systems support 

    • Strategy first 

     

    Key Thoughts:

    • I would always start with strategy first, especially in a planning phase, and then look to what it's going to cost and then back up.  Michele

       

    • A company could have goals that are even bigger than what the current strategic plan is.  Michele

       

    • This intersection of the finances and the strategy is once you have the financials set to your strategy, it gives you something to measure. It allows you to set KPIs, or key performance indicators, the things that you want to measure.  Michele.

       

    • Metrique Solutions allows us to pull in that financial data from our financial accounting software, and then it allows us to do things like manage the data, analyze the data, model the data where we don't have other tools to do that.  Michele

       

    Contact Michele: References and Resources:
    31 December 2023, 11:00 am
  • 1 hour 7 minutes
    Year End Wrap Up
    251: Year End Wrap Up 

    Joining me on the podcast today is Ceil DiGuglielmo. You probably recognize Ceil as she has been with me multiple times since 2018. She is the owner of the Curtains and Soft Furnishings Library and the host of the Sew Much More podcast. Every year, Ceil and I get together to talk about what has happened over the last year. We share our business and life experiences, our highs, our lows, what we're most proud of, and what we're looking forward to the next year. We hope that this authentic conversation that you can listen in on between the two of us will spark an interest in you to have that special someone that you can share some of your business highs, lows, and what's happening with as well. Enjoy the podcast.

    Topics Mentioned:

    • Work life balance

    • Definition of success

    • For Now

    Key Thoughts: 

    • When life has struggles in it, you do need a little decompression from that, too. As high performers, I think we just keep going. We just keep going. Ceil DiGuglielmo 

       

    • It's been a year of recognizing the exhaustion from those things and learning how to set those things down. Michele Williams 

       

    • I love that the mindset has changed, and I love that people are dropping statements like, yeah, cash flow is a big problem for me and that's because I just did this or just did that. Ceil DiGuglielmo

       

    • When we are in business and the impostor syndrome kind of rears up, we need to stop and say to ourselves, wait a minute, I was never tasked with knowing everything. I was tasked with having a company that would do research and development to find the answer. Michele Williams 

    Contact Michele: Contact Ceil: References and Resources:
    17 December 2023, 11:00 am
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