S1 E2: Wellness Within Her Launches Successful Partnership For Two Growing Small Businesses

MM EP 02 EDITED

[00:00:00] Laura: Welcome to Maven Minds, the podcast for leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators to discuss strategies for navigating uncharted territory in modern business. I’m your host, Laura Crossley. Let’s meet the mavens.

[00:00:25] Anna: So, yeah, I randomly just asked Emily she was in Cycle of Heart taking a class and I felt it in the pit of my stomach. Like, this has been something I have been really yearning for like creating this retreat and creating a space, but I had no idea what I was doing. 

[00:00:53] Laura: Mavens, I could not be happier to bring you an incredible pair of women. They have combined their two growing small businesses to create an exceptional event Wellness Within Her was this amazing day of fitness and spin classes and walking trails, relaxing, looking inward, meditation motivation and inspiration. They checked every single box and they did it in about a four month span.

[00:01:15] It was mindblowing. So today I want you to meet Anna Alessi, the owner of Cycle of Heart and Emily Ackart, the owner of Emily Ackart Fitness, both in Liberty, Missouri, the space they took us to was Shamrock Ranch in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. And it could not have been a more perfect location for this retreat.

[00:01:37] All right before we get going today with our guests, I’m gonna take you on a bit of a journey with me. I went for a drive last weekend and the GPS knew where I was going. I did not. So I’m winding down some gravel roads through Excelsior Springs, Missouri and end up at this remote ranch. At the center of it all, is this a hundred year old gorgeous, gorgeous barn.

[00:02:05] And it looks like something out of Lord of the Rings just completely magical, popped up in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by grass and trees and bikes, spin bikes like stationary bikes in perfect little rows and like all the most beautiful space and fresh air you can ever imagine with the sunshine streaming through it.

[00:02:29] And some overcast clouds and like, it immediately felt like peace. And I’m like, all right, like I found my place, like this is where I’m spending my day. And I am insanely grateful to bring to our listeners today. The two creators of this incredible event, these two incredible women that are with us are gonna tell us how it came to be, because that girls, that was an unreal feat.

[00:03:00] Do you realize what you accomplished last weekend? 

[00:03:03] Emily:  No, I don’t think fully yet. I think it still is surreal. It really is like, it was so magic. It was like your wedding, you know, like everything was so perfect and so beautiful. And there were so many wonderful moments and Anna and I just can’t wait to see the pictures to like, be like, oh yeah, relive it.

[00:03:24] Remember this. And yes, relive it. Cause it was just, it was just magical from start to finish. That’s just the best way to describe. 

[00:03:33] Anna: Yeah, it, it felt like we were in a dream for most of the day. But it was exactly, I think what we have been praying about and wanted, wanted the connection and the theme and the love, and it was just.

[00:03:51] It was magical. So, yeah, I randomly just asked Emily. She was in Cycle of Heart taking a class and I felt it in the pit of my stomach. Like this has been something I have been really yearning for like creating this retreat and creating a space, but I had no idea what I was doing.

[00:04:16] And I just, I had this feeling, this intuition. And so I just randomly, I mean, I think Emily was like talking about what she was doing that weekend and randomly, I just cut her off and was like, “Hey, do you wanna host a women’s retreat?”

[00:04:34] And yes, I knew, yeah. She just kinda looked at me with this, like this look like, “were you inside my mind?” And that’s when I kind of knew. You know, she had been also having this, this yearning to do and, you know, create this space for women to really carve out time for them and to find the quiet and to lean in, and really just kind of evaluate their purpose and you know, where they’re, where they wanna go.

[00:05:01] And, you know, just really kind of give them the tools and the structure to really get there. And really the rest is history. We hit the ground running. We had so much fun planning and dreaming and organizing and yeah, it was just, it was a really fun experience. I love it. And you know, one of the things that really resonated with me as a, an entrepreneur and someone that’s kind of like innovating around how we grow businesses the fact that you both have your independent businesses.

[00:05:38] Laura: So Anna Alessi, you have Cycle of Heart in KC Mo. And like the research I’ve done, correct me if I like should get some more stuff in here, but the, you opened late in 2019. Is that right? And you came out of like a corporate environment and, and jumped into fitness and business ownership. What motivated that? 

[00:06:04] Anna: Yes. So this is always something that I wanted to do. I didn’t know how my life and, you know, fitness and the median. What I would actually do. I didn’t know what that looked like, but at the age of 18, I just knew that moving my body was a direct correlation with my mindset.

[00:06:26] And I didn’t always have it figured out for, you know, 23 years, the fitness journey kind of took me into a negative path. But once I got it figured out, I knew that I had to deliver this experience to our community. That was just in desperate need of no mirrors, no metrics really finding the quiet in your brain.

[00:06:53] So you can wake up the warrior inside and then start showing. As that person. [00:07:00] So we yeah, we, I, I finally just took the leap. I had had this dream kind of suppressed for many, many years and I finally just was like, I mean, I’m gonna do this. I’m gonna lean into this dream. I have no idea what it’s gonna look like.

[00:07:18] I clearly had no idea that a pandemic was gonna happen five months later when I opened right. It is a challenge and it was a challenge, but when you’re creating something so near and dear to your heart, it’s like the universe isn’t gonna let you fail.

[00:07:41] And so you just get really creative, really fast and you don’t have time to really listen to the critic or the fear you, all you do is you just act, it doesn’t mean that it’s not there. It just means that you’re like, and I, you need to take a back seat because I got bills and rent and I got, you know, I got payroll I gotta pay for, right?

[00:08:03] Laura: Yes. And then Emily Ackart, you are a, is it nutritionist? Yes. Nutritionist and trainer at Emily Ackart Fitness. 

Emily: Nutrition coach. A personal trainer. Yes. Small group fitness. All, all other things. Yes. 

Laura: And you opened in 2013, a shift from being a stay-at-home mom. You were diving head first into training after you’re having your youngest son, right?

[00:08:29] Emily: Yeah. Yeah. Honestly it started as a way to get my gym membership paid for and have a few hours of childcare and a teeny tiny little bit of spending money, you know, that I could kind of support the, stay at home mom activities that I wanted to take the boys to do. And. I, I had no idea what it would awaken inside of me.

[00:08:52] It just, I think from the first time I felt the energy from all those, you know, I’ve always worked with women. I’ve always been drawn to women and I love guys. I love I’ll support them however they want, but women just are so desperate for connection and to be seen. And my, my classes and my clients, it’s so much more than just coming in and working out, you know, it’s like therapy sometimes.

[00:09:20] Like, we’re getting through those tough mom moments. Those crazy mornings where they come in and they’re frazzled. I’m like, “yes, but you’re here. And I’m so proud of you for being here” And, you know, just really being that person to kind of help support women going through the things that they’re going through.

[00:09:37] And I, I, it’s so interesting because my women have kind of aged with me, you know? And so the talk was like babies and sleepless nights and all the things. And now we’re kind of into teenagers and menopause and hormones and you know, like, so just the evolution and the life that when you know, that’s the life that we’re in right now.

[00:10:00] And so I just love kind of being that support for women and also helping them move their body and find a way to do that, that they enjoy. 

[00:10:09] Laura: Totally. I’ve heard so much from other business owners lately about support and support systems and trying to find that support for women specifically in business.

[00:10:20] And it’s not easy, it’s not an easy thing to do. And so what I, you know, what I think our listeners totally resonate with is the way that both of you have made the jump into business. So whether that’s stay at home mom or working in corporate or, you know, whatever. Taking that jump, like, like the guts that, that takes the bravery that, that takes and just like, I’m gonna go do it.

[00:10:45] I’m gonna pay the bills. I’m gonna do all the things. That is something. That really takes something. But then deciding to take that next big step. And I feel like you guys did this last weekend. That next huge thing. Which was simultaneously for you guys wrapped up in this crazy story of support.

[00:11:07] Like I, I honestly have a hard time figuring out where to dive into it too, because you had so many incredible things running at the exact same time. Did you expect to see this kind of success in your first. 

[00:11:23] Anna: Okay. So here I was thinking about this. I think I was not surprised. I knew that, that there was a need for this.

[00:11:33] I feel like every single conversation we had about this event to every single person. It was like an overwhelming, “oh my gosh, I need this in my life.” So I think we knew that the interest was there. I think we knew, but it was hard with the scheduling and, you know, just trying to find that right time where, because we wanted to, we wanted everyone to be there that wanted to be there, but you know, you can’t check every box every time, but.

[00:12:02] Yeah. I think our women in our community, especially coming out of the pandemic, they’re just so desperate for connection. We want that so badly. Like we’ve done things on our own and it’s so much more fun when you do it with people. Are sharing your values and your energy and your goals and your, you know, it’s so much more fun to do it with someone else, you know, to lock arms and, and do that.

[00:12:25] So I, I was not surprised that yeah, we got great feedback on this. Yeah. I kept saying like, It’s gonna be, you know, huge. Right. And then I, I was the one that was like it, you know, like people are gonna sign up. It’s gonna be so good because I agree exactly with Emily, like I hear it all day, every day with my community it’s cycle of heart.

[00:12:50] And then it was like, we had like this great like flow of people signing up early and then it was like a drought. And then there, I mean, I was enlisting everyone. Like I was like, I need you to pray that whoever needs to be here is going to come. And I like, so it is interesting how you start off so confident and then you see like a kind of a wave of return.

[00:13:17] And then it’s like, it’s. It goes silent, but you still have to stay faithful in like, no, what we’re doing matters. And we need to figure out how to promote it. And we need to figure out how to get people. And like, that’s actually really what happened is like halfway through Emily and I were like, “I don’t think people understand like the magnitude of what they’re getting for the price.”

[00:13:40] And so then we just recorded like a few social media videos and we just started hitting. You know, even harder, like let’s really peel back the layers of what this event looks like and what your return is for a participant on your investment. And so once we started doing that, then it was like, then we started seeing the people again.

[00:14:00] But literally, like, I would tell people that were in shopping. I was like, “just please, I know you’re gonna be on vacation, but please tell two friends,” you know, like because it is so new. It’s like when you’re creating this space, It’s I think there’s so much noise out there, especially in the social media world, that it is sometimes the biggest challenge to grab people’s attention to be like, no, no, no time out.

[00:14:26] Like this could actually be a tangible thing that could help you for the next six months or have monumental change on your whole entire life. Like, so Yeah, there was a moment there that I was like, oh gosh, people. But it for us, because I think, honestly, we had this, like, you know, this kind of like far off vision of like, okay, this is kind of how we think it’s gonna be.

[00:14:53] Emily: And so it was good for us too, because it really forced us to be like, okay, we need to really like, what do we want people to feel? What do we want [00:15:00] them to walk away with? What are, you know, what exactly are we creating here? And then we need to communicate that instead of it just kinda being this dream in our head, you know, like.

[00:15:09] So it was a good it was an amazing process for us too, to kind of get to where we got. I think, because I feel like it was just absolutely perfect. Um, and it was, it was, and, but I think we had to go through that pain process a little bit of. Like okay. People aren’t getting it. Like we gotta get a little more clearer, you know?

[00:15:30] And I think we did some old school. Like I went like into businesses. I was given cookies. I was like, Hey, like, you know, so all the women own businesses in Liberty. I’m like, Hey, they, you know, these are, these are our people. And so going in there and talking to shop owners and asking ’em to put up flyers.

[00:15:47] And reaching out on social media to every fitness person I’ve ever encountered in my entire life. Like, Hey, remember I met you at this training a really long time ago. Okay. You don’t remember me? Well, I’m doing the women’s retreat and I’d love for [00:16:00] you to be there. I love it. I love it. It was good because it got us having the conversations.

[00:16:05] It got us talking to people about it and creating some buzz, you know, from the outside, looking in. It looked so seamless and smooth, like just so easy and effortless and it just happened and it was beautiful. But I, 

[00:16:20] Laura: I know that day you were both saying like the nerves were real and the like panic of setting up, everything was real.

[00:16:27] Like, tell me a little bit about that. What was it like boots on the ground the night before you’re getting ready to do. 

[00:16:34] Emily: Well, Anna and I have two different versions of the night before. let’s we’ll let Anna tell you her version. .

[00:16:42] Anna: Well, the way that I went into the event was very much like the hard work has, was already done.

[00:16:48] Like we had, we had got the people there, we had got the message across and the way that our agreement and our rental worked with Shamrock ranch is we were allowed to get [00:17:00] there the night before. And we, I really had a very relaxing, enjoyable time. Um, it was so. Awesome. Our families got to come out and we had some O other help that came in from out of town to help us just like coordinate the day and make sure that, you know, we went over the itinerary several times on Friday and on Saturday morning.

[00:17:25] So like everybody kind of knew what their expectations were. Um, but having that energy and that mindset not be manic. Was the biggest blessing because it was like once the trailer was packed, once our cars were packed and we got on the ranch, like I was like, oh, we’re here. Like it’s all happening. Um, and I, I just I, I used to live my life in that manic cycle and that, that angst, and it just doesn’t serve me [00:18:00] and this new person that I’m getting to know.

[00:18:03] And so that’s what I think Emily’s relating to is like Friday night, she’s like, let’s get on path. Let’s do this, let’s do that. And I’m like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nellie. Like, we’re gonna have plenty of time to do all these things on Saturday. Like let’s just like be and I just thought it was beautiful the way that like our, like, you know, I’m still getting to know Emily on a friend level and getting to know her husband and her sweet son, jacks.

[00:18:32] Like it was. Awesome. It was awesome to like actually like break bread together and it was just beautiful. It was so nice. So that was my version. 

[00:18:46] Emily: my version has a lot of the same high points. Um, I absolutely. I, I think that that was the key that we went up so early that we got there Friday night because we did, it was such a beautiful space.

[00:18:59] And it [00:19:00] was like, you, I felt like I was somewhere else. You know, I felt like we were in Colorado or like just the peace that you felt when you got there. And so. I needed that I needed that on Friday night, you know, to, to center myself. Um, and so I think, honestly, that’s why Anna and I work so well together because we’re just a perfect combination of everything’s fine.

[00:19:24] And holy crap, I’m freaking out. So we’re like a really good combination for one another. So I have just enough, like, yeah. And she has just enough chill out, you know? So I think Friday was wonderful. I definitely had a lot of stuff hanging in my head, so I’m not gonna lie. I definitely made my husband listen to my presentation a couple times.

[00:19:49] And I was definitely still in that kind of stress worry, you know, because that was my big, like that was literally the only thing I was worried about. Like me getting up in front of [00:20:00] 40 people was. My, that was my challenge. And so I just knew I wasn’t gonna be really who I wanted to be in that relaxed state until after that was over.

[00:20:11] So Saturday morning we had, it was, we got to wake up slow and spend some time just drinking coffee and talking about the day. And and it was beautiful. It really was. Um, so that was all it, it was exactly how it needed to be. Um, I am grateful for that and I think. Next time, you know, hopefully those nerves will be a little bit less and a little bit less and a little bit less until, you know, I really just get to be like, Hey, everything’s fine.

[00:20:40] I’ll get there one day. I’ll get there left field problem. Isn’t even worth considering at that point, right? Like, yeah. It’ll work itself out. Exactly. It’s fine. 

[00:20:48] Laura: oh, I love that. You know, Anna, you mentioned having dinner together and I thought that that was one of the truly unique things about being a. At your event, I have never [00:21:00] gone to one where I’ve actually gotten to share a meal with the other women that were there.

[00:21:04] And I thought that that was such a unique thing to do. And. It was awesome. Like, I actually walked away with some new Facebook friends and things of like, Hey, yeah, we could go like biking later or, you know, something like that, which is like, that happens here and there, but it’s not, it never feels quite genuine.

[00:21:22] And the, the women that you too are a magnet for the, the people that you brought together. We’re truly some like genuine, very kind, very, like everyone seemed to share the same goal there of just like carving some space for peace, enjoying other people around them. Um, I, I, I really like can’t say enough about how incredible it was that you, you created this space and you made it, you made it happen in like four months.

[00:21:51] That’s psychotic to me. 

[00:21:52] Anna: We did, we did one thing, one thing that I’ll I’ll add to that is that I think it didn’t, it didn’t matter if you were coming with a group of people or if you were coming alone. I think when you sign up for an event like that, you go into it with a certain level of transparency already.

[00:22:13] Um, and then I think that. Like allowing yourself to really be seen, like through the movement piece. Right. Because we broke you up into groups. We did, we did some movement first. Um, and I think that helps like, get that stagnant energy off. Yes. Yes. Mm-hmm and then, and then I think really, by the time you show up at dinner, you are.

[00:22:38] Like maybe meeting yourself for the very first time, like, and maybe ever, or maybe a really long time, like you’ve been poured into, you’ve had some, some opportunity to like, get some thoughts down, you found the piece and then you show up at dinner and you’re like, Wow. Like, I really miss people, like knowing my story and like asking me questions about like where I went to college and why do I do the career that I do?

[00:23:06] And so for me, like to hear that, like on the paver patio is like, oh, it was so beautiful. It was genuinely awesome. Was the part I was looking forward to the most. Like I wanted people to have that moment instead of just okay. Like rush back to reality now mm-hmm, like sit down and reflect on this amazing day and really see the person sitting next to you.

[00:23:30] And oh, it was, and it, it was that and more, it was just, it was so wonderful. Well, and like, sometimes I think if you think about like, quote unquote, like mom, world, like a lot of times you’re chasing kids and like, you might, you might have like a five second connection with someone and then it’s like, it’s done it’s off.

[00:23:50] So to be there without any distractions I just, I mean, I just think it’s exactly what we wanted and a really special special way to end.

[00:24:02] Laura: I love it. How did you celebrate after the fact? I feel like you had to have been just like riding a crazy high after all of that was finished. 

[00:24:16] Anna: Absolutely. I forced Emily to stay up with me. She kept saying like, I’m gonna she kept saying, she kept saying, I’m gonna go to bed. And I’m like, I’m like, no, you’re not, we’re gonna stay. And we just, we just literally sat on the patio and we just had the fire going, had a glass of wine. It was so wonderful. Yeah, it was so wonderful. 

[00:24:36] Laura: In hindsight, would you be changing anything for your future events or tackling problems in a different way?

[00:24:43] Anna: Gosh, so, I mean, that is like one of the craziest things is that there was really knock on wood, not a single. Issue. I mean, the pre-planning the giving our itinerary to somebody else and letting ’em kind of know what we needed to do when Emily and I were doing what we needed to do, it was seamless. Um, and they had walkie, they had walkie talkies.

[00:25:11] And so they like, they knew what they needed to do. And that’s the special thing I feel about that. Is that it allowed Emily and I to really be fully present for the event. Um, and I would tell anybody who’s planning, it, it, it allowed us to, like, we didn’t worry about a thing. Like, it was literally like, let me talk to you, let me connect with you.

[00:25:35] Let me, you know, if, if people, like I could cater to them too, like if they needed a water or more tea, like, I don’t know. It just allowed us to really. I think live the message of what we were talking about is like, be present. I that as I guess, there, like that is absolutely true. It was definitely clear that you two were able to be there and participate and talk and not be rushing or like, oh, I gotta catch off so I can go do this.

[00:26:05] And like that kind of thing, which I think is really, really common at any event. Um, let alone. One that’s more focused on like getting some fitness into the routine and that kind of thing, because like, you, you do have to go stand in front of a room of 20 to 40 women and like get people going and get like, get a lot of processes moving at the same time.

[00:26:26] Laura: So like that planning, holy cow, I can’t even tell you, I had no idea that was happening. And it definitely reflected in a way of like, you were very present and very accessible to everyone. Like, I, I absolutely loved the ability to, we did break out into smaller groups and my group gathered in the front of the barn with you, Emily, had to work out and you talked us through things and you’re correcting people and you really were there right beside trying to help and get people like into the right positions.

[00:27:01] Like motivate through like some of those tougher things. I was sore for days we did a lot of squats and a lot of planks. And I, I feel like I did my workout for the next like month, but like that was fantastic. And then to take that shift over to Anna’s side of things and the silent disco-style headphones on the spin bikes, like your voice is right there. In the gorgeous surroundings and your voice is right there.

[00:27:31] Basically verbalizing everything my inner person is like trying to get through every day. And you’re talking about that, that motivator or that critic, I’m like the motivator’s louder at that point in time. Like I’m, I’m here in all of you and it’s, it’s like pumping up and it’s positive and I think you’re so right when you’re saying like that kind of energy out and going sets the tone for the way the rest of that day flows. 

[00:28:00] And it was, it was incredible to be able to share that with both of you and also all the women that were there. And you know, I just, I have so much gratitude for you guys creating that space. And also from a business perspective, just insanely impressed, the timelines, you did it on.

[00:28:16] And the scale that you did it. And like, I, I appreciate so much that you are kinda sharing your insider secrets with us. 

[00:28:26] Emily: Can I tell you my favorite part of the day? 

Laura: Absolutely please. 

Emily: Okay. So after like it was after, you know, my presentation and so I was like, ah, and I was standing up on the deck at the main house.

[00:28:40] And this was when everyone went to go do their destination postcard and to dream and to. You know, so they took their blankets, because that was something Anna and I really wanted, we wanted to give these blankets. So like our vision was just seeing people sit under the trees and just be in the moment and relax and like to stand up on the deck and to like look down and see like someone sitting over here by themselves and then to see like a group of three sitting here by the little, you know, by the brook and to see I, you were on the front porch, in the rocking chair, like I just.

[00:29:14] It, that was so fulfilling to me, like to see people really leaning into that and not just like. Totally in their thumbs, like, “okay, when’s this over” like really being grateful and present and trying to get every last drop of that piece and solitude that they could. Oh my gosh. I will never forget that.

[00:29:35] I took a picture from standing up there because I was like, I never want to forget seeing people really see each other and be in this moment because it was so good. . 

[00:29:45] Laura: I love that. And I actually, that very much ties into, I was walking back from that front porch and stole the book that had been sitting there.

[00:29:55] And I remember you, Emily were like, “oh no, don’t take it back.” Like, we’ll handle that for you. And you just took it and I’m like, I, I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve, I mean, I’m raising littles and doing all the chaos, like just like anyone else, but I don’t know how long it’s been since someone was taking care of me.

[00:30:13] And it was like, you guys, you made my snack that day, which I’m like, I, I am the snack maker. Like what is going on? You made my snack, you cleaned up after me, like all the bikes just whi away and all the. Just like went back to where they were supposed to be. And like, this is, this is magical. Uh, you really created that and you really were just like present and in the moment and taking care of women on a level.

[00:30:38] That is, it’s just awesome. Like again, thank you. I have so much gratitude for that guest. Yeah. That’s what we wanted so badly. You did. You succeeded, you succeeded right before. Yeah. So the next big question is then are you planning another event? Is there another one coming up? 

[00:30:55] Anna: Well, we don’t know when for sure, but yes.

[00:30:57] Hundred percent, a hundred percent. So we just sent out this survey this morning to all the participants and just to kind of get some feedback and let us kind of know what were our misses, what are opportunities for us to, you know, improve upon and then really just kind of let the community navigate what we do.

[00:31:18] Emily and I had been meeting weekly for like the last, like, I don’t know, Emily, what two months? Yeah. Probably four months. We probably soon as we started, we probably were on it. so this, we took this week off just to kind of like come down emotionally rest I’ve been journaling a ton, just like what my feelings were about everything and hopefully.

[00:31:49] Next week, her and I are gonna get together and look at our photos. And then I think just kind of dream us some more, you know, I mean, I would say that that is my biggest takeaway. Is that like, to be surrounded by a soul like Emily, who is just. So loving and like up for anything, like I’m a dreamer, I’m a tough friend because I’m constantly like, “let’s go, let’s do this.”

[00:32:15] Why can’t we do this? Let’s add this, let’s add a little glitter and a little flare. Like it’s, it’s a, you know, it’s a tough person to like plan an event with. Um, but she definitely has just fueled me in a way that, like, I just can’t wait to plan another, another event. So me too, I can’t wait. You know, and that’s like, that’s the coolest thing for me is for nine years, I’ve been doing this on my own, you know, and, and I’ve loved that.

[00:32:42] Like I’ve loved kind of doing things when I want to, and not when I don’t want to. And, but it feels so good to work with someone who has the same kind of passion and. Energy and zest for life, you know, and like, it feels so good because I know that what we can offer to the women in our community is so needed.

[00:33:05] And and I, we, we have some good things coming. I have no doubt about it. I also have no doubt about it. I cannot wait for the next one. I will sign up in advance uh, and I obviously like everybody and their brother is gonna hear about it because it, it is something everyone should have be carving out a little bit of time for everyone should have the opportunity to go, like, find that piece and have that moment.

[00:33:32] Laura: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you both so much I really hope that we can get you back on the show sometime soon, just to talk about the impact that this has on your individual businesses. I really wanted to dive into the event and the energy of this event that you guys have just like accomplished this crazy big thing, and that needs to be celebrated.

[00:33:55] You know, I think that the, the way that this will snowball with your businesses, I can’t wait to hear about it. And so obviously we need to come back together and dive into that a little bit, but man, I appreciate your time today and I appreciate you, everything that you’re sharing. Can you tell me some of your social links and the way that people can kind of connect with you until we get some more information on that next event.

[00:34:20] Anna: Yeah, so, right right now we are in the process of building out our website, our Instagram page, all for Wellness Within Her, but currently you can follow @cycleofheartsweatandshop or cycleofheart.com or you can find us on Instagram with that same @cycleofheartsweatandshop.

[00:34:45] Emily: Yeah, Instagram, just @emilyackart. And then my website is emilyackart.com. So pretty easy to find. 

[00:34:55] Laura: Mavens, if you have any questions for these two ladies, please, please, please find them on Facebook or drop a comment onto our posts, and we will make sure that you get connected, get your questions answered, and maybe we can find that next big partnership too.

[00:35:11] I’m gonna send you away from today’s episode with a handful of thought starters, consider how you can apply what we just heard from Emily and Anna to your own business. So take one or two of these questions. Think about it, simmer with it a bit, and then shoot me a video on TikTok or Instagram or even Facebook.

[00:35:39] And let me know what you are gonna do to apply these concepts. Let’s start with partnership. How can you use partnerships to grow your business? Can you find partners that are a compliment to your product or service and then add value for your customers? Could a partner expand your marketing, reach and influence.

[00:36:03] What kinds of partners could help you to achieve critical goals in your business? Maybe you need one partner. Who would that be? Or if you need many partners in what areas of your business, could they be most helpful? How about marketing? Emily and Anna told us that their marketing was pretty grassroots.

[00:36:28] They were really relying on a lot of word of mouth to get the word out and to tell people about the event that they were hosting. What creative marketing approaches could you add to your strategy? Are you relying on grassroots exposure or have you overlooked it complet? Are there partners, colleagues, or team members that could help you gain traction with new reach?

[00:36:50] Can you ask for a share or a comment, or like, can you add other tactics to your efforts? Have you considered PR, paid advertising, search optimization, content, sponsorship events. Let’s shift gears again. Are you prepared to capitalize on moments where growth is available in your business? Can you move quickly to make decisions and act?

[00:37:19] Is your approach nimble? Are you able to pivot if necessary, is the market asking for your concept or idea or solution? Can you meet the market where that demand exists? What’s preventing you. What’s stopping you from growing when and where opportunities are already present. Oh yeah.

[00:37:49] Thank you for joining today’s conversation. Before you leave, hit that subscribe button so that you never miss an episode of Maven minds. And whether you are a first time listener or you’ve been following along for some time, you are invited to join the discussion in our communities on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok.

[00:38:08] We love your insight on the topics we’ve covered today. So join us on social from mavenminds.com and inspire others to keep blazing these trails in modern. We’ll see you in the next episode of Maven minds.

Guests:
Anna Alessi, Owner of Cycle of Heart
Emily Ackart, Owner of Emily Ackart Fitness
Host: Laura Crossley, Maven Minds
Producer: Cassidy Hallesy, Episode Ready

Runtime: 38:35
Release date: July 19, 2022

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