Ona here, your friendly neighborhood Podcast Trapper!
During the pandemic, many of you started your own businesses. Personally, I launched Adode Media and got to work while the world was on lockdown. If you were bold enough to take a risk and build your own legacy, congratulations - you have the spirit of an entrepreneur!
But now, you’re comparing yourself to Influencers who are lounging on beaches in the Caymans while you hustle and grind.
Don’t they make it look easy? They’re answering emails on the way to hot yoga while you wonder if you’re doing it all wrong.
You might blame yourself for being unbalanced, a workaholic, or for leaning too hard into “hustle culture”. But let me tell you a hot truth:
Building a business is work.
Yes, that’s right - If you’re working hard, you’re doing it right. And if you haven’t achieved work-life balance yet, you’re not bad at business. It’s time for a major mindset reframe.
In today’s episode of The Podcast Trapper, I’m sharing two important lessons to keep in mind as you create your brand and build your podcast.
Business is Built in Stages
You’re an ambitious entrepreneur. You’re excited to create a lasting legacy. It might not be time to take your foot off the brake pedal yet, and that’s okay!
Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that business doesn’t actually begin with work-life balance.
CEOs and Founders will regale you with stories of late nights, takeout orders delivered to the office during project due dates, mishaps that required a big fix, and adventures in hiring and firing. Sure, they might be ten years in and buying their second beach house, but it probably didn’t start that way. Before balance came sweat, blood and tears. Okay, that’s dramatic - but for real, bosses put in the work!
I consider the three stages of building a business to be:
Grinding Stage
Scaling Stage
Thriving Stage
The Grinding Stage is important. You had a great idea. You created a podcast and put in the time to make your dreams a reality! You made a website, hired a logo designer, printed business cards, networked and built a community. There’s no avoiding this stage if you want your company to go the distance, because a brand needs the basics to get off to a good start.
The Scaling Stage is when you’re hiring a team, building lasting systems, and streamlining your entire process.
Thriving is when you’ve balanced your work life with your personal life. This is the goal. You have set hours, a team you can rely on and strong boundaries.
If you’re in the Grinding Stage or the Scaling Stage, do not compare yourself to people in the Thriving Stage. You’ll be there soon enough, so put in the work!
Infrastructure is Everything
The second lesson I learned about work-life balance is that in order to create it, infrastructure is everything. Scaling is no joke (we’ll get into it in a later episode, don’t worry) and I’m scaling my business as we speak! I have learned so much by hiring, firing, training and trusting my team. I’ve also been working to streamline our entire process because I know that it’s an important part of growing a large brand.
Systems will create peace in your life. But they will also allow you to have the biggest impact. Before you achieve work-life balance, ask yourself: What is your bigger vision? What do you want your legacy to be? How can you create systems that will allow you to grow to that size and scale?
For example, I envision growing Adode Media to host 100+ podcasts. That’s a lot of shows, but I know it can be done - with the right systems in place. My mission is to help others tell their stories through podcasting. I can have a greater impact if I do the work now to scale my business.
Ambitious dreams require a heavy emphasis on the Grinding Stage and the Scaling Stage. But with the right infrastructure, we can achieve work-life balance and enter our Thriving Stage.
Sometimes we have to put our foot on the gas pedal with full force before we can begin to coast.
That’s it for this week! Please leave a review for The Podcast Trapper and be sure to follow the show on Instagram for more podcasting tips.
Thanks for getting stuck in The Podcast Trap - Ona Oghogho
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