What Works

Underneath their ambitious and confident facades, small business owners experience quite a bit of fear.
Since our goal is to bring you honest conversations about what it really takes to run a small business, we thought it was high time to talk about the fears we all face on a daily basis.
We spoke to 11 small business owners and several themes emerged. These themes were echoed in the conversations we’ve been having about fear all month long with our CoCommercial community.
Prefer to read? No problem. Find the entire episode in article form by clicking here.
In this episode, we explore the fear of judgment, the fear of visibility, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not being worthy, and the fear of giving up control.
Each entrepreneur we talked to spotted these fears in different scenarios, things like public speaking, pricing their work, or pivoting a business model. But one thing remained constant:
Their fears never really subsided. 
Instead, they decided to focus on taking action—and enjoying the results—instead of dwelling on the fear itself.
Maybe you too share the fears that these small business owners face. Maybe your fear or anxiety is fueled by other concerns. As this episode unfolds, I challenge you to find some awareness of the fear you’re dealing with right now.
Where does it come from?
How is it impacting your day-to-day actions?
How does it affect the way you set goals or make decisions?
And…
What are you going to do about it?
This episode features: Jessica Abel, Lou Blaser, Dr. Michelle Mazur, Stephanie Stiavetti, Mark Maya, Vanessa Ragains, Nat Couropmitree, Tzaddi Gordon, Jeff Tyack, Jennyann Carthern, and Sarah Li Cain.
For more honest conversations about growing, running, and managing a small business, become a part of the CoCommercial small business network.

Show Notes


Underneath their ambitious and confident facades, small business owners experience quite a bit of fear.
Since our goal is to bring you honest conversations about what it really takes to run a small business, we thought it was high time to talk about the fears we all face on a daily basis.
We spoke to 11 small business owners and several themes emerged. These themes were echoed in the conversations we’ve been having about fear all month long with our CoCommercial community.
Prefer to read? No problem. Find the entire episode in article form by clicking here.
In this episode, we explore the fear of judgment, the fear of visibility, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of not being worthy, and the fear of giving up control.
Each entrepreneur we talked to spotted these fears in different scenarios, things like public speaking, pricing their work, or pivoting a business model. But one thing remained constant:
Their fears never really subsided. 
Instead, they decided to focus on taking action—and enjoying the results—instead of dwelling on the fear itself.
Maybe you too share the fears that these small business owners face. Maybe your fear or anxiety is fueled by other concerns. As this episode unfolds, I challenge you to find some awareness of the fear you’re dealing with right now.
Where does it come from?
How is it impacting your day-to-day actions?
How does it affect the way you set goals or make decisions?
And…
What are you going to do about it?
This episode features: Jessica Abel, Lou Blaser, Dr. Michelle Mazur, Stephanie Stiavetti, Mark Maya, Vanessa Ragains, Nat Couropmitree, Tzaddi Gordon, Jeff Tyack, Jennyann Carthern, and Sarah Li Cain.
For more honest conversations about growing, running, and managing a small business, become a part of the CoCommercial small business network.
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What is What Works?

Work is central to the human experience. It helps us shape our identities, care for those we love, and contribute to our communities. Work can be a source of power and a catalyst for change. Unfortunately, that's not how most of us experience work—even those who work for themselves. Our labor and creative spirit are used to enrich others and maintain the status quo. It's time for an intervention. What Works is a show about rethinking work, business, and leadership for the 21st-century economy. Host Tara McMullin covers money, management, culture, media, philosophy, and more to figure out what's working (and what's not) today. Tara offers a distinctly interdisciplinary approach to deep-dive analysis of how we work and how work shapes us.