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Work Less, Earn More is the podcast that explores how to get the most out of every hour you work. Gillian Perkins brings more than a decade of experience as an entrepreneur and educator to help you design a business that's not only flexible and fulfilling, but highly profitable. She shares strategies that are working in her own business to save time and maximize profits. She also features interviews with successful business owners on how they’re achieving big things in their businesses with crazy-little time investment. Share Work Less, Earn More with an overworked entrepreneur you know who could use a change of pace!
Gillian:
[0:00] Hey there, everyone. Welcome back to Work Less, Earn More. Today, we are going to dive deep into a topic that I know so many of you are interested in, which is how to grow your business in less time. I mean, really, that's what this show is all about, isn't it? Well, specifically today, we are going to talk about what it actually looks like to build a thriving, multi-seven-figure company on a four-day work week so you can still make time for travel, family, and life outside a business. Well, to help me unpack this, I have invited an incredible woman who is living proof that it can be done. My guest today is Shay Brown, who's one of the co-founders of Bucket List Bombshells. Over the past decade, she and her co-host Cassie have built a powerhouse coaching company that has served more than 10,000 women around the world and has been featured in places like Forbes, BBC, and CNBC. But what really sets Cassie and Shay apart and what we are going to dig into today is the intentional way that they have built their business around freedom and balance. In this episode specifically, we are going to get into some shifts that they have made to move from that traditional hustle schedule into a four-day workweek. Like how were they actually able to do that? Also, the lead generation strategies that had given them the biggest results with the least time invested.
Gillian:
[1:21] Also, we'll be getting into how they've learned to scale without sacrificing their energy, their health, or their joy along the way. So if you ever wondered how to grow in your business and have a life at the same time, then you are going to love this conversation. So let's get into it.
[intro bumper]
We became entrepreneurs because more than anything, we want freedom. We want to be in control of our own schedule, income, and life. But unfortunately, that isn't always the reality of being a business owner. I'm Gillian Perkins, and I'm on a mission to take back entrepreneurship for what it's supposed to be.
In every episode, I'll share with you how to get the most out of every hour you work so that you can work less and earn more. Let's get to it.
[/intro bumper]
Gillian:
[2:14] Shay Brown, welcome to Work Less, Earn More.
Shay:
[2:18] Hi, thank you so much, Gillian, for having me. on Work Less, Earn More. I'm really excited to be here with you today.
Gillian:
[2:24] Yeah, for sure. So give us a little bit more information, first of all, about your company. What do you do? Who are your customers? How do you help them?
Shay:
[2:34] Yeah, for sure. So there's, as you had mentioned, Cassie and Shay, I'm Shay. So there's two of us. We are business coaches, consultants, and we work with female service-based business owners. So mostly in the creative field. So brand and website designers.
Shay:
[2:51] Social media managers, content marketers, podcast PR managers, these kind of, when I say service-based, working one-on-one with clients, providing a service. And so we love working with those type of clients to either launch, grow or scale. So when you're in that growth stage, we're usually working on getting you what we call fully booked out and hitting that first 5k month. And then from there, we work with clients to scale them past that six-figure mark, doing work together to get them into multi-six figures in annual revenue through different ways, whether that's creating agencies, creating digital products, creating programs, taking their business to the next level, growing their team, and that kind of thing. So we do that through our three programs that we have for the different stages of business. And I think what sets us apart is that there's two of us. So we can really create a holistic coaching approach because Cassie and I have strengths in different areas. So we're able to cover pretty much what we say is like all of the pillars of your business from marketing to product development to operations to sales to finances.
Shay:
[4:04] So that's the way that we like to work with our clients.
Gillian:
[4:07] Mm hmm. Tell me a little bit about how you and Cassie balance the responsibilities and the roles in the business. What things do you focus on? What things does Cassie focus on? And I'm also curious about both your background and Cassie's background and how like that impacts which parts of the business you focus on.
Shay:
[4:29] Yeah, such a great question. I would say that basically at a point in our time together, we've been in business for over 11 years as business partners. And we also had our own service-based businesses before starting Buckley's Bombshells. And so I can touch on some of our background there because we came from the creative service-based fields, which is why we now specialize in working with those type of clients. But the way that it was, it was kind of a crossroads, I think about three years into working together where we saw this opportunity for us as two people to really define our roles and have a positive impact on the growth of our business. And we did that by basically breaking into the two C-suite roles that we have today, which is Cassie is the CEO and I am the COO. And that's mostly because of the type of strengths that we have. If you've ever read the book, Traction and Rocket Fuel.
Gillian:
[5:26] Yeah, I have.
Shay:
[5:27] Yes. Okay. That's good books. Yeah. So the visionary integrator, what we found, Cassie, definitely more naturally in the visionary CEO role, and I'm more naturally in the integrator COO role. So we've defined our roles like that in terms of within the business. And we actually collaborate on everything, especially product development and serving our clients. But we also work very autonomously as well. And it has very much helped the growth of our business. Whereas before doing everything together was great and served season in our business, we definitely needed to define those roles and I think really get super skilled to in these areas that we have defined for ourselves.
Shay:
[6:12] And to touch on your question about background, and they're kind of also what led to this definition of our roles too. So Cassie had a brand and website design service-based business, and I had an operations business management business before we started partnering together. And so I think our skill sets were already developed, at least I'll just speak to my skill set as an operations business manager. And then I grew that sort of in a way where I was becoming a fractional COO for online coaches, I was really their right-hand integrator. And so this was kind of my natural skill sets where my skills came from my former company. And that's sort of why it just really fell naturally for me to take over operations,
Shay:
[6:58] finances, team management, kind of roles within our business. In addition to we collaborate on all product and service development, as well as we dual serve our clients as well in that regard. And then Cassie leads primarily all of the marketing, the vision, the customer experience, the brand as a whole, the messaging, and really driving the growth of our business forward in that visionary way. And then I am the integrator.
Gillian:
[7:28] So when you have a client, do you and Cassie both meet with the client at the same time? And are you doing like live one-on-one type coaching? Or do you and Cassie both support the client in some other way?
Shay:
[7:44] Yeah, so fun to share that. That's where we do come together and support at the same time. So... Whether that's in our She's Fully Booked membership, where we're both on the live coaching calls and we're both in there supporting in what we call the support zone. So providing advice, we both develop the course together in there. We are very much dual hands-on in all of our services when we're working with clients.
Shay:
[8:07] And then to speak to how do we coach one-on-one in our Scale with Purpose Mastermind group coaching program, we are both on the calls for their hot seats, whether that's in the group setting or the one-on-one setting and via Slack as well. So our clients get to know the areas that we do lead. So that would be, you know, if we are doing something on the operation side, then I would be like leading the coaching. But Cass is still a participant and we both are, we're defined in these ways, but I don't feel like I just fit into that one box. I definitely feel like I and so does Cass have experience in all of the areas because as an entrepreneur, you're wearing multiple hats, as I'm sure your listeners know. So there's still advice and there's still things that we add to even if we're leading a client through a specific area. What sets us apart and I think why our clients are so successful working with us is because we can give advice. Both of us can give advice and different perspectives and we have the experience in all those areas. And then she leads some more areas more than me and vice versa. So yes, our clients are working pretty much two-on-one, I guess.
Shay:
[9:15] In a way. Yeah, yeah. That's cool.
Gillian:
[9:17] So for a lot of online businesses these days, marketing is one of the most time-consuming parts of running the business. And by marketing, I mean both like advertising as well as closing sales. And so I really want to dive into this aspect of things with you and talk about what marketing strategies you have found are just like viable with your business model. Which ones have given you the biggest bang for your buck and become your bread and butter so that you have been able to grow your company into such a financial success with so little time invested on a weekly basis. So how I'd like to do this is kind of look at your funnel, if you will, from start to finish. So like, what are your main kind of visibility or lead generation strategies that you have found work really well with this minimal time investment?
Shay:
[10:11] Yeah, absolutely. So one of our core strategies that we use and then also our clients use is what we call our six-figure partner workshop strategy.
Shay:
[10:19] From a lead gen perspective and going through the funnel, what we're doing is we are partnering with people in the industry that have our target audience, but do not offer the same services or products as us. And we do a valuable free exchange of information. So if they want to host a workshop to our audience, they're more than welcome. And we host a one hour free workshop to their audience. And there is no hard pitch at the end. There is simply an invitation to dive deeper on a strategy call with me post-workshop. And that's where I can connect more with these leads. I can connect with the new because they are new to us. Building that like, no trust factor through the workshop and then post-workshop on a strategy call if they so choose. And from there, those are where we have our sales funnel structured. I'm getting to know them on the strategy call. I'm showcasing my skills, my expertise to them. And then I'm inviting them to learn more.
Shay:
[11:25] So this there is a sales funnel portion of that to go from top of funnel to middle of funnel to bottom of funnel. We take them through the workshop, a strategy call, and then into whichever program is the right fit for them. So that is the main funnel that is working right now for us and also for our clients is doing partner workshops completely organic.
Shay:
[11:51] And this is one of our main lead generators and actually how we've been able to fill our programs for the past two years without having to show up and use the algorithms, let's say on social media, because your email list is gold. Going out and really growing our email list through partnerships is what's working well for us right now.
Gillian:
[12:12] Yeah, for sure. I love that strategy myself. So it's great to see other people utilizing it as well. And I'd love to ask you some more questions about some of kind of the finer details about how you particularly do this. Starting with, you know, it can be tough to kind of get potential partners to pay attention to you or to give you the time of day, if you know what I mean, right? And to see the value in the opportunity. So I'm curious, what are some of the strategies that you like to use to get them to pay attention and also to... Initiate that, like the beginning of the relationship when they don't maybe yet know, like, or trust you?
Shay:
[12:52] Yeah, absolutely. I think there's a couple strategies that you can take and kind of depending on the size of your audience as well. Because I know that I also get this question from the perspective of, well, you know, you've been around a long time, you have a huge audience, you have something that like they want to get in front of your audience because it's an equivalent audience. But then there's also our clients who have like not a large size audience. So I'd love to speak to strategies for both for your listeners.
Shay:
[13:19] So the first one would be, if you have built up, because we're targeting partners that have the same target audience as us, but different offers or services.
Shay:
[13:28] They most likely will see a value exchange in them having the ability to host a partner workshop or even if they want to do some other type of freebie, we're very open. So we're not super rigid. We're like, okay, this is a collaborative opportunity. Like what would work best for you? Some of them want us to be promoting a challenge at a specific time period. So, you know, if it works in our marketing calendar, like absolutely, we've been really open to just saying yes versus being a little bit closed and restrictive with, let's say, our marketing calendars. So when we went into it experimenting in this way, we kept very open mind around collaboration and what our partners might wanna promote to our audience while still making sure that it's going to provide value for our audience. And it's still a free exchange for the resource that we're going to provide. And so if you have that ability to, if you have, let's say, a certain size email list that or Instagram following or other place, podcast listeners, you can do a podcast swap. If you have something where you can offer that exchange, I find that that is the easiest kind of rode in in your pitch email, just really presenting it as an open collaboration opportunity that would serve both partners because both partners have the same audience but different offers and services because the purpose of the lead gen is that at some point you are leading them through to a sales funnel, ideally.
Shay:
[14:56] So you do want to offer that as well in a sense of whatever free offer that your partner wants to promote at some point down the line, they can take those leads into a sales funnel.
Shay:
[15:07] And so just really pitching a collaboration approach if you have the audience size is what works well for us. But even secondarily to that, for both small or large audiences, tapping into your network and getting an introduction. So kind of going back to old school way of networking, who you know will get your foot in the door, like putting yourself out there doing what we call relationship marketing. So even just initially making connections and growing your network without an ask, without an agenda, can lead to eventually asking for that introduction if you know someone knows someone else and sort of opening that door. Honestly, we haven't had to do that too much with the explanation I gave before where if you have that audience size to offer to a partner, that's usually a very easy doorway in. And getting on a call, banging out the details, building that relationship again, trying to make it feel collaborative, fun, valuable, a shared value opportunity for both partners.
Shay:
[16:12] Now, for most of our clients who have smaller or almost no audience size, we also have found that there has not been much resistance in terms of getting these partnerships booked. Because a lot of times, these people that we are having our clients pitch are either course creators or coaches or have some membership possibly. They're looking for content. They're looking for you to bring some valuable advice for their community. It doesn't have to be in one of their paid offers. It could just be generally to their community as a whole because you are coming in and that scenario typically, if you're a brand and website designer, social media manager, PR and podcast manager, these service-based businesses...
Shay:
[16:59] You're bringing in knowledge that that partner most likely doesn't have and can't teach to their community. But this is where you need to do your research. Their community has your target audience in it and it would have value to teach them something. So our website designers come in and teach what are the top five things that you need on page to convert on a sales page. And they can teach that lesson to people who are coaches or lawyers or real estate agents that are in the audience of the partner that they've pitched. And then again, there's no overlap between service offerings or in this scenario, there's usually no overlap in terms of knowledge. So you're really providing that partner with this opportunity to expand their network and have someone come in and teach something of value to their audience.
Shay:
[17:52] And we have seen this be widely well-received with our clients.
Gillian:
[17:57] So really what you're having your clients do is offer their expertise and specifically teaching to the audiences of these potential partners. And then the partner in exchange is, is the partner in exchange giving them the opportunity to come and do like a free workshop to their audience with some sort of pitch at the end? Or is it just that they are getting in front of these potential customers with that free teaching that they're doing, if that makes sense?
Shay:
[18:27] Yeah. So typically, our strategy is there's no hard pitch at the end, but that you have your own opt-in page so that the leads are opting in. And then later on, you can do follow-up email series or at the end of your workshop, you can do like the strategy that we do where you offer a free call with you. But some of our clients' partners have no problem if our clients want a hard pitch. So that's just part of the conversation that you have. But the concept is we're getting leads. And so... I would really caution you to make sure that there is like a full hour of super value or 45 minutes to an hour, because, you know, tension spans these days, but that there is valuable lessons and concepts that you're teaching that are showcasing your expertise and kind of positioning why someone would work with you. And then at the end, you can mention, you know, what you do, where to find you, and if, you know, they want to get on a consultation. So yes, you are able to have a small pitch at the end, but the majority of it is that it's really focused on the value that you're bringing to that audience. And the goal for you is to get those leads, which is why you want the opt-in page or the registration form that the partner is promoting to be on your site and within your CRM, if that makes sense.
Gillian:
[19:49] Yeah, yeah, that totally makes sense. And I'm curious if you have a specific strategy that you recommend to your clients for following up with those leads after? Like, do those leads typically get funneled into some sort of evergreen funnel or into a newsletter or something else?
Shay:
[20:05] Yeah, no, it's a great question. So what we like to think about when we call it tofu, mofo, bofo, so top of funnel, middle of funnel, bottom of funnel. So your top of funnel is going to be the workshop. This is where you're getting leads. Your middle of funnel needs to be a nurture piece of content, essentially. So yes, so either you can decide kind of what form or medium this is. For us, we have our podcast, our Freedom Filled Life podcast. That is something that we utilize to connect and build that relationship through weekly content in our middle of funnels.
Shay:
[20:39] And so for some of our clients, it's newsletters. So they want to write or it's YouTube, a weekly YouTube video, or it's a podcast, or it's some other form of content that you're able to continue to build that relationship. Now, a lot of times our clients are able to go basically direct into a sales. They do like either a pitch at the end and people book sales calls. And so a lot of our clients are converting, you know, sales calls right away. But what about those other leads? If you get 150 leads, 300 leads, they're not all going to be booking the call. So that's why when they get onto your email list, having a welcome sequence is great. These people are new to you. They watched a workshop. They built that trust, but they're still new to you. So tell them about your story. Tell them about what you do. Have maybe a three-part email series. And towards the end, you tell them about the products or services that you have. And you can lead them to a sales funnel there. but majority of them are going to be now nurtured through your weekly or bi-weekly content.
Shay:
[21:42] And all of that content should have call to actions that then yes, are leading them through into sales funnels or different. You do launch models or when you have spots available and that kind of thing. But making sure that we are showcasing still our expertise within that middle of funnel will lead through to the bottom of funnel with call to actions in the middle of funnel content. Does that make sense? yes.
Gillian:
[22:05] For sure and thank you so much for being so like transparent and detailed about that I really appreciate that
Shay:
[22:11] Yeah you're so welcome I can get very chatty and also I get very detailed so you know if you ever need me to take a top level again just let me know yeah for sure.
Gabe:
[22:21] [mid-roll ad]
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Gillian:
[23:27] So tell me a little bit about when you in your own business are working these strategies. Are you also doing anything else to grow your audience? Like, are you also posting on Instagram or making any sort of like long form evergreen type content? Or is this like the one and only strategy that you use for visibility and audience growth?
Shay:
[23:51] Yeah, no, I love this question. So it is our main one for lead gen, for sure. So it's the main one we focus on. Also, we do have Instagram. It is how we launched a few bucket list bombshells. We were traveling the world pre-pandemic. And we built a really incredible following. We had a series of courses at the time. That was where primarily our lead gen did come from. So we do have Instagram, but we have now kind of going back to some of the things you shared about our story at the beginning. And we like to call it your part-time CEO era and sort of redefining abundance and work-life balance and all of that. So we've talked about this on our podcast where we call it more of a social media light strategy where yes, we have a following and We have an amazing community on Instagram and we have content going out three or four times a week. Again, showcasing, providing advice or connecting.
Shay:
[24:54] We do a lot of connection in the DMs through Instagram as well. So it is a lead gen funnel. Absolutely. We do get applications for our programs through there. We get new podcast listeners. We connect with our audience in DMs. It's secondary. our main strategy is the partner workshops. And then Instagram is a lead gen funnel as well on a smaller scale. And I definitely think that there's always the next new funnel or the next new thing. And so we're really big on finding what works and just like really doubling down. So we double down on our partner workshops, but we do have Instagram as a secondary lead gen funnel and more so also a nurture place even I would consider a little bit middle of funnel where we're doing more connection on there and nurturing and obviously in the DMs really connecting on this relationship level that I like to use now, relationship marketing.
Shay:
[25:50] In that sense. And then we also as well within our network, we become guests on podcasts like I am here today, you know, getting exposure to a new audience. And if something resonates with someone, maybe they will come into our world and find me through this way. So that's another strategy that we use, as well as it's a strategy our clients use heavily. The podcasting strategy works a lot for them in terms of getting new leads through freebie offers or getting on direct sales calls from guest podcasting. We've had some of our clients convert one podcast into 50k sales within three days of the podcast being published. So that's one that our clients in the service space, business owners are using heavily. For us, it's again, it's another kind of secondary one to our main partner workshop strategy. So those are probably the three top of funnel lead gen strategies that we use in our business.
Gillian:
[26:50] Yeah. Okay. So now I'd like to kind of zoom on to the very end of your funnel where you're closing this sale, right? So after you've done this free strategy call with a lead, and you are trying to sell them into one of your programs, did you say have two or three different programs?
Shay:
[27:07] We have three, but we have two core. We have a membership and a mastermind, our core offers.
Gillian:
[27:13] Okay. And are both of those open on an evergreen basis or do you open and close them for like launches?
Shay:
[27:20] Mm-hmm. Yeah. So our membership is relatively new. So we have an open-close model right now. And our mastermind is a revolving door. So there's only 10 spots. So a spot and it's a monthly commitment. So a spot only opens up when someone, I guess, drops out, for lack of a better word, which is usually people coach with us anywhere from six months to about a year and a half on average. So spots don't open up that frequently, but when they do, people can join in a more revolving. So there's a wait list, essentially, for that program.
Gillian:
[27:56] Yeah, interesting. I haven't heard about very many people doing it in quite that way. I know a lot of people have like a certain number of spots open per month. And then they have like set links for the program. But yeah, that's really interesting. So whenever you do those sales calls, you're able to, it sounds like probably generally sell the lead into one or the other of those products. Is that right?
Shay:
[28:18] Yes. And then also LaunchCamp, which was running three times a year, now only runs once a year. That is open close. And so that was our kind of entry level one that I didn't mention, but yes. So yeah, when I'm doing the strategy calls from the workshops, then basically we are qualifying them into which of those and then I ask if they want to learn more and then I share the right fit for them and then they are joining from there.
Gillian:
[28:44] Would you mind sharing ballpark numbers or even just like percents is totally fine, but like breaking down your different streams of income in your business?
Shay:
[28:54] Yeah, sure. So we have four streams of income. So the three are the programs. So Buckleless Bombshells Launch Camp, which used to run three times a year. Now once a year, we have She's Fully Booked Membership, which is a monthly recurring membership. And then we have Scale with Purpose Mastermind, which is also a monthly, I guess, monthly recurring group coaching program. And then our fourth one would be, we do partner with, we recommend a lot of tech platforms. So we do offer campaigns, sponsored campaigns,
Shay:
[29:27] sponsorship revenue and affiliate revenue from a very select group of partners. So that's on the lower percentage end. So if I broke it down percentage wise, I would say that she's fully booked as a relatively newer membership, but that will most likely be the majority, I would say, percentage wise as we grow. But up until this point, since that was in beta mode and now has just gone public in September, I would say that Scale with Purpose Mastermind was probably making up about 50% of the revenue. And I don't have the exact figures. And so I'm like, because I'm a numbers girl, I'm like, I really would love to give exact figures. But let's say 50%. And then probably evenly split between maybe LaunchCamp and She's Fully Booked. 20%, 20%, and maybe 10%. on the sponsorship side of things.
Gillian:
[30:21] Okay. And for context, what is the price point of each of those different products?
Shay:
[30:26] Yeah. So for Scale with Purpose, it is...
Gillian:
[30:30] So that's the mastermind, is that right? Yeah.
Shay:
[30:32] The mastermind group coaching program is $1,600 a month for that. And then she's fully booked membership is $97 a month. And Beckelis Bombshells Launch Camp is a one-time payment of $3,000 for the eight-week program.
Gillian:
[30:48] Okay. And you said you do that once a year these days?
Shay:
[30:51] Now, yes. We do that one once a year now. Yeah.
Gillian:
[30:54] Okay. Well, thank you so much for sharing the numbers. I know my listeners always love to hear like the nitty gritty and the specific details. So that's really cool.
Gillian:
[31:02] Yeah. So we're running out of time, but we haven't really gotten into your story very much. And that I think you have a pretty interesting story. So I would love to hear a little bit about that before we wrap this up. So my understanding is that you and Cassie met in a coffee shop somehow. So tell us a little bit about how that happened. And then if you could give us kind of like that, like bird's eye view of the story of how you got the business started and initially grew it. I think that'd be really cool to hear.
Shay:
[31:29] Yeah, of course. So yeah, Cassie and I met in Mexico in Playa del Carmen. I'm from Canada. She's from the States. So like we didn't know each other beforehand. We had booked one-way tickets and we were introduced through a mutual friend. We had just launched our individual businesses, the design business and the OBM business. And so we were introduced and we realized we had these same interests. And from there, we wanted to...
Shay:
[31:58] We were living in Mexico, I think for, I want to say about a year. And we thought, we could do this from anywhere. We started meeting... At the time, the term was digital nomads. So we started meeting other digital nomads in Playa del Carmen. And they were talking about their lifestyle, basically working from their laptops around the world. And so we started doing that. So for about two or three years, we were doing that. And we started meeting, traveling the world, we started meeting other women who were always asking us, like, how do you make money online? Like, how are you doing this? How are you supporting yourself? Because a lot of them were either doing like gap years or backpacking or their partner was supporting them. And they were not really looking to freelance necessarily. they were looking at like, what does a career look like for me where I could work online? And that's what Cass and I, also the mindset we were coming from was like, we were building businesses. We were building our career, not just to fund our travel lifestyle, but to actually build something and a legacy and build this career path for ourselves, which was a little bit of a different mindset from some people were meeting who it was more freelancing to fund the light, their travels, which was super fun to see as well. And so we just started having these coffee chats with these women and showing them and teaching them essentially exactly how we set up our businesses.
Shay:
[33:16] And so then from there, we realized that we wanted to start a community and show other women how to do this because we realized we were really good at teaching and showing how we did things step by step. And so that's where our first course, it was called the Work Online and Travel the World course that was born. And it was essentially a business skills course. So how to start an online business.
Shay:
[33:41] And then from there, we learned that our audience didn't feel they had the skills even to... Now I feel like there's not this... People are transitioning their skills from their corporate job. But at the time, they were like, well, how do I do what you guys do as brand and website designers, as BAOBM? And so we created what we called the skills courses. And we taught people how to become website designers, how to become virtual assistants. And so then that turned into a three-course suite called the Bucket List Bone Shells Academy. And that officially, it was launched in 2015, but it officially, we went full-time together in that in 2017. So it was a passion project for about two years as we really got to understand who our target market was.
Shay:
[34:28] And then in 2017, we started landing PR opportunities like our features in Forbes and in other placements that really put our name on the map. And at the time, Instagram was, you know, it was so different. The algorithm was so different back then. And it was such, it was also such a different way of connecting than it is now. And we had this incredible community on there and this incredible community in a Facebook group that we had created also as a passion project. And we turned it into a full, we went full time in 2017 and then just have gone from there. And as you see, we've pivoted and we've shifted our service offerings as we've grown as women, as our client base has grown and their needs have changed. And so we're just always making sure that we are continuing to grow with our audience and serving that in the way that makes the most sense for them and meeting their needs.
Gillian:
[35:19] Wow, what an incredible story. It's clearly been quite a journey for you guys.
Shay:
[35:24] Yes, yes. A fun one.
Gillian:
[35:26] Yeah. So I've got one more question for you before we We wrap this up and it's this. So I've noticed a lot of shifts myself in the online business world over just the last couple of years ever since I would say since COVID especially, but definitely since ChatGPT came on the scene. And I'm curious what you've found in just the last couple of years. What are some of like the biggest changes that you've seen or some biggest shifts that you've made with your business to adapt to those changes?
Shay:
[36:00] Yeah, this is a such a fun question, such a big question. So as I wrap my head around it, I'd say the first thing that comes to mind for me is that people are really craving connection and craving the in-person stuff again, or even just like the Zoom calls, the community, there is, I feel like, after maybe also the pandemic had changed this too, just kind of coming out of that cocoon and wanting to have more personalized connection.
Shay:
[36:32] Additionally, as well, I'd say that some of the changing landscape is that people want customization, specialization. I think back in the day, it was much easier to be very broad and generalized.
Shay:
[36:45] And there's just so much free, available content that is like average, that really needing to specialize to really understand your target market and to really meet their needs well, you need some level of touch points with them that is a little bit more hands on than something that's maybe a little bit more passive. And so the way that we adjusted that because, and this is kind of coming from market research we did with our audience and the exact words that they were using to say what they wanted. So I'm just speaking more in terms of what we found with our community is that's how the mastermind was created, having that one-on-one connection, having that customization that tailored the nuances of business and how it affects them. And we also emulate that as well in our She's Fully Booked membership with our coaching call and the way that we focus very specifically on marketing and lead gen strategies in that it's not a one size fits all kind of. All of the content, it's very... Because people's attention spans, they're like, it's too much. I'm not finishing courses. There's too much content to consume. So just being really streamlined, really focused and saying, cutting the fluff and saying, there is so much noise out there. Here's what is working now in 2025 for you, for your type of business.
Shay:
[38:07] Let's just focus in on this one area that's going to make the biggest shift or growth or change there. So getting really tailored, really customized, really narrowed in and focused on those results And then having that community aspect, that hands-on, them seeing your face, them seeing and having that touch point with you, whether that's in a DM or in a support area or on a coaching call, is kind of one of the shifts that we notice. Just having that more human touch, probably because where there's nothing wrong with AI or things being very like solo, kind of you're just on your own, whether that's taking a program, whether that's doing it on your own with no touch point at all, was kind of this missing gap that we saw, which is you can do so much on your own, absolutely. But as a business owner, sometimes feeling that loneliness and that kind of just the nuances are not able to be answered in the way that they are if you have something that has at least some sort of touchpoint, personalized touchpoint. And so for us, that was some of the shift, major shift that we saw coming from being full-time courses with moving into a more high touchpoint service offer ladder for our clients.
Gillian:
[39:18] For sure. I've noticed that too, that people don't just want information anymore because there is so much information available online. It was already more than we would ever get through, but now it's actually endless because AI just generates it, you know, at the touch of a button. So there's no end to it now. So people really want help doing things, not just you to tell them how to do things.
Shay:
[39:45] Definitely.
Gillian:
[39:46] Yeah. Well, Shay, thank you so much. This has been a great conversation. And I really appreciate, like I said, just what an open book you've been. To wrap this up, can you tell all the listeners where they can find you online? And I think you had a resource to share with them as well.
Shay:
[40:01] Yes, absolutely. I love connecting in the DMs on Instagram. So you can find us at Buckless Bombshells on Instagram. Of course, you can find us at BucklessBombshells.com. And we have some workshops on there and some other resources as well you can dive into. And then we did create a resource for all of the Work Less, Earn More listeners called our free dream client playbook. And it actually contains multiple resources to help you land more clients. And also to start to look at your finances and your brand and buyer persona messaging as well, which will ultimately lead to you generating more revenue. So inside of there, we have our buyer persona messaging guide. We have our six-figure partnership workshop, which is the strategy I did talk about today. So we have that strategy outlined in there for you and some extra resources around that. And then we also have our CEO money date guide to help you as a CEO make more confident financial decisions in your business. And then lastly, we have our fully booked DM script, plug and play DMs to build that relationship marketing I kind of touched on, to connect with dream clients and to build a really solid pipeline and turn that pipeline and those connections into your dream clients. So you'll find that at bucklessbombshells.com slash work less, earn more. And I'm sure it'll be in the show notes as well.
Gillian:
[41:27] Incredible. Well, thank you so much again, Shay. This was so good.
Shay:
[41:31] Amazing. Thank you so much for having me today.
Gabe:
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That's it for today's episode. But before you go, I want to remind you about the Start Scale Succeed virtual conference happening October 21st to the 23rd. It's a completely free three-day online event designed to help you grow your digital business with practical, actionable strategies. You'll hear from more than 15 inspiring speakers and get a chance to learn, connect, and take your business to the next level, all without leaving your home. Don't miss it. Grab your ticket today at gillianperkins.com/sss-register. Again, that's gillianperkins.com/sss-register. I can't wait to see you there.
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[42:14]
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Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Work Less, Earn More. Now, here's what I want you to do next. Take a screenshot of this episode you're listening to right now and share it out on your Instagram stories. And when you do, make sure you tag me at gillianzperkins so I can see you're listening. Sharing on stories is going to help more people find this podcast so they too can learn how to build their business in a way that allows them to work less and earn more and if you really love the show head over to apple podcasts right now and leave work less earn more a review to give it a boost and help even more people find it okay let's wrap this up i'm gillian perkins and until next week stay focused and take action.
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