Latest / The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series / Elise Arsenault Makes Creative Work Pay

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Elise Arsenault Makes Creative Work Pay · The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series

0:01
SPEAKER_02: If you're a creative type, you probably were also raised being told you can't make real money doing creative work as a career.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: I heard this all the time growing up as a musician.
0:14
SPEAKER_02: If you didn't know, I played piano and French horn all the way through college and actually finished a music degree.
0:20
SPEAKER_02: And so often in the 80s and the 90s and the early 2000s, people who were going through school for creative fields were just told it's not possible to really have a thriving career in these fields.
0:34
SPEAKER_02: Well, we are here to shake up that old narrative because we are seeing so many incredible creative entrepreneurs who are finding innovative ways to build creative businesses.
0:47
SPEAKER_02: Today I'm so excited to talk with the CEO collective member, Elise Arsenal, all about how she was able to take her background as an actor and transition that into the world of audiobook narration, and how now she has trained over 900 actors to do the same.
1:07
SPEAKER_02: This is such an incredible conversation about the different ways you can take your passion for creative art and turn it into a thriving business.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: Are you ready to grow from stressed-out solopreneur to confident CEO?
1:23
SPEAKER_02: You're in the right place.
1:24
SPEAKER_02: I'm your host, Rachel Cook, and I've spent the last 15 years helping women entrepreneurs to sustainably scale their life-first business.
1:32
SPEAKER_02: If you're serious about building a more sustainable business, it's time to put strategy systems and support in place to make it happen.
1:40
SPEAKER_02: Join me each week for candid conversations about stepping into your role as CEO, the hard lessons learned along the way, and practical, profitable strategies to grow a life-first business without hustle and burnout.
1:54
SPEAKER_02: Hey there, CEOs.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: Ray here, and I'm so excited to dive into this conversation today with one of our CEOs from the CEO Collective.
2:03
SPEAKER_02: You know, before we dive into this conversation, if you follow along with this podcast, you know that it is primarily a solo show.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't often bring on interviews, but I love bringing on our CEOs and really highlighting what they are doing to build these incredible, sustainable, successful businesses.
2:23
SPEAKER_02: And one of the reasons I really love highlighting the CEOs that join us inside of the CEO collective is just the diversity of businesses, the diversity of niches, the diversity of business models.
2:36
SPEAKER_02: Because for me, if everything was one size fits all personally, as a strategist and a coach, I would be bored out of my mind.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: No lie.
2:44
SPEAKER_02: I would be so incredibly bored if I could only focus on one type of business that ran one type of way and there was no creativity or innovation in how to make that business work.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: I want more of a challenge, right?
2:58
SPEAKER_02: And I can't help that.
2:59
SPEAKER_02: That's just the part of my brain that really craves that difference and that uniqueness.
3:05
SPEAKER_02: And it's one of the reasons I love having so many different types of businesses, so many different types of niches in the CEO collective, is it really shakes free that belief that only certain types of businesses can thrive.
3:19
SPEAKER_02: And maybe you've felt this or heard this.
3:21
SPEAKER_02: I know that in over 20 years of my career working with small businesses, there's a lot of people who have truly bought into that belief that you're if you're a creative, you can't have a sustainable business.
3:35
SPEAKER_02: Um, you might be able to eke out a living as a freelancer, but you're certainly not going to break six figures or multiple six figures or pay yourself six figures or multiple six figures, right?
3:48
SPEAKER_02: That's that doesn't seem possible.
3:50
SPEAKER_02: And then we see a lot of people abandoning their true passion, abandoning what they're actually incredible at, and thinking that they all need to go become a life coach or even worse, a business coach when they couldn't figure out how to make a creative business work for them.
4:07
SPEAKER_02: Little ranty right there.
4:09
SPEAKER_02: But it makes me so happy to highlight these incredible women entrepreneurs that we work with inside of the CEO collective because they inspire me all of the time.
4:18
SPEAKER_02: They are out here proving everyone wrong that you can be creative, you can be innovative, you can do things differently, and grow a six-figure or a multiple six-figure business that pays you six figures, or even better, multiple six figures, and allows you to be in alignment with the work you truly are here to do.
4:40
SPEAKER_02: All of our clients inside of the CEO collective, I a kid that we say we're industry agnostic, we're niche agnostic, like we like a little bit of everything.
4:49
SPEAKER_02: But the through line between all of our clients is truly that they are experts in their field.
4:55
SPEAKER_02: They have put in the 10,000 hours.
5:00
SPEAKER_02: And these are experts in that they have actual experience in this field, in this space.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: Most of them have been working in their field, if not on their own, then for others, for years, often decade or more.
5:17
SPEAKER_02: They have the experience, they have the expertise.
5:20
SPEAKER_02: We're working with uh literally some of the most educated women I've ever had the privilege to connect with.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: The women in the CEO collective, I'm always so amazed that we have so many master's degrees and PhDs and people who've taken other trainings and certifications and specific um modalities.
5:40
SPEAKER_02: They're just so well educated in their field.
5:45
SPEAKER_02: And they're bringing that experience and that education to the table and turning it into these really innovative, cool creative businesses.
5:54
SPEAKER_02: And Elise Arsenal is no different.
5:57
SPEAKER_02: She is bringing her background as an actor to small business, and it is so brilliant.
6:05
SPEAKER_02: When I first connected with Elise, it was so funny to me because sometimes I will um learn that I have been kind of discovered in a small little niche, and that small little niche was the world of audiobook narrators.
6:19
SPEAKER_02: And I have now had probably a dozen or so audiobook narrators who've come through to work with me in different ways.
6:26
SPEAKER_02: Um, they all have slightly different types of business models that they use, that they run themselves.
6:32
SPEAKER_02: But when Elise joined the CEO collective, I was so excited because she had not only built her own career as an audiobook narrator, and she has recorded dozens, dozens of books, including, I believe, Madonna's biography.
6:49
SPEAKER_02: She has then taken what she has learned as an audiobook narrator and created this incredible offer for other actors who want to learn how to create their own income stream as an audiobook narrator, which is just such an incredible opportunity that a lot of actors, a lot of creatives probably don't think about.
7:09
SPEAKER_02: It's not very well publicized unless you happen to be in the know, you happen to be in that world.
7:15
SPEAKER_02: So today I'm thrilled to have Elise join me here on Promote Yourself to CEO to talk about her journey through the world of audiobook narration, how she started helping others to get into audiobook narration as a career path, and how her business has really exploded over the last couple of years as she has been implementing the 90-day CEO operating system framework.
7:43
SPEAKER_02: Elise is one of our amazing clients who started coming to just the CEO retreat.
7:49
SPEAKER_02: That was the first entry point for her where she could get in and start building the 90-day plan using our framework.
7:57
SPEAKER_02: And then over time, as that started to gain traction, she joined the CEO collective and now has grown this incredible business with a team and has been able to go all in on making this business as successful as it could possibly be.
8:13
SPEAKER_02: So if you're a creative who has been told you can't make real money doing that, I want you to keep on listening.
8:19
SPEAKER_02: Hey there, Elise.
8:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm so excited you're joining me finally on Promote Yourself to CEO.
8:25
SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Rachel.
8:26
SPEAKER_01: That feels so good because this feels like a full circle moment.
8:30
SPEAKER_01: I feel like I've been listening to your podcast forever, and it's incredible to be here as a guest.
8:35
SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
8:35
SPEAKER_02: Well, I'm so excited to have you and share your story and the wins that you've been experiencing over the last couple of years.
8:42
SPEAKER_02: And it's so funny because, you know, I always say we're industry agnostic at the CEO collective.
8:48
SPEAKER_02: We like to work with lots of different types of creative entrepreneurs and different types of businesses.
8:53
SPEAKER_02: And somehow a few years ago, I ended up in the world of audiobook narrators.
8:59
SPEAKER_02: And it was kind of one of those things where I was like, first of all, I didn't know this was an industry.
9:03
SPEAKER_02: Um, but then it's a close-knit industry.
9:07
SPEAKER_02: It's like a small group of people.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: And so there were some audiobook narrators who had found my work, who attended some of the very first CEO retreats.
9:17
SPEAKER_02: And then it just kind of kept growing.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: And I kept hearing about, you know, this whole little space that was just growing incredibly quickly and such an incredible opportunity for so many creatives.
9:29
SPEAKER_02: So when you joined us at the CEO retreat and then the CEO collective, I was like really excited because the work you were doing has the potential to really help a lot of creatives to start their journey as a business owner.
9:42
SPEAKER_02: So before we kind of get into your experience, I'd love for you to share with everybody a little bit about your journey.
9:47
SPEAKER_02: Like how did you come to being an audiobook narrator and building a business around that?
9:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:54
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, this is great.
9:55
SPEAKER_01: And I think, yeah, I think there was a year that a narrator I knew was sharing it in a Facebook group I was in about your best year ever, I think.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: So that's how I just found you.
10:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but my journey, let's see, I've been an actor my whole life.
10:08
SPEAKER_01: I'm one of those, I think a lot of actors are this way where we know from a very young age this is what our calling is.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm one of those that at the age of five, I knew I was gonna be an actor.
10:19
SPEAKER_01: So I grew up um with in a family of educators.
10:23
SPEAKER_01: So my parents are both teachers.
10:25
SPEAKER_01: They encouraged me to be a teacher.
10:27
SPEAKER_01: I was like, I want to be an actor, but I had that teacher gene in me.
10:32
SPEAKER_01: So um as I progressed um in my acting career, I went to school for some education, some theater, ended up creating my own degree.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: And um, I got going as an actor.
10:46
SPEAKER_01: So I I worked on national tours, I did regional theater performing, and I reached a point where I had basically hit a big goal.
10:56
SPEAKER_01: And what I experienced wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be.
11:01
SPEAKER_01: So I was a union actor performing on stage, having multiple contracts a year, but I found that I was still struggling.
11:08
SPEAKER_01: I still had to work so many other jobs to pay the bills.
11:12
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
11:13
SPEAKER_01: So it was around that time that I found out about um, well, I had always known about voiceover.
11:19
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, Okay.
11:25
SPEAKER_01: So it was around that time that I started thinking about voiceover because I was like, you know what?
11:31
SPEAKER_01: I'm working as an actor, but I know I could be bringing in more income.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: I don't want to be a struggling artist.
11:37
SPEAKER_01: I I know there's more beyond this.
11:39
SPEAKER_01: So voiceover was one of those things that I had heard of before.
11:42
SPEAKER_01: I did a little bit in college, um, but I had such vocal background.
11:47
SPEAKER_01: I had vocal training from college, I worked privately with folks.
11:51
SPEAKER_01: I've been a singer my whole life.
11:53
SPEAKER_01: So it was just uh an obvious avenue for me to pursue.
11:58
SPEAKER_01: So I started looking into it, did some research, and I found that out that there were actors who lived near me in New England who were narrating audiobooks by day and then performing on stage at night.
12:09
SPEAKER_01: And I was like, ooh, this is a real cool nine to five.
12:13
SPEAKER_01: This is a great way for me to replace all of those other non-creative jobs and be acting as much as possible.
12:20
SPEAKER_01: So that was around 2014, 2015.
12:24
SPEAKER_01: And I narrated my first audiobook in 2015, and that book turned into four jobs, and then that it's just been going ever since.
12:32
SPEAKER_01: And today I've narrated over 175 audiobooks.
12:37
SPEAKER_02: 175 audiobooks.
12:39
SPEAKER_02: And each of these books are like 10 hours long.
12:42
SPEAKER_00: This is just not a word.
12:43
SPEAKER_00: My longest book I've ever done was The Definitive Biography of Madonna, which was 40 hours.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
12:50
SPEAKER_00: And that's the one you are up for an award.
12:53
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
12:54
SPEAKER_01: It's already won one award, the ear, the audiophile earphones award, and it's nominated for um the Sylvus Awards now.
13:00
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:01
SPEAKER_02: It's so incredible to think about how quickly this industry has kind of taken off because I think it's probably a combination of a lot of things, where even 20 years ago, this might not have been as accessible of a career unless you happened to live somewhere near a studio where you could record.
13:18
SPEAKER_02: That's right.
13:18
SPEAKER_02: But now you were able to build this side of your, you know, acting career from home mostly, right?
13:25
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:25
SPEAKER_01: So I got started going into studio for the first two years.
13:29
SPEAKER_01: And then I I lucked out because my husband is a very tech-oriented engineer person.
13:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, so he was able to create this awesome studio for us.
13:40
SPEAKER_01: So, yes, that I mean, most of my work has been from home at this point.
13:45
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
13:46
SPEAKER_02: That's incredible.
13:47
SPEAKER_02: And so at this point, you're no longer acting in theater as much.
13:52
SPEAKER_02: Not as much.
13:53
SPEAKER_02: All primarily is driven by audiobooks and then the great audiobook adventure, which is like the next evolution of your business, went from you narrating books to helping other actors find a way to create a kind of income stream.
14:08
SPEAKER_02: Tell me about that decision around when did you decide that it was time to start teaching other creatives how to get into this?
14:16
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
14:17
SPEAKER_01: Well, I as I said earlier, I come from a family of educators, but I was resistant to being an educator, even though I really was.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: I was educating throughout my like my 20s.
14:28
SPEAKER_01: I was a teaching artist.
14:29
SPEAKER_01: That was always one of my side jobs.
14:31
SPEAKER_01: But in 2016, and this is gonna sound like a sidetrack, but it's connected.
14:36
SPEAKER_01: In 2016, I was performing in a production of Avenue Q.
14:40
SPEAKER_01: Um, so for anyone who's heard of that uh musical, it's basically like Sesame Street for adults.
14:47
SPEAKER_01: Um, and it's puppetry, like the puppets are like Muppets, um, but they're saying naughty things.
14:54
SPEAKER_01: So it was anyway, this really fun uh show that I did multiple times with different theaters and different universities.
15:01
SPEAKER_01: And I I learned I started puppet coaching because usually when I learn something, then I want to teach someone how to do it.
15:07
SPEAKER_01: So once I learned how to just do the puppetry for the show, I brought that to different productions.
15:13
SPEAKER_01: So in 2016, I was both performing in this production and puppet coaching, and I felt more alive than I've ever felt before because I was using all of my gifts at the same time.
15:25
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, oh, okay.
15:29
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I notice what's happening.
15:31
SPEAKER_01: I need to do something here.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: So I finally listened to that part of me that wanted to be a coach more, but was afraid that if I was more of a coach, that I wouldn't do as much performing.
15:42
SPEAKER_01: So I was like, well, you know what, we're gonna figure it out.
15:46
SPEAKER_01: And so that's when I started my career coaching business, it was in 2016.
15:50
SPEAKER_01: And so I actually taught actors how to do a few different things.
15:53
SPEAKER_01: So I taught them how to narrate um audiobooks, but I would also work holistically on the rest of their career in these small groups.
16:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, and so it was really like uh an incubation period of like, what are my frameworks?
16:07
SPEAKER_01: And so a few years into that, it was late 2019, and the main reason people were coming to me as a career coach was to learn how to be an audiobook narrator.
16:16
SPEAKER_01: So I was putting that course together.
16:19
SPEAKER_01: So we launched it in late 2019, and what happened a few months later?
16:24
SPEAKER_01: Lockdown, pandemic.
16:26
SPEAKER_01: It was March 2020, and all of a sudden, I was like one of those rare people that when shutdown hit, I was like, whoa, I have such a solution for every actor I know.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: And at that point, the course had already existed, so it was just like such a kismet moment of like being ready for that opportunity to connect with actors.
16:49
SPEAKER_01: So we have now uh brought 900 actors through this program since late 2019.
16:58
SPEAKER_01: So we are five years in, and it's been incredible because these frameworks and the timing of it all has just uh caused my clients to have such an incredible fast track and like rocket fuel for their careers.
17:13
SPEAKER_01: And so many of them are award-winning uh narrators today.
17:17
SPEAKER_02: It's so amazing because I think what's happening in the world of work right now, we're seeing a huge shift away from traditional employment.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: We're seeing a huge shift towards more freelancing or portfolio careers.
17:27
SPEAKER_02: And I think anybody who's more of a creative type, you know, if you were dreaming of becoming an actor when you grew up, yes, there wasn't like a clear path for a lot of people.
17:41
SPEAKER_02: And it certainly didn't have much security, right?
17:44
SPEAKER_02: It was kind of like you're really, really crossing your fingers and hoping you land enough things to cover your bills and take care of yourself.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: And we all have heard the stories of actors who go to New York or they go to LA and they're auditioning all the time, they're trying to get roles, they're trying to get anything, and at the same time, they're like waitressing, bartending, you know, taking on any job they can just to be able to eat.
18:11
SPEAKER_02: And right.
18:12
SPEAKER_02: And a lot of people burn out because it does take such a long time to often, you know, figure the industry out and find your break and make those connections.
18:22
SPEAKER_02: So I love that you were able to come together and kind of tell people like, hey guys, there's this other way you can use your acting skills and do creative work, but get paid for it.
18:34
SPEAKER_02: And you don't have to go be the bartender anymore.
18:36
SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
18:38
SPEAKER_01: And it's really fun for me because even though my whole acting career was a challenge, like I always looked for these systems.
18:46
SPEAKER_01: So I think that's why I love your work so much, Rachel, is because like I learned from in college, like, okay, how do I attend these regional theater auditions?
18:56
SPEAKER_01: How do I like prepare for it?
18:57
SPEAKER_01: How do I show up?
18:58
SPEAKER_01: How do I follow, send like follow-up postcards and things?
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Um, I don't think email was like as big when I was first getting started.
19:06
SPEAKER_01: But like these are I think it's a bummer that our society doesn't do enough to support artists because when artists connect to business, it's just incredible what we can do.
19:21
SPEAKER_02: Amazing things can happen.
19:22
SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of the artists and creatives who've come through the CEO collective have all had this very like business-minded lens, entrepreneurial lens that they use to approach their work.
19:36
SPEAKER_02: And I think even like you're just sharing, like you've created a process for yourself.
19:40
SPEAKER_02: Here's how I'm preparing for audition, here's how I'm preparing for this next big opportunity, here's how I'm following up with it.
19:46
SPEAKER_02: Like a lot of people don't think like that.
19:48
SPEAKER_02: A lot of people kind of get stuck and in their own way.
19:52
SPEAKER_02: And as a result, their income, you know, has that kind of chaoticness to it where it's really hard to make a living as a working artist in any way.
20:03
SPEAKER_02: So I love that you were able to identify this.
20:05
SPEAKER_02: And as you went through this process yourself, made your own frameworks and systems.
20:10
SPEAKER_02: But then I really love that, you know, you spent like three years working with people and uncovering what it was that was gonna be the right fit.
20:19
SPEAKER_02: I think this is something a lot of people skip over.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: Um, they are kind of like, yeah, I can coach with this, and they go directly to this is what I think the answer is, that that's what I'm gonna focus on.
20:30
SPEAKER_02: And they don't work the material with people.
20:32
SPEAKER_02: They don't actually get that input and make sure that this is actually gonna get them where they want to go.
20:38
SPEAKER_02: But you kind of took a bigger picture with them saying, I'm not gonna say audiobooks are the only way, but let's talk about what you're trying to accomplish.
20:46
SPEAKER_02: And then you were able to hone in because it just became more clear as you worked with more people that this was the path that made the most sense for most of them.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: And I and I would say for anyone coming up, like if you have a business idea, take the time to do the research.
21:01
SPEAKER_01: And I know that's what you teach, Rachel, because it's like otherwise you don't have clients who are ready to buy.
21:08
SPEAKER_01: And that's kind of like what has been able to happen is I I'm researching with folks who are interested, you know, I like find my potential clients in the research process too.
21:19
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
21:20
SPEAKER_02: I think that happens a lot more than people realize.
21:22
SPEAKER_02: It's like the more you're willing to talk with people and engage with people, the more answers you're gonna get.
21:28
SPEAKER_02: But as you're asking those questions and getting really, really clear about where they're stuck, then you will get so much clarity on what the actual problem is, how they're talking about the problem.
21:41
SPEAKER_02: And, you know, as someone who's a few steps ahead of them, you can then very clearly come back and say, okay, I get it.
21:47
SPEAKER_02: I know what you're struggling with.
21:48
SPEAKER_02: Here's what I would recommend.
21:49
SPEAKER_02: So it becomes a lot faster for them to get that traction.
21:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: So now we're five years in of the great audiobook adventure, where tell us a Little bit about this program because this is like the signature offer that you really have made such an incredible.
22:07
SPEAKER_02: I mean, 900 clients, like that is a lot of people who've now gone through this program to learn how to go all in on audiobook narrating.
22:18
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm getting chills when I think about it because it's it's true.
22:21
SPEAKER_01: And I it's incredible what we all have in us that could potentially help the world.
22:27
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I mean in a small way, but um 900 people is a lot.
22:33
SPEAKER_01: I would say like here's what we do.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: We this course is for primarily this course was created for actors to meet that actor who is work, who is a film and TV or theater actor who needs a replacement for those other jobs that are just exhausting, like waiting tables, temping, all of that.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: So we meet the actor where they are with the skills they already have, but then we help them translate their acting tools to the specifics that are needed for the audiobook narration medium.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: And there is, you know, there's a shift in the tools that you need when you move from theater to film.
23:09
SPEAKER_01: And then the same is true when you move from either of those to audiobook narration.
23:14
SPEAKER_01: And so that's what we teach first is that.
23:16
SPEAKER_01: And then we also teach uh actors how to set up their home studios.
23:20
SPEAKER_01: So we really do need to understand tech.
23:24
SPEAKER_01: And so I'm so lucky that my husband, Justin Mara, who is a sound engineer, teaches the course with me.
23:30
SPEAKER_01: And so Justin really helps the adventurer create their space.
23:36
SPEAKER_01: So wherever they live, there is gonna be some sort of solution.
23:40
SPEAKER_01: So whether you live in the city, whether you live out in the country, um, whether you have a lot of space in your home or you've got a small corner to work with, Justin will help you get creative and create a space and purchase the equipment that's right for you.
23:56
SPEAKER_01: And we are really interested in um challenging any limiting beliefs of how much money you need to spend on a studio.
24:06
SPEAKER_01: So we really try to help people get started as efficiently and as affordably as possible to get the industry standard sound you need so that your startup costs can be paid back, like in your first job or two.
24:19
SPEAKER_01: That's our goal is that you pay for the course with your first job, that you pay for your home studio with your second job, so that then you can move on and have this really profitable stream through your acting work.
24:32
SPEAKER_02: I think this outcome that you've defined is so important.
24:35
SPEAKER_02: Anybody who's listening, this is how you determine like what the value is of your offer.
24:40
SPEAKER_02: Being able to say our goal is that you're gonna pay for this program with your first job and pay for your home studio with your second.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: And then from there, I mean, how many books do a lot of people end up narrating like per year?
24:54
SPEAKER_02: This is a I mean, this is an intense thing.
24:56
SPEAKER_02: And I it is a someone who records a lot myself, I'm always in awe of these audiobook actors because to talk for six hours at a time or eight hours or longer at a time.
25:09
SPEAKER_02: I mean, it is it's marathon work, it's true, and those hours recording aren't finished hours either.
25:16
SPEAKER_02: Those are just getting it all out.
25:19
SPEAKER_01: It's true, it's true.
25:21
SPEAKER_01: And so I think there's a range.
25:23
SPEAKER_01: Some of our clients decide to just do this um once in a while, and then other people, this becomes really their nine to five.
25:29
SPEAKER_01: So I would say for folks who this is their nine to five, or they're um then they're usually outputting like 15 to 30 books a year.
25:38
SPEAKER_01: So if we're talking, we're talking like mid-five-figure income.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: Um, some of my clients have gone on to six-figure income, um, pairing that with other voiceover jobs as well and other creative opportunities.
25:52
SPEAKER_02: That's incredible.
25:53
SPEAKER_02: That is incredible.
25:54
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: And then we also teach, so then from there, once the home studio is ready, once you've done some acting shifts, and also uh you've been taught some acting skills.
26:05
SPEAKER_01: If you're someone who's coming to the course who's not an actor to begin with, we work with non-actors and help you become an actor through the course as well.
26:12
SPEAKER_01: But then we teach you who are the buyers, who are the decision makers, who are the potential clients out there and how to reach out to them.
26:20
SPEAKER_01: And we all are really connected.
26:22
SPEAKER_01: So we just share like, hey, here's the publishers, here's who they are, here's how they prefer being reached out to, here's like some templates to get started.
26:32
SPEAKER_01: And then we offer coaching calls for you to customize that and make it your own as well and be all set up with your marketing materials.
26:40
SPEAKER_01: Essentially, this is like a startup program.
26:42
SPEAKER_01: We teach you how to create a startup business.
26:46
SPEAKER_02: And from my understanding, a lot of people tend to niche into specific types of books because I have been talking to lots of different people.
26:54
SPEAKER_02: Some people love recording fiction, some people love recording memoirs or biographies.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: We definitely know that there is like a little sexy underground romance uh audiobook world that I discovered.
27:09
SPEAKER_01: Yes, yes.
27:11
SPEAKER_00: I have a separate name for those books.
27:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I those were I did a lot of like romance and erotica when I was first getting started.
27:18
SPEAKER_01: So I have a pseudonym for that.
27:19
SPEAKER_01: So not everybody, not everybody knows it's me.
27:23
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, but like these are huge industries, like there's a lot of growth happening in the world of audio right now.
27:30
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
27:31
SPEAKER_01: Yes, uh, to speak to that, I would say a few years ago, because I talk about this in my intro class.
27:37
SPEAKER_01: A few years ago, one in four um folks in the US had heard an audiobook, and then just last year or the year before, that turned became one and two.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: That's incredible.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes, that's super fast uh growth and just who's listening.
27:53
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
27:55
SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, we helped folks figure out what stories are gonna be best for them to tell based on like what they're interested in listening to.
28:03
SPEAKER_01: So, like if it were you, Rachel, I would say, like, Rachel, what books do you do you love to just pick up and read for yourself?
28:10
SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, I'll ask you what kinds of books do you love to read?
28:15
SPEAKER_02: Everything, but I absolutely know that as much as I love a good like fantasy romance, I would be giggling the whole time trying to read that out loud.
28:25
SPEAKER_02: So that wouldn't work for me.
28:27
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
28:28
SPEAKER_01: And we look at that, and then we look at what the market where you fit in the market.
28:31
SPEAKER_01: What does the market say for voices like yours?
28:34
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, it's someone who's coming from a business background, I would say, oh my gosh, there's so many business books that you would naturally narrate well.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: And so we help folks use all of their life experience and in detail.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: Like, what are your skills that casting might find helpful for the books that they are casting?
28:52
unknown: Yeah.
28:52
SPEAKER_02: So I love hearing all about how you have structured this and how you're getting people into this world of audiobook narration.
28:59
SPEAKER_02: Now, how have you been able to find all of these actors?
29:04
SPEAKER_02: Because it's not like there's a central place where you can go and be like, hey guys, I have another thing other than bartending to fill the gaps in your income.
29:14
SPEAKER_02: How have you been getting those amazing people and continuing to build this?
29:19
SPEAKER_02: Because getting seriously, 900 clients in five years, yeah, that's a lot of marketing.
29:24
SPEAKER_02: That's getting in front of a lot of marketing.
29:26
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
29:27
SPEAKER_01: And I have gotten it, I had to get out of my comfort zone.
29:30
SPEAKER_01: And there are some people that have told me they don't like all my marketing.
29:34
SPEAKER_01: And it's okay.
29:35
SPEAKER_01: Like I've learned a lot of lessons as well.
29:37
SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've also learned that not everyone, I'm not right for everyone, and that's okay too.
29:42
SPEAKER_01: But uh when I first got started, I I was working with a coach who also worked with a lot of this, it was a coach for actors who became a coach for um coaches.
29:55
SPEAKER_01: And so at the time, there's just this beautiful uh community of actors who were coaches.
30:02
SPEAKER_01: And so we all started sharing each other's materials and it just became this really abundant, um, I'm not afraid to share each other's stuff, like not feeling competitive.
30:12
SPEAKER_01: So I have a core group of coaches that I started with, maybe a handful of us.
30:17
SPEAKER_01: And then from there, I just got brave enough to just ask other acting coaches um who were teaching something that was similar to what I was teaching, but different.
30:26
SPEAKER_01: So I I've asked some audiobook coaches if they want to share, but I think that feels a little too close.
30:33
SPEAKER_01: But I would say like I'll work with um, I have some friends who are like really focused on helping folks book more television roles.
30:42
SPEAKER_01: So that's a great fit.
30:43
SPEAKER_01: Folks who are looking for television roles might also be looking for audiobook roles.
30:47
SPEAKER_01: So we will share each other's free resources um with our lists.
30:51
SPEAKER_01: So that's my main marketing uh strategy is cross-promotion shares.
30:58
SPEAKER_01: So what that looks like is you know, a dozen, and then sometimes I grow like my team helps me reach out to more and more other people so that we can continue to just have this flow of cross-promotion.
31:11
SPEAKER_01: So sharing for each other's free resources with our listeners.
31:14
SPEAKER_02: And that's huge because I think where a lot of small businesses get out of back is they feel like they've got to build an audience from scratch.
31:21
SPEAKER_02: But what you've been able to do is tap into all these other audiences, other people's communities, and say, hey, you teach something a little different, but what we do is so complementary, yeah, and let's partner up.
31:34
SPEAKER_02: And that has been an amazing strategy to watch you do.
31:38
SPEAKER_02: So you've been sharing free resources.
31:39
SPEAKER_02: I know you have free training that you will go in and teach in their communities.
31:44
SPEAKER_02: And so that started with people you knew.
31:47
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
31:48
SPEAKER_02: And then you've been gradually branching out and connecting with people who you don't know at all.
31:53
SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
31:54
SPEAKER_01: Whenever I meet someone and I'm like, oh, we I like your vibe.
31:57
SPEAKER_01: Let's see.
31:58
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes people are into it, sometimes they're not, but that's okay.
32:01
SPEAKER_01: It's just like a practice of networking.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:04
SPEAKER_02: But it means you don't have to build.
32:06
SPEAKER_02: I think there's a myth that in order to build a business where you serve 900 people in five years in a program, that you have to have like thousands and thousands and thousands of followers on social media or something.
32:20
SPEAKER_01: And that's I actually don't.
32:22
SPEAKER_01: I only have on my Instagram, I say I only have, but like on my personal Instagram, I only have 3,200 people.
32:29
SPEAKER_01: I always thought you have to have over 10,000 in order to sell anything, but it's not about so it's it's not that.
32:36
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be.
32:37
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a like a smaller but engaged list is more powerful.
32:43
SPEAKER_02: I've experienced absolutely well, I I find that too.
32:46
SPEAKER_02: I find that if you're able to get in front of the right people, you don't need to get in front of everybody.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: So that's been your core attract strategy.
32:53
SPEAKER_02: When we think of our client growth engine framework, it has been these joint ventures, these you know, collaborations where you're swapping each other's free resources in order to, you know, connect with each other's audiences.
33:05
SPEAKER_02: And then you have a process that you just take people through where you're always kind of enrolling into the next group.
33:12
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
33:14
SPEAKER_01: Yes, absolutely.
33:16
SPEAKER_01: So sometimes we have an evergreen funnel going, sometimes we do live launches, and we have such a system set up now that it takes folks from the beginning being welcomed.
33:27
SPEAKER_01: We've got a great team supporting inside the course, which is made up of graduates who are now community mentors, and that's been incredible too.
33:35
SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
33:36
SPEAKER_02: I love that.
33:38
SPEAKER_02: So a couple of years ago, you started attending the CEO retreat first.
33:42
SPEAKER_02: That was your first time really getting into our world.
33:46
SPEAKER_02: And I remember you you signed up for the CEO retreat.
33:49
SPEAKER_02: You were one that showed up, like you had done all your prep work, you had all your questions, and then you always booked a one-on-one session with me after to make sure that you had every single question handled.
33:59
SPEAKER_02: And you did that for like a year.
34:01
SPEAKER_02: That was like a full year of just doing the retreats and getting your planning done and kind of going through the process yourself.
34:09
SPEAKER_02: Tell me a little bit about, you know, what was that like for you that year?
34:14
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
34:14
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
34:15
SPEAKER_01: I had heard your, I think I had heard your podcast for a year or two before.
34:19
SPEAKER_01: And I just there was a practical, I think like your really practical side is what I felt I needed, and I needed some just guidance on things I just didn't know because I don't have an MBA.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: And I was growing in a place with the business that I just had outgrown everything that I all of the tools I had at that point.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: And I was just like, I really need some help.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: So I couldn't, I knew we couldn't afford the full CEO collective at the time.
34:47
SPEAKER_01: So I was just like, well, what's the best next step in between?
34:51
SPEAKER_01: So that's what I did.
34:52
SPEAKER_01: It was like, and I've actually did this with grad school as well.
34:55
SPEAKER_01: I always wanted to get into an MFA acting program, and I didn't get into the program I wanted to.
35:00
SPEAKER_01: So instead, I hired two teachers from that program to be my coaches.
35:05
SPEAKER_01: So I think I'm like, if something isn't working, I'm like, well, what do I need?
35:10
SPEAKER_01: How else can I get it?
35:11
SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of well, probably my okay.
35:21
SPEAKER_02: And you get started implementing this framework into your business.
35:25
SPEAKER_02: And I could see every time we were connecting, you know, you were putting the systems in place, you were up-leveling the systems behind the scenes.
35:33
SPEAKER_02: And then you got to the point where you were like, I think it's time for me to hire some coaches inside my program.
35:39
SPEAKER_02: And that was really exciting to see you go from like you being the one person doing everything to now like, oh, I need help now.
35:48
SPEAKER_02: What does that mean?
35:49
SPEAKER_01: Yes, totally.
35:50
SPEAKER_01: And that was the hardest thing for me.
35:51
SPEAKER_01: That's where I really needed your help, Rachel.
35:54
SPEAKER_01: Um, I so I think that's really what I kept bringing to our the quarterly calls that I would have with you.
35:59
SPEAKER_01: And then eventually when I joined the CEO collective, that was the my biggest need for help was in growing a team because I am a recovering people pleaser.
36:09
SPEAKER_01: I think this has to do with like ADHD and like rejection sensitivity, whatever.
36:15
SPEAKER_01: But I I yeah, aren't we all though?
36:17
SPEAKER_01: Isn't that true?
36:18
SPEAKER_01: That's probably good girl conditioning as well.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: But like I I found it so hard to directly ask for what I needed and not feel like I was being a B or like being really mean, just because I really just didn't have a great, I don't know that I had great examples.
36:36
SPEAKER_01: I think I thought like if a woman is telling someone what to do, it comes off as like mean.
36:42
SPEAKER_01: So I had to understand and learn how to stand in my power as the leader and how to talk to people and ask for what I need and how to give feedback and be okay with people's reactions instead of just being about it.
36:58
SPEAKER_02: It's huge.
36:58
SPEAKER_02: I think for women in general, like we do all struggle generally, most women struggle with the people pleasing, with the good girl syndrome, with all of those things.
37:07
SPEAKER_02: And there's like one level of it that's happening when you're getting your business up and going, because now you're suddenly very visible, right?
37:15
SPEAKER_02: And you're in front of all these clients now who all have their own, you know, requests and things.
37:21
SPEAKER_02: So there's a certain level there of that internal upleveling you have to go through, increasing your boundaries, increasing your confidence in, you know, holding those boundaries, putting processes in place to make sure that you're not bending over backwards for everybody because it's not possible.
37:40
SPEAKER_02: You can't serve this many clients if you don't have clear processes, if you don't have clear guidelines and boundaries in place.
37:47
SPEAKER_02: It would just be exhausting.
37:49
SPEAKER_02: Totally.
37:50
SPEAKER_01: And it was at first.
37:52
SPEAKER_01: And it was, and it I really had to build a lot of boundaries pretty quickly since we were growing so fast.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
37:57
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
37:58
SPEAKER_01: And bring in team to help.
37:59
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
38:00
SPEAKER_02: But then bringing in the team to help is the whole nother level.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
38:03
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
38:04
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
38:05
SPEAKER_02: And there's always gonna be ups and downs with that.
38:08
SPEAKER_02: But I love that you were kind of methodical about this.
38:11
SPEAKER_02: You were like, I'm gonna implement what I can right now, yes, and get the support that makes sense for me right now.
38:16
SPEAKER_02: And then when it the team part it comes in, you were like, Okay, now I really need to get in this community because this team is the whole next level bumping up against my growth edge and 100%.
38:30
SPEAKER_01: I was just like, I can't do this by myself.
38:32
SPEAKER_01: Like, bring in Rachel, bring in all of the CEO collective team.
38:36
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that's been incredible to have accountability, to have um, I think it took me finally being in the collective to actually finish my plan because the CEO retreat, there's such a system that you teach that it took me like a year to deeply grasp how it worked and then to finally implement.
38:55
SPEAKER_01: And there are some things that were on my list, not on my list, but like on my quarterly goals for probably six or seven or eight retreats.
39:04
SPEAKER_01: And one of them is me launching my podcast.
39:07
SPEAKER_01: It took me being in the collective for like three quarters to finally do this thing that I had wanted to do two years ago.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
39:15
SPEAKER_02: Well, and I think that's totally normal.
39:17
SPEAKER_02: And that's because it was something new to create.
39:21
SPEAKER_02: So it's something else starting from scratch versus the other parts of the plan that we really focus on, which is building on existing things in your business, building on your existing marketing or sales or client delivery system.
39:33
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's totally normal because when you're growing as fast as you were, or you still are, it just takes a lot of focus to keep those things running smoothly without throwing something new in the middle of it.
39:47
SPEAKER_02: Right.
39:48
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's something that a lot of us as entrepreneurs like, we love the idea of coming up with new things.
39:53
SPEAKER_02: New ideas.
39:53
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, yes.
39:54
SPEAKER_01: Every week my team's like, stop it.
39:56
SPEAKER_01: Okay, that's no, no, that's literally it, right?
40:00
SPEAKER_02: It's like we're we love the new ideas, we get excited about brainstorming new things, and at the same time, if we shut down what is working to focus on something new, it like stalls out the whole business, and then you're back to square one again.
40:16
SPEAKER_02: So it was I know it was frustrating to keep putting the podcast on hold and we kept talking about it, but I was like, no, keep focusing on building the systems, getting the team in place so they can run a lot of it for you.
40:28
SPEAKER_02: Because once you got to the point where you were able to pull yourself out of a lot more, yes, that's when the space finally appeared where it made sense to start a podcast.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: Yes.
40:38
SPEAKER_01: And I think you talk about this a lot, and it's so true, and I'm really experiencing this right now.
40:43
SPEAKER_01: When you want to grow and scale and be visible, we really need downtime to think more self-care than ever.
40:52
SPEAKER_01: There are certain things that I do for myself and my body that I never used to do or think that I had to do, and now I'm like, oh, if I don't do this, I'm not gonna, I'm not even gonna believe in myself.
41:02
SPEAKER_01: Never mind be able to think of new ideas or new content that I want to put out there.
41:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:08
SPEAKER_02: This is where I think there's this big misconception that as we're growing our businesses, we're supposed to do more and more and more and more.
41:15
SPEAKER_02: But the reality is you as a business owner actually need to do less because not only is your business have a lot going on and your team is is running those things, but you have to have the capacity to manage a team, right?
41:28
SPEAKER_02: Which is a whole nother thing.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: That takes a lot more time, I thought it was more time.
41:35
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
41:36
SPEAKER_02: And because you're developing people, you're coaching up your team, you're trying to make them better at what they're doing and get to where you're going.
41:43
SPEAKER_02: And that on its own takes up so much mental emotional energy that we often dismiss.
41:50
SPEAKER_02: And when we go after next level visibility too, that takes a tremendous amount of energy.
41:57
SPEAKER_02: And so if we're if we're constantly feeling like I have to do everything, if I'm not doing it, then it doesn't, you know, work.
42:06
SPEAKER_02: We have to get out of our own way and realize that as you scale, you actually need a whole lot more blank space on your calendar so that you can have the mental clarity that you need to identify what does my team actually need?
42:22
SPEAKER_02: Or the mental clarity to be thinking ahead of like, okay, we've already got this quarter in the bag.
42:27
SPEAKER_02: Let's think ahead six months or a year, like where are we headed?
42:30
SPEAKER_02: And I think this is where a lot of people get stuck when they're trying to scale their business, is they just get so focused on the day-to-day and they don't let their team really do their job.
42:41
SPEAKER_02: And then they're exhausted and burned out because they're always 100%.
42:46
SPEAKER_01: I experienced this probably for a full year or two, and I have a great team.
42:50
SPEAKER_01: Shout out to my team, they're amazing.
42:52
SPEAKER_01: And I think there have been a couple times when I've I've even said in a team meeting, like, yeah, wow, you all are doing a great job.
43:01
SPEAKER_01: And it's like terrible that I'm like, I I just like came up and like looked around because I just would stay in that rut of feeling like I had to push every boulder up the hill instead of letting people do the work that they're great at doing.
43:17
SPEAKER_02: Well, isn't there also I find this too?
43:19
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes there's this weird feeling of like guilt, like Yes.
43:23
SPEAKER_02: Like if I take a little bit of wow, we did this launch and we made this much and had this many new clients sign up.
43:29
SPEAKER_02: I feel bad that I didn't work harder for that.
43:32
SPEAKER_01: My first yes, my first launch that me, like my first my um our my program coordinator when we moved her to full time, and we're like, we're not doing anything late night in the middle or and on weekends anymore.
43:44
SPEAKER_01: Like we're not gonna pull all, we're not gonna do like late night stuff.
43:48
SPEAKER_01: I think like both she and I were just like when that launch ended, we're like, oh.
43:54
SPEAKER_01: It didn't have to be like how crazy it used to be.
43:58
SPEAKER_01: It was just like So interesting.
44:01
SPEAKER_01: Um, but it took work to get there.
44:03
SPEAKER_02: It's not like it just one of the classic self-sabotages we see at that point is then instead of letting it be easy, we kind of like recalibrating to that being the way that we're running the business, that's when people self-sabotage and start making it complicated.
44:21
SPEAKER_02: They look for things to mess up.
44:23
SPEAKER_02: I've experienced that.
44:24
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:25
SPEAKER_01: I even on like taking a weekend off, like feeling my body on Monday being like, oh, was that okay?
44:31
unknown: Yeah.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
44:32
SPEAKER_02: That's uh I feel like that's one of my favorite parts of the conversations we have in the collective with everybody because when things start working, that's when you really have to double down on taking care of yourself so that the overworking and over-functioning for your team doesn't like kick back in.
44:48
SPEAKER_02: Cause that's where people stay stuck all the time.
44:51
SPEAKER_02: So I it's been really great to see you pay attention when I'm saying, okay, are you taking time off?
44:57
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
44:58
SPEAKER_01: Yes, when I came to my first in-person retreat in June, I remember that was like the hardest thing.
45:03
SPEAKER_01: You and Erica were like, nope, you're gonna choose another day.
45:06
SPEAKER_01: Nope, you're gonna do like Yep.
45:08
SPEAKER_02: We are gonna make you take time off because you need to recalibrate.
45:12
SPEAKER_02: And if you want your business to be easier, then you have to make progress on the personal front too, or else your nervous system will always feel like, well, if I'm not stressed or panicked or working too much, then everything's gonna fall apart.
45:27
SPEAKER_02: No, we need to recalibrate our system so it's like when I'm calm and relaxed and feeling grounded, then everything works.
45:35
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
45:36
SPEAKER_02: Better place to be leading your team from your clients from.
45:41
SPEAKER_02: I love it.
45:42
unknown: Yeah.
45:42
SPEAKER_02: Well, you did finally launch that podcast.
45:45
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I did.
45:46
SPEAKER_02: It was a big project, giant, but now it's out in the world.
45:52
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
45:52
SPEAKER_02: And it's been out for a few months now.
45:54
SPEAKER_02: What's the name of the podcast?
45:55
SPEAKER_02: So everyone can go find it.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
45:57
SPEAKER_01: It's called The Global Actor.
45:59
SPEAKER_01: So the Global Actor, so it's motivational business for actors and multi-hyphenate creatives.
46:08
SPEAKER_02: Yes, I'm so excited because I think a lot of people who are very creative, they tend to want to learn more about their craft, but forget about okay, how do I actually make a career myself when there's no clear, you know, path.
46:23
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's so important to pay attention to people like you who are doing it and who are giving solutions and giving frameworks that can make it easier to actually make a career doing that.
46:34
SPEAKER_02: So I encourage everyone, if you are a creative or you know a creative who is trying to figure out like, how do I actually make a real career out of this?
46:43
SPEAKER_02: Go listen.
46:44
SPEAKER_02: Even if you're not an actor on the stage or in TV or what have you, I think anybody who's a creative and trying to find a new way to make a career around being creative, it's definitely worth listening to.
46:56
SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Rachel.
46:58
SPEAKER_01: It's such a joy to finally have this container to put out these ideas that I've been sharing with my clients forever, but to have this space that I not only get to have conversations with clients and other uh awesome performers who are doing this and making a living doing this, but also to just share like my solo episodes where I'm breaking things down and talking about specific things that are happening in the world right now and sharing my take and next steps on how to move through them.
47:30
SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
47:31
SPEAKER_02: Well, I would love to wrap up by having you share a little bit for anybody who's been thinking about joining us at either the CEO retreat or this join us inside of the CEO collective.
47:41
SPEAKER_02: What advice would you give to them if they are considering joining this community?
47:45
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
47:46
SPEAKER_01: Do it, do it, do it.
47:48
SPEAKER_01: You're you're going to make your investment back and finally be held in a way that you need.
47:59
SPEAKER_01: Like for me, I was deeply missing this weekly access to Rachel.
48:05
SPEAKER_01: Like that alone has been incredible, knowing that whenever there's a headache or something coming up, I can either connect with my mentor or Rachel.
48:13
SPEAKER_01: Anything that is bothering me or anything that is a challenge, I easily get an answer.
48:19
SPEAKER_01: I easily get multiple replies.
48:21
SPEAKER_01: And so I I just want to encourage anyone who has any sense of I want to move to the next level with my business.
48:31
SPEAKER_01: I want to have more free time.
48:32
SPEAKER_01: I want to bring in team.
48:34
SPEAKER_01: You need to do the CEO collective.
48:36
SPEAKER_01: It's just so empowering and it's incredible to connect with just, I would say the the women I've met in the collective are just grounded in real.
48:47
SPEAKER_01: It just doesn't feel like that's really important to me, especially coming from the acting world where sometimes people are putting on certain, I don't know.
48:57
SPEAKER_01: We we wear lots of masks because we need to, but it's really interesting.
49:02
SPEAKER_01: I thought at first I wouldn't be as accepted because I kind of was like, oh, I don't know if I'm really a business person in the way all these other people are.
49:10
SPEAKER_01: So it it and that's so funny because when I went to the city.
49:14
SPEAKER_02: Because I think everybody feels that way a little bit.
49:17
SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not businessy enough.
49:19
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
49:19
SPEAKER_02: And I'm like, what are you talking about?
49:22
SPEAKER_02: You are so smart and just have such a great natural instinct for your business.
49:28
SPEAKER_02: And that's one thing I love about our community too.
49:31
SPEAKER_02: Like our people are incredible and supportive and just very real and open and encouraging.
49:37
SPEAKER_02: And I think that is part of it for me, that's what makes it special, is when I'm able to walk in the room with everybody and just see all the love and the support and the encouragement, even if we we all don't understand each other's businesses 100% because things are a little different.
49:51
SPEAKER_02: There's so much like cross-pollination of ideas and encouragement that we all can find our own way.
49:59
SPEAKER_02: Yes.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: Totally.
50:02
SPEAKER_01: And I will just say this has been the most skyrocketed year of my business in finally getting systems in place and getting the team and getting caught up and preparing for what's next and finally doing the things I wanted to do.
50:16
SPEAKER_01: So I just feel like anything's possible.
50:19
SPEAKER_01: Definitely gonna be back for next year.
50:21
SPEAKER_01: Can't wait to talk about that.
50:22
SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I just love the support.
50:25
SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much, Elise, for jumping on with me today as we wrap.
50:29
SPEAKER_02: Um, do you want to share with everybody how they can learn more about the global actor and the great audiobook adventure?
50:35
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
50:36
SPEAKER_01: Um, for I have a free class that I would love you to check out if you're curious to learn more about audiobook narration, whether you are an actor or know an actor, or you're a creative who loves telling stories.
50:48
SPEAKER_01: Uh, we have I have an intro class.
50:50
SPEAKER_01: It's called Narrate Your Way to Abundance, where I teach you a bit about the audiobook industry.
50:55
SPEAKER_01: And then I teach you my three tools to get started working with audiobook publishers.
51:00
SPEAKER_01: So you can take that class for free at audiobookadventure.com slash learnmore.
51:06
SPEAKER_01: And you can also follow us on Instagram at the Global Actor.
51:11
SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
51:12
SPEAKER_02: We will have all of those links in the show notes.
51:14
SPEAKER_02: So anyone who's interested or knows somebody who you're thinking of, like, oh my gosh, I wish so-and-so knew about this as an opportunity, send it to them because this is such a cool, interesting new field that I feel like more people need to know that there's creative, interesting ways to make a living and to make a business.
51:34
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes it means you're making it up as you go along, but there are people out there who have done this before and are excited to support you.
51:42
SPEAKER_02: So I love it.
51:44
SPEAKER_02: I will link all those up.
51:45
SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much, Elise, for joining me today.
51:47
SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Rachel.