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Community, Connections and Scaling an Agency with Kristina Bartold-Sorgota · The Unfiltered Tea with Evie

• Evie Tavares: Welcome to the Unfiltered Tea with Evie podcast where personal brands and service providers come for honest, anti-sleeves marketing advice that actually works. I'm Evie Tavares, founder of Evie Tavares Branding. And if you're tired of manipulative tactics, sleazy marketing strategies, and feeling like you're the only one who doesn't have your business altogether, you're in the right place. On this podcast, we're diving into a copywriting, personal branding strategy, business mindset, You're listening to the Unfiltered Tea with Evie and I'm back with another incredible guest episode. I want to interrupt this chat right here because if you're sitting here thinking this sounds amazing, this is where I want to be, this is where I need to be, I want you to know that the next High Vibe Women event is already scheduled for October and Christina and Maria have very lovingly given me a discount code to share with you all. So if you're interested, I'm going to put the link in the show notes for the event in October. I want to take a quick moment just to thank you so much for joining me in this space just to encourage you that if there was anything that kind of sparked something for you or you felt like somebody that you know maybe needed to hear, please feel free to share the episode. ⁓ And you are excited to hear more, go ahead and subscribe and listen to more of the episodes. I am here with Christina, who I'm so excited to have here today. Christina, thank you so much for taking the time to come on. Kristina Bartold: ⁓ my gosh, of course, I'm so excited to be here and excited to chat with you. Evie Tavares: Awesome. Well, I feel like I consider you and I've heard other people call you this too, the queen of community. But I feel like that's like for you, it's so genuine and it's so authentic. Like I can't tell you the number of times I've gone on threads or somewhere else and you've tagged me on something, somebody asking for a copywriter. Like you're just one of those people who's always saying other people's names in rooms that they're not in. So I'm so grateful for that. I know other people in your community are. yeah, you're just like I am so pumped for you listen to this episode. And this guest has had such a huge impact on my business. she ⁓ and business partner are honestly, I attribute lot of my success and my growth to them and the also for the online community. For the event in October, you can use the code EV50, E-V-I-E-50 to save on your ticket. And when you get your ticket, send me a message so that we can connect before we actually get to meet in person in October. and balancing business with kids and real life. I'll be bringing in some epic guests, including business experts share their insights and real experiences in life and business. You can expect real life stories, tactical tips, ⁓ and the spicy EV moment, all served up with your morning cup of tea. So grab your tea, get cozy, and let's get into it. I'm so excited that you're here and I can't wait to continue this journey with you. community that they've helped me build. further ado, our next guest is Christina Bartold-Sorgotta. ⁓ is the co-founder of the social snippet and High Vibe Women. She loves helping entrepreneurs and small business, ⁓ business owners grow their communities online using social media, podcasting and events. ⁓ spends most of her days recording podcast episodes for the community podcast, coaching business owners on how to grow their businesses or hosting events. I know you run the High Vibe Women events. You are like the epitome of High Vibe Women, So ⁓ yeah, super excited to chat So kind of leading with that and leading with community, I was kind of thinking about how people kind of build an audience on social media and some people build a So ⁓ how would you kind of describe the difference the two and how would you kind of ⁓ start? Kristina Bartold: you. ⁓ Evie Tavares: Let's get back to the episode. for local female entrepreneurs to grow through the High Vibe Women events. we cover so many incredible things in this episode. ⁓ talk about the difference between building community versus growing an audience. We talk about the challenges of scaling a business and the significance ⁓ mentorship as a business owner. So go ahead and grab your favorite beverage, start your walk, start your... shifting from an audience to a community. Kristina Bartold: Yeah, I love that question. I actually just the other day did an interview for my friend Laurie's podcast and we actually talked about this topic because it's so important because often when people are talking about social, they think about audience like the number, right? You're like, oh, like I want to have 100,000 followers, 5,000 followers, 300 followers, whatever that number is. And that's what they're looking to grow. But you can grow that as much as you want. But at the end of the day, I have seen people with 100,000 followers that can't sell a t-shirt. So what's important is that you actually have Evie Tavares: folding your laundry, whatever it is, start your drive, whatever it is that you do when you listen to these podcasts, go ahead and start leaning and enjoy the episode. Kristina Bartold: what I believe is a community of people who are excited to buy from you, who are ready when you are ready to put something out there, the first people to like kind of go for it. example of this, I just think about, you know, Evie is today we had our high-five women networking call, which I know you were at for our online community, which was great. ⁓ I put in there like, hey guys, like it would mean the world to me. I have this survey. There were, ⁓ would love it if you guys filled this out for me. ⁓ like, because if we're trying to do some market research, every single person filled it out. Like, and I, that was way more than I expected, but it's because we are in this reciprocal environment of give and take and being able to work together to build our businesses. So I think the difference between an audience and a community is your audience might be with the people that follow you, but your community are the people that buy from you and grow with you. no matter what business you're in, they kind of come with you on that journey. And so ⁓ I was getting started in business or maybe I'm, you know, mid-stage and I'm looking to grow my community, I would really start with just having conversations with people like. really growing that network, whether that be going to an event, hosting an event, someone for a one-on-one coffee, like it doesn't have to be big. That the big thing I think that really moves the needle when it comes to growing a community. Evie Tavares: Mm I actually love that you brought up the ask that you made today in the group, because it was funny when you asked, you're like, ⁓ I have to like make an ask. But then you said it's like, yeah, like no, duh, I'm gonna do that. Like, it was like a no brainer from like that the person being asked, because you've built that kind of a community where people are just willing to do that for each other without even second guessing it. Kristina Bartold: Hmm. Yeah. Thank you, Evie. And while I would say that's a big piece of, when you're growing your business and you're growing a community, like it's, there is an element of ⁓ reciprocity that you want, right? Where I am somebody and I, this is what I tell everybody. If you're growing a business, be willing to go first. You know, I have heard people Evie be like, ⁓ I'm not actually going to do that thing for free. I'm not going to make that referral. I'm not going to make that connection because that person's never done anything for me. And if you've never done anything for that person either, like you're both living in that mentality and no one gets to win. But even today I had a partnerships call with somebody and they were trying to pitch me for something and I was kind of trying to pitch them for something. And by the end of it, I was kind of like, all right, what's middle ground here? Like, because this is what I'm willing to do for you kind of for free. And what are you willing to do for me? And we were able to find a middle ground. And I even said, I'm happy to pay you. But it looks like there is some actual mutual benefit here. And so. I think, yeah, I think you want to be, and you want to find those communities and those spaces, regardless of where they are, there are people who are going to be singing your name and there are people who are going to be moving the needle for you and your business when you're not always there to do it. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I love that. And I'm wondering for you, is there a moment with your audience or your community where you felt that shift, where it did go from an audience to a community, or was it kind of always like that for you? Kristina Bartold: Yeah, it to be honest, it was always like that, which is actually like how the social snippet got started. So for those of you who don't know me, I have Hive Ed Boomin, which is our online community and events business, mostly events in person. Me and my business partner, Maria, have been pouring into that for the last few years. But then our original OG business and still the thing that pays the real bills is the social snippet, which is a marketing agency where we do social and podcasting. So love that. I'd love to be of service there. But how the social snippet actually got started was because I had a previous business before the social snippet, which it was a coaching business I had. I have a master's in leadership. I was helping people through the pandemic, trying to figure out like everyone was having like existential crisis. So like, you know, I was doing like, you know, coaching with people and helping people with Myers-Briggs. And was like doing all these things. And my services like could not sell faster. Like it was for someone with no business acumen. I have no reason to be like doing anything. I'm a self-starter. I can literally teach myself anything. But I was making these little flow desk web pages before they were web pages, know, those little opt-in forms. And I didn't have a site. so Maria was working in the travel industry. And I asked her to be my VA because I was like, I don't have any graphics. Can you please just do this? And that's how we got started. But I sold everything. My first sales were all to people I knew. And so that's actually, you know, both a huge luxury, but also a huge amount of like a barrier sometimes for people in getting started. It's like, who am going to sell to? I don't want to sell to these people. Then they see me or then they know what I'm doing or whatever. And that being said, I had such an amazing community and I had all these people who were just buying from me all the time and asking what my next thing was. Would I be willing to do something else? Could I do something on top of that? Would I be willing to? I it was like they were building their own upsells. It was incredible. And so that's how the social snippet got started was people kept asking us to do their social because we were showing up so much on social and selling so much on social. ⁓ that's how it grew. So I've always had a strong community, but I think ⁓ has a community. all about how you cultivate it. And ⁓ I think lots of people, they miss the key things to do to cultivate a community, whether that be answering your DMs, messaging with people, you know, sharing a great podcast you listen to. Evie Tavares: Yeah. Kristina Bartold: ⁓ you see on thread, someone's looking for somebody and it takes you one second to tag somebody doing that. Like there are these things that to me are super common sense, but I understand that's probably like my gifting, but for other people, I just think, you know, sometimes we miss the, the like really easy stuff to grow a business. And then we're like over like focusing on funnels. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Yeah, that's so true. It's almost like it's like almost too simple that people just kind of like glaze over and they're like, ⁓ I got to do this thing. Like they're not looking at the simple daily things that they can do. Kristina Bartold: Yes! And it's like, I think as a solo effort, I mean, I will say I put a significant amount of time into making referrals. Like that's a huge part of like my days, right? Like I'll meet with people, Evie, and someone will say, I'm looking for a copywriter. And immediately I'm like, no problem. Let me introduce you to Evie. That's easy. Or someone will say, I'm looking for like a web designer. I'm like, great. You can meet my friend, Karla. Like whatever that is. And I'm so happy to do that. I make that practice. And then ⁓ not shocked that my business is mostly referral, right? Because if someone's referring you all the time, right? You're like, you know, wow, that person's really filling my pipeline. You're going to look for opportunities to try to refer that person, right? You're going to want to be part of that person's world. You want just like a reciprocal perspective. I think I yeah, I haven't been I haven't been shocked that that's been the experience that I've had in growing my business. And I think we'll continue to just because ⁓ I've so many deposits for people that I think I think people are always really happy to make make deposits for me as well. Evie Tavares: Yeah, I think you're right. I I forgot what it was called. I think it's Pre-Swa-Gian with Chialdini or like that. And it's about like psychology and it talks about that reciprocity. But like, again, I think it's just like doing it from a genuine place ⁓ and like a place of authenticity makes a huge difference as well, which I think that again, you do that as well. Kristina Bartold: Okay. Yeah. Well, I think it's like you can't do it from a place of, like I have seen people do things from a place of taking, right? Where it's like they really want in return. And so it's like, ⁓ gonna do it because they're hoping something will come of it. And I just, I've never lived in that energy because ⁓ things have happened that I could never have imagined from being in like a generous spirit. ⁓ Evie Tavares: in the world. Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: being like a cheerful giver rather than being like so like ⁓ like if I give Evie this referral like I'm hoping that she's gonna do it back like I'm like I know all of these things come around and I think when you're just like I'm really just invested in community and building community I it circles around. Evie Tavares: Mm And that really leads nicely into my next question, which is about how with high vibe women events and the online community, you Maria really help others to do that to build their community in a really genuine way. In specifically with the in person events, which I've been to a lot of them. ⁓ many to count. ⁓ been to all the full day ones. ⁓ Kristina Bartold: Yeah, all of them. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Evie Tavares: And I've been to, I went to the coworking one that you did years ago when I was starting out. That was when I first met you guys a couple of brunches, I think. ⁓ just addicted now at this point. ⁓ Kristina Bartold: Yeah. Killing it. Yeah, I love it. Evie, I don't know if you're gonna record that I said this on my podcast, but you edited it so you can edit it, but Evie had a nightmare that she couldn't buy the first ticket for High Five Woman, because I use you as a guinea pig sometimes to buy things, and on the web pages, I'm like, does this work, and are you gonna get an email at the end? And was a nightmare. It wasn't even like, ⁓ I had this weird dream. She was like, it was a nightmare. So you're committed to the cause. Evie Tavares: I did. Yeah. No. Yeah. Yeah. It was like, literally, I pulled up the screen. It was like, you are not the first person to buy a ticket. And I was like, no. yeah, worst nightmare. Can you, ⁓ so you've ⁓ we're into your fifth, when we're recording this, we have the fifth one coming up and you're already playing the sixth one. Is there kind of a moment with the High Vibe Women full day events or even the shorter ones that you kind of looked around and you're like, Kristina Bartold: Love it. Evie Tavares: We did this, like, we made this. Is there kind of like a specific moment where you look around and feel that at these events? Kristina Bartold: ⁓ my God, all the time. Yeah. You know what, Evie, it's so amazing because I think Maria and I are both so rooted in gratitude about all of this that it's like it never is lost on us ever. so I know there's people who will, you know, have 20 people come to an event and they'll be disappointed. And I'm like, wow, what an opportunity to bless 20 people. Like, that's awesome. Like, we are both so similar minded about this where for us, it's so much about impact and we just see how much the women get from it. So there's a few, like I would say always at the end. Like the thing that always strikes me as so odd but like so warm like for me is that people say to take photos with us like I because I'm always like you guys want to take photos on the stage like come for the stage and then people be like come be in the photo we're like you don't need us in these photos, but it's like so so sweet that always really gets me and then the thing that I'm like the most proud of I think is that Like you never feel like you make it right like I don't think anyone anyone I know who's ambitious like never feels like it's the end but What I think is always just so amazing is when I talk to somebody who has been to an event and they have like some type of return on their investment. That is the thing where I'm like, this is what it's for. Like, it's not really about me and Maria, like wearing nice dresses and like hosting an event. It's not like I love the brand activations we do. I love our sponsorship partners. I love those frickin swag bags. Like, you know, it's just so much fun. ⁓ really always about like, you know, you made a connection a brunch once. Right. And that's led to a bit of work for you. That's so important to me that that's like a great return or like two people sitting next to each other and then they go out for coffee the next week. Like, wow, like just, it's just, I know the power of like you sit next to someone at an event, have no idea where it's gonna go and then it goes somewhere like you couldn't imagine. So I just think like, yeah, I just think it's really like when I think on these moments, it's really just seeing how full circle it is to see people build their own communities. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: And like the amount of spin-off events that have come from High Five Women where people are like, you know, now they run their own events and they're doing their own thing, like, get it. Like, I'm actually so pleased. Like, and people are always like, ⁓ like, does that make you feel weird? And I'm like, no. Like, I'm stoked about it because I just think there's just something so magical about women gathering. So there's just so much to celebrate. Evie Tavares: And I know that you went to a lot of events in the States prior to starting High Five Women. Was that kind of what you found was the biggest impact for you? So you wanted to be able to bring that impact more into Canadian boundaries, I guess. Kristina Bartold: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it was interesting. So when we started the social snippet, had a decent Canadian community, I would say, but it was just interesting that there was no gathering place. There was no community I could think of where I could go and I would be able to see a ton of people I loved. One of my favorite things about Hive by Women is people are like, oh, it feels like coming home. It feels like a reunion. Someone was moving a family vacation because she was like... I can't miss seeing my girls. Like, this is so good. And I was like, okay, like do you like there'll be other ones. We'll be back. So it's interesting. Like I, we went to all these events in the States. We were actually part of a mastermind that met twice a year. And what was so interesting about it was so many the people were Canadian and we're sitting there and so much in at Downey and her partner, Steve like, You know, we're Laura Sinclair, like, you know, we're all in this mastermind together in the US. in Arizona all sitting together being like, ⁓ I'm from Barrie and I'm from, I grew up in Toronto. so I, that made me kind of think of like, well, what would be back here? And we just couldn't find anything that was the right fit for us. And I'm such a big believer that like, when you see a gap like that, you're the one meant to fill it. Like you're seeing these signs, you're seeing these signs. So that is why, and there was a very particular way that, and I'm obviously like, you know, very aware of the political landscape of what's going on right now in the US. I just want to be mindful of that ⁓ I share this. I think Americans have ⁓ a entrepreneurial type of energy to it, like American events. There's a piece around this American dream and they risk it and they go hard or whatever. And Canadians, we're just more risk-averse. That's just the way we look at our economy. ⁓ So it was just interesting to go kind of back and forth and you would hear these like stories of women, like, and we have these at home too, but they just didn't feel as accessible. And so wanted to create these spaces where we could hear these stories of like women who were doing the damn thing and really growing their businesses in sustainable ways. know, whether that's working full time job growing in at night, whether that's, you know, doing everything we can be like provide for our families. Like, you know, we know that when women grow businesses, they're giving back to their communities. Like, So these women are doing these amazing things here and we're not gathering to talk about it. And it didn't feel like at the time. And so that was it for us was like the starting point of it was like, hey, let's gather these people. I have nothing against networking with men. I'm in lots of groups that have men. Like it wasn't about that, but there's just this power of women. That way we do business is so different. So really that was the catalyst for it, but now it's morphed into something so different. And we have so many Americans that come as you know, to high vibe women all the time. Evie Tavares: You Kristina Bartold: Because there's something really special about like the like my I think you know in ball Claudio ⁓ in ball always is like I love my Canadians. You guys are amazing. You're so thoughtful like you're so kind like the way you guys do business is so incredible like and I just believe that to be true so much so wanting to create space for that I think has been the catalyst. Evie Tavares: Yes. Yeah. And now that you mention it, think you're right. Like when I first started my business, I think so I started three years ago, which was right when you guys were kind of starting high vibe women. I knew when I was starting that community was important, but there wasn't a lot of opportunities in my city that wasn't just like straight up networking, showing up with a business card. Like, you know what I mean? And you guys really kind of led the charge ⁓ on up and talking about Kristina Bartold: Yeah. Yes. I Evie Tavares: your successes, your wins, your losses, and just being really open and honest about what it's actually like to have a business. Kristina Bartold: Well, and it's just interesting because even I do think as Canadians, but especially as women, like we are so humble to our success, right? Like we are so, I don't want to say fearful of sharing because I actually don't think it's fear, but I think it's like, felt like I was among the first group of women I knew in my, like my location sphere to talk about the fact we had to hit seven figures. That is very common in the States, right? Like very common in my entrepreneur world for people to be very like, Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: this is how I'm doing. This is how much I'm in the red. Like this is my burn rate. This is like, it just, it just never. And like, I would have those conversations, ⁓ similar, met her in the States. Like, you know, like I would have these conversations with friends, but it wasn't like, you can't like, what is it? You can't ⁓ be it without seeing it. So like, I, I know I am like a better entrepreneur. I know our business has been more successful because I've been around eight figure entrepreneurs. Like ⁓ like I know that. And so being able to like bring that forward and like, just be really honest of like, here we are here in the red. And that's what this looked like. And those are all the investments we made. this is how we've paid ourselves. And this is how we've worked on that. And we still don't pay ourselves as much as we want to. And here are the investments we're putting back in our business. And this is why that's important. ⁓ are conversations that we really needed to have with people. ⁓ I think, yeah, I've just really tried to lead with that authenticity as much as possible and just being really honest about what we love about business and what's hard. Because there's also a level of and I see it more I would say in other spheres but like the glamour of business like, you know Oh, I know I don't want a man to tell me when I can eat lunch. So I'm gonna start my own business It's like that's not that simple. Like it's really not that simple and like the amount of women that make to send figures It's like 1 % right? So it's like that like I want to raise that I want that to be way higher and so I don't know I think Yeah, I think as women, like, we're so humble about our accomplishments and I really just believe that there's just so much power in us doing all this together. Evie Tavares: Mm Yeah, I agree. And we were just talking about that in the the networking call this morning. There was two of us on the call, who were ⁓ was one of them, who was just like, ⁓ yeah, like, I do this, like, just kind of like almost whispering it. And then when you open up, and you say what really is like the one woman had like, 20 employees, and like, so much bigger than she kind of let on. And it's like, you should have led with that, like, Kristina Bartold: Yeah, absolutely. Wow. ⁓ yeah. There was a woman at our last retreat who is starting a new venture and she has an existing venture. And she was talking about this existing venture and she was like, well, I do this thing, which it was probably a thing that like people wouldn't think makes a ton of money. And she was like, yeah, like it makes like $250,000 a year, but like, you know, we have enough to live. And I'm like, yeah, you have enough to live. Like you're doing fine. Your business basically has no expenses. you know, like it was just so interesting. and it's provided such a great quality of life for her and like whatever, but she's so humble about it. like, and I think, I think there's a level of like beauty to that sometimes too, where it's like, you know, we keep those cards for storage chest a bit and you know, we're building, but like, I think it's not only about sharing your revenue numbers, but I think it's also about like, you know, really sharing your journey, building in the light, showing people what's possible, telling people like, hey, this is what works, that's not what works. And I think that's where, when you're making investments in your business, whether it's communities or relationships or whatever that looks like, knowing what moves the needle for you, knowing, being able to talk about that. I can tell people, hey, these types of events don't move the needle for me. Here's how I've found success. When I go to these types of events, this is what I do, always, I think, providing that insight. Yeah, think we just have so much to learn from each other. And it's just so important that we're sharing. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm, yeah, 100%. ⁓ Speaking of learning what works and what doesn't work, is there anything that you've kind of changed about how you run the High Vibe Women events from the first one to now the fifth and sixth one that has really shifted the experience for people? Kristina Bartold: Yeah, you know what, that's a great question, Evie. funny, I think that big things that come to mind for me is like ⁓ like for us making it a bit more profitable. Just the first ones we were kind of like, I don't know, like what do people like? What don't they like? And so there's things that we did that I think, you know, laugh now, ⁓ like, ⁓ it's there were things that like we really cared a lot about that now I don't care that much about. Like one year we had a latte bar. Like that was a very stressful situation because there was man working this latte bar. We learned a lot of lessons along the way. ⁓ think the big thing for me was outsourcing. So that was huge. was like really, ⁓ you know, we have a mutual friend. You brought us Serena, who's our little angel. So Serena does so much stuff for us on the event side. And then our ⁓ kind of manager, Helena, ⁓ just such people. So that's one. Evie Tavares: in Kristina Bartold: to like really just like outsourcing the right things. But two, I think the main thing that we've been trying to do is keeping it like fun. And I know that sounds stupid. I like even as I said, I'm kind like, you know, people don't want to pay $500 a ticket for fun. know that when people get away, they like let their guard down a little, you know, they take fun photos, they're listening to great speakers, they have a good dinner. Like, you know, we tried to cool and fun foods we try to do like, you know, little like trendy things like We want to make things Instagrammable for them. We want to make it something they want to go to again and again. So those have been the kind of priorities that have shifted. But I think our heart for it has always been the same. And you've been at all the full day ones. But our heart for it has always been the same, that it's about bringing women together to grow their businesses. so we've ebbed and flowed on networking time. How much networking time is too much? People are paying for us to put them in a room with no programming. And speakers, that's always been a tough one for us. we have a really amazing network and we get like hundreds of applications for every spot. And then at the same time, like we're, you know, trying to bring expansive people in, but trying to keep it mostly Canadian. And like, so it's always like a little bit of an ebb and flow. But I think the heart behind it has always been really like how to grow community. And we know like that whole like network is your network thing is the truth. And yeah, it's pretty, it's pretty powerful. Evie Tavares: Yeah. And I think you do always keep it fun. I always say, it's like, it's like my little like weekend getaway. I'm like, yeah, I'm going to go have a fun weekend with high vibe women. it's exciting. Kristina Bartold: Thank you. We try. Yeah, and that's what we want is like even like there's just so many and you mentioned that we both kind of mentioned this right there's so many events now like people have lots of choice of like what events to go to and and it's it's funny with that by women because I think we Maria and I are pretty modest with it I still think we're like I was laughing we were in Toronto and this woman came out to me and she was like you're Christina from I'm a woman and I was like I'm actually Christina from the social stuff like that's still how it feels but like thank you like and she was like I've been watching and I've been waiting to make the choice about buying and we were having this like really good Evie Tavares: Okay. You Kristina Bartold: conversation or like our retreats, like, just like people are kind of like in the sidelines, like waiting to get involved. And I just want them to know that like anybody, it's for everybody, right? It's for everyone to have a good time and finds their people. Like ⁓ is no exclusiveness around age, around race, around ⁓ in business, around, you know, like where you come from, like ⁓ And so ⁓ looking at the survey data, like I just was looking and I'm like, ⁓ my goodness, like I actually had no idea how many women we had that were over 40. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Hmm. Kristina Bartold: Like if I was to tell you off the top of my head, I think everybody's 30. I don't know why, because I'm 33. I think everybody's 33. But like, and we had women in there who filled it up over 60. Like, wow, like that's so powerful that like we can all just be in community together. So yeah, I think it's about finding that. And, you know, for those of you listening, like maybe have everyone's non it for you. I hope it is. And like, I hope you join us, you know, at whatever you can online or otherwise. But. you know, find that community that makes you excited to go to everything because I have my own version of that. Obviously, I have high vibe women, is like I feel like it's my wedding twice a year. Maria and I are always like, you know, a little brides. But like I think about green cultivate. Like that's kind of my high vibe women. Right. Like I go to events all over the US all the time. I have this community or Chris and Laurie Harter's community like that feels like coming home for me. And so find that place that like feels like coming home and business for you. Evie Tavares: since you mentioned like that there is a lot of other events, do you think there's benefit to going to the same event over and over again? Kristina Bartold: Yeah, I do because I think there is something to being an OG in a community, right? So this is a great question actually, I think, you know, I've had people ask before about High Five Women and there's people, there's actually like a ton of people like you who have been to every single one, right? And ⁓ are the like, the tickets just went on sale. Carly, another one was like, hey, I have my business credit card. I forgot my business credit card. It's Sunday. I'm like, they're not gonna sell out in one day, dude. Like you're gonna be fine. Go home and use your business credit card. ⁓ but she's like, do I call my husband and get him to buy? I'm like, no, you're fine. but you know, I think it's, it's really powerful. Like that, ⁓ you become kind of like a, ⁓ like a, a ⁓ that is so noted, right? ⁓ you are the person that people always think of cause you're always there. ⁓ I think about this for, for myself with like this idea of like depth community where I had a year. I must've been, ⁓ 2023. ⁓ where I was Dora the Explorer. Like I don't know if you remember, but it was like I was like, this is pre pre child. This is pre child. Now I'm I'm the backpack at home. Like it's like there's no Dora the Explorer. But I was like, can't have a single other character. I'm like, what? I'm not my kids aren't at that stage yet. So it's like I would be in Arizona. I go speak. I go to Florida after Florida. I come back. I go, you know, I go to California. I leave from California. Go back to Arizona. I'm I'm in Nashville. I'm here. Like, you know, I'm in Napa like And it was so cool. Like, you know, I'm not going to pretend it wasn't so cool and so fun. Like I had such a great time. Did we spend so much money? Yes. Like so much money. Huge brand building year for us. It was well worth it and great and exhausting. And I didn't feel the depth that I did. And so I didn't see the return because I was seeing so many different people. I wasn't able to follow up with anybody. Like I wasn't able to like go to calls all the time and like have your people who are like the who are are your ride or die referrals. Like So that was the beauty part of Fast Foundations, which was the first mastermind I ever did that I mentioned in the States. We really invested in that for a year. So we did like, that was it, kind of two six month periods. And then I was a coach in it afterwards. that was like, I mean, think it's like, why are there people do social in here? Other people do podcasting, like, you know, but we were OGs. We would clean up like in terms of clients because people knew us over and over again. So if you pop into a community, you might not even have enough time to get the depth. So I'm super careful now. I speak pretty much like wherever I'm asked. But in terms of where I invest, I do two things, maybe maximum. And I try to go to everything. Because I know people need to see things over and over again before they make a purchasing choice, before they trust you. and I think that's ⁓ really so important. Evie Tavares: Mm And I think even from like my perspective of being at all four, five, six events is the people that I've met from the first one who like, when like I think specifically of like, well, even you and Maria and like Carly and all these people that I met at the first event that I was like, just like a little tiny little fish ⁓ starting out ⁓ like just seeing Kristina Bartold: We'll check it out again. Evie Tavares: The growth and like everybody growing together is such a cool experience. And like you said, it adds that depth to those relationships, which is so cool. Kristina Bartold: Yes, and like I remember Lori said this, I've said this in podcasts before, but I remember Lori said this a long time ago about Fast Foundations and this is something that's always like permeated in my brain when I've made investments is it is actually not about the people on the stage, it's about the people you're on the come up with. And so I have always thought about this because I would go like I was in Fast Foundations, I did the Elite Mastermind, is because Lori's 500k plus mastermind. You know, I've I've was in Concultivate, which was I've done all the things. Evie Tavares: Hmm, mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: I think, and all them, lots of them. I'm in Founders Club, know, I live, anyway. I'm shopped around. And I've had communities I've loved, I've had communities that haven't been a fit, I've had communities that are great, but I didn't show up well, you know, so I've kind of seen different things. And I never focus on the leaders. The leaders are the energetic match. Like, will they bring someone to me that I love? Like, are they gonna round up my besties in a room? That's gonna feel really good. I'm not trying to be their friend. Like I'm not trying to get them to do business with me. I'm actually just about the people in the room and I'm just gonna serve the people in the room and the right things will happen. for example, like Founders Club. Founders Club's a great example. ⁓ Spivak from Hush Blankets is the original founder of that with Chris Mead, ⁓ just exited Crossnet ⁓ they're great. Aaron is a client of ours ⁓ like, but that's not like, that wasn't my intention. My intention was I went, I met with them, I thought they were amazing. The people they attracted were so interesting and cool. I thought a lot of them could use podcasts. That was part of my decision-making process. They had events in Toronto and building local community. The amount of stuff that's come from that, I couldn't even imagine. Not only podcasts and clients, but swag bag items. That's how I met Ali from Organic Traditions. You meet the girls from Trove. So many amazing connections that have been made. think, yeah, repeating is great, but also just knowing that the people that you're on the come up with, that's the beauty. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: And like really pouring into those people not being so focused on I need to be on stage or not only do I need to be on stage but like I can only be friends with speakers. That's the other, that's a huge rub for me. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Yeah, I totally agree. And I've always tried to do the same thing, like looking at who's beside you instead of, like you said, who's up on the stage. Kristina Bartold: Yeah. And you never know where people end up, too, Evie. Sorry, and I'll let you ask me a question. But like, you never know where people end up. And I had an example of this actually recently where there was this girl I met at an event. These are not events I show up great at. Like, it was a pretty big event. And that's Maria's jam. My jam is like smaller events. And it was surprising. And every night, I kind chatted. And I was kind of like, yeah. Evie Tavares: Yeah. Bye bye. Kristina Bartold: Like, you know, like there you are and here I am and like, you know, and we just never really like, we were not magnets. Like sometimes you meet someone you exchange numbers, you're like, we're besties. I recently met this girl in Miami. I'm like, I'm moving to Miami. I want to be her friend. But we we weren't magnets. ⁓ And time we would DM a little, like it was fine. She's hosting an event. I'm speaking at her event. I was happy to do it. That's great. We went to an event. We were both the only people we knew. We bonded over that. And I could have never predicted that she actually made a massive introduction to me, for me. for for High Five Women, that's gonna be massive for us. Like, it's gonna totally move the needle in a way we could have never expected. could never have imagined that. Like, ⁓ couldn't have predicted it. And so I think it's like just knowing that like, ⁓ know, not everybody you meet immediately is gonna be like a heck yes, like, ⁓ my gosh, we're gonna be like best friends. ⁓ like over time, you may be like, ⁓ like, ⁓ like really respect this person or over like ⁓ like we got to know you over time. How'd you do some of our High Five Women stuff? Like, you know, it wasn't an immediate, like I copywriting. But over time, we're like, yeah, we need a copywriter. Of course we're gonna think of you. And so I think just remember, like, remain open-minded, because you have no idea where people are gonna end up or how they can help you or how you can help them. Evie Tavares: Yeah, exactly. And I think in some ⁓ situations, a lot of people go in with like, ⁓ I have to find my next client. But like, that's typically not going to be the case. Typically not going to be the case. But those people will be referrals and like connectors and expanders for you as well. Kristina Bartold: Yep. Yeah. And that's actually the best part is the expander or like the referral piece. Like sometimes like it's not even about like wanting the people in the room. It's about the people who like long-term they are always greater to meet somebody who might know 10 people rather than you trying to sell to that one person. And I'll be honest, even like sometimes I get referrals from people. I got a referral today from somebody from my corporate job. Like she was like, oh, I'm following you on LinkedIn. It's time. Like, you know, I'm trying to build something on the side and I want to connect. So. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. ⁓ really? Kristina Bartold: I think there's really something there. Yeah, I think there's really something there on that. Evie Tavares: And you also, so you host the bigger full day events. You also ⁓ of balance it out with some more intimate dinners, like around like what, 20, 30 people usually. And the energy in those two rooms is usually completely different. So format you think, is there a format that you think changes people's businesses more, or do you think it kind of depends on the person? Kristina Bartold: Yeah, I think it kind of depends on the person. And it depends on what you resonate with. So for example, for me, smaller dinners are actually more my jam than big events. I love them seeing a big event. I love being part of that energy. But for me to sit in the audience on a big event, ⁓ focus on meeting one or two people. I still think they're worth going to. I think they're amazing, especially if you know the community. ⁓ like Chris and Lori's community for example, if they have a 100 person event, I'm there like all over it. Right now I'm asking them to be like, it's time, come back. But I think it's really about like what you do well with and what feels good. I think the 30 person events, there's a depth to them that's different, right? Like even if it's a small half day, you get to know them. Evie Tavares: Thank you for your time. Kristina Bartold: You have a great conversation with them. ⁓ ⁓ up. The fortunes in the follow up guys, if you go to a small event, big event, whatever, grab people's Instagram handles, send a DM afterwards. ⁓ so good to connect with you. What a great conversation. So excited about what you're doing. ⁓ of that really does make such a big difference and isn't just a ⁓ vanity right? It is really about what can happen long term. So I think both are good. yeah, just find the ones that feel good for you. ⁓ get nervous going to small events by myself. Like I like that is something I just be honest. It's so funny. People find it so funny about me. But like ⁓ like, I'm so nervous going to events and ⁓ always need a buddy. And if I don't have a buddy, I'm like, ⁓ my goodness, like this is going to be so hard. And I can talk myself out of like going to events. ⁓ So like I just think like, you know, do what you need to do to make yourself be successful at going to an event. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. That always surprises me too when you say that. Like I've heard you say it before, but I'm like, just, I can't capture it. Kristina Bartold: Yeah, it's so funny because I love them when I have the community and I'm like, if I was to go to anything that Chris or Lori put on or Create and Cultivate, I could go by myself. I have enough friends. I'm like, boop, boop, boop. But if I'm by myself, I'm like, I went to PodFest. spoke at PodFest and Taylor Smith and I were there. And she was like the only person I and I was like, you will never leave my side. go sleep and then you wake up and you tell me where you are. ⁓ she was so good at working the room. Like she was like, do you want to go to the vendors and like ⁓ with them? Because I know like we're both trying to get sponsorship for our events. I was like, no, I don't want to do that. Like, I don't want to do that. But like, you know, that is part of just business, like doing those types of things. And so she was so great at it, but you just have to find kind of the right thing that works for you. But no, I do get really nervous going to them. And so ⁓ do things to try to like ensure that like I ⁓ either know somebody or if I don't, and I recently actually went to an event in Miami where I didn't know that many people and I was nervous about it, reached out to people who I knew were going and I tried to do a call in advance. And it actually worked out well. And I made a great connection and me and this is the girl want to move to Miami to be friends with. She's so great. And so you just have to do what feels good. Evie Tavares: Yeah. And what about for like introverts or I know for myself, something I struggled with when I first started going to any event was just feeling like I'm not big enough to be there. Like I'm just little, ⁓ think you guys say chicken nugget in a, in an oven. I'm just a little chicken nugget in an oven like, or a crumb of a chicken nugget in an oven. Can you tell I listened to way too many of your podcasts? ⁓ Kristina Bartold: Yeah. Hmm. so funny Well, it's so funny because that's how I actually it's always the telltale sign I know someone listens is that they say I'm just a little chicken nugget in the air fryer And I'm like, yeah, there you are. There you are. You you're in an oven. I'm just in an air fryer So it's now you're killing it over there. So you want to be the chicken nugget You know like that's actually the truth of it is you want to be the chicken nugget and that's actually where there's the most room for the expansiveness You know, I have been the rotisserie chicken Evie Tavares: Mm. Yeah. Hmm Kristina Bartold: you know, in a community where, I mean, maybe that's not the right reference. Maybe I'm in the oven. I don't know. But it's like, you know, I've been the person where maybe my business is the furthest along and are making more withdrawals for me than I'm to make deposits or whatever that looks like. There's different seasons for different things. But ⁓ have most success in the rooms where I felt really uncomfortable. And that's actually why I love creating Cultivate because Evie Tavares: No, think it's perfect. Okay. Kristina Bartold: When I joined Crayon Cultivate, often I feel like I'm in the future because so many of those people, like they have sold businesses and they're doing tech and they're building AI and they're raising and they're series A and series B. And I'm like, and I remember so actually Founders Club is another one like this. went to the they had like this like super private party before they're like founders forum. Like we go, me and Maria were in the elevator and this guy comes in and he's like, looks like, you know, 12 and a half. And he he's like, he's like, you guys here for founders forum? We're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. cool, cool, yeah, I live here in New York. We're like, yeah, yeah. He's like, or I'm like, what do you do? And he's like, oh, I do go to market. And he leaves and then Maria goes, what market does he go to? And I laugh because go to market just means, you know, helping people get out into the world. But like, you know, it was just so funny because I was like, oh, this is like, we're like the little chicken nugget. are the chicken crumb here. I like, you know, we're like, you're sitting there and on average, everybody in there makes, you know, between 12 and 50 times what you make a year. Yeah. Like you feel like the little crumb, but like that's actually the only way you're ever going to like get into the rotisserie situation is by being around other people who are one down to be crumbs with you. That's like, you know, the people who were like, want to be like the sponge crumbs or get that ahead. that's only way that you get to grow your business that way. And like that was the exponential piece for me, like the year that we like invested in a bunch of big communities where we were like just qualified for like just. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: Like we had just made 500k and Chris was like you can do the elite and I was like it's 500k and I'm so sorry. He's like it's fine. But like you know, it's it's just amazing. It's amazing like what you can do. So I would say if you're nervous about it, one I think the buddy situation is great. Like having somebody you can go with, who you can debrief with, who you know, because it's awkward to go and stand by yourself. I always applaud people that do it. Like I don't have it in me. So I like people that do it I'm like very impressed by. Evie Tavares: you Kristina Bartold: But I have also, I don't mind when people do this with me, so I'm just gonna maybe give you the encouragement. I've had people reach out to me and be like, I'm coming to have a woman for the first time and I need a friend. And I'm like, let me connect you with someone, problem. I just had someone do this about my retreat. They needed a buddy that was super nervous. I was like, that's no problem. Boop, they're little buddies. So I think, yeah, I think there's a bunch of things that you can do, but the thing is, that like, I don't know, you have to have the self-confidence that you deserve to be there. Evie Tavares: Hmm. Kristina Bartold: And that's something that I think can't, like, I'm not going to teach you this in a podcast episode or probably ever. Like, it is the self work of knowing that, like, that kind of fear is a good thing sometimes. And like being in rooms like that can be like stressful, but it's also it can be really good. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Very much like feel the fear and do it anyway. Kristina Bartold: Yeah, and there's times where I've done rooms like that and I've gone and it's been a scary kind of situation. And then I'm kind of like, well, that was actually too scary. that actually wasn't a fit for me. don't actually, there's ⁓ Founders Club, there's a lot of different groups of people. some those groups aren't for me, only because I'm way, I don't actually feel like I have anything to deposit to them. And so I don't want to sit there and be a taker. Even though I know in every other season of my life I'm the giver. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: ⁓ so I, I just think really just knowing like, you know, that's okay, but just giving it a shot because you have no idea where you might fit in. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Love that. So you and Maria, on top of Five Eye Women, you mentioned this already, you also scaled your social media agency, award-winning social media agency, podcast management, all of these incredible things. is something about scaling to the size that you're at now that nobody prepared you for? Kristina Bartold: Yes. That's a good question. I how hard it is to manage people. I think, you know, the actual businesses that I find like the most impressive are the ones where they have like, well, we technically, we have a low employee count, but we have a lot of contractors we work with. But they're the people that like run lean, lean, like we have a mutual friend in Ali Hicks, right? And Ali and I were on the come up together. And we did that original mastermind together and she's a great friend. Evie Tavares: Hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: like our business is probably maybe 3X revenue her business, that woman has way more money in her bank account than I do, you know, like, because she is, and I say this everywhere, like, because she has a one copywriter and they like, they do things lean and like, you know, so she's like, really, she invests back in her business, it just doesn't look the same, right? And so I think, you know, trying to figure ⁓ how you can be lean about things and how you can do things that feel good. but I think, yeah, for me, it was how hard it would be to manage people and how much like they, how much like emotion comes with that. Like I've always been a people manager basically my whole adult life. And so, I, in a way it's like, it's, ⁓ knew because I've managed people in other contexts, like the stuff that life happens and you know, deliverables aren't done. And then you have clients asking you for things and just that, that part's been really challenging. ⁓ yeah. And wanting to like grow with, Yeah, wanting to grow like your business. No one is going to love your business like you love it. And so just knowing that, like as you're growing it, that like they might see the vision, they might be excited about what you're doing. We have a very rare case with our like main employee, Ben, who's amazing. And like, I actually believe, you know, him and Serena, like, you know, we have a few people who love our business like it's theirs. It's not the norm. Yeah, so I would say those are the big things. Evie Tavares: Hmm. Yeah. And I like that you brought up Ali's as well, because that's kind of, you can go one of two ways really. You can stay lean or you can grow a big team. And always like a bridge that I'm always on. Like, I don't know which way to go. How do you figure out which one's going work best for you? Kristina Bartold: telling you guys to stay lean. Yeah, I know. just gave you guys the answer. No, you know what? Me and Maria, we love our business and we know vibe women wouldn't be what it is today without us having scaled the social step the way we did, right? Because ⁓ we have learned all these lessons ⁓ and think it did add a level of authority to what we're doing. ⁓ there something to that. Evie Tavares: There's nothing to figure out, just don't. Kristina Bartold: But it never ends. And I think that's thing people will realize is you hit seven figures and then it's like, well, this year we did a million, but next year we should do two. And then, you in five years, will we do 10? Like, you know, it starts to kind of weigh on you in that way. I don't know that I'm making much more money than I was when we were making 500K, you know? Like, so it's just, it's really like, you know, you have to figure these pieces out. But I would say if you love managing people and that's like, you love doing that. Evie Tavares: I know. Kristina Bartold: And you love the challenges that come with that because there's huge. I love my team. I love working with them. But like it is also a lot of work and it's different than what I expected it to be. And so what I would say, ⁓ like they're like the hardest working, they're great at what they do. Like it's just, yeah, like it's just a lot. have 20 contractors we work with every single day. Like it's just like lots of things going on. think if you are looking for simple and you want to keep in control of things, I recommend doing it solo. or like small team. Ali and I actually did a really good episode on this, I'll send it to Evie that you can link in the show notes because it was really, like really good around like how her and I both like scaled our businesses so differently and like how we have so much respect for the way the other person did it. But I just think, you know, it is complicated. I've seen so many people scale down agencies in the last few years, like people I love and I respect so much because of how much work it is, right? And so ask yourself that question and it doesn't have to be fast. Also demand, that's something like you don't have a ton of demand in your business where like sales is like a bit of a problem. We've never had that at that point, like God forbid, but like we had, that's never been an issue for us, right? Like we don't really sell that hard. So it was like, we have a lot of demand. And so, don't know how we wouldn't have scaled it to this point because what would we have done? Like turned clients down? I'm not sure. So, if you're like, hey, I have one client and I'm hoping to have 50, there's a jump there, but I would say, you know, keeping things. Aligned with your lifestyle. So like if you're a mom, you know, and you don't have the same amount of hours to work in a day. Like now I'm in a totally different season being a new mom, right? Like I, I can't work the way I worked before. It's just not possible. And I don't really want to. And so now if I had started this business would not be the same, but it's different, right? So yeah, I think it's just about finding that balance of like what you're looking for and not allowing your success to be determined by other people's metrics. So when other people say to me like, Evie Tavares: and Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. right. Kristina Bartold: Wow, like a seven figure business, like that's so great. I'm like, yeah, it's great. Like I really worked at that. Like I sacrificed, like, you know, I put family money forward, like, you know, at the beginning, ⁓ like that, that someone might ask me, I'm willing to do. And so it's all about your own tolerance, but don't let Alex Hormozi like let you believe that you're not successful enough. Evie Tavares: Yeah. And so you scaled before you had your son Jack. Are you, I mean, you kind of answered this, but like obviously thankful that you did the scaling before. Kristina Bartold: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, it wouldn't be it wouldn't have been as fast. put in some sweat equity into this. Like obviously I was paid, but like it was the traveling that year of us like doing a ton of travel, a ton of speaking was like pouring major gas on our business. Like it was a huge, we spent a hundred K and travel. So it was a mastermind and stuff like that. So it's like then that took us from five hundred K to over a million. So it's like, you know, that is like ⁓ that's like the piece. So. I could not do that as a mom. Like it just wouldn't be, I mean, I could at the sacrifice of my child, you know? So it's like, that's why like I don't envy people who, you know, get started, like, know some people get started on a mat leave or get started like when they have young kids. And so it's like, that's a different, you're building a different thing. And now like even being pregnant, you'd be like, you know this from knowing me, but like I was dead, like for a year. Like I just like, I didn't want to go anywhere. I didn't want to do anything. I slept all the time. Like. Evie Tavares: Good Kristina Bartold: I would literally go to content days and the team would be like, is today a full work day? And I'd like, it's not. I just couldn't do that physically. And that was the first time in my life where I had ever been outworked. I've always been the hardest worker. I've always been that person that can stay late. I'm the person who wakes up early. I'm the person who can work 18 hours and still have it in me. And that was the first time I had ever been outworked by my own choices. And so I think, you know, knowing now what I know now, like such a deep respect for moms who grow businesses and like just it's an amazing juggle. I, like who I know is a mutual of ours, like she talks a lot about this, like about how like, you know, we moms have a different and it is just different. ⁓ And think there's so many ways to look at it. I'm so blessed that I can do this. I'm blessed that, you know. An hour before this, was hanging out with Jack in in-between time. That's like such a blessing. don't, your kids might be home right now because it's snowing. okay. Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah. But like you get that benefit, right? Like if you needed that. And so we get to build the business how we want. But I think that's the piece with scaling to keep in mind is like, don't compare yourself to someone who doesn't have kids. Don't compare yourself to someone who lives in Tulum. Don't compare yourself to Americans who have totally different tax laws. Like there's just different things in different circumstances. So. Evie Tavares: Not today. They're at a babysitter. They're with my mother-in-law Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: ⁓ Leaning into that is really important. Evie Tavares: Mm you've touched a little bit on this about kind of the investments that you've made in mastermind and coaching. What would you say? ⁓ I like I know the answer to this already. ⁓ What you say is the best investment you've ever made in mentorship and the one that taught you the most expensive lesson? So best one and one that taught you the expensive lesson. Kristina Bartold: Hmm. Oh yeah, interesting. Yeah. A lesson. Yeah, okay. So I was the best one. Yes, I would say it's Fast Foundation. So Chris and Lori's community. Yeah. And I've invested with Chris and Lori harder many times. Like I've done Roundtable. I've done the Elite. I've done Denver series. I've done VIP. I've done it all. I literally was just on the phone with Chris's brother, Nick. And I was like, if you guys give me a list of your Stripe payments of who's paying you, I could tell you I've talked to them about your programs. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: People recharge me all the time. I love them. And why I think I learned so much from them and why it was such a pivotal time was, ⁓ it gave me all my initial business besties, all my peeps. We're all in this cohort together. We're all little buddies. It was great. ⁓ they have such a generous spirit in the way that they do business. And that's something I really wanted to emulate. I want to, and I think I am ⁓ somebody lives in generosity and like, They're the people like, do I help you grow your business? You're one introduction away from like, everything you need is in this room or one instruction away. That is like really the energy. So I needed that in that season. And then they've been so generous with me over the years and I've just grown so much from them. So I just love them so much. And I would say the biggest lesson I've learned in terms of investing is the over-investing. the issue is, I don't blame any room for the lack of my results. There's no event I've ever been to where I don't think I could have gleaned something. And so even if I didn't allow the speakers, I sat at a shitty table, maybe, you know, whatever. I blame the hosts it because it's my opportunity to take lemons and make lemonade. So I think that's big piece. My big lesson was to go deep, not wide. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: And it was a great brand year, I had a great brand year, but I needed to take a breath and no pun intended, and just really like deep into just a few communities and show up so well, because it was like, Evie, I'm not joking, I would like go to events, people would be like, I need your services, and I wouldn't even follow up with them. Like, it was like money on the table, like why was I even going? And so yeah, I think that's the big piece for me. That was the big lesson, was the like, ⁓ overdoing it. Evie Tavares: Hmm. Kristina Bartold: better to just do a few things and do them so well and show up so fully than do a million things and not show up at all. Evie Tavares: I think that's so true. And something that ⁓ sometimes grapple with is when is there a point where you're kind of like thinking that you might need, you know, mentorship, support, that kind of thing, but you're not sure whether it's I need support from outside or I need to actually take action and do the thing. Kristina Bartold: Yeah, that's a tough one. people do over-invest in mentors. I think that is the truth of it. I think you should always have someone you're learning from in some capacity. But I do think sometimes people are like, their mentor is like, they're saving grace and I have that last 10K I'm gonna give that person, they are gonna make me 20. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: Again, it's really about you having the opportunity to make lemonade in your own business. I would say, yeah, I don't know. I'm always really hesitant with mentorship and I'm very picky about that, but I also think sometimes it is just about doing the work. even when I, this is I don't want a one-coach, Evie, I think you know this about me, but ⁓ don't want a one-coach unless people pay in full for the membership and I do half an hour with them because I get too invested in people's results and I'm like. You didn't do the 10 things I said for you to do it. they're like, well, I didn't do it. didn't do it. And it's like, then that's why you're not getting the results, right? And so I think taking massive action has to be part of your plan as an entrepreneur. It has to be part of your motivation. Because otherwise, yeah, sometimes you're paying for coaching. And I've done it. I paid for coaching. And people give me advice. And I'm taking no action. And at end of the day, that's on me and not on them. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. sometimes what you need is like the community, right? Tying it back. Maybe you don't need a mentor. Maybe you need accountability through a community of people who are doing the same thing as you to just make you actually do the thing. ⁓ Kristina Bartold: or a network. Like that's the other thing too is like, maybe like so many times people will like come to me with a problem and I'm like, you actually just like don't know enough people. Like I actually just don't think like you have, you can't sell this because one, nobody wants to buy it because you didn't do any market research or two, you just, you don't have enough of a network. Like so, I feel so blessed that like I have people who sing my name all the time. You're the same, right? And it's like, because you've invested, you showed up, you've built relationships. I just encourage people to do the same and just. Nothing bad's gonna come from you having an awesome network. So just leaning into that. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. That's true. Yeah. Amazing. Well, I'm wondering if we can, well, no, okay, before we get into rapid fire, can you tell people, I love this conversation, I'm so excited to share it, but can you tell people the best place to connect with you? ⁓ And do wanna talk for a second about High Vibe Women events as well, but let's start with the best place to connect with you. Kristina Bartold: Perfect. haha Yay. Yes, the best place to me with me would be on Instagram or LinkedIn. I'm Christina Bartold. I just spelled my name with a K. Christina Bartold on Instagram or LinkedIn and any friend of yours is a friend of mine. So let me know like what resonated. Anything that you're listening to that you're like, oh, that's cool or or not. I've opened a feedback as well. And I also have a podcast called Community where I jam out on all things building community in your business and growing. your business through marketing and all that. we have fun over there. Evie, I'm have to have you on now that I'm back to recording. So we'll do that, but yeah. Evie Tavares: Yeah. Amazing. And for the Hive Eye Women events that we just spent a lot of time talking about and probably made people really excited about, there's, when this releases, we will have just passed number five. So tell me about what can look for and how they can get in on the next one. Kristina Bartold: Yeah. Yeah. ⁓ my gosh, Evie, I'm gonna give you some scoop because this isn't even live info yet. yeah, it's just cornered me. ⁓ yeah, you can find out about our next Highlight Women event and you can, so we are doing our next big experience on October 21st and 22nd. It is in Hamilton at the Liuna station. ⁓ The is a VIP. By the time you listen to this, I don't know if there will be VIP tickets left because those go ⁓ very and people are willing to sell organs for them. So. Evie Tavares: Woohoo! Kristina Bartold: You have to figure out how committed you are to the cause. I don't want your organs. You guys tell amongst yourselves. But yeah, it will be October 22nd, which is a Thursday in Hamilton. It's going to be amazing. ⁓ just so excited and we have some amazing, amazing speakers already lined up. And if you can't make that, we'll have a number of pop-ups throughout the ⁓ year, you can check out at highvibewomen.ca. ⁓ And we have our online community, which is where we have about 100 women. We gather, we have something going on every week. We've got the circles, great place to get feedback, great place to make business connections. And you can find that at highveiwomen.ca slash community. Evie Tavares: and I will link all of that in the show notes as well. let's wrap it up with a little bit of rapid fire. So first question, do you have a ritual or a habit that you do on event days that would surprise people? Kristina Bartold: Oui! ⁓ my goodness. No, but this is like, this is like a crazy thing that I do, which I think will make people know what kind of human I am. Sorry, this is not rapid fire. This is me slow fire. ⁓ Is I basically like that night will go back to my room and I basically play on the whole next one. Like I'm like, I leave and I'm like, I already have most of it kind of swirling and I will spend the whole evening like, because I'll listen to feedback. I see what people like in live time. Most people take a break. Not Couldn't be me. Evie Tavares: Okay. I can just imagine like you doing that in your room and Maria's just fast asleep in the other room. Kristina Bartold: No, it's like three days later, I'm like, Maria, I did a thing. Like, yeah, we won't speak for three days. ⁓ Evie Tavares: Yeah. What do you think will be the biggest shift in marketing, like online marketing this year? Where do you think it's headed? Kristina Bartold: I think it's headed towards community. It's like people are really struggling with the trust recession and really struggling to in the way that they would. People who I know have traditionally never had any problems selling or having trouble selling. ⁓ I think it's gonna be about how do people lean in and monetize their communities. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm, and how do you think that's going to affect like say social media podcasting YouTube? Kristina Bartold: I think people are leaning more into things like podcasting and YouTube to create more trust. I think that'll be like, because Longform is definitely such a great way to create trust, as you know. I think on social, I think we're going to be seeing people who've historically never had trouble selling, selling in different ways. Evie Tavares: Interesting. Okay. I'm excited to see that now. Yeah. Is there, okay, is there like one way that you're seeing already that's working really well? Kristina Bartold: Yeah, I'm already seeing it. It's interesting. Yeah, it's people who have never had trouble selling, like discounting everything and showing up a ton in stories and like really feeling like this need to show up a ton, showing way more behind the scenes. Like they're doing a lot to build trust when they've never had to, right? Like they've leaned on a big audience or that they like, yeah, it's it's different. Evie Tavares: Yeah. And Laurie Harder was in your community the one day. She talked about the informed girlfriend type of content, which I've been seeing a ton of that. Like we're like, ⁓ I've done this thing. You have this problem. I know this thing. Like, Kristina Bartold: I think the influencer things going up. People are like, influencers are dead. I'm like, there's no way. There's no way. People need this stuff. And they don't want someone with 100k following telling them. They want someone with 10k. They want someone who's in backyard telling them about it. Evie Tavares: We are. Mm-hmm. What is your favorite thing to do with your son Jack? Kristina Bartold: that's so sweet. ⁓ now he's eight months, so there's not too much going on. He's low-key. ⁓ I am... ⁓ he's not... I have a feeling when he's just gonna walk. He's ⁓ 24 pounds, so he's like... Yeah, very large. He's like 99th percentile for height. So I think he's just not gonna crawl. ⁓ But us right now, I'm really enjoying family time, where me, him, and my husband Josh, and our dog Patrick, we all hang out together and we're in bed. Evie Tavares: Is he crawling yet? Yeah. Kristina Bartold: And Jack just plays and he just laughs. But you know this from being a mom. It's like every month is a different milestone, a different season. yeah, I think it's just the beginning. I'm excited to see what else happens. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Those are the, yeah. I just, even when you said that, I was thinking of those times with my kids too. They're a little bit older now, but yeah, they still like to jump in bed and just have a little snuggle. And those are my favorite moments too. Kristina Bartold: So sweet. cried the other night because I was thinking about how like, yeah, because just growing up so fast and like, you know, and I do want more kids, so it's gonna be fine. But it's like, ⁓ know, you just want to save her all of it. Evie Tavares: We know. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, we started doing movie nights. You can look forward to this movie nights. Like if we don't have plans on a weekend, we'll like pick a movie together as a family. We'll make popcorn. We'll blow up an air mattress in the basement and just literally sit and watch a movie. And it's like, this is my new favorite thing to do. Yeah. But they have to be at that age where they'll like sit and watch a movie for a little while. Yeah. Kristina Bartold: That is so cute. Bye. Yeah, yeah, yeah, Jack's not there. No. Evie Tavares: Okay, last one. Do you have a dream collaboration or partnership ⁓ you're calling in for 2026 that you're willing to share? Kristina Bartold: Okay, I have one I can't share yet because it's pretty close. So look out guys, this is gonna be sick. my God, I would love, love to collaborate with like, I'm gonna have so many different options, but like even Squarespace or like Kajabi or like we've done one with Flodesk, but even deeper on that or like Trello, like ⁓ just where like, I don't know, the women, yeah, the use these tools, you know, where it's like, I really wanna see them activate at ⁓ High Five so. Evie Tavares: Mm-hmm. Kristina Bartold: I'm coming for them. Just so you know. Evie Tavares: Yeah, I'll keep an eye out for that in October. Yeah. right. Well, thank you so much, Christina, for coming on. I cannot wait for people to dive into this one and we'll chat soon. Kristina Bartold: Yeah, can't wait.