2141 - How Entrepreneurs Can Thrive Through Podcasting with Elzie Flenard

0:05Hey there, thoughtful listener. Are you looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, influencers, influencers, and clients? Well, I've had private conversations with over 2 ,000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from. I've got a free video you can watch with no opt-in required where I'll share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for over 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments.

0:51Also, don't forget, the thoughtful entrepreneur is always looking for great guests. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. I'd love to have you.

1:05With us right now, it's Elzey Flannard. Elzey, you are the mayor of Podcast Town, and you are the host of the Journey to Mastery podcast. Elzey, it's great to have you. It's super good to be here. I'm excited. All right. Well, what do you do in Podcast Town? So we help B2B business owners leverage podcasting to grow their business, build relationships, strategic partners, and referral partners. That's our bread and butter. Yeah. Well, why is that a critical way of, why would that be valuable? Well, I mean, I don't have to tell you this, Josh, but building relationships is kind of a thing if you're going to be in business.

1:46So we help our residents, we call our clients residents, we help them build relationships in a way that's fun, in a way that gives them content, in a way that stretches them so that they develop those skills. So we make it fun. But again, it's about building relationships. That's the business we're really in. Okay. And maybe connect the dots. Why podcasting? Well, because I found it's the best medium to do so. I remember when I first, in my first podcast interview, I learned more than I learned in a regular classroom. It was just that good of a conversation. And so it's just a wonderful way to meet people, to add value both ways, and to really learn about how to articulate your vision and your mission.

2:35Yeah. You wrote a book. Can you tell me about Flame Starter, The Art of Self-Mastery? Yeah, thank you for asking. So I wrote that book really out of a place of desperation and pain because I didn't want other people to go through what I went through on my journey, which was working myself literally almost to death. And so the book is about how to not die on this journey of entrepreneurship and ways to really look at who we are in a way that's deep and in a way that uncovers our true selves and in a way that helps us to grow into the next and best version of ourselves. Well, why is it that people burn out?

3:19Well, I think part of it is because we don't recognize the signs. You know, we don't recognize that this, you know, it might be a trigger for us or maybe we're overworking because we have brokenness somewhere, you know, in our origins or maybe my mom didn't give me the attention that I needed growing up. And so now I seek validation on social media and now I'm I'm on Facebook 22 hours a day. So just I think things like that as an entrepreneur, we don't really think about or talk about because it's the mushy stuff. That's that's personal stuff. It doesn't belong in business. My commitment and thing is it kind of does belong in business because the better person, the better you are, the better you show up for others.

4:02And so I talk a lot about that personal development and self-mastery. I've been going through a lot of Ryan Holiday lately. Obstacle is the way, stillness speaks, ego is the enemy. And a lot of what you're talking about is likely so deeply unconscious or subconscious for most of us. We're not aware of why is it that we're laying in bed when we should be connecting with our partner or spouse or whatever, and yet we're still scrolling on Facebook or Instagram. I think a really great question that I've started asking, for example, deciding whether or not to post something. And I like pausing for a second and I say, why do I want to do that?

4:56What's my payoff? What am I looking for? What am I trying to get out of it? Is it just entertainment or am I looking for validation? You know, which I think a lot of us are. Any thoughts on that? Like, you know, kind of just that it is part of this process of becoming a little bit more introspective and curious about our activities or our actions? Yeah, no, I think it's not right or wrong, right? No, no. Validation isn't right, isn't wrong. I think what we fail to do a lot of times is recognizing it. We just go about doing things and we don't really understand the root of why we're doing it. And I think that's where the danger is.

5:38Understanding, again, who you are, but more importantly, understanding who you are not. I've found that that's helped me become laser focused because I know what opportunities are for me. I know what opportunities aren't for me. I know what opportunities are for Josh or for or for the next person. So I think, again, that work is about really understanding who we really are. But again, more importantly, who we really are not. And that helps us to be clear, to be focused and to gain momentum in our in our lives and in our businesses. Yeah. Well, when we're doing activity that might be kind of more closer to who we are not, obviously that creates some friction.

6:19You know, that's going to, I'm of the opinion that that's probably one of the leading causes of burnout is you're going to work and you're doing activities that, man, you could just go get a job and do that activity for someone else. Why are you doing it for yourself? And, you know, sometimes, Elsie, and this is going to get to my question here for you, is what happens if someone says, well, listen, I have to do this. I have to go and beat the streets doing lead gen so that I can do what I really love as a leadership consultant or something like that. But I hate sales and I hate lead gen, right?

6:55But I got to do it or I got to do my own taxes or something like that. And sometimes this might feel very real, right? Because we just don't have the budget to allocate or whatever. um but but i agree with you any thoughts you know on this you kind of get where i'm getting at there yeah yeah so i'll give the best the way uh i can ask that question josh is to give you an example so the other day uh it i'm here in wisconsin and it snowed uh it snowed twice over the course of about three days and each time it snowed about four inches so uh so in other words a very mild winter season for Wisconsin.

7:30It actually has been so far, so far. So knock on wood, but, but so I'm out there shoveling, but I didn't, I didn't take it. And in this analogy, snow is friction, right? I didn't remove the friction. I just moved it and I used it for a different purpose. Right? So some of the snow is still there. I just moved it from my driveway to the side of the house or on the road. So now it's still there. I just moved it. So sometimes the friction isn't meant to be removed. It's just meant to be moved. And sometimes it's meant to stay there for a little bit, but then the very next opportunity, you know which friction you're going to move, right?

8:12So to be practical, maybe you do have to do the taxes, but identifying in your mind, I really hate this task. As soon as I can afford to not do it, this is the first piece of friction that I'm going to move. So I think even thinking that way allows us to free ourselves up of the stress and of the overwhelm, because we know we have at least identified the things that we are good at and the things that we don't want to do so that when we make the opportunity, we no longer have to do it. And we're just moving the friction and using the friction in our favor, right? It sucked. It took me about three hours total, but I got some exercise and I got a chance to finish the audio book that I was listening to.

8:55So the friction oftentimes has benefits as well. Yeah. And, and also too, I think there's, boy, I don't know, you know, in my years, and maybe this could be just kind of a stage of life thing, but I really look forward to, you know, chopping wood and carrying water. You know what I mean? Like I, you know, I just got done, you know, completely redoing my garage, you know, my garage floor and the walls and all that stuff. And could I have hired that out? Oh yeah. Could I pay, could I afford it? Yeah. Like, but there's, you know, it's, it's finding joy. I mean, I'm never, listen, I'll be honest. I'm never going to find joy in doing my taxes.

9:34I'm, I'm, I know what my superpowers are, But, you know, again, there is also, you know, there's work that we must do, right? Because it's our responsibility. We have a moral obligation to grow our companies. Like if you're the founder CEO, that's your number one job. Like, so you got, and I'm wondering if there's also, like you talked about the concept of moving, right? And then, you know, again, we were kind of also talking about business development here at the beginning and how we leverage podcasts. you know, there are ways to do what you do in a way that can be enjoyable. So, you know, in our case, I mean, this is what I've been doing for five years.

10:12I, I build relationships and I know because of that, I don't ever have to sell because to me, you know, the best business always comes from, you know, um, you know, building a really key relationship. We get to know each other, we find ways to help each other. And then business just naturally happens. Um, because I'm not the kind of guy who's going to compete for the set of steak knives or for the Cadillac Eldorado to win the sales trophy. Like it's just, it's just so against. So I think that as well, like if, if there's friction or there's something that we have to do, my big point is I'm getting around to is that, you know, is getting more curious and creative around, listen, I'm a type seven Enneagram.

10:51I'm going to need my, I'm going to need some variety here in my life. What can we do if you're data-driven? Well, how can you data, can you gamify sales? Can you do things to make it more fun? And just because someone does it in a certain way doesn't mean that you have to do it that way. And in fact, you're probably not going to do very well if you're doing it in a way that you're not comfortable with. All right, Elsie, I took way too much of your time. You take it away. No, I agree with everything that you're saying, But I think that that emphasizes the point, right? It's like you can't get there unless you know who you are.

11:31Right. That's that's always the first step is like I know that like you, I'm a relationship guy. I love to give value. I love to connect people. I am not the type of person that's going to hound you for the sale and do all the stuff. But I think you also have to be open to the consequence of the way that you choose to go about it as well. Right. So I know that because of the way I choose to do business, certain outcomes are not going to be possible for me. And that's OK. And my my journey and my route looks completely different. And that's OK. So I think there there's something to be said about the friction, recognizing it, allocating it to the right place and then being OK with it, with the outcome.

12:12because to your point, if you're an entrepreneur and you hate sales, then either you need to partner with somebody who loves sales, right? That's right. You better get away from you to them, or you got to grid it down and deal with it because if you are not good at sales, you're not going to have a business very long. So I think it's a matter of really understanding, again, the friction, who you are, who you're not, and then placing that in the right place. You know, and certainly, right, when you when you can get to the point and I understand at the beginning, you know, you and I may be speaking from a little place of privilege here in that, you know, we've been able to outsource and allocate resources.

12:56But, you know, when you can, just like you said, you know, it's like I'm definitely within my organization. I'm the Walt Disney. Right. And my COO is the Roy Disney. And she is amazing at what she does. she would hate having to do what I do. And I don't really love doing what she does. So listen, God bless you. If you can get to that point. Um, I share this probably to let our friend know that if you're earlier stage, listen, it does get easier the more you get through it. And if you, at the very least, if you can, while you're doing the hard work and the stuff, maybe you don't love, try to document this as if you're getting ready to pass the reins off to somebody else.

13:40And if nothing else, set some goals and imagine it so that you know that this is just in your, like the snow is not going to be there forever. Right. And we're just going to move it for a little bit. And any final thoughts on that? Because I do want to talk about, you know, your work and what you do. Yeah. The only thing I would add to that, Josh, is I know how to do every job in my company because I've had to do every job in my company. So to your point, I you can't BS me and tell me how long it takes to edit a podcast because I've edited thousands of them. Right, right. BS me and tell me that the sales process doesn't work because I know that it works.

14:16So I think that's healthy. Right. If you're early stage and you're just starting out to have done every job in your company, because now you can pick the right right people, put them in the right seats and give them the right guidance as you elevate to the to that next phase in your in your business. So I think it's healthy to get out there and shovel the snow and know what it feels like to have to shovel the snow Saturday morning and then have to wake up early again on Sunday morning to have to shovel the snow again. I think that's how it creates an appreciation for your team when you pass those things on.

14:50Oh, yeah. They're going to appreciate that. You know, I've coded in the past, and so I can, no, I don't do it so much now with AI, but, you know, it was for me hiring developers and programmers in the past, you know, with other companies, you know, I'm in a much stronger negotiating position and, you know, kind of a QA position to know, no, no, no, no, no, you know, to be able to push back on that job. So thank you. Elsie, tell me about specifically how you engage and what you do with your clients. Like, how do you work with folks? Yeah, our bread and butter, Josh, is really heavy on strategy and execution.

15:27So I recognize that entrepreneurs, business owners are very busy. We have teams that we're running and a lot of things that are thrown at us. And so what we do is we take the pain away of all the X's and the O's and worrying about, okay, in 2025, how are podcasts growing or how do we leverage them this year? because the industry is changing so fast. And every month it's like there's a different tactic. There's a different method. And so what we do is we come alongside our residents and we help them navigate the beautiful but murky waters of podcasting so that they can focus on running their business.

16:09Yeah. What do you mean the murky waters of podcasting? Well, just when you think you got it, everything changes. And YouTube focuses on podcasts. And so now what really is a podcast? And yeah, they really have. YouTube really has co-opted that term. And now people expect that you have to have a TV studio now. And I'm like, no, I'm just doing an audio podcast. I'm just on Zoom. Like you can do YouTube. But anyway, I'm sorry, I interrupted. But I just wanted to like, oh, yeah, I hear that frequently. So that's what I mean by murky, right? Because just when you think it's all settled and podcasting is on-demand audio, then video comes along and then it's like social and then an email list and all this stuff right and so but it's a beautiful markings i love it well hence why your clients work with you because you can make sense of the murkiness uh lz for our friends uh that are listening um and maybe they may or may not be ready to directly engage uh but maybe they'd like to learn more about you certainly uh would you maybe just talk about your podcast our friends listening to a podcast right now You may as well do a quick search and subscribe to Journey to Mastery.

17:20Do you mind sharing a little bit about that show? Yeah, so here's why I love that show, Josh. Not just because I host it, but I talk a lot about the world of entrepreneurship, like self-mastery. How do we get out of our own way? Gratitude. How do we take care of ourselves mentally, spiritually, in all the ways, right? I love the show because it really is designed to help the full entrepreneur and to really get us to show up in our best possible selves so that we can show up in the best possible way for our team. Yeah, excellent. Your website is lzflannard.com. When somebody goes there, what would you recommend they do?

18:01Obviously, that's where you can find the book, by the way, Flamestarter, The Art of Self-Mastery. Just click on book, podcast. You'll get to Journey to Mastery. Sorry, Elsie, I'm stealing your thunder again here. And you got a free gift. Tell me about the free gift. Yeah, so the free gift is I give you the first chapter of Flame Starter, which I think is the foundation, right, to what we've been talking about, is really understanding our genesis and where we come from. And so, yeah, that's the free gift. And then I throw in a couple of other freebies in there as well. Excellent. All right, Elsie Flannard, again, you are the host of the Journey to Mastery podcast and the mayor of Podcast Town.

18:44Elzey, thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me.

18:53Thanks for listening to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur Show. If you are a thoughtful business owner or professional who would like to be on this daily program, please visit upmyinfluence.com and click on podcast. We believe that every person has a message that can positively impact the world. We love our community who listens and shares our program every day. Together, we are empowering one another as thoughtful leaders. And as I mentioned at the beginning of this program, if you're looking for introductions to partners, investors, influencers, and clients, I have had private conversations with over 2000 leaders asking them where their best business comes from.

19:34I've got a free video that you can watch right now with no opt-in or email required where I'm going to share the exact steps necessary to be 100 % inbound in your industry over the next six to eight months with no spam, no ads, and no sales. What I teach has worked for me for more than 15 years and has helped me create eight figures in revenue for my own companies. Just head to upmyinfluence.com and watch my free class on how to create endless high-ticket sales appointments. Make sure to hit subscribe so that tomorrow morning, that's right, seven days a week, you are going to be inspired and motivated to succeed.

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