mentorship

About the episode

Hey friends, welcome to episode number 12 of Entrepreneurial Outlaws. Today, as promised, we’re going to be talking about the Entrepreneurial Outlaws Mentorship. This isn’t a sales pitch or an episode where I’m going to even be able to invite you to join at the end of this, because I am still pulling all of this together.

Instead, today’s episode is a recap of what I’ve learned in my own journey so far, what it is to truly be an Entrepreneurial Outlaw. Some of the things I’ve learned since launching this podcast and how I see this community evolving in a mentorship is going to be a huge part of that, but I’m still pulling it together, and truth be told, this is one of the most exciting projects I have worked on in my business besides the podcast. And the reason it’s exciting is because it really is full of passion and soul and depth. It is full of my truest self, what I really believe and how I really want to run and grow my business. And guess what? I know I’m not the only one who feels how I feel, so I’m so happy you are here on this journey with me, too.

Topics discussed in episode #12

mentorship

Topics Discussed:

  • Everything you need to know about the Entrepreneurial Outlaws Mentorship and why Melanie is not following a traditional framework
  • What the future of the online space can look like
  • Why it’s important to out source the things that aren’t in your zone of genius
  • What to do as the heartbeat of your business
  • The power of self inquiry, community, and leaning into creativity
  • Why we have to allow ourselves the opportunity to change our minds
  • Why consistency might not actually be the key to success in your business
  • Choosing to do what’s right, not what’s easy

Episode resources:

Connect with Melanie here:

mentorship

Transcription:

(00:05):

Hey friends, welcome to episode number 12 of Entrepreneurial Outlaws. Today, as promised, we're going to be talking about the Entrepreneurial Outlaw Mentorship. This isn't a sales pitch or an episode where I'm going to even be able to invite you to join at the end of this, because I am still pulling all of this together. Instead, today's episode is a recap of what I've learned in my own journey so far, what it is to truly be an Entrepreneurial Outlaw. Some of the things I've learned since launching this podcast and how I see this community evolving in a mentorship is going to be a huge part of that, but I'm still pulling it together, and truth be told, this is one of the most exciting projects I have worked on in my business besides the podcast. And the reason it's exciting is because it really is full of passion and soul and depth. 

(01:24):

It is full of the true me, my truest self, what I really believe and how I really want to run and grow my business. And so many of you, since launching this podcast have reached out to me, you've shared your stories. You've told me how much you have connected to these episodes, how refreshing it is to actually have these conversations. And so that was really why this started just a few months ago. I realized that I'm not the only one thinking these things. You're not alone, I'm not alone. And that together we can make a whole new noise. We can pave the way for other online business owners. I have this really strong, intuitive feeling that in the next 12 months, we are going to see a huge growth spot in the online space. I think this year, I know this year has taken its toll on all of us.

(02:29):

And for so many people who may have been afraid to start that business to maybe start that blog, start that video series, start the podcast, whatever it may be. I think there's a little less fear. There's a little less fear because we've spent most of this year in fear. And so many of us want to feel something other than fear. And this is what this is. This is what the mentorship is about. It is about having space to have the real conversations. It's about holding space for each other. It's about connection and clarity, which I know so many of you are craving. I've had conversations with you on Instagram and you feel so solo in your solo preneurial journey. And you're not craving a membership. That's too noisy. You're not craving something that's loud when you don't actually feel heard. And I know that I can create that space.

(03:31):

And that's what this is going to be. So today's episode, it may seem a little bit different. We're going to really be on this journey of, I guess, discovery and creation together. At this point of recoding, I'm still pulling some of the details together and it's taken me longer and you know why? Cause I wasn't ready. I have always felt the sense of urgency. Used to be from a place of scarcity, used to be from a place of fear. Now it's more excitement. I want to see what it's gonna look like. I want to tell you all about it and I want to share it with you. So I am going to share it with you, but I'm not going to have a sales page right now. I don't have a place for you to go. Of course, if you're listening to this into the future, we may well do.

(04:22):

But at the time of recording, there is no sales page. And when I get round to doing that, it's not going to look like a sales page. It's just going to be me and you having a conversation, outlaw, outlaw, because that's what this is about. So I hope you're going to enjoy this episode. I'm really excited and transparency. I don't actually have notes for any of these episodes. I just sit down with a topic and start talking. So who knows where we're going to go? Let's let's just get into it and start the journey.

(05:07):

Okay. Outlaws. So let's talk about entrepreneurial Outlaws and the mentorship. So back in episode one, I introduced you to entrepreneurial Outlaws as a movement. I introduced you to the outlaw movement in country music and what it really meant to me and how I stole this real alignment between the outlaw movement and how I fell in online business and the birth of this podcast. Even since deciding that this was the podcast I wanted to record, I felt like I've learnt so much more. I feel like I've been on this outdoor journey and I'm constantly learning and evolving. And one of the things I realized is that as a mentor, there is this feeling as though you are supposed to be that right. We've probably seen in this, in the online business space, there is this, this idea that we put people on a pedestal. It's like, they've got what we want.

(06:11):

They are there. And I don't want to approach it that way. I want to approach this, that we are a community. We hold space for each other and that be are building something incredible together, right? This isn't about me. This isn't about out my business. And this is about you and your businesses. This is about helping you to identify what you are missing and craving in your business, what you need, what you want, moral, how you want it to feel, right. We're coming at this from a place of feeling. So I know that for those of you who are listening yeah. Really dialed in and paths, you're going to be like, well, yeah, of course, which I think is probably most of you, let's just be honest. And you're going to be like, yeah, place a feeling right. Feeling is so important to me.

(07:06):

I want to feel a certain type of way. When I sit down to write my content. When I sit down to record an episode of video, when I email, when I work with clients, coach create pain, mentor, whatever is you're doing, there's going to need to be a feeling and that feeling yeah. To be good. Right. what I feel good about it and the entrepreneurial ellos mentorship is going to be a place to facilitate that, right? We're facilitating a place where you can come together. You can create that connection with me, other people, whomever in the community, you can get clarity within your small business. We're going to approach business holistically. We're going to support you to unpack and like go strategies and marketing and rules that just no longer fit your vision, but maybe you don't know any other way of doing things.

(08:04):

My hand is raised high because that's actually a conversation I've been having personally, is there a things in my business, Sutton areas of my business, like launching and money mindset work well, I haven't really learned it yet a different way of approaching those things. And so I'm actively and intentionally looking for people who I can trust, who can support me in those areas. And the reason I'm doing that is because so much of that work. And so much of those strategies for me is outdated. It no longer fits my vision. I'm looking for something new, right? I'm looking for people or strategies, ways in which I can grow and evolve because the things that I know sobbing me and I, that the heartbeat of a small business is you, right? It is the founder, the person who created the business, the person who sat down one day and said, you know what, I'm going to try this thing I'm going to do.

(09:09):

I'm going to jump. It's scary. And I don't know where the hell I'm going to land, but I'm going to do it right. I want to cool that. There's, there's a Waylon Jennings song. What's it called? Walking without a net. Right. That's kind of, and I read that and I was like, I mean, it's the pinnacle of outlaw movement, but it's so true. That is what entrepreneurship is. We're working without a net. And every day we learn something new. And every week we probably make some kind of mistake that the moment we think is the most Epic thing. And then we move forward, right? We learned something new. We're always learning. So this is about holding space for each other. It's about allowing you the space to evolve, to ask questions, to fill Hells, to feel safe. It's about building community and connection. And together we'll pave the way for online businesses, right? Online businesses that lead with humility, that build wealth and do all of this entirely on your own times. So important because I just don't think we can sit here and say, Oh, well, we all need to have the same financial goal. We all need to have the same strategies. We will need to follow the same launch method.

(10:26):

So I think the biggest part of this mentorship is that there really isn't a framework. And that's probably because I don't know if there will ever be a framework. How do you take something that is so holistic? How do you take feelings and put it into a framework? I don't know that we'll ever get that. I don't know that that will ever be a framework. And so that's really scary for me. I like to know what's I like to know where I'm going to land, but I'm embracing that outlaw wisdom, that law approach, and just go, okay, we don't know where this is going, but we're going to figure it out together. And either way, it's going to be incredible. And so a lot of this mentorship is going to be facilitated inquiry and self-inquiry okay. So facilitated inquiry is going to be coming together as a community, right group community cools.

(11:28):

We're going to come together. We're going to have time on the call to actually journal, right? So I will ask questions. I will share insights and I will give you the space and time on the call. We'll mute ourselves. And we will do that. Journaling. It's also an opportunity to have expansive conversations, right? The what is going to come up a lot. It's, I'm definitely feeling it's my word for 2021 expansive expansion. Everything needs to have depth. So we're going to have the opportunity to journal and have expansive conversations on these calls with each other. But there's also going to be an element of self inquiry. This has been one of the biggest transformative parts of my self development work. And I've, I've read the books and I've tried the things and I love meditating and I do journal and there's certain parts of it that I love, but self-inquiry self auditing hugely important for myself and my business.

(12:35):

And so we're going to have these kinds of opportunities to both come together, but also these opportunities to go off and do that work on our own and come back and share what we learned. Because I think every week we have these outlaw moments. Every week we have these moments where we're thinking I can either stay in the stereotype or I can, I can follow the status quo, or I can challenge this and I can do something different. And we're not always going to choose the outlaw move. Right? Cause we're not always ready, but we still have that opportunity. And we have the opportunity to share it, check in with each other. Then when gets hard, cause it does shed troubleshoot, right? This is a place of community and it's going to be really simple. So we're going to have those two coolers where we can come together and facilitate these conversations.

(13:32):

And then you have the opportunity to do your own. Self-Inquiry the goal is that every week there will be new prompts and insights and stories that you can then pick up and use as you are. Right. We can come together and look at, you know, reading lists and podcasts and meditations and what are we all loving? And it's really a place for us all just to connect. But the connect, the kind of the correlation between all of us is going to be small business, right? So we all have small businesses, but we also all feel like the old and outdated strategies and methods aren't working for us. We're looking for something new. We're looking for this new place to land. We're looking for this new evolution. We're looking for something that actually fits self vision. And we're looking to be, we're looking for permission.

(14:31):

We're looking for permission to hear that you don't have to have a six-figure launch. Not every idea has to be a billion dollar idea and that you can change your mind and it's okay. And that listening to your intuition is more important than listening to every single person online who is going to tell you that there's only one way to do it. And it's that way, right? So we're going to have these calls. We're going to vent. We're going to troubleshoot. We're going to support each other, right? We're going to have a self-inquiry and facilitates an inquiry. It's going to be really simple. And it's kind of these four, I don't want to say full transformations, right? I don't want to say that, but this is four elements to this. And it's really the clarity, right? Getting clarity around your ideas, getting clarity around your products, programs, business, strategy, marketing story, whatever is that you need.

(15:25):

You're going to get clarity around that. Help you build your confidence. Wherever is that maybe you're lacking confidence in your business. Maybe it's with your content. Maybe it's with launching or maybe it's your office. Maybe it's self-confidence right. Maybe it's not confidence within your business. Maybe it's self-confidence that you need support with. We're going to help you with that. There's the community, which I've already said enough times. And they're also going to look at how you can really harness your creativity, whatever your creativity looks like, whatever your creative joy looks like. Maybe you're an artist. Maybe you're a writer. Maybe you like to talk like me, whatever your creativity is, how do we get more of that into your business? How do we get more buy into your life? Especially if you have, if you are feeling very structured maybe you've been feeling very pressured to, you know, stay in the busy work.

(16:23):

Especially this year. We're going to really lean into creativity, lean into what it is that you want to be doing. One of the fast, at least what I think is going to be the first community call we have, we can help just be really focusing on what each of you needs. What do you need from me this community this year for your business? Like those kinds of things. Because if you don't know what you need, you can't take the first step, right? It's like trying to set goals that aren't your own. It's chasing someone else's dream. So it all comes back to knowing and understanding what it is we're looking for and what it is we need now within the mentorship. And this has been a real, honestly, I've been really fed up with my own on this one. I'm trying to figure out how, how am I going to deliver this?

(17:13):

How is it going to, how are we going to come together as a community? What does it look like? So it's going to be three owl levels. You can see I'm really going into this album. Thanks. Cause we had three owl levels. There's going to be the community level, right? You get the two group calls. You get to be part of the community. It's community level. There's going to be a second level, which is community plus box of support. I love to send voice messages. I can't keep up with my brain half the time when I'm trying to type. So Voxer support is just like, life-changing I offer it right now with clients and I offer it with the mentoring clients I've picked up over the last few months. And it's really, really great. It's grateful in between those calls, bouncing ideas off of each other, having someone, you know, you can send a voice message to.

(18:02):

And honestly, for me, I often find that as I'm going through the voice message, I actually clarify a lot of things to myself. I realize I have a lot of the answers I realize, Oh, that's a really good idea. Or that I'm unsure about something. So don't, don't dismiss the power of the folks. That message is really cool. And then the third level is one-to-one so this is for those of you who know that you need, you need more, right? You're like, I need, I know I need that. Like hand-holding I know I need that. One-On-One time with Melanie. And so this will be community. You get boxes of support in between, and then you have one call per month. I don't have the pricing full transparency. I haven't figured that part out yet. I also don't know what the commitments will be.

(18:58):

There will be commitments for middle and third tip or third level. So that will be coming your way soon. But one of the things I know to be true is that we need to be allowed. We need to allow ourselves not, we need to be allowed as not anybody else's job. We need to allow ourselves the opportunity to change our minds. The beginning of 2020, I was like, I'm going to grow my membership. I'm going to introduce client work and start offering done for you services within content and stories. And throughout this year, I have felt like the least structured I've ever felt. I think I said this already, maybe in last week's episode or the week before I have felt like I'm flying by the seat of my pants. And that is very unusual for me. You know, I have been known as the content planning queen and batching queen.

(20:02):

And I really haven't been doing that. And the reason I haven't been doing it is because everything has been happening in the moment and everything has been coming from a place of feeling, right? What do I feel like talking about this week? What do I feel like saying? And it's only now in the last two months, I really started to think to myself, this is what I'm going to talk about. I've been able to plan out episodes of the podcast. I've been able to plan out content still repo re-purposing cause that is the best thing ever and just saves everybody time. But not having a clear plan came from the fact that I needed to figure out my space as well. I needed to figure out what was the, I was trying to grow. Who am I as a business owner and who am I without my business?

(20:53):

And part of that was being able to change my minds. I'm I'm so obsessed with this idea right now. I'm absolutely obsessed with it because in the online space we're told that we need to be consistent. One of the first things I was told when I started an online business was that you needed to be consistent. Consistency is key. Now look, I'm not on consistency. Of course, right? Consistency can be great. But sometimes consistency is not what we need, right? It's not what we need. Consistency can sometimes mean doing things without really thinking it through. Sometimes consistency is just like going through the cycle, the rigmarole of doing something without actually stopping and saying, do I want to do this? Do I need to do this? Is this serving a purpose? Because consistency, consistency is, what am I trying to say? Consistency is not the same as showing up reliably.

(21:56):

Right? And so often we hear this idea consistency, but I'll brain goes will. Consistency means all the time, but it doesn't matter to be all the time. And so I'm trying to steer clear of using the word consistently or consistency, because I think it's way more important that we understand what we need. And we create things with intentionality. We create things because we have something to say, right? How many of you have like, you're creating content on this like hamster wheel, because that's what you've been told you need to do. How many of you creating content? Because, well, I need to create this. I need to ask this question. I need to do this. I should say that. And then you don't get the reaction you hope for, for all the hard work you put in sweat, you don't get the reciprocation online. And the reason is because we can feel it.

(22:55):

We can sense it. We know if it's not genuine, we know if you're creating content because it's filling a quota of how many posts per week. It's not coming from a place of sincerity. It's not coming from a place of genuine, genuine curiosity. Right? And so being able to, to let go of this consistency thing and being able to decide what works for you and what doesn't. And then also being able to say, Oh, I got that wrong. It didn't didn't work out the way I'd hoped. I'm going to change my mind. Like we are, we are literally cold to not to. You have to be consistent. You have to show up and do the same thing over and over and over again. But the only way people will buy from you is if you're consistent, the only way people buy from you is if you, you know, you do everything for them.

(23:47):

What about you? Look, I get it. So Pete person's problem. Yes. We need to solve a problem. We need to have people who are willing and able to buy from us. But I don't know you, but as somebody who is an IMTJ, I'm also an Enneagram one. I'm an Aquarius. I'm just the life of the pie at times. But I come from a place of doing what is right. And not what is easy. Not what, not what is easy. Yeah. Right. I'm going to say that again. Cause I that up. Do what is right? Not what is easy. I don't even know if that made sense. It didn't make sense when I said it out loud. But to me running an online business, being reliable, being the person that people can talk to and have a conversation with. It's important. It's how I want to run my business.

(24:46):

I don't want to be the person who shows up for a launch then goes away, gets you into the program. And then doesn't actually show up in the group. Or when they do show up in the group, doesn't really give you the support they promised because they're not getting paid for it. Well, look, we will have choices of how we price our programs. We will have choices of how we want to create boundaries, but don't claim to be everyone's best friend and then not show up for them. I told you this was going to go in a million directions. Okay? So having the opportunity to change our mind, hugely important. Being able to say I got it wrong. I made a mistake. I up. Absolutely. And also being in a community of people who instead of hiding, when you up or instead of saying, Oh my God, how did you let this happen?

(25:33):

Are going to say, cool. Let's figure this out together. Let's let's come together and let's support one another and hold space because you need that. Right now. I grew up with people who understand that they're in it to be a part of something bigger, not for themselves, right? People who want to show up, wanting to engage within the community, want to get the most from it. Because I was talking about this with somebody yesterday. And we were all like, when we create a program or a membership or something like that, we have these kinds of groups, these communities, right? Some of them still on Facebook, mine is on my team networks. We create these groups and then no one shows up and is engaged. And it's like, you'll, if you want this, you have to show up. Right? it's the same way across our lives.

(26:31):

If you want to get results from this, if you want to learn, if you want to feel, you know, if you want to feel supported and you want the transformation you want, whatever it is, whether it's wherever it might be, you've got to do. You've got to also put some of your skin in the game. You've also got to be available for the conversations. And that's hugely important for me in this mentorship. I want everyone to feel like they have this safe place, but also know that this is that this is, this is your place. This isn't my place. This is your place. I will facilitate it. I will hold space. I will commit to you. But also knowing that there requires some reciprocation and that's really important. And then as we grow together, just embodying and seeing, you know, what happens, what's next? Where are we going? Who knows? Join me for the journey. I'm sure it's going to be fun. And that's really exciting and scary at the same time again, because we're told to plan everything out. We're told to make sure we have these strategies in place and that we know exactly what we're doing. And look, I'm one of those people. I like to have a strategy, but if I let anything 2020, it's the, sometimes I can do things without knowing what's happening next because I can't control everything. Apparently.

(27:55):

So yeah, 2020 has been incredible. Has told me a lot. It's taught me a lot about how I can hold space for other people. It showed me how much more evolved we are. It's ripped me open as I'm sure it has you. It has. I think it's opened everybody up to showing their true colors, go to crystal clear lens. And I'm less tolerant of too. I wasn't very tolerant before, but I'm less tolerant now. And I'm bringing all of that. I'm bringing everything I've learned into this mentorship. I'm bringing everything that I've learned to you to support and to facilitate these conversations. I want to make it simple. I want to make it straightforward. No bells and whistles. No $5,000 worth of bonuses that you never use, but they sound sexy because, Oh my God, do we not need overwhelm? We don't need more overwhelm. We don't need more bells and whistles. We don't need more things that confusing.

(29:20):

And I've been thinking a lot about these commitments that I want to make to all of you commitments around my own marketing commitments, to the way I deliver my content commitments to the way I am. When I launch, you know, no time, as I said, no, $5,000 worth of bonuses. And you know, for example, on a sales page, not having a who this is for section, because most of the time that who this is for and who this is not for is blatant manipulation, right? It's to get people to think, Oh, I don't want to be that possum.

(30:08):

But

(30:09):

If you are that person, then you shouldn't be joining whatever that person is. And instead I'm going to be, you know, instead of FAQ's and instead of who is this for, it's going to be an approach of questions. You need to ask yourself, right? A reminder of questions. I want you to ask yourself before you make that commitment, are you ready for this commitment? Do you have the time to put into the self-inquiry and the facilitated acquiree are you there? You know, are you just, are you ready? Is it the right step for your business? Is it the right step in your personal development?

(30:53):

Because I don't ever want anyone joining any program, offer mentorship, whatever I do. I don't want anybody walking with me just because they like me or because they, they think they should, we will have those moments when we were like, I really need to do this. I've had those moments and I'm sure you have to, you just, you just know it's the right thing. And I want, I want people to understand that when you join this mentorship, it's because you want to learn more it's because you're ready. It's because you're there. It's because you're like, I need this. Right? There's that, that question again? What do you need? Right. Do you need, this? Is this the right investment for your business? And it's okay if it's not, it's absolutely okay. If it's not. And I think that's really important. And so those are the kinds of things you're going to see coming up. Over the next few weeks, I'm looking at early January for a quote launch. I don't know what that launch is going to look like. I feel like this is, this is the most confusing episode. Maybe I'm like, I don't know. I don't have the answers, but this is how we roll. I don't have notes. I'm showing up. I want to talk about this as much for you as it is for myself. This is going to be incredible.

(32:25):

It's going to be hugely powerful. And I'm so excited about it, but I'm not ready yet. Right? I'm just, I'm not ready to, I'm still trying to figure things out. And I know we hear a lot. You never ready. That's never a right time. Sometimes there is. Sometimes you do know when you're ready. Sometimes there is a right time. Sometimes good is not better than perfect. This isn't going to be perfect. It's definitely going to be messy, but

(33:02):

I need you to feel like you have the answers you need. And that is what I'm working on. So I told you, I had no idea what this episode was going. I hope you've enjoyed it. I hope my brain has at least given you some idea of what you can get from this mentorship. When we learnt launch lunch launch in early 2021, because 2021 is going to look very different to this year. I hope. And let's start the year off, right? We're going to start the year off with a entrepreneurial Outlaws, mentorship, ready to support you ready to facilitate these conversations. There's going to be choice. There's going to be, options is going to be depth is going to be expensiveness. And once they have more information, you will too. And I'm so, so excited to put this altogether. So, okay. This is, this is the episode guys.

(34:10):

I hope you've enjoyed it. I've loved sitting here looking at myself, recording this episode for you. Stay tuned. If you, if you are like, I really want to know more about this. I'm interested to ways in which you could do this best way. Send me a message on Instagram, come over, send me a DM. Let me know second way. If you're interested, if you go to the show notes of this episode and sign up for our entrepreneurial outlaw manifesto, this is going to put you on the list. First of all, you're going to get the manifesto and it's incredible. It goes through all of the values that being an outlaw really embodies, and that will put you onto the manifesto list. So let's just take that as a waitlist, right? Let's take that as the waitlist. If you are interested, go sign up for that, get on that list.

(35:04):

And then once we have some form of a sales page, some form of a place for you to land and make your decision, I will make sure you get that. Okay. Thank you so much for joining me for this crazy episode. I hope you've loved it. I really appreciate you. And I'm so excited for next week. Next week's episode, we're going to be talking about everything I haven't done in 2020, which I was like, that's, that's, that's a lot. I haven't done a lot this year, but I really want to talk about the that's things that I had on my list. Like these goals. I had a very long list of things I wanted to achieve. We're going to ignore all the stuff that was traveling because obviously I couldn't do that. There's a lot of things on that that I didn't do. And I want to talk about why I didn't do them, why I didn't get around to it, what it might been. I also want to talk about the silver lightings from this year. The things I actually got to do instead, the growth, the expansion, all about our word. That's next week's episode. I'll see you next Thursday. Have a great week.

(36:08):

I'll see you soon.