Celebrating Year 1: Real Business Lessons from Real Experts | 053

Welcome back. This is a very special episode of the profit connections podcast, and I have some of my favorite guests joining us here today to celebrate one year of the profit connections podcast. So if you're watching us on video, you'll see a whole bunch of wonderful faces, and we're

going to tell you a little bit about how the podcast started, what the process was, and then I'm going to bring up one of the people who really was behind me starting this podcast altogether. And then I'm going to we are going to interview some of our top 10 podcast guests that have been on the

podcast previously, and hear what's new with them, what they're up to now, and their best tips for you. And they all have a gift. So it's very exciting episode today. So the profit connections podcast was a Will they call it a pot of baby. I'll introduce Kimberly, and we'll talk about exactly what

that is. So Kimberly, I'm going to bring Kimberly crow up here. I'm going to spotlight you, and we are going to and, oh, it made me go away. That's okay. So Kimberly Crow, tell us about patapalooza, what a pot of baby is, and why I want you to be here to celebrate my one year anniversary.

Oh, Sharon, thanks so much for having me. First off, I just love what you're up to at profit connections. There's so much value in this podcast that has reached dozens and dozens of episodes. I think you're in the 40s or 50s now, and it's just been absolutely incredible to see it bring forth so many

amazing guests that have real strategies, tactical strategies for helping people actually achieve profits. And I'm so delighted that you decided to launch during patapalooza. Potpalooza is a one day virtual event that happens three times a year, and we have another one coming up as of the recording of

this podcast on March 18, 2026 but we have the opportunity for people to come in and meet podcasters. Our VIPs actually get interviewed by our featured podcasters during the event, and our featured podcasters record back to back interviews with our VIPs. We do. Every once in a while, have somebody that says

that they want to launch a podcast, and they haven't recorded any episodes yet, and they start working with my business partner, Michelle Abraham, and they decide to launch their podcast by recording their first 10 episodes on Donna Palooza, which you did, like amazing to watch,

and then off you go into the wild blue yonder to create amazingness for people in the world. So I'm so happy to be a part of it, but really, the credit is all due to you.

Oh, thank you so much. I really was, it was an inspiration from being at patapalooza as a guest. I went to, you know, and I was a VIP, so I was able to be interviewed, and the content that was there was so valuable. And something inside of me just said, You know what, I'm going to do this. And

I honestly was terrified. The first time I started interviewing people, I was like, I don't know what's happening. I just kind of went with it, and I feel like I'm really good at it. I enjoyed it so much. I spent that first pod Palooza as a podcaster, I think, recording for like, nine hours or

something crazy like that. And at the end of the day, instead of being completely depleted, I was so energized. And I was like, this is the thing. This is what I need to be doing. So I really want to thank you, Kimberly and your partner, Michelle, and we'll get Michelle up here to talk about about

what's called, what's new with her as well. And so I just really wanted to thank you for for being that springboard, that inspiration, and the thing that was that encouraged me to take that step, because it really was a step of faith, and I had to just step out and go, I'm going to do this thing. And you guys

have been so wonderful, and I love patapalooza. I've been back, and a lot of the guests that you're going to see on our anniversary episode were guests from patapalooza. So it's very it's a very exciting patapalooza merge for me today,

I love it. I love it. Well, just you are absolutely amazing. It is what you do. I love your energy. I love what you're doing in the world, and thank you for it, because you're helping a lot of people out there. Thanks.

Well, what we're going to do today that I'm super excited about, I did want to talk about pot of Palooza, and I really want you to to understand how powerful this event is. So check it out. We will put. Links to that event in our show notes and in the in the portal so that you can get that

but do check it out if you're interested in podcasting at all. And the format that we're going to do today is I've asked each of our experts to come in and share something with you, because, you know, I like to bring value to you. What can you use in your business? What can you do right now to make your

business better? So I'm going to ask each of them to share something with you, and then they're going to also have a gift. So Kimberly, you are up first. Tell us what's new, what's good, and what do we need to know?

I love it. So if I were to give advice to my former self, which is which I wish I had, I wish I really knew this. One of the things that I hear a lot from new speakers, new entrepreneurs, new coaches, is, I'm not ready yet, right? I'm not. I don't have everything perfect yet. I don't have it all

organized. I don't I'm not really sure what to do. And one of my first mentors said, you know, just, just launch, go and then see what happens, because you're going to change it along the way. And I was, I was like, Maybe many of your listeners that I was like, Oh no, I have to have it all organized first

before I launch. Right? And if we take a page out of, out of Apple's book, do you have an Apple iPhone? Do you have any Apple products or anything like that? I have sell Apple products, right? So when I got my first iPhone, I bought the iPhone, and it was expensive, and I got it home, and I got,

you know, I got all the updates on it and everything, and and started using it. Loved it. And then couple weeks later, it said, we have an update. We need to change some stuff, so click here and get the update. Of course, I didn't. I was like, yes, that's awesome. And then couple weeks later, maybe a

month later, it said, we have a new update. We'd like to give you an update for this. And I was like, Oh, yes. And later in life, as I was an entrepreneur, I was like, well, if Apple can launch something that's not perfect, that needs updates every two to five weeks, then why can't we do that too, right?

Like, why can't we launch before we're ready? And I think that's been my methodology for the last many years. And I've thought, you know this really, this is something that if the big guys can do it, then we can as well, just get out there, get your product out there, and then as you learn new stuff as you want

to add new pieces to it, as you want to develop it more as you want to make it more user friendly in your coaching program, if you will, then just do updates along the way, so it's not failure, it's just iterative. And that's my tip for folks today.

Oh, that's amazing. I love that. I love that you pulled it back to something that's we can look at and go, Oh, of course, of course. Apple does updates yet we never think about it that way in our businesses. So, oh, that's amazing. I have a little bit of chills right now. That

was really good. Got me. That got me the goose bumps. Thank you, Kimberly, that was wonderful. And you also have a gift for our audience. Would you like to talk about that? Absolutely.

So if you guys are a little bit nervous about where you are in your speaking career, I would encourage you to go to the mike mastery scorecard. You can find it at Mike M, I C, Mike mastery scorecard.com and take a little assessment, find out what you're already amazing at as a speaker, and what you might want

to brush up on a little bit. It's got sort of a It runs the gamut of everything from a beginner speaker to somebody who is a professional on stage on a regular basis. And you might want to check it out to see where you are and what you might want to do next.

That's awesome. Kimberly and I did actually skip over something because I was so excited about talking about patapalooza Before I let you off the stage, would you tell us a little bit about Kimberly Crow and what you're doing and why they need to listen to you, because you do Kimberly's

amazing at what she does. I've learned so much from her, and I love being in her communities. So Kimberly, tell us a little bit about what you do and what the opportunities are with you. Awesome.

Yes. Well, I am, for those of you I haven't met yet, I'm delighted to meet you through Sharon. She is an amazing connector, and so it's a privilege to be able to be here with you today. I'm an international inspirational public speaker. I've had the privilege of speaking on over

5000 stages, including TEDx in Las Vegas, and I'm the co host of patapalooza, along with the co host of speakers Playhouse, and we launched the influencers cruise with Michelle Abraham as well, and several other things that help you as a coach or speaker or creative or a healer, get to that next level by

getting visible.

That's thank you so much for I apologize for not asking that first, but you really need to be in Kimberly's orbit. If you want to get on a stage, if you want to be able to connect with people in these different areas, please check her stuff out. I'm also going to include a. Link to speakers

Playhouse. It's a weekly event. If you're a speaker, you need to be there. She has over 1000 stages that she opens up opportunities for people to be seen, to say, even say their name and what they do. And every every week, it's the best 90 minutes of your week, and it's really amazing. So thank you so

much, Kimberly, for everything that you do. Thank you for being my pot of mama, and thank you for for all the resources and tips and expertise that you've you've gifted into my life, and thank you for gifting it into the lives of our listeners.

Well, thank you for saying that. You may want to mention that you've actually been an international speaker yourself, because she spoke on a cruise ship and blew the audience away. So if you definitely stay in touch with Sharon, I would love to connect with you as well, but you are in

good hands in profit connections. I'm Kimberly. Crowe, cheers. Thanks, Kimberly.

Yeah, so that was amazing. Kimberly is so much fun. Being in her orbit is, is just amazing. So again, if you have any interest in speaking, I was on this on the speakers cruise, and it was, it was really great. And I am an international speaker. Now I'm going to call I'm going to bring

up to the stage our next guest. And if you did not catch this episode, I'm going to let you know that Danielle Benson, her episode, was episode number six, she was my sixth guest, and we had the best time. It was a lot of fun, a lot of laughs. We it was one of my favorite episodes, because we just vibed and we had

a good time, and we got a lot of value out of that as well. So if you want to check out her original episode, it's episode number six. You can go back and check that out, and we have her here today. So Danielle, tell us about yourself, give yourself an intro, and then let's talk about what's new with you.

That's so cool. I didn't realize I was number six. Six is my lucky number. I remember meeting you on patapalooza. It was so amazing. And I am also a huge patapalooza fan, so I just want to put a shout out to Kimberly and anyone just go, go there. It's so amazing. It's it's like you do

you it's so full, but you leave energized, not exhausted. It's so great, absolutely. So I am a voice and speaking coach. So I work with speakers. I help people who are maybe a little bit scared of speaking to fall wildly in love with the sound of their voice on stage, on camera, in the networking room, wherever

you are, and to really just enjoy being yourself on stage and on camera. Because I think that's something that we are maybe missing a little bit in our world at the moment. So that joy and that fun, that's my specialty, as well as mastery, of course, because technique is important. What's new since we

last spoke is I might be launching my own podcast, not might be I am with Michelle Abraham in the next couple of months, so that's exciting. And I will also be at the next pot of Palooza, so I'll see you there. Awesome.

Yeah, so excited to hear that. And Danielle brought up a point that we she kind of glossed over it a little bit. One of the biggest fears that people have is public speaking, and one of the things that people hate the most is the sound of their own voice when they hear it recorded. So the

fact that you are actually tackling those two huge things is really powerful. That's the hurdle you need to get over. And then she's going to help you with technique and getting better and using your voice in a most magnificent way. So thank you, and it

should feel good. Not only you know you want it to sound good, but you want it to feel good as well, like it's speaking. Should feel good. It should it's a joyful act of expression.

You know this from the actors in the room. Yes, my voice. Love it. So tell us what. Give us a tip or something that you're working on right now that you think that we need to know.

Well, it's so funny because my tip is very similar. I'm going to just jump on Kimberly's bandwagon. There were so many people who are held back because they think they're not ready. And I want to add to Kimberly's message of, if you do feel like you're not ready, and you're like, oh, I want to

speak, but I'm scared, I want you to remember that the thing that makes you special is also the thing that you're kind of weird and quirky and those all that stuff. That is what makes you charming, that is what makes you relatable. So stop trying to be perfect. Throw perfect out the window. Perfect is. Boring.

No one wants it, and the more you lean into who you are and your enthusiasm and being unapologetically yourself, yes, technique is important, but technique is there to highlight and strengthen who you are. It's not there to replace who you are. It shouldn't be more important than your gorgeous,

wonderful, weird, wacky, unique light. It's there to support that. So if you are feeling like, well, I don't know where to start, or, you know, I'm not feeling super confident, lean into what makes you different. Lean into what makes you excited. I can guarantee you, I have a few rules for speaking,

but one of my most important rules is that interested people are interesting. So as long as you are allowing yourself to feel, you know, embody your interest and let it out, let your enthusiasm out, you will be charming, and people will love you. It doesn't matter how many times you say, um, no one cares,

you know.

So that's my UMS in in this podcast. Yeah, they're real. And by stumbling over my own words, because sometimes my brain and my mouth don't work at the same speed, it's okay.

It's totally okay. It's human, it's natural. We're used to it. That's how we talk. It's fun.

I love that, and I love that, that you're really that people think that I need to be someone else, and I can be when I'm learning, I'm very left brained. I'm normally a right brain person. When I'm learning, I'm very left brained, and I get very caught up in doing it right, doing it how

they said, following the rules. And that has oftentimes got me stuck until I remember the rules are the rules, but it's also me. I need to bring me into the conversation, into what I'm doing, so I really appreciate that reminder.

Rules are made to be broken, baby. Just do it consciously. Don't break rules flippantly. Break them with purpose. Break them with intention, and then it's even more powerful than if you were following the rules.

I love that. I love that. Well, Danielle, do you have a gift for our listeners today?

I do? I have a little mini me, not quite a mini me. I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish I have a speaking coach in your pocket. So my my speciality is the delivery of speech, your your expression, your your projection, your vocal health, those kind of things and and your body language, and what

message you're you're putting out into the world. And so I have a little speaking coach in your pocket. It's a it's a guide. It's a kind of series of tools. It's toolkit that will help guide you through whatever you are working on at the moment. So they've got little it's got a little kind of focus,

depending on what whatever you're working on, there's something for you, because you can't do it alone. You want to be supported, but you don't always have a speaking coach around, you know? So you can carry me around with you, and you're never alone that way.

I love that that's amazing. Thank you. Thank you for that generous gift. I love what you do, and I love how you are empowering people to be their authentic selves and giving them the tools to just be more them and not try to be somebody else. That's such an inspiration. Thank you,

Danielle,

thank you so much, and

thank you for being here for my anniversary.

Happy anniversary, I forgot to say, so excited. Thank you so much. Really appreciate them.

Thank you for being here. Bye,

all right. Next up I have Michelle Hammond Hammons with an S. Thank you so much for being here to celebrate the one year anniversary of the profit connections podcast. And you, my friend, were episode number 23 so if you want to go check out Michelle's original episode, it's episode 23 you can

find that in our portal. You can find it anywhere where you can find your podcast. That's her episode. And everyone that I invited back for this anniversary episode where it they were our top 10 podcasts. So I'm really excited thank you for being here the first time, and thank you so much for coming

back. Tell us what's new.

Michelle Sharon, thank you so much for having me. Wow, a year has gone by so fast, and I just celebrate you for implementing your vision and your idea. And I know we met on pod Palooza, and so that was my first time experience with that. And it was so it was so great getting to meet you and to be a

part of just getting a message out. And we all have a message. And so I'm excited to be back for 2026 because. Because there's even more exciting things happening, where, where we're going in this year.

So Michelle, tell everyone a little bit about yourself, how you got here, and what do you do?

Sure I'm an executive and high performance coach, meaning I work with business owners, entrepreneurs, founders, solopreneurs, corporate executives on really understanding what's important to you. And we all have goals that's one level, but we go so much deeper in coaching, working

on really, not only what is important from a business or personal standpoint, but are you really on the right runway? Are you really working towards the things that are going to lead to the outcome of joy, fulfillment, the kind of relationships you want, the kind of business you want, the kind of health you

want, and so it is holistic, because you can't take one away, and otherwise the wheel of life, right? It gets a little clunky. So I work with owners, primarily business owners, all the time, trying to hold that balance and trying to make sure you have the clarity of what that is. I love that.

And you know, some, especially as business owners, we we get singularly focused on what we're doing in our businesses. And then sometimes, you know, we the other plates that we're spinning get out of, you know, we drop them, the family, the kids, the recreation, things that we're

doing for our health, all of those things are when we get focused on one area and we don't have that balance, it really does get very clunky and hard to maneuver through all of that. And then on top of that, there's the guilt of, oh, I'm not doing everything I'm supposed to be doing. So the work that you do

is really important and remarkable, because not only do you help people figure out that balance and how to how to do all of those things, but to do it in such a way that it's a health, it's healthy and that you're you're not running up against that. You know, I'm failing. I'm successful here, but I'm failing

everywhere else. So I think that's a really powerful, powerful angle to come to it as because we think that everything needs to be balanced exactly like everything needs to be, you know, 2525 2525 and that just because it's balanced doesn't mean that that's where all our focus goes, right?

So important. And so I have a I know, when we talked before, we were talking about the importance of measuring, measuring what you like in your life, measuring what you don't and business is the same thing. It really is the same in both in both houses, is what I like to call them. But there's a really

hot tip that I would love to share with listeners for 2026 because never before in history, have I been more excited coming from a technology background, entrepreneurs, they have a new advantage, baby, they like there's something so exciting coming for our entrepreneur family and listeners, and it's

called AI, and whether you like it or whether you don't like it, I promise you, it's already a force working in your life that you are not going to be able to stop, you are not going to be able to control, but as an entrepreneur, it gives you an edge like you've never had before in your life or history,

because you literally can have a virtual assistant called AI that does a lot of these lower tasks that maybe you never get to the important work, or maybe you're aspirational and you want you never Quite can touch that next level, right? And so getting getting this automation in place for you is so critical. As an

entrepreneur, I'm super excited. I've always been a technology nerd. My whole life. I spent most of my corporate career there, but I will tell you this, like, re excited me, where I've been losing, like, sleep, because it's like, that state of flow that never ends, because it's like, oh, it's a wonderland

possibilities, and that's an exciting thing for people who are business owners today, there's a new edge that you've never had in your life.

That's awesome. I love that. And what I love is that you, what you've been doing has not necessarily been technology based, and you have that technology love, and now you're able to pull all of those things together and make it even more exciting.

Yeah, and actually, you know, from a career perspective, I spent almost 25 years in corporate technology, and then I left to become a coach, because I knew I have personal business in my family, and it's just in my DNA, I couldn't get it out of my blood, is what I say. The last 10 years I've mostly

focused on coaching, and so this AI sprung up, and it's like, oh, it's like, the perfect it's the perfect marriage of skill set. But it is an exciting time, and if you haven't considered what that looks like for you on a personal level and a professional level you should be learning and talking to someone

about it, and coaching is such a great avenue to do that.

Yeah, I love that. Well, do you have a gift for us, Michelle? Because I heard that you do. Ai told me, No. Just kidding.

I do. And so I have an assessment tool, and it's a great tool for to. Do some self reflection, and it's intended and purposeful to ask you some very important questions. So this is the time that we never take, right? And so sometimes I know our there's probably somebody listening that's like,

Oh, it's another assessment. But I'm telling you, these are very crafted questions to help you get the clarity and specificity you need that are going to challenge you to look at things differently, and so if you don't take time out to do that for yourself, then you're probably going to miss out on some

opportunity for all these great things you can have at a next level in your life. So I It's my gift, because it also comes with a session. If you want to schedule a time after you look at your results, you can do that. But if you've never sounded that out with somebody who, professionally, I'm not

talking about mom or dad or spouse or friend. That's not what we're talking about here. When you do an assessment and you do that self reflection, and you have somebody who has the experience to know how to guide you, it can take you wherever you want to go. So I really am excited to be able to give this

gift to your team.

Oh, thank you so much. That's really great. And I read, read, I encourage everyone to get these gifts from our speakers, because they are, they know what they're doing. And it's, it's not just a, you know, throw spaghetti at the wall talking to somebody about that earlier. It's not throwing

spaghetti at the wall. This is very honed and very purposeful for getting you where you need to go and really looking at what you're doing and how you need to to make adjustments, and then talk to an expert about how do you where? What's that next step? Because sometimes we do go, Okay, I have the information

now. What? So I appreciate that there is a next step where they can actually talk to a real human being about those, about those results. So thank you Michelle.

Thank you Sharon. I am so excited you hit your one year anniversary. Thanks for having me back.

Oh, it's my pleasure. Thank you. Okay, next up we have, let's see we were Oh, and we will let Michelle go, remove, oh, okay, let me just do this one little technology thing if you're listening on the other end. All right, I did it. So next on our stage, I have a very I'm so, so excited to bring to

whom back to our stage. She is an absolute powerhouse. She her Episode and Episode was the episode number was number eight. It was one of our top performing episodes last year, and she has such a powerful, powerful message, and I'm so thrilled to bring her back to the stage again. So Chu hung, would you

please tell us about yourself? Let everybody know what's what you do and how you do it, and then we'll get into your tip. Oh, I think you're muted.

I got myself, yeah, and it's almost like it's interesting. I put my, you know, there's a sign that I've put myself on mute for so long, over 10 years, the last procrastination that. And there was reasons of not good enough. And so you were the my Potter, Mama, visible in a podcast and

to share things that you know, to me, it's like, no, I can talk about this and not that. And I can see why, because, you know, there are people that can involve I don't want want to respectful. However, I know that the soul work have to do means that I just have to share it, right? Because when I share it,

and I'm going to say, say that I'm not alone in this, hopefully that will help a lot of people, yeah, so that's why. So thank you very much, and I also want to celebrate you. Thank you. Yeah, and it's interesting, my episode was number eight. And number eight is very powerful for me, because I'm the eighth

in my family, number eight. And in Chinese numerology, number eight means prosperity, wealth.

Yeah, it was all meant to be.

And then when you flip it to the size infinity, so it's in infinite possibilities, right? This amazing signs, you know, already all lined up. And guess what? Right? Many of us, we stop ourselves, and whatever reason it is that's all right, you know, however we say, just for right now. And the question

then said, What do you want to do about it? Right? And I'm so glad that I'm able to strive on and and I can't believe when I got your email saying top 10. I'm like, Oh, me, yes to you. I'm like, you know, I did it because I just needed to be and this is, I think, the value of you get something. Going, it was

imperfect, but however, you know, just go and let no hold the I know this is what they say, with anything you want, right? Hold it with a commitment. However, hold it loosely and let it float and see whoever it serves and see what happens. And this is, to me, such a for for me, right? I

can't remember the word but, but it's like saying they say, yeah, keep going, you know, and just be know what your North Star, your big why is. And so I appreciate that. So So, so many come from that. So thank you.

I appreciate you being imperfect with me. It was I, you were, you were an early interview for me and you were just so much fun and so and so relatable, and what we what you talked about, was so valuable, and our listeners knew that, and they they listened to your episode. So I really thank

you for that. So tell us a little bit about what you do.

Yeah. So having struggled with, you know, even though I finally got my business going, it's like, oh my gosh, you know, spending over 60 plus hours right my business, and doing a lot of sacrificing with family and friends and fun and all that. And, you know, I love my clients, but, you know, and I

say, oh my god, I'm so overwhelmed. I'm so burnt out. You know, my passion becomes the I'm like saying, you know, maybe getting a paycheck is becoming very attractive, yeah, and so it's alright. So, you know, I went there and then realized that, what is my game, my soul work. The reason why I'm doing

this, and this was where I The important thing is to know, you know, hello. SOS right, you know, make sure that, because if you try to join your own, forget it. You know. Yeah, you may be able to do it, but what's the cost of all those years and stuff like that and so, so now I'm, what I'm doing is that I

have a lot of people who are who have been two to four years in business. They understand the juiciness about business, but they also understand the pain and struggle, right, all the other stressful, hustling and everything. And I say that gotta be a way to do it. You know, I hear about people do ease and

flow. I'm like, say, Hmm, and then my geeky mind goes into play. Say, let me think of this out. And so now I support a lot of culture speakers, transformational leaders to really have have a six figure business guaranteed within two years and using soul aligned client strategies and no more

stressful hustling required. And the guarantee was important because I love guarantees, too, and I've been I've paid a lot of money. And sometimes it's not the you know, you know, usually the coach, the trainers are good, is about me, and I understand. Now, the big thing when you're on the

entrepreneurial journey, there's a lot of places where you have to leap, as someone says, and you be in a comfortable place. The unfortunate thing when this happens is that your protective mind, who wants to keep you safe, will then say, Why do you want to do it? Come here very safe, and they're going to

procrastination overwhelm perfectionism, reasons for not going there. And so when you want to keep expanding, it's going to show up. I remember working with seven, a six figure client who wants to be big internationally. And I did. We revealed the blind spot. What is stopping her? And I thought I

dealt with that as close you've dealt with you, but now you want to be on a bigger stage. Guess what? Whatever, stopping Hi, helping you stay safe, is going to show up again. So just, just know that it's going to show up. And so, so for me, it's like with being able to have a methodologies to help people

sort of know that as they're doing a business strategies, which are amazing, that these things are going to come up. And for me, it's okay, let's, let's find the blind spots. Let's get through them in minutes, days, not years. Okay, we're not here. And so that's, why I'm so excited with what I'm doing.

I think that what you do is so incredible and important, because I work on the other side, the strategies, like, how do you run a business, like a business, what do you need to do? And those are things that that are sometimes easier because we can they're like, can be step by step, the work that

you're doing is actually what is internally happening that's keeping people from actually implementing all of those strategies. So I loved how you tease that out, and also that that you're in alignment, that you're in a soul alignment with what you're doing, so that it doesn't feel in in inauthentic

or wrong or fake. It's really in alignment with who you are. And then, how do you how do you get your yourself out of your own way? I love the work that you do.

Thank you. Yeah, I think this is finally hearing Tony Robbins booming voices. You know, business success. 20% is business strategies, tactics, but 80. Percent is internal psychology, and I literally had a knee jerk. What do you mean? 80% I knew, you know, self development is important, but 8%

and of course, my cultural background, where I grew up, it's like, if I were to save a emotional challenge or mental challenge, I'll be considered a big loser. Yeah. And so I had to really think through that and realize that, you know, I paid so much money, too much money, in a business strategy. So ever

if I got to look internal, and this is where, you know, I want to share a tip today, which I'm very excited about, yeah, so we know that. So for me, it's like, you know, we hear about this about identity a lot, right? Here you are, let's say you're four or five figure. You want to be six figure. And for some of

you, is, yeah, no, no problem go. But many people, I said, Wow, what does it take, right? So you reach the gap, right? Here you are. You know you're you have conscious mind, so happily saying, oh, I want to be six figure earner, and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and that's powerful. And that's your

goal setter. However, there's a part of you that says, Oh my gosh, you know, how am I going to do it? I don't want more stress. You know, my I might get a broken relationship all that. And so the thing is, how do you then get the part of you that can help you go the goal getter to support you, which is your

unconscious mind, is the engine that can really feel, an engine that can support you to have you know, new beliefs and take actions and be momentum. So we have this already. So a lot of people, you want to use it very intentionally. So the way I see is they imagine your unconscious, my young folder,

and the folder say, you're amazing business, right? And in the folder is like business tactics. You got, check, check, check, what about the piece that can help you support an internal part? And this is where the power of visualization. Now, when I heard about power of visualization, they say, do a

vision board. And I would say I did. And I say, you know, and looks nice, pictures, nice words, but it really doesn't tuck my heartspring Right. And I see once in a while, and I just realized that that we got to do it in a more different way. And this is where then I say, oh, because we're five sensory,

actually six, six sensory, if you include intuition, we have to do a visualization that that do what I call, see, what you see, hear, what you hear, feel, what you feel. And so I've created this, this, what I call the high I call, I like to call my six figure frequency vibration, to be able to put

yourself into that. However, when you talk about visualization, let me ask you, Sharon, when you do visualization, do you do it in the first place? Yes, I do okay. You do it consistently every

day. I do not do it every day. No.

Okay. So here's the thing, because, yeah, you know, it takes time, right? All this precious time. Here is something that, if you want to get into the resonance of that, of that six figure person. How do you do that when you in reality, I'm struggling like this, right? And so what we

suggest is that, in order, in service of reaching your big goal, you have a lot of activities you have to do, right? Like, in a day, there are many important things be like for me to be on this, be a speaker, go to networking, van, blah, blah, blah, right? What if you do a mini visualization one

to two minutes before the important event, before the podcast, before the interview and all that, and get yourself into such a state of your six figure? You know where you feel you feel so powerful, where you feel so confident, where you feel so excited and hopeful and all that, and then go into the

event, won't you say that you're like in this glowy place? Is like, right? And when I talk about everything, just this little event, and you keep doing it, you build a resonance, and before you know it, there is a nerve called the vagus nerve, which is the part of the your parasympathetic nervous system

that is your your most powerful highway communication highway between your brain and your body and your and your and and everything that's that's energetic. And so if you then charge this Vegas grade, okay, I want to feel like I'm excited about this. You know, I know what outcome I want to it the

Vegas nerve then feeds, you know, in connection with your goal, getter will suddenly say, Well, we're going to, you know, we're going to be your biggest allies, and, and, and what are your cheerleaders to support you. And though, so that's, that's how you you then. And then the most important thing,

the most juicy part for me, is that we all say we don't have time. We don't have time, right? And so I say, Well, when you do this, if you think it takes more than you know how many years you think you need to be six figures. Some people say maybe three, four years, whatever. I say, Well, what if, by doing

this exercise? Is every, every activity, even if you just do one, but then you do more and more, because you're going to get addicted to it. Then suddenly you collapse the time. And what you what you reach for, actually come closer to you. It's like your timeline is here. This one goes and it's all due

to that quantum manifestation. I'm like,

That's awesome. Thank you so much for that. Um, do you have a gift for our listeners today?

Oh, absolutely. I can't tell you this juicy thing and not say, how do you do it, right? Yes. So yes, my gift is called, achieve your goal. To fast track your your your goals, and in there you're going to get the she sheet some people like to read. So I give a lot of reasoning, because there's a

part of our conscious mind that need to understand why it's important. And then if I also have two audios, actually one of them specifically for networking events, because we all have to go networking, right? Yeah, you said. And then I have one there's once you understand all the all the reasons the next one

is very fast, you I just, you know, I would guide you through it. And then just tune me, you know, not tune me out. Tune me in for few minutes before the event. And then that's it. And as you do it, so as you some, yeah, I would say that stop doing things that's not working, because that's definitely the

definition of insanity and poverty, of financials, of relationships, of fun and so, you know. And as someone say, you know, go, Go For reach, go for the for the moon, and if you just get the stars, that's pretty good too, right?

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, thank you so much to hung for being here. You are always a bright light, and have so much energy and excitement. I love it. Thank you for being here and celebrating our one year anniversary of the profit connections podcast, I really appreciate you.

Congrats again. Thank you.

And now Anna, is my pleasure to introduce Lori McDowell. Lori McDowell was actually episode number four. She was my very first guest on the profit connections podcast and folks, she was our number one most downloaded episode for all of my guests. Lori, your number one.

How exciting. Thank you so much, Sharon. I'm so happy I could get here. Sorry I was a little bit late, but I got here as soon as I could.

No, you're perfect. You're perfect. I really appreciate you being here and the way that we're what we're doing. Lori is on that reading your bio, I'm going to give you the opportunity to talk about who you are and what you do. So we're going to start there, because you might have a

little bit different information than you did on that first interview that we were episode number four. So Lori, tell us what's new and what's good.

Yes, I have changed a lot what I did from that first episode number four and what I did today, it's still in the same vein I am. My why is that we all are meant to live extraordinary lives, and that's everyone's purpose is to be the most extraordinary you you can and that together, we're going

to create ripples that change the world. I was doing that through coaching, and I shifted a little bit because I love traveling. I love experiences. I love events. I love retreats. And what I do now is, while I host my own retreats, I also do what I call done for you, and run for you retreats for

successful six figure plus business owners. So if you already have a business, you have a bit of an audience. You thought about having a retreat, but you didn't want to deal with the work and the logistics and the planning and the filling and all that stuff. I helped do all that for you, so you can just

show up in your magic. And I love it, because I feel like I'm catalyzing other people to have their own retreats. And in doing that, my my impact grows, because it's not just the people I'm bringing to the retreats, but it's my clients and the people they're bringing to the retreats and so on. So retreats

are the perfect way to get more income, more impact and more fun. And I think life should be fun.

It's so awesome when you made your when you made your shift into retreats and and destinations. So Lori can do a retreat locally to you, and she can also do a destination retreats, which is so exciting, and she's stepped into this really powerfully, and is taking all her expertise, all of the

value, all of the things that she's brought to the table before, still there. She's just now adjusting it. Slightly, and she can also help you with the content of the retreat, because you make I really want to do a retreat, but what are we going to do, and how long do we do this? And all of those kinds of

things she already has that figured out, so she will help you with all of those cool things that have to do with the retreat. So if you just have a retreat on your heart, or that's in your business plan for 2026 or that's where you want to that's where you want to go for your next level goal. You need

to be in Lori's orbit, because she is amazing at this

Well, thank you. Sharon, yeah, one of the things that's really fun that I've just started doing is to, sometimes people want to do a retreat, and their biggest fear is, you know, I don't know if I can get 10 people to come, or I don't know if I can get 12 people to come. Well, I have started doing, done

for you, collaborative retreats, where I take people who own a business, but they're, they're kind of, they have a similar clientele, but they do different things. So maybe one of them is a business coach, one of them is a mindset coach, but they have the same audience. And I will put two to four of them

together, and we do a like a group retreat, and this way you only have to fill it with three to four people. And it's a great way where anybody can have a fun retreat. So I'm really excited to start that in 2026

ooh, that's really exciting. Lori, I love that. Um. Lori, do you have a tip that you can share with with our audience? It can be what you shared last time. It can be something new, just something that that we can take into this new year and make our businesses more powerful.

Sure I'm going to share a tip that one of my coaches, actually, when I asked him for a tip, gave to me, but I just I loved it so much, I made it my New Year's resolution. And this tip is always be the happiest person in the room. And I have been doing that since the new year like, you know, I just

came from a doctor's appointment, and I swear I left and the people were smiling. When you try to be the happiest person in the room, everybody else you're going to make everybody else around you happier. And we did this Christmas Eve. We went out to dinner, and it was, it was our

horrible they like, messed up all our meals. Didn't bring it. It took like, two and a half hours, and we were all happy and laughing about it, and we practically got the whole meal for free. And if we had complained, we probably wouldn't have. So just try to be the happiest person in the room, and

just see what kind of magic that brings around you.

I love that, and especially as business owners, all of our endeavors and everything that we're we're going through, we there's so much going on inside our heads, and there's so many moving pieces. And we talked to Michelle about spinning plates, and there's so much going on.

It's so easy to be the grumpy person in the room, because you have really good reasons for being in the bad mood, but no one else knows that. So I love that to be the happiest person in the room, even if you're, you know, there's 100 things going on in your own brain. I love that so much. Beautiful. I love

that. So I love that you steal things and make them your own and share them with us. That was perfect,

yes, and you can all steal that if you want to go for it.

Do you have a gift for our listeners?

I do. I have a gift. It's called the breakthrough blueprint, and it's seven powerful reasons why your vision needs a transformational retreat. And it really goes through and talks about, you know, why your vision, your company, your purpose, can benefit from a tree, from a

retreat, and how to do that. And then, once you download that, you're invited to book a free planning call if you're interested in talking about how you have a retreat. But this is, you know, it's basically a little ebook that takes you through some of the benefits of having a retreat for yourself,

your clients, your business, awesome.

Thank you so much. I love that, because I don't think that everyone understands the power of the retreat, and they're like, well, it's probably not for me. But you know what, even if you think that it's probably not for you, go ahead and down. You, go ahead and download it, because if you

go through her her process, you might find out that it actually is that exciting next step that you want to add into the business that you have. Thank you so much, Lori, and thanks for being my number one guest.

Thank you. And I'm so excited for you. I'm really excited for year two. Yay.

Me too. We have so many exciting things planned for year two. So yay. Alright, I'm going to if you are listening, I mean, if you're watching, if you're listening, it all just sounds the same. But I am actually going to bring everybody back up that that's been here so far on our video

and just have one more. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That's more than one all of the thank yous to all of you for helping me have a one year anniversary of my podcast. I didn't even know this. Something that I wanted to do, as I said, before I stepped into this kind of taking a leap of faith, and

it has given me so many blessings, so many wonderful connections, meeting so many amazing people, and thank all of you for being here. I just realized I should have had one of those, like, you know, little noise makers to blow for the one year anniversary. But I just occurred to me, Oh, look joy. Oh

yeah, thank you all so much. You really have made this experience wonderful, and I hope that I know that you've given so much value to our listeners, and I hope that you have recouped some of that joy energy and value back into yourselves and your businesses, and I really do appreciate you. Thank you for

being here.

Thank you so much again, and everybody have an amazing year. Unmute.

Ready on three, we're going to go woo hoo. Ready 1230, two, three. Happy anniversary. We could be our our own noise makers, using our voices, right? Totally. Oh, on, folks, if you need is bringing it, go to

where's my dress up kit?

I went to listen to a podcast, the number eight, and I was listening it. I was like, my god, well, we laughing all the way. And Karen, you know the playfulness, the fun to the people that you serve. So go, go.

Thank you. Thank you so much, and I am going to release my amazing guests, and we will wrap this up. Now. It's my pleasure to bring Michelle Abraham to the stage. She is my pot of Mama, my other pot of mama. You already met Kimberly and Michelle, thank you for being here. Thank you

for helping me launch my podcast and get me into this journey. I really appreciate you. Oh, you're

so welcome, and I am so excited that this show is like coming up on a year like, so awesome.

Congratulations. Thank you so much. Now, Michelle, we've talked about patapalooza already and how amazing it is. So if you're listening to this, check out pot of Palooza, if you're interested in having a podcast, tell us a little bit more about what you do and what you how you help

business owners. Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you so much. And I started as a podcast listener, and when I was a new mom and I had this like, experience where I was transformed as a listener from a podcast. And it was like, soon after being a new mom, I was listening to the show, got my mojo back to get back into

business and get like, motivated again, you know, that little bit of a dark time after a baby is born, where you're not a big transition, yeah, what's up or down? And I was like, if I had this this experience, like other people need to have voices that they can have this experience with, too. So that's what got me

started into podcasting. That was over 13 years ago. We've been launching podcasts ever since then, and our focus is really helping people create a business podcast, so it's like an asset for your business, so that you're connected with conversations and clients and partners, and it just is a

really cool thing that helps run your business in a way that feels authentic and real, and that people get to know, love and trust you, even before they work with you.

So when you say a business podcast, it's not like this podcast is about business. It's a business podcast about your business, whatever you do, right?

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So it's like an it's like an asset for your business, and it's like a tool that you can use to connect with your customers, connect with people before they come become your customers, and also connect with joint venture partners. So it helps, we call it the podcast

ecosystem. So it really helps. Shows kind of grow faster, because we're not just relying on download numbers, but we're relying on the people that we're connecting in the relationships that we're building through podcasting, which is how Kimberly and I started patapalooza. We met on a podcast

interview, right? So that was just one interview, and now we've done 14 patapaloozas, right?

Oh, that's amazing. What could happen. I love that, and I love your approach to podcasting in, in making it strategic and not just, Hey, here's a here's a vanity metric thing that I have, I have a podcast, but the way that you teach it, and the way that you coach us through having

a podcast is actually to grow on the partnership side, to grow on the client side, and to actually use the podcast as A as a medium to reach out and connect with the world in a way other than just, hey, here's my advertising. It's really cool. Yeah.

Can you imagine, like, I know, your listeners are all business, business people. Can you imagine if your customers came to you but already knowing the things that you repeat over and over and over again, and sales? Conversations or, like, before someone becomes a client, if

they already know all those things, like, wow, it just makes that conversation they show up be like, Yes, I'm ready. Let's go. No conversation needed.

I love that. Um, so Michelle, I almost called you Kimberly. I want to go ahead and leave that in, because I'm all about doing things in perfectly. But give us a tip, something that we should know as business owners. What's that? The hot tip that you have for today that you want to share

with everyone?

Yeah, I think the hot tip is like, don't wait to get started. Like, just get going. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to be like, this big, grand thing. It's just the taking the action towards moving, getting it started. We're so lucky with technology right now that having

a podcast used to look like, I used to imagine this table with tons of microphones and cords on it, and this overwhelm, and this like, Ah, now it's just like, open up your Zoom account. Have a microphone here. I mean, this one was $49 This is a great one, and it's better than my $350 it's better than my $350 one,

actually. And just press record and start going and having conversations. And we love saying and amplify you that like, if you are not embarrassed by your first few episodes, then you waited too damn long to put them out there, right? You just gotta get going, and everyone's embarrassed by those first ones.

You get the hang of it. You get in the role of it. After 20 episodes, you're like a pro. So that's that's really my hope for everyone, is that they just get started, and that your voice matters and it needs to be heard out there.

I love that. And yes, when I started, when I started my podcast, I honestly just, I jumped in and I started, and I was like, Oh, I really like this. I'm kind of good at this. And now, a year later, those first few podcasts, I'm not totally embarrassed by them, but now I'm I now I'm kind of

getting it. And now I I see what I need to do and how I need to change and adjust things. And, yeah, the important thing was to just get started. And patapalooza was a great place to get started. Yeah, well, and

you can think of those first 20 episodes, is like your practice, right? You're trying to figure out, is it cats and dogs you want to talk about? Is it just dogs? Is it just cats? Is it like none of the above? Is it something else? And then that flow and rhythm, and we were just talking before

this episode, how you have some now ideas for strategy that are a little bit deeper than when you first got started. And that's perfect. And that's I love Braden, my brother who is my partner at amplify you. He used to say a podcast things like evolving out loud. You're always changing. You're always

evolving. And it stopped me from launching my show for four years, actually, because I thought I had to pick one thing, and that's it, and it couldn't change. But now knowing that you can evolve with you and with your business, like season one could be a little bit different than season two. That's totally

perfect. And a Okay, and I love how you just roll with like, even if you trip over someone's name, that's the more authentic you are, the more your audience is going to relate to you anyway. So that's great, awesome.

And Michelle, I am really, really happy to have you here. I have gotten so much value from working with amplify you, the expertise, the support, the when I have a question, how do I do this? What's going on you and your team and Braden have been so amazing to work with over this past year. I

really wanted to acknowledge you publicly for everything that you've done to help me bring this dream I didn't even know I had to life well.

Thank you so much. And I just love like we get to work with the coolest people ever, like yourself, like we just love helping you guys see this thing, this vehicle that can help you in your business and seeing it come to life. For me, I feel like, you call me a podcast mama, and I

do, I feel like it's a birthing process to see it come the idea that you didn't know that you had, then it was an idea, and then it comes to life. And now it's just like amazing tool that you have, an asset that you have in your business that can just grow with you as you evolve in in growing your business, which

is super cool. So we love working with colleagues like you. Like amazing.

Thank you, and you have a gift for our listeners as well.

We do. We have a podcast playbook, which is kind of shares a little bit about our philosophies and our strategies for launching a podcast. It's a kind of different than how most people think about podcasts. A lot of podcasts hosts out there, feed out after 20 episodes. And

that's not something we want to happen. We really want to put a little bit of effort in that pre strategy so that it is a business asset. Does work for you. It does help you grow your business. It does bring you new clients, new partnerships, and you can grow with it. And so that's what the podcast playbook

is. Just outlines that a little bit, and it's a it's a really great little read to have if you're thinking about doing a podcast. Awesome.

Thank you so much, Michelle, and we're going to put that into our community so that people can get access to that. And I'll give you all the details on that again. Thank you so much for being here, Michelle, and thank you for thank you for helping birth this. This amazing thing that I

put out into the world, and now it's now it's a thing, and I couldn't, honestly, probably would not have done it without you. So thank you.

You're welcome. I'm so happy to be here. And if you guys, if you're thinking about to doing it, know that your voice matters and that it's never too late. And if you don't want to be embarrassed by your first few episodes, get going. Awesome.

Thank you for being here for our one year anniversary.

Now it's my pleasure to bring to the stage Christine Hebel. I've known Christine for a little over a year. We met in Florida, and actually I'm going back to that event soon. So we've known each other for a little over a year, and she is remarkable. She was on my original 20 episodes. She was actually episode number

15, one of my very first guests, and somebody that I think is amazing. She's got, she's, what you're, what she's going to bring to you, is amazing. And she's just a really true, down to earth, fun to be around person and and she's, she's somebody that I really enjoy. So Christine, tell everyone about

yourself, other than all the cool stuff that I just said,

Oh, thank you so much. And I'm it I'm just before we get going, I want to tell you how proud I am of you stepping into this space and holding it like a boss. So congratulations. Thank you. So my story real quick is that I had a son who started a business at 14, and the Bank of mom and

dad was, well, it just was not able to sustain that business, and I saw his dreams kind of fading away. And I'm sure that there's a lot of entrepreneurs out there that in the first five years, can really relate to their bank accounts and how much weight that that takes to hold a business to get it up off the

ground and get it from inertia into flow. And we were really blessed with someone who came down had written millions of dollars in grants, and she taught my son how to write grants. And from that, then my community stepped in and asked for assistance. And what I found is that entrepreneurs like, if

there's something to take away from this little brief conversation, is that for profit, businesses are eligible for grants. They are out there. And I think this year 2026 and on that, the government is realizing that the best way to infuse our economy is through our small businesses, because we

are the backbone of the United States. And so there's going to be more and more grants that are for small businesses. It's not just a game that for or for nonprofit. It's not just a game that nonprofits get to play in and the thing is, when you get funded with a grant, it's money that you don't have to pay back.

This is not like going and getting a loan. It's like free money.

I love that. That is my favorite thing about grants, is that it's just, it's one direction. They give it to you, and that's it. And sometimes there's reporting you have to do back. However, that money is yours and it comes to you and it's it's not a loan. You don't have to pay it back. I

love that. Yeah.

So if people are interested in finding out more about what to look for in their grant, I invite them to go back and look at episode 15, where we talk about a little bit more in depth some of the things that they need to know about grants. Also, we've created a platform where we educate people

on what funders are asking for that they don't really ask for, and then we have a whole suite of AI tools that make it fun, fast and easy. You could be applying for a grant a week and under just about an hour a week. So yeah, it's really fun, and we've had some really great successes.

So guys, thank you so much for updating us and what's new and different. What is the tip that you have for our listeners for this anniversary episode?

Yeah, so here's the deal, the likelihood of getting funded is low, but here's the truth, you miss 100% of the swings you don't take. Babe Ruth, statistically had more strikeouts than any other baseball player, and he still made it. In the Hall of Fame. So the deal is, isn't to just write

a grant and then sit and wait for it. The real secret sauce is, if it only took you an hour a week, why aren't you writing a grant a week and at the end of a year, you have 52 grants that have been submitted, statistically, you will have at least a couple of those that will be funded.

That is a wow. That's a really great tip that. And also the the con, the consistency of doing it once a week. And with your system, they can do it and not burn themselves out and not have to, you know, learn the skill and the technique of the grant system, because your system

actually takes that piece out or systematizes that piece so that you don't have to do the hard labor and the heavy lifting every time you write a New grant.

Absolutely, we were really lucky, really blessed. Les Brown stepped in. We did a live grant writing class A couple weeks ago, and Les Brown came into the room, and one of the things that he's he said, is the power of storytelling, of course, because he's Les Brown, right? He's a

master. But the other thing that he said that really made sense is to get into a community that helps keep you motivated and accountable, and also you get the feedback from them. So that's another really great thing that we offer, is we have a super fabulous community of people that are doing the

things, and we keep each other motivated, and we have fun.

That's amazing. Well, you have a gift for our listeners. I heard Christine. Can you tell us about that? Yeah, I have

created, it's called The Ultimate grant Kickstarter. There's a lot of people who don't have some of the fundamental things in place. And so we created a small system that we sell for 497 on our website. And for your celebration, I would like to give everybody $300 off with,

wow, oh my gosh. Thank you. Christine, that's amazing.

So if they are interested, how would you like the coupon is profit for your group, because you're all about the profit and teaching people, and you'll have a place where they could go and sign up. So what we're

going to do is we're going to take all that information, we're going to put it in the portal, which is profit connectors, dot club, and all of the gifts from all of our guests from our anniversary episode are going to be in there, and you'll be able to find that it will have the link

and the discount code so that you can get that amazing deal. So thank you so much, Christine for being here to celebrate with me. Awesome.

I'd also like to offer a free download of five tips that everybody needs to know about grant writing, and they can get that by texting 26786, and I'll send you some other cool information as well. So thank you, Sharon, it's

the gifts are coming in from everywhere I love it. We're having the anniversary. You're getting the gifts.

Well, thank you for everything you do. For our community of entrepreneurs, it is better to learn from somebody else who's walked that mile than to walk it and figure, try and figure out what you did.

Yeah. So thank you. Thank you so much, and I'm gonna let you get off the stage and thank you so much for joining me.

Congratulations. Oh.