Show Notes
Today's episode is one that aired almost a year ago on a different podcast. I wanted to share it with you all, because as my business has grown, I've been able to serve more clients and build up my team. I talk a little about where I started and what some of that growth has looked like in the first 4 years of business. I can't wait for you to take a listen, and I hope this will inspire those who are considering entrepreneurship, or who are in the middle of growing a business.
Find show notes at bicepsafterbabies.com/86
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Introduction
You're listening to Biceps after Babies radio episode number 86
Hello and welcome to Biceps after Babies radio. A podcast for ladies who know that fitness is
about so much more than pounds lost or PRs. It's about feeling confident in your skin and
empowered in your life. I'm your host, Amber Brueseke, a registered nurse, personal trainer,
online fitness coach, wife, and mom of four. My guests and I will excite and motivate you to take
action in your own personal fitness as we talk about nutrition, exercise mindset, personal
development, and executing life with conscious intention. If your goal is to look, feel, and be
strong and experience transformation from the inside out, you, my friend are in the right place. Thank you for tuning in, now let’s jump into today’s episode.
Amber B 0:50
Hey, welcome back to another episode of Biceps After Babies Radio. I'm Amber and I'm so excited that you are here today. Today, I'm going to talk Talk a little bit about my business and in a way that I haven't shared a ton about on the podcast, as my business has grown and as I've been able to serve more clients and as I've been able to build up a team, which you guys got to hear from back on episode 83, where I had my team come on and share a little bit about them and how they got involved in the business and what it's like to work for me. And as we've grown and as we've expanded, it has been such an amazing ride and amazing roller coaster, something I never ever thought that I would do. I am I call myself very much an accidental entrepreneur. And it's it's been one of the best things of my life, both in terms of being able to build a business, build a brand that serves people and helps women and allows them to be able to achieve in a way that they never thought possible. I mean that part of the business is is amazing. And when I see women I've worked with go on to do these big huge things because they start to believe in themselves. And they start to learn the power of setting goals, and they start to realize that they have so much in them. I mean, there is nothing better as a coach to realize that you've been able to touch someone's lives and and be able to change it for the better. And then there's the aspect of owning a business that is so wonderful for my family and being able to have an income that provides for my family that allows us to be able to do things that maybe we wouldn't be able to do because I have that extra income. And that's been amazing. And it's been amazing to be able to do this all from home.
You know, my kids are there growing up, my youngest is six, my oldest is 12. So my kids are getting older, but they're still, you know, they're still at home a lot and they need and want their mom and for me to be able to grow and build a business that I'm able to do from my home. And during the time that my kids are at school and then I'm able to be present and there for them when they're home for school. I mean, you know, that's pre COVID right? Now. Now we do school And work and all the things at home. But it's been such a blessing in my life. And it's something that I love to share, and I love to talk about it. And I haven't done it a ton here on the podcast yet. I haven't really, you know, I gave you a little bit of a peek into my team a couple episodes ago, but I haven't talked a ton about the business aspect of what I do. And as I've grown, more and more of you are curious, you're some of you are curious, because you're like, it's just fun to learn what other people's lives are like, right?
And some of you have this little voice in the back of your head that tells you like, hey, it would be kind of cool to start a business Wouldn't that and then maybe a lot of fear comes up when you when you think about that and you haven't really actually taken action on it. And then there's others of you who are in the in the throes of it you're in the thick of it right now and you are either starting or growing a business and you're interested in what maybe it looks like on you know, the back end of my business. And so because so many of you guys are curious, and wanting more information about business, I thought I would bring you an episode that we did that I was on my mentors podcast. I made my first purchase from James, almost two years ago. And I joined his program called Business By Design. And since then, I mean, I just loved everything that he had to offer in Business By Design, the way that he coached the way that he taught the way that he trained. And I have slowly kind of worked through the different layers and ways that you can coach with him. And so I started with Business By Design. I then moved into his group coaching program, which is called Next Level and was in Next Level for a year. And then just in January, I joined his highest level of coaching which is called Inner Circle.
And it's been an amazing ride I James has coached and taught and trained in a way that has just resonated so much with me, and it's it's he has helped handedly grow my business more than I ever thought that was possible. And he's done that in the way that he coaches he does that in the way that he teaches and, and presents material. And I, you know, I really owe a lot of my business growth to his coaching and mentorship. And because of some of the success that I've been able to have, he invited me on to his podcast to be able to talk about my journey and share some of the things that I learned. And so this is an episode that we're re-sharing where I was interviewed by James on his podcast, and in this episode, I share a little bit about my journey I share about where I started, what it looks like, and I share what some of that growth has looked like. Now, this podcast, it aired almost a year ago. So, you know, there's definitely like some more stuff that has happened over the last year there's more growth, there has been more launches. But I think that this gives you a really good snapshot of some of the growth during the first year. You know, four years, I'm now into my fifth year of business, but into those first four years and what that looked like, and what my hope is for you is one if you're just curious, and you're just kind of want to know what it's, you know, it's what it's like and what it's about, you know, that you can Stoke that curiosity a little bit and hear a little bit of the back end of my story.
But to for those of you who are in the midst of it, or you are kind of dipping your toe in and thinking, maybe there's something here, maybe I like to start a business or, and maybe there's a lot of fears surrounding that, I want you to listen to this story and recognize that I didn't just I think sometimes we find people, right, you may, maybe you just found me recently, and you're like, Oh, look at all this success. Look at all this growth. And you don't recognize that there has been five years behind it. Right? And the five years behind it, all the steps that I've taken, and the successes and the failures that have occurred along the way that has gotten me to the point that I'm at right now. And so for those of you who are just thinking about starting a business or maybe are in You know, in the middle of growing your business, and it feels hard, and it feels like you're not making traction, and it maybe sometimes even feels like you're going backward. My hope is that as I share my story, that you will be inspired and motivated and understand that entrepreneurship, just like a fitness journey is not linear, and that it has little side tracks, and it has times you feel like you're going backwards. And then it has these big exhilarating moments when you have these big wins. And, I mean, that is the path of entrepreneurship. And so I wanted to share this episode, because I want you to be able to find yourself in my story, and I want to be able to tell you that it's worth it. And that the the dreams and ambitions and things that you have that you want to create in your life are possible. And that I you know, that is a message that I will say over and over again in terms of fitness, in terms of business, in terms of just life that these dreams. These desires that you have and you these goals that you have, are giving you to you for a reason. I truly believe that and as you follow those desires and as you do hard, uncomfortable, scary things, that the person you become in that process is a person that is the higher higher version of you. And I truly, truly believe that. So, we're gonna jump into this episode where I share a little bit of the growth and back end of my brand Biceps After Babies.
James 8:33
All right, ladies and gentlemen, I'm here with today's very special guest, Amber Brueseke. Amber, how are you doing?
Amber B 8:41
I'm doing good.
James 8:42
Did I nail the last name?
Amber B 8:44
Close enough. You got the pronunciation the inflection was you know,
James 8:49
Brueseke.
Amber B 8:50
Breeze a key,
James 8:51
Breeze a key. Oh, much better. Amber Brueseke. Okay, Amber. I'm so excited. And I just I'm really grateful for you taking the time to be here today. I think you're about to inspire a lot of entrepreneurs out there.
Amber B 9:04
I sure hope so.
James 9:05
Yeah. So let's just start with the basics. And why don't you tell our listeners a little bit about who you are, what your business is, who you help and how you help them?
Amber B 9:14
Yeah, awesome. So I'm Amber Brueseke. And I am the founder and owner of the brand Biceps After Babies. So I work specifically with women, and usually moms to be able to help them to reach their fitness selves. And I really say that, you know, I start with health and fitness and I start with weight loss. That's my vehicle. But what I really do with women is help them learn how to achieve. And so I find women come to me wanting to lose weight, they come to me wanting to transform their body, and I can absolutely help them do that. But I find that once they start to do that, and they learn about goal setting, and they learn about personal development, and they learn about the power of their mind, then it bleeds into other areas of their life. And so what I love so much about what I do, is that it's about fitness, but it's not about fitness. It's about helping people to learn how to change And to transform other areas of their life.
James 10:01
I feel like you and I are very similar in that respect.
Amber B 10:04
Yeah, I resonate with a lot of what you say because of that.
James 10:07
Yeah, that's so awesome. Well, you've been able to accomplish some extraordinary results in a very short amount of time. And I really want to get into your story today of how you've transitioned from one to one to one to many, because I cannot tell you how many listeners of the show are doing that their coaches or their maybe their therapists or their practitioners. They're doing a one on one. And they've hit that ceiling, just like I know you did. So I want to get into that and get into the nitty gritty of how you were able to make that transition. Because I think that's a scary transition.
Amber B 10:35
Absolutely.
James 10:35
I have to imagine that you with four kids, and not having any other prior business experience, folks. That's the thing is I love bringing people like Amber on because I was telling Amber before the show, it's really easy for people to say, well, it's easy for you, James. You know, you've been doing this forever. And it's like it can also be easy for you because maybe not easy but simple. Right? Yeah, it's not always easy, but It can be simple. And so hopefully you'll, you'll see how Amber was able to do it despite being a mom of four kids and not having previous business experience. So that's amazing. I want to ask though, how did you get into this?
Amber B 11:10
It was accidental. I am a very much an accidental entrepreneur
James 11:14
Love it.
Amber B 11:15
In fact, I remember my dad growing up. He's not an entrepreneur himself, but he wanted us to be entrepreneurs. And so he tried to get us to like start businesses and do window washing and like, all the things I was I never, I was like, No dad, like, I'm gonna go get a job. And I'm gonna, like, do the job and I'm gonna get paid and that's it. So I didn't do it, like ever growing up it but he always wanted me to. And three years ago 2016 I set a fitness goal to get ABS for the first time. And I started an Instagram account cuz I'm like, yeah, that's the thing to do. Right is like start a fitness Instagram account and track my journey. And people started like showing up and people started like asking me questions, and people started asking me to coach them, and I was like, okay, sure, I'll coach you like, that sounds kind of fun. And so I did and It grew. And by year two, I was making six figures. And I was like, This is crazy. Like, I was really excited. And I was, you know, approaching almost multiple six figures with my one to one coaching business. And I was like, I'm so burnt out, like, I'm so stressed out. I had over 100 clients at
James 12:19
No way.
Amber B 12:20
Yeah, I was at, like, 125 clients. I remember over the summer, I was up, we were at a cabin with my family. And I'm like, sitting here like doing like email responses to all my clients because I had client check ins and I'm like, What am I doing? Like, I'm running myself to the ground like, I can't, there was no way I could imagine myself doing that. 10 years from now, I was like, I will die like it's too much. How do I grow this bigger with just me? like
James 12:47
And and that's those are the questions that I think we're going to answer today on this episode, which I'm really excited about. But not yet. Let's Let's tease our listeners a little bit more. Hey, what did 125 clients actually look like? Like, were you doing? You weren't doing like 100 in person you were doing like so
Amber B 13:04
it's all online. So it was all like weekly check ins with clients
James 13:07
with one on one like not like put them all on one zoom call?
Amber B 13:10
No, no, I would do like individual responses to each client. And so I mean, I was I had them staggered, right. So it was like, I would have like Monday through Friday, like, you know, 20 on each day, but I was spending three to four hours every single day on my laptop, typing responses to clients and like doing text, like I did text messages as well. So like I would get, I'd be in the middle of a dinner and I get text message from my clients about like, what do I eat now? And like, it was very much all encompassing of my life.
James 13:39
Uh, yeah, I could imagine and what were they paying? Not enough. Yeah.
Amber B 13:45
I started very like, middle of the barrel with my pricing. So it was like $200 for six weeks. Wow. And I overtime was able to like as I got more and more clients I did I raised my prices raise my prices should I go raise my prices like six times and I was still was like, tapping out with, you know, a full client load.
James 14:05
This is but that's amazing. There's there's so much amazing about this. First of all I love this common theme we're hearing with a lot of our case studies with. I'm just an observer, I'm being the reporter right now, I cannot tell you how many of our case studies of people that entrepreneurs became successful described, not necessarily accidental, but in the same sense. It was like, it wasn't their original intention. They're like, yeah, I started this project out of passion and joy and inspiration. And then it turned into something and it's just I have to note it that it's this is another example of that. I don't know it's very interesting.
Amber B 14:39
Totally my experience and then someone needed help and I wanted to help them
James 14:42
Yeah. And then what did you have any fancy stop like how are you getting these 120 clients they just reaching out saying
Amber B 14:49
Everything was all organic all through Instagram, like my Instagram account grew and and every everything was organic, it was like people would get you know, when people get results, they tell their friends and I feel like women I have this little niche, right? Like if something works for you, then you're gonna tell your sister and your sister in law and your mother and like everybody. So that's how I got all of my clients was just organic.
James 15:09
So what I'm also hearing is that in a very short amount of time, like two years, you built almost a $200,000 a year business using Instagram, and just working one on one with clients.
Amber B 15:21
Yep, that's it.
James 15:22
I mean, for a lot of people, that's like, I'll just take that right. I'll just
Amber B 15:26
Right yeah
James 15:27
I'm happy with that. But what other than noticing that you that it's not sustainable? Was there anything else driving you to go from one to many?
Amber B 15:38
So, you know, I didn't even know this term one to many. All I knew was that I was stressed out and I couldn't imagine doing this any longer and that I was at the top of like my earning potential. And I was like, I don't know what to do next. And so I reached out to a coach and worked with her for a little while and she introduced me to this concept of she's like, well, what you're doing is working right like you're getting results like you're working one on one with clients. Like we could just take you from the one to one to the one to many model and I was like, oh, I've never heard of that. Like, what would that look like? So she kind of coached me on that, on like a group coaching model, and that's, that's the next step that I took was after one to one, I went to one to many and did a group coaching.
James 16:15
Okay, so the first thing he did was did a group coaching, what was the price point? What did that look like?
Amber B 16:19
So that that was scary. She pushed me on the price point in that and I started at a beta at $497 price point. And then the next when I launched it for real, then it was a $997 price point.
James 16:30
And at the time you did that. How much was working one on one, how much you get.
Amber B 16:34
So she had pushed me to increase my one on one prices, too. So it was it was around. I can't remember, but it's around like four to 500 a month.
James 16:41
Okay, got it. Yeah. So looking back now. I mean, it's scary for all of us when we raise our prices. What advice do you have for somebody around pricing today? Having had that experience?
Amber B 16:53
Yeah, that's it. I mean, pricing is a tough issue. There's a whole lot of money mindset that goes into that and I absolutely can see my transition with money and my relationship with money over the last couple of years and how that has changed. I came from a very lack mindset conservative, like, my husband is a physician, but he just barely, like, finished all of his training. And so we went for 14 years, making very little money living in California with four kids. So I come from this lack mindset of like, everything's expensive, I can't afford it. Like, that's my mindset. And so when it came to pricing, that was something a big hurdle that I had to get over.
James 17:34
Because Because you assume that that everyone's the same as you
Amber B 17:37
exactly yep,
James 17:38
I mean, I've talked about this before, but your beliefs about money, you tend to as an entrepreneur, you tend to superimpose them on other people, like, I don't want people to look at me and say, oh, James can't afford that. Like, that's your stuff. Don't put that on me. Don't tell me what I can or cannot afford. But I really get that. So I remember when I was in that place, I have to assume you're sitting there going, well, money's tight for me. So I couldn't possibly ask other people for money because it's tight for them as well.
Amber B 18:04
Well, and part of me was like, I felt such a kinship to the people in the same situation as me. So like other moms who like were stay at home moms who had husbands who were still going through training, like, I felt such a kinship to them and like wanting to serve them that it felt it felt hard to raise my prices, because then I was like, leaving them behind. And it was almost like leaving me behind, when I raised my prices.
James 18:26
How did you how did you grapple with that?
Amber B 18:28
So you know, having somebody to push me was key, like having somebody outside of my realm be like, No, you can do this and pushing me to say I'm going to do it and then follow through was huge, but it's just it's been a work in progress, reading books about money, listening to podcasts about money, really getting clear on what my beliefs are, and how like they are just beliefs, right? Like that has been crazy for me to understand the difference between a fact and a belief and coming to terms with oh my gosh, that thing that I thought my entire life that's a belief I could change it today like I could choose to change that belief today was huge.
James 19:04
That's so freeing when people get that when people get that you're just you're free because you realize it's those beliefs that are the things that puts you in a prison anyways, so this is beautiful this is amazing in a nutshell How would you describe your relationship with money right now?
Amber B 19:19
Right now I am much more my husband my husband actually likes it because he's always been a little bit more abundant mindset that I am he now he like will say it he's like I love this new abundant you. I love this like abundant Amber. So I feel like my relationship with money now is that like, there's enough and and this and I've talked about this at our next level event, but like, I feel like money comes in and money goes out and money comes in and money goes out and before when the money went out. That was very fearful to me. The money going out was always scary and I feel like I've gotten to the point now where I understand the ebbs and flows that like yeah, money goes out and then it comes back and then it goes back out and then it comes back in and I know Not scared with that ebb and flow down.
James 20:01
I think that's so beautiful. And I hope someone here listening will take that beyond just a concept. Because I've used this metaphor of treating money like air, you know, air has to be breathe in and out. And when you're breathing air out, which is necessary for survival, because you can't just hold your breath and hold it in, when you breathe air out, like you don't sit in fear going, will more air come in, will more oxygen come into my lungs, you know, and I know it's easier said than done. I didn't say this will be easy, but it's a beautiful simple metaphor or analogy for how we can adopt a better relationship with money. Money is meant to flow out and you have to be okay to let it flow because if you're not okay, letting it flow out, what you're really saying is I don't have enough and you get what you focus on. So you say I can't let it go means you don't have enough and if you focus on not having enough you will never have enough. Boy, I think at the end The thing is, just to talk about this for a moment, I think most people are like, starting to get Oh, okay, this is about like mindset and all this weird woowoo stuff that James talks about. And so when they go to fix their relate or effect or change their relationship with money, they focus on getting more. And it's like, what if all you did was healed the part of you that experience of letting it go. And that's where I think the most profound impact was had in my life was being okay with letting it go out. Because you know, that if you let it go out, you know more, it's gonna come back in. So that's really awesome that you said that,
Amber B 21:31
And entrepreneurship kind of forces you into that, doesn't it? Facebook ads, right like I've just learned I got to put money in and I get money out like that's just kind of how it works building a team you put money in you get money out, and I've learned it now enough times and seen it work that I can believe that it will work in the future as well.
James 21:48
Yes. That always makes it easier when you when you've seen evidence of evidence. And you know, but you don't that's the thing is you don't you don't need evidence. You don't need the evidence. And that's the thing is most people are walking around Say No, I believe it when I see it. And you know, that's the opposite. Right? It's, it's you see it because you believed it first. So yeah, this is great. So you did the group coaching program, you start at 497. And then you went to 997. How was your experience with all that? What type of results were you getting?
Amber B 22:15
Yeah. So So I launched that program four times. And I felt like, you know, I did very well, I was really happy with it. I started out at you know, 15 k launch was my beta launch, which is nothing to like, laugh at, like, that was a five figure launch. I was super proud of it.
James 22:32
What was that experience, like when that was all said and done.
Amber B 22:35
So I, you know, I was, that was like, 35 women that I got into this program, I was, you know, still creating it as I was, you know, putting it out there for them. So, it felt like that was a good amount of women. I was like I can, I can deal with this amount. Like I can serve these women. I had built out the team so that I had other coaches in my program. Awesome that we're doing like the one on one type stuff and I was doing more of the group because I want I didn't want to lose that one on one. Like checking Every week with with fitness is really valuable. And so I had three coaches and I'm like, Okay, cool. We did 35 women this time, like, we can scale this, like I can scale this, each of my coaches can take on 30 clients, like we can get to, like 100 clients. So I was all revved up and all set up and then launch number two comes and we got 15,000 again, it was like I doubled the price and got half the number of students, right. And so that was a little bit of like a, you know, what am I doing? Like, I was already I was already scared to raise the price. And then it was kind of like my fears were confirmed that when I raised the price, I got half the number of students and I ended up netting the same amount. And so then around that time, I joined BBD and I'm like, okay, we're gonna like we're gonna do this. I like took some of this stuff. And I had my biggest launch yet. It was 24,000.
James 23:50
So at 997
Amber B 23:51
At 997 so so any increase, right, like an increase? Yeah, not a huge increase, but I'm like, okay, we're like trending upward, right. So then my fourth line I'm all excited, we're gonna get 100 clients, like I have it all, like mapped out, it's already and I get it was a 17 k launch. I just felt like there's this glass ceiling that I was like, I cannot break through this glass ceiling Like what? What is wrong? What how do we move past this? And so, you know, you turn into those inward things of like, what am I doing wrong? Like, what should I be doing instead? Like, this is not how it's supposed to go, everybody else says that they double their launches every time and I'm not sitting here doubling my launches and you know, all those things were kind of going around in my head and that kind of brings us to like the beginning of 2019 kind of where I was in the mindset that I was January 2019.
James 24:39
Okay, so take take a straight to there. Okay, so you made some changes, right?
Amber B 24:45
So I made some changes so James always teaches that if something you know if it's not working, if it's not scaling, it's there's two things to look at. There's the offering those the messaging, and deep in my heart, I knew that both were off. Well, I knew that I needed to fix both and so I did that. So I, you know, I'm, I'm a tenacious person, like, if someone told me, no Amber, you just got to keep launching this and like you're gonna, you'll get there, like I would have kept doing it. I launched it four times, like, it wasn't me just like trying to give up. But I knew that I needed to pivot and it was a very intentional pivot. And so that pivot for me looks like taking the things that I had worked on over the last year and reformatting them and repurposing them into a new offer. So I created a new offer that was much a lower price point, it was much more hands off, and much more self led course style, rather than like a group coaching model. And so I created that offer. And then I got really clear on my messaging, and how I was speaking to people, and how I was talking about my product and how I was talking about the transformation. And with those two things aligned, the heavens opened, and I just finished out an 80K launch.
James 25:56
That's so exciting. Was this a first time you did that? Then you asked
Amber B 26:00
Did so I did a beta launch in February. And that was I very intentionally kept that very, very quiet.
James 26:06
I think that was smart by the way to do that,
Amber B 26:08
Because I have a very large audience. I have a, you know, a sizable email list. Yep. I didn't want a ton of people in this beta. So I, I limited it by having it be a paid webinar into
James 26:19
Nice
Amber B 26:20
Into it
James 26:20
How much did you charge for the webinar.
Amber B 26:22
So the webinar is just 20 bucks. And I ended up having like, 240 people in it, and I ended up converting around, like between 10 and 15%. I ended up having like, 30-35 women come into the beta. Yeah, which was perfect. That was what I wanted. So I think I ended up grossing like $10,000 from that, but I knew that that was setting me up for what you'd want.
James 26:41
Okay. Well, that's what I want to ask to when you did the beta or when you made the offer for the beta. You got your 35 women. Did you have a sense then this offer was more aligned for you?
Amber B 26:51
Absolutely.
James 26:51
Okay. You knew even back in February.
Amber B 26:54
Yeah. And I knew as I was putting it together, I just knew that I had grown so much over the last year. I grown As a coach, yeah. And I was able to revisit those things, because I just I basically repurpose content, like I had already created a lot of the content, but I repurpose it. And because I was in a different space, myself and as a coach, I was able to just craft it better, and get people the same results with less time. And less energy. So so when I finished it, I was like, Yes, this is it.
James 27:22
Well, I've had some I've had a lot of students asked me, you know, I'm about to launch my beta. What are the indicators that will tell me because the whole point of the beta is really to test right to see Am I doing the right thing? And they asked me what are the indicators that will tell me that this is the right offer to keep pursuing? Do you have any advice that told you like, I know this is right.
Amber B 27:45
It felt right.
James 27:46
Yeah, it is. I mean, I know that's hard to hear, but it is so much a feeling
Amber B 27:51
it was and I don't regret what I did in 2018 creating and launching that group coaching program so many times because even though it's Never Felt 100% right. It gave me the tools and the like learning that I needed before I was going to be able to create this offer. Right. And so I don't regret anything. But definitely when I finished it, I was like, Yes. Like, this is how I wanted to say it. This is how I wanted to present it. This is how it, it just felt like this was on brand on alignment with me. And that was something that one of the coaches had brought up to me. I was feeling so out of alignment in the end of 2018. I was like, if you tell me I need to launch this again, I'll do it. But I just I feel so conflicted. Like I just feel this, like confliction within me and she's like, if you're feeling that out of alignment, like your customers are going to be feeling that and she's absolutely right. And once I got this new offer, I was like yes, I feel in alignment to the price. I feel alignment with the process. I feel alignment with all of it. Let's go like let's do it. Let's do the big launch
James 28:50
And what is the price what was the price point on the new offer? So
Amber B 28:53
This was a 297 price point. So a much lower price point, which I found the fitness industry is coming Funny with like, price points, totally I like health and fitness would be like worth lots and lots to people, but people are stingy with.
James 29:08
Yeah, no, no, it's it's like, No, I'll, um, you know, I'll save money and eat poorly and not take care of myself. And then when I'm 70 I'll spend all my money on. Yeah, trying to fix myself.
Amber B 29:21
Yeah.
James 29:22
Whereas this is just preventative, you know, to stay healthier, live longer and whatnot. That's how, you know, this is how most people in society work. But yes, I would say that I think that's great that you mentioned this. I tell people don't be the Walmart in your industry. Okay, raise your prices. But you have to understand that this is contextual to the industry in the market that you're in, and that raising your prices. If you're teaching business owners or serving business owners in some way you could have 20 30 40 $50,000 offers like we have a $50,000 offer in our business. You're in the fitness space. We're talking about people that buy ebooks for 20 bucks. So going to 297 already actually is a higher Ticket program. Yeah, like I have a fitness membership, I pay 30 bucks a month for it. I love it all. Like, I'll never cancel 30 bucks a month is a no brainer for me. But for most people, that's kind of the threshold. Yeah. And yeah, so even at 297 you're at you're at a you're not a Walmart price right there.
Amber B 30:20
No, No, it isn't. That was hard for me for a while because I do like listen to other podcasts and I do like, watch other business owners and and the business to business is different than the business consumer and I think even business to consumer is different in the fitness space. And so coming to terms with that and like being like, okay with, yeah, like it's a 297 product, which first, a lot of people are like, Oh, that's a super low price course, in the fitness space. A lot of people can get a one to one coach for $300 like and so I come up against that, like, why should I buy this course if I can get a one to one coach for the same price?
James 30:54
Totally. And it's a different market. So it's just a different territory. But understand if Do you think about like, okay, let's say so I'm serving online entrepreneurs, right? How many online entrepreneurs are there, like in the marketplace, and then how many people are there out there that want to lose weight? The thing is, is there's true, there is not just a volume of more volume in the health and fitness space, but it's a more consistent volume, like you'll never run out of people who want to lose weight. And they'll be someone that right now is currently in great shape. And then in a year from now, they're going to be looking for weight loss advice, because something happened, right? So it's just a different environment. And that's why you know, know your market, know what works and what doesn't. So this is so exciting. And so first of all, like huge Congrats, I'm so excited and so happy for you, that you found this launch messaging and offer alignment because I think that's just part of the journey. And because what was the word you use, but you're just so I like to use the word stubborn, but tenacious, you're not willing to give up and that's what it takes. People do their first launch and they sell it well. Perfect, it wasn't a homerun, I give up. And notice here and listening to Amber, how she was willing to do something over and over again and try something different until she found something that worked for her, and not give up on that. That's the process. So
Amber B 32:14
I was crazy when it all came into alignment too, because it I went into this knowing that it was going to be a big launch. I felt like it like this is gonna be it. I'm gonna have my 60 k launch, which has been on my vision board for a year. I've wanted that 60 k launch like that's been my my milestone. And on our cart open day we did 52,000 and I and I was like, What is this? Like? Like, it came out of nowhere to me it was like yeah, I had this goal for like 60,000 and we ended up blowing that out of the water and and hit 80 K and it was really wet. It was just like the all the things came into alignment offer the messaging me and the place I was at in my business and it just all it all worked
James 32:53
So awesome. And I'm sure your husband is super ecstatic.
Amber B 32:57
He's very excited. Yeah, like when are we going to do again
James 33:00
right. And now you're pacing pretty well for 2019.
Amber B 33:04
Yeah, yeah. So my, my revenue goal is 400 k for 2019
James 33:08
Feeling good about that.
Amber B 33:10
And I'm feeling good about it.
James 33:11
That's amazing. So there was a little bit of this dip in this transition to go from one to one to one to many. But just to like finalize here for somebody listening. Who's in that same place that you were back in 2016 2017, where you've maxed out on one on one clients, what advice do you have for them? If they're sitting here at the edge of the cliff ready to make that leap? from one to one to one to many?
Amber B 33:35
Yeah, let me tell you, having been there it is hard to cut the one to one ties. Because it was it was steady. It was like I need a little extra money. I pick up a couple extra clients and it was just like I it was always there. I didn't have to do a whole lot of work. I didn't have to pay for Facebook advertising like it was just this steady stream. But it took up all my time. Yeah, and I didn't have time to do anything else. And I knew that if I wanted to grow larger, I had to be able to have time to do other things. And that would mean cutting back on the one to one clients. But the hard thing about that is that the cutting back has to happen first, like I have to cut back on clients to create the space to then create something else. And that's a scary place to be, because I was generating a lot of money. And now what I'm saying is no, I'm going to cut my client load in half, so I'm not my revenues gonna fall by half, to now create time to then hopefully, in the future, create something else that's going to generate more revenue, and it's a scary place to be. So I've been there like, I know what that feels like. And I can say, James always says that you have to slow down so that you can speed up and that is exactly what happened. For me. I cut back my one to one clients, I created more space and I generated less revenue in 2018 than I did in 2017. Almost like 60 k less in revenue. And so that was kind of hard. It was like I always had reached that 200,000 in 2017. And then in 2018, we're like back to just like down in this like low six figures. But I knew that I had to be looking forward and that I had to be looking past just that year, because I couldn't scale that anymore. And so here we are now in 2019. And I'm going to double what I did in 2017.
James 35:23
I'm so glad you bring that up. Because I remember where I was. My one on one was me doing bartending services and people would pay me to go bartender weddings and private events. And it sucked. I hated it, but it paid the bills.
Amber B 35:36
Yep.
James 35:37
And it was easy to get clients. I was ranked number one. In Google, if you typed in Orange County bartender bartender for hire in any town in Orange County, even outside of Orange County, people would find me and I was getting at least a call a day. I was turning down gigs because I was like, No, I'm just too busy. And I had other bartenders working for me and I remember when I stopped and was that exact same experience where you have to Like, grasp or conceptualize or accept this, this inevitability that you're going to have a decline before you have an increase exactly like you did. And what a beautiful demonstration of faith when you make that leap when you say, I'm going to say no to these extra clients and this extra money because I know, in the future it will pay off. And that's unfortunately, it's gonna be a hard pill for some to swallow. as scary as it was for Amber. She did it because she knew it would work out. Yep, scary. Hundred percent, and she did it anyways, whereas most people will not do it. And it's deep down, it's because they don't actually believe that they'll be able to do it. We will not actually there's a beautiful quote by Richard Bandler and says something to the effect of if you don't fully 100% believe in the outcome, or believe that it's possible you won't actually do What it actually takes to get the result and that's a perfect example of it. If it's it's scary hundred percent, but you'll do it, you'll make the leap. If you know, if you believe that the outcome is gonna is gonna happen, it's gonna be possible.
Amber B 37:17
I'm interested to hear what you have to say about this because I hear in the, in the online space a lot about burn the boats, right? Like, you got to burn the boats so that you can't go back and like, you know, you got to move forward and go towards what you want. But one of the things that helped me back then and may help somebody else was that in the back of my mind, I just said, I can always go back. Like if I needed to get revenue, if I needed to generate some revenue, I could put it out on my Instagram and I could get some more one on one clients. And so for me having that, you know, maybe I didn't burn all the boats, but having this little boat back here that was like a little safety boat, gave me the confidence to be like, you know what, if it doesn't work, I can always go back and that for me helps me to move forward.
James 37:59
Yeah, this is a great topic because, you know, I challenge everything. So even when I hear advice like that, I'm gonna, I'm gonna challenge it. I think there's a couple of things in play here. First of all, there's people that are tend to be more like pain and consequence motivated, versus more like, positive, motivated. So the person that's saying burn the boats tends to say that because they're the type of person that when things, you know, like ish hits the fan, when things get bad, that really motivates them, that really moves them. And then there are people that like me, I'm not really that like that motivated by that, I see a big positive bright outcome and that actually is all I need to move towards that. And so for me, I'm always gonna take a very strategic and intelligent approach to business, which is, I think, burn the boats in this context is what's the word I'm looking for reckless, it's reckless. So burning the boats in this context would be sending an email and announcing your entire audience. I no longer taking any more one on one clients ever again. Yeah. Why would you do that? Just make the decision to say well to say first, how many clients do I need in order to like maintain revenue for the next 12 months? Great, I'm only going to do that.
And now I've just given myself three hours a day or whatever to work on this new business. Great. You're being smart about it. I'm always going to be how do we mitigate and minimize risk as much as possible, you're gonna have to make that jump from one to one to one to many if you want to. Of course, you don't have to ever go to one too many. You could stop where Amber stop there and be totally fine with that. But if, if you want to go to one of many, you're gonna have to make a jump. My message is, why not make that gap? That Canyon as small and narrow as you possibly can? But someone asked me Theresa Lowe asked me on my podcast, we did this two part story of James's history like you talked about this phrase leap and the net will appear as this old Zen saying you've probably heard me say it until it just sounds Like I'm a broken record, leap and the net will appear. James what she asked me what was what's like the biggest leap you've taken and I laughed. I said, if I'm being honest, I don't really think I've ever taken a big leap. I just keep taking one step after another one step in front of another. And then people look back and say, Whoa, you've grown so much. It's like, Yeah, I just took one step in front of the other for 11 12 years straight. So that's my philosophy on that. It sounds like a similar to your perspective as well.
Amber B 40:25
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that was that was reassuring for me. Yeah. Well, I didn't go back but I could have always gone back
James 40:31
Know thyself is this whole idea of like, get obsessed with finding out what motivates you and what works for you What, what works for developing new habits and new behaviors, you know, and just just certainly, you know, notice that now, for me, I'm also commitment is a big deal for me. So when I say yes to something, and I commit to it, in my mind, I'm burning my in the boats in that I won't go back unless you know, the just no way out, you know. So I, if we're using this as an actual example, like the burning the boats metaphor is like, when you go to battle and the the men on the boats, the soldiers on the boats go to the shore, and they're gonna go attack the neighboring village, they burn the boats, because they're saying we can't retreat that's so that's where it's coming from just for listeners that that didn't get the reference. And so the thing is, is I would need to burn the boats because I'm just gonna choose not to retreat. And you know, I mean so it's like have them there because it'll give you peace of mind. But I'm gonna choose not to give up and that's what commitment is and I've talked about this in the Business By Design group that I think commitment is this word that's been just tossed around like those free fliers in Las Vegas. Some of you guys know I'm talking about here, right? They just throw it around, I'm committed I'm committed I'm committed and committed now means well, if when I feel like it, you know, no, that's not commitment. commitment is like for example, Amber, you have four kids. Is it not true that you are absolutely committed to their Health and Safety that no matter what happens, an economic collapse natural disaster, heaven forbid, you are committed that you will do whatever it takes to keep them safe.
Amber B 42:03
100%
James 42:11
It's not even a question.
Amber B 42:12
Nope
James 42:13
That's commitment. It's not well, I'm tired. Well, I don't feel like it today or Game of Thrones is on or something like that. People are saying they're committed. But then other things get in the way. And if you take that same energy, that same level of commitment that someone like Amber would have, or any parent would have about their kids, and you start applying that to the vision of your business, you don't even need to talk about burning the boats because you're not even looking behind you. You're not looking back, you're just doing, you know, you're just making it happen. So the thing is, is like, Amber, I really get a sense after getting to know you this year, that that's just about who you are.
Amber B 42:49
Absolutely
James 42:50
The thing is, is that's what it takes. I have to assume we didn't ask. I don't know if it's inappropriate to ask if you got the six pack after the babies, but that was your goal and I have to assume you either Got it got very close, because
Amber B 43:02
I got it.
James 43:02
Of course she got it because she takes that same level of tenacity and commitment. And when she focuses it and applies it, she does whatever it costs, whatever it takes to hit the outcome. And the fact of matter is, is, that's not how most people are approaching a business. And then they wonder why they're not getting the results because you're not actually doing what it takes. You're not having to follow through, you're not operating from that place of commitment. And so it's not even a surprise to me that you are where you are in such a little bit amount of time. It's so much less about what you know, and what skills and what secrets that the gurus are teaching or withholding, and so much more about who you are and what you're about. And how you show up when you're working on your business because as a mom of four, how many hours a day can you even a lot your business.
Amber B 43:44
I have two and a half hours between the time that I dropped my son off at preschool time I pick him up. Wow. So sometimes I'm putting in a couple other hours during the day but like my two and a half hours is like my block to work Monday through Friday because I don't work weekends because that was a commitment. My husband and I made together so not a ton
James 44:00
Yeah, and now you've given me like 45 minutes on this call. So I want to give you the rest of your day back. So this has been amazing. Any any final words before we wrap up?
Amber B 44:09
Just that. I think what James said about commitment like that absolutely rings home. And it's one of the things that that I love to pass on to my clients. And like I said, kind of to bring it full circle what I talked about at the beginning to me, fitness is the vehicle but what I'm teaching people is that commitment is that you continue to show up is that when it does you like you do three workouts and you don't have a six pack yet like you keep going because the six pack is three months down the road, not after three workouts. And when you can really look at it as the long term of this is where I want to go and I really resonate when James says your success is inevitable. Like I've always gone into business thinking like yeah, of course it is like do people not believe their success is inevitable Because maybe that's like, really high minded with me, but I'm always like, of course my success is inevitable. And I want to pass that on to my clients and on To the people who are in my sphere of influence, because I truly believe that we as women, and we as people have so much power inside of us, and we just hold ourselves back so darn much that I want to be able to have people let that out and say, yeah, your success, whatever you want in life, you can do it. Like you got it.
James 45:17
I love this. I love this so much, because you're just like, you're leading by example. You're taking a stand, you're being the leader to your people, you're showing them I'm the proof of what's possible. And that's what it takes. That's what it takes. That's why because you believe in yourself so much and believe in them so much. That's why they're all joining. Yeah,
Amber B 45:36
And darn it, I didn't know that entrepreneurship was gonna be like this much fun. Had I known that this was like, this much fun and like this much growth. Yeah, I would have done it a lot sooner than I did it right. But I fell into it.
James 45:47
I know. I'm glad you did, too. So this has been amazing. Thank you so much. Amber, where can we follow you? Should we go to Instagram?
Amber B 45:53
Yeah, Instagram is my platform of choice. I'm there at Biceps After Babies. I also have a podcast Biceps After Babies Radio and then I'm also on Facebook, but Instagram is definitely my platform of choice.
James 46:03
Amber, you're amazing. Thank you so much. We're going to link all that up in the show notes. So please, guys do me a huge favor. If anything that Amber has shared with you today has touched or moved or inspired you in some way, let her know, blow up her DMS for a week or so, and share with her how her message and her journey is impacting you. Because I know that will make a difference. You can really get a sense that she's all about inspiring change in the lives of the women that come to her in her community. But how much more amazing is it when she gets to have that ripple effect and inspire even other entrepreneurs and business owners even if you're like, not even engaged in health and fitness. I think that's pretty awesome. That's pretty cool. So be amazing. Yeah. Thank you guys. And thank you, Amber.
Amber B 46:49
I hope that you enjoyed that episode. I hope that you got some value out of it. And maybe for some of you it's starting to make you a little curious and thinking about what it would look like for you to start a business, something that you can do from home is something that you could do to serve other people and teach other people. And if that is the case, then I would love to invite you over to a brand new Facebook group that I just created. It's called Business After Babies. And we are starting to build a community of women over there who are interested in starting and or growing and or scaling their online business. And so if that's you and you would like to come join a community of women, I'm sharing a little bit more in depth things that I wish I would have known when I started my business and kind of helping some of you guys get going. So if that's interesting to you come over to BicepsAfterBabies.com/biz b i z, and that'll direct you to the Facebook group, you can come and join that group. Come join the conversation that we're having over there. It is fun to be able to chat with women who get it who are moms and have families and also have business dreams and aspirations. And who are really trying to create that freedom that they want. So again, that's www.bicepsafterbabies.com/biz. And that will redirect you to come join us over in the Facebook group and talk more things Business After Babies. Last, if this is an interesting topic to you, will you let me know shoot me a DM on Facebook or on Instagram. And let me know if you're interested in hearing more about business topics or if you're like, Girl, just stick to the fitness. I love to hear feedback from you guys. I love to see screenshots if you love this episode and you want to share it with maybe somebody who is starting a business or thinking about starting a business. Take a screenshot, send it to them in a text message or post it on your social media and make sure that you tag me. I love to know what you guys love so that we can put more of it into the podcast that wraps up this episode of Biceps After Babies radio. I'm Amber now going on be strong because remember my friend, you can do anything
Outro
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