238 MINISODE Amy Schuber: Inspired Connection

Amy Schuber is the acclaimed host of the podcast Inspired Conversations and a strategic business coach. We talk about why women in business so often fall into isolation, and the crippling impact of not growing meaningful relationships and connections. She shares her advice and how connecting and growing a business network has changed the game for her.

Melinda Wittstock:          Amy, welcome to Wings.

Amy Schuber:                    Oh my gosh, thank you for having me. I’m thrilled to be here with you.

Melinda Wittstock:          I am so excited to finally interview you. I’ve met you so many times, as an icon of influence at the New Media Summit, and we just got back from a great conference and I want to know what is inspiring you right now?

Amy Schuber:                    Gosh, you know? What’s inspiring me right now are conversations like this. New connections, being connected with people, and the power of the connectivity that we have because there’s so much depth and richness in our relationships and when we really tap into who we are and who we connect with and who they are and who they can be to us, there’s so much amazing learnings and power in that, and I’m just realigning with that myself as I’ve … like, coming off New Media Summit, and these new connections with people who are podcasters and business owners and all kinds of amazing things that people are doing.

And if we don’t connect with people, we miss out on something, and I’m just re-inspired by this deep connection and how it can serve everybody. It’s just really inspiring me, now, because I’ve made some new friends in the past year by having some deeper connections, and I think sometimes we don’t take into account how powerful they can be. I see people in my own life, maybe family, who maybe don’t have that power of connection or maybe leverage it in their life.

Maybe it’s because they’re not in business, but you don’t have to be in business to leverage that, and I think the power of connection really can serve everybody involved, and it just takes things to another level, and like you and I being in this conversation and having that connection previous to this, this wouldn’t have happened. Right? So, it’s just like how all these layers serve us, and help us, and support us. It’s really inspiring to me.

Melinda Wittstock:          Oh, it’s lovely, and I love how you said that, too, because as entrepreneurs we really do need to be open the opportunity, experience, and if we’re isolated there’s no way we’re going to see that. There’s no way we’re going to get those hints of inspiration that we need, and you know, it is … business really is about relationships, so what you say is so true.

And so, along the entrepreneurial journey though, we all have challenges, as well. There’s ups and downs. What are some of yours right now?

Amy Schuber:                    Gosh, you know, I was coming out of actually the frustration of being isolated, I think, in my business. You know, the past year previous I was feeling really isolated and trying to figure out some challenges with some of the work I was doing, some of the connection I was having, and even with podcasting, and it’s funny, stepping into and being invited as an icon to speak and connect with other people, that opened me up, and surprisingly.

And I didn’t realize how much that isolation was really keeping me down, you know? Like, I had some team members, but you know, I work remotely, they work remotely, and I’m really a connector, and so for me the frustration in entrepreneurship is that solopreneurship, and that being isolated, and really … and it’s easy to not put your head up and look around and get the help, right?

So I always find myself sort of dipping into that a little bit, you know, when I put my head down and I’m working. But I also know that it doesn’t serve me either, so I do a dance with that, you know? And this last year has really shown me to come out of that isolation and find the connections, and you never know who’s sitting next to you who could be supportive of you, but I think I forget that and so for me I get frustrated by how I forget about the isolation factor, and how it impacts me, until I’m not doing it anymore and then I’m like, “Oh, that’s right, when I’m out in the world and connecting in a deeper level that’s supportive of me.”

So, I think I get frustrated with myself that I forget some of those things, you know?

Melinda Wittstock:          Right. Well, it’s so interesting, when we’re working in our business. You know, when we have funnels to do, and so many social media posts, and podcasts to produce, and so many things that we have to do in our business as opposed to working on our business, and as women, oh my god, the worst thing, actually, for women, is being isolated.

In fact, when we’re together we actually release the brain hormone oxytocin. Like, the feel-good chemical. So we need to be connected. We need to be working with each other, and so yes, that battle and isolation, I think that’s such a pattern. So many people do talk about that being tricky to navigate.

So what are your go-to pieces of advice for women in business, apart from like, “Don’t isolate yourself?” What are the other three?

Amy Schuber:                    Well, really get connected, you know, with a community of like-minded women and business owners where you can be connected and you’re consistently connected. Right? So, I would say, and I say this as advice because I did it for a while and then I stopped doing it and I’m back into it, but we also, we get so much, like you said, inspiration and connection and then support, and it builds our business, too.

So I would say, for one, be in and stay in a connected community of like-minded business owners. It seems obvious, but it’s so easy to not do that. And then my next one would be create accountability partners within your business, or outside your business. Maybe it’s not with your team, per se, but find a group or somebody that can hold you accountable for your business goals.

Especially if you’re an entrepreneur, a solopreneur, you don’t necessarily want to do it with your team members but somebody who is a peer or maybe in front of you a bit with business, and find somebody who you can be accountable to, and they can be accountable to you. I found when I put into place accountability partners, and this can be in business or any area of your life, really, that it helps you tow the line, you know, because someone is checking in with you.

Like, just this last week someone sent me the email and was like, “Okay, check in.” And I was like, “Uh-oh. I didn’t do what I thought I was going to do, but I’m going to check in anyways, and then re-pattern what I’m going to do to create what I said I was going to do.” And so there’s that accountability and responsibility to someone else. That really helps me in business, and then you know, stay in the conversation of growth.

Whatever that growth is, whatever you’re maybe trying to be accountable for in your business, we’re all growing at different rates, we’re all growing in different times, but always stay in that conversation of being ever-evolving in your growth. Keep reconnecting with it, whether you do it quarterly looking at your goals, whether you’re doing it annually looking at your goals, whether you do it on your birthday setting new goals, stay in that conversation of growth and what you’re working towards.

Because like you said, when we’re working in our business and not on our business, sometimes we forget or we lose sight of what we’re actually wanting to create for our business, so we’ve always got to have that tether or connection back to it so we stay on task and stay on point, because it’s so easy to forget.

I mean, I know that sounds kind of silly to say you forget your goals, but you do, sometimes, or you get distracted and you’re working towards something else because someone has taken you off a different path and now you’re speaking over here but that has nothing to do with growing your team. So it’s like to stay on task is to stay connected with your goals and your intentions, your vision of your business, so you can back out of it and reverse engineer it and be like, “Is what I’m doing today, this task, on point to serve that?”

And if it’s not, you can really see, “Oh, I’m totally distracted. What am I doing on this project? Has nothing to do with my goals.” You can always re-assess and you can always evolve them but it’s always good to reconnect with them so you stay on track and on point, and then your team stays on track and on point, too.

Melinda Wittstock:          Oh, gosh. It’s so true, I find that my mornings, my miracle mornings, are vital for that. Just remember what my intention is, what I want to achieve that day, that week, that month. Just checking in with that intention and imagining it as if it’s already done and feeling the gratitude for it. The accountability part that you mentioned, though, oh my goodness. That is so, so important.

We all need that. It’s so hard to see our own shadows.

Amy Schuber:                    Right? Right?

Melinda Wittstock:          It’s kind of a like a dog chasing its tail, but it’s good to … there you go! You’re chasing your tail.

Amy Schuber:                    Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, and it’s good for someone else to point it out to us, you know?

Melinda Wittstock:          Exactly. Because there’s so much that we can’t see, and such great advice, Amy. Thank you. And of course, you’ve got a wonderful podcast. Tell people how they can find your podcast and also how they can find you and work with you.

Amy Schuber:                    Absolutely. So, you can find everything at amyschuber.com. My podcast is called Inspired Conversations and you can find that wherever you tune in to podcasts, so it’s Inspired Conversations with Amy Schuber, and I would love to hear from you on any front, whether you need support in your business or you love to have a conversation and like to hear what my podcast is all about, I would love to hear from you that way, as well.

Melinda Wittstock:          That’s wonderful. Amy, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us.

Amy Schuber:                    Oh, thank you for having me.

Sometimes we need to learn how to take a vacation, or take it easy, or maybe we need better health, and that feeds us in our business. So I had started a telesummit called Inspired Conversations and I did a whole bunch of interviews and afterwards it was over, and I thought, “Okay, now what? That was really fun. I loved being in those conversations. Now what do I do with that?”

Because they just sort of … like, it goes away, right? All of those interviews go away, and so one of my friends said, “You should start a podcast.” And five years ago, I didn’t know what a podcast was. I truly didn’t know. I was like, “What does that mean?” And so I did the research and all of a sudden all these opportunities started coming to me for starting a podcast. It was very synchronistic, so I thought, “Okay, I need to start a podcast.”

So, I started a podcast, and I just called it the same thing, Inspired Conversations, and my intention was to create a platform for my voice, and create a platform to have these conversations where people could hear things from other people that could help support them in their lives and business, whether it’s health and wellbeing or maybe a business strategy, or maybe something spiritual that could help realign them.

These conversations would help people become better people, right? Better to themselves, and my intention was that they would learn, create, and thrive. So, learn something new, create something with what they learned, and then thrive in their lives or business. So both. And so that’s why I started, but it was interesting, because there was so much synchronicity I couldn’t deny starting. Even for me, like, I was on a webinar and it was about podcasting and I thought, “Oh, this is cool. I think I could probably do this. I know enough people that could start me.”

And I knew I wanted to do interviews, because I’m a curious person, and I wanted to be in the conversation, because I’m learning, and I wanted to learn things, and so I was on this webinar and it was funny because if you signed up for whatever it was, you could win the free microphone. And I thought, “Oh, I’m going to sign up, and if I win the microphone, I’ll start a podcast.”

And I won the microphone, and it was on my doorstep the very next day. You know? Thanks to Prime, it was like the next day it was there, and I opened the microphone and I’m like, “Okay, I guess we’re doing this.” And that’s really … I just took that leap, and followed those intuitive hints and started and here we are, four years later.

And it’s been such a wild journey of personal development that I wasn’t expecting for myself. So it’s been really cool.

Melinda Wittstock:          Isn’t that interesting? I think you mentioned the word synchronicities. Right? When you get into alignment, when you’re doing something you’re meant to do, all kinds of amazing things happen. I’ve found that with Wings, that, you know, our … I know your intake calendar for how you book guests is automated, you never really know entirely who you’re going to be interviewing, say, on a given day. What’s been really fascinating for me is whatever challenge I’m working on in my business, I mean not always, but often, the woman that I happen to be speaking to that day is absolutely on point for me.

And then she’ll say something like, “Wow, I really needed this conversation because you were on point for me.” And that’s been amazing. It’s been like having a private mastermind. Kind of like-

Amy Schuber:                    Exactly.

Melinda Wittstock:          … every day.

Amy Schuber:                    Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:          It feels so good too to be helping other people, right?

Amy Schuber:                    Yeah, yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:          Do people get in touch with you and say, “Wow, I heard that conversation and it changed my life?”

Amy Schuber:                    Yes. I’ve had that same, exact, experience which has been the most surprising thing to me. I’ve had guest booked six months out on my show because their of schedules or what not. On that day, I’m going through something, they show up with the right message and I’m like how is that possible? I had no idea this was going to be going on this day, you know? It serves me. I usually finish the recording and I’m like, “Okay, that was just for me, I don’t need to publish that, that was just for me.” However, at the same time, I’m like if I’m going through this and needed that message, I know other people need it. So to me it’s just really wonderful universal confirmation.

It’s funny, I love hearing that, that’s happened to you as well. It happens over and over and over. Also, I get the feedback like, “Wow, thank you for having that conversation.” Or, “thank you for asking that question of that person, it’s really helped me go through some things.”

It’s really interesting because it also makes me realize we’re not alone and we think we might be going through something, whether it’s learning about a business strategy or something completely different like a spiritual conversation because I do have a lot of those. That we’re not the only ones. That’s what it reminds me of every single time. There’s this other thing that’s happening for me in this conversation is I can have a whole bunch of interviews scheduled in one day and we can be talking about all different subjects, spirituality, wellness and maybe like a business conversation I’m having. At the end of that day there’s the same theme. Everyone is talking about finding your voice in it or being true to yourself. It’s so interesting to me because what I’ve realized is, over these years, and being in and then witnessing these conversations, there’s this collective consciousness conversation going on. It’s sort of shifting in changing over the years but I’m really aware of it.

Right now, it happens to be when I’m witnessing and hearing is reconnect with yourself and be true to your voice. We see that out in the world, right? There’s this whole thing going on about our voices and be true to ourselves but it’s so interesting how I can hear it in these different conversations. It’s also the stuff that I work on too.

It’s my business and it’s how I help people get in alignment with their business and being true to ourselves. So, it’s really interesting, especially after these four years, to sort of look back and see what’s gone on. How I’ve participated, how it’s impacted me and then, how I can compare it to what I’m seeing out in the world and in business. It’s been really interesting. That was really unexpected for me.

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Listen to learn the secrets, strategies, practical tips and epiphanies of women entrepreneurs who’ve “been there, built that” so you too can manifest the confidence, capital and connections to soar to success!
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Review on iTunes and win the chance for a VIP Day with Melinda