I did something kinda big...

A behind-the-scenes look at my own unfiltered shenanigans from the marketing trenches. A real-life, no BS view of what it's really like to market a small business and ideas to make it all feel a whole lot easier!

So, last week, I shared a story about the food truck at the Iowa fair and why simplicity + strong processes matter so much in business.

And then I went and inspired myself. Between then and now, I did something kind of big.

✨ I hired a business consultant.✨

Honestly, it’s something I never thought I would do. But the idea of a neutral party taking a hard look at our operations was too valuable to pass up.

The goal is to have them look at everything - profit margins, operational procedures, job descriptions and how those match with current employees, our products and services (which ones to keep, which ones to ditch), and more.

Here’s how it works:

It’s a 6-month program
We meet two hours each week
There’s weekly “homework” to keep things moving
We’ll build a 6-month roadmap and a 3-year action plan
My whole team is involved in the process

That last part is huge for me. Because while I started this as my business, it’s no longer just mine.

The amazing ladies I work with are the ones building websites, creating content, and keeping everything running. They’re not just staff. They’re partners.

But here’s where my Type A tendencies come in…

I’ve always struggled with delegating. I like things done “my way,” which means I’ve unintentionally become the bottleneck.

My hope is that this process is going to push me to let go, to empower my team, and to recognize that their way might actually be better, more efficient, or more creative.

It’s both scary and exciting (but mostly exciting?!).

What I love most about this program is the approach: reverse-engineering the big picture into small, manageable weekly steps. I thrive with to-do lists and checkboxes, so this feels very doable.

Oh, and because I cannot NOT relate everything back to marketing, this has really had me thinking about how I could do something similar (small steps, big impact) that could help other small businesses in our community!

So I designed a challenge to do just that!

Next week, I’ll be sharing details about a brand new 30 Day Marketing Challenge kicking off October 15th.

The goal is 10 minutes of small marketing tasks for 30 days to get your SEO, website, and socials all working together...AND the final week of the challenge will also set you up for a perfectly planned holiday promotion.

It’s all about those small, intentional actions that add up to something big.

More on that soon, but for now - I’m curious:

Have you ever worked with a business consultant (or thought about it)?

What was your experience like? I would love to hear about your experience!