- CEO Story: After graduating from college, Allison already had a side hustle. She living the dream, teaching, and having a fancy job. But was laid off after serving 10 years. Allison turned it into an opportunity to do full-time with her side hustle. In just 3 months' time, she was able to replace her income, with the business that she has and went on growing ever since.
- Business Service: Help women with their businesses to make it work. Figuring out how to get to the next level.
- Secret Sauce: Truly understands her clients. Understanding the unique struggles and priorities.
- CEO Hack: The Desire Map and sometimes just more sleep and taking care of yourself
- CEO Nugget: Build your e-mail list and have an automated stream of passive income. You're capable of doing anything you want. Be unapologetic in saying this is what I want and this is how I'm going to do it.
- CEO Defined: Making a bigger impact that extends upon me and myself. Leaving a legacy.
Website: http://www.allisonhardy.com
Facebook group: themompreneurcommunity
Facebook: allisonhardy2015
Instagram: allison_hardy
Episode Link: https://iamceo.co/2018/10/19/iam089-business-strategist-helps-mompreneurs-raise-their-businesses-while-raising-their-families
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Transcription
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00:25 – Intro
Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.
00:50 – Gresham Harkless
Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO Podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Allison Hardy of AllisonHardy.com Alison. It's awesome to have you on the show.
01:01 – Allison Hardy
Thank you so much for having me.
01:02 – Gresham Harkless
No problem. What I want to do is just read a little bit more about Allison so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Allison Hardy is a business strategist for mompreneurs. Through infusing their business with a hearty dose of automation, and authentic social media. Driven by Facebook Live, and stepping into the role of an influencer through email marketing, Alison helps women raise their businesses while they are raising their families so that they can live life by design.
Allison is the creator of the Life by Design podcast, a Huffington Post contributor, and has been featured in the YFS magazine and was named one of Washington D.C.'s Most Influential Professionals under 40 by Washington Life magazine. She's also a wife to Tyr and mom to five-year-old Camden and six-month-old Nora. Allison, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?
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01:52 – Allison Hardy
Oh, I am ready.
01:53 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Let's do it. So the first question I had was just to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.
01:59 – Allison Hardy
Yeah, so I've always been an entrepreneur. Ever since I was 21, graduating from college. I've had a side hustle. I went to college to teach college-level art. So that's what I did after school. I did, you know, all the right things, Got the terminal degree, had the fancy quote, unquote fancy job, you know, and was living the dream. I had it all, supposedly. And then I got married and we got pregnant and at six months Pregnant with my first, who was Camden, I got laid off from that dream job that I had worked for 10 years. Like, it was devastating. It was kind of like one of those moments when you have like a total kind of meltdown.
It was a really scary time because I was only going to be able to take five weeks off after Camden was born just because of finances. And that's how it was. So getting laid off at six months pregnant did not financially work for me and for my family. So thankfully I had a super side hustle little business that I would work on occasion and you know, I make a couple of dollars every now and then from it. But I had that and I was like, all right, first off, super grateful I have this second off. It's time to make it work. Like it is time to take this business full-time. It had been something that I had been really kind of wanting because I saw the writing on the wall.
I saw teaching wasn't going to work with my life with a kid. Like, it just wasn't going to happen. This, the 12-hour days, six days a week weren't going to be possible anymore. So it was an opportunity for me to really kind of rewrite my story. I took that business from part-time status to full-time status and replaced my 9 to 5 income in the three months before Mr. Camden was born. And so that's really, that's kind of like the start of my full-time entrepreneurial journey
03:50 – Gresham Harkless
That's awesome. And obviously I'm sorry to hear, you know, of course, that you were laid off, but it seems like it puts you in the trajectory of where you were supposed to be anyway. And as someone who has been laid off as well, I know it can be definitely a difficult experience and a difficult period. But kudos to you for having the courage to be able to kind of push forward and get everything in line so that you, your family and of course, Camden and Nora can have a happy.
04:11 – Allison Hardy
Yeah, it was a terrible, terrible time. It was really like I had like a total quarter-life crisis. Like I lost my mind over it. But really it was, it's been the best thing that's ever happened to me because I would not be here today if it hadn't happened.
04:24 – Gresham Harkless
Absolutely, absolutely. So I wanted to drill a little bit deeper and hear a little bit more about like how you serve the clients and what are the products and services that you have.
04:31 – Allison Hardy
Yeah. So I really help women dive deep into their businesses and figure out what's working for them. What's not working for them, getting rid of that stuff that's not working and really maximizing what is working. A lot of times women come to me and they have existing businesses, but they've kind of like hit this plateau. And no matter what they seem to do to get past that plateau, nothing really seems to be working. So they're kind of at like a crossroads. They're like, all right, do I need to work more? Do I need to work less? Do I need to outsource? Do I need to have some automation? Do I need to have passive income? Should I get rid of all my active income?
Like, what is? Like what does that look like for me? And that can be. That can be hard to figure out because what got you here won't get you there. So the stuff that got you to the point where you are now will not get you to that next level. And so it's figuring out what that stuff is that will get you to the next level that I help women really do. And so I serve my clients through masterminds. I have a year-long mastermind that I run, I have a membership site and I just recently wrote a brand new course called From Wallflowers to Groupies. And it's a Facebook group course to really help you monetize your Facebook group, but also step into the role of an influencer and create a community around your brand.
05:43 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. I love that name, by the way. Wallflowers. I think that's an awesome name. So thank you. It sounds like you're doing some really awesome things to help out so many women and mompreneurs who are wondering how they can move from being that wallflower to actually having those people who are. They're Raven fans. So I think that's pretty awesome. So I wanted to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce. So what you feel kind of distinguishes you or sets you apart from other people who might be doing something similar.
[00:06:08.83] – Allison Hardy
Yeah, so I feel like what sets me apart is I really truly understand my ideal client because I am my ideal client. I've been, you know, I've done everything wrong. I've done all the wrong things. I can tell you exactly what not to do. And then I've had, you know, I've had successes in my business. So I really understand the unique struggles that we as women who have maybe home-based businesses or online businesses and little ones at home. I understand the priorities. I understand the struggles. I understand how hard it can be sometimes and how incredibly amazing it can be. I understand how you can second guess yourself, third guess yourself, and fourth guess yourself.
And you can really feel it can be isolating sometimes because it's not, you know, it's not a normal thing to do is have a home-based business while you have your kids around. Like, it's just not something you go to college to do. Right. In school, you're not asked what you want to be grep and you don't say like an online business owner. That's not a response that people have. So it's, you know, it's a different way of doing things. It's a different way of running a business. And I get it. Like, I understand it. And so my clients are all ridiculously ideal. We connect on a deeper level because again, I understand it and they understand me and we can have that sort of trust and that rapport with one another because of our situations.
07:30 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, that makes sense. And a lot of times I feel like people want to be heard. They want to feel like they are able to connect with somebody. So having built the business and understanding exactly how to help out those mompreneurs and entrepreneurs and women who want to build businesses and not really sure how to do it and are afraid to make certain mistakes, you can speak to them and develop that connection. So I think that's a good example of a secret sauce.
07:53 – Allison Hardy
Yeah. And I think a lot of women are afraid to do this whole crazy online business thing. Right. Like maybe they thought that being a stay-at-home mom was going to be the best thing that's ever happened to them. And then they realized, you know, this isn't, this is not my most favorite thing in the world. And it can be scary when you kind of realize that, but.
And a lot of women get really caught up in feeling guilty about wanting to be ambitious or wanting to create a business or wanting to be home or wanting to do both of them. Like giving yourself that permission to want both of those things, to be there to raise your kids and to, you know, start this business and make a bigger impact. And sometimes it's just a matter of granting yourself that permission and then finding those people who get it.
08:36 – Gresham Harkless
Yeah, exactly. And I'm sure like, you know, having an overall environment that helps you to kind of feel confident in doing that and feel like it's okay and you know, and asking for, you know, whatever you want in life is also, you know, very important. And I'm sure like by you being able to build that community, you've been able to kind of see that as well.
08:53 – Allison Hardy
Yeah. Exactly.
08:54 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Awesome. And now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack. And this might be an app a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as an entrepreneur and business owner.
09:06 – Allison Hardy
Yeah, I actually have two. So my first one is the book The Desire Map by Danielle Laporte. And I read this book. I actually read this book probably four times a year. It's a book that really helps you kind of walk through and figure out, like, why you do the things that you do. And it helps you establish your core desired beliefs. So one of my core desired beliefs is security. So it really helps you figure out, like, why you do the certain things that you do to help you to feel secure. Like what do you do to help you feel secure? It encourages you to really look at your actions and to understand why you do certain things in your life and in your business because of your core desired belief.
So it really helps you, quite honestly, learn a lot about what motivates you and how and why you do certain things. So that was a really big impactful book for me and it still impacts me every year. I read it often. And then the second thing is you always hear about how you need a morning routine. A morning routine is so incredibly important. It sets you up for success, all of that stuff. But really, sometimes what sets you up for success is more sleep. So when you have little ones at home or just you're being woken up throughout the night, I think a lot of times we can put pressure on ourselves because we think we are supposed to do these things.
We think we are supposed to have this morning routine where we wake up before everybody else and we do our meditation and our mantras and we do the things that move our business forward when in reality, the things that really move us forward are taking care of ourselves. And part of that is sleeping. So if you are not sleeping, sleep, don't feel pressured to implement these things, these habits in your life that work for other people because they work for other people. You have to figure out something that works for you.
10:52 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. And that makes perfect sense. And a lot of it is kind of like self-discovery and understanding what works for you. But you know, you have to make sure that you fill your cup up because you can't give, you know, to your children or even, you know, to your clients if you haven't got any sleep and you're tired and you're exhausted and you're not yourself and you're not able to present your best self. And often when you do take that rest, you can also be even better than you would if you hadn't taken that risk.
11:14 – Allison Hardy
Yeah. And yeah, you may have less time in the day to work on your business, but really, you're going to be so much more productive because you actually can think cohesive thoughts because you're not exhausted.
11:23 – Gresham Harkless
Exactly. Exactly. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And now I wanted to ask you for a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice or something you might tell your younger business self.
11:32 – Allison Hardy
Oh, my gosh. Yeah. And I have two things again. So number one, build your email list. Your email list is your bread and butter. That's where people are going to buy from you. And that's my biggest regret in my business, is I didn't build my email list early on. Email marketing was kind of like this afterthought for me because I need, like, I needed cash. I was kind of in that, like, I need money. I need cash coming into my business because I'm about to have a kid. So I really wish during that time I would have worked on my email list and built that more. And then the second thing is you absolutely need to have a stream of passive income that is automated in your business.
It doesn't have to be a course that's $1,000. It can be something that's $27. But having something that is automated and makes you money makes your business life-proof. So let's say you get sick for a week, you can just lean on that funnel, that email funnel. Maybe it's a Facebook ad to an email funnel that again pitches your $27, something you can lean on to make you money and to keep your business afloat while you are handling your life. So when life comes at you like your kids get sick or you have a baby, or you just want to go on vacation or heck, you want to take a day off, like your business is still afloat and still generating income on automated in the background.
12:46 – Gresham Harkless
That makes perfect sense. Yeah, that's definitely a great reminder, both of those, obviously. But making sure that life always does happen, so it's always something that pops up. So making sure that you have a backup plan for kind of like your backup plan, so to speak, it helps out. And having that additional stream of income.
13:03 – Allison Hardy
Yeah, for sure. For sure.
13:04 – Gresham Harkless
Awesome. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question is the definition of what it means to be a CEO and we're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So I wanted to ask you specifically, what being a CEO means to you.
13:15 – Allison Hardy
I actually really love this question. It took me a while to figure out my answer to it. So for me, being a CEO means making a bigger impact that extends beyond me and myself. So it's an impact that can be felt for generations. And one of the big motivators in my business is leaving a legacy. My mastermind is actually called the legacy mastermind because I want to and my clients want to create this sort of ripple effect. Like I want my great-grandkids to look back on me and be like my great-grandma.
She was kind of a badass and like totally handled this crazy business and built this amazing nonprofit and gave back like I wanted to. That's how I want to be remembered. I want to be remembered as a really generous and giving person through impacted women to do the same in their own lives and in their own businesses. So kind of like being a CEO for me is me realizing that I can make a bigger impact and that I am making a bigger impact than I am making now. And I'm striving for that every single day.
14:14. – Gresham Harkless
I love that and I love the perspective. I can visualize and see your grandchildren saying that you are a badass. So I definitely can see that as well. So I think you're well on your way.
14:24 – Allison Hardy
Thank you.
14:25 – Gresham Harkless
You're welcome. So Alison, I truly appreciate you for taking some time out of your schedule. What I wanted to do was pass you the mic, so to speak, to see if there is anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know and how best people can get ahold of you. Find out about your Facebook group and all the awesome things that you're doing.
14:41- Allison Hardy
Sure. So I guess the last thing I wanted to say is you're like, you're capable of doing anything you want. You really are. I think society a lot of times puts us kind of in a box and says, no, you belong here. This is where you're going to stay. But really, like, I think for so many of us, we have these like visions and this drive and this ambition, but we let life get in the way. So if you have that drive and that ambition, no matter what it is, if you like, if it's making that impact at home or if it's making that impact on other women or making that impact in your local community or in a homeless shelter at your kid's school like you can do that.
You can be this amazing force of all kinds of goodness in the world. It's just a matter of you saying, this is what I want and this is what I'm going to do, and being unapologetic about it. Because if that desire, if that dream is in you, it's never going to go away. And so you might as well just acknowledge it and do it because it's going to drive you crazy if you don't. So that's me that's kind of the last bit of advice. And then my Facebook group is called the Mompreneur Community. If you search on Facebook, you'll find it. And my podcast, as you said earlier, is called Life by Design.
15:44- Gresham Harkless
Awesome. Well, I truly appreciate you, Allison, and we'll make sure to have all those links in the show notes so everybody can click through and follow and engage with all the awesome things that you're doing. But I truly appreciate you again and I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.
15:56 – Allison Hardy
Thank you.
15:57 – Outro
Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.
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