Checking Off Your List with Rachel Luther

Karin Iffrig is the founder of Pickles and Punch®, a place for all things snarky, sarcastic, and a little bit sweary.  As an experienced 20+ year technology saleswoman with what felt like an unmanageable stress level, it was time to find an outlet that would end the day with laughter - and thus, Pickles and Punch was born.

• Featured in the St. Louis Post Dispatch Holiday Gift Guide, Dec 2020
• Featured in VoyageSTL Magazine as an “Inspirational Story” in Aug 2021
• Official registered trademark owner of Pickles and Punch®, May 2022
• 1 of 6 small business owners invited to meet with local Congressman to discuss challenges faced by Missouri-based small business, Aug 2022

If you are ever in need of the perfect T-shirt or gift item, Pickles and Punch will have you covered.  From birthdays to holidays, special occasions or any day of the week, for men or women, you’ll find the selection of items range from “I love Jesus, but I cuss a little” to “OMG does that coffee mug actually say that?!”  Whatever you’re looking for, you are sure to find a lot of laughter on the Pickles and Punch page.

Karin is also a wife of 25yrs, a mom of 2 teenage children, still works her day job, and is loving every new lesson she learns along the way with building the Pickles and Punch brand.

Website promo code: Use promo code COYL for 10% off your purchase!

Ricky Chilcott is a jack of all trades and a master of some. As a co-founder of Mission Met, he wears mean hats — marketing, software development, technology and business strategy, operational efficiency, planning, and project management.

He started his career in higher education, supporting a growing college that was expanding technical and operational support. He honed his software development skills during nights and weekends and developed a passion for helping others through technology development and implementation. He has a heart for serving nonprofits and their leaders and wants to make the world a little better every day.

Ricky lives with his wife and son in Southeast Ohio. He plays soccer, ultimate frisbee, bikes, and likes to camp.

Amy Franko is the leading sales strategist for growth-oriented mid-market organizations. She works with a variety of sectors to grow sales results, through both sales strategy and skill development programs. Her book, The Modern Seller, is an Amazon best seller and she is also recognized by LinkedIn as a Top Sales Voice.

On this episode of Checking off Your List with Rachel Luther, with the help of Helen Ryan, Entrepreneur, Creative Pro Helen Ryan, Rachel broaches a subject that hasn’t been talked about much on the podcast: working with virtual assistants overseas. The episode begins with Rachel introducing her guest, Helen, who began outsourcing in 2008, making her one of the OGs of the business. Today, Helen runs a digital marketing agency, has a walking podcast as well as a blog for health and fitness. She tells Rachel that she currently uses virtual assistants for research and social media. The subject of overseas VAs comes up when Helen explains that she uses an audio editor based in Serbia, and that when working with people for whom English is not the first language, she uses Loom videos to clarify what she wants and writes out instructions. As Helen tells it, outsourcing overseas works especially well for because she’s a “middle of the night person.” She admits that like a lot of Americans she tends to talk fast and use a lot of colloquialisms, so the language barrier can be an issue. Therefore, to avoid confusion she communicates her expectations in three ways—visual, audio, and in writing, and this works well for her because she enjoys communicating and teaching, which are essential given the language barrier. Helen also stresses the importance of spot checking to ensure the work is being done properly, a process Rachel labels “trust but verify.” Helen goes on to list some more benefits of outsourcing overseas. One is being able to assign a project in the afternoon and having it finished in the morning when she wakes up.  Rachel, though, wonders about the difficulties, especially if the VA has any questions, but Helen says she keeps her phone by her bedside in case and she’s willing to wake up at 3 a.m. if need be.

Another advantage for Helen of outsourcing overseas, in general, is that it allows her to be creative. She tells Rachel, “The whole point of outsourcing is that I don't want to sit and do research. I don't want to make sheets. I don't want to post the actual posting to the social media scheduler. I don't want to do all that. I want to create new things.” For Helen, and Rachel, too, it boils down to doing the things you’re passionate about and being able to offer the client your expertise and what they chose your business for, without you being bogged down by the things you don’t excel at that someone else can do better, the “legwork,” as Rachel calls it. Helen then identifies some areas where you shouldn’t outsource overseas, such as writing, project management (especially if you plan on having the VA become a more integral part of the business), and appoint-making. Rachel and Helen then discuss some of the financial benefits of outsourcing. One takeaway is that VAs are not looking to milk the clock; rather, they are more inclined to use free time to build their skills, which can help your business and make them more marketable. The conversation ends with a discussion of some of the ways that outsourcing can help grow your business and help you “take a break, recharge, and re-energize.

In this episode, Rachel talks with mindset master Mindy Hebner about creating a team. Mindy is an entrepreneur who’s been sharing her expertise with other business owners for over 25 years. As a mindset master, these days Mindy's been mostly helping female entrepreneurs let go of the beliefs and self-doubt preventing them from maximizing their potential.

Mindy tells Rachel that habitual thoughts such as feeling overwhelmed can become beliefs and ultimately an identity, what she calls a “badge of honor.” She says, however, that business owners have control over these emotions and can experience such emotions without letting them take over who they are; she encourages business owners to embrace more positive feelings, such as being organized, as their identities.

The conversation then transitions into the limiting beliefs preventing business owners from building a team. Mindy suggests business owners don’t feel they are worthy of support and that for many the biggest objection is paying someone else to do the work. She admits that while this may be the case for some, often this self-doubt is merely “protecting us from failure.” According to Mindy, this attitude stems from a fear of the unknown and a desire to stick with what’s comfortable. Rather than giving in to these attitudes, we should recognize the source of these feelings to be able to control them and replace them with positive feelings.

For Mindy, rewiring the brain in such a way requires mental rehearsal, “knowing what you want and then seeing yourself” achieve it in all the ways: seeing it, hearing it, tasting it, feeling it, smelling it.

From there, host and guest discuss the different tasks Mindy’s outsourced. Mindy addresses the importance of building relationships with outsourcing, and she tells Rachel that she uses outsourcing in areas of her life outside of business. For Mindy, it’s all about mental capacity, and recognizing what tasks she has the space for and what responsibilities she needs to get out of the way so she can open up space for the things she chooses.

In this episode, Rachel speaks with Arijana Ilibasic, a former VA with a background in HR who now helps business owner. The discussion begins with the subject of HR and why so many entrepreneurs seem to have an aversion to the notion of HR. Arijana suggests it’s because for many business owners HR is a reminder of past experiences in the corporate world. The conversation then shifts to the topic of hiring, specifically the importance of a creating an employee avatar and using personality assessments to find the type of team member you need to ensure that your business succeeds. Arijana recommends starting with an organizational chart and from there envisioning the different roles your business will require, and to be as specific as possible with the different functions each employee will perform. For Arijana, these details should include not only the professional attributes--such as experience--of these contributor avatars but also the personal ones, such as how far away they live.

Creating these avatars, according to Arijana, will help business owners hire more consciously, rather than impulsively. She also stresses that it’s important to not expect your avatar's personality to be identical to yours; being different will make you complement each other. Host and guest also discuss the importance of clarity and transparency when creating job ads. Arijana recommends including the good, bad, and ugly to avoid wasting time for you and the applicant. Another piece of advice Arijana offers is to remain unbiased: Liking a potential hiree does not automatically mean they will fit the role. Ultimately, it’s about knowing what your company needs both short and long-term when seeking employees.

This week Rachel interviews entrepreneur, author, coach, and speaker Achea Redd on the topics of book-writing, business, and mental health. Achea’s book, The Precipice of Mental Health, just hit the shelves, and the author talks with Rachel about her experiences writing it.

Achea learned it's imperative that your heart is in it when writing a book and that for her the ultimate goal was to “put her story into the world.” From there, Achea and Rachel delve into some of the challenges of book-writing and discuss the value of an editor who can be trusted to provide both positive feedback and constructive criticism. It turns out writing a book shares a lot in common with running a business.

The conversation then pivots to the topic of mental health, where Achea shares the indispensable truth that it’s okay to not be okay. She advises that when trying to improve one’s mental health it’s crucial to figure out what mental health healing journey works for you (therapy, meds, etc.) and how you effectively recharge. She encourages entrepreneurs to take a step back from their business when they need to and are able to prioritize their mental health.

From there the conversation shifts to the subject of outsourcing, and Achea stresses to Rachel the value of time and the need for delegating tasks that can be accomplished by an outside source. Achea warns that micromanaging can become overwhelming, so it's important to learn how to let go and let others improve your business. Lastly, Achea tells Rachel that she’s discovered that outsourcing goes further than work, that you can outsource almost anything to make your life easier (and you should if you can).

This episode Rachel hosts Bev Feldman, whom she calls a “personal tech fairy.” Bev is a ConvertKit expert. The main focus is Bev’s career change and how it’s transformed her personal and career lives. 

Melissa Guller is the founder of Wit & Wire, helping creators turn their skills and passions into profitable online businesses. Melissa joins Rachel to discuss how to create engaging online courses, continually evolving and adapting to changes in education. Melissa explains that even with automated courses being designed to reach the maximum number of students around the world, she still believes in the importance of connecting with individual students and staying involved.

Matt Ward joins Rachel to share wisdom and expertise about business relationships and choosing who to bring into your circle. Matt explains that he was influenced by Milton Hershey to value giving back and the importance of relationships, which he calls ‘the currency of life.’ Matt discusses how he brings this philosophy to his business strategies, where he has encouraged business owners to focus on referrals from other business, what he labels ‘centers of influence.’

In Season Two of Checking Off Your List with Rachel Luther, Rachel is featuring YOU and your story! You will get the opportunity to hear how other entrepreneurs have scaled their businesses. Maybe their expertise will help you scale your business as well. Tune in March 8th for the first episode, and enjoy this preview of what you'll hear in Season Two!

As a business owner you’re used to being the smartest when it comes to your business. You’re also used to making all the big decisions, and that’s fine, but in this episode Rachel’s telling you how your business and life can benefit when you hire people smarter and better than you at most of the the day- to-day operations of your business. So listen to why it’s time to leave your ego at the door and to embrace the benefits of surrounding yourself with amazing people.