Welcome to the first episode of Entrepreneurs in Motion!
Today I’m going to talk about:
- who this podcast is for and why I created it
- two key values of Entrepreneurs in Motion
- who I am and what I’m up to
What’s this all about?
In a nutshell:
Entrepreneurs in Motion is for people who already have an online business and are actively working on growing it.
The reason I started this podcast is because I sort of see two extremes when it comes to people talking about online entrepreneurship.
On the one hand, there’s a lot of material for beginners. Lots of people are “selling the dream” and teaching how to get started in online business. Now, I’m not knocking that – in fact, it’s great! There are some fantastic resources and wonderful teachers who can help you find a business idea, set up your website/blog, get your first customers, and make your first money online. I wish I’d had some of this training when I started.
But Entrepreneurs in Motion is not for beginners. It’s for people who already have a business that’s making, let’s say, at least $1,000/month. So this podcast will not help you find an idea or find your first client. There are plenty of other sites that can help you if you’re at the beginning of your journey.
The other extreme in the conversation about online business is that there are lots of podcasts that interview entrepreneurs who are already super successful. Of course we can learn a lot from people who have already “made it,” but there’s one thing that bugs me about these success stories: the interviews often tend to gloss over that phase when the person was still struggling to grow.
They talk about how their business started… then they make a blanket statement like “it was a lot of hard work” or “it took a long time” – well, duh! That’s a given. They don’t delve into the nitty-gritty of what they tried, what worked and what failed, and how they felt when they were still in the middle of that roller coaster, when they were still unsure if things would work out. By the time you’re successful, you’ve already got a number of things dialed in, and you’re probably moving on to higher-level challenges.
The fact is that there’s a lot of figuring out that goes on in that messy middle phase between “beginner” and “success story.” It’s full of pivots, missteps, changes in strategy, and breakthroughs. So Entrepreneurs in Motion focuses on people who are right inside that phase – we’ve got a business, we’re making some money, but it’s not yet a super success.
Two key values for Entrepreneurs in Motion
OK, that’s basically what this podcast is and who it’s for… but there are two more values that I hold and that I hope you, as a listener, identify with as well.
The tagline for this site is “for action-takers, not excuse-makers” – why’d I pick that?
It’s because there’s a world of difference between someone who can motivate themselves to take action in pursuing their goals… and someone who drags their feet and makes excuses about why things can’t be done.
Excuse-making keeps a lot of people in the “wantrepreneur” category – they sort of dabble in business, but they never take serious, focused, smart action. But the excuse-making mindset can also affect more experienced entrepreneurs who might rationalize away feedback, be hesitant to do what’s necessary to take their business to the next level, or simply get stuck in a rut.
On the other hand, people who are action-takers are amazing to be around. There’s this dynamic energy that surrounds them because they’re doing things; they’re moving forward – and yeah, some of their efforts are bound to be failures, but they’re also the ones getting results and having some major wins.
That’s why I chose the tagline, because I love interacting with other people with a proactive mindset – it’s exciting and inspiring. Excuse-makers, on the other hand, drain your energy and never really seem to go anywhere.
The other thing I’d really like to have in the community of listeners to this podcast is entrepreneurs who are adding real value to the world. Let me explain what I mean by that, although it’s a bit hard to put a finger on.
Some “online businesses” are sort of based on arbitrage, shady tactics, or crappy products that the business owner themselves doesn’t even believe in. I’m talking about a type of person who just wants to make money online and they don’t particularly care how – so if that means creating a bunch of lame websites, plastering them with ads, and SEO-ing them to the top of Google, then so be it. I’m not interested in people like that.
I want to be around entrepreneurs who are genuinely making people’s lives better through their product or service. I don’t actually think your business has to be your passion – that’s a topic for another episode – but it should be something you’re proud of and that generates positive value in the world.
Who am I?
Who’s the voice behind this podcast?
My name is Shayna, I’m 31 years old, born and raised in the U.S., but now I live in Brazil with my husband (who is Brazilian). My business is EspressoEnglish.net, where I sell e-books and courses to people who are learning English as a Second Language.
How I got here, in a nutshell – I used to work full-time in NYC as a digital communications specialist for a non-profit organization. That’s where I learned quite a bit about websites, e-mail marketing, online advertising, and whatnot. When I moved to Brazil to be with my husband, I did two things – I kept working about ten hours a week remotely for the same non-profit, and I also got my certificate in teaching English as a second language, so I started giving group and private lessons locally in Brazil.
Eventually I took my offline teaching online and started Espresso English, which I’ve been running for about 4 years so far.
If you’d like to hear a bit more about my story, I’m going to put some links in the show notes to past interviews I’ve done – and I’ll definitely tell you more about the development of my business in future episodes.
- Tropical MBA interview: Growing a successful info-product business
- Starting from Zero interview: From English teacher to location-independent course creator
But now I’d love to hear from you. Who are you, where are you based, and what’s your business? Whatever you’d like to share, please come say hi. If you go to entrepreneursinmotion.com/intro you can leave a comment and introduce yourself.
Thanks for listening, and I hope you’ll tune in next time!
