Special Guest Expert - Stephanie Scheller: Video automatically transcribed by Sonix

Special Guest Expert - Stephanie Scheller: this mp4 video file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Daniel Aaron:
Does it take to create a vibrant, thriving life? First, the sad news is that Thoreau was right most people are leading quiet lives of desperation, lacking in meaning, fulfillment, and vitality. But we choose more. We choose to create extraordinary lives and the art of vibrant living. Show entertains you with inspiration, empowerment and education to create your life into a masterpiece. It's time. Let's vibe up. Hello, y'all. Welcome. Aloha. I am Daniel Aaron. I'm your host for the Art of Vibrant Living show. We got an awesome show today. I'm excited for you. Our guest is fantastic. I'll tell you about her in a moment. First of all though, reminder what this show is about or if it's your first time. Welcome. The art of vibrant living. This is about entertaining you, yes, but more importantly, empowering you to live a vibrant, thriving, amazing life. So here's my request please, yes, be regaled by the the stories and the information and take it in and take at least one thing that you hear today, especially from our guests. Take one thing that makes sense to you and say, yeah, I'm going to use that in my life. Take some action from what you learn here. That's what makes a difference in the world. And if you are looking for some support, if you'd like to grow further in your life and your business, whatever it is, please reach out to me. Daniel at Daniel aaron.com. I would love to meet you. Our guest today, Stephanie Schiller, an amazing entrepreneur, multi-talented creative person. She has been studying and applying psychology for small business growth for more than a decade, built her first business from scratch to walk away from her job in less than five months, and doubled her event production company during the pandemic on a $0 marketing budget. Right. She uses violin on stage to tap into the brain and break down the why behind business growth tools and marketing to simplify implementation so we can accelerate growth. She's a TEDx speaker, a two time best selling author, an award winning entrepreneur, the founder of Grow Disrupt, a company that designs and produces Grow Your Business retreats and conferences for ADHD small business owners. Painter. Author. Artist. Holy moly, we are so blessed to have Stephanie with us today. Thank you for being here, Stephanie.

Stephanie Scheller:
You're fantastic. Thank you Daniel, I appreciate it very much.

Daniel Aaron:
So you know where to start. You've got so many talents, so many interests, right? And, um, I firmly believe that there's no such thing as an opportunity to be bored in life. If one is interested in life, you're the prototype of that. Um, has it always been that way for you, or. You know, because I know you a little bit, but our audience doesn't necessarily. How did you get here?

Stephanie Scheller:
How did I get here? Uh, well, let me answer the first question. Has it always been that way? No. Um, when I was a kid. So I've always wanted to be creative, and I always had, um, I don't want to say natural talents, because I look back and I wasn't actually really good at anything. I just had leanings towards certain things. Um, I always wanted to be really good at those, but I would get really frustrated with myself. Like like my artwork, right? I would get really frustrated because I didn't feel like I was actually good at art. And so I did a lot of painting and I loved painting. And I remember in 2018, um, I just spent like the entire weekend painting, and I was on a call with my coach, and I was just, you know, complaining about how frustrated I was because I just spent all this time painting and not a single one of these pieces of artwork is any good. And I'm just. And he just looked at me and he goes, well. Have you ever studied color theory? And I was like, what? He goes, color theory. Like how colors work together and and tone and and hue and, you know, the color theory. And I was like, no. And he goes, well, if you want to get good at art, you should probably learn the framework in which art thrives, and that is color theory. So I got a book, I started studying it, and that was pretty much what I that was repeatedly that was what I found. Um, I actually reached a point where I, I did get pretty decent at art, and I've experimented around with different kinds of art that I like to do. The all the stuff you see on the walls here, the, the little one down there, these are all mine. This one's a spray paint one, and these were two poor paintings. And there's a ridiculous amount of my art downstairs on the walls. That one I didn't, um, intend to do. I had an organizer come over to organize the house because I, uh, had no eye for design, and she saw all my artwork stacked up in the corners and started putting it on the walls. I came out of the bedroom hours later and I was like, what is my artwork doing on the walls? She was like, it's beautiful. And that was really the first time, like I'd been doing that. I'd been working with Color theory for a while there, and that was the first time that I started to realize, like, perspective is everything on this. So to answer your question, no, I've not always been like this. It's been a lot of let's figure out what makes something that I want to be good at work so I can do that so well.

Daniel Aaron:
That's awesome. And I love that you said that, because I think so many of us have grown up with this, like this, this disabling fantasy that that talent is natural, that people are just born. Right. And of course, yeah, some people are born, you know, and they can, you know, perfect pitch or whatever. But but there's also something to be said for the flow state and our, you know, you study psychology, right? It's this intersection of when when our challenges are big enough, but our skills are big enough, like when they're, you know, relatively close. So to be pushing the the level of learning, you know, brings you into that super learning state. So and I love that you said I want to get good this at this. So I'm going to figure out how I'm going to, you know, study learn.

Stephanie Scheller:
Yeah. That's been I feel like that's been like my, my whole life. I keep picking doing stuff that I, I want to be good at, but I'm not good at. And then I have to like, figure out how to do it. And there's, there's, you know, inherent there's a little bit of inclination for it. Um, you know, we were talking before we went live about my writing and, and I've always had a creative mind. And, you know, we talked about the, the this fantasy series that I started when I was 12. Right. Like, I've always had this lean, that direction. But again, it wasn't always it wasn't always good. And I just learned, you know, I was a straight A student all the way through junior high, high school, college, like in my mind for a long time that led to me being very much a perfectionist. And so I didn't do a lot of the things I wanted to do the writing, the artwork, um, playing the violin, all these pieces that I really enjoy now, I didn't do them because I wasn't I didn't consider myself good at them. And it really took letting go of that need to be good at something right off the bat, to free myself up, to be like, you know what, if this is something I want to do, then I'm going to pursue it. And it may be awkward. It may be uncomfortable for as I'm learning it and, um, it's going to be okay. Because you know what the good news is? Even if I go public with the stuff when I'm in that awkward learning phase, like eventually I'm going to be good enough at something, I'll bury all the awkward videos of me not knowing how to play the violin or like, talking awkwardly to the camera. Um, we'll keep moving on. That's life. So I just kind of stopped stressing about it having to be exactly perfect. And I think that's probably served me very well in.

Daniel Aaron:
I'm sure. Well, so that brings a question then. You know, one of the my understandings of art, and I've gotten this perspective from various teachers of mine, is that when one is, you know, in the position of artist or the creator, inherently one has very little perspective or ability to judge the quality of it. Right. And it's been said like one of my writing teachers said, it's not your job to judge the quality, good or bad. It's none of your business. Does that resonate for you?

Stephanie Scheller:
That does resonate. I've never heard that before. What I have heard is you can't read the label from inside the bottle. Mm. Um. You're not, you know, uh, we I use this a lot in marketing. I do a lot of marketing conversations with small business owners. This is. Marketing has been like my obsession, um, since college. Uh, so I have a lot of marketing conversations with people. And one of the things that I repeatedly repeat to them is like, it's hard to read the label from inside the bottle. In other words, it's really hard to market yourself. It's really hard to understand what is the right angle because we're too close to it. So in your, you know, scenario or situation, like your commentary here, I think in, in a very big way, it's the same thing for us with art, whether that is music, whether that is, um, you know, paintings, whether that is writing, whether that is, uh, you know, putting on a play. I think we just get too close to it. We're we're too inside. It's we can't read the label.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah. Makes sense. All right, well, so since you opened up the, uh, the marketing can of worms, I'm curious to get your perspective on this. You've got all these creative endeavors, right? If we call them artistic, right. Music, painting. What's the relationship between those? And, I don't know, business in general or marketing specifically.

Stephanie Scheller:
Oh, okay. So here's the one thing that I've learned. So you the other question you asked that I didn't quite answer was how did I get to where I am today? And one of the big things is when I when I did double the events company in 2020, I started getting a lot of these questions. And, uh, one of the big things was that we didn't spend any money on marketing. We don't have a marketing budget. I don't spend money on ads. I'm not going to spend money on ads. And a huge chunk of that result came down to the fact that the marketing we did do was super creative. Everything we do, marketing wise is, is very different. I mean, in 2022, we produced an eight part, you know, TV show about like what it's like. And it was literally it aired. It aired on one of the local TV stations. It was like The Office, except for small business. And it was, um, you know, eight mini episodes. They were between 8 and 14 minutes apiece. It was a whole arc, and it was hilarious. Um, and that was one of our big marketing initiatives for 2022. Um, and we produced it all in house, um, in 2023. Last year, we produced a pop ballad, um, the stuff that we've done that's been most effective on our, on our marketing in our business has been the stuff where we've gotten to get really creative with it. And I think it's because then it stands out right when you do the same thing as everyone else, you just kind of blend in with everyone else. But when you're doing something different, you have the chance. You're going to get made fun of, um, you have the chance that it's going to go viral, that it's going to go off extremely well. And, um. We've had both, so I'm familiar with both sides of that. But if you don't take that risk, you don't get creative. You don't try something different. You're never going to stand out. You're never going to be different. So for me, creativity is the crux of effective marketing. And creativity is the crux of effective business ownership. Creativity is how we solve problems. Uh, you know, when we are up against a huge problem and we don't have the, uh, financial resources that our competitors have to try and solve that problem. Creativity is how we come up with new opportunities to move the business forward. I think creativity is one of the most overlooked skill sets that an entrepreneur can develop, and one of the most critically important.

Daniel Aaron:
Beautiful. Okay, so, uh, this won't be a surprise in a sense. You know, the name of the show, right? Is the art of vibrant Living. What? What do you feel like is the relationship between creativity and even business or both, and living a vibrant life.

Stephanie Scheller:
I'll tell you what I know I'm a lot happier now that I'm embracing my creative side and not trying to fit into the boxes that I thought I was supposed to fit into, and not trying to. Be what other people want me to be. Um, I'm a lot, I think, more balanced, more well-rounded. I listened to myself a lot better. So I'm able to take care of myself better. So. I couldn't tell you. I mean, what I know is that I'm happier. I live a much more vibrant life by staying connected to my own creativity, to myself. And that's, uh. To me, that's priceless. Mm.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah. I'm with you. Infinite value. There. So will you say more then about what that transition was for you? Because there was a time when you were employed and working as an employee for someone else. Yeah.

Stephanie Scheller:
Yes. So, um, I graduated from college. I got my first job. I, uh, was working a corporate job, and the the whole back story is a little wild, but basically, I ended up in San Antonio, Texas, working a corporate job and accidentally working a sales job. Didn't even realize I was working. Like, you know how the brain is really good at, like, tricking you into, um, thinking what you want to believe. Like, I got this job, and I thought I was a marketing consultant, and, like, I got two weeks into the job doing the job, still convincing myself I was a marketing consultant, not a sales rep like it was. Not until the, uh, I got I was doing so well at this job that they pulled me out of training. They put me in with everyone in the main room. And so my my third Monday on the job, uh, my, I'm sitting in the main room with all the other members of my team. I thought they were we were all marketing consultants. And my manager gets up and goes, you are the best sales team in San Antonio. And my heart just dropped out because all I could think was like, I'm the person who calls my dad and makes him mad during dinner every night. Oh, and, uh, I ended up, um. I was really funny. First week I worked there, I made double quote. A second week I worked there, I made triple quota. Third week they pulled me out of training. They put me on the floor with everyone else and I did. Zero fourth week. Fifth week. Six week. My boss comes to me and goes, uh, I don't know what broke, but this has to be fixed or you're not going to have a job. And I was like, okay, um, I'm not going to get fired. This was I still had my perfectionist tendencies. And so I just went back. I said, you know, what was I doing the first two weeks I was treating this like a consultancy. I was going in meeting with business owners, talking about their marketing. What are they currently doing, seeing if one of our programs could help and if one of them did, I sold it.

Stephanie Scheller:
Um, and so I just went back to doing that and I went right back. I hit quota that week. I hit quota the next week. I, I think I missed quota once or twice ever. From there on out, I was one of the top two sales reps. So I was doing really well. But the company started having some issues. And uh, in 2014, 2013, 2014, they started having a lot of issues and I needed to get away from that job. And so I started a sales training practice. And, uh, this was actually where I put myself the most in the boxes, like feeling like I needed to be a specific person. Um, my sales training practice, I started in May of 2014, and by the end of August, I had made more money part time than full time. And so I turned in my two weeks notice, walked away. Um, but I was 25 years old and. What that led to was a lot of people, uh, questioning my ability to come in and train their sales team and my ability to be running a company and all of these miscellaneous pieces. And I remember this very well intentioned woman pulling me aside and and, of course, I've just left corporate. I'm trying to figure out what my style is, who Stephanie is like, who do I want to be? What's my brand like? I'm experimenting around trying to figure all this stuff out. And, um, she pulled me aside and she said, Stephanie, you know, and she again clearly wanted to help. Um, and she then proceeded to give me a list of all the kinds of clothing that was appropriate to wear in business. Um, and, you know, it's not like I was dressing like there was no midriff. I wasn't it was. This wasn't what it was just, you know, I would wear yoga pants and she'd be like, well, you know, we don't wear yoga pants in business. You should have a a little black dress and little black heels and like, it was just like. And I just I just remember she's like, oh, you need a suit, why don't you wear a suit? And I was like, oh, I don't, I don't like wearing suits.

Stephanie Scheller:
Well, you should wear a suit. People will take you seriously. So I got a suit and I fit into this box for years. And, um, I'm trying to think of what was really the, the crux point when I started breaking some of those parameters. Um. I don't think there was any one moment. I don't think there was any one moment when I started breaking those parameters if I had to pin. I think it was probably, um, Jesse Cole. We had Jesse Cole, the owner of the Savannah Bananas, come in and talk to, um, our group at the grow Retreat in January of 2020. And I read his book, Find Your Yellow Tux and I. And he talks a lot about finding what makes you unique and embrace it. And he talked a lot about the the hatred they got for the Savannah bananas and all of the, you know, all of the, you know, he's like, when we announced it, we almost got run out of town like that. We were calling the baseball team the Savannah Bananas. Like people were mad. And it I started just dipping my toe in the water of like, okay, could I do. Could I do what I like? Could I, could I put colors in my hair? Could I wear yoga pants? Do I have to wear a suit? Can I wear black pants and a boot and a cut and boots and a colored top? Uh. Can I? And so I just started like little bit by bit, just trying more of these pieces and, and realizing that, you know what, the more I leaned in and embraced me, the more I enjoyed the business, the more clients showed up that actually wanted to work with me, and the less energy got sucked into trying to fit into a box, into being someone I wasn't. And so I had more energy to do the things we really love doing. And so we started seeing, um, we had very drastic and impressive growth since since 2020 since then.

Daniel Aaron:
So yeah. Cool. So well, I, I appreciate that. You know, you had the, the part of you that's like, oh I guess I should do these things to fit in over here. I mean, everybody has felt that pressure at some point. Right. We go back to something you said earlier. Well you're a lot happier now. You feel more balanced, um, doing things on your own. So what would you say? You know, I'm aware that, um, we've got a brief amount of time together and it's flying by, but what would you say for people who who either are both of these, like, feel like maybe I want to be an entrepreneur. Maybe I want to start my own business. I don't know if I can or, you know, maybe I want to do things just more my own way, whether it's in business or not.

Stephanie Scheller:
So I would I think that's almost two. Two questions. Well, maybe it is kind of the same answer here. Um, I got to do a really cool, um, I got invited to a dinner on Tuesday, um, where I was basically talking to a bunch of college students who were considering starting their own business, and they the this group brings in a local, you know, woman business owner who they feel is doing particularly well and has them basically as the, the guest and and I was talking to these girls and a couple of them were talking about whether or not they wanted to start a business and, um, really kind of guilt tripping themselves because one of them was like, I just, I don't know that I want to I've seen my dad run a business and it's stressful and there's this, and I just, I don't know that I want to. And one of the other girls goes, one of the other girls piped up very quickly with a with a, um. I don't know if harsh is the right word, but definitely with a well, here's why. You know everyone, you know I'm going to be a small business owner because I refused and I just I was like, well, here's the thing. Not everyone needs to be an entrepreneur. People like me need people who don't want to be entrepreneurs, because if we all have to be a chef in the kitchen, I have no one to work with me. Um, and that becomes a problem very quickly. I need I need team. I can't do what I do alone, and. The key to keep in mind is that it's it's so important to do what you want to do because you want to do it. I think of the Earl Nightingale definition of success, that the person who is successful is the person who is doing the thing they want to do, because it is the thing they want to do. It's the housewife who is a housewife because she wants to be a housewife. It's the teacher who is a teacher because she wants to be a teacher. Um, it's not necessarily the person who makes the most money. So my, my response to that is.

Stephanie Scheller:
The people who are not sure they want to take the leap. I personally think becoming an entrepreneur is one of the best things that I've done. I would not change it. It's been stressful, it's been crazy, it's been ups and downs and I've had lots of learning opportunities and I wouldn't change it. But it's also not for everyone and I'm well aware of that. And I would say take some time to get to know you, what you want, who you want to be, who you really, really, really want to be, and then lean in on that and really lean in and own that. Make that who you are. You have that choice. And if that means finding a different job, not starting your own business, but finding a different job where you can be yourself, great. Um, if that means starting at your own business, great. If you do that, stay true to who you are. Absolutely stay true to who you. Ah. Um. Because the day you start selling out and trying to become someone you're not. You'll end up with a business you don't love. And if you don't love your business, you're not going to put in the time and the energy it takes to grow it.

Daniel Aaron:
Yeah. Nicely said. I remember a funny, sort of funny expression I heard about entrepreneurship, which is an entrepreneur is somebody who will work 80 hours a week for themselves because they don't want to work 40 hours a week for someone else. Um, and, you know, and you can debate all of that many components of that statement. But what it comes what the reason it came to mind for me is because what you said, like, do it for the right reason and the right reason being because you want to because it serves you, because it resonates for you. And then, yeah, you know, whether you're working 20 or 40 or 80 hours a week, at least you're doing something that is fulfilling to you, right?

Stephanie Scheller:
Yes, I will, I will say this as an entrepreneur, at some point you are going to work. An 80 hour week like that is going to happen. It should not be the norm. Like if if you are working an 80 hour week every week, that's a problem. But there is going to be moments when you are going to work more hours than you want to. And one of our speakers at the event last month talked about the difference between, um, uh oh, I'm blanking on the, on the, the word um, uh, confidence and commitment. And he said, um, if you're operating on confidence, you'll only show up when you feel confident, which is going to be less than 50% of the time. But if you operate on commitment because this is what you want to do, who you want to be, you'll show up 100% of the time. You'll show up when it's tough. They're going to be tough days. This is not for someone who, uh, I don't think it's a good idea to get into entrepreneurship because you want to make boatloads of money. I don't think it's a good idea to get into entrepreneurship, because I think you need to get into it because there's something you there's a change you want to see in the world, and, and you are going to make that happen. And. That can be a change in your world. Your world doesn't have to be the globe. Your world could be just the people in your life that you touch. That's fine, but there has to be a why to keep you going. Because. It's not all roses.

Daniel Aaron:
100% agree. And and and the value of being able to move from confidence to commitment and really owning commitment. Well, we could talk about that for hours. Just that's so, so much value, so much worth in that. Um, yeah. And time is flying along. So Stephanie, if people are wanting to get in touch with you, learn about you, work with you, what's the best way?

Stephanie Scheller:
Um, well, if they, uh, have some weird inclination to want to learn more about me, um, go check out my website. That is the Stephanie Scheller comm. Like the one and only. Um, I guess I'm not the one and only anymore. I guess there's a few other Stephanie Sellers, but when I put up the website, I was the one and only that I knew of at least. Um, uh, I also spent a lot of time on LinkedIn. Um, and I'm more than happy to, uh, connect with anyone on LinkedIn. I spend time in the inbox there. I spend time hanging out in the news feed. That's probably like the social platform that I'm on the most. Um, I'm also, I think I'd mentioned it to you if anyone is interested. Um, we've come up with some really crazy creative, fun marketing strategies that are just so outside the box like a pop ballad, you know, a TV show. Um, we did this really cool sticker. We had one in marketing initiative last year that literally cost us $0 and sold $25,000 worth of tickets. It was amazing. Um, and it was just a custom coffee blend that wasn't even supposed to be a marketing initiative, but somehow turned into like our biggest one. It was was hilarious to watch unfold. So someone's interested in something like that. I'm more than happy to to sit down to a 20 30 minute. Just a brainstorm. Get to know your business a little bit, and then see if I can come up with a couple of those crazy, wild, creative ideas for your business.

Daniel Aaron:
That's beautiful. So for y'all who are tuning in, who are wise enough, and I recommend you do take advantage of that offer, um, if you're not, if you're if you're hearing us and not seeing us here, buy the audio rebroadcast that is the Stephanie scheller.com/vibrant forward or sorry vibrant dash gift. And I'll spell it out to make sure you know the tag. And I think you know how to spell Stephanie. It's the usual way. And then it's s c h e l l e r.com/vibrant-gift. Highly recommend you take advantage of that. Stephanie's brilliance is phenomenal. So to get that creativity turned in your direction is truly a gift. So awesome. Thank you for offering that for everyone. And thank you. I think that brings us, holy moly to the time when I need to ask you. The big question. The last question, the final question. Would that be okay?

Stephanie Scheller:
It is. I saw this in the in the in the notes. There's a a big question at the end.

Daniel Aaron:
So the big question is this. Well it's ridiculously large. So you can't can't get it right means you can't get it wrong. It's this given all that you've learned, all that you have experienced in your life, if you had to boil it down to just one thing, what would you say? What's the one thing you offer to people to help them to create a vibrant, thriving life?

Stephanie Scheller:
I would say. To remember that everything you're building, every skill set you're building, everything you're doing, whether that's time management, whether that's creativity, whether that's marketing, whether that's your functional skills, a small business owner, whether that is learning to embrace a vibrant life or that is painting or writing or drawing or whatever it is you're looking to do. Their skill sets and skill sets are muscles that we build, and when we start, we're very rarely great at it. And that's okay. Even if it's awkward and embarrassing to be, you know, toddling around trying to figure out how to use that muscle, um, it's okay. Embrace it. And you know what? Most of us are too absorbed with our own lives to be making fun of you or laughing at you anyhow. And the people who are there not worth your time or energy. So lean into the stuff you want to do. Recognize it's a muscle and you can build it. So have fun!

Daniel Aaron:
I love that that's such a great answer. First time I've had someone go toward that. And Yeah skill sets are so valuable and and they're available to all of us. That's a that's a brilliant thing. And they last forever with us. So thank you. And Stephanie, thank you not only for taking the time to be with us and share your wisdom in such a fun and graceful way, but also for all the work you've done on yourself in order to, you know, have so much value to bring here. That takes a lot of courage and it's very generous of you. So thank you for being with us.

Stephanie Scheller:
Thank you, I appreciate it. I appreciate the space that you create here, um, with what you're doing with with the art of vibrant living. But also you create this really great space for, I think, people to, uh, self-reflect and reconnect with what really makes them special. And I've appreciated that in getting to know you. So thank you for for that, for doing that, for letting me come on and talk here. Um, I deeply appreciate that.

Daniel Aaron:
Uh, very kind. Well and beautiful. Thank you for saying so. And y'all, our wonderful, beloved audience. Thank you for being here. Thanks for being interested in improving the quality of your life. Not only does that make your life better, more vibrant, it truly changes the world. So I appreciate you. I hope you again will take something from this and put it into action in your life. You're changing the world. I'm grateful to be a part of it. Thank you for tuning in. Please join us again soon and in the meantime, make your life a masterpiece. Aloha! Mahalo for tuning in to the Art of Vibrant Living show y'all! I'm Daniel Aaron and may you live with great vibrancy.

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