Smart Man, Smarter Woman Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Time is going faster for Juliet. Is it because she’s been stuck in the house with Steve for a year during lockdown?
• “No matter how much we know, we still fail sometimes.”
• “There is no such thing as a failure. There are victories and there are learnings. Sometimes what become victories later resulted from our greatest learnings.”
• “The only people who never fail are those that never do anything at all.”
• “Always show that thing that differentiates you from other companies, and in most cases other than your product, it’s usually you.”
• “You have something to tell people. You’re telling your story, your brand’s story, or your company’s story, and people get attached to that and they like to follow your journey.”
• “Pinterest is not social media. It is a visual search engine. It’s the third largest search engine after Google and YouTube.”
• “The number one mistake is not collecting people’s emails.”
• “Email marketing is the number one thing that companies can do that brings a lot of conversion.“
• “Whether you’re on social media, writing blog posts, email marketing, or anything that you’re doing, you always have to tell a story.”
• “Don’t be afraid. If you want to do this so badly, go for it. You will fail. Learn from those mistakes. Stand up again. Go, pivot, create something.”
• “Don’t worry about finding customers for your products. Find products for your customers.” - Seth Godin
   

Our guest is Founder and CEO of Rectified, Inc., Sandy Dedeian.

Sandy has been an entrepreneur and marketer since 2004, and has followed an atypical career path. She has a unique mix of academic knowledge, traditional work experience, and crazy entrepreneurship. In 2007, she founded Rectified Inc. to help small and medium companies improve and perfect their marketing, and has since worked with SMEs in the Middle East, the UK, the US, and Canada.

Sandy holds a Bachelors of Business Administration from the American University of Beirut, a Masters in Management from the Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth, and an MBA from HEC Montréal.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Steve didn’t ask how Juliet was doing. She’s going to tell us anyway because she prepared an answer.
• “I don’t think any business owner can really hit their goals unless they understand the financial position of the company.”
• “I don’t think you need to do your numbers yourself. I think it’s really important to get a qualified bookkeeper that you’re able to communicate with as well.”
• “The question of, ‘what do you see when you look at these numbers?’ Could start a wonderful conversation that could also lead to education.”
• “Let’s not just imagine it in our heads, but actually lay out a plan.”
• “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, and cash is king.”
• “Entrepreneurs may not talk about it the way we do, they might not manage it efficiently or effectively, but the mere fact that they are still in business and have been able to manage cash flow over whatever length of time their business has been around, is a testament to their ability and their success.”
• “Give the financial side of the business as much attention as the other sides.”
• “Banks generally aren’t in the business of funding startups.”
• “If you have a banker and you’re unhappy, or you’re looking for a new one, it’s really important to talk to people you know.”
• “The banker is not your best friend.”
• “Nobody expects an entrepreneur to be perfect, but they do expect them to be transparent, knowledgeable, and to be enhancing their skills.”
• Tracey has a gift for listeners (linked below).
• Steve’s questions are famous.
• “When you understand your money, it changes the trajectory of your life.”
• “It’s really important to be kind to yourself.”
• “I believe that through knowledge and discipline, financial peace is possible for all of us.” - Dave Ramsey
   

Our guest is Founder of Bissett Financial Fitness, Inc., Tracey Bissett.

Tracey has over 20 years of experience in financial services. Prior to Bissett Financial Fitness Inc, Tracey worked as an executive at TD Bank. Her experience and education make her uniquely qualified to coach on all aspects of money.

In 2020, Bissett Financial Fitness, Inc. launched the Young Money Scholarship Fund to assist post-secondary students with their finances.

Tracey holds an MBA from Dalhousie University, a Bachelor’s from Queen’s University, a Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Certificate from Centennial College, and a Higher Education Teaching Certificate from Harvard University.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Steve didn’t ask Juliet how she was today. She’s having a hard day today, and she wants to be at the fireplace with a glass of wine and the dog lying next to her.
• “Do you know why people think email marketing doesn’t work? One reason is, they are terrible at copywriting. The other is the corporate side of marketing.”
• “This is the ultimate secret to email marketing: You ask people if they want you to send them a thing, and if they say yes, you send them that thing and you don’t send them other stuff.”
• “Almost always, the best idea is the simplest idea.”
• “If you’re selling anything, or you’re any kind of marketing organization, or a non-profit, and you need people you need to reach, you need a list.”
• “If you’re going to start out with a list, the first thing you need to do is you need to have an email marketing provider who’s going to send those emails for you.”
• “90% will never purchase anything from you. But you’ve got to be okay with helping people for free.”
• “A lot of people who write articles about marketing online – their goal is not to teach you how to do marketing. Their goal is to get more readers, so they get paid more by whoever the platform is. They have tools that tell them which topics and articles are popular, and they will read those articles and summarize them in their own article having never done any of that marketing.”
• “No one’s giving away the secret sauce on the internet for free.”
• “Put a little notepad next to your phone, and every time somebody calls you and they enquire about making a purchase, put a checkmark for where they heard about you. If there are lots of checkmarks in the Facebook column, post more on Facebook.”
• “Join a business networking or business referral group. That’s going to be a good stepping-off point.”
• “If you’re having a bad business day, sit somewhere comfortable and quiet, preferably dark, for a few minutes and just let your mind wander, and then you’ll come up with a solution for a problem you’ve had in the past. If you’re motivated, you’re not going to want to sit in that chair anymore, you’re going to want to go do something about what you just thought of.”
• “Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most people won’t, so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.” - Unknown
  
  

Our guest is Matt Rouse, co-founder of Hook SEO, LLC.

Matt is the author of Crush SEO, Start Saying Yes, and Flattening the Hamster Wheel. He has also authored over 1000 articles and many training courses, including the Inbox Mastery Email Marketing Masterclass. Matt hosts the Digital Marketing Masters Podcast and has done over 150 episodes.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Sarcasm isn’t part of Juliet’s vocabulary. It’s also her and Steve’s anniversary.
• “There are as many companies as there are entrepreneurs’ personalities.”
• “Successful entrepreneurs have a purpose.”
• “Once your purpose is clear, everything else becomes easy.”
• “Most entrepreneurs want to change the world. That is because they have the purpose that they can have an impact.”
• “Successful entrepreneurs understand it’s a journey. They understand that making money is not a purpose.”
• “If you want to build a successful company, you cannot do it by yourself.”
• “Don’t expect that the reason you started your business necessarily has to be your long-term purpose - you can change it.”
• “How many of your new years’ resolutions do you actually implement?”
• “People have a tendency to want too big of a change at once. Instead of starting big, just start small. Implement the first step until that step becomes a routine – when it’s a routine, you don’t have to think about it anymore.”
• “92% of our worries are not legitimate.”
• “If you feel like you want to write a book, write a book. It’s not easy, but it’s a good journey.”
• “I would like to recommend to entrepreneurs to take care of themselves. I’m talking about physical health and mental health. Think about your mind as a muscle – if you want this muscle to grow, it needs to recover. For the physical aspect, start sports. Take care of yourself, because if you can’t take care of yourself, how can you take care of your company and your people?”
• “If people are doubting how far you can go, go so far that you can’t hear them anymore.” – Michele Ruiz
  
  

Our guest is Laurent Notin, a business coach on a quest to crack the entrepreneurship code.

Laurent is a French national who left France at the age of 23. He then lived in South East Asia for 20 years before settling in Finland in 2019. He has a passion for helping others, and dedicates his time to coaching, training, and mentoring entrepreneurs. He is also a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Juliet wants to retire in the Caribbean.
• “You need to focus on the essential few and let go of the trivial many.”
• “A little bit of progress across 15 things isn’t really moving you forward to accomplish what you want to accomplish because you’re not moving forward far enough in any of the areas.”
• “There’s an entrepreneurial spirit in some of us that is not in all of us.”
• “You need to stop trying to build an airline, and instead drill for oil.”

“You don’t have to be the best in the world at drilling for oil, but you could probably make a lot of money in that industry if you’re just okay at it.”

• “Your mentors don’t have to be people that you’ve ever actually met.”

“Try to keep it condensed. Pick one or two people in a certain subject matter and just follow them.”

• “Keep seeking the mentor until you find the one that resonates with you.”
• “200 years from now, we’re all going to be dust. Even if we change the world, no one is going to remember us 200 years from now. The meaning of life is to take the luck that you were given, push it as far as you can, and then sprinkle it around as best as you can. Give more than what you took.”
• “Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have the same 24 hours in a day.” – Zig Ziglar

Our guest is Dylan Ogline, founder of Ogline Digital. At the age of 14, Dylan started his first business. After dropping out of high school, he became a serial entrepreneur, taking on multiple business projects simultaneously. In 2016, he decided to drop all but one – digital marketing. Since then, he has built Ogline Digital to become a 7-figure agency. Dylan believes that everyone can build their own digital agency, and he dedicates much of his time to his training programs where others can learn to start and build their own successful digital agencies.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• Shaun attended an entrepreneurial conference in grade 9.
• Shaun didn’t see a blue cow that inspired the name of his company.
• If you have a business, you have some understanding of what marketing is.

“Digital marketing is just using a different means to do that type of marketing.”

“Instead of running newspaper ads or radio ads, you’re running Facebook ads.”

• “Find people that can help you do what you need to do in those little steps along the way – don’t try to learn it all yourself.”
• “If you’re found online, whether you have a Google listing or you have your website, you are, in one way or another, doing digital marketing.”
• “As much as understanding who your client is, you also have to have an understanding of who your client is not.”
• Businesses should think about starting or joining Facebook groups.
• “When you create a video for your business, you’re not going in to try and sell your service. You’re going to provide information and value.”
• “There is a skill and knowledge that you have that other people are looking to have answers to.”
• “Podcasting has gained a lot of headway in the marketplace in the last several years.”

“Where I see a podcast really beneficial for a business is not as a means to advertise but as a means to share your area of expertise and your knowledge.”

• “The digital landscape is always going to be changing. What we set out to do today, in 2 months, 3 months, or 6 months is most likely going to change.”
• “Be okay with the fact that you might start something that is not going to work.”
• Juliet spoke more than she was planning to speak.
• “Clients don’t care about the labour pains. They just want to see the baby.” – Tim Williams

Our guest is Shaun Whynacht, Founder and CEO of Blue Cow Marketing.

Shaun has over 20 years of experience in digital marketing across both the US and Canada, helping clients develop the tools for marketing and promoting their businesses. A self-professed learning addict, Shaun spends his “downtime” keeping up with the latest trends in technology, marketing and design so that he can put them to work for his clients.

Shaun is also a licensed display fireworks and pyrotechnician.

He holds a Diploma in Technical Television Productions from the Nova Scotia Community College.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• “Your brain is not designed to keep you happy; it’s designed to keep you alive.”
• “When you have more energy because you’re doing your HAPPI, all of a sudden things start making sense.”
• “Shifting your state of being gives you more energy to do all the things that you really want to do.”
• “KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. You don’t need to make it complicated.”
• “Fun is the first thing that goes whenever we start working on something in life that we’re excited about, and it needs to be the first thing that stays.”
• “Often times, we’re just busy for the sake of being busy.”
• As entrepreneurs, we got into business because we thought we could succeed.
  
  “If a thought led you to action, why not take more time to think?”

• “What’s the fastest way to eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”
• “Everything that we needed to be successful in life we learned when we were kids, and we need reminders of it.”
• “We must work hard not to become our struggle. Whatever you’re experiencing is not who you are.”
• “It’s not your last decision that’s going to determine your path; it’s your next decision.”
• “Happiness cannot be travelled to, cannot be owned, cannot be earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley
  
  

Our guest is Vernon Brown, Founder of What’s Your Happi. He is a sought-after keynote speaker, happiness coach, and certified life coach.

He started out working as a model and actor in New York, but eventually turned to life coaching in search of fulfilment. In 2013, he Founded What’s Your Happi. Motivated by his own life experiences, Vernon has coached thousands of people, and helped them find and sustain their happiness.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• If you have a set vision or plan in your head, you tend not to pay as much attention to external factors.
  
  Karen didn’t have a plan when starting her blog or her podcast, and her philosophy was “start it, try it, and then decide”. This meant she could be more adaptive to the environment.

• “If 2020 has taught us anything, I think it has absolutely convinced even perhaps some of the non-believers that the ability to pivot is absolutely key to success.”
• “With respect to your entrepreneurial toolkit, I believe that written communication is really important.”
• People portray themselves as successful but never really show the behind-the-scenes.
  
  There’s the image of the iceberg: at the tip of the iceberg is the success we see on social media, and under the water is where we find the long hours, sleepless nights, stress, and setbacks.

• “If you’re not resilient or you don’t think positive, then entrepreneurship is going to be tougher than it already is for you.”
• “Do not wait; the time will never be just right. Start where you stand, work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.” – George Herbert

Our guest is Karen Swyszcz, Co-Founder of Kaibigan Connection, Founder and blogger at Makin the Bacon, host of The Bacon Bits ‘n’ Bytes Podcast, and author of the best-selling Women’s Health book, Fitness to Freedom.

She works part-time as a continuing and professional studies instructor, teaching blogging and social media strategy courses at Sheridan College. She is also the co-author of Lighting The North, a book on diversity and feminism in Canada, which is also a 2020 Non-Fiction Finalist for the Canadian Book Club Awards.

Karen holds a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Waterloo.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• “Everybody is changing the world just by existing and going through their day. It’s whether you’re changing it for the positive, whether you’re changing it for the negative, or you’re just kind of maintaining status quo.”
• “Of course I need to make a living, and I want to make some money, but I think we need to do it in a responsible way.”
• “Isn’t everything an opportunity?”
• The inspiring story of Suon Rottana that David turned into a film.
• Steve took the decision to change one of the questions. Juliet tried to protest, but it didn’t work. Will she take him along on that island getaway?
• “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Our guest is David Peck, Founder of SoChange. He is a lecturer at the business school at Humber College in Hamilton, Ontario, and contributes regularly to Rabble.ca and TheMindMarket. He is also an accomplished podcaster, with his podcast, Face 2 Face, featuring over 500 episodes.

In 2007, David was a co-producer on the educational kids show, Spellz. In 2008, alongside comedian Matthew DiSero, David founded the Mosquitoes Such Tour, which aims to raise awareness of Malaria through performance. In 2009, Verge Magazine named David a Global Hero for his contribution towards making the world a better place.

David co-edited Irreconcilable Differences, and he is the author of Real Change is Incremental, which was awarded a Word Guild Culture Award for social change.

He holds a Master’s in Philosophy from the University of Guelph.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0

Gold Nuggets in this Episode:

• “A business is a commercial, profitable enterprise that works without you.”
• “Companies and leaders need to go beyond traditional training methods to truly engage with their employees.”
  
  “Knowledge-dumping is important, but when it comes to culture, leadership, creating influence, and mass movements, it’s the culture that needs to shift.”

• There are three types of employees in every organization:
  
  “Actively Disengaged – they come to work and do less than is expected.”
  
  “Disengaged – they come to work and do what is expected.”
  
  “Engaged – they come to work and do more than what is expected.”

• “If you’ve got employees in your team that come to work and just get through the day, then you’ve got wasted money on the table.”
  
  “You’re wasting 34% of their salary before they even walk in the door.”

• You can turn an organization around in 4-5 weeks.
• “I’ve learnt all my leadership stuff from bad leaders – what not to do.”
• “You’ve got to start a business where you’re not working in it. You’ve got to start a business that is scalable, leverage-able, and online.”
• “Your past is perfect. Even if it didn’t work out or you had an argument with your boss and got fired, it’s a good contrast to keep pushing you toward your passion and dreams.”
• “The biggest lesson in life is always to charge towards your highest excitement; charge towards your true north. If you’re not charging towards your highest excitement that means you’re off-course.”
• “Everything is neutral until you give it meaning.”
• “It is a hell of a journey, and the more you can look after your mental health along the journey, the better off you’re going to be as a leader, influencer, and entrepreneur.”
• “I’ve never lost a game. I just ran out of time.” – Michael Jordan

Our guest is Richard Maloney, Founder and CEO of Quality Mind Global and Engage & Grow. Richard is a serial entrepreneur, internationally sought-after keynote speaker, mental health coach, and mentor. He has authored three books: The Minds of Winning Teams, Engage & Grow, and Injury Free. His method, known as the Maloney Method, has grown into a system of healing that has allowed people to transform their lives through mental training. He has a passion for fine wine, the outdoors, friends, family, golfing, and surfing.

Song by Adam Vitovsky / CC BY 3.0