E203: The New Socials Model: Social Media Boundaries, Instagram for Businesses and Everything In Between with Amanda Kohal

Founder & CEO of the Wolfe Co. Amanda provides business owners with access to reputable resources, community connections and trusted guidance/education to start converting on social.

After working as a brand marketing manager in corporate, Amanda ventured on her own and took her love of digital marketing and ran with it. From helping clients earn $10k from just 2 Instagram stories, $77k from one DM and $28K social media launches, Amanda has turned many personal brands and service-based businesses into cash cows.

Her efforts have awarded her two RBC + Women of Influence nominations and a Bronze in the 2019 Canadian Marketing Associate awards in the Customer Experience category…

[01:30] Valerie LaVigne: Welcome back to The Women's Empowerment Podcast. I am very excited to introduce you all to Amanda Kohall. And first and foremost I do want to say because I have a feeling that Amanda doesn't remember this, but I've actually met Amanda, I want to say four years ago in person at an event in Toronto. Amanda was one of the speakers at that event. And it was for the Toronto business babes. and Amanda came in and she was just about to get married. It was like, days before her wedding.

And she was talking all about social media and social media marketing and building this community and it was just so enticing to watch her passion for this topic and to see her just so lit up about something and I know that.

Amanda Kohal: I remember the event. And I remember being in a little bit of a state of panic. Like why did I sign up for this? It was I think two days before the week of the wedding, which is like, not a time to be doing those things, you know?

VL: Totally. And since then I've followed you on social media. I've watched you quit your corporate job and start off on your own and then new to Mexico and dope this crazy cold like community on social media. and I am one of your wolfies from your wolf membership.

And I think for me it was just like, again, watching how passionate you are about something but also seeing how you knew exactly what you're talking about because you had done it. And I think that really attracts me to people and wants me or makes me want to work with them more is because I'm like, Oh no, they've done it. And the other thing I'm gonna say because it just couldn't keep saying nice things about is that you really connect with people. Like you really get into conversations and not just like you know, double tapping and post and you're not just saying like, emojis on people's comments and social media, which all of us know that. So I just wanted to say like, thank you so much for all the help that you've done for me and for my social media and for my social platforms, and for being an inspiration to me and reminding me that like you actually, I have a really cool job and I love what I do too and helping me be that passionate because you're like the mirror or like you're someone that I am inspired by every day. So yeah, just want to share that with you. Welcome to the show! *laughs*

[04:33] AK: If they could only see your facial expressions right now. Like I'm the crying emoji right now, the watering of the eyes emoji. But I mean watching your journey has been not only inspiring to me too, but it's taught me a lot about the way people actually take action on, you know, lessons being taught and you're one of those people you always will implement stuff that works for you. but you do it almost immediately and consistent with it, which is just like a dream for anybody. who is teaching these topics. We just love to see it actually being put into action.

VL: Absolutely. So one of the I think I can think of one of the examples is you will do or you have done many training sessions on your Instagram, and mostly through stories you say like okay, here's the tip of the week or like, here's what we're focusing on this week. And I will watch those and I'll think about it for a moment like okay, how does that work for me? How does that work for my business? And I think the one specific example I can think of that I've definitely been consistent with is like numbering my stories. So you'll say that I learned that review. So if you have four stories, or 10 stories or two stories, you say like one out of 10 One out of two, one out of four, and it helps people tap through or like listen through because they're like, Oh, I know that expectation of okay, I'm gonna be here for, for 15 seconds. Right.

And I, I mean, I don't know if that specifically changed the engagement in my stories because it's hard to find the exact insight for that, but I will say that since since taking action on your tips I definitely have a little bit more of that cult like following and community and people are definitely really engaged in the conversations that I'm sharing, especially with stories and I know that I know that you like living in stories too. I love watching and following along.

[06:35] AK: I mean it's the first consistency though. And you hear that tip from anybody who talks about social media is just be consistent. Just show up. It's, you hear it so much that you kind of drown it out. But when you actually do it, it means everything and it takes you from point A to point Z quite quickly. If you can just be consistent. And I mean, the story is stuff. You know how I feel about online user experience and user experiences that are already really familiar, online. And that numbering of the stories is exactly that. So if you're ever taking a quiz online, you'll notice they have progressive forms, and they'll let you know that you're 10% done or 50% done to keep you going because you have that milestone you have that benchmark And in your head, your subconscious, you're just like, well, I might as well keep going. I'm halfway there or 75% or two more questions. So we're mimicking that behavior because it's super familiar. and when something's really familiar, people usually can relate to it and they can take action on it.

VL: I love that. And it's actually something that we do a lot with the Women's Empowerment Podcast and also with my coaching, it's like obviously, consistency with habits is really what's going to make the transformation but it's also about taking action and so with every single one of my podcast episodes, right before I start, I always asked myself I'm like, Okay, what's my intention for this episode and on top of the intention for the show, always it's, I want to inspire the listener to take action. And so when I have a guest on the show, as you know, we do a little pre-form. I asked you what something that people can take action on today or within the next 24 hours. Because really, that's where I've been so consistent with the show and actually someone asked me yesterday, they're like, how do you have this many, like downloads of your podcast because they have a podcast and I told them like, consistency was the big thing.

but also the intention behind it. so I know that you are in social media management and a lot of people that you work with are also in social media management. I am part of your community. I am in health coaching. so you do serve quite a few people. Can you talk a little bit about other people that you've worked with in other types of industries?

[09:10] AK: And I would say working with other social media managers and marketers, organically, it was never my intention. When you first started Social. They all tell you because they like gurus and you know, maybe even myself is find your niche. Find your audience who you actually want to get in front of. But the more that you create content and your content evolves as it should because your business is always evolving. You'll notice that the audience does too. And you'll find yourself in these really unexpected places that surprise you sometimes. So when I started to notice that influx of social media managers and marketers coming my way, I really had to take a step back. What is it about my content that's attracting? Because you see on Instagram, especially, you know, our social media manager listening to this, or you follow a lot of social media managers, you notice in the comment section, it's like 80 to 85% other people in social media, as opposed to that social media marketers, target audience, but there's no action being taken beyond the comment.

Whereas then in in my community, I was helping the social media managers, you know, setting up their social media, teaching them some things that they might not have learned previous. and I really, really enjoyed it because I found that I could nerd out with them and we could talk about,you know, maybe, we could have that kind of war, which was really nice too.

It can be so lonely, and you've got your support team, your family, your friends, sometimes your partner, whoever, but they still don't get it in the same way as somebody else running a business.

A couple in the E commerce space, but I definitely don't claim to be an expert in E commerce, but primarily online service providers. And another little pocket of the community is influencers and content. Creators, which has been really interesting and actually a learning curve for me, because I run my business as a business account would, whereas a content creator influences or shows up online in a completely different way. It is like the most insane operation, the amount of work that goes into that content is another that we just don't see a lot of stuff. So the community is built up with quite a few people but wherever you happen to fall into that.

[12:25] VL: So glad you said that to how these different businesses run really differently in terms of like their social media and their content and how it's all done. And I've seen your evolution, I mean only in the last four years, which I feel like you've done a lot in the four years since you got married to moving to Mexico to move back home and and now you're renovating the home and all these things. but I've also been able to see the evolution of your membership and your offerings. and, you know, I don't even think you're on crap. What was that app that everyone was on, but it was like an audio app?

AK clubhouse house?

VL: Yeah! Does that still exist?

AK: It still exists and we think there's still opportunity over there. But again, like it peaked and then what happened? Yeah, we don't know.

VL: I don't even know. But I don't even know if I still have it on my clock to check that later.

So I've seen but like you were there a lot of showing up and now you're more on Tiktok and Instagram and all these different things. So it's been really cool to see how you've been diving in how you've been trying things on how you've been sharing what you've learned and through your experiences. And I know as of late, and you kind of mentioned this briefly was like you run your account like a business, not a content creator. And I think a lot of people who are not really taking a step back look at the big picture. People who don't really understand the behavioral sciences or the behavioral patterns of people of the things we're talking about, like seeing the progress bar and all these little details and nuances that you understand. Everyone who's just on social media who's just constantly absorbing information they think they need to be there all the time and show up all the time and be commenting and liking and the Guru's air quotes again, are saying like, send eight people a message and make sure you're using 30 hashtags, but not this hashtag and do this and do that, under so many rules becomes really overwhelming. And I think as an online service provider it's exhausting trying to keep up with everything. So I want to know how do you balance it all? How do you have a healthy relationship with your social media with your business, but I know also too, because you show up a lot and talk about self care. So how does that happen for you?

[15:00] AK: What does that look like in your life?

It took a lot for me to get a healthy relationship with social media. As you can imagine, it was really hard for me because my job is social media. But I think where it really clicked for me was when I was in Mexico. So when we moved there, I was all excited. I started a TikTok account for me and my husband called the CO hauls. He agreed to be in some of the tiktoks which is, you know, if you know my husband that is a huge stuff that he hasn't since I only did that because you wanted to do it but I really hated it. So I was like, we're not going to make you do things that you hate because then this is like a situation for any money. So I got all excited. and whenever we worked it out, it became about I have to get content, even if it's behind the scenes, just the camera.

But it really took away from the experience. And every single day I felt this anxiety that started in my stomach and it moved up to my chest and it would give me these headaches, and I couldn't sleep and it was this horrible, horrible cycle of just anxiety about capturing content, instead of being in this beautiful place and we were so lucky to save a skate Canada at the time, because we were really on lockdown over here. And I just said to myself and to him one day I'm like, are we even having fun here? Like have we been really taken?

How lucky we are to be here and just what a crazy once in a lifetime experience. So I said at the content. We're not gonna focus on that anymore. If it happens, it happens. But I'm not going to stress myself. Oh. And what I found was when I finally made that decision to just you know, be in the moment, and any content that was posted was so much more authentic. And it was perceived so much better by the community. That was when this cult-like community, as you say, and as I've called my borderline.

But we're not really. That's when it really started to take off. And I think it's because people can really see when you're passionate about something and when it's organic. You can tell if there's something that staged and you see it all over social media, in the comment section, people how many times did they have to film this to get the right reaction or you can totally tell that this is acting where they had to redo this moment. So that was like a big, big thing for me. And then as well, I got one of these time block things, literally a cube that you can get off of Amazon.

White Timer Cube

Black Timer Cube

And I would start to do kind of the Pomodoro method. I think it's called where I only give myself 30 minutes in the morning to do my engagement for example.

Now, this hour in the morning, I go out to my car and I film all my tech talks for the day. Once that hour is done. Even if I've only done one TikTok that's it. Now I'm moving on to the next thing. It takes so much discipline, and of course consistency. But once you get in a groove, it becomes second nature. Like I woke up this morning, and I just was okay. Let's go to the car. Do the damn thing and then we're on to the next which is talking to you.

[19:00] VL: Wow, I did not know all of that. That's so cool!

The Pomodoro method is similar. So the Pomodoro method is when you set a timer and it's called the Pomodoro method because there's a Pomodoro timer. That's why it's called that so it's it's 25 minutes of doing a task, followed by a five minute break. so you have to stop after 25 minutes and take a break. and then you can go back to a different task or the same task for another 25 minutes with a five minute break and you do that four times or four Pomodoro, so one Pomodoro is technically 30 minutes, but it's like what you're saying is really similar, I would probably, I don't know if there's a technical name for it but I probably just called time blocking.

But that's really interesting. What do you do when you hear the timer and you're like, oh when I'm so close. One more, or like I just need to finish like, what do you tell yourself in your brain is like No Don't stop. Keep going.

AK: I mean, if my mid sentence, because I'm writing something or you know, I'm recording it TikTok. I'm going to finish that but then it's done.

I really tried to stick to that because, of course, being in Mexico. I didn't want to work 910 1216 hour days like I was doing before. So I had to give him the practice of sticking to this time zone or this time slot and I know that if you gave me eight hours to complete a task, I would take the full eight hours to do it. Really I would do in the last hour of the day.

But then there's seven hours that is just kind of wasted or you've started a task you haven't really completed anything.

So I said no more of that. Why don't I just give myself our maps for bigger tasks or sometimes night depending on what it is and see what I can get done. And I noticed little by little every day If I was you know consistent with that. I was getting projects done. And it gave me time to you know, spend outside in Mexico.

It gave me the time back to actually build the community and connect with the community. because we think when we're on social media, We just got to get the post out and then it's on to the next thing, But more important than you posting is you actually showing up and engaging with that content and engaging with the responses and reactions that people are having with that content because that's their interactions is what brings it to life. And what can you will new ideas and conversations and new relationships, it can break the ice, in most cases if you were nervous to reach out to somebody.

My whole method and approach to social. And this new approach that I'm sure we'll get into is about giving business owners the time so that they can spend their energy in the right places on social. And as it stands right now, especially for Instagram, it's not a place for you to be creating content for all day. Because the algorithm, then the outcome of the algorithm does not speak to the content creator, which is not organically it's just it doesn't.

It speaks to outcomes, building relationships, nurturing, I mean, look at their stories in their DMS, how interactive that speaks to community building, it also speaks to conversion. So we need to now put the energy in the right places, so we're not spending all day scrolling, drooling. feeling like I got nothing accomplished they're only made this one Instagram post and now.

[22:55] VL: Absolutely. And since I've been taking action on your methods, I rarely post. I mean, I think I posted something really silly last week, but it was because it was for fun.

but it really reached out to my community like the post wasn't for me. it wasn't for my business. It was like, I had so much fun. This is something I want to share with my people because I feel like I know all these people even though some of them I've never met in real life.

And there was a lot of interaction there was also like, Hey, I'm I'm going to try this next weekend or I'm going to do this too. I'm like, Oh my God, let me know how it goes. I really identically want to know how it works for you. Like share that with me now. You know, and it's been so cool because you might stumble upon my page and you're like, oh, yeah, like that's cool. She has a couple 1000 followers and she posts here and there but it's my stories where the magic is happening. It's the stories where people are like, replying or liking and engaging in the conversations are and other people don't see that. I almost feel like engaged in my stories that my posts. And I think it's partially because I built that. like I've I've invited people to reply, I've invited people to engage. I've invited people to tap into share and all these things.

And I'm obviously more consistent in stories too but it's such a cool break, social media just like so much more fun when you take out this. Oh, I have to do something for the algorithm or like I have to post three times a week and it has to be like this.

AK: None of that. None of that.

No and you're you hit on to the you're making it fun. Again, and when you are having fun, I swear. Anybody who's watching is having fun too. You can feel that it's not forced. You're not posting in those days. You're not getting caught up in. Did I use the right hashtags? Did I add a location tag? Do I have the right filter on this photo? And the checklist goes on? I swear. I love Instagram because you know it really builds my business with me but I figure it out. Like they messed us. And I think it's true to people who are into scoring other platforms because they almost have PTSD from creating for Instagram. But you don't have to do that anymore. You see it with this generation that Gen Z if they're posting on Instagram, which I think is like cringe for them or chugey or whatever the word it looks like. They've taken a disposable camera and they're almost posting like old school Facebook album style. with these photo doubts, right? it's just very in the moment. they're actually putting instead back and Instagram and moving away from this overly curated space because how can you connect with curated it's not real.

[26:22] VL: It's so true. It's like everyone says like, oh, Instagram is the highlight reel and I'm like it is and it's scary because no one wants to do that. Well not no one wants to do that. Like I do like the aesthetic. I love being creative on my account. However I do try to make it a little bit more organic than not and I did because I'm like okay, well I know my brand colors and that's just what I wear. And so then when I posted It's tight, it's now but it just so happens to also suit my brand.

I wanted to ask you one more question about your time blocking before I asked you about your new method and what you have going on. And for the time blocking I know you've talked about being disciplined with the time Yep, wrap up what you're doing, but like this is what you're giving, giving the time to. in terms of that. How are you prioritizing? like can maybe we see like or can you tell us about a day in the life. The calendar kind of looks like a time.

AK: Yes, we can. Okay, so I was just writing down the categories. I even have to remind myself sometimes but basically my work has a variety categorized into different pillars. so I've got my main work, My client work, the work, just my projects, content creation. And then, in real time.

So we’re going to rewrite the four hour workweek to be the five hour work day.

Usually, I like to get done at the same time. And then I've got active time slots in my calendar for clients because I used to officially in my day was so disrupted with okay, I thought, a nice like two hour slot for me to be created creative, and then the rest of the day is just catching day where it had and then like a half an hour in between the next get in a creative or doing any project work. So when I started my business, I said no more of that. I want to make sure that whatever task I'm doing at the time, that's the part of my brain that I'm using. So I'm not none of this back and forth. Because going back to what I said previously, you get in that habit then of starting a lot of stuff, but you're never really making any headway and you're never completing it. Because your brain is going in all these different directions of Wait, I gotta be a creator right now. Wait, I need to do my taxes week.

We can't call it like it's just, it's too much all the time and we need to kind of scale it back a bit. I've got stuff a time slot for me, my projects. And these are usually big projects my content creation slot where you know, I'm setting up my camera and I'll give myself sometimes it's half an hour, but usually an hour and I say go. You want to film your tiktoks do it in this hour. usually have a loose idea of what I want to talk about that day. But again, I don't try to script it so much so that it comes off nonorganic and then I've got my in real time work. And my in real time work is anything where I need to present so this would be what we're doing right now considered in real time. Or when I'm engaging with my audience that's in real time. So I physically have to be present. there's no amount of automation that could ever replace that. So that's kind of how I'm breaking up my day in terms of what I'm doing. And I found that it's really really helped me stay on task. and it's also given me flexibility to enjoy, you know, the afternoon, no matter what season it is.

[31:00] VL: Yeah, that's what you're saying. All these things are like, oh my goodness, I need to start doing this too because the calendar is just getting booked and booked and booked and booked and I always try to say like, okay, Valerie, this is the week we're going to really be disciplined with those boundaries. and then someone says, Hey, can you do this make sure. hey, can you teach this class? Sure.

But, ya know, I really really liked this I'm going to, I'm going to try it. I'm gonna try to take action on it.

AK: You have you found thought that you have patchy days right where you've done a lot in the day, but you feel like you haven't accomplished anything.

VL: Totally.

AK: Always drove me nuts because you're putting in a lot of energy but you're like, I feel like I don't even have that one thing checked off my list to say like I did this. I accomplished this today.

VL: Yeah, I find for me because I run two businesses and one of them is a brick and mortar business. And the other one is virtual and because the brick and mortar business is like that in real time, almost 90% of what I do for my brick and mortar business is in real time. So I'm teaching, I'm replying to emails. I'm setting up the schedule. I'm scheduling the teachers like all of these things for the Pilates studio. It's so exhausting, because it requires so much more energy for me to be in front of a room of people versus being in front of my phone and filming some tech talks. And by the end of that day, I'm like I just don't have it in me to show up to show up quote unquote, online. I mean, I can again reply to DMS and I can be present for that but like in terms of face to camera or trying to be creative for somebody I'm like forget it. Like here's a B roll of me laying on the couch scrolling.

AK: Those ones always perform the best. Literally anyone there I've just been lying there. I look like I don't even know what I look like. And they always perform the best. I mean, it's hard to get into the habits. You teach that so you know what once you can get in that groove.

And you're good to gang. You're good to go and you've got a foundation to go back on.

[33:28] VL:Yeah, 100% I love that. I'm definitely going to try to implement that. Because I do have days off where I'm not at that brick and mortar business. And those are the days that I focus on my virtual stuff. But then it's like I tried to do everything in an eight hour day and I'm like wait is like a five hour workday. This sounds great!

AK: Yeah, 100% I love that. I'm definitely going to try to implement that. Because I do have days off where I'm not at that brick and mortar business. And those are the days that I focus on my virtual stuff. But then it's like I tried to do everything in an eight hour day and I'm like wait is like a five hour workday. This sounds great.

But you know, it takes practice and I know that's not practical for every schedule, especially if you're working a nine to five still and then your side hustle is your five to nine whether that accompanies afterward, or work like you're gonna find the stuff that really works for you and if you are doing something that feels good. Make note of that and try to turn that into a habit, because I noticed when I sectioned off the different categories.

Man, it was just like a game changer for me. And I said this is how I can stick to a schedule because I've tried all that other stuff before and it made me more stressed out like the to-do list just became longer and longer. and like writing the to do list was added to the to do list so I knew I had a situation when that happened.

[35:20] VL: Oh yeah big time. I think the biggest thing for me is the to-do list stuff. Someone said If you spent as much time checking off the boxes and working on those tasks, as you did stressing about your to do list, you'd have half of those things done. And I was like oh yeah, that was a slap to the face I needed!

Okay, so tell us about this new method that you have created for business owners to really take back their time and be the business owner and not the content creator.

AK: Right. We may need a part two on this puppy but that's okay, there's all the information on my social media as well.

You know what I touched on it a little bit earlier. And it mainly came from two places. One was the entrepreneurs and business owners that I was working with. The common theme that kept coming up is I'm burnt out. I don't want to call my tech creator and have no time to work on my business.

Finding myself just scrolling on Instagram all day thinking what do I post? What do I do? So this really was the catalyst to me doing some more research and experimentation. And it was started to go deeper and deeper into algorithms of you know, some of the top platforms, so Instagram being one TikTok of course, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and I really wanted to look at what outcomes do each of these platforms serve?

And in this research, I realized, Holy Hannah, Instagram doesn't even show my content to more than 10% of people who are already following me. And that was like a huge, I guess like red flag or trigger in my mind of this isn't a platform for content creators because a content creators primary goal is to get mass organic reach. You don't get on Instagram, expecting to get a lot of reach on Instagram, especially if you're not already an established is like buying tickets to a basketball game and then expecting to see a football game when you get there. It makes no sense. But we're on this hamster wheel I got a crate for Instagram I got a crate for Instagram. With algorithm doesn't even reward that type of behavior, but it does reward building a community. It does reward cultivating impact and converting. So why don't we put that energy over on Instagram?

And then if you still are like, I want to create content still I still want to have some energy and maybe it's the hour a day that you're creating content. Do that on a platform that is built for content creators that actually had the outcome of mass reach. So a lot of people seeing your content, and right now that's Tik Tok. We could also put YouTube in that category. We could also put LinkedIn LinkedIn has fantastic reach on their platform. Create for the spaces that are meant for creators, and then save your energy to build relationships and spaces that were meant for building communities like Instagram.

So Instagram basically has an identity crisis. They don't even know what their zone of genius is. they keep trying to you know, copy TikTok when they've got this beautiful stories experience. it's superior to any other platform I need TikTok hasn't fixed their stories yet. and their DMS like the DMS are full. I can voice No and an Instagram DM I can send you a video no Instagram DM, I can't do that over on Tiktok.

VL: Yeah, I think you've really hit the nail on the head with this because even just hearing it for the first time I felt this instant relief like oh my god, I don't need to keep creating and it's like, it's embarrassing. It's annoying. It's sad when you post something that takes all this time to create, like what you thought was beautiful and curated, but also really organic and not very organic, but authentic. And then you post it and you get like three likes on it or like 100 views on your reel and you're like, What the hell is gold baby? And you're like, what the heck Instagram? I just can't do this anymore. Meanwhile, I show up on Tik Tok like once a week, which I know it's not, that's not as many times as Tik Tok.

But I still get more views on Tik Tok, which I hardly ever go on anyway!

AK: Okay, so, TikTok though is the reason why you get that mass reach is because TikToks algorithm shows your content to 85 to 90% of people who aren't following you strangers. So even if you're posting once a week, you can ensure that the majority of people who are seeing that content, even if it's 185 to 90% of them, have no idea of who you are and who your brand is, and this is why it's such a powerful channel. It can give a taste of your brand. And now we drive them over from TikTok to your Instagram, which has those deeper dives or the community in there with you using stories or if you set up your Instagram page like a website because that's also a part of this method is treating your feed like a website answers every single question that you would ever find over there, the WHO THE what the when the where the how, yada yada yada. So if you treat it like that, you're going to spend less time on that hamster wheel and more time actually moving forward in your business

VL: Now since you said that I've seen more and more people who treat their Instagram like a website and funnily enough, that's how I search for businesses. It's either like on Google Maps, if it's a brick and mortar, or I'm searching on Instagram and even those brick and mortar businesses. I'm also looking at their Instagram because I want to see the pictures. I want to see the stories I want to see who's sharing who's posting who's doing those things. So it's it makes so much sense that you say that and I'm really glad that you're on this journey right now and that you're sharing this method. So where can we find you as well as more information? Where can we follow you? How can we support your business?

WEBSITE | www.wolfeacademy.co

IG | @thewolfe.co

TT | @amandakohal

RAPID FIRE ROUND

1. What are you currently reading? OR Favourite book?

AK: Okay, my favorite book is Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. And the thing I love about her books is she takes certain characters and sprinkles them throughout her books in some sort of fashion. It's a fantastic book.

Right now I am finishing up a book called Because Internet [by Gretchen McCulloch] and it's about the language of online communities which all business owners need to listen to. This book will teach you more about having an online business than any course.

2. What does “empowerment” mean to you?

AK: Doing things on your own terms. I mean, you know my story. It's coming from a corporate background where there was a lot of red tape. I never felt empowered to explore my creativity or explore what could happen if I broke a rule and I say that in quotations. but now with this business, I truly feel empowered to do that. and it's like through those mistakes that I've learned the best lessons and the business has evolved in a way that I could never even imagined before.

3. What is your longest standing habit?

AK: The longest standing habit is morning walks. I'd have to say so every morning, my husband and I will make our coffee and we make mugs not traveling mugs, okay like actual mugs, Ceramic, Porcelain, whatever. and we go for our half an hour to 45 minute walk every morning.

4. What are you currently working toward?

AK: I am currently writing an ebook about this new approach to social media. I am currently writing an ebook about this new approach to social media. Get me to talk. I could do that all day but the writing I'm finding it a challenge but I'm really enjoying it. and I'm just so excited for it to hit the Amazon ebook streets at some point.

VL: That's so exciting. I cannot wait to see that and read it and I'm sure I'm sure you're a great writer. I always like those books though. Where it feels more like someone's telling you a story or explaining something to you because it just flows better and you're like, Oh, I get it. I don't need this fancy lingo to understand a concept that you're trying to share. So I'm sure it's gonna be great. Everything that you do, has such a magic flair to it.

And on that note, I want to say thank you so much again for being on the Women's Empowerment Podcast. You're an absolute joy to follow and be taught by. I really, really, really love learning from you. And again, I'm just really excited for all the other things that are coming through. And I haven't started on my new Instagram grid yet, but I am considering it because it feels a little out of my comfort zone. but it also feels like it makes sense to me. So you will see and hear about that soon, I'm sure.

Yeah, thanks so much. This was great!

AK: Thanks for having me and we can talk about your grid. so don't worry, plenty of time for that.

Podcast Host

Valerie LaVigne

Valerie is the creator and founder of Valerie LaVigne Life and the Women's Empowerment Show. She helps busy and empowered women create healthy habits so that they can become the best version of themselves and transform their lives. Learn more about Valerie here!