Entrepreneurs in Progress

10. That Moment When You Realize All You Do Is Work

What do you do when you realize your life has become all about work? We think that we’ll have more freedom and flexibility when we leave corporate jobs to become entrepreneurs, but often end up working more than before! We need to recognize when it’s time to adjust our work-life balance and keep our end goal in mind. But…is working too much really a bad thing? And how do you know when it’s a phase vs a problem? We these questions as we share our experiences of…well, becoming one-dimensional...

09. That Moment When You Realize You Need to Sell More

What do you do when you’re not bringing in enough revenue? You might have gotten a bump from your initial launch, but there typically comes a point where you realize you need to sell more in order to keep your business running. What are some ways to boost sales for your business? And should you go for as much revenue as possible or consistent sales? We answer those questions as we share our experiences from trying to grow our businesses. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast communi...

08. That Moment When You Get Your First Sale!

How did we get our first sale? Getting your first sale is a big deal - it can be harder than most people think and it’s the next level towards reaching financial independence. So for those of you wondering, What did it feel like getting your first sale? And why is it a big deal? We'll tell you as we share our experiences getting our first sales. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprogress.supercast.com/ For only $5 a month, you get to join a co...

07. That Moment When Nothing Seems to Work

What do you do when nothing seems to be working? In the beginning, it can take a while to figure out what will drive sales, and very difficult troubleshooting what part of the process is really the issue.  When should you test or make changes?  What should you do when you run out of ideas?  We will answer those questions as we share our experiences from our own businesses.  Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprogress.supercast.com/  For only $...

06. That Moment When You Realize Nobody Cares About Your Business

What do you do after your launch when your business isn’t an instant hit? Having a slow start and post-launch blues can kill your momentum. You’ll need to push through the valleys of despair on your way to mountain tops of success.  So, how can you manage your expectations beforehand?  And how do you regain momentum when you’re down about things not working out like you hoped?  These are questions we answer as we share our post-launch experiences when we realized… nobody cares about your ...

05. That Moment When You Launch Your Company

What’s it like launching a company? It takes more than a great idea to have a successful business and achieve financial freedom - you need to launch and start executing! Everyone wants their company launch to be a success but what does it actually mean to launch your company? And when is the “right time” to launch? These are all questions we answer as we share our experiences launching our small businesses. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprog...

04. That Moment When Setting Up Your Business is More Work Than You Realized

What do you need to do to set up your business? If you build it, the money will come. Well, hopefully - but you need to get your shit together. You start with a few ideas of what to do to get set up, but as you go down the rabbit hole, you realize there’s a lot more you need to think about and do. What things do I need to consider? What do I actually need to set up? Why does it take so long to get set up? These are all questions we answer as Bridgett & I share our experience getting our bus...

03. That Moment When You File For Your LLC

Official paperwork is definitely part of the less glamorous side of entrepreneurship, but it gets you one step closer to making your dreams a reality.  What is an LLC? Why should you even form one? Is it even a big deal? These are all questions we answer as we share our experience filing for our LLCs for our businesses. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprogress.supercast.com/ For only $5 a month, you get to join a community of fellow fans and e...

01. That Moment When You Break Through Fear and Start Your Business

How do you break through fear and start your business? The hardest but most important step is getting started. Entrepreneurs have to learn how to deal with perfectionism, procrastination, self-doubt, and fear in order to become and stay successful. In this episode, we share our breakthrough moments and how we cope with these mental roadblocks. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprogress.supercast.com/ For only $5 a month, you get to join a commun...

02. That Moment When You Leave Your Full-Time Job

When is the right time to leave your job and pursue an entrepreneurial venture? Ultimately, our goal as entrepreneurs is to quit working for someone else and be our own boss, but taking that leap can be scary & nerve-wracking. It’s a huge deal! In this episode, we share that moment when we quit our corporate jobs and started working full-time on our own businesses. Join the Entrepreneurs in Progress Supercast community: https://entrepreneursinprogress.supercast.com/ For only $5 a month, yo...

Entrepreneurship & Family Life

Ep. 30 - Risk & Uncertainty

As we wrap up Season 2, we are taking on new, calculated risks to parlay our personal businesses and our podcast, so we’re here to talk about it. Business risks can take a toll, but we aren’t folding anytime soon.

Coming Up With Company Names

Ep. 29 - Red Flag Clients

We quickly learn the hard lessons in business. Those lessons often result in a loss of money or even worse, time! So, we become pretty proficient at identifying red flags especially red flag clients. Listen as we share our experiences with red flag clients and our process to avoid them at all costs.

Ep. 28 - Hiring

You know the adage, those who can’t do, teach? Well, the hiring process is loosely based on this idea, except, often as early entrepreneurs, we actually do it all, until we can’t anymore. That’s where hiring comes into play.  So, we'll talk at length today about the hiring process and if we are close to solving it. 

Trying to Vacation as Entrepreneurs

Ep. 27 - Networking

As we have often shared, entrepreneurship is tough! One aspect that contributes to the challenges is the common feeling of isolation and loneliness. But in all honesty, it doesn’t have to be this way. Connecting with others on this path can be comforting, validating and fun! It’s why we want to chat about the importance of building your community and meaningfully networking.

Ep. 26 - Entrepreneurs vs. 9-5ers

Almost every entrepreneur has held a traditional job. In fact, many entrepreneurs leverage a 9-5 to get their side hustle off the ground until it’s a full blown company. However, you may have noticed an air around entrepreneurs and their opinions of steady employment. But where does this attitude come from? Join us for a lively discussion as we talk about the differences between business owners and employees and reveal one constant truth - there’s a place for everybody. 

Our Entrepreneur Husbands' Backgrounds

Ep. 25 - Motivation

Motivation. It’s what we all use to behave and work towards our goals. But we know that motivation isn’t always enough and sometimes we have to get creative. We’ll be discussing our relationship with motivation and what we’ve learned about staying motivated.

Ep. 24 - Identity & Entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurs often battle proving ourselves, defending our choices and getting others to understand our plights. Entrepreneurs are generalized but we are all very different, in this episode we discuss the purpose of identity and redefining what it means to be an entrepreneur. 

Background on Our Businesses

Ep. 23 - Remote Work

We operate two different companies in two different industries and yet we both run them remotely. Many entrepreneurs have stories about starting in their kitchen, garage or from a coffee shop, with no office in sight. In this episode, we’ll touch on what it’s like to run remote companies and why we prefer to operate this way.

Ep. 22 - Sales (ft. Brian Hays)

You’ve heard the sales mantra, “ABC, Always. Be. Closing.” So today, we have sales extraordinaire, aka Lauren’s husband and business partner, Brian join us today to talk about sales! We discuss the power of sales and the process and what we’ve learned.   

Our End of Year 1 vs Now

Ep. 21 - Mental Health

In many ways, this podcast has been therapeutic for us. It has served as a creative outlet as we navigate being entrepreneurs and has helped us express the ups and downs while on this journey. The challenges we experience can mentally  wreak havoc. So, the topic of mental health is near and dear to us and that is what we’ll be discussing today. 

Ep. 20 - Significant Others

We are married to the biz. No, really, we’re married to our business partners! If you’ve caught any of our previous episodes, you are probably already familiar with Brian and Marcus. We talk about them all the time! That’s because we work with them, day in and day out. So, we're actually dedicating an episode to them and chatting about the reality of working with your significant other. 

Our Partnership Conversation

Ep. 19 - Customer Service

Customers often throw us the hardest curveballs, and teach us some of our most valuable business lessons. Today, it’s all about customer service, our philosophies and how we work so hard at keeping customers happy.

Ep. 18 - Intuition vs Data-Driven Decisions

As entrepreneurs, we have to trust our instincts. That can be a scary thing to do when you’re trying to make a living. It’s probably why we write out our business plans, look for investors or pursue a side hustle first. We need data and hard numbers to support our instincts. In this episode, we talk about using our intuition for decision making and when we have to turn to the data.

Our Podcast Origin Story

Ep. 17 - Processes (ft. Marcus Shields)

Entrepreneurship is part planning and part throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks. But once something does stick, how do you repeat it? That’s where processes come into play. We’re joined today with Bridgett’s husband, Marcus, a lover of all things process, for a conversation about utilizing processes and systems to successfully operate a business from the ground up.

Ep. 16 - Burnout & The Long Game

We’re back for Season 2!  As you can see, we took a summer break! We love podcasting and we don’t want to get burned out, a feeling we know all too well. So today, we’ll be discussing burnout as entrepreneurs and sticking around for the long game. 

Season 1 Favorite Moments

Lauren & Bridgett discuss their favorite moments and episodes from Season 1 of Entrepreneurs in Progress.

Ep. 15 - Pricing

As entrepreneurs, one of the most challenging tasks is figuring out pricing. How do you place the proper value on your product or service that will generate high revenue and net you profit? In this episode, we’re drilling in our pricing and our strategies and all of the internal and external factors that affect pricing. 

Ep. 14 - Businesses for Social Good ft. Thomas Barr, Local First Arizona

We are welcoming our very first guest to join us for today’s episode. We are so excited to introduce Thomas Barr, Vice President of Business Development for Local First Arizona, a non-profit organization dedicated to community and economic development throughout Arizona. He’s joining us for a very important conversation around progressive business trends that have emerged and ways we can continue to do business, for good. 

Ep. 14 - Businesses for Social Good (ft. Thomas Barr)

We are welcoming our very first guest to join us for today’s episode. We are so excited to introduce Thomas Barr, Vice President of Business Development for Local First Arizona, a non-profit organization dedicated to community and economic development throughout Arizona. He’s joining us for a very important conversation around progressive business trends that have emerged and ways we can continue to do business, for good. 

Ep. 13 - Transparency in Business

Transparency is often thought of as a form of currency - it buys you trust, loyalty and stronger relationships. It can also yield higher revenues, reduce attrition and build company culture. So in the art of being transparent, we’re sharing our thoughts on this form of currency, our philosophies and how we’ve implemented best practices around being honest, sometimes to a fault.

Ep. 12 - Money & Finances, Pt. 3

We’re wrapping up a three part series about money and finances.  In this episode, we loosely tie up this conversation  and discuss the art of transparency, budgeting and defining our financial goals. 

Ep. 11 - Money & Finances, Pt. 2

In part two of this money series,  we’re chatting more in detail about where the money resides, how we’re working through perceptions of money and the newfound perspectives about how to be profitable. 

Ep. 10 - Money & Finances, Pt. 1

Money talks! It’s one of the main reasons we’re all entrepreneurs. We want to make as much money as possible while controlling our futures. But just like personal finances, business finances are tricky as fuck and to our surprise, it doesn’t always add up! Today, we’ll be discussing finances. There’s a lot to the money, so this is probably part one of many segments. 

Ep. 09 - Highs & Lows

We often hear about the exciting aspects about entrepreneurship - being your own boss, making your own hours, getting rich. But we don’t always hear about the bruises that our ego, wallets and brands take on this wild ride called entrepreneurship. Which is why we felt it was important to chat about our highs and lows. We discuss the ups and downs and what we’ve learned over time to help manage this roller coaster ride.

Ep. 08 - Goal-Setting & Milestones

Hashtag Goals!  Today’s episode, we’ll be talking all about goals, some personal, but mostly entrepreneurial goals and the significance of hitting those important milestones.  We'll also share a few of our recent milestones. 

Ep. 07 - Comparison

Apples to oranges! We are constantly comparing something or someone. Today, we’re going to discuss comparisons and how we as entrepreneurs tend to fall into the trap of comparing our journeys. It’s an easy trap but we have learned and are still learning how to avoid comparing ourselves to others as well as healthy ways to benchmark our successes and failures. 

Ep. 06 - Ideas & Execution

For this episode, we talk about what separates entrepreneurs from everyday people- ideas and execution. As entrepreneurs, we’re constantly coming up with ideas, but sometimes, we struggle to bring that idea to life. Tune in as we discuss our failures to launch and what we’ve learned about the art of execution.

Ep. 05 - Partnerships & Compatibility

As most entrepreneurs are aware, going at it alone is tough, so it’s not surprising that most of us seek a partner-in-crime as we work our way towards being hella rich. Today’s topic is all about partnerships and compatibility, our personal experiences and some tough but important learning lessons.

Ep. 04 - Hustle & Grind Culture

In this episode, we’ll talk about two words that are synonymous with entrepreneurship: hustle & grind, how we’ve grown to, quite frankly, hate this hustle and grind culture and why we believe it’s toxic, unproductive and overhyped.

Ep. 03 - Failure & Rejection

Caution: Topic may require a drink or two. Yes, definitely two.   We discuss failures and rejections as growing entrepreneurs and our toughest learning lessons. 

Ep. 02 - Reactions From Others

In this episode, we chat about the reactions we’ve encountered as growing entrepreneurs over the years, our feelings about those reactions and how receptive we are now to new reactions.

Ep. 01 - Becoming an Entrepreneur

This is our inaugural episode! Learn how we ultimately ended up as entrepreneurs, some our early mistakes and if we actually like to refer to ourselves as, “entrepreneurs.”