I Make a Living
85 episodes - English - Latest episode: almost 3 years ago - ★★★★★ - 76 ratingsWhat does making a living mean to you? Every entrepreneur answers this question differently, and we want to hear them all. On this show, our host Damona Hoffman talks to today’s most successful entrepreneurs about what it means to carve your own path, define success on your own terms, and build a business that brings you satisfaction. We’re interested in every aspect of being your own boss: The upsides, the downsides, and everything in between.
This season, on top of full-length episodes, we’re nerding out with Thursday Nerdisodes: Not your typical business podcast episode. These mini-episodes focus on the technical aspects of running a business. Listen in for tactical strategies, tips and insights that you can action right away into your own business venture.
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Episodes
Working From Home During a Pandemic- Lisa Canning
April 23, 2020 07:00 - 25 minutes - 23.5 MBNotes: How does a mother of eight balance a thriving design career with a family the size of a baseball team? Well, for starters, she doesn't sweat the mess. Lisa Canning is an author, coach, and design expert, and this week, she joins us to talk about how entrepreneurs can get family life and work goals to align, even during a pandemic. She counsels us to let go of perfectionism, schedule deep-focus time, and to delegate household chores to the kids. Most importantly, she says this unique t...
The Art of the Side Hustle- Rich Jones
April 20, 2020 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.6 MBDo you find your brain buzzing when you look at your to-do list? Rich Jones knows that feeling. As host of the personal finance podcast Paychecks and Balances, creator of the podcast consulting business Showstarter, and as internal communications manager at Google, Jones has a lot on his plate. On this week's episode, we do a deep-dive on the tools he uses to make sure that everything gets done. Jones suggests doing a bit soul-searching to figure out what's important to your business, and w...
Self Care During a Pandemic- John Kim
April 15, 2020 07:00 - 18 minutes - 17.1 MBWhen you're trying to manage stress levels, tapping into simple strategies can make a big difference. In this week's minisode, John Kim of The Angry Therapist talks to us about why we're feeling worried, and what we can do about it. He touches on why getting some exercise can help structure your day, why a flow state can be the best kind of distraction, and how we can use this time to connect with audiences online. It's self-care for the shelter-in-place entrepreneur. Resources: Stages of...
$1M- 1 Person Business Secrets- Elaine Pofeldt
April 13, 2020 07:00 - 34 minutes - 32 MBCan you get your business to one million dollars in revenue without any employees? Not only is it possible, but Elaine Pofeldt has written the blueprint. As the author of The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, Pofeldt tapped into years of experience writing about business, and running her own successful business, to give a guide to scaling up. Pofeldt started as a staff writer, and launched her writing business in 2007 in order to balance the needs of her growing family against her bottom...
From Vision to $250M Business- Ankur Nagpal
April 06, 2020 07:00 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MBEveryone knows something: whether it’s mortgage expertise or breastfeeding advice, we all have pockets of knowledge that make us everyday experts. Imagine being able to reach an online audience with that info, and charging them to learn it. Ankur Nagpal has this vision, so he created Teachable to help people earn money from what they can share with others. Nagpal, whose background includes both real-life teaching and tech development, was a Forbes’s 2019 30 Under 30 Education honoree. This...
Transformative Storytelling- Michael Kass
March 30, 2020 07:00 - 39 minutes - 35.7 MBOn this week's episode, we chat with Michael Kass, the founder of Story and Spirit. Kass has tapped into his deeply varied background—think theatre, financial management, breath work and vision quests—and now uses the power of storytelling to help people and businesses transform. The importance of storytelling as a business tool has been highlighted by Harvard Business Review and Google as a key skill for success. It goes past the “why” of the business and into the “who,” as in how who you ...
Transitioning to a Virtual Workspace- Jeni Wren Stottrup
March 26, 2020 07:00 - 21 minutes - 19.2 MBGritty Birds Podcasting has been developing podcasts since 2014. Owned by producer and artist Jeni Wren Stottrup, Gritty Birds started as a music podcast interviewing label runners, lawyers, magazine owners, booking agents and more in the PNW community sponsored by Vortex Music Magazine. Wren had been deeply active as a singer, journalist, festival producer and in media sponsorship, with a desire to explore how create a successful career in music and audio production. Guest- Jeni Wren Stott...
The Business of Podcasting- Jeanine Wright and Fatima Zaidi
March 23, 2020 07:00 - 49 minutes - 45 MBNOTE: In light of the Covid-19 outbreak and the current landscape for entrepreneurs, and small business owners, we are working hard to bring you more resources and conversations to get you through these difficult times. Stay tuned for some special episodes in the coming days and weeks. Stay strong, you are not alone! Follow our community at facebook.com/groups/imakealiving We know you like podcasts, but have you ever thought about starting one? On this week's episode, we talk to two women ...
Empowering Female Leaders- Lisa Carmen Wang
March 16, 2020 07:00 - 30 minutes - 28.1 MBLisa Carmen Wang has spent a lot of time falling and even more time getting back up. As a rhythmic gymnast, she took home Pan-Am Games gold and was the US National Champion for three years running. In 2015, she founded SheWorx, a platform devoted to launching and scaling female-headed businesses. In this week's episode, she talks to us about her newest project, The GLOW. “How do you get your foot in the door when you aren’t born in a rich family and you aren’t born into these Silicon Valley...
Cultural Heritage and Diversity in Business- The Lopez Family
March 09, 2020 07:00 - 43 minutes - 40.1 MBJames Beard award-winning restaurant, Guelaguetza in Los Angeles’s Koreatown, puts Oaxacan cuisine and culture at the forefront of today’s dynamic culinary scene. Bricia Lopez - Bricia Lopez is an entrepreneur, cultural ambassador, and a key figure in Los Angeles’ gastronomic scene. The New Yorker called Bricia the “Queen of Mezcal.” This year she opened Vegas’s first ever mezcal bar – ‘Mama Rabbit” inside The Park MGM. Launched the Super Mamas Podcast with Paulina, that has become a lifest...
Monetizing Your Skills- Carmelia Ray
March 02, 2020 08:00 - 33 minutes - 30.5 MBSomething we've heard a lot from the female entrepreneurs at our I Make A Living live events, is that so many of you have trouble with sales. Even though we know what we have to offer we sometimes feel uncomfortable asking for what we’re worth. Carmelia Ray is an internationally acclaimed matchmaker for high achieving men and the quality women they’re searching for. She’s also a renowned TV personality from Mom Vs. Matchmaker, The Real Housewives Of Toronto, and A User’s Guide to Cheating D...
Jewel Burks Solomon- Black History Month- Masterclass
February 24, 2020 08:00 - 41 minutes - 38.3 MBJewel Burks Solomon is an Atlanta-based entrepreneur who was recently named Head of Google for Startups in the US. Jewel is no stranger to startups and entrepreneurship; she launched Partpic, a visual recognition technology company in her mid-twenties, and had it sold to Amazon in 2016. She was also named on Forbe’s 30 under 30 list. Jewel is also managing partner at Collab Capital, an investment fund designed to connect black founders to the financial and social capital they need to build p...
A Passion Turned into a Business- Tony Muia - A Slice of Brooklyn
February 17, 2020 09:00 - 39 minutes - 36.3 MBSince 2005, A Slice of Brooklyn Bus Tours has been showing people around Brooklyn. The company was started by Tony Muia, a proud native Brooklynite who always loved showing people around his beloved hometown. Tony slowly starting doing informal tours for those same folks when they came to visit NYC, driving them around in his car. Soon, their friends and families would visit NYC and ask Tony to do tours for them so he did them as a side hobby while still working his regular job. In 2004 T...
Creative Collaborations- Ted and Angie from Poketo
February 10, 2020 08:00 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBThis month, we're celebrating Valentine's Day by speaking to couples who inspire us by building strong partnerships - partners in life, partners in business, and partners in their community. We sat down with Angie Myung and Ted Vadakan, a husband-and-wife team who have artfully mastered the feat of finding their tribe through their brand Poketo. The name Poketo (pronounced "poh-keh-toe") stems from the mispronunciation of "pocket" by Angie's grandmother. It tied in perfectly with the first...
Healthy Harmony: The Goulds
February 03, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MB"I steal my kid's vitamins" isn't something that would normally lead to an a-ha moment, but the Goulds aren't your usual entrepreneurs. A couple for ten years, the Goulds are practiced business leaders who are part of the vanguard of the wellness industry: Gordon Gould crunches the numbers, and Courtney Nichol Gould focuses on the human side. Together, they're the power couple behind SmartyPants, the vitamin gummy brand launched in 2011 that now includes products for children, adults, and ev...
In Business And In Health-Courtney Nichols Gould, Gordon Gould
February 03, 2020 08:00 - 45 minutes - 41.6 MBStarting a company is not an easy thing; it requires a lot of time, effort, discipline, and a little bit of luck. Courtney Nichols Gould and Gordon Gould are no strangers to this, having spent years as entrepreneurs before founding SmartyPants. Courtney is the founding COO of FlyClear, and Gordon has over 16 years of working in social media and media technology. But SmartyPants was more than just another business venture. It was an opportunity to combine their experience with a pa...
Peter Shankman- Masterclass
January 27, 2020 08:00 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBIn our special Masterclass episodes, we collect questions from real-life entrepreneurs at our live #imakealiving shows around the world, and ask our favourite experts to weigh in. From social media to scaling, from advertising to work-life balance, we get insights and guidance from folks in the know. In our first Masterclass episode of the season, we are delighted to talk with Peter Shankman. He has been a vocal advocate for neurodiversity in the workplace, he is the founder of the journali...
The Art of the Pivot: Tina Essmaker
January 20, 2020 08:00 - 39 minutes - 36 MBA pivot can be a powerful thing. Tina Essmaker started as a social worker with a side project, a Kickstarted magazine she founded with her husband. But when her marriage ended, she had to re-evaluate: stay with the magazine, or start something new? She decided to tap into her skills as a social worker and her connection to the creative community to re-launch as a creative coach. In this week's episode, Damona talks with Essmaker about how she transitioned from publishing into a self-created ...
Pivoting Your Business- Tina Essmaker
January 20, 2020 08:00 - 39 minutes - 36 MBEvery business owner will face difficulties at some point in their careers; whether it is a personal or professional situation, self-employed folks are often forced to make decisions that lead to folding or transitioning their businesses. Tina Essmaker is no stranger to these moments. In early 2017, she had the opportunity to reimagine her career when she transitioned out of the business she started with her former husband and business partner. Together, they had cofounded The Gre...
Pitch Your Business - Brant Pinvidic
January 13, 2020 08:00 - 34 minutes - 31.2 MBWelcome to Season 2 of the I Make a Living Podcast. We are excited to kick off 2020 with a brand new season and incredible conversations with some of the most influential and successful entrepreneurs in North America and the world. As a television producer, Brant Pinvidic has pitched a lot. Like, a lot. In his 15 years in the entertainment industry, Pinvidic has had the chance to get his pitching practice down to a science. In his new book, The 3-Minute Rule, he lays out the basics of what ...
Season 2 Trailer
January 06, 2020 08:00 - 3 minutes - 2.87 MBSeason 2 of the I Make a Living Podcast launches on Monday, January 13th. Follow us as we continue to explore what it takes to be a business owner in today's world. Our host, Damona Hoffman, will take you on her journey as she sits down with some of North America's most interesting and successful entrepreneurs.
Season 2 Teaser
November 25, 2019 08:00 - 4 minutes - 4.38 MBWe are back...almost! We welcome our new host Damona Hoffman as we take a look at some of the highlights from Season 1. Season 2 of the I Make a Living Podcast launches Monday, January 13th on a brand new weekly schedule! Stay tuned in December for a sneak peek of some of the upcoming conversations in S2.
Success and Unique Businesses- Season Finale
July 15, 2019 07:00 - 42 minutes - 38.5 MBThe idea of success has many faces and iterations, most of us relate success to financial freedom or fame, but when you are an entrepreneur, success can mean much more than that. Who knew that waiting in line for hours on end could turn into full fledge operation, that someone could find joy in dressing up as Batman just to bring joy to tourists or that selling finger-painting art on Facebook for $50 could turn into a million dollar business or that anyone would pay for literally garbage pic...
Failure- Sam Rosen- Michelle Horton
July 01, 2019 07:00 - 31 minutes - 28.4 MBThe statistics aren’t too friendly when it comes to the longevity of small businesses. Nearly 50% fail at the five year mark. But, how does knowing this statistic help you? Most people can talk about failure ethereally—hardships builds character, you can’t succeed without failing, you know, those kinds of phrases. But, when it comes to us, you, specifically failing, you don’t want to and often times we do everything in our power to avoid thinking about the possibility of it. But, accepting t...
How To Start a Start-Up- Seth Radman
June 17, 2019 07:00 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MBComing up with problems without immediately trying to fix them is a lot harder than you’d think. Our minds really are trained to find solutions. But, throughout this episode we focus the most on the beginning two steps— Defining the problem Confirming that it actually is a viable problem. The biggest take away from this whole conversation is to start at the beginning, with the problem—and spend a lot of time there. The last thing you want to do is create a solution that no one wants or is...
Branding and Social Media- Beverley Cheng
June 03, 2019 07:00 - 25 minutes - 23.1 MBEpisode Guests Beverley Cheng- Born To Sweat Zoey Masters- Instagram Jeremy Bailey- LinkedIn Center Stage Christopher Jones- SeeJonesWork “To be featured on Center Stage, send us a voice message!” Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed on this podcast are those of the guests and production team and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of '2ndSite.INC dba FreshBooks, its employees or affiliates.'
Growing Your Business- Kristen Pumphrey
May 20, 2019 07:00 - 28 minutes - 64.7 MBEvery business starts somewhere before it's a well-oiled machine. Sometimes it's at your kitchen counter in-between your part-time jobs. The whole concept of growing your business means it was small at some point. This season, we've seen that it takes a lot to start a business from the ground up. Not everyone is cut out to be an entrepreneur. It takes a lot of diligence and hard work to get any business off the ground. It's not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of ups, downs, failures...
Developing Your Business
May 06, 2019 07:00 - 40 minutes - 91.7 MBFor a while now, we have been planning an episode on diversifying your business. We wanted to document the story of an individual who had just started their business and what it looked like to establish diversification in the initial steps of development. But, the story we ended up capturing was much more specific; someone who was forced to diversify due to external issues out of their control. So, we briefly discuss the general idea of diversification and offer a few tips on starting your b...
Work-Life Balance
April 22, 2019 05:00 - 33 minutes - 76.4 MBProductivity is important as an entrepreneur but so is the balance between your personal life and your work life. If you’re not careful you can easily burn yourself out, harm personal relationships, and actually become less productive because you’re not giving yourself the space to rejuvenate—which is often times why people are most productive. It’s a balance. The Western world is in a bit of an epidemic these days. Some of the leading organizations in today’s world give their employees unli...
Taxes!
April 08, 2019 07:00 - 34 minutes - 78.4 MBEpisode 05“It’s all about the money....and taxes.” Today’s episode is about one of the most dreaded yet necessary pains every entrepreneur has to endure...tax season. No matter how big or small your business is, taxes are always going to be somewhat complicated, confusing and could create a lot of troubles if not dealt with appropriately. We are here to help! Our featured guest, Paco de Leon is a self-proclaimed ‘money nerd,’ she founded “The Hell Yeah Group” to help small creative ...
Being a Female Entrepreneur PT. 2
March 25, 2019 07:00 - 43 minutes - 100 MBEpisode 04 "Being a Female Entrepreneur PT. 2" Welcome to the second episode of our 2-part series in honor of “Women’s History Month.” On this episode, we explore the role of equity in the female entrepreneurial world. We hear from 2 female business owners who share their experiences and journies to success. Equality. This is the conversation we’re having during women’s history month. However, to give this topic justice, we need also to consider what part equity plays. Equity is the var...
Being a Female Entrepreneur PT. 1
March 11, 2019 07:00 - 27 minutes - 62.6 MBEpisode 03- "Being a Female Entrepreneur PT1" Welcome to a special 2-part series in honour of Women's History Month. We take a look at the entrepreneurship world from a female perspective. Being a woman in the small business world isn’t easy. Even if you don’t self-identify as a woman, because of recent media movements, you can probably gather that it’s not exactly a walk in the park for females. There’s been a shift, on a large scale, in society recently. The #metoo and #timesup mo...
How I Work- Productivity and Workspace
February 25, 2019 09:00 - 25 minutes - 58.9 MBThe average entrepreneur works over 60 hours a week. That’s 20 plus hours more than the traditional 9-5er. Are you using your time wisely? Explore how other self-employed folks choose to approach their productivity. Hal Elrod, best-selling author of the Miracle Morning book shares with us why morning routines can boost your productivity throughout the day. Hal is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to morning routines and jumpstarting your day in the best way possible. If you want to read on...
A New World of Work
February 11, 2019 07:00 - 17 minutes - 39.2 MBEpisode 01- Present and Future of Entrepreneurship Why are people turning to self-employment in the current economy? Alex, a freelancer who thought jumping ship and starting her journey would be a lot simpler than it turned out to be. A whole new set of challenges arise once someone decides to venture into entrepreneurship and a lot of times, those challenges are not-so-common knowledge. We talk to some FreshBooks folks who share some interesting numbers and data on the present and fu...
Coming Soon!
January 31, 2019 04:58 - 2 minutes - 3.08 MBThe #imakealiving Podcast powered by FreshBooks is back! Our new host Darbi Masters will dig deep into the fascinating and ever-growing world of entrepreneurship. Join us every other Monday starting February 11th for honest conversations on success, failure and what it is to make a living as a self-employed individual in today's world. Don't forget to subscribe to get the latest episodes as soon as we release them!