Episode 33: Breaking Barriers: The Guide to Entrepreneurial Triumph for Women Over 40 with Melissa Fougere

Ever feel like your 40s might just be the beginning of something extraordinary? This episode is brimming with affirmation and strategy, as I chat with the indomitable Melissa Fougere, a business coach who's passionate about guiding women over 40 to entrepreneurial success. We're ripping up the rulebook that says starting a business is a young person's game; instead, we're sharing how life's rich tapestry of experiences can set you up for remarkable achievements in your ventures.

Are you a health coach teetering on the edge of launching your practice but uncertain about where to start? Together with Melissa, we unravel the pivotal steps you need to transition from certification to creating a business that's not just successful, but also resonates deeply with your personal 'why'. We stress the importance of laying a solid foundation, pinpointing your ideal client, and ensuring your work doesn't just turn into another 9-to-5 but continues to spark joy and inspiration every day.

And it's not just about setting off on the right foot; it's about maintaining a steady pace towards your business milestones. In our exchange, we impart the wisdom of patience, allowing more time than you think necessary to reach your goals, and the beauty of evolving them over time. We close by highlighting Melissa's engagement with LinkedIn and Medium.com, and talk about how these platforms can amplify your business presence. Tune in and take your online savvy to the next level with insights from a seasoned content creator.

Melissa's Freebie - Conquering Radio Silence on Social Media: https://melissafougere.myflodesk.com/ealsc5955k
Melissa's Website: melissafougere.com
Melissa's LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/melissa-fougere

Follow me on IG: @kathy_mead_fronheiser

Check out my website: www.kathymeadfronheiser.com

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:15

Hey guys, this is Kathy. Welcome to today's episode of the fun over 40 podcast. I always feel like I have to say it like it's a game show. I'm Kathy, your host today. I'm excited to have my friend, melissa Fougere with us, and she is someone that I have met through the business mastermind that I've mentioned several times on the podcast. Maybe we'll talk about that a little bit, we'll see. But so we have the same business coach and we're lucky enough to work with Holly, our coach, and meet through our business mastermind. And I wanted to bring Melissa on today because she is also a business coach and she's going to talk in a moment, I promise, and. But we're going to talk. So this episode is probably going to be a little bit more about business, but even if you're not a business owner, I think you might find this interesting. So stick with us. But I'll let Melissa kind of take it away and introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about yourself, where you live. That might be something interesting and all the things.

Speaker 2: 2:12

Thanks, so much, kathy, I'm so excited to be here. So, as you said, I'm Melissa Fougere and I live in Alberta, canada, and I know you're down south, which I'm a little bit envious of right now. It's a little chilly here, but it's really pretty right now because we've got some frost hanging on the trees.

Speaker 1: 2:32

So that's kind of awesome.

Speaker 2: 2:34

As you said, I'm a business coach and I've been doing this now in the business world for about three years, but prior to that I've been coaching probably most of my life like over 20 years and really starting out in the social work field.

Speaker 2: 2:49

So that's where, kind of I got started and it's a lot of fun and I just love helping people so much and I've seen so many things over the years. And probably one of the things that you don't know about me is my corporate nine to five. I work in disaster and emergency management, so it's a really chaos and people get overwhelmed really quickly and they just don't know where to start, and so right now my business is primarily focused on women over 40 that are working the corporate world trying to start their business, but they're really stuck. So I'm really excited to talk about this topic with you today because I'm really passionate about it. I also do facilitate for another company and teach a six week entrepreneurship course, so a lot of your listeners are in the same spaces as where I'm working with them right now, so it's a lot of fun. Can't wait to dive in. I'm sure we will go get some rabbit holes.

Speaker 1: 3:41

Yeah, we'll try to keep it on track, but you know, I think we have time to go down some rabbit holes.

Speaker 1: 3:46

One of the things actually that I think would be interesting and we didn't even talk about this in advance, but I think you could speak to this is both being fellow women over 40, you know, and sometimes I see these.

Speaker 1: 3:59

You know you go down these social media rabbit holes, which you shouldn't do. Like the comparison, right, and I think, comparing yourself to people, women specifically that are, like you know, in their 20s or even in their 30s and they've created these businesses, and you, as the woman who's 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, whatever, you're thinking like that time has passed, like I'm too old, basically, like there, that's basically what I'm saying, I imagine, because I know as much as I talk about and I blog about, you know, you're never too old. It passes through my head and I try to make a conscious effort to to say I'm not, you know, and coach people on you know, being not, you're not quote too old. So I'd love for you to just I'm sure you can speak to that and I'd love just to hear your thoughts and on that, and maybe women you've worked with that I'm sure have felt the same way.

Speaker 2: 4:49

Yeah, absolutely. And I think the biggest thing is is any of the literature that you're actually read like over 40 is the prime to make that shift in your life. And so not only do you have all of that life experience, but you know where you want to go. Right, you have really that insight of how do I want to help somebody, how do I want to serve them. I mean, we all get into business to help somebody. It's not to help ourselves.

Speaker 2: 5:13

Of course, the income is really nice, but at the end of the day it is like I'm just at that point in my life is what's next right? And so a lot of the women I work with, and some of them are choosing to leave corporate and some of them are. And so really it's about that decision and I always say, like, what is your goal in your business? Right, is your goal to leave corporate or is your goal to stay in corporate, which both are equally fine, but we have so much to contribute. But, like you said, we do that comparison 20 something, no gray hairs, no wrinkles. You know kind of is the female version of bro marketing, where, if they want to go and be on a yacht in a bikini like yes, that's not me, and but I think at this point in our lives we're like okay, like I've got something to give back and I value even though that imposter voice kicks in.

Speaker 2: 6:06

Sometimes we still have to go. You know what, like even an everyday conversation, I've got something to contribute and I think that's where imposter syndrome gets us right, because we start to doubt ourselves. And I think at over 40, and just speaking from my own experience sometimes that voice is a little bit louder. You know, recently I just wrote a blog post on. You know, we need to be our four year old, four year old selves and put on our case.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Oh, I love that there's no fear.

Speaker 2: 6:36

And so when you're over 40, you've lived through stuff. You live through some great stuff and probably stuff, and we're scared to do the things that we did in our 20s and 30s teens. Right Like I don't downhill ski anymore because I'm scared I'm going to break a hip. At 20, I was like whatever, I guess mountain and go straight down. So we've got that experience, which is what holds us back. I think, yeah, most is that fear aspect that we don't identify as fear.

Speaker 1: 7:06

Yes, that's, that's a great point. I mean, I think about that sometimes, like when did we stop playing, you know? Like, at what point in our lives did we? I think you know life gets real. You got bills to pay, women have kids to take care of, whatever just the responsibilities of life and we stop or we forget how to have fun, or we forget that we're allowed to have fun, you know that sort of thing. So, yes, I think, acknowledging that you have that fear and sometimes the fear is leading you, and that's okay, that's not unusual, right, but learning how to slowly maybe let go of some of the fears so that you can, you know, try, try things you want to try, and it's okay if you fail. We probably both have, I'm sure, many times.

Speaker 2: 7:53

Absolutely. And so for me, like it's recognizing the fear, because it's very easy to go well, I'm not scared to do that, I could jump on a podcast, I could talk to anybody but it's, you know, when you look at the root of the fear, it's like I'm procrastinating and you think it's because you're being lazy. But really procrastination is that fear mindset, right, like you are avoiding doing something because of that, and so I think it's super easy for us. And, like you said, when, when do we decide that it's not okay to have fun? Yeah, and a lot of things. Just recently, I was with a group of people and somebody's like I need to start doing this more. I haven't laughed this hard in a year Because you know we're adulting, yeah.

Speaker 2: 8:36

We're paying bills We've got that you know, especially if you're working on your business and you've got kids and you've also got a corporate nine to five.

Speaker 1: 8:44

There's no time for fun.

Speaker 2: 8:46

But that's a big miss on our part and that's how you burn out super quickly.

Speaker 2: 8:50

Yeah, especially in the new days of business because you think, oh, I have to work seven days a week, even if I do 20 minutes, I still have to do that. Well, no, take a day, disconnect, yeah, and keep, and then you can move forward. Because, at the end of the day, if you don't slow down, your body's going to slow you down. Right, and being in the health and wellness space, I'm sure you recognize yes, people will recognize that, and they don't look after themselves. Boom, you're on the couch. Yeah, you've got a cool, you've got a migraine, you've got whatever you have.

Speaker 1: 10:31

Yeah, yeah, definitely. That's interesting. And I also think, once you get to 40 or older and you touched on this, you, you have experience to share. I mean, you have something you can teach on.

Speaker 1: 10:42

And I that's when I'm always shocked when women over 40 that I meet who are like I'd love to start some sort of business, a coaching business, or maybe it's a interior decorating business or whatever it is, because it's just something they're into, but they don't think, they quote, know anything, and I'm like, oh my gosh, but you're so good at X or Y and people don't realize what is it. They say, like, as long as you know 10% more than somebody else, you can teach that person, like you know, especially in the for beginners, which is, which are people that you work with and you're in business coaching and some health coaches I've worked with recently, you know, I think, even if you're just a little bit further along, you can reach your hand back out right and pull them up along with you by teaching them something. So I think everyone, probably I know, I know everyone has something they can teach on, you know.

Speaker 2: 11:35

Yeah, I think it's where we get stuck in our heads is. I don't have a degree in this.

Speaker 2: 11:39

I haven't taken the other course in this and people forget about that life skill like what have I learned in my life that I can contribute? Like you said, it's, it's that 10%, it's that one step behind or ahead. You know, you don't have to be the master and honestly, you can be completely transparent and vulnerable with your people is like you know what you're me five years ago, yes, but now I'm here and here's how I got from A to B. Yes, and here's how I'm going to get from C to D. Right, and bring them on that journey with you. Because I think the thing is is like you know, like for me, if I look at, I went from social work and then I went into disaster and emergency management, besides the fact that I help people yeah, are not?

Speaker 2: 12:22

correlated Right. I mean, you know when is a wildfire the same as something that you would go to see counseling?

Speaker 1: 12:29

for right.

Speaker 2: 12:30

Right, it's not the same, and right, and. But we forget that right. And then, when I pivoted from my day job into business, it really was because I decided at one point I wanted to stop doing the operational stuff that I was doing and start teaching. But what I didn't realize is all the conversations I was having with people in my network, be it in my day-to-day life or my corporate world I was actually coaching them through how to get rid of the noise and actually focus on what they need to be focused on, to get through what they needed to. And then, when I invested in myself and started going through that coaching, I went wait a minute, I'm actually good at this, I can help people. But then that voice comes in and says, yeah, but you didn't go to school for business and you didn't go to school for this. And I'm like my personality goes whatever. It makes me want to be more determined and actually figure it out.

Speaker 1: 13:27

Right, right, right, that's true, though I never thought about that. The crisis management, I mean. That is like building your own business for sure, and like staying focused when you've got so many things that plates you're trying to spin right Like what's the most important thing to focus on today. And that kind of goes into the topic that we talked about in advance. If you are someone and you're listening and let's say that you just because I tend to talk mostly about health and wellness and being a health coach and let's say that you just got some kind of certification in health coaching and you have a testimonial, you're passionate about coaching people and helping people and you've maybe spent some decent chunk of change on getting this certification. And then you realize like, oh, just having the knowledge right and just having the certification doesn't mean that I necessarily have a business and it doesn't mean that clients are going to flock to me and that doesn't mean you can't help them. But there's a whole to your point like business side of it, right.

Speaker 1: 14:29

And so how do you? And let's say that you're either a full-time mom or you work nine to five. You know you're very busy, but you want to build this business on the side, maybe just to grow to be a decent side hustle or maybe to one day, you know, be a corporate, or I mean so you can leave your job. Or you know another friend of mine. She just retired and so this is now her. She was doing this as a side hustle but now she's retired and she really wants it to be, you know, extra income for her in her retirement, which I love that you know so anyway. But so how do you coach people to where do they start and how do they know, like, what's important? You know like on the daily?

Speaker 2: 15:12

Yeah, and I really like what you said. You know you've done the course. Now what? Because there's there's people and this might go back to our younger selves as well as like oh, I've got the certification, I have everything I need to know.

Speaker 2: 15:23

Yeah yeah, jump in. I'm going to go to the social mark, social media. I'm going to get in, I'm going to get my face out there and everybody will come because I've got this right. And for me. I always say there's a big difference between book smarts and actual practice right and I think over 40.

Speaker 2: 15:40

We've got an opportunity where we've got some life stuff that yeah. But when I think about somebody just starting out and really there they are rushing, like I've, I've got this knowledge, I know how to coach somebody, I can just run this business. Well, you can't just go out and start marketing yourself, because you really have to figure out those foundations right. I always say, like, you can't have this flourishing tree if there's no solid roots, or you can't build the house if you don't have the foundation right, because the house will fall.

Speaker 2: 16:11

So for me it is really about and I always say this, and this has been a concept that's been around for years and it really started in the 40s with the founder of Toyota cars, right, okay, is ask yourself why five times, like, why do I want to have a business?

Speaker 2: 16:29

You know, okay, I want to have a business because of what? Right, and you can do this with your clients as well. But, yeah, when you ask yourself why five times, it's really about that root, it's about what you're doing and how you're doing it. So I think we need to really focus on that piece of it and it's not about, like you can hear, like you've got to have your why, because your why is going to motivate you, but it's not that root cause. That's almost that a. I see it as a superficial level at some point like, yeah, yes, that's the driving force, but why like? And then figure out, like, who do you want to serve? Yes, and a lot of times, if you're in the health and wellness space, you're like well, I want to serve people that can help me.

Speaker 1: 17:10

Yeah, I can help anyone. Well, you're not going to get a lot of clients that way, sadly.

Speaker 2: 17:15

And you know from just going through the coaching that we have, and one of the biggest things and I always say this and my clients go huh, okay. Is who do you want to be serving 10 years from now and what are you going to be excited about? When is it not going to feel like a job? And because that's where you want to be right, and so, when you dig deep into who your person is like, there are so many segments in that health and wellness field like, yes, you can teach fitness classes, you could be a coach and you could be a coach of somebody who teaches fitness classes. Right, right, you know, you really have to get that clarity, especially in the beginning, and if you do the work in the beginning, because I always say to my students right, it's.

Speaker 2: 17:57

I know you want to do the fun stuff. Yes, I like to do. I want to do the fun stuff, I want to do the pretty stuff. I want to go in Canada, I want to do these things that are flashy, but you're wasting your time and you don't have that foundational piece, because you can put up all the pretty pictures in the world but you don't have anything to offer anybody, right, right, right.

Speaker 1: 18:17

Yeah, because we've had, you know, we have a mutual friend, Ashley, who is a hypothyroidism health coach, and I've had her on the podcast and you know her from the mastermind, which is how we met as well and she's, like to me, a perfect example of niching, of knowing your client and niching down. That's exactly what we're talking about. She is very niche and because of that she is setting herself up to be an expert in that space and I understand that it is very scary for people initially to niche down. I mean, I was a personal trainer years ago, like in person personal trainer, and I did not really niche down because I was afraid to. But what happened? Because you just feel like I'll just take anybody that comes to me, right, because you're trying to make money, and initially maybe that's okay, because maybe you don't know who your ideal client is.

Speaker 1: 19:08

And by working with different types of people you start to learn and I did finally realize like I really enjoy working with what I would call beginners or people that are just not exercising at all, because, really selfishly, anything I could do with them was going to make improvements. You know I wasn't working with elite athletes that were trying to improve their 40-yard dash by like one second or 0.1 seconds or whatever. You know I was just trying to help people who weren't doing anything. So, and that's true for me also with business, you know working with people that are new to building their health coaching business, because I feel like there's so many aha moments and, selfishly, that's really fun for me. You know, just like initially setting up like organization. You know making sure that you're keeping up with people. You know social media, starting off small, not committing to more than what is realistically doable for you, because do you find with your beginners that they really struggle with doing or trying to do too much and failing?

Speaker 2: 20:07

basically, yeah, absolutely, and one of the things like once we go. So I use a couple different concepts and some of them, like I've adapted from the textbook business version or whatever, and I like to look at it kind of as a roadmap, right, and so for me, like one of the things you can use, like the business model canvas or the lean canvas, and they're all like nine building blocks of your business and I like to kind of chunk it out. I'm like, don't do all nine at once, let's slow it down Because, like, once you're done that whole canvas, it gives you a really nice roadmap to your entire business, from identifying who your customers are to like the money coming in and going out. But you really need to focus on those customer segments like you talked about. Don't be afraid to niche down, because those are the people that come to you that aren't the ones that you like to serve, are going to be the ones that are draining on your energy and your ability. So learning to say no opens the doors for so many other people who you want to say yes to. And so you know, I think really, looking at some of those things in the grand scheme of things, exactly what you said is that in the beginning, nicheing down and getting yourself organized like how would you know if you're just throwing spaghetti against the wall hoping something sticks in your marketing, what do you know, produce that result? You just see a whole bunch of things at it.

Speaker 2: 21:34

So once I get people to kind of really chunk it down into knowing who their customers are, what they want that customer experience to be like, and then really what makes them stand out amongst the tons of other people in the business, because I mean, first we're fooling ourselves if we don't think there's any competition. There's always going to be competition, whether they do it the exact same way or a similar way. There's going to be that competitive market. But what really makes you stand out? I always like to say it's really that customer experience, because if you connect with your people they're going to stick around a long time.

Speaker 2: 22:07

And then, once we figure out those channels, then I like to take people off of that roadmap and say, okay, now let's do our goal setting. I don't want you to have any more than three to five goals Five is a lot and then let's put some time around it. And then, once you determine what you're doing and the time. I'm going to ask you to double it, because you're never going to get the time, that you're never going to accomplish it in the time that you think, if you do it super quick and you get it done, amazing let's. You know kids have school events or they've got sports, or you know your friend to five job is going. Sorry, you've got to go away for five days, right.

Speaker 2: 22:49

Whatever that is so double that time and then let's look at it again and let's set some realistic goals before we move on to the other parts of your business. Let's get those foundations, do some goal setting and then they're living, breathing goals right. They're going to adjust all the time whether, when you start your business, the goal you set for yourself is not going to be the one that ends up at the end of the year, right, I mean. That's why I like to say, okay, they're living, breathing Right, because if I set a goal in January by June I'm probably shifting that goal.

Speaker 2: 23:23

It might look similar but it's probably not going to be the same because my business ebbs and flows.

Speaker 1: 23:30

Those are the kind of things.

Speaker 2: 23:31

I like to do at the beginning.

Speaker 1: 23:33

So like, can you give an example? I'm an example kind of girl. So like, let's say that I'm a new coach and I'm coming to you and we've picked my niche and let's say, let's say it, for me it's women over 40 who have never lifted weights in their life and they are postmenopausal. And I want to. My goal is to help get them to lift weights and eat more protein and build muscle, or something like that. So I've got my niche. And then from there you would say to me okay, what are your three to five goals? Correct, Okay? And then I might say, like, I want to get five clients, or would my first goal to be create this, create a program that? Like, what am I even going to? What am I even selling? Right, yeah.

Speaker 2: 24:16

And so I would ask you to say what is the outcome that you want, and you would probably riff off a whole bunch of things. Well, I want to have five clients and I want to teach them to do this and part of lifting, as I want them to gradually increase the weight.

Speaker 2: 24:31

But I also want them to eat healthier, and I want, and so we're going to walk through that and go. Okay, kathy, what is the one thing that you need to do first before you go and create this whole process? And so, really, it's taking that idea, jotting it down of what you want the outcome to be yeah, and then talk to people. Yes, if you don't talk to people, you know, like we always say, people like to say if you build it, they'll come, but not in this type of world, right?

Speaker 2: 25:01

Yes, and so what if you spend 30 days creating a program for somebody only to find out Nobody wants it, or they probably want it. It's probably the perfect program, but the language you're using around it to sell it your quote is not what they want to hear, so I always say you know, give them what they want and tell them what they need.

Speaker 2: 25:26

So once they're in your program, you can start using that other language. But if I want to lose 20 pounds this year and you tell me, well, I got to start by lifting 20 pound weights and then we're going to increase to 75 pounds, right, you're crazy, I'm never going to do that, right, right, so be very strategic about it. But you got to talk to people and I think that's the biggest mistake that we do as business owners is that fear kicks in again. Going back to that fear mindset, and you're like, if I create it in a silo by myself and I don't talk about it, then it's going to work. Yes, yes, and so we need to be open to that feedback. And, like I said, nine times out of 10 people are really excited. Yeah, but then when you start to talk about it in the language that language needs to resonate with that.

Speaker 1: 26:17

Yeah, that's super important, because if you're not using the right language, you're right. The other thing I've heard people do and I kind of love this idea is they will sell a program that they haven't even created yet. You are shaking your head, so you know what I'm talking about. So talk a little bit about that, because folks listening to this might be like what?

Speaker 2: 26:37

Yeah, and it's funny, I actually saw an example of this. Yeah, somebody, I was reading something yesterday and somebody was trying to do a YouTube video on exactly this topic and trying to create their thumbnail on, like you know, have this empty image with a question mark and then $1,500 in sales.

Speaker 2: 26:58

Well, it's absolutely possible. But why it's possible is because you've listened to your people and you've used the words that they use, and now they've bought it. They're excited. They're like here's my credit card. Kathy can do exactly what she said. Now your job is to make sure that whatever you put out there that attracted them to give you your credit card, that's what you're building. The program.

Speaker 1: 27:25

Yeah, yeah for sure. I think it's smart, though, because it's to your point. You're not then creating a program that nobody you're spending all this time. What happens often and I've seen it happen many times in entrepreneurship is we spend time creating a program that we think is going to be amazing. We launch, Nobody buys it, which happens, it's nothing. It's not a reflection on you as a person, like it happens. Or maybe, to your point, the program's great but we just need to, like, repackage it right and use different words. But let's just say, we launched it, nobody bought it.

Speaker 1: 28:00

And now, all of a sudden, that month of your life that you spent building this program I don't want to say it's wasted, because, again, you can tweak it and all that, but still, what if you would have talked about it? So, quote, sold it? I mean you did sell it, but you just hadn't quite created it yet. You have in your brain what you're thinking, but then you sell it, five people buy it and you're like Okay, well, create it now.

Speaker 1: 28:22

And what you're selling a lot of times I think, if I understand correctly, is like like right now, which January six or something, I think. Yes, I think it's the day that I sell a program today that doesn't start till February 1. And you know, I have a week to sell it and five people buy. Well, then I have two weeks to actually like quote, build the program, right, you know. So you're giving yourself time, right, because you still have to give yourself time. So you're selling a program that maybe is going to start in the future-ish, I guess, right, that's kind of the idea I just love. I kind of love the idea of it because it also like lets you know if people are interested.

Speaker 2: 28:58

I mean, you know, or you're talking about the wrong tree, yeah, and it's the perfect time, right, and so I think this is where you've got an opportunity to engage those customers that are excited to buy from you, right Like? I've seen people even go as far as I'm building this program. What do you want? What do?

Speaker 1: 29:19

you want it to be? What do you want it to be?

Speaker 2: 29:21

No, no right, like what's the title of it? And I think the other thing is, if we're building a program and just say it's a four week course on weight loss or whatever, yeah, yeah, and you know, have week one and talk about it, right, and then you can identify with that cohort of people, the next direction, right, and so you don't have to have it all done.

Speaker 1: 29:49

You've got to have a starting point right, and then you're tweaking as you go, based on the people that are in that specific cohort. I love it.

Speaker 2: 29:57

Because if you're starting this program, you've already got the knowledge. You might just not have it on paper and if you need to create a handout or a document to do with it, guess what? Canva is going to let you do that. So I mean, it's your first go and you're completely transparent with people Like this is the first time I'm running it and you're going to help me build this for people just like you to be successful.

Speaker 1: 30:23

I love that. I love that because then they feel like, oh, this is kind of like. I would be like, oh, this is kind of fun, you know, but they do still have to have confidence in you that you can be the leader, right, the coach, whatever. But I also love that you're being transparent, that like, hey, you know, the cool thing is like, if I were in a program like that, I think, oh, I would feel more confident that I'm actually going to learn what I need or want to learn, because this coach is willing to like tweak the program based on the people in the program or in that cohort to your. You know, I love that. I think that's kind of fun actually.

Speaker 2: 30:56

And I don't think there's anything like you can have, even after, say that first run of it and you're like okay, here's my modules, here's what I'm going to do Like topic. You're never going to run it the same. You might use the same handouts, you might use the same slides, but the conversation is always going to be led by who's in that program. And it will ebb and flow as long as you reach those concepts that you've talked about to get the outcomes that you've promised.

Speaker 2: 31:27

Like you want to hit, you want to deliver on the promise you made, right, of course, yeah. But, you can change that up. Like you're the coach, you're sharing the knowledge. And if you tell me I got the marketing piece but I have no idea how to set myself up for success because I've got a million to do list and I am shutting down because I'm not even doing one, Right.

Speaker 1: 31:53

So then it becomes more about like time management or stress management or whatever, and maybe the next cohort might be more about like no, we need more on marketing or whatever. So and you can tweak. I love that. I think it's really cool.

Speaker 2: 32:06

I always like that stuff in my back pocket, yes, and so you know, for me it is really tailor made strategies but it doesn't mean for Kathy, for Melissa, for whoever it could be a group of 15 people. Yeah, yeah, for sure, but you're going to have enough information that you're going to be able to change up the conversation here and there.

Speaker 1: 32:24

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 32:25

And then loop it back to the original concept that you said we're going to talk about this week.

Speaker 1: 32:30

Yeah, and I think what's helpful for that and then we'll wrap up but is to have like a survey at the end of each or some kind of way that the people in your program or your cohort can give you feedback Like that was great, or I need more of this, or whatever, and that way you can start to tailor it like, let's say, you're meeting weekly, then you can start to think about okay, well, what are we going to talk about? You know, the following week, that sort of thing.

Speaker 2: 32:53

So I think 1000% and I think, like the other piece too, is the communication that you have between each session of your program right, and so set up how you're going to communicate in the beginning, so that people know how to reach you and you know how to reach them yeah. Is it through Slack, is it through Vox or is it Facebook Messenger? There's so many tools these days but you can find out what they're struggling with in between, yeah, and then we're either respond or bring it back to the next week, yeah.

Speaker 1: 33:25

Yeah, melissa, this has been great. I feel like we could talk and talk and talk and talk, so, but we will not do that. We keep it brief here on the Fun Over 40 podcast, because we got things to do. But tell us how women people can find you, where you kind of hang out your website, any freebies you have anything like that to help them, you know, connect with you.

Speaker 2: 33:49

Absolutely, so you can reach me. You can find me on my website, so it's MelissaFujeracom, and on my website you can grab the freebie that's currently there. You can only grab it for a couple more weeks because I'm actually in the midst of changing it up, but it is. It talks about conquering radio silence on social media so that you're not putting stuff out there and hearing crickets. How to tweak that? I also love to hang out on LinkedIn.

Speaker 1: 34:14

That's where I hang out. Yes, you're my LinkedIn friend, that is right.

Speaker 2: 34:18

I mean.

Speaker 1: 34:18

I'm on LinkedIn too, but you're very active on LinkedIn.

Speaker 2: 34:21

That's right and just your name, I'm assuming, and it's just my name and I actually one of my things this year is to write more content. I've been hanging out on mediumcom, which is a wealth of resources.

Speaker 1: 34:34

I've never even been on that website.

Speaker 2: 34:35

So I've been writing on there and you can also find me on mediumcom slash MelissaFujera I love it Very cool.

Speaker 1: 34:43

Well, thank you for joining us, Melissa. I hope those of you who have started a business have thought about starting a business, coaching business or otherwise enjoyed this conversation. If you have any questions, feel free to message Melissa on LinkedIn. You can always message me on Instagram or, if you have my email, you're welcome to message me there as well, and I hope you guys have a great rest of your day.