Ep #319: Summer Series Wrap Up

Stacey Brown Randall: Our summer series, where I interview business owners about how they solved a pressing problem in their business that was out of their zone of genius, wrapped up with last week’s episode. Here are some reflections for you to consider.

Hey there, and welcome to episode 319 of the Roadmap to Referrals podcast, a show about helping you build a referable business. I’m your host, Stacey Brown Randall. My journey from a business failure to a successful business now more than 10 years in, I know generating referrals naturally and consistently has made all the difference. Working with clients around the world, we leverage the science of referrals, protect relationships above all else, and help you build a referable business.

Over the last six episodes, we together have had the opportunity to learn from some amazing business owners about how they solved nagging problems in their business that was out of their zone of genius, meaning the problem they solved had nothing to do with what they actually sell to their clients or do for their clients.

So it was out of their zone of genius. But they’re smart, so they figured it out. In some cases, they just didn’t give up until they figured it out.

So we had the privilege of hearing from Kathy Brown about how she solved managing tasks and projects. We got to hear from Neil Tyra, who talked about how he solved making videos consistently for his marketing.

We got to hear from Jennifer Ternay, who talked about how she finally made the decision to pick the niche, which I think gives some people heartburn just thinking about it.

I was able to come on and do an episode about how I solved becoming and then staying profitable. And the staying profitable piece is the important piece there. So that’s a good episode if I’m being completely honest and biased at the same time.

Of course, then we talked to Mike Kim and he talked about how he solved hiring virtual help. He gave us that four box strategy. It’s a great thing. You guys should go check that out.

And then, of course, we had the dream problem, which is we had Sheila Wilkinson on to talk about how she solved running a business while living in two continents, in two countries. Which that one to me, like I really wanted to end with hers because I just felt like, oh, that’s like a dream problem to have. I would love to have that problem.

Okay, so we had some great business owners on, and they all do different things, right? I mean, the cool thing about each of these business owners that came on, like Neil is an attorney, but he talked about how he solved being able to produce consistent videos for his marketing.

Mike Kim, he is a copywriter and a brand and a marketing expert. And he talked about how he hired virtual help. So I think when you look through the different people that we had on, you’ll see that they do something totally different.

Like Kathy Brown’s going to help you figure out how to set a 10-year goal and be able to work into actually making that a reality. But what she came on and talked to us about is how she managed tasks and projects and got a system in place that she would actually use, right?

Like, that’s the thing. It’s not just knowing what to do, it’s then actually, I don’t know, having a system that works for you and doing it, which is really key. So it was really cool to hear these business owners who do one thing in what I would say is, quote unquote, their day job, how they work with their clients, but then talk to us about how they solved an entirely different problem that as business owners, we all have on some level. right?

Niching, managing tasks and to-do list, right? Creating videos for marketing. Not everybody does that and that’s cool, right? Profitability, hiring help, like all those things are things that most business owners are going to deal with at some point.

While you’re a business owner, you’re going to have to solve these problems. And then hopefully we can all have the problem that Sheila had about living on two countries and still running your business. That’s like the dream.

So I hope everybody, if you want that, of course, if you don’t want that, cool. That would be amazing, I think, as well. So I think it’s really valuable. And I know it’s completely off topic for us. I know.

I talk about referrals. That’s my jam. That’s my zone of genius. That’s my area of expertise. That’s what I teach to my clients who hire me. That’s what this podcast is all about. That’s what my books are about.

Book number one has been out for over five years, Generating Business Referrals Without Asking. Book number two has a published date of September 2025. I know. Can you believe it? It’s nuts. Just start saying prayers for me right now. For those of you who’ve been on this book writing journey for number two, I would love any prayers you could send my way to get the manuscript done by October.

Okay. So these are things that we’re all going to deal with, that we’re all going to see happen in our business at some point. And I love the fact that you guys get to learn from other business owners on how they solve them.

And so, as I was listening back through these episodes, kind of as they unfolded over the last six weeks, I had some thoughts I wanted to share with you. I have four, OK? So let’s dive in. Here are my thoughts.

First, thought number one, business owners are the sh*t. Now, hopefully there is a beep there. My editor said she would put one in. But if you’re wondering what word I said, it was a bad word. And it started with an S. OK, we’ll leave it at that. This is a G-rated podcast. So like, is it G-rated? Yeah. It is for all ages.

So I don’t like to say bad words on the podcast. But it just, I needed to say it, right? Because as business owners, we are. We are able to do it, to figure it out, to make things happen. We really are a very special breed, and I am honored and thankful to be a part of this business owner tribe.

Like listening to these business owners, some who’ve been in business a couple of years, some who’ve been in business 10, 20, 30 years, like just listening to these business owners talk and then just reflect on the business owners that I have the privilege of working with as my clients.

Like, we are very special and don’t ever underestimate how special you are that you decided to say, yes, I’m going to plant my flag and I am going to put out my shingle and I am going to start a business.

Like, first and foremost, remind yourself that you are the sh*t. Okay, good. Hopefully there was a second beep there. Alright. So that’s my first reflection. And they don’t all have bad words in them if you’re wondering. I do have three more for you.

Stacey Brown Randall: Hey there, pardon the interruption. I hope that you’re enjoying our business series this summer focused on having extraordinary business owners talk about how they solved problems in their business that they didn’t know how to solve because it was out of their zone of genius. Don’t worry, we’ll be back on our topic of referrals when we wrap up this summer series.

Speaking of referrals, though, it is crazy to think that you could be just 90 days away from starting to double, triple, or quadruple your referrals. The roadmap and the support plus the accountability that you need, it’s just waiting on you. It’s all inside my coaching program, Building a Referable Business, which we call BRB for short.

Just go to StaceyBrownRandall.com/referable to learn about the program. And then if you’re interested, click on the link to submit your application. I personally review all applications, and I’ll let you know if you’re a fit for the program. Then you can learn more and make your decision. Alright, now back to the episode.

Stacey Brown Randall: Alright, reflection number two. You must take action. I kept hearing that over and over again in my head as I would listen to each of these business owners as I was interviewing them, and then I was listening back to the episodes.

All of these people are action takers. Not as fast as probably they should have been, with maybe the exception of Mike Kim, because his problem only nagged him for six months. Some of us had problems nagging us for five plus years.

But you have to take action. Not all the action at the same time, but action, yes, right? You got to assess, you got to decide, you got to solve, right? And solving means the doing. So you need to also be able to flex your priority muscle, that ability to put things in priority order as to what is most important, and then start knocking them out.

Some things will take longer than you could ever imagine. And some things you’ll dread and dread and push off and push off, and then you’ll do them, you’re like, yeah, that wasn’t so bad. So we have to be able to take action.

And that’s what I heard as a constant theme through all of these interviews that I did, is that yes, the problem festered, but eventually each person took action and made it happen. And so just as a reminder, we’ve got to take action.

Okay, reflection number three. You really need to determine what is DIY in your business, meaning what is do-it-yourself in your business? What is something that’s in your business that is a problem that needs to be solved that you really can figure it out yourself?

You can talk to a few people. You can Google some things. You probably can read some books, right? Like, what is it that is DIY in your business? And what are the other things that kind of fall into the category of, I probably should pay somebody to help me do that, or just, heck, do it for me.

Like in my world, I look at things in my business as what am I going to figure out myself, and then what am I going to get help with? And sometimes that help is partial help. And sometimes that help is full help. Like, just do it for me.

So let’s just use this podcast as an example. I hire Chris, my editor, to do it for me. Because I don’t want to do it. I want to sit here. I want to record. I want to talk to you. I want to share whatever the topic is that I have on hand to share for this week’s episode.

I want to do that. I want to show up. I want to give my all just to sit here and talk into this microphone so you can hear me. But after that, I want to be done with it. I want to hand it off to somebody else who’s going to edit it and get it up on Libsyn and put up the show notes and all the things.

And so sometimes it’s about figuring out, there’s some problems you probably have in your business that if you just spent some time thinking about it, maybe doing some Googling or maybe just talking to other business owners who you know have probably solved that problem and finding out for them, and then you can DIY it. Do it yourself.

You can absolutely DIY some of the things in your business. But you need to be able to discern between what are the things you can probably DIY versus what are the things that you need help with.

I think about this when it comes to referrals. Obviously, I have a business where I help people. I want to be the person doing it with them or doing it for them when it comes to referrals. But some people can figure this stuff out, and that is awesome.

Some people can figure out how to do their own bookkeeping. I cannot. Okay, that’s not true. I totally can. I just don’t want to. So it’s also recognizing what you can and should and will do. Maybe the will is the most important thing versus the can do, the will you do it. And when it’s not, sometimes you need to hand that stuff off.

And so being able to get to a point where you can assess, this is DIY, I will figure this out myself versus I’m going to hire somebody else to help me do this or show me how to do this, or I’m just going to hire someone to do it for me.

So it’s the what is DIY, what is do it yourself? What is done with you? And what is done for you? It’s like three levels. Right? You need to kind of be able to assess that in your business. Like, what am I going to figure out on my own and what am I going to hire somebody else to help me with?

And being able, it’s not like what I DIY isn’t what you’re going to DIY. And that’s fine. It’s not about a comparison thing. It’s about you as a business owner having the ability to say, I can figure this out, and I will figure this out, and I will take action, versus I’ve been trying to figure this out, I can’t seem to figure it out, I need to get help with it if I’ve decided it’s a problem that I want to ultimately solve. And that’s another key piece there too.

Okay, and here we go with reflection number four. As I listened back on the business owner series. And I do encourage you, before I give you reflection number four, I do encourage you to go back and listen to these episodes if you haven’t.

If you maybe skipped some of these, I would just really, really, really highly recommend you go back. You’re going to start at episode 312, and that’s kind of where I gave the overview of this.

But if you’re technically listening to this right now, you probably could just go start at episode 313, where I have the first business owner interview. So go back to 312 or episode 313, And kind of listen through these, because I think you will pick up on things that are problems for you in your business, or just problems that, they’re not problems, they’re just things that need refinement.

Like you’re like, hey, I got halfway through solving that problem, got to good enough and moved on, and now I need to come back and really fix it, right? Or really take it to the next level. But I think that you will really enjoy listening to these episodes and these interviews in particular, as these other business owners share.

So if you haven’t, go back to 312. The next drive you’re on, whether it’s a commute or it’s a vacation or whatever, pop in your airbuds and then just start, I said airbuds, I probably should say AirPods, whatever, right? Pop in your buds, the earbuds, and just listen and listen to these people talk. You’ll be inspired to solve some of the problems in your own business.

Okay, but here’s reflection number four. Go at your own pace, but please go. I think if you’ve listened to this podcast before, I have said something like that before. You should go at your own pace. You should not try to do everything as fast as other people do, if that’s not what is right for you. But please make decisions to go at some point.

Some problems can fester for a really long time. And you can manage in spite of yourself. When I used to be a productivity coach, I used to have these little koozies that were made up. And they were, of course, green, because green’s been my brand color for forever.

But there were these green koozies and on one side of the koozie it said, you are successful. And then you flip the koozie over and it said, sometimes in spite of yourself. And I still believe in that wholeheartedly.

Sometimes we are successful, but it is in spite of ourself. And if we would just fix some of the nagging problems that we have in our business from a communication perspective, a team perspective, an operations perspective, a strategy perspective, a sales perspective, if we would just fix some of these problems, it could just be easier.

And making running a business a little bit easier should be the end goal. Every day, what can I do to make my life a little bit easier and still have whatever level of success I want? So please, please go at your own pace. Don’t compare yourself to others. Don’t operate off of anybody else’s timeline but make progress and you gotta go. And that’s really important.

Alright, so those are my four reflections for you as I listened back on these six interviews that I did with really smart, extraordinary business owners who were solving quite, I think, quite literally ordinary problems, but that were out of their zone of genius, so they had to spend some time figuring out how to solve it.

Okay, if you want to get a link to all those episodes really quickly, you can go to the show notes page for this episode, which can be found at StaceyBrownRandall.com/319. That’s 319 for episode 319.

Alright, we are back with another great episode next week. And guess what? We’re back on the topic of referrals, my friends. Yes, we have episode 320 coming up. It is a question-and-answer episode. I got a great question I was asked a few months ago, that I had been holding specifically for my next Q&A episode.

And it’s next week, 320, so make sure you show up with me next week as well. But we are back with another great episode. And until then, you know what to do, my friend. Take control of your referrals and build a referable business. Bye for now.