Journey with me, Chris Anderson, as I pull back the curtains and reveal the highs, the lows, and the twists of my entrepreneurial journey with Elevate Media. What began as a humble podcast, Pencil Leadership, with limited experience and resources, morphed into a full-blown venture, brimming with challenges, growth, and victories. Dive into the complexities of entrepreneurship, where fleeting sacrifices often craft enduring gains, and discover how you too can elevate your life and brand!
In this revealing narrative, I share how Pencil Leadership's growth sparked my transition from a podcast novice to a business consultant. Listen in as I tackle the labyrinth of business growth, unraveling how investing back into the business, leveraging team strengths, and emphasizing my knack for podcasting propelled Elevate Media to new heights. Venture further into my world, balancing family, an entire farm of animals, and business, acknowledging that temporary concessions are often stepping stones to long-term success. So, why not take the plunge, elevate your life and brand, and take the first step towards achieving your dreams today?
Our mission here at Elevate Media is to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs elevate their brands and make an impact through the power of video podcasting.
Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all our episodes or videos on the Elevate Media and Elevate Media Podcast YouTube channels. https://elevatemediastudios.com/disclaimer
Journey with me, Chris Anderson, as I pull back the curtains and reveal the highs, the lows, and the twists of my entrepreneurial journey with Elevate Media. What began as a humble podcast, Pencil Leadership, with limited experience and resources, morphed into a full-blown venture, brimming with challenges, growth, and victories. Dive into the complexities of entrepreneurship, where fleeting sacrifices often craft enduring gains, and discover how you too can elevate your life and brand!
In this revealing narrative, I share how Pencil Leadership's growth sparked my transition from a podcast novice to a business consultant. Listen in as I tackle the labyrinth of business growth, unraveling how investing back into the business, leveraging team strengths, and emphasizing my knack for podcasting propelled Elevate Media to new heights. Venture further into my world, balancing family, an entire farm of animals, and business, acknowledging that temporary concessions are often stepping stones to long-term success. So, why not take the plunge, elevate your life and brand, and take the first step towards achieving your dreams today?
Our mission here at Elevate Media is to help purpose-driven entrepreneurs elevate their brands and make an impact through the power of video podcasting.
Disclaimer: Please see the link for our disclaimer policy for all our episodes or videos on the Elevate Media and Elevate Media Podcast YouTube channels. https://elevatemediastudios.com/disclaimer
Speaker 1:
Welcome to the Elevate Media Podcast with your host, Chris Anderson. In this show, Chris and his guests will share their knowledge and experience on how to go from zero to successful entrepreneur. They have built their businesses from scratch and are now ready to give back to those who are just starting. Let's get ready to learn, grow and elevate our businesses. And now your host, Chris Anderson.
Speaker 2:
Coming back to another recording of the Elevate Media Podcast. I'm Chris Anderson, your host, and this is part two of my journey with Elevate Media, part one Last week. If you missed it, go back and take a listen to that. That was my personal journey, how I grew through a lot of depression and suicidal thoughts and overcame a lot in what I learned in college to get to starting my business and taking that leap and burning my boats and quitting my job with no income from a side hustle even coming in. So this is part two of the week's episode. Part two is about that journey. What happened after I quit my job called Turkey to grow a business to where we are today with Elevate, and so thanks for tuning in. I'm excited to share because if I can do what we've done in Elevate and the time we have, then I know you can as well, and I hope this information, this story, can just inspire you to keep going, keep moving forward and keep chasing greatness in your own life. So last thing that you might have heard was April 2020, quit my job because I felt like God called me to do it. I thought my wife was on board. I was like, okay, god, this must be what you want me to do. And, of course, right then the pandemic hit in Indiana hardcore, and so quit my job no income to start a business that I had no idea what it was going to be and I didn't know, have any clue, no experience, no educational on how to do.
Speaker 2:
I had my podcast, which I started in 2019, called Pencil Leadership, all about basically learning from the best and learning from the successful and trying to figure out how to do it on my own as I went. And so I was continuing to do my podcast, putting out an episode every week, interviewed with guests, and it was terrible starting out. I was terrible, not my guests. My guests were great. I had some great guests out of the beginning, but I was terrible. It didn't sound or look good because I was doing video. From the start. It just was bad.
Speaker 2:
But I kept pushing forward and I kept moving forward trying to figure out what I was going to do and the podcast grew and the podcast started doing good, and doing good when my eyes is. It was consistently bringing on new listeners, audience. It was, thankfully somehow ranking in the top percentages globally listened to. It was charting this top 50 charts around the world. I think Scotland was one of the ones originally been in America's top charts. It's just been a progression and it just consistent growth is success. And all those are vanity, empty numbers, like really it doesn't really matter how many downloads you have, what you rank or anything like that. It helps, obviously, with social proof, but at the end of the day, if you're consistently growing and you're giving value to your audience and it's helping someone, that's success. And so the show was having success.
Speaker 2:
It was growing and other people were noticing because I would share and I was consistent and I was happy and I was humbled by the success and so I wanted to share, like, hey, look, this is what we've done and if I can do this, you can do it, because look at, I'm nothing crazy, nothing special. And so people would start reaching out. And let me pause for a second, because what I was trying to do from the beginning was I wanted to help other people build businesses online, because I learned from Loose House and everyone like the possibilities there and it can be done. And so I was like, oh, I've listened and I've learned from these individuals so much like I could help other people do that. The thing was I hadn't done it. I hadn't done it yet, and so there was a gap there. There is something missing with what I was trying to do with pencil leadership, and it just didn't feel right. It didn't mesh, my audio didn't match my video, as a friend of mine and client states, so something was off. So I was trying to push this coaching that I hadn't done. I hadn't done what I was trying to help other people do, and it just felt bad, which is why I never sold anything, because I don't think I could go through with it internally. It just knew it was off, so through that, I was just trying to just figure out what am I going to actually do? People would come and say hey, how did you start your podcast? How did you get into the charting? How did you get globally listened to? How did you do all this stuff within podcasting? So it helped him.
Speaker 2:
It got to the point, though is like okay, hey, you might need some money, or savings is dwindling, and so I leaned into that a little bit. Yeah, here I can do that for you. I can show you how to do it X, y and Z for this cost. What people paid for it? And so I started thinking like, hey, this could be an avenue for a business, but that's where my pride and ego kept getting in the way. It's no, I've seen Lewis House do this. He teaches people how to do this and be great. I want to do the same thing, and so I pushed that to the side. So I would just take it because we need money. Yeah, sure, I'll launch a podcast. I'll help you do this. Oh yeah, here's four consulting calls for this. But I want to do this. I want to be like Lewis House. And it got to the point where, eventually, we were up against it.
Speaker 2:
And again, along this journey, face is a big part of my journey and along these, this way, the in the moments we really needed something. I needed finance to come there, I needed something to happen. I needed whatever it was. He showed up in so many different ways providing financially with new clients, just with a breakthrough in where I was going and what I was doing with the show. Whatever it was like just these moments, pausing student loan payments, like in the moment where we're like, what are we going to do? That's the most, that's most of our payments is doing the loans per month, like he paused them and didn't know that was going to happen. So, like things, like he used different things along the journey to really just remind me hey, trust me, follow this path. I have you on and don't give up. And so I leaned into that and I said, okay, I trust you, lord, and I'm going to keep leaning into it.
Speaker 2:
And so it got to the point where, finally, I heard him again hey, get yourself out of the way, look what I'm showing you, look what I'm putting in front of you, trust me, lean into what I'm giving you, which was the podcasting stuff, because I didn't want to do podcasting work. I didn't want to. That's not what I wanted to do. Again, me, that selfish ego kind of was in the way. And so I had just a moment of reality and quiet and still, and I heard that and I said, okay, I said I'll trust you, you've been faithful this far and I trust you and I'll lean into it. I'll lean into the podcasting stuff. And in that time, it was the end of 2021. So 2020 had gone through. I'd been through 2021 just scrounge and buy. And so I said, okay, lord, I trust you, here I go.
Speaker 2:
And so I created a DBA doing business as under the LC, pencil leadership, as elevate media group, and leaned into that. And, no joke, the month that we did that, the month after we did that, we got our first recurring client month to month for our production, sir post recording production services. So we launched them and then we take the files and edit and break it down into micro video content and then upload it back for them so they don't have to. So the month after I gave it over and leaned into what God was telling me to do, got that first client and you can say what you want. But for me that was just like oh, my goodness, okay, that's a huge sign and it's been growing ever since.
Speaker 2:
Now that doesn't mean that it's been easy. It's been hard. Entrepreneurship is hard, even when you know what you're doing or when you're doing the right thing. It's still hard, they're still ups and downs, they're still frustrations, but it's consistent growth and that's successful in my eyes, just like the podcast growth. And we've gone through, we've lost clients, we've you've scraped by just with profit margins because we're trying to invest back in the business to get to that next level.
Speaker 2:
It's still stressful sometimes, especially when you're trying, when you're first starting out like I was completing all the tasks for clients, things that needed to get done, the edits, all that, plus going out, doing social media and marketing and networking and meeting new people all of that when you're first starting is a lot, and so that's why I knew right away that I had to invest back into the business to bring other people on who were, one, better at those areas than I was, and, two, to free up some time so I didn't burn out and so I could focus on where I was good at, which was talking and meeting people and bringing them on board. And it was still like this awkward stage of transition of we have the means to outsource to some contractors to do some work, to grow, but, like, you're just right on the edge and it can be scary, and so you really have to step into it and go full force again because you've got it Now you've got to pay your people and you've got to get that done and you've got to get the work done for your clients. And so you like you take that hat off and handed someone else. But there's times where you have to step back in because there's only there's only one person and help out. And so you're still in that role a little bit every now and then, until you get to the point where you are in a good flow and you bring on other people, which is what we've been doing, and it's just again. We just stay the course, stay consistent.
Speaker 2:
But it was after I took myself out of the picture, out of the way, removed myself, got the pride and ego out of the way, and that things really started happening, focused on what I was good at launching and doing, podcasting, and so, with that being said, focus on what you're good at, lean into what you're good at, and will that, will others pay for that service, that coaching, whatever it is, and don't expect it to be easy, because it won't be. It's fairly simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. It's going to be hard, there's going to be ups and downs, you're going to get busted up and you're going to be crawling and scratching through the dirt in some moments Just trying to make it, and there's going to be moments where you're going to want to quit and turn around and go back down the mountain, but keep moving forward. And so with Elevate's journey again, we're a small business, a handful of contractors helping out on the team, which I'm super thankful for. But we're still there. I still feel like we're in this awkward stage of like expansion and scaling because we're doing well and I'm super happy with the success we're having.
Speaker 2:
But I always want to do more. I always want to grow more because that means I can help more people. I can get more people stories out there through podcasts. I can help more people and their families who are on our team that I can actually provide financial support for through paying them. And it's a different you.
Speaker 2:
As you grow, as you get to new levels, you've got new devils. As you get to new levels, there are things that are going to be harder. There are going to be new challenges that then you're going to look back on your journey earlier on and say, man, I wish those were my problems now, because now I have these problems and they are a lot bigger. That was easy compared to this. So as you progress along your journey, you're going to see that same thing happen. You're going to be like, oh man, remember a year ago when we were worried about that problem? Yeah, I wish that was our problem now. Now we're dealing with payrolls and things like that and profit margin at a different level, and so it changes. So you're always going to have problems. You're always going to have issues, things you have to deal with, but it's the mindset and how you approach and deal with those problems that changes. That make it not seem as bad. We've been through the fire before. Okay, here we go again. Suit up, let's go.
Speaker 2:
So that's why I wanted to share that journey, that part of my story of Elevate, because so many people out there listening. You're trying to start something. You're trying to get that side hustle going so you can quit your job and have that financial support. You're trying to do it with a family. You're trying to do it with kids. I understand I've got two right now 21 months old and two months old. So right there in the thick of a lot going on in this still early stages of Elevate, a couple of years old it's 2023 and what we've done in a couple of years is I thank God for and because I'm just a normal guy and if I can do this with God's will and faith and grace in my life and I know you can as well with him and don't stop, keep moving forward, keep trying to make a difference here, your story out there, but you just have to find the harmony.
Speaker 2:
Like I said, I've got two little ones. I got a wife that I prioritize because our relationship is important. We have four dogs. You're okay, you're about to seek the craziness of the Anderson household. So two under two, my wife who's not crazy, she's just part of the equation, I probably the crazy one. Four dogs, two indoor cats, two outdoor barn cats, one who just had kittens because we didn't know, and like 15, 15 to 20 chickens. We got little ones now that I lost, they just run around a loose track. How many? We have eight turkeys again. Five of them are young and we're about to hatch some more. Yeah, we have a mini farm, so we have a garden and we have to take care of what as well, and so there's a lot going on. So, if I allow that, we got the normal dishes, we got laundry, we got vacuuming. I don't have a maid or butler or anything yet. So I understand what you're going through, that their life is hectic, it's busy, there's so much to do, but I was able to Take do most of all that. Obviously, hannah helped, she's still working and build this business that we've been able to do with Elevate, with all that.
Speaker 2:
You can do it. You can do it. You've got to find the harmony. There will be moments you have to sacrifice Something Sleep, working out, time with family, whatever it is for the short term. There are moments that will have to happen, it's just, it's part of it, unfortunately. So you've got to figure out in and what gives. Obviously, if you get sick, you're no use and you have to spend more time out, but so you've got to balance all of it and find that harmony with all of it. But there are moments you have to sacrifice. There are moments you really have to put your nose to the grindstone and grind away, and that's part of it. And it looks different as you elevate and as you get to new levels.
Speaker 2:
Most of us don't have a bunch of money to put towards our marketing teams, to put towards assistance, or a bunch of employees to afford the luxury of having someone watch our kids while we like with us as we're going to work, like bringing the kids, having someone to watch them. Most of us don't have the luxury of a personal trainer or a chef or a maid, things of those nature to allow us to have more time One day at least. For me, that's. Those are the goals, absolutely. I want to be able to build the businesses. Build businesses, travel, have time with family all at the same time. Harmony together. Have them part of the business. Why? Other people are doing things that I don't want to spend time on. I pay them and that helps them and I can help people do what I do. But it's progression and it takes time to get those levels. We are where we're at, no matter what.
Speaker 2:
Maybe you're not making anything right now in your business. I've been there. Jeff Bezos was there, alex Ramosy was there. Maybe you're making a thousand months. Good job, that's the next step. I've been there. Alex Ramosy has been there, grant Cardone's been there.
Speaker 2:
Don't give up. Bringing in 10k months was something I thought would take me a lot longer and now it's like the next level. How long is that going to take me? I don't know, but we're going to keep moving, one step at a time. So don't give up. Keep moving forward. Elevate your life, elevate your brand, one step at a time. I believe in you. I have faith in you. I know you can do it and I'm here to help If you have questions on figuring out how to harmonize all this together life, business, reach out.
Speaker 2:
I'm here to answer questions. Send me on Instagram. I answer those personally. Still, question on growing your business online. I've made plenty of mistakes and I've got some things right along the way that I loved to share and answer and give direction the best I can, because I want you to win. I want you to elevate your life, your family's life. I want you to elevate that legacy that you're going to leave for the grandkids and great grandkids and generations after. So that's what I wanted to share.
Speaker 2:
This part two just to show you kind of the progression we've been through. Again, we're still young Six figures growth, gross profit long way to go still with our goals, but this is what we are. We've come through a long way and not many businesses can say they get to that level. They can. Not everyone's truthful on it. You'll get there, Just don't give up. Make sure you're doing the right things in the right order and, yeah, we'll see you at the top. Again. Reach out if you need anything. Love you guys. Thanks so much for listening. Tuning in. If you haven't yet, leave a rating and review for us. It helps. The show just shows people like it gives us motivation. Keep going and, yeah, share this if it can inspire anybody else, if we can help more people together, that's great. But until next time again, keep elevating your life, elevate your brand and we'll talk to you soon, see ya.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for listening to the Elevate Media Podcast. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review. See you in the next episode.
