Beyond Margins: Designing Calmer B2B Agencies & Consulting Firms

How do you reduce urgency in a world where urgency is so deeply embedded? How do you market yourself and your work in a way that is anti-oppressive? 

We're continuing in our mini-series on my calmer framework for a calmer business. This week, we're focused on reudcing urgency and techniques for anti-oppressive marketing. 

We're joined by Natalia Sanyal, an anti-oppressive copywriter and brand messaging strategist. She’s worked with billion-dollar businesses like Apple and Lululemon, New York Times bestselling authors like Layla Saad & Deepak Chopra, and award-winning marketing agencies. Now, she teaches high-integrity personal brands to use marketing as a force for good so they can sell better and harm less.

On this episode, we learn some techniques to reduce urgency in our work, align actions with values to foster a calmer atmosphere for you, your team, and your business. 

Listen to the Full Episode to Hear:

1. How can you move away from the default urgency-driven model?
2. How can you reduce client emergencies and create more flexibility?
3. What are the real-world applications of aligning business actions with values?

• How does embracing vulnerability play into the human aspects of entrepreneurship?

Learn more about Natalia Sanyal

We live in a society obsessed with productivity and working more, so how can we lean into rest? What are the benefits of building rest into our businesses? And how can we begin to do that? 

We're continuing in our mini-series on my calmer framework for a calmer business. This week, we're focused on rest. Rest is often a challenge for us go-getters, solopreneurs, and entrepreneurs. But, it's essential to stop burnout, stay creative, and have a truly calm and sustainable business. 

We're joined by Jordan Maney, a Radical Joy Coach™ and creator of the Radical Joy Collab who shares how we can build a rest ethic alongside our work ethic. She coaches others to learn the radical practice of rest so they can bring their visions to life. She’s been featured in New York Magazine, Yahoo, Attn, Oprah Magazine, and Martha Stewart Living.

On this episode, we learn how to design our work systems to include rest in a way that works for each of us, how to push back on scoetal pressure to not rest, and how our work lives and personal lives can be transformed with the power of rest. 

Listen to the Full Episode to Hear:

1. How can rest be intentionally designed and built into a business to make it calmer and more sustainable?
2. Why is rest a critical element of productivity and how does it contribute to better creative work?
3. What does a rest ethic look like and how can it be developed alongside a work ethic?

Learn more about Jordan Maney:

Why are efficient systems so essential for building a calmer business? And how do you go about finding the right systems and processes for yourself? 

We're continuing in our mini-series on my calmer framework for a calmer business. This week, we're focused on my favorite aspect of my CALMER framework -- efficient systems. We dive into the importance of understanding our own processes before building systems, and then explore some of the many ways our individual systems can look. 

We're joined by Amelia Hruby, a writer, educator, and podcaster with a PhD in philosophy. She is the founder of Softer Sounds, a feminist podcast studio for entrepreneurs and creatives. And sheʼs the host of Off the Grid, a podcast about leaving social media without losing all your clients.

On this episode, we learn how to create systems that work fo rus, our teams, and our clients. We also learn what the transition from work without efficient systems to efficient systems can look like, and how it all fits into creating a calmer business for everyone involved. 

Listen to the Full Episode to Hear:

1. How do you create autonomy through systems?
2. What impact can an efficient system have on business and team members? 
3. How can you operate through a lens of care using systems? 
4. Why do you need to start with a process before building systems? 

Learn more about Amelia Hruby

What if you could build in more space to your business? An extra day off? More time to strategize? Less urgency and more rest? 

We're continuing in our mini-series on my calmer framework for a calmer business. This week, we're diving into margins -- financial margins, capacity margins, and energetic margins -- to decrease urgency and burnout and create calmer, more sustainable businesses. 

We're joined by Nathalie Lussier, an award-winning entrepreneur who has been making websites since she was 12 years old. She graduated with a degree in Software Engineering. She was the founder and recently exited AccessAlly, the digital course and membership solution for industry leaders. Nathalie has been featured in Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Success Magazine, Entrepreneur, Venture Beat, and Mashable.

On this episode, we learn how we can rethink our work so that we build in margins, and dive deep into one founder's journey to transitioning to a 4-day work week for their entire company -- with exceptional results. 

Listen to the Full Episode to Hear:

1. How to build in margins, beyond profit margins, to your business
2. What the transition to a 4-day work week can look like in practice 
3. How to experiment with and build comfortable margins for your business 

Learn more about Nathalie Lussier 

Taking care of people in or around your business isn't the default when it comes to business and what we're taught business should be. How is this way of doing business actually hurting us? And, how can we change our systems to be more authentically people-first? 

We're continuing in our mini-series on my calmer framework for a calmer business. This week, we're diving into lens of care and how operating with a lens of care can decrease panic and urgency in our daily work. 

We're joined by Heather ONeill, the anti-capitalist business coach for tech and service businesses, and founder of UX consultancy, Pixels for Humans. She puts people over profits and believes that you can make money while doing good.

On this episode, we learn how businesses can prioritize people over profits, especially during challenging times; how to find and build community in an authentic way; and the impact of white supremacy on our default way of doing business. 

Listen to the Full Episode to Hear:

1. How businesses can measure success beyond revenue and longevity
2. How care-centric practices contribute to a calmer business environment.
3. What an anti-capitalist approach can look like in business 

Learn more about Heather ONeill: