No BS Mastery Podcast

You can have all the right strategies, but if your fears, beliefs, and stories keep you from actually using them, they aren’t going to grow your business. That’s why Stacey Brass-Russell describes herself as a transformational coach. She helps people understand that creating a different result requires change, and human beings are wired to resist change even when we desperately want the outcome on the other side of it. In this conversation, Stacey and I talk about the stories we invent when someone doesn’t respond to our outreach, why the fear of seeming salesy keeps people from selling, and why getting more leads probably isn’t the answer. We also dig into the importance of human connection, especially for experts selling higher-ticket transformational services. We talk about what it means to see sales as service, how a clear methodology can help you feel more confident selling your work, and why you may need to build that confidence through real experience before charging a premium price. Stacey is a master transformational coach, business strategist, and sales coach who helps coaches, experts, and service-based entrepreneurs turn their passion, skills, and expertise into businesses that actually pay them. A former Broadway performer and NYC yoga studio owner, she is the founder of the Passionate & Prosperous Academy and host of the Passionate & Prosperous podcast. Stacey’s perspective matters because there is no strategy that can completely bypass the human side of business. Sustainable growth requires a strong offer and the willingness to examine the beliefs, fears, and habits that keep you from confidently putting it in front of people. Find this episode for free on your favorite podcast player. Tune into this episode to hear: What it actually means to sell a transformational service Why your clients need more than information to achieve meaningful outcomes How the stories you invent about other people’s reactions can stop you from taking action Why more leads probably won’t solve your sales problem The difference between marketing your business and actually selling your offer How creating a signature methodology can make you more confident in your expertise Why seeing sales as service changes the way you talk about your offer Learn more about Stacey Brass-Russell: Website: staceybrassrussell.com Listen to the Passionate & Prosperous podcast Explore Stacey’s free resources and trainings Connect with Stacey on LinkedIn Resources: Join the Scale Solo Masterclass Grab the first chapter of my new book Scale Solo: scalesolobook.com The Price to Freedom Calculator™: nobsmastery.com/price Grab a copy of my book Badass Your Brand: Badass Your Brand

Most people assume that a $15,000 project is automatically better than an $8,000 project. But a higher price does not necessarily mean more profit. In fact, it often means the opposite. Years ago, I worked with someone named Sean who was trying to sell more of his $15,000 full-service projects and fewer of his $8,000 packages. When we ran the numbers, he discovered that the $8,000 package was twice as profitable and much easier to sell. He stopped offering the bigger project completely. This happens because premium service providers often overdeliver on their most expensive offers. The price makes us uncomfortable, so we throw in the kitchen sink to justify it. That extra time quietly destroys the profit that made the project look so appealing in the first place. In this episode, I explain how I use the 50/25/25 rule to determine whether an offer can actually support your financial goals. We also look at why filling all your available time with client work keeps you stuck on the hamster wheel, even when you’re booked and bringing in plenty of revenue. The solution isn’t always to raise your price. Sometimes the smarter move is to tighten the delivery, put better boundaries around your time, or stop selling the bloated offer altogether. A smaller, highly profitable offer can out-earn a large, exhausting one every day. Understanding your profitability gives you permission to stop chasing impressive price tags and focus on the offers that create more money, freedom, and ease. You cannot determine that by feel. You have to look at the numbers. Find this episode for free on your favorite podcast player. Tune into this episode to hear: How Sean discovered that his $8,000 package was twice as profitable as his $15,000 project Why charging more can cause service providers to overdeliver and erase their profit How the 50/25/25 rule protects time for business development and freedom Why being booked and busy does not necessarily mean you have a healthy business The difference between accepting a lower-profit project for short-term cash flow and building your business around one Why tightening your delivery can improve profitability without raising your price A simple exercise for comparing your most and least expensive offers Resources: Join the Scale Solo Masterclass Grab the first chapter of my new book Scale Solo: scalesolobook.com The Price to Freedom Calculator™: nobsmastery.com/price Grab a copy of my book Badass Your Brand: Badass Your Brand

Early in her career, Lieve Hendren spent her days working with consulting executives in high-pressure environments and her nights performing as an opera singer. She began using the performance psychology techniques she learned onstage to help herself and her teams handle stressful meetings, improve their work, and perform at a higher level. But that constant pressure eventually took a toll on her health. Her search for a more sustainable way to perform became the foundation for her book, The Joyful Flow Formula: Quickly Access Brain States for Peak Performance and Eliminate Needless Work Stress. In this conversation, Lieve shares practical ways to access flow, from visualizing a meeting before you walk into the room to intentionally creating more joy in tasks you’ve been avoiding. We also talk about leading clients through stressful situations, regulating your own energy, and why a calm, confident leader can completely change the tone of a difficult conversation. We also get into doom scrolling, procrastination, and how to make challenging work feel more rewarding. Lieve even coaches me through my ongoing struggle with answering the important emails sitting in my red-star folder. Lieve is a high-performance and workflow coach who helps professionals reduce stress and access creative flow. She has worked with more than 340 leaders and organizations, helped scale a startup from two to 28 employees before its acquisition, and is studying the neuroscience of mental health at King’s College London. Lieve’s work is an important reminder that doing your best work does not have to mean pushing harder or working longer. When you learn how to manage your attention, energy, and environment, you can create better work while experiencing more joy in the process. Find this episode for free on your favorite podcast player. Tune into this episode to hear: How Lieve brought performance psychology techniques from the opera stage into high-pressure consulting environments Why visualizing a meeting in advance can help you show up calmer and more prepared How regulating your own energy can change the tone of a difficult client conversation Why joy, playfulness, and curiosity are powerful triggers for creative flow Simple ways to make the tasks you’ve been avoiding feel more rewarding How Pia uses Brick to reduce mindless scrolling and stay focused Why recovery time is essential after high-energy coaching, presenting, or creative work Learn more about Lieve Hendren: Website: lievehendren.com Get The Joyful Flow Formula: Book page Get the book on Amazon Connect with Lieve on LinkedIn Follow Lieve on Instagram Resources: Grab the first chapter of my new book Scale Solo: scalesolobook.com Program: No BS Mastery: Join No BS Mastery The Price to Freedom Calculator™: nobsmastery.com/price Grab a copy of my book Badass Your Brand: Badass Your Brand

You're booked out for months. You're closing good clients. From the outside, it looks like you've made it. So why are you still stressed about money, still wondering where the next client comes from, still white-knuckling it? In this episode, Pia goes back to the year her business brought in almost $250,000 and still landed her $40,000 in credit card debt, and explains why that paradox shows up for so many successful expert business owners she met during this year's live events. The short version: being booked is not the same as being safe. If the model underneath your business isn't built to profit, more clients won't fix it. More revenue won't fix it. The problem is structural. In this episode: Why "fully booked" can still mean "starting from zero every month" The feast-or-famine trap and what actually breaks the cycle Why having cash in the bank doesn't make the stress go away (and the psychology behind it) The one simple marketing strategy Pia teaches instead of complicated funnels How to tell if you've got a "model problem" rather than a client problem Resources: Grab the first chapter of my new book Scale Solo: scalesolobook.com Program: No BS Mastery: Join No BS Mastery The Price to Freedom Calculator™: nobsmastery.com/price Grab a copy of my book Badass Your Brand: Badass Your Brand

If you’ve been feeling cognitively overloaded by AI, social media, and the relentless pace of everything right now, this episode is for you. Sara Connell’s new book, The Download: Train Your Brain. Unlock Your Genius. Create Miracles, explores how we can move beyond the mental noise and get into a state where clarity, creativity, and innovative ideas can actually find us. In this conversation, Sara shares the science behind what she calls a “download,” walks me through a simple practice for getting inspired when I’m overwhelmed by too many ideas, and explains why white space is so essential for creativity. We also talk about how visualization can help us stay focused on where we’re going, especially when business inevitably gets messy. We also dig into the future of thought leadership in the age of AI. Sara is a five-time bestselling author and the founder of Thought Leader Media, where she helps coaches, experts, and entrepreneurs become bestselling authors and in-demand TEDx speakers. Her work has been featured by Oprah, The New York Times, Good Morning America, TODAY, Forbes, Entrepreneur, and TEDx. Sara’s perspective is such an important reminder that while AI can help us work faster, it cannot replace the messy, demanding creative work that gives our ideas a heartbeat. As more people outsource their thinking, genuinely human creativity is only going to become more valuable. Find this episode for free on your favourite podcast player. Tune into this episode to hear: How cognitive overload interferes with creativity, clarity, and decision-making Sara’s simple process for taking a “download walk” Why your best ideas need white space instead of more information How to create an anchor image that keeps you focused during stressful moments in your business The science behind visualization and mentally rehearsing the outcome you want Where AI can support the creative process without taking it over Why human-generated thought leadership will become increasingly valuable in the age of AI Learn more about Sara Connell: Website: saraconnell.com Instagram: @saraconnell Substack: The Download with Sara Connell YouTube: Thought Leader Media Get The Download on Amazon Get The Download from Barnes & Noble Mentioned: Calm Dr. Joe Dispenza Resources: Grab the first chapter of my new book Scale Solo: scalesolobook.com Program: No BS Mastery: Join No BS Mastery The Price to Freedom Calculator™: nobsmastery.com/price Grab a copy of my book Badass Your Brand: Badass Your Brand