835. 3 Tips For Entrepreneurs In 2022 with Alli Webb & Jessica Zweig

We live in a very noisy space and I think it got even noisier. So today, in 2022, your story has to be so razor sharp. You have to have a very crystal clear narrative that cuts through all of that noise, AKA your brand, right? That's your brand identity, your message.

Welcome to the earn your happy podcast. I'm Lori Harder, founder of Light Pink, best selling author, three time fitness world champion, and I'm a crazy, multit passionate entrepreneur. My journey has taken me everywhere. From being a broke waitress, barista, retails associate and personal trainer with massive anxiety and no belief in myself, to later becoming a multimillionaire in love with my life. In 2007, my husband and I lost everything. We found ourselves hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt at rock bottom. We had no ideas and I had no education to fall back on. This is when I found and learned everything I could about business. Not by choice, but because I realized no one was coming to save me. The conversations on this podcast are going to let you know that you're not alone and that we all feel like we don't know what we're doing. We're going to give you the tools to help you face your fears, take action, start your business, and grow those massive dreams that are keeping you up at night. It's time to create a life that you can't hide from and put so much on the line that your higher self is forced to come out. You're going to stop waiting for someone to approve of you and you're going to anoint yourself. Because I'm obsessed about building businesses that give women a platform, I want to feature you. So if you text the word podcast to 310-496-8363, you can get your questions answered on our Q and A segment along with a shout out. And if you rate, review and subscribe to this podcast, we're choosing some someone every month to get coached and featured on our show. It just might be you. So let's get started.

Hey everyone.

Welcome back to the podcast.

It's time for another quickie because there's.

Always time to fit in inspiration and you guys, I'm not alone on this quickie today. I have two of my favorite ladies in the world. I'm on here with Ali Webb and Jess Zweig. I'm so excited. We're talking about three big things that people need to know that entrepreneurs need to know in 2022. You guys, things have changed so much, but there's also some very common themes to really successful businesses. And that's why I'm so excited to talk to you and what you have coming up. So, you guys, it's no secret there's something called the Impact Series going around right now that you have all created. Ali Webb, Adrienne Kaler, Jess Zweig are all a part of the Impact Series, where they really help entrepreneurs not only scale and figure out strategy and structure and confidence, but also one of the biggest things that we're gonna talk about is community. So, Ali, I want to know why you guys created Impact Series.

First of all, thank you for having us. Lori, you're such a supporter of women, and I'm so lucky to call you a friend. So I had to say that. And Impact Series has been really this labor of love for Adrian and I, and, you know, anybody who follows me. And you, of course, know Adrian really well. He's a coach. He coaches founders and CEOs and executives. And, you know, and obviously, I'm a founder. And you'll hear more from Jess, and she's a founder. And so we've all really felt like we want to give back. And for me, it's like, over the last 10 or 11 years building DryBar, I've gotten hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands of emails and DMs, like, hey, I'm struggling with my business and this, and I have this challenge, and I don't know what to do about this, and can you meet me for coffee for 20 minutes to talk about this? Which, obviously, I don't have that kind of bandwidth, so how can I give back? And with Adrian's just brilliant and expertise in, like, coaching and guiding founders and CEOs and my kind of real world experience, we thought, like, why not come together and create this really, like, special impactful weekend where we get these founders in a room together, they're talking about their problems and their issues and the things that they're struggling with in their business. And part of the reason it's been so successful and the couple that we've done already is, you know, you are, like, diving into your problems. And one of the things that I find so interesting is that most of the problems that founders think they're coming with, they're not the problems that they end up leaving with or. That is so true, you know, because, like, they. When they come in and really let their guard down and, like, you know, vulnerability is the name of the game, but the great thing about it is, like, they're surrounded by people who are. I mean, you guys know, it's like, we all are dealing with a lot of the same issues. So when you hear that person over there, runs, like, a flour company, talk about, you know, their business running a bakery, the problems are kind of similar. And so then, you know, not only is it a great learning, and you're learning from me and from Adrienne and now this one with Jessica. You're also, like, you're creating this sense of community and these other people who you now know out in the world that you can bounce things off of. And we all know better than anybody that having people in your community that you can call up or text and be like, what the fuck does this mean? Or, how do I do this? Or, how did you deal with this? That's, like, the greatest thing you could have. So that's just kind of another benefit of the Impact series and something that we're already, like, seeing founders really, really take to. And so we're really excited about it. And Adrienne loves doing it. We love being in the room with these people. And we're bringing on other founders, like Jessica Zweig, who is also a good friend of mine, and I am a client of hers. And we'll talk about all that later. But, yeah, we're bringing her in to talk about her expertise in brand building and personal strategy and all that good stuff.

So.

Oh, I love this. You know, and you guys, I love the fact that you both are really in it. Like, Ellie, you've built an Incredible brand with DryBar. You guys have probably gotten your hair blown out there several times.

Maybe some of you are there right now.

It's amazing listening while you're at drybar.

Yes.

Well, wouldn't that be amazing? I'm sure somebody is. And then, Jess, you've built simply be agency. You've written an incredible book. You're an incredible entrepreneur, incredible coach, you know, and Allie, just even recently at our Mastermind, you came in and spoke and just that being in that intimate setting and be able to get vulnerable and ask questions and just have somebody be. I know that's both of your superpowers. Like, the fact that both of you leaders show up so vulnerable, it just opens the room to be able to grow so quickly, and that's why I'm so excited about this. So just to just to sum it up real quick, impact series is February 4th through the 6th in Nashville. So I just wanted to put that out there before we get into the.

Three most important things that entrepreneurs need.

To know for 2022.

Jesse, number one is your story. I mean, I wrote A whole book about this, right? This is my philosophy. And it has been for a really long time. We live in a very noisy space, and I think it got even noisier in 2020 and into 2021 because we were all locked inside and had only the Internet and our phones to communicate and to market and to share content and connect. So today, in 2022, your story has to be so razor sharp. You have to have a very crystal clear narrative that cuts through all. All of that noise, AKA your brand, right? That's your brand identity, your message. And with this whole shift in the online space, it's people are getting on and making more and more noise. But I'm like, the noise isn't the point. Content isn't the point. Clarity is the point. And so I think it's. It's really. We all think if we understand our own brands, we're doing it right, but I think it's less about, you should know your own brand. It's if someone else who's never heard of you, who receives you on the Internet can connect emotionally within 15 seconds. Like, that's branding done well. And so we're going to really talk about what that means in Nashville and really unpack how to build a crystal clear brand narrative that serves as the foundation to all of your strategy, all of your execution, all of your tactics. But I firmly believe, in my humble opinion, that it all comes back to brand. So story is King in 2022. Story.

Okay, so moving on to number two, which is strategy and structure. Tell me about it.

Well, I mean, I think a lot of people want to be an entrepreneur. It's sexy. You know, we can make our own money, we schedule our own schedules. We have the freedom, we have the fun ideas we get to live out. But at the end of the day, a business isn't a business if it doesn't make money. And strategy isn't a strategy unless you have clear objectives, KPIs key performance indicators, milestones of success. And that's not the sexiest stuff to talk about. I mean, I know Allie, you can probably speak to like, Dry Bar was this idea in your head and it was this beautiful. But like, you struggled and it was like you built a team around you and you had to dig in and learn where you were weak and compensate for that. And I just think strategy isn't something we are taught. It's something we have to learn by default on the job. And we're going to really talk about the strategy to how to build a roadmap structure can come from building that team, creating accountabilities, looking at like your year, building out your quarterly milestones. That's building a business. And it's so much fun at this stage, but it's not natural. I don't think it was from me, at least, and I know, Allie, from talking to you. It wasn't. It wasn't either.

And I think that that's true. I mean, there is like, you know, when you're running a business, you're in the, like, the crazy and, you know, exciting chaos of like, there's a million things to do, where do we start, and, you know, priority. I mean, part of, like, strategy is prioritizing. You know, we have a hundred things to do, but we can't do a hundred things. And we definitely can't do a hundred things well, so how do we, like, whittle that list down to 25 things and then figure out what we're going to do? And, you know, and a lot of businesses. And I've been guilty of this. I'm sure we all have. It's like you just like you're. Everyone's trying to conquer so many things. It's like five year olds playing soccer. Everybody's kicking the ball, you know, and it's not working.

Good metaphor.

Yeah. You know, so it's so, you know, so how do you. A lot of that is what we'll talk about, you know, at the Impact Series. And Adrian's really good about bringing, I feel like that out of people, and that is part of also the Impact Series too, is that we are going to try to whittle that down with these businesses of, like, what's really going on? What's the thing that you're really struggling with? What's the thing that you really need help with? And you may, you may not even see it. I mean, that's something that I've discovered in the couple of Impact Series that we've done, is that, like, what seems so clear to me is not so clear to them. And then once we talk about it, and that's like Adrian's superpower is like getting things out of people. I mean, I used to always say, like, do you just give people advice and tell them what to do as a coach? And he's like, not at all those questions to get to that stuff. And that's part of his brilliance and why he's so good at what he does.

Oh, I love this. I mean, what I'm hearing is so much of what, what my fears were when I. Right now, let's be real, like, as an entrepreneur, Impact series is also confronting so many of the fears that are there in the beginning, but also that are just there all the time, which is not having the. Oftentimes we're afraid of just the skill sets we don't have, and we think we have to acquire them. And it sounds like we don't necessarily have to acquire them, but also you're going to teach around strategy to help you make sure you're filling those gaps. And I know the scariest things are the things we're not looking at. So the whole time, you're going to be looking at all of the things in a beautiful container. So love that. Okay, so number three, confidence.

Yes.

Okay.

I feel like something I always used to say was, like, fake it till you make it. Which, you know, I could probably make the argument for why that's good and why that's bad. But, you know, I do think that, like, believing in what you're building, but believing in what you're doing, you have to have that confidence. I mean, really in all the areas of your life, but especially, you know, when you're building a business. And I think that was very true of Dry Bar and my subsequent businesses that I'm working on. It's like, you have to really believe in it and have the confidence in yourself that you can do this. And I'll tell you, you guys probably know this, but maybe people listening don't. Like, there were a lot of people who were. We were opening drybar in the middle of a recession, and a lot of people were like, what? You're doing blowouts? Like, my wife can blow out her own hair. What are you doing? You know, and not to mention, like, someone said to me once, like, the space that we were opening the Furry First Dry Bar, and they're like, you know, every business that has been in here has failed.

Oh, God.

Thanks for that.

Oh, thank you. Thank you for that.

You know, it's like you have to, like, hear it and then be like, fuck it. I'm not listening to you. I know this is a great idea. I believe in this, in my core. And I. And I know that, you know, I know you guys are both that like that, you know, it's like believing in it, you know, no matter what, but also, like, being smart about it. And, you know, and to kind of the point Jess was making, and you were making Laura, too. It's like bringing in other people and, like, for me, like, figuring out my highest and best use within drybar. It was not making spreadsheets and making sure people got paid on time. Like, nobody wanted me doing that. You know, this was my love brand. This was my baby. And, like, going out and talking to the world about it and making sure the hairstylists were. As a longtime hairstylist, that the hairstylists were delivering, that the customer service was on point. Like, all of the things that I was really good at, which, you know, gives you the confidence if you're in the role that you're meant to be in. You can really shine in it if you're. If you're way down, which, you know, listen, like, at some. When you're starting a business, yes, you have to do shit you don't like in the beginning. Like, we just. You just have to. You can't hire all the people you want to yet. And that's the goal. Right. But, you know, when you get to that point and you have that own, like, personal confidence, because you love what you're doing. You know, I remember, like, in the early days, like, having to do the stuff I didn't like to do, and I would get through that stuff and then go do the stuff that I really liked as, like, my reward, you know, I mean, that's just kind of like a weird game I played with myself in the early days, you know, but it is true. Like, let me get the stuff out of the way that I have to do that has to be done. And then the things that I'm, you know, that I'm really good at and.

Resonating hard with that right now. Yeah, I feel you.

Yeah.

One of the things that struck me most about Allie, because our story is really phenomenal. It's funny. I met her when she came to Chicago. She was scaling dry bar. I think it was probably within your first 50 locations, at least. And I met her at the salon. I used to run a magazine. So I got invited to go in his media to cover it. And I met her. She came by my chair. We chatted, and I was like, she's cool. And this is cool that the founder of the brand is here. You know, and then. And then, like two days later, I get an email in my inbox. Cause I had, you know, signed up for the drybar. You know, I was registered in their system. And I get an email from Allie. Now in my right mind. I knew it wasn't Allie, but I love. Or maybe you did draft it, but it was well written, personalized.

Early days. I did.

Yeah. And I was like, this is such A cool strategy that the follow up in my inbox is coming from the founder. And like this concept of a personal brand, I think requires a lot of confidence for you to believe that you're worth it, that you have have the right to be the spokesperson and understanding that what you have to say has value and it matters. And no one can connect like a person. Like, if I would have gotten a company dry bar email, it wouldn't have had the same effect as getting that email from Ali. And it made me more loyal to the brand. It made me follow her on social. You know, when she was on Shark Tank, I was like, I met her, I know her. She used to email me like, there's real power in the intentionality of building that brand around you. And I think that absolutely requires confidence. And just to kind of go to the Impact series, you know, it's called Impact Series and you have to believe in yourself first and foremost that you can make an impact that doesn't happen if you're passive and playing small. So just wanted to connect that dot to confidence because I think that this is the year we all should be.

Playing full out for people who come to this Impact Series because we're lucky enough to have Jess be a part of this one. You know, she is part of the. There's gonna be a lot of different really awesome parts of the weekend, but one of them is using me as like a case study and breaking that down, like their work and how they work and you know, something I think you touched on earlier, Jess, you know, it's like I hired simply be to come help me with my personal strategy. And you know, I'm not in the day to day operations of drybar anymore and I have a gajillion projects as, you know, Lori going on. And there's just like I have the jewelry business and squeeze and okay, humans and I'm writing a book and I have like, it's crazy. And you know, and I was like, you know, after I think it was on, you were on my podcast or I was on your podcast, I don't know. We were talking and you were on ours and you were explaining to us what you do, you know, in your business. And literally after that podcast, I was like, I need to hire this girl. And I sat on it for a couple weeks and I was like, I don't know if I want to spend the money. And you know, the things that we do while we're like around in our brains. And finally I called her. I think I texted, I was Like, I think I need to talk to you and you know, and what they've done so, so brilliantly and beautifully is like, be able to take, you know, all the things that I stand for and the things that are important to me and the direction I'm going and like package it up in a way that I wasn't able to do. You know, I mean, like I was, I am historically, you know, this Laurie. I'm just all over the place. I'm running all different and I'm just scatterbrained and like, you know, recognizing again that I needed someone to help me kind of get my shit together, you know, in the best possible way. You know, it's just, it's just something I needed help with and we all need help sometimes. So Jessica and her team are going to kind of go over that too while we're in Nashville, you know, for people who are struggling in that area. So that'll be a, that should be fun.

With the holidays and the new year coming, you probably are looking around your house thinking that you would love to upgrade and freshen up your environment. And there is no easier way to do do that then with your window treatments. Nobody covers windows better than Blinds.com. blinds.com brings your space to life in your way. They have free design help. Other retailers may claim to have experts, but blinds.com has spent nearly 30 years building an award winning team of over a hundred design consultants that are ready to help you create your dream space. Always convenient, always tailored to you. Three ways to shop 1. Perfect fit Whether you want a DIY, have it all done for you or you're somewhere in between, choose what works for you and rest easy knowing the fit is guaranteed. So the holidays come fast, you guys, and you can freshen up your window treatments fast as well. And unlike some competitors, the price you see is the price you pay. No hidden fees and there's zero pressure. From blackout in motorized options to classic shutters, blinds.com has window treatments for every room, style and budget, even shades for your outdoor space. The Black Friday deals@blinds.com are going strong all month long. So don't miss your chance to save big. And as always, our listeners still get $50 off when you spend $500 or more. Just use code earn at checkout limited time offer rules and restrictions apply. See blinds.com for details. 2026 is the year that you launch your business. It's the year that you've become the boss.

You become the leader.

That idea that you have that has been easy eating at you forever that just will not leave you alone is going to come to life. Maybe it's something that someone tells you you should always sell or a store you've already designed in your head. And with Shopify, 2026 is when you.

Finally make it happen.

Shopify gives you everything you need to sell online and in person. Millions of entrepreneurs have already made this leap from household name to first time business owners. Just getting started you guys. I use Shopify for glossy and I remember when they sent me my little shopping bag celebrating my 10,000 sales and I literally cried because I was so.

Scared to take the leap.

And I'm so glad that I did.

And that I use Shopify.

It gives you all the tools to easily build your dream store. You can choose from hundreds of beautiful templates that you can customize to match your brand. Set up as fast with Shopify's built in AI tools that write product descriptions.

And headlines and help you add edit.

Photos so marketing is built into. You can create email and social campaigns that reach customers wherever they scroll. So as you grow, Shopify grows with you. You can handle more orders, expand to new markets and do it all from the Same dashboard in 2026. Stop waiting and start selling with Shopify. Sign up for your one per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com happy. Go to shopify shopify.com happy that's shopify.com happy. Hear your first cha ching this new year with Shopify by your side.

I'm really excited to like show people kind of under the hood of like how we build brands using you as the case study. That's going to be so, so fun. And one little quick thing I just want to say about that, thank you for that love and acknowledgement of the team and simply be and we love working with you, Ali. You know, to hire simply be is you know, an investment like Ali said. And also if you were to hire, hire Adrian Kahler as your executive business coach to really take you to the next level, that's also an investment. To get access to Ali Webb. Like this globally recognized entrepreneur is also a rare thing and we've packaged it all together for like a technically a fraction of the, of the cost and even higher impact because of that community factor of going deep in this container with other, other entrepreneurs. Like there's really nothing like it and I'm really proud that we're, we're doing this. It feels very much in service and you know, we'd love, we'd love to see, you know, some of Your listeners there.

Lori, what I love so much about this is, number one, you know, you guys started off with talking about community, and I truly know that the missing piece of scaling and personal development is community. Because if you don't have it and you don't create it, like, going here would be creating it for yourself. That's a big step in creating community for yourself. It's scary to go into these rooms. Trust me, if you're listening and you're like, I think it's for me, but.

I'm so freaked out.

Maybe I'm not ready. Like, shoot them a dm, Ask, you know, where you're at, if it's a fit for you. Everybody's scared. Like, I've never been.

I got it on this podcast.

I'm like, oh, I'm nervous. Let me just make sure that they get to shine and do all this. Like, you guys were all small children in our heads. Like, we're all afraid. So the community building aspect, and that is one of the most important things, because I'll tell you, building a business, if you don't have people, you just won't complete the hard stuff. You won't. It'll get hard. There'll be nobody there that you told that for accountability. There'll be nobody there to pull you off the bathroom floor when something has gone wrong. And that's why this is so important. And the second thing I love is that you guys have actually all helped each other. So you're going to be sharing really real, tangible stories about showing how all of your different skill sets have fit into each other's lives and how a weakness is not a weakness. It's simply a spot that you have to fill. So powerful. So who exactly is this for? Give me dates again and where everybody needs to go.

Well, I think this is largely for entrepreneurs, founders, people who are in the throes of building a business at all different stages. I mean, we have had all different levels and stages of businesses. Anybody who's looking to grow, who's, you know, struggling with growing, scaling, raising money, building a team, you know, there's a myriad of things that we can help in addition to, you know, what Jess and her team do so brilliantly of building a brand, figuring out strategy. Like, there's something for everybody, really, in this. And it's February 4th in Nashville. This one is in Nashville. We know we've done them in Austin, in la. This one's in Nashville. Probably come back to la. We have a couple, you know, we have some fun ones in the hopper if you can't make it to this one. But we have a couple of spots left for the Nashville one, so we already have some really awesome people signed up. And it is an application only because we want to make sure we're really creating the room well. And we really just want people that are, like, really committed. And so far, I know that we have a handful of people who can't wait to get there. So that's what we love. We love creating that room of excitement and, you know, energy of, like, we just, you know, we just can't wait to learn.

So, so excited, you guys. And if you're listening to this right now, it is coming up. And I will tell you that I've had major moments in my life when I'm like, oh, shit, that's next week. And I leap. And it's been some of the things that have literally taken off or been successful in different areas. I really, really believe that spontaneity around what is right is going to be, like, a huge yes for you for 2022. It's going to be a huge launching pad. So no matter, make sure you reach out. Go check out the website. And if you guys are listening past the Impact series, this particular one, it sounds like you guys are going to be doing some other Impact series, so definitely. Okay, cool. Send DMs, get on the radar. If this is definitely for you guys. And you guys, thanks so much for coming on the show. I'm so grateful.

We're so grateful.

Oh, God. I'm like, oh, do you want to get on and chat with some of your friends? Yes, please. Okay, so you guys make sure you let them know what one of your biggest takeaways was, or ask them questions about the Impact series and go. And until next time, earn your happy. Bye, everyone.

Sam.