In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews online marketing strategist Lauren Powell. Lauren shares a pivotal story from her time working for a medical‑device company, where witnessing a tragic operating‑room moment made her realize she needed a career change. She left the industry to launch her own online marketing business focused on generating, qualifying, and nurturing leads. Lauren emphasizes the importance of validating offers and clarifying messaging before spending money on paid lead‑generation channels. She advises entrepreneurs to "play the long game," noting that sustainable success—building partnerships, refining offers, and creating compelling products—takes time and helps avoid burnout. Personal well‑being tips include worrying less and doubling down on activities that bring joy, such as travel. Lauren recommends the book How to Get a Date with Anyone, highlighting a strategy of creating a hyper‑targeted list of 100 influential contacts to accelerate business or personal growth. She cites Reid Hoffman’s quote, "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late," to stress the value of imperfect, market‑tested launches. Finally, she directs listeners to her website, bixamedia.com, for more information.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Lauren Powell with us. She's an online marketing strategist, so welcome to the show, Lauren.
Thank you for having me, Tyler. I'm excited to be here.
Of course, we're excited to have you, and, uh, we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Lauren, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, so best story is a hard one, but I think, you know, if you're stuck in a job that you don't like or you think you're kind of meant to run your own show or run your own business. I used to work for a medical device company and my job was basically waiting for people to have heart attacks and then asking a doctor to use that device. And I remember the moment when I was like, I'm done. I was in a hospital in England and basically, you know, all— pardon my French— but all hell was breaking loose in the operating room. And one of the doctors turned to me and asked me if I could bring the patient's family to the operating room so they could let them know that they weren't going to make it. And I just remember being like, As soon as that experience was done, I was back up on the train heading home, and I remember thinking, why am I doing this? This is horrible. This is like not what I want to be doing with my life. And that's when I decided I was ready to go out on my own. So I just think if you are in a place where you're like, why am I doing this? Just remember you have the freedom that you don't have to be doing whatever you're doing, and there's always another option.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Yeah, so I help people generate, qualify, and nurture more leads online. And I think if you haven't validated your offer or you aren't clear on your messaging, then pursuing online lead generation is gonna be a really challenging, expensive experiment that may not get the results you want. So make sure that you kind of have all your ducks in a row first before you're investing in any sort of paid lead generation. Regeneration channel.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice?
Yeah, I think to play the long game, you know, um, I see a lot of people burn out because, you know, they're thinking short term and often most efforts that, um, kind of are going to help you strike gold take a long time, whether it's building a partner relationship, or refining your online marketing, or, you know, making sure that your offer is killer and your clients, you know, are going to be bending backwards to sign up for it. Everything kind of takes some time. So if you play the long game, then those small frustrations, short-term frustrations don't feel so hard.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Worry less. I worried a lot. I worry less now. I'm happier because of it.
Yeah. Well, perfect. Then that leads into the next one is, in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Yeah, I think finding what you love, whether it's in or outside of work and kind of doubling down on that. So maybe you're not in a job you love, but you like to travel. Well, then double down on that and make sure you have some travel booked, you know, for every year. Just figure out what kind of makes you tick and then spend more time doing that.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
It's hard to pick just one, Tyler. I know, it's a tough one. Right now I'm reading How to Get a Date with Anyone and that's been a really great book because it's kind of about how to create a strategic list of 100 people that could change the course of your business or personal life, and then how to get in touch with them and get a meeting with them. So I think sometimes less is more and just being hyper-targeted with your approach can work really well.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
Yes. So Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, has a quote that is, "If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." And I love this quote because I think it's so easy to get caught up in the perfectionism of making something exactly perfect before you test it with your market. And I think this is the wrong approach. I think you need to be testing an imperfect version with your market and then iterating based on feedback. And I see a lot of business owners get caught up in this. So that's my favorite quote. I like to remind people imperfect action is better than a perfect version that's in your head.
Yes, and I have to chime in real quick. I never heard that quote before, but it is now one of my favorites. That is an amazing quote. And the last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
On my website, so bixamedia.com. That's B-I-X-A and then media.com. That's the best place.
Perfect. Thank you again for joining us. We appreciate it.
Thank you, Tyler Wagner. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast.
