We recently connected with Amy Schutte and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy , thanks for joining us today. What do you think it takes to be successful?

“What does wildly successful mean to you?” is a question we pose to our coaching clients when we start working with them. We dig into values, money, and creating a business around the life we want to live — not the other way around.

Getting to that place when you are running a business requires a constant uplevel and reframing of the stories you tell yourself. Now that I’ve grown a successful business and helped hundreds of other entrepreneurs do the same, the three most significant keys to success always come down to the following:

1. Reciprocity — can we give as much as we take? Can we hold tightly to the value of creating expansion and service in the world and loosely to what other people deem successful? Success and abundance are directly tied to what we give with an open heart, and once people figure this out, everything flows with ease.

2. Grit — can we get back up and reframe our stories so we don’t stay in a low frequency when things don’t go how we wanted? Do we have the courage to try again and move forward, even if it’s uncomfortable?

3. Love — are we creating lives we love and being present with the ones we love the most? Are we bringing more light to this world through our work and mission? The biggest breakthroughs we see are when our clients decide they love themselves enough to step into the work they are meant to do in the world. Staying small is much easier, but entrepreneurs can change their community and our world if they claim their light and live out their values.

While each person’s definition of success is different, I consistently love to hear people redefining success as doing meaningful work in a meaningful way while enjoying the process. Money always flows easily to those who are creating expansion for others with an open heart.

Amy , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Many entrepreneurs struggle with what to say and how to say it when it comes to their business messaging. Your messaging is the soul of your business and it’s critical to creating a brand. As a former journalist, turned messaging strategist and transformational business coach, I created my company,  Hudson & Co., in 2017 to help high-performing businesses craft effective and powerful brands through magnetic messaging.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

As a marketer, I shouldn’t tell you this…

But, as a business coach and someone who is passionate about small business success, I love this topic. When it comes to service based businesses, it’s so important to be visible, build connection, and provide value.

My company has had incredible growth over the past six years, and I attribute most of it to referrals and reputation. My biggest client connections always come from other people who were working with us or had worked with us in the past and had an amazing transformation in their business.

Building relationships are so important in business and in life.

If you want to grow your client list, take care of your current clients. Take time to send thank you notes. Take time to send voice notes on instagram or make it a point to get on podcasts as a guest. It doesn’t need to be extravagant to be exceptionally meaningful.

One good connection can lead to places you’ve never dreamed.

We can build the best funnels with the slickest marketing copy, but if people don’t feel an authentic connection with you or your company, it’ll be short-lived. Business owners often struggle with this because they’re so busy doing the work to keep things afloat, but taking time to connect authentically with the people in our circles will always have a good return.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

My absolute favorite book for entrepreneurship is surprisingly, The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scoval Shinn. This book was written in the early 1900s and it’s brilliant. I love a good business book, but this book changed the way I thought about money, time, business, and my role in co-creating an amazing life.

It’s a must read for those who are ready to ditch the current ways of hustle culture. As business owners, we have such a big responsibility to lead ourselves and continually find ways to personally up level so we can lift our teams, our clients, and our communities.

Contact Info:

• Website: hudsonandco.co
• Instagram: hudsonandco_
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amyschuttemarketingcoach/

Image Credits
Erin Blackwell Photography