We were lucky to catch up with Bethany Shipley recently and have shared our conversation below.

Bethany , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? The world needs to hear more realistic, actionable stories about this critical part of the business building journey. Tell us your scaling up story – bring us along so we can understand what it was like making the decisions you had, implementing the strategies/tactics etc.

At the beginning of my business, I was a one (wo)man show! At the time, I was the primary caretaker for my 2 kids under 2 and my business was exploding. I remember one day in specific it all hit the fan!

The dog had an accident on the carpet, the kids were screaming, my phone was buzzing, my oven was beeping,… It was one of those chaotic moments that I realized: I had no more capacity.

“No-more-capacity” is the “yellow brick road” to burnout.

I started thinking about scaling my business on that chaotic day. The first thing I did was made a list of absolutely everything I did on a day-to-day basis. Then, I highlighted the things that I could outsource.

When business owners talk about scaling, sometimes they forget the most important piece:

What is the MAGIC that you, and only you, bring to your business?

The idea of scaling so that we don’t have to do anything has never resonated with me.
Because I consider my business also my calling, it’s intertwined with my life.
It’s not a “check in at 9, check out at 5” gig for me.
Still, I understood that I needed to create capacity for myself so that I wouldn’t burnout.

Capacity simply means, to me, making “room” in your life for the things that light you up.

I created a team around me who could support the areas of the business that were not my sweet spot.

One of the most amazing things about that was one of the people I hired was my Dad. We have had such an amazing time working together, as he brings a level of excellence and ownership to the business that is unmatched.

On the topic of scaling, I’m always looking for ways to create leverage.
There are typically 2 elements for leverage in business: people + time.

A question I ask myself often is: How many people can I get in front of at one time? Answering that question is typically the key to the next wave of scaling. Implementing tools that gather people is always a fabulous way to scale and with social media, it’s easier than ever (with good content).

It’s a journey, not a destination. Don’t forget to enjoy it along the way.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a recruiter for a company called Young Living Essential Oils. My job is to build a customer base of people who love and use Young Living’s products. In addition to creating a customer base, I have the opportunity to build my own sales force.

A lot of times, people decide to start using Essential Oils when they are transitioning from a toxic home to a non-toxic home. Typically this happens after they have a diagnosis or a symptom of some kind that was caused by the toxic burden buildup in their body.

People don’t know that the products in their home like soaps and candles and shampoos and cleaners are highly toxic and are putting them at great risk when used over an extended period of time.

I really focus on education, teaching people how to switch the products that they buy for non-toxic options that are effective and safe!

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I was on vacation with my family in 2017 when I decided to take on the illusive challenge of Instagram. I didn’t know the very first thing about instagram, so I called a friend of mine who had 10k followers and I said “teach me everything.”

The framework I created for myself, I still use and I also teach this to people who want to grow a following on Instagram.

1. Identify your most valued emotion.
Ex: Peace, Spontaneous, Silly, Challenged, etc.

2. Create a habit to share your life in any moment that you feel that emotion.
Ex: You value peace and you feel it while drinking your morning coffee: Share it.

“Checking the box” never works with social media. It has to be your magic seeping out of you that people get a chance to observe and connect with.

The strategies will always shift: Reels, Lives, Stories, Posts… They’ll have new ways to share. I recommend for people wanting to learn social media, study the strategy on Youtube but always apply YOUR SELF to it. Your magic, your personal spark.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

The book that I think every person should read is “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie!

Contact Info:

• Website: bethanyshipley.com
• Instagram: bethanyjshipley
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BethanyJoyShipley/
• Linkedin: n/a
• Twitter: n/a
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgIluT_kHsKj8a5wG4ipNgA
• Yelp: n/a

Image Credits
Photo Credit: Blair Jennifer