We were lucky to catch up with Brynn Puzey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Brynn, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I’m all about differentiating from the industry standard! I think it’s SUPER important for new business owners to understand the trends, expectations, and typical best practices from their industry and then make them their own.

A common way to work as an entrepreneur in the marketing/business coaching industry is to
– get up at 5am
– cold plunge and intermittent fast
– overload on caffeine
– work 10-12 hour days
– sacrifice your social life
– etc etc etc

For me, that was never the vibe. I became an entrepreneur because I wanted more freedom, not less. And because I wanted to be the best boss I’d ever had. My typical work week is around 20 hours total, usually between 3-4 hours of work a day. I wake up without an alarm, have a lovely slow morning routine, and start at my laptop around 11am. I work for a few hours, do my coaching calls, client work, and whatever else is calling to me that day, and then I wrap things up! I’ve challenged my beliefs on what it truly means to “work smarter, not harder” and to allow myself rest. I’m showing myself how well I can take care of myself while my business grows.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a Social Media Business Coach! I guide and support women in business to leverage Instagram and other social media platforms to establish, grow, and sustain successful online businesses.

I love the hunger for quick growth and quantum leaps but really promote the aspects of sustainability, relational selling, and growing one step at a time. Everyone wants to go viral and have their business blow up overnight. But this is not the norm and it comes with its own set of problems. It’s important for us to feel safe and secure in our businesses and that happens as we gently grow. Nothing is urgent.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

In the beginning, I kept costs extremely low. I made it work and used free or low-cost digital tools. ONLY when I was a few months in and making a real profit did I begin to invest in more software and digital tools that would support automation, ease of processes, etc.

Waiting to invest in all the big shiny exciting things is important. We don’t want a business that starts in the hole, and where the only thing you care about is paying off your business operations costs!!! Start slow. And once you begin making a profit, don’t delay in investing because it will help you scale and save time.

It was all a balance for me but it felt great and was the best way to do it in the long run.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My favorite way to explain social media growth is like dating!

If a girl said, “I’m ready to be asked out on a date!” – and she cleared her schedule for that weekend and she got all dressed up for the date and sat on her living room couch waiting for the person to show up to her front door and knock at 7 pm and take her to dinner… that would seem crazy, right?!

This is how a lot of people view social media. They say, “I’m ready for lots of followers!” And they create the profile and they create the brand and design the logo and put up their posts and they wonder… where are all the people who are supposed to be liking and commenting and engaging with my account?!

Well, let me tell you. They ARE out there. But you’ve got to find them. And then you’ve got to make the first move and start the conversation. Engaging with ideal clients online is THE best way to grow your clientele as a small business owner. It is 100x more effective than trying to go viral from an Instagram reel. Relational sales are the way to go. It’s not as sexy of a concept as social media secrets/hacks… but it’s how you sustainably build an audience of people who care about you and what you’re doing and those people are much more likely to purchase your product!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://brynnpuzeyfaithfullymade.mykajabi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brynn.puzey/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brynnpuzey/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brynnpuzey

Image Credits
Photography credit for all images: Amanda Shupe Photography