We recently connected with Courtney Elmer and have shared our conversation below.

Courtney, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about entrepreneurship is that there is almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

Yes, I’ll never forget it — the cold, flourescent light buzzing overhead, the blank wall in front of me, the feel of my husband’s sweaty palm as he tightly gripped my hand. We’d just gotten home from our honeymoon two days before, and there I was in the doctor’s office for a “follow-up visit” that turned out to be the day I was diagnosed with cancer.

I was just 25 years old, still trying to figure out where I really wanted to go in life and business.

But I remember that day like yesterday, because it was the moment the entire trajectory of my life changed for the better.

In that instant, I knew I couldn’t keep working at the pace I was working, burning the candle at both ends and expecting to “one day” be successful enough to take my foot off the gas.

I knew I could no longer keep the old employee mentality that had served me in my old job where I worked 9-to-5-and-then-some, wearing all the hats because it’s what was required.

I needed to step out as the visionary leader of my business and of my brand, which meant changing my work habits and my mindset from employee “in” my business to owner of my business. Why? Because this time my health —my life— was on the line. The future success of my business depended on it.

Maybe it sounds crazy to hear that I’m grateful for getting diagnosed with cancer, but it’s the truth. Without it, I wouldn’t have learned the lessons I needed to learn that have brought me to where I am today: specifically, that in order for your business to thrive, YOU need to be thriving first.

As I’ve learned, a business on its own is nothing without the human behind it. It’s foolish to expect your business to grow and flourish if you, the leader of that business, is not growing and flourishing too.

That’s how The EffortLESS Life® was born (the company I run today), and that’s why we teach overworked visionary entrepreneurs how to streamline their workflows and get the right systems, structure, and support in place so you can scale to seven figures, spend more time in your zone of genius, and finally experience the greater influence, income, and impact you deserve — without losing your health or sanity in the process.

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 background and context?

Of course. As a Forbes-featured business systems and podcasting expert, one of the things I’m known for is helping today’s online leaders streamline their business systems and leverage their message through podcasting, so they can drive traffic and sales to their business on autopilot. 

I’ve had the privilege of interviewing industry greats including John Lee Dumas, Jen Kem, Grant Baldwin, Kate Northrup, and many others, and my expertise on systems and podcasting has been sought by leaders and teams for Business News Daily, PopSugar, Buzzfeed, and dozens more.

But none of that matters.

What matters is why you’re here. There’s a reason that you’re reading this.

Chances are, the reason you got into business for yourself was because you had a great idea of how you could help others and make the world a better place. We believe without a doubt that your voice deserves to be heard and that the world needs the message you have to share.

But, growing a successful business and running it like a true visionary leader is hard. There’s a lot of information out there, and it can feel confusing and overwhelming when you’re trying to navigate this rocky road of entrepreneurship alone. Your time, energy, and effort are limited resources, so in order to grow, you must recognize that when you continue relying solely on these limited resources to build your business you’re capping your income, influence, and impact.

That’s why here at the EffortLESS Life®, helping you learn how to build a business that can run without you so you can be seen as an authority in your niche, drive traffic to your business on autopilot, and thrive in your zone of genius as a true visionary leader is our zone of genius.

Through our globally-ranked podcast (Systems Made Simple) and world-class online coaching programs, we teach business owners how to streamline their business, build rockstar teams, increase traffic and sales, be seen as a thought leader in their niche, and thrive in their zone of genius as the visionary leader of their company.

We love working with action-takers and change-makers who are here to make a difference and who want to create a greater impact. We feel deeply proud when our students tell us they would have paid triple for the work we’ve done for them because of the consistent lead flow, increased revenue, and massive visibility it’s helped them accomplish. We’re humbled to see our name featured in publications like Forbes, PopSugar, Buzzfeed, and dozens more.

But the REAL reason we do what we do is because of YOU. We’d love to get to know you better and hear about your vision for the mark you hope to leave on the world, and we’d welcome the chance to earn your trust through the free resources we share to help make your life and business simpler (or should I say, EffortLESS? :) 

The best place to start is the podcast (Systems Made Simple, everywhere podcasts are found), and you should know that I’m big on cultivating relationships, so come find me on social media and let’s connect!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Surprisingly, overcoming cancer at 25 wasn’t the first time I learned how to flex my resilience muscles. Just six years earlier, I’d found myself in a similar situation when an anorexia diagnosis at 19 changed the course of my life as I knew it. I learned that in order to fully heal, you have to develop the courage to look whatever fear you’re facing in the eye and recognize that you are stronger. Moving through fear (instead of avoiding it) is how you cultivate resilience.

The reason I share these stories so openly today is because the truth is this: no matter how successful you are in life, there will always be problems. To expect otherwise would be naive. Some would argue that the bigger your paycheck, the bigger the problems you’ll be required to solve.

So when life gives you lemons, you have two choices:

Be resentful.

Be resilient.

The path you choose will determine your ability to succeed in life.

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

Hands-down, the most effective strategy for growing our client base (and our audience) has been via our podcast, Systems Made Simple. In fact, podcasting has proven to be so effective for lead generation that we now teach business owners how to install a top-ranked podcast as a marketing system within their business so they can reach a wider audience with their message, be seen as an authority in their niche, and drive traffic and sales to their business on autopilot!

The reason podcasting is one of the most underrated marketing strategies there is because unlike social media where you continually invest your valuable time creating content that gets forgotten in the blink of an eye, with a podcast you are building an asset for your business with a library of evergreen content that will be out there working for you 24/7 as your virtual salesperson and referral partner for years to come. Think about it: assuming you listen to podcasts, has there ever been a time when you stumbled on a show that you fell in love with? Did you go back to episode 1 (or earlier episodes) and start binging, even if those episodes were years old? Did you feel more connected to the host by the end of an episode because of the depth of the value they delivered? Were you curious about that person and what they offer after listening?

Now imagine… YOU are the host of a top-ranked podcast. Your show is positioned to help you find the listeners out there who need what you have to offer, and you know how to grab their attention with your content. They are tuning in week after week and developing their relationship with you, simply by listening to you share your helpful knowledge. How would it impact your business if you had an audience full of eager listeners like this? Pretty cool to think about, right?

We’re passionate about podcasting which is why we teach it to our students, too — it’s been one of the most effective strategies for turning cold leads into customers and growing our client base organically!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://systemsmadesimple.co 
• Website: https://theeffortlesslife.co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/courtneyelmer/
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/courtneyelmerpage
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/courtneyelmer_
• Instagram: https://courtneyelmer.com/instagram 

Image Credits
Casey McMurray