We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Stephanie Benedetto. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Stephanie below.

Alright, Stephanie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Risking taking is a huge part of most people’s story but too often society overlooks those risks and only focuses on where you are today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – it could be a big risk or a small one – but walk us through the backstory.

I was married to a man I loved, and we owned a business, home and house full of animals together. Five years ago, I made a choice to leave it all behind. It was a difficult decision, and one I took my time making to be ensure that I was leaving from a place of clarity and peace, rather than an escape.

I’d always lived in New York and had spent most of life living in the town where I was born. I didn’t want to stay there simply because that was where I’d always been, so I left with two suitcases and began life as a digital nomad traveling and pet sitting.

It wasn’t until I found myself in Australia for two months that it dawned on me that I’d reinvented my entire life. If it had occurred to me that way at the start, I might not have done it!

It didn’t really feel like a risk to me at the time, and still doesn’t, but it certainly qualifies by most people’s standards. I didn’t know where I’d end up or if I’d enjoy it. My new business was very young at the time, and I didn’t have a well-established way of creating clients. In a way, it was rather naive and and optimistic to make the leap, but I’m glad that I did.

Following what I know to do, even if it doesn’t make logical sense, always takes me on beautiful adventures. Sometimes I don’t end up where I expect, but there’s magic in following my inner guidance.

I’m reinventing my life again now by immigrating to Portugal. For over a year, I’d been feeling the pull to Europe, and suddenly I started hearing and seeing Portugal everywhere. It was clear this was my next move.

Some people say it’s brave to move to a new country, but it doesn’t feel that way. It just feels like saying yes to an invitation from the universe to a new adventure, and why would I say no to that?

Stephanie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I call myself a Coach, Storyteller and (Un)Marketer who works with coaches, transformational entrepreneurs and teams to create clients and businesses they love without hype, hustle or endless social media.

I am also a LAZY marketer, but it wasn’t always that way.

Back in the beginning of my business journey (over 20 years ago!) I was in love with marketing. I geeked out on SEO, blogging, copywriting, content marketing, Google Ads…pretty much anything and everything marketing.

But over the years, marketing stopped feeling like fun. There were more rules for me to follow in order to get it “right.” The formulas I’d learned didn’t seem to fit me and my business anymore,.

Then two years ago, I quit using social media altogether. It was a scary thing to do because Facebook had been a primary source of creating clients. But I survived, and so did my business.

Slowly, I dropped all the “marketing” activities I was taught that no longer felt right: lead magnets, hypey headlines, artificial deadlines to add scarcity.

Strangely enough, I didn’t become invisible. In fact, my income has continued to grow over 20% every year since.

So what did I do to escape the nightmare of non-stop marketing?

I stopped doing things because someone told me I should do them, and started following what I knew to do instead.

I ran (Un)Marketing Experiments, tested out different ways to share content, and did things just because I felt like it.

Some of those activities may look like traditional “marketing,” but none of them FEEL like icky, gross “marketing.”

This what I call (Un)Marketing your business.

The key: throw out everything you’re supposed to do and what the experts say you should do, and do what occurs to you instead.

Let your gorgeous inner guidance show you the path to connecting with the people you’re here to serve.

Being you, simply doing what you do, and making it easy for people to discover you, is the most fun, effortless way of “marketing” that exists, and it’s even more effective because it oozes with authenticity and the essence of you. Plus, you’re more likely to stick with it because it’s actually enjoyable.

These days, I still take a lot of actions in my business, but I call myself a “lazy” marketer because none of it feels strategic or tactical. It feels like being me.

I’m passionate about showing entrepreneurs how you can find an effortless way to share what you do and create clients, and just how much fun you can have in this vehicle for being you that we call a business.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I was a rule follower, committed to doing everything “right.” I over-prepared for tests in school by memorizing entire chapters of notes.

When I got into business, I brought those same habits with me. I studied hard, learned from the experts and did exactly what they told me. I’d spend hours preparing for presentations. My work days were long, and I prided myself on the fact, because I loved what I was learning and doing.

Following the rules and working hard got me into action, but the results were variable. Plus, exhaustion and stress were an inevitable side effect. I was unknowingly creating pressure with my constantly busy mind, and my business began to feel like drudgery. It was harder and harder to know what to do because I was tired and overwhelmed.

I thought I was a rule follower and a “good girl.” What I had to realize is that I’m very good at following the rules, but I’m also good at breaking them. In fact, rules are entirely made up!

What the experts taught me about their proven systems for marketing, and the courses I created to teach others the same, will always get variable results because they emerged from the genius of one person, and they weren’t made for you and me.

I began to see that I have access to a greater resource than my intellect and the instructions of experts. I have a direct connection to the Greater Mind, the intelligence of life, what some people call intuition, Source, Spirit or wisdom.

When I began to tap into that inner guidance, a uniquely joyful path of business unfolded before me. I stopped worrying about getting it right and began to enjoy the journey more. I dropped my stressed out, pressured thinking and began to relax into the present and the action I know to take now. Business became an adventure, full of surprises and delights, even in the midst of challenges and obstacles.

Now I delight in creating from the unknown and acting without an instruction manual. I still consult experts and teachers, but only when led from within. I’m learning that creating from a clear intention in the moment, without a need to control the outcome, makes life and business a joyful adventure. As a result, I’m more engaged and try things I don’t know if I can pull off, and I get to be surprised and delighted by life daily.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

My ex-husband and business partner and I had an online business that was generating well into the six figures every year. We were considered international experts in the wedding professional niche and had a thriving reputation. Over time, my passion for what we were doing waned.

I really wanted to sell, but my partner did not. I spoke to a business broker to find out what the business was worth, and learned that it wasn’t likely to sell easily for a high price because it wasn’t turnkey. We hadn’t set up our processes and automations so that a new owner could step in, and the brand was closely tied to us as individuals. While the business still had value, it wasn’t as high as it could have been.

It was almost three years before we actually did sell the business, and the value had decreased during that time. We ended up finding a couple in a related market who was a great fit, despite the disadvantages. However, we decided to finance the purchase ourselves and have had trouble recouping the payments owed.

Needless to say, we made lots of mistakes that are easy to see in hindsight. Advice I’d give to someone who might consider selling your business one day:

– Set up your business now for maximum sales appeal. Create systems, process and automations that can easily be passed on to someone else. The E-Myth by Michael by Michael E. Gerber is a great resource for this. Even if you don’t plan to sell your business, streamlining your systems is a good investment of your time.

– Don’t wait to sell if you know it’s the right thing to do, especially if your enthusiasm is waning. The less energy you put into your business, the less you tend to get out. We could have sold it for a higher price if we hadn’t waited.

– Be aware if you choose to do owner financing. I don’t regret it, because it was still probably a good deal given our situation, but it is a risk. Know that if the amount isn’t very great, you may find yourself without legal recourse because there won’t be anything left after paying legal fees.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theawakenedbusiness.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephaniepadovani/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrmPc9bGaQLaO1mZYYWNtpw