Me, podcast? Never! And yet, here we are.

It's time for the Becoming a Profitable CEO podcast and it's all about providing you with the tools to succeed on this ever-evolving business-building journey. My mission is to make sure you know you are not alone, that it is possible and that you, yes YOU, CAN do this. You matter, the world is a better place for having you in it, and your voice is needed!

Hey, thanks for tuning in, I'm Teresa Cleveland, an online business development strategist. I've been in the online space for over 12 years now and what a ride it's been. Here on the Becoming a Profitable CEO podcast, I'm going to share #AllTheThings I've learned along the way, as well as introducing you to some remarkable businesswomen who have been right where you are now.

I know we don't know each other very well yet, so I'm going to share a couple of things right up front.

I want you to know that I'm going to shoot straight with you always. My friends and I joke that when they want to be coddled, they call their mom. And when they want the truth, they call me. It may not always be the most popular thing out there or even the most comfortable, but it always comes from love and want for their highest good. Turns out it's not just my friends I do that with, it's how I do life as a whole.

The second thing is one of my core beliefs. It fuels me and the work I do year after year. And it's simply this. I believe we can all make a difference. And I believe one of the best ways to do that is to own a successful online business. It's powerful and incredibly rewarding for both us and the people we serve.

All right. Let's talk about how this podcast came to be. As I sat down to record this introduction episode, I had to chuckle.

I was talking with my good friend and biz bestie, Phyllis Nichols, from SoundAdvice Strategies, who, by the way, will be joining us in Episode 3 to talk about all things podcasting and answer the question, "Should you be podcasting?" I jokingly said to her this morning that I feel like the accidental podcaster. You see, I've been very clear for a few years now that I was not going to do a podcast. For me, I knew I would only want to show up when I had something to say, and I definitely didn't feel like I had enough to say-- consistently.

Even so, it's been great to watch Phyllis's business expand as she delved into the podcasting world to support her clients and market. And it's also been a joy to watch my friends and colleagues launch their own podcasts.

For me, there were no regrets, though.

And yet here we are today, November 18th, 2020. And I have a freaking podcast. What the heck?

So here's what happened. My good friend Kelly Reynolds over at Reynolds OBM invited me to be a guest on her podcast. I've always enjoyed being a guest, but I was a little hesitant at first for some reason. She encouraged me to do it and so I did.

Anyway, when the episode was ready to air, I was going to share the episode with my Facebook group.

I started typing. 'Kelly and I were hanging out discussing some of the things that come up along the way to becoming a profitable CEO' and BAM! Right there in that moment before I even finished typing the message, it hit me.

THAT'S a podcast! So many things became so clear in that moment about what the podcast would be, the format, what we would talk about. Those I could invite and what they would share. And I just knew it was the thing that had to happen. And I knew that I had to do this podcast. I don't know about you, but when I have these ideas that are perfect and I know they're not something I'm going to push off, it's like my brain does this weird thing.

It reminds me of when you stretch a rubber band so tight that it turns white. It's like, oh my gosh, I have to pay attention to this. So first thing, I did a domain search and becoming a profitable CEO was available, which seemed nuts to me.

The next thing I did was called Phyllis and I was like, "oh my God, is this as good as I think it is? And how do I know if this name has been taken for a podcast?"

Because frankly, I couldn't imagine that it would be available. But it was. And I was like, holy crap. Then I text Kelly and I said, "Guess what, you did?" This is happening and it's all your fault!

So of course, you have to be my first guest."

Seriously, though, the crystal clarity that happened as I was typing those words was incredible. I knew that I wanted to be able to share just that. Some of the struggles and the other things that we come up against on our journey to becoming profitable CEOs. I knew that not only could I share from my own experience, but I would also be able to share the stories of other women who are out there getting it done.

Women like you, women like me, who have committed to growing their businesses. And I absolutely believe in encouraging other women on their journey. It was actually that feeling of encouraging other businesswomen that led to the shift in my business. Over the last year, we transitioned from The Entrepreneur's Toolbox to The Purposeful CEO to now Growth Strategies Café.

I talked with so many women who had achieved a certain level of success in their business and they just didn't know how to move forward.

In my role as a certified OBM, online business manager, and director of operations, they were reaching out to see how I could help them grow their business. And what I found through the course of those conversations is that they weren't yet ready. They simply didn't have the structure in place that would make sense for them to hire me. But they stayed with me in my mind and in my heart. I kept saying to my team. I wish that I could work with these women in some way to provide them with the tools to succeed, to help them put that foundation in place so that they could scale and grow more quickly.

Like I said, it just stayed with me. It wouldn't go away. And that's what we do now at Growth Strategies Café working with those very women to help them do exactly that.

So in that moment that I was typing that message to my group, I knew that this podcast could be so instrumental in reaching more women, helping them make a greater impact. And again, I could share all of these other women who would be more than happy to share their experiences of how they worked through different things that came up on this journey to becoming a profitable CEO.

Now, just as an aside, I'll be talking about the title of CEO in an upcoming episode. I know it can be a loaded term for some people, and I really want to dig into that. For now, though, let me share what you can expect from the Becoming a Profitable CEO podcast. There will be episodes where I'm going to be solo sharing tips, ideas, best practices, and occasional rants every now and then.

In other episodes, our guests are going to share from two different perspectives.

The first is that they'll be sharing something along their business journey, something that happened along the way that helped them shift their mindset, that helped them step more fully into becoming the CEO of their business.

Look, we all come up against things, and when it's happening to us and we're sitting alone in our offices, it can be easy to think, oh, my gosh, everybody else looks like they have it together. So put together, it has to be just me, struggling with this, what's wrong with me and all the other things that go on in our heads.

I want you to know we have some incredible women lined up to let you know that you are not alone and that you really can get to the other side of this, whatever it is that you're dealing with. Not to say that there's not going to be something else down the road that you're going to come up against. And you're going to get through that. Also, another thing I believe is that your success, my success is inevitable as long as we keep showing up, doing the next right thing.

And I found that every time we experience growth, it's usually preceded by something where we feel like we've hit the wall. The other thing that they're going to share, when it applies, is what they're doing in their own business that will help you grow your business. If they have tools or services that can help shorten the struggle or frustration that you might be going through, they'll tell us about it.

I have to say that one of the most unexpected gifts I've received over the last few weeks of pulling this podcast together is the deeper awareness and gratitude for all of the generous, remarkable women that I have the privilege of calling friends and or colleagues. Well, I've always been grateful to have them in my life. This experience has greatly magnified that for me, and I am so crazy happy to be able to share them with you as well.

So back to what I said to Phyllis this morning about being an accidental podcaster.

I suppose it's no accident at all. I'm looking forward to our time together on this podcast. You're always welcome to reach out with questions, ideas, something that you want to learn more about or even let me know when we don't agree. You're welcome to come on over to our Facebook group to continue the conversation. Just head over to GrowthStrategiesCafe.com/Facebook.

Until next time. Let's go make a difference.

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of Becoming a Profitable CEO. I'll be back next week but in the meantime, let's continue the conversation. Head on over to our Facebook Group at GrowthStrategiesCafe.com/Facebook and share your take on today's episode.