THE PODCAST FOR ONLINE COURSE CREATORS GOING BIG!

Join business strategist Tina Tower as she explores how to build your empire by packaging your expertise into online courses, speaking, content, podcasting and credibility.

Tina has over 17 years of experience in starting, building and selling companies, she's a speaker, teacher, mama and world traveller.

She's unapologetic about living an intentionally big life and if you want too, this show is designed to show you many different options to help you gain clarity over YOUR version of awesome.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• How to keep it professional but still remain relatable.

•  Know how to build your online presence from scratch. 

•  A simplified lead magnet makes it more achievable. 

•  Coming into terms in dealing with the struggle of visibility. 

RESOURCES MENTIONED

Want more?

We have some incredible things happening at Her Empire Builder this year! If you are a course creator, you have to be a part of this incredible community. Jump on to herempirebuilder.com and check it out!

If you loved the episode, I would be so grateful if you shared it on insta or left a review! 

The only membership you need to grow your digital course business

Her Empire Builder is a combination of live sessions and pre-recorded content to help you get what you need, when you need it.

I know that you're the expert and you've got all of your subject knowledge nailed - now it's time to build the business behind your online course and stop being the worlds best kept secret. 

Show transcription 

Intro 

[00:00] Welcome to Episode 182. Dr. Laura Williams has such a great story to share with you today. Laura is also our first Her Empire Builder member from the UK, which shows huge dedication because our live sessions are ran in the morning, so she stays up really late to watch them. And every time I see her face on our zoom screen, we have lives every week, basically. So in Her Empire Builder on week, one of each month, we have our master class, which is run by me. And it's kind of like our main session our main focus of each month. So we always have action steps and challenges because I know that when people put them into action, they get those results. So we always do that one first. And then the second week, we bring in a guest expert, who can really go deep into that focus that we're in. And then the third week, we do our Kajabi work room or Facebook ads session, and then we do a mindset session. So we have, you know, a few live sessions in there because I always know that people show up more to lives than they do to pre recorded and one of my biggest values is the community and cultivating that in there as well. And I always love seeing Laura's face on the exam, like it's just that extra level of commitment. As someone who loves sleep, I'm like, Go Laura. And I share this, because it's the dedication and the purpose that drives Laura.

So with the sudden passing of her husband in 2018, she's now a single mom to five children, and instead of feeling like an understandable victim to that she's chosen to be victorious. And gosh, I find it so damn inspiring. Just so inspiring. So Laura is one of those fabulous humans who is so good at her job and cares so much about her impact. And I just can't wait for the world to get access to that and her new course know your own psychology. So you can find all of the notes and links for today's episode at tinatower/182 and find Laura on Instagram @drlawilliams.

[2:16] So let me give you her proper bio cuz she's in progressive. Dr. Laura Williams is a clinical psychologist, trauma specialist, Best Selling Author, media contributor and mom of five, she holds specialist interests in anxiety, eating disorders and obsessional compulsive disorder. Beginning her first degree in psychology at the age of 19. Laura would continue to learn and train in the field of psychology for the next 20 years. She has a BA in psychology, a master's in forensic psychology and a doctorate in clinical psychology. After clinical training, Laura worked within the specialist services in prisons and hospitals with people who had experienced high levels of trauma in their lives. After the sudden loss of her husband in 2018, Laura started working for herself for the freedom and flexibility that she needed for her young family. And I mean, I see so many people start businesses for this reason is just out of necessity, and I love that this option exists for us. Since 2018, Laura has built a thriving online psychology practice and works with people to help them understand how their early and past relationships have impacted them.

Laura now offers an online course know your own psychology to scale her work and help more people Laura has written for and been featured in publications including the telegraph, the Sunday post and the skinny. She has contributed to the television documentaries for ITV and Channel Four in the UK on the topic of modern morbid obesity. In addition to her TV experience, Laura has broadcast experience and often including the radio Scotland programs. Her first book grief writer, a journal published in 2021 Hit the Amazon bestseller list and aims to help people grieving to process their emotions after loss. Laura lives near Edinburgh with her partner, their five children, and a Labrador named Bo. From there she is helping change the conversation around trauma and mental health. And when she's not working, you'll find her out running swimming outdoors or trying to pop up on a surfboard. Which again, is dedicated because it's really cold there. Let's get to it. This is gonna give you a really good perspective of brand new so if you're brand new into the online course world, Dr. Laura has got you covered her story is so inspiring.

[4:41] Hi, friend. I'm Tina Tower, business strategist and digital online Empire Builder. I've been in business since I was 20 years old and I've since built and sold for businesses. I started in the world of online courses in 2017 and grew to a seven figure annual turnover in just under two years to say I love the game of business is an understatement. I'm a world traveler, a mama, a wife, a best selling author. And I love the freedom that we have to create the business and life that we want to live. It takes courage to break the rules and shake things up and do it your way. Through Her Empire Builder, I share my experience and bring you lessons from some of the world's best to help you dream big, plan well, and take massive action, it is absolutely possible to run a thriving growing business to positively impact the world and have a beautiful personal life without hustling and working yourself into exhaustion. I want that for you. Let's enjoy the journey, my friend.

Main episode 

[5:47] Gorgeous Dr. Laura, welcome to Her Empire Builder podcast.

[05:51] Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here.

[05:55] happy you're here. All the way. I'm in the evening. You're in the morning time. So I appreciate halfway across the world. It's my favorite thing that we get to do business with people all over the globe. Okay, let's get right into it. So one of the reasons why I asked you to be on the podcast is you're brand spanking new in this Yeah. So can you give listeners a bit of background in terms of going what has led you to this point? And what what are you doing right now?

[06:33] Sure. Perfect. Yay. Okay, so yes, I am very new. I have been self employed now for a couple of years. And I'm a clinical psychologist, I worked for many, many years in the health service in the UK. And then I had really sudden death, my husband died in 2018, which was really, you know, devastating in terms of, you know, all the things that you're trying to do in your life, and you just never expected that these things. And so it really led me to have in this moment of clarity around life is far too short. And I am not going to spend it, you know, working in ways that I don't necessarily want to. So I left I've been doing this for a couple of years. And I've been thinking about how I can scale my work for a very long time, almost from the beginning, that I've just been really scared as to oh, what does psychology look like within the online space? That still professional, but relates to people? Well, and I've stalled on it for that long? I think. So yeah. So that's where you find me really? At the very start of my online journey.

[07:47] Yeah. And so what was there any catalysts? Like you've been doing it for a couple of years face to face? What was the catalyst to then go? You know, what, enough is enough? I'm gonna take it online. 

[08:00] Yeah. So I mean, like many people for meeting now, it was the pandemic. So I had like one to one therapy space, and that was working well. And I really quickly had to pivot and just get online, get on Zoom, and just provide the support that way that people could receive it. And very quickly realized this works. It works well, and it works for my family life. I've got five kids at home. And I was just like, I need to do this for my kids. Yeah, yeah. So I, lady. So I have three, three of my own kids, and then two step kids. And we're living in a blended family all together all the time. So online really worked for my life.

[08:45] Wow, what a huge and I was talking the other day and going like not everyone's 24 hours are the same. Yeah, ours are not the same lives.

[08:55] There really are no and I've had to learn to be really compassionate with myself about that, because I'm naturally quite Devin and a hard worker. But right now it's the summer holidays. And there's only so much I can do within hours that I have. And I just have to be really keen to myself.

[09:14] Okay, and so you've got started. So you've only you've only started like a few months ago. So it jumped 10 delay. Yes. So pretty rare knew what, like when you first come in. And when you first get into this world, whether it's in Her Empire Builder or any sort of coming into the online space, it can be very overwhelming with wanting to do all the things and going you know what, I've got to build my list. I've got to get on social media. I've got to start a podcast. I've got to run webinars like what even is a webinar like all of that different stuff, not to mention all the tech side with building websites and all that. How have you prioritize what you're going to start with and dealt with? One thing at a time?

[09:59] Yeah. So, I mean, I think I've been relatively lucky. And that because I've been working for a couple of years in the online space. And even though my therapy was sort of face to face, I've done a lot of the building up my knowledge of Instagram and Facebook and the marketing side, and I've done some business stuff already. I think I just got to a point when I realized I needed to level up and scale. So there's things that I'm fairly confident about webinars doing that kind of stuff. And there's things that I know pushing into, like podcasting, more content marketing that I'm less comfortable with. So I'm just trying to take it one step at a time and sort of learn as I go. And if that's the one thing for me, I have had to really fight that urge over perfectionism. And just dig in, get it done, and just see what the results are and learn as I go.

[10:51] What was the first thing that you did?

[10:55] Um, in terms of like, when I first started my therapy journey was

[10:59] You created like your lead magnet pipeline, wasn't it? Was that the first thing?

[11:03] Absolutely. Yeah. So I so I, I'll tell you a little bit about how I found you so far as a nice Duffield Thomas for years. I've never done any boot camp I've done sort of, I've read all of her books and all of her stuff. And I think she posted your book to her story. And I was like, that's what I need. I need Tina Tower in my life. I read the book and realized how simple and straightforward it was I just followed the steps. And so I jumped into your challenge in April. And I was doing that for my little holiday with my kids getting up in the middle of the night. Yeah, and it was a lead magnet. So that's the first thing that I did. And I think for a long time, I really did not understand the language of funnels and lead magnets. And it really sort of stalled me for a long time. And I think what you've done for me is simplify that and make that seem achievable.

[11:58] I love that that's like music to my ears. That makes me very, very happy. Because I do think over complicated by a lot of people. And you know, I mean, it's always hard until you know the right button to press. But then once you know how to do it, you go, Oh, okay. And then it's the whole lot of, okay, I've got all the ideas in the world, how am I going to get time to implement it? So I want to ask you about that. Because that's true for everybody. And especially a woman with five kids. Yeah, yeah. How do you fit that in? Like do you have? Do you have set times and set routine? Or are you stealing pockets of time where you can like, how do you manage all of that?

[12:36] Yeah, so I'm getting better, I think at blocking a my time. And that was a struggle, even from NHS days. But yeah, so I try to time block things at the moment that's out of the window, because my kids are all home for summer holidays. But that's one of the strategies that I have. And the other is just like, I'm still in pockets of time where there can and I'll work in the evenings if I need to. But what's interesting about this, I love this work so much that it never really feels like work. I feel like I'm playing

[13:11] Yeah, I still feel like that.

[13:15] Like, I really do love it. I really do love all this sort of putting myself out there and getting visible. And boy, it's a struggle. Sometimes the visibility can be hard. And I worry about the professionalism of it. And you know, that's a whole other podcast episode. But yeah, I do love it. So that helps

[13:32] that because you're certainly not alone in the struggle of the visibility. How, like, how are you going with that in terms of because you probably never put a phone in front of your face and go live or Instagram stories until you went into business? Right?

[13:48] Yeah, no, I really never did. And, initially for me what it was, you know, I started writing after the death of my husband. And then I started sort of saying, my blogs and the things I was writing about my experiences on my personal Facebook page. And then lots of people were saying, Wow, this is really resonating with me. And I thought, You know what, like, I should just get the business page up and running, I should start talking about grief. I know it both professionally and personally. And so that was the beginning and honestly like the first so our blogs or posts I put up I'd be sat there thinking I want to delete it, I want to delete it. Just that sort of vulnerability hangover was really painful. And now that that's gone now, there's only occasionally times where it feels like that. More now when I'm feeling that I'm leveling up. It's a sense of what if someone tries to tear me down? What if, you know, someone sees that I'm doing well, and they don't like that. And you know, there's all those sort of worries and fears that I'm trying to get over. And that's a different space than what I was in two years ago.

[14:53] Yeah, and this is the thing I think as we go along, there's always like that next level and then going oh, Okay, here's a membership block that's coming in that I didn't know was there. And then you master that and you go up to the next level, and there's a whole new one. Okay, here's the next thing. And I think business is like, the greatest personal development you could ever do in your life, because you never, like, if you don't challenge yourself and grow at the rate that you do, you're forced to do when you were want to run a successful business. You never really discover all of those pockets of yourself as well. 

[15:31] Yeah, absolutely. And I think I always knew that there was going to be more blocks and more hurdles. But I think when you get there, you're like, Oh, right. And it's, it's having that constant drive, and that constant motivation to keep going. And I know you talk about that a lot, you know. And I, you know, there's a whole lot of them come out since I've joined Her Empire Builder, for sure. You've seen some of my posts about, about those things, and about money and the struggle of it and all that kind of stuff.

[15:59] And so, what you've been working on so far is getting that foundation laid, you've got the lead magnet, you're getting on some podcasts, you're going to launch your own podcast, which I'm super psyched about. When is the first live launch that you're going to do?

[16:13] So I am launching September, I need to sit down and do my timeline for all of us listen to you there first of all, um, yesterday about that. So get it all planned out. But what I've decided to do is go evergreen and do it a bit late. Denise Duffield Thomas doesn't so far has not yet quite so pressured launch, at least then nationally. And that feels like a nice balance for me. So I'm going to launch in September, but I am already open for my online course. And I have a few people have jumped in already, which is lovely. Because I'm like, okay, the market has tasted that are people out there who are going to pay that price and pay me for this work?

[16:53] What was the first set, how long ago did the first sale happen? And talk about just that.

[17:01] So it was just a few days ago, and one of my beautiful followers online who I think is really new to my world, and had joined a webinar that I'd done like last month, and they kept in touch with me and saw came up and just kind of said, I'm jumping in, and then another person a few days later. And it just I think I'd been sat stalling like I hadn't been marketing. I've done a bit and got the appointment, I have my sales page, and I have my pacing. And it was all done in Kajabi. And then I stopped. And then I you know, they jumped in. And then I was like, right, come on. Just I need to keep going. It's keeping that momentum and really believing that it's gonna work is gonna happen.

[17:43] Yeah. And I think there's an element to of like proving it to yourself, as well. Reliable and happening. I still remember the first time that the first sale came in, and I was like, Oh my gosh, it's here. Yeah. So instead, like the first one, I think is the hardest after that. You go through it. I mean, a friend of mine just sold his business last week for eight figures. Very successful sale. And I was talking to him about like, what was the most successful moment that you've you've had in business, like, do you and for him, it was like when he hit his first million that was really significant for him. He's like after that. Nothing kind of top down. And for me, like my first launch, I made $11,000. And literally nothing has talked to the excitement of that. Because yeah, I'm kind of seeing what's possible. And then you're you're totally sold mentally on everything you can create in the future.

[18:43] Yeah, like I think that's 100% True. And yeah, that first deal was significant. I feel like my launch in September will be significant. But even the fact I've now got my little community. And my Facebook group is only a couple of people. What I've done is because I've learned I've lived I've done this program live if you like before, and this is just moving on, so on linkbase I've taken some of my graduates and put them into this community group. Nice. So I've got my little Yeah, yeah, so it's there as forum there's a group of us and I'm like how like as possible. And I think for a long time I sat in that place of I'm just not sure I can do this. I'm not sure it's possible for me all of those things. So yeah, I'm excited.

[19:25] And what is I like I'm even more interested in this answer, because you're a psychologist as well. But what do you do mentally to get over that when you know there's something that you need to do in the business that you feeling resistance against that you know, is going to bring you that result, but you just don't want to do it? How do you bring yourself to do the thing that you know you have to do? 

[19:48] Ya like I think I just have a really good old word with myself like actually, genuinely, you know I recognize and that internal voice I think is so important that I talk to my clients about that all the time. And I was really aware of it like, before those sales came in. And I just remember, like sitting down one morning and having a word with myself and be like, come on this, this, this just sell, you know, like, we just need to get over this hump. And, and it was when I've had that sort of conversation and really thought about the way of why I'm doing this, that the seal then came in. And it's belt that the meantime and now I think the you know, the next hurdle I think will be launched and what that feels like, and I have my goal and I my income and I that and what I want to achieve. And yeah, but yeah, just having a good word with yourself.

[20:44] Either for you with that. And I do think that that is that is so true. And I think it gets easier. It's like a muscle that gets easier as we go like I I very rarely procrastinate like there's nothing really that stops me from doing things. And I think that I've been in business since I was 20. So a baby. But I have no fear of failure. Because I've done it enough times things haven't worked out. I've been disappointed. I have not hit goals, all of that so many times that I know it's actually not that big a deal. And you just do better on the next time. But at the beginning things can seem so absolute and so affirming whether positive or negative. How have you gone with the with the entry into it in trying to not put too much pressure on yourself?

[21:36] Yeah, I mean, as you're talking about this, the big moment for me, I think was a couple of years ago when I was sat with my resignation letter in an envelope. Yes. Like literally sat there looking at it. I mean, I wrote it a few months before I was gonna leave. And I kept looking at it and taking out my drawer and and made them myself. And I do use visualization a lot to get me to the place of like doing the thing that I know is the scariest thing. And but that was such a pivotal moment for me of going right. I know I'm leaving. And that's saying like, what I'm leaving is safety and security. And all I've known because that's why I've been training since I was 19 and the field of psychology, similar to you in business, and it felt so unsafe and so insecure. But I just remember saying to myself two things. One is what's the worst that could happen? And secondly, I can always come back. And just like you're saying, like it was that sense of like, oh, this is it forever? This is an absolutely. And it just doesn't have to be like that. Yeah. And so that for me, you know, as part of it. And, you know, when I was thinking about what the online course should be and how that would look. And I just I really took clay after the challenge in April, because I was like I could spend weeks, months years thinking about what this would be, and I'm just not going to do it. I just need to get the domain, get going and get some content and see what happens. And I can grow as I go.

[23:11] I'm so glad that you did. Because there's a lot of people that will be helped so much, both by your professional and your personal experiences in there as well. But I would love to know, What is the vision that you have for the business in a year for that to look successful to you? What what does that look like for you?

[23:31] Yeah, I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? Because I feel like I'm, I'm definitely still growing and thinking about the vision. But I think next year, what I would love is to be able to see I have doubled my income. I would like to be able to say that I have impacted, I think more women than men just because that's the way it's going. And that has been interesting for me because more of my career I've worked with me and actually in Pleasant BC things is interesting, that shift to women. And yeah, like I just have this real sense that cycle access to psychological support and good psychological support is not easy. I don't know what's going on in Australia. But in the UK, the pandemic has really affected people's access to psychological support. And self help gets this really sort of bad rap. It's just a bit beige and a bit boring. And I'm like, I don't want to. I want to give people this is amazing work. And it's lifetime work. And if you really lean into it, it can be transformational. And that for me is what this version is.

[24:38] I love that. Okay, my final question for you. What's your favorite thing about being part of her Empire Builder?

[24:47] Oh my gosh. Well, I've listened to so many of your podcasts episode, so I'm going to be like pretty similar to people sitting out but for me, it has been the connection in the community already. And I want to give a shout out to M G. So I was having a bit of a mindset moment of scarcity and all those kind of things and I'm working my way through that. But bless her, she reached out she sent me her book she, you know, personalized message, you are unstoppable already. And I just think I've not always had that model of women in my life being that way. And so that's what I love about it is women holding each other up and holding each other to a cane, and really trying to rise together? That for me is what Her Empire Builder is.

[25:33] it's absolutely my favorite thing about it is seeing people lift each other up and the deals that happen in terms of people being on one another's podcasts and in partnerships and promoting one another like it is my goal when I started was collaboration over competition. And that is not just like a fun byline, it's actually much harder than it sounds to keep them in a culture. And it's so good. So yeah. You're there in the UK, like it's a big world, there is space for soul,

[26:06] There is. I think, but I love what you say about that that collaboration over competition. Yeah, absolutely. But it is harder. And it is, you know, I bet there's many members, and I'll count myself in that. When you see people doing well, you compare yourself and it feels icky. It doesn't feel nice all the time. And it's easier to sit in that place of judgment sometimes and it as to look on that with, you know, cane days.

[26:35] And so I said, final question, but I'm going to ask you this as well, because, you know, I've got a psychologist here, and I'm going, Hey, how do you? How do you not psych out in the beginning, from that comparison it is because I do know, so many people psych out or take so much longer because they get down on themselves about going well, they can do that. Because you know, the perception of they have this and this and this that I don't have, which means they're going to do well. And I'm not how do you psych out of that?

[27:07] Yeah, I mean, for me, and I talk to my clients about this a lot. It's about he can you know what psychologists that might, you might hear them talking about as he can radical responsibility for yourself. Like, I'm not responsible for anyone else's success, or anyone what they're doing in the world, I'm responsible only for me, and what I'm choosing and that moment. And so if I find myself doing that, I'm much better at it than I used to be just recognizing stopping and just reframing it all and moving forward, keep moving forward, always. Because it's frustrating when you look back and you think I only just started earlier, if I only started this last year or the year before, you know,

[27:49] you know, that's the biggest thing that I hear from people in like when I asked what was the hardest part or different things and they're like, you know, I've sat on the sidelines, like two years, I could have been where that person was at. I just got started, which but I mean, I still think better now than never.

[28:07] Yeah. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And what's that point is like the best best time to plant a tree was 10 years ago, and the next best time?

[28:15] Yeah, because there is so many people. I mean, I wrote a book called one life because I very much believe that, you know, we have one life and so many people put off their dreams, and it breaks my heart to see how much I mean, I know how well you know this, but how we never know when life is going to end. And I don't think we're given a dream by accident. And I think that if it's there, like like you said before, what's the worst that can happen? Go after it, go get it and get some joy?

[28:43] Yeah, no, absolutely. And life is short. So why we start doing things that are not aligned or don't make you feel good, or, you know, whatever. And actually, the last thing I'll say, it's interesting, you talking about jumping in scenario. So I did the challenge in April, and didn't join her Empire Builder. It just felt too soon and too scary. And how was I going to pay for it and all of those things. And then there was a sneaky little apparent

[29:06] here in Australia. Yeah.

[29:09] Because I thought if I wait till September, like what why am I wait until September? I can be launched by September if I start now. And so yeah, I do try to

[29:19]

Good for you for like recognizing that and doing it because that would have been frustrating when it closed in April. And you're like, oh yeah. So happy to have you with us and I cannot wait to see everything that you achieve in the next year. It's going to be absolutely massive.

[29:39] Oh, thank you for having me, Tina.

[29:41] Thanks, Laura. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of Her Empire Builder. If you loved it, please share it on Instagram for your friends and be sure to tag me @tina_tower so I can say thank you. And if you really want to deliver me smiles you can pop on review on Apple podcasts. I would love to hear from you. So if you have any questions at all, email me at podcast@tina tower.com. And if you would like to work with me further, all of the free resources and my courses can be found at tinatower.com. Now, I truly hope this podcast gives me so much value and you can use it to dream big, plan well and take massive action in building your very own empire. That's just for you. Have the greatest day