(upbeat music) Success looks so easy from the outside, but all successful people have had to overcoming enormous obstacles along the way. And in many cases, look failure right in the eye. Most successful people don't focus on the struggle and they rarely talk about it because that's not what creates success. Join us here. Where we'll chat with serial entrepreneurs, both men and women, and share the good, the bad, and the ugly of entrepreneurship. We'll talk about the obstacles we face and how to overcome them to reach the success that you desire. I am your host, Cammy Lehman, and this is She's Invincible. (upbeat music) Hey everyone, thank you so much for joining us today on She's Invincible. And do we have an Invincible one to introduce you to today? Hannah Van Vlee is an Operations Manager, Marketing Specialist and Virtual Assistant with a strong background in startups. With her bachelor's degree in communication, Hannah is known for her hands-on approach and adaptability. She excels in social media marketing, email marketing, website design, operations management, CRM systems, and optimizing SOPs. A California native now enjoying life in Denver, Colorado. Hannah spends her free time skiing, camping, reading, playing pickleball, and various other outdoor pursuits. Oh my gosh, Hannah, welcome to She's Invincible. I am so excited to have you with us today. - Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here. - Oh, oh, so fun, you know, and it's so funny because you were here from before the beginning. (laughs) It's like if we were writing a Bible, it would say in the beginning, because honestly you were at the start of all of this and even before that in my other business. And this month we've been featuring our support team because I feel like it's so important. And I can't think of anyone I would rather spotlight than the rock stars, superheroes, with superpowers that I have here supporting me that allow me to do what I do. So thank you. Thank you from the bottom of a very grateful heart for all that you do, for me personally and for She's Invincible, for all of us across the board and the brand. Thank you. - Oh my gosh, yes, it's been an honor and such a fun journey. - Well, now it's your turn. Like Levi said last week, it's my turn, now it's your turn. So, oh my gosh, tell us, how in the world did you get where you are today and what makes you invincible? - Yeah, so I grew up in California, went to UC Santa Barbara and studied communication. While I was in college, I worked many jobs from like a nanny, I worked on campus. And actually when I was in college, Tammy and I connected and she said, "Hey, I need a website." And I was like, "Oh, perfect." I didn't get a little extra money here and start, you know, honing my real skills. After college, I got a job with a startup company and right after the pandemic hit, I got laid off and I was like, "What am I gonna do?" And during that time, Tammy and I were still working together, working on her businesses. And I was like, "Wait, this is a great opportunity to get more clients, be a entrepreneur and really hone this business and work for myself." So that's kind of what I started doing. And we brought my year now almost two years later and I've gone to work with so many great people and help with their businesses. And it's been a blast. - I love that story. Oh my gosh, not the part where you got laid off, but the part where you did, you actually built two websites for me and you've been maintaining my websites and updating them, you do my newsletter every month. My email campaigns, you helped with my book launch. Oh my gosh, girl. You have been such a huge player in the success that we've had here in my personal success and I appreciate you so, so much. So, and you've saved me in Calendly. (laughs) Oh my gosh. And all the things, all the apps, even today, right? When Zoom decided to upgrade us and put us in this new room and we couldn't even find the record button, you guys. Oh my gosh, it's insane. So I feel like once I finally learn it all, they change it and that's where you come in every time. I'm like, I used to know how to do this. So, okay, let's do this. Tell us what makes you invincible. - Yeah, I think going off that really is my adaptability and just always figuring out how to make something work. Whether that be like my career, a Zoom app where the record button is, how to help a client, you know, figure out some tricky problem. I always just say throw it my way off. Probably be able to figure it out. - I love that adaptability. That's huge and you know, you're so calm. Like, I'm so frantic, you're perfect for me and for all the frantic entrepreneurs out there because you're so calm, nothing is a big deal. I'm like, oh my gosh, they just charge me $450 and you're like, oh, we'll take care of it. - Yeah. - And I love that about you, I love it. Well, today I'm so excited to talk to you about streamlining business processes for small business owners. And as we already mentioned in your bio, you know, your strength, for sure, I think you're so strong in startups. You've done a few startups with me. I think three actually over the last couple of years and it's been such, it really wasn't the change maker. It was a difference of whether I would actually get a business off the ground or not because you can do all the things that I can't. And I just am so appreciative of that. And I cannot express enough to other entrepreneurs, stop trying to do it all yourself. It costs you more money to try to do it yourself than it does to pay somebody who's an expert who can do it in a millisecond of the time, right? Like I could spend two days trying to figure out a glitch on my calendar app and you're like in 20 seconds, oh, you just do this and this and this and it's done. So trust me when I say people, it costs you way more money even in time and energy. So let's jump in on this, Hannah. Tell us a little bit about the streamlining business processes. I personally know they're important. Let's tell our audience, why is this important? - Yeah, I feel super passionate about these entrepreneurs starting these businesses, they have great ideas. And like you said, some can just get really bogged down with the technical side or the marketing side and just how to run the business. I think it's super important, you know, there are so many ways to automate processes. It's like, that's the language of my heart is, you know, how can we work less and do a better, you know, work smarter and a harder, all the things. So just getting, having it, even just an outside perspective to see how, you know, we can improve the process of your business and really just freeing up time for business owners to do what they do best and eventually grow their business and not waste time, you know, having things in an Excel file. - Which I'm not good at, oh my gosh. - Or I do it and then I lose it and can't find it again. So I can't tell you how important it is for you to be a part of my life and my business. So let's talk about what are you finding are the most effective processes right now for these small business owners or startups? Like what are you finding yourself like really digging into? Where's the first place to look? And what's the most important thing? Let's have a little, you know, top three here. - Yeah, I would say one of the top ones, really for most businesses is if you can implement a CRM. So implementing something where you can put all your customers and make sure you're reaching them all and not, you know, digging through documents to see when the last time you reached out or, you know, when, how they contacted you, it's so easy to, you know, there's millions of CRM systems out there probably now. So just being able to run reports, see who your, you know, best prospects are or anything from just sending them emails and making sure they're tracked. And it's not, you know, just willy-nilly, sending them like that. And same kind of goes for even social media. I think people can spend so much time on it. And there's so many ways to really hone that in and schedule it, not let it take up your whole time. 'Cause at the end of the day, you have more important things to be doing than, you know, just trying to write a caption for Instagram. So of course it's important, but there's ways to, you know, just schedule it out, get it done on a Monday. And then you're good to go on for the rest of the week. I love that. So talk to me a little bit about social media because I do consider you to be very knowledgeable. What are some of the do's and don'ts when you are promoting your business and your brand on social media? Yeah, I think really just for social media and especially, you know, how we've all become more accustomed to it lately is just being really authentic to you and your brand. I think people can really tell now when something is put on a story and it's not really you. People really connect with authenticity and showing, you know, what you really have to offer. And I think, you know, especially with all of my clients, they are also unique and have something super special to offer. So if your potential clients can see that as well, it's so important to, you know, have your own community 'cause you don't wanna attract people that is based off this facade, you know, of what you can offer them. But if it's truly, you know, authentic to you, I think that's so important. And just having being consistent, of course, is important as well. And kind of showing like a wide range of things. You know, you don't want your Instagram to all look completely the same of just like the same infographic. Like have some fun show, you know, what everything that makes you and your business special. Those are great, great tips. So when you say consistent, what to you as an expert, what would you say consistency looks like? Is it three times a week, five times a week, every single day? Yeah, I think it also kind of goes back to that authenticity. If you have a lot to say, go for it once a day. It's better to be, you know, putting out quality information rather than just trying to bump out stuff because someone has told you that you should be posting once a day. And then definitely just, you know, a range of what your media looks like. So whether it's just an infographic on the grid, a real stories are really important with like building connections with people because you can kind of show more of that day to day or fun little quick tips and there's not as much pressure. So whatever, you know, feels good for you and just making sure it's quality and authentic. And still on consistency, does it matter what time of day? Should you be posting the same time every time? And what is really the trick to that? Yeah, you know, we can always try to beat the Instagram monster and the algorithm. There's definitely better times and, you know, a social media manager could definitely look at your insights and just to see when your audience is online. But most of the time, the other is gonna be like a better time of the day for your audience. And I've heard this phrase called don't post and ghost. So let's talk a little bit about that and how we work with that algorithm. Yeah, so safer. I mean, even huge companies now these days are being really interactive with their audience. And it's so fun, you know, if I were to see a post in a Nike or something as commenting back or they're even like being comical with it now and we'll come out and other stuff, just important, you know, like I said earlier, you are a human behind your business and you want to make connections with people and really let people see that there is a heart behind your business. And I know there is and it's just showing that. So interacting with your audience, commenting back, commenting in general, watching their stories, saying, hey, like love this idea too. You know, just building that community. That's what I think social media is for. And some people can think for their business like, oh, I'm just advertising, advertising, advertising. But think of how you would use it yourself. You know, it is a very interactive platform and we should take advantage of that. I love that. And is there one social media platform that's better than the other? I know that changes all the time and there's so much to consider. But what are you finding is like where your clients are finding the best results? - Yeah, it always changes, but I think, you know, Instagram and Facebook are just gonna be number one for now. Of course, TikTok is like the new and mighty thing on the scene. Like I said though, it depends on your audience. You know, if you have a retirement home community, I would say, you know, let's stray away from the TikTok. But if you, you know, if your audience is younger then let's try it. That is awesome. Great advice. Okay, talk to me about email marketing for a new entrepreneur who is trying to grow their email list. Let's talk about one. What is the best, most efficient and quick way to grow your email list? Give us some ideas around that. - Yeah, I find great, you know, having some sort of opt-in on your website or even if you're in person, like anywhere you can get people to opt in, but offering them something, you know, in place for them to opt in. So offering them like a little freebie, an introductory call, you know, anything that you can give them. Some people do like great little interactive things. Like if you do a little planner or something, it's so great because then it's now becoming a relationship versus like, oh, let me just send you all my emails. You know, they are kind of getting something out of everything. So I think that's a great way to grow the email list. And then keeping it consistent and keeping people subscribed is like I said earlier, being authentic in your emails and like really showing them, this is what I wanna offer you. This is what we have and not just spamming them. We're like, oh, I guess I need to send an email this week but you have something to say and you have something that, you know, you wanna give your audience. - I love it. All right, talk to me about newsletters because man, we're killing it with ours. So the results and I don't even know if I shared this with you but when we started putting out the newsletters on a monthly basis in the fall, my podcast numbers skyrocketed. - Oh my god. - Yeah, so I feel like if you're a podcaster and you're listening to this today and you're wanting to grow your reach and you're following and podcasting and you're, you know, for your followers, get a newsletter together. And so what we do is I wanna create this beautiful newsletter template and each month we go in and we spotlight the month before episodes with clickable buttons that take them right to the episode. So if they're intrigued on the newsletter, they can go right in. Well, that click rate, I don't know if I can be able to tell other than just the dates that the newsletter goes out. And then that week is when I see like this huge burst. So, but that's one way, but tell me a little bit and our listeners about how you're utilizing these newsletters for communication with a lot of other business donors. - Yeah, so newsletters have been kind of up and down. They've been around for a while as I'm sure everyone knows. The recent popularity has been great because some people are getting kind of bogged down by social media. So they're a great way to kind of give a personal touch, send personal offers. And, you know, be able to get a little more in depth about your business. You're also great 'cause you can be a little more long form, have links where people can go other places as well. It's always a little easier. You know, I love reading a newsletter about something that can help inform me to and be educational. So it really depends on your business. But like Kimmy said, if you're promoting your podcast, you can give them a little glimpse and then they're like, "Oh, actually, this is really interesting." And then Kimmy's is always great too because she adds a personal note, you know, add some tips. So it can really, even if you've already listened to the podcast episodes, it's interesting to open and read. And, you know, you wanna be clued into what she has to say. - I love it. And I think the thing I love about newsletters, which you nailed for me, but I think when other people are sending them to me, I love clickable links. Don't just tell me something and then I gotta go find it. I wanna be able to click right where I am and go right to it. Because if I say, "Oh, I'll do it later," I never, later, never comes and it gets lost in my email. So I love those clickable links and how they take people right to wherever it is. They wanna go in that moment 'cause we're moment people, right? We're all like in the moment. Like, I wanna do this right now. And so I love that you do that. And like I said, it's so great. I mean, it helped me launch my book. It helped me, it helps me with my podcast. It helps me with my events. It is, I think it's so important. And we just added a new one, which I love, which is our badges, right? So that's coming soon, you guys, if you're gonna be getting the newsletter soon. And so that was a new thing that we added this week. And so I just love it though. And I love that it's always evolving, right? It doesn't have to be the same. We can always add things and change things up. And I think that's so important because I know when I read the same thing over and over again, I get totally bored and then I stop hoping it. So, you know, I love to have that curiosity of like, oh, what did she say this time? Which is why I love to do those like personal summaries or recaps and I like to make it real, right? Like, hey, this is where I am. This is what we're doing. This is what's going on. Big things are coming, things like that. I think that it builds excitement for not just me, but for everyone. And I love that too. So thank you Hannah for that. It's amazing. You do such a great job. And I would love to move on to website tips because as we talked about, you've built two entire websites from scratch for me. And of course, you take care of the one I have and you just do an amazing job. But what I love about you is that you always have great ideas, right? Like, I can take a great idea and make it better, but I'm not the one who creates the first initial great idea. And I love that that how you think. I think you're an amazing writer. You're really good with words. So like, I'll send you what I want. And you're like, how does this sound? And I love that because it sounds better, right? So I love those things that you do that support me and make me more professional, make my content better. But give us some tips about websites. What should every website have without fail? - I think someone, you know, we're living in such a quick pace environment. It's really important when someone comes to your website within seconds, they need to be able to tell what you're doing and what you're about, who you are, et cetera. There's so many where you get kind of lost and you're scrolling around like, wait, what does this person even do? They're being kind of vague. They say people are average on a website for like three seconds. So you want to make sure, you know, whether you have that opt in that pops up and they're like, oh, great, I can, you know, get this for free, sign up for their mailing list, learn a little more. And then immediately know what they're getting into. You don't want them to be searching around and looking around everywhere, trying to figure out what you do. - I love that. Anything else that you think is important? Like, do you know, should people just have this? Should they have PDF? Should they have video? I, of course, clickable links, right? You know, I'm the queen of clickable links. I want you to be able to click and find whatever you need. But what other things are important? - It's really important as well for your SEO to have links to other websites. Like, Tammy said, yeah, links are great. Also links across your website, super easy to navigate. Videos are great. Whatever is authentic to your business and what you have to offer, don't put a video on there if you aren't really into video content, you know, there's so many ways for people to learn about your business. But having it super easy to navigate and having your offer, what you provide, super available is great. And it also makes it personable, you know, don't just say like, oh, selling shampoo or something, you know, you wanna, you wanna also give a story and you have that space on a website to be a little more long form. And, you know, they'll get to know you and they will spend more time on your website if they see it's personable and it's not, you know, too salesy. So there's always something about striking a balance there. - I love that. All right. And SOPs, first of all, a lot of people don't even know what SOPs are. So let's start there. What is an SOP? - Yeah, standing, operating procedures is kind of just everything we've talked about before and making sure, you know, they are standardized and you are really optimizing how those work in your processes. So when you're running your business every day, you're not like, oh, you know, running around with a chicken, like a chicken with your head cut off. You know how things are gonna work. You know your emails are gonna be sent out. You know how your social media is gonna work. You know, you know, you have all your clients set up and you're not worried about your follow-ups. Like, oh, who do I need to follow up with today? So having, you know, all these systems set in place can really help and just clear up space for your businesses. I don't think we touch on follow-ups so much, but I think that's super important and can take up so much time if you don't have it set up. So that's where a CRM can really come in hand and you can really automate it all. So you can go in and say, okay, I talked to Kami on September 1st. I'm gonna follow up on September 15th. You don't have to make a note in your calendar to do that. It'll, you know, remind you and even do it automatically when you're ready. So just having those things optimized and automated really helped. - Perfect. So nobody falls through the cracks, right? Because I find I have so many conversations about podcast school and people that want to start a podcast, but I only do a few launches a year. So, but I have conversations all year. So I think I need to get one of those set up now with you. Yes, because I'm like, okay, we're gonna, we're gonna open up for the next launch. And I'm like, now, who did I talk to? Like, I'm gonna go back through my calendar and be like, which one of these conversations was for podcast school? So yeah, I think it's time that we move into that next level to Anna because I'm ready for that. - Yes, yes, I love that. Anything else that we didn't cover that you feel like it's important for entrepreneurs to know when it comes to startups and the communication and all these things. - Yeah, I just want to really emphasize, you know, and like you said at the very beginning of this conversation, I think it can be intimidating to bring someone on or have an outside perspective. You know, your business is your baby, especially when it's just starting. But the value of getting that perspective and hopefully freeing up a ton of your time, I think is truly invaluable if it allows you to, you know, put yourself back in your business and you're not worried about the Excel files and the follow-ups and how to change this picture on your website. And it can look so different. So you can, you know, some people have a virtual assistant. Some people just have someone come on for a couple months and get them figured out. And ideally, systems are set up that we can just hand them to you and you can now run it yourself. You know, it's not something that you need someone on 24/7. That's kind of the point of these processes just to keep everything automated and have you good to go. - I love it. But I love having you on 24/7 someone. I don't think that'll ever end, I hope not. But this is so good. And what a great opportunity for the overworked and burnout entrepreneurs to turn over some of these things that don't bring them joy and just cause stress. I'm that person, raise your hand if you're that person. Hannah, let's tell people where they can find you if they're raising their hand right now. - Yeah, yeah. And so the best way to reach out to me is on LinkedIn. That's just where I keep all of my business and all my connections. Love LinkedIn. - Love it. So we'll have the link in the show notes as you're listening. Just click the link and it'll take you right to Hannah and her LinkedIn, where you can start following and connecting with her and have the conversation around how she can support you in your business journey. Oh my gosh, Hannah, this is so fun. And thank you for allowing me to spotlight you as one of our support team, very, very important. And especially you were like the first, right? So if it wasn't for you, I don't know where I'd be. But thank you so much. Thank you for being invincible, for weathering the storms, right? That the pandemic brought you, we're young, you were just getting out of college and just finding your way and look at you now. I think this is so cool. Just to have watched you evolve into who you are today and what you do. And it has just been such a joy for me. - You have moved from fighting cancer to discovering how to live beyond it. But what now? With so many emotional side effects still unknown, as a new survivor, you find yourself in a void as you navigate through the isolation, fear, and an uncertain future that can overshadow you and your family for years to come. Instead of focusing on the uncertainty of cancer, consider how strong and determined you are and think of the strength demonstrated by those who stood beside you through it all. Consider this. You now get to choose who you want to be and what your intentional, fulfilled life can look like. You made it through treatment. We can help you define yourself as a survivor. We're here to help you through this moment, to walk beside you as you shift your mindset from counting the days of life to creating a legacy. For more information, visit www.adventuretherapyfoundation.org or contact us at info@adventurefound.org. - So, you know, on She the Vintable, we promise our listeners that we're gonna bring them fierce entrepreneurs and we're gonna share their expert zone of genius. Oh my gosh, you did that so well. You gained so much information today. Thank you for that because that really will help people to see like, what do I need to be doing? How can I make this thing grow and not have to do it all myself, which it's, you can't grow as big as you could grow if you're doing it all yourself. We know that. - Yeah. - Yeah, it doesn't take long to figure that out when you're up at 3 a.m., right? Cleaning out your email box because you can't do it all. But we also promise them that we're also gonna pull back the curtain and we're gonna share the good, the bad and the ugly of the journey. See, everyone probably looks at you and thinks, oh, she's so lucky. She's young, she gets a work from home and she gets to do all these fun things, but luck has nothing to do with it. So I would love to share some stories now of the journey that you took to the place you are today. Are you ready to tell some stories? - Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. - Awesome. Okay, I love to talk about the good or the greatest part because that's always fun for me. So tell us a story about the good or the greatest part of your journey so far. - Yeah, truly, I have had such a great time connecting with other entrepreneurs, especially female entrepreneurs. We live in a time, women can be really competitive and caddy and dramatic and all the things, but it's been so enlightening and like softening of my heart, making these connections and realizing, we're really all there to support each other and it's not competitive, especially coming from a more corporate background. No, everyone's just trying to climb the ladder, but making these connections is really, just opened my eyes to see that there's so much more and there's room for everyone at the top and I wanna bring everyone with me to the top. So yeah, it's just been so great. It's not like what it is in the movies. You know, we can all have fun and support each other in businesses and make genuine connections even if it's over Zoom. I love that so much. You know, I see that like in commission-based businesses and in corporate where there's a corporate structure, where people will be doing really well and they don't wanna share their secrets because they don't wanna lose their position. And it's so true what you're saying here in entrepreneurship, we're like, we just wanna take everybody with us. We're like, here, try this, do that. This works for me. We're really trying to lift, you know, they say the rising tide lifts all ships, right? Then so, and that's really what that is in the world. And I love that you're seeing that at an early time in your career because a lot of us, where I am today, we spent 10, 20 years in that structure and then we figured it out, right? And now we know better. But you're learning that early on and I think that's gonna really serve you well. And especially that you'll be able to share with others so much. All right, that's fun, right? So tell me about the bed. We're gonna save the ugly for last. But tell me about the bed part of the journey. - The challenging part that I have found in, you know, since I've started my own business in helping people with theirs is the work life balance has kind of been hard to strike. Like I said, coming from a corporate world, you know, you're working nine to five but then a lot of times you get the luxury of turning it off at five and not worrying about it anymore. As an entrepreneur, you know, sure people can relate if there's something to do. You're gonna kind of be distracted by it in your off time and think like, oh, I just need to get it done. I need to get it done. And especially living in Denver, it's so great. Everyone has a great work life balance here. There's always something going on like every day of the wait. So finding out, you know, how to prioritize, get my work done, what can wait and those types of things has been a challenge. But, you know, of course, it's a park too. I can go on a hike on a Monday morning if I get my work done Sunday night or work a little later Monday evening. So just figuring out that balance was hard at first, for sure. - I love it. It's true, right? And in every transition, there's something. So there's always a challenge. All right, tell us about the ugly. - Yeah, so right after the pandemic, I found myself with a job that wasn't really leading anywhere. We were going through some struggles as everyone was and they ended up laying off the whole marketing team. It was really tough. I was pretty blindsided. I had been with them for three years. We were a super small company. So it did feel like family. And I was really reminded, you know, some of these like more corporate companies, you're not really family. So just, you know, keeping yourself on your toes. I found myself with not a huge community around me. I was pretty lost and know what I would do. So that was just tough, but, you know, leaning on the community that I did have. Thankfully, I had some clients already, like Kami, for example, one of my first, really helped me realize, you know, there's more to it. It's not the end of the world. World goes on. So yeah, we figured it out, but it was tough there for a bit. - That's scary too, because you were young. Like when you're older, you, I think like you expect certain things just because of history. But when you're young and you haven't seen that yet and you're fresh out of college and it's the first time, it's got to be devastating. And yet I feel so lucky because that happened and I benefited from that, right? So in my own little selfish way, I'm like, yay. And I appreciate it, but I do realize it being, you know, young and single and all those things that that could be really frightening. But now you're ready for whatever the world throws at you, right? - Yeah, exactly. It was a learning lesson for sure. And, you know, it's a harsh world, but with good connections and good community, you know, you can really make the best of it. - And it goes back to what you said about the good, right? And that's it, right there. It always leads us back. Well, that is an amazing story, Hannah. Thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for being invincible. And as you said, that adaptability, which is what makes you invincible is what you had to lean into when all this stuff went down. And that's why you're here today, telling the story, right? Not everyone's telling that story. So I love that it was that adaptability that makes you invincible, that carried you through that time and brought you to where you are today and wherever it is, where you'll go tomorrow. So I love that so much. - Thank you, thank you for sharing, for being so authentic. And everyone reach out to Hannah. She would love to have an introductory call with you to see how she can help you. And again, you can find her on LinkedIn. Just click the link in the show notes and she will be there ready to have a conversation with you. And thank you so much. And to our listeners, oh my gosh, you heard it from Hannah herself. I don't know where you are in your life or your business, but if you're face down on the ground right now, get back up. I know it's hard, I know it's painful, it hurts. I know all those things and I know you feel like you can't do it, but we're here to tell you you can. You gotta get back up because you're invincible and you can do anything. - Thank you for joining us today. If you were inspired or learned something new, please follow the show. Submit a rating and review and share us with your friends. If you would like to chat to see if you can attract your ideal client and monetize your business through podcasting, please book a free call with me at cammyleman.com. I can't wait to meet you. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)
