When Amy had her first child she realized that women weren’t getting the support that they needed in early motherhood. She and her sister set out to fill this gap and created Expecting and Empowered. Their program was built to help women thrive through pregnancy and postpartum. That was the beginning. Since then she has co-created the “Herself Podcast” and most recently Pursuing her Purpose which helps women build profit through online businesses.
In this episode we will cover:
- Listen to what your customers need.
- How to approach your family and partner when starting something new.
- It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
You can listen to Pursuing Her Purpose here or check it out on Instagram.
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The Legalpreneur Podcast is advertising/marketing material. It is not legal advice. Please consult with your attorney on these topics. Copyright Legalpreneur Inc 2022
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Episode 223: Helping Women Build Profitable Online Businesses with Amy Kiefer Transcript
Andrea: [00:00:03] Welcome to the Legalpreneur Podcast. I’m your host, Andrea Sager, founder and CEO of Legalpreneur, Inc. As a serial entrepreneur and someone that works exclusively with small business owners legally protecting their business, I’m dedicated to covering common legal issues faced by business owners, providing you with the business knowledge you need to catapult your businesses growth and showing you just how some of the world’s most elite entrepreneurs have handled these legal and business issues themselves in true attorney fashion. The information in this episode is not legal advice. This is for informational purposes only, and you should always consult with your attorney before implementing any of the information in the show. I’ve got to let you know about drink bigger. Don’t forget, we now have our two payment option. Can pick a payment plan for dream bigger. We want as many people to be there as possible. And so we’re making it more affordable. Make it in two payments or one. It’s up to you. That option is still available until we sell out. We do still have some VIP passes. It’s probably going to be selling out in the coming weeks. So get your ticket now before they’re gone. And we also have our legal protection playbook, $37 to learn everything you didn’t know you needed to know about the legal side of your business. You get their three part course, which is talking about planning your business, preparing and growing and scaling a three part course. Plus, there are some bonuses in there. One of the bonuses, which is probably the best I know, it’s the best bonus. It is a one on one call with me to chat specifics about the legal side of your business. I know everybody has a different business, so you have different needs for everything. So we’re going to have a one on one call chat specifically about your business. Now, there are limited spots available because there’s only so much time in a day. So if you want to make sure you have that one on one, call with me, Go get it. Now it’s at www.thelegalpreneur.com. It’ll be there in the show notes.
Andrea: [00:02:13] Hello there. Welcome back to another episode of the Legalpreneur Podcast. Today’s guest is Amy Kiefer of pursuing her purpose. She is an amazing business owner. We were just chatting before we started recording about how her and her business partner really pride themselves on helping women really make a profit. So, Amy, thank you for standing true to that. And thank you for joining me today on the show.
Amy: [00:02:39] Of course, and so happy to be here.
Andrea: [00:02:42] Yes. Okay, let’s get started. Just tell the audience your story. How did you get to where you are today?
Amy: [00:02:48] Well, I don’t know if any of you can relate, but it is really a winding story. I went to college for exercise science. I became a personal trainer. My goal in life was to be the next Jillian Michaels. Like I thought I was going to be on The Biggest Loser. Like, that was truly my career goal. I was a personal trainer in Chicago at a really nice gym, and then I just realized like, Okay, wait, is this going to personal training? You train during really bad hours. So I’m up at five in the morning with my first client. I train until 9 a.m. and then there’s a big lull because everyone’s working. And then I come back from five until 10:00 pm at night, truly. And I was just like, I don’t know if this is really going to work. I feel exhausted. I feel depleted. So I went back to school for nursing. I became a nurse and it was there that I became pregnant with our first child. And I just saw all of I saw how demanding pregnancy was on a woman’s body. Like I said, I was a personal trainer. I had an exercise science degree. I had prenatal certification. Like if anyone should know how to move their body during pregnancy, it was me and I found it to be super challenging.
Amy: [00:04:09] So I thought, you know, we’ve got to make it. There’s got to be a better way. Like women need a clear, safe, effective plan. And my sister, my older sister just so happened to be a women’s health physical therapist. So she specializes in the pelvic floor. She specializes in a woman’s body. And so we got together. I called her and we still laugh today about how easy her. Yes. Was, because I said, Krystal, we got to make a plan. We’ve got to make a workout guide. This has to be easier. She just had had her first baby, too, and she was like, Yep, totally agree. Sold. We didn’t realize how hard like small business entrepreneurship was at the time, but thank God we didn’t because then we set off on this course. We started that business expecting and empowered together. It’s evolved over the years. We’re an app now, a workout app for pregnancy and postpartum women. Yeah. And and then along the way, my second and my third business came truly from the things that people were saying. So what we realized with expecting and empowered is a lot of the women. Yes, they came to us for physical issues, but we saw the mental load of pregnancy and then early motherhood.
Amy: [00:05:28] And I realized while women need way more access to professionals. So I started a podcast, it’s called the Herself Podcast. We interview therapists, authors, you know, everyday women, all of these people to try to help women, you know, get some of the answers they need. The the biggest goal, I would say, is that women realize they’re never alone, no matter what you’re going through, like we have this really you know, we have this way that we think that we’re always the one that’s struggling the most or we were so hard on ourselves. And then you come to realize by talking to a bunch of other people when they’re actually open and honest, like, No, we’re not alone. Like, a lot of people go through the same things that we go through and then pursuing her purpose, which is the business that I met you through, it’s a business that helps women have profitable online businesses. So I had built to buy my, you know, with my business partners, but I built two successful businesses and I was like, okay, I know that me and my business partners have a lot of experience in this department, and we want to help other women have the freedom to do something on their own if that’s what they want to do.
Andrea: [00:06:45] That’s incredible. I love the twist and turns. You’re so right. It is so many. It’s such a winding road. And I wish I would have known about your app. When I was pregnant, I saw my first pregnancy. I was very, very active and I did CrossFit up until six months and I didn’t know at the time, but I ended up having speedy symphysis pubis dysfunction. And for those that are listening, who have no idea what I’m talking about there, I would dislocate my pelvis every night in bed, wake up screaming in the middle of the night. There were like my husband, my ex husband literally had to lift me out of bed. Some days I could not walk. And I remember calling my best friend who had she had already had three kids. And this is my first pregnancy. And I was like, You never told me about this. She’s like, What are you talking about? She’s like, My pelvis never hurt like that. And I was like, I can’t even walk. And I remember going to the doctor and she was like, Oh, it’ll just go away after you have the baby.
Andrea: [00:07:52] And I could not imagine that just going away. And it did. It magically disappeared. And I’ve done a lot of research into it since, but that that was the worst thing ever, ever. And then I love how you mentioned like the mental health on pregnancy. So with my ex husband and I, we have two kids and between the two we miscarried. And I was not I never really had mental health issues. But of course, like postpartum with my first, we miscarried the second and then the third. She was supposed to be a twin, but we thought we missed. We spent a whole month thinking we miscarried and I was like, Forget this, Thomas is going to be an only child. Like, I’m not going through another pregnancy. Am not like because because pregnancy like for me now, like I could I can’t do another pregnancy mentally or physically and then just of course post part like, oh, like kudos to you ladies for putting this together because I wish I would have known about that back when I was going through my pregnancies because it is definitely needed.
Amy: [00:08:58] Yeah, for sure.
Andrea: [00:09:00] Oh, my gosh. Well, okay, so talk to me about pursuing her purpose a little more. I so and you said this came about from people or people asking for this.
Amy: [00:09:13] Yeah, that was I saw one of your questions before the interview might be a business tip, and that’s exactly the business tip I was going to give is like along the way, all of us get asked about certain things. So people are like, How did you start a podcast? How did you start the business? As entrepreneurs ourselves, we know there are so many questions you have along the way. The legal question is a huge one that people just get so confused. That’s what we’re trying to help people have more of the answers. And then we have guests like yourself, like we know we’re not lawyers, but we are a bridge to the lawyer and then we’ll, you know, pair up with you and we’ll get a discount to your services so that like we want to put this all together for women so that when they go off and they really want to do something of their own, it’s a more clear path. Like we have systems, we have the experts, we have everything, so that our course really takes the guesswork out of it. And then the most awesome thing I think is that you get a community of like 30 other women that are also just starting their business. And so a lot of the things we go through, we talk, you know, as business owners, we’re like half of this is truly mindset coaching. Like we are telling women, you are enough, you can do this. It’s okay that your sister made fun of you, whatever it is. Like women just have such mind set blocks and it’s we’re working upstream because we’ve been conditioned to just do what we’re supposed to do. You know, like people were so shocked when I left nursing because it’s such a steady career like it has, you know, you’re always going to need nurses is the thing that everyone says. So a lot of us are swimming upstream when we want to do something for ourselves and we just want to make that a little bit easier on people. So we’re giving them the resources to follow their dreams.
Andrea: [00:11:18] I love that. And same with me. I remember the first time because I used to work at a big firm and a big law firm, big fancy job. I thought it was set for life. And I remember the day I left work and I knew I’m not doing this forever. And I remember I called my dad and I told him and he was like, Well, honey, if that’s what you want to do, like, I’ll support you. Literally those words and then the complete opposite with my mom, I call her and she starts crying. She’s like, No, you can’t quit. And of course, my mom just wanted me to have that job for the status. But even for me and I know so many other women that want to leave these, quote unquote dream jobs, like we need that support because if not, we’re going to be fighting even more of an uphill battle. But I know for me, not looking like looking at. Having the 9 to 5 or not even a 9 to 5 like an 8 to 7, whatever you want to call it. Yeah, but that’s not even security for me. Like, for me, security is knowing I can make however much money I want, not just a steady paycheck. That is not security to me. And so I love hearing that you just keep building and building. And I would love to hear how your significant other reacted. How supportive was he during all of this? I just I’m very.
Amy: [00:12:51] Yes. Yeah. So the first so for expecting it empowered for my sister and I we each figured that if we put $3,000 into it, that was enough capital to get us started because we could do things pretty affordably. We did hire a lawyer right away because we didn’t know that that was really important to us. So I knew the number I needed and at the time to our family, like that was a that was a good chunk of money. So I know my husband, he’s very type A, he’s very logical. So I knew that I needed to be able to answer any of his objections. So I went in, I, I like pitched my husband, I said, okay, here’s how much the lawyer costs. Here’s how much our designer costs. Here’s what, like the time demand is going to look like. Here’s why I want to do it. Here’s why I think this is going to be really successful so that he you know, we talked more. He thought about it. He was a huge supporter from the get go. Like we had very small babies. My sister and I, my husband would watch our children when we had to go meet meet the lawyer or where. And we joke about it today because to say that that investment has paid off, I mean, it’s been life changing for us.
Amy: [00:14:08] So he is so glad that he said yes all those years ago. And then when I come and I’m pitching my second business, the yes was a lot easier because I had that track record. But for those that are, you know, maybe approaching your partner with your first business idea, it’s like understand that who knows what their history is like you said, like, you know, he might feel he or she might be very conservative with money. And so this feels like a big risk to them, like understand what their possible objections are and come with facts. Like my sister had to write a business plan just for her husband. He needed to see like, okay, how is this? What’s the through line to get this to be a profitable business. So it’s and I always tell people it’s not wrong for your partner to have objections. I think we hear all these stories. Oh, my partner so supportive and that’s great. And I know that’s people’s truths, but it’s not wrong for your partner to also be looking at it. We already had a baby. We had responsibilities, we have a mortgage, we have all this stuff. So it’s not wrong for him to want to know. Okay. You know, whatever their question is, you come with the answers.
Andrea: [00:15:24] Yes. And I. So where I like a false of my own is. I didn’t come with answers. I was just very this is how it’s going to be. And now I see. And I think part of it as well is having a partner with the same money mindset as you. My I mean, I was of the money mindset of I can always make more money. Like I will always just make more money. And his mindset was, oh, very scarcity mindset.
Amy: [00:15:59] Yeah.
Andrea: [00:16:01] And so I and doing all the healing work and overcoming that, that’s when I realized, like, I definitely could have gone about entrepreneurship a different way with my ex husband because he was he was never supportive. But I think I also never gave him an opportunity. To get on board. I was just like, Oh, it’s going to be great. I’m going to make all this money and get it out of the. And I if I would have came more prepared, I don’t know if he would have been more supportive, but I think that would have given him more of an opportunity to be supportive.
Amy: [00:16:36] I was going to say, it’s all these things that you don’t hear about that happen behind closed doors. And it’s like the reason I love coming on podcasts like this, it’s like if we can open up the conversation that like, Hey, it’s not wrong. If your partner, your partner probably didn’t sign up to blindly follow you through life. And there are people where like also I understand there are partners that are like way the other way where they are just like their mindset is totally not growth mindset. I just think it’s really hard to be at the ages that we are now because when my husband, when we got married, I was a nurse and I was planning to be a nurse, so he didn’t know that he was signing up for this wild ride that I’ve taken us on. And I can understand that. Like, like I said, he’s been really supportive, but I just don’t think it’s like we should expect people to blindly follow us because who of us does that? I love that you have such a like money mindset like that because I feel like a lot of women actually struggle with the scarcity mindset.
Andrea: [00:17:39] Oh, I still have plenty of money mindset issues, but I’ve just always known. I’m like, Oh, I can just make more money. Like, I don’t I don’t even know why. I don’t know where that came from. My parents are not entrepreneurs, but I’m just like, I’ll just go and make more money. What I’m currently working on is always having more than enough. That is one thing that I am working on, but something that you said that really stuck out was having a partner with a growth mindset. And how old were you when you met your husband? And I know like we were not planning on going down. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Talking about partners. But I think this is so important to talk about.
Amy: [00:18:14] We met in college, but we didn’t date in college, which we both are like, thank God, because we definitely needed to mature a little bit. So we started dating when we were I think 24.
Andrea: [00:18:25] Because I met my ex-husband when I was 18 when I got to college and very young. And looking back now, I mean, at that time, like I think absolutely he was my person, but we just weren’t we just didn’t grow on the same page. And I think that’s so important. And even now, like dating and, you know, not that I’m like, oh my God, I have to find a partner now, but when I’m dating, I look for not if they’re my partner now, but do they have the growth mindset to grow with me? Because I’m not like I want the world. Like I’m not going to just be content. Just having a small business here. Small business they like. I want the world and I need somebody on board for that.
Amy: [00:19:13] I think it’s absolutely it’s like if I went back to when we were 27 and getting married, like the questions, the things we should have been talking about. It’s like, how do you even ask? Like, do you have a growth mindset? Like, what are you.
Andrea: [00:19:26] What are you going.
Amy: [00:19:26] To do if I want us to? I didn’t even know to. You don’t know to ask those things. Like there’s just it’s it’s learning and evolving and like we’re lucky if we can, if our roots grow together and sometimes, you know, sometimes it doesn’t work that way because we weren’t expecting like that’s life. Life is unexpected. And if a couple is going to be able to weather those ups and downs and changes or if, you know, they we didn’t expect to go through all that. So how would we know if we we were on the same page.
Andrea: [00:19:58] Exactly. Exactly. Oh, my gosh. So I want to touch really briefly on the app. I want to hear like the evolution of that, because I know it sounds like you all have gone through an evolution with the app. I’m sure you didn’t just launch an app, so I would love to hear about that evolution.
Amy: [00:20:15] Yeah, well, when we started our business, we started with a PDF and it was you could use it on your phone, but it wasn’t very easy to use on your phone and it was pregnancy. So week four to week 40. And so then the next thing our customer is people loved it. Like honestly, people were like, this is life changing. And so we got all of this positive affirmation and then our customers said, we really need a postpartum, like we need the same thing, but for postpartum. So Krystal and I made that like it was like everything our customers were asking for we got to work on. So like the first few years of our business to say we poured ourselves because we both had other jobs. That’s the other thing about us. It’s like we didn’t leave the minute we sold something like we had to because we both had families, like we had to make sure everything’s covered financially and grow this business to a place where we could leave and pursue it full time. So then along the way, people kept saying like, Oh man, I really wish that this could be an app. But the thing for us is like we have always been a debt free business. We have always used the capital that we have made to improve our products. So we couldn’t even like we were like, we just can’t even go down that road yet. Like we’re not ready. We both had three kids during this process.
Amy: [00:21:43] So like it’s been just to say the last six years have been busy is an understatement. But then we knew, like we just kept hearing it. People were like, I wish this was it app. I wish there were videos, I wish this was an app. And so we took what our customer said and we made it. And the crazy thing behind the scenes of businesses is that was a year long process. Like we worked with our app developer, we hire that out, but it was a year long process to get that app ready to launch into the world. And so that that was only this past January. So now we’re in this phase of business where we just keep improving inside of the app. And I think that’s the really cool thing about an app is that you’re constantly able to like we’re going to add prenatal yoga because people keep saying, I wish there were yoga. I wish there were yoga, I wish there were yoga. So any time your customer keeps saying something, it’s not just one or two voices. It’s 100 people saying, I wish there were yoga. You listen and you go that direction. And so our customers have always like steered the ship, like, yes, we’re the visionary of like when things are going to happen, but we listen to our customers and we give them what they want. And that has been like a very sound business strategy for us.
Andrea: [00:23:04] That’s awesome. That’s incredible. I love hearing that because that’s very similar to Legalpreneur and us launching our app. It was just listening to customers and listening to what they wanted. So that is amazing. Oh, my gosh. Well, Amy, this has been amazing. I know you gave us your tip already, but is there anything else that you would like to leave the audience with?
Amy: [00:23:26] Well, I think that what I can impart on people is sometimes we get into this idea that it’s all or nothing. And I have never thought that way and it’s served me very well. So like I said, I was a nurse and I built this business. And so a lot of people in the industry, a lot of people are just like, follow your dreams, like do it. And it was like, I couldn’t, I had a baby, I had to pay my mortgage. So but to say that you can build something on the side and then you’re ready, like you have two beautiful incomes coming in and then you can make that transition. So I wish that more women realized their potential and what they could do if they even put five, 10 hours a week onto whatever they want to build. It’s like you really can build something. And then you if you have your partner, you have like more sure footing. You’re like, I know this is this is a proven concept now. Like this is proven money’s coming in the door and now I can really go full into it. So I, I really wish that women saw their potential and saw what they could build on on the side of their job or their motherhood. And if there’s, like, that little nagging feeling you have of, like, I just feel like I made for more than this. I think you should listen, because I think that a lot of us are going to regret if we never followed that.
Andrea: [00:24:56] Yeah, I love that. Oh, my gosh. Amy, thank you so much for this. I hope that every female, every mother, every non mother, every woman finds you guys because oh, I know everything you’ll have is amazing. So, Amy, thank you so much. And let the audience know where they can find out more about you and everything you have.
Amy: [00:25:19] Yeah. So you can find us at pursuing her purpose. And that’s a podcast and an Instagram account. We have people like Andrea, come on. Like I said, I feel like our podcast is the best at really putting ourself in our listeners shoes and being like, What do they need to know from a lawyer? Like We really do it to serve so that we’re helping women get one step further.
Andrea: [00:25:45] Oh, I love that. Oh, my gosh. You guys will link everything in the show notes, so go check them out. Go. Listen, go rate reviews, do all the things, and we’ll see you guys next time.
Andrea: [00:25:58] Here at Legalpreneur, we’re committed to providing a supportive legal community for all business owners. I know how scary the legal stuff can be. If you found this information helpful, I would be so grateful if you could share it with the fellow business owner. And quite frankly, it doesn’t cost anything to rate, review or subscribe to the show. Your support helps me reach more listeners, which allows me to support more business owners in their entrepreneurial journey. Have any questions or comments about the show? Feel free to drop me a line on Instagram, I promise. I read all of the messages and comments and if you want to be a guest on the show or know someone that would make a great guest, simply fill out our application form and a team member will reach out if we think it’s a good fit. I’ll see you in the next episode.
