Coffee Chat with Judy Murdoch

[00:00:03] Speaker A: Hello and welcome to the Solopreneur Sisterhood Podcast. A podcast designed to help heart centered service providers like you build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to you. I'm your host Becky McClary and I am so grateful that you are here. Now, while I love the freedom of having my own business, I can admit that being a solopreneur can sometimes feel lonely. And at the same time I think that a lot of what we see online can actually hold us back from success because we slip into comparison and self doubt. With this in mind, I wanted to have conversations with other solopreneurs and so we're doing a special series. Each episode is short so that it's easy to listen whenever you need a little bit of encouragement. My hope is that these episodes will inspire you and and remind you that you are not alone. This special series is brought to you by the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society, a close knit, supportive mastermind and business community that goes beyond your regular business course or mastermind group. It's a movement transforming how women build their businesses through connection and collaboration. The women featured in this series are the types of women you'll find inside the society and we'd love to have you join us. I invite you to learn more and apply to join our next cohort by visiting the Solopreneur Sisterhood.com Society. In this episode we are talking with Judy Murdoch who is a small business coach with over 30 years in marketing. Her diverse career includes working with advertising agencies, major consumer product brands, not for profit, and small businesses. Judy currently works with small businesses and solopreneurs help, helping them use word of mouth marketing to connect with their ideal clients and grow in ways that are in alignment with their values. Judy lives in Denver, Colorado with her husband and two very spoiled cats. When she isn't helping clients, she enjoys hiking, creative writing and visual design. Welcome Judy. I am so excited to have you join us here today and I cannot wait to learn from you. But before we get started, I would just love to hear more about your story. So can you tell us more about what you do and how you found your way to this work? [00:02:20] Speaker B: I have always been interested in marketing since I was in college, which was a very long time ago. Now I got my start in advertising and consumer products. So when we think about marketing, that's usually what we think about. We think about the ads we see on tv, we think about consumer products like cereal, cans of peas, microwave ovens, those types of things. And I was involved in quite A variety. I mean, I actually worked for General Motors for a while and I helped them with a very specific study about kind of how were people being loyal or not, which was very interesting. At some point, consumer marketing started to get old for me. I just found that there were some like so many really super smart, talented people and they were working on issues like should we introduce like blueberry scented shampoo or not? And it just felt very like, man, I got to be doing something better, better with my time and my abilities than this. So that kind of took me on kind of a maybe a 10 year trip through doing technical writing, which I also really love. Eventually that led me to coaching because I really. The thing I love about coaching is that coaching is very specifically to help people expand and get results. And I really especially love working with women business owners, especially heart centered, mission focused women business owners, because, you know, these are all people who want to make the world a better place. And that, I mean, that's really important to me as well. That's my, you know, that's, that's what drives me. [00:04:11] Speaker C: Wonderful. I love that I. And I love hearing from women where you started in one path and then over time you trusted yourself and just really leaned into, you know, this doesn't feel aligned anymore and you were willing to pursue another path. And I just, I think that's so inspiring. [00:04:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Thank you. [00:04:31] Speaker C: Yeah. So I know this is a big one, but looking back, what is one. [00:04:36] Speaker A: Thing that you know now in your business that you wish you had known. [00:04:40] Speaker C: When you first started out? [00:04:42] Speaker B: Okay. I actually thought about your question so that I could answer it succinctly. Okay. I think that probably the best thing that I learned. So I have been a business owner for just about 20 years now, and that includes having a coaching practice. And I think I wish somebody had emphasize the importance of what I'm going to call really owning. Owning your business, which means only for what you stand for, owning your distinctions. I think about being a business owner as being kind of a steward too. So our business is, in some ways it's sort of its own little thing. You know, a business has, is its own creation. And so I like to really think about myself as being like a responsible steward to my business. But one of the things I think can be so tricky for business owners, like today especially is that there's a lot of advice out there and there are a lot of people telling us like what we should do or what we should not be doing. And I think it can feel very sort of tenuous because when there are people out there and they sound very sure what they're saying, it has a way of constantly throwing us a little off balance and feeling sort of like, oh, well, she's doing that and therefore, like, and, and she seems to be really successful and knows what she's doing and therefore I should be doing that and I'm not doing that, so what do I do so that I think that would be. I just wish somebody had supported me in kind of trusting myself sooner than that. [00:06:35] Speaker C: Yeah, I completely agree. And I think that's something that it does take time to learn. And I think it makes a huge difference too. When you do trust yourself more and you can tune into does this feel aligned to me or not? Otherwise, I think a lot of us are kind of spinning our wheels because we keep following what we hear other people telling us to do. [00:06:58] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:06:59] Speaker C: And we're not exactly. [00:07:00] Speaker B: We never, like, we never get traction. [00:07:02] Speaker C: Yes. [00:07:03] Speaker B: And the other thing there is you brought something up in that is that I think that our, our clients and customers, our audience, I think they sense when we have sort of that really sort of anchored, centered connection to our values and what we stand for. And I think that, I mean, based on my own personal experiences with business owners, I just think there's something really nice about that. It kind of, it invites people to lean in and trust us and feel sort of like, you know, we've got their back in whatever it is they're hiring us to help them with. [00:07:44] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah, I love that point. That's such an important reminder too. Yeah. Okay, so thinking back on your time. [00:07:54] Speaker A: In business, what is the best lesson. [00:07:56] Speaker C: Or piece of advice that you've received as a business owner? [00:08:04] Speaker B: Okay. Here's the lesson that I learned when I, in my first go round as a small business marketing coach, I hired some very, very expensive business coaches who promised me that they would help me create a six figure practice. And I was really psyched. I thought like, yeah, like I want a six figure practice. But inevitably, first of all, they were all men. [00:08:35] Speaker C: Okay. [00:08:36] Speaker B: And that's not necessarily a bad thing. But the other thing was ultimately, ultimately, ultimately, when we really got down to, got past the research and whatever foundational work they had me doing, eventually it always came down to go to as many leads groups as you possibly can every week, set up meetings with these people and sell and I, and because all of these guys are sales guys, that was their background. They knew how to sell and I mean they were good at it. But like, I'm not a salesperson and I don't want to be a sales person. You know, I am a coach. I, I do what I do because I really, really love helping people and helping people with their businesses. And I was just like, you know, like I came out of there feeling sort of like, well, maybe I can't do this. You know, like, maybe like the only way you can be successful in business is if you're kind of a kick ass business, like salesperson. Okay. And I'm really grateful I rejected that. And I, I, I finally, you know, like, I came to a point and said I'm going to try to do this just being me. And if it turns out like the only way I can be successful is to be a salesperson, then I will get a job, you know, because I can't. You know, I don't think we can be successful doing what we don't like. [00:10:07] Speaker C: No, no. And I think that if we have that resistance to it, if it doesn't feel authentic, we are going to kind of. [00:10:14] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:15] Speaker C: Resist doing it and then it's going to be more of a struggle for us. So. [00:10:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:10:19] Speaker C: Yeah. Kind of. What's the point? [00:10:21] Speaker B: Yeah. And I had all these guys who were basically saying to me, suck it up, be a man. Suck it up there. Yeah, yeah. [00:10:34] Speaker C: No, I love that. I love. Well, one I can relate to. At the beginning, I spent way more than I would like to admit on different coaches and programs that I thought would be kind of the key to my success. So I think a lot of us have gone, gone through that. But I really love how you were able to figure out, hey, this, this isn't aligned with me and I'm going to figure out my own way to do this. I think that's really empowering. [00:11:00] Speaker B: And it takes some courage, too. [00:11:02] Speaker C: Yes. [00:11:02] Speaker B: To do that. [00:11:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah. Okay. [00:11:06] Speaker A: So if someone is listening right now. [00:11:07] Speaker C: And they are feeling frustrated in their business or they're feeling discouraged, what advice. [00:11:14] Speaker A: Would you give to them? [00:11:16] Speaker B: You know, I thought about this, Becky, because that's a tricky place for someone to be in. Right. Where they're feeling a little bit like maybe they've tried a bunch of things. Maybe they feel like they're spinning and they're just not getting traction. And what came to me, I think the best advice I would give somebody is really to revisit what your definition of success is and, you know, sort of like, you know, really revisit. Where do you want to go? What is it that you want to create? And I have to say too, because so many of the women I know who are business owners and I regularly come into contact with are the moms of either small children or school age children. [00:11:59] Speaker C: Okay. [00:12:00] Speaker B: And you know, like, I just want to say too, like, man, you know, be gentle with yourself, be kind. Because you know, like, gosh, being a mom, you know, of a child that's a 24 hour a day job and even if you have like an incredibly helpful, supportive partner, just, I just want to say that, you know, just like be kind to yourself. You know, maybe, you know, ratchet down if you have to, what your goals are or give yourself more time to get there. [00:12:36] Speaker C: I love that. I think that's so important. I know that I can relate as far as the whole tune into what does success mean to you? Because I know a lot of times in the past when I was feeling discouraged, when I thought about it, I was setting goals that I had heard I was supposed to set out there, but they weren't really, they weren't practical for me with where I was in my business and they weren't very meaningful to me. So it was, you know, it was kind of discouraging. And I can, I really appreciate your advice for moms who have young children at home, school age children, because there's just so much going on with that. [00:13:15] Speaker B: Yeah. And you, you cannot say to a toddler, you know, you give me five minutes, please, Mommy is, you know, writing an email or something. The toddlers have no concept whatsoever that mommy's going to do anything other than pay like complete attention to me and my needs. And the other thing too, I would say is just to have, wow. Just like have realistic expectations in terms of income. You know, I mean you're, if you break even your first year, wow, you're doing, you're doing a lot of stuff really well. First, the first year is I did not because I had experience. I did not set expectations that I was going to make a profit the first year. And I didn't, I didn't make money though. And that felt really good. So, you know, that boosted my confidence for this year. But man, you know, be realistic. [00:14:07] Speaker C: Yes, I love that. And as you're talking, I'm thinking, okay, at some other time we're going to have to have a whole conversation just about those realistic expectations in business. Because yes, I think a lot of what we see online is not realistic. And so it can feel like we are failing because I'm nowhere near. [00:14:25] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:25] Speaker C: What they're talking about. [00:14:27] Speaker B: And I really, I think that's like one of the nicest benefits of the community that you're creating, Becky, is like, it's. We can do reality checks with each other. [00:14:39] Speaker C: Yes. [00:14:39] Speaker B: And I think that's like, really valuable. [00:14:43] Speaker C: Yes. You know that that helps me to talk with others and be like, oh, it's. It's not just me. Yeah. It really helps. Yeah. [00:14:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:51] Speaker C: Well, thank you so much, Judy. [00:14:53] Speaker A: It has been wonderful talking with you and learning from you and your experience today. I want to be mindful of everyone's time. [00:15:00] Speaker C: So before we wrap up, I know some listeners are going to be thinking. [00:15:03] Speaker A: Okay, I want to connect with Judy. [00:15:04] Speaker C: I want to learn more from her. So how can listeners connect with you beyond this interview? [00:15:10] Speaker B: Okay, so the very best way to connect with me is through my substack. My substack is actually my website. I really enjoy writing content and that is Judy Murdoch. Murdoch is spelled M U R d o c h.substack.com and that's the best place to hang out with me. Perfect. [00:15:30] Speaker A: Wonderful. And we will have a link to. [00:15:31] Speaker C: That by this recording so that way. [00:15:33] Speaker A: Everyone can find it easily. [00:15:35] Speaker C: Again, I just want to thank you so much, Judy. [00:15:37] Speaker A: I really appreciated your expertise today. [00:15:40] Speaker B: Yeah, my pleasure. Good to be with you, Becky. [00:15:43] Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us and listening to the Solopreneur Sisterhood podcast. I hope this episode has offered you some encouragement, some insight and some new ideas to support you in building a business that works for you. And if you're ready for deeper support and love the idea of connecting and collaborating with other heart centered service providers, I'd love to have you join us in the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society. You can learn more and apply to join our next group by visiting thesolopreneur Sisterhood.com Society Remember that our world needs you, your gifts, your vision and your work. And I'm cheering you on as you bring your vision to life and build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to.