The planet has seasons of quiet renewal and of robust growth, and monthly the new moon grows to an expansive fullness. Likewise, your business grows in shifts and stages, and you can learn to get the most out of every phase. At times, it’s best to turn inward and recalibrate, taking inventory of needs and determining the best direction for the future. Other times, the moment is right for an outward expansion, or a forward push in a new direction. Getting a sense for this timing will allow you to use your energy and resources most efficiently, set clear and attainable goals and reach your highest potential.

It can be fun to do things on the fly, but that isn’t always practical or efficient when you’re running a business. In fact, daily and weekly tasks often get a little easier and less stressful if you are able to schedule them as recurring activities. That might sound less exciting, but sometimes a little less spice is a good thing! It can set you on a steady path that is easier to manage and create space for predictability that allows you to be more resilient and productive in your business.

What does the morning of a great day look like for you? I'm asking because in today’s live Spark! session I want to talk to you about intentionally manifesting the work environment that makes you most productive. Every few months I like to sit down and evaluate my morning routine and make sure that it continues to serve me and my best day. Guess what? It's time for me to do that evaluation and I thought I would share this process with you now! Join me! I’m gonna be talking about some new things I am planning as improvements to my morning routine, like: - Waking up earlier so I have more quiet time - Ensuring a sense of accomplishment for myself early in the day - Focusing on proactive work instead of reactive work

Making decisions in your business can be hard. Sometimes it feels like everything is riding on your ability to make the right choice! If you’re feeling stuck, or you're not sure what your next big move should be, today’s episode of Spark is just what you need. The first thing to know is you’re not alone. Whenever anyone has to make a big change that will have a big impact on their business there is a crossroad to face, and that can be scary! But if you shy away from the crossroad, staying on the side streets, and refusing to pick a definitive route, your business may not grow at the rate that you expect or deserve. Today let’s push past those fears and get comfortable with making bigger decisions.

Small businesses often run tight budgets so it’s natural for owners to reinvest profits into the business, especially in the early months of operation. When freelancers and other team members are involved you will find yourself doing payroll on a biweekly or monthly basis. But too often entrepreneurs leave themselves out of this process, for far too long. In this episode of Spark Stephanie talks about the importance of paying yourself consistently. If you are thinking, “I can't afford it!”, relax. This isn’t necessarily about paying yourself a lot, but rather establishing a culture in your business that ensures you get some level of compensation. Once your business is on more solid ground you can increase your compensation over time. Listen up to hear more about: Why paying yourself regularly is a crucial habit that can impact your overall success When the time is right… How to make the change if you haven’t already done so

When you are ready to scale up your business, you will require a different approach and some different skills than you needed when you were in the business start-up phase. To make this transition successfully a mindset shift is critical. This is when you need to take that bootstrapping hat off and change your frame of mind from “I can (and should) do it all” to “where can I best invest to grow?”. Taking your business to a new level shouldn’t equal exhaustion, if you are doing things efficiently. Today Stephanie is sharing tips on how to grow a business in small and big ways, while ensuring that you’re taking care of yourself and your customers.

We all love to “get things done.” Who doesn’t love to check things off a to-do list? But even if you’re good at task execution it’s still easy to get caught sometimes in the loop of tweaking, editing, and perfecting. The problem with this is it can cause you to lose sight of when to move on from work that should have been marked as completed. In this live session of Spark! Stephanie talks about how to set those important boundaries so you can move forward and make more efficient use of your time. You’ll learn: Tips for catching yourself when you are falling into the rework trap How to know when you really need to tweak something, and when it’s time to move on Why efficient task execution is such an important part of good time management Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

When you’re on video - whether in a meeting, or doing a live session of some kind - do you ever find yourself fidgeting or staring at yourself, evaluating your every move? If so, you might need to build your on-camera confidence. In our online world of video meetings it can be hard to get used to seeing yourself, and especially resisting the urge to critique. In this live session of Spark! let’s talk about ways to build your confidence behind the camera, including how to set up your virtual space so it feels like a safe haven.  We’ll discuss:  The benefits of creating a standard intro for live videos or meeting ice-breakers (and how to do it) Why you should choose a look/style for your videos, and stick to it Tips for a more professional on-camera appearance, like standing for meetings if you can Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

Do you get the Monday blues? If you do, you need to listen to this episode of Spark! Inside, Stephanie talks about how she transitioned her Monday blues into Monday magic! Make Mondays one of your favorite days of the week by designing them to be productive, inspirational and motivational. You’ll learn how to use this first day as the springboard for a fantastic week.  Listen to find out: Why you should be saving Mondays to ONLY work on things that can be utilized or leveraged in a given week.  Key tasks to help you set your week up right (e.g. a critical calendar review, task prioritization, organizing expectations, etc).  The difference between a tactical Monday and a long-term planning or strategy day (this is an important difference!  Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

I love the creativity that comes with running a business. And I love being able to harness that creativity within a structure that really helps me take advantage of my creative process. In today’s live session of Spark! I want to share a powerful lesson with you: how to translate a creative idea into a document that can be used for strategic planning in your business, and a key tool I use for avoiding rework, and enhancing my creative process even more.  You’ll learn: - How you can avoid starting from scratch every time you want to enter your creative zone - How to use templates as building blocks so you can really focus on the creative process - The practicalities of creating templates that really work Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

Pre-pandemic being “camera ready” was never a daily requirement for me. I could jump out of bed, throw on some comfy clothes, grab some breakfast and dive into work without worrying about hair, makeup and all that jazz. However, these days I am often called to be on camera with just a moment's notice! So I have had to make some changes to accommodate these altered expectations - and comfort level for me! I know I’m not the only one facing this new reality, so today I want to talk about some things you can easily change in your office and the way you prepare for your day so you are always prepared to turn on your camera.  We’ll cover: - Easy office set-up tips for an always-professional appearance  - Why you must move past pandemic excuses...we’re in a different phase of “working from home” now - New expectations for personal “at home appearance” - what is acceptable (and what’s not) Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

Titles like “founder”, “manager” or “leader” can carry a heavy weight. When you take these roles on, you may be seen as the person who should have all the answers. This false precedent can make you feel inadequate if you don't have all the answers. Today, I want to challenge that myth, and talk about the fact that true strength comes from understanding where and when you need help, and how to ask for it! In this live session of Spark!  We will talk about: How to be an independent thinker who can wisely gather and use feedback and ideas from others Finding the magic: how to use help from others intelligently, and realizing that you don’t have to do everything on your own Why the best leaders are those who know when to accept help from others to make their businesses better Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

Do you feel successful in your vegan business? If your immediate response to this question is “no”, join me for today’s live session of Spark! We’re going to talk about perspective, and whether that feeling is attributable to a real problem with your business, or misplaced expectations. Understanding whether it’s your business or your perspective that needs to change is key in moving forward and truly embracing success!  Today you’ll hear about: How to realize if you are measuring success through the lens of your setbacks How to spot the micro-wins in your business Why it’s important to celebrate, even when things don’t turn out perfectly Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

When pressure and stress pile up in our daily business lives, it’s easy to become hyper-sensitive, at which point every request can feel like a weight on your chest. But sometimes, when you’ve pushed yourself too far, everything can feel like pain/pressure and your sense of what’s doable can disappear. I found myself in this spiraling state last year, and in this live session of Spark! I will share how I recalibrated myself to regain my sense of pain (unhealthy and unhelpful) versus discomfort (often essential to growth). By really identifying the difference, I knew when to take a deep breath and forge forward, and when to stop. This was an “A-ha!” moment in my business, and I’m excited to share it with you!  Tune in to learn: Why discomfort is sometimes healthy and necessary to growth How to recognize the difference between pain and discomfort, and stop doing things that cause pain How to reset when you are in a downward spiral Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

One great strategy for building your business is to design and create an amazing signature offer. In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, a signature offer is THE product or service that you ultimately want to be known for in your business. This is something that can define the culture and style of your business, as well as act as a linchpin that your other products and services are grounded in. In today’s live session of Spark! join Stephanie to talk about strategies for developing your unique signature offer, and why most businesses should have one.  You’ll learn: What makes a service or product a signature offer How a signature offer can distinguish your business or organization Why you should consider developing one now! Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

tumbling and falling down are a natural part of being in business, but it’s the ability to get back up that determines your journey to success! As business owners we don't often talk about the resilience and mental strength it takes to stumble around in the dark - and consistently get back up - as you're trying to figure things out. And as a VEGAN business owner, there’s a lot to figure out! In our live session today, I will talk about the courage and bravery it takes to leave the doubt behind. Join me to take a moment to recognize and celebrate that with me!  We’ll: - Celebrate as a community today - Talk about why it’s important to recognize our resilient qualities - Discuss how YOU can get featured in Vegan Mainstream’s “Celebrating Vegan Business” social media series! Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

Launching a new website is a major undertaking that can make business owners want to run in the other direction, but sometimes you just have to face the inevitable. At Vegan Mainstream we continue to refine our approach to service the vegan business community. Several months back we started to notice that our website was no longer handling what we needed from it. It was time for a new website. It was a lot of work, but we launched our new site in March and I couldn’t be happier with the results! If you are building your first website, or contemplating a website relaunch, you won’t want to miss this live session of Spark!, where I will share 3 principles that helped guide us through the process.  You’ll hear about: How to define your website’s purpose (and why that’s so important) How to ensure you fix chronic website issues with a relaunch Why investing in a good website pays off (and what that looks like) ------------- Get training or support for your business or organization - EXPLORE OUR COURSES https://master.veganmainstream.com/ Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

There is a lot of added pressure when you run a passion-based business. When it feels like change isn’t happening fast enough you may react by trying to do it all -- working late, weekend meetings and spending less time with family and friends. But what if you said “NO” more? Would it make you more effective? When you have time to think, take breaks, reflect, and consider your options, you just might have the space and creativity to make a greater impact. We will explore this idea in In today's Spark! Session.  Let’s discuss: - How committing to less can lead to greater impact  - How to determine what to say “no” to ---------------- Get training or support for your business or organization - EXPLORE OUR COURSES https://master.veganmainstream.com/  Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

The world may influence you but it should not define you. Too often business owners feel like they have to copy another’s style, approach or business model to be successful. But all this does is create an industry of services and businesses that are indistinguishable from one another. And that makes it hard for customers to find their perfect product, service or solution. There’s no doubt that it’s important to benchmark and understand what others in your industry or field are doing and how they impact the world. But you should ALWAYS let your unique self shine. In today’s Spark! session we will talk about how to use benchmarking without watering down your brand’s impact.  You’ll hear more about: - Why you should be focused on learning, while guarding against copying - How to articulate what’s unique about your business or brand, and use it to your advantage Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise

As you move through the ups and downs of your business, I want to remind you to never lose faith in yourself. The reality of being in business is that there will be times when you don’t have the answers, but you have to make a decision anyway. This can be scary and stressful, but it may be easier if you can remember that you are on a path to learning and growth. As the manager, CEO or founder of your business maybe it seems like you should know it all, but that’s a myth. We all have to take a leap of faith at times. In order for you to land firmly and safely on the ground you have to start with encouraging and believing in yourself. Doubts aren’t the enemy -- it’s your response to those doubts that can derail or send you into turmoil. Today, I want to talk about three things I do every week, to help keep me on an encouraging track.  Join me to learn: - Best practices for encouraging yourself on a consistent basis - How doubt and courage can coexist, and the benefits of embracing that truth Subscribe to Spark - A Roadmap For The Vegan Professional on Soundwise