
The Self-Employed Journey
By The Self-Employed Journey
Your host Cami Powell, MBA (Ph.D. in business, 2024), is determined to increase small business success rates through an epidemic of failures. Here we share other small-business owner's stories that include inspiration, motivation, tips and tricks, the what not-to-do's, and more to help new and seasoned business owners thrive and survive through the crazy world of business ownership.

The Self-Employed JourneyMar 17, 2022
00:00
30:55

S3:E4 The ‘Marketing Hero’
Chris Strom began his marketing business in 2009. Listen in for an in-depth conversation about staffing, contractors, pricing, and more hot small business tips!
Jul 27, 202235:35

S3:E3 Readers are Leaders
Jillian (age 15), supported by her mom Sara, was inspired when libraries where closed during the pandemic to help youth continue to read. Together they built a successful book & lifestyle subscription box for tweens and young children.
Jul 20, 202237:37

S3:E2 (part 2) Pandemic Births a Business
Part 2 of 2. The Escobar sisters, Amaya and Tay, started their candle business during the pandemic after losing familiar forms of income. Listen in to hear how they manage their two year old business while living in two different states.
Jul 13, 202215:33

S3:E1 (part 1) Pandemic Births a Business
Part 1 of 2. The Escobar sisters, Amaya and Tay, started their candle business during the pandemic after losing familiar forms of income. Listen in to hear how they manage their two year old business while living in two different states.
Jul 06, 202231:24

S2:E19 (part 2) It All Started on a Napkin
Chris Palmisano, COO and founding partner of Rocket Dollar shares his entrepreneurial story, advice on how to test your market before you deploy your new business, and more!
Apr 19, 202217:06

S2:E18 (part 1) It All Started on a Napkin
Chris Palmisano, COO and founding partner of Rocket Dollar shares his entrepreneurial story, advice on how to test your market before you deploy your new business, and more!
Apr 19, 202230:21

S2:E17 (part 2) Help Yourself, Help Your Business
Rebecca Wiener McGregor, a transformational hypnotist and money mindset coach has been in business for 17 years! She helps business leaders in their pursuit for positive change with her talent or hypnosis!
Apr 13, 202215:09

S2:E16 (part 1) Help Yourself, Help Your Business
Rebecca Wiener McGregor, a transformational hypnotist and money mindset coach has been in business for 17 years! She helps business leaders in their pursuit for positive change with her talent or hypnosis!
Mar 17, 202230:55

S2:E15 (Part 2) Money Matters
Nicole Burdick, is a financial advisor in Bellingham, Washington. Her company, Consilium Financial, works to help individuals manage their money in the best ways possible to meet their personal goals. Nicole’s story starts out with selling ‘helicopters’ at age 6 to her neighbors. Listen in to hear her advice as a small business owner in the financial advisory industry.
Feb 09, 202216:46

S2:E14 (Part 1) Money Matters
Nicole Burdick, is a financial advisor in Bellingham, Washington. Her company, Consilium Financial, works to help individuals manage their money in the best ways possible to meet their personal goals. Nicole’s story starts out with selling ‘helicopters’ at age 6 to her neighbors. Listen in to hear her advice as a small business owner in the financial advisory industry.
Feb 09, 202230:52

S2:E13 (Part 2) Lifelong Connections
(Part two of two) Tracie Gulit, is a high performing residential realtor with Windermere in Washington state. For nine years she has successfully continued to grow her real estate career and build positive lifelong connections along the way. Her entrepreneurial story starts with selling BUGS! From there, her drive, passion, and lessons learned are shared through her self-employed journey.
Feb 02, 202223:34

S2:E12 (Part 1) Lifelong Connections
(Part one of two) Tracie Gulit, is a high performing residential realtor with Windermere in Washington state. For nine years she has successfully continued to grow her real estate career and build positive lifelong connections along the way. Her entrepreneurial story starts with selling BUGS! From there, her drive, passion, and lessons learned are shared through her self-employed journey.
Feb 02, 202230:05

S2:E11 (Part 2) Leap of Faith
Cami chats with Matty Wong, 2021 B.A.S.S. Nation Champion. Two episodes filled with adventures, sound advise and inspiration. His journey with self-employment started from a young age with a variety of different jobs. He provides incredible advice as he tells his story of taking his ‘leaps of faith’. You can watch Matty compete in the 2022 Bassmaster Classic in March. Go Matty!
Jan 25, 202225:49

S2:E10 (Part 1) Leap of Faith
Cami chats with Matty Wong, 2021 B.A.S.S. Nation Champion. Two episodes filled with adventures, sound advise and inspiration. His journey with self-employment started from a young age with a variety of different jobs. He provides incredible advice as he tells his story of taking his ‘leaps of faith’. You can watch Matty compete in the 2022 Bassmaster Classic in March. Go Matty!
Jan 25, 202231:51

S2:E9 Baking a Business
Lili is co-owner of L&L Bakery in Ferndale, Washington. Join us to hear her journey building her business from scratch during the pandemic. Incredible lessons she’s learned and shares with us here.
Jan 18, 202232:35

S2:E8 (Part2) Twelve Months of Lessons Learned
**This is part two of a two part series** Cami chats a second time with Smith Alley to see what he has learned over the last year as a teenage entrepreneur. Check out Smith Alley’s first podcast interview, S1:E17 A Nonprofit is Born.
Jan 06, 202218:41

S2:E7 (Part 1) Twelve Months of Lessons Learned
**This is part one of a two part series** Cami chats a second time with Smith Alley to see what he has learned over the last year as a teenage entrepreneur. Check out Smith Alley’s first podcast interview, S1:E17 A Nonprofit is Born.
Jan 06, 202230:39

S2:E6 Fashion as a Passion
Nik Hyl, fashion designer and business owner, shares her story of business ownership. She offers many inspirational and motivational tips and tricks to survive in this small business world! Check out her online store at www.nichyl.com/
Dec 29, 202129:58

S2:E5 Operate in YOUR Genius
Cami talks to Crystal Mathis, owner of Just Press Release, a marketing agency. She advises on how she grew her business from the ground up. After losing her secretary job in 2013, she built a six figure business. However, the pandemic challenged that and she had to make some changes to adjust and survive!
Nov 09, 202130:21

S2:E4 A Blooming Business
Cami talks with Natalie about her floral business. How she started, and how she changed her offerings during Covid to stay in business!
Oct 22, 202129:13

S2:E3 Who Needs a Bookkeeper?
Cami talks with Chris Bartl (business owner in the fitness industry for 12 years) about his journey of bookkeeping and accounting successes and nightmares!
Oct 05, 202129:56

S2:E2 Wink, Wink
Cami talks to Jenn Mason, owner of Wink, Wink, a 'not-creepy sex shop.' Jenn is a certified sex coach and educator.
Coming from a long career working at Domestic Violence & Sexual Assualt Services of Whatcom County (DVSAS), Jenn transitioned to owning her own business that took her from 'the bad part of sex to the good part of sex'.
We discuss the importance of location for a retail store and her process of leasing a retail space, how she uses her creativity for funny marketing techniques, how to manage a business while parenting, and more...
You can check out her online store here: www.winkwinkboutique.com.
Sep 30, 202129:48

S2:E1: Obstacles to Growth
Cami welcomes you to season 2 with a mini episode interviewing herself! Obstacles in life will happen, it’s what you learn from them that gets you back on your journey.
Sep 29, 202109:57

S1:E18 Mindset is Everything
Cami chats with Ari Zucker, actress and serial entrepreneur, who shares her multiple experiences as a business owner and lessons learned along the way. During the pandemic she co-founded, with her partner Shawn Christian, Aloha Life Coaching. After you give a listen, visit their website to schedule your free consultation! AlohaSunsetSessions.com
Mar 12, 202134:41

S1:E17 And a business was born....
Cami chats with Megs who set a goal in June 2019 to do what she loves for work. In June 2020, she took the leap into business ownership as a professional copyrighter and ghost writer, amidst a worldwide pandemic. She’s got some great advice for those just starting out!
Feb 07, 202131:04

S1E16: Face-to-Face
Lee and Cami are live and in-person for the first time! They are giving some big business updates!
Dec 10, 202031:13

S1E15: A Non-Profit is Born
Smith Alley, at the age of 17, has been inspired this year to start his own not-for-profit and business to pursue his passion of helping parents and children understand the risks involved in children’s use of screen time, pornography, and social media after experiencing his own addiction and recovery. He has become an inspirational leader in his efforts and follows in the footsteps of his mentor, Collin Kartchner, founder of Save The Kids, who recently passed away and has given Smith even more fire to push further in his pursuits.
Nov 24, 202032:33

S1E14: Passion + Determination + Sacrifice = Success
Chad DeRosa defines passion, determination, sacrifice and success as he has experienced it being an entrepreneur. He is self-employed as an award-winning cinematographer and director working in the genre of action sports and documentary films. DeRosa's first feature documentary film, Out of Nothing, won awards such as: Best Cinematography, Best Director of a Documentary, Best Feature Documentary and multiple Audience Choice Awards in various international film festivals. His work as a director behind the camera is ever-growing in defining ways to capture the human element in extreme real-life scenarios with a cinematic touch. His newest successful venture, The Van Life, a YouTube channel is dedicated to fans watching him live ‘the van life’.
- IMDb Mini Biography
- IMDb Mini Biography
Nov 14, 202050:49

S1E13: Lucky #13
Keri Petersen, owner of an interior design company - KP Spaces - located in Seattle, Washington, has successfully built and home grown her business from scratch. Now going on to her 13th year she guides us through her ups and downs of business ownership and lessons learned that will inspire all new and seasoned business owners to try something new.
Nov 09, 202041:19

S1E12: Who is holding YOU accountable?
How can you gain more accountability? Join us for a mini-episode where Cami takes us on her journey of this weeks lessons in gaining an accountability partner and how it can benefit you!
Nov 04, 202009:23

S1E11: Becoming an Industry Leader
Cami chats with Terry, who owns-and-operates an insurance agency for the last 4.5 years. He’s got the knowledge, energy, drive, and passion to succeed long-term and is becoming an industry leader every step of the way.
Oct 28, 202038:46

S1E10: Are We Allowed to Curse on Podcasts??
Lee and Cami start a podcasting ‘book club’ as they take you through their review of the book, The Subtle Art of not Giving a F@*!, and what Manson’s law of avoidance means to them.
Oct 20, 202026:16

S1E9: When Business Planning and Life Intersect
Cami and Lee take you through part of their self-employed journey as their partnership is blooming and their business plan is in development. A few lessons learned and tips for those moving forward too!
Sep 22, 202029:56

S1E8: Beating the Odds
Ross Alan Reclaimed Lumber is a growing small business created by husband and wife, Ross and Georgina Kidder, just five years ago. Unlike the unfortunate 50% of small businesses at year five, they have made it AND are busier than ever during the storm of a pandemic. Join us to hear about how they grew their business and are flourishing, making plans for what the next 5 years will be.
Sep 15, 202041:23

S1E7: We’ve Always Done it This Way
Cami and Lee take on a new ‘fun’ topic as they uncover a suggested mindset shift from ‘we’ve always done it this way’ to ‘why have we always done it this way’. Optimize your business’s health and development with these tips.
Sep 13, 202024:34

S1E6: Do I Need a Plan?
Lee and Cami explore the beginnings of business planning, why it’s important, sharing a few statistics, and experiences along the way.
Aug 29, 202034:39

S1E5: New Partners & Customer Service
Lee Adkins, subject matter expert on management, customer service, leading teams and more discusses with Cami his past experiences and values that have brought him to where he is today. Join us as we also reveal just the beginnings of our new journey together!
Aug 09, 202030:19

S1E4: Family Roots
Cami and her dad dive deep into her family’s self-employed history. An overview of lessons learned along the journey and the best advice from the best mentor. Meet my dad.
Jul 30, 202038:12

S1E3-Part 2: Steps to Jump!
We unravel the 6 steps we use to Jump intelligently and timely towards our dreams and goals as we reflect on our conversation with Kyle Lowder in part one of episode three.
Jul 12, 202030:27

S1E3: Part 1: Jump!
Two time Emmy nominated actor Kyle Lowder takes a deep dive with us into what it takes to really JUMP towards your dreams of business ownership. Join us for part 2 where Cami and Hailey will walk you through step by step to create your JUMP plan.
Jun 23, 202038:51

S1E2: What are YOU willing to Sacrifice?
We review over 5 steps to defining sacrifices you are willing to make on your journey to self-employment. Download the worksheet on our website to help you navigate through each step. www.SelfEmployedSavage.com
Jun 17, 202029:53

S1E1: How to Build Your Bad A$$ Team
In our first episode you will learn in 7 steps how to build a bad a$$ team! Meet Hailey, who has been on Cami's team for over two decades and is co-host and co-producer of The Self-Employed Savage podcast. Check out www.SelfEmployedSavage.com to download the worksheet when you are ready to brainstorm how to build your team.
Jun 09, 202036:40