Build That Business

Lindsay van Harssel
  • 4.8 (70)
  • MARKETING
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

What if the most important investment you ever made in your business had nothing to do with your business? Build That Business is the podcast for the entrepreneur who is done playing small... in their business and in their life. Hosted by Lindsay van Harssel, sales coach, Buffalo mom, and living proof that you can build something extraordinary in the middle of a beautifully chaotic life. Every week we talk sales, strategy, and data... all of it. But we also talk about the human behind the business. The mindset, the nervous system, the version of you that has to grow alongside the strategies or none of it works. Because here's what Lindsay knows for sure: you are not just building a business. You are becoming someone who can hold it.  Less than 2% of women-owned businesses ever hit a million dollars. We're changing that. The business you want already exists. The life you want already exists. The question is whether the version of you running it right now is ready for it. She is. Let's build. Connect with Lindsay: Instagram: @LindsayvanHarssel

  1. 3D AGO

    143: Break the Ice Before It Freezes: The Gordon Principle

    143: Break the Ice Before It Freezes: The Gordon Principle It's April in Buffalo. My car is coated in frost. I'm standing at the window being dramatic about it when my brain pulls up a memory from when I was a kid. Our dog, Gordon. Gordon figured out, at some point, that if he dipped his nose into his outdoor water dish every few hours, the thin layer of ice would never get thick enough to seal off his water.  Crack the surface. Walk away. Come back. Crack it again. That is the move. It is the Gordon Principle. And it is one of the most important things you can be practicing in your business and in your personal life right now. Because every tension starts as a thin layer. Left alone, it thickens. And left alone long enough, a ten-second conversation becomes a ninety-minute blow-up. In this episode, we are talking about the ice forming right now, in both places, while you are listening. The conversation you have been postponing for two weeks. Two months. A year. And why the bill doubles every week you wait. Inside: – The three business conversations we postpone the longest, and the exact opening sentence to crack each one this week – Why "keeping the peace" is almost always a lie (and what it is actually costing you) – The personal relationships where thin ice is thickening right now, the flaky friend, the family comment at Easter, the partner, the parent you keep managing around – The math of ice: why conversations get exponentially harder every week you wait – The ten-second sentence that prevents the ninety-minute blow-up If you have been carrying the weight of an unsaid thing for weeks or months, this one is for you. Cold-nose energy.

    19 min

  2. 6D AGO

    142: The Soft CTA is Killing Your Sales

    142: The Soft CTA is Killing Your Sales  You're at Costco. The lady with the friendly smile holds out a tiny paper cup with a single wonton on a toothpick. You take the bite. It's unreal. You go, "where do I find these?" And she smiles and says, "feel free to check the website when you're ready." What?! Ridiculous right? That is what most entrepreneurs are doing to their buyers every single day. In this episode, I'm breaking down the single most expensive sentence in your business...  the soft CTA. The "whenever you're ready." The "DM me if you're curious." The "feel free to reach out." And why it is costing a lot of you listening over $200,000 a year. Inside: – Why a whole generation of entrepreneurs got raised on bro marketing and overcorrected into barely asking at all – The three stories you tell yourself to justify the vague pitch – What your buyer is actually doing in the ten seconds after they say "I love this" – The clean ask scripts for DMs, webinars, sales calls, stages, and booths – The integrity flip: why pitching clearly is more respectful than softening every ask If you have been leaving money on the table because you didn't want to be "that person" — this episode is your third option. Grounded, warm, direct sales that honor you AND your buyer. They want the wonton. Give them the damn wonton. Head to easiestyes.com to grab a spot in the masterclass and get the full framework.

    19 min

  3. APR 15

    141: Why We Quit Before the Yes

    141: Why We Quit Before the Yes Links mentioned in the episode: Join our free live sales instincts masterclass: The Easiest Yes at www.Easiestyes.com  Something happened in a live Q&A today that I couldn't stop thinking about. Someone asked, "What do I do when they say no?" And I started answering it the way I normally would until I glanced at the question again and something about the way she asked it made me pause.  Because here's the truth. It's rarely a true no. It's almost never a true no.  But we treat every bump, every hesitation, every "let me think about it" like a wall. And we walk away. From the sale. From the relationship. From the dream. Right before the tipping point. In this episode we're talking about what it's really costing you every time you leave before the yes. We get into: Why we're wired to read friction as rejection and what's actually happening in your body when someone hesitatesThe difference between a true no and a handbrake, and why most of what we call "no" is actually just fearWhy resistance is proof of investment, not proof that it's overThe personal story of how my "no tolerance" went from a 2 to a 10 and what changedWhy staying in the conversation is sometimes the most caring thing you can do, and walking away is the less loving choiceWhat staying actually looks like in practice, including the exact questions I use when someone hesitatesThis one goes beyond sales. We're talking relationships, friendships, dreams you shelved after the first bump. The skill of staying in the conversation changes everything. In your business and in your life. The yes you've been waiting for might be one conversation away. Stay in it.

    21 min

  4. APR 8

    140: When Hustling Harder Actually Becomes Hustling Backwards: The Turning Point

    140: When Hustling Harder Actually Becomes Hustling Backwards: The Turning Point  I've been doing the thing that works. The data is clear. And yet every part of me kept saying it wasn't enough. In this episode, I'm getting really honest about what happens when you finally find your formula, and then your nervous system tries to talk you out of it. We're talking about the subconscious craving for chaos, the difference between productive hustle and nervous system-driven hustle, and why adding more things is often the fastest way to undermine the one thing that actually converts. I also get personal. I share what came up in therapy this week that stopped me cold, including why workaholism can actually be a trauma response, and how taking care of myself became the most strategic business decision I've made. Here's what I cover: Why your nervous system gets addicted to the hustle phase and what to do when it hasn't caught up to where you actually areThe difference between the figure it out phase and the refine it phase, and how to know which one you're inWhat it actually looks like to dial in every lever around the thing that works instead of adding new things on top of itThe soccer ball analogy that completely reframed how I think about focus and strategyWhy honoring your capacity isn't laziness, it's the infrastructure everything else is built onIf you've found what works and you're still somehow trying to talk yourself out of it, this one's for you.

    17 min

  5. APR 1

    139: Let The Chips Fall. Gather The Data. Ask The Question.

    139: Let The Chips Fall. Gather The Data. Ask The Question. We spend so much time asking everyone else what they think...our friends, our family, other business owners, the internet, honestly even AI, and somewhere in all of that noise we stop trusting the one person who actually has all the data. Ourselves. In this episode, I'm sharing the framework that changed how I make decisions in my business and my life. Let the chips fall. Gather the data. And then ask yourself the one question that cuts through all of it: does this actually work for me? Here's what we get into: Why we keep measuring our lives against a ruler that was never built for usThe difference between fear and your gut, and why it matters more than you thinkWhy the people around you, even the ones who love you, can accidentally skew your dataHow long you actually need to gather data before you have enough to decideWhat acting on the answer actually looks like in real lifeWhy asking AI for life advice might be the most unhinged thing we're all doing right nowPlus a personal story I've never shared publicly before that taught me the most important lesson I know about whose opinion actually matters when you're making a big decision. Spoiler: it's yours.

    25 min

  6. MAR 24

    138: "Always Be Closing" Is Gross. Here's What to Do Instead...

    138: "Always Be Closing" Is Gross. Here's What to Do Instead... "Always Be Closing." It's been celebrated as the golden rule of sales for thirty years. Turns out it was written to show how gross that world is and bro-marketers put it on a poster and ran with it as the gospel. The irony is almost too good. In this episode, we break down why ABC culture spread, what it's actually costing you, in refunds, in reputation, and in how you feel after every sales call, and the framework she uses to sell with full confidence and a clean conscience. You'll learn: The 8 classic high-pressure tactics and exactly why they work against youThe real difference between guiding and pushing (and how to tell which one you're doing)Why pressure selling erodes your confidence over time4 guardrails for ethical, high-converting sales conversationsWhat it actually sounds like to invite a decision without pressurePlus the one thing my mom told me when I started my business that reframed everything she thought I knew about sales. Ready to sell in a way that feels good, converts well, and builds a reputation you're actually proud of?  I'm hosting a free masterclass where I teach the full framework behind ethical, high-converting sales conversations, the nine psychological triggers, how to read where someone is in real time, and how to guide someone to a yes without ever feeling gross about it. Save your spot at 👉 www.easiestyes.com

    17 min

  7. MAR 18

    137: The Co-Signer Problem: Why Your Dream Was Never Theirs to Approve

    137: The Co-Signer Problem: Why Your Dream Was Never Theirs to Approve There's a conversation I keeps coming back to. One of my clients who was done explaining. Done justifying. Done trying to make the people in her life understand what she was building and why it mattered so much. If you've ever felt that way, this episode is for you. Today we unpack one of the most quietly damaging things entrepreneurs do. Waiting for permission. Waiting for someone to co-sign the dream before fully committing to it. And why that waiting is costing you more than you realize. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: Why the people who love you most are sometimes the ones who understand you least, and why that's not a reflection of your dreamWhere permission seeking actually comes from and why it follows us into our businesses without us ever questioning itThe co-signer framework, and why your dream was never theirs to approveWhy crazy usually just means you were right too earlyWhy hiding your ambition is costing you the version of life that's actually waiting for youThe validation trap and how to break it one decision at a timeHow to find your people, the ones who grab a marker instead of giving you a worried look

    20 min

  8. MAR 12

    136: What Separates the Top 2% in an AI World: The Human Advantage

    136: What Separates the Top 2% in an AI World: The Human Advantage If AI can write your emails, build your funnels, and generate your content.. what's left? That's the question we unpack in this episode. And the answer has nothing to do with finding a better tool. For the first time in history, emotional intelligence is more predictive of success than IQ. This is the fundamental shift happening right now, and it has massive implications for every entrepreneur building in an AI world. In this episode I walk through the 6 human skills that AI cannot replicate, why the online business industry stopped investing in them, and why the entrepreneurs building these skills right now are quietly pulling away from the pack. This one is going to change how you think about where you're investing your time and energy. IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN: Why the barrier to entry just dropped to zero and what that actually means for your competitive advantageThe 6 skills that separate the top 2%: Presence, Active Listening, Emotional Intelligence, Persuasion, Conviction, and StorytellingThe skill nobody puts on their resume that closes more sales than any script ever couldWhy human skills compound differently than tactical skills and why that changes everythingThe honest truth about why the industry stopped teaching these skillsMEMORABLE MOMENTS: "AI just handed everyone the same playbook. Skill is no longer enough. The strategies are no longer exclusive. The tools are available to everyone. So what's left? The human." "For the first time in history, EQ is more predictive of success than IQ. AI handed everyone the same analytical brain. IQ is no longer the scarce resource. Everyone has it now." "The asset was never the funnel. It was never the framework. It was never the tool. The asset is you. It always has been. AI just made it impossible to ignore." "The question in an AI world isn't what tool are you using. The question is who are you becoming." "Every conversation you show up fully for builds the kind of intuition that can't be taught." RESOURCES MENTIONED: Join the The Easiest Yes Free Masterclass: www.easiestyes.comCONNECT WITH LINDSAY: Instagram: @LindsayvanHarssel

    22 min
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4.8
out of 5
70 Ratings

About

What if the most important investment you ever made in your business had nothing to do with your business? Build That Business is the podcast for the entrepreneur who is done playing small... in their business and in their life. Hosted by Lindsay van Harssel, sales coach, Buffalo mom, and living proof that you can build something extraordinary in the middle of a beautifully chaotic life. Every week we talk sales, strategy, and data... all of it. But we also talk about the human behind the business. The mindset, the nervous system, the version of you that has to grow alongside the strategies or none of it works. Because here's what Lindsay knows for sure: you are not just building a business. You are becoming someone who can hold it.  Less than 2% of women-owned businesses ever hit a million dollars. We're changing that. The business you want already exists. The life you want already exists. The question is whether the version of you running it right now is ready for it. She is. Let's build. Connect with Lindsay: Instagram: @LindsayvanHarssel

Information

  • Creator
    Lindsay van Harssel
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    143
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Build That Business
  • Show Website
    Build That Business

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