FtheHUSTLE Kim Doyal

Kim Doyal 0:01
Welcome to F the hustle. I'm your host, Kim Doyal. You want a life that is meaningful and exciting. In this podcast, we're going to talk about launching and growing an online business that fits your lifestyle. After the hustle is all about doing good work, building real relationships, and most importantly, creating a business that supports where you want to live your life. You don't have to sacrifice the quality of your life today to create something that sets your soul on fire. And yes, that includes making a lot of money. So we'll be talking about selling, charging, what you're worth, and help earning more means helping more people. My goal is to help you find freedom and create a business on your turn. Hey, what up what up? I am super excited today. My guest needs no introduction, but I will introduce him. We're not going to do the typical rewind of tell us about your backstory, because he's been on the show a few times. My guess is my good friend Jason Resnick. Jason, thanks for being here today.
Jason Resnick 0:58
Yeah, thanks for having me, Kim. Um, I can talk nerdy about email all day long. So I'm happy to be here.

Kim Doyal 1:06
Yeah, and I always feel a little guilty when I'm like picking your brain on our other calls. I'm like, like, I should be paying for this. But I'm grateful for everything. So I have to explain to the listeners, viewers, why I asked you to do this, because it was kind of funny how this whole thing started. So for those of you who are not familiar, Jason and I ran an experiment last year, we have, we had a newsletter called Get deliberate, where every single issue of the newsletter was an experiment on growing your email list and adding subscribers and we did it from scratch with that brand. And so we kind of hit a point where it was like, I don't know, have we covered a lot, I think 40 Something issues of that. And so we put it on pause the contents amazing, we're going to repurpose that repackage it somehow at some point this year, but this is what happened. So we have we Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And by the way, Jason has nurture kit.com where he's, he is a ConvertKit, expert, duck, duck nurture. kit.co Sorry about that. And of course, res.com but and I'll have all the links in the show notes. So just stay focused on the show. So here's the story behind the evolution of this experiment and conversation that we're gonna have today is that so Jason and I both use ConvertKit. And then we use ConvertKit. For deliver it? Well, because of that we know ConvertKit sends you a weekly summary of sales and conversions that you've had with with your email marketing, once every week, because deliver it was linked to Jason's account and my app and my personal account, we each had it linked. So I was getting these emails, it's like, here your ConvertKit sales, and every week it was I don't know, do you mind me giving numbers through automations? Okay, all right, you know, 1200 $1,500 every single week, and I'm like, well, this isn't my shit. Excuse the language, but it was just like, What is he doing? Because, honestly, Jason, so I have a follow up sequence. And I offer something at the end of it through one, one lead magnet at the same time. There's so many other things that can happen. And it took me way too long, if I'm being brutally honest, to implement that. Because, you know, I just, there's always so much to do is how it feels. And I've had my account, I don't know how long at this point. I'm like, I need to go in and clean up and do this and whatnot. And then I get into everything is liquid, and then I want to do coats. Right? But you've totally simplified that. So for everybody. I just wanted to explain, like Jason lives, breathes, implements, just does all the things. He's not just talking to talk. And I witnessed it firsthand. So I'm like, Alright, this is a priority for me this year with with my personal brand. And of...

Goodbye, Costa Rica.For now.
I’ve been pondering this decision for a while now, even though I said I would stay for two more years at the end of my 1-year lease last year.
Many factors have contributed to my decision to move back to the states, but the biggest one is family.
My Dad is 78, and while he’s already had some health issues, they seem to be compounding or worsening. Most people who know him would probably look at him and not think twice. Still, after spending so much time with him over the holidays (I hadn’t seen him for a year in person – he was going to come to Costa Rica, and I got Covid the day he was to fly down), I’ve been reminded that time is precious.
I never saw my Mom age since her passing at 71 was unexpected. Even though I watched all four grandparents age, it’s an entirely different feeling when it’s your parent.
Maybe because, secretly, it means I’m aging too.
I noticed a significant slowing down with my Dad, which I’m sure is partly due to age and health concerns. My aunt also had some health challenges this year (my Mom’s younger sister, who I’m incredibly close to), and I want to be closer.
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Other factors that contributed to saying Goodbye, Costa RicaI’ve had my own fair share of challenges this year (don’t we all), and being in a foreign country steps things up a bit.
Having to take my dog in for surgery on both back knees – and then a second time, because something happened to one of the knees, was a little traumatic (I felt like I’d failed her)- then to have surgery on my back?
It was a lot in a short period of time.
I also had visitors every month through August, except for February, and while I wouldn’t trade it for anything (I also had some incredible experiences), it was a little hard to start and stop so much (with work).
Having just launched “Create It,” I’m pretty head down with my business right now (the new content planner). I think it will be easier to manage things in the states than here. This might sound a little strange since it’s a digital business, but here are a few reasons why:
Shipping: we’re shipping the initial orders and will hopefully switch to a distribution service by the second quarter, but we’ll be the shipping department (my daughter and me).Events: with the world opened up. I’d like to get back to networking and traveling to events. I’m looking at joining an e-commerce mastermind to scale the new brand, and there are quarterly events, which are much easier to get to from the states.
Another factor that I kind of can’t believe I’m sharing here (although why not? I share everything else, and knowing me, I’ve probably mentioned it in another podcast) is the dating scene.
It’s pretty non-existent.
I’ve shared before that the area I live in, while amazing, feels more or less like it’s made up of retirees and families (because of the proximity to the international schools).
I’ve had my fair share of younger Tico’s ask me out (when I was getting out and about more, haven’t done a whole lot of that over the last 4+ months with my back), but that’s not my jam (as flattering as it may have been haha).
When I had started thinking about moving back to the states, I had originally been thinking of Oregon or Washington, so I was still close enough to drive to see family.
Then it seemed silly to move back to be closer to family and not actually be close (I know, I’m a genius). So it’s back to Northern California, I go. I’ll land at my Dad’s for a few...

This isn’t my official year-in-review podcast episode (I’ll record that in January), but I’m starting to look ahead at what I want for 2023.
Both business and life.
We’re about to enter December (or, depending on when you’re listening to this, we’re already there), and I head back to California in a few weeks.
The new planner, Create It, is done and off to the printer, so I can catch my breath for a minute and regroup.
I’ve worked almost every day since the week off after my back surgery. Still, now that I’m starting to feel a lot better physically, my mental energy has shifted as well (nothing like being resistant to what is… although I’ve stopped saying my back is taking longer than I’d like. My only answer now is that my back feels better and better every day).
Not that I could do much else…
It’s been raining almost every day (although, as I write this, there are bright blue skies outside… I’m hoping they stick around so I can take the dogs to the beach this afternoon).
Let’s get into today’s episode…
Launching a New CompanyI went into a lot of detail in the last episode that announced Create It, about the planner itself (as well as my decision to do this).
I want to go a little deeper about my vision for Create It Company, why I decided to start another company separate from my personal brand, and how I see them fitting together.
My first “real” entrepreneurial endeavor was the scrapbook store I opened with a business partner back in 1998. This was at the beginning of the scrapbooking craze, and I had just been laid off from my district manager position.
Even though I didn’t necessarily have the capital to do it, I would have opened another store (and can I say amen that we didn’t). I had BIG visions for that store (and we could have killed it online had I known what I know now 
… hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?).
My business partner didn’t.
It was more of a hobby for her, whereas I needed it to bring in an income.
In many ways creating a physical content planner brings me full circle. Even at the Scrapbook store, I taught classes… so much of what I do today has been a part of my journey long before coming online.
I’d like to see how far I can take Create It.
Not just the planner, but the company.
Which is why I needed to do this on my own.
I’ve been fortunate to partner with amazingly talented people, but any time you bring on a partner, you’re giving up control.
And as crazy as I make myself, I’m much more willing to take risks, even when I have no idea how it will happen.
The idea of giving up on myself feels like a death sentence.
I have zero intentions of “retiring”… in fact, I see myself creating more as I get older.
One of my goals with Create It Company is to scale it to the point where it doesn’t need me. And who knows, maybe even sell it for a nice exit, but that’s getting ahead of myself.
Plans for the Company
In addition to hiring people (again, I went into much more detail about this in the last podcast episode), we have many more products planned for the brand.
I don’t want to give them away too much here, but here are the categories of products we’re looking at:
More planners (beyond the content planner)Stickers (physical & digital)PensCard decksLots of training courses (with guest experts)Monthly content prompts and template subscriptionConsulting on planner creation and publication (helping other people produce planners)
To do this, I will need a little help and guidance in the e-commerce space, which is where my friend Trey Lewellen comes in.
Trey is a master at e-commerce.
So I’m looking at joining his mastermind in January.
Obviously, organic content and social media will be a big part of our growth strategy, but so will paid...

Create It – The Content Planner is LIVE!BUT… before we get into that, it’s been a hot minute since I posted a podcast episode, and I want to share some updates with you.
I have a couple of interviews in the can and another solo show to wrap up, but this had to come first.
I had my back surgery on October 1st (in Costa Rica), and my dog, who had a second surgery on one of her legs, came home the week before my surgery (after being at the vet for 5 weeks!).
Having surgery in another country was an interesting experience, to say the least. I’m thinking of writing an article on Medium about the experience, but we’ll see if I get around to that. I trusted the neurosurgeon completely and have no doubt the surgery was done well.
The hospital stay (only one night) was another experience altogether. Not to mention there were more or less zero postop instructions or guidelines unless I asked.
Fortunately, someone on my list, shoutout to Alex Smith of Fluid Junction, who had a similar surgery and became my go-to with questions and postop care. One of my neighbors is also a nurse who worked for a neurosurgeon for years in the states, so she’s been a godsend too.
All that being said, I’m on the road to recovery.
Everything I read said about six weeks. You’d start to feel better (closer to normal), which was also true for me. I still limp a bit later in the day, my back gets sore, and I can feel pretty tired by late afternoon, but I’ll take it. I’m not in any pain, and things are progressing nicely.
The bonus to all of this was that my daughter came down for the week after my surgery to help out, so I got some extra time with her (and didn’t have to wait until Christmas to see her).
I’ve more or less been hanging out in my place, working, resting, and recuperating for the last 6 weeks. I go out to get groceries and a meal with friends here and there, but it’s actually been pretty lovely being able to focus (not to mention it’s been raining most of the last 6 weeks).
Now that that’s out of the way let’s jump into Create it – The Content Planner.If you haven’t heard, Jodi and I shut down the Content Creators Planner a couple of months ago. I shared a podcast episode about our decision to do so. You can listen to “Time for A New Chapter” here.
It was during the closing of that business that I started to feel the pull to give it another go.
We didn’t shut it down because it wasn’t a good business, but we didn’t have the time for it as a team. Jodi has a successful full-time agency and is the primary person responsible for her aging parents. She has a lot on her plate.
Initially, I thought I would move on and focus on #FtheHUSTLE. Not just the newsletter but the business and life framework.
But that niggly feeling of “what if” wouldn’t go away.
What if I did a new planner?
Started a new company?
And did more with than one type of planner?
The wheels started turning, and I knew that this was what I was supposed to do.
Having successfully done this once, albeit, with a business partner, I knew I could do this again, but I had that much more knowledge and understanding of running an e-commerce business.
I could take all the lessons, mistakes, challenges, and wins and do things differently.
The one thing I knew had to be different this time was that I had to have a team.
It can be challenging when you can do just about everything you need in your business. Between the two of us, Jodi and I had everything...

In this episode, I want to challenge you to start thinking about More Creating, Less Producing.Let me back up a little bit and explain where this came from (and yes, I’ll probably be creating a framework for this).
I came up with the term #FtheHUSTLE over six years ago.
At the time there were so many people preaching about hustle and grind it started getting on my nerves. It made me feel like no matter what I did, it wasn’t enough.
And I’m a doer.
I take action, I like being productive and seeing results from my efforts.
All that being said, I didn’t need to be bombarded with the message that I needed to do MORE or that I wasn’t serious about my business because I wasn’t working 24/7.
And can we just zip it about binge-watching TV already?
Do whatever works for you to refuel and recharge.
I didn’t do anything with #FtheHUSTLE until almost two years ago when I saw the logo in a dropbox folder and knew instantly that it was going to be the name of the newsletter (I had no idea at the time I would use it for my podcast as well).
Fast forward to today, and I’m much clearer on what #FtheHUSTLE is (more on that later…and surprise, I’ve met with a book coach to start outlining an #FtheHUSTLE book! I started doing it with AI last year, and it didn’t feel right. I want to write every word of this book).
#FtheHUSTLE is subjective.
Meaning it gets to be whatever it needs to be for YOU.
Whether it’s a shorter work week, limiting calls, more vacation time, not selling a product or service the way everyone else is telling you it needs to be done, choosing not to use social media or hiring someone to clean your house.
It can be business or personal, or better yet both.
It’s about creating a life that allows you to be and do whatever it is you want.
This brings me to more creating, less producing.
I’m going to back into this because it will be helpful to hear how I’m focused on creating in a way that isn’t necessarily obvious.
Align, Design, AssignFirst off, Align, Design, Assign is from an amazing book I’m reading called “free time” by Jenny Blake.
HOLY MOLY, I love this book.
Recently I shared that I got the updated version of Mike Michalowicz’s “Clockwork” because I want to remove myself from the aspects of my business that aren’t the best use of my time.
I’m also launching a new company (you’ll hear about that in the next month, I promise) and want to make sure it’s set up in a way that isn’t reliant on me as the brand’s voice.
I will 100% be part of the brand in terms of part of the company (and obviously, using what I’ve created to support the launch), but I will not be the primary content creator. In fact, I’m hoping that within the first 6 months, we have a tiny, effective team (also from free time).
Back to Assign, Design, Align.
What hit me with both of these books and the work I’m doing behind the scenes for the new company (the naming took a lot of work, now I’ve moved on to the messaging and voice of the brand while having hired a graphic design company to work on the logo) is how I’ve had to slow down to be able to build something phenomenal.
I’m going to share a few bullet points from the “Align” part of the book that resonated so deeply within me.
Align is all about: Your values, your energy, your...

I am all kinds of excited today.
It’s been a challenging few weeks with everything going on with my back (and if you missed that, you can read/listen to what’s going on in the last podcast episode).
I did my border run to Nicaragua, which went really smoothly, but man was I exhausted afterward.
Fortunately, I was smart and planned to take care of myself the day after. I didn’t have any calls and allowed myself to go with the flow. Which pretty much meant working at my desk as long as possible and then moving to my bed- regardless of the time of day.
I brought a cooler with my ice packs for the journey, which made all the difference in the world.
Now I’m set for another 90-days. Which is so close to Christmas, but I’ll still have to do one more border run before I go to California in early December. I will apply for Costa Rica’s digital nomad visa after the holidays.
The digital nomad visa will allow me to stay in the country for a year without border runs, open a bank account here (bye-bye international fees!), get a driver’s license, and be a part of the national health care system here (called Caja).
I’ll pay into Caja, but I’m happy to do so.
Now that all that is out of the way, I can focus on business again.
I have 3 weeks until my back surgery, and it’s game on! There’s something about knowing you have a ‘sprint’ ahead of you with an end date (even if it’s just for a week) that makes it much more manageable to stay focused.
Now that you’re all caught up let’s get into Shutting the Door on Self-Doubt.Shutting the door on self-doubt came up on a call with my therapist this morning (I’ve jokingly said that I will have to pay her royalties at some point 
).
We were talking about a new project I’m working on, and I was sharing my challenges with naming it. If you’ve ever been stuck on naming something, you know what I mean (and if you haven’t been stuck, can you share your secret with me?).
I had picked a name (or so I thought) for my new project, and two of my dear friends in this space whom I completely trust asked me if that name was right. The whole thing came about because I had hired a couple of people to have logos made.
Nothing felt right.
It’s time to #FtheHUSTLE! Sign up here!
Instead of trying to figure it out with the existing name, my friends asked if I could use a different name.
Holy lightbulb moment!!! 
I solved this (and will share the name and what it is) within the next month, but I returned to a book I read years ago when I wanted to name something else.
The book is called “Hello, My Name is Awesome” by Alexandra Watkins.
Side note: Go to her website for some before and after name makeovers her company has done. Her website is “Eat My Words,” and I LOVE the tagline on her site: “Your brand name shouldn’t look like someone got drunk and played Scrabble.” 
I highly recommend the book.
It’s pretty short (about 128 pages). She gives many examples of companies she’s worked with, brands needing help, and then very specific exercises for coming up with your name. And yes, she “names names.”
She has something she calls the ‘Smile & Scratch’...