About This EpisOde

Today’s episode is a bit different, in that instead of diving into a solo-episode and talking about a company, I actually have a friend, someone who has been my business coach, and she has also been my client. Her name is Janelle Lara and she is going to be joining us today to talk about what it was like working with me.

Kai 
First, I honestly and I know you probably already know this. But I truly love working with like CEOs like you whose businesses are like, literally like changing the industry. And it’s like, it’s such an honor to be the one who like got to work with you through this and by extension of like, all that we accomplished together to like, help amplify all that you’re doing because you know, I’m like, obsessed with your brand. All over.

Janelle
Thanks so nice.

I appreciate that so much. No, and it literally has been. It’s been so fun to like, I think everyone knows, like, I hire my clients left and right, because it’s like, what better way to create a team that sold out on your brand than by hiring people who already purchase something from your brand who already invested in your brand. And it’s been such a pleasure like having you work on my business and you did such a good job. Like there’s always that concern of like, What if something goes wrong like their current client? Like all the things that you were so professional, and I think you did such a good job like delineating those boundaries of like, okay, here’s where I’m going to reach out to you for our stuff. And in terms of like building out my CRM, and then here’s where I’m gonna reach out to you for coaching but like it worked beautifully. Yes,

Kai 
boundaries are like, my golden rule.

Janelle
everything, yeah,

Totally.

Before Working Together

Kai 
Okay, so before we started working together, can you kind of explain like where you were at in your business? And like, what was your biggest challenge and like the catalyst or tipping point that made you say, like, I want to work with Kai,

Janelle
totally. In my business, from a practical standpoint, I had just hit multiple six figures in a single year, which was really exciting. But I like to joke like my business was literally held together with like, sticks and string and glue and tape,

Kai 

Like duct tape. Yeah,

Janelle
like literally and it was just me and the VA. And I’d like to think like I did a pretty good job on my own, but it just got to the point where my business was way too big. And I knew that if I wanted to scale Because I had just been selling high ticket like one to one and then some group, but I knew that I needed to introduce some lower ticket offers. I knew that I had a wealth of content in my business that needed to be repurposed. It needed to be more functional. My clients were like “OK Janelle if I want to find one of your trainings, I have to dig through my emails” like they were asking, like for years had been asking for a portal of some sort. And so I literally just realized I was like, if I want to grow past this point, and continue to maintain the integrity of my program and serve my clients at the level that they had become accustomed, I needed to become a professional business. I needed to really just, you know, build out a CRM, a proper CRM, and I also knew that number one I did not have have the time to do it. I knew that it wasn’t something that I could just pass off to a VA if I wanted it done right. Like I knew that I needed someone with the technical knowledge to do it right. Um, and I knew that it was going to take someone a lot of time. So I was really excited to find someone for whom this was their bread and butter. And that it was all they did for a living like it was off here, my VA and then I’m also tacking on this huge project. Like, it was really important to me to find someone who just like lives and breathes tech. Um, and so yeah, I just knew it was time. It was just time.

Kai 
Awesome. Um, why did you choose to work with me over like anyone else in the industry?

Janelle
Yeah, so you’re someone that I’ve worked with before. You’ve been a client of mine, I’m super into personality tests. So, I’m super like, I know that you’re an enneagram one and I get along really well. I’m an ennergram three, I get along really, it’s funny. I feel like I’m in a gram one with like, a rebellious spirit. Definitely a rule breaker, not a rule follower. But I still have like those like really high achieving tendencies. And it’s really important to me that like things are done, right. Yeah, right. And

I knew that that was that Kai is like “Yes.”

Exactly. So I just knew like your enneagram one, your rule follower is going to do things step by step, you’re going to do it right the right way. The first time, you’re really detail oriented. You’re just super trustworthy. Like I just love you as a person. Like it was just a no brainer. Like I just knew that you were the person to hire.

During Our Work Together

Kai 
Okay, and then during so during our work together, I know that We had there was like, a transition even in the middle of like our working together. So I was wondering if you can like, share a little bit about the experience of working with me like one to one and then even the experience of like us transitioning to me like training and working with your team even.

Janelle
Totally. So yeah, I mean, they were both awesome experience.

That I appreciate and I still appreciate this about you. I appreciate that you really understand where I’m at in my business, like you’ve really seen me grow from the beginning. And so you really understand like Janelle’s busy, Janell needs a lot of help. And I need a lot of focus. And so you just made it so easy with like, “Hey, here’s what I need you to go through for my next for our next meeting.” And it would all be in one email, I could just respond to the email and you just made it really simple for me to like, say stay on track. For a project that like, I’ll be honest, I wasn’t super excited about like setting up a CRM isn’t like what I want to be doing on any given day of the week. So you really just like did a great job of like keeping me focused keeping me excited about the project. And then my team loves you. Yeah. I mean, you were so great. You went above and beyond you tested funnels, even when you didn’t have to, like you gave that. And you know, you were just a really good teacher, and you recorded all our calls and sent them to us. Like, I just feel like my team was really well set up. And then plus the three months like after I just feel like we’re really well set up to, you know, take on the CRM, and to make it our own. And so it’s like you like built it out, you lay the foundation and then you kind of handed the keys over to us and I did. I really appreciated how often you met with my team and that they just felt like okay, Just like they could come to you, they Voxered you like I didn’t even have to be the middleman in there. And they just they could always ask you questions and that you’d be available for them and I think that was just it was just a really good experience for everyone involved.

Kai
And can I say I just like I love your team. And I even like I was walking with one of them today and they’re like, you are like the best but I was like “aww, my heart”

Janelle
yeah, no, they love you. Like

“Kai is like the savior of our business.”

The biggest surprise working with me

Kai
And then what was like your biggest I don’t know if you have won like your biggest surprise during our work together. I’m like super curious to know.

Janelle
Oh my gosh, my that’s such an easy question. My the biggest like, like surprise or like the most like magical I think piece was, how detail oriented you are and how you would like we built out a couple new funnels that like I had my team build. And while we were Working together and you went in and you tested them and you created a loom video and you were like, here’s all the pieces that are missing all the things that are clicking like, you went in and you like even went in as a potential client and you like literally just tested every aspect of the funnel. And because you’re so detail oriented, you were looking at things like we didn’t even notice. Um, and so I feel like you saved us, so much, so many headaches were saved because of your willingness to kind of go above and beyond and that like wasn’t even part of our contract. But it was so helpful.

Kai
I honestly love doing that. Like,

“what about this? What about this?”

Janelle
You’re so good at it.

After working together

Kai 
And then so after, can you share a little bit about what it’s like now with this just like custom CRM in place for your clients can be nurtured and I know you just launched something brand new using that platform. It’s I signed up for today and it just looks like beautiful.

Janelle
That was such a huge compliment when you messaged me and you’re like it looks so good.

No, it’s so good. Like we’re I don’t think you need to know this Kai but we’re transitioning everything over to Kartra now like we’re moving I know we’re moving my emails we’re moving my scheduler like everything is going to Kartra. I’m so excited about it. Because no more zaps no more things not speaking to each other. Like I was just really frustrated with. Yeah, with things just being like held together by zaps like it wasn’t working at the level I needed it to work and so yeah it’s now it’s it’s such a relief. I feel like my business has a home it has like an online home. And it just feels really good. It feels really professional. I mean, you know this about me, Kai, my landing pages used to be Google Docs. Right like and I like to my credit I sold $80,000 month off. Um, but I’m at a place in my business now where it just, we need something a little bit more uplevel a little bit more high end and kartra absolutely provides that for us and you being able to create that process and again, build that foundation. It’s like, you know, sticks and glue and tape got me to, I think it was something like almost $300K, I know that now this year I’m it’s gonna take us to seven figures and beyond. And it’s just like, feels so good to have that container and all set up and ready to go.

Kai
And now your team can really come in and just like support you.

Janelle
Yes. It’s so good. Yeah.

The Biggest Takeaway from working with me

Kai
And then what would be the biggest takeaway that you got out of like working with me or even having your team work with me?

Janelle
Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest takeaway hi is just how important like specialized knowledge is. And like, you can have a VA who’s like really tech efficient, or you can have like you can maybe like, like setting things up yourself. But I would say that like someone who’s like, there’s so many moving parts, so many different pieces that all need to be calibrated together and work together perfectly in order for your funnels to work. Like if one thing is off, everything’s broken, right, which I have learned many times. And so I think for me, what I realized working with you is like, oh, like, it’s so important to have someone who again lives and breathes this and who loves testing all the little pieces, and he loves learning it and figuring things out. Like that’s me, I really appreciate about you. Like, if you’re like, if you don’t know something, you’re gonna go figure it out. Um, I realized how important that is. And now even as I’m building my team, moving forward, Now I’m looking for people who have this really specialized knowledge rather than just general knowledge that because I don’t want people who are catch all after working with you, I’m like, Oh no, I need people who are specialists and who like love this aspect. So yes, super helpful.

Kai
That is like such high praise because I’m like obsessed with you. So like, knowing that is just

Janelle
The feeling is mutual.

Kai 
Um, is there anything you would like to share that we just like having covered or that I haven’t asked you at all?

Janelle
Oh, my gosh. I mean, if you’re listening to this, and I mean, if you’re listening to this, and you’re surveying more than 10 or 20 people in your business, you absolutely need a CRM, you absolutely need, you know, you need a container for your business to grow. Um, and it shouldn’t be like Six or seven different pieces of software’s zapped together. And so if you’re listening to this and you’re on the fence or you’re thinking about working with Kai, or creating a CRM, like, Oh my gosh, jumped the fence, like you absolutely must work with Kai. Because she really, I mean, we ended up working together. I think it was like eight months.

Kai 
Um, yeah, something like that.

Janelle
like an additional like three months of you like working with my team and supporting my team. And it’s just really been such an amazing journey. And I know that again, like this one investment of eight months into my business or a year into my business is going like work like we’re set for the next 10 plus years. Like I can’t imagine why we would need something like this again. And so yeah, it’s just I would absolutely hire Kai if you’re in this position.

Kai 
I am just so honestly, like, so excited for you in general. Like everything that you’re doing. How you’re expanding and it’s just like, I feel so honored that I got to work with you. Like, I didn’t realize how much it meant to me to work with somebody whose business like, meant something bigger than their business. You know what I mean?

Janelle
And that’s something else I love about working with you guys. I feel like you’re so like genuine. And every time we would voxer was like all this feels like, oh, like we just like love each other so and so yeah, it’s just like you’re just so genuine. You’re so easy to work with. Um, yeah, it’s been such an honor for me to work with you as well.

Kai

And thank you so much Janelle, I really appreciate you taking time out of your day because I know you’re like super busy.

Janelle  
No, like, absolutely not a problem at all.

If you’re listening to Janelle’s story and wondering if working with me is the right next step for you, I would love to hop on a call together.

To find more about Janelle and her podcast, you can find her here.