As you know, IBN's proprietary entrepreneurial framework, the Maker Method™, contains four sequential phases you must past through on the road to building a profitable business that makes you happy and successful and can generate income for life. Those phases are: Emerge > Engage > Evolve > Expand. Welcome to Episode 93 of the Indie Business Podcast, where we introduce you to a member who is planted firmly in the Expand Phase, and share a bit about how she got there.
In this episode, you're going to meet Toushonta Hogan of Scentsational Soaps in Queen Creek, Arizona and Los Angeles, California. You'll hear us dig deep on a very powerful and personal level into Toushonta's journey from emerging her business two decades ago to expanding it today, all the time building her business around her life rather than the other way around. And, what does this have to do with living a success life as a maker entrepreneur? More than you may realize, in today’s times. I cannot wait for you to hear more from Toushonta and her Scentsational Soaps story, so sit back, relax, and enjoy my interview with Toushonta NOW!
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Episode Show Notes
Here are the topics discussed in this episode, with time stamps to help you find the information that interests you most:
- Toushonta's backstory. (starting at 3:40)
- Now in the Expand Phase, how Toushonta duplicated herself and her business without skipping a beat. (starting at 7:27)
- How Toushonta makes and ships her products now that she's operating from two locations. (starting at 10:07)
- Toushonta talks how streamlining her product line has helped her build her business around the kind of life she wants to have. (starting at 10:58)
- Toushonta's many creative talents and skills and how she builds income streams around them. (starting at 12:53)
- How Toushtonta used the pandemic to “step into her own,” now that her children are in college. (starting at 14:09)
- Toushonta's current multiple income streams. (starting at 18:37)
- How Toushonta plans and organizes her multiple income streams into a social media marketing “pillar” system that makes business sense. (starting at 24:07)
- The importance of “finding your happy,” and how it has evolved over time. (starting at 27:51)
- Toushonta's biggest challenge and how she overcomes it. (starting at 30:20)
- What's next for Toushonta and her brands (starting at 34:00)
- “Digital products is everything right now.” (starting at 37:49)
- Toushonta says: “Keep sticking with the Indie Business Network,” and what to do to be successful in your business today. (starting at 42:33)
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Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
In this episode, Toushonta and I mentioned the following resources.
- Scentsational Soap on Instagram
- Toushonta Creates on Instagram
- Indie Business Network (join today!)
Important entrepreneurial insights from Toushonta
Let's unpack some of the most significant business insights Toushonta and I discussed in this episode.
1. Build your business around your life
After two decades in business, Toushonta has raised both her business and her children. Today, her life has evolved in ways that were not possible when her children were in the home. This newfound freedom has allowed her to evolve by duplicating herself so she can maintain homes in two states, California and Arizona, and still make her products and manage all of the details of her business and her life.
If you have followed my teaching for any amount of time, you know how much I emphasize the importance of building your business around your life, and not the other way around. Toushonta's movement into the Expand Phase of her business is a great illustration of that.
2. Streamline your efforts to succeed
Toushonta shared that her business model for product sales revolves around having streamlined to selling soaps only as her core line. She scratches her creative itch by making limited edition products to complement the soaps and boost sales, but soaps remain at the core and are the main focus of the business from a consistent profit center perspective. According to Toushonta, this streamlined approach allows her to be focused on making what sells the most consistently, and adding additional produce income streams on top of that to prevent boredom and remain creative and innovative, yet still profitable.
3. Come out from the shadows
Toushonta described herself as an ambivert — that is, she is an extrovert when she needs to be, and she is an introvert the rest of the time. It is very important for creatives to be able to integrate both the introverted and the extroverted parts of their personalities together to come out from the shadows. As Toushonta said, when she does this, she sees immediate results because people do want to see and get to know the creative personality behind the product brand. When done consistently, this always leads to new sales opportunities — and opportunities in general — in your business.
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