Info

GSD Diaries with Angela Proffitt

Transforming Life & Business with Purpose, Passion, and Perspective Welcome to GSD Diaries (formerly Business Unveiled), where we share stories of transformation, resilience, and the pursuit of purpose. Join us as we travel the world, sharing insights from other cultures, highlighting wellness, and what it means to navigate the ups and downs in life and business. We'll uncover the truths behind living a fulfilling and impactful life. In this podcast, we highlight impactful leaders who have navigated change, wellness resorts and companies that prioritize health, sharing real stories of resilience and motivating you to create a balanced, fulfilling life. I'll sit down with industry leaders who have overcome incredible challenges, sharing their secrets to success and survival. Together, we'll explore how to shift perspectives, embrace healthy habits, and find true happiness in our work and lives. Hi, I'm Angela Proffitt, an entrepreneur disrupting the hospitality industry by shaking things up. As the GSD Girl who loves to Get Shit Done, let's dance around the world together, uncovering the 'first times' and the powerful stories behind them. Often, it's a near-death experience that wakes you up and pushes you to make a change. I've learned the hard way—if you don't take care of yourself, you can't take care of others in hospitality. In this wellness series, I'll chat with some of my closest friends and fellow movers and shakers in the entrepreneurial community. Together, we'll explore meaningful ways to become more human and empathetic, and shift our perspectives for a better life and business. This is GSD Diaries—transforming the hospitality industry, one step at a time.
RSS Feed Subscribe in Apple Podcasts
GSD Diaries with Angela Proffitt
2024
July


2023
April
March
February
January


2022
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2020
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


2018
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April


2017
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January


Categories

All Episodes
Archives
Categories
Now displaying: March, 2021
Mar 30, 2021

By now, you guys all know that I am psycho about new technology. I really am massively passionate about it, so I’m always on the forefront of new apps. There’s this one app that I’ve been hearing about over and over again. Maybe y’all have seen it or used it, but it’s Marco Polo Channels. And so today, we are talking to brand strategist Michelle Gifford about this exciting new app and how it is changing the way we connect in business. 

Marco Polo Channels is the upgraded version of Marco Polo that many of you have probably used. It’s a video-based messaging system, and it works perfectly for coaching and connecting with your clients. There are so many reasons why this app is better than those offered by other platforms. You as the owner get to control the group and set your own boundaries. It’s unique because you can build real connections with your group members because they see your face, and you can see theirs. It is really so helpful and convenient.

When you launch a channel for your business, Michelle suggests that you go in with a strategy. This one should be obvious. Determine what service you want to give in the channel and how many people should be included before you create it. Michelle also offers some tips on how you can make your launch a successful one. One of these suggestions is to create a sense of urgency in your potential clients by setting a close-date and by raising the price incrementally. More people are likely to join because scarcity promotes action.

One of the issues that many entrepreneurs face is finding the line between free and paid services. Yes, you do want to offer free services because this helps potential clients get to know you and become invested in what you do. There is a point, however, when you need to start charging them. Free stuff, for example, should be about entry level problems that are easy to fix. The things you charge for, however, should be all about processes. The free stuff gets people engaged while the stuff you charge for helps them change.

While using the Channels app, you’ll want to make sure your videos are engaging. A big factor in this is time. It’s hard to know how long your videos should be, but you shouldn’t go too long because you might overwhelm your viewers. Try to keep your videos under 15 minutes so that you don’t exhaust yourself or others. If you’re as interested in this new app as I am, listen to the podcast to learn even more from our wonderful guest!

Main Topics:

What is Marco Polo Channels and How Does it Work?

Tips for Launching a Channel

Where’s the Line between Free and Paid Services?

Tips for Engaging Videos


Key Takeaways:

“If you even pause for an hour and take a breath and look at what you’re doing, then you can get some foundation behind your idea, and it moves it forward a lot faster.” 

“It’s good to have some scarcity because it holds people accountable. It makes them make a decision in their business.”

“If you have a community behind you already, if you already have a business, if you know exactly who you are and who you serve, then it’s time to launch a channel.” 

Mar 25, 2021

I know that 2020 was, and has been, for some people, a crazy year. Some of you have thrived and some of you have taken a step back. It’s given all of us, however, the opportunity to look at the inner world, the inner self and how we can win as an individual. We all want peace. We all want harmony. Our guest Tracey Bethune, Whole Life Strategist and fitness enthusiast, is going to give you some actionable takeaways on how you can create harmony within your business and within yourself. 

It’s important to have harmony in your work. When you’re launching a business, there are a few things you can do to make the process go smoothly. First off, make sure that what you are doing aligns with who you are. If it doesn’t, it won’t work. You will always be led back to yourself. Know your strengths and use them. This will increase the harmony in your relationship with your business. Also, you absolutely need help. DIY business don’t work. Invest in some help from professionals that have done what you want to do. 

Not only do you want harmony with your business, but also in your relationships with other people. How you treat other people will affect the success of your business. Be willing to serve other people because they, in turn, can connect you with opportunities that you would never have found without them. The good things you do will increase the likelihood of the right people being in your life. 

When we talk about harmony, a lot of people think about boundaries. Tracey has an interesting perspective on boundaries. She believes that boundaries have a negative connotation and are usually associated with bad experiences. Instead of using the word boundaries, she uses the word standards. This switch changes the focus from the things that you don’t want to the things that you do want. The word standards just sounds more positive.

Finally, your internal energies must be balanced for you to feel harmonious. Get out the intense emotions. You can do this through exercise and through treating yourself. Everyone has masculine and feminine energies within them, and these must be harmonious for you to have maximum energy. Join our conversation to learn even more about harmony and energy! 

Main Topics:

- First things to do when you’re starting a business
- How helping others helps you
- A new way of thinking about boundaries
- How to naturally generate energy

Key Takeaways:

- “I think the biggest breakthroughs come from the largest breakdowns.”
- “Once you get super aligned, the person who’s meant to help you is going to show up in your space.” 
- “When you just serve and show up and help the client become their highest and best and show them how to be their highest and best, that’s really all that’s needed.”  

Mar 23, 2021

Let’s face it: so many #entrepreneurs don’t know how to unwind. You’re probably hearing voices all the time telling you to “#hustle, hustle, hustle”. No one ever talks about the “unhustle.” and how important it is. If you’ve never heard of the “unhustle,” then you’re in for a treat. Our guest, Milena Regos, started the amazing unhustle movement, and she shares with us some great tips on how you can overcome your hustle mindset. There are so many amazing things we can do with our lives but so little time. We often tell ourselves we can do it all, when in reality, we can’t. We end up hustling. We hustle a lot. Eventually, hustling leads to problems like #burnout. To stop this cycle, you need to put boundaries in place. You don’t need to tell people to stop reaching out to you, but you do need to place limits on yourself. Examine what’s most important to you and prioritize. Choose one thing to prioritize. If you have a long list of “priorities,” then you don’t know how to prioritize. Choose one to focus on for a planned amount of time so that when that time is up, you’ll feel like you accomplished something. Did you know that there is actual science behind burn out? There is a study that shows that around 76% of Americans felt burned out. That’s crazy! It has been a hard year, and self-isolation has been rough on everyone. If you’re looking for ways to combat burnout, try spending some time outdoors. You may think you’re wasting time, but nature can actually increase productivity. As a society, we have a lot of work to do to change our hustle culture. The hustle culture has its roots in the industrial revolution during which people worked in factories. The 8-hour workday began in this era. Today, we use our minds more than our bodies. Research shows that our brain only functions at full capacity for 4-6 hours everyday. If you can, try to put boundaries on your work schedule. Go from having FOMO to having JOMO (joy of missing out). Although it might take a while for society to change, you can start changing your own thoughts and attitudes today. You may want to redefine what success means to you and to determine if your standards are based on what other people are doing. You are enough as you are. If your basic needs are being met, you are doing well. It’s time to unhustle in order to find more joy. Listen to this podcast to learn so much more about how you can become an unhustler.

**Main Topics:

- How to create boundaries for yourself
- Burnout: what it is and what it does
- How we can change the “hustle” culture
- How we can change our own “hustle” mindsets

**Key Takeaways:

- “Taking care of your sleep, of what you eat, of how much time you take to rest and recharge are actually critical to your performance and productivity.”
- “I find so much creativity in these moments of just not really
doing anything but just putting one foot in front of the other.”
- “As of right now, you’re enough. You have everything you need. If your basic needs are met...everything else becomes secondary.”

**More About Our Guest: Milena Regos is from Bulgaria, but she has lived in the United States for half of her life. She began her career in marketing and worked with some incredibly famous clients. She was winning, but she was also hustling. Eventually, she burned out. She decided to search for a better way of working and living, guided by science. Using what she learned, she co-founded the Unhustle Movement. This movement is changing the world of work in ways that are revolutionary.

Mar 18, 2021

Do you remember when you were a kid and couldn’t sit still? How you could play for hours without tiring? Do you wish you had that same #energy today? Well, I hope y’all are ready to be inspired today! In this podcast, we’re looking at the energetic side of your life and how it leads to success. You are going to learn so, so much from our guest today, author and natural energy expert Tabitha Scott.

To have a healthy internal energy, you need to let go of the things that you keep unnecessarily stored inside. We live in a world that is impossible to keep up with. Technology has evolved so quickly, leaving our brains with almost no time to catch up. Just as snakes shed their skin to get rid of toxins and make room for growth, there are times when we need to let go of negative things and begin regrowth.

One of the things you’ll run into during this process is what Tabitha calls the “Should Monster.” This monster is made up of all of the things we and others think that we should do to be successful. Telling ourselves what we should do or be is unhealthy, and this “shoulding” keeps #growth away. We are exhausting our energy by this practice. Calling this tendency the “Should Monster” helps us to depersonalize the issue in a way that helps us keep a healthy relationship with ourselves and others.

After you’ve learned to let things go and are aware of the danger you are causing yourself, you want to be very aware of energy attacks all around you. You must stop reacting to negative energy with a negative response. Instead, imagine shielding yourself from the attack. You’ll want to be very connected to your intuition, and that can be accomplished in many ways, but you need to figure out which ways work best for you. Everyone connects to their intuition and energy a little differently, and Tabitha lists a few techniques that can be used to do this.

Our energy helps us go after our best lives. Don’t be afraid of going after it!. Many of us are kept from the heights we could reach because we are too accommodating and are controlled by fear. We don’t even bother asking for better things, and this keeps us away from opportunities that are out there. We don’t realize it, but we have enough energy inside for any challenge. Listen to the podcast to get even more great nuggets!

**Main Topics:
- How to let things go
- What is “shoulding?”
- How to protect yourself from negative energy
- Realizing what is keeping you away from your best life

**Key Takeaways:
- “You don’t have to be spiritual or logical. You can be both because they reinforce each other.”
- “We’re all connected by the exact same energy. We’re all more alike than we are different. We could be black or white, or left or right, or baptist or Buddhist, but we’re all energists at our core.”
- “If we hang onto everything for dear life, then we’re never going to fly, we’re never gonna get up there to the heights we’re destined to go.”

**More About Our Guest: Having been raised on a small-town farm, Tabitha Scott has always had a strong bond with nature. She has been involved with many organizations dedicated to finding and using renewable energy sources. She led efforts in creating the world’s largest solar community, and her work has been recognized by the White House. During a hiatus to the Costa Rican jungle, Tabitha reconnected with nature and learned that the earth isn’t the only one who has energy: we do too! She wrote her book, Trust Your Animal Instincts, to help others learn to connect with the energy that they have inside.

Mar 16, 2021

If you want to get your business on a better path to success, then it’s time to become a business leader. You can do your passion, and yes, you can make money, but if you don’t know how to run a business, then you might as well either a) learn or b) stop. Becoming a business leader includes many things, but one of the things you can do starts in the moment you first interact with someone.

Yes, today we’re talking about first impressions! Our guest is Meryl Snow, owner of an amazing catering company, and she’s an awesome speaker and coach too. Today, Meryl is teaching us a few keys for nailing that perfect first impression. Why does a first impression matter? Because we are all judging each other from the moment we first engage. You’ve heard the expression “Talk the talk, walk the walk,” right? Well it’s true! How you act, how you talk tells a person if they should work with you or not. Obviously, bad first impressions happen. I know I’ve definitely had a few. It is possible, though difficult, to recover from a bad first impression.

Be nice, be transparent, be open, no matter how people treat you. Realize, however, that it is much easier for you to recover personally from a bad first impression than it is for your company to recover. In your first moments of interacting with someone, you want to leave them with a feeling or idea that is unforgettable. Being yourself is key because you are a unique individual and you have so much to offer. Make an effort to have genuine interest in people and to create rapport. This is where your personal brand comes into play. You are your brand. Just be yourself. Your brand will then be clear.

So many people don’t consider themselves “sales people.” Well guess what: every time you try to persuade someone you are selling them something. When you first meet someone, you are selling yourself. It doesn’t hurt to know a little bit about proper salesmanship when it is something you’re doing everyday, consciously or not. Join our little chit-chat to learn more about first impressions by listening in to the podcast!

**Main Topics:
- How to create a positive first impression
- How to recover from a bad first impression
- How to be unforgettable
- How to use persuasion in your initial interactions

**Key Takeaways:
- “You have got to learn to delegate. The only way a company can grow is when the leader can delegate and follow up on it.”
- “The greatest way to articulate your experience, your skills, your knowledge, and your worth in today’s competitive market is to create and nurture your brand.”
- “If we know ourselves, we’re going to give a good first impression.”

Mar 11, 2021

If you don’t have any type of analytics or data set up, it probably should be the first thing you do before you go to bed tonight. Really, it’s that important. I’ve learned the hard way that really making sure that you’re asking the right questions and that you have the right data points set up can really make or break your business from a profitability standpoint. Our guest today is Michael Loban, Chief Growth Officer of the analytics consulting company, InfoTrust. He is also the coauthor of the Amazon best-seller Crawl, Walk, Run: Advancing Analytics Maturity with Google Marketing Platform. We’re talking to him about the ways you can (and should) use analytics for your company. 

One of the things you should be most aware of is your website. We talk about digital transformation: the process you take to give your website a complete refresh. This is the route you should take if your website hasn’t been touched at all in years. There is another option besides transformation, however, and it is one that big companies use. Michael calls it digital evolution: changing and tweaking something new every day. This process is so subtle that customers often don’t notice it, and it helps you avoid the intensive process of a digital transformation. 

There are so many options in the Google marketing platform, and it can get overwhelming. Don’t worry:  Michael explains the differences between each platform and what they do. He also explains which ones may be the best options for your business.  

So many people are so excited to begin running ads, but their decisions can often turn into expensive experiments if they are not careful. Before you invest in any advertising, ask yourself how you came to the conclusion that you needed the advertising. Then, validate your decision. If you can’t do either of these things, then you are not ready to invest. Also, always make sure you keep your advertising to a budget that you can afford to lose because advertising is a learning curve. 

Finally, non-compliance fines are a big deal. Avoid these by being respectful of your customer’s data and by asking for permission before you do anything with it. It really comes down to your integrity as a business owner. Do what’s right, and you won’t get into trouble. Listen in to learn even more exciting things about the world of analytics!

Main Topics:
- The difference between digital transformation and digital evolution
- Which Google marketing tools are best for you
- What you should do before investing in ads
- How to avoid non-compliance fines

Key Takeaways:

- “The easiest way to persuade somebody is not for me to use my opinion or say I wrote a book about it. Instead, we build a couple of quantitative models and see which one can deliver us more results.”

-“You always want to look at the progress. Do not look at absolute number. Just look at how things are progressing.”

-“Good advertising can help customers make good decisions.”

Mar 9, 2021

If you’ve struggled to keep focused on things, you may be wondering if you have #ADHD or you may be dealing with the symptoms but are afraid of finding out the truth because of the stereotyping that often accompanies a diagnosis. Well good news: there’s lots of us out here! There are so many entrepreneurs and successful people who have ADHD. And it isn’t just hyper little boys who have it but thriving adult women too! Today, we’re talking to business coach and ADHD expert, Diann Wingert, about how ADHD is not a curse: it’s a superpower.

Diann first explains what ADHD is. It is a genetic disorder that stays with you all your life. It does not come and go as some believe. But thankfully, it will not hold you back as long as you learn to work with it. You may wonder if you have it, so Diann gives us a few telling signs to look for that indicate that you may have ADHD. You may notice that you have a difficult time standing still, or that you act fast, or that you learn by doing, or that you often drift off into your own thoughts. You may even have trouble with your memory. If you notice these things in yourself, you may have ADHD.

Once you know that you have ADHD, it may be difficult for you to know what to do with yourself. Diann suggests being aware of it and how it affects you so that you know how to work with it. Become familiar with the Unholy Trinity: procrastination, perfectionism, and people-pleasing. These are things you will need to learn to combat as you continue to grow. She also stresses the importance of accepting yourself during the process. Realize that you have a different way of doing things, and that that’s okay. One of the biggest ways you can help yourself is by creating routines that keep you organized and tune out #distraction.

Keep in mind that a healthy mindset is the key to surviving. Realize that you are not the victim of your brain. Allow yourself to ask for help. There are some things that you will need others to do for you. Since you may become overwhelmed by your own great ideas, differentiate between options and opportunities and make sure that what you do decide to do aligns with your goals. Join us to learn more about the relationship between ADHD and business and how it can be such a great thing!

**Main Topics:
- How do you know you have ADHD?
- What should you do if you have ADHD?
- What mindset should you have if you have ADHD?

**Key Takeaways:
- “When you know who you are, and you know what you want to do, don’t ask for permission. Just do it.”
- “You can build a team of people around you to support you in all the areas that you struggle so that all you have to do is shine in the areas you’re good at.”
- “We don’t recognize what our actual capacity is, so we are always letting ourselves down.”

Mar 4, 2021

Ladies out there (and gentlemen too), I think you are going to love our guest today because I absolutely love her and her brand. Our guest is Amira Alvarez. Her brand is called the Unstoppable Woman, and it is a coaching empire. The type of influence that Amira has had on so many women is soooo incredible. 

Amira grew up in a good middle class upbringing. She basically had everything she wanted, and though it was a blessing, it had its own challenges as well. Amira had to learn to overcome “good enough” and to dream bigger. She learned to trust her instincts when they told her something was right or wrong. Then, she made decisions that she stuck to, even when things became difficult. 

One of the things she firmly believes in is the Law of Compensation. This is the idea that you will be compensated for how much someone needs what you do, how well you do it for them, and how hard it is for them to replace you. You need to find what sets you apart and become better and better to make this law work for you. Not only should you be growing, but you should also be having fun while doing it. One way you can start growing is through learning from a mentor. Maximise your mentor by actually listening to and following their advice instead of holding to your own ideas and ways. You will learn so much more when you do this. 

As Amira learned, overcoming good enough is difficult, but until you do, it can hinder your ability to own your value. To own your value, you should begin by communicating your value. Impress people with the idea that you are well off and that you can help them to do well too. You can do this by bringing your energy and confidence to every interaction you have. You can gain this confidence by doing the thing you advise others to do. Importantly, you should own your value to yourself as well as others. Don’t be afraid to praise yourself! Finally, get out of the fear of making mistakes so that you can learn and grow so much faster. Listen to the podcast for even more AMAZING insights from Amira!

Main Topics:

- How to maximize your mentor
- How to communicate your value
- How to increase your cash flow through giving
- How to get out of the fear of making mistakes

Key Takeaways:

- Now is the right time to go after what you want. 
- Do the thing that gives you the power to do the thing.
- If you start giving, you’ll start receiving: it’s the law.

Mar 2, 2021

As an entrepreneur, you know that business is kinda like a roller coaster. There are so many unexpected twists and turns as well as many ups and downs. Well, buckle up because today I am talking to entrepreneur Tony Guarnaccia about how to adapt to surprises and how to ride that roller coaster and ride it well.

Tony was born to be an entrepreneur. His parents owned an Italian bakery, and he says that he was always coming up with new ways to make money as a kid. His life, however, was completely changed when his parents’ bakery business failed. They lost everything. He went to college to study business because he wanted to learn as much as possible so that he didn’t make the same mistakes that his parents did. Tony is one of those unique entrepreneurs I know that actually went to business school.

 In his mid-twenties, he created his own baking business making cakes with personalized photos. They took this idea to a whole new level by shipping these specialized cakes across the nation. This business was successful for a time. A few years later, however, it failed. This was when Tony realized he was missing something. He changed gears, working with some of the best companies to learn what it was that they knew that he didn’t. 

What did he learn? As an entrepreneur, you need to know how to adapt to the roller coaster. You need to know what is trending now and how to ride that trend. The best businesses have a strategic long-term plan. And though it doesn’t always make sense, there are times when you need to slow down in order to speed up. Listen in to this podcast and ride this roller coaster along with us! 

Main Topics:

- How did Tony learn to adapt in order to become profitable?
- How does creating a strategic plan affect your business?
- How do you create opportunity from adversity?
- Why you should stay on top of the trends

Key Takeaways:

- Slow Down to Speed Up
- You don’t have to be the brightest bulb. You don’t have to be the best person. If you’re in the right industry that’s growing, organically, you’re going to have success.
- Where we are today is a function of—like it or not—the decisions we make.

1