Aligning Your Business with Nature for more Abundance, Fulfillment & Impact w/ Sam Garcia
Sam Garcia is the author of Regenerative Business, a book that helps people align their businesses with nature. This episode delves into the eight critical areas of a thriving business ecosystem, from messaging and operational systems to the alchemy of relationship-building and the soul of the business. You will learn insights into creating a business that not only succeeds financially but also contributes positively to the environment and society.
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Podcast Transcript
Lou: Hello, friends. Welcome to another episode of the Art and Business of Meditation podcast. I am so excited for our guest. Today we have Sam Garcia. Sam is an award winning, best selling author of regenerative business and the founder of Dirty Alchemy, a marketing agency and consulting firm for modern change makers. Sam hosts the podcast regenerative business with Sam Garcia and helps passionate entrepreneurs install a regenerative business framework into their own businesses in the regenerative business creation lab. I love that term, creation lab. Sam, welcome to the show.
Sam: Thank you so much for having me. I'm just really excited for this conversation.
Lou: So regenerative business and your book, I'd love to hear. There's something about the subtitle to this book is how to align your business with nature for more abundance, fulfillment and impact. And I don't know if you have found this, but there's something about once I heard about you and your work that just grabs me because I think for me, I'm really thinking about how to do this work long term and sustainably and sustainably in a way that actually regenerates, that actually does more good because the business had existed. And so I'm just curious. I think you published a book in May. What's the reception been like? Are you seeing that a lot of people are resonating with this concept? So what's it like almost a year ish after publishing?
Sam: It's been really fun. It had been a quote unquote, someday dream for me to write and publish a book. And then I just did it and put it out. And I am a numbers person. I really like looking at metrics and numbers and I think we're around 8000 books sold, which the average self published book, which is minus self published, is 250 sales over the course of its lifetime. And the average traditionally published book, like, you hire a publisher and they own the rights and all the things, is 3000 books over the course of its lifetime. So it's like 8000 books in less than a year. And so I'm really proud. And I feel like it's a big testament to people really resonating with the message and resonating with the idea that nature is a better systems designer than humans are.
Lou: I didn't know those numbers. I published a book too. And this goes to show the difference between maybe me and you and how my mind works. I'm so bad at knowing metrics and statistics, I couldn't even tell you how many copies my book has sold. And I guess I probably should know that you're making me want to know that now. But that's amazing.
Sam: You should look at it. It's really motivating.
Lou: I should. I tested out some ads for the last six months and couldn't fine tune that to work and so I'm testing out different things. But the beauty of a book is that it's evergreen, it's always going to be there. And I think for those listening, and I can sense it in your book too, it's like really being proud of the creation you put up not to write a book, just to write a book. Because I know some people in our work might do that to just kind of get something out there. Have a business card, so to speak. But yeah, amazing. 8000 and just getting started, it sounds like. So why do you think the concept resonates so much for people?
Sam: So I have been in the online marketing space for over a decade, specifically with helping usually spiritual entrepreneurs launch online courses and digital products. And one of the things that really set my business apart at the beginning and since then is this, we're a queer women business that does all the magical stuff, does the meditation in that same practice. So we quote unquote get it. And from being in this industry, so many entrepreneurs, they want to make more money and they want to quote unquote manifest and have an abundant business. However, a lot of the examples they see in the space, they're like holding luxury bags and have the luxury cars and they have the fashion labels. And if you know anything about the ethics of that world, it's bullshit. It's factory labor, it's unethical production, it's impacting climate change and negatively impacting climate change. So there becomes this association between having a thriving business and oh, I have to become this person that doesn't feel good to me in order to have that. So I feel like this perspective shift of no abundance and thriving systems, it's a part of nature, it's actually a part of nature's design. If you look at forests, if you look at these larger ecosystems that are in flux, that are resilient, that don't need you to be there, and them being abundant and creative and fertile, that just feels so good and it feels true versus this, oh, I have to become this luxury bagsling person versus no, I want to buy land and have a tiny home and go out to farm to table dinners and all of that stuff, which is way more resonant with my people and I'm assuming a lot of people listening in right now.
Lou: So when did spirituality and business intermix like, were you first a spiritual person and then get into business? Were you start a business and then had a spiritual awakening and be like, oh no, I'm going to do it this way.
Sam: What's the background there it was spirituality first. My dad died expectedly when I was 19 from a very rare illness. And it just hit him and took him out and he was, quote unquote, like the healthiest guy and did the ate well and was like a competitive badminton player and all these things. And I was really close with him and it really tumbled me into a lot of conspiracy theories and conspiracy theories that I still think are true. And it tumbled me into a lot of spiritual awakening that still holds true today. And so spirituality was first for me. And then I started learning marketing because I was like, this is a useful skill that I can get paid to learn. And then it turned into like, wow, marketing is really friggin cool. And it allows people doing really great things in the world to get their message out. And then just being in business for so long, it became larger. Business was the bigger calling.
Lou: How do you see people that are like you mentioned, they're wanting to see a different way to do things. They see the I know you use in the book, the bro marketers of the world and how they're doing online marketing. And they're like, I don't want to do that, but I want to have a successful business. Do you find that that's the only block, or is there other blocks around money and actually letting resources in? Is learning about regenerative business, is that like the shift for them or what do you notice them making? What do you find blocking them? And what do you notice the shift in being and starting to maybe have a more successful business on whatever their terms of success might be.
Sam: It's so individualized. I can identify some common ones, though.
Lou: Would that be helpful? Yeah.
Sam: Okay, so I like to think of thriving business ecosystem in these eight areas. So let's see if I can ramble them off, off the top of my head. We have the actual messaging because that's this interface with the world. It's almost like these a flower blooming and attracting people in. So messaging and copywriting, your actual words that you, or even with podcasting, the words that we're using to bring the right people into our world, there is the branding and visuals, are they resonant and almost like this radio signal that people can tune into. So copywriting, branding, there is actually building in some sort of automated or systematized way of people coming in so it's not attached to our time and recognizing that our business ecosystem is separate than us. I actually like to visualize if your business is this forest ecosystem or something else, you are sitting in the center of it. You planted that first acorn, but the business is thriving and people are coming in and looking around and appreciating how beautiful it is and being transformed just by being in there. And maybe they're coming up to you and being like, wow, thank you so much for creating this space for me. But that is a different thing than it being plugged into your energy, because a lot of small businesses and people who are just starting out, of course there's a part at the beginning of something growing that it is on you, it is on your energy, it is on your time, it is you investing money into it. However, a lot of people get stuck there and they keep growing their business and they're burnt out and they want to burn it down eventually because they're exhausted. And this isn't the freedom that they signed up for. So recognizing that you have this larger ecosystem. And so I like to call them evergreen ecosystems, which are like sales funnels and marketing funnels that are automatically bringing people into your ecosystem and having them have their own experience of it that's not attached to you. That's three. The fourth one is a visibility, which is a huge block for people. Some people like to have this dream of essentially being a hermit in the mountains, in a cave on the mountains, and they're the sage of wisdom, and they have this brilliant wisdom to share, but they don't want to do anything to bring people to them. They might have this calling of like, oh, I feel like my work needs to be bigger in the world, and I know I could have a bigger impact with this world, but they're just hanging out as a sage in the mountain. I'm sure this resonates with the meditation people. They're like, I don't want to be over here and have my stuff out in the world and not do anything or set up any systems for people to find it. So creating systems around visibility, or again, it's this way that people are coming in, like these pathways into your ecosystem, maybe this river channel into your ecosystem that is bringing new eyes and new people in so that you can have the impact you want in the world. The fifth area is, let's think for a second, your root systems. So these are your operations. And I fold time into this where in regenerative business, the book, I talk a lot about systems. Excuse me. Cycles and seasons for you and for your business, and this is such a big one, whether you're just starting out or if you are years into your business. We have been so programmed around time and scheduling and around how we should spend it and what we should be doing, that we are detached from what times of year, what times of day, what times of the week, what times of the month. That we feel the best, that we're the most creative, that we want to go inside, that we need to rest. Because we grew up in a school system designed by human systems, the factory system that has somatically imprinted on us a 40 hours work week. Most entrepreneurs that come and work with me, if they start tracking their time, there's an hour, a number of hours every single week that they just work, whether or not they're aware of it, because it's in their bones, whether that's 20 hours a week or 40 or 50 or 80. And every single week they are just going through, they find stuff to fill that time. And when they consciously cut down on projects, they suddenly find new projects to do to fill that time, because they're somatically programmed by our factory designed school system in order to work a certain number of hours. So when we are building your root systems and building an operational system within your business, we need to be aware of your cycles, your seasons, and also the cycles and seasons of your business. Because if your business is this forest ecosystem, for example, certain trees are dying where certain trees are coming up like little saplings. And there's maybe this more collective change of winter is coming, or a recession is here, but that doesn't mean that the entire ecosystem isn't bribing the 6th area is your team? Team is so huge. I grew up in the midwest, so I watched my parents go through the 2008 layoff cycles, especially in the Detroit auto industry. Both my parents were graphic designers and were just hit so hard during that period. And watching them work jobs and take on work that they hated and they felt exploited by. To employ people and give people amazing work in your business, that is making a change in the world is such a gift. So I love building a team. There is blocks around that, of course, because the common ones are, especially when there's new people on your team is, I can do this better than they can, so I should just do it myself. I can do it faster than them, so I should just do it myself. No one cares about my business as much as I do, so I could never give up the control.
Sam: Some people do not have a vision to grow their business really big. And that's beautiful. Having just a lifestyle business where you're bringing enough income to support your desired lifestyle is a beautiful thing. But for people who want to grow really big and get their message really out into the world in a big, big way, you have to have a team. You have to have other people there who are also in their zones of genius. So you can be in that 20% area of your zone of genius. They can be in their 20% area of their zone of genius. That's how things grow and things become more and more resilient. The next area, I don't know if we're at seven or eight, which is the one that we kind of started off with, is this alchemy, this relationship with the unknown. And so that's your meditation, your ritual practice, your mindset, getting rid of those limiting beliefs. And this really goes into yourself and how you perceive the world, how you need to be deconditioned so that your mind, conscious and unconscious, and your body are not limiting the growth of your business. But that's only, like, one of eight areas. And a lot of spiritual people just want to focus on that one area.
Lou: So true. So true. It's like, okay, if I just meditate, if I do all my affirmations, if I do all these things, and then things are just going to just happen. But that's super.
Sam: It's an important one. It's such an important one that we, as magical folk, we have a leg up against the Muggles.
Lou: Yeah, I love that. So you talk, speaking of maybe the spiritual side of the business, you talk about finding the soul of your business. Have you spoken to that already in what we shared? Or is that something different? Like when someone might think of, what is the soul of my business?
Sam: A little bit. But with the soul of your business, this is a great way to. If you can take yourself into a trance state, and you can take yourself into this really receptive state and meet the soul of your business, this is something that anyone can do. I invite you to do this today. Or the spirit of a project, the spirit of your book, the spirit of an offer. Each of these will have a different entity. Whether it's just like, when you see in your vision, it's just like a color, or maybe it's a person, or maybe it's an animal, like, whatever it is, and you can have a conversation with it. And I find this so important from the beginning of your journey in business, because a lot of solopreneurs or people just getting started, it's all on them. They see their business as just an extension of themselves. And if you have a baby, of course, it is essentially an extension of you. It needs to completely rely on you to survive. If you leave it alone, it will die at that beginning stage, but it needs to keep growing and growing up. And this is where, if you can connect with the soul of it and see where it wants to go. I've had so many people go into that meditation, and you can get a free guided meditation on my website if you want to have me take you through the process. And I've had so many people be like, holy shit, I had no idea how big my business wants to be. And it's a bigger vision than they even had. It's a much larger impact that they, even in their small human meat suit, could see. But when they actually connected in with it, they were able to see where it wanted to go, which is great, because your business should be able to work for you and thrive without you being there, just like a thriving natural ecosystem.
Lou: Do you find that just helps people get out of their way sometimes by having that sort of third or that other entity? It's like, oh, it's this thing. It's not me. It's, like, for this. And so there's maybe I can imagine a way to maybe not make it just about us and kind of get out of our own stuff if we're stuck in some ways.
Sam: Totally. A lot of us like to go into mental spirals and stay in indecision, which is a huge waste of energy and time. And if you can connect with the soul of your business, it can make decision making so much easier. Or if you're someone who likes divination practices, like tarot cards, or using a pendulum or reading tea leaves, whatever it is, have that be actually communicate, like, say, to the soul of your business, please communicate with me through this modality. I will listen, I will take this seriously. And in the beginning, it'll feel really awkward. But over time, if you keep reinforcing, like, I'm listening to you through this modality, it becomes a very clear channel.
Lou: What do you find in people, like, getting into learning about regenerative business and maybe all these principles? What do you find people misunderstanding or getting wrong, if anything at all?
Sam: I think there is an unhealthy conversation in the online business world that if things are hard, then something is going wrong. And in the spiritual space, if something is hard, then something is going wrong, which I don't think is true. Of course we want to be building things that are aligned with our natural inclinations, with our natural cycles and seasons. But my husband is a regenerative farmer and he has his own farm, but he also sets farms up for other people. And every time he starts a new big design project, there's weeks, if not months, where I barely see him because the land is fresh. And he needs to be setting up the systems. He needs to have plant the seeds, set up watering systems. He needs to mulch stuff and put it onto the ground. He needs to put up fencing and make sure that the deers aren't eating things that shouldn't be eating things that we want to have for ourselves. And then there hits a point where everything is set up. Things have grown enough on their own that he has time again. I start seeing him again. He can actually go surfing. And in the beginning of a business, there is this time period where it will require a lot of human input. And there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't mean anything is going wrong. Just like if you make a major pivot in your business or you want to start a new project, there will be this huge human input in the beginning. Even if everything is aligned and right.
Lou: You're reminding me of what I think of. Even if someone gets early on into their maybe spiritual journey, or they just are kind of in this new, at least speaking for me, sometimes naive and somewhat magical world. And there's a big, maybe more energetic opening, and there's a sensitivity that if something came into their world, they'd just be a little bit more sensitive. So the image that was coming, that was this might be a little bit of a different thing, but the image that was coming to mind is that I've seen is like, if you were to put a tree in the ground when it's very young or early on, you would set up some kind of barrier, because if something, an animal went in, that tree would fall over or get hurt. But as it grows, the barriers can kind of be removed. Right. Because it's more solid. And so I don't know if that. It's not totally aligning with what you're sharing.
Sam: No, it does. The plants, they need more help in the beginning, and you're sharing just that. 100%.
Lou: Yeah. It's an amazing analogy. Right. To use nature through our business, I'm imagining you do. But do you feel like it's not just an analogy, like there's actually energetic truths to both in the same way?
Sam: Yeah, I think that we think of ourselves as removed from nature, and we think of a forest as different than our business. But they're just systems. Like our human body is a system,
Sam: intentional community is a system. The farm you set up is a system. Your business is a system. And it's about separating yourself from nature. And especially, I'm assuming that people listening are into astrology and that kind of stuff. And it's like realizing the cosmos are also a natural system. It's a part of nature. So we have this programming that we're this separate thing from nature, and we have to fear nature. And when we actually stop thinking that way and start having this very connected relationship with nature and ourselves, that things get a lot easier.
Lou: In the book, you talk about conventional agriculture, sustainable agriculture, regenerative agriculture, and you talk about those impacts maybe in the business or modern world. Can you speak a little bit to that? And I could set you up more if you need a refresher, if you'd like.
Sam: I think I know what you're asking, but why not set me up more?
Lou: These were just notes I took from the book. In conventional agriculture, you related it to sweatshops or it's very systematized. And then sustainable is more like comfortable lifestyle and job. But the regenerative is this ripple impact that's going beyond. So I don't know if there was more to. I just thought those differences were interesting.
Sam: Yeah. So I got a minor in environmental science in college. And at the time, the buzzword was sustainability. I don't know what the buzzword is anymore, because I feel like I'm plugged into a different industry. But it was like, if things are sustainable, labeled as sustainable, then they are like all time. Because that's like the stamp of approval in the conscious and environmental space. And the thing is, everything for decades and decades and decades is pointing to we have overexploited the planet that we're on if we want to continue having a good quality of life on this planet, meaning safety from wildfires and a breathable atmosphere, stuff like that. Or like not having the sea level rise so much that it completely takes out your town. Sustainability isn't enough. And to think that we can just sustain when you're in a toxic relationship, or you can sustain when your adrenals are so fatigued that you are in burnout, it's just not real. So sustainability isn't enough. And so we need to be thinking about regeneration. So with commercial agriculture, it's essentially equating a farm to a factory. We're just thinking about outputs, you think of those monocrops of soybean fields or cornfields, and they've done that for maximum efficiency, so that we could buy specific machines to take out and harvest a ton of crops. And it's about this repetition of something. But you look at the reality of that. It exploits workers, underpays them, have them in terrible working conditions. In a lot of states, even in the US, it's essentially indentured servitude. It depletes the soil. It puts toxic material into the soil, it creates nutrient deficient products. So we don't even get the nutrition we need from our food anymore. We have to supplement if we want the nutrition we want, or find a great regenerative farmer. And so all around, it's exploitative. The only thing that it's good for is making profits for the person at the very top, the patriarch. So person at the very top gets what they want out of that system. Then a step up from there is our sustainable farms. So a lot of organic farms. But it's interesting, because if you look at organic farms, most of them, the vast majority of them, they don't have a compost pile. They're just buying compost from chicken factories. They're buying organic chemical nutrients to feed the soil. They're buying organic pesticides to put on their plants. And so it's nontoxic. You're not eating carcinogens anymore. But it's not actually feeding the soil. It's a step up from there. And then we have our regenerative farms, where the number one product of this is more fertile soil. You might have heard of soil farmers. This is the concept of we are trying to grow more soil, make better soil, and the byproduct is more nutrient dense food, more home for wildlife. So we're actually increasing biodiversity. We are actually having a better experience for the workers on the farm. They aren't just in this repetitive task, and they aren't faced with these chemicals and then a more nutrient dense food for the people. So you actually get the nutrition you need. If we're looking at that in business form, like you had already mentioned, we have our traditional commercial agriculture, which is a sweatshop, which exists all over the world in this day and age, in most of the clothes that you buy, in most of the products that you buy off of Amazon and a gazillion other places that's produced by sweatshops. Then we have our organic farm. So that could be your lifestyle business. And when I say lifestyle business, it's usually just one person. And maybe you, as the business owner, plus one other person, maybe not that one other person. And you're just bringing in enough money to have a good job. You have a good job for yourself, and you're making enough money to have the freedom that you want to do the travel that you want to have enough time to spend with your family. It's a beautiful thing. But then we have the regenerative business, which is this regenerative agriculture metaphor, which not only pays you well, not only pays your team well, you're able to create amazing jobs for people, but the products that you're creating are rippling out in impact. You have this acorn that you planted of intention that is trying to change the world in the process, whether that is through directly what you're teaching, or you're sending a portion of your profits to philanthropic efforts, or that's just baked into your business. So it has this ripple effect of good in the world, which I think is the reason that humans, the higher purpose of humans, is to have this regenerative effect on each other on the planet.
Lou: It's so simple when you explain it like that of, oh, yeah, sustainability, that's just getting by.
Sam: You're sustaining, you're keeping it going.
Lou: It's making me think of. Are you familiar with the book the Soul of money?
Sam: I have not read it, but I know what you're talking about.
Lou: Yeah, it's beautiful book. And she actually, not to dig out abundance, I think abundance is great, but she talks about sufficiency. And I'm trying to decide if sustain, there's a different energy to, like, we're sufficient, there's a fullness to it. Sustain even has not quite that. There's just this more base level. I feel like energy to it. And it's very clear when you're like, oh, look at this word that we're using that we think is good, but it's not as bad as this thing, but the potential of something to bring more good and create that ripple is. Yeah, I know. I think, like I mentioned, there are.
Sam: Different kinds of words because sufficiency, it's like, I have enough. How calm does your nervous system feel when you're like, I have enough. And then with sustainability, the question is, what are we sustaining? Right. It's like we could be sustaining the best thing ever, which is awesome. Like having a stable business add an amazing income. Beautiful. But if we're sustaining toxic situations, then it needs more context.
Lou: Absolutely. So one of the things I took from your book, that has helped me think of this year is defining a different metric for your business success, not just making it about hitting this revenue goal. And so, yeah, I'd love for you to talk more about what are potential metrics that people can think about if it's not. I want to make this amount of money a month or by the end of the year.
Sam: Just to be clear, I think money goals are great.
Lou: Yes.
Sam: I think setting money goals is a great motivation.
Lou: Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Sam: Yeah, that's a great thing. If you're not making money in your business, then it's just an expensive hobby. That's one of my favorite lines. So examples of non money goals could be how many hours you're working, right? Because if you're working 40 hours a week and you want to start preparing for motherhood and you want to start making space in your schedule to actually raise a child, not that anyone needs to have kids or have that sort of life, but if that's your goal, then cutting down on the amount of hours you're working a week and maintaining the amount of money you're making. Amazing goal. The amount of people that you're impacting. Let me think of examples. If you are a meditation teacher and you know from working with clients that meditation brings them significantly more peace and they are creating more beautiful things in the world because of it. A huge motivator can be, I would like to get my methodology and my practices to 1000 people in the next five years, or 10,000 people in the next five years, whatever that number is. And really connecting in with the souls of the people that you're meant to serve. Other ones can be a percentage to giving a percentage to charity. So 5% of your total business revenue could go to a charity, or 1% of a specific product revenue could go to something. It can also be the amount of families you want to support through employing someone in their family. Right. If you want to be like, I want my business to be able to support ten other families by hiring ten people and paying them an amazing wage. Those are some examples. Do you have any examples? Do you have one? Do you have a non money goal?
Lou: Yeah, I did. But it's like, again, me and the metrics, it's not like hard things. The way that I thought about it was how many times? And I didn't make a number. So maybe that's part of having a goal is like making a number. I do have a financial goal, by the way. But the question that I was asking of. I love when I get a feedback that people are thriving in something because of maybe something I put out there or something that I organized or connected two people together or, I don't know, there's just like deep fulfillment when I see other people thriving. And not that it was just directly because of me, but knowing that there was some impact. And so seeing that feedback, like the actual tangible feedback, is deeply nourishing. So maybe I need to say like four times, four comments, four text messages, whatever, it'll look like. I get a lot of comments on different things, but yeah, that's what I more thought about it rather than. And just helped me to get out of it needing to be this financial sort of metric. And I think those are great to have, too. But it's not like if I do this amount this month, I might be any more fulfilled than if I did this amount this month. Yes. It keeps it going, it makes it regenerative, and it makes it know. I have a question, and this is going to be going to feel a little edgy for me, but my word this year is confrontation. So I have a va in the Philippines, and I have, I guess, a thought sometimes that I see a narrative that there's like a wrongness to that. I love being able to support this person at the level that I'm at, at least in my business. So I guess I'm curious because I see a narrative that says that's exploitative and I can understand that to some degree, but at the level of my business and that's supporting someone else in the world, that, yes, it's at a lower wage than maybe someone in the US would take it. I'm just curious to hear your thoughts on that because I've heard the argument against it. I'm like, it just doesn't make sense to me. I can't afford someone in the US and now I get to help someone in the Philippines. And she's amazing. It's so much fun and I'm so grateful and know, send her. Like I, you know what mean? Like, that makes me so happy. So I'm just curious, your thoughts on outsourcing to places like Philippines, India, for like, typically that's where vas might.
Sam: Is a. You need more information. It's not just that black and white sort of situation, because you can. I'll start with a metaphor then, a story. The metaphor is
Sam: it's better to buy from a local farm that you know and you can go visit and you can see their practices and you see that they have a compost pile. You can ask them about how they grow their plants than it is to buy just an organic label, even if that farm isn't, like, certified organic. But that requires you to have a relationship with the farmer, that it requires to you to ask questions, that it requires you to go deeper into that situation versus, like, only organic. That person's probably beyond organic, but it's not labeled that way. And then I have an old mentor of mine. She was emailed, I forget which country it is, but there was this huge tsunami in a country like the Philippines, and she was emailed by a random woman. And it ended up not being a scam of being like, we just were like, everything was taken out. Do you have any work for can. I'll do anything. I'll do anything for you. And this woman ended up being a core part of her team. And she goes above and beyond all the time. And she's in a country like the Philippines so significantly less, quote unquote, expensive than paying someone a living wage in the US. But she knows this person. She has in that beginning of the relationship, she was like, send me a video. So I know that you're not like a scammer. And I was like, oh, my gosh, I'm sorry. We just got hit by a tsunami. There's not great Internet, right? Like, what a beautiful story. Versus like, I'm outsourcing the quote unquote, I'm outsourcing to the Philippines that lacks the depth that true relationship exists in business. And I fully believe that business is just relationships, whether that's with your team or with the people you're in conversation with or the people you're teaching. So it sounds like for you, you have this beautiful, deep relationship with someone in the Philippines. You're changing their life. You are making a great impact for them and they're serving you in return. So I don't think it's that black. And like, I think what you're doing.
Lou: Is I just, I hear it and I was curious to hear your thoughts because it sounds, it's, again, these are topics I want to have and conversations I want to have on this podcast. And I didn't mention because my audio editor is also in the Philippines. I've been working with the four years. Lester, I love you. Just giving you a shout out on here because you're going to be listening to this and editing it meta. But yeah, so thanks for exploring because it is definitely an interesting, it's an interesting topic because it's in some ways also more opportunity for them online allows us that there is this global opportunity for everyone and in some ways opens up opportunities that wouldn't have been there other.
Sam: And it's also about values. I have a US based team because that's important to me. It's a part of my backstory with my parents. So it's a big motivator for business growth for me and it's a big part of my value set. But if someone doesn't hold that value, it doesn't make their values any less valid.
Lou: That makes a lot of sense, for sure. Yeah, thanks for that. So you talk about the three things that a business needs. A source of potential clients, opportunities for clients to purchase, ways to deliver transformation. So not that we have to go through all of them and give maybe feedback or advice on all of them, but I think maybe for most of the people here, maybe the starting issue is attracting or bringing in the source of clients. So how might someone think about it with a regenerative business mind in mind?
Sam: So I agree and disagree.
Lou: Tell me more.
Sam: When someone starts their business, a lot of people will come into the online business space and be like, I just want to sell $1,025 products. And amazing. I'm like, great, that's going to be really hard. What is the easiest way to start in business, in an online business, and if you're a service provider, is to have a quality service or offer, have it be higher priced and get a few people under your belt and then keep growing from there. So that usually is like telling people in your immediate network what you're doing, reaching out to people and having conversations about them, joining a community or joining a mastermind program so you can expand your network, going to live events in your area and telling people what you do, it's very actual human relationship based, where a lot of people will come and be like, I just want to sell $10,010 meditation albums. And it's sexy and you see stories of people doing it, and that can totally be a part of your vision and a part of even your first year goal. However, what's going to make business growth more comfortable for you and less urgent is actually booking a few people at a higher price to cover what you need coming in. Of course, if you have a different situation where you have a trust fund or a spouse with an income or unemployment, great. You have these other channels of abundance coming in that will allow things to be less stressful in your growth. But if your income and your revenue is really important for you, for your family, then starting with these higher priced things and getting experience working with people. And in that process, you learn what kind of people you actually like. Working with a niche will naturally develop. Your speciality will actually develop because you'll work on this topic with one person and that topic with another person, you'll be like, well, I hated that. Loved that. That one was okay. And things just start to get easier when you just start getting experience with actual people, which can be scary. You actually have to work with people. Oh, my gosh.
Lou: How would you help someone develop? And I know this is not enough for a podcast, but for someone that's wanting to craft or price their offers, I'm sure stuff comes up around what do I price this? How much do I value? What do I look to? How do you think about navigating that type of concern or question that someone might have of what is the offer? Or what is the price to put to the offer? Yeah, because I know a lot of people have, there's only models in how other people do it or what you're supposed to do or what feels, quote unquote, right.
Lou: You can take that wherever you want to take it.
Sam: Okay, so three scenarios for you guys. One, if you've literally never worked with someone, or you've only worked with one or two people, price your shit really low. If you're doing one on one meditation with someone and just like $20 sessions and work with 25 people, have a cap on it for yourself. In the beginning, you just need the reps and sets to get better at what you're doing, get better at working with people and build the proof and belief in what you're doing and seeing how it impacts people. I have a client who we've been working with for years, and she has a multiple seven figure business. And how she got started is she started selling $25 tarot reading sessions on Groupon, and it ended up going viral. She had to do 200 sessions at $25. So she was like, stacked and she got amazing. She did so quickly because she just like, boom, boom, boom, boom. In the span of a few weeks, she got so much experience and proof. So if you can, at least for a handful of people, and I would cap it of decide how many people you're going to do at the lower price and just get them in and just go through them quickly to build that experience. And then if you're more established for pricing other kinds of offers, I like to lean in the numbers oriented direction or the body based direction for numbers people. And you can set money goals and they're really motivating for you. Decide how much you want to make in a month or a year and just divide it by how many people you can realistically work with. If you can work with 20 people a week, start, just divide it in. If you can work with five people a week, divide it in. And then if the number is way higher than you think, then you have some working around, playing with, or whether that's mindset work to believe in the cost or you need to be providing more for that offer. And then for the body paced people, I would start with the first number that comes to mind and get quiet with your body and think about your offer and then think about that number. What do you feel in your body? Does it feel good? Does it feel easy to sell? Because things are easier to sell when they feel easier to sell in your body. And then, okay, you lock on that number and then just raise it a little bit. So if it's like $500, what if it was $550, how does that feel in your body? What if it was $450? And just start playing with actual numbers and how they feel in your body from that information. Again, if you have a number of like, well, I can't try, only $10 feels good in my body. Shit, then it's your job to do the mindset work required to actually believe in a price and start working towards a price that would actually work to pay you a good amount of money. But yeah, those are three different directions that people can go in.
Lou: Super valuable. Thanks so much for sharing. That's such a great way to think of those two avenues. And maybe it's a mix of both, right? Maybe it's like the numbers but also the body. I love that. So last question, because I think I saw that this kind of goes along with bringing in clients, and maybe it's similar, but is there anything to think about in how to do when you think of a sales call? I still have an issue with is this a sales call or am I actually trying to really just connect and just trust? I tend to lean in that direction. How do you think of sales calls? Whether it's a program, whether it's a client, whether it's whatever it might be, any kind of wisdom, maybe in a way that doesn't feel icky to people. Yeah, just be curious to hear some thoughts on that.
Sam: So how to not feel icky about sales calls? Maybe that's if someone books a sales call with you, it's because they want to buy something from you. I mean, that's like the basics of it. Let's just distill it down. I know a lot of people, they don't want to post about what they offer on social media because they're afraid, like, oh, my gosh, people are going to see me selling. I'm like, they follow you in your business. They expect you to sell with us. What do you want? Realize that when people are booking sales calls with you, it's because they're curious about working with you and they're curious about buying from you. And people like to buy things. That's why there's a such thing as retail therapy. There is so much to say about sales calls that we're not going to fit into two minutes, but I'll just leave that little bit of perspective in for it.
Lou: That's super helpful. So, Sam, thanks for taking this time. Is there anything you're working on now that you're excited about that you want to share and obviously where you want to direct people to, if they can get to know more of you and your work? Obviously. Check out her book for sure. Regenerative business. But anything else?
Sam: Yeah, I mean, you can grab the first few chapters of my book for free on my website, thedirtyalchemy.com freechapters, and just grab it there. I'm really active on Instagram, and if you dm me, I'm the one in the DMs. So you can come hang out with me on Instagram. It's at the dirty alchemy. And then the things that we have a bunch of self study courses, we have a bunch of workshops. You can come join if you want to work with me and my team live. You come join the regenerative business creation lab, which is all active throughout 2024 and beyond, where you get essentially eight full online courses and monthly calls with me and all sorts of goodies in there. So that's like the big shebang or just like, come hang out on Instagram. That's great, too. And then I have a podcast, regenerative business. So if you're a podcaster, come on over there. There's hundreds of episodes.
Lou: Amazing. Sam, thanks so much for taking the time. And, yeah, just really grateful. Learned. I learned a lot. I always learned so much from having guests on, so I'm excited to take that and do something with it.
Sam: Thanks for having me. This is such a pleasure.
Lou: All right, take care, friends.
Sam: Bye.