85. How to Build a Scalable Business Without Following the Social Media Rulebook with Teresa Cavalla

In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, I sit down with Teresa Cavalla, a Leadership and High Performance Consultant, Certified Online Business Manager, ClickUp Vetted Consultant, and Systems Pro. Teresa shares her unique perspective on what it truly means to be an entrepreneur in the online space versus simply working online.

During our conversation, Teresa reveals how she built a successful business without traditional social media marketing, instead focusing on authentic relationships and referrals. She explores the critical leadership components that entrepreneurs often overlook and explains why understanding your team members' motivations is essential for business growth.

Teresa opens up about her own business evolution, from VA to OBM to leadership consultant, and shares the mindset shifts that helped her create alignment between her natural strengths and her business model. We also discuss the importance of building an emergency fund as a business owner and the power of making space for your intuition.

If you're a service provider feeling pressured to market yourself in ways that feel inauthentic or struggling with team dynamics, this episode offers refreshing perspectives on building a business that honors your unique leadership style.

Key Points Covered:

✨ The critical difference between working online and being an entrepreneur

✨ How to identify what types of clients and team members align with your business vision

✨ Building a successful business without traditional social media marketing

✨ The importance of authenticity and understanding your unique strengths

✨ Why making silence and connecting with your intuition is essential for business clarity

✨ Creating financial stability through proper planning and emergency funds

Connect with Teresa:

Learn more about Teresa and her leadership consulting services at www.leadershipfirstobm.com

Subscribe HERE  to get tips on leadership, neuroscience, and conscious business practices.

Ready to streamline your business systems? Visit www.systemsfirstobm.com for expert support.

Subscribe HERE for actionable tips on SOPs, workflows, and special offers on system setup services. 

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for soulful service providers and coaches. Welcome to another episode of Solepreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat 'cause that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth of the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for sold entrepreneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant, and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow, and create a business that fully supports your dream life? Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in. Before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe buttons.

[00:01:03] You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:10] Okay, welcome to Solepreneur Scaling Stories. I'm really excited to have Teresa Kavia here with us today, who is a leadership and high performance consultant, certified online business manager, Clickup Vetted Consultant and Systems Pro. That is many things.

[00:01:30] Yes, a

[00:01:30] how are you?

[00:01:32] Teresa Cavalla: I'm fine. Thank you. So thank you for having me here.

[00:01:36] Andrea Elibero: Yes, of course.

[00:01:38] Teresa Cavalla: yeah, I'm really happy, happy to chat with you.

[00:01:40] Andrea Elibero: So I know because, um, we've known each other for many years since our, we were both virtual assistants, ages and ages ago. And so I know about your business evolution and I know that also that right now you are transitioning and shifting into a really cool space. So I would love for [00:02:00] you to really share what it is that you do currently in your business.

[00:02:05] Teresa Cavalla: Okay, so currently I have two pillars in my business, basically, uh, one is called Systems First and is all about systems. Online business management and click a build. the other one, which is a new one, is called Leadership First. And is about, is all about leadership, um, is about, um, helping entrepreneurs to understand this component, which in my opinion is important. if you want to be really an entrepreneur. So in my opinion, we have two different roles in the online space. One is working in the online space and yeah, the one is being an entrepreneur in the life space, which is slightly different. and so, uh, I, I recently came to a point where I connected all the dots in my life and my, in [00:03:00] my business evolution, and I understood that if you want to be an entrepreneur, you need to build a business. Around yourself. So starting from you and having the strong leadership component, which passes also through overcoming any imposter syndrome, uh, aspect might, um, keep you, um. prevents you from growing and then bring into the leadership. So I'm really excited because I took, um, an overcoming imposter syndrome coaching certification which is just a pillar of this leadership thing, but it's the first point and I learned a lot.

[00:03:44] I mean, I understood how this can really prevent our natural leadership skills from showing up. And, um, and so. Yeah, I, I'm, I'm really excited about accompanying entrepreneur in this, in this, [00:04:00] um, step-by-step journey that will help them build something good.

[00:04:05] Andrea Elibero: Amazing. Okay, so I have like 15 questions from all of that that you just said. So one is you, so you said there's a difference between working in the online space and being an entrepreneur in the online space. So can you break that down? 'cause I think this is a really important distinction for people to understand.

[00:04:21] Teresa Cavalla: I think this is one of the main mistakes people do. Uh, so, um, basically when we grow, we tend to build a team, and when we build a team, we hire people. And hiring is not always the right word, in my opinion, because hiring means you're, basically someone is working for you. But when you hire people, you need to understand what you want in terms of, in terms of people and what they want.

[00:04:47] And if you connect the dot, if you are aligned in this, you build something good and there's no right or wrong solution here, but you just need to know. So [00:05:00] when you hire someone, you need to understand. The, um, real desire and vision of these people. So some

[00:05:07] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:05:08] Teresa Cavalla: are working online because they need an income, so it's just they're not really interested in, and there's nothing wrong with that.

[00:05:16] They're not really interested in taking a lot of risk in building something is in growing, etc cetera. They just need to work X amount of hours and being paid because their priorities are their business.

[00:05:30] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:31] Teresa Cavalla: so let's make an example. Uh, maybe a mom with three kids, maybe a single parent, and maybe she's just focused on growing her, um, her kids and not exactly in the entrepreneurship.

[00:05:43] So working online is just the easiest way for her to take care of the family at work. And that's perfectly fine. But you, when you hire people like that, you can't expect from these people to give. More [00:06:00] than what they're contracted for,

[00:06:01] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:02] Teresa Cavalla: that's perfectly fine. Um, on the other hand, if you. Hire for the same role. Someone who is really focused on the business and want to build something good and want to, um, grow the business. It's either the mindset will be completely different. They will, uh, be, um, very interested in learning and growing in. Um. Maybe also being proactive. And at a certain point they will leave you they will outgrow their

[00:06:35] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:36] Teresa Cavalla: that's perfectly fine as well. But you need to know who you have in your business because otherwise the expectations you're creating, the relationship you are establishing with your people is completely different. So this is why I think that we have two different type of people, uh. Working

[00:06:52] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and I think that also can apply to. Like, if you look at it from the point of view of like, you are the person who's [00:07:00] working with, uh, in somebody else's business, right?

[00:07:03] Teresa Cavalla: Yes.

[00:07:03] Andrea Elibero: So if you look at it from that perspective, if you know who you are, if you're like, listen, I'm just doing this. I want some money. I wanna do my thing, go out.

[00:07:11] Like versus no, I want to grow, I wanna create this. I'm curious from your viewpoint, if. If that's who you are, is there a difference in the type of client that you should be looking for? Or are there signs or things? So can you talk about that? 'cause I think that's important and a lot of people don't think about that.

[00:07:26] Teresa Cavalla: So I think this is one of the leadership aspects that we are not, we are overlooking sometimes. So you need to find your perfect client because otherwise you will feel this aligned

[00:07:40] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:41] Teresa Cavalla: and the expectations will not be same. The same. So. When I started my business, um, I was bombarded with this, oh, you need to have your vision, you need to have your clarity.

[00:07:51] And, and it, it meant nothing to me because I didn't know, I mean, yeah, my vision. Okay. I can take a paper and pen and pen and discuss. No, it's not like that. I mean, [00:08:00] you need really to do, uh, inner work, which is really intense,

[00:08:04] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:06] Teresa Cavalla: ask you the right questions and find the right answers, the honest answers, because when you have the, the. Um, you have clarity on your identity at that point, you know what you're doing, what type of job you are working on, et cetera. I'll give you an example. Um, if you work with someone that I, I had an, I had this in my, one of my client recently moved from corporate into real life space, and she had this. corporate mentality. she was having a team and she was having very strict practices inside the business. a lot of KPIs, OKRs, which are good, you need to have them. But a lot when I tell you a lot, a lot. And she was also [00:09:00] dealing with team members in a very strict way. Why did you do that? That why do that?

[00:09:03] And, and the communication was on a certain level, and so we found that. Some people in the team were reacting in a way and some other in another way. was the first one that when addressed in some way where was like a little bit pushing back and, and so we did a little bit of work and we understood that there were really, um, expectations from team members because some of them were feeling part of an organization and so they had, they were aligned with this corporate mentality in some

[00:09:36] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:09:36] Teresa Cavalla: They wanted to be directed. They had, um, this task to do and that was all they wanted to do. Some other people were considering this part of their, or their entrepreneurial journey, and so they were entrepreneurs cooperating with the CEO in that business. And their mindset, their attitude was different.

[00:09:58] I mean, they were doing their [00:10:00] best because it was part of their business, but at the same time, they expected to be treated

[00:10:06] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:10:06] Teresa Cavalla: Colleagues in some way,

[00:10:08] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:10:08] Teresa Cavalla: in different roles because all of them were entrepreneurs.

[00:10:13] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:10:13] Teresa Cavalla: yeah, so this is why, and I think that when you, when you build a team, for instance, you need to be very, very, very transparent and aware of the real reasons behind your team's work.

[00:10:27] Andrea Elibero: So. Yeah. And this is really fascinating because you're a hundred percent right, right, because I've had similar experiences. And so let's take it to the discovery call. So let's say you're on a discovery call and you are the service provider, like you're the va, the OBM, and what are some questions do you think that you could ask to figure out how this person is viewing their team or like what their mindset is

[00:10:55] Teresa Cavalla: Um.

[00:10:56] Andrea Elibero: to see if you're aligned?

[00:10:57] Teresa Cavalla: Yeah. The first one [00:11:00] is, um, I would ask, well, this is a good question. I would ask first of all,

[00:11:07] Andrea Elibero: I, I throw the heavy hitters here on this podcast.

[00:11:12] Teresa Cavalla: yeah, I, I think I would, first of all, I would ask what do they expect? Is that

[00:11:16] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:11:17] Teresa Cavalla: the role?

[00:11:18] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Mm-hmm. And it's funny too, 'cause it sounds like, oh yeah, of course. But people don't ask that, right? Like, it's not something Yeah.

[00:11:25] Teresa Cavalla: have no idea what they're looking

[00:11:26] Andrea Elibero: Uh, yeah, a hundred percent. Yeah. They don't know what they're looking for. People are not asking, and so everybody's just going off of vibes and like, and nobody, and nobody has clear communication or nobody knows what the expectations are, so, yeah.

[00:11:40] Yeah.

[00:11:41] Teresa Cavalla: Secondly, I would ask, um. What do they expect, um, in terms of, uh, I mean, uh, how would they, um, assess the work? I do,

[00:11:59] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. [00:12:00] Mm-hmm.

[00:12:00] Teresa Cavalla: uh, and I think that this is because if a role is really, uh, first of all from the role, they will understand if it's like a corporate role or a

[00:12:12] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:13] Teresa Cavalla: Um, a role that is more, um, based on hoping you, you can collaborate.

[00:12:21] So there's a

[00:12:21] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:22] Teresa Cavalla: that says that if you want to really grow your business, you need to have a team that knows more than you. And because the team needs to solve something, you don't need to guide your team otherwise you are bottleneck in your

[00:12:32] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:33] Teresa Cavalla: if the, um, c or the owner and the, the hiring person. Has this attitude of saying you, you know, marketing, I mean, I need you to find solutions for me. I need you to, uh, help me doing that and sit, I

[00:12:47] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:47] Teresa Cavalla: I dunno, just thinking of a virtual assistant role. I have to publish, uh, two newsletters a week. I just need you to figure out how to use the platform, et cetera, et cetera. That's perfectly fine. Um. would say [00:13:00] that the opposite. Something like, oh, well, um, I want you to upload the content in 15 minutes and then do the, and right. See that this is more technical

[00:13:11] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:13:11] Teresa Cavalla: doesn't leave you space of thinking and, and, and finding new solutions. Just an example that comes to my mind without being prepared to this question.

[00:13:20] Andrea Elibero: It's a good example. Yeah,

[00:13:23] Teresa Cavalla: But it could

[00:13:24] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:13:24] Teresa Cavalla: and yes. And so the, the assessment is also important because if the assessment is like the time you, so sometimes I build clickup for companies and they want to assess for every single thing the time that is needed. And, and their idea of improving, of growing a business is

[00:13:44] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:13:44] Teresa Cavalla: less time doing these things.

[00:13:46] Andrea Elibero: Nah,

[00:13:47] Teresa Cavalla: And I'm not sure this is. S aligned with the leadership concept

[00:13:53] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:13:54] Teresa Cavalla: doing my job, because I'm satisfied by my job, I won't take 2000 hours to do something that just [00:14:00] requires one minute,

[00:14:01] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:14:01] Teresa Cavalla: a satisfaction that drives me.

[00:14:03] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:14:04] Teresa Cavalla: I will feel pressed by the clock. And,

[00:14:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:14:06] Teresa Cavalla: it's, it's another, you know, it's another attitude, it's another

[00:14:10] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:14:11] Teresa Cavalla: dunno if it makes

[00:14:12] Andrea Elibero: No, it makes total sense because if you are just there, if you're the person who's there, like just to make the money and put in your hours, then you're just putting in your hours and maybe you take longer. Maybe, you know, you don't really care potentially about the job itself, but if you're doing something, you're like, Ooh, this is my thing.

[00:14:27] I love it. Like, ooh, let me solve this problem. You know, like, like into it. Then you're going to just do it because. You love doing it, and you're not just there to fill up the time or do it as fast as possible or, you know, and then you're also there and you also come up with interesting ideas that you can bring to somebody and things like that.

[00:14:47] Teresa Cavalla: yes.

[00:14:48] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:14:49] Teresa Cavalla: but I have a 10% discount

[00:14:51] Andrea Elibero: Tell me, tell me.

[00:14:52] Teresa Cavalla: to, yeah. No, because even if you're just doing your job,

[00:14:56] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:14:56] Teresa Cavalla: do it in, in, in no time. I

[00:14:58] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:14:59] Teresa Cavalla: because, but the [00:15:00] reason why you're doing it, it's not because you are, uh, you are using your brain to find a better solution.

[00:15:08] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:15:09] Teresa Cavalla: time and use your time for something that is more fulfilling.

[00:15:12] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:12] Teresa Cavalla: because you're pressed. By someone that is monitoring you by the clock. And

[00:15:17] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:15:18] Teresa Cavalla: um, you don't feel, I mean, you, you just, you're just ticking a box, you know? Uh, okay, I've done it, I've done it, I've

[00:15:24] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:15:26] Teresa Cavalla: it might be good, I mean, but it's not something that is aligned with entrepreneurship concept. So you're not an entrepreneur in this case.

[00:15:37] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:15:38] Teresa Cavalla: a, uh, a doer

[00:15:41] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:15:41] Teresa Cavalla: that is honestly. Gaining some money online, that's perfectly

[00:15:46] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:46] Teresa Cavalla: not building a business for yourself,

[00:15:48] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, no, I, uh, I get that. That makes perfect sense. I want to also now shift into talking about, when you talked about leadership, to me, what comes to mind is kind of the [00:16:00] example you were giving of leading a team, but there's also leading yourself. Right. As part of leadership. And so what comes up for you when you're saying, okay, I'm a va, I am an OBM, I'm a service provider, whatnot.

[00:16:14] And they might be thinking, well, I don't necessarily need to be a leader, but you need to, you need to be a leader, so, right. So

[00:16:24] Teresa Cavalla: so

[00:16:24] Andrea Elibero: talk about that. Yeah.

[00:16:25] Teresa Cavalla: to the entrepreneurship concept.

[00:16:27] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:16:30] Teresa Cavalla: choose not to be a leader, but your business will be much different. So I encourage you to be a leader

[00:16:36] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:16:36] Teresa Cavalla: and why? Because, uh, a leader is an inspire, is someone that has excitement because they want to do something amazing.

[00:16:49] They want to share something, they want to. Make an impact, which is an abused sentence in my opinion, but make everyone is making an impact. But let's, let's talk real [00:17:00] realistically

[00:17:01] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:02] Teresa Cavalla: uh, what making an impact is. It means that you have an idea of business, but this is just yours. And how can it be? I mean, you're, yay, you're an B.

[00:17:12] There is a lot, but. You have this specific way of doing your job that is, um, amazingly unique because it relies on your strengths on who you are. when you do that, you work with passion, you work with excitement. You feel empowered in what you do, You are not adopting mainstream advice, which is something I'm, I, I mean it's my, my daily fight against mainstream advice. So, you know that, um, but you're, you're really doing something that you feel your own.

[00:17:56] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:57] Teresa Cavalla: when you do that, as a [00:18:00] consequence, you are leading yourself because you feel. you're doing something good. You are leading your team if you have one, and are, you're also leading your clients because you find people that is inspired by what you do.

[00:18:14] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:18:15] Teresa Cavalla: be something as simple as being a VA with a strong commitment. I don't know. For instance, in building something for a, a new one va, that was amazing. And she had this vision. She wanted to build an agency to help single moms. In, um, third ward countries to

[00:18:35] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:18:36] Teresa Cavalla: And so, I mean, this was something really powerful

[00:18:41] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:41] Teresa Cavalla: that was leading of her choices, was leading her in our team, but was also inspiring some clients because they knew that. Through this agency, they were supporting this type of clients. So maybe some, some clients might not be sensitive to that, but some others, maybe women, maybe single moms, [00:19:00] uh, could be really, really, um, uh, enlightened by this. Scope this purpose. And it's just to give a simple example, but you can be something that everyone does.

[00:19:11] So a virtual assistant, but with your own touch, your own vision, your own purpose, your own way of doing things, your own integrity. And again, integrity is another story. could talk for hours, but you, you can do it in a, in a, in a way that is specific to you. And this is your, um, uh, where your leadership comes up.

[00:19:34] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, I think that makes sense. It reminds me of, the word that comes up for me also is authenticity

[00:19:41] Teresa Cavalla: Mm-hmm.

[00:19:42] Andrea Elibero: being so like both being authentic and also almost being brave in a way because I feel like. What happens a lot of times and what I see a lot of times is especially when people are newer to business, they're like, this is how, like they see people and they say, this is how you have to do this.

[00:19:59] Or they [00:20:00] think like, I'm seeing people online, this is how they do it, and they feel like they have to be in this box. But the people who are the most successful are actually the ones who think outside of the box who are not afraid to show the. Craziest messiest part of themselves to just be who they really, really are.

[00:20:17] And those are the ones that like actually are magnetic to, to their aligned clients

[00:20:22] Teresa Cavalla: I tell you in that an is it right

[00:20:25] Andrea Elibero: and, uh, who

[00:20:25] Teresa Cavalla: Sorry. Yeah. An so, um. I worked with a client that was guiding people to build the online business, and she had the amazing recipe because she was super successful and she had a program that she was selling at 10 K. Okay. To give you the exact solution

[00:20:53] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:53] Teresa Cavalla: business, she hired me.

[00:20:56] I was in the backend. She didn't have the money to pay her. Yay. [00:21:00] So she was completely broken. So be really careful to all these magic wands you find a

[00:21:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:06] Teresa Cavalla: you, you, I think you had such experiences as well,

[00:21:09] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:09] Teresa Cavalla: but when

[00:21:09] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:10] Teresa Cavalla: the back end of business, you

[00:21:11] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:12] Teresa Cavalla: You see a

[00:21:12] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. You see the, you see people, so, sorry to interrupt, but like you see people talking about how like everything is so easy and like this and that and like, oh, I have all these systems and like everything is on fire. Nothing is, everybody's working on their team 24, so like it, there is some insanity going on in the online space, but that is a side note.

[00:21:31] That's a different podcast for a different day.

[00:21:33] Teresa Cavalla: So think number one, don't believe in social media.

[00:21:36] Andrea Elibero: yeah.

[00:21:36] Teresa Cavalla: mean, they're fun, but don't believe 100%

[00:21:39] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:40] Teresa Cavalla: Yeah, 50%.

[00:21:41] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:42] Teresa Cavalla: Okay. Secondly, you need to do the work. There's no

[00:21:45] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:21:47] Teresa Cavalla: Maybe, maybe someone can launch a program and be, and, and gain six figures in three months, but it's because they worked for 10 years before doing that.

[00:21:55] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:56] Teresa Cavalla: not 10 years, maybe two years, but it, they did the work. So

[00:21:59] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:59] Teresa Cavalla: [00:22:00] need to do the, to do the work. You can't find a magic one. And when you see something online, need to remember that it's their business. So they're doing business in this moment. They're not. Just talking to you as a friend. They're doing their business, so that's perfectly fine.

[00:22:17] Everyone

[00:22:18] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:22:18] Teresa Cavalla: that. But this online thing. In my opinion, triggers a lot of objects, uh, uh, shiny object syndrome. So you feel that you're not enough, so you want to buy this, but, but because you hope to find a solution. But the real solution is that you need you to work

[00:22:36] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:36] Teresa Cavalla: need to work on your own terms.

[00:22:38] You need to know who you are, where you're going, etcetera and then build something that you feel comfortable. So as, as you know, as you know, I have a, a very. Specific marketing strategy, for instance, because I don't like, I don't like recording videos, I don't like stories, [00:23:00] etcetera so

[00:23:00] Andrea Elibero: So what, so you know what's funny is that I, this was one of the things I was gonna ask you about because you don't like showing up on social media. You know, there's like, there's a lot of things that people say, do this, this, this, and you don't do any of them. And you've been in this industry for five, six years for a long time and you've had all your clients and all of this.

[00:23:18] So yes, please like talk about. Like one, what you do or what you've been doing in terms of marketing yourself. And two, almost like, 'cause I know you felt the pressure, like do I have to do this type of a thing. So I'd love to kind of hear like your mindset and the struggle. Honestly, that's kind of like come and like how you figured that out and what actually works for you to market.

[00:23:41] Teresa Cavalla: Yeah. um, yeah, I felt the pressure a

[00:23:46] lot 

[00:23:46] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:48] Teresa Cavalla: I am, I think I can't, I can't count how many, um, social media courses I've taken. I both, because I needed to be there. I

[00:23:58] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:59] Teresa Cavalla: I, I finally [00:24:00] hired someone to help me on LinkedIn and she was. giving me this super, um, pushy strategy on lead generation. I was No, no, no, no, no.

[00:24:08] This is what I don't like, because. instance, just digressing a little bit, but she was, she wanted me to comment on a lot of posts, et cetera. But when I see the comments on LinkedIn, they're all fake old ai.

[00:24:20] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:24:21] Teresa Cavalla: it.

[00:24:21] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:24:22] Teresa Cavalla: I, if I have to comment, it's because I have to say something, otherwise I don't

[00:24:25] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:24:26] Teresa Cavalla: I don't care about the algorithm. This is not me. and so I felt this pressure a lot and um, I tried to overcome it and then. There came a moment where I realized that, um, I had, in my 2000 courses and, and certifications, et cetera, I specialized in neuroscience for business. So it's, it's like a, a branch, uh, um, neuroscience.

[00:24:59] In that case it [00:25:00] was for hr, so team building, et cetera. But in that specific, um, training, I, we worked on the fact that. Our, our brain reacts differently to different, um, uh, triggers. And so there was no point for me in continuing trying to overcome something that to me felt not me.

[00:25:24] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:25:25] Teresa Cavalla: I was like exhausted, procrastinating, um, spending a lot of time on content where. not what I want to do, et cetera. so, um, and then I, it happened that I, uh, talk with some people and I found that there are a lot of people like me. I mean, not everyone is on social media. Not everyone would hire someone via social media, so that makes perfectly sense. Obviously you need to be somewhere. So um, I built a strategy that. Is, I don't even like to call it a [00:26:00] strategy process because it's not, it's nothing. Strategy seems not authentic sometimes. It's like a process. It's really a process. I, just want to engage with people. I talk, I talk a lot. Coffee chats, um, podcasts, um, uh, communities. Uh, I took, I'm just, I'm not promoting anything.

[00:26:19] I'm just me. And by knowing people and being yourself. up having referrals, uh, because simply people know me and, and that's what I need in my business as of now. Maybe in the future we'll have some, some different strategies. I don't know. And this is what I like. I mean, I like talking with people. am, I'm considering going to a live event event.

[00:26:43] I will tell you more. Uh, but basically I, I. I don't have fear of talking, but I just want to know who I'm talking to. IJI, I want a relationship with the person I'm talking to, also I'm quite, um, uh, jealous of my [00:27:00] private life. So I'm not someone who shares naturally stories, et cetera. And there's nothing wrong in sharing stories and personal life, but it's not me.

[00:27:08] Uh,

[00:27:08] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:27:09] Teresa Cavalla: so it doesn't make sense for me to be forced to do that. So,

[00:27:13] Andrea Elibero: So, so many important lessons here and inspiration. One is that you're listening or watching somebody who has been able to build a business and not be on social media. And two is that you, somebody who felt the pressure and still feels the pressure at times of being on social media but has been successful, is successful and has a business based on relationships and one-on-one and talking and.

[00:27:41] Not even basically selling. And I think that that probably feels like such a breath of fresh air to a lot of people because as you were saying, you're like, oh wait, a lot of people are not on social media and they have. Uh, effective businesses I've even worked with as an OBM. I've had clients with their six figure businesses who are [00:28:00] not really on social media, who managed to build up really successful businesses off of social media.

[00:28:05] Teresa Cavalla: Yeah.

[00:28:06] Andrea Elibero: I think it is so important of a thing to. Know that you get to have one, have the business that you want, and do the things that you want to do, and two, market it in a way that actually is enjoyable to you and not in the way that you feel like you have to quote unquote, or like be put into that box.

[00:28:25] Teresa Cavalla: I want to give you a couple of, um, specifics here. So first of all, am on social media.

[00:28:34] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:28:35] Teresa Cavalla: on social media, which is. Different because I think that you need to have a profile which is a little bit up to date, updated. Because when someone verifies, if you really exist, if your business exists,

[00:28:47] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:28:47] Teresa Cavalla: they they do is going on social media.

[00:28:49] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. You have to have something. Yeah.

[00:28:51] Teresa Cavalla: you need, this is part of your credibility

[00:28:54] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:28:55] Teresa Cavalla: your credibility. And the second thing is that I'm not selling, but I'm talking about [00:29:00] what I do. Which is something different because if I just do coffee shop, obviously no one knows what I do. I'm continuously talking about what I do

[00:29:08] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:29:08] Teresa Cavalla: believe in what I do.

[00:29:09] I, I, I'm excited of about what I do, and so I'm not selling because I don't want anyone, everyone in my business, I just want people that feels that this is good for them

[00:29:20] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:29:21] Teresa Cavalla: and

[00:29:21] Andrea Elibero: I can say that I have witnessed firsthand that you get a lot of referrals and it works well for you.

[00:29:27] Teresa Cavalla: yes,

[00:29:28] Andrea Elibero: So yeah. So it's a very viable strategy. Okay. So in our last few minutes,

[00:29:35] Teresa Cavalla: Hmm.

[00:29:35] Andrea Elibero: would love to know, so like two things. Let's see how much we can get it. One is when we talk about your personal business journey, I would love to hear, 'cause you know, I like to be vulnerable here.

[00:29:47] We like to share like all the sides of everything and not just the like. Instagram side of like, oh, everything is amazing all the time. But in terms of your growth journey, 'cause you went from VA to OBM [00:30:00] Clickup systems to this leadership coach, like you've done a lot of things. What has been if a struggle or a hurdle that you have had to overcome in this growth journey?

[00:30:14] Teresa Cavalla: Um,

[00:30:16] I would say two, maybe the first one is this, um. Understanding that I needed to work on myself. So my temptation was to hire someone to have this magic wand and

[00:30:32] Andrea Elibero: Hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:30:35] Teresa Cavalla: uh, was something that I, I, I did in good faith. I mean, I, this was how it works. So someone will teach you, will do things for you, et cetera, but you have to put your work inside.

[00:30:46] Maybe you have to be guided or. It's a very good idea to be guided by someone. Good. But you need to work. And the second thing, that I, um, realized is [00:31:00] that even when you are successful in your business, eh, entrepreneurship is ups and downs.

[00:31:09] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

[00:31:11] Teresa Cavalla: maybe if you have a seven figure business, your downs means six figures.

[00:31:14] So it's very okay. But if you're not there, your downs could be. Something more. So you need to factor this in,

[00:31:22] Andrea Elibero: Hmm.

[00:31:22] Teresa Cavalla: uh, to make this part of a, part of a journey to be prepared to create an emergency fund, which is something that I see people don't do it. I, I, I'm just, oh my gosh, this is the first thing you need to do.

[00:31:35] The first thing, you need to have an emergency fund for when your business have a bad month, because it happens. and so if you are prepared, if you. Uh, factor this in. When it happens, you have the energies of reacting

[00:31:50] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:31:52] Teresa Cavalla: and finally to me, um, I'm not sure it's a struggle, but yes, there's a point in your [00:32:00] business when you feel it's not and you need to. To do something else, to up level probably, or to specialize or to, and that's perfectly fine because sometimes you feel that, oh my gosh, I spent so much time and so much money to build this, and now I'm, I'm just redoing things again. Yes. But it's part of a journey. So you can't stay still. You need to

[00:32:24] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:32:26] Teresa Cavalla: yeah, you need to

[00:32:28] Andrea Elibero: Awesome. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. I will, I'm gonna share my own vulnerability and the mistakes that I made. And my first year is that I, and now if you're gonna roll your eyes at me, that's fine. You can roll your eyes at me. But in my first year I did not save a penny for taxes. And it took me, and it was a lot.

[00:32:46] And it took me so much to recover from that. 'cause it's always playing catch up, you know, and things like that. So yeah, I agree that putting. Oh, yay. Not just me. Nobody tells you that, that like,

[00:32:58] Teresa Cavalla: No, no, no. I did the same. It

[00:32:59] Andrea Elibero: [00:33:00] yeah.

[00:33:01] Teresa Cavalla: because I didn't know it was that much.

[00:33:03] Andrea Elibero: Yes.

[00:33:04] Teresa Cavalla: And so I was like panicking. Oh my God. okay, I

[00:33:08] Andrea Elibero: So much work, right? To catch up. But yeah, so lessons learned along the way, and I, I mean, I ended up working with a financial coach for ages, for many things. Money, mindset, and like, okay, how do I actually run my business and budget and like, and things like that, because. When you're used to working nine to five, you don't have to think about taxes and those things, and you don't realize how much it is.

[00:33:28] So, yeah, so, so definitely have made that mistake.

[00:33:30] Teresa Cavalla: we

[00:33:30] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:33:31] Teresa Cavalla: in June, here in June and November,

[00:33:33] Andrea Elibero: And you're in, sorry, to be clear, you're in Italy, so for those who can't tell by your accent, yes.

[00:33:38] Teresa Cavalla: the worst counters in the word taxes tax wise. So what I do is that I save from my monthly,

[00:33:46] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:33:47] Teresa Cavalla: I save directly, I put in a different account, everything that, the percentage that goes in taxes because, so I know what I can use because otherwise it's like

[00:33:55] Andrea Elibero: Right, right. Yeah. It's terrible. But, okay. So on the flip [00:34:00] side of, of that, um, the last question is what one piece of advice do you have somebody who wants to grow their business, something that's maybe affected you, that's really helped you in terms of growing and scaling and things like that? What is a tip that you would like to share?

[00:34:13] Could be anything.

[00:34:14] Teresa Cavalla: Um, it's something really that someone shared with me recently and they found it amazing. Make silence. Just take. Uh, two, three days break. No social media, nothing. Go for a walk. Just sing. Just think, brainstorm, et cetera, and find what you really want and try to clean up your mind of everything that everyone suggested to you, and

[00:34:40] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:34:40] Teresa Cavalla: you feel that makes sense for you.

[00:34:43] And then follow that path. I mean. You probably need help. You probably need a coach. You probably need someone to guide you. That's perfectly fine. But to find the right people, you need silence. You need to understand what's your priority and find the people that can help you overcome that priority

[00:34:59] Andrea Elibero: So [00:35:00] the word that I would, uh, interpret that as, or I would apply to it is intuition. When you're silent, it's your intuition. You can hear it. It's kind of like your higher self, you know? And, and I a thousand percent agree with you because I've gone, I've had to learn that. And it was, after experiencing all this burnout and doing all these things, letting my business lead me, that led me personally to tap into that and understand

[00:35:29] Teresa Cavalla: Yes.

[00:35:30] Andrea Elibero: that that's so important.

[00:35:32] And once you. Know that everything does become a lot clearer and you're like, okay, you get to block out the noise and then you actually get to trust yourself more along the way too.

[00:35:43] Teresa Cavalla: You know that I am a little bit more scientific,

[00:35:47] Andrea Elibero: Yes, yes.

[00:35:48] Teresa Cavalla: think that intuition comes from this scientific process now, neuroscientific process of your mind. So when you are not combated with triggers, uh, you. Uh, [00:36:00] you calm down and you're able to connect the dots in the easiest

[00:36:04] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:36:05] Teresa Cavalla: otherwise you are always dis distracted in your process and, and you can't listen to yourself. So

[00:36:15] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Yeah. You know what's funny is that's like random, random side tangent again. Is that like. I'm both see like more scientific side. It's so funny because I was a biology major and I worked as a nurse and so like I am like, I'm both things, but I like to like, I relate to the wording of the spiritual, like whatever the Woo side and, but I believe in the science side and so it's funny 'cause it's, but what I've also found is that the concepts are the same.

[00:36:43] It's just how you, how you present them. So I just, I really love that. Anyhow,

[00:36:46] Teresa Cavalla: Yes.

[00:36:47] Andrea Elibero: super random.

[00:36:47] Teresa Cavalla: thinks

[00:36:48] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:36:49] Teresa Cavalla: have such different approach, but we, at the end of the story, we always agree

[00:36:53] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. That's true.

[00:36:57] Teresa Cavalla: Yeah, so.

[00:36:58] Andrea Elibero: awesome. Okay, so [00:37:00] how can we stay in touch with you if there somebody wants to chat with you and if there's anything you would like to share, the floor is yours to promote and share whatever you would like.

[00:37:10] Teresa Cavalla: Okay, so, um, I have something that I've prepared, I'm really proud of. If you want to take a self-assessment on your, uh, leadership skills, imposter syndrome, et cetera, you can, uh, download my freebie and it's, it's a very. Simple thing like super simple, but. think it's very useful if you take some time to reflect on those questions and use it as, as your inner work. And so this is something that I am, I suggest you to do if you're interested in the topic. And if you want to book a call, uh, have a coffee chat with me, whatever. I'm really happy to do that. You can go on my website, which is leadership first o bm.com, yeah, and you'll find the links to,

[00:37:55] Andrea Elibero: Awesome. And everything will be linked obviously in the show notes. [00:38:00] Thank you so much for coming on and sharing with us. Everything you shared was very insightful and really inspiring people, so thanks so much for being here.

[00:38:09] Teresa Cavalla: Thank you. Thank you for having me here. And yeah, it's really, it's been really fun. Thank you. 

[00:38:17] Andrea Elibero: Thank you so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancing leaf solutions.com/resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:38:43] And thank you again for being a part of the Solepreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspiring me every day.