Building a Values-Aligned Business (That Actually Feels Good to Run) with Milou Pietersz

Akua: We are covering so much in today’s episode and the Unbreakable Business Podcast. Miu Peters, who is the creator and founder of Simply Multimedia, a marketing agency, went from being ghosted by every agency she applied to, to now having built a team of her own Miu shares with us, how being a former collegiate athlete helped her build resiliency in her business, the challenges she faced, building a team how to deal with rejection.

And the strategy she uses on social media to get more leads, which honestly took me by surprise. Milu shares with us so much valuable information that can truly help you propel your business forward. So let’s get into it. Welcome to Unbreakable Business, the podcast where we uncover the untold stories behind entrepreneurship.

This isn’t about polished success stories. It’s about the sleepless nights unexpected roblox and unshakeable grit that builds businesses that last. Every week we sit down with entrepreneurs who faced it all, sharing raw, honest conversations about challenges, growth, and the moments that made them unbreakable.

Whether you’re just starting out or chasing your next breakthrough. This podcast is your reminder that you have the strength to keep going. Hello, Milu. How are you? Good, how are you? Good. So excited to have you. Thank you so much for being here on the Unbreakable Business Podcast.

Milou: Yeah, thank you so much for having me.

Super excited to chat with you today.

Akua: I really wanna know about you because as you have built your business, you got rejected a lot, ghosted a lot. So can you walk us through how you started your business, how you ended up wanting to work with more agencies, and what did that process look like for you to like consistently getting rejected to where you were just kinda like, all right, if you’re not gonna let me at this table, I’m just gonna build my own.

Milou: Yeah, so originally I came to the US as a college athlete, like you said. Um, so first of all, being an immigrant and then graduating, I can tell you everyone will agree with that. It’s really hard to get hired. Yeah. And I think in general it’s really hard to get hired, but it’s also kinda like who wants the international person?

Comes with a lot of baggage, comes with a lot of extra stuff. Um, and so it was just really hard to get a job. Like I always had a dream of working for some big agency in New York or, you know, as you’re just trying to think about your future. And so that really wasn’t in a cart for me, and I kind of saw that as like, as.

Sign to follow that path. I’m like, okay, maybe you know, this is an opportunity for me to do something for myself. ’cause I always did see myself working for myself. Sooner or later I just had zero experience. So it kind of felt odd to just go out on your own. I have no idea how agencies are ran. I have no experience working in agencies, but I was like, you know, I’ll figure it out and kind of, you know, took that as a redirection.

Akua: That’s what I love is that. It’s kind of that like, you know, and you also being a collegiate athlete, I’m a former collegiate athlete myself, and I feel like, you know, we just, when you play sports, and not even just that, anything that you pour your heart and soul into, you face a lot of setbacks, you face a lot of rejection, you face a lot of those things.

When you were in the process of like applying for jobs and really trying to figure out how to redirect, would you say like that kind of, uh, specific part of your journey like really helped propel you forward as a business owner?

Milou: Yeah, I really, I really think it a hundred percent did. I think at the time I didn’t know it did.

And like, you know how it is, like you, people do like to hire athletes and I always wonder like, why do people like to hire athletes? And now myself, I’m like, I’m looking for athletes. Like where are the athletes? I wanna hire them because like. The way, you know, being a college athlete, you go already through such structure and the amount of discipline you need and mm-hmm.

Um, you know, I mean, we can do a whole episode on like college athletics and Yeah. Um, you know, it’s, it’s pretty tough. There were, I feel like there were a ton of things I had to unlearn after that. And so it seems like entrepreneurship was, was the right move based on the skillset that you get through being an athlete, right?

Yeah, rather than, ’cause I always felt like, oh, I don’t have any skill sets. Who’s gonna hire me? You know, like, oh, I play tennis throughout college, who wants me to work in their agency? But I think there’s another set of skillset that we, we build as college athletes that are way more valuable than, than anything else you, you know, you can offer.

Akua: Yeah. I think that’s just such a good. Point to bring up of like, you may not realize some of the skills that you have. Like for me, I am a former collegiate athlete as well. I also graduated with a degree that I don’t use and now I’m, you know, I have, I’ve built my own business as a storytelling strategist and I think a lot of times we.

When we’re trying to go a linear path, we instantly will count ourselves out. We’ll be like, oh, I don’t have the skillset, or I don’t have these things. And I think, and we, we look at it in a very like, kind of, uh, narrow lens. And instead of looking at like just life in general of how you show up, like there’s so many skills that you have that you don’t even realize.

And even too, again, it just. Speaks to like the experience that we have as human beings that truly just shape our gifts, it shapes our talents. And so leveraging that instead of like, okay, like I don’t have these skills from college, uh, like, you know, from academics or whatever. Yeah. Like there’s so many skills that I have garnered that has helped me literally be in this seat right now.

But if you looked at my, my path, it was nowhere near linear. I did not think that I would be here in this, in this place. So I love that you shared that of like my skillset, even just as. From a different journey of being an athlete has really helped shape my entrepreneurship style. And so for you, how has just your experience being an entrepreneur and especially building it solo, how has that shaped how you lead as a business owner?

Milou: Yeah, so I think. You know, I, like I was saying earlier, like unlearning a lot of things. ’cause I do think there’s like more toxic hustle in like college athletics that like I didn’t necessarily wanna bring over to the type of leadership I was used to for most part, and really trying to. Find my style while, you know, leading by example.

I think that’s what athletes do in general. You lead by example, you let you know your, your skills on the court or whatever sport you play, like kind of speak for itself. Mm-hmm. And I feel like that’s something I, I do lead with. Whether it’s my team, they know I always lead by example, whether it’s my clients, whether it’s, you know.

Anything we do, it’s always done by example. And I feel like I couldn’t do it without doing it by example. ’cause it doesn’t seem fair when you’re preaching X, Y, and Z, but you are not actually taking your own advice. And I think that’s maybe really stems from that journey.

Akua: Yeah, I think that’s a, that’s such a good point that you brought up.

And so would you say as well as like you have really grown your team, I think that is something that business owners, a lot of us are still trying to figure out whether we have, I like, you know, I have like one to two people and I think I know people who want to expand into that. How has your leadership style really evolved, especially as you’re building your business?

Like what are some of the roadblocks that you have experienced and. How has that shaped the way that you have built out your team?

Milou: Yeah, I think in the beginning I, I mean, as, as I was younger especially, I felt a lot of imposter syndrome, like, you know, we’re women, we’re young, like, who’s gonna take us seriously if, especially if we freshly graduated at that point of starting.

And so I, I did seek for people’s expertise, um, and like hire people that supposedly didn’t know what they were doing. But it’s also easy. To get taken advantage of. So I’ve definitely made my fair share of mistakes there where I had people come in to help me skill or build a business, but build a business that didn’t actually serve me and what I wanted, and rather doing, you know, what, what they thought was right and what would maybe benefit them.

Right? And so. I think the mistakes, honestly are, are the, the greatest blessing I would say, because that’s really how I learned and I feel like I’m still evolving so much because, you know, there’s challenges every day, you know, to grow and, and show up and like, you know, being very close, having close personal relationships with my team members, but at the same time recognizing that I’m leading them and I can’t always be their, their friends, you know?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it’s definitely a lot. Yeah. So many different things. Um, there.

Akua: Yeah. And so you kind of mentioned something earlier and we, we, I wanna kind of lean into this. Part of your story is that you partnered with like the wrong operations team. And I think this speaks to, like, as business owners, we all make mistakes in our journey.

And number one, all you can do is really learn from it. And so for you, when you partnered with the wrong opposite, it just didn’t align with your business, what were you seeking? How did that end up? How did you move past that?

Milou: Yeah, so I sought out this operations agency, this was like two years ago when it first started, and it actually ended pretty recently last year.

Yeah. Um, to where, again, I hired people for their expertise to help me. They, they saw what I had already built then, but I was extremely burned out at that point. I was working seven days a week. I had a few team members, but operationally my business wasn’t really together. Right. ’cause I was a creative, a social media manager serving clients.

But the business side, I had truly no clue. Like I didn’t know about SOPs, systems, workflows. Mm-hmm. And so it was really great to get someone in there that knew what they were doing and kind of taken what I had already built, but make it better by simply implementing those things. Mm-hmm. And so that started off really, really great, but then it came to a point where that would allow me to really grow and explode.

And I feel like as I started to then grow and, and, and. You know, skill my business, they really start to take advantage of that in terms of like, oh, you know, we can provide staffing for you. Now we can do this. And so like my retainer just started to get bigger and bigger as I started to get bigger. And I was like, oh, this makes no sense there.

Mm-hmm. You know, there were times I was breaking even. And making a lot of money, but breaking even because my expenses were so high, where, you know, people were thinking out of their best interest versus saying, Hey Milo, you need to start hiring full-time employees. Like there’s no way you’re spending this much on contracted.

You know, um, people and stuff. Mm-hmm. And so like that you became like a huge thing where, um, I started to notice that, you know, I got so tangled up in it because they were in every single part of my business. And this is actually a story I have never talked about. As we, you know, were, we’re talking about it, they were tangled up in every part of my business.

So it was really hard to break from that and say, Hey, you know what? I can’t do this anymore because, you know, what was I gonna do? So it take, took me months to make that transition, put my own pieces in place, prepare ahead of time for, you know, how am I gonna transition this? Bringing people full time in.

Um, and so it was like. It’s a huge story. Honestly, it’s a whole episode on its own. And later on, months and months later, I started to find out that I wasn’t actually the only client that was going through the exact same thing, but that they were basically doing that to every client they would take on.

And yeah, and so that was like a, a real crazy thing. But everything worked out really great for the better. I started hiring full time. I started bringing my own people, reducing costs, actually, you know, don’t have. Crazy overhead expenses and feel very stressed out.

Akua: Yeah, I think that’s an important. Thing to talk about of what you said earlier of how you hired somebody who didn’t have the best interest, like didn’t have your best interest at heart.

They clearly had theirs. And I think that’s such an important thing to flag because for, uh, you know, there are, I’m just gonna call it out. There are a lot of businesses who do, even small business owners who do unethical business practices. Yeah. And some may even think that it’s fine, but it’s like, really it’s not.

Yeah. It’s not in any way, shape or form. And, and as a business, it’s. So easy to get caught up in that. Like I even myself a long time ago got caught up with a, a coach and just really unethical and I felt so uncomfortable. Yeah. And I think one thing I’m curious to ask is how did you, ’cause you said too that they were so in, like intertwined in all the areas of your business.

I think it takes a, a type of courage to finally say, okay, like I can’t do this anymore. And like, let’s move on. Um, ’cause you never know what’s gonna happen. You’re like, can I do this without them? And all this type of stuff. Like for you, how did you find that, that courage?

Milou: Yeah, so. It was to, it came to a point where, um, so again, they were so intertwined.

They were managing the team essentially, but in a strategic way for them to where people didn’t have access to me. And so I was never in all the conversations and they could control everything, if that makes sense. And so things started to really shift. When I start to meet people one-on-one, I start to meet them in person.

And like all this stuff started to come out in terms of like, what has really been going on. And at that point I was like, okay. When I, the second time I heard it from someone else, I was like, okay, this is, this is it for me. Like, I can’t do this. This is crazy. I don’t care what happens. I’m gonna give a notice and completely get rid of literally every single thing they were doing.

And yes, it was really, you know, it was tough, but. It was the best thing ever. And I, I started to grow so much after that because I noticed, because I was working with them, I started to lose trust in myself, which was obviously probably the point, right? Mm-hmm. Start to not trust my own decisions, start to think that I need to depend on someone.

And like you said, you hear that a lot with coaches nowadays as well. Um, so after that, like we skyrocketed, everything got so good because I start to. Get myself back in how I envision the business versus, you know, living someone else’s dream or, yeah.

Akua: Yeah. I think that’s such a good thing to highlight is just the fact of like when you are building a business that is not aligned with you.

Yeah. Like who you are, you’re being at your core, it’s gonna cost you. Yeah. And I think that’s something that’s such a important reminder for business owners is like for me, I have realized just how alignment is so important and I feel like we, we throw out the word authenticity, alignment. I feel like it’s become such a buzzword, but I think really getting.

I don’t view it as like, oh, it’s about being real and showing up as myself and being, and I, I think those things are true and it also goes beyond that, but also too alignment and authenticity. It gives you clarity. Yeah. It gives you clarity 1000%. And I think that’s kind of the piece that like is never highlighted is that when you truly are building a business that.

Just supports you at your core. It is giving you the clarity of how to show up. It’s giving you the clarity of the transformation that you’re willing to provide. It’s giving you the clarity, um, so that you are standing form and you’re certain as yourself as a brand. Right? Yeah. That confidence just exudes it speaks volumes.

So not shocked at all that all of a sudden Yeah. You completely skyrocketed as a business owner. Yeah, and I think that’s the such an important reminder because I always like to say to people, it’s like you have everything that you need. Right now in this very second to build the business of your dreams.

And, um, a lot of the times there’s nothing wrong with getting support in your business. I think a lot of times we should, we reach points in times where we do need the help, but really being intentional with the help that you’re finding. And so for you, as you’ve gotten out of this situation, what would you say are things like looking back that you, especially now when you’re looking for more support in your business, um, what are things now that you were like, this, this is the things that need to align For sure.

Before I say yes to this person.

Milou: Yeah. Um, that is a good question. I think, you know, um, looking for help, like trusting your gut is huge. Yeah. Like, ev so many people know what they’re doing and like, I do think a lot of people have the expertise to help and all of that stuff, but it’s not always the right help, I think, for you.

And so like really trusting your gut on aligning and, you know, making sure it is a true collaboration in that sense to where, you know. Yeah, I see that myself. I do one-on-one mentorship with agency owners and like social media managers, where after a certain amount of months I’m like, you gotta go. Like, I’m not keeping you on.

There’s nothing I’ve left to teach you or train you, and I don’t wanna make you dependent on me versus people who purposely make you dependent on them so you don’t leave. Mm-hmm. And to me like that’s as like a hyper independent person. Like I think that’s the worst, obviously the most unethical thing you can do.

But really making sure, and something I learned from this is like. You know, how I build my business may not be right for you and vice versa. And that you don’t always have to do it by the book, like mm-hmm. You know, we’re scaling businesses. You don’t have to follow X, Y, Z framework just because it worked or.

Just because they’re, you’re the CEO doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to do X, y, Z work. And maybe you really do enjoy doing that work. You don’t have to delegate everything to be a true CEO. And that’s what I found for myself. There’s things I love doing. I don’t wanna outsource them, you know, even though technically maybe on paper people would say, oh, you shouldn’t be spending your time there.

Um. And sometimes that means a bit slower growth, but slow and steady is really where it’s at versus building something and then unbuilding it, if you know what I mean.

Akua: Yes. And I, I love that you shared that of like, there are certain tasks that technically as A-C-E-O-I shouldn’t be doing, but I love to do it, so I’m gonna do it.

And the thing I, I think to highlight is, you’re a CEO for a reason. Like you build it and you can run it. The, any way that you see fit. Yeah. And that’s something I do hear commonly about growing a team is like, you know, you delegate admin tasks and which of course like, yeah, those are menial tasks, but there are other tasks that could be really beneficial for you to still be there.

Yeah. Um, and again, like to your point of like, yes, it’s slower growth, but it’s still growth. And I think right now, as this year, it’s been really interesting for business owners. I’m either having conversations where business owners are doing really well, but I’m also having a conversation where business owners are struggling.

It depends on the industry, depends on who you’re talking to, and I think that’s a a, a good. Thing to think about of what is going to give me that, that steady pace, that growth as a business owner instead of like, quick, quick wins. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I think that’s such an important thing. And for you, as you’ve built out your team, especially, I kind of wanna pivot a little bit because I’m so curious to know your thoughts about just social media right now in general.

Uh, you know, I, I love to have these conversations consistently because I. It just changes all the time. Yeah, it changes all the time. And I think especially TikTok, who knows it’s gonna be here next month. I mean, who knows. Let’s focus on Instagram specifically. What are some top three things that could really benefit business owners right now with Instagram?

How, what is the best strategy to show up, would you say?

Milou: Yeah, so the best strategy to show up, I would like just to give some little. Quick wins that people can have there as business owners is utilizing things like trial reels. I feel like not enough people are actually doing it or talking about it. It seems like an extra task, but Instagram does give you the tools here and there to kind of, you know, thrive and give that extra boost.

So trial reels have been great because it all goes to non followers. People that don’t know you yet, haven’t discovered you. Um, a second thing I would say, engagement like relationships, strategically engaging with people, doing outreach. Um, that’s what we see. Even if, you know, views may drop for a client.

Strategic engagement really allows us to still bring in leads for them, get people on a call, build relationships. And I think that’s so often forgotten too, where we’re just posting, posting, posting. You could technically not post at all and build relationships, do outreach, and still see results. And then lastly, I would say, you know.

I feel like this is a repetitive, uh, topic, but showing up on, on camera, showing your face, like talking videos and actually building that trust through content will continue to be more and more important, and especially the raw, unfiltered stuff because especially in the world of AI and we have AI influencers, sometimes we don’t even know if a video is AI or isn’t.

To where you showed the unfiltered stuff, and it’s okay to have an extra, um, or an extra pause to show that you’re human. But I think that at the end of the day, outside of the super strategic stuff and full blown strategies is showing up as you and sharing your message.

Akua: Yeah, I think I, I wanna touch base on when you said the strategic engagement and how you said that a lot of people, um, ’cause it’s true when we’re like, okay, I need clients.

You’re in insane. Like, okay, I gotta postmark, I gotta talk about it. And that’s true, but. I think, uh, to your point, we don’t think enough about that strategic piece. Yeah. We think a lot about of like building out that content and that’s important. But let’s break down some of that strategic engagement of like where you just said, where it’s still driving leads for business owners.

And that’s something I’m hearing a lot of is that business owners are looking for leads. Yeah. And when I, I, I did a, a niche research calls because I’m, I’m building out a, a new offer right now for my storytelling course. And, um, the main thing, everybody said that they were looking for more leads and they were like, I don’t know, of course to your point of like showing up on social media, that content piece, but nobody ever brought up, including myself and I, I’m guilty of this as well, of like thinking about how can I engage?

With people, right. In order to bring leads. Because I immediately, in my mind I’m like, oh yeah, like just sending off a cold DM. And I’m like, I don’t wanna do that. But for you, what are some strategies that you have used to get strategic, like of, of strategic engagement to where that’s led to leads?

Milou: Yeah, so there’s a couple of things we do and, and even for myself, also for clients.

And it’s funny that you say that like a lot of people are looking for leads. I think a lot of people are looking for leads to find them versus them going out of their way to find leads. Yeah, and like content alone, like isn’t enough unless you have like usually a bigger audience and like relying on just inbound.

Especially in a time right now, if people need leads and are struggling, you know, you can’t rely on inbounds. It’s like just relying on word of mouth. And so that’s something we did for myself, for clients, where we strategically engage with people that are their target audience. Whether we’re following them, we’re daily engaging with their content.

Um, sometimes that does include cold dms and it doesn’t mean you have to, you know, pitch slap people, but you know, just seeing if people could use help. You’d be surprised how high this success rate is to actually get people on a call. Um, I do, I do call dms myself, where I ask people like, Hey, you know, I’ve built an audience.

I don’t feel too good to send a call DM or do outreach where. I kind of use my own style, if you will. Like, I’m, I’m Dutch as, as you know, and, um, we are very direct in our culture, and so I just go outta my way and find cool people and say, Hey, I, I love what you, what you’re doing, or what you’ve built. If you could ever use extra support, you know.

I, I’d be honored to help you. And I’ve gotten people like called on a call, wanted to work with us right away, and they were so happy someone reached out that they could finally learn more about it. And again, it’s not in a sleazy way. I’m not even, you know, I’m not trying to pretend I wanna be your friend and then, you know, sell to you.

I’m literally asking if you could use more help. Maybe you can, maybe you can’t. You know, either way, I’ve found that. I’ve built new connections. ’cause even if someone says, oh, not right now, I’m like, well, I’m following you. You’re a cool account and maybe in the future if you do need help, you’re gonna think about me.

And so yeah, that has been really, really effective.

Akua: I love that because that is something that, you know, that’s always frowned upon as business owners. Yeah. Is to cold dm. Right? It’s, and it’s true. Like I get so annoyed when I get the dms. It’s like, Hey, I love this. And it’s very clear that you have a very.

You have an ulterior motive and it just comes off super disingenuous, but you were like, look, I’m a straight shooter. Like I’m not here to make friends, honey. I’m just here to be like, Hey, I think you’re really cool. I think such a good thing to point out because I feel like that’s getting you further because people already know what to expect.

Like Yeah, you’re not being sleazy about it. You’re just being like, Hey, like I came across your account. I love what you’re doing high, like highlighting something that’s very personable and then you know, just saying, Hey, if you ever need more support, I’m happy to help you. Yeah, and I think that like to your point, that goes so much further than just, you know, following some type of script.

Like you’re not reaching out to anybody. You’re reaching out to this specific person. Yeah. Because you’re like, okay, this person aligns with who I am. Like I understand their pain point. I can see the transformation that they’re needing, and I know I’m confident that I’m the person to be able to help them.

And so. I, I love that. And so for business owners who want to start. Cold DMing. I mean, let’s talk about it. Yeah, I think, I think this goes to show, to talk about, okay, there’s different ways to success as business owners and the fact that you have a big platform and like a bigger platform than most like business owners.

And the fact that you’re, you’re doing that showing up in cold DMing. I’m like, I think that’s amazing. And so for business owners, how. What are some simple steps that they can take right to start if they want to explore that. Because to your point, we have to be able to meet leads where they’re at.

They’re not gonna come find us. We have to find them. We have to approach them. And so what are some key ways that you would suggest going about that?

Milou: Yeah, so I think that is a, that is where strategy comes in, right? And so getting very clear to who do you work with? Are you local or can you work with anyone in the us?

Um, or go after specific niches if you do have a niche. But even if you don’t, you know, you can still go after a certain niche that you, like you said, you’re confident you can help. Um, and then you can strategically kind of reverse engineer, how do I find these accounts that will be potentially interested?

And then coming up with different strategies that could help. Like, just to give you two examples. You can just do the straight shooter and like someone that’s in your niche targeted something you like about them. Make it personable and reach out to them. Or you could use, um, I like to refer to this as like, uh, you know, a third like, um, second connection you have or like a middleman connection on like someone you know that, that they’re following them too.

So let’s say maybe you have a coach, a friend, and, and you have a mutual connection, right? Reaching out to them and saying, Hey, I noticed we have this mutual connection. I love what you do and X, Y, and z. Because that has really worked very well because it’s even warmer. I honestly wouldn’t call that cold.

It’s like, Hey, I noticed you’re connected with this person. That person is actually my coach. Or I’ve, you know, tooken a course with that person, or it’s a good friend of mine and I was wondering if you could use support. ’cause that it already feels less cold to people. They’re like, oh, like they know that person.

Yeah.

Akua: Yeah. Oh, I love that. That’s such a great, a great way. And even if they say no, I think that’s just data of like, how do you refine things, but also like you’re building community now you have a new follower. Yeah. So then if they know somebody, have you ever had that where like somebody said no to you, but then you know, they referred somebody to you.

Have you ever had something like that happen as well from that? Um,

Milou: not necessarily a referral, but like. Uh, like having people that say, not now, or like, I do wanna learn more, but we’re not looking right now. And like, you would be shocked at like, because I always say it’s a numbers game, like, mm-hmm. You know, you just need to reach out to X amount of people.

But usually people will send five dms and they call the day and they say it doesn’t work and it’s sleazy. But instead doing that consistently every day with good intent. Like, it, it, it just works across the board. And I have even had like accounts with millions of followers that respond and say, Hey, not right now, but thanks for reaching out.

Like, you’d be shocked. Like everyone. Yeah. You know, no one is off limits. Um, when it comes to social

Akua: media, this is very clear, is that you don’t have a problem with rejection like that is just,

Milou: see, I got rejected so many times. I’m like, yeah. Like I, but

Akua: I love that though. I think that’s something that’s, that’s really important to highlight is we are, a lot of the times we’re always afraid of failure.

We’re afraid of being rejected. And so for you and the fact that like. You’re not afraid of rejection. ’cause you’re like, I’m bold, I’m just out here DMing people and I’m not sending five dms a day. You are sending several, you know what I mean? And for business owners, I’m like, okay, you’re like, again, you’ve brought up like with good intentions, like these are people that I genuinely wanna work with.

And so. As somebody who does this, where you’re super bold in how you show up in your business, how do you deal with rejection? Like, what do you, what advice do you have for business owners that whatever they’re wanting to pursue or build out, um, how do you, how do you deal with rejection?

Milou: I think, you know, rejection is just redirection.

Just like how I, in the very beginning, got rejected. I mean, let’s not. Even talk about the sales calls I took in the very beginning and like, you know, I was so afraid to share my pricing and got rejected over and over, but I think every single no gets you closer to a yes. Mm-hmm. So if you just change your mindset around like, get excited if you get a no, ’cause you know that yes, it’s coming closer, you know?

Mm-hmm. Um, ’cause not every person is gonna say yes. I, I often bring this up to mentees as well, where. Like I have a lot of sales calls and they are all very warm, all very interested, and sometimes the most confident leads that I feel like, oh, they’re gonna convert for sure. They don’t necessarily convert, but other people do.

And so again, it’s that numbers game where you have enough people in your pool that it, like maybe two out of five will convert. Um, but you have done the legwork to where, you know, you come down to your numbers.

Akua: Yes. Oh, I love that so much. Again, rejection is redirection, and that’s just such an important point.

Yeah. Because the thing is, like we, I, I think with anything where I was like, yeah, I’m so excited, and then like, you go, go, go. But then you hit the first wall. You hit the first No. Yeah. Like, all right. I’m, I’m good. I’m okay. Then you hit the second note, you’re like, all right, I’m still good. I’m still in it.

You know? And then you keep heading repeatedly and it just breaks you down little by little by little. Yeah. And so when you find yourself within that, I think those are the moments where it really matters. And, and for speaking to business owners, like how do you work through that to where like, all right, this sucks.

I’m not enjoying this, but I’m still gonna show up and I’m still gonna continue to do it. I’m still gonna until I get that. Yes.

Milou: Yeah, I think it’s. Also, especially for business owners, start doing it before you even need it, right? Mm-hmm. Why are you waiting till right now that you’re struggling and need leads to do it?

Like you need to do this. You’re billing right now for maybe months in advance. ’cause you know how momentum works and it get adds up. Yes. So don’t wait until you need something. And I always say this with social media too. Invest in social media before you need it. But the same counts for this. Like, sure, we tend to go hard and really pay attention to doing that when we do need it.

But start doing it before you need it. It takes a lot of pressure off. You will feel more, more confident doing these and it makes the no easier ’cause you don’t need it right now. But if you’re in a, in, in a space where you’re like, oh my God, I need this, you know, you’re gonna kind of repel. People in that situation as well.

Akua: Yes. I mean that mindset piece is gonna be key ’cause like Yes. When you are doing that now, momentum, I love how you said that. Yeah. ’cause momentum, it takes a while, but if you’re coming from a place of like, I desperately need leads because you have bills to pay, like that is a, you show up totally different.

Yeah. And people can. Feel and sense the desperation. Exactly like 1000%. And so I love that. Start doing those things Now we got Black Friday coming up. You guys like, you know we’re already in like the end of summer’s here. We’re getting ready for fall winter’s coming holidays. Like start building up that momentum now and start building those connections.

You don’t even have to start off with like a sales like call just. Hey, I wanted to reach out to you because I love your account and this and that, and start engaging, like start doing that now. So when it is time to sell, exactly. They already know you. They’re already more than what they’re warm leads.

And so I think that’s, that’s such a key, key thing is that momentum piece of like starting out, do it now when you don’t need it. Yeah. Even when things are good, because I think we forget that and then we come from a place of urgency and scarcity and fear and that. Is, especially when you get rejection during that time, it feels like very demoralizing.

You know what I mean? Yeah. And you just, it doesn’t feel good. And so that is a, a perfect, perfect time. This is a time now to you guys to really, really, really, really, really start.

Milou: Yeah, and I think it’s also the same with the calls. Like you said, it doesn’t have to be sales calls. But hop on calls with people just to get to know them.

Where are you at in your business? You’re not even pitching them. And so that’s what I noticed for myself as well. I wasn’t doing enough of that before where it’s similar to having friends. Don’t reach out to a friend when you need something. Don’t be that friend that reaches out every time they need something, but instead, check in with people.

See how they’re doing, and that momentum will be there for you to ask for the sale when you do need it.

Akua: Yes. Oh, I love that. Even just setting up coffee chats. Yeah. I think too, that takes a lot of pressure off of being forced to have to show up on social media as well. Yeah. Especially for business owners who really struggle with that.

Of like, I’m not enjoying the content, you know, I’m not enjoying producing, I don’t wanna show up on camera. Those things are still important. Yeah. But of course, like this can help take some of that pressure off of like you’re just showing up now to really build community, right? Yeah. Like you’re just wanting to connect with people.

Um, and I think. Now more than ever, accessibility is so, so important. I think a lot of us as business owners are searching for that. Um, especially since we are, and this is just buying patterns in general. We are a lot more intentional with how we spend our money. Um, so, and we take longer now to make decisions, especially on bigger ticket items we don’t purchase right away.

And so I think that’s to your point of like. Building that momentum now and start having those conversations and giving people access to you. Yeah. Because then it’s like they feel like they know you and we like to buy from people that we know. Yeah, exactly. And so, you know, people hear that slang that that slogan all the time.

People buy from people. And so that is just, I think this is such a tangible, easy way to get started. And especially if you’re a business owner that’s like terrified. Just start by commenting on a post. Yeah. You know what I mean? Sure. Those little things, again, building up that momentum now because it compounds, it compounds every single time that you do it, and it can pay off so much, uh, more in the future.

Milou: Yeah, exactly, exactly that.

Akua: I have absolutely loved this from, you know, just like your team as an evolution, how to be more strategic on social media, especially like with engagement and with your time. Even just kind of shifting into content a little bit. One thing that I’m seeing now is for business owners that are like, okay, great Strategic eng engagement is great, but I also still too like.

With content, and I, I really wanna ask this because there is a major shift with content now. No more educational content, like the three tips, like, here’s how to do this. Like, I saw somebody make a really cool post of how to turn your vlogs from being selfish to unselfish. And so now I’m even thinking of like, how can we make.

Unselfish content. Yeah. Have you heard of that like at all? I’ve actually seen that post, I think because you saw it very familiar. Yeah. Yeah. And so I, and I was like, oh, like that Just, and instinctively when we’re like, all right, I’m gonna take things seriously on social media, and especially if you haven’t been showing up consistently and you’re like, I’m ready to do this.

How do we make. Our content like more unselfish and it’s like, no, like I said, the educational like three tips to do this or like educational tip, how-tos do not work. You have to literally put it into a story or like just come up with different and innovative ways. So what are your thoughts on that unselfish content?

How could we as business owners get more innovative, but where it’s not overwhelming or taking up so much of our time?

Milou: Yeah, I think, honestly I do think this has been around for so long. Like I have, yes, in the beginning been very inspired by Gary V because he’s all about give, give, give, and like, you know, the fifth time, that’s when you can ask for a sale and take, and it’s truly how I started building my personal brand because like creating unselfish content, right?

This is not about me, it’s about you guys. I’m giving everything away. Spending so much time on free content for people. And again, like, ’cause it’s not about me, it’s about teaching them something and, and so they learn something. And I do think nowadays, especially with ai, everyone’s looking for a shortcut.

People just wanna, you know, have a personal brand for the sake of them having a personal brand and asking themselves the wrong questions. ’cause I, I think I did a post about this where I said, you know, you’re always asking yourself. Why am I not gaining more followers? But you’re never asking yourself why should people follow you?

Like I ask myself that question all the time. If like, my growth is slower, I’m like, well, why would someone want to follow me? Is my content really good enough right now? Or. Do I need to go more in depth? Um, and then when it comes to the storytelling, again, I think that ties back to ai. Like AI doesn’t, you know, make up the storytelling for you.

It has the personal facts and pieces in there, but the whole unselfish vlog, especially because vlogs are kind of centered around us, right? Mm-hmm. And it’s like. For a lot of things, it’s like no one cares to watch a vlog unless there’s more to it where they can learn or real storytelling. So yeah, I think, you know, it’s only gonna get more unselfish if you wanna grow.

So people support you, um, to like give it all away and, you know, it costs a lot of time and energy.

Akua: Oh yeah, 1000%. I think an example could be like, even for myself when I, like I did a post and it was a while ago on, like I gave a tip and it was not good. Like, I mean, the tip was great. The, the post did not perform well.

Yeah. And then, and I instantly was like, okay, like what was the way that, like, I, I saw that unselfish post, uh, and it was for the vlog, but I was like, how can I apply this to also other content? And so it’s like. But I loved an example that she gave when somebody was like, oh, yeah. Spending the, the day in the life of me as like, it was something about productivity.

And she gave the example of like, instead spend the day in life me of like, see how I save, uh, you know, 10, 15 hours per week as a business owner. Yeah, right. That’s unselfish. So then for me, I was like, all right, well what is the main thing I help people with? And I’m like, get clear on your message, like your brain, like clarity on your message and how you show up.

So I’m, yeah. Like, here are ways to help you, like get clear, like clarity on your message instead of saying like, here are these storytelling tips. You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah,

Milou: yeah, yeah.

Akua: It’s, it’s those types of things and it’s a mindset shift. You have to really take that time as like you’re building out your content to think, to think through that.

And I love what you shared earlier of like. Why do, like, why would this person follow me? And I think that’s a really, really great way to, to check in with yourself consistently as you’re trying to decide how to show up on social media. Because I think to your point with ai, um, though it has major benefits, let’s not act like there aren’t

Milou: Yeah.

You know,

Akua: as with everything that’s like, there’s always good things and there’s always con like pros and cons to everything. And I think that’s just another thing with AI of like, you have to show up as you now more than ever and continue, continue to do that.

Milou: And I think also with content, you know, we are competing.

With the most unselfish creators out there. So something I like to do, like a little assignment or practice for myself is like, I’ll go into the explore page and get inspired by some type of content. Let’s say, you know, someone says, oh, here are, I don’t know, 10 free content ideas for business owners, whatever it may be.

Then in my head I’m like, okay, they’re doing 10. Like if I wanna be more unselfish, I’m gonna do 50 or a hundred. You know, you need to give. More value. And I think the more beginner creator doesn’t get that, they will tell you, oh, here’s why you need a social media manager. I mean, it’s stuff that doesn’t move the needle for people.

Like you really need to give it all away. No gatekeeping. And most of the time the stuff we share can be Googled anyway, right? Yes. It’s not like people are like, oh, I’m gonna gate keep this tip. It’s like. You know, it’s out there. It’s not like you invented it. Yes. And so, yeah, and people pay for

Akua: convenience.

That’s the thing we forget. Yeah.

Milou: Yeah. Like

Akua: people, like I could give you everything, but they don’t, if they don’t wanna do it, then Exactly. That’s why I’m here. And I, I love that because I think a lot of us. Still do that. We still gatekeep gatekeeper. Yeah. And it comes from a place again, of scarcity and fear.

And it’s like for what? Because at the end of the day, people don’t have the time. And if it’s something, if I can save them time and make their life easier, they’re going to hire me regardless. And I just gave them a whole bunch of value and really great experience to where. Again, like they’re not fully dependent.

If we have to move on, then they have the tools to move on. Yeah, I think that’s also the thing, like I love that you shared that earlier of like, you’re not gonna hang out like the people that you even mentor. You’re not gonna be with me forever. Like, I’m here to help you be successful and give you the tools to do that well beyond after me.

And I think that is the most unselfish way that you can be as a business owner. ’cause I know for me as a storytelling strategist, I don’t want my client to be with me forever. Right. I eventually want them to be able to create stories off the. The rip, be confident in how they show up, get clear on their brand message to where like, they feel so good and just feel so seen as a business owner and like they are pouring into the, like they’re, they’re making that impact in what it is that they wanna do.

Like that to me lets me know I did my job and I wanna help the next person that comes into that. And I think that’s such an important reminder as business owners is that like, we’re here to make an impact and give them the tools for these people to continue to make their own impact.

Milou: Yeah, totally. No, exactly.

It’s all super good points. Um, and you know, it is competitive and. It’s oftentimes, especially with like AI and she GBT, it’s like if they can’t, if they can get it from ai, then it’s probably not good enough to actually share based on your experience versus just repeating what other people are saying.

Yeah. What was your experience and what did you learn from that, that you can now teach? Because I think a common problem we do is we just repeat other people’s tips or insights versus speaking from our own experience, um, which I think is the most valuable, you know?

Akua: It’s the most valuable, like your lived experience, culture, identity, all of those things shape how you show up as a business owner.

Yeah, and I think that’s just such, such an important reminder. I have loved this conversation. This has been amazing. I feel like we’ve talked about all the things, but we have a little bit of rapid fire questions for you. Are you ready? I mean, you know, I gotta be ready or not. I know,

Milou: let’s

Akua: go. I’m terrible at these.

’cause I always like wanna know what the answer is. And every time I always get feedback back, I’m like, Akua, you just gotta ask. I’m like, I know, but I wanna know the answer after. So it’s really like, am I ready? That’s too, so,

Milou: so is this like trivia? Like, is there a right or wrong or

Akua: No? There’s no right or wrong answer.

It’s just what you think. Perfect. And so, okay. Here, are you ready?

Milou: Yeah.

Akua: All right. Coffee or matcha to power through a strategy session.

Milou: Coffee.

Akua: Mm. Okay. Okay. One AI tool you cannot live without. Besides chat. GPT.

Milou: Uh, caption. Captions. App. I, I, I guess that counts as AI based. Yeah.

Akua: Okay. Okay. Okay. It makes your social media captions for you.

Milou: Yeah. Well, no, it does the, the video captions. Oh, yeah.

Akua: Okay. Okay. Love that. Okay. Biggest social media. Ick.

Milou: Because social media, it is complaining about social media. On social media. Mm. It’s

Akua: like, why are you here?

Milou: Yeah, exactly. Why are you here? No one asks me to be here. You know?

Akua: Yes. Okay. Okay. Most surprising thing about running a team you wish you knew earlier.

Milou: You have to lead everyone differently. So everyone has different personalities and, and, and behaviors, so you gotta strategically deal with people differently.

Akua: Yes. Love that. Best business advice you’ve ever gotten in five words or less.

Milou: Oh, five words are less. I know. If you can’t stick

Akua: to it, it’s okay.

Milou: Um.

You know, um, show up before you’re ready. Does that show up before you’re ready? Show up before you’re ready.

Akua: Oh, that’s fine. Yeah. Yeah.

Milou: Good. That’s a good

Akua: one. Be That was a good one. Yeah. Show up before you’re ready. Yeah. Oh my goodness. That was fun. I have loved, loved this conversation. And so for every single episode, we love to end with this question.

What does having an unbreakable business mean to you?

Milou: Having an unbreakable business means, you know, showing up like we just said, no matter what, whether, you know, you’re going through a tough season or things are amazing, having a business is a rollercoaster. And you know, as long as you keep going, um, it’s never, it’s never a failure.

Just don’t quit.

Akua: Just don’t quit. Love that. That was the perfect, perfect way to end this episode. All right, Milu, this has been such an incredible, incredible conversation. For those who wanna connect with you, where can we find you?

Milou: Yeah, it’s probably easiest to find me on Instagram or YouTube. Um, using my full name at Milu Peter.

Akua: Mi, Lou Peters. Okay. Well, MI Lou, thank you. Thank you so much for being here on the show and for everybody tuning in. Until next time, thanks for tuning into Unbreakable Business. If you love today’s episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review and share it with someone who needs a little extra inspiration.

Remember, no matter what life throws your way, you have the power to keep going, and your business can be unbreakable too. Until next time, keep building, keep growing, and stay unbreakable.