Ep. 43: Regenerative Business, Permaculture, and Carrots With Helen Tremethick

Helen Tremethick 0:01
The work isn’t about pivoting. It’s often about becoming more of ourselves and getting more and more focused on the real work that we do the real change that we create. So when I talk about regenerative, I want to talk about sustainable. We often talk about sustainability. Well, I want a sustainable business. Well, I want a sustainable ecosystem. Well, I want a sustainable life, etc. And am I allowed to swear on this? Oh, sure. Great. Bullshit. Yeah, and regenerative systems is where it’s at.

Meg Casebolt 0:36
You’re listening to social slowdown, a podcast for entrepreneurs and micro businesses looking for sustainable marketing strategies without being dependent on social media. Social media is a double edged sword. It’s a wonderful way to stay connected. But it also can feel like an addictive obligation. And it’s even more complex for businesses, your audience might be right there. But you’ve got to fight with algorithms to maybe be seen by them. So whether you want to abandon social media altogether, or you just want to take a month off, it’s possible to have a thriving business without being dependent on social media. This podcast is all about finding creative, sustainable ways to engage with your audience without needing to lip sync, send to cold DMS, run ads, or be available 24/7. Let’s get started. Hello, Helen, I am so excited to have you here on the social slowdown podcast. Hi, Meg, I’m so glad to be here. I would love to start with just a really quick overview of what you do and how people can work with you. And then we can kind of backtrack into our conversation that we have already been having for years.

Helen Tremethick 1:43
Yeah, amazing. Um, my name is Helen traffic. I am a regenerative business designer. I’m a Holistic business coach. I work with entrepreneurs who are ready to be more of themselves, in their businesses as their businesses grow and change and iterate and become more successful. Okay,

Meg Casebolt 2:03
I haven’t heard you say regenerative business designer. I got so distracted by that phrase. But I want to dig into that word. What is a regenerative business design? What does that look like?

Helen Tremethick 2:18
Yeah, thanks. I’m super glad that you ask. And you know, it’s funny. You and I have known each other for a long time. And we’ve seen various iterations of each other’s businesses. But the work isn’t about pivoting. It’s often about becoming more of ourselves, and getting more and more focused on the real work that we do. The real change that we create, and regenerative business design is the work that I’ve kind of always been doing. So when when I talk about regenerative, I want to talk about sustainable, we often talk about sustainability. Well, I want a sustainable business. Well, I want a sustainable ecosystem. Well, I want a sustainable life, etc. And am I allowed to swear on this? Oh, sure. Right. Bullshit. Yeah. And, and regenerative systems is where it’s at. So that is like the short of it sustainability is bullshit. Because regenerative systems is where it’s at. Regenerative means that it gives back to all of the parts. If we consider sustainability as like net zero. It’s, it’s sustainable, it doesn’t take it doesn’t give it sustainable. But what we’re really looking for is not just more revenue, as we work harder, like the more we work, the more revenue goes up the stainable, what we really want is more revenue and less output. That doesn’t mean not working, but less hard energetic output, what we’re looking at so we are giving back, our businesses are giving back our time, our energy with more as we earn more money, we give that money to our local restaurants, our farmers market to that artists, and so we start replenishing our communities. So we start, you know, buying organic instead of buying cheap, conventional, and that also has a ripple effect. So when I talk about regenerative systems, that ripple effect, it goes, it goes on and on. We have more time we have more time with our families, our kids are healthier, our well being is better. Our clients are happier, because we spend more time with them focusing on them, and then their businesses are more successful, their lives are more successful. That is a regenerative business design. And we look at everything from your methodology, AKA your magic. How do you make the how do you make the work in the world? So how do you get your people from here to there? Who are those people? How do you attract them? And that’s what I want to talk to you about today.

Meg Casebolt 4:59
I do what I have another question which is going to take us in a totally different direction. I know you also live on like a permaculture farm, where I feel like this, this talk of regenerative business systems and regenerative business culture and the ways that you interact with a larger community. Where does that fit in with the the ideals of permaculture that you and your partner are, you know, living in a physical manifestation? Like, I’m so curious about this?

Helen Tremethick 5:32
Yeah, it fits that it fits very neatly. Yeah, it’s a it is a very beautiful extension of permaculture principles, where we look at all of the sectors that influence any environment. So Permaculture is often viewed as a land based design theory. And the beautiful thing about design, as you know, is that once you can understand design principles, you can apply them everywhere. design makes everything possible. Yeah, and good design. That is, and bad design makes things shit. So when we start thinking about those design principles, we can design you to our local ecosystem, as we are doing here, on the land, teaching people how to do permaculture themselves, how to be permaculture designers had to be permaculture teachers, and we’re doing it in our gardens, and you know it holistically in our community. But we can also do that within any ecosystem. So the ecosystem of our, our bodies, the ecosystem of our relationships, the ecosystems of our business,

Meg Casebolt 6:41
and in so many ways, but you were talking about with sustainability versus regeneration, you know, sustainability is just, you know, you have a compost and the things that are waste in your system go into the compost and remain in the land, but it is that sort of net zero peace, whereas the regenerative extension of the metaphor would be more like, you know, you are maintaining your net zero within your household and that sustainable way, but then you’re able to share the fruits of your labor like literal fruits of your labor from your farm, you know, whether that’s fruits off of a tree or vegetables or eggs from your your chickens or whatever it like, you’re able to support the community with that and, and purchase views your purchasing, okay, I just this metaphor is blowing my mind. Yay,

Helen Tremethick 7:32
yes. Right. So then when you think about your services, we think about your brand voice, we think about just the way you show up in your business, the values that you represent to the world. And so, you know, continuing that compost metaphor, like you can keep that compost in the bin as it breaks down, and then it goes into, you know, the, the local soil, or you can take that compost, and you can put it on your garden, and then your carrots get bigger. And then you can like, eat those carrots, share those carrots. And then as you do that, you share those bigger carrots, somebody else is like, Hey, I bake bread, or I make cheese, and then they share that with you. And so then all of a sudden, those, those ripples are getting bigger. It’s not just you eat a thing. You compost the rest. Yeah, but they’re like, it’s not just like this sustained. System. Yeah, that’s close.

Meg Casebolt 8:26
It’s not inter Yeah, it’s not a closed system. It’s not a closed part of a larger system.

Helen Tremethick 8:31
Exactly. Exactly. So how does your business show up in the world? How do you show up in your business? It all it’s so how does it work with the permaculture farm? And the business? It’s like very neatly,

Meg Casebolt 8:45
well, it’s its values, its knowing what your values are, and extending them into every piece of your life, not just well, my value is, you know, my business values transparency, so therefore, I will do this. It’s like know, the ways that the things that you value show up in your life can influence your business and people can then be attracted to you because they have similar goals. They have similar values they have, they are in alignment with the things that you’re talking about. Yeah,

Helen Tremethick 9:16
exactly. Exactly. And, you know, I love to say like, if you’re, if you’re just stating your values, and you don’t have any action behind them, they’re just lip service. And we see that across the corporate sector all the time where they’re like, We believe in community or I mean, as of right now it’s it’s Pride Month. I know this is going to come out later, but it’s currently Pride Month, and there’s so much rainbow washing right now where love is love, but the rest of the year, they are donating millions of dollars to senators who are voting down trans rights bills. So so they’re like love is love T shirts is just it’s just lip service. It’s just corporate washing. And so that is a very obvious example in our world, and we can see it with like, banks and community, like their value of community, and so on so forth. But for you as your business as your small business, it’s really important when we start talking about our values to say, Okay, well, how does this value show up in my business? How can I start really acting upon that value? And that is what people wear your people think, Oh, that is the person for me. It’s not the fact that you put on a page on your website, I believe in transparency. It’s that you did a whole series of Instagram stories on that launch that you did, and what money you brought in and what got donated and what those expenses were, and so on, so forth. That is the transparency that people will say, Oh, yes. And you’re my person. Now, social slowdown, maybe it’s not on Instagram, maybe it is your website, where you say, here are my here, my figures, or maybe you post your pricing, so that it’s not hidden. That’s another form of transparency. So if somebody is saying, This is my value of transparency, what we want to see in a regenerative business design is how does that how does that get shown? How does that get manifested in the world?

Meg Casebolt 11:29
Yes. And how does it how do you? How do you talk about what it is that you do? And how do you how do you act upon it in a way that isn’t performative? But that is honest and real and genuine without being? You know, let me just hit people over the head by telling them how great I am. Because there is a lot of actually a post it note here. I don’t know if I’ve done this on the podcast, it says are you providing are performing? Which to me is the big question. Are you providing for your network? Or are you performing so that way you can be an entertainer to your audience and talk about how great you are? Like, what’s the differential? And how do you provide instead of perform?

Helen Tremethick 12:19
I love that so much. I love it so much. Yeah, that’s exactly it. Like how are you providing as opposed to performing and as we are getting, we’re still fairly new to communicating over the internet in you know, the grand scheme of humans communicating with each other, we are starting to really feel what is actually genuine and what is authentic washed. What is like, you know, fluffy pillows and princess hair and gold glitter, which is really just bro marketing with like lipstick. So we’re starting to feel out what is actually genuine. And as business owners, one of the things that we can do for ourselves as well as for our clients is, frankly to show up, not necessarily, you know, with vulnerability porn, I don’t mean arrow, laundry, what I mean is like, show up as yourself imperfectly or recognizing that you’ve got perfection issues and in really just performing you not performing. Yeah.

Meg Casebolt 13:32
And and providing something of value to your audience in a way that only you can, and letting letting who you are shine through and have it be you know, your brand can be quirky, it can be fun, it can be something that people engage with or are repelled by you your your brand to an extent Helen is the love and badassery motorcycle club. Like that’s not something that is like a word salad that some rando business coach was like and let me just pull these terms together. Like it’s there’s something that is so you in that that people are either like love and badass or you motorcycle club whiskey lemonade Fridays, like there’s something So Helen in that that people will either go, I need to know more about that or like, Oh, that’s not me. It’s okay, if this is not you. In fact,

Helen Tremethick 14:31
it’s really really good. It gets you it’s really good self qualification is a really beautiful thing. When we start out as business owners, we think oh, I really really want really want clients a really want that gig. I really want it and that is fair and normal and common and all of that. But as we grow as we are given more opportunity to choose then then self qualification She is so beautiful, because you’re not wasting your time. Your prospective folks are not wasting their time either. They know, they know that they’re out and beautiful, find your person, make beautiful things in the world, and don’t waste each other’s time. So like self qualification is a beautiful thing. And you can do that, by the way that you market your work, the way that you write your website, copy the services that you provide, as well. And, like you say, what you call those

Meg Casebolt 15:33
services? Yeah, and I think, you know, recognizing that you won’t get an instantaneous reaction to what it is that you’re creating, from the all the people you’re creating it for, you know, and, and social media has given us this idea that instant gratification is possible and instant sales are possible. And if you just post it on Instagram, and you get a couple of likes and comments, that’s a good sign. But those likes and comments may not be from the people who will buy from you, maybe from people who share about you, maybe from people who are engaged with you, and they want to talk to you, and they want to be friends with you. But your friends are not necessarily your clients, right? And figuring out what are the things that your audience actually needs from you long term so that when they’re ready, they’ll come to you and thinking long term about those sales cycles, versus thinking about what’s going to get the likes and clicks and comments. Today is a very big mindset shift. And it goes back to that kind of regeneration and permaculture and long term thinking versus, you know, go to the store and buy a carrot.

Helen Tremethick 16:50
Yeah, exactly. It’s, um, I love to think of marketing as long game. I love to think of business in general, as a long game. Yeah, like, we absolutely need to keep our lights on, we need to keep our roofs over our heads, we you know, we need to be able to feed ourselves and our families. Yes, yes, yes. And those are short term, as well as long term needs. When you start building toward that, when you start future forecasting, you are also taking care of the short term. So you know that I am in love with a perpetual launch. That way, you’re not moving into launch mode, needing to get all of your sales in this very short period of time, and then closing the cart. Instead, you’re talking about this work all year round, so that when you open the cart, people are already primed and prepped to say, you know, and this shows up in this particular program that I’m opening up in April, or what have you. So the perpetual launch, knowing that marketing is a long game really will change the way that you show up, the way that you show up in your console calls the way that you show up in your business in general, it feels much easier, much more ease full. Because you’re not faking, you’re not performing. You’re not desperate. Because everything, everything is already laid that strong foundation is already set. You just keep need to need to keep showing up and doing the work. Yes.

Meg Casebolt 18:23
And it’s not pushy, either. I think that there’s this feeling in the marketing space of like, people won’t do anything without a deadline. And you need to provide urgency because they’ll never buy if you don’t give them a deadline. And I mean, they’re here’s my calling bullshit on it. Because Because yes, it’s yes, people are more likely to buy if you give them by by the state and you get this discount or by by the state because we start out this time. Yes, there are absolutely ways to do that. But you and I have both experienced the email reaction that somebody’s finally buying where it’s like, now I’m ready for you. Yep. You know, where I’ve had two people join my programs this year. I’ve been running the program since 2018. Right? And they joined us here because they’re like, I’ve been watching you. I’ve been putting things into action since you started this note for 334 years at this point. And now I’m ready to get your brain in my business, not just your not just what you’re talking about, not just what you’re teaching, but like I want you finally I’m ready. And I know you’ve also had that experience of people coming and being like, I’m ready, and you are the one for me.

Helen Tremethick 19:38
Exactly. I just received an email this week that said, I don’t want to work with anybody else. And here’s the beautiful thing. This person is actually still not ready. Yeah, they’re still not ready to just responded to an email that I put out and said, I just need to tell you like you are the one for me. I’m not Ready. But when I am out, which means that once, once we get into consultation calls like this, it’s like so we’re talking about marketing. Once you get into that consultation call with the person, you’re not talking about whether you’re a good fit. That’s not part of the dialogue, you already know, you already know. Because put yourself out well, and you know that mean? There are sometimes red flags and yellow flags and you need to be aware of those. Absolutely. There’s the disclaimer and moving on, that you already know that you’ve put yourself out well, they already know that they can trust you that they like you that they know that you can take care of them. So you’re just talking about how you’re going to work together, when you’re going to work together. And like where they sign the contract. And that makes that means that you’re not selling, you’re not moving into this like manipulative, sleazy, you’re desperate push that that often comes off in the marketing world where they say, Okay, you need to create urgency, you need to create scarcity, you need to lie and say, Oh, you just like, cross out that number that says it said 15 spots available, but you know that there’s only nine spots total. So now put, like, now, there’s only eight spots available. It’s garbage, like just lean into who you are show up as who you are. And saying it’s simple. It’s not easy like this is this is not just a switch, this is definitely a dial it is definitely a long game. But it’s doable, and it’s worth it.

Meg Casebolt 21:40
So what are some ways that you can show up in this honest, truthful way? Especially if you do want to be less dependent on social? What are some opportunities that you see, to develop those relationships?

Helen Tremethick 21:59
Yeah, thanks. So I think so one of the things that I always come to in terms of like, a suggestion for people is to write a manifesto. This was like one of my favorite suggestions. And there’s a there’s a course inside the motorcycle club headquarters called fuck your elevator pitch. That is a sneaky way of getting to your new bio, your new profile, you’re new, this is what I do. Outside of this, I am such and such, who does this thing for these people?

Meg Casebolt 22:32
Like, I believe in that so much, but the SEO person in me is like no, but we still need those words we still need. My heart is like tearing of like, yes, let’s like show up authentically. But also let’s use words people recognize so

Helen Tremethick 22:47
absolutely. Clarity is key. We do not need to say like threads of unity. When you’re actually trying to say like blog, or services. Use the words that that makes sense. Make it easy for your people. And that would I would say is like step two, make it easy for your people. You can be quirky, but don’t be unclear. And so write a manifesto get really clear on who you are, how you show up what you believe in, look at those values. How do they show up in your business? Be really clear with your words, we will make it make sense. And and then the other thing I would say and this is something that anybody can just do today is when you are feeling riled up when you are feeling moved, when you are feeling emotion, there is always something there to uncover. What is it and if you are not at your computer, talk into your phone, because I know you’ve got your phone in your pocket, talking to your phone. And unless you’re awesome, and you don’t have your phone in your pocket, in which case, kudos and

Meg Casebolt 24:00
post it note. It’s okay.

Helen Tremethick 24:03
But you know, talking to your phone or anything, carry a notebook around capture that inspiration where there is a motion, there’s something worth uncovering. And that is what you need to be sharing with your audience. Those pieces of you are what needs to come out because those are the ones that your people will say you are the one for me. So whether you are on Instagram or not, whether you’re writing a blog or not, whether you’re showing up on a podcast or a summit or doing speaking events or not, these are the pieces the pieces that fuel you and so I want to talk about, like love and rage both of those the things that you really love the things that you’re super impressed by, like get positive, absolutely. We all need a little bit more positivity. Because you know, reference trash fire and we also need rage because rounds trash fire so Oh, so bring both of those pieces of you. And then your people will say, Oh, I know you, I know you because you see me, because you understand me because we know each other. And that is what makes great marketing.

Meg Casebolt 25:15
And I think also, if you’re feeling that emotion, there’s a reason for it, because it is part of your values. And if you can show up and talk about it in a way that feels good, without being performative, then it that will resonate with people, and it might be shared, wherever you are sharing that. But if you’re going, Oh, it’s June, it’s Pride Month, I guess I should say something, I guess I should put a rainbow what because everyone else is putting up their rainbow flags. That that’s not going to resonate, it’s just gonna, it’s people are gonna scroll past it, they’re gonna skip the email, they’re not gonna, they’re gonna fast forward the 30 seconds on the podcast, wherever the space is, or, you know, if you’re, if you’re in person, because in person can also be a way that you market your business, oh, my god, get up from

Helen Tremethick 26:13
that the fact that we might see each other in real

Meg Casebolt 26:15
life, it’s in real life, whether it’s at an event or at the farmers market, or wherever you are, you know, I was at my, my neighbor’s birthday party the other day, and was talking to some of the other parents, and they’re sort of texted me this morning about their websites, you know, it’s just like, this still happens, even if it’s not intentional. But if you show up in those spaces, and your your behavior in real life is not the same as what you would expect from people, as a business owner. But there’s also a discrepancy there. There’s something to explore there.

Helen Tremethick 26:46
Absolutely. Absolutely. And so there’s, there’s kind of two tacks that I want to take there. And the first is very brief, which is, if you are feeling oh, it’s June is pride month, I really should do that. That’s okay to notice, it’s okay, well notice, you don’t need to hop on the the performing train, you can still share something, you can notice that this is important to you. And then for the rest of the 11 months, put pride stuff into your marketing. It’s National indigenous history month here in Canada, also Pride Month. And so if that is important to you, then put that into your marketing, marketing the rest of the 11 months, as well talk about it the rest of the 11 month as well. So if you notice that you’re feeling like, like, Oh, I feel like I need to do that, to examine that and, and take a look at it, because that is also really, really, really important. The other tact that I wanted to take is your saying about, you know, showing up as, as you and if there’s a discrepancy, this often happens as we start to take on a team, when they’re outsourcing our content, when we start bringing new people into our fold. And that there’s a bit of a disconnect. So part of that is onboarding your people in a way that allows them agency but but also it’s like agency and ownership over the brand, but also really immersing themselves in the brand. And, and you can do that help them that way, by really communicating what you believe in, why you believe in it, what words you use, versus what words you don’t use, like ever, ever use. And, and in order to do that, in order to communicate clearly you need to get clear yourself as the business owner. And so that work is really introspective. And we don’t often think about marketing as introspective work. But that’s where it starts. It all starts. This is the regenerative design again, right? It all starts at the source. And I mean, we could be like universal source, divine source, whatever. But what I’m talking about is like in Insight, it all starts at the source. This is your idea, your baby. Let’s work from there. How do you communicate it? How does it show up in the world? How does this entity grow and iterate and change as you bring people in but still feel consistent, coherent, clear, and true?

Meg Casebolt 29:24
I love that, as you were talking, I was thinking about that. You know, this is on the calendar and therefore I feel like I need to acknowledge it versus this is how I feel about it and how do I express that and communicate it in a way that other people can talk about it and share about it. And the example that came to my mind I think you know her is Erica Tobin’s. She came to mind because our husbands we actually met because our husbands were in the Navy together, right? Like they were both stationed at the same, the same shore duty. And so I always have a bit of The difficulty around should ID posting for Memorial Day and Veterans Day in Fourth of July, because like, you can just like push the patriotism and get a lot of likes for it. And, you know, I was working with working with a social media agency for a number of years. And they were like, well, it’s Memorial Day, we know you’re in a veteran household, like, do we want to say something? And we would like, throw up a flag. And that was it, right, like Happy Memorial Day, even though like why is Why is Memorial Day Happy. It’s not it’s not meant that way. But that’s a totally different side tangent. But the thing that I think about with Erica is that she has spoken to Congress about food scarcity in military houses, and she takes those opportunities, those, you know, patriotic holiday touch points, to talk about that value of hers, because she also has done farming work and really cares about helping firms be more successful as a value in her own life. Like she was a farmer. And I met her again to the farmers market where I had a CSA at her stand, you know, like, so the way that she integrates that experience of having as a military wife and being on food stamps, and what did that look like? And what are some things we can do about it now, while we’re also doing these celebrations, it can be part of your values, that you’re using these prompts, and these cyclical seasonal reminders, to extend your brand to let people in to what matters to you. And I haven’t figured that out for myself for these patriotic holidays. I don’t, you know, throw Erica there. But there are ways that you can, oh, I was about to say capitalize upon but I don’t even want to use that I was asked to go to take advantage of which is also not that was given me a verb.

Helen Tremethick 31:53
You can also use you. Also, like words have power, absolutely. But you can also be inspired by these particular calendar dates to be critical of them. You can also be inspired by these calendar dates to say, this is a both and situation for me and my family. Just like excuse me that Erica does. So so well. I love Erica, also, by the way, I think she does just incredible work, and especially around putting those values into action and sharing like, she’s She’s not saying Happy Memorial Day Look at me, right, saying, You know what, it’s Memorial Day. And in that I want to celebrate Veterans by talking about food scarcity by talking about these very real issues that are happening, so it’s not just about putting a flag up. And so that’s where like, where there’s emotion, there is really good stuff to uncover. What is that? Where’s that? Where is that inspiration coming from? And that could be your rage, it could be your joy, it could be your love, it could be your compassion, it could be because, you know, it really stirred your soul somehow or another? What is it about that? And then write about it, share it with your people, when you’re at that kid’s birthday party at your neighbor’s house, like sidle up to the neighbor and have the conversation say actually, you know, we did this recently, we live in a very, very conservative area was very, very agricultural. And there was this person who’s come by and drop off carrots, which is beautiful, especially as it continues the carrot metaphor.

Meg Casebolt 33:47
Just gonna say it’s all carrots, everything is carrots, everything is coming in the show notes or every bullet point will just be like

Helen Tremethick 33:56
we spoke about carrots, again. He comes over and he went into a very, very common monologue about people who are on housed people who are struggling with addictions and equating that to work ethic. And this was shortly after the the universal basic income pilot project was cancelled here in Ontario. The project was going very, very well exceptionally well like gold stars all over the place in every marker and it was canceled. Moving on. So he was talking to me about you know, equating it to work ethic. And you can you can already tell like if you’re listening to me on this podcast, you can already tell whether I am for you or whether I am not saying so I was so this was my opportunity to either like nod and be nice. Or say I love that we’re talking about this. You Because I have other information that I would like to share right now. So I spoke about housing first initiatives and how that really helps with mental health, which really helps with addiction struggles, which really helps with trauma recovery, which then people love to work. It’s not that people don’t want to work is that people don’t want to be taken advantage of. And so this was my opportunity to deepen my relationship with this person, even though it was contradictory. So doing this in your business, whether it’s about character, whether it’s about housing, or whether it’s about Memorial Day, or whether it’s about like, your services,

Meg Casebolt 35:38
Hey, your products, what are you selling?

Helen Tremethick 35:44
Are you selling, you can show up with that opinion? You just, it’s, it’s just all positioning at that point.

Meg Casebolt 35:53
Yeah. And you can show up in a way that is true for you that will attract your clients. And Erica probably has a very similar offer to you in terms of the way that she helps her clients, and you’re very similar values, but her people will find her and your people will find you. And there may be times where you guys overlap clients, or they go from her to you, or then they come to me, and it doesn’t have to be a zero sum game.

Helen Tremethick 36:20
Absolutely. It’s regenerative. Yeah. And that’s, and that’s absolutely what happens, you know, past clients

Meg Casebolt 36:27
all around, referral streams are always flowing. And

Helen Tremethick 36:33
that is like, it is a really beautiful thing. It’s not we’re not competing. And Erica does have her people, sometimes they come to me, I have my people, sometimes they go to Erica’s, you know, like, we both refer to you. And you refer to us. There’s no competition here.

Meg Casebolt 36:49
And I, I think the difference is thinking of regeneratively not just again, that internal, you know, this is the box of my business. And it’s a closed system, versus thinking of yourself as a part of a larger hole, which is I don’t want to use creative economy, because that feels a bit more content creation versus small business. But the economy that we are creating and forging of people, typically people who are socialized as women, but not you know, not always, but people who have similar values to us who have similar experiences who are in alignment with us. And if the person is not ready to work with me yet, and might send them to you, I might send that to her, I might pass them along to whomever makes the most sense, knowing that referrals are collaborative, and they often are not necessarily reciprocal, but like what goes around does come around. It may not be a reciprocity, it may be a, I send it, I send this person to Helen and they feel great. And then that person later on says to somebody else, oh, you know, I was thinking about working with Meg, the timing wasn’t right, but you might be a good fit for her. Like there’s a respect that comes with saying, I’m not right for you, or I’m not right for you right now. That supports an entire economy, especially if you say I’m not right for you right now, here’s what you need. Here are some people that can help you get there. Here’s when you know, you will be ready to work with me or maybe you’re just not my person. And that’s okay, here are other people that might be a better fit for what you need. Yeah, that’s okay.

Helen Tremethick 38:32
Yeah, it’s That’s exactly it. So we’re doing this quite a lot in our conversation where like, you, oftentimes, if you did the normative way of thinking about your business, thinking about your your small business is as this very closed loop, yeah. And it’s not, it is open, and those boundaries are really fluid. So we could see a fairly linear line, a linear line between I am a

Meg Casebolt 39:02
linear trajectory will use a strong bound.

Helen Tremethick 39:06
A lot of foundational work, I do a lot of that introspective, like, how is your business showing up in the world? What services you need to create to overlap with what your your clients need? And how you your beautiful, big responsibilities? Because we know that you have them, right. So how does that work? All of this really beautiful foundational stuff. And for people who are further down the pike, it’s still that foundational stuff, but it’s not so much about like the foundation of like the basement of their foundation of their business building. But building on that third floor building on those balconies doing it in a really like structured strategic, tactical way, both strategic strategy and tactics. You then help them launch that idea out into The world using SEO, Erica helps them launch that idea out in the world using like marketing strategies. So we can look at this is a really linear trajectory, or we can look at it as, as different pieces of a hole. And so people are going to need different tools, different strategies, different tactics at different times in their their business life. And that is, that is great, because I know that this is comes back to the providing versus performing piece again, I know that I am providing really good support for my people or my prospective people, by sending them on to somebody I know will take really good care of them. Yes. And that is what I want for for people. That is how I create my ripple effect in the world. Yes, I need money to hold my roof up until like, put food on my table. Yes, right. But that’s not the entirety, we want to look at, like whole accounting. And money is one piece of that whole accounting.

Meg Casebolt 41:08
So after listening to us talk for 40 minutes, people, people will know if you are their person or not. And if you are, in fact, their person, and they either want to work with you now or they want to get into your ecosystem. So that way, when they’re ready, they can reach out to you. What is the best way for people to get in touch with you, Helen? Yeah,

Helen Tremethick 41:29
you can find me at Helen dramatic, practically everywhere. Because I believe I’m the only one. So

Meg Casebolt 41:37
there are so many term ethics out there. So it’s just such a common last name.

Helen Tremethick 41:41
Right, and Helen as well. So, you know, feel free to Google me, you will learn a lot about my backstory. I am at Helen from ethic.com. And Helen from ethic on Instagram, if you want to hear from me off of social, and just in your inbox I write every week, I’m really interested in passionate but educational programming. So you can do that by going to my website, filling out the handy form. And the bonus thing outside of hearing from me every week is that you will also get access to a project that I did a couple of years ago, Maggie were a part of that. The lovin badass Rick? Yes, yeah. Where I asked 30 other entrepreneurs and myself making 31? How did you make your business more successful, while also being more authentic to who you are? And these are their answers. These are their stories. So if you’re looking for inspiration, if you’re a little stuck on the things that we’ve been talking about today, but thinking, Well, that’s all fine and well for Helen, that’s all fine and well for Meg, I don’t know how to do it myself. You can also listen to these 29 other people who have their stories, their ideas, and it’s a really beautiful inspiring thing. So Helen traffic.com Alan traffic practically everywhere. And then there’s 11 badass free motorcycle club where you can get in touch with me every single week.

Meg Casebolt 43:15
I’m thankful. Thank you so much for being here with me for this amazing conversation. I am expecting my load of carrots to be mailed internationally any day now. I don’t know if that’s legal Can we send Can we send you to like actual produce anyway. Well, thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to the social slowdown podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe or come on over to social slowdown.com and sign up for our email list. You never miss an episode. We’d also love if you could write a review to help other small business owners find the show you can head over to social slowdown.com/review Or grab that link in our show notes for easy access. We’ll be back soon with more tips to help you market your business without being beholden to social media. Talk to you then.

Please forgive any typos as this transcript was automatically generated by otter.ai.