Today I am coaching Portland-based food blogger Robyn Downs as we talk all about her business, where she’s headed and how to punch fear in the face!
To enter to be coached on the Goal Digger Podcast, just go to www.bit.ly/GDPcoaching. And, don’t miss Robyn’s free download titled “How to Create an Effortless Health-Focused Workflow for Entrepreneurs” below!
Show Notes
Robin shares that her site is designed to inspire others and simplify real food and whole living (1:10).
When she was pregnant with her daughter, she was working 60 hours each week as well as being enrolled in a full-time doctoral program.
“I just kept taking things on, never stopping to decide at what point too much was too much” (1:36)
She powered on but gained a lot of weight through her pregnancy, and Robyn was feeling lost and not very healthy. She knew that she needed to make changes in her life and left her job, as well as quitting the doctoral program.
“It was really challenging; I never quit anything in my life” (2:18)
Robyn’s next job was more flexible and she found herself healthy again. She then felt compelled to share what she had learned with others, although she admits that she had no idea what she was doing when she first started her blog (2:25).
“I didn’t have a lot of confidence in what I was doing, (but) I had a lot of confidence in the mission” (3:33)
At first she shared other people’s recipes and not her own, while experimenting a bit with social media platforms. In her second year, Robyn pushed past some fears and started posting her original recipes.
She launched her first online product, Real Food Fix, in December, but still struggles with achieving that balance and figuring everything out on her entrepreneurial journey (5:00).
Robyn wants to expand beyond recipes in 2017, to incorporate more story-based posts (6:10).
“(Recipes) don’t say anything about who I am and it doesn’t speak to people where they are; I know I can do more.” (7:25)
The things we are most afraid to do are the things that we are most called to do (8:56). It sounds like Robyn has a very clear idea of what she needs to do, but she’s waiting for permission or assurance that it will be accepted. It will be though, and the connections that she makes will be over so much more than food (10:50).
Robyn’s background is in teaching and she’d love to move into 1-on-1 coaching at some point (14:20).
“Doing it in partnership with people really resonates with me” (14:52)
At first, doing her business part-time gave her an excuse to not do some of the things that she could have done, like delaying the launch of her online product (17:00).
She admits to being an over-thinker, and that her logical brain often affects her confidence. Sometimes when we have doubts, they are deep-seeded fears that we just don’t want to bring to the surface (20:52).
Isolation can be a challenge for solopreneurs, and often people that aren’t entrepreneurs won’t understand what you are talking about (26:25).
“To know that the things that I’m going through are so common, it makes me feel so much better “(27:02)
Robyn tries to maximize the time she has in the evenings to work on her business. Since she only has a certain amount of time each night to do this, she is able to be efficient in getting things done (28:00).
She purposely hasn’t put ads on her website so far, wanting to keep it as a clean and calm environment for visitors (29:45). She does some sponsored posts but is careful as she wants to establish her own content first. I think there is an opportunity with her readership to pick and choose products that go well with her brand though, without taking away form the aesthetics (31:15).
If you have the ability to generate profits so you can serve more people doing what you love, there’s no reason to apologize (34:50)!
Robyn’s goal this year is to build a really engaged community. I give her some ideas on how to do this, such as inviting people that opt-in to her email list to join a private Facebook group where she can generate conversations and drive sales with social proof.
Robyn is a big fan of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic because this book helps you acknowledge that you are a creative person, among many other things (50:30).
Robyn’s blog is so much more than just a blog. It can be a legacy that she will be so glad that she documented and shared (53:41)!
LINKS:
Website
Instagram
Elizabeth Gilbert
Goal Digger Coaching
Goal Digger Episode 15
