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On this episode of the Trailblazher Podcast, we are sitting down with business and marketing coach Aly Robins. What makes Aly special is that she believes that while running a business is hard, it doesn’t have to be as hard as you think. The conversation is all about getting in the room with those who are also doing big things that allow you to open your mind and heart to see what’s possible. Today on the show, we went down the rabbit hole of leadership.

Aly also has a fascinating way of talking about leadership outside of the business world. Whether you have a business or not, we talk about how to have leadership within your life as a mother, a sister, a partner, or a business owner. 

Overall, it was just an awesome conversation and we know you are going to love it as much as we loved recording it. So dig into the synopsis below and enjoy!

To start us off, Aly walks us through her journey starting with her working as a rangeland specialist with a side hustle of a website development business. Then the next phase of her growing that into a full-time business and shifting into business coaching. She shares her experiences struggling with imposter syndrome, dealing with insecurity, and the importance of a growth mindset and leadership for business growth. 

The Hurdles of Entrepreneurship

Once we got going in this episode with Aly, we asked her to dive into the road bumps that all entrepreneurs face when starting a new business. Aly describes that in the beginning, it wasn’t her goal to have a full-time business. She was just hoping to make some extra income with her website design business. She describes that initially, she was offering several different services like social media, Google ads, and Facebook ads but in doing that, she wasn’t a master of any of them, so the imposter syndrome kicked in. That’s when she realized she needed to narrow her focus and only offer one main service, which ended up being website design. 

Another key factor that Aly dives into in this part of the episode is the scarcity mindset versus an abundance mindset. This was a big game-changer for her when she realized that the mindset she had, had a direct correlation with the success she was having in her business. 

What Does a Leadership Mindset Look Like? 

After touching on how changing her mindset effectively changed her life and business, we had to know more about Aly’s perspective on having a leadership mindset. One of the first things she mentions is being able to recognize that you can’t do it all. By hiring someone who could do something better, she was able to grow her team but along with that came the responsibility of leading that team. Aly mentioned that she got a lot of inspiration for her leadership style from Brene Brown, a world-renowned writer and professor. 

The second part of this conversation is all about having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. Aly realized early on in her business that she had a fixed mindset, so she set out to change that. Through working with a coach, she was able to make some changes to her habits and way of thinking to make the switch to a growth mindset. A major part was the self-awareness to make the necessary changes. This is something that Aly stresses is critical to exemplary leadership skills. 

Challenges for Rural and Ag Businesses

With all of this talk on mindset and leadership, we were dying to know what Aly’s thoughts were on the common challenges for rural and ag-based businesses. She explained that a lot of limiting beliefs come up for her clients and that it is crucial for most of her clients to observe what role they play in the situation at hand. She explains that sometimes we are too eager to jump the gun with team members or clients who are frustrating us. Rather than just taking the easy road of firing them and or getting rid of them, we should instead, take a step back and say, okay, what role do I play in this?

That question changed Aly’s life and she has seen it change the life of her clients as well. It starts with having the self-awareness to recognize that and then being able to take the appropriate action to address the situation from a leadership standpoint. Aly goes on through this conversation explaining some different mediums you can use as well to start changing your mindset to improve your leadership.

The empowering episode emphasizes self-awareness, abundance mindset, and employing leadership principles for success in businesses and personal lives. Make sure to tune in for the full conversation with Aly! 

OTHER KEY POINTS TO LISTEN FOR IN THIS CONVERSATION WITH ALY ROBINS

• The benefits of a mindset audit
• How knowing her Enneagram type has helped her in her business
• That it’s okay to ask for help

Keep an eye out for Aly’s full article coming out in our Winter 2023 Issue of Trailblazher Magazine.

Our Favorite Quotes From This Episode

“There’s just this different way of thinking when you are stepping into your leadership role.” – Aly Robins

“The best businesses are built completely on the leadership aspect of that person and that business.” – Aly Robins

“We’re not hiring people to grow our business. We’re hiring people to buy back our time so we can grow the business.” – Aly Robins

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