Welcome to the Scaling Success Stories series!
If you’re new to this series, I ask online entrepreneurs questions regarding growing and scaling their business.
This is the series description:
You can get your fill of online business tips by reading the other interviews on the Scaling Success Stories page.
Interview with Leah Gervais from Urban 20 Something
It was my pleasure interviewing Leah Gervais of Urban 20 Something, a popular blog that helps ambitious, budding entrepreneurs all over the world monetize their existing passions and experiences by packaging them into helpful, transformative products and services. Leah helps her clients build businesses from their laptops with strategic marketing insight and has replaced her 9-5 salary (and then some).
Check out what Leah had to say to my questions!
1. Why did you start an online business and how does your passion still drive your business’ growth today?
When I started my site, I didn’t know that the blog it was would turn into the business it is today. Yet still, the passion behind the content has remained the same.
I started it to communicate and build a community around the idea of paving your own path as a millennial.
When I started, I was declining my law school acceptances and I had no idea what I was going to do instead.
At the time, I was working as a paralegal but didn’t see the point in continuing to do so after I had declined law school. So, I knew I was about to take a huge risk, leaving my law school acceptances, and quitting my job, but I wanted to write about it and reach people with this story because I felt so alone, even though I knew I couldn’t be.
To this day, the idea of paving your own individual path, writing your own story, and empowering yourself to push past your limits toward the bigger vision for your life drives my business, even if I don’t know all the stepping stones to get there.
2. At what point did you realize that your business was “taking off” and that you could really make money from it?
I started seeing my blog as a business when I created my first eCourse.
This was the first time I was really making money off of something that was just mine, not just the affiliate or partnership of other companies.
It’s also when I saw over $1,000 in one month of income, which at the time, was something I was really proud of. It made me realize that this could be more than just my side hustle, but perhaps my full-time job and even higher, my actual career (life’s purpose!).
I was excited but also a bit scared.
I knew that choosing a path of entrepreneurship would mean a lot of things for my future: uncertain paycheck, health insurance stressors, different discussions with my husband and my family planning.
But most of all, I was excited and accepted the challenge to put more energy into it and see if I could get the income to match my day job.
When I did get it to match (then quickly exceed) my day job income is when I felt that things were “taking off” and they still haven’t slowed down from there.
It was incredibly exciting and honestly still is every day. I love the momentum and try to get my clients into their own zone of momentum. It doesn’t actually take much to get into momentum—it can be simply your first sale or first 1000 followers on Instagram, but it’s important to get yourself in it and stay there.
3. At what point did you realize you were living the life you wanted to?
There have been several moments of “wow, this is it” type feelings. But, the two that stand out to me right now are:
1) The first Sunday before my first Monday of self-employment.
I used to suffer from the Sunday scaries badly (even though I actually liked my day job decently). It wasn’t about my job, it was more about living out of alignment and knowing I wanted to be doing something else.
The Sunday before that first Monday, I wrote in my journal that this feeling was even sweeter than I could’ve imagined!
2) The other moment was my first 5-figure month.
I wish I had more of a memorable story for it, but it was a month I really hustled during and I crossed five figures the last day of the month at 9 at night, so I didn’t really know for sure that I was going to.
I remember being in a cab in NYC when I got the email that I made the sale (and it pushed me over five figures) on my way to dinner and looking around at the city around me and thinking “wow, I did it.”
4. One of the biggest fears of outsourcing is trusting the people you hire to run your business the way you would. How did you overcome this and where did you find the right freelancers and employees to help you grow your business?
I have hired two people so far and when it came to looking for people to fill these positions, I started by asking around for referrals in entrepreneurial Facebook groups and masterminds I’m part of.
I think referrals are a great place to start.
When it came to hiring my first VA, which I was more careful about than my other position, I was lucky enough to hire someone who was a former client.
I had some hesitations about this, but in the end, I think it’s a huge advantage to hire a client (IF it makes sense) because already have an understanding of your work and your products and services.
I think that the fear is still there, just like any time we move forward with anything!
But, what kept me moving forward was knowing that I was far more fearful of staying stuck and stunting my own growth.
I also had to look back at everything I’ve done over the past few years and use it as a reminder that I can handle a lot, so if something were to go wrong, I think I could handle it.
In her interview, McKinzie Bean mentions how she also uses referrals and Sarah Titus mentions how she only hires from within her audience.
5. A common myth is that as you grow and scale your business, you have to sell your soul to make money, especially when you venture into paid advertising. How do you debunk this myth in your business?
It’s not easy to start putting yourself out there, especially if you have shame around selling.
I think what debunked that myth for me was realizing that by putting myself out there and sharing my story, so many people were very interested in what I was saying and wanted to learn more.
I soon realized that selling what I had to offer was not only not scammy or soul selling, it’s actually an obligation and a generous thing to do.
Simply put, this was my journey in realizing what so many other entrepreneurs know to be true: when you lead with service, you can’t be selfish. That doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from your sales, but you deserve to!
6. Why do you think most people fail to grow their businesses and what advice would you offer them to keep pushing, despite all the setbacks?
The biggest difference I see in those who excel quickly and those who stay stuck (or worse, quit) is that those who succeed focus entirely on their wins, what’s working, and progress, no matter how “small” it may seem.
This puts people in momentum, and when you’re in momentum, by definition, it’s a lot harder for things to stop you.
But if you focus on your shortcomings or where you are vs. where others are, you’ll never get into that momentum you need to propel you forward because there will always be something you could be doing better, so it’s a dangerous thought pattern to get into.
Editor’s note: Leah takes this very seriously in her coaching programs! Every Friday, we share wins in the Facebook group and she always follows that up with asking how we’re celebrating. How do you celebrate your wins?
7. How important has niching down been (no matter how hard it hurts) to your business’ growth and profitability?
For my business, niching down has come in the form of being more honest and open with my story and my journey.
By doing so, it automatically narrowed down my audience because people that didn’t relate to me didn’t continue following me.
But, for those that did and those that saw some of their own story in me, my audience strengthened in a way it never had before.
To this day, I attribute my strong brand to the fact that I’m open to my own story within it. It’s far more important than any photoshoot, professional website or mission statement.
8. What do you attribute your success to and how do you explain it? Do you think the same strategies will help you reach your next monetization goals? Why or why not?
I attribute my success to my mindset.
I work on my own self-care, mental health and goal-oriented thinking just as much (if not more) than I work on the mechanics and tasks of my business. Yes, I believe up-leveling and paying attention to your mindset is essential at every point of growth.
This is related to mindset, but specifically, I attribute my belief in myself to this. I have always believed in myself and think I can do this, and I encourage everyone to do whatever it takes to find the belief in themselves too!
9. To scale, you really need to have a systemized business. What steps have you taken to build those systems and how do you optimize them?
The best thing I had done to help me start outsourcing was when I started batching my monthly and weekly tasks instead of doing them daily.
At first, this helped me save time because I would do all my tasks for a week or even a month in a day.
This freed up my time during the days to create new things, focus on my clients, etc.
As my business went on, this also hugely helped me see what the necessary “to-dos” of my week or month could be outsourced. If I was doing them all in a day, someone else sure could!
(I am still learning the answers to this question!)
10. If you could speak face-to-face with yourself when you first started your business, what pearls of wisdom would you impart?
1) Think BIG. Your side hustle doesn’t have to just be extra money on the side or even make a small impact. You have the power to reach and change the world and to completely transform your life, and you owe it to yourself, to God, and to those in your life to push your vision for yourself.
2) Lean into the discomfort. It never goes away, and people aren’t watching as much as you think they are. Even if they do, they don’t care as much as you think they do.
3) You (and everyone else) is only doing the best they can. Just remember that and be kind to yourself.
4) Don’t forget to have fun!
About Leah Gervais
Leah Gervais is the founder of Urban20Something.com and the host of the Your Biggest Vision show. She built her side hustle to exceed her 9-5 income and has supported entrepreneurs all over the world in starting businesses, transforming their finances and most importantly, expanding their vision of what’s possible. You can learn more about her at Urban20Something.com and download her free guide on how she turned her side hustle from the hundreds to thousands in income here.
Conclusion
Thanks for participating in my series, Leah!
As you can tell, it’s NOT EASY growing and scaling an online business, but there are some things you can do to aid you in the process.
Inspired by Leah Gervais?
Now, it’s your turn!
I assembled the Scaling Blueprint to show you how to…
- Outsource Effectively
- Systemize Your Business
- Shatter Your Revenue Goals
After working with six-figure and seven-figure clients, I know the difference between how they function.
Let me help you start scaling successfully.
Cheers to future success!