The Entrepreneur Journey & Personal Growth w/ Sarah Weiss
From shy little girlies trying to make themselves smaller & smaller → to 2 impactful, confident business women!
How they did it & you can to!
One of my biggest missions with this podcast is to get you to realize how special you are so that you take up space in this world! And there’s NO better person for me to bring on to have a conversation quite like this than Sarah Weiss.
The entrepreneur journey sounds like such an easy & luxurious one—until you’re in it. And then, at every single turn, you’re faced with your… stuff. Your thoughts about your curly hair, your weight, your smarts, etc. You start to make yourself smaller and smaller and smaller. Until one day, you hear two really cool chicks talking about how they took their power back & started taking up space again. This lil story is about you! And you’re about to press play & hear all about it!
Topics covered in this podcast episode:
Why it’s SO important not to shrink yourself
Why Sarah & B got matching Chi straighteners
What Sarah has to say about the “fake it til you make it” philosophy
How to separate your identity from external factors (like business success)
What it actually means when something is uncomfortable for us
How to navigate identity shifts—personal & professional
Sarah’s no. 1 piece of advice for all entrepreneurs
Meet: Sarah
Sarah is a content and video marketing strategist specializing in short-form video (LIKE TIKTOK!) She gets brands and biz owners visible online using the power of video so they can tell their stories, sell their ish, and feel GOOD while doing it! When she's not nailing it on TikTok, Sarah loves going to wineries with her hubby, cuddling her dogs, and jamming out to Broadway show tunes!
Mentioned Resources:
Related Episodes:
Connect w/ Sarah:
Connect w/ Brittany:
This episode of The Basic B podcast is brought to you in partnership w/ Leah Bryant Co.! Help me reach more service providers like you by following the show & leaving a rating or review on Apple & Spotify!
The unedited podcast transcript for this episode of The Basic B podcast follows
Welcome to the Basic B Podcast, a show for the wannabe SEO savvy service providers among us, for the coaches and consultants who dream of becoming known for their storytelling skills, not to mention the solopreneurs who straight up need to master all things social proof to increase sales. After a little reluctantly fully committing to this online world of business, I quickly realized I needed to get people to come to me. I needed to tell them I was here and how I could support them. I dove headfirst into social proof.
which led me to SEO, which led me to storytelling. And now it gives me great joy to share what I've learned with other business owners so they skip the hard stuff and ease straight into sales. This podcast gives you expert insights, actionable takeaways, and casual convos with some of the online world's best and brightest experts and strategists. I think that's enough of an intro, so here we go.
Brittany (01:01.518) Hello and welcome back to the Basic V podcast. I am so excited to have you here and I really am just so grateful that you're joining in, whether it's YouTube and you're watching the video or listening to the podcast over there or joining us from whatever of the thousands of podcast platforms exist. Thank you so much and you are in for a treat because today we're gonna be talking to my girl, Sarah Weiss. We're gonna be talking about our stories. So how we went for being like, at least in my case, and we'll find out about Sarah's like.
quiet, shy at reserve, goody two shoes, like star student, didn't mess at A school, that kind of jazz. To now we're like loud and proud business owners here to honestly like do that for ourselves, but also to bring you along in this journey and encourage you to do the same, take up space and just, you know, be here and own it. So quick intro for you. Sarah is a content and video marketing strategist, specializing in short form video like TikTok and Instagram Reels.
She gets brands and business owners visible online using the power of video so they can tell their stories, so their ish, and feel good while doing it. When she's not nailing it on TikTok, she loves going to wineries with her hubby, cuddling her dogs, I'm here for that, and jamming out to Broadway show tunes. I also want to just let you know we are migraine buddies over here. Sarah, hello, my friend. Hi, thank you for having me. Of course, I'm honestly just.
So stoked about this topic I was telling someone earlier because this totally just supports the mission behind the podcast. So thank you so much for being willing to join me and talk about all this stuff. Yes, I'm here for it. I'm so excited. OK, but before we do that, I'm going to hit you with my heavy hitting question that there's no wrong answer. So just deep breath there. And I would just love to hear your thoughts. Which do you believe is the most important for sales, SEO, storytelling or social proof?
that's hard. SEO, storytelling, or social proof. I'm gonna go with storytelling and I'm gonna cheat here, but because I think that you can incorporate social proof into storytelling. I like it. And I think you need both. I love it. Everyone's had a different answer, so this is so good. I love just hearing the thought process behind it. Well done. Yes. Bravo, my friend. Thank you.
Brittany (03:21.806) So as you were talking, I was remembering my life and like curly hair. It's really big. I wore it in a ponytail until it was like in my mid twenties. And then another thing is for me, like my boobs popped up out of nowhere when I was eight years old and just even like you were saying, like taking up space, having that external noise about you shouldn't be taking up space. You should like shrink yourself. And like you said, it's not just from a physical perspective, it's also that emotional and mental and
Like I was the smart kid. So don't, don't be too smart. Don't be too much of this. Don't be too much of that. Yeah. And I was also a curly hair girl. I mean, you can kind of see here, but I would do things to conform with other people. Like I got the cheese straightener and like, I feel like I got boobs and curves very early. And so like that kind of stuff just makes us retreat even more. Yeah. And I know like, I don't want to downplay.
There's all kinds of people, but like we are two women. These are things that happened to us and it shaped and influenced who we were and the journey that we took to becoming who we are today. So it's the one thing that's really refreshing is like, we're not alone. And that is one of the big things that I harp on time and time and time again. You're not alone no matter what you're going through, no matter what you think is just like a unique to you experience. It is shocking. The number of people who have actually had something similar or.
they can at least relate and understand and hold space for you and be like, yeah, I remember feeling something like that. Yeah. And I want to just say like as quickly as I can that like I am so happy now in my bigger body and I couldn't love it more and it keeps me healthy. And truly I firmly stand behind the stance that you can be healthy at any size.
Sarah And every size is so beautiful. And no matter if you are an extra small or a 5X, you should take up as much space as you want or need to. But it just, it took me time to get there. Yeah. And I think it has taken many of us time to get there. One thing I hear from, especially like, so my background is in massage therapy, I had a lot of clients, I got to see all kinds of different bodies.
Brittany (05:47.598) all kinds of different like able bodiedness as well. And something that like always just was a cool reminder to get almost daily if not weekly was from my older crowd. And especially women they were like, you're coming into your own a lot faster than I was and I'm so happy for you. And it didn't feel like that though it felt like it took for fucking ever.
Sarah But everyone's journey is going to unfold how it needs to unfold. It might take you for freaking ever, but it also might happen quickly for you. And I totally agree with you that it's so nice to be at least moving to the other side of that. I feel like I'm on the other side of that, but there's still days where it's like, I don't feel so great about this or I don't know. Like imposter syndrome pops up and like whatever else you want to call it pops up and you're not in a long. Yes, it's so true. Like I feel like when I got to.
grad school, which was like 22 year old Sarah. I very much had to adopt the fake it till you make it. Yes. And I know that people have certain views on that. But I think it really worked to my advantage with just my personality and my disposition, because it made me realize that I can do friggin anything.
that truly nobody is 100 % prepared 100 % of the time. But if you are confident and competent in what you are doing, doing a little fake it till you make it is really not bad. No, it's not. I could not agree with you more because even something that happened with me is I'm introvert. I'm super shy. I need my away from people in this time.
And yet I moved a ton. I was constantly the new girl. So not only was I the goody two shoes, the smarty pants, I also moved a lot. So I had to make connections and I'll never forget it. My friend, Michaela, we must have been, I don't know, 12, 13 years old, somewhere around in there. And one thing I would always do at a new school is like, I would hang back. Like I was the wallflower. I'm already pasty enough. So like me blending in with the wall is not a stretch. Like it's not a stretch over here for us.
Brittany (08:09.518) So I was just like, I'm going to observe. And I would observe and see, it was really analyzing, like, who could I maybe be friends with? Who, like, do I feel like I click with? And I was just watching what they were doing with other people. Like, are they nice to people? Do they also seem to be smart? I don't even know what I was really analyzing, but to me, like, reflecting, that's what I'm thinking. And Michaela was like, once we had been friends for a couple of years, she's like, yeah, we really thought you were just like a stuck up chick. And I was like, I could see that. But it really made me aware of what
other people were seeing. So I was over here just being like petrified by myself trying to figure out who my people were and they thought I was stuck up. So that really helped me, just like what you're talking about, fake it till you make it, reach out a little bit faster, say hi. I got real good at complimenting like hairstyles, clothing, accessories, any kind of office supplies, you're my people. But like that was my entry point or even like one thing I talk about a lot is that I didn't have a problem with people copying my homework.
but I was going to tell you how I got the answer because I want you to come with me. I don't want you to just, here's the answer, copy my stuff, let me show you. It's not that hard, you can do it too. Here we are with me still doing that. Yeah. I was also a musical theater girly, which I think also works to my advantage now with showing up on video and being a business owner and being a content creator because,
Sarah It's still me. If you talk to me in a one -on -one capacity, it's still me. But it really helps me separate Sarah, the content creator and business owner, from Sarah, the human, to her core, which is another really important thing that I've been working on, which I think, like, going along with this conversation, it's like we...
have probably equated us as a human to our core, to so many external factors, but they can really be separate entities, which I think serves us more. Yeah, speak more into that. So like, okay, Sarah, the content creator who's showing up on video and Sarah, just like the human that you would like hang out with IRL, like say more about that. Yeah. And I mean, this has been
Brittany (10:32.462) become really important for me to start differentiating because, for example, say I work really hard on a video and it tanks. I would make that mean something about me to my core. When it's really not, it has nothing to do with me to my core. Or say something is really going crappy in my personal life. I would make that mean like,
Sarah Well, maybe I'm not competent enough to lead as a business owner. But in fact, that has nothing to do with me as a business owner. And so really taking these circumstances and separating them and combing through them and seeing who is Sarah to her core as a person, and then who is Sarah as a business owner. And not only that, but like your results.
and your views and your income do not reflect you to your core. Like those are two separate things, which is so important. I mean, I feel like a lot of people listening to your podcasts are personal brands. It's very important for us to differentiate. Yeah. And it's almost like what I'm taking away from what you're saying is that the elements of myself that I am bringing forth.
on social media or in any content that I'm creating. It's certain pieces that I want people to see because I want them to know that like, hey, as a business owner, as a service provider, I'm going to be able to do blah, blah, blah for you. This is how I'm going to show up. This is how I'm going to operate. This is what you can trust me with and rely on me for. And then there's like Brittany, the whole person, Sarah, the whole person. So that is a really good key point to make because that's largely why like I don't.
love my family following me on Instagram. Yeah. And it was very weird at the beginning because they were like, well, you're doing this and you're doing that. And it's like critiquing different things. And I'm like, yeah, because that's for my business. That is not me just like hanging out online. And it was so hard for them to like wrap their heads around that. So I'm calling out specific things for a purpose so that I build my business, call in the right clients, deliver things, make money. I'm able to live the life I want to live.
Brittany (12:58.926) but I'm still me. Yeah. And I want to be really clear that like I'm actually a content creator and a business owner that does share quite a bit of behind the scenes of my life. Like I'm very open on social media about like my chronic illnesses. Like I have fibromyalgia and chronic migraines. I'm very open about like, I don't know, just like quirks that I have. Like I'm extremely dog obsessed. I have two dogs who are almost always fostering. I'm a huge Broadway musical nerd. Like,
I do bring in bits and pieces of my personal life because as a personal brand, that's important. That's going to differentiate you from the thousands or millions of other people that are doing what you're doing. But there are certain parts of my life that my audience has no idea about. And that's okay. There can be duality in all of it. You don't need to share every single scar and wound and event that is happening. You choose what goes out into your corner of the internet.
Sarah Yeah, and I think sometimes it's really hard for people to figure out what those things are. But the choice is your own. Sarah's going to do what Sarah's going to do. Brittany's going to do what she's going to do. And you get the choice to do whatever feels good to you. This at least has been a really good piece of advice for me. So like take this if it fits for you. But if you are wavering on like, should I or shouldn't I? Just don't. Just like table that for a hot second. And if you want to come back to it, that's cool. But if you're having that like unsure moment,
for me that usually is an indicator, not right now, or just no. Yeah, 100%. And like, the thing with sharing about yourself, and this totally goes back to feeling safe being seen, is like, sometimes it's not going to feel 100 % comfortable at first. But I don't want you to misinterpret that as like,
that's unaligned or that's icky or I'm never going to do that again because a lot of the time things that are uncomfortable for us mean that we're growing and stretching as business owners, as brands, as content creators. If you do it over and over again and you're like, I'm still getting this icky feeling, please stop doing it. But I always like to tell my clients that if you feel uncomfortable at first, it's a good thing.
Brittany (15:24.526) I don't know about you, but when I do things that are new that I know are going to stretch me and grow me and like make me go to that next level as a creator or a business owner, it's real friggin' uncomfortable for so many different reasons, right? You don't know what the result is going to be. You don't know if you're putting in all this time and effort for nothing. You don't know if you're going to get hate. Like there's so many factors. So feeling uncomfortable is totally normal. Yeah.
I couldn't agree with you more. And actually the moment that's coming to mind, and I wanted to ask you about this, like the moment that's coming to mind for me for like one moment when there was a big shift, interestingly, was when I changed my Instagram profile from being Britney the Massage Therapist to Britney the SEO and Case Study Copywriter. That was a huge, it was an identity change for me. And I had a couple of those actually now that I'm thinking about it. I was the straight A student.
I was the smart girl. I was the one that everybody thought was gonna go off and get like 15 degrees because I love learning and I'm actually pretty good at it and I just love it. Like I could eat that stuff up. But I didn't go to a four year college. I didn't get into one. So that was a huge bill for me to swallow. But I went to community college. I went to a technical school to become a massage therapist. And then I wore that identity and I was so happy with it and I was so good with it. And I still love it and.
some things happen in my life and I needed a job that had a little bit more flexibility. And I learned that I love copywriting. I was really good at it. So here we were and I was like trying to toe the line between both worlds and be like, I'm a massage therapist, I'm a copywriter, I'm a massage therapist. I was causing so much confusion and I just had one day where I just had to like have a come to my senses moment. And I was like, all right, my massage practice is doing great. I do not need to grow that.
But if I don't start telling people and being really clear that I can help them with SEO and copywriting and case studies, they are not going to know I exist. They are not going to be able to find me. I'm going to feel like I'm failing. So I just need to publicly claim this, put it out there, and let's see what happens. Sure enough, that one big change that I made, which was that bold part of your Instagram profile, I put SEO and case study copywriter. I cannot tell you the amount of people who find me because I put that in my profile.
Brittany (17:44.91) who find me for collaborations, who find me and then we're friends, who find me and then they become clients. It was the best decision I made, but it was a big internal shift, a big identity shift for me. So what I want to know from you is like, was there any moment like that for you, you know, with this evolution from little Sarah to like now business boss Sarah that you recall? Yeah, I want to bring up two scenarios like that immediately came up.
Sarah So the first one is when I was a speech therapist, I don't know if I mentioned that, I used to be a speech therapist. That was my whole identity. Like people would ask me like, what are your hobbies? What do you like to do? Like what, I could not, I truly couldn't answer it. I'm a speech therapist. I'm a speech, I could talk all about speech therapy and my clients and what I do for my clients. Like that was my whole identity. And.
It was like looking back now, like I served the heck out of the people when I was a speech therapist. But I feel bad for that version of Sarah because like she couldn't name a hobby. She couldn't name something she did for herself. When I became a business owner, like I was just talking about, like I am so intentional about separating the two because I'm really trying to nurture like the human being that is not attached to a job that's not attached to anything like
What does she enjoy? What does she like? What does she stand for? That is so important. And another situation that literally recently came up is I had in that SEO rich place on Instagram, your name section, which if you guys do not have what you do in your name section on Instagram or TikTok in the terms that your clients would search for.
please message Brittany or I and we will help you. We will. I recently added something to that place on my profile and it was scary for me and it felt really uncomfortable and borderline icky at first because of the industry. But I just had in my profile before it said, Sarah Weiss, content marketing and TikTok strategist. But.
Brittany (20:06.766) When clients work with me one on one, we always work on their offers, their offer suites, adding income, like things that a business mentor would do. So I was talking to the girlies in my mastermind and I'm like, I'm feeling really icky about this because I don't know how people are gonna perceive me calling myself a business mentor or a business coach because the industry as a whole, people have very harsh.
views about. And my mentor said something that totally stuck with me. And she was like, you cannot take responsibility for a whole industry. And I'm like, mic drop. I cannot take responsibility for a whole industry, nor is that something that I ever want to do. The way that I run my business as a business mentor could be totally different from Karen or Susan or Alexis. And that's fine.
I made it mean something about me that it didn't need to mean, and I changed it, and I was like, this feels so aligned because this is actually what I do once people enter my world. I love that. I'm so happy for you. And as you were sharing that, yeah, it's so funny, isn't it? That like the Instagram stuff is like, it's so public and you're claiming it. I mean, I've got like 2000 something followers, but it feels so big and so public and like,
everyone's going to see this and everyone's going to have a thought and everyone's going to come after me." And it's like, yeah, not really. my God. And now it's so much more official because, so I, full of transparency, I pay for the verified version of Instagram because there was this account that was pretending to be me and like messaging people and trying to get money out of them. So whatever, I pay the f—.
whatever $15 a month for Instagram verified. So people know that it's me. When you change your name section, it is so official. You have to take a picture of your license again. So like it was just this whole dramatic thing because I'm frigging paying for Instagram verified that I had to take picture of my license and then you can't change it for 14 days. And so I'm like, I gotta be confident about this. And so I just did it. And you can't make a typo otherwise you're living with that for like two weeks. No typos. Yeah.
Brittany (22:32.462) I just added, I think I just added podcast story within the last couple of weeks. And even that, I was like, okay, I'm doing this. No typos, like make sure like triple check there are no typos. There was an awesome question that you and I both know, Selly Arias. She is my business and mindset coach. Yes, love Selly. Freaking love her. I'll make sure that her episode is linked below. And she said this question in a mindset call recently. And I had a very interesting like mixed reaction.
but it ties into what you were sharing. She said, who are you when you're not being a business owner? Who are you when you're not trying to be the smart one? Who are you when you're not trying to be insert, you know, fill in the blank in whatever way you need to. But if she said that and I was like, shit, who am I? And it took a minute and then I was like, wait, I know who I am. I'm this person, I'm that person, I'm this. And you start, at least for me, I start hearing like other people's words.
you're this, you're that. I'm remembering DMs that people are sending me and things that my friends are telling me and things that my boyfriend and my family members have said about me. And so I was very much like, stopped in my tracks at first. And then I was like, wait, I knew who I am. But Brittany, even a couple of years ago, didn't know really who she was. She was like not tapped into that. I did not have a vision that I was operating from. I wasn't even claiming some of the.
big life things that I really desperately want. And I knew all along that I wanted, but I had not even claimed that for myself because I didn't want to lose this person. I didn't want to not have this thing. There was like a big safety situation and a people pleasing thing, which funny enough, that's been around in my world for a hot minute. And it really kind of sucks to realize that you've been for me, the way I interpreted that was like, I've been putting myself last.
I haven't even made the freaking list. I'm not even on the to -do list. I'm like, yeah, sure. OK, you're over on the 10th book over here in the corner, covered in dust. That was not a good feeling. So definitely for the last 18 months, I've been so intentional with tapping into, what do I want? Does this match where I want to go? Is this going to help me get to that thing? Is this going to help me get to a goal?
Brittany (24:48.494) Is this going to allow me to do the things that I want to do and, you know, impact people's lives in the way I want to, and even just like impact myself and my life in the way that I want it to? So I would highly encourage you if you've never been asked that question, if you've never contemplated that, pause, give yourself a minute to like, at least think about it. If not journal about it or something. For me, like writing is really cathartic. Even going back to what you were saying, like didn't know what hobbies you had.
I was so into my work. I was so into helping people. I would talk to anyone. It was really comical. I went in for like an OB -GYN appointment, came out with a massage client. I love that. I love my doctor. And I would go into the grocery store and like, you know, the cashier is like rubbing her neck. I'm like, what's going on? Tell me I'm a massage therapist. Like, I just wanted to do that. So I completely relate to you saying that.
I mean, to be fair, that happens to me a lot too. Like I was getting my makeup done for my friend's wedding and she had like a ring light out. And then before my makeup was even done, we had like exchange numbers and like, I'm going to help her with her social media. But like, right, it just happens. It's such a forefront of our identity. And that's why it's so important to take intentional time and be like, I am the crazy dog mom. I
I am the Broadway musical obsessed person. Like I am all of these things outside of my business. Yeah. Ugh, that's so land. Okay. Before we like wrap this lovely thing up with a cute little boat, do you have any other like final words for someone who is maybe they're not quite to the point where we are. Maybe they're still like, I don't know. I'm over here in my, in my bubble and I don't want to like disturb the peace and like, I feel safe and all that stuff sounds scary. Yeah.
Sarah My advice to you is don't wait. For me, the confidence came after I started showing up, not before. And I know that that's sometimes difficult to grasp, but truly the more that I have shown up, the more that I get myself on video, the more visible that I get, the more seen that I am, the more confident that I am because it helps us.
Brittany (27:06.382) hell are dick brain thoughts that you're safe. Nothing bad happens when you show up and take up space and it's completely safe. And that's literally our body and our mind's job is to keep us safe. So like, go improve to your body and your mind that like, it's all good. Yes, yes, yes. That and I'll just like piggyback on that. Yeah.
One thing I love talking about is I have a happy folder. It literally lives on my desktop. You best believe I am taking screenshots all the live long day and dropping them in that happy folder because I have that mind chatter still come up. Sarah has that mind chatter still come up. But all you have to do is be like, I have evidence. I have the receipts. Let me go look at them. So keep those receipts. Find them. Keep them. And make sure they're easily accessible wherever you're going to have them live.
because that's all your brain needs and that's all your nervous system needs to be like, okay, right. Like that's just a story. This is the actual proof. So many stories. We tell ourselves so many stories. I'm an amazing storyteller in my head. Yeah, literally. So great. Okay. Thank you so much. I'm so excited that we had this conversation, but let's say people are listening and they're like, cause I would be doing this. They're like, I want to go be friends with you, Sarah. Where can they find you? And all the good stuff. Yeah.
So please come be friends with me on TikTok and Instagram, at On Brand by Sarah. And I'm gonna send Brittany the link to my free private podcast, which is called the Social Media Sales Funnel for Coaches and Service Providers. And it literally helps you to show up all starting on TikTok. But we go through Instagram and collabs and all the mindset drama that goes along with it.
It's completely free. Listen to it while you're taking a walk or doing the dishes or any of the things. And I'll send you the link for the show notes. Yay. I will make sure that's linked below. I love a good private podcast. I am very here for this. You told me about this and I was like, my gosh. So yeah, go make sure to check that out. Go be friends with Sarah. I say that all the time. So I was laughing so hard when you said that. Yes. I love it. Thank you so much. Like I'm almost speechless. I'm just so glad that we did this.
Brittany (29:26.542) Yes, thank you for having me and to anybody listening, please feel free to come into my DMs. And seriously, this is the last thing I'll leave you with. If your name section does not have good keywords of what you do, you better be in mine or Brittany's DMs. I love it. Thank you so much. Listen to the woman. All right, we will catch you next time. Thanks, friend. That was really something, wasn't it?
Let that really sink in and guide you toward being the answer to even more Google questions. Thanks so much for joining me this episode. You are the reason this show exists and that it keeps growing. You know, thanks to all those follows and reviews. If you know someone who could benefit from what we shared, send it to them. We don't do shy around here. If you thought of clarifying or follow up questions while listening, you know what to do. Say hi on Instagram. Check the show notes for all the things that were mentioned and I'll talk to you soon, friend.