Just because you start a business doesn’t mean you automatically inherit the confidence and swagger paraded by entrepreneurs on social media. It can take time to believe in yourself, your product, and your brand.
If you’re struggling to maintain healthy habits or lacking the tenacity to tackle the next challenge in your business, there’s hope. Through boldness, you can learn how to grow your business without regrets, as well as develop your own personal strength as an entrepreneur.
Jennifer Cohen’s built a business around the power of boldness. She is an entrepreneur, brand builder, podcaster, author, and educator. She’s written three books in the fitness, wellness, and healthy habits space and worked with world-famous clientele that has included Hollywood celebrities, Olympic athletes, blockbuster recording artists, top CEOs, and more.
She has sold companies for millions of dollars, appeared on major network shows, and founded and hosts the top-rated Habits & Hustle podcast. Cohen is also an in-demand motivational speaker for a range of companies as well as business schools, and her TEDx talk has more than 5 million views on YouTube.
Boldness is an often misunderstood concept, and in her new book, Bigger, Better, Bolder, Cohen breaks down her unrivaled life experience into practical steps everyone can learn to unlock the life you want that’s hiding in plain sight.
Q&A with Jennifer Cohen
We caught up with Cohen about her new book and the brand-building strategies she’s learned throughout her career.
Q: What’s one thing you’ve done this week that helped your business?
A: Say no to unnecessary meetings. So often, we feel like we have to say yes to everything, but what we don’t do enough of is say no. When you say no to one thing, you are actually saying yes and making space for something else. Priorities are important. Value your time and only say yes to what you feel is in line with your current priorities.
Q: What challenges in your business are you looking forward to tackling in 2023?
A: Streamlining my workflows for higher productivity and efficiency in all of my projects is a main goal of 2023. “Delegate to elevate” is my mantra going into the new year.
Q: There’s this debate in the entrepreneurial community about work/life balance and whether it’s possible when you’re building a business from scratch. What’s your advice for early-stage founders struggling to balance personal and professional health?
A: Don’t. You need to go all in on whatever you are trying to build with focus and boldness. The idea of work/life balance is for those with a 9-5, not entrepreneurs.
Q: You built multiple businesses around a brand. Now, you’re building a business around your personal brand. What are the differences between the two ways to grow a business?
A: They are more similar than people might realize. Soon every business will be fueled or failed by the content they do or don’t create.
Q: You’ve successfully sold physical, digital, and intellectual products. What strategies have worked for you across your career to motivate an audience to buy?
A: Building a community is one of the best ways you can sell any product. A podcast audience converts so well purely because your audience feels as if they are your friends, that they know you and are a part of your community.
Q: The online health and wellness industry skyrocketed in the last couple of years for obvious reasons. How do you maintain trust with your audience knowing there are so many differing opinions just a swipe or click away?
A: My audience has been with me for years, and they know my expertise and experience in the space. They also know that I am constantly learning and staying up to date on the latest science progress, and discoveries in health, fitness, and wellness.
It is vital to keep an open mind to learning and growing, no matter how established you are in your field.
Q: Your TED talk on boldness from 2019 has close to 5 million views. What changed after that talk?
A: It definitely led to more speaking engagements and a newfound sense of confidence on the stage.
Q: You’ve talked about “boldness” as a skill you can practice. How can a founder exercise boldness in their business?
A: Always advocate for yourself, what you want and what you know your business needs. In moments where you feel yourself acquiescing to whatever is presented to you, but you know you need to speak up, do it.
Q: What motivated you to start your podcast Habits and Hustle? What did it feel like being “on the other side of the mic” interviewing celebrities, health icons, and business owners?
A: Success can be directly attributed to daily habits. I have always been curious about what daily habits the most successful entrepreneurs possess, so it was a natural transition to the concept of my podcast. I also wanted a way to give back to my audience, and I could not think of anything better than providing them valuable advice, knowledge, and wisdom from those that have dominated in their respective industries.
Q: In your new book, Bigger, Better, Bolder, you share case studies of boldness in action. What’s the most unlikely story of boldness that you included in the book?
A: How getting the wrong email changed the trajectory of my career.
You never know what opportunities can come from supposed mistakes.
Q: Failure is another in-vogue topic for startups and entrepreneurs. While, in retrospect, failure can seem like a good thing, how do you deal with the pain of failure in the moment?
A: It can be hard to deal with failure momentarily, but dwelling on anything is a waste of time.
Q: Have you always known what you wanted in business? Or have there been times when you’ve lost track of your vision?
A: Being an entrepreneur has always been in my DNA.
Q: You’ve worked closely with successful people, from athletes to business leaders to celebrities. How do you think they sustain success?
A: Maintaining healthy daily habits is, without a doubt, the key to sustaining success. Habits are the building blocks to getting the life you want to live.
Q: What does success look like for Jen Cohen?
A: To me, it’s all about living a rich life, and I don’t mean financially rich. I mean rich with meaning, experiences, memories, loved ones, and true fulfillment. That is my idea of success.
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The post How to Be a Bold Entrepreneur with Author, Podcaster, and Brand Builder Jennifer Cohen – Q&A appeared first on Foundr.
