The Ambitious Bookkeeper Podcast

190 ⎸ Building Business Together with Megan Tobler

• Serena Shoup, CPA • Episode 190

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In this episode, we're diving into a wonderful conversation between Serena Shoup and Megan Tobler. Megan shares her inspiring journey from corporate sales to building a vibrant business community for moms in entrepreneurship.

In this episode you’ll hear:

  • The reality of juggling motherhood and building a business from the ground up.
  • How Megan leveraged her natural talents from sales to start her own podcast, create a community, and ultimately leave the corporate world behind.
  • Megan's new community initiative, Together, which focuses on supporting women like us in their entrepreneurial and life journeys.
  • A sweet little bonus from Megan

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Sign up for the FREE community: www.selfstarther.com/together

FREE Positivity Playlist: https://selfstarther.mykajabi.com/positivity-playlist-info-landing-page

Meet Megan Tobler

Megan Tobler is the founder of Self StartHER, a vibrant community and podcast designed for women who are building businesses while balancing life at home. As someone who transformed her own journey into a thriving space for connection and growth, Megan has firsthand experience navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship and life. She’s passionate about empowering women to pursue their ambitions unapologetically, sharing relatable advice, actionable strategies, and real-life stories. Through Self StartHER, Megan has cultivated a space where women can find the tools, inspiration, and confidence to thrive in both business and life.

Connect with Megan Tobler

📎 Instagram: @selfstart.her

🌐 Website: www.selfstarther.com

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Welcome back to the ambitious bookkeeper podcast today. I have a lovely guest on. She is a host of another podcast called stealth self start her. I knew I was going to mess that up. And, uh, this is Megan Tobler. So welcome, Megan. How are you today? I'm good, Serena. Thank you so much for having me. How are you? I'm doing well. I'm so excited to have you on my podcast. I was on yours. I don't know, we recorded maybe like a month ago or something at this point. I don't know. The days have really blended together. It's mom life. Were you there? Yep, absolutely. Which is kind of what we're going to be talking about today. So give us a little background of who you are and who you help and we'll go from there? Absolutely. Well, first and foremost, because you brought it up. My first title is mom. Second title, I like to call myself a connector. So as you mentioned, I am the host of the self starter podcast, and I'm also the founder of a community called together. So the way, the reason I call myself a connector is because think of the, you know, we're a little bit too young for this, but you know, back in the old days, you see these in the movies all the time where you, um, Call a call center, right? And you have all these ladies in that little booth with their little headphones on and you tell them, Okay, I need to call Mr. Smith. And so then they hook you up to Mr. Smith or whatnot. Well, I'm the connector. But instead of being in a call center, I'm really connecting people with the right opportunities and resources and relationships. And I've been doing that through the podcasting world and then now through, through the community. So really just making sure that these women have all the right resources and the support that they need in their own entrepreneurial journeys and life journeys. Awesome. Yeah. So how did you get started in this? Cause this wasn't your first thing, right? Oh goodness. No. So I. I spent over a decade, and I'll, I'll save the pre decade stuff because that's not all relevant here, but for over a decade, I actually was in corporate sales. So I was climbing the corporate ladder, I was making a name for myself, getting promotions, I was making a really good salary, but I also knew that I wanted to be a mom one day. However, I didn't. I didn't understand how I was going to make that a reality with the current lifestyle that I had, because being in sales, my job wasn't just a nine to five. I was working around the clock 24, seven, because my. livelihood really was tied to my commission. The more money that I made, the more sales that I made equal, the more money that I made. So that resulted in me never really taking a vacation. I mean, I would go on vacations, but there were moments where I would have to completely isolate myself in the hotel room, making sure that deals went through or negotiating across the board. And I would be in a car up to three hours. to work each and every day to and from work. And again, I just kind of was scratching my head thinking, how on earth am I going to make this a reality? So I knew that I wanted a different life. I just didn't know exactly how to make that different life happen. And I didn't know exactly what I wanted it to be other than I wanted to really create a life where I was able to be home and present for my future family, but still also have a nice income because. We kind of need money these days to be able live the kind of life that I wanted to live and have the experiences. So, being in sales, what I did is I really took a step back and I started to look at all the different qualities that I possessed naturally that I also enjoyed. Because if I was going to really do something in addition to what I was doing. I wanted to make sure that I enjoyed it. So, okay, I was in sales. I loved being able to connect with people. I loved absorbing and hearing their stories. And then I loved being able to help them. So I said, okay, well, why not take that and take it a step further and interview people that have come before me, the people that have already left corporate, that had started a business of their own and who had found success. So that's really what I did. I started a prospect list and I wrote down every single woman that I knew that had started a business. And I started reaching out to them, really telling them what I was doing and why I was doing it and connecting the mission behind it. Because I wanted them to know that this wasn't just for myself while Yes, there was a selfish component here. I wanted them to know that my mission here was to help other women that were in similar boat to me, understand like what it takes to be able to have that kind of life. So I had an overwhelming amount of support, from these women. Cause obviously I've found that. Women in the space are extremely supportive and welcoming as it should be. And it just kicked off. I started this podcast based on one person saying yes. And then I got another and another and another, and the story just really started from that podcast. but. today. I'm no longer in corporate spoiler alert. I decided after I started this podcast that I was loving what I did so much that I wanted to figure out a way where I could take this full time and step away from my corporate career. So podcast officially launched in October of 2022. I hired a business coach in early January of 2023, told her that I wanted to set the goal of three months to be out of corporate. as soon as I hired her, then we set this intention. Then I found out that I was expecting my first son. Wonderful news, but also kind of like, ah, halted the brakes, you know, a little bit there. And I took a step back and I said, okay. I'm not really ready to make this change at this season of life, like let's get myself through these nine months and make sure I have the benefits and the maternity leave and all that good stuff. Well, be careful what you ask for because you might just get it. And right after announcing my pregnancy to the entire company, I was a part of a mass layoff and my job and role was completely eliminated overnight. So I would love to say that I made the conscious choice to leave corporate, but in that moment. It really was chosen for me, but it was the best thing that that could have happened for me, in my life. Wow. stop there. Well, I'm sure that you got a nice, Oh, hopefully you got a little bit of a severance package since it was part of a layoff. No. Oh We got like three weeks. I was part of a startup, so the package wasn't great. And you also had to sign a little piece of paper, letting them know that, if you accepted this money that you wouldn't turn around and sue them later. So do you know how all that goes? But it was, it was great. You know, and I'm here today because of that layoff Yeah. Well, so you started the podcast and now you have a community. Talk to us about like how all that came to be. Was it like boots to the ground, like ramping up the business, figuring it out? Like how did you figure out how you were going to like monetize and actually make something of this little idea that you had or big idea rather? that is like the biggest, like head scratcher sometimes. I think, one of my biggest things is I was following my passion, but I really didn't know how to monetize it. Um, my peers around me, were all trying to tell me that I needed to be the sales girl because every woman needs to know how to sell, and yet a lot of us don't know how to. And I naturally know how to have these conversations. I know how to get something across the line, but I didn't want, like I had this. thing attached to corporate that I really wanted to detach and create a new identity for myself. So it was one of those things that I actually struggled with. How was I going to make an income with this for, for quite some time? So really I focused on for the first my son was born in September of 2023. So from the time I was laid off till then, I really focused on just recording and batching as much content as I could for my podcast and figuring out how to like market myself and to create this more of this personal brand, for that. So that way one day I did have something to sell that. I would already have kind of like a tapped in community. so when my son was then born, I really wanted to take time off to be present for him. So I just allowed myself to be present while I relied on a lot of Those recordings that were already prerecorded. Now, fast forward. He's a little bit older. And then I was, getting that itch to get right back in because being that achiever of me, I couldn't help, but want something more for myself. So that's when I hired a business coach. And so she and I actually really got tapped into, okay, this is what you've created so far. Now really what's that next step? Like you were talking about. And what's really interesting is that I'm going to be very honest here. Like I don't have a huge following. I, on Instagram, I have about 600 followers. But. The way that I've reframed it is I have 600 followers. You know, those are 600 people that you can impact and that you could potentially help. So I think that a lot of the time we are thinking that you have to have this massive following to make an impact. And the reality is, is that you don't, you, as long as you can impact one person, it's really just a domino effect from there. Now, when I was working with her, what was really interesting is that I wanted to create a community right away. And she had to kind of have a heart to heart with me saying that, you know what, Megan, this is. Something that might be a longer, a longer play. If you don't want to return to corporate, you might have to, if you go this route, because it's not going to generate the kind of money that you need. So we actually went and to a different direction first, and it was one of those things where I started it and I was really working on building behind the scenes and it just was not flowing. It's not where my heart was, Like being called, I guess. So I had this another heart to heart with her and I said, you know what, Teresa, like I can't do this. And she said, I completely agree. Let's go back to the community idea. And we ran with it. And the reason why I wanted to do the community is because as I started my business and as I became a mom, I realized that these were two really pivotal times and identity shifts for women where they. are really feeling alone. Entrepreneurship can be lonely and also being a mother can be lonely. And I wanted to be able to create a place where these women could be able to show up and feel supported and seen in this season of life because they're surrounding themselves by other women who get it because they're in it too. And so I really wanted to make sure that this community not only Made them feel seen and supported, but that they were able to get the resources that they need to be able to help them in both business and life. So really taking into effect this whole woman over here. so this really just started as, again, a passion project and it's a. A long term play. I'm not looking to become a millionaire overnight. That's not my thing. And, I've always been the long play girl where it's like, you know what? I show up every single day. I provide value. I build these relationships. And I truly believe that what you put out into the world will come back to you in really positive ways. If you just keep being persistent and resilient and showing up every single day. Yeah, I really wish that I had that community when I was starting my business because I started when I my, I have an older child. She's now 19, but then I basically started over when she was 10. So I have a seven and an eight year old. Well, I started my business when my eight year old was one and it was like, right. Before I found out it was pregnant again, my third, and so I was building my business throughout like my pregnancy with him and then this toddler running around. And then once I had him. I pretty much set the business aside because it was just way too much to deal with an infant and a toddler and a business all at once. So I kind of took a break until he was about one. It's like, I feel like one is when you start to come out of the fog of infant motherhood and , So at that point I was starting to build again, but I had also, since I was, a stay at home mom, like I had built a network of other stay at home moms and I was doing all these like stay at home mom activities and meetups and things like that. And I felt as I was building my business, I felt. Like I started to drift into like this outsider. I felt like an outsider, not that I was like, this was just all me. Like, because I wasn't solely just to stay at home mom anymore. I was also trying to build a business. And so a lot of my focus was going towards that. And I would go to these, like, I used to go to something called free forest school and like hike at baby meetups. And, I found myself like not really. connecting as much because where my mind was was like on like growing my business. But like, so it was like a weird transitionary period that like having a community like yours would have been really awesome to be like, let's talk about motherhood and business, like how freaking hard it is. But like no one else really got it because they were just focused on their kids, which is fine. But yeah, that would have been a great thing to have. Well, it's so interesting because you use the term like, just like, like I was just doing this. And I think that a lot of the time, like we think we just have to be that corporate mom. We just have to be that stay at home mom. But the reality is, is that I believe that we can have. Both, but it looks a little bit different than what we may have imagined originally because we live in a culture today where it's very much hustle culture. It's not set up for mothers to really succeed, because it's like, okay, just work harder. Like you have the same amount of hours and every single day as everyone else, like just use it more wisely. But when we have a toddler that's dictating our schedule. We don't really have the luxury of just, just work harder because we're literally doing everything we can sometimes to stay awake because we're just exhausted. So when you say work harder, you're like, how hard can I work? And to your point, like having these conversations with women who get it. It makes you feel just more empowered and less alone, and I'm, I'm right there with you. I, I love my in person friends, but I have to say I really related to my internet friends so much more because they're going through the same things because my in person friends, they don't, they're not building the businesses while also being moms. They're solely focused on motherhood or they're focused on like their corporate career, but there's just this. Other conversation to be had when you were literally trying to figure out how to change your life through building this business while also managing everything that's going on at home and doing them together. And that's a whole nother type of conversation. And that's why I really resonated with the women like you. Who I won't even say have figured it out because I think we're figuring it out every day. And like, if we say we have figured it out, then like, I think that we're doing ourselves a disservice because there's always more to learn, but who, who have figured some things out. And it's like, okay, if I figured this out, maybe I can help you out. And then it just kind of trickles down again, like the domino effect. Yeah, I would say, I don't think I ever really figured anything out. It's just that my children grew into different stages, so now it wasn't an issue. See my son's only 17 months old. So I talk like I have it all figured out over here. And I don't literally, like you said, like every single season is so different. Just when you think you have something quote, figure it out. Then they just decide to, like, change it all up on you. Yeah, as soon as you. finally have like some sort of semblance of a routine. Something happens and they hit a new developmental milestone, so their sleep totally changes and yeah, I just remember a lot of like I did. I worked really hard on building my business around all these other like. Motherhood activities, like the other meetups that were a priority for me so that my children could be around other kids and I could get out of the house. And, I've always tried to just really focus on like carving out the time for business after everything else, which is why I've grown so slowly. me too. I get it. It's like you've prioritized your family. And, like, now you're, business is important too, but, like, your children came first. Yeah, and it's dictated like growing in a different way than most people would. Either like I hired my first team member when I only had five clients, which a lot of, you know, if you listen to like the traditional, gurus of accounting and bookkeeping and also other businesses, like people aren't telling you to hire when you only have five clients, cause likely it's not that much revenue. And so It doesn't really make sense on paper to do that. But for me, it was like I either hire a bookkeeper to help me with the workload or I have to hire a nanny so I can spend more time bookkeeping. And I wasn't willing to, I already had a nanny that helped a couple hours a week, but I wasn't willing to add more to that because I didn't want to give up the time with my kids. So it forced me to find a different solution, which that's where innovation happens, right? Like I just innovated and was like, I'm going to go against what everyone says. I'm not going to wait until I've made 100, 000 to hire. I'm going to do it now because I need time. I need time. Somehow I can buy time from someone else or I can give up my own time. So Well, and time is the, our most precious commodity that we have in our children. They're only going to be these ages for so long, and we can't get that back. We can always hire more people or we can get more clients. But again, we can never get this time back that we have with our children. So that's why I think it's so special that you were able to do what you did. And, you know, these gurus that are out there. I think that you have to take bits and pieces from what they say and make it your own because every single person's life looks totally different. So what works for one person doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to work for you. And honestly, what I'm seeing with a lot of these female gurus that are like the big names of the world is as they are now starting to have children of their own, their priorities have shifted. They're actually taking a step. back. They're slowing down their businesses. They're not doing as much more. They're instead, they're focusing on being more and being present with their family. And so that hustle culture that was kind of being promoted before, it's not, it's not being pushed like it was before because again, their priorities have shifted. And I don't think you really understand that until you like jump into motherhood yourself. experience it. Yeah, absolutely. That's so true. Even when, when I talk to people who are like pregnant with their first and everyone is like, Oh yeah, I'm going to go right back to work and I'm going to do this and that. And I'm like, Oh, you just wait, because you're not even going to care about that when you have the baby, like your whole world changes. Well, you had mentioned the first year is like pretty much when you start to feel like yourself. I would say for me, It got really a lot, like a lot easier a year, but honestly, for the first six months, I couldn't even put a thought together sometimes like your brain and just like the biological chemistry that's going on is all over the place. So I do think that our world and our system is kind of doing moms a disservice by not like, I think it's. In other places, parts of the world, like Europe and Canada, they have longer maternity leaves because for bonding and to be able to allow you to be able to get through this first year, because the first year really is, is the toughest part, not only because you're learning about a new human, but you're learning about a new person inside of yourself as well. And there's just such an identity shift that goes on there too. Yeah, absolutely. so now you have this community. What is remind us again what the community is called. It's called Together. So if you haven't picked up on it already, I'm all about like women supporting women and doing things together. So I believe in collaboration over competition that we're stronger together. So it's kind of a play on self starter where I take the her and I'm just taking it into self starter over here. I get it now. I love that kind of stuff. Like little Easter eggs. But yeah, so right now your community is for mothers in business. Is there like an age range of like how the kids are or types of businesses that you want these women to be a part of? Or like, what's the deal? So the community launches officially on April 1st. So right now, as we're filming this, this is the beginning of March. So don't know when this is going to go live, but right now we're in a pre launch phase. And so the people that we're attracting into the community could be very different than who actually joined. So. Who knows, but the people that we're really targeting at this point are people like us who they're female business owners. Typically, a lot of them are going to be solopreneurs where they're trying to figure out all these things on their own. A lot of them are moms. You do not have to be a mom, but just know that a lot of the content is going to be geared in conversations. In that way, but, because we're bringing on guest speakers, like how to raise body confident kids. So maybe that's just not a session that you join type of deal if that's not important to you. so I said, solopreneurs, female business owners, mothers. And really that the biggest thing that I have to say here, it's, people that. Are tired of doing it alone that they are really wanting support where they also believe in collaboration is greater than competition where they're just focused on building each other up instead of tearing each other down. I think the world needs more of that. So long story short. We're looking for people who just have positive mindsets who want to really help make an impact on this world and see each other Win and lift each other up together. Awesome. And you mentioned you're going to be having like guest experts come in and give talks. Are there any other resources or things that you've planned out? Or is it kind of like you're just going to kind of see what people need and deliver? Well, I have to say like the planner in me. I did a map out the entire first year to be able to make sure that I had a plan in place. So every single month is going to be themed for you, making sure that we're really balancing business and life for you. we do have masterclass speakers. for instance, we have someone that's coming in and I'm really talking about list building and then a second one to be able to compliment that on, okay, now that you've built your list, your email list, how do you actually Build out that email funnel to be able to make sure that when you send out your welcome sequence, that people are really engaged in wanting to learn more from you instead of just hitting unsubscribe or never opening another email. So things like that. But then on the other side, I talked about raising body confident kids. Where we're going to also have a woman coming in on talking about like syncing your cycle. So that way you understand like how to batch tasks at certain times of the month to make sure that you're at your optimal energy levels. So again, we're focusing on that whole woman here and making sure that she has all the support and resources she needs to thrive in both business and life. Now the community has a free version, so I really wanted to make this a no brainer for anyone that is in this phase of life, but also doesn't have. Thousands and thousands of dollars that people are asking for to be able to get the resources that they need. So the free version is going to come with monthly networking access to all these masterclasses in the live format. And then also this is one that I'm going to set up after the community launches. And I understand what the group needs are, but we're also going to be setting up mentorship opportunities. So really connecting people that are in similar businesses with specific mentors so that way they can really. Learn and grow in pods that make sense specifically for them. Now, if you want to take it a step further, then we are, bringing in monthly coaches. I have partnered with four women who are going to come in on rotation to be able to provide live group coaching sessions where, we have ex corporate executives with 20 plus year careers. We have a registered dietitian again, making sure that. Personal need is being failed. And then we also have an expert coach coming in on really helping you kickstart your business, getting that off the ground. So all of these women are moms. They know what it's like to be building businesses while also juggling naptime or sending your kids off to college, all of those things, because we are, we are welcoming moms of all ages here. In addition to the coaching, then we also have what I'm calling swap days. When you are a business owner and limited on resources, sometimes you need those beta testers. Those people that are going to tell you, yes, this program is going to be a hit, or these are the that I need to make. So we have dedicated days where you can go into this, to this live meeting room and connect with other business owners, get real time feedback on a new product or service that you're launching and offer to swap services, to be each other's beta testers or coaching clients or so on and so forth there. And then last but not least, all the recordings will live in the paid version as well. So if you're not able to make it live, just because as mamas, we get it. Then, if you're able to join before the pre launch, we get founder's pricing at just 9 a month. It's literally a cup of coffee. So honestly get in now. Cause like, it'll never be this low again. After that we are going up to 19 a month. So still keeping it really affordable for you. Cause we know you need to prioritize, Things like buying diapers or your kids after school activities or even like for me Buying and my subscription to Kajabi, which is not not a little penny there So I get it and I just so I just wanted to make this a no brainer and just let these women know that they Feel seen and you know what again if you aren't in the stage to sign up for the paid version sign up for the free version there's literally like No harm, no foul. you just get connected immediately to just an incredible group of women and we already have just, I launched it yesterday saying that like, okay, this is officially live for signups. We already have a huge list started. So I know that like, there's no shortage of good women that are going to be a part of this. Oh, this is so exciting. I'm so excited for you. What a, what a deal. I will make sure this podcast goes live before April. So, the price goes up April 1st or is that when the doors open? Both so doors open and price goes up on April 1st. For anyone that signs up during the prelaunch phase right now, like I said, it's 9 a month, or if you want to go yearly, then it's even cheaper. It's 90 for the entire year. So it's. Like, literally your coffee is more than the cost of this membership, but I don't want it to be confused with lack of value because I have put together the just most incredible lineup of women, of all different areas of expertise here for you. So even if you can't make every single live event, like even if you just hit one sometimes at when you can during nap time or whatnot, it's. It's definitely, I will say, like, I'm excited for this because I built this community, honestly, for me too. So, how much heart and like love that you've put into this and like it's really thought out I'm, so impressed like I said, I wish that existed when I started my business because I paid so much for all of these resources That you're going to be offering. It's amazing. But I will say too, like, I'm always open for feedback. So if there's something I missed, I am not perfect. And I am the first one to recognize that. I love when people just tell me exactly what they need and how I can help them. So if there is something that you're listening to this, that I missed, please let me know. Cause there are things that slide through the cracks all the time. yeah. And there's also future years of the membership that you can fill that content. Oh, for sure. We're already thinking big here, so. Awesome. That's so. exciting. So where do people go to find out more about your membership? So you can go to selfstarter. com slash together. I'm sure you'll put everything in the show notes. you can go to my Instagram. It's just at selfstart. her. And then if you want to check out the podcast too, it's the selfstarter podcast. There's show notes and plugs in there for all those things too. So, no shortage of links I've been listening to your podcast ever since we connected, or a little bit. Yeah. Like when we connected before I even recorded on your podcast and I love your episodes. You bring so much value and you're so easy to listen to. So thank you. Thank you for showing up every week and giving and putting out amazing content. back at you. I think, you know, personally, it takes like a lot of heart and soul put this out, especially at the podcast that you really have to like. Love what you do to, to show up every single week. So I think that right back at you, we'll go weeks or months without ever hearing from anyone that listens, and so sometimes we wonder, like, should I even be doing this? So, this is your call to action to actually, like, go thank the podcast hosts that you, listen to, because sometimes we don't know if people are actually listening. you really don't like, and a little, a little note, just saying like, I enjoyed this episode. This is what I enjoyed about it goes a really long way. Or even just saying like, Hey, this is what like. Suggest a guest too, because I think those go a long way too. We want to know what you want to know. yeah. Who you want to hear from? The conversations you want to hear. Yeah, all of it. Definitely. Feedback is very welcome. I'm always asking people to submit questions. I do a lot of that podcast content because I'm like, well, this is what you want to hear about. So just tell me and I'll talk about it. But, One last thing too, that I forgot because, I didn't know this was going to launch so soon. I'm so excited that you're going to do that. So, little bonus here for anyone that does join up before the launch on four one, I've already put together like a party favor. So you get 800 worth of free resources for business and life for free. So I partnered with, 12 different. Digital, creators in both business and life. So I think meal planning guides for the family, a visibility blueprint and manifestation course, like an social media course. So all of this is over 800 totally for free. Even if you sign up for the free community, you still get access to this party favor. So grab your resource today too, because, it's gold. Oh, amazing. Wow. You really have thought of everything. I'm sure there's something I missed, but Well, thank you so much, Megan, for coming on my podcast and, well, you already mentioned where people can connect with you. So those will all be in the show notes and I'm rooting you on for your membership launch. I'm so excited for this and I think it's going to be, there's a need for it and it's going to be a big hit. So thank you so much for coming on the podcast. thank you for providing this space for me today. I just really enjoyed our conversation and you've just been such a joy to be connected to. I'm glad that our, podcasts have brought us together. Yes, you as well. All right. We'll talk to you soon. Bye.

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