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Cut the tie to anything holding you back from success. Welcome to the Cut the Tie podcast. Hi. I'm your host, Thomas Helfrich. And in each episode, we bring you real entrepreneurs that really overcame challenges on their journey to become successful. We look at the impact, the moment, how it affected everything in their lives. Follow us on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Now let's meet our guest on Cut The Tie podcast.
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And today, we're joined by Tamar Stolz. How are you, Tamar? Hi. I'm great. How are you? Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. Good to see you again. Why don't you just take a moment, introduce yourself, who you are, and what your company does? Yeah. Sure. My name is Tamar Stolz. I'm a core UX product designer, worked in corporate for a little over five years, was very much focused on product strategy, strategic alignment. And I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, always wanted to do something in the business world. The land at UX Design really enjoyed it, but I really needed more of the entrepreneurial freedom, excitement. So after the birth of my second, my husband and I decided it was a good time to leave corporate, Went off on my own, and the idea was to do product strategy consulting. Wasn't really, like, wasn't super excited about it. Long story short is that I ended up going down the coaching route, not product strategy coaching. That was, like, the idea originally. But now I work with entrepreneurs, creative entrepreneurs tends to be, who are really just stuck in the overwhelm and chaos of starting a business and helping them get to clarity, specifically through the tool of visual learning, visual thinking, community
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collaboration. Right. Or you're doing it, and then you're supposed to be doing all these other things. But I think what happens right in that moment you know, we'll talk about a tie you had a cut. Sounds like you did this last year to be successful, to realize what you were doing wasn't something you love. But I believe many entrepreneurs don't fully believe in what they're doing, and it's hard to go downstream and market and brand and put yourself in position if you haven't started with something you really have a passion for. And that kinda leads my neck the the kind of lead question I ask every guest is, what was the one tie that you've had to cut? And I think you described a little bit, but what was it? The tie that I cut is when I realized that I need to block out all the noise and everything that's making me so overwhelmed. I need to take all the chaos out of my brain and stop for a moment and hear myself
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talk it out loud. I went through all the things, and I was like, something doesn't add up here. It's like you look and and and believe me, I spent the money. And it wasn't that I didn't the right information. It wasn't that I I made I mean, of course, I made something six, but it wasn't that I had invested in the wrong things. It's just once I had invested in it, I realized I want to now take it and apply it to me. Like, make it my own. Take that 80% and create a structure so that I could successfully bring all the coaching and all the training and all the resources and online courses that I purchased and put it into a structure that worked best for tomorrow's souls. And once I realized that, something that seems so basic but something that almost everyone is struggling with was, like, this is incredible. I never took someone else's successful framework that they designed for themselves that they got success from. Not to say that there's anything wrong with taking someone else's framework. I don't believe that you have to reinvent the wheel if someone else already got success, but you can't just take someone else's formula that was successful for them and copy and paste it into your life. It's not gonna work. So you need to take take the framework. It's fine. There are a lot of people who've been successful because you don't have to reinvent the wheel, but take it and make it your own and adapt and use your brain a little bit to make sure that it aligns with who you are and what is it you're trying to accomplish. Like, and it sounds funny, but I'm I'm telling you that it's incredible when people just stop and black out all the loud noise and and just are at the simple question, like, what is it that you're trying to do? What is your goal? Like, where are you trying to go? And, unfortunately,
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the answer I hear more often than I would like to is, yes. I really don't know. Here's a tip for everybody. You could buy probably the cheapest course of somebody who has a much higher course, and you're probably gonna get 90% of it in that little cheap course because that's the magic trick. You see all this value and they show you all this value for a little bit. Man, imagine what's in the big one, and it tends to be very disappointing. So buy the cheap one for $29, not the one for 10,000. Keep it there. In your journey, do do you remember, like, the moment where you just kinda had the break? The moment that I had the break was when I realized that I went to go
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purchase another course, and I didn't have the money to pay for it. I could say it's not that, like, I was broke, irresponsible, married, mother of two kids, and we didn't have money. It was just that whatever I had allotted for for my business at that point, I didn't have the money to make the purchase. And so sat down for myself and I said, something doesn't add up. So I sat down and I did a massive visual, like, strategy session with myself. And I basically followed the same exact formula and the same exact process that I walked teams through in corporate when we were doing, you know, visual strategy sessions. And I basically just followed the same exact, you know, step by step process of what is my goal, where am I trying to get to long term and short term, broke it all down, what is my current situation, what is my reality, and what's the gap. When I realized how big that gap was and what was standing in that gap, it was like it hit me in the face. Something has to change. And so then eventually, I ended up, you know, taking each obstacle that was in that gap and each challenge and working through each one and and ultimately created a structure for myself to be able to reenergize, remotivate, and just redirect myself in a more structured strategic manner so that I could take everything that I'd already invested in and all the time that I already put into it and not put it to waste, but just redirect it in a more strategic responsible way. And and I saw success, and that's where I got the results. It's great. What's been the, the impact since making the change on your family, your life, your business? I think that the impact of being able to to because I have this structure and I have this clarity, doesn't mean that there aren't times I'm overwhelmed or I'm not motivated or I'm down or I'm confused, but I have a process to follow to get me out of it. So I'm not running in a hamster wheel. So the impact has been so much more, just feeling lighter, less stress, more clarity, less chaos and noise in my brain, and so much more, like, not I I call it, like, productive procrastination, because I was very productive, but it's much more it's it's focused, and the results are tangible. So I think that the impact also is that because I see the results,
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it helps me keep going. Yeah. Motivated. You're gonna go through lots of cycles as most entrepreneurs do. And I'm giving you an example of, like, I have a successful marketing agency that I look at going, how can I have a humanless company? Like, how can I have a company that AI could do pretty much everything? And you look at things like this in your life, and you're like, yeah. That'd be better. I'd rather just do podcasts, you know, like, long term. And so my point being is I think what you're coaching people through is that clarity of what's next, what to do, how to denoise.
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A lot of entrepreneurs have this ADD kind of effect where they really have it bad when there's no structure like a job. So I I think what you're doing is spot on, and you're gonna continually hone that down to a buyer type. What would be a lesson for a listener? What what's the advice? You do not need another course. You do not need another strategy. You do not need to invest not one more penny. Those should be all your posts on LinkedIn, by the way. It's around the stop buying courses. It's not because they're not good. There's a lot of really amazing material out there. Come on, Ed. I believe me. I'm not we need to have structure. We need to stop and use our brains and think. Here's all of them here and say, is this getting me closer to my goal? Does this align with who I am, what I stand for, and what it is that I'm trying to do? And if the answer is yes, then go pay for the course. It's fine. I I'm actually I would say don't pay for the expensive course. The model actually is give it almost all away for very low to make you think the bigger thing is worth way more. To go only buy the cheap course and get what you can from it and apply it in your own way. Who gives you inspiration or what? Picking who, though. Doug Batten is my coach. He runs Full Time Freedom Academy on school. Him and and his entire community are incredible. I mean, it's really like a family there. Jonathan Courtney and, Agent Smart Facilitation Pro community. I don't know. They're just, like, my people. Like, those two communities, I'm in them, like, all day. And just real like, forming real connections with people, and that definitely gives me a ton of motivation. What's the best business advice you've gotten so far? The best business advice is Okay. Well, so first of all, be yourself. Everyone else is taken. For sure. That's in life, but that is for sure in business. And also, you are who you are across the board. Let's be, like, straight shooters here. Be consistent. Okay? So, yeah, be yourself because everyone else is taken. That's the best advice probably I could give if I had to to sum it up. Stop looking at everyone else and everyone else's successes. Focus on what it is that you're trying to do. Get the right tools and help that you need to get there and implement the structure to successfully execute. It doesn't have to be that more complicated. Love it. What's your current favorite AI tool or tech? I mean, I guess you could say ChatGPT. I mean, right? It's still it's like the leading answer. So let's back up in your journey. What would you do differently from the start if you were on day one right now? I would run a visual strategy workshop with myself. I would have done that on day one. Then I would have drawn out and I would have mapped out everything. I would have started with what is my goal? Who is Smart Souls? What makes me me? What is it that I'm trying to do? What are my hobbies? What are my skills? What are my talents? What are my challenges? What steps am I weight? All that stuff. I would go to the next step, which is where am I? Understanding my current reality. What are my frustrations? What does my daily situation look like? And then once I know where it is I'm trying to go and I know where I'm at, what stands in my way? And I would start to work through those things because a lot of that stuff is gonna be emotional mental health. As an entrepreneur who's listening to this, I guarantee you self sabotage, perfectionism, black and white thinking, procrastination, come on. Right? This is this is our basis. So, you know, that stuff has to be figured out. That stuff has to be addressed from the start because it it will get in your way. It doesn't have to get in your way. It can come with you. It could be your superpower, but you have to be aware of it and you have to have a structure of how to deal with it. Right? Make a visual visual thinking one of the bestest, bestest books. Wish I had an affiliate link. I But what book? What book and which one is the one? Visual thinking. Will let me in the brand. They have visual working. They have visual doing. Wouldn't that be a cool book if it actually was see through like that? That'd be awesome. The coaching habit. Oh my goodness. That's awesome. But, yeah, visual thinking. So much of what I do with my clients is visual learning, is mapping things out of sketching, is doodling. I'm not an artist, people. UX designers, everyone thinks, oh, you guys make things look pretty. I didn't touch colors. I didn't touch typography. Nothing. It was all about the structure of the app, the layout, the user's journey, all the same stuff. This is not about making things look pretty, sketching, and doodling. This is about taking all the cast in your brain, all the spaghetti, hectic, noisiness, and getting it out on paper. Look at it. I'm telling you, if you do that, do it for your day. Sit down in the morning and just draw out what your day is gonna look like. You don't have to be an artist. It doesn't have to look pretty. If you see it, you will be more successful that day. I'm telling you. Alright. There's one question I should've asked you today, but I didn't. What was that question, and how would you have answered it? Good one. One question that you didn't ask me I don't know. Do I regret going off on my own? Answer is no. I do not regret going off on my own. I get asked this a lot. Not regret going off on my own. I think it's the best decision I ever made. And I think that for those of you who are listening who are still working in corporate, I feel for you, but there is a place to be in corporate. I don't think that all corporate's bad. I think that there is a lot to be learned in that environment, and I think that I learned a lot there for sure. So don't be bitter. If that's where you are, that is the right place for you to be at this point. But, yes, going off on my own, not because of being a part. There's a lot of days where I do question it, but I do not regret it, and it was a great decision to make. You know, I I'll leave you with this. If you ever regret going on your own, one that you can always try to find is fractional work for what you know how to do with the corporation. So you still feel like you have any control of your own work. It's a form of a job that's still yours, and it's a good way for some people, you know, to get some normalcy or consistency in revenue to do it that way. And then until you kinda figure out your scalable business that doesn't require it. So and I agree with you. I don't trash core, but I do it more on my TikTok channel for fun. I think it's fun to kinda make fun of it and poke it. There is a good place for it. And and the truth is, if you're happy in what you're doing, enjoy the people you're working with, that's a good thing. If you're not, though, and you have this calling to do more, then go. Figure it out for yourself. Shameless plug time for you. So who should get a hold of you, and how do they do that? Who should get a hold of me? Creative entrepreneurs, those of you who feel like you've just been doing all the right things but are not seeing the success that you want, excited to talk. Go to actionmappers.com and you can join my free community. It's funny. I I don't often it's not always the thing that I tell people. It happens to be for this podcast, you know, for all the entrepreneurs who who are listening. I really do. My favorite is to work with entrepreneurs, so I will direct you to this community. However, this is a big however. Do not hang up. Don't just go and join the community. Okay? If you listen to this podcast up until this point, you know that I'm very passionate. Don't just join another community to add it to your list. Anything that I talked about today that you heard resonated that you're like, oh, yes. This. This sounds amazing. Then let's connect. But for most probably you just enjoyed the podcast, which is amazing because Thomas is awesome and this is an awesome podcast. And and continue going through the day and sharing that you learned. I I wanna see 500 of the other members for the community because, again, it's not gonna be for everyone, and that is my message to everybody. You rock. I love that you made the pivot. You always have a lot of energy, just to be clear, and that's a good thing. And today, I can tell just I haven't talked to you in a few months, that it it's focused energy. And I know you'll pivot, and and don't be afraid of those because no. You're gonna have to pivot again. Everyone has to do it, and it's not really it's, like, not an abandonment of what you're doing, but it's gonna have to evolve. The hardest part is managing spouses and family members of asking you why you're moving again because they don't think you're focused. Trust yourself if you know you need to make that pivot because no one else is gonna get that but you. Absolutely. And by the way, that is what I got in my communities that I'm part of, and that is what I instill in my community You need the people who understand what it is to be an entrepreneur. You need those people to be in your life and to be supportive when those pivots have to happen. So that's also the reason that I I started my community. And is it school.com/action,
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pack action mappers? Is that right? You can just go to actionmappers.com,
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and it'll redirect to school. But, yeah, it's on the school platform. School's an awesome platform for community, and, I've been in it since 2021. Now I own I've been a member of school communities, and, I have found that it's the best for really, like, the the community aspect. We'll give that your technology vote. What technology love, it'll be school. Alright. Thank you, Tamara. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. Thanks so much for having me.
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Thank you for joining us on this episode of Cut the Time. Let's stay connected. Please hit that follow button on Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. And if you're ready to advance your entrepreneurial journey even further, join our free community at facebook.com/groups/cutthetie. Cut the tie to everything holding you back from success.