How Addiction Impacts Entrepreneurs — Recovery Insights with Amber Hollingsworth

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, I sit down with Amber Hollingsworth — Master Addiction Counselor, licensed mental health counselor, and founder of Hope for Families Recovery Center. With more than 730,000 YouTube subscribers on her channel Put the Shovel Down, Amber has become a leading voice helping entrepreneurs, parents, and families understand addiction long before it destroys a business, marriage, or life.

Together, we unpack how addiction quietly shows up in the entrepreneurial journey, including:

✅ Why business owners are uniquely vulnerable to addiction
✅ The early warning signs most entrepreneurs ignore
✅ Why “high performers” struggle to slow down, rest, or mentally disconnect
✅ How work stress, ADHD tendencies, and perfectionism fuel addictive cycles
✅ What to do when your spouse, partner, or employee is in denial
✅ Why long-form content and authenticity helped Amber build her massive YouTube following
✅ How systems, delegation, and online structure helped her scale her practice
✅ The surprising connection between entrepreneurial traits and addictive behaviors

Whether you’re feeling overwhelmed, hiding stress from your team, stuck in an unhealthy habit, or supporting someone you care about — this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.

Connect with Amber Hollingsworth:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT8PE1v0xFR9zLXOijxM6hg

Website: https://www.familyrecoveryacademy.online/

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/addictionrecoveryhope

Tune in for an honest, practical, and deeply relatable look at addiction, mental health, and the hidden emotional battles business owners carry.

About Amber Hollingsworth
Master Addiction Counselor, mental health professional, founder of Hope for Families Recovery Center, and creator of Put the Shovel Down with 730,000+ subscribers.

What You’ll Learn:

• How addiction shows up early for entrepreneurs
• Why ADHD/high-drive personalities are more vulnerable
• How families can support without enabling
• How YouTube became her #1 growth engine
• The role of systems and delegation
• Amber’s biggest business pivots

Episode Highlights:

• The “entrepreneurial seizure” moment
• Early addiction signs business owners overlook
• Why long-form content outperforms shorts
• AmberAI and the future of recovery

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Guest Introduction
• 4:19 Why Traditional Treatment Misses The Mark
• 7:40 Early Signs Of Addiction You’ll Miss
• 11:59 Family-Led Strategy And Invisible Intervention
• 16:40 Community, Coaching, And Who Succeeds
• 20:55 Entrepreneurs, Stress, And ADHD Traits
• 25:28 Owning The Need For Help
• 28:28 Lessons From Starting A Practice
• 31:56 Big Pivots: Content To Amber AI
• 35:20 Cracking YouTube: Obsession And Craft

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

All right. Welcome to another Small Business Pivots. Today we have another special guest from around the world. And if you've listened to the podcast, you know that only the business owner can say their name and their business like the business owner. So I let you have the stage. Tell us who you are, your business, where you're from, and all those little tidbits of information.

SPEAKER_00: 0:21

Absolutely. I'm Amber Hollingsworth. I'm a trained master addiction counselor and also a licensed mental health counselor. And my business is called Hope for Families Recovery Center. These days, I'm more of an online content creator than anything. And um, people find me on the YouTube channel, put the shovel down. I'm right here in South Carolina if you can't tell by my accent.

SPEAKER_01: 0:44

Well, I'm in Oklahoma, so I think we all kind of have a little bit of an accent from our state line down. So uh welcome to the show. And but let's introduce the podcast first and we'll be right back. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small business owners. I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of Boss, where we make business ownership simplified for success. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified.com. All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots. Well, you know, our listeners they kind of like to be relatable. They like to kind of know who they're listening to. So do you kind of have a background at all?

SPEAKER_00: 1:43

Absolutely, of course. We have a background, right?

SPEAKER_01: 1:46

Well, some people go, well, it's kind of boring, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 1:50

I grew up in Tennessee and moved to South Carolina um after I finished my first degree and then went to counseling school. Um, I I don't know how much you want me to tell you about my background. I can tell you my professional background, my family background. What do you want to know?

SPEAKER_01: 2:05

Yeah, just uh so sometimes we're we're uh mentored into a certain kind of lifestyle when we start adulting. Sometimes business owners went through some trials and tribulations, so they have a lot of trash in their head that keeps them from really doing the things they could, or maybe even getting into an addiction because they grew up in that kind of lifestyle. So growing up, did you have any aspirations of being an entrepreneur, or did you just A plus all the way through school and got into entrepreneurship?

SPEAKER_00: 2:40

I I wouldn't say A-plus all the way through school. I'm not I'm not the smartest student, but I was able to get through it. So I got through it, I graduated. Um, and I did not ever have intentions on being an addiction counselor. I fell into that, and I really didn't have intentions on being a business owner either. I didn't even I left the hospital I worked for, started my private practice, and didn't even realize or think of it as started a business. I realized it when I got the first year's tax bill. Then the light bulbs, I was like holy holy. I didn't even think of that. You know, so that was a wake-up call. What are they? There's that book they call it an entrepreneurial seizure or something. That was definitely, you know, the one that was definitely me. And it has been, it has been a learning curve. I like to say, you know, getting people off heroin is pretty straightforward. Being a business owner, an online business owner is rocket science.

SPEAKER_01: 3:36

Yeah, yeah. There's there's a lot to figure out.

SPEAKER_00: 3:39

It's never a lot of skills, a lot of skills.

SPEAKER_01: 3:42

Absolutely. Well, most of our listeners are business owners or want to be business owners. And I know as a business coach myself, I work with business owners, and a lot of us kind of get into some type of substance or addiction or something to kind of take us away, calm us down, whatever those feelings that we're searching for that the business isn't giving us. So let's start with when you started the addiction recovery practice. What did you start it for originally? Let's just kind of start there.

SPEAKER_00: 4:19

Well, I'd worked in a like an inpatient facility for 10 years. And I had worked with teenagers with addiction, I'd worked in a detox, I'd done all the things. One of the things you see when you work inpatient is that it, and especially in addiction, it can look like a revolving door. And you just see the same people coming in out, and you see that people aren't really getting what they need. It almost feels like the factory version of mental health help or something. It's just like they're going on the factory line, you're just stamping them and signing the papers.

SPEAKER_01: 4:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 4:48

And then even more so than that, the families were so desperate, especially when it comes to addiction. They're like, What do I do? You can't send them back home. They've only been there five days, they're gonna go right back out. And then me knowing that's probably true. And it's like this system just isn't working. So eventually um I branched out into my own private practice and set up a different way of treating addiction um using a family model, but not family model as in everybody in the same room, as in we call it lawyering. We give the person who maybe is struggling with a bad habit their advocate, and the family member gets their advocate and we hash it out behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_01: 5:31

What is the, in your opinion, what is probably the most go-to addiction?

SPEAKER_00: 5:40

I'd say alcohol is the primary, and these days it's marijuana's right up there running a close second, as far as what we see. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 5:50

And so how does one know that they have a problem? Because I've talked to people before that's that's had a an addiction, and for some reason they think they have it under control. And so how can we distinguish they don't have it under control? Are there some signs that you see? I mean, how do you grade people? How do you assess them?

SPEAKER_00: 6:16

I'm I'm really glad you asked that question because it's it's it's my big mission is to get people to see it sooner. Um, that's why my YouTube channel is called Put the Shovel Down, as in you hit your bottom when you put the shovel down, you don't have to keep digging. Yeah. So most people don't recognize addiction until it's like, you know, movie level, like I have to drink first thing in the morning, or I have the shakes, or you know, like I've lost my job, um, lost my family, all those things. But you're addicted long before you get to that point because you've used whatever it is you're doing over and over and over enough times to make yourself physically dependent. So an earlier sign is that you have trouble stopping once you start. So it's not so much like you drink every day or that you have to drink, but more you drink more than intended, and you can't predict how much you're gonna drink. So it's like you go, you say, I'm just gonna have a couple, you end up drinking more than that, you do things you regret, you feel bad about it, you make promises, I'm not gonna do that again. You're on good behavior for a couple weeks, then it happens again. Those are the what I call like stage three signs, um, where I feel like it's a lot, it's easier to get a hold of there, but it's harder to get people to realize that they need to get a hold of it when they're in that stage.

SPEAKER_01: 7:35

So, can you give us an example of the process? So, do people come to you? Does the family come to you? Do they get checked in somewhere? I see you have a lot of resources on your website from coaching and courses and assessments. So, kind of walk us through that process of how someone could be helped.

SPEAKER_00: 7:59

Most people these days find me on YouTube, and I'm usually found by the family member first, because the family member usually realizes there's a problem before the person realizes there's a problem, and they're desperate to get help, and you know, they're trying to talk to their person about getting help and they're getting a lot of pushback, so they're out there looking. So they the family members find me first usually, and a lot of what I teach on the YouTube channel is how do you how do you get through to someone who's in denial and how do you get them to a point where they're willing to get help? So we coach the family members through that, and then once their person gets ready to get help, then they usually introduce the person to us. So that's the typical route.

SPEAKER_01: 8:40

Well, for those listening, I just pulled up the YouTube channel to to kind of show how important this is. You have over 730,000 subscribers.

SPEAKER_00: 8:55

Yeah. Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 8:57

That tells me there's a there's an issue, there's a problem that people either need help or people want their significant others to get help.

SPEAKER_00: 9:07

Is that absolutely it's a huge problem? And those those family members, particularly, they don't have anyone to help them. They get told, well, there's nothing you can do, you're just gonna have to let let them hit bottom, you just they have to want it for themselves. And you know, when this is your spouse or this is your child, that's kind of unacceptable. And you and you're thinking there's gotta be more than just that. And so that's where we come in.

SPEAKER_01: 9:31

So, how does the coaching and the courses work?

SPEAKER_00: 9:36

Well, we do a lot of like consultation for the family members. You know, they can we have the courses, we have invisible intervention, they can sort of take our online course to teach them how to get through to a person in denial. It's called invisible because it's not like the kind you see on TV. Um, the person never knows it happened. And so we teach family members how to help the person access their own motivations for change instead of trying to push their loved one and and force their loved one to see it. Um, we it helps them to come to terms with it. So you can get involved with us on that level, or if you want more of an individualized plan and you want to talk to one of us and say, this is what's going on, and all the little pieces, and this is what their personality is like, and this is where the roadblocks are, then we can sort of tweak some of that and walk you through it. And then for the people that come to see us for the addiction, we put them in a short-term coaching program.

SPEAKER_01: 10:29

What are the success rates? In other words, are these people kind of on the fence, or are they like over the fence? And I mean, are these real serious or at this stage are they just kind of a mild situation?

SPEAKER_00: 10:48

They're um most of the people that see us these days are in that stage three level where they're they don't have to use every day. Now some of them are like chemically dependent, like they will have withdrawal, but they don't necessarily need to go to the hospital to deal with the withdrawal. So they're they're more than moderate into the severe category, but not the most severe. It's a little hard to explain. Yeah. But our success rates are really um quite well because it's not about it's not about teaching someone how to get sober, get a problem under control. It's about helping a person be motivated to do it because that's where the issue is. The issue isn't the person doesn't know how to do it, the issue is the person's on the fence about whether they should do it and that and we're really good at that.

SPEAKER_01: 11:39

So on the YouTube channel, what how can that help people? You've got a lot of videos, a lot of content, a lot of subscribers. Is do you have like a forum as well where people can visit amongst each other as support?

SPEAKER_00: 11:53

We have we have several ways that people can sort of create community, our our followers create community. Um, we go live every Thursday. So, like this today's Thursday, I went live today, and I teach a topic for the first half, and then I take questions and interact with viewers for the second half. So that's one way. And we also have like a Facebook group that's particularly for family members. And then if people want more than that, we have like an advanced skills group for family members, mostly parents of people who struggle with addiction and partners of people who struggle with addiction are in are in that. And I don't put my my people that see me for addiction, I don't put them in a group because most people come see me because they don't want to do the group thing because there's so much group out there, and a lot of people are just resistant to that.

SPEAKER_01: 12:43

So yeah, yeah, I I can see that one of the things Especially business owners. That's who I was fixing to talk about was the business owners, because as a business coach, they're even resistant to even reaching out for a coach. So I can't imagine for addiction. So when you work with a business owner, kind of where do you start? Because as you mentioned and we talked about earlier, owning a business is tough. It's hard. And so what can one do to replace that addiction? To kind of, I guess, kind of like the Calgon commercial, take me away. I'm assuming that's probably why some people get caught up in that, is just take me away. What are some things they can do that you would offer?

SPEAKER_00: 13:31

I think I think the place to start with that is the what's behind that, maybe. Um, first the first thing is I love business owners and I and I just connect with them very easily because I'm a business owner. So I know exactly what the stress is like. You know, of course it's always stressful to be an adult, but when you run businesses, you're not just responsible for your family and your household. You're responsible for your employees, you're responsible for your clients, you're responsible. There's a mega, mega weight on your shoulders. And so I absolutely understand that pressure. Now, you have to sort of combine that with the fact that people that tend to be entrepreneurs tend to be real A-type go-getter, mostly ADHD type people. Um, and so that same thing that drives you to be a really great business owner and to be willing to take risks and to be willing to um take on a lot of things is the same part of you that will get you addicted. So, what what we talk a lot about is how to um get control of your superpower and aim it in the right direction. So I don't really try to teach people to be all balanced because I think being a business owner, it's not you can't really be balanced. Um, or I mean, I guess you most of them aren't. It's not their nature, I guess I would say.

SPEAKER_01: 14:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 14:54

Um, so we we just talk about what are your gifts, what are you running from? How can we redirect it?

SPEAKER_01: 15:01

That's interesting. You say that we work with a lot of business owners, and most of them are running from something. That's why they're a business owner. Could have been something in their childhood, or they're running to something. So running from scarcity. Some people grew up in that kind of environment. Some people came up in an environment with alcoholic parents, so they want to be more successful. Some people are just chasing money, but I find it interesting that a lot, not I don't have a percentage, but a lot of business owners had something growing up that they want to run from. And so I can't. Yeah, I can see that.

SPEAKER_00: 15:41

I think that applies to me, right? It's about the I think it's the combination of the autonomy and the um the safe the financial safety is what you know, it's so what whatever that is back there, it's probably I want more of these things to feel more in control, safe, secure, um, and to know that I'm gonna be all right, not being able to rely on people and things like that.

SPEAKER_01: 16:04

What are some words of encouragement that you could offer a business owner? Because most of us are embarrassed. You know, we've got this facade that we have to carry. We're a business person. We know how to run a business, we have employees to take care of. And you're really lowering the bar when you say, I need help. So, what are some words of encouragement that you could offer to them to reach out for help?

SPEAKER_00: 16:26

I go about it a couple ways. One thing is I'm like, dude, everyone who's anyone's in recovery, it like literally is like the cool it thing to be, honestly. And then they think about it and they're like, Yeah, you're kind of right. Like everyone who's anyone's kind of like in recovery, they have a story they've overcome or whatever. Um, it's it's really not so taboo. People like use it as their brand these days. So I tell them that, and then I just empathize with them and say, look, no wonder you're in this spot. You you need your brain to work a hundred miles an hour to accomplish all those things, but then you can't settle it down at the end of the day, and you end up relying on some sort of substance because you feel like you should be able to calm down or relax, or your wife feels like you should be able to calm down or relax or be present. But that part of your brain that makes you a successful entrepreneur doesn't work that way. And now people want you to be both, and you expect yourself to be both. You don't understand that about yourself. You know, why can't you put the work down? Why can't you just be present and here with us? And then so you start relying on substances to help you do that. And and then, you know, there's a lot of complicated biology, but it you get trapped into it basically.

SPEAKER_01: 17:41

Yeah. Well, let's talk about work because you are an entrepreneur, so you can relate, you can empathize with business owners. When you started your practice, what are some things that when you look back, you would have done differently? So people that might be stuck in those situations might have some insights that they can try.

SPEAKER_00: 18:01

I think the first thing is I would have realized I was starting a business. Yeah, I literally went into it, not even, I know it seems crazy and dumb, but like I just was like, I'm just gonna see my own clients. Like I didn't even have a business conceptualization of it, which is a bad way to start because it means I didn't have any systems or plans or anything. I'm just like seeing clients or whatever.

SPEAKER_01: 18:24

But did you have fun? Did you enjoy it?

SPEAKER_00: 18:27

I did have fun. I did have fun and I still enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01: 18:29

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 18:30

So I would have understood what I was getting myself into.

SPEAKER_01: 18:35

Well, for those that over plan, though, I would rather go your route because some people, like I said, some of our listeners are what would you call them, entrepreneur wannabes? So they've been trying, you know, 10 years ago, I want to start my business. I know some of our listeners are still. So, what are some words of encouragement for them to take that first step?

SPEAKER_00: 19:00

You're gonna have to look back on your life and look at all the other hard things you've been through, and you have to tell yourself, look, this ain't gonna be easy. I have no idea what's gonna come my way, but I know I'll figure it out.

SPEAKER_01: 19:10

Yeah. Instead of trying to do it.

SPEAKER_00: 19:13

Yeah, I really don't think like I don't tell myself like I should have gone to business school because I don't think there's a way to really learn it without doing it. I just wish I would have realized that that was what I was supposed to be doing. When it hit me, I got my first tax bill at the end of the first year. Oh my gosh, it was panic mode. I literally have read every business book on Amazon. I mean, like I joined all these like masterminds, which is basically just group therapy for business people. So if you've ever been in a mastermind or a coaching group, you're fine. It's the same thing.

SPEAKER_01: 19:46

Well, I will share with our listeners nothing against college, degrees are important, but I am shocked at the business owners we worked with that have MBAs. So what you mentioned was on target because just because you know what to do doesn't mean that's how it's gonna work out.

SPEAKER_00: 20:07

So and I think things are changing so fast these days, even if you went and got a degree, I don't even know how relevant it'll be tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01: 20:14

Right, exactly, exactly. So the show is called Small Business Pivots. What are some pivots that you've made along the way that might be helpful for others to know?

SPEAKER_00: 20:25

Well, I went from being a very sort of traditional uh outpatient counseling office to being an online business, a content creator, an influencer. And the latest pivot that I've made is um there is actually an Amber AI. So if you know what Chat GPT is, there is one of those that is trained exclusively on all of my content. So it helps people. You can talk to it anytime. People talk to it all the time. They get coaching, they get advice. It helps them think through how do I approach this with this person, how do I have this hard conversation, how do I get my wife to trust me again, how do I get through this um weekend retreat that I gotta go to, or all the business guys are gonna be drinking, you know? And it's it's actually it's pretty, it works very well. So that's my latest pivot. It's exciting.

SPEAKER_01: 21:20

That is exciting. And if I'm a listener, I think I know what you all are wondering next is how did you cut through all the noise with this content and this AI? How did you get that many subscribers? Because it does, I know I'm not into vanity numbers, and I try to share with business owners, don't be, but you have a good following, and it is in the numbers. So as long as you got the right numbers, quality, quantity does matter. How did you get to that level? Sounds like that's more of your expertise than running a business.

SPEAKER_00: 21:55

Building my YouTube following is the hardest thing I've ever done. So I'll say I'll start.

SPEAKER_01: 22:01

You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is produced by my company, Boss. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified.com. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. Now let's get back to our special guest.

SPEAKER_00: 22:31

Building my YouTube following is the hardest thing I've ever done. So I'll say I'll start by saying that. So um it took me you you don't even really get to have your own like special name until you get to a hundred subscribers. It took me nearly a year to get to that, and you're not even officially in the game, you're not even recognized until you have a thousand. And it took me probably two years to get to a thousand. And so I've done every kind, I've done paid ads, I've done organic reach, I've done the gamut.

SPEAKER_01: 23:11

So you joined YouTube in 2016 and you've got over 15 million views. You mentioned that it took you a couple of years just to get to a thousand.

SPEAKER_00: 23:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 23:23

How did you do that? Because I know if you were if anyone were to go on YouTube and look at the organic growth channels like yours, most people are stuck at 500 or less. How did you get past just even to a thousand?

SPEAKER_00: 23:38

You just have to get obsessed with it. You have to get addicted to it. And YouTube analytics are very, very addictive. Like right now, I'm working with someone who has a gambling addiction, and this person has started their own YouTube channel, and so we've just switched her addiction over to YouTube analytics because it's just a game that you have to learn how to play. And there's a lot of pieces to it. It's like, how do I get this algorithm to put this in front of people? How do I get people to click this video? How do I get people to watch um, you know, the whole thing? There's so many pieces to it. You get obsessed about it if you are successful on YouTube.

SPEAKER_01: 24:18

And then you kind of mentioned the two-year mark with a thousand. You're at over 730,000. Is there a secret sauce to that? And you you keep referring to you just got to work at it. What are some tidbits of information that you could offer to business owners? What does that mean? Like what did you do to work at it to get to that?

SPEAKER_00: 24:42

I think it's just hard to explain because there's so many pieces of it. You have to first thing you have to do is be good at making videos. When I decided I was gonna do this, I had I'd done quite a bit of like public speaking. I thought, yeah, I can do this or whatever. I'm not, you know, I can do that. But sitting in front of a camera by yourself and talking to it is totally different and totally more awkward and harder than talking to a live audience, if you ask me, because you just feel silly talking to yourself. So it took me the longest time to even make a video. But one of the things that helped me, I can't remember who I heard say this, but they said, your first 50 videos are gonna suck, so you might as well just get them out of the way. I was like, you know what? That's true. Let's just get those sucky videos done. Like, let's just crank them out.

SPEAKER_01: 25:31

Let's just stay up all night, get them done, out of the way, and then get it. Exactly. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_00: 25:35

So you have to get over your sort of fear, you have to be able to like listen to your own voice and look at yourself on camera, and that that takes a minute to get over. And then you just have to learn all the details. You have to learn how to what a thumbnail needs to look like, what text needs to be on it, what the title needs to be. Um, there's just a lot of like technical pieces to it.

SPEAKER_01: 25:57

What have you seen in the last year or two with AI? I know that AI has really helped and advanced shorts and reels and you know, all the things that go into play with this. Are there any trends that you see that we can forecast around the corner?

SPEAKER_00: 26:20

Um, do you have a lot, Michael? Do you have a lot of listeners that do like content marketing?

SPEAKER_01: 26:25

Yes.

SPEAKER_00: 26:26

You do? Okay.

unknown: 26:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00: 26:27

So I just don't know like what language I can use because it's its own language, you know, it's its own.

SPEAKER_01: 26:32

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, most business owners that are listening, they they are doing their own marketing and they're trying to figure this out because they they're not quite in a spot to hire an outside resource. So the the more information they can hear from others that actually works, yeah, the better.

SPEAKER_00: 26:53

YouTube itself is probably has the biggest, what's the term, barrier to entry because it's it's very, very difficult to break in compared to all the other social medias like Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, you know, the other ones, the other platforms. But it has the biggest payoff because it's a search engine. So when you make a post on social media, it's up there today and people might like it, but it's gone tomorrow. When you make a video on YouTube, it stays there forever, and people are searching it, watching those videos forever. And so they work like little every video you put out works like a little worker that's out there working for you 24-7. And it's searchable. Good. Um, YouTube is owned by Google. And so it comes up in the top half half page of results when anytime anybody Googles something, the YouTube results come. So I think that's the reason. The reason to do it. There's a lot of popularity with short form content right now. But for a business owner, um, the short form content I think works really well if you're in entertainment. Um, if you're a business owner, you're trying to do content marketing, you're probably trying to educate on something. And what really is making the algorithm work right now is long form videos, like long, like 30 minutes, an hour, hour and a half, or longer. So it it might seem counterintuitive because you're seeing all these short forms everywhere. But if you think about it, like when you're scrolling, you watch short forms, you know, it's like cat videos or funny tricks, or you know, I mean, I I get in the vortex too, yeah, you know, but but not a lot on education. So I would put your energy into more of a long form, and it's sort of gone away from this overly edited, overly polished vibe into a more natural, casual, you don't have to be perfect vibe, which is good news.

SPEAKER_01: 28:47

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 28:49

And the more authentic you can be, the more yourself you can be, the better. Because people feel your energy.

SPEAKER_01: 28:56

I know that everybody tries to sell to business owners saying you've got to use our platform. Here's how we can 10x your YouTube channel. Can you caution our listeners on here's some legit tools or platforms you can use to assist you with YouTube, and then everything else is just noise.

SPEAKER_00: 29:18

If you're on YouTube, I'd I'd say that the most legit common ones people use are things like vid IQ and um TubeBuddy, or the common ones, they're almost like extensions, and they are getting more and more AI in them. And so it can sort of look at your video titles and it'll suggest five alternatives, and so it just makes it so easy because it's giving you ideas about you know, if you've got something that's not performing well, it'll say, try this, um, put this in your thumbnail, have this expression, you know, this text. So all of that is is super helpful. And if you're trying to be a content creator and you are a small business owner and you're trying to figure out like I can't do all of this myself because I'm a big believer in the whole like stay in your genius lane. Yeah. Like I'm just all about it. I'm like, do the thing that you do and only you do and try to delegate everything else as much as possible. So these days you can get AI to do a lot of it. But it like let's say if you create content and you need somebody to handle your social media or edit your videos, then get a virtual assistant. And I suggest getting one specifically from the Philippines. I have three and they are phenomenal and they've worked. I've had like one of them I've had for probably eight years, the one that edits my videos. And I just have systems that are set up he knows where I put it in the drop box and we get the link and it just you know you you develop a system for it and then it just works.

SPEAKER_01: 30:46

Because if you're gonna create content unless you just love editing you need an editor because it takes all of your time and that's probably not the best use of yeah because it for most business owners videos are not an immediate sale. It's it's an educational piece which means sales will come in the future but I always encourage business owners if you're still doing your own videos you're still editing because you can't afford outside sources resources then you need to go make more sales pick up the phone go network get some sales today so that's just a little tidbit of coaching information. So all right so where can they find you outside of the YouTube? How can they get a hold of you? Because I'm sure more people want to know more and for those that are looking for help how can they what's the first step they need to take you can find me anywhere.

SPEAKER_00: 31:43

I do have all the other social media but I am primarily on YouTube. Put the shovel down there's tons and tons of free resources there. Whether you're trying to like overcome a bad habit before it comes a huge problem or you have a family member um that's the place you can find me on my website Hope for Families Recovery Center.

SPEAKER_01: 32:00

But I say start with the YouTube there is a lot over a thousand videos. So there's a lot you can find pretty much everything that I'm that I've been searching for. It looks like you've covered all the bases. So if you were in front of an audience of business owners different seasons of business different sizes industries what is one thing that could be applicable to each of them that could help them in their business in other words a quote a book just another tip or insight I gotta think of this see I don't usually get to answer the business stuff which I love.

SPEAKER_00: 32:39

I love to talk about the business stuff but I don't ever get to talk about that um the latest book that I'm reading is the one called scaling I can't remember the guy's name this is the second book he's the run that wrote 10x is better than 2x that's also a really good one I might even go with the the 10x is better. I would probably read that one first. Okay. Especially if you're like what you and I were talking about you're trying to figure out where do I put my energy and how do I manage all this stuff it's it's those two books are about scaling how do I make big pivots big moves you mentioned for the word systems with your Philippine VAs how important are those to your business and what difference do you see today versus when you didn't have systems I think it makes it makes all the difference. It's what allows me to grow this YouTube channel. It gives me the time to focus on the pieces that I only I can do which is only I can create the content and only I can see the clients that I see. And so all of the other things that we end up as business owners we try to do it all um we spin our wheels with it but it's just so inefficient. And we're not and we're not that great at everything. So just delegate it when possible absolutely so are you replacing the floors in your office um no actually I rent the office so thankfully and insurance is paying for it so thankfully I'm not having to do that I'm just having to deal with the mess.

SPEAKER_01: 34:21

Well for our listeners you help people that need some help and you go through the same things we do. We were talking earlier hot water tank at your office had been leaking for a while the mold and water underneath your floors and so your office is out of commission for a minute so yeah uh even even counselors even business coaches we all go through problems I'm just encouraging our listeners to know that we don't have these rosy days every day either so we understand you I want my dog and pick up the dog poo in the little baggage like everyone else I mow my own yard I I get my own oil changed you know so uh just a little bit of encouragement for our listeners that we all go through it we all need help and there are people out here like you Amber that can help them. So I encourage all of our listeners to do that. Is there anything that we didn't talk about that you're like I wish I really would have said this or shared this I'm sure there is but I won't think of it until right when we like hang up and then it occurs. Of course of course well we can always get back on or do another show. So well Amber you've been a blessing to many and a wealth of information I certainly appreciate you and wish you continued success.

SPEAKER_00: 35:43

Thank you. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01: 35:45

My pleasure thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots this podcast is created and produced by my company Boss. Our business is growing yours boss offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified dot com. If you're enjoying this podcast don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. If you need help growing your business email me at Michael at michaeldmorson.com we'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots