Ep. 72: Embracing creativity + curveballs (making $8M along the way) with Sam Vander Wielen

Written By Elisabeth Fleming

[20 MIN LISTEN]

 

Sam Vander Wielen is an attorney-turned-entrepreneur and leading legal educator to online business owners and she is BACK on the Life with Liz Podcast after a few years to tell us all about her new book, When I Start My Business, I’ll Be Happy (OUT NOW!!).

Sam is the founder of Sam Vander Wielen LLC, the go-to contract template shop for online business owners that generates multi-seven-figure revenue annually. As the author of the book, When I Start My Business, I’ll Be Happy, and host of the On Your Terms® podcast, she cuts through the noise with no-fluff legal tips, refreshingly honest marketing strategies, and down-to-earth business advice to help entrepreneurs grow with confidence. Since 2017, Sam has helped over 350,000 online entrepreneurs legally protect their online businesses, all while navigating the devastating back-to-back losses of her parents, her own brain surgery, and becoming a caretaker.

So, why am I talking to her?

Not only has Sam helped me immensely over the years in my business but she's also helped me level up my confidence in life. If you're expecting a drove of legal and marketing tips, think again. Instead, we have a fantastic conversation about following your calling and having the courage to go for it anyway, even when life throws you curveballs.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to identify your calling in the face of uncertainty and embrace your creativity in all of its shapes and forms

  • Sam’s #1 tip for those who feel isolated, overwhelmed or just plain stuck in their businesses right now

  • Developing the right support systems for yourself personally and professionally as you start and grow your business

  • What it means to intuitively create a thriving ecosystem for your business 

  • Generating $8mil while navigating loss and brain surgery


This episode is jam packed with nuggets of wisdom to help you bravely soar to success personally and professionally. 

Sam is such a brilliant inspiration. This was one of my favorite conversations yet!

 

Episode transcript:

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[00:00:00] Welcome to The Life with Liz Podcast, the place to be if you wanna go from invisible to vibrant in your life, and embrace the power you didn't know you had inside of you. I'm your host, Liz Fleming, business owner, mom, military spouse, entrepreneur, founder, CEO, and life coach, who is passionate about helping ambitious women like you step into their power and their purpose on purpose so they can experience as much joy, success, satisfaction, and abundance as humanly possible.

Now without further ado, let's dive right into this episode. Sam. Hello. Welcome. Welcome. So happy to have you back on the podcast. Hey, Liz. How's it going? Thanks for having me. Yes, I'm, I'm thrilled. Uh, for those of you who don't know, Sam Vander Wielen was actually on an episode of my podcast a few years back when it was like in marketing and pr.

And since I've pivoted to more life coaching, we found a beautiful way to reconnect, and I'm just so inspired by. [00:01:00] By your success, your drive, your courage. I mean, above all your consistency, you create amazing content. I've been an ultimate bundle member now for quite a few years, and it's just been a life-saving resource and I, I always thank myself, pat, myself on the back for investing in that all those years ago.

It just continues to pay off. So. I, yeah, I would just love to hear kind of your why and, and how you knew all of this was your calling. Hmm, thanks. Yeah, I, so I've been in business for eight years now, which feels really weird to say. Um, so I was a corporate lawyer for a little over five years and then started a coaching business, which like, it was a very Goldilocks situation where I was like, wait, this isn't my thing either, but I don't know what's my thing.

And so I actually pivoted and. 2017 and started a legal templates business. And that's what I've, that's what I've been doing for the last eight years. And, you know, I needed some time and distance away from being a lawyer. Maybe if [00:02:00] you're leaving a corporate job or like transitioning from your nine to five, you probably like hate it and want nothing to do with it.

And that, that was definitely where I was at for a bit. But when I started seeing what everyone was doing. Online and kind of like the lack of access to resources about how to legally protect themselves. That's when I was like, wait, actually, this is a very, it almost feels like a very cool, like giving back way of still being a lawyer, like having my, my dipping my toe in like the lawyer realm while also getting to know, integrate all these really cool things I fell in love with when.

I started a coaching business and didn't like it, which was like blogging and creating content and podcasting and, and like, you know, I guess being creative for the first time in my life, like, I didn't, I just, I was talking about this with someone the other day about how, like, I never thought I was a creative person until I started a business because I thought because I couldn't draw or paint or sing really, that I'm like, oh, I'm not creative, you know?

And. Actually I am. I'm really, really [00:03:00] creative. Just in a different way, you know? And yeah, I think just that, that became my why behind, like loving what I got to do and then feeling like I really got to help people and plugging a hole in the market. To me it was just like a home run. Yeah, 100%. And that's such a great point you make too, about, you know, pivoting into your creativity and like leaning on that intuitively, you know, you really used your intuition to, to grow your business.

You tried something new and you're like filling the hole, filling the gap, like you said. And I feel too, just from observing you over the years and what you put out, I mean, I love your newsletter and just how you've continued to scale, but. What I love about your business model is it's so niche, like it's so unique and so needed, and it must have taken a certain level of guts to really like launch yourself into that type of world, right?

Yeah, for sure. I think. What [00:04:00] actually took more guts to do was go into that world and then stay in that world. That was actually a lot harder to keep my eyes on my own paper. As I say, I talk about this a lot in the book, that oftentimes people in business will create something. That would be really successful.

Whatever that means to you, by the way. 'cause I don't believe in like one definition of that, but like it would ultimately be successful if you stuck with it. But people don't stick with anything either long enough or they don't focus on something enough like they're like. Today it's this offer. Tomorrow you're talking about your kids.

Three days later you're talking about your meal prep. Like it's just all over the place and they don't kind of, even if you do go talk about those other things, which I encourage come back to like consistently talking about what you do or consistently talking about that product or that service. And so.

Yeah. I almost feel like that was actually harder, is not to get distracted along the way and, and start adding on tons of different offerings or making myself [00:05:00] available. People asked me to do a lot of things over the years. I, I was saying no, probably way more than I was saying yes, and I was saying no before I could afford to, which is also interesting.

Mm-hmm. That's so hard to do, by the way. Mm-hmm. It's so hard. Yeah, great point about like bypassing the instant gratification bit because you know, eight years ago Instagram and social was still very much authentic, but it was reaching a level of like that, you know, distraction and just madness. Like everyone was launching something new every other week and it was getting bananas, but.

When I think of Sam v, I mean, I think of like your incredible free masterclass that you have had for years and you continue to, to, you know, finagle and adjust and just. It's so amazing, the content, the value that you give in that is so incredible in and of itself, and the fact that you've stuck with that for all of these years.

And the ultimate bundle is just a power move [00:06:00] that so many people can learn from. And I just wanted to make sure I said that to you because it deserves all the rounds of applause. Irene. Oh, thank you. As a, as an outsider over here, as a user. I see your team putting in the work and mm-hmm. I, I love what you've been doing too, um, on your substack about like, you know, and of course in the book about teaching us how you're doing what you're doing, and it, it speaks just to that point, like staying focused and staying in your lane.

Right. Yeah, that's a lot of what inspired me to write the book just because, well, two things. One is that over the last eight years, people have asked me so much to help on the business and the marketing side, and I was like, well, I'm staying focused, right? I'm not. I'm not doing that. I'm not creating all these other things.

I wanna be known for legal templates. I wanna be known. I. For the ultimate bundle. That's kind of it. And it's working and I wanna keep developing it. Um, but I thought it would be really cool to create something where I did put all of my marketing chops into one, one thing, and it's only, you know, $30 compared [00:07:00] to, to what we could have done.

And so I thought that was really cool, but I also thought that. It was almost like I wanted this conversation to even be in a book, just to make a point, to slow down and to tune out the noise. Like when you read, you know, you're not being distracted, hopefully by all of these other things. Like if I made a reel for you, you're getting hit with ads at the same time and seeing other people's content.

It's, it's within their best interest to keep you there and keep you by, you know, watching other people's stuff. So I, I really wanted to have this conversation with all of you about. He like, Hey, there's another way to build your business if you only slowed down, took your time, focused on what actually worked and.

Instead of listening to all like the gurus and the strategies and the tips and the tricks that don't actually work on Instagram, actually going back to some business basics and like talking to someone who not only has built her own business, but worked as a business lawyer too, and saw inside of lots of other people's businesses, um, really looking at like [00:08:00] true tried and true business principles of like supply and demand and differentiation and most viable product.

For example, like just getting your, your thing out there and like really just going back to tuning. All of this stuff out, because you mentioned about eight years ago on Instagram being starting to get a little crazy. Well, we're at like, full blown Craig, right now. It's lit. Now it's still Lineage. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's, um, it's, it's pretty incredible. And I, I totally agree. And one of the things that you are so great at too, is how you nurture your audience. And I think people forget that. There's people behind the screens like that is what makes your business grow. It doesn't mean that you have to like go to them all the time through these social media networks and platforms, but like go out into the world and like connect with people.

So is there anything that you'd love to share about like the support systems you put in place as you kind of. [00:09:00] Grew your business and mm-hmm. All that. One of the things I talk a lot about in the book is, is providing really good customer service, regardless of whether you have two people or 2000 people, you, you establish that as a priority and as a value, as like a business value now, so that as you grow, like it only gets harder to provide better customer service the more people you have.

So if you're not doing it now, when you only have a couple people, you know it's not gonna get better, but. Why should you do that? Right? Like is it, is it about just keeping people happy? Making everybody happy? No, because we cannot control whether or not other people are happy. In fact, you could do everything and do a great job and people can still be disappointed.

That's just the nature of people and I. My, my mindset coach Jen told me a long time ago, and I took this to the bank, that you're responsible to people, but not for them. And so like you're responsible for doing a very good job and providing what you said you were going to provide and providing the quality and all of that.

But beyond that, like we can't control it. [00:10:00] But in the majority of cases, when you have a good product and your product actually works, and people, you know, feel supported, at least they're going to go out and tell. Lots and lots of other people about you, and to me, that's not only the cheapest, but the fastest way to grow.

You know this, this community of customers. So I took that pretty seriously early on. I also got pretty clear on what other like shoulder issues my, my customers were experiencing. So like, yes, they needed their legal stuff, but like I in particular offer something pretty boring. So I think I was like, okay, well what else does, like, what else does Liz need?

Okay, well, Liz needs to learn how to build her email list when she's starting and she has questions about website and SEO and like. There's all these other things, but which of those things am I pretty good at? Like I'm dialed in. I, and so I started talking about those things too, just to provide additional value because I knew I understood.

What my customers were [00:11:00] struggling with, kind of around my problem. Like they, I'm okay. I'm teaching you to slap this policy on your emails, but if you're not building an email list, you have no policy to slap on it. So let me teach you also, that's like kind of how I thought outside of the box. Yeah. Yeah.

It shows so well because you take every piece of information and feedback that you get and you create content with it. I'm always seeing you do that. Like how you survey your audience is so natural and unique. It's not like fill out this 30 page form. It's just like, Hey, can you just hit reply and let me know like what your thoughts are on this and I can see how your.

Truly listening to your people to help them and create content and that, that is where the growth is and the success is. I'm super excited when I see people like you, um, actually treating their audiences with kindness and compassion and respect in that way. 'cause it's, to some people, it's to some business owners.

We're just numbers on a spreadsheet, you know? Yeah, for sure. And I think those things actually go a long [00:12:00] way. And I see this as a two-way street. I share about myself, I've shared about. You know, the journey of having lost both my parents within a year. I shared about my journey when I had brain surgery, I just started my business.

Like I shared the whole thing. But I, it's not just like I'm very careful not to treat the business also like a journal entry. And so like, I share things about myself, but I also speak directly to them. And so it's a, it's a careful balance for all of you to. You know, I think there's this tendency when you have this kind of business to start treating it like you're an influencer of sorts and like you're talking about yourself.

And it's a careful balance of like sharing parts of yourself while also remembering that at the end of the day, you're really here for them and to get to know them. Right? A hundred percent. And yeah, you wanna humanize your brand and be yourself, but you're also there to teach and be a business owner.

Yeah. So it's finding that delicate balance, which. You do so well. I love seeing your personal content. I'm like, obsessed with your dog, which, oh, he's so cute. Has the same as my thumb. [00:13:00] I know. I love this. Love it. Uh, so yeah, I think there's, there's so much value in that for anyone who comes to you and hopes to learn anything.

To see what's possible. So now the talk of the town is obviously your new book. When I start my business, I'll be happy, which is out now. Yay. Yay. Um, I think it was like the first pre-order when I saw you talking on Instagram. I was like, send me the link now. Um, so why don't you tell everyone a bit more about it, tell us all about it and what, what to expect and where he can get it and all the good things.

So my book, when I start My Business, I'll Be Happy, is really meant to be a practical guide to learning how to build a successful online business. So pretty early on in the book, um, not only do I share kinda my personal story, my personal journey, but I. Uh, like to set expectations upfront and say like, this is what it's really like to build an online business.

This is what it's like behind the scenes. I think this is what it takes. Um, this is what a business can offer you and what it's not [00:14:00] responsible, like, it's not responsible to offer you your happiness. It's not going to. It's not its job to give you your happiness. It's a business, it's a job. And that is okay, I think like releasing some of the like guilt and shame about that that's been built up online.

That this is all supposed to be like our passion and life's work. Yeah. Um, and then it's okay. Um, and you could still like love what you do and not have it be about you or be like all of you, you know? And I wanted to really teach people who wanted to learn how to build, uh, either like a digital product or.

Scale a physical product online, primarily using online tools like social media, but also what I call the big three. Um, either YouTube, podcasting, uh, or blog posts, SEO optimized blog posts and how to create like content, uh, ecosystems around just even one thing, like if you wanna become known for one thing or maybe two things, I'll let you stretch into two things.

I then how are we going to build this out and stay focused? So if you've ever wanted to learn. How [00:15:00] I, for example, now have sold well, well over $8 million in just one of my digital products alone. Um, kept keeping it pretty simple, not having to work like crazy, having a nice lean team, low overhead. Um, this is the exact system that I lay out in the book.

Yeah. It's so, so good. It's, and I mean, we're so lucky to have this knowledge. Are you kidding me? Like it's just so. Amazing that you chose to share this and open your world up to us. And I, I know, gosh, you've been through the ringer in life too personally. You were, you've been so transparent about it. So to see you kind of.

Work your way through it and process it in real time through the publication of this book and continuing to grow the business and take care of a team and take care of Huddy and your life, you know? Yeah. And build your beautiful life on Long Island in that beautiful new home. My goodness. So. Power move.

Um, very, very thrilled that this book is out in the world. [00:16:00] Uh, everyone should go get it and read it. I have all of the links for Sam in the show notes, so you guys gotta jump on that. It is value on top of value. Sam, before we head out, um. What is the number one piece of advice that you would give someone, whether they're an established business owner or just a person in life who feels this longing to create something or they've been creating something but they feel, they feel stuck, or they feel isolated in their idea?

Like what is. That, that first step that they should take. I think it's a bit of a mix of creating and creating to create, not creating, because you hope it becomes something. So kind of seeing, like letting that artist out of you regardless of what you make and just creating and seeing where it goes without expectations.

So I like that idea. I. But I also like to sometimes in those periods do more listening than I do talking, or maybe even creating, in this case, like if [00:17:00] you were trying to turn it into a business, for example, I would want to know a lot more about what other people are looking for. Um, and maybe a lot of the noise in your own head is like, you're putting a lot of like different stories and restrictions and things on things, but if you were to speak to other people, it would maybe become clear.

So sometimes I will just. Do sit back and just do more listening than anything else. And, um, maybe it's not apparent in talking to one person or having one conversation, but sometimes those conversations start to stack up and you realize like, oh, I'm seeing, I'm seeing a bit of, of a theme here. Um, and I guess I would just end it by saying that I think wrapped up in all, in all of this is remaining open and curious.

I think that that has accidentally been one of my best quote unquote strategies that I didn't do on purpose. But, um, I think it, it ties into what I'm saying that like, if you are open-minded, if you're open to the possibilities that might come. From a [00:18:00] conversation, uh, or from creating something or from experimenting, um, you might be surprised where it could go versus if you go into everything with an agenda or the way that you think it should turn out, you're, I think you're really limiting what's possible for you.

Yeah, that is a fantastic tip. And sitting back, being a listener, absorbing information, going out there, connecting, like hearing real world, you know. Dialogues, having those dialogues and putting that into what you create instead of, you know, sitting alone at your desk or with your Kindle in isolation. You know, I've definitely fallen into that trap of like, I need to know all the things first before I start.

And I think a lot of this, it's, it's again, that balance between listening and just starting and mm-hmm. All of that. So thank you so much for that beautiful tip. And I also love too, the term you used just before. Um, in, in business, like developing your ecosystem. I think that's such a spot on way to to end here is like, that's [00:19:00] all that we're doing.

Like we're finding our, our zone of genius and we're just figuring out how to thrive in it. Would you agree with that? Yeah, absolutely. And I think like. What's cool about thinking about it in terms of an ecosystem, and this is the way I wrote this chapter in the book, was that it, it's all just feeding back into one another.

So it's, it's kind of, it might feel like, I had a friend, I told a friend one time, like six, seven years ago, my business was much smaller. I said, I feel like I'm depositing 10 cents at a time into a bank account. And she was like. Well, first of all, you have to remember you're depositing like a whole lot of 10 cents, right?

Yeah. These are all the individual moves you're making, the pieces of evergreen content, you're creating the, the moving the needle forward things. Those are all your 10 cents things, and they stack up and they gain interest. So now looking back on it, it's like at the time I felt like, oh, I'm not getting anywhere like.

And really the subtext was like, I'm not getting as fast as I thought I should. Or something like that. Probably 'cause of something I believed from what I saw [00:20:00] online, but like I now looking back at it, I'm like, dang, good thing I deposited all those 10 cents. Like it, it really added up. Right. And you don't, you don't feel the effects of it until it really starts snowballing.

So it's kind of, what I like about this idea of an ecosystem is it's like these little moves that keep feeding and building and gaining compounding interest. Yeah. Yeah, that's, I love that. It's such a beautiful sentiment. Great way to put it, and a wonderful way to end because my friends, we unfortunately are at the end of our time here with Sam Vander Wielen, but I have, I mean, again, what a pleasure to have you back on the podcast.

And you know, especially during a time when my pivot is brand new too. You know, having been in the marketing and PR world for 13 years to now jump into life coaching and just, yeah. Man, I just like, thanks. So thank you so much for your time. You are such an inspiration. Thank you for showing women and everyone just what is possible when you are [00:21:00] truly leaning into your power and following your heart.

So thank you so much, Sam. Thank you so much for having me. Did that go by too fast? No worries. You can always find me over at elisabethfleming.com for more information about my programs, events, and how you can take your learning further with me. If you loved this episode, leave a review and it helps more than you know.

Thank you so much for tuning in. I'll catch you next time.

 

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Elisabeth Fleming https://www.elisabethfleming.com
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Ep. 71: Midlife AWAKENING