For many entrepreneurs, the first step to working for yourself full-time comes out of necessity — more than just a nudge from the universe. And often – as in Katy’s case – the end results are more than worth the initial uncertainty and challenge.
Katy Widrick serves high-growth founders as a funnel fixer, recovering the biggest expense in their businesses — lost sales — using simple, effective systems to increase conversions and reduce overhead costs.
An EMMY-nominated journalist and media producer, Katy has worked in marketing and revenue development for more than 20 years, designing and implementing profit-first funnels that help visionary leaders maximize their impact, increase top-line revenue and to scale their product and service lines into seven, eight and nine figures.
Katy joined SPI’s All-Access Pass in March 2023 and it was a turning point in her career.
“Detached from a cliff”
Here’s how Katy describes her entrepreneurial leap:
“In November 2021 I suddenly and unexpectedly ended my corporate career. I was working in an extremely fast growing company for three years, as a member of the executive team. While it was an experience that taught me so much about growth marketing, profitability, external and internal marketing, leadership and more, it also left me seriously exhausted and, if I’m being honest, quite unsure of my next steps.
I took a break from work and just a few weeks into the break, I was notified that my position was going away…so now instead of taking a leap, I felt like I was being pushed off a cliff.”
It turns out, though, that push was just what Katy needed to “build wings on the way down,” as she put it.
Between November 2021 and March 2023, Katy re-entered the workforce but this time as her own boss. He previously founded a company called Make Media Over, where he offered online business management, email marketing and sales funnel plans.
When Katy closed Make Media Over to pursue her corporate career, she thought it would be for good.
“I never imagined that I would return to entrepreneurship. I really dismantled the business — I shut down the website, let all my software subscriptions expire, notified all my clients that I was unavailable, and engaged in the traditional corporate experience,” Katy tells SPI.
But when her corporate career didn’t pan out, Katy turned to the one asset she’s held onto over the years: her LLC. It was still active and Katy decided to return to self-employment with some big, bold goals.
A Bold Pivot: Enter the All-Acess Pass
After 14 months, Katy made another bold choice. To empower herself with even more training and skill development – and to take her business to the next level – she decided to invest in SPI’s All-Access Pass.
“I originally joined so I could take advantage of the Podcasting Pathway. I had started my own podcast during those 14 months and it was fun… but I knew it wasn’t exactly what I wanted to bring to my audience. There is no one I trust more as a teacher than Pat Flynn, and for this path alone I knew the investment would be worth it.”
Katy has been podcasting and blogging under the name “Rising Tide Talents,” a nod to her mantra that a rising tide lifts all boats. Her podcast episodes were hosted solo and focused on marketing funnels and leadership.
A good start, but it wasn’t nearly the show he knew it could be. The All-Access Pass gave her the clarity and confidence to spin her podcast and take advantage of all the other materials in AAP.
“I decided to significantly change everything — from the format of the show to the platform on which I hosted it. Once I mapped it out using the All-Access Pass guides, I immediately felt a sense of alignment and purpose. The first time I interviewed a founder on Hard Cost, I felt magic in the air. Since then, it’s been one improvement after another: I optimized the podcast for advertising, used the email marketing course to grow my audience, and more.”
Part Mastermind, Part MBA, Part Accountability Group
Katy has been very successful in helping visionaries through their own blind spots, although she continues to rely on All-Access Pass support for help with hers.
“What does that say? A cobbler’s child has no shoes? This is absolutely my experience: what I am very good at doing for others, I am very terrible at doing for myself! Joining the All-Access Pass and being part of the community was part mastermind, part MBA, and part accountability group — and I’m so grateful to be a part of it.”
Lightning Round
The biggest takeaway or aha moment from the All-Access pass
The Hook/Story/Ending designs for videos that Pat teaches — they work for so many other things too!
Favorite course on the All-Access Pass
Connect with Power-Up Podcasting® and YouTube from the ground up.
Unexpected benefit of the All-Access pass
The Member Referral Program!
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