Gillian Tietz
What was your dream career as a child?
FBI agent.
Describe the moment you decided to become an entrepreneur.
I was about to be passed over for a promotion at work again and a former boss had been making hurtful comments about me for over a year. I am sober, and every time this happened it created a very strong urge to drink. I thought, “It’s not safe for me to be here” and I decided to leave. I had been trying to fit myself into the biotech world for about six years and I was tired of it.
I was only making $500/month at the time of my business, but I had worked hard for two years to build my brand and I knew with more time and better mental health I would be able to pull it off. I spoke at a podcasting conference that weekend and told everyone that the first thing I was going to do when I got home was quit my job.
What drives you to work?
Drinking made my life miserable and I realized that I had a lot of toxic thinking and lacked coping skills that created the perfect conditions for me to become addicted to alcohol. I’ve created a lot of my own misery. Now that I am free, my life has improved in every way and I feel stable and calm. I enjoy my life and I feel happy for the first time.
I use my education in biochemistry and my personal experience to educate the public about alcohol addiction. Learning science helped me overcome the shame I felt about not being able to control my drinking. When I was eight months sober I woke up one day and thought, “Everyone needs to know this,” and started my podcast that day without realizing what I was doing.
What is the most exciting thing you are doing in your business right now?
I’m working very hard to increase my monthly podcast downloads so I can get more income from sponsorships. I have a number in mind that I want to hit by the end of the year so I’m making a big push right now. It’s not exciting now, but it will definitely be exciting when I start to gain momentum and hit my goals.
What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
Entrepreneurship means I can impact the world and take the best care of myself mentally and physically. I never felt valued or involved in biotech and the toxic hype culture was horrible for my health. Now, even though I work almost twice as many hours, I am calm, happy and fulfilled. I no longer dread Sundays or feel down about my work. I think I finally found where I fit.
Recently, our cat got unexpectedly sick and didn’t have much time left. Entrepreneur allowed me to take the week off to spend every second with Luna before her time. i am so I am grateful that I can pause everything or organize meetings of my community members in my absence. The five days I spent with Luna were very special and I didn’t have to worry about my boss being mad, checking email or doing lab duties.
“I no longer do Sunday Scaries or feel hopeless about my work. I think I finally found where I fit in.”
What led you to SPI Pro?
I’m a Pat Flynn superfan and have been thinking about the SPI Pro for a long time. Pat happened to send an email that CART was opening the same weekend I decided to quit my job, so I took that as a sign and joined.
What is your most powerful interaction or learning moment in the community?
I had some very helpful interactions with other SPI members about mindset blocks and some great chats with Team SPI about strategy. I’ve realized over the past year that my mindset is a major problem and the more I work on it the better my business will be, so I always go to a pro when I need to talk through my mindset issues.
“… Mindset is a major issue and the more I work on it the better my business gets, so I always go to a pro when I need to talk through my mindset issues.”
What role has SPI Pro played in your business?
I see Pat as my unofficial mentor. I really enjoy the monthly Ask Pat Zoom calls and Pat has helped me a lot with my network over the past year as I’ve grown and developed it. It was also great getting to know Team SPI and they all had great advice whenever I needed their opinion on something. I appreciate that Team SPI takes the time to comment on everyone’s posts.
What do you like most about SPI Pro and what sets SPI’s community apart from other entrepreneurial communities?
I haven’t come into contact with a ton of the community, but from what I’ve seen some are very complex and SPI Pro isn’t that way at all. I shut down the “cool kid” groups that I see in various industries and that just excludes others who aren’t part of the group. Everyone at SPI Pro is very kind and welcoming.
What would you say to encourage non-community entrepreneurs to join one?
It’s good to be open to different perspectives. Most of your customers aren’t going to think exactly like you, so it’s helpful to get a different opinion from other entrepreneurs. It’s also great for strategy and networking.
If you were to start a brand new online business from scratch today, what would it be?
I help people with podcasting. I know a lot about podcasting and currently work with clients, but I don’t have time to grow and market this side of my business.
If you had your start current Starting over today in business again, would you do one thing differently?
i made a lot Mistakes, but most were great learning experiences. I think one mistake that sucks a lot of time is creating a course too soon. People tell you it doesn’t matter how small your audience is, but it does. If you don’t have marketing skills and your audience is small, it’s best to focus on learning what people like from you before spending all the time, energy, and money required to create a course. Marketing skills and being comfortable promoting/selling are important. The smaller your audience, the more important those skills are.
If you were given $1 million today, with no strings attached, what would you do with it?
A lot of things! I will employ my mother so that she can retire and work for me part time. I will hire a marketing specialist to handle marketing for all the shows on my network and an assistant to work for all the hosts. I would like to get some more software to automate my business. I will invest some of it, and donate some to charity.
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