Note: Daily Business Coach Podcast is produced for the ear and designed to be heard. If you are able, we strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion and emphasis that’s not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers and may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
Fiona Kalickey talks with Sarah Thornton, the co-founders of Finders Keepers, their exciting entrepreneurship journey, challenges and how businesses can leverage on their experience to succeed. The Finders Keepers is where communities come together to shop, explore and discover the very best from designers, makers and entrepreneurs in Australia.
Mileage for those who want to listen on the go: This podcast clocks in at around 40 minutes… so head out for a four-miler and let Fiona and Sarah keep you company.
Overview
- Introduction
- On Sarah’s business – The Finders Keepers
- How the business got through COVID
- On bringing a friend as a business partner
- Before social media and how has social media helped the business
- Mentors and resources that has helped Sarah
- On staying organized
- How to connect with Sarah and the Finders keepers
- Conclusion
LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE SHOW:
- My Daily Business Coach Shop
- My Daily Business Coach Free Weekly Planner
- My Daily Business Coach Waitlist
- Sarah Thornton
- Brooke Johnson
- The Finders Keepers
- Creative Business Summit
- 16personality.com
- MySpace
- Pru Chapman
- Owners Collective
- Liane Moriarty
- Asana
- thefinderskeepers.com/summit
Intro Voice Note:
There are some horror stories out there, so I think it really comes down to personality compatibility in a big way, first of all, and then also the skill sets, because if you’re very entrepreneurial and then you’ve got another person who’s just as gusto as you, there can be clashes if you don’t actually have clear boundaries on what your strengths are.
Intro with soft Music:
Do you love your business? You should, right? Well, sometimes we just don’t. It’s my hope that this from My Daily Business Coach podcast helps you regain a little of that lost love by providing tips and tactics, tools, insights, inspiration, all the good stuff to help you actually enjoy running your business. In addition to actionable tips and tactics that you’ll be able to execute immediately, you’ll also hear from creative small business owners around the world who’ve been able to sidestep their hustle and build a business that merges their passion with their purpose and provides a profit. I’m your host, Fiona Killackey , founder of My Daily Business Coach. Let’s get going.
Fiona Killackey : Hello and welcome to episode 206, 206 of the My Daily Business Coach Podcast. My name is Fiona Killackeyand I am the host of this podcast. I’m also a speaker and author, a mum, a wife and a business coach. And if you are interested in business coaching and you want to get in before the end of this year, I know that sounds good, crazy saying this in May, but yeah, we are filling up. So we are starting to book people in now for August and September. So if you’re interested in one on one coaching, please get in touch with us. And if you want to start earlier than that, we actually are running group coaching to start in July. So if you are interested in getting in and starting and you still get one on one sessions with me, but you also get the group which meets every two weeks for a year. You can find all the information at mydailybusinesscoach.com/groupcoaching or you can just send us a DM @ MyDailyBusinessCoach and we can send you the information so you can apply. It’s a beautiful, beautiful program. I’ve been running it for years now. I just love seeing the way that people develop and change and become good friends with the other people that are in the group. It’s one of my favourite things to do. So, group coaching will be kicking off in July. We will be finalizing and interviewing people through June.
So, if you’re keen, definitely check out mydailybusinesscoach.com/groupcoaching. And of course, if you want to do one on one coaching, you can find all the information@mydailybusinesscoach.com shop or you can just email us as well and we can set that up for you. So today it is a small business interview episode and that’s where I interview creative small business owners from across the globe actually, and talk to them about all sorts of things from what are the best tools and programs they use through to how do they get started? How do they get through challenges, all those sorts of things? And today it’s a really interesting guest. So before we get stuck into that, I just wanted to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on the beautiful land in which I’m able to record this podcast. And that is the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. And I pay my respects to their elders, past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge that sovereignty has never been ceded. And as a small business owner, I also pledged to work in ways that aid in really helping equality for first nations people and for all people across the globe. All right, let’s get stuck into today’s episode..
Soft Music
Fiona Killackey : So today I am talking to Sarah Thornton, who is cofounder alongside Brooke Johnson of the Finders Keepers. Now, if you’re in Australia and you’re in the creative space you may well have heard of or have even had a stall at one of the finest Keepers markets. It was started in 2008 by Sarah and Brooke and really has grown from sort of this market that they wanted to create because they couldn’t find something that was like what they wanted to have into this huge platform that actually has events throughout the East Coast of Australia as well as an online marketplace. It has as of this year, I think the Creative Business Summit. And they have an online shop and just they’re real Champions of the creative community in Australia. So, a while ago, I think it’s a few months ago now, Sarah contacted us and sort of pitched to be on the podcast. And knowing their business and knowing that I have a number of clients who actually had stalls there, I just thought, yeah, let’s hear from them and hear about how did they start? What challenges have they come up against, especially being a predominantly physical event space business going through the pandemic. And actually when we recorded this, they had just postponed their Creative Business Summit because of the floods that were happening in northeast Australia. And so, the Creative Business Summit is actually happening in June. If you’re listening to this in real time, you can check that out. And we’ll have the links in the show notes. But, yeah, I wanted to chat to Sarah and sort of ask about how did this all happen? How do you go with staff all sorts of things? So, if you have gone to the Finders Keepers or you have had a stall there or you have interacted with them in some way, maybe you’re one of their many followers on social media. I know that today will be really interesting for you, as it was for me. So this is my interview with Sarah Thornton, co-founder of the Finders Keepers.
Fiona Killackey : Hello, Sarah. How are you?
Sarah Thornton: Hi. I’m well, thank you.
Fiona Killackey : Hi. I’m excited to be chatting to you today. And I’d love to sort of start off with right in there from the start. How do you feel like life is going for you right now? On a scale of one to ten,
Sarah Thornton: I’m going to say an optimistic eight.
Fiona Killackey : Nice
Sarah Thornton: things have been a little bumpy this year, but we’re trying to be optimistic and look for the future and we’ve got a big year ahead of us.
Fiona Killackey : Now good one for the optimistic eight. I like that answer. I have mentioned your business just now, and of course I’m sure that so many people listening know about it have visited, maybe even have taken part in it. I’ve worked with a number of clients who know it very well and have been part of your incredible business, but I’d love you to tell us a bit more about it. So what does it do and how and why and when did you start it?
Sarah Thornton: So, we’ve been around for 14 years now, so quite an established business. I just counted before we’ve run 67 events,
Fiona Killackey : oh my goodness.
Sarah Thornton: Across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. And earlier on, Brooke, my business partner and I web designers, so we come from a design background ourselves and the inspiration was really just to put on something fun that we wanted to go to. At the time, Brooke had just started a jewellery label and was just kind of struggling to find places to show her work and be appreciated by life lined audience. And really back then in 2008, there wasn’t really any big design markets or events similar to what we do now. But you probably know there’s quite a few these days. It’s not a new concept, but back then it definitely was something that we thought didn’t exist and we wanted to give it a go. And she had done a lot of local markets that just didn’t really feel like the right kind of crowd and we wanted to do something fun with some friends and it was really casual. We started really small and didn’t really think much of it and just thought I’ll put on this market and maybe people come, maybe they won’t. And we’ll have music and wine and all the fun things and it definitely was a bigger success than we could have ever imagined in those early days. It was something that people are really craving and excited to go to and we found a niche really earlier on. So that’s kind of a little bit of a backstory. And then from there really it was only a side hustle, something that we just did in our spare time with limited resources and money. And then we were like, okay, people really like this. Let’s kind of make it a bit more of a business. And it went part time and then eventually it just kept getting bigger and bigger and full time job and we now have eight staff as well. So it’s definitely turned into something bigger than what we anticipated and just found a community in that as well. A lot of the designers grew up with us and established their business from very early days and have now gone on to do amazing things. So it felt like we could never really let it go because there was a need for it and we just wanted to keep supporting our community.
Fiona Killackey : Oh, my goodness. And I love the name. So how did you come up with the name and is it just well, that’s what people are trying to find and keep things like, where did you come up with the name? The Finest Keepers.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, it’s a funny one. I think we were trying to think of something cute and kitschy and nostalgic back then, such a long time ago, and it just stuck for some reason. I don’t know. I can’t even remember how we came up with it, but it was just a conversation and we’re thinking about what’s an old saying or something that has a bit of fun to it, and then we just went with it and it kept. It is what it is now. So, yeah, and we always kind of play on those words as well as find the club, keep and that kind of stuff. And it’s kind of evolved into what it is.
Fiona Killackey : Oh, so Congratulations on bringing it in. 14 years. That’s huge. And I know that seems like people are like, oh, that’s a long time. It’s way before we all got into social media. So very old, like a life without social media. And can I ask, are you both staying in design as well? Like when you said this is a side hustle until it got to a point and now you’ve got eight staff and it’s a full-time thing. Did Brooke give up the jewellery line entirely? How did you make that shift from this is a side thing to this is actually a full-blown business?
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, we did hold on to it for a while. I think we’re both just naturally creative and we kind of joke that we’ll sometimes get back to that in our spare time, but we both became mothers and the family life really kind of took over and managing a business and a family for some things, kind of went to the side a little bit. But we always talk about being creative and doing things again. But, yeah, it just kind of evolved that way. And we wanted to really dedicate our time to it.
Fiona Killackey : I love that. And then we are in a pandemic. We’re still in a pandemic. And I know lots of my clients who have had events or even some people that had booked in with the Finders Keepers. It’s a very challenging time that you’re in and it’s a very challenging time that you’ve just gone through as well. And so many businesses like yours where it’s based on physical events. Can you talk us through how you’ve pulled through? Is it still a huge nightmare. And what’s it been like for businesses like yours that really rely on face to face things happening. Like, did you need to change things? Did you think at some point, oh, my God, this is it, it’s just finished. How did you get through that?
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, I definitely had those thoughts. I think for us we were probably one of the hardest industries in general, being events as well as music and entertainment. It was pretty hard because we didn’t have any other way of making revenue, so it was pretty scary. And yeah, there were definitely times when we were mentally preparing for the fact that we might not make it through. So it definitely was a hard time. The start of 2020, I think everybody was going through it and it was a lot of unknowns. I feel like 2021 was just as hard, to be honest, but we did have a bit of more of a, I guess, track record of how to survive during really hard times and having experience that, everybody knew how to get down to ground zero and just go, okay, what do we need to do to survive and get through this period? So, yes, definitely. I’m pretty proud that we’re still standing today because I just didn’t think it was going to happen. We did rely on JobKeeper, a lot of small businesses did, and we’re really lucky that we had that and we were able to survive and just minimize our workload and everything immediately in terms of overhead expenses just to survive that period. And I got really good at cash flow projections, which is now a skill that I have for any scenario, and I think that really got us through to just be able to know what we had to do to survive and what the bare minimum to survive on. But lastly, our community is amazing and we always put them first and I think the strength of them getting us through it and supporting us and not pulling out and asking for refund straight away or just being able to support us in other areas of the business is something that we’ve just really seen as the silver lining during this period. And knowing that they’re there to support us to get through the other end has been one of the best things out of it and we were lucky as well because we started to operate online so we could shift to that quite quickly. But, yeah, we definitely have learnt so much during the last two years and I think a lot of small businesses probably can relate to that one.
Fiona Killackey : Yes, it’s been a deep learning curve.
Sarah Thornton: Yes
Fiona Killackey : So, you touched on the fact that you had moved online and you were able to sort of operate some part of it online. I was looking at your site before this and you’ve got an online shop and I was wondering, did that start before the Pandemic did it start just like at the start of 2020, was that always around and kind of how have you created that in order to give people a similar experience? I know it can’t be the same when they’re in person, but what have you had to do to make that site, the shop online, kind of function in a similar way?
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, we’re really lucky. We built the online marketplace in 2019 and we had no idea what was coming. Obviously, good timing. Yeah, the plan had really been to build that out so that the designers could have a chance to connect with people during the event and after and also reach a broader audience. And yes, the timing was just good that we really were going to launch it in 2020. So it was a kind of a forced launch and a quick pivot into that space. There’s definitely been some challenges. One of the biggest things was that we didn’t have a huge advertising marketing budget or a lot of money to spend on keep developing it and things like that. But yeah, we were really lucky that we had, I guess, all the back-end stuff ready to go and the marketplace was functional and we were able to pivot there really quickly. And yeah, I think it definitely is a different experience online. There’s just something really special about connecting in person, and we always wanted to have it as, I guess, a complimentary place alongside our event to not replace that real-life contact, but just to give people opportunities to connect online. So, yeah, it’s definitely been good for that, and we’re hoping to keep building it and getting more sellers to have that constant cash flow as well
Fiona Killackey : Oh, my goodness. We will, of course, link to that in the show notes as well. And another thing I wanted to ask and you’ve talked about the journey to start this business and that you were in partnership and you’re still in partnership with Brooke Johnston on this whole business. And I always find it interesting to ask kind of how has it been working in a partnership, and did you have to like when you started this and because it was a side thing for so long, was it just like, let’s just do this and you do that part and I’ll do this part and we can kind of just figure it out or was it a sit down and like, you’re really good at this, you should do that part of the business, and I’m good at this. And especially when you started bringing on staff as well. I work with lots of people who’ve gone into business with a friend or their partner or a cousin or a sister or whatever. And I think there’s always a point at which we need to talk about it.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah.
Fiona Killackey : But yeah, I’m just sort of wondering how did it start? And is there any advice that you give to people who are listening who maybe have just got into business with somebody and you’re 14 years in, or similarly, maybe they’ve got their own business and they’re thinking about bringing like a friend or a partner on board as a partnership.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, it’s such a good question. And it’s funny, I’ve been asked this before and I’ve just said I don’t want to give advice on how just because some partnerships just don’t work and there are some horror stories out there. So, I think it really comes down to personality compatibility in a big way, first of all, and then also the skill sets, because if you’re very entrepreneurial and then you’ve got another person who’s just as gusto as you, they can be clashes if you don’t actually have clear boundaries on what your strengths are. I think for Brooke and I, we didn’t really sit down from the start. As I said earlier, it was really organic. We just started doing it on the side and we hadn’t really sat down and done a business plan or really ever thought about where we wanted to go in the future. And that didn’t really happen until later on. But the reason we work so well is I’m, I guess more of the digital technical side of things. And she is way more hands on than I am. And we found this really beautiful flow of skill sets that always works. So, in terms of what she does at the event, it’s all production, it’s all making the events come to life and look beautiful and feel like an experience that people are drawn to. And she’s always had a real design eye for those things. And we’ve always found like we creatively have a really strong bond. But then when it comes to systems and technical stuff and how to build out a project timeline, that’s my strength. And I really have a whole different skill set to her. But we work so well together. And I think that there’s also that the personalities that work together, we don’t argue or fight. We’ve got a really good relationship and one that respects each other. So, she doesn’t agree with something or has another idea, then we really just sit down and go, okay, what’s the best solution? Yeah, it just works. And I think it is pretty rare. And I feel like we are lucky that we’ve got that relationship. And it’s a testament that we’ve got so far because some partnerships just don’t work and people know when it’s time to cut it off. I’m really kind of careful with what advice I give because I don’t want to be the person to say, yeah, go and do it, and then it’s a disaster.
Fiona Killackey : You are incredibly lacking. I think I looked it up once. The average marriage in Australia is 12.1 years. So you have outlasted the average marriage in Australia
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, that’s so true. That’s funny. Yeah.
Fiona Killackey : A business can bring in a whole lot of extra stuff as well. And I love that you talked on personalities. Whenever there’s a partnership, they absolutely have to do it. I get partners to do the 16personalities.com test, which is not to be like, oh, this is your personality. It’s concrete. But just to start seeing like, I just met a couple of the other day that did it, and they were like, oh, my gosh. And I was like, wow, you are actually the opposites on every single part of the challenge. And yes, it was just really interesting. They’d never done anything like that. And it was like, well, of course you’re going to keep coming up against these clashes because you’re coming at it from two very different ways of looking at the world.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, that’s so true. I think it’s really important for you to be aware of your personality traits. And we’ve done a similar one, too. We’ve done that one. But the disk profile.
Fiona Killackey : Oh, yes.
Sarah Thornton: Which was great for our team to do because we realized we were on opposite spectrums but could really respect and understand how differently people work and what they need to really do their best work, which is something that we like to think about. Like, how can you do your best work if you’re that personality and that’s different to somebody else completely.
Fiona Killackey : Yeah. And even just like, we all have stories around money or we have stories around, I don’t know, ego or putting ourselves out there. Like, everyone has their own things, and then they bring that into a business partnership. And sometimes those things are never spoken about until it becomes really evident that there’s a difference in opinion, some sort of thing. So, yeah, I love that. And obviously you’re very concentrated on creating this amazing culture and this amazing team as well. Like, even the fact that you’ve done Disk profiling is huge. A lot of people don’t. They just keep going and we’re not going to work out what’s different or how we can best help our staff.
Sarah Thornton: Yes. Or just trying to funnel them into a box that doesn’t work for everybody either.
Fiona Killackey : Exactly.
Fiona Killackey : And I think another thing that it seems evident from your business and the brand is that social media has been a huge part of your business. I think you’ve got 230,000 minimum, maybe.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah. Around there. Yeah.
Fiona Killackey: A quarter of a million plus people following you. How has social media kind of like how has it contributed to the business? Because you started this well before social media? I think we all forget that Instagram has only been around. I think it’s ten years this year and it’s late 2012. I think that it started Facebook started 2007, but people weren’t really using it. And even Instagram, I remember when that came out, I was in London. I mean, everyone had that Kodak film filter.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah. I was going to say it was really personal.
Fiona Killackey: It was very personal.
Sarah Thornton: It wasn’t business driven at all.
Fiona Killackey: And now it’s hugely business driven. And so, I’m wondering, firstly, how did you get the word out about the business before social media? And then how has social media helped you? Because you’ve obviously got this huge audience on social media.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, it’s been interesting because we’re pre-Facebook, Instagram days. We’re actually on MySpace. Do you remember that?
Fiona Killackey : Oh, my God, I totally remember MySpace. I met so many great people on MySpace. I’m just like, yeah, I loved MySpace. Oh, my God, it was all about what track do you want on MySpace?
Sarah Thornton: Yeah, it’s a lot more creative because you had colourful pages and pictures and the music that you’d have playing. Yeah. So, I think super organic. In the early days, we did a lot of word of mouth marketing and physically visiting people and giving them a flyer in their hands and doing, like, old poster runs. And, yeah, it was just a real organic kind of marketing. And really, we built I think we built our blog in the early days, and then we started with email marketing kind of before anyone was really knowing what they were doing with that. Yes, I think it was definitely, like, really organic and building that list of people and followers over time. And then when social media did take off, we did change how we communicated to our audience, but made sure that we’re always building our email list, which I think is one of the best marketing tips you can have. But I think naturally, as you can see on Instagram, it’s a visual overload of so many small businesses doing amazing things and real content and stuff that you can access quite easily. We never really had that before, except if you’re trying to draw my space and find these people out there. So there was a real beautiful synergy for us to connect with our audience and quickly as well. And having that platform has been amazing. I think there are definitely challenges now. Like, everybody talks about algorithms and all that kind of boring stuff, but we just always try and keep that organic advertising marketing stuff as well
Fiona Killackey : Yeah. And so, do you like, I know you just mentioned the algorithms, but do you like using social media? Has that been something that someone in your team now looks after? I know I’ve got a lot of clients that have big numbers on social media, and sometimes they love it and sometimes they’re like, oh, you know what? I’d love to just get rid of it altogether, but I can’t because it’s a huge part of the business now. Do you enjoy social media? Is that somewhere you look for inspiration yourselves as business owners, but just people as well?
Sarah Thornton: It’s definitely become a beast over time. I can definitely relate to that love hate relationship. I would say it’s become a pretty big tool for us in our business. And we do have amazing social and content manager on board. So, it takes the pressure of us creating content. But also, we’re lucky because we are sharing beautiful design content all the time and we have small businesses to share and talk about. So, it’s not as hard, I think, quite natural to talk about other people. But if it was all me, I probably would hate it. Like how soft is people that just talk about themselves all the time or the content is all driven by them because it’s draining and it’s a lot of work. And I know some people don’t feel much from doing that as well. I can probably take he’ll leave it. I don’t really love social media. I love in person connections and a bit old school like that. But yeah, it’s definitely been a helpful tool and we try and be smart about it, but without running our business and putting our eggs in one basket and always trying to think of ways that we can utilize it as a tool but not let it drive what we do.
Fiona Killackey : And I love that you mentioned before emails. I have a Sunday email that goes out every week. And I always say to people they’re like, is an email dead? And I’m like, no, it is not.
Sarah Thornton: It is still our best engagement.
Fiona Killackey : You look at the numbers, you look at how much return on investment and purchases and everything. I often talk to people and they’ve got thousands of people on their email list and they’re not talking to them. And I’m like, oh my God. And then people spend so much time on social media with this hope that maybe someone will see it and they’ve got this pool of people that just want to hear from you. So yeah, I love that you mentioned that.
Fiona Killackey : And another thing that you guys are working on that is coming up soon, if you’re listening to this in real time is Business Summit. So, can you talk us through that? Because I’m assuming that people are going to hear some really great business advice. I’m really bummed that I won’t be able to go. But tell us, how did that come up and what’s the objective with that?
Sarah Thornton: Yes, that’s a whole new area that we haven’t mentioned yet, but we have never done a Business summit, so we’re very excited. It’s been actually an idea of mine for years, and I think we were going to launch it in 2020, so that was definitely not going to happen. But yes, it’s been on the back burner for a while, and I think it’s just been something that we recognize our community needs. There’s lots of different small business support out there, but something more specific for creatives. And I guess something that I wanted selfishly to. It’s the same reason why we started the market. The reason why I want to do it is because I can’t find anything out there that matches that kind of content that I want. I reckon just the opportunity to get amazing people in the same room and talking. There’s nothing like those connections you make and the feelings that you have when you walk away from those conferences or connections, business networking things. There’s definitely been some pivotal points. I think for me, being able to attend things like that and what you walk away with is a lot more than you can just get from a book sometimes.
Fiona Killackey : Yeah. And even like other people’s questions, the questions that come from the audience, you know, sometimes there’s so much gold in that, not necessarily even just the conference itself, but yeah, definitely people are feeling how you’re feeling validate.
Sarah Thornton: Yeah. We’ve got a mix of keynotes and also panels, and I think that is sometimes we find the best gold in those conversations that are quite natural.
Fiona Killackey : Yeah, I love that. And so what else? Yeah, I love that. And so what else? Like, you mentioned that you’ve had some pivotal points in your business from things like conferences and seminars, but what else has been really important for you in your learning? Like, have you had mentors or mentors or books or, I don’t know, a documentary that changed your mind that you’d suggest to other people or that just was a really interesting one for you when you’re building your business?
Sarah Thornton: Yes, I did have a business coach who is still a great friend of mine throughout the Chapman from Owners Collective. She also lives locally up here, and we started our own group of small business female owners. And that has been amazing because we just all lean on each other for support and inspiration. I think that’s something that’s been super helpful to have those connections and be able to feel like people understand where you’re at and learn a lot from. I definitely listen to a lot to podcasts, including this one. It’s something that I binge when I’m driving or actually when I’m cleaning, which I find really great because you’re doing something methodical. Best time to take stuff in. I also read a lot of books. I like a lot of self-development, personal development stuff as well. Small business. Yeah. I’m always interested in that kind of space, learning about yourself and growing as a person as well as an entrepreneur.
Fiona Killackey : Yeah, I love those as well. Like, if anyone looked at the books that I’m buying online, they would just be like, well, businesses self-help. So, the occasional like Leanne Moriarty or some easy read sort of thing as well.
Fiona Killackey : But you are really busy, like you mentioned before, that you’re a parent and you have these events and there’s been stop, start, stop. And now you’re adding this other thing to them, the Business Summit. Plus you’ve got an online store. I’m just wondering, how do you stay organized and on top of things, because you would have thousands of vendors that have had stalled at Finders Keepers and have set up, plus all the other things that you do around that. Are you super organized as a person? Do you have any apps? Are there kind of platforms that you plug everything into that help?
Sarah Thornton: I’m always interested in this question with other people, the never-ending quest for organization. I’m very lucky because we have a good team and I am quite methodical with organization. So, for me, like a really good timeline and knowing what’s coming up. And we use Asana for a project management, just an online tool, business wise. We’ve always got really good kind of plan coming into events. And then personally, I use some pretty old school methods, which is the weekly paper pad and chunk out my tasks into three things that I need to get done for the day. And I think that’s how I keep myself kind of staying and organized. Like, I usually try and look at it at a monthly or a project view and then break it down into what needs to get done this week, what is absolutely urgent today, and what do I need to get done to support my team for them to get their tasks done as well? So, yeah, it’s kind of a mix of all online and a little bit of old paper and pad method. And I use a productivity funnel, which is just kind of chunking tasks into what’s coming up, what needs doing, what needs watching and what’s done. Just kind of like probably heard about in lots of business groups and books and stuff.
Fiona Killackey : I love that. And I’m all for the old school, like pen and paper. I use that as well. You can have all the apps in the world, an old school pen and paper as well.
Fiona Killackey : And so what are you most proud of from your journey in business? 14 years. It’s huge. You’re in a teenager kind of area now. Yeah. What are you most proud of? You have four more years and it’s a full on out. I know.
Fiona Killackey : How funny.
Sarah Thornton: I guess I’m proud of all the small businesses that we’ve helped over the years. I’m like a proud parent. Watching the little ducklings grow and where they go from here is always amazing. It’s nice to be part of that and know that we’ve had some kind of impact on them as a small business. I guess from a personal level, I’m proud of surviving the pandemic. Yeah. It was really probably the hardest thing that we’ve ever been through, both personally and as a business. And knowing that I could keep it going and keep the team employed and knowing that we’re able to have a full calendar of events this year is pretty exciting. Yeah. I’m proud of us for getting this far. Even though it’s been a bumpy journey, we want to keep doing what we love.
Fiona Killackey : No, you would have helped so many and you’re still helping so many businesses and yeah, it’s just incredible what you’ve built. So Congratulations on that.
Sarah Thornton: Thank you.
Fiona Killackey : And so what is next? You’ve got the Business Summit. What else is happening and where is the best place for people to connect with you?
Sarah Thornton: So our website is thefinderskeepers.com. You can find us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and all the fun places. What’s next for us is obviously the summit, which is on June 2nd in Brisbane. We’ll also have it online. So if you can’t make it in person, you can watch it from the fun of your own couch. And we’ve got our full calendar events this year, which is amazing to see again. So we’ll be back in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne and all our event dates are on our website. So we hope to see you there.
Fiona Killackey : Amazing. And we’ll link to all of that in the show notes as well.
Fiona Killackey : But thank you so much, Sarah, for making the time to come on and chat with us and for sharing so many tips and ideas. All right.
Sarah Thornton: Thank you so much for having me.
Fiona Killackey : No worries. Bye bye.
End.
Soft Music
Podcast Outro:
Fiona Killackey voice:
What an interesting story I love, how this all just started from an idea and now it’s grown to literally help thousands of small business owners get their idea out there, get out to the public, learn from their audience, connect with people, ask questions have people ask questions of them that, they can become real parts of their marketing and their business story. Just so interesting. And thanks again, Sarah, for kind of pitching yourself to come on here, and if anyone’s listening and wants to pitch themselves to be on the podcast, please do we get a lot of pitches I should say, but if it is the right fit, we will definitely book you in. So you can just email us at hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com. But, I’d love to know what you most took away from my conversation with Sarah Thornton of The Finders Keepers.
And so for me, there were so many things that I took away, but two that I kind of wanna highlight is one. And I sort of touched on this just before the idea that if you can’t find something, start it, and it doesn’t need to be this huge business to start with. It doesn’t need to be, where The Finders Keepers are now. When they started, as Sarah said, it was a side project, we are gonna look at how could we do this and how could we kind of just do it in a way that we can actually do it and have friends and family help or just get it out small. It doesn’t always need to be this big thing. And I think so often we can sit in a kind of procrastination station because we think that it needs to be perfect from the get-go, Sarah and Brooke have been running this now for well over a decade and they are learning and, oh my gosh, they’re like fully into teenage years now.
I think it’s 14 years. And so they’re learning every step and every time they learn something and experiment and try something new and different, they’re stronger for it and better for it. So I love that idea. Just start, it doesn’t need to be perfect, just start. And the second thing that I loved was personality traits and personality types. And I love that Sarah brought this up and sort of talked about what they do as a team because it is so important for people to work well together. And especially in her type of business where people are working under a stressful environment, any kind of event can be very stressful if you’ve ever worked in events or PR or marketing you all know that it may look all beautiful and glamorous at the end, but man, it’s a hard slog to get there.
So to know how do I best communicate with the people that I work with? How do they best like to be managed? What do they want from their life? What are they looking for? Even as little as some people prefer to be publicly acknowledged for good jobs. Some people just prefer money. Everyone has a different way and there’s no right or wrong. It’s just the awareness of knowing how can we best work as a team. So I love that she brought that up. It’s so important. So I would love to know what you most took away from this. You can email us at hello@mydailybusinesscoach.com or you can send us a DM at @mydailybusinesscoach. And of course, I’m sure Sarah would love to hear from you as well. So if you want to check out everything that they’re doing, you can find that at thefinderskeepers.com, if you wanna connect with them on Instagram, you can find that just @finders_keepers and you’ll find them over there along with so much inspiration.
You could literally just go through their Instagram and find 10,000 new brands that you wanna be besties with because it’s just a beautiful selection of color and collaboration and creativity. And it’s wonderful. So definitely check them out @finders_keepers. And if you’re interested in the business summit and particularly if you are in Queensland and you’re able to get there in person it’s nice to go to in-person events. Again, you can find everything at thefinderskeepers.com/summit. And of course, we’ll link all of that in the show notes, which you’ll find at mydailybusinesscoach.com/podcast/206. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you so much for Sarah for sharing all your wisdom. And I look forward to seeing you all in the next episode. Take care. Bye.
Thanks for listening to the My Daily Business Coach podcast. If you wanna get in touch, you can do that at mydailybusinesscoach.com or hit me up on Instagram @mydailybusinesscoach.
