390: What’s Working for Influencers Featuring Real Wins from Creators You Love

[00:00:00] Bree Pair: Hey there. I'm brief hair content creator, coach, and your host of the Thrive Podcast, and I'm here to help you build a brand you're proud of with clear strategy and real support. Let's dive in

as we kick off 2026. I wanted to start with something special, a look back at 2025 through the eyes of some incredible creators and educators in our community. I reached out to some amazing friends and asked them to share the best thing they did for their business in 2025. I am so excited that they agreed and are sharing with us today.

What you're about to hear are real unfiltered insights from people in the thick of growing their businesses just like you. They're gonna share the one thing that moved the needle for them this past year. These are the wins that mattered most to them, and they're sharing them with us today. So let's dive in and hear from them.

First up is Nina.

[00:01:02] Nina: Hey. Hey, my name is Nina Clapperton and I am the founder of She Knows SEO. I am a blogging coach and an SEO expert that helps people grow their online business through organic search visibility. The best thing I did for my business this year is probably. Bothering my audience more. I think people are always so afraid to send a ton of emails in a day or post a bunch or whatever 'cause they're worried about cadence or bothering people or losing subscribers or whatever.

And I think we really need to decenter ourselves from like subscriber numbers and those things. And remember that your ideal audience. Wants to hear from you. So during launches I started sending five to seven emails a day. Um, and then just regularly I would post in my Facebook group a ton. I would share on stories and I'd be really authentic when I was doing all of that.

I think that you don't need to be that polished, you just need to have that connection with people. And getting away from that, like perfectionism and focusing more on making the connections and being okay with people, unsubscribing allowed me to bond so much better with my audience and it basically doubled my sales, which is pretty freaking cool.

[00:02:17] Bree Pair: I love this so much because how often do we just overthink the amount of content that we're putting out there? How often do you overthink how often you have shared your opt-in or shared a blog post or even re-shared that reel that you created? We get in our heads so, so much with this, and when I first listened to this.

It was just such a good reminder that I needed to hear, to keep posting, keep showing up for my audience consistently and super often. And then the thing that she said at the end that I am probably going to like frame and put in my office somewhere is that you don't need to be polished. You need to connect.

You don't have to be perfect. Your audience just needs you to connect with them. Love it so much. Okay, let's go to the next one. Next up we have Megan.

[00:03:14] Megan: My name is Megan Hastings and I'm a gluten-free recipe creator at a dash of Mag Nut. The best thing I did for my business this year was to stop thinking of my blog as the business itself and start seeing it as a tool to grow my business.

For years, I poured everything into creating content. And it wasn't until I made that mindset shift that things really started to click for me. Now I see my blog as a way to connect with my audience, share value, and then guide them toward the products and experiences that help them bake gluten-free with confidence.

It's been such a freeing and empowering change for me. This was

[00:03:52] Bree Pair: such a fun one to hear from her because it got me thinking about how we tend to go all in on one platform and that one platform is make or break for us right now. I don't want you to go and spread yourself super thin, but it's so good to like step back from that platform and realize this platform, whether it's your blog, whether it's Instagram, whatever.

Is not the business itself. It's just a part of a business. It's part of this bigger picture, and I think that is such a smart, strategic thing to stop and think through as we are starting this new year. Okay, let's keep it going up next is Natalie.

[00:04:40] Nadalie: Hi, my name is Natalie Bardo. I'm a Pinterest coach for creators and onlineSellers@yourpincoach.com.

And the best thing that I did for my business this year is to finally launch a proper website. A website with a blog, incredible sales pages, and testimonials with all of my press, everything that. I need to properly position myself online, which is crazy because I launched this business in 2019, and it wasn't until this year that I finally invested the time into building a website that accurately represented both who I am and what I offer.

[00:05:31] Bree Pair: Yes, I am so glad that she created this website. That is stunning. By the way. Go and check it out. But if this is you and you don't have a website and you're just on social media, I really encourage you to. Create a place where you can show off. I want you to have a website. Yes, I want you to have a blog, but I'm not telling you that if you don't have one, that you are failing.

If you don't go and create one and post every single week. I. I want you to create a website yes, that has a blog and that you can post on, but a place where you can show off your content, where you can show off your expertise, where you can show all of the different places that you've been featured. It's so hard, and I mean basically impossible to do that on any other platform to try and do that just on social media.

Is doing yourself such a huge injustice because let's say you have been featured on different websites or even had bigger brands repost your content. Yes, you can talk about that in a reel, or you can share that in a carousel post or even add it to your highlights, but it's. Going to get buried and it's not going to be seen, but having a place where you can consider it almost like a portfolio and this, you know, foundation of your brand.

And yes, I am an established brand. I have my own website is such a great idea and I highly recommend that be something you add to your 2026 plans. And if you already have a website, maybe this will get you inspired to go and make some updates. Okay, the last one for this episode is Elizabeth. Let's listen in.

[00:07:11] Elizabeth: Hello, my name's Elizabeth and I'm with Country PE Andy, like the flower, and you can find me at country pe and e.com or through my Instagram handle at the country, PE Andy. So the best thing I did for my business this year was to lean into the joy. When I planned each new project and each new season, I asked myself, does this truly make me happy?

And if it did, I leaned in. If it didn't, I stepped away. We build these businesses to create a life we love, but it's easy to get caught up in the hustle. So this year I chose to pause, ask the question first, and honestly, it's been a total game changer.

[00:07:48] Bree Pair: I wanted to end with this one because Elizabeth always makes me smile, and this ties in so well with what I have talked about in the last few episodes with you guys, especially in episode 3 86 where I talked about building structure around your business to give your creativity room to run instead of being exhausted by it all.

And when I talked in the holiday episode about. Me leaning more into my intuition and leaning into the things that bring me joy and require less hustle, but will make me more money. I think it's all tied in such a beautiful way, and Elizabeth just put this beautiful bow on top of it and wrapped it all up to give it to us.

I. Really hope that you will take this to heart and really look at your business and look at what is bringing you joy and what is absolutely not, and what can you lean in more on and lean out of that is not bringing you joy. This. Ugh. I love it so much. This was such a good way to end this episode, and I hope that you will take that and what everybody else said to heart.

So there you have it. Four incredible creators and four totally different wins, but all pointing to the same truth. That growth happens when you get intentional about what's working and what's not. Nina reminded us that our audience actually wants to hear more from us. Megan shifted her entire perspective on what her blog could do for her business.

Natalie built the foundation to showcase her expertise, and Elizabeth gave herself permission to follow what brings her joy. The common thread that I am seeing with all of these is that they all took action on something they had been maybe putting off or overthinking, and that's exactly what I want you to think about as we head into 2026.

What's one thing you've been putting off that could change everything for your business this year? Maybe it's showing up more consistently. Maybe it's finally building that website, or maybe it's just getting really clear on your strategy so you can stop spinning your wheels and start seeing real results.

So if you're ready to join me in making 2026 our most intentional year yet, I've got something for you, bold fluence. I know you've heard me talk about it. It's my program where we work together to build a content strategy that actually works for your business. This is not some cookie cutter formula. We focus on things that move the needle for you.

Specifically showing up authentically, connecting with your audience, and creating systems that support your creativity instead of draining it. If anything you heard today resonated with you, this is your sign. Head to Thrive Together, block slash Bold fluence or click the link in the description below to learn more and join us.

Friends. Let's make 2026 the year you finally do the thing. Thanks for listening, and I'll catch you in the next episode.

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