When Your Values & Opportunities Collide with Nancy Jane Smith & Bonnie Gillespie

How do you decide what to invest in?

How do you examine the opportunity costs of that investment?

How do you make sure you're giving your investments every chance to succeed?

That's what we've been talking about in the Is It "Worth It"? Series. In the last part of this series, I spoke with Michelle Mazur about how to approach investments in your business and with Beryl Young about deciding WHAT to invest in.

In this episode, I want to talk about when an investment seems like a pretty straightforward payoff—but taking advantage of that opportunity might conflict with your values.

The question I’m asking, in addition to the others above, is: how do you balance the financial health of your business against your values?

Of course, those values SHOULD be an important consideration of any investment you’re making. But we all still need to make money in order for our businesses to survive.

In this episode, I’m talking with two guests, Nancy Jane Smith and Bonnie Gillespie, about their thought processes behind making some big business decisions.

Nancy is a Licensed Professional Counselor with thirteen years in private practice and has spent 20+ years working as a counselor and coach for people with high-functioning anxiety. She's written three books on living happier and is the host of the Live Happier podcast.

Bonnie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. As a weekly columnist, she began demystifying the casting process for actors in 1999. Her most popular book is Self-Management for Actors, the curriculum upon which her teaching is based. As a producer and Emmy-honored casting director, Bonnie specializes in indie darlings. Whether casting, coaching, or exploring the woo as The Astrologer's Daughter, she is passionate about leaving this world better than she found it.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• What if the ROI could be great, but it conflicts with your values?
• Why Nancy decided to fully pull her business activities out of Facebook and Instagram—and why they were at odds with her personal values
• What Nancy’s noticed in her business since leaving social media and how she’s grown her email list without the help of Instagram 
• How Bonnie uses her Facebook account strictly for business (and how she’s set it up that way)
• The strategy behind Bonnie’s Facebook ads and why she prefers Instagram and Facebook to other social media or professional platforms

Learn more about Nancy Jane Smith:

• live-happier.com
• Coach In Your Pocket
• The Happier Approach Podcast
• The Happier Approach Book

Learn more about Bonnie Gillespie:

• bonniegillespie.com
• Follow Bonnie on Instagram
• Follow Bonnie on Twitter
• Subscribe to Bonnie on YouTube
• Follow Cricket Feet on Facebook
• More about Bonnie on IMDB

Learn more about Susan:

• Scalespark Dollars + Decisions Roundtable
• Twitter @ScaleSpark
• LinkedIn @thesusanboles

Other resources mentioned in this episode

• Stop Hate For Profit campaign

We value your thoughts and feedback. Feel free to share them with Susan here. Your input is not just valuable, it's crucial in shaping future episodes.