I had the pleasure of sitting down with Celi Arias, an entrepreneur, business strategist, and creator of the Grown Ass Business Method. Celi has spent her life building, running, and fixing businesses—from launching her first venture as a kid to working as a COO in the startup world and coaching business owners to scale with confidence. She’s passionate about helping entrepreneurs avoid costly mistakes, condense time, and build businesses that truly work for them.

Key Takeaways from Our Conversation

🔹 Growth vs. Scale—Know the Difference

• Many entrepreneurs confuse growth with scaling. Growth increases revenue but often increases costs at the same rate. Scaling, on the other hand, allows you to increase revenue without a proportional rise in expenses.
• Not all businesses are scalable—understanding your business model is key before trying to "scale."

🔹 Mindset Meets Strategy

• Mindset is crucial, but it doesn’t fix broken pricing models or business structures. True business success requires the right balance between strategy, tactics, and mindset.
• Celi’s journey as a mindset coach and business strategist led her to combine these elements into a holistic framework that empowers business owners.

🔹 The Power of Intellectual Property

• To truly scale, you need intellectual property—a framework, process, or tool that can exist beyond you.
• Business owners who document their methods and create repeatable systems can remove themselves from day-to-day operations and increase long-term value.

Resources Mentioned:

📌 Join Celi’s free monthly business roundtable discussions

More About Our Guest:

Celi Arias is the CEO and Founder of The Grown Ass Business, where she guides entrepreneurs through her proprietary methodology, Key Growth Systems, to build strong business foundations. Recognized as a top coach by The Upside in 2024, Celi helps clients break free from revenue plateaus and burnout by focusing on core business principles over quick fixes. Her approach emphasizes clarity and control, optimizing essential business departments to ensure solid foundations for scaling up to seven figures and beyond.

With an impressive educational background, including two bachelor's degrees, an MBA, a Master of Divinity, and two additional certificates, Celi brings a wealth of knowledge to her coaching practice. Her diverse experiences, from professional tango dancing to working in the fashion industry, coupled with her immigrant background from Argentina, have shaped her into a dynamic and passionate coach dedicated to helping entrepreneurs achieve their business goals and realize their full potential.

Connect with Our Guest:

• Website
• LinkedIn
• Instagram

Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.

LinkedIn:

In this episode of Scaling Expertise, I’m sitting down with Suzanne Tulien, founder of Brand Ascension and a self-proclaimed "brand clarity expert." With a deep passion for helping professionals uncover and articulate their unique value, Suzanne shares how she empowers businesses and solopreneurs to harness the power of authentic branding to stand out and scale.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

• Branding vs. Marketing: Branding is about defining how others perceive you, while marketing is how you communicate that brand. Without a clear brand, what are you marketing?
• Personal vs. Business Brand: For small businesses, personal and business branding often overlap. Suzanne explains how to align your unique traits with your business values.
• The Power of Niching: Scaling isn’t about doing more—it’s about focusing on a niche. The more specific you are, the bigger your opportunities become.

Want to dive deeper?

Check out Suzanne’s Personal Brand Presence course at personalbrandpresence.com or learn more about her work at brandascension.com.

I loved this conversation and hope it inspires you to define your brand and scale with clarity!

More About Our Guest:

For 30 years, Suzanne has been inspiring and driving personal & organizational brand alignment through internal brand definition, stakeholder engagement, process & customer service alignment.

Suzanne is co-pioneer of the proven, step-by-step, Brand DNA methodology & transports her clients & audiences into a refreshingly brand-conscious, authentic and inspiring way of being.

As co-author of Brand DNA: Uncover Your Unique Genetic Code for Competitive Advantage, & author of Personal Brand Clarity, she is helping to pave the ‘alignment highway’ for business growth through conscious, internal brand definition and coherence. As a dynamic, high-energy speaker and certified trainer in accelerated learning methodologies, Suzanne is leading business growth with advocacy, intention, engagement & purpose.

Connect with Our Guest:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Charity: Sue's Gift

Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Paphos by Mountaineer

A Team Dklutr production

This week I’m joined by Katie Nelson, founder and CEO of Sales Uprising. Katie is a sales expert who helps solopreneurs scale their businesses, break revenue ceilings, and build sustainable, community-driven growth.

Key Takeaways from the Episode:

• Why Niching Matters: Katie explains how narrowing your focus boosts profitability and positions you as an expert.
• Scaling Smart: Learn Katie’s strategies for leveraging time, refining pricing, and packaging services effectively.
• Protecting Your IP: Discover why safeguarding your intellectual property is essential for long-term success.

Connect with Katie:

Follow Katie on YouTube at Sales UpRising for her “Feed the Fire” series and find details on her master classes and retreats in the show notes.

Get ready to scale smarter with Katie Nelson!

More About Our Guest:

Katie Nelson, Founder and CEO of Sales UpRising, is a three-time business owner who has coached hundreds of entrepreneurs to playing smarter, better games in the Big Leagues. She is firmly committed to changing the current statistic that 90% of businesses do not meet their sales goals. She has developed the message: Cashflow Is Oxygen and made it her mission to bring the fun back into sales. Katie uses her charismatic style as a speaker, consultant, and business coach to encourage business owners that they, too, can make their revenue dreams happen. With a total 25 years of in sales and $150 million sold in products and services, Katie is adamant that every business action is a sales conversation. She has proven strategies for success that she shares to transform companies into profit-making powerhouses.

Katie has learned through hard work, determination, and networking the tips to growth that she teaches across the country to entrepreneurs who are hungry to take their businesses to the next level. Katie’s workshops, Mastermind courses, one-on-one workshops and business retreats are in high demand. She is known as “The Sales Catalyst,” and her personalized-yet-versatile message empowers business owners to be their own best spokesperson. Her strategies have achieved sales of more than $7 million in her own businesses. Katie is active in the small business community in Northern Virginia, and she works with a wide variety of business associations as a member and as a coach to steer them towards successful, profitable business growth.

Connect with Our Guest:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Charity: National Association of Women Business Owners

Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Paphos by...