What Strategies Are Transforming Business Growth Today with Mara Whitener

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mara Whitener, a seasoned entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in scaling and selling businesses. Mara is a true business operations expert who sees every company as a unique puzzle, and she’s dedicated to helping entrepreneurs unlock hidden potential, find untapped revenue, and build businesses that work for them—not the other way around.

In this episode, we dive deep into the strategies Mara uses to help business owners scale without sacrificing their time or sanity. From uncovering "hidden money" to reverse-engineering your goals, Mara offers insights that are both practical and transformative. Her passion for simplifying operations and creating sustainable growth shines through every tip she shares.

As you listen to this episode, you’ll learn:

1. How to identify the "hidden money" sitting in your business.

2. The first steps to scale without working more hours.

3. Why focusing on what’s already working is the key to growth.

4. How aligning your business with your life priorities can set you up for success.
   
   

   

     📍 📍 📍 I want to talk about something else that we talked about on, uh, our, our networking call about sitting on hidden money. What the heck am I talking about? Cause I I'm sure everyone's like, what do you mean hidden money? There's money. There's money hidden. I want to find that hidden money.

   Show me the money.

    Welcome to Rocky Mountain Marketing. I'm your host, Katie Brinkley. Join us as we dive deep with the world's leading digital marketing experts every single Tuesday. It's all about giving you the strategies that are working right now, directly from those who are making an impact. With my 20 years of experience, I'm here to help you navigate the world of digital marketing.

   Whether you're looking to sharpen your skills or transform your business, you're in the right place. Let's get started on today's journey to success.

     📍 📍 📍 Welcome back to this week's episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing. As a business owner, it can be really hard to figure out what we're doing wrong as far as scaling. Where is our money going? How can we find more money and I came across, I was actually introduced to an amazing woman, through my good friend, Alicia Barr.

   And Alicia hosts these great mixers, once a month. And she calls them mixers, but they're at nine in the morning and they're on zoom and nobody's drinking, but she calls them mixers. And I met today's guest on one of the mixers. I, we had another call afterwards and I was like, man, you're one smart cookie.

   I got, I got to talk to you more because some of the things that you've shared just in these first 10 minutes of me talking to you are gold. And today's guest has over 20 years of experience scaling and selling businesses. She is a seasoned entrepreneur and growth expert who brings a unique blend of precision, passion for systems, and a proven track record of success.

   Now she's a business ops puzzle master. I actually recently did a human design, session and I found out that I only have one earth symbol. So I guess that means that. The whole ops thing is not my jam. It explains why I about turned myself inside out when I had a three hour, workflow call with my business coach.

   This is her jam. This is the stuff that that today's guest enjoys doing. Today's guest without further ado is   📍 Mira Whitener and she is going to talk about a lot of great, a lot of great things on today's show.   📍 📍 First of all, Mara, thank you so much for joining us. You just got back from an amazing trip to Bali and you had a success retreat yesterday.

   I mean, you are doing all the things. So thank you so much for sitting down with us at Rocky mountain marketing today.

     📍 Thank you for having me. I'm super, super excited. Like you said, yeah, I'm happy to make time to come on here and chat with you.

    Well, I mean, when you and I spoke, man, I can't even remember how long ago it was. Like you were in Bali for how long?

   Like a month?

    Close to it.

    I mean, you're living the dream,

     📍 📍 📍 Yeah, it was about three weeks. Yeah.

    That's awesome. Well, we talked a while ago and I was really looking forward to this call because again, you shared just a couple great tips in passing, during our call that I was like, man, I can't wait to have this person on the show.

   So before we get started into some of those amazing tips, you know, why don't you take us Through a little bit of your history. And I guess you, I said, during your interview, you're doing your introduction, you have 20 years of experience doing this. what really stood out to you of how you wanted to help business, like business owners, find that scaling point, find the opportunities to grow, because there's a lot of ways that you could have taken, you know, these, this project management, this ops skill and done a whole different thing with it.

   What made you passionate about wanting to help entrepreneurs? Scale their business.

    Yeah, it was really, uh, to, you know, to keep my background kind of short. Um, I've always had an interest in business. I started doing internships as a teenager. And, um, you know, and I started, you know, network marketing things and little entrepreneurial things on the side in college. So I've been doing this since.

   Um, and I had a corporate career for eight, nine years after college, I ran an insurance marketing firm and it just wasn't, wasn't the life for me. And so I took the leap of faith, quit, and I was bound and determined to figure what is it that I'm supposed to do? And. Started multiple businesses, grew multiple businesses.

   But the last business I had, um, funny, I kind of landed in it and didn't plan on having it, but I started having kind of competitors, other business owner colleagues reach out and they're like, how are you doing this? Everything you start, everything you do, just. And what I realized was what came naturally to me doesn't necessarily come naturally to everyone.

   And so I saw them really struggle with, and they were doing well, but they were sacrificing their life. They were starting to get burnout. Um, a lot were moms with, with kids of all different ages or folks that really just, they wanted to build this passion, but they didn't want to sacrifice everything else.

   And so I started working with them saying, okay, well, what do you have in place? How are you, how are you functioning? What are you doing? What's what it is, what are you trying to build? And, and we work backwards to put all the right pieces in place. How are you going about your marketing? How are you going about your, your sales?

   How are you running things in the back end to kind of put the right pieces in place for them to build what it is they want to build and have the life that they want. And so I started working with them and every business is a different puzzle. I look like I look at it like a puzzle, right? It's a different picture.

   It's going to have, yeah, it's going to have different pieces. You may have the same size piece from a different puzzle, but it's going to have a different picture on it. So everything is unique. And so, um, I really got to the point where that was the work. That I figured out I was called to do. So I sold that business and dedicated my time full time to really helping people figure out the pieces.

   It's a, it's more than just how to run your business. It has to start with what it is you're trying to accomplish, what it is you're trying to build, what life that you want to have and then putting all those pieces together. To make sure you're working in the way that you, you want to.

    I love that because there's as entrepreneurs, that's, I mean, that's why we became an entrepreneur, right? We're passionate about doing something that's different. We're passionate about, you know, for me, it was social media. I, I started my, my business because my job was eliminated and I was, my boss gave me the confidence to say, yeah, what if I, what if I gave it a shot?

   And I was able to work the hours that I wanted, but I found that when it came to scaling, I worked for four years. As a solopreneur and in 2020, um, that was the year I was, I decided I was going to go all in. I mean, we all know what happened in 2020, but, um, that was when I was like, ah, I'm going to go all in on it this year, but I didn't know where to start.

   And I think that that is one of the biggest struggles for so many business owners. And one of the biggest things that you help with is helping clients figure out how to. Take on more clients because that's where, that's where the scaling starts. It's, I didn't, my time, I didn't know where to start. I was like, I'm already, I can't take on any more clients, but I can't afford to hire anyone.

   And I can't, and I can't, I don't want to give up my time with my family. So. Let's talk a little bit about how you can, how you act as that translator to take people to that next step from solopreneur into the next phase of scaling.

    Yeah, there, there's a lot of folks, whether you are a solopreneur, maybe you do already have a small team, but it still just feels like you have figured out a lot of things. You know, you're doing well, but then it doesn't feel like you have a lot to show for it. And you hear people talk about scaling and growing, and you're like, I can't even handle my life right now.

   How am I supposed to handle more? And the, the, the key is, is to really optimize and maximize what you're already using. It's not about adding more per se. It's about honing in really on what works well for you, what doesn't work well for you, making sure your time is spent only where it needs to be spent.

   It's a hard exercise sometimes. Entrepreneurs are like, but we have to be doing everything. No, we don't. Um, it's really about spending your time, making sure your team, if you have one, Is, is spending their time exactly where they need to spend their time. That gives you the most ROI, right? And then prioritizing what it is you're supposed to be doing that.

   I'd say 90 percent of who I'm working with right now, we're reducing sizes of teams. We're simplifying what they're doing. Sometimes it's even getting back to basics. You can get, you can have free space. You can breathe again. You can feel like you have the life that you, that you're like, yay, I can breathe again.

   And it's usually right about then money starts coming in. And you actually grow by doing less. One of the attendees at our retreat in Bali closed 80, 000 of business while on the retreat because she took a step back and wasn't focusing on all of the other things. We got her to, to step back, focus on what she needed to focus on.

   And then the right energy, the right, the right confidence business came in like that. And she's not afraid to take it on because now she knows she has the space and she knows how she's delivering in a way that's not going to overwhelm her.

    Yeah, and I think that, that's where I was, is I, I thought that in order to scale I was going to have to work more hours. And that's not why I started my business. I didn't know where the hours were going to come from unless I was going to start working 12 hours a day. And I, I didn't want that. So take us through some of the reverse engineering that you do with some of your clients and how maybe someone listening to this episode, uh, Some of the first steps that maybe they could start thinking about because we are ending 2024 at the time of this recording.

   We're, we're ending the year. So if someone's sitting in their car driving right now and, uh, they were sitting at their desk listening and maybe they have a pen and paper out and they just want to start brainstorming. I know that you have a great, uh, offer or I don't even know if I want to say it's an offer, but you have a success call, um, that it's, it's free, which is.

   Shocking to me, but it's, it's, it's a call that's free, um, and we'll include it in the show notes here. Just tells really quick about the call,

    Yeah, the call, I have just started offering these. They probably won't be free forever. So. I have a few slots left open for 2024, um, or you can pick up the first slots and, and book me up, um, beginning of January. Um, but it's really kind of a success alignment call and we're going to dive right on in.

   With what it is that you're wanting out of your business and out of your life. And I'll help you identify the top two to three things that are standing in your way, what you need to focus on and how you need to start, um, putting the right things in place, um, to address those things.

    Awesome. We'll include the link in the show notes. We'll, we'll talk about the link at the end, but Again, you have this, which is incredible. I'm going to ask you to talk us through it for all the DIYers out there that are listening and want to maybe take this on by themselves. So let's, let's just start with.

   Step number one, if someone's sitting there and saying, I want to start scaling in 2025, I want to free up more time. I want to make more money, but where should I start? Mara, help me, help me, Mara.

    It sounds kind of cliche. You hear a lot of people talk about it, but it is a place that I start with folks is. But what are we trying to build? This isn't about what everyone else tells you. You have to have, why I want to start a membership in 2025, because like, that's just what I'm hearing. And then, and that's the next trend.

   It's at its core, what's your why, and what do you want to accomplish and just revisiting it, just making sure it hasn't changed since you started your business, maybe it's tweaked a little bit. Um, get really clear on what it is you're trying to build because all the pieces then have to fall in place.

   based on what it is you're trying to build. Then, then do some reflection. What has worked well for you? Where do you currently get your business? I see a lot of people get deterred of, they may do, I did the same thing. Um, they may get all their business from referrals and it's super, super easy for them and they can just talk to people and convert and then they get all of a sudden distracted by lead gen in a whole nother direction that's not really designed for them.

   It's a great strategy, but not the right strategy for them, and then they get frustrated, and lead gen cuts off over here, and there's no one to talk to, and it gets all kinds of complicated. What works well? Where have you gotten your business so far? The key is to just expand on what's already working. You don't have to invent all new ways to do things.

   Expand on what's already working and reflect on where you actually need to spend your time. Also, again, buzzwords. What's your zone of genius? But what do you truly I use human design in all of my work. It's my tool to really hone in on who you are, how you work, what you're supposed to be doing. And that's how I help tweak down to the, from big picture vision down to, by the way, from nine to 10 in the morning, you're most functional.

   So this is where you need to spend your time. I mean, we can go from big picture down to minute detail with that is really, what do you need to be doing? If you're a generator, you're going to feel immense satisfaction on those things that you're truly meant to be doing, right? If you're a projector, you're going to feel peace.

   What activities, what things, whether in your personal life or your business, bring you that feeling? And then that's where we need to build out your schedule and your time,

     📍 Let's take a quick break. I have to tell you about something that I'm super excited about. If you've been podcasting for a while and you want to start actually making money from your show, you are going to love this. I have an upcoming masterclass where I'm going to teach you exactly how to land top paying sponsors.

   Even if you have a small but loyal audience, it is time to stop waiting for sponsors to knock on your door and start reaching out to the ones that really want Your audience ready to make it happen. Head to katiebrinkley. live slash R M M or head to the link in the show notes. Grab your spot today. All right, let's get back to the show.

     📍 📍 📍 It's amazing to me with human design. I just wanted to stop there really fast because, um, I'm new to like the disc assessment. Um, what was the really pop enneagram? Uh, Yeah, all of these different things and I find that as much as I try to say like Towards it. It's always so darn accurate. Um, and it it's it's crazy.

   I think that if you haven't ever sat down and human design has been one of The ones that i've been like this is exactly me There's not one thing here that's, that's wrong. Um, this is how I work. This is how I operate. This is human design is one of the ones that I found is the most accurate. Um, just can you give us cliff notes version for anyone that's like, what are you talking about here?

   I have an entire episode all about cliff notes. Some like a disc episode. I have another episode about enneagrams. I don't have one about human design Go ahead and just cliff notes version real fast. What is it?

    Yeah, human design is based on your birth date, your birth time, and where you were born. Um, it is, it combines about five or six different beliefs, modalities from yes, there's an astrological component to science, to I Ching, to, you know, a lot of, there's about five or six different kind of philosophies, theories.

   In things that were, that were meshed together, it was developed in the 70s or 80s by raw. Um, but it's not subjective. So what you run into with DISC, Enneagram, any of those, they can be a little subjective as to what mood you're in or anything when you answer the questions. They're still very accurate, but there is a percentage of inaccuracy.

   This, there's, it's not subjective. There's no questions. And what I find is, is. Um, you can dial down to extreme detail as to how you at your core are meant to function, how you are, how you're meant to work, how you're meant to live, how you're meant to make decisions. That's the big key with human design is then identifying how you're meant to, to make decisions.

   Um, It's been the single biggest game changer in my life and business. And that's why I turned around, got certified to put together teams based on human design and started using it, uh, with my clients. Cause we can just really get down to the core. Funny thing is one of the, uh, attendees at the retreat uses Enneagram, uses disc, uses all kinds of other assessments.

   And she was blown away by human design.

     📍 Yeah, it's it's crazy to me I've like I said, I was talking with somebody else that we I met at Alicia's mixer and We met in person because she lives here in Denver also when we met for coffee And she just mentioned it in passing because I said I I was like, I don't know what's going on. Like maybe it's because it's like a quarter moon or something, or it was just a full moon, but I'm not sleeping well.

   Um, and she's like, well, do you know what your moon sign is? Or something like that. I was like, I was like, oh, no, I don't, I'm not, I'm interested in the woo, but I don't know anything about it. And so then we went down the whole human design thing and uh, it was fascinating to me. So, um, okay. Back to, back to first steps.

   Um, thank you for the cliff notes versions on that.

    No, you're fine. Yeah, it's um, so first steps is really start on getting clear about what it is you want, what your priorities are in life and business, and then you start diving in on how to scale. So it doesn't have to be all new complicated funnels and five new. platforms on social media and all kinds of things.

   It's making every decision based on what it is you want to have in life. So if you want to be, and I'm going to simplify this, if you want to be off every afternoon at three o'clock to pick your kids up and be able to go to sports practices and spend the evening with them, because that's a priority for you in life, that's the life you want to build for yourself.

   Guess what? Then we build your business to function within the hours that you want to be available to put your effort there. And that's it. Um, so it's to be able to scale. You have to get, you have to kind of look at what the priority is to then be able to go forward and put the pieces together.

     📍 Yeah. So reverse engineering is the first step to, to figuring out where you're going to get more time and, or how you're going to scale.

     📍 So Let's talk about step number two. Let's say they, they sit down, they figure out what it is that they're most passionate about. They, they know that like yours truly, they're not, doing three hours of workflows is, is killing them.

   They're the visionary, you know, they're, they're the four fire and four water signs. They're only one earth sign. So, you know, that's not their jam. So what's, what's step number two?

    Step number two is really you get clear on what it is you want to accomplish, where you need to spend your time, and what's already working for you. And then you look at what the pieces you have around you. So based on, maybe it's a new schedule you've come up with, based on your priorities or whatever the case may be, then you make sure you have the right pieces around you.

   Do you have the right team and or, and I say team, I mean not just a 1099 contractor or a W2. It can be a vendor that you work with just. On a project basis, it can be a coach that you work with, basically anyone that you have working with you to help you accomplish what you need to accomplish. Now you need to make sure you have the right pieces in place that are going to bring the biggest ROI and help you accomplish what you want to accomplish the fastest.

   It's not about having the biggest. team. It's not have about having all the resources. It's about having the right pieces. And so making sure, do you have the right systems in place to help you accomplish what you want to accomplish? Do you have the right team on board to help you get where you want to go?

     📍 Yeah, it's, it's so true. Um, we, that, that was one of the things that I found in this last year in 2024 is there's a lot of, sometimes you like people, but it's not, they're not in the right role and it's, it's not their fault. Maybe their role changes. Uh, you know, one of my, Uh, employees. She's been with me for four years and she started out as my assistant and now she's moved into a completely different role and she's really excelling.

   Um, she's happier, uh, she's, everything's different now and if I would have forced her to just stay in this one role being like, this is what you do, she probably wouldn't be working for me anymore. So I think you have to be looking at your team and making sure that they're, they're in the role, the correct roles.

   for your business.   📍 I want to talk about something else that we talked about on, uh, our, our networking call about sitting on hidden money. What the heck am I talking about? Cause I I'm sure everyone's like, what do you mean hidden money? There's money. There's money hidden. I want to find that hidden money.

   Show me the money.

    So what, what a lot, a lot of people don't realize is as you, as you are a few years into your business and then you're starting to grow, and even if you're looking to scale or in the middle of scaling, you lose and are sitting on so much money, um, that people are blown away. Uh, when I help them find it, it is a happy like side effect of the work that I do.

   We find all kinds of money. I hear so many people, everyone's like, Hmm, but if I only had the money to hire this team member, then I could, you know, go down this, put in this marketing strategy, or it could be a salesperson, or it could be so and so. You kind of have like this business wishlist of help that you need.

   Um, But they're like, I don't, I don't have the money to do it. Or I see so many people, they're sacrificing their pay to pay everyone out. I just want to be paid out of my business or whatever the case may be. It requires money where they get to the end of the year and they've really only kept this much of their revenue when they could keep this much of their revenue.

   And so a really fun side effect of what I do is we find all kinds of hidden money because As we grow, people get, um, sucked in, as it's normal. I do it too. Of Client delivery or providing what we need to provide. And then it's, Ooh, have, have this sales strategy and this marketing strategy. And this is how I'm going to get more business.

   And this is, this is what I'm going to do. And they forget that there's a whole business to run on the backend. Typically visionaries. You're like, I don't, I don't want to deal with it. Someone else deal with it. I don't want to have a three hour workflow call. What happens is I'm not pointing fingers. You have people, but it's a clear example.

   Like people are like, but I just, I just want somebody to do it for me. I don't want to have to deal with this. I don't want to have to play with my own systems. I don't want to have to work. Like I just want people on my team. They're going to do what they need to do and I don't want to deal with it. I want to do what I want to do.

   That's great. And you can set your business up that way. But what happens is, is if you don't as a leader and as the CEO, pay attention to optimizing what you already have and streamlining what you already have. I have a phenomenal example. We made three changes in her business and unlocked almost 300 or 300, 000.

   Of hidden revenue. You know how many team members you can unlock with that? Do you know how much you can pay yourself? Unlocking that and it was three changes. Like that was it. But it's looking at everything as it plays together from your systems, to your workflows, to your team, to how you're implementing your marketing, how you're going about your sales.

   It's everything on how you operate and run the back end of your business. There's so much money that hides in there.  And no, it's not. No, I don't go to people and hear, let's pull out your credit card statement or your expense report and let's just look at it line item by line item, although that's a good place to start.

   It's really looking at holistically how everything fits together in the back end and is working together. And then that's where you uncover all the hidden money. And a big piece of that is time where you're spending your time and where your team is spending your time. There is thousands of dollars of money, um, that is kind of just wasted when you can actually utilize it.

   I just had one of my hidden money intensive calls, which by the way is where I'm literally in your business two hours, we're going to identify all those little places where you find your money. Right before I left for Bali, had one, we found 11, 000 a week.

     📍 it almost is reminding me of that subscriptions app that I feel like I've been seeing the commercials for on TV time and time again. It's like, oh, I don't know, I have probably have three subscriptions and then like she opens it up and she's like, 30 subscriptions, what? But you're like, you're the human version of that for business owners.

   So you mean, no brainer, I'd like to save 11, 000 a week.

    she was blown away, and she was, I know a lot of people out there are like, oh, is she making, you know, 750, 000 in annual revenue? Nope. Wasn't even making 100, 000 a year. Wasn't even making 100, 000 a year. So this is, and it's not even actually an extreme example, to be perfectly honest with you.

   It's just someone else looking in and going, by the way. Right, right there. And mind blown. So I have heard from her since I've been back and she's shifted gears on a couple of things and she's already made some other sales too.

     📍 That's amazing. Well, we're at the perfect time of year for people to make this shift. And like I said before, I talk with all my guests before hitting record because I don't want to just be like, and welcome to the show. Um, but we were talking before we hit record here and you were telling me about this free success call that you're doing.

   And honestly, if anybody, if you Regardless of where you're at with your business, I think you have to jump on this opportunity, sitting down with Mira because you're going to walk away with some incredible insights about different ways that you can scale your business. You can save money. Um, we have the link in the show notes, Mira, you know, uh, where else can they connect with you?

   Where can they learn more about you? I, again, I can't recommend enough taking advantage of this offer because If you get on the call with Mara, you're going to be set up for success in 2025. So absolutely do it. Um, we're going to connect and learn all things Mara.

    check out my website. It's   📍 whitenerprose. com. Um, or I love for people to connect with me on LinkedIn. You can find me on   📍 📍 LinkedIn, Mara Whitener. Um, I will drop a lot of juicy information. I keep kind of keep people posted. Um, if you go to my   📍 website, you can sign up for my email list.

   I don't spam you. It's not a hard sale. It's, it's free. drop a weekly email, let you guys know what's happening, drop some insight on things.  There are a lot of new things dropping for 2025. Um, and there, so I encourage you guys to get on that list. That's where you're gonna hear most things. Um, but fill up the rest of my calendar for 2024, beginning of 2025.

   If you don't find a time that's convenient for you. Email me. Let's see what we can work out. This is like, this is what I love to do. I can very quickly pinpoint for you where you need to focus, what, you know, where your eyes need to be and cut through a lot of the noise that we get stuck in as entrepreneurs.

   Let's identify the top two or three things that you need to focus on. Shift. To go into 2025 and, you know, whether you want me to directly help you find hidden money, whether you want me to directly help you goal plan and outline your entire 25, 2025, I have those options too, but jump on this call. It's free.

   There's, there's no get the information, go with, go into 2025 with some clarity and some focus and some direction. So you can take advantage of it.

     📍 amazing. Well, 📍 Mira, thank you so much for joining us on Rocky Mountain Marketing today. This was an awesome conversation.

    Yeah. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.

    Thanks so much for listening to this week's episode of Rocky Mountain Marketing. I hope you're leaving with valuable insights and the inspiration to lead your market. If you've enjoyed our time together and found today's podcast episode useful, I have a small favor to ask of you. Please hit that subscribe button to stay updated with the latest episodes.

   And if you know someone who could benefit from these episodes, maybe a fellow business leader or an aspiring entrepreneur, go ahead and share this episode with them. Let's spread the knowledge and grow together. Also, I'd love to hear from you and continue the conversation beyond the podcast. Visit me at katiebrinkley.

   com to connect, to find more resources, or just to share your journey. And be sure to pick up your copy of my new book, the social shift at Katie Brinkley. com slash book. Thanks again for tuning in. I'm Katie Brinkley, and I can't wait to dive into more strategies and stories with you on the next episode of Rocky mountain marketing.

   Let's keep on taking your marketing to new heights.