Transcript Episode 27: Building a Business Strategically Using Instagram with Christina Galbato
Transcript Episode 27
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Welcome to the 100 Degrees of Entrepreneurship podcast, the show for purpose-driven entrepreneurs who want to get inspired to step outside of your comfort zone, expand it to your purpose, and grow your business in a big way. I’m your host Stephanie Skryzowski, a globe-trotting CFO, whose mission is to empower leaders to better understand their numbers, to grow their impact and their income. Let’s dive in.
Hi, everyone, welcome back to 100 Degrees of Entrepreneurship. I’m your host, Stephanie Skryzowski and I am really, really excited to share today my conversation with Christina Galbato. Christina is a social media influencer, an online educator, and a digital marketing expert. After building a successful career as a travel influencer and working with brands like Ritz Carlton, Mazda and Lululemon, Christina pivoted into online education where she has helped thousands of women build careers as influencers and bloggers. She has been featured in CNN and Forbes and was a speaker at Ad World 2020. She’s also the host of top-rated entrepreneurship podcast, Her Life By Design!
And full disclosure, Christina is also a client of ours. And we’ve been working together for over two years now and I just love watching her business grow. And today, she drops so much information for us on her journey and how she went from her 9:00 to 5:00 and eventually left to be a travel influencer all the way up to the online empire that she has created today. She gives us her best tips for Instagram and social media. And let me tell you, this woman is an expert. So if you want to be listening to anybody, definitely be listening to Christina.
So, we talked about that and we just talked about all of the fun entrepreneurship struggles that we all go through when it comes to mindset and imposter syndrome, and everything that we sort of ride on the roller coaster of building a business. So I think you’re going to love this conversation. I had such a good time talking to Christina. And if you want to follow along with her or just check her out, as we’re talking today, she’s @ChristinaGalbato on Instagram. And she’s got some amazing resources over there for you as well if you want to explore a little bit more about what she does, but without further ado, let’s just go right to my interview with Christina Galbato.
Hey, everybody, welcome back to the 100 Degrees of Entrepreneurship podcast! I’m Stephanie Skryzowski. And I’m super excited to be here today with Christina Galbato. Christina, welcome.
Christina Galbato:
Thank you so much, Stephanie. I’m excited to be here.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
So, I kind of like to start some of our episodes with sharing how we know each other because at this point, all of the guests on my podcast, I know and a lot of them I know pretty well. So, Christina, you’ve been a client of ours for a couple of years and counting. And so, we get to catch up every single month on business and life as we chat about your numbers. And I have just loved, love, love, love watching your business grow massively, watching your team expand. And I tell everybody this, but I always leave our calls, just totally inspired by the way that you’re running your business and are changing thousands and thousands of people’s lives around the world. So, one of my favorite parts of the job. So, I’m so happy we get to share one of our conversations with our listeners today.
Christina Galbato:
Me, too. I was thinking before we started recording how crazy it is. We started working together, it was two and a half years ago, maybe more than that?
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah.
Christina Galbato:
And I remember when we first started, it was under the contractor section, it was one virtual assistant and now, it’s 15 people. And I’m like, “I think we need to create a directory with names.” It’s been wild to just progress together over the years. And I remember I had you on my podcast a while ago. And it’s so exciting that you’re starting your own podcast. Yeah, I love working with you.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah. Thank you, thank you. And I just really admire the way that you’ve really thoughtfully and strategically built your business. And I feel like you’ve stayed just super focused and grounded as your business has grown and you’ve just done it in a really, really sustainable way. So…
Christina Galbato:
Thank you.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… major props to you. But I feel like nobody has a massively successful business you do from day one, right? From the day that you’re born and so, there’s been a journey that you have gone on to get to where you are now. So, I would love if you could share with us what that journey has looked like. Where’d you start and what does your business look today?
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, well, buckle up. What I have today is definitely not at all what I set out to build originally. So like many people, I started my business from a place of being very miserable in my 9:00 to 5:00. So in 2016, I have started working out of college in a PR agency in New York City for about a year. And just kind of got sick of the monotony, looking around me like, “Hey, I don’t want the life of the person that’s three promotions above me. What am I doing here? I’m not doing something that I’m excited about or passionate about. There has to be more to life than looking forward to every Friday and dreading every Monday.”
So, I started a travel blog and Instagram on the side. I didn’t know at that time that you could even make money as an influencer or as a blogger. It was really just a passion project for me and something fun to do after work. So, my audience began to very quickly grow as I was spending a lot of time engaging with other accounts and with my audience on Instagram and on my blog. And quickly became attuned to the fact that you can, not only make money as an influencer, but you can make a very good living for yourself by working with brands and creating content and all of that. So, worked even harder growing my audience. Long story short, I ended up quitting my job in February of 2017.
And for the next few years, was very much in that travel and lifestyle influencer space, working with brands like Ritz Carlton, Banana Republic, Lululemon on their brand influencer campaigns, creating content for them, traveling around the world. And at a certain point, I think it was in 2018, there’s kind of an overlap in my journey where I was kind of straddling between being a travel influencer and an online educator. But in 2018, was when I started to notice that a lot of the questions that I was getting were less of, “Hey, what tips do you have for Marrakesh?” And more of like, “How can I do what you do? How can I work with brands? How can I grow online? How do I know how much to charge for brand collaborations?” And so, I saw that as an opportunity to create an online course.
My first online course is called the Influencer Bootcamp, because I saw a lot of whitespace in the market where influencers were very, very secretive about their jobs. It’s changed a little bit nowadays with my course and many others that are out there. But I saw an opportunity to create a course that could actually get people real results, so I created the course not really knowing a single thing about how to launch an online course, like I had no idea what a funnel or a webinar was. I just kind of created this thing in teachable and said, “Hey, you could buy it in my bio.” It was very not fancy, but what I learned from that experience is, first of all, that I loved seeing other women get results that increased their confidence and changed their lives and allowed them to create money using social media. That lit me up more than anything.
And I also learned because I had never really been in a teacher role before that I was a very effective teacher. I was very good at looking at what I had done, and how I got results and putting that into a framework that others could follow to get similar results. So, that was my first course. And then in 2019, I launched the Blogger Bootcamp. And then last year, I launched my first Mastermind Program, a group coaching program. And in 2020, last year, I was sort of like I said, straddling that travel blogger and online educator identity, and realized that in many ways, trying to balance the two of those things was holding me back from growth in either space. So, last year is when I kind of just had a full identity crisis, but then fully leading to my role as an online educator, and it’s never felt better.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That’s amazing that you’ve really been able to find such clarity in those decisions along the way. When you initially left your 9:00 to 5:00. I mean, that’s a very traditional path that we all follow, right? You go to college and you get a job. And you made that leap, relatively early in your career. Was that scary or did you feel like that you already had the blog going and there was income coming in, so it didn’t feel that scary or what was that transition like?
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, it was definitely scary. When people ask me when is the right time to leave your 9:00 to 5:00? My answer is always, “Make sure that you have a plan to replace your income.” My story was a little bit different and I definitely took a bigger risk. I had had already a number of brand collaborations under my belt, so I knew that I could make money. I knew how to pitch brands, I knew how to land campaigns, and make an income as an influencer, so it wasn’t going into a completely blind. But that being said, it definitely wasn’t super secure income for the next year. I kind of just took a chance. And the worst thing that could happen was that I went back to my job. It’s not like I lose my degree. It’s not that I lose all my experience that I’ve had in PR.
And so, I spent some time saving up enough money to last me for I think I planned for six months in the bank, and then kind of just took the leap. And at that time, my parents did not understand what I was doing at all, my friends didn’t understand what I was doing at all, as they normally don’t. But it takes a little bit of education on your part, no matter which industry you’re in, whether it’s influencer industry or the entrepreneurship industry to really explain to them the possibilities that exist in this world and show them proof. I think once I was to land those first few collaborations and see, these multiple four-figure collabs come in, my parents were like, “Oh, okay. All right, so you’re not nuts.”
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, [crosstalk 00:10:08].
Christina Galbato:
This is something. This is something.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yes. She’s not doing sketchy things on the internet. This is a real job.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, this is not, my gosh, what’s that website called, Only Fans? Yeah, this is more legitimate, I guess.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, that’s amazing. And I feel like a lot of people get stuck in lots of different sort of phases of their business, whether it’s just starting out or even elevating to that next level in business, we get stuck, because nothing around that corner is guaranteed. But I love that you just, you had a plan, right? You knew, “Okay, this works. It’s proven that it works. Now, I just need to make it work even more.” And I love that you also took into consideration the numbers. You had some savings, so you weren’t just diving off into the deep end with nothing. The fact that you just sort of stepped out and took action is really important. It can be applied to lots of different phases of all of our journeys, I think.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, definitely. It’s definitely good to have a plan, but also build that trust in yourself that you can make things happen. And I mean, there’s so many decisions in the entrepreneurship realm where it’s like taking this chance on this really scary thing that could help me create a life that I really want and can only dream of versus kind of staying stuck where you are and not opening yourself up to the possibility. So, entrepreneurship really is about diving off a cliff constantly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, yeah, it totally is. It totally is. And as you have dove off the cliff many times, I feel like for me diving off the proverbial cliff has definitely gotten easier along the way, because I’ve done it and then I realized, “Okay, I survived. It’s fine. Okay, now I’m at the next cliff, time to dive off again.” So, it does get a little bit easier, but have there been any mindset shifts or anything that you’ve really had to work on over the years as your business has scaled to where it is now?
Christina Galbato:
I think the thing that’s gotten probably in my way the most and this is very common with a lot of female entrepreneurs is imposter syndrome, that general feeling of feeling like you don’t deserve what you have or like someone is going to find you out or you don’t belong in the space that you’re in. And it’s so funny, because I felt that at the very beginning and I still feel that every single day. And I feel like people have this expectation of like, “Oh, it’s going to go away once I hit a certain point.” But it never really goes away, but like you said, it’s about not making those feelings go away, but just building up your toolkit to deal with those things.
And so, for imposter syndrome, I think what has helped me the most is first of all, putting a name on it. So, whatever like mean girl made fun of you in high school, you can give your imposter syndrome me thoughts that name and be like, “Oh, Claire, that’s you again. Shut up. I’m just going to continue.” Right? So, it’s like not you, it’s just this evil bully voice that isn’t representative of you and what you’re capable of. But then also accounting for all of the wins that you’ve had. Something that I did early on that I’ve sort of lost track of doing was I kept a journal with every single one of my wins. No matter how small they were, it could be someone sent me an ICM today or I got this collaboration, or I got a response from this brand. All these small little wins that you can look back on as evidence that you’re capable of big things, that was an exercise that really helped me.
And then just realizing that you’re not alone in imposter syndrome and that everybody, the biggest people you look up to in the world experience imposter syndrome. And it’s kind of just one of those things. I’m not sure if you can relate to that at all with the imposter syndrome.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yes, I could definitely relate. I’m like-
Christina Galbato:
It’s like every day.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yes, I know. I’ve intentionally put myself into rooms that I feel like I don’t belong in and then I get there and I’m like, “What am I doing?”
Christina Galbato:
Crap.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
How did I sign up for this? How am I? Like literally run away. And so, it’s like you do it because you know you need to and then once you’re in it, you’re like, “This was the worst mistake ever, but then you kind of flip again and you’re like, “No, I’m totally meant to be here. This is amazing. Oh, my gosh, oh.”
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I feel like it’s such an emotional roller coaster being an entrepreneur.
Christina Galbato:
Totally. Totally.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
In some senses. It’s kind of like the wild, wild West. And I mean, you’ve been in this now for, when did you say you left your corporate job? In 2017?
Christina Galbato:
2017, yeah.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah. I feel like for the online business space, that’s kind of a long time. And so, your business has evolved as the online business space has evolved and the influencer space has evolved. And we’re never going to get away from that, I don’t think because there’s always going to be something else that we feel inadequate at or we feel like we’re behind or whatever. So, I think it’s just a matter of getting used to that feeling really unfortunately. You’re never going to go [crosstalk 00:15:12].
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, yeah, definitely. And I love what you said about like it is a balance of realizing that, I got a long caption about this a while ago, but putting yourself in uncomfortable situations, not like physically unsafe situations, but putting yourself in rooms with more successful people or investing in that really scary mastermind that has this scary price tag on it or doing an interview or a podcast that makes you nervous. Those uncomfortable situations are the key to growth and you go into them feeling like, “Oh, did I really deserve this?” But you just kind of got to power through. This is why I’m not a mindset coach, because that’s my advice is just do it.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Me, too.
Christina Galbato:
I’m so bad at it.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Suck it up. You’ll be fine. You’ll get out the other side.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah. Exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Not a big deal. Yeah, I’m not a life coach either. But I feel like that kind of attitude has helped me power through certain situations and then realizing, you realize on the other end, sometimes five minutes removed or maybe five months removed, you’re like, “Oh, my gosh, that really was not a big deal at all.” And then you’ve got that confidence to do the next big thing, so.
Christina Galbato:
Totally.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Ongoing journey, for sure. So, over the years, the online business space really has evolved and it’s very different than what it was five years ago, and then five years before that. And was there even social media five years before that? I don’t know. I don’t think so, probably not. So, if someone is looking to grow on social media now in 2021, in order to build their brand awareness, grow their audience, just sort of build their authority out there in the world, do you have any tips on what we should do on social media? I know, you’re like an Instagram expert and you have a huge following on Instagram. So, what should we really focus on if we’re trying to build that audience today?
Christina Galbato:
Sure. I think the first biggest thing that has changed a lot and this is specifically in the influencer space that it can be applied across all industries is that you really have to come from a place of value. I think five years ago, it was very easy to grow by just kind of like posting about what you’re doing and posting about your life. And now, everything that you need to post has to have something in it for someone else. So, as cliché as it sounds, I would get really, really clear on what your “I help” statement is. So, whether it’s like, “I help women organize their finances by looking at their bottom line, aligning their goals.” And then some third thing, that could kind of act as your three content pillars that you’re creating content around. But just always kind of connecting every piece of your content back to that “I help” statement, whether you’re an influencer or a coach. Everything needs to come from a place of value.
The second thing I would say more tactically is to start practicing short-form video. That’s one of those kind of a little bit sort of a do or die thing these days. Short-form video is definitely one of the best ways, in particular an Instagram, to grow right now, so the best way to do that for anyone that isn’t familiar or comfortable with short-form video is to just start honestly, to also do research on what other videos people within your niche are creating, and sort of gather inspiration from that. But starting to get comfortable with a short-form video. Definitely, the first one that you do is not going to be your best work, but you just keep learning and improving. And I really think video content is going to become even more important moving forward.
And then, I also think that people just overall and again, another cliché with this word, authenticity, but people really want transparency and authenticity from the people that they follow online. Basically, what that means is to just be yourself, right? Don’t look at that person that you really admire in your industry that has a certain kind of personality that you see from the outside, works for them and try to imitate what they’re doing. Be yourself and you will attract a group of people that are really loyal and engaged with you and want to purchase from you. Showing behind the scenes, giving people a peek into what you’re doing on a daily basis or into your family life or purchasing a home or people really want to be let in to the behind the scenes, not just see that perfect exterior.
So, those would be my three tips that I can think of. There’s so many more, but I think those are the overall ones I can think of right now.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, I think that’s great. You’re right. I mean, I feel like we’ve heard it before, but it’s so true. No one cares what you’re eating for lunch unless like, “Okay, what’s in it for me? Why do I care? You have to tell me why I care.” So, I love that. And my question on video, when you say short-form video, do you mean Reels and TikTok?
Christina Galbato:
Yes, unfortunately. I don’t mean TikTok necessarily. I feel like when TikTok first came out, I was like, “Please go away. I do not want to learn this. I don’t want to learn TikTok.” My team repurposes Reels for TikTok, but I just don’t really focus on it. This sounds dumb, but I just don’t find that it’s the best environment for me, TikTok. I don’t love it as a platform but as a consumer. And I also think that it has a very specific audience. So, I’m assuming a lot of your listeners are probably between 25, 45 somewhere around there. The audience on TikTok tends to skew a little bit younger, so that’s something to take into consideration as well to not put so much pressure on yourself. But definitely Reels would be somewhere to start looking into.
A good follow for video tips would be This is Virginia Kerr, K-E-R-R. She is amazing. She just offers so many good tips on how to capture attention within the first few seconds of your Reels, how to think of ideas for Reels, how to gain confidence with video, so she would be a great one to follow for that.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yes, I do follow her and she’s great. And if you are worried that you’re like, “But I’m not like a 22-year-old girl who can dance really well.” Neither is this lady. She is a video strategy coach.
Christina Galbato:
Yes.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
And you’re right, Christina, she’s so good. And she’s not like a 22-year-old doing cool hip-hop dances and Reels.
Christina Galbato:
No dances.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Not at all. Everyone that I have talked to, “We’re not like these 22-year-olds that are interested in lip-syncing and doing crazy dances and all this other stuff. But, Christina, I even think you do a really good job. You’re not out there doing a bunch of dances either. You have fun Reels, but they’re also super valuable and informative, so I love that balance that you’ve struck by still being fun and young and fresh, but not having to choreograph on your spare time.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, for sure. I really love trends on Reels, so you’re never going to see me do a Reel, trying to do some 14-year-old dance routine. But I love trends. It’s hard to explain to someone that doesn’t spend too much time on Reels. But there’s these trending sounds and concepts that people adapt for their industries. And I love trends. I think it’s one of the best ways to reach more people and to have your Reel go viral, whatever viral means to you. But the thing with the trends is to just make sure that you’re adapting it to your own niche and your own industry. I think it’s also a great opportunity to provide value with Reels because you can say, at the end of your Reel, “Read the caption for why this is or for more of an explanation,” and then you can use the caption to kind of provide more value and more information.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, I love that. Using Reels is an opportunity for more people who are not following you to see you where they probably wouldn’t have otherwise.
Christina Galbato:
Exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I’ve done a couple of just literally playing around without any strategy. It’s crazy how fast 2000 people have seen this. I’m like, “Really? I don’t even have 2000 followers. Who are these people?” So, it’s just kind of fun to just play around with and see what happens.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. And also, not with the goal of going completely viral, too, because, when you reach a million views, you’re getting a bunch of not your target audience, so just using them for fun.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That’s a really good point. And you know what? I saw another entrepreneur on Instagram, a post or I think a Reel that they had done went viral and it resulted in several thousands of new followers, because a celebrity reposted it. But they’re like, “I kind of don’t want these followers because they’re not my ideal client.” And they’re kind of just clogging things up. So, it’s interesting problem to have, I guess.
Christina Galbato:
Totally. Yeah, I know, I talked about this a lot on my Instagram of like it feels good to go viral. It’s a nice ego thing, but at the end of the day, I think it’s much better to have five posts that reach your average amount of people that provide more value to them than it is for one viral post that’s funny, that brings in a ton of followers. You just want to make sure there’s more depth to your content than print.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
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I think you do a really good job about the third tip that you had about being really authentic. There’s certainly a balance between being authentic and also sharing TMI and/or on Instagram 24/7 like “I don’t need you every single moment.” That someone is awake every single day.
Christina Galbato:
Yes, yep.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
But you do a really good job like you’re on consistently. I like seeing behind the scenes of what your work day looks like and kind of what you’re doing in your personal life. That also sounds super creepy as I’m saying it out loud, but not stalking you. How do you manage to do that? Because I will go a few days without posting on stories, and I’m like, “Oh, shoot. I haven’t posted on stories in a couple of days.” Do you put a little reminder in your calendar? How do you be consistent?
Christina Galbato:
For things like our podcast promotional stories or sharing student wins, those things have been scheduled out, the things that are more templated, I guess. I think honestly, as silly as it sounds, posting random stories organically throughout the day has just become such a neat automatic action for me. And I think one of the things that I’ve realized with sharing stories throughout the day is people want to see the boring stuff.
And people tend to overthink their stories and be like, “Oh, I want to do a big training on my stories. I have to plan that out,” right? But oftentimes when I provide value of my stories, I get less views than showing people what I’m cooking or doing a behind the scenes of looking for a house or behind the scenes of my interior design process for my new house, which has nothing to do with what I post on my page. So, whatever you think is boring, people really want to see that stuff and I think ultimately, that is what builds connection.
So, I always try to remember that throughout my day-to-day, while something might feel mundane and boring to me, it’s going to be really exciting and insightful for somebody else to see that and to build connection and let them in. So like anything else, any other habit, it’s sort of just like a matter of forcing yourself to show up, but I think there are things that you can do in terms of setting calendar reminders or creating what I call routine themes in your stories. So, whether it’s making your morning coffee in the morning, and sharing what you’re doing that day or doing an afternoon walk and popping on stories, creating those sort of routines that can become easy for you to remember to do and become kind of something that your audience expects and looks forward to.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I’m thinking of a few people that I follow that kind of posts the same few things [crosstalk 00:26:50] daily and it changes every day, but I’m kind of like, “Okay, what are they doing today?” And it’s…
Christina Galbato:
Exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… funny how you have this weird…
Christina Galbato:
Exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… view into other people’s lives, but you’re right. It really does build what feels like a very authentic connections, so.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, definitely, yeah, it’s so creepy. I’m like, “I didn’t see her story about her and her morning routine today.” It’s like, “What am I going to do?” It’s so weird how we have this fascination with people, but it works. It builds connection.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I know. It’s definitely true. Have you chosen more or less to go all in on Instagram? And are you doing anything on any of the other social media platforms? Whether it’s Facebook or clubhouse or LinkedIn or you mentioned TikTok a little bit, but are you basically all in on Instagram or do you try to spread your content or more syndicate your content for the other platforms? And what would you recommend other people do as they’re growing their businesses?
Christina Galbato:
I guess for me first, I mainly focus on Instagram. Again, like I said we repurpose some videos for TikTok, but I’m definitely not truly active there. We are starting to think about getting… we’re starting to think? Yeah, that’s English. We’re starting to think about getting back to YouTube as well on my podcast and on my blog, and on my Instagram, and mainly sharing educational content. And again, going back to people wanting to see my personal life, I’ve been getting a ton of requests and feeling kind of a pull to share more personal content on YouTube, and more blog style content, so we’ll go over there.
But I don’t do anything really on Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok like I said. I think I have my blog and my podcast or evergreen content, but I think my biggest piece of advice to people is to not spread yourself too thin. I think if you’re just starting, focus on one social media platform, one evergreen platform, and your email list. So social media, whether that’s Instagram, Facebook, although I don’t think I would recommend Facebook because the reach is just not there. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, whatever. And then have an evergreen platform. Evergreen, meaning that people can search and discover your content, so something like a blog or a podcast, and then obviously, your email list because that’s the only audience you truly own. So, that would be the three categories that I always recommend for people.
But people just make the mistake of looking around and being like, “Oh, this person says I need to be on LinkedIn,” or “This person is posting consistently on YouTube. I need to YouTube. I need to podcast.” That’s where we start to burn out and go really crazy, so you have to kind of connect back like which piece of content do you enjoy creating the most? Where is your target audience hanging out and really focus in on that rather than spreading yourself too thin.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, there’s so much FOMO and shiny on drama and like, “Well, this person has this, all these people over on Facebook, so I feel like I should be on Facebook, too.” I’m like almost given up on Facebook. We don’t do anything over there anymore.
Christina Galbato:
No.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
But a year ago, I was like, “Oh, my gosh. We have to make sure that everything I post on Instagram is over on Facebook.” But not having conversations with people on Facebook like I am on Instagram. I’m not getting clients through Facebooks like I am on Instagram. It just doesn’t work the same way. And so, yeah, I think being strategic about it and just knowing like it’s okay to not do everything.
Christina Galbato:
Exactly.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I’ve definitely had some clubhouse FOMO. I was on there-
Christina Galbato:
God.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Still on there, but I feel like listening again this week to some Rooms and I haven’t touched it in six months and I’m like, “Am I missing out on an opportunity here?” And then I’m like, “You know what? I don’t have time for that. I just don’t.”
Christina Galbato:
I know.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Are you in Clubhouse?
Christina Galbato:
I could rant about Clubhouse. I do have a rant about Clubhouse, actually. [inaudible 00:30:32] Clubhouse question mark. I think it’s great if you have the time. I also think it’s better for certain industries than others. I’ve heard it’s really good for the tech startup space or real estate space. For me, I would spend an hour talking in a Room, but I can’t get any leads from that. I can’t save it to be listened to later. It’s just a lot of time for me. I feel like that’s kind of what it comes down to. So again, it’s one of those things of if you want to go in a Clubhouse, go in on Clubhouse, but don’t spread yourself too thin and spend four hours a day on Clubhouse. I remember the first time I used it. I was on there for five hours. I’m like, “What should I do today?” I did nothing.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I know. I’ve heard people say, “I’ve been on Clubhouse all day.” And I was like, “Doing what I what? What with strangers?” I mean, [crosstalk 00:31:18].
Christina Galbato:
I know, yeah, yeah.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I don’t know if there’s a return on it. So, to each his own, I guess. But I like that advice, so not to spread yourself too thin. So, I was recently, I looked at my own expenses for my business over the last nine years and kind of took a percentage of what I have spent my money on. And after my team, the biggest thing that I’ve spent my money on is professional development for myself, so investing in coaching or masterminds or things like that to help [crosstalk 00:31:47] grow. Has this been a priority for you as well? And what types of things do you invest in, in your business?
Christina Galbato:
For sure, I would say that coaches, mentors, online courses, generally, anything that is not free content that I’ve learned from has been extremely, extremely transformative in the growth of my business. Online courses have been huge, but mentors as well have been even bigger. I think the most important thing when you’re considering who to invest in is, first of all, being very aware of their coaching style. There are many coaches that I don’t know how to phrase this better, but they’re kind of more therapists where you need to ask the right questions versus coaches that are a little bit more proactive in terms of looking in and being like, “Hey, let’s change this, let’s change this,” versus a coach that maybe is more of like “let me guide you [crosstalk 00:32:40].”
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Like where they kind of ask questions to lead you to [crosstalk 00:32:44]?
Christina Galbato:
Yes. Yes, exactly. where it’s like, “Hey, what do you think I should do for this?” And they’re like, “What do you think you should do?” And I’m like, “I don’t know. That’s why I hired you, right.” So, yeah, I think the difference is a coach versus a mentor. A coach probably would be more of leading you to the answer, although it depends. And a mentor is probably more of that proactive strategy, but just understanding what their style is like and doing your due diligence that other people they’ve worked with, and hearing about their experience. And then also hiring a mentor that has a business that you want.
Christina Galbato:
For example, myself, majority of my income comes from passive online courses, so you’re not going to hire me if you want to build out five one-on-one coaching programs, right? So, you’re going to want to make sure that whoever you invest with has a business that you want, because that’s the strategy that they can give you. But short answer is, yes, mentors and investing in education has been extremely helpful in growing my business.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, I think that’s so important, especially going back to social media like we’re following, I’m sure, tons of people on social media. They have these aspirational lives that we want to live. And so, when their mastermind opens up or they have coaching spots available, we’re really eager to jump in. But I think your point about making sure that they have the business model that you want to have, and that they’re a few steps ahead of you in that specific business model is really important.
And you’re right, I do think there’s strategic type coaches that are going to give you an advice on how to do things versus coaches that are more mindset focused and sort of holding your hand and leading you to answer the questions for yourselves. And so I think, like you said, understanding their coaching style. And I’ve had both and I think both are super valuable depending on where you are in your business. I know for me…
Christina Galbato:
Absolutely.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… in the beginning, I was like, “I need somebody to tell me how to have a business, like you need tell me the steps that I need to do to start a business.” [crosstalk 00:34:38] that stuff later.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, exactly. I find, too, as you’re growing your business and you hit a certain point, it’s less about meeting the strategy and more about meeting that mindset support. I’m not sure if you found that to be true, but I feel like that’s been my experience is that at this point, I’m sort of just battling my mind.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yourself?
Christina Galbato:
Yes, exactly. Every day is a fight with myself.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I know. It’s so true and I feel like for me, I started working with a new coach a few months ago. And I had to sort of put a cap on my own growth like in my head. I was like, “I just want to get to this point, and then I’m just going to kind of level off there.” And she’s like, “Why?” And I was like, “I don’t know, because I think that’s all I can do.” And she’s like, “Well, let’s think about if we kind of shifted your business model around. It’s like ABC, you don’t really have to stop there.” And I’m like, “Oh, you’re right. I don’t.” The coach right now is helping me, like you said, kind of get out of my own way and see more possibility than I would have given myself credit for basically.
Christina Galbato:
Yes. My gosh. It’s so true. And our biggest expense in my business is like Facebook and Instagram ads and I had the same thing where I was like, “I can only spend this amount of money. That’s it.” And I had a VIP day with Melissa Griffin and she was like, said the same thing, she’s like, “Why?” I was like, “I don’t know. It just feels safe.” Right? You just have to get out of your own way for those kinds of things.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, totally. Totally. And it’s just so funny, because it’s like such a simple question, “Why?” And the answer is, “I don’t know.”
Christina Galbato:
I know.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Why can’t we ask ourselves those questions? I don’t know. It’s just not how it works.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, yeah. I’m like a toddler with myself. Every thought I have, I’m like, “Why? Why? Why?”
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I know, but it’s good, yeah. But it’s good. Awesome. My gosh, I feel we could definitely talk all day long about all things business. What would you say if you had just, well, let’s do two, two pieces of advice. Somebody who’s just starting out on their journey and they want to build a business where they’ve got some time freedom, they’re making decent money, and they kind of want what you have, basically. What would you say, what would your one tip be for that group of people who’s just getting started?
Christina Galbato:
I think I’m going to go with the community route, so I would definitely say like obviously, kind of starting with the tips that I gave earlier on providing value on Instagram. But from day one, focusing on your community, having conversations with them, understanding where they’re struggling, where they want your help, what specifically in their life are they struggling with, having those conversations, building those relationships. And that’s really where you’re going to start to build a platform and a community that has impact and that allows you to scale your business and create products that really serve your community.
So, I think that would be my biggest overall tip is to focus on building relationships and building community within whatever size audience you have, because I feel like people are, they’re like, “Oh, when I get to 10k followers, I’m going to do this.” No, do it right now, whether you have 100 or 1000 followers, start to get to know your people right now.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, that’s great advice. And don’t just assume that you know, because you’ll probably be surprised. I love that. I love that building community. And I feel like that also just kind of helps you feel supported along the way, too.
Christina Galbato:
Yes, definitely.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Okay, so now a piece of advice for somebody who’s making money and they’re maybe further along several years into their business journey, but they are ready to elevate to the next level, whatever that next level looks like for them. And I feel like you’ve gone through several different level elevations in the past several years of your business. So, what tip would you give to somebody who’s kind of ready to step up to that next level?
Christina Galbato:
Outsource. That’s definitely my number one tip is to grow your team, outsource, look at where you’re spending the most time on things that aren’t necessarily revenue-generating activities, things that are taking your attention away from creating new products, or helping more people, making money in general and outsource those things. That’s my biggest piece of advice. And also, hire people that know how to do things that you don’t know how to do.
So, my first big hire was my Facebook and Instagram ads team because they knew how to do something I didn’t know how to do and they would make lead generation easier. And then I hired the customer service person, because I was spending too much time in customer service emails. And by outsourcing those things, I was able to concentrate on improving my programs, creating the next program, building that community even more. So hiring and outsourcing, I believe is the most important thing when you are ready to truly scale. And I honestly believe that there is a cap on the size of the business that you have if it’s just you, so outsourcing is huge.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Totally. And I think it’s a matter of like once you’ve made some money, you probably have more money than you do time. And so, at that point, that’s a good pointer when you have more money than you do time that’s when it’s time to bring somebody else in. Yeah, I love that. Awesome.
Okay, well, I usually ask a couple of quick questions at the end of our conversation. So, what is your favorite productivity hack or tip or trick either in your business or in your life?
Christina Galbato:
That’s a good question. Day blocking is probably my favorite productivity hack. So, basically creating themes for every single day of the week. I’ll give you an example, so Monday is our team day where I’m sitting with the team and looking ahead. And this can be different for everyone depending on their level of business. But it’s my team day to look over the week ahead, make sure everyone’s on task, have all of my team meetings. Tuesday and Wednesday are my call days, so whether that’s podcast recordings or calls with other people outside of my team. Thursday is my hard work, deep work project day. And then Friday is my creative day.
So, I love doing it this way. It makes me 10 times more productive because it’s really hard to switch between being creative and writing a caption or filming a Reel. And then the next second diving into strategy or diving into numbers or doing that deeper work, so I love day blocking, that’s my favorite thing of all time.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That’s such a good idea. I love that. You’re right it’s like…
Christina Galbato:
That’s day blocking.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… nearly impossible to be creative when you have 60 minutes between your finance and your team call. You can’t be creative in that [crosstalk 00:41:00].
Christina Galbato:
Exactly, exactly. You’re spending 30 minutes trying to get your brain to just switch over.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Exactly. I love that so much. I feel like I do that to a degree, but maybe I need to refresh that a little bit. I love that.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, I’ve become a little bit crazy about my day blocking. I’m like, “No, I can’t do that that day.”
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah, you’re like, “No, I don’t do meeting on Fridays. They’re my creative days. No. Not going to happen.” I love that. My second question is what is a favorite nonfiction book you’ve read?
Christina Galbato:
I can definitely recommend Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. That was definitely a favorite. All of her books really are amazing, but that one in particular.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That is a good one. So, my team and I actually all just read this together. Well, independently and then had a little [inaudible 00:41:44] chat about it. And I was, hopefully everybody doesn’t hate me after I say this, but I was kind of like not anti-Brené Brown. I was just not into Brené Brown the way everyone else in the world [crosstalk 00:41:56]. And then it started a couple of her other books and I just couldn’t get into them. I was like I kind of don’t get the hype of it. I don’t understand it. But then I read Dare to Lead and I was like, “Okay, I get the hype.” I was crying at certain parts, so like yeah. [crosstalk 00:42:11] with you.
Christina Galbato:
Yeah. I know what you mean because it’s like when someone is so hyped up, you’re like, I’m like, “Is this just like cliché now?” But she’s amazing. Also, her podcast is really good for anyone that wants a good podcast. She is a good podcaster.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I haven’t listened to her podcast. Okay, I need to do that. Yes. I’m not anti-Brené Brown anymore. Just so everyone knows.
Christina Galbato:
Everyone unsubscribes because of that. Just kidding.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
I know. I know Brené Brown. My last question is imagine that you have a weak day completely free from a work or any obligations. What do you do?
Christina Galbato:
If I’m not able to travel, probably biking on the river waterfront in New York. That’s my favorite activity.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That’s so nice. Everybody’s been giving me lovely outdoor things. I’m like what is everyone going to answer when I ask this question in January?
Christina Galbato:
I know. Yeah. Eating all the food inside and watch TV.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Exactly. Awesome. All right, Christina, this has been such a wonderful conversation. Thank you so much. I’m really grateful for all that you shared with us. Where can our listeners find you?
Christina Galbato:
Thank you so much for having me on. I’m Christina Galbato on Instagram, christinagalbato.com, Christina Galbato everywhere. Send me a DM, say hi. And yeah, it’s been so fun being on. Thank you.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yes, yeah. You’re super responsive to your DMs also. So, Christina’s wonderful. Instagram is great. And her podcast, Her Life By Design is so good. You have such amazing guests and so much value there, so binge worthy if you need a new podcast to listen to…
Christina Galbato:
Yeah, it is.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
… Christina does a great job. And there’s a lot of episodes there. When did you start that, two years ago now?
Christina Galbato:
I started it 2019, November 2019.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Yeah. My gosh.
Christina Galbato:
It’s been so fun.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
That’s like two years. I was so excited when you initially shared that you were launching it. Again, it’s just been so good. Awesome.
Christina Galbato:
Yes. Well, thank you so much for having me on.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Thanks so much, Christina.
Stephanie Skryzowski:
Thanks for listening to the 100 Degrees of Entrepreneurship podcast. To access our show notes and bonus content, visit 100degreesconsulting.com/podcast. Make sure to snap a screenshot on your phone of this episode and tag me on Instagram @stephanie.skry and I’ll be sure to share. Thanks for being here, friends, and I’ll see you next time.
Transcript Episode 27
