Facilitator Profile: Devin Pope

Tell us a bit about why you facilitate this program: Because I believe in its philosophy and purpose down to the last detail! As you see on the sales page, I’m a alumni of the program and owe so much of my success and happiness in my work to what I worked through in the assignments, learned in the resources, and discussed in the one-on-one calls.

What are your favorite parts of the program? The Discovery section will always have a special place in my heart because that’s where I was able to get things out of my head and start to make sense of them. My secret favorite part of the program is that the assignments keep growing with me. There is never “done forever,” and I love that. I might get my competitive analysis done to a point that serves me well, but then a month or two later I can go back in and add to it and make new discoveries.

My secret favorite part of the program is that the assignments keep growing with me.


What has most surprised you about your work as a facilitator? People’s inability to see their own wealth of knowledge. (And I know I’m like this, too.) A lot of what I do as a facilitator is looking and asking questions. I see people’s goals, and ask questions that the answers to will provide clarity and direction. The answers are alllll the participant’s and have usually been there for some time, they just needed the questions to be asked.

Apply Today | Visit Devin’s Website

Facilitator Profile: Sarah Schulweis

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Tell us a bit about why you facilitate this program:

Hi! I’m Sarah! I’m the founder and author of this program. My vision for this program is truly coming to life these days. From the type of people who participate to the incredible facilitators who are making the program shift and grow as it should.

There are two big reasons why I started this program. I knew, because of the inquiries and the conversations I was having, that the support and framework I provided was necessary, but for those who were just starting (who really needed it most) they needed it to be more affordable and bite-sized.

I love to see the light bulb turn on in someone’s mind at the exact moment when it all comes together and they have a moment of clarity.
— Sarah

The other reason I wanted a program was to create a more sustainable and consistent income stream for my business. I knew I didn’t want to create a program that people bought and threw away, but something that was as effective as one-on-one work. *I* wanted growth and sustainability. The bonus was that I created a place to process, refine, and systemize all that I had learned about businesses, both through my education and through my real-world experience.

What are your favorite parts of the program?

This isn’t a “part” of the program, but the result of it -- I LOVE the epiphanies! I love to see the light bulb turn on in someone’s mind at the exact moment when it all comes together and they have a moment of clarity.

The real aspects of running a business, that create the most heartache, are solvable. Loneliness in your work is solved by group workshop days, systems can be created even when it feels impossible and the ambiguity about your finances and your market can be uncovered and from there, you can create a path to growth and productivity.

What has most surprised you about your work as a facilitator?

For me, this program was an experiment. So, it was less surprise and more excitement that a system and process was as effective as I wanted it to be.


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A Resource Library

Stepping out of the noise:

Solutions to ease the pain points of a business owner and modern professional do exist. Apps, bots, software, courses, lectures, video series, articles, and more. Abundance has its curses, though, and a segment of people are too busy to scour the internet as well as too curious to let someone else take care of it. They want and need a concise, straightforward, tailored, reliable and actionable set of resources from credible experts. There are books, of course, thousands of books in the world, but what this group wants is answers, solutions, and systems they can build off of now.

An over-abundance of resources isn't the only challenge. Finding an ebook or course online is easy,  but because of the (successful and good) strategies, most of the content, positioned as a resource, is marketing and funnels to sell a more expensive product. We see a hole in the marketplace for informed, straightforward, and concise solutions -- without an upsell looming in the future.

One person writes most ebooks, courses, and articles out there. We treat our resources differently, with careful editing, strategic refining, and challenging of assumptions. Instead of one expert writing a book and sending it off to a copyeditor who has no say in the content, our authors talk at length with our strategists, editor, and designer, to fully expand (or reign in) the resource and add multidimensional opinions. We believe that many brains are better than one.

The guiding beacon for our resources is this trio: thought, action, change. Anchor & Orbit has built its reputation on the fact that there can’t be one of the three without the other. Through this commitment, A&O’s reputation has stayed free from BS, steeped in vision, planning, and making sh*t happen. This resource library will feel the same way.

Meet our first resource:

It’s natural that since Sarah started this project by answering her desire to deeply process her work that her resource is the first we publish. Her Guide, Achieving Your Goals: Understand, Create, & Maintain, takes the reader through goal uncovering, analysis, and thoughtful questions, to organizing a path to better work. Expect meticulous research, author reflections, and assignments designed to jumpstart the reader into action by setting up their long-term systems.

Another resource is about how to build (and maintain) a writing habit as a business owner. In this one you’ll learn how to take consistent, small action and identify yourself as a writer (or not!) You’ll also discover ways to ask for help in your writing process and begin building your writing community.

A third resource is advice and strategies for designers whose integrity is being challenged by clients who might want them to copy something off Pinterest. The author dives into her experiences communicating with clients and shares widely applicable lessons. Remember this resource when you’re feeling stagnant because it includes design and creativity warm-ups to help get you unstuck.

With all of our resources, the reader joins our community forum for three months so they can ask questions and interact with the authors and other readers.

Want to know more? Sign up for the newsletter to be the first on the list. 

Quiet The Noise

I've been thinking about my contribution to the Internet. The place of endless information — distracting and enlightening.

  1. The information superhighway bridges the gap between worlds with news and global connection.

  2. The information superhighway filled with distractions.

I hear about the stress of daily derailment. Along with productivity, it is the struggle to maintain the inner voice that hurts a business owner most. The company and the person running it can be confused as the same entity, and are required to have a (seemingly) perfect online persona. Along with that pressure, the distraction of competition and the pressure they feel to compete can be debilitating.

If the internet has opened up the doors to businesses, how do we continue to use it while not getting wrapped up in the mess of it all?

Marketing (It works. It’s hard.): Telling people who you are, what you do, and how to get what you're selling. But this is how we got  into this mess in the first place. Technology we didn’t understand, rules we make up as we go, and a target market that seems to shift constantly.  

Find your story: Not just a "who are you" in general, but also your story this week, or this month. The overall brand story gets old. Involve yourself in a project, get comfortable with your products, new and old, and tell a real story that your customers and clients what to follow. A safe assumption, instead of the usual one, is that you're not repeating yourself and people do want to know what you're working on.

— Mine is a quiet, concentrated participation. It has not much to do with an algorithm and a lot to do with my people and their needs. I believe in deep human connection. I believe in tribes. And I believe in doing what feels right for you, your time, your people, and your business.

Find your customer: Speaking of your people, what does your client want and what are you doing to capture them? Create an ideal customer profile with a few variations. What do you want them to know and how do you think they'd like to be reached?

— The business owners I work with are already overwhelmed. They're tight on time and I never want to be an added distraction. I want to limit my contribution to the noise and provide meaningful content.

Find your fun: I say this a lot, maybe every time I write something new, but (like I said above) repeating important information never hurts. Life is too short, and business is too hard to not have fun with it.

— Breaking the mold is fun for me. I've never been a straight and narrow person, and I love the idea that I am going against the typical social media strategy and finding a path that feels authentic and new.

Here is the plan, for now:

12-9 photos a month. That's it.

I will plan my story with strategy. I will give a big picture, portfolio feeling with more information in the comments if it works.  I will have to work hard, which is great. Protecting my community from more noise, which is what they need most, the people I want to work with will come.

But, What's a Vision?

... and how do you expand it?

A business’ vision gets lost. You get caught up in a daily routine, your business it takes up all of your energy, and now you’re too busy (or tired) to step away to see the big picture. Slowing down the daily grind can feel impossible. 

When I “expand the vision” I go back to the very beginning of the concept to explore how you got here to uncover the spark that opened the doors. I like to understand your strengths and what makes you tick so we can work on getting back to what made the leap in the first place.

Vision is a silly word. So is Brand. They’re both terms that sum up how you’d like to be seen and the path you’re meant to take. The merit of those terms is the shortcut - broad guidelines, or keywords, that are supposed to help you focus on the goals your company has committed to. 

Shortcuts, without an understanding of depth, are overwhelming and leave you with questions like: How does everyone else have this “vision” and I’m struggling just to start?

Shortcuts are helpful when you’ve seen what the longer path has to offer. So it takes you 15 fewer minutes to get to work, but those extra fifteen minutes could be a more beautiful route or give you more time to digest your favorite podcast. It’s worth taking a long way until the shortcut has substance.  

Feature: Have Company Podcast

I have admired Have Company from afar for years. The content, drive, dedication and focused business owner kept me following along and engaged. The content — clear, concise and opinionated. The drive — felt like that of a business owner with decades of experience. The dedication — to the community at large and creatives. The focus — was the result of all of the above plus a little magic. 

When I first met Marlee, in real life, it was through her workshop: How to Not Always Be Working. I sat with 7 other professional women to listen, contribute and analyze what was and wasn't working in all of our lives. I loved it. As a participant it proved the the value of setting aside time to understand my own life and find solutions to make my work/life balance a choice. 

Marlee & I stayed in touch and lucky for me, she ended up moving to my city. Over the last six months, we've become real friend and love to bond over professional and personal growth. Marlee invited me to record our conversation so the world could hear our slightly ADD but deep conversations about how to be a creative business owner. 

An overview from Marlee:

[We] talk through the fears of being a sellout, choosing between making money off of artwork or having another job and making artwork outside of work. This episode goes on longer than others, because they have a BIG important conversation about strategies for working for yourself- from bucketing time, to structuring your week, the guilt that comes with success, forgiving yourself when you get off track, and drawing boundaries.

Some quotes from our conversation: 

“If you can understand everything you need, truly… Be real with yourself about what you need. I think there is a lot of creative freedom that happens when you get really clear about your vision and your finances.”

“There is beauty in owning your own business, because you can make enough money to get by, you can then make enough money to put aside money, or you can make enough money to really create a future for yourself… And then the other beauty of business is that you have control over the situation- you are not stuck in your office, answering to a boss.”

Check out this episode and more.