From Brain Surgery to $1.6M: How I Built My Dream Business | 074

Today I'm joined by Sam Vander Wielen, a former lawyer who built a thriving digital product business creator business while recovering from brain surgery.

In this episode, we explore how Sam went from burnt-out lawyer to building a $1.6M/year digital product business with just one full-time employee.

She shares the strategy behind her evergreen funnel, the mindset shifts that helped her grow, and the systems that kept the business running after losing both of her parents.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Discovering Her True Calling in Business
03:00 Frustrations with the Legal Industry
06:15 Early Signs of Entrepreneurial Spirit
08:55 Food Blog to Legal Templates Pivot
10:24 Starting with SEO and Organic Content
13:01 First Month Revenue & Early Wins
15:47 Scaling to 1.6M with One Product
17:19 “All Roads Lead to the Email List”
18:42 Evergreen Webinar Funnel that Converts
21:04 Ad Strategy & Scaling Mistakes
23:29 Voice of Customer Research System
26:30 The Power of a Simple Product Suite
28:04 Navigating Brain Surgery & Caregiving
33:45 Building a Business While Grieving
38:50 Dropping Social Media & Saying No
41:27 Systems for Automation & Scrubbing
43:30 The Power of Writing a Weekly Newsletter
44:52 Book Launch: When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy
47:10 Why “Community Over Competition” is BS
49:18 Preparing for Craft & Commerce
51:17 What’s Next for Sam

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Follow Sam:
Newsletter: https://www.samvanderwielen.com/easy-emails
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samvanderwielen
Website: https://www.samvanderwielen.com
Book: When I Start My Business I’ll Be Happy – available wherever books are sold

Featured in this episode:
Ultimate Bundle: https://www.samvanderwielen.com/ultimate-bundle
Kit: https://kit.com
Melissa Griffin: https://melissagriffin.com
Craft + Commerce: https://convertkit.com/craft-commerce