The Hectic Podcast

My guest today is Nicole Swartz, cryptocurrency guru turned skincare purveyor turned trademark law pro. She uses her personal experience with copyright troubles to help other small businesses guard their brands and avoid similar woes. Join us today to learn how you can protect your own work and business.

Early in her career, Nicole went from having products in the Golden Globes gift bags to receiving a cease and desist letter that stopped her brand in its tracks. Today, she has turned that obstacle into an opportunity to help other creators and entrepreneurs thrive where she initially failed.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. How Nicole went from working as a corporate lawyer to selling homemade skincare products that ended up in the hands of celebrities.
2. Why her incredible success turned into a passion-killing nightmare.
3. The reasons she started Sprout Law, a business that focuses on trademark and copyright law for entrepreneurs just like you.
4. What four things every business owner should consider when starting a brand.
5. Why a statistic about clients who don’t pay blew my mind.
6. Plus the ways you can protect yourself from these bad players.
7. Tips on creating recurring, passive revenue streams.
8. How and why she niched down to primarily focus on women-owned businesses.
9. And how you can sharpen your own audience for greater success.
10. Why you should direct difficult clients to a rude assistant...who doesn’t actually exist.

My guest this week is Tennielle Clark, podcast host, life coach, mom, and gardener extraordinaire. In our raw conversation, she shares how she turned a period of deep tragedy into a starting point for success. And why it was only possible with the help of *gulp* therapy.

Yep, we’re destroying that stigma too.

Join us as we explore the importance of partnering with mental health professionals to move from just surviving to finding happiness in all areas of life. You’ll learn how you can grow and bloom in your space, wherever you want that to be.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. What Tennielle has learned from gardening and connecting with the earth.
2. Why you should learn to stop, breathe, and put everything weighing on your mind onto a shelf for mental clarity and meaningful interactions.
3. Her journey through hardship, loss, and growth, and how it led her to hosting a podcast that creates a safe space for other black women.
4. How being uncomfortable, looking foolish, and sitting in the hard stuff can change your life.
5. About the potential healing and opportunities, you can find through a therapist that just wants to see you thrive.
6. The permission you need to find what you want in life.
7. How The Plant with No Name helped her survive a horrible job experience.
8. Why you should fail and fail hard.
9. The difference between finding support that will hold you back and the yes people that will get you where you want to be.
10. Why Tennielle would shout from pulpits and rooftops to tell you: “Please go to therapy!”

Few things are as awe-inspiringly beautiful as someone who uses the hardships they’ve endured to help others. In this week’s episode, you’ll get to meet Amber Malone, a person who fully personifies this beauty. As she takes us through her journey, you’ll hear how she’s been affected by the stigma of mental health, how she’s healing from it, and why she is committed to helping others through her experiences.

This episode shows why these conversations are so important and why this podcast exists in the first place. It’s such a privilege to hear and share Amber’s story, helping her process and heal through it. In doing so, we hope we can inspire others to honor every part of themselves and see each other more fully.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. How approaching each day with intention helps Amber be more compassionate towards herself. (Hint: It’s all about ease and flow.)
2. That everyone’s 24 hours looks different, so you should be mindful of what you’re asking of yourself and others.
3. About Amber’s gift of intuition, how it shaped her early life, and how she uses it to help her clients.
4. Why she is so passionate about helping others end the stigma of mental health and free themselves of toxic shame.
5. The ways sharing your story can help you process and heal from the experiences that hold power over you.
6. Plus, how doing so publicly through blogs, videos, podcasts, and social media may save someone’s life.
7. Better language around mental health and why it matters.
8. Why you should always be open to failing excellently in life and business.
9. That the internet is a tool of abundance, full of free knowledge that you can use to do anything you want to do.
10. How to access the special gift Amber created for our listeners!

Find Amber on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

We’re giving you a peek behind the curtain as we wrap season three of The Hectic Podcast. This week’s guest is, well, me! You’ve been reading my words since the beginning, but I’m leaving the keyboard to sit in front of the microphone for our season finale.

My name is Emily Finlay and I’m the creator behind the podcast’s written content. I joined Darryl and Michelle to share a bit about myself and the work I get to do with the Hectic team. We had a blast discussing what we’ve learned from our many guests and what we’re looking forward to in season four. You’ll also hear how the podcast has evolved over the past few seasons as we discovered which stories we wanted to tell.

I’m so excited to share my experience with the podcast and I hope you have as much fun listening as we did recording. Thanks for another amazing season! See you in season four!

In this episode, you’ll learn:

1. What I hope every listener gets from the podcast’s written content, particularly the weekly companion blog.
2. Why Hectic is my perfect client and how I discovered what I wanted from my business partnerships.
3. About this season’s common thread of knowing yourself and leaning into your strengths.
4. That self-work can and should be a normal part of every day, plus tips for approaching it in a healthy way.
5. How starting counseling just before this season began has affected me and the way I approach the podcast’s weekly blogs.
6. The story behind the podcast’s rebrand in season three, including how I may have unknowingly saved it from disaster (No, Darryl, there was no witchcraft involved).
7. All of the things we each love about the podcast and our work in it.
8. An easy way to build each other up and be sunlight to those around us.
9. A sneak peek at everything coming next season.
10. Darryl’s request for our amazing listeners, who we’re so grateful for!

A few episodes that we reference as we wrap:
Dr. Dom
Beth Waterman
Other team members of the podcast:
Audio engineer Tate Luck
Video editor Ryan Weir
Graphic designer Leah Deal

Today, we welcome back Nicole Swartz of Sprout Law, an expert on everything trademark. She returns to answer many of the questions we got after her last episode, plus offers guidance on choosing the right business registration, checking for trademarks, and building a solid contract. The best part? It’s all focused on freelancers and small business owners so you can easily apply it to your work and business.

Nicole joined us previously to share how trademark issues derailed her thriving skincare business. She has used her experience to help others avoid the same problems, becoming an expert on trademark law and shedding light on a hazy area of business. She gave us even more practical advice in this episode, so it’s truly a discussion you can’t miss.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. Why do so many freelancers and small business owners ignore the legal side of things until something bad happens.
2. How to know when you need to get a trademark for your business, even if you offer services instead of products.
3. The ingredients in a Trademark SandwichTM and why it’s important to build it correctly.
4. What the different business registrations involve, what they mean, and how to find the right option for you.
5. The potential consequences of working in certain industries without liability protection, even if you’re just providing social media content or graphic design work.
6. How to find out if your business name is trademarked, plus when you may need to get an attorney involved.
7. What to do (and not do) if your brand name is the same or similar to a trademarked option.
8. The two things to double-check when using a contract or contract template to protect yourself and your business.
9. What kind of changes Nicole would make to the SBA to make a better world for freelancers.
10. A sneak peek at what we’re doing behind the scenes at the Hectic Podcast and what we’re hoping to share with it.