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A lot has shifted for many of us this year, and there were times when it asked more of us than we expected. This episode comes from that place.
Leon and I sit down to reflect honestly on the year that was, not the highlight reel, but the real decisions, the tolerated chaos, the systems that lagged behind our growth, and the moments where pushing harder clearly wasn’t the answer.
We talk about why choosing a word for the year only works when it becomes a true decision-making lens, a filter for what stays, what changes, and what gets let go.
You’ll hear how sustainability shaped every major decision we made this year, what it forced us to clean up, and why the process of reflection led us very clearly to our word for 2026.
If you’re closing out the year feeling proud and tired… successful and stretched… this conversation will help you reflect with clarity, release what no longer fits, and move into the next chapter with far more intention.
WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE:
- 03:01 – Why this year felt compressed and expansive at the same time
- 05:44 – The danger of choosing a word that feels good but isn’t operational
- 9:52 – Where sustainability was leaking, and how we were tolerating chaos
- 13:20 – The costs in our business that were quietly eroding profit
- 17:05 – Why “free tools” often cost more than paid ones
- 21:28 – How real downtime creates better CEO decisions
- 23:46 – When collaboration becomes misaligned, and how to set boundaries
- 26:08 – Re-keying offers so clients get faster results
- 30:40 – Our exact process for choosing a word that actually shapes the year
- 35:48 – The word we’ve chosen for 2026
- 38:07 – The three strategies we’re doubling down on next year
- 45:23 – The market always tells the truth
- 46:51 – The real reason money matters in business
CONNECT WITH SAMANTHA RILEY
CONNECT WITH LEON FLITTON
TRANSCRIPTION
Samantha Riley 00:00
We are closing out the year. We’re talking about our 2025 word how that’s played through our business this year and what that means for our business for next year. Go back and reflect on did we live it so? Did we really use it as a lens, and did it give us what we wanted for the year?
I’m Samantha Riley, and welcome to the Business Growth Lab, where visionary entrepreneurs come to experiment, evolve and expand what’s possible.
Welcome to today’s episode of Business growth Lab. I’m your co host, Samantha Riley, alongside my hubby and partner in business, Leon. How are you? Leon? Another week, and always Christmas
Leon Flitton 00:42
crime as well. I know, right? Christmas crazy. I know it feel like the year flew by, didn’t it?
Samantha Riley 00:50
You know, it’s funny. I’ve got this whole the year flew and it went forever all at the same time. And it depends what I’m thinking about which which tech, because I know we just came off a team meeting before we recorded this, and you were saying it felt like we were like, just in Bali. And I’m like, That’s funny, that you think that because we’re in Bali running a client event in July, you said it feels like we were just there. And I’m like, I always feel like I can’t remember it, because so much has happened since we got back. So it’s like time has been very strange this year. It’s kind of compressed and expanded in all sorts of weird and wonderful ways.
Leon Flitton 01:30
Yeah, yeah. I don’t recommend doing this. But you know, sometimes when you get tired and you’re driven somewhere and you can’t remember going down in a particular street that you normally remember, and I feel like that. It’s like we got here. But what happened to a few of those months are they missing? I’m not sure
Samantha Riley 01:47
I know. How did we get here, but I can tell you, I am very much looking forward to finishing out this year or closing out this year. I can’t believe our grandson turns one years old on the 23rd of December. So really, we want to close it out, and I guess, make a little cocoon with our family, celebrate Charlie’s first birthday, celebrate Christmas, celebrate our daughter’s birthday, which is on the 30th of December. So it’s like a busy period, and I’m ready just to jump into that little family cocoon. I don’t know about you,
Leon Flitton 02:23
yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I’m looking, really looking forward to it. It’s funny how the birthdays and the Christmas and the New Year’s all end up together.
Samantha Riley 02:32
I know time of the birthday, right
Leon Flitton 02:35
near New Year’s, yeah, but then you’ve got, you know, a grandson, and then Christmas and and then, yeah, and there’s just, there’s a lot.
Samantha Riley 02:43
There is a lot. What I think is actually really funny is all the years that she said, How dare you have me on the 30th of December, you’ve ruined it for me. And then she had her son on the 23rd of December. But anyway, I’m like, Oh, do you get it now you actually can’t help it.
Leon Flitton 02:58
I like how it’s all your fault.
Samantha Riley 03:01
Look, honestly, as a kid, how that was annoying, rather, anyway, yeah, because we are closing out the year, we’re talking about our 2025 word, how that’s played through our business this year, and announce, I guess, our 2026 word, and talk about how we got there, what that means for our business for next year. And we’ll also share our process for coming up with our word so that you can use it too, if you would like to. But let’s start off with what we’re talking about, what we mean by our word, and we’ve picked a word that’s like the theme of our year for many, many years now, Leon and I think a lot of people pick this word on kind of just Oh yeah, that sounds good. That feels good, and by February, they’ve forgotten their word. But we really, really keep our word top of mind for the whole year, and we use it as our lens that we make every decision through. We even have it. I’ve got I’m holding up if you’re listening, that’s our word for whoops. That was in front of my microphone. That’s our word for 2025, it was sustainability. And every single time we were making a decision, we use this as the lens like is this sustainable? Is this helping our business to become more sustainable? Because I think the last few years, some of the decisions we made, we realized they’re actually not sustainable. We won’t be able to scale doing some of the things that we’ve been doing. What do you want to add to that?
Leon Flitton 04:40
So I think that it’s almost like, you know, like a New Year’s resolution, when they go, Yeah, this is what’s going to be this year. I’m going to go to the gym 50 times a week, and then it lasts for a couple of days, and that’s about it. And then it kind of dies out. I feel like it’s a similar process where they pick a word. I. Well, and probably how they pick the word is probably, probably another story as well. But they pick a word that doesn’t enable them to use it in what I think is correct is like a lens. Call it a lens. So I think that yeah, or a filter, yeah. So I think that they’re not necessarily using it in the most efficient way possible, or the best way possible. So the intention is there, but more of like the application process, kind of, how they’re using it isn’t quite there. So I think that’s probably something to think about, and we’ll probably you’ll probably touch this a bit later as well, of how to actually fit that into your process so you can actually utilize it and really make it work for you totally.
Samantha Riley 05:44
And coming up with this process is something that I have been quite intentional about in the last few years, because when I very first did start picking a word, like, I think about 15 years ago, I started going through this process, I chose a word that kind of just felt good at the moment, like it was a bit of a vibe like, oh, I want to grow my business. Let’s call it growth, without really digging deep into well, growth for what? And I remember doing this episode years and years ago, and actually saying I didn’t really think about it properly enough, because in that year of growth, everything grew. My business did grow, but so did my belly. So now, now I’m a little bit more intentional about what it is.
Leon Flitton 06:31
We need to have a chat about how you manifest things and be a little bit more specific. But that’s right, because it’s like, pick a word and you go, insert sexy word here, and that doesn’t really work for you, either. So what doesn’t work for me anyway?
Samantha Riley 06:50
If we were going to break it down, it did work for me because it helped me to really understand how to use this word and to use it as a filter to or a lens to filter all our decisions through, rather than just a vibe. So I’m just living my six, two generator profile, right? So I have to live everything and then go, Alright, okay, that didn’t work so well. Like I’m going to speak to you now from the the more wise version of me that tried that, and tell you why it didn’t work and how this is a better way.
Leon Flitton 07:23
What do you mean? Just don’t go, pick a sexy word and insert it and go, yep, that’s the one.
Samantha Riley 07:28
Or look, no. Well, what I’m what I was saying was it did. It did kind of work like it was still sort of working. It’s just that we’ve created a process now that works so much better, and it helps us to make decisions in our business a lot faster because of the process around it. So, yes, it did work. It just wasn’t working in the same like at the same level that it works for us. Now that’s what I’m saying.
Leon Flitton 08:01
Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it typically, as you said, well, let’s, let’s choose our word for the for next year. And my mind started trying to pick words out, whereas you started doing something completely different.
Samantha Riley 08:15
I did. I went, hang on, stop, stop, stop, stop, now on that. Stop, stop, stop, Leon. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Let’s reflect on 2025 first man, normally it’s me going a million miles an hour. You’re a bit excited. I think you just want to finish the year like, Come on, go, go, go. This is also true. Yeah, it is also true. Well, let’s talk almost our 2025, word was sustainability. And I remember when we picked this word, you were a little bit. You were, like, a year, but I’m not 100% sure. But for me, as soon as I heard I was like, this is 100% right, but you did just, I guess that’s your emotional authority. You had to sit with it for a bit. My sacral had instantly decided this is the word you played around with some of days, I just let you play, and you came back and you went, absolutely Sam. You got it right. It is sustainability. And I gave you the space to do what you needed to do and to go through that, but sustainability is what we landed on. What were some of the things that weren’t working for us in 2024 that helped us land on sustainability? There was a little bit of chaos that we were tolerating, and I’m going to say that really strongly we were tolerating it, because we were allowing it to happen, and we had to make a decision to not so should we go into what some of those sustainability leaks are?
Leon Flitton 09:52
Yeah, look, I think that one of the things that happens, and this is all businesses, and I’m sure the listeners are going to have no. Assist in their own business as they go along, that the process that you start with isn’t necessarily the process that you need moving forwards. And I think we hadn’t just adapted or changed some of those processes to suit what we’re doing now,
Samantha Riley 10:16
there was an evolution, and our systems and processes hadn’t kept up?
Leon Flitton 10:20
Yeah, yeah. Now most people know we have a also have a podcast agency as well, and in that it had evolved from when we first started it, years and years ago as just being editors to, you know, now being more of a full production suite, so there’s a lot more involved in it, and some of the processes had to evolve with time and keep up, and they hadn’t. So we needed to make sure that we’re providing the best possible offer to our clients. So we needed to make sure they evolved. So that was one of the things need to be cleaned up. And we did do that, and I’ve actually been really happy with the outcome of that. So that’s been great. That’s one of them.
Samantha Riley 10:57
Wouldn’t it have been nicer, though, if we had have made that decision on, you know, at the end of 2024, and by the fifth of January, it was done.
Leon Flitton 11:09
Yes. This is also
Samantha Riley 11:11
true tongue in cheek, because I feel like it has taken all year to work through that Yes. And the reason I’m bringing that up is because I think that they actually, I don’t think I know people just see the highlight reel, right? They don’t live the sleepless nights that we all go through. They don’t live the Holy Moly that didn’t work or that cost us a lot of money, or that, you know, they don’t live the painful lessons. And when you’re looking at the highlight reel, you can get into this place where you look at everyone else and go, Why is it so easy for them, when it’s so hard for me? And the reason I want to say this is because it’s hard for all of us. You know, when you get the highlight reel, which you’re kind of getting today, but we want to share that it’s such a journey. It’s not just you make a decision and it changes. There had to be so much reflection, so much trial and error. So like, Oh, I found this year at times really quite painful. So, you know, I’m just saying it’s not a highlight reel, it’s a journey, and it’s a journey for every single person. And if you’re looking at someone else now and thinking, why is it easy for them? Like it’s not, they’re just not sharing the messy middle.
Leon Flitton 12:36
Yeah, I don’t think that people share that exactly what you say like, you see like the top 3% of whoever it is on social media, but you don’t see everything else that happens in the background of it. So I think in sharing that and being honest about it, well that’s what happens. That’s the way businesses are. That’s the way entrepreneurship is. So absolutely, don’t just do one thing and win at it. That’s not what happens at all. So and there’s always constant tweaking and monitoring and looking at data and reading things, and that’s just the way it is. But in saying that, what I was also going to mention was that we cleaned up a lot of software this year, and particularly with the podcast business, because we might have had four pieces of software that all did the same things,
Samantha Riley 13:20
yeah, because one of the things that we do is when our team comes to us and says, Hey, look, can we try this software, nine times out of 10 will say yes, because we we want our team to take ownership in their roles. What had happened, though, was they were like, can we try this? Can we try this? Can we try this? We’re like, hang on a minute. Hang on a minute. Haven’t we got three other tools that do this same thing,
Leon Flitton 13:46
like, let’s Are we still using this? Yeah, yeah.
Samantha Riley 13:50
It’s not as painful when it doesn’t come out of their wallet, right?
Leon Flitton 13:53
Yeah. So that was, and that was, that was a big learning as well. So, but in saying that, I think that it was important that we did try all those things. So there is trial and error. Yeah, 100% but it could have been a bit quicker on the like, does this work? Yes, no.
Samantha Riley 14:14
100% yes. I remember looking at my account one month with a lot of highlights, saying, Leon, can you check in on all these things, I’m pretty sure they all do the same thing.
Leon Flitton 14:24
Yes, my highlight is wearing out.
Samantha Riley 14:26
Yeah, I’ve run out of I’ve run out of highlighter ink. Is that a thing? So, yeah, so not only did we clean up software, but we also had a look at the workflows, because when you’re running funnels or workflows processes. The more you duct tape different pieces of software together, the more likely they are to break. So we really sat down and mapped it out and had a look at it and say, Hang on a minute. Is this breaking because we’ve got too many steps. What can we cut out that’s already there? That. Will help us with multiple of these steps, which is what we did. And sometimes some of those pieces of software looked like they were more expensive, but you really have to sit down and have a look at well, what is it actually covering? What it meant was we could have this one that’s got a much higher price point, but we could cut out these other five and that just it still might be more, but it means that’s five less times that that funnel is going to break. So I think it’s, it’s not like a is this one better or this one, or is this one cheaper or this one? It’s what are the best pieces of software that we can put together and have a nice, solid process that doesn’t break and make the most money so that it’s worth it, like it’s just a different way to look at things. I think too many people look at their software like, let me choose the free version or the cheapest version, and I’ll have 10 of them, and then wonder why their funnel is not working, or why it breaks. Well, if there’s your answer, there’s a reason. It’s free, it’s missing something, yes,
Leon Flitton 16:15
and I think it’s something that both you and me kind of do this without really talking about too much, is we, well, actually do this? We started doing this more in 2025 was applying the is it fit for purpose test? Yes, a lot. And I don’t know if that came from you having, like, multiple dance shops and things like that, because, like, you’re having a checkout operator system in a shop. If it doesn’t work, probably for what you want, you just don’t put it in. And I think me, having a lot of, you know, a lot of other background in corporate, finding something and putting it in and it doesn’t work properly is so frustrating. So I think that a lot of it, yeah, what we’re looking at a lens, the particular lens for, well, there’s software different places, even systems or funnels, for example, was, is it fit for purpose? And it, does it do what it supposed to do?
Samantha Riley 17:05
The other thing I’ve seen this year, which is the complete opposite end of that spectrum, is people trying to make sales with free tools and trying to sticky tape things together, instead of like, oh, you know what? I’m just going to spend $600 on. You know, thrive cart, and have it so that it seamlessly takes multiple currencies tags your clients, has people going through quickly, like cuts down the amount of steps, which means you have more percentage of people coming through your funnel. I just see too often, people trying to save $1 and not understanding the cost, like, not only are they losing $1 but they’re probably losing 1000s, like not being able to see the big picture. So that’s something that we spend a lot of time on. How can we bring people through as quickly and as seamlessly as possible? Because the more easily and seamlessly you can bring a customer through a funnel, the more likely they are to stay with you. Yeah. And by stay with you, I mean stay with you to push the Buy Now button. That’s what I mean, yep.
Leon Flitton 18:15
And I was just thinking, just then, as you’re talking as well, that you can start an online business with not much money you really can, yeah, but I think what the difference is that you don’t see is the amount of hours of labor you got to plug into that system when it’s free, but you’re trying to scale it without the right software, the right systems, the right whether it’s a CRM, whatever it is, you’re trying to scale something that’s really labor intensive, like it Sounds like it’s free, and you just, oh, well, I’ll just do this. Then I’ll just, I’ll send that email, and I’ll do something else, and you have zero automations. And then even, like, you’ll start losing things because you’ll start losing leads because you can’t track them properly, and all this kind of stuff you can. We’ve got a project management tool. And soon as it gets a bit busier, you really get stuck at a certain point. So I think that whole, yes, you can start a business for nothing is not so valid. So I think it’s
Samantha Riley 19:08
it is valid. It’s not sustainable. Because when I very, very first started my coaching business, I used to track my accounts in a Google Sheet. Could you imagine trying to track our accounts google sheet to save $70 for zero like I would, I would think you’d lost your mind. Yeah, like that. $70 is, look, don’t get me wrong. I think zero is overpriced. However, at the same time, I give it up for anything because it just makes everything so much easier.
Leon Flitton 19:45
Yeah, yeah. 100%
Samantha Riley 19:48
Yeah. So yeah, software, that’s something that we created so that it was sustainable. One of the other things that we did was thinking about sustainability from an energy perspective, or the. Perspective of us needing the CEO time so that we could really reflect and regroup was that we had quite a lot of time away this year, and time away where we didn’t work. So you and I have always had lots of time away, but I’m also someone that normally works through it, where this year I found that we didn’t log in and work on our time away like we normally did, and we really spent that time to not even talk about business like, to really switch off. And then if we did, it was more let’s reflect and regroup rather than let’s get this thing done.
Leon Flitton 20:40
Yeah, I think that with that time away, what happens? It’s like, it’s a bit like the magic shower, really. You know, we might have been
Samantha Riley 20:49
sitting so for anyone that hasn’t heard this, the magic shower is where I have all of my big epiphanies, all of my ahas. I can be really struggling to think of something. And Leon will say, can you just go get in the magic shower? And you know what’s magic about it? Leon, every single house we’ve worked at has got a magic shower. Every single one. How magical is that? I know? Who knew? Who knew that all these places had magic showers?
Leon Flitton 21:18
So apparently, sitting by the pool in Bali is also very magic.
Samantha Riley 21:21
Yeah, it is, it is, I think I need to go back there.
Leon Flitton 21:28
And I think that the downtime that you have when you just get to stop and let those ideas flow, when they need to flow, is really awesome, because you’re not trying to force anything. And when you get like, let yourself just relax and chill out for a minute, and everything settles down. And, you know, the crazy cortisol running every second like going crazy at work, slows down, and you get to think and do proper CEO time thinking about the business. You know? Well, we love what we do, right? So it makes sense that at some point you’re going to come back to that, and it’s just going to come out, and that’s what kind of happened. So as we just chilled out, we love what we do, and it really, you know, started to just, we’d have a conversation, and wasn’t a planned conversation, but they were great. So that was really good, totally.
Samantha Riley 22:20
And I’m here for it more next year. I think something else that is just dropped in that I really noticed about the middle of the year, and I really paid big attention to by the end of the year, is my business relationships. So I’m quite well connected. I love collaborations. I’ve always done a lot of collaborations. I always I love to shout people out. It’s part of my if anyone knows Roger Hamilton’s wealth dynamics, I’m a supporter. I love to put the spotlight on other people. What I’ve realized over the last few years is that a lot of people know that, and a lot of people will introduce, Hey, Sam, you need to know this person. And it’s not necessarily through a place of, I’ll say innocence, like there’s, there’s been a few people that maybe have reached out just because, hey, Sam does this and see what they can get. And so anyone that you see in 2026 that is in my world, you’ll know that we’ve worked hard to build that business relationship. And it’s a two way street, because there was someone else I promoted this year for the second year in a row, and no reciprocal. And I’m like, yeah, that that’s done like it’s a two way street, a relationship. It’s not a one way street.
Leon Flitton 23:46
Yeah, it does feel a bit like a burn your bridges kind of thing. Because if you go into help someone promote their whatever their thing is and and it’s not coming back the other way, like they don’t want to help promote you, then you instantly go, why would you want to do that? And clearly, your values and theirs aren’t aligning. Yeah, exactly. I think it’s always going to be not a great feeling moving forward.
Samantha Riley 24:15
I don’t think that reciprocity needs to come back like straight away, like, I’m not like, hey, I’ll do this thing for you. You do this thing for me. I’m not. It’s not about that, but it’s about there needs to be a give and take in a relationship. It’s not just a It’s not just a one way thing. Hey, I’m here again, and hey, can you promote my thing again? And I will definitely still collaborate like collaborations are so high up on my values, and I love collaborating with people and shining a spotlight on people in my world that are doing amazing things. But there’s going to be a lot more boundaries around that for 2026 Yep,
Leon Flitton 24:56
Yep, definitely. What was the other big thing? We worked on Sam
Samantha Riley 25:01
now, obviously we released a bonus episode, Episode 666 if you haven’t listened to that, go back and have a listen where we talked about how the energy of the nine or the universal nine year had us burning down our our business and starting again. But one of the big things is that we re keyed our offer and in that so that’s all of all of our deliverables that we’re offering to our clients. It’s been re keyed in a way so that they get more and we’re not absolutely, like completely burning ourselves to the ground. So it’s sustainability on both sides. How do we give more in a way that is not killing us? And how do they get what they need faster, so that they can move faster? And I think that putting that offer together and re keying those deliverables has been probably, I would say I’d love to hear your take on this. Probably the biggest thing we did this year, yeah, now
Leon Flitton 26:08
I know that our word for this year, because we’re still in 2025, at the moment, yeah, is sustainability. Yeah, one thing that we looked at earlier in the year, and I think it’s always been, I think for you. Because if you look at the launch of the original offer with and that had the bonus of the genies in it, that was always about speed implementation and totally and getting stuff done quicker. Now I think that we’ve always looked at the efficiency and gone. How do we make it even faster? You know? How do we make it even better? And I really love, you know, where we’ve come to with the new the new offer, because I think it’s faster better, and I think the client is clients are going to get even more out of it than they did before. So I think it’s freaking awesome. But I think that’s the biggest thing that we did through the year in look and review, because it wasn’t just, like a quick, I will just change it like this. There was a lot of thought that went into the whole process. So what exactly is it that they need, like, what’s going to move them forward faster? And, you know, we looked at the how the clients were utilizing it and stuff like that as well, and saying, Well, how can we make it better for them? So I think that’s why I’m so excited about this new offer.
Samantha Riley 27:24
So as you’re reflecting out on your year, start to think about what did you stop doing in 2025 that changed everything, or what did you start doing? Because that will help you to really understand how to close out your 2025 and move into getting your word for 2026 Leo, why don’t we talk about our process for coming up with our word? Because I think that the way that we do this has sped up. We used to sit down and we used to talk about it for days on end. And last year we did it, and I reuse the same process this year, and we had our word within probably an hour, because there’s still a little bit of backwards and forwards. But we had it back. We ran it through a stress test, and we came up with it. So we would love you to steal our process. So how we pick our 2026 word, or how we pick our new word is we really go back and reflect on what was our 2025 word? Did we live it? So did we really use it as a lens, and did it give us what we wanted for the year and for us? There was, you know, it was easy. We thought about all the moments that we were proud of, the moments that worked really well, and the things that really moved the needle to get us towards that word. And sort of, that’s the first part. It’s it’s reflecting back, okay, so if we wanted sustainability, which was our word, what did we do that created that so it helped us get really clear on on how that works. From there, we talk about, okay, so if we’re here again in 12 months time, what do we want to have achieved and what are we leaking at the moment? What are we not doing? What do we need to double down on on to be able to close out 2026 with our goal. So our goal was that we want to add seven figures to our business in the next year, so not get to seven figures, add seven figures. And so we ran the process, okay? Well, to get that, let’s get really clear on what’s not going to get us there. So it identified those leaks, and then we used chat GPT. And I love using the app, because I can speak into it rather than type it. And I think speaking into AI gives a much better result, because you’re not trying to think of. How to say it. You’re just talking and I think that you do get a better output. And I just put it in there. Hey, this is what our goal is for the next 12 months. This is what we did well this year. This is the gaps that we feel like we’ve got. Ask us any questions you need and help us to come up with some words. And it came up with about 10 words, and we shortlisted three, and we ran it through a stress test of, okay, well, what do these words really mean? Like, if we broke them down, what would the filter be to make the decisions? And it helped us to really get super duper clear and land on our 2026, word really, really quickly,
Leon Flitton 30:40
yes, and I think that’s really important to note that that reflection and the things that happened during the year that you might have realized may have been holding you back a bit as well, but you hadn’t necessarily addressed them, and I think that’s where some of it came in for us this year as well, going okay, well, This the result that we want, and what, any possible things that could have, you know, held us back. So the other thing is, you mentioned that speaking into chat JpT is really awesome because of what you said it. Just let you talk. And if you don’t hold back, just say it how it is. Just talk through it, and don’t try and do a short little thing like, like, let it have it. Give them all the good, the bad, the ugly, all the things you can think of, and what your actual goal is. And you’re giving it plenty of information to work with. And I mean, they let me do it completely ramble on, but that’s important to get the right, you know, help to assist you to get the right word, the right lens.
Samantha Riley 31:45
Totally one of the things that helped me realize that this was the right word, and we haven’t told you what it is yet, but we will get there was a conversation I had with a collaboration partner a couple of weeks ago, and we were talking about our differences in the marketplace. This other person had been in business for over 20 years. I’ve been in business for coming up 33 years in January, and we were talking about the fact that, because I’ve run so many different businesses, and because, you know, so many industries, so many different types of businesses, in so many areas of business, that I’ve got this like view that I can see so much more than some other people, because I’ve got perspectives that I can pull on right and it changes my view. And I had said that many years ago, someone had called me like an x ray for business in that I could see what others couldn’t see. And he said, You know what, Sam? He said, You know what I’m hearing? He said, because we were also talking about leverage, right? What do you do in your business that gives you the most movement or the or the best outcome, and getting rid of the other pieces? He said a lot of people talk about leverage, and he said it’s like, they’ve got, imagine they’ve got a, like, a samurai sword, but it’s really, really heavy for them, and they’re struggling to control it, and they’re just like, it’s sort of coming down all over the place, and it’s cutting pieces, and it’s cutting pieces, but it’s random. He said, I almost feel like you are the Samurai, and you’ve got the strength to hold that samurai sword and with absolute precision, you can just slice it in exactly the right place. It’s not like you’re struggling to control something that’s heavy and it’s sort of coming down all over the shop, and maybe you’re you’re cutting off pieces that aren’t the right pieces. He’s like, you’re just like, it’s there. And I was like, yeah, that is what I’m like. Because when I see something, I’m like, okay, I can see that there’s five different things happening here. Like, let’s break this down. So when chat GPT came up with this particular word, that was kind of in my mind, because it’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot over the last couple of weeks that that is one of my zones of genius, that I know exactly where the swords going. It’s like, cut this. Don’t cut this. Change this. Let’s move forward and get some more data. So that made it very It made it easy for me to realize that this was the right word, yes. And do you want to share the word? Well, not just
Leon Flitton 34:23
yet, before I move on, I just want to talk about the sword thing, because it was also described because of your, of your excellent delivery methods, as a velvet sword. And my mind’s my picture of a velvet covered samurai sword.
Samantha Riley 34:38
That is exactly what he said, he said, Yes, like a velvet colored Samurai, a velvet covered samurai sword. And that is very true. I’ve been told many, many times that I can be very nurturing, but somehow I know when it’s not the time to go. You know what? I know you’ve had a hard time and just Intuit. Lee, I know, actually this month, you know what, pick up your big girl panties and let’s move on.
Leon Flitton 35:09
I know several of the clients have mentioned that as well, so I think they like the delivery method. So that’s a good thing.
Samantha Riley 35:14
Well, whether or not they like it, I know it certainly caught people off with big eyes before, like some people don’t like it. Let’s be honest, it doesn’t suit everyone. But, yeah, I am very nurturing. But also, let’s get this done, and it’s a balance. Oh, 670,
Samantha Riley 35:39
my goodness, I can’t believe. Well, we do an end of 2025, without putting that in there, right?
Leon Flitton 35:44
Well, there’s probably going to be like the word of the year or something anyway.
Samantha Riley 35:48
So I think, I think it’s like, is it the Oxford dictionary word of the year, or that’s one of them anyway, in and out. It’s not, doesn’t have a ticker of six, seven anymore, because too many people were lining up just to hear it. But yeah, that’s
Leon Flitton 36:08
What’s the world coming to we should get back on track,
Samantha Riley 36:11
though, absolutely 2026. Word is yes, precision, absolute precision, and this is the filter to know, what are we doing with absolute precision and getting rid of the rest of the things. So what I mean by getting rid of the rest of the things is what’s like, really, really focusing down on what worked and what didn’t. So there’s three things that we’re doubling down on in 2026 because they’re our biggest levers. And number one is the podcast, yep, but not just the podcast, but the way that we’re doing the podcast now, the stats and I’m all about data and going and seeing what looks what you know, having a look, the stats have clearly showed that the episodes with just Leon and myself are what you really want to hear. So we’re doubling down on that. There’s going to be there still will be guests, but there’ll be much fewer and farther between, and that most episodes you’ll hear Legion and I,
Leon Flitton 37:28
yeah, yeah, so, and this is, like a their stats. There’s, you know, because we’re in the industry as well, there’s a lot of chat about it. And, you know, I think what the format we’re using now with the two of us, and I like to be on the podcast as well. But apart from that, it is actually, you know, getting a much better cut through, so I think that’s great. But like we said, not saying there’s not going to be guests, because there is some really smart people out there that we want to share with our listeners. But yeah, this really is this way to go for now, so and I’m looking forward
Samantha Riley 38:07
to it. Yeah, so that’s number one. I feel like we’ve got the 3p here. So the first one is podcast. The second one is kind of a P in person events. We attended a few events this year, and we got a lot of leverage from in person events, so we’re going to be doubling down on this in 2026 and showing up more in person and creating deeper relationships with people. I think that you know, in 2020 we all know what happened, and there was a lot of chatter through that time, when we’re all in lockdown, we can’t wait till we can get back out there again and get to an in person event. And what happened actually surprised me was that most people didn’t follow through on that, that they’re like, Oh, I couldn’t be bothered. You know, it’s too hard. There’s extra cost of traveling, and what I thought would happen was that events would come back bigger, like more people would attend them. But it hasn’t actually been the case. Like some people have had trouble with having low numbers and events. But what I do think this happened is that they are better. So if you’re not at in person events, you’re missing out, because the relationships that are being created in rooms are so valuable and worth so much money that if you’re not doing it, you’re missing out.
Leon Flitton 39:38
Yes, and this is something else that we kind of didn’t mention with the podcast as well. But podcasting is really good for building trust, and I feel like if you’re talking about building trust, because social media right now has a really low trust about you, but if you meet someone in person, event, yeah, you meet someone in person. Just an event, and we met quite a few people. Was really cool. I instantly have a much greater trust of those people that I met in person than having known these people only through social media.
Samantha Riley 40:13
More memorable as well, like when you meet someone face to face, I remember them longer. I remember their name. I Yeah, you get a vibe with them. You know, you’re having a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with them. You’re chatting about what happened with the kids, or where do you live, or like your conversation naturally goes a little bit further. I feel then online, it’s like, okay, well, we’re meeting online from this time to this time, and we’ve got this framework, or, you know, we’ve got this system, or, you know, we know exactly what we’re going to speak about. We’re in person. It just flows a lot more differently.
Leon Flitton 40:53
It feels like sometimes online, that’s a bit box ticky, instead of like, being a real connection. Like, yes, person online, but when you meet them in person, it it feels like you, well, I suppose you actually met them. It feels like you actually met them because, yeah, yeah, but on Zoom and what, yeah, sometimes like it just doesn’t quite feel like you connect enough. I think it’s, and this may be because of the energy loss through, like, video screens. It’s like, yeah, yeah. Like, how much harder you have to work to get energy to come through. Zoom, oh, it’s so tiring. Is, you know, is really crazy. And I think we felt way more relaxed in person, meeting new people and chatting, and yet, that learning about their business, that’s what I do. Like, you know, they had to leave the puppy at home today because they came to the event, or they traveled for two hours, or whatever it was, like, you know, slightly random things, but that’s what makes them memorable. You know, like,
Samantha Riley 41:59
100% 100% and not only that, but there’s something that happens at in person events that doesn’t happen online, and that’s the conversations that happen in the corridor when you’re having lunch, when you’re having a coffee break at the end of the day, when you’re like, oh my god, that was an amazing day, and you and you reflect on on how that’s happened in your life, like it’s actually the magic that happens out of the, you know, like the actual event, like you’re still there, but it’s what happens in the corridors. And that’s one of the reasons, not only that we’re going to be going to more in person events, but why? We’re running two retreats a year for our clients from next year, because the magic happens in the corridors like you. Someone might just throw away a line, and it could completely change your business. And that doesn’t happen as much online. It really is an in person thing. There’s a different energy there.
Leon Flitton 43:04
Yep, Yep, definitely. And what’s number three?
Samantha Riley 43:07
Number three, it’s another P paid ads. And right now, if you’re listening and you have you’re not making organic sales because you’ve out fished your pond. There’s only one way you can get more fish back in your pond, and that’s to go. You need to go outside of where you’re already at and bring more people in. You need to put more fish into your pond. And the only way that you can do that is paid ads. Well, actually, that’s that’s not quite true. There are other ways to do it, but I don’t have time to be going out there and meeting people one on one and a networking event to bring them into my pond. Paid ads is how I’ve built every single one of my businesses. I drank the Kool Aid and didn’t fully lean into it because of different strategies that we’ve learned along the way. And I’m going to go back to what I learned. I’m going to go back to how I’ve built all of my businesses. All of my businesses have been six and seven figure businesses. And I’m going back to what I know and what I know works, and it’s paid ads. So we are not just doubling down on this. In 2026 we’re going to be 10 Xing this, because there’s millions and millions of people that have no idea who we are, and they need to find us, and they need to know what we’re doing, because we can help them. And those people aren’t in our pond right now. It doesn’t matter how many organic Instagram posts I put up for a year, I’m still not going to find those people. So, yeah, we’re going to be really leaning into paid ads in 2026
Leon Flitton 44:45
Yeah, yeah. Can I share a quick learning from Yeah, paid ads as well, that I think it’s really important for people to note, is that what you think someone wants to buy and click? On your ad, and what they actually do is potentially very different. So can I suggest that if you’re not running paid ads, you should and the data you will get from them is phenomenal. So we love data, and I think the data that you can get from paid ads, because there’s no like, we think this sells, or we think this. We think that, no, no, either it works or it doesn’t.
Samantha Riley 45:23
The market will tell you. The market will either say, Absolutely, don’t want that. Oh yeah, I’ll have some of that.
Leon Flitton 45:30
It’s like market research on steroids kind of thing. So yeah, that’s you will find out very quickly.
Samantha Riley 45:36
So yeah, it doesn’t matter how much uncle Barry loves your offer, if no one wants to pay for it, it’s not as good as Uncle Barry says it is. Well, I’ve got to tell the truth, right? There’s too many marketers out there that are not telling the truth, and it’s actually hurting people, and it means that they’re not making the money in their business that they should be making and and in the words of you, Leon, we’re in the business of making money. Because it doesn’t matter what you do if you’re not bringing money in, you have a hobby like we’ve it’s it’s that simple. We’re in the business of making money. The way that we do. It is all really different, but we have to make money.
Leon Flitton 46:19
Yeah, I don’t think it matters. What the actual goal is like, is it? Do you want to have more fun? Do you want to help more people? And both of them I look at and just go, well, more fun needs more dollars. And you want to help more people, you need more dollars. And it’s not an evil thing. Money is an awesome thing for leverage. You can help way more people when you have way more money. So crazy to think that you need to put yourself first and make some money so you can help who you want to help.
Samantha Riley 46:51
Yeah, and it’s not an or thing. It’s not like I’ve got a passion or I’ve got a business like this is really important to note that you need to know what your why is, so that it can be that and your business. About 10 years ago, I had a client, Lauren, and we were, we were working on a new offer for her, and she just had this moment where I’m like, What’s up? What just dropped in for you? Because she just had this, like, complete, you know, like any coach knows, that moment where you get a look on someone’s face and their physiology changes. I went, what just what just happened? What just dropped in? She went, Sam. She’s like, I’m just not feeling this, because what I really want to do is go and rescue dogs, stray dogs in Bali. And I went, awesome. And now we know what we’re working towards. So you’ve got two options here. You can either create a business that makes money so that you can rescue straight stray dogs in Bali, or you can create a business that gives you the money so that you can go and rescue stray dogs in Bali. And it was like, complete change. She was like, oh my god, I get it. I went, Yeah, so you don’t need to create a business that’s going to make this much money, and then you’ve got this other dream on the side. Why don’t you build a business that fuels that your ability to go and do this? And we had her offer out in about 20 minutes from there, and it was a high ticket offer that all of a sudden she understood. Now, I know what I’m doing this for. I’m doing this because I want to go and rescue as many stray dogs in Bali as I can. And I think that that’s just a really important story to share, because you might be in this boat now where you’re like, you know, I’ve got this thing. Everyone has a different reason, and the reason for bringing money into your business is personal, and it’s no one else’s business, but you need to be clear on it. And if it’s because you want to buy brand new cars and a brand new house and you want to have things, then there’s nothing wrong with that. Just because the world tells you that you have to be minimalist and not spend money on things. Doesn’t make you wrong it. You want what you want because you want it. If you want to earn money so that you can have experiences with your children, then go you like do that because it’s important to you. And if you actually don’t care about the money at all, and you want to use it like Mother Teresa and go and help other people, then that’s great, too. None of them are right or wrong. The only thing that’s right or wrong is it the right way to put it together for you? Like, is it helping you to get to your end goal? And again, I’ll say you want what you want because you want it, and that is the end like, no more correspondence needs to be entered into just
Leon Flitton 49:42
a little bit, though. That is why our program scale with soul is the way it is. Because I think that alignment with what you’re doing and what you want to achieve is super critical. It’s so important. I know that if you’re like me, it’s like you had. Place, because you start really loving what you do, because you know that you’re serving in the right way, that you’re making the result you want to make. And I just think that’s that’s crucial and to sustainability. So for this year’s work, like that’s, that’s one of the things that makes it sustainable, because you are in alignment. But that’s why, when we talk about paid ads and people making money, because we’re in the business of making money that that’s important to note. So what Sam just talked about there, it’s critical to make a note of that, and it’s okay to make money.
Samantha Riley 50:31
So hopefully you have enjoyed our recap of our 2025 word and hearing how that played out in our business in 2025 listening to the process of how we’ve chosen our 2026 word. Would love to hear what your word is. What’s your word for 2026 I’d love you to share like take a screenshot of this episode and share your 2026 Word with us. Share on a story on Instagram. Make sure to tag Leon and I. Our handles are below if you’re not following us, but we would love to hear that word that fixes the leaks or amplifies what you’re really looking for in 2026 and can I just say thank goodness it’s that universal one year, because I am done with this universal number, done. I’m calling it. I’m drawing a line in the sand. I’ve had enough. I’m stepping over. Thanks so much for listening to today’s episode. We look forward to seeing all your stories come through. Have a wonderful week, and we’ll see you next Tuesday on another episode of business growth lab. Thanks for listening. Ciao, you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
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