Amy Vaughn:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our weekly power lounge. This is your place to hear authentic conversations from those who have power to share. My name is Amy Vaughn, and I am your host, the owner of Together Digital, a diverse and collaborative community of women who have power to share. And if you want to learn more about us, you can at togetherindigital.com. We are living today and in person. So thank you to everyone who is joining us live today because, you know, things happen when we do different things. But you know what? We keep calm, we carry on, and when we’ve got women who know a little bit about technical and microphones, and we’ve got fantastic producers and teams behind us, we get back on track. Everyone, today, we are here to help all of you take the leap out of your 9 to 5 and into entrepreneurship.
Amy Vaughn:
And while many have done this for themselves, a few have honestly taken the time to share how they have gone about doing that. However, our guest today, Pamela Scott, is different. She is a passionate and talented founder of Breakthrough Lens, a boutique production company with a remarkable talent for visual storytelling. Pamela helps businesses and individuals create amazing video and photography content that brings their stories to life. She has also chronicled her journey from transitioning from the 9 to 5 job to a successful entrepreneurship. Mind you, during the pandemic Yes. No small feat. Video and photo, folks.
Amy Vaughn:
Like, if you’re in this industry, you know what that might have taken or you’re gonna learn, which is also, you know, again, like, no small feat. She has chronicled this journey and her successful steps and how she made this pivot, in her inspiring and insightful ebook, how to pivot from your 9 to 5 into entrepreneurship, Pamela shares practical tips and per a personal story to guide anyone who is looking to make a similar leap. Pamela, we’re thrilled to have you here with us today
Pamela Scott:
Thank you for having me.
Amy Vaughn:
To share more about your, more about your journey, your experience with what I like to call our entrepreneur curious listeners. Thank you again for being here.
Pamela Scott:
Thank you for having me.
Amy Vaughn:
I appreciate it. Of course. This is so fun. It’s such a delight to just break out of the screen and meet in person despite the chaos that ensued beforehand, but thanks for holding with us.
Pamela Scott:
No problem.
Amy Vaughn:
So first, Pamela, enlighten our listeners with, what was that moment like, or was there, like, a particular moment in which you finally decided, like, yeah, entrepreneurship, it’s for me?
Pamela Scott:
You know, I actually just fell into it. I did not set out to be an entrepreneur. I set out to change careers in a different discipline. Okay. So my background is I was in human resources for 25 plus years. Unfortunately, I had a job at elimination, and so I decided to go back to school, learn videography and photography. And when I finished school, that’s when I started applying for jobs back in corporate America, but in the marketing department. You know how marketing has that arm where it’s the media, and they would have someone who’s responsible for either producing video content for their company or taking photos of their executives or team events.
Pamela Scott:
That’s the role I had in my head. But, when I finished school and started applying for some of those jobs, the one thing they were asking for was experience. And, of course, I did not have any experience. So I decided I was going to create my own experience that I could share on a resume that I had I could prove that I had the talent to do this work. And when I did that, I said, well, I want to present myself in a professional manner. I didn’t wanna just seem like some hustler trying to get, you know, doing something on the side. Uh-huh. I really wanted to present in a professional manner because I think people trust you more.
Pamela Scott:
And so that’s when I said, let me just create a business around it. So that’s what I mean by kind of falling into it. Yeah. You know? I said, let me just create some structure around this and become you know, get a creative LLC, create a full business when I do go out to try to solicit myself and my skills to gain that experience. People would have more trust in me.
Amy Vaughn:
I love that because I think a lot of times when women look to make a career, women specifically, when we look to make a career pivot, often what holds us back from making that change or that pivot is that fear of, oh, I don’t have experience. And you, instead of looking at that as a deficit, said, oh, that’s an opportunity. That’s right. I’m going to just start servicing clients and using that as my experience and as an opportunity to start to build a business. Yes. Love it. Absolutely. A good mindset.
Amy Vaughn:
Could you share a little bit about what the inspiration behind your new ebook was and that that idea
Pamela Scott:
of, like, how to pivot from your 9 to 5 into entrepreneurship? So absolutely. So I started this book about a year ago. And I would say just like, again, going back to my human resources roots, when someone joins their company, you go through an onboarding. You go through orientation. Someone hands you a handbook that, you know, gives you the lowdown of the organization and how to assimilate. Well, in entrepreneurship, I didn’t have that. I didn’t have anyone that I could tag. I didn’t have anyone who could pour into me, being new to being in a, to being an entrepreneur.
Pamela Scott:
So I decided I want to create that handbook. I wanted to create that guideline for women to help them assimilate into entrepreneurship. Just love that. Again, Pamela,
Amy Vaughn:
This was like, you’d have to come and be on our podcast because you just exemplify for me what it means to be a woman who, like, lives within her power and her capability and then is willing to share it with others. Like, once you have figured it out, you take those skills that you those transferable skills
Pamela Scott:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
And then you think, how can I apply them to move myself forward? But then how can I take them to and apply them to move others forward? Absolutely. So that HR experience is like, oh, I would STOP right here. How do I take this? Standard order you know, standard operating procedure of making and building a business and put it in writing Absolutely. And give it to others. Others. I love that. That’s so fantastic. Do y’all see? This is why we’re hanging out.
Amy Vaughn:
This is why she’s sitting here right now. So let’s talk a little bit more about your ebook, which everyone definitely should check out. We will include a link to it and her website in our show notes. Also, by the way, live listeners, we will take questions. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop them into the chat. Kaylee is standing by as well, helping us to listen and catch those questions if you have them. But your ebook offers 8 practical steps for aspiring entrepreneurs. Which tips do you feel are the most important for someone who is just starting out?
Pamela Scott:
So, of course, I think they’re all important, but I would say to start with tip number 1, and that is self awareness. Yeah. See. This is really self awareness that I talk about because I’m a huge advocate of just evolving as an individual, you know, being able to truly understand who I am. And so I think that was pivotal before going into entrepreneurship is how do I want to show up as an entrepreneur. And so I talk about self awareness in chapter 1 about understanding your weaknesses, understanding your strengths, understanding if you are an extrovert or an introvert. Because if you are an extrovert and you are accustomed to collaborating, accustomed to being around individuals, you wanna take that into consideration when you think about going into business. Maybe that means you go into a partnership with someone instead of a solopreneur.
Pamela Scott:
Or maybe you know that you’re going to have to work in spaces, in co-working spaces where you have others around you. But most importantly, the one thing that I think we need to be able to identify is what are our triggers? What’s going to trigger me from a client perspective? What’s going to trigger me if something goes wrong? How am I gonna handle failure? What are those triggers? And if you can identify those clearly and then be able to come up with some mitigating practices when those things happen, I think that that’s the first step, that you have a solid foundation of who you are and how you’re gonna show up as an entrepreneur. Yeah.
Amy Vaughn:
I mean, I love that we do this recording, both recorded video and audio, obviously. And for those who are just listening to the podcast may have not seen my visceral response to your self awareness response. But I think it’s such an important thing to take the time to do. But as somebody who was sort of thrust into the entrepreneurial space, if you haven’t heard this story, go back to season 1, episode 1. You can listen to the whole spiel. But, yeah, there’s no you don’t want to go through your 1st year business ownership. Having your backside handed to you in the realm of kind of experiencing trigger after trigger and not having kind of done the work. And I’ve said it before.
Amy Vaughn:
It’s like there’s nothing like owning and running a business that will make you more self aware. And I honestly think it’s a beautiful process. Yes. Know? Because even if I’m sure, like, all of the self awareness practice in the world, you’ll still find Yes. Right? You’ll still find opportunities for growth and learning, but it is in such a way that I’ve never experienced in 15 plus years of, you know, corporate agency life and experience. So I love that you start there because I do think oftentimes many of us start to think it’s about clients and budgets or revenue or things like fashion. Or, yeah, and positioning and branding kind of depends on what kind of brand we’re building. Absolutely.
Amy Vaughn:
Right? Depending on what our club is. You know? For me, I’m creative, so I’m like, oh, what’s my brain gonna be? What’s my website gonna look like? But you are absolutely right. That’s such a I couldn’t think of a truer, more right, more relevant first step is really thinking through that self awareness because I think often too, and and you can tell me if you agree, but, when you are kind of owning and running a business, like it or not, so much of it is you. Right?
Pamela Scott:
Right? Exactly. Exactly. And you can pull from how you showed up in your job? Mhmm. What was some of the feedback that was ever given to you in your old position? Take that to heart. Reflect on that. Is that something you want to take into entrepreneurship? Right. Where are those areas that you can continue to grow?
Amy Vaughn:
And what do you bring that’s like, uniquely you bring? That helps you kind of niche down, that helps you make yourself more distinct? Absolutely. Guys, go download that ebook. Like step 1 already. So, so helpful. Alright. Let’s talk a little bit about, you know, coping with that shift. Right? Because you kind of alluded to this a moment ago. If you’re extroverted and used to working in in teams and open work environments and, you know, things like that, maybe even big clients, big budgets going to working for yourself, how do you cope with the challenges of transitioning from a very, maybe, structured 9 to 5 job to the likely unpredictable nature of entrepreneurship?
Pamela Scott:
I think that’s such a good question. And I think for me, I happen to like structure. Yeah, same. I’m one of those individuals that I actually like structure, so I created structure for myself in doing work. I created how I was going to work. I don’t take client calls after a certain hour. I don’t take client calls or meetings on the weekends. Some people think when you become an entrepreneur, it’s 24/7.
Pamela Scott:
And a part of that is true, but you have to create your
Amy Vaughn:
own structure, your own, you know
Pamela Scott:
I do. Work. Yeah. And so I because of the nature of my work Mhmm. I work on the weekends, but I don’t do administrative tasks. I don’t do client work. I don’t do any of that financial accounting work that we all have to do, at least that I do.
Amy Vaughn:
You do it all down there. Yeah. Absolutely.
Pamela Scott:
But I do that throughout the week. I have set hours every day that I’m going to work on the business. And then after that, I have my personal time.
Amy Vaughn:
Yep.
Pamela Scott:
So I kind of created that structure. So it wasn’t that much of a shift Yep. For me because I personally happen to like structure.
Amy Vaughn:
Yep. I get to high five when I am in person with my podcast guest. This is a new thing that I love. That’s amazing. And I am absolutely the same, Pamela. I think, you know, again, this is, I think, where your first step of self awareness could be really helpful and critical as you’re kind of setting up your business. Right? Really thinking through, like, what kind of gaps do I have in, like, my knowledge so that I can find right help and support that I need for my business, but then also, what type of structure do I possibly need? What processes do I prefer to have in place so you’re not kind of coming in willy nilly? Because I think the most beautiful part of entrepreneurship, I will say, for those of you who are on the fence, is there is nothing more amazing, beautiful, freeing, I don’t know, I can’t throw enough adjectives around it, than owning your time. I know.
Amy Vaughn:
Right? And really being able to create boundaries and say these days are for this and these days are for this. It’s really hard to kind of imagine ever going
Pamela Scott:
back. It really is.
Amy Vaughn:
You know? And I think, you know, being able to say yes to the work that you want and no to the work that doesn’t, keeping the clients that, you know, you have fantastic relationships with, you know, firing the clients that don’t. You know? I just it’s, you know, I think it’s, like, it’s not always easy because, again, you have to sometimes do all and be all, but I feel like sometimes the payoff
Pamela Scott:
I don’t know. The payoffs are wonderful. No. It is. Recurring your time. Absolutely. Recurring your time. Yes.
Amy Vaughn:
It is. And owning your time. It’s wonderful. Are there any other challenges that you would kind of throw in there that we didn’t touch on before we move to the next question that you kind of felt or were surprised by?
Pamela Scott:
As an entrepreneur or the structure to transition, I would probably say not, surprised by, but challenged by having to do everything. Yeah. So I worked in a very large organization where we had an accounting department, we had a marketing department, we had someone to do everything. And so when you’re responsible for doing everything and creating time for everything and that learning curve, having to learn certain aspects that you aren’t necessarily familiar with. Oh, yeah. That definitely
Amy Vaughn:
was a challenge. It was. It can be really, like, I am not a fan of the numbers, honestly. I’m like, okay, gotta learn how to budget and how to run a p and l, which I mean I knew p and l before and things like that, but really getting it deeper and and really starting to understand, like, ratios and and things like that. And forecasting. And forecasting. Oh, good forecasting.
Pamela Scott:
Forecasting. Understanding your cycles, your, you know, your work cycles, what are gonna be your down times, what are gonna be your Seasonality. Oh my gosh. All of that.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Seasonality. Still after 5 years, I’ll still sit in the summers, and I’m like, you know, this is the deal, Amy. This is your time to plan for next year, to take extra time with your family. Yeah. Yeah. You’re just like, ah. I would say too, I think, like, just the, I don’t wanna say, like, isolation, but it does it tends to get lonely.
Pamela Scott:
It does. You know?
Amy Vaughn:
And, I mean, I run, own, and operate a business that is a community, which, again, I have that amazing benefit of constantly feeling connected to women, but I still get that general sense of sometimes, like, you’re kind of living and working on a bit of an island. And I will say, like, that’s been one thing I’ve been really interested to see within the Together Digital community is how much over the last 5 years, 1, how many more entrepreneurs we have within the community. I’m like, yes, more women know like, more women building businesses. And 2, how much more they have come to lean on one another.
Pamela Scott:
Creating that community for sure, which you need. And I think I have found that sometimes when you’re creating a community, particularly because it can get lonely, we often look at those who are in our specific discipline. And so if you’re in marketing you tend to create, you know, a community with other marketeers or others who are in marketing. But I have found that creating community with different groups
Amy Vaughn:
of individuals Oh, yeah.
Pamela Scott:
Is what brings the diversity, which you do which even increases your clientele Oh, yeah. From a different perspective. Uh-huh. So I’m in the creative and the video photography field, but I love hanging out with people in marketing. I love one of my clients, a construction company. Yes. I love going on-site and hanging out with them and developing those relationships because you tend to learn Oh, yeah. Different things, but you have a diversity, you know, of community.
Amy Vaughn:
I 100% agree. I 100% agree. I’ll call them for a minute because they’ve been fantastic supporters. And if you haven’t checked it out, you should. The Goldman Sachs 10 thousands of business programs. Who’s gonna do that? Applications are back open. So for those of you who are entrepreneurs that have been in business for I think it might be 2 years. So, for 2 or more years, I think there’s certain metrics that you kinda have to hit.
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm. It is an absolutely wonderful program to support small businesses to help you kind of achieve a growth plan within 14 weeks. It is pretty intensive. You come up with a growth plan, but you really do. It’s like getting your mini MBA. You know? And how I listen to it. It really is. It’s worthwhile.
Amy Vaughn:
I just so I ran into a woman, an interior designer at, like, a friend’s birthday party or something like that, and I said, you really gotta try this. I found it was a great way for me to do what you just said, which is kind of go beyond my existing community, rights, connections, and connect with other business owners outside of my own industry. And, well, outside of just making those connections, it really helped me do what I was just saying, learn how to, like, run the numbers, do more forecasting, run the ratios, come up with more kinds of growth business plans and things like that. What was really cool with Jackie, this woman that I met was, like, fast forward a year later, and I’m sitting in her class. She just signed up for the next cohort. I’m on a panel welcoming her to the cohort. And then another 14 weeks later, I’m at a coffee shop, and she runs into me, and I said, hey. How’s it going, Jackie? You’re graduating soon.
Amy Vaughn:
Right? She’s like, I graduate tomorrow. I’m finishing my growth plan pitch. And she’s like, I’m so, like, pleased and it’s so serendipitous that I’m running into you because I am literally opening up my design studio right next door to this coffee shop. And I’m hiring my marketing director that I’m hiring, and she’s coming to sign a contract at this coffee shop. I was like,
Pamela Scott:
That’s amazing.
Amy Vaughn:
What are the chances? Yeah. And I said so let me ask. I said, would any of this have been happening if you wouldn’t have gone and done this whole Goldman Sachs thing if we wouldn’t have chatted and you wouldn’t have done? She’s like, no. Absolutely not. No charge. Every conversation, you
Pamela Scott:
just never know what you’re going to leave, how it’s gonna change the trajectory
Amy Vaughn:
of your life. Absolutely. And now I’ve got friends that, like, own waxing companies that own, which, by the way, if you’re in the Cincinnati area, I got a great reference. She does everything, and she is, like, the most chill, like, easygoing gal ever. Yeah. Like, food businesses, you name it, and it’s just such a wonderful thing. It’s great advice. I 100% agree with that advice.
Amy Vaughn:
I love this question. I’m curious to hear it. I kinda started to kind of, I guess, bleed into it a little bit with the extension of my last question. But what is one thing about entrepreneurship that no one ever tells you?
Pamela Scott:
You know, and this may sound a little soft, but what a hit it will be to your confidence.
Amy Vaughn:
Oh, I like that answer. Yeah.
Pamela Scott:
It will really be a hit to your confidence, Because I think that with entrepreneurship there will be some times where you will fail. Mhmm. There will be times where, you know, you may get some client feedback that you don’t like. There’s gonna be times where you just gonna get your confidence is going to be hit. I definitely stepped away from a job that I could do in my sleep Mhmm. Where I was, you know, had the authority and how I communicated and the decisions that I made. I was the go to person. I could handle an employee relations issue, you know, in the, like, the back of my hand.
Pamela Scott:
I could do it. But then stepping into something that is a clear 180, where I’m continuing to grow every day, and it has been invaluable. At the same time, it still has at times been a hit to my confidence. And so I would say Yeah. That is the one thing. Mhmm. Is that you have to deal with how you do and for me, I had to reframe it Yep. And say, okay, this happens, now how am I going to recover? Mhmm.
Pamela Scott:
So I am learning how to master the art of recovery,
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm.
Pamela Scott:
How to change situations, how if you got some client feedback that you didn’t really, you know, wasn’t expecting. Yeah. But then you have to self diagnose. Is there validity here? Yeah. How am I going to respond and retain this client? Do you know what I mean? Yeah. So the initial hit is to your confidence. Oh, 100%.
Amy Vaughn:
I came into the role of CEO, like, 3 months before the pandemic. I was a partner in the business by the 1st year, bought the business by the end of the 2nd year. So still in the midst of COVID and a lot of change, you know, kind of becoming a refounder and replacing a founder of a mission based business in the midst of all of that, was pure chaos. And, yeah, you’re right. I think, you know, I always thought having been brought up in the agency world as a creative, which is a very competitive, you know, space, that I had thick skin. I thought I had really thick skin. But when your heart is in the work and when you are in the work, right, that much more. I mean, most folks will tell you, right, that, you know, creatives, they’re a sensitive soul, and they put so much into their who they are into their work and blah blah blah.
Amy Vaughn:
You know, after a while, you get pretty resilient. And I would like to think that, you know, I went into marketing and advertising because I wanted to solve people’s business problems with creativity.
Pamela Scott:
Mentors once told
Amy Vaughn:
me to make sure that I was precious as one of my mentors once told me to be, make sure that I was always that. However, when it’s you and it’s your business, it’s different. So you are so right. And I think, it is a hit to confidence, but at the same time, you are gonna become so much more resilient than you’ve ever been. You are gonna grow so much more in such little time. Absolutely. It’s like boot camp. Oh, yes.
Amy Vaughn:
Oh, yes. I agree. And you’re either gonna make it through and you’re gonna come out stronger than you were before, or you’re gonna say, yeah, maybe dismiss it. My thing. But the reward, it’s just so rewarding. Alright. Are there any common myths or misconceptions about entrepreneurship that you would like to just kinda put the kibosh on right now?
Pamela Scott:
That’s a little hard because, of course, I didn’t always dream about being an entrepreneur.
Amy Vaughn:
You know,
Pamela Scott:
I just kind of fell into it. So I didn’t do a lot of work around what it is and what it’s not, you know, to be an entrepreneur. But I would probably say that you don’t have to fully have your idea, you know, vetted of what you want to do at the beginning. Uh-huh. So some people think that you have to know exactly what kind of business you want to go into, have everything done in your mind, at least, of what you want to do before you start. And I would say that entrepreneurship is about morphing. It’s about changing. It’s about, you know, recreating.
Pamela Scott:
It’s about expanding until you get to a place where you can say, yes, this is the business. This is where I want to be. This is what I saw in my head. It may seem like you started out saying, okay. I, you know, want to bake cookies, but you don’t know how that’s going to be as a business. So you start out doing one thing, but then you shift. You morph. Yeah.
Pamela Scott:
You know what I mean? So I always say that you don’t have to have everything fully planned out in your head before you start your journey as an entrepreneur. You will continue to grow.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Let it be an evolution. Yes. Because I feel like if you wait until it’s completely fully baked, you’ll never get started.
Pamela Scott:
Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. That makes
Amy Vaughn:
a lot of sense. Again, seeing as how I just kind of I sort of stepped into it and didn’t, like, start something. I can see how. But when I talk to other women within our organization that have considered starting or have started a business, a lot of them do feel that pressure, that tension to say, well, when I reach x, y, z point Yes. Then I will kind of do the thing versus just taking the leap. Mhmm. You know? You talk a little bit about, like, this idea of stillness and slowing down, which gives me the sense that you are a fellow mindfulness nerd, which also makes you very happy. Yes.
Amy Vaughn:
So as a fellow mindfulness nerd, I love that you talk about stillness and slowing down. Could you share a little bit about the importance of embracing these things and how it played a part in your
Pamela Scott:
Own journey? Absolutely. I love this. I love talking about stillness because I operate on that every single day. And so some of the things that I do is first thing in the morning, depending upon my schedule, it could be 5 minutes or it can be 30 minutes, or sometimes it can be an hour. I will sit still. I will light candles. I am a person of faith, so I will read scripture, and I don’t have any. I don’t like to play music. Mhmm.
Pamela Scott:
I like to be very quiet, and I’m just still first thing in the morning. If I am in the afternoon, if I’ve been working because this week has been an editing week, I can sit down and edit and 5 hours have gone past. Yeah. You know, and I haven’t had anything to drink. I haven’t done anything. But I set a timer and I stopped midway to walk away. Now that the weather is warm, I may go for a 30 minute walk without again, no headphones or anything, just taking in nature. But something that I will also do either in the morning or in the afternoon is I’m a huge reader.
Pamela Scott:
And so I will read a chapter of a book that I enjoy. Yeah. And what that does is it helps my mind to shift. Yeah. Because sometimes people wanna just stop what they’re doing and just kind of, you know, be still. Yeah. And think that you’re gonna automatically come down. Just go
Amy Vaughn:
from 6 to 0.
Pamela Scott:
Exactly. And that won’t happen for me. So I will stop and maybe read a chapter of one of my favorite books, and that kind of quiets my spirit. And then I will go quiet for that 5 or 10 minutes, and I will, you know, embrace that. And what it has done for my journey is it allows me to gain clarity. It allows me to gain clarity on next steps. It allows me to gain clarity if I have a big project and I need to be creative. I always talk about people who think that creatives can be creative on a dime. Yeah.
Pamela Scott:
And we cannot. You know, you need to have that space and time to think through certain things, and I recall just this week. I have to do an engagement photo shoot. And I was trying to think of the best location. I went for my afternoon walk and just looked as I went to a local park here, a large body of water, and I just thought, oh, it just came to me in that stillness and that quietness that, okay, I want them to be by a body of water. That’s the kind of vibe that I’m going for for this particular shoot. Wasn’t thinking about them, but then when I saw it and that stillness, that was it. It gave me clarity about a project that I had coming up, and it helps me work through, you know, any kind of difficult decisions that I have to make.
Pamela Scott:
Yeah. You know, that I’m not making them, you know, in a hurry, that I am taking my time, that I am being reflective, so I can have the best course of direction. So I embrace the illness. Absolutely. I love this because I think, the industry we’re in, the society that we live in,
Amy Vaughn:
It’s very noisy. Mhmm. It champions moving at the speed of light and go go go. And one thing I learned, have learned over the last several years is that it was a struggle for me, and some of you who are listening right now might feel this as well, which is why I’m sharing it. I remember a time when I couldn’t be still. I couldn’t have silence.
Pamela Scott:
Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
I would be traveling for, like, agency shoots. Right? And it was as soon as the long 16 hour shoot was over, and we would go then for dinner and drinks, right, with the crew. Mhmm. And I would go back to my hotel room, and you would think I would collapse exhausted from a 20 plus hour day. Right? Coming down from that was hard. I have had to, at the time, my kids were smaller, but 2 young children, which, you know, at the time were waking up at night and things like that, so so my sleep was usually disrupted and, you know, so I was kind of used to constant people around, constant simulation, TV noise. And so, like, oftentimes my practice was, like, even when I would leave the hotel room, I would leave the TV on. So, like, when I came into the room, there was noise because it felt wrong to walk into a room without some type of noise.
Amy Vaughn:
When I’m driving the car, the radio had to be on. It took a while for me to learn to be still and quiet. So for any of you who sort of get this advice and almost bristle against it, I encourage you to kind of just begin with, like, small increments. Right? The next time you’re in your car and you’re alone, just shut off the radio for 5 minutes. And it’s okay if it feels uncomfortable. It would feel uncomfortable for me because I think that what you start to learn is how to be alone with your own thoughts and how to start to be able to get rid of the noise so that you can begin to filter through all of that. And like you were saying, have that clarity and be able to hear your own voice. That’s Because I think so often when we are considering something as big as leaving a 9 to 5 job, which feels like it makes sense and security and everyone wants this for us because all of them should.
Amy Vaughn:
Right? You should keep a 9 to 5. You have health care. It’s job security. It’s blah blah blah. It’s title. It’s a salary. It’s prestigious. Blah.
Amy Vaughn:
It’s hard for us to kind of get rid of all that noise and think about, is this right for me because of all that excess noise. So, like, if you’re taking that time, extend that 5 minutes to 10 minutes. 10 minutes. Right. Absolutely. Slowly but surely and see if it works for you.
Pamela Scott:
You’ll start craving it. I promise you.
Amy Vaughn:
A 100 parts
Pamela Scott:
then. Craving stillness.
Amy Vaughn:
And now I’m, like, at least a couple times a year, I take my kids off to the mountains with me where there’s no Wi Fi. There’s no Internet. There’s no no TV, and we just have stillness and quiet. And then I come back, and I’m like, it’s too long to come back. It’s the exact opposite. It is absolutely a practice. Alright. How much advice would you give? Oh, let’s actually talk about breakthrough lenses for a moment, your business.
Amy Vaughn:
It has a big focus on visual storytelling. How did your passion for this area influence your decision to start your own business? You kind of alluded to it in the beginning,
Pamela Scott:
but I want to show you. So, actually, it starts with my mother. Aw. So my mother was an actress. I say was, but she’s not, you know, practicing now. But I grew up in a household where at 6 years old, my mother was doing plays at Playhouse in the Park. She was doing commercials. And so, through that experience, the love of the theater, the love of seeing great plays, then I’ve really enjoyed movies.
Pamela Scott:
I like movies that are quiet. Watching a movie will quiet me just like reading a book. So I love watching movies and I’ve often wanted to just become a filmmaker for a large part of my life. And I would, even when I was working in corporate America, I would take weekend trips to different film festivals, and I would try to learn as much as I could about filmmaking, but I just couldn’t do it because of the demands of the job. But I have been in love with filmmaking from day 1, out of the womb through my mother and then through my own love for films. And so this is my way of telling stories, the stories that are important to me, because I do cater to not only corporate, but I also cater to nonprofits that have a great story and a great mission, and that is what is most important. And so I love telling those stories. And even if it’s just a photo shoot, I try to find ways, what story do I want to tell? Mhmm. And I make those decisions even with the kind of lens I’m going to use.
Pamela Scott:
Do I want more of the background and to tell more of the story? Do I want this to be more of an intimate moment with this person and let their emotions come through and tell that story? So every aspect I’m trying to tell a story.
Amy Vaughn:
And it’s so interesting too that, like, that was there from such a young age. What made you pursue, like, corporate and HR then?
Pamela Scott:
Because you paid the bills. Yeah. Yeah. I will be perfectly honest with you. I was nervous. I was scared. Back then, thinking of becoming an entrepreneur or even being a filmmaker, I wanted to be independent. I wanted to make money, and the job that I had afforded me a great lifestyle.
Pamela Scott:
I will not lie. Yeah. It afforded me a great lifestyle, and so I got addicted to that. Mhmm. Yep.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. I got
Pamela Scott:
addicted to that. Yeah. I got
Amy Vaughn:
I know. Well, I mean, just don’t even think about it as, like, an opportunity or a path. Right? Because, like, nobody in my family was particularly entrepreneurial. Right? And, like, our family wasn’t necessarily brought off, so I had a more of a scarcity mindset. It was more like going to college, getting a degree, getting a salary, and making money. So it wasn’t even really that option of, like, going off and making as much money as you possibly want to as an entrepreneur because what you make with somebody else is finite. Right? Right? What you can possibly make for yourself. Mhmm.
Amy Vaughn:
It’s, like, infinite, potentially. Right? Mhmm. What advice would you give to someone who’s struggling to find their passion or feeling kind of stuck at their current job?
Pamela Scott:
You know, I would probably say during your quiet time in your stillness.
Amy Vaughn:
Yeah. Then we’re all gonna start practicing if you’re not in your quiet time.
Pamela Scott:
To really start thinking about what brings you joy first. If you think about what really brings me joy throughout the day, when I am at church maybe, and this is not me, I’m using this as an example, and you enjoy encouraging the youth there. Are you a youth leader and you love that relationship with young individuals? Well, take that joy. Now how can I create a viable business around this? Can I create a nonprofit around this? You know? So you I would start with what do you truly find joy with that you don’t want you don’t mind doing every day, all day, and how can you make that profitable? How can you turn that into a viable business? If it’s making cookies, if it’s whatever you really truly find joy in, then start thinking about, okay. How can I start making money?
Amy Vaughn:
It’s so lame. You said movies, so you got me on that train. I started thinking about going, and we heard my whole family. We’re a bunch of movie nerds as well. And it just took me to that moment where, Opie Goldberg’s talking to Lauryn Hill and Sister Act 2. Okay.
Pamela Scott:
And mom to me with
Amy Vaughn:
It’s just like if you’re if you wake up every day and you think about singing, you’re meant to be a singer.
Pamela Scott:
No. That’s true.
Amy Vaughn:
It is true.
Pamela Scott:
If you wake up
Amy Vaughn:
and there’s something that you feel called, compelled, excited about doing, and it has a plausible option to make you money that’s beyond a hobby, I would say. Right? That’s beyond a hobby Exactly. Then yeah. Like, why not explore it? Why not explore it? I would say that’s one option. And then, you know, for me, it was really kind of leaning into a passion, which was really realizing the disparity, like, then the gender disparities and issues for women in the digital marketing advertising space. Because I was a creative director at an agency when my boss, who was a man at the time, was like, hey. I’m sending you to the comp conference in San Francisco. I was like, cool.
Amy Vaughn:
I had never been to California before. This was back in 2012. And he says it’s a 3 percent conference. And I’m like, okay. What’s that? He says, well, 3% of creative directors are women. And I just was astounded because I, you know, I was in this little nice, like, happy little fishbowl of me and one other female creative director at my agency of 100 and just didn’t really know the waters that I was swimming in. I had no idea that there were so few female creative directors. You know, I was working on beauty brands and, you know, getting to travel and shoot video and just all happy and, like, hey.
Amy Vaughn:
This is great. I mean, granted, they were all male crews on all these beauty shoots that I was doing, and I was one of the few, like, directors that was a female that they’ve worked with. But it just never dawned on me how that. Yeah. Yeah. How small that number was.
Pamela Scott:
And it makes me think about not only just that, we have a passion for it, but where do you see a need? Yes. Oh, absolutely. Where do you see a need? Mhmm. You know? And even if there’s a need that pulls at your heartstrings and you want to do something about it. Do that work, but then also, could this possibly be something that could make you money? So if there’s something, I know a lot of people who started business because of, like, a food business. Uh-huh. Growing vegetables and fruit because of the lack. Oh, yes.
Pamela Scott:
Yeah. Food in their community. Uh-huh. So they’ve turned that into a nonprofit. They’re now starting to make money from it. It’s their business, but it started out from a need that they saw. Yeah. Look for a problem.
Amy Vaughn:
Look for a need. I mean, we got enough problems out there in the world, ladies. Let’s start fixing them with some businesses. Make some money while we’re at it. I love that. That’s fantastic advice. Okay. I’ve got a couple more questions for you, and we’re coming close to time, although we’ve got about 10 more minutes.
Amy Vaughn:
So we’ve got plenty of time if our live listening audience wants to ask some questions. Let’s see. Pamela, what is one thing that you wish you would have known before you started your business?
Pamela Scott:
Looking back. Okay. You know, I think So I will say that I am inherently an introvert. And so I always like working behind the scenes. I always like that even in corporate America. I like to do the work, working behind the scenes, allowing someone else to take the credit. But I didn’t understand how important it is to market not just your product, not just your service, but you. And I, for the first couple of years, I kind of hid behind the scenes and just wanted the work to speak for itself, but I have learned that the importance of you as a brand, the importance of people wanting to see your own authenticity, and how you have to really get out there and market who you are.
Pamela Scott:
People want to connect with you, not just your service, not just your product. They want to feel that they can trust you. They want to know, they want to feel that there’s a connection there. And so I wish I would have known that early on to get out in front of it, to really not be afraid to put myself out there, to market myself, to be a little bit more vulnerable on social media. So I would say that’s one thing I definitely wish I would have known and started earlier. Yeah. It’s just knowing how to put myself being vulnerable, being off, you know Yeah. My authentic selves.
Amy Vaughn:
Mhmm. And
Pamela Scott:
I’ve noticed that even with my own engagement, I can put up a silly behind the scenes video Yeah. Of me, and that gets more engagement. Yeah.
Amy Vaughn:
Then they love a beautiful photo that’s just done. They love to get behind the scenes. We love to see the real people and the real deal. So I think I’m gonna follow that up with you know, because I think, honestly, more people have the percentage somewhere, based on some research I’m doing right now, but I don’t have it off the top of my head. I feel more people actually do identify as introvert than extrovert, honestly. And I know a lot of our community do. So with that, how have you begun to sort of reconcile that for our members who are listening or the community that is listening if they’re hesitant to kind of become an entrepreneur because they’re like, oh, snap. What do you mean? I gotta, like, put myself out there.
Amy Vaughn:
How have you worked through that? It’s a struggle.
Pamela Scott:
I’m not going to lie. It is a struggle. So back to my structure Mhmm. I just create time, and I say, when it comes to networking, I am going to go to at least just 2 networking events per month. I’m not gonna try to every day or every week attend a networking, event because I can go to a 2 hour networking event and have to come home and take a nap. Yeah. Yes.
Amy Vaughn:
I feel that.
Pamela Scott:
No. I’m like, oh my goodness. I’m trying. Done. Done. So I just have to put structure around it. I only will do one BTS perhaps per month, or I’ll do something really short just to put myself out there. Yeah.
Pamela Scott:
But I just have to plan it Mhmm. And just, you know, lean into it knowing what my limitations are. But I do try to lean into it Mhmm. But create structure around it so I don’t feel overwhelmed. Yes.
Amy Vaughn:
I think that’s fantastic. And I, you know, I really wanna encourage our more introverted folks or even ambivert folks that kind of identify as a little bit of both, that that is a strength. There’s a really great book out there. I don’t know if you’ve read it or since you’re also another book nerd. Quiet by Susan Cain. It really talks about the power of introversion in a world that can’t quit talking, I believe. Mhmm. And it really does just talk about how introverts are truly positioned to be leaders, thought leaders.
Amy Vaughn:
I think we often see extroversion as a superpower, as a strength, but oftentimes, just because you’re the loudest in the room, because you’re the one doing the most speaking doesn’t make you the smartest, doesn’t make you the one with the
Pamela Scott:
best ideas. Right? Absolutely. Because as an introvert, I always try to have more questions than answers. I’m always listening. Yes. And so while all of the talking has happened during the meeting, by the end, I now have the answer. Yes.
Amy Vaughn:
Because I take the time to
Pamela Scott:
to really process, listen to all of the perspectives, and then now I can come and say, okay, This is what I think we should do. You know? So it’s very much a strength in my mind
Amy Vaughn:
I agree. To be an introvert. It’s very powerful. I don’t think you should shy away at all from ever considering entrepreneurship because you’re an introvert. And I would say to you, I 100% agree, and I love your idea of sort of being mindful of, like, you the energy that you put out there when you’re networking or putting yourself out there and really pacing yourself and not overexerting yourself. Being mindful, right, of the amount of time that you’re putting into that and giving yourself maybe, like, a day. Right. We have a mutual connection.
Amy Vaughn:
I think, you know, Rachel De Brochure, who owns Power to Pursue, a great example, takes every Friday off, and she talks about it. You know, she posts what she’s grateful for about what happened that week and also talks about how she goes to bed at 7:30 every night. I mean, I thought I was good going to bed at 9, but
Pamela Scott:
She’s already busy. That’s really early.
Amy Vaughn:
I was like, early. Bed by 7:30. I don’t know if she’s sleeping, but she’s dead. Okay. Yeah. And so I think, you know, prioritizing your rest, prioritizing your downtime, your alone time, which, you know, introverts need, I think all that stuff’s really great, and it doesn’t have to detract from your business because it allows you to show up with the energy necessary to provide your clients with what they need.
Pamela Scott:
There you go. There you go. And it’s one thing because I do like structure and because I am an introvert, I know we’re out of time. I know that I’m not one of those individuals who can call you that day and say, can you come down and help me with this? No. Yeah. Right? Yeah. I I have to prepare. I have to have my energy stored out of this.
Pamela Scott:
You know? Yep. So
Amy Vaughn:
And I know my friends are that way, and I know my friends are, like, if there’s something last minute, I need somebody to, like, have with me because I like to have my wing woman for certain things. So, like, I’m an ambivert, so I’m like, if I like I don’t love last minute things. If I have to, I’ll do it, but I would prefer to have somebody with me. Okay. So I know my one Enneagram sevens and my extroverts that I can be like, hey. Yo. Listen. Last minute thing. I need to make one thing just to bring that extra energy.
Amy Vaughn:
So, yes, this is again where self awareness and having other friends who are self aware kind of explain these things to you. And I also know which friends not to call Absolutely. For last minute favors like that. I would never ever do that to them. Alright. I’ve got one last question, but I’m gonna
Pamela Scott:
check the
Amy Vaughn:
chat because I see something in there. Oh, it’s just oh, thank you, Kate. I’m something in there. Oh, it’s just oh, thank you, Kaylee. Dropping links for us, Kaylee. Alright. Thank you for dropping those links, but live listeners, if there’s any other questions, don’t be shy. You can also connect with Pamela on LinkedIn, and as Kaylee did.
Amy Vaughn:
So lovely. Thank you so much. Drop her information in there as well so you can always ask through that. Alright. For those that are listening and considering making that leap, we hope we’ve convinced you even just a little bit. What is one actionable step that they could take today, to begin their journey?
Pamela Scott:
Conduct a financial assessment. Interesting. Yeah. Conduct a financial assessment. If you have debt, work towards eliminating debt. I would say save up at least a year’s worth of your expenses so that when you do make that leap into entrepreneurship, you can do so without the stress of having to worry about having to pay a mortgage or rent or pay for a car. Note that you aren’t operating from a scarcity mindset where you think that you’re going to need to take a job that you really don’t want, but you need the money, that you have that luxury of that, foundation Cushion. Yeah.
Pamela Scott:
Cushion there. So I would say the first thing I would do right now is to I would take a financial assessment of your current, income, what you have coming into your home, and your expenses, seeing what debt may need to be eliminated, and start saving if you don’t already have it, and also have an emergency fund, that you can lean into in case something happens. So you can be free at least for that 1 year to put everything that you can into your business. Yeah.
Amy Vaughn:
I think that’s great advice. Scarcity mindset, I feel like it. I feel that having come into a business, in the midst of a lot of shifting and changing and then a pandemic, Oh, I can only Oh, there was a lot of shifting and changing in operations, and I was like, wow. How do we survive this? So now coming out of that, it’s been a it’s been a practice for me as well, being like, okay. What does a growth mindset look like? Yeah. So, yeah, this has been so great, Pamela. Oh, thank you so much. It’s fun to be in person. It is.
Amy Vaughn:
It’s been wonderful to get to know you better. I knew we’re gonna keep chatting, and keep hanging out. Everyone who’s been listening live, thank you so much for joining us. I hope that you have all found this not just inspirational, but informational, tactical. Again, go check out Pamela’s wonderful ebook, and I hope you find it helpful. Please let us know what you think.
Pamela Scott:
And we
Amy Vaughn:
I will hopefully see you all next week.
Pamela Scott:
Oh, can I say one thing? Absolutely. If you do download the book directly to your laptop or phone, I will send you a free workbook companion.
Amy Vaughn:
Love it. Along with your ebook. Hey. We love workbooks. We love working through stuff. Thank you again, Pamela, so much. Appreciate all of this. This is so generous of you.
Amy Vaughn:
Alright, everyone. That’s all we have for you this week. We hope to see you next week. Until then, everyone, keep asking, keep giving, and keep growing. See you all. Bye.
Pamela Scott:
Produced by Heart Cast Media.
