Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Welcome to Episode 9 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the final episode of Quadrant 2: Keep More | Profitable Operations!

You can't outsource chaos. Before you bring anyone into your business, you need systems, clarity, and a clear understanding of what you're actually handing off. In this episode, Kate and Sam get practical about the smartest way to automate, delegate, outsource, and hire — in that order.

"Systems before staff. You cannot delegate chaos."

In this episode, you will learn:

• The automate → delegate → hire framework: Why this is the right order , and what goes wrong when business owners skip straight to hiring before foundations are in place
• Zone of genius vs everything else: How to identify the tasks only you should be doing, the tasks AI can handle, and the tasks that need a human
• How AI is replacing the need for a VA: How Sam used the Claude Chrome extension to build detailed standard operating procedures while she played games on her phone
• Hire slow, fire fast: Why hiring should be a financial decision before a workload decision, and why desperation hiring almost always goes wrong
• Write your job ad for culture, not just skills: How to attract the right candidates from the first line, including Sam's hidden keyword trick that instantly filters out applicants who lack attention to detail
• Layla Hormozi's five C's: Compliance, clarity, culture, connection, and checkback, the framework Sam incorporated into her most recent hiring process
• Give people responsibility, not just tasks: Why the best hires want ownership and autonomy, and how a long-term vision keeps them loyal

This episode wraps up Quadrant 2. Next up — Quadrant 3: Grow Smart | Capacity.

Join the Workshop:

Kate and Sam are hosting Profit Unlocked on Wednesday 20 May, 9–10:30am AWST | 11am–12:30pm AEST

What is it? 90 minutes of live profitability coaching. Every participant walks away with a personalised report.

🐦 Early bird: $49 (until 10 May) | 🎟️ LIVE: $89 | 🎧 Replay: $49

👉 Register here

And save the date — Bali Business Retreat: 27 August - 1 September 2026. Secure your spot with a $200 deposit. Reach out directly to lock in your place.

00:00 Show Welcome
00:30 Roadmap Recap
01:49 Claude Extension Wins
06:09 SOPs Before Delegation
11:05 AI Reports Workflow
15:07 Back to Delegation
18:35 What to Outsource
23:28 Hiring Lessons
25:55 Hiring Framework Reel
26:52 Five Hiring Elements
29:33 Hire Slow Fire Fast
30:36 Values Over Skills
32:57 Write Better Job Ads
35:07 Easter Egg Screening
36:01 Job Market Reality Check
39:11 Ownership And Incentives
44:09 People Management Fit
46:04 Key Takeaways And Next Steps

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Welcome to Episode 8 of the Roadmap to Business Success series!

If you're only using AI for content creation, you're leaving the biggest gains on the table. In this episode, Kate and Sam dive into the AI tools they actually use in their businesses every day, and discuss how to shift from using AI to do more, to using AI to work less.

"AI should handle the 80% of grunt work while you handle the 20% that requires judgment, relationships, and nuance."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why you shouldn't be loyal to just one AI tool: Different AI platforms have different strengths, and the smartest business owners use multiple tools for different jobs.
• Claude: Why it's Kate's go-to for content creation, critical analysis, data analysis, book writing, and coding tasks, including how she saved $10,000 in website costs by using Claude to write code herself.
• Claude Cowork: Sam's introduction to the agentic side of Claude, how it can organise your entire filing system, build sales pages, and execute complex multi-step tasks on your behalf while you step away.
• Gemini: How Sam uses Google's AI to automate payroll calculations, organise her inbox, add tasks to her calendar, and manage the chaos of a busy brain, all through its deep integration with Google apps.
• Notebook LM: The hosts personal favourite for repurposing content. How to upload a podcast transcript or YouTube link and turn it into blog posts, infographics, slide decks, or even a new podcast episode, in your own voice.
• REVE AI: The free image generation tool Sam uses to create AI-generated images of herself and Kate for podcast thumbnails and social media.
• AI for website SEO: How to enter your URL into an AI and instantly get a plain-English audit of what's missing: H1 tags, meta descriptions, ALT tags and more.
• The tells of AI-generated content: The words, phrases and structural patterns that immediately give away AI-generated copy.
• Automation vs productivity: Why the real opportunity isn't doing more in the same time, it's doing the same in less time.
• How to use AI to figure out what to automate: Why asking AI to review your regular tasks and identify what can be automated is one of the highest-value conversations you can have.

Kate and Sam also discuss the evolution of AI since their first conversation about it in September 2023, why ChatGPT is no longer the only game in town, the rise of agentic AI, and how they've used AI to almost fully automate the production of this very podcast.

Join the Workshop:

Kate and Sam are hosting Profit Unlocked on Wednesday 20 May, 9–10:30am AWST | 11am–12:30pm AEST.

What is it? A LIVE 90-minute coaching session where you can bring your questions on AI systems, profitability, pricing and more.

🐦 Early bird tickets available until Sunday 10 May for just $49 (live attendance)

🎟️ Attend LIVE: $89

🎧 Replay only: $49

Grab your early bird ticket now!

👉 Register here

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, our second episode in Quadrant 2 of the Thriving Business Wheel: Keep More | Profitable Operations.

Pricing is one of the most emotionally loaded topics in business. Many business owners, particularly women, are significantly undercharging, and it's costing them not just money, but credibility and energy.

"Being the cheapest in the market doesn't make you attractive. It makes you look desperate."

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why under-pricing harms your profits and reputation: Charging too little signals a lack of confidence, and buyers trust you less when your prices are too low.
• The hourly rate trap: Why trading time for money is a burnout trap, and why breaking free is one of the most important shifts you'll ever make.
• How to price based on outcomes: What is the problem costing your client? What is solving it worth to them? These two questions reframe everything.
• The mindset piece: Why so many business owners habitually undervalue their skills, and what it takes to price with genuine confidence.
• Why discounting is rarely the answer: How habitual discounting erodes perceived value and attracts the wrong clients.
• What to do instead: How tiered pricing lets clients at different budget levels access your services, without slashing your rates.
• Reverse-engineering your revenue goals: Start with the income you want and work backwards to what you need to charge.

Coming Up Next: Episode 8 on AI systems for maximum efficiency. How to work smarter, not harder, using the tools available to you right now.

Join the Workshop: Kate and Sam are hosting Profit Unlocked on Wednesday 20 May, 9–10:30am AWST | 11am–12:30pm AEST

You'll get 90 minutes of live profitability coaching.

🎟️ Attend LIVE: $89 | 🎧 Replay only: $49

👉 Register here

Connect with Your Hosts:

Kate De Jong, PhD | Inspired Business 🌐 Website: https://katedejong.com/ 📱 Instagram: @katedejong.inspiredbusiness ✉️ Email: kate@katedejong.com

Sam Morris | The O8 🌐 Website: https://www.theo8.com/ 📱 Instagram: @the_o8crew ✉️ Email: sam@theo8.com

Thriving Business Podcast 🌐Website: https://www.thrivingbusinesspodcast.com/