The Art of Online Business

How Brandi Mowles Made $1M With A One Person Team

• Kwadwo [QUĀY.jo] Sampany-Kessie • Episode 851

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Brandi Mowles shares her journey to making her first million with just a one-person team, detailing how she leveraged mindset shifts and strategic moves to scale her business efficiently. 

She's also my Facebook ads business coach and has played a pivotal role in making my business successful.

Brandi also shares the practicalities of managing and growing a business as a single entrepreneur, offering invaluable insights for anyone looking to achieve similar success.


Links Mentioned In This Episode:



Watch the episode ‘100k a year with five clients how to scale your ad agency with Brandi Mowles’ (releases September 18th).



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Kwadwo [QUĀY.jo] Sampany-Kessie’s Links:





Brandi’s Links:

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the Art of Online Business, and this segment, as you've come to expect, is basically the how she Built it segment, and if you can see us right now on YouTube, then you can see that I have as a guest none other than Brandy Miles, and she is my Facebook ads business coach.

Speaker 1:

She has a very successful business teaching people well really, she empowers women how to become meta ads managers earning big girl money and when I say big girl money, she helps people be quite successful. She's a wife, a mom, a podcast host and a digital marketing genius and a total taco snob. And I will add that I have so much respect for Brandy. Easily one of the best investments that I have made this year, in 2024, was in her one-on-one coaching. I mean, brandy, I know I already sent you a testimonial, but the advice that you give it's like always on point and no matter what kind of questions I come to you or have come to you with, like, you always have an answer right there, and so I just want to publicly on the podcast, say thank you for that and you are a great coach.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, thank you, thank you and thank you so much for having me and thank you for being such an amazing coachable client, because the coach is only good as the coaching that is implemented, so it works both ways all right all right, all right, all right, all right, so enough accolades back and forth of him.

Speaker 1:

Brandy, you're here to talk about how you made your first million with a one-person team, which is nothing short of amazing. I just want to let the listener know that this is the first of two episodes. So you get to hear this, and in the upcoming episode, brandy is going to share how she built her business, how she set up her business, to achieve 100k a year with just five clients, which is actually quite phenomenal. So that episode is linked up in the show notes below If you're listening, and it's on a Monday when this episode has gone live. That upcoming episode will be live on a Wednesday in two days from now, and if it's in the future, then it's already linked up in the show notes below for you, brandy, I love to have this kind of conversation because, one, I want to have my first million year and, two, I know that it's been a roller coaster, like the book, like the entrepreneurial roller coasteraster, so to speak.

Speaker 1:

Can you start us off with a slice of your life when you were at your lowest building this business? Like? What did that look like? What were the thoughts going through your mind and how did you get off that stage?

Speaker 2:

I think the hardest part of getting to a million was I know this is going to sound so I don't know cliche maybe, but it's truly the mindset that went into it, because I had started my business only a year before my second year we did a million and so I was at 250,000 with just my one-on-one services. And I remember distinctively having this conversation with someone who was my coach-one services and I remember distinctively having this conversation with someone who was my coach at the time and we were sitting in a WeWork and they asked me they said what is your goal for the next year? And I said I want to do a million. And they looked at me like I was someone with five heads and they were like but what are you going to end the year with? And I said 250. Like we'll end at 250. And they were like but what are you going to end the year with? And I said two, 50, like well, it ended two, 50. And they were like and you want to go to a million? And I was like yeah, and they were like okay, let's map it out. And there was no way that the the math wasn't math, like it just wasn't coming together, and I was like I don't know how it's going to happen, but it's going to happen. I don't know how it's going to happen, but it's going to happen. And they doubted me. I could see it in their face that they doubted me.

Speaker 2:

And I had started my business a year before that to pay for a bankruptcy attorney, like we had been at rock bottom then fighting my way into the service based business, really taking off with that business, and the reason that we got to bankruptcy was because I had quote a failed business that I had for eight years. And so I was literally the mindset of oh, I've had all this success, now I want to have more success, but one I have doubters. I have someone who was a coach doubting me. I was doubting myself because I was like I'd grown a business before successful and then it failed what if this happens again? And so I went into that next year like I don't care, like what's the worst? That it could happen. I hit 500,000 instead of a million and I literally documented that whole year on podcast doing profit loss statements and everything to show.

Speaker 2:

And I will say through that year it was a roller coaster.

Speaker 2:

I mean we had like the $200,000 months and then we had a $20,000 month and the biggest part of hitting the million was truly the mindset and figuring out, like, what is true and what are just beliefs that I'm experiencing and through that process I truly found what type of business owner I wanted to be. I found how to like quiet the noise, but definitely the hardest part of those journeys was just the inner workings of my mind. And because the online business, just like any business, there's ebbs and flows. It's never I don't want to say never, but it's rarely like this hockey stick growth that doesn't have these like turbulent moments, cause even some people can look at my year over year projections and be like, oh, hockey stick growth, but what they don't see is those weeks, those months that were low and fighting that daily mindset of like am I worthy of this? Can I do this? Am I supposed to be doing this? And all those inner demons that we all have that are talking to us daily basis.

Speaker 1:

Don't you love those inner demons? Okay, I got a question for you because you so quickly and casually mentioned that you went from having a business for eight years into bankruptcy and then having to start another business to afford the bankruptcy lawyer fees. So this was year one of your second business, or at least the second business for this story that you're sharing. And you went in year two to a million dollars in revenue.

Speaker 2:

Yes, actually, 1.2 million 1.2.

Speaker 1:

Okay, 1.2 million. We got it. We got to make that exact. So my next question is is where did you get this idea to get to hire a coach in your first year of business? And you're basically telling me you were broke that year because you were going through bankruptcy and trying to afford the lawyer fees.

Speaker 2:

Well, let me clarify that a little bit. So I had started my business August of 2018. It was when my daughter was born, 2018. And I was. I had shut down a direct sales business, that I was top 1%, speaking on stages, driving free cars, the whole shebang. But what you don't see behind is all the credit card debt that was getting racked up to maintain productions and stuff like that.

Speaker 2:

I was young, I made a lot of bad decisions and didn't know how to manage a business financially. Like honestly, like it was a lot of money, that it wasn't a lot of money. And then there was no one teaching us financially how to manage those ebbs and flows of business. Because at that point I started that business when I was 21 and I come from low blue collar, so some of the paychecks I were getting, like my parents had never even seen. I wasn't taught how to manage money from a personal level, let alone a business running your own business. And so, with coming from 21 year old, all of a sudden having these big fat checks I was getting, I didn't know what to do with that. And then, when I wrapped up my business, I was 27 and I was about to have Riley and I was like I just can't do this. And I had to open up to my husband and be like we're kind of screwed. Like we're screwed. The credit card debt is just unattainable.

Speaker 2:

I'd went to law school, I had crushing student loans and I said I don't know what's going to happen, but we can't keep going like we are. So we had talked to a bankruptcy attorney and the crazy thing is you have to have like money to pay the attorney, but you're like I'm broke. And so I was like I'm going to figure this out and I had searched like how to work from home as a mom and all this stuff, and I came across virtual assistant freelancing and I was like, oh, I know how to do social media and so I really started just running people's organic social media and I started that business and that was August. And then in October I found out about Facebook ads and I was like, oh, maybe I could do this because I was capped out with social media clients and I jumped into ads and so that first full year that I had so January to December of 2019, that's when we did the 250 with just my services and I was primarily building funnels and running ads for people, and so in that time I scaled that service-based business really really quick.

Speaker 2:

So I did have financial means from saving because we only needed about $3,000. If I was bringing home $3,000 a month at the time, my family was taken care of. So through this process I really learned how to manage business finances, because I learned the hard way by not knowing how to in the previous business and so with that I knew from there. I had coaches. I was a coach for people and so I knew that if I wanted to go to that next level, that was going to be the quickest way to do. It is by enrolling in a coach.

Speaker 1:

Okay, you're a coach, okay.

Speaker 2:

You're a mom.

Speaker 1:

I am Now of two right.

Speaker 2:

Now of two.

Speaker 1:

It sounds like you had your back up against the wall, with a young one at home going through bankruptcy, paying for the bankruptcy lawyer and yet, where most people might shrink away from all the challenges, you just seem to like continue to execute and build up all this momentum. How did you do that?

Speaker 2:

I feel like actually people have. I tell some of my clients, like when you're backs against the wall and you're at rock bottom, you will find a way, you will make way, especially as a mom, because there is no other option, and so I feel like it's almost a blessing in disguise, like in that moment it does not feel like a blessing, but I'm someone who is like I'm gonna figure it out, like I will figure it out, because what's I mean? Like what's the other option? At that point there wasn't another option. I had to figure it out. Or the other option was I was going to have to go find a nine to five that would probably only pay me as much as daycare would cost, and then my child's in daycare and then I'm paying for daycare and so, like this was, the only option is to figure out how to make this work, but also make it work where all my time was not running a business. It was my time was with my family and then our business supported that.

Speaker 1:

Okay, Walk me through how you decided, because you went from social media management and then you heard about Facebook ads. But was this just you heard about one choice? Was Facebook ads, one of many things that you had stumbled across as you were, you know, meeting other online business owners and being a part of the online business world.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think it's one of those things I'm always down. I always tell people, no matter if it's in like their business, I'm always down to try something for once. As long as it's legal and it's not going to kill me, I will try it once. And so with that I had tried social media management. I had known how to do that. Previously I was sales, that was my expertise. But I had tried Pinterest management. I'd tried website building, I was doing email marketing, so I kind of dipped my toes in a lot of things.

Speaker 2:

And at that point I was really honing in on Pinterest and Pinterest had just released ads to everyone and I'd ran a few which got me listening to different podcasts and things like that. And I was like, oh, facebook ads. And then I hadn't really invested in an expensive course until a Facebook ads course. And I say expensive because at that time it did feel expensive to me and it was $3 ads course. And I say expensive because that at that time it did feel expensive to me and it was $3,000.

Speaker 2:

And I was like, okay, if I charge $1,000 a month, all I need is three clients, I'll make my money back, and then if I don't like it, well, at least I now have another trick up my sleeve. Like to me. I'm always like, can I make my money back from this? And then I've just learned another valuable skill and what I found is I fell in love with it, like it just clicked. I loved it. There was times where I had no idea what I was doing and then there was times where I just figured it out and got better at it, and so I definitely am open to always trying new things and giving that enough time to work, because we never feel when we first start anything we're not good at it and it takes time to figure out like, is this my thing? So I have a 90 day rule I'll try anything for 90 days.

Speaker 1:

And that's it You're put, you're all into something for 90 days.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I'm all into it. For 90 days, let's see what happens. If it's a flop, it's a flop, and if it works, heck, let's keep rolling.

Speaker 1:

So this next question I do want you to share more in detail how you grew your Facebook ads management business, but the listener has to know what I already know, which is we're going to jump forward to now, Because now you've grown this thing huge, and so huge that you were able to retire your husband and kind of have like an at-home life like no other. You want to give us a snapshot of like what's going on now before you rewind and take us back to those first moments of having built like when you were building in your trenches your Facebook ads business.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So now we have a multifaceted business. We have the podcast, I have my ad program, which is a course, we have our certification, which certifies ad managers, and we have a mastermind now, and then I have my one-on-one consulting clients. So five sources of revenue, but also they're in such a way that they all fit together and with that it just, but it also. It also hasn't looked like that always. That's what it looks like now.

Speaker 2:

We've had memberships, we've had low ticket programs, we've had where I'm doing the ads for people, and so over the last six years the business has grown. There's been offers that have flopped, there's been ones that have been really successful, there's been ones that were successful but I didn't enjoy doing them, so we shut down. So it's just been a ride, a wonderful ride, where I've been okay with changing and making changes. But also the biggest gift is we've been able to chase any dream we wanted. We built our what we thought was going to be our dream house in Florida when it was three of us. Then we decided, hey, we have no excuses, we want another baby, and that was not something that was ever on the radar for us. We thought we were one and done, and then we had our little Bodie, and then our priorities shifted again and we moved to Georgia and bought our dream home, at least for now.

Speaker 2:

And we've been able to just like live this life of not having finances as a stopping block for us or having location dependency. Like I brought my husband home 18 months after starting my business and he's been a full time stay at home dad since, and it's been great because we can travel. We decided to homeschool our daughter, so like it just opened up a world of choices and that's been great because we can travel. We decided to homeschool our daughter, so like it just opened up a world of choices, and that's been really powerful for us is not having to ask anyone to do anything.

Speaker 1:

Not having to ask anyone to do anything Sounds like you've had experience having to ask people for permission.

Speaker 2:

I don't know. I've never had like a traditional job. I've had like restaurant jobs and stuff when I was younger and college. But like I, just ever since I was a little girl, I don't like to ask people for permission. So I've like literally created my adult life where I don't have to ask people for permission.

Speaker 1:

I guess it's good that you didn't go the lawyer route then. So all right. So all right, Rewind, You're on the come up Facebook ads manager.

Speaker 2:

What did you start out charging people? Oh, I think my first client I remember this was $7.97. It was such a random number. I was in like this Walmart marketing world where I was like, okay, we need to end it with a seven or a nine, and so let's do 797. And then my next client was 997. And then the next one was 1297. And we kept rolling with that one. So that is definitely where we started.

Speaker 1:

Were you onboarding a new client every month? Like I know, you scaled up pretty quick yeah.

Speaker 2:

So and we I was raising my prices really quick too. So my first month really all in on ads, I onboarded three ad clients. I still had five clients that I was kind of like building funnels for doing Pinterest, all that kind of stuff. So that was definitely the messy middle. And then by May of 2000, that would have been May of 2019. I only had ad clients and I was only doing launches. I I wasn't really holding on to retainer clients.

Speaker 1:

How were you? How were you only doing launches?

Speaker 2:

Because that's all I wanted to do. Like I niched down so quick. I was like I want to work with people for launches and so with that I would. They would sign contracts for three launches a year, four launches a year, one launch a year, and I just knew when those times were coming up. But it created a business that was very chaotic, Like you're always in launch mode with all your clients, so emotions are always high.

Speaker 1:

I enjoyed it.

Speaker 2:

But then I started taking clients that were retainer based, and so I once again, depending on where my life situation was, depending on what type of clients I was taking on, Okay, all right, so the listener's like wait.

Speaker 1:

A second Launch mode is high stress mode.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but I thrive in that, I love that.

Speaker 1:

Only doing that? Wow, okay. So what do you teach people to do now if they're thinking about starting an ads management business to hit these kind of revenue numbers that you've hit?

Speaker 2:

kind of revenue numbers that you've hit. Yeah, I definitely do not recommend that. Like, don't take on only lunch times. There's only a few people that I've ever met that are like me that can handle that, so one. I just want it to be really clear that I didn't get to a million a year with just one-on-one services.

Speaker 2:

I think that services are the fastest path to cash. So if you need cash, one-on-one services are it? We had a really rough month the month that Bodie was born and I was like, holy crap, my whole business is falling apart. And this is like once we'd hit million three years in a row. I was like, oh my gosh, my business is falling apart. We just had our worst month. I just gave birth to a baby and I was like I'm going to take on one-on-one clients, and so in May I onboarded a $30,000 contract with consulting clients for three months.

Speaker 2:

It is the fastest path to cash is your one-on-one services. And it blows my mind that so many people are like create a course, do this for fast money, and it's like that's not fast cash at all. If you need cash now, it's one-on-one service, but these other offers set you up for more freedom and flexibility, which is why my I just said I have five probably it's actually probably six current offers that people can like choose to work with me, and some of them are completely like courses DIY. Some are more one-on-one coaching with me, some are just consulting. There's different levels of me, but it's multifaceted. So if one of them doesn't work out, I still have five other revenue sources, but I did not get to million with just one-on-one services.

Speaker 2:

I just want that to be really clear. I do think it's possible to get to 250,000 one-on-one services without a team Like you don't need an agency to do that. What you need is just really solid systems, expert knowledge and marketing, and when you can master those three elements, you can get there, have working 20, 25 hours a week, making $250,000 a year, and you're running at super high profitability. That's like one-on-one services are so profitable you should be running at 80% or higher because you don't have all the overhead cost of your course platform running, ads, like all these other things that course creators have.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I know the listener's like Brandy, please share more detail. But like that's coming up listener in the next episode where she shares like how to like a practical plan right About how to scale to 100K years with five clients.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

Okay, we're not there yet. We're not there yet. We still got a little bit in this episode. I felt like we haven't focused on the fact that you have a one-person team and achieved this with a one-person team. I've met the other person on your team. She's phenomenal, but like, how do you pull it off?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So this is the question. The first year we did Million. Everyone. Everyone's like how big's your team, how big's your team? And I was like team, it's me and janessa, we're just rocking and rolling over here and that is not, and that's the great thing. She's been with me since 2019, so we have been in this together doing the dang thing, and I brought her on to transcribe YouTube videos. Don't go search me on YouTube. They are so bad. They're so bad. It was a short lived thing, but I brought her on just to transcribe YouTube videos for me, like that's, and she is now my right hand woman. She has grown into that role.

Speaker 2:

But one thing that we do is we focus on systems. We have systems for everything too. We keep our business so simple. It is like simple, nothing complicated. We keep our business simple.

Speaker 2:

And then also, we say no to a lot of things. I people ask me to do all kinds of things Like the fact that I'm here is because I thank so much of you, but normally, when podcast episodes come across my desk, we say no, like there's a time for them, that I will do what we call world tours and I'll do a bunch of podcasts, and then for the majority of the time I'm like no, no, I could do this to make me more money. So I'm always looking at what can we do that's going to have the biggest revenue impact and the biggest impact for our current students, because we always want to make sure that they are getting cared for. They love us, because the thing is, if they love us, they're getting results and they feel supported. They're going to move to the next program, and so we're looking at lifetime value how can we make sure that we have lifelong clients?

Speaker 2:

And then we're looking at what can we do to increase our client numbers, and usually what a lot of people do is they say yes to everything because they think it's going to bring them clients. Like, I'm not going to do an affiliate promo for someone nine out of 10 times because I know if I took the same amount of effort that I would put into that, I could put into my own promo and make more money. So it doesn't make sense. And so with that we're always coming through the filter of what is our number one goal for the year. Does this promo align with that number one goal? And if it doesn't, it's a hard no, like it just goes through that filter and I am a visionary. I'm sure a lot of your listeners are visionaries.

Speaker 1:

And one thing you're not a visionary Really.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes.

Speaker 1:

I am.

Speaker 2:

So, if anyone knows about human design, I'm a projector, so I see the big picture of everything, which is probably why, when you come to me with certain questions, I was like I'm always looking at, like, oh, but how's this going to affect this? Because I can see the big picture. That's how my brain works. So, through strategy, I always see the big picture. So when I'm saying, I'm not so focused on saying yes for this one moment, because I can see that that's not going to serve my bigger picture, and so that's the filter we're always running through.

Speaker 2:

But also, I have a lot of ideas, as all visionaries, and one thing we've learned to do is implement systems, the parking lot system where things go on hold for 30 days and I come back to them and I look at them and be like, hmm, do I still want to do this? And after that waiting period of 30 days, nine out of 10 times I don't still see it as a priority. So by implementing these little things that filter to our bigger goal, I'm able to say no to so much stuff. Because it is only two of us, it's me and Janessa, so it's either me doing it or Janessa doing it, and I only work 20 hours a week. That's how much time I have in a week. So if I already know that, like hey, this is all the time I have, I'm very strategic with what I feel it with.

Speaker 1:

Dang. So for the visionary who's listening. Because honestly, brandy, I was like there's no way you can be a visionary. You're so good at systems and executing day by day consistently and here you are giving hope to us dare I say, purebred visionaries who need help.

Speaker 2:

I'm a visionary but, as a projector, need help.

Speaker 2:

I'm a visionary but as a projector, my biggest thing is efficiency.

Speaker 2:

I don't like I don't like sis, like setting up systems, like I don't nerd out over setting up the system, I actually groan about it, but I know that that system is going to create efficiency and that that's going to create freedom, and my biggest desire is flow and freedom and so with that, it's not something that I'm naturally good at. If you saw my closet, if you saw my bedroom like, you would be like oh my God, she's a hot mess, my desk hot mess. I am not a type a person I'm like let's go with the flow. But I know if I want to go with the flow, it means there has to be structure and system in place so I can still create enough revenue for my family to go with the flow. I know that I want efficiency and so those systems have to be created, but at the end of the day I always say I just want to sit back, make as much money as possible, make the biggest impact as possible and work the least as possible.

Speaker 1:

There you go In this next episode where you share how to scale to 100K the first 100K year with five clients. That's going to be good. I want you to as a visionary, as somebody who works 20 hours a week max with only one team member, who has seen multiple million dollar years and who did all this from what I would call very meager beginnings, with a lot of pressure, right with your back against the wall. What is the one thing that you want to leave the listener with? Let's say, they don't listen to me and they don't go into the show notes. They don't click through to the next episode. What is the one thing that you want them to hear from you before we say goodbye?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I've never said this before, so it's weird that this is what's coming to me, but I feel like I must need to say it.

Speaker 1:

All right, all right.

Speaker 2:

Your setbacks are setting you up for your comeback. So I don't know who said that, I feel like I've heard it before and I've never actually said that, but your setbacks are setting you up for your comeback. So every time something pushes you down, you skin your knee, you have a bad month, you have a bad year, it is setting you up for your comeback, and your comeback is so much more fun to tell than just static Like. If it would, life would be so freaking boring without the setbacks, because my story would not be impactful without bankruptcy and without having a horrible month like our worst month after Bodie was born and then having that comeback like those setbacks teach us lessons. So we have a stronger comeback and those comebacks are not only there to teach us a lesson, but third there so we can serve and teach other people those lessons. So don't make decisions in the setbacks. Don't make decisions until you've had your comeback.

Speaker 1:

There's no way to finish but other than to thank you for that, brandy, that is powerful, and me for one. I get to listen to the recording and I know the listener would like to scrub back and listen to this too, to pull out all the gems. Thank you for being on this first episode.

Speaker 2:

Yes, thank you for having me and thank you for listening for all of our listeners.

Speaker 1:

Right, so me and you are going to jump into the next episode for the listener. Again, it's linked up in the show notes below, and if it hasn't released yet because you're listening to this episode on the first day that this one released, just wait two days and that episode will be live on wednesday, but otherwise it's already live and it's linked up Until the next time that you see me or hear from me. Be blessed, and I'll see you in the next one. Goodbye.

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Kwadwo Sampany-Kessie

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