The Other 99%: A Podcast for Small Business Owners and Direct Sellers

Some days, it’s the big things. Other days, it’s a hundred little frustrations that leave you thinking, “I’m done.”

This week, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer both arrived at the microphone feeling stretched thin, so we decided to have an honest conversation about it. ☕

We’re talking company website headaches, family interruptions, too many projects and those moments when you simply don’t have the capacity for one more thing.

Along the way, we share what helps: choosing one task you can control, getting your to-do list out of your head, saying “not right now” and giving yourself permission to put a project on the back burner.

There’s also a conversation about people pleasing, misunderstandings and why setting a boundary doesn’t have to damage a friendship.

If you’ve been having one of those weeks, grab a coffee and join us. You don’t have to have it all together to take your next step.

Connect with Lisa: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music CreditSong: French MorningMusic by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ DisclaimerSome links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

Your company announces another flash sale, and suddenly you feel like you need to drop everything, create a graphic, send an email and tell every customer. Sound familiar? ☕

This week, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer are talking about running your direct sales business your way, even when the holiday promotions keep coming.

We chat about protecting your profits, avoiding the comparison trap and deciding which company offers actually fit your customers and your plan. Plus, we explore how constant discounts can encourage customers to wait for the next deal.

We also put each other in the hot seat with real sales scenarios: What if your company undercuts a bundle you’ve already announced? Do you match another consultant’s bigger discount? And should every flash sale mean another email to your entire list?

You’ll hear ideas for setting boundaries, reaching out thoughtfully and letting customers opt in to the sale notifications they actually want.

Grab a coffee and get comfy. Those company promotions can be the gravy, but you’re still in charge of the meal!

Connect with your hosts:
Lisa Duck: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Susan Larimer:https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music CreditSong: French MorningMusic by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ DisclaimerSome links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

Ready, set, ho ho ho! 🎄 What are you doing now that your December self will thank you for?

This week, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer are chatting about getting your business holiday ready while protecting your profits, your energy and your family time.

We’re talking simple offers, realistic income goals, working with company promotions and why you don’t need to copy someone else’s discounts to make sales. Plus, we share reminders about reconnecting with past customers, checking your shopping links and giving holiday shoppers a reason to come back in January.

There’s also a little holiday business audit to help you look at what worked last year, what you can reuse and where a collaboration could make things easier.

Grab a coffee and get comfy. A little planning now could save you a whole lot of holiday scrambling later! ☕

Connect with your hosts:
Lisa Duck: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/
Susan Larimer: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music CreditSong: French MorningMusic by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ DisclaimerSome links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

We’ve been yapping together on this podcast for years. Talking to our phones by ourselves? That’s a different story. 😂

This week, Lisa and Susan share about their first experiments with “yaps,” short, conversational videos that help people get to know you and your business.

We chat about finding something worth saying, grabbing attention with a good hook and editing out the bits that slow your video down. We also share how we’re using Instagram’s Edits app and ChatGPT, plus why keeping your own voice matters.

And we get honest about the uncomfortable part: being on camera when you’d really rather hide from it.

If you’ve been putting off making videos until you feel more confident, grab a coffee and join us. We’re figuring it out as we go, too. ☕

Trying your own yaps? Send us a DM on Instagram so we can check them out!

Connect with your hosts:
Lisa Duck: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/
Susan Larimer: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music CreditSong: French MorningMusic by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ DisclaimerSome links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

We’re taking a break from business talk and putting a little giggle into your day! 😂

Lisa is Canadian. Susan is American. And apparently, speaking the same language doesn’t mean we always know what the other person is talking about.

In this just-for-fun episode, we compare what we call everyday things, from toques and sneakers to pencil crayons and chicken burgers. Naturally, the conversation takes a few detours into bagged milk, ketchup chips and the great Smarties debate.

Grab a coffee and play along. What words would have YOU asking, “Wait… what did you just say?”

📺 We’re reacting to pictures throughout this episode, so head over to The Other 99% Podcast on YouTube if you’d like to see what we’re looking at!

Connect with your hosts:
Lisa Duck: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/
Susan Larimer: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music Credit
Song: French Morning
Music by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ Disclaimer
Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

What happens when a friend becomes a customer, or a customer becomes a friend?

The line between friendship and business can get awkward quickly, especially when every conversation starts feeling like an opportunity to make a sale, book a party, or recruit someone.

In this episode of The Other 99%, Lisa and Susan share about navigating friendships while running a business. They discuss friends and family who don’t buy from you, customers who become genuine friends, people who choose to shop with someone else, and why supporting someone’s business should never feel like an obligation.

They also talk about keeping score with other business owners, giving friends special discounts, and the uncomfortable habit of messaging someone simply because they viewed your social media story.

Your friends don’t owe you a purchase, and your customers don’t need to become your friends. You can build meaningful relationships and confidently run your business without making every interaction feel transactional.

Connect with Lisa:
https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan:
https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music Credit
Song: French Morning
Music by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ Disclaimer
Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

Your customers can find products almost anywhere, so why should they choose to shop with you?

Spoiler alert: it isn’t because you post every company special or share the same sales graphics as everyone else.

In this episode of The Other 99%, Lisa and Susan share what customers actually want from the person behind the business. They talk about making shopping easier, offering trustworthy recommendations, following up after the sale, respecting a customer’s “no,” and helping people feel remembered and appreciated.

You’ll also hear a fun round of “Customer Service or Customer Annoyance?” featuring some common business behaviours that might be helping your customers or quietly driving them away.

This episode will help you take an honest look at the experience you’re creating and answer one important question: Why should someone choose to shop with you?

Connect with Lisa:
https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan:
https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music Credit
Song: French Morning
Music by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ Disclaimer
Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust.

This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

Business owners are constantly encouraged to find the next new customer, but what about the customers already connected to the business?

In this episode, Lisa and Susan share 10 types of customers who may be getting overlooked, including one-time buyers, former regulars, seasonal shoppers, frequent supporters, referral sources and customers who simply haven’t heard from you in a while.

They explore how to reconnect, improve customer follow-up and build genuine relationships without turning every interaction into a sales pitch.

By the end of the episode, you’ll have a practical list of people to reconnect with and a simple challenge to help you get started.

CONNECT WITH LISA AND SUSAN:

Meet Lisa: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/
Meet Susan: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music Credit
Song: French Morning
Music by: CreatorMix.com

⚠️ Disclaimer
Some links in this description are affiliate links. If you purchase through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I personally use and trust. This channel is for educational and informational purposes only. Nothing shared constitutes business, legal, or financial advice. Results depend entirely on your own efforts and execution.

We're wrapping up our email marketing series with the big question: when does your email list actually become a sales system? Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer walk through the full customer journey — from that first welcome email all the way to a five-step customer care sequence that keeps people coming back.

We also talk about why it takes way more emails than you'd expect before someone buys, why unsubscribes aren't something to fear, and a simple trick for keeping your emails out of the spam and promotions folders.

Connect with Lisa: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

In part five of our email marketing series, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer are answering the question we hear the most: what do I actually send my list every week?

We share six go-to content ideas — tips and education, personal stories, customer success stories, product highlights, seasonal reminders, and FAQs — plus why consistency matters more than frequency, and how to find a cadence that actually fits your life.

Connect with Lisa: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

In part four of our email marketing series, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer are talking about the welcome sequence — why it's one of the most important (and most skipped) pieces of your email marketing, and how to set one up so it works for one customer just as well as it works for a thousand.

We cover what to actually say in those first few emails, why automation matters so much more than people realize, and why welcome sequences consistently get your highest open rates. Plus, a peek at the 5-Minute Welcome Sequence System if you want a done-for-you swipe file to get started.

Connect with Lisa: https://lisaduck.com/its-me-lisa/

Connect with Susan: https://susanlarimer.com/its-me-susan/

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

In part three of our email marketing mini-series, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer are talking welcome sequences — the emails that make (or break) that first impression with a new subscriber.

We cover the four rules for getting it right: writing to one person instead of your whole list, sticking to one topic per email, giving your new subscriber a quick win, and building trust before you ever make an offer. Susan also shares the "handraiser" concept from a training we took, and why a smaller, more engaged list beats a big cold one every time.

Grab the Freebie first so you can get the subscriber offer on The 5-Minute Welcome Sequence

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

You got someone to grab your lead magnet — but what happens next? In this episode, Lisa Duck and Susan Larimer talk about what to actually do once someone joins your list, why a proper welcome sequence matters, and why "set it and forget it" only works if you set it up right in the first place.

We walk through what to send in those first few emails, how to set expectations so people don't unsubscribe, and the automation mistakes that trip up even experienced list-builders.

Start here: Nobody Wants to Join Your Newsletter

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

Nobody wakes up hoping to join another newsletter — so why does "join my list" keep showing up as the CTA? In this episode, Susan Larimer and I kick off a brand new mini-series on email marketing, starting with the thing that actually gets people to say yes: a real, valuable lead magnet.

We talk about what makes a lead magnet work, how to find ideas hiding in the questions your customers already ask you, and why you don't need to compete with your company's sales emails to build a relationship that's actually yours.

🎙️ This episode kicks off a new mini-series on email marketing. More episodes coming soon!

Grab the freebie - Nobody Wants to Join Your Newsletter

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com
Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

Your company sends emails. Your upline sends emails. So why do you need your own email marketing?

In this episode, Lisa and Susan get into five of the top ten things you're missing if you're not building and nurturing your own email list. They talk about why owning your contacts matters more than most people realize, what open rates and click rates actually tell you, why one call to action per email is a game changer, and how simple automations can do the follow-up work while you're living your life.

If email marketing has been on your to-do list for a while, this is the episode that's going to make you finally do something about it.

📌 Grab the full list — 10 Things You're Missing Without Email Marketing at https://lisaduck.com/

📌 Sponsored by CinchShare — free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/| Code: 99POD

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.comConnect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

In this episode of the Other 99% four direct sellers sit down for an honest conversation about building a YouTube channel in real life — not the highlight reel version.

Lisa Duck, Susan Larimer, Jen from Craft What Matters, and Evelyn from Purple Essence by Evelyn talk about what's actually working on YouTube right now, including repurposing content, creating shorts, using AI for thumbnails, and researching the right keywords so the right people can actually find you.

They also get into the bigger picture — how to use YouTube strategically to grow your email list, drive traffic to your offers, and build genuine connections with people who want to hear from you.

If you've been thinking about starting or growing a YouTube channel, this one's worth a listen.

📌 Sponsored by CinchShare — free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/ | Code: 99POD

Find Lisa: lisaduck.com

Find Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

On this weeks episode of the Other 99% we are at part 5 of our mini series on Susan's brand-new workbook. Join Lisa and Susan as they dig into what it really means to live intentionally — saying yes to what fits your mission, vision, and values, and no to everything else.

They talk about busting the "having it all" myth, the power of margins, what success actually looks like in direct sales, and walk through exactly what's inside Susan's new workbook.

Get Susan's Workbook: The Intentional Workbook

📌 This episode is sponsored by CinchShare — the social media scheduler built for direct sellers. Free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/ | Code: 99POD

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

This week on the Other 99% Podcast Lisa and Susan talk about why Saying "no" isn't a skills problem — it's a mindset problem. Dive in as they unpack why direct sellers struggle so much with boundaries, how the industry's culture of recognition keeps us chasing "yes," and why Lisa's own business only really took off once she was forced to start saying no.

In this episode: the "let me think about it" trick for buying yourself time, the problem with chasing incentive trips, Lisa's honest story about staying in direct sales for the wrong reasons, and why a good "no" actually creates more freedom, not less.

📌 This episode is sponsored by CinchShare — the social media scheduler built for direct sellers. Free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/ | Code: 99POD

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

Have you ever agreed to something and immediately regretted it?In Part 3 of the Your Intentional Life series, Lisa and Susan discuss why we often say yes out of guilt, obligation, or fear of missing out, and how an alignment filter can help us make better decisions.

📌 This episode is sponsored by CinchShare — the social media scheduler built for direct sellers. Free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/ | Code: 99POD

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.

In this episode of The Other 99%, Lisa and Susan dive into part two of their five-part series on Susan's new workbook. This week's focus is on the big three: your why, your mission, your vision, and your values.

Most of us in direct sales are so focused on chasing the next sale, the next recruit, or the next like that we never stop to ask why we're doing any of it. This episode gives you the space to actually think about that.

We cover why we skip the why work, how reactive mode is draining your energy, and the three-to-five-year vision exercise from Susan's workbook that'll help you figure out exactly where you want to be — and whether the things on your plate are going to get you there.

📌 This episode is sponsored by CinchShare — the social media scheduler built for direct sellers. Free 30-day trial at https://lisaduck.com/cinchshare/ | Code: 99POD

Connect with Lisa: lisaduck.com

Connect with Susan: susanlarimer.com

🎵 Music: French Morning Music by CreatorMix.com

📌 Disclaimer: Some links may be affiliate links. I only recommend tools I use and trust.