Facing Truths and Making Hard Decisions with Lori Harder

I’m thrilled to share the latest episode of the Jasmine Star Show with you! Not only did I have the pleasure of sitting down with my dear friend and fellow entrepreneur, Lori Harder, I also had the privilege of introducing her as my co-host in a series of upcoming episodes. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be dropping new episodes with several other powerhouse female entrepreneurs that I can’t wait for you to hear.

Lori and I first met at a mastermind event hosted by Lewis Howes. Lori, with her kindness and brilliance, quickly became a close friend and a source of inspiration for me.

She emphasizes the importance of building a network and being in rooms that stretch you. One of the best pieces of advice she gives when you’re nervous about networking and possibly feeling intimidated by the room you’re in is: “It's about how you can serve others, not what you can get from them.” With this mindset shift, you can completely reframe the interactions you’ll have and walk away with so much more.

Lori candidly shared her struggles of starting a company from the ground-up during the height of the pandemic. Not only does she walk through her journey to raise over $2 million (having NEVER fund raised prior), she shows us how to embrace doing it messy and not letting lack of experience or knowledge stop you from taking action.

Sidenote: you’ll DEFINITELY want to listen in to learn about Lori’s “Freedom Phrases,” which are the BEST way to handle answering questions that you don’t know the answer to!

She shares her lowest of low moments along her journey when things seemed to be failing left and right and she had to make “the best worst decision.”

She felt immense pressure to not disappoint her investors and was fearful of disappointing them, but knew she couldn’t continue on the same path and had to make BIG changes.

If you find yourself in a similar situation to Lori being paralyzed by the fear of disappointing others after they’ve shown belief and support in you, be sure to tune in to this episode for tips and encouragement on moving forward and making hard decisions.

Key Moments

6:14 - Three questions to help you figure out what’s next for you and your business.

10:41 - Tips for networking in a room of people that intimidate you with their knowledge and achievements.

13:33 - Lori’s simple hack when you don’t know the answer to questions you’re asked.

15:00 - How Lori successfully raised $1 million in a year by specifically targeting women investors and hand-picking strategic guests for her podcast, leading to referrals and further investments.

27:57 - Lori’s moment of realization and how she decided to pivot her business.

For complete show notes for this episode, visit: jasminestar.com/podcast/episode380