What Works

The Nitty-Gritty: * Why The Ops Authority founder Natalie Gingrich opted for scale using a certification program instead of building out an agency* What she created first on the way to developing her certification program* How she determined what the certification program would include and how it would be structured* What she’s tackling next to continue to create value and build capacity for her company What you do doesn’t have to be magic. One of my all-time favorite quotes is Arthur C. Clarke’s third law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” I love this idea because not only does it apply to the iPhone in my pocket or the car that plays music from that phone as soon as I turn the key. But it also applies to the work we do on a daily basis. I’ve heard from so many small business owners over the years that what they do for their clients can feel like magic. Maybe you feel that way too. You don’t know exactly how it happens… but you get on Zoom with a client and magic happens. You start writing sales copy for a client… and magic happens. You get on a stage… and magic happens.You start painting or designing… and magic happens. Now, I don’t—in any way—want to discount the feeling that comes along with making that kind of magic happen. But… what I do want to do is point you to the underlying technology that makes it happen. “Technology” in this case isn’t code or wires or processing units. It’s a system. We all have them. And, even when something feels like magic, there is a technology—a system—that is making it all happen. So let me remind you of Clarke’s third law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The reason your work feels like magic is because it’s really advanced technology! And, listener, do you know what else that means? It’s super valuable. This month, we’re talking about scale and, as you might have already guessed, the advanced technology behind the magic you make on a daily basis could be the key to scaling your business. So far, we’ve explored this in the form of your “special sauce.” But really, special sauce is just another way of talking about advanced technology! In Episode 236, Carol Cox shared how she’s using her advanced technology to train other speech coaches to work for her. In Episode 237, Katey Schultz shared how focusing on her advanced technology allowed her to expand the capacity of her monthly mentorship program. Today, we’re going to look at another way of scaling up based on your advanced technology—certification programs. My guest is Natalie Gingrich, the founder of The Ops Authority. After spending 15 years in corporate at a Fortune 150 company, she dove into entrepreneurship leveraging her project management and HR experience to assist high-level influencers in the online and small business worlds. What she discovered along the way was that there was a ton of super capable women whose skill sets were not leveraged and whose natural tendency toward leadership wasn’...