Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2 of the Thriving Business Podcast!

Over the next 18 episodes, we're walking you through all the essential elements of business building in a structured way, based on our Thriving Business Wheel, with the following four quadrants:

Quadrant 1: Earn (Revenue Generation)

Quadrant 2: Keep (Profitability)

Quadrant 3: Grow (Capacity and Scaling)

Quadrant 4: Lead (Lead with Impact)

Today's episode begins in quadrant one (revenue generation) by covering the foundational topic of Business Identity.

"Marketing fails when a business doesn’t know its own soul."

You'll discover why it's essential to clarify your brand values, mission, vision, and “why”, even if you've been in business for a while now. These foundational elements flow into your branding, marketing and sales, which all create your ability to bring in the money.

Tune in as Sam and Kate help you strengthen your business identity, the engine of your revenue generation machine.

00:00 Revenue Generation Kickoff
00:51 Business Identity Matters
02:57 Branding Foundations
04:17 Personal vs Brand Persona
05:36 The Oh Eight Story
07:31 Brand Vision Board Exercises
09:30 Audience First Branding
11:42 Start With Why
16:27 Because Taglines Work
17:59 Premium Branding and Design
22:11 Messaging From Your Why
23:31 Vision Mission Values Framework
25:17 Values as Verbs
26:41 Clarity Before AI Messaging
27:51 One Clear Offer
28:56 Market Research Mindset
31:54 AI and Competitor Gaps
33:02 Ads as Research Tools
35:09 Specificity Wins Clients
37:40 Brand Bar Exercise
41:30 Identity Evolves Over Time
46:40 Final Wrap and Next Episode

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/

Introducing the Thriving Business Wheel: An 18-Episode Framework for Growth Without Burnout

Hosts Kate De Jong and Sam Morris share a new 18-episode plan for the Thriving Business Podcast built around the “Thriving Business Wheel,” a four-quadrant framework that encompasses:

1. Earn (revenue generation)
2. Keep (profitability)
3. Grow (capacity and scaling)
4. Lead (leadership).

In this episode, Kate and Sam excitedly talk through the preview of their upcoming curriculum and why business owners need an all-encompassing framework like this.

Over the next 4-5 months, Kate and Sam will be sharing everything they've learned in their combined 30+ years of business experience on the topics outlined below.

QUADRANT 1: REVENUE

Earn Money | Market & Sell Powerfully

• Business identity
• Craft an Irresistible Offer
• Everything you need to know about Marketing
• How to become great at Selling

QUADRANT 2: PROFITABILITY

Keep More | Operate Efficiently

• Money mastery
• Charge what you're worth
• AI systems for maximum efficiency
• When to outsource and delegate

QUADRANT 3: CAPACITY

Grow Smart | Powerful Business Model

• Your business model: Plan strategically
• To hire or not to hire? Build a strong team
• Deliver a remarkable client experience every time
• Design a business that doesn't break you

QUADRANT 4: LEADERSHIP

Lead with Impact

• Getting up when you're knocked down
• Self-awareness, the most underrated business skill
• Emotional Intelligence: The missing piece in most business leaders
• Lead from your values: Align your business with you who you are

SERIES FINALE

Your Thriving Business: The Full Picture

At the end of each quadrant they will run a live workshop, culminating in an August 2026 BALI RETREAT, with details to be shared on their website.

Episode Timeline:

00:00 Podcast Relaunch Plan

01:23 Thriving Business Wheel

04:02 Live Workshops and Retreat

07:29 Quadrant One Earn

07:49 Business Identity Basics

10:26 Branding That Builds Trust

12:04 Irresistible Offer Design

14:05 Marketing Channels Made Simple

17:15 Sales Without the Ick

19:05 Quadrant Two Profitability

19:20 Money Mastery and Profit First

21:39 Pricing for Profit

23:16 AI Systems for Efficiency

25:35 Outsource and Delegate Right

25:57 Hiring Before You’re Ready

26:51 Delegation Ego and Talent

27:59 Outsourcing Virtual Assistants

28:52 Capacity Quadrant Overview

29:16 Business Model and Scaling

31:13 Building a Strong Team

32:41 Remarkable Client Experience

33:25 Social Proof and Reviews

35:26 Business That Doesn’t Break You

37:38 Leadership Quadrant Begins

38:02 Resilience Through Setbacks

41:14 Self Awareness and Feedback

45:23 Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

46:21 Leading From Your Values

48:37 Thriving Wheel Wrap Up

49:24 Closing Thoughts 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/

In our first episode of 2026, Kate sits down with Donna West, founder of Donna's Balcony Views and resilience expert to talk about ‘Life Quakes’: those unexpected and brutal events or situations in life that crack your world open and force you to rebuild from the rubble.

Life Quakes include things like workplace trauma, death of a loved one, miscarriage, illness, divorce, survival of traumatic events like tsunamis or bushfires, just to name a few. Having suffered her own ‘life quake’ in recent years, Donna now helps people through the aftermath of life quakes to find solid ground, and to eventually rebuild.

What We Cover

• Life Quakes defined: The moments that permanently rewire how you see yourself and the world
• Survival mode is success: In the beginning, making it through the day is a celebration in itself
• The mask tax: What it costs to pretend you're fine when you're fracturing inside. And how to keep showing up each day, even when you want to stay in bed and cry.
• The power of a single act: How a single person's courage can be the sliding door moment that saves a life
• After the rubble: Rebuilding your identity as a new person, navigating the grief process, and finding yourself again
• How isolation kills healing: Surrounding yourself with good people is essential.

If you're going through a life quake, or you feel like you're holding it together with duct tape and sheer will, we hope you find this conversation helpful.

👉 Listen now. Share it with someone who's silently carrying their own quake.
👉 Subscribe to our podcast for real talk and real strategies that help you build a business that thrives.
👉 Connect with Donna West to learn more about navigating life quakes and rebuilding resilience here: https://donnasbalconyviews.com.au/

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/