The Best Podcasts for Online Business Owners & How to Take Action on What You Learn
If you're not seeing the progress you want in your online business, it may be because you're still stuck in an employee mindset.
Making the transition from thinking like an employee to thinking like a business owner is a game-changer. It’s about taking charge, making decisions, and continuously learning.
I love learning, and I’m always open and down to learn something new. That is a really great trait for a Virtual Assistant to have. So if you're kind of stuck in the mindset of, “Oh, I know everything,” you need to throw that out the window right now! As a Virtual Assistant, you’re going to be learning something new every single day and putting that learning into practice.
Listening to podcasts has been an incredible tool that has helped me shift my mindset and grow my business. But there’s a catch: it’s not just about listening.
I get it—podcasts are easy to consume. You pop them on while you’re driving, cooking, or even during your morning walk. But if you’re just letting those words wash over you, you’re missing out on the real magic.
3 Podcasts That Will Shift Your Mindset
In this post, I’m sharing 3 of my favorite podcasts that have helped me go from thinking like an employee to owning my business mindset, as well as how I’ve managed to keep that mentality. Each one has been instrumental in shaping how I approach my day, my work, and my long-term goals. And while I love these shows, it’s not just about the content; it’s about how you implement and use what you hear to make changes in your life and business.
1. The Mindset Mentor by Rob Dial
“Stop making excuses and just do it.”
The first podcast I love to listen to (and I listen to it literally every single morning) is called The Mindset Mentor.
Now, The Mindset Mentor is a podcast by a guy named Rob Dial. And if you're anything like me, you might not really like the idea of taking advice from men. I felt this way for a long time in my business—and sometimes, I still do! There are a few reasons why, but one of the biggest reasons is because I felt like it was just too “bro-y,” it was too “business-y,” and advice from “business bros” focused too much on “hustle mentality.”
I always felt like there was a bit of a disconnect. But that changed for me when I started listening to The Mindset Mentor. Rob has an incredible way of talking like we're friends and breaking down mindset work into really actionable, bite-sized little strategies that you can use immediately.
Pretty much every time I listen to that podcast, I can immediately take action on what he's saying. The episodes are only about 20 minutes, and years later, they continue to help me shake that employee mindset.
If you’re having challenges or mindset things are coming up for you in other areas of your life, they're going to come into your business, too. Once you become an entrepreneur, you start realizing how much your business and your life are actually very intertwined.
The mindset that you're bringing into your business is the same mindset that you're bringing into the rest of your life. It's important to become aware of that and to start changing your perspective on the things that you're doing in your business—the way that you're trying to grow your business and, ultimately, how you're living your life overall.
One of the biggest things that Rob talks about on The Mindset Mentor is that you determine your own success. You need to take ownership of your life and your success; you need to stop making excuses, and you just need to do it.
Listening to this podcast has really allowed me to step into sort of more of a role of a CEO—not just in my business, but actually in my life as well.
Must-Listen Episode: “Your Comfort Zone is Killing Your Dreams”
One of my favorite episodes is all about your comfort zone.
Running a business is going to push you outside of every single comfort zone you have. And it’s going to happen A LOT. Like, all the time. If you want to succeed in your business, you need to really get good at handling new challenges in a way that feels good for you and that doesn't stress you out.
In the episode, Rob talks about how to embrace the changes, and he has a lot of really great techniques you can incorporate into your life right away. He's very like, he's blunt, but in like a loving way!
2. The Marie Forleo Podcast
“Everything is figureoutable.”
Marie Forleo is super cool.
She runs this amazing program called B School, where she teaches how to build an online business overall, and she’s become a really massive force in the online business and mindset space.
What I love most about her is this mantra that she says all the time. It's in so much of her content: Everything is figureoutable.
If you've heard that little tagline anywhere, it came from her! She even wrote a book and used that as the title. Let me tell you—it has been a game changer for me in the way that I actually approach every single problem, challenge, and situation in my business as well as in my life. I truly believe, to my core, that I can figure out every single thing that comes at me.
Marie's approach to decision-making is that you need to trust your gut and understand that as a business owner, you're going to have to make a lot of quick decisions. You’re building a project that's ever-evolving, and there are going to be a lot of things that you don't know how to do. But don't worry—you're going to be able to figure it out.
Must-Listen Episode: “How to Stop Overthinking & Make a Decision Already!”
One of my favorite episodes from Marie is on overthinking.
Put your hand up if you’re a massive overthinker like me! It used to be a lot worse, but I am definitely guilty of this. Entrepreneurs need to be able to make faster decisions. Marie has a really fantastic episode on this.
This was huge for me. As an employee coming from a corporate job, you’re often conditioned to get approval on things. You usually need to wait for something to happen or for instructions from someone else, or you might need to focus on tiny details and take your time. You need to really think through things.
And you don't want to make a big mistake because if you make a mistake, everybody freaks out, and it turns into some big, big emergency. But as a business owner, the speed of your decisions and your confidence in those decisions are crucial. Not only is it crucial for your own businesses, but it’s crucial in how you support your clients.
3. How I Built This by Guy Raz
“Persistence is the key to success.”
The third podcast I love to listen to—and this is one I tend to listen to while I'm driving— is How I Built This with Guy Raz. This podcast is amazing for your imagination because you get to hear the real behind-the-scenes stories of how successful businesses are built.
Guy, the host, talks to all different kinds of entrepreneurs. And what I love most about this podcast isn’t learning about the successes these people have had and the amazing businesses they’ve built. What I really love is learning about the struggles and the setbacks that they went through as they're building your business and how they overcame them.
These are super inspiring stories of people who went from really struggling, in some cases, to building these amazing businesses. They also touch on why they built the business, which is something I connect with as well.
Here’s a little news flash: Every single person ultimately overcame major setbacks and struggles and built a successful business because of one thing and one thing only: continuing. Continuing to stay consistent, building their business even when things got hard. And that's the same thing that's going to see your Virtual Assistant business succeed as well.
Must-Listen Episode: “Sara Blakely”
One of my favorite episodes is an interview with one of my favorite entrepreneurs of all time—Sara Blakely from Spanx and Sneex.
If you don't know Sara Blakely, I highly recommend you go and just do a little research on her because she's so cool. Her story always inspires me.
And the episode isn’t just her story of building her business, but it's actually more along the lines of how she treats her employees. That always really interested me. For me, it really drove home the idea that resilience and the team around you is the ultimate driver of your success in business.
How to Implement What You Learn from Podcasts
Before I explain how I actually put what I learn into practice, I want to acknowledge that these podcasts aren’t specifically focused on being a Virtual Assistant. In fact, none of them have anything to do with being a VA.
But they all have something to do with the person that you are—the person that you are right now and the person that you want to become. When I started my VA business, I had this vision of who I wanted to be. I wanted freedom, but I also wanted to step into the woman that I always wanted to become.
I realized I would never get there in a corporate job, and I started actually becoming that person even before I felt ready. I learned that building a business starts to expand your idea of possibility, and so much of building my business I learned from listening to podcasts about business in general and personal growth.
So when it comes to actually implementing this advice, here’s what I do (literally) every day.
1. Don’t write off anything you hear.
Even though I “know” a lot of the things I hear in the podcasts I listen to (and you may know a lot of the things that you hear, too), the fact that it's constantly being reinforced makes it “stickier” and more memorable.
I've been running my business now for over a decade. I’ll continue to listen to podcasts, returning to the episodes I listened to years ago, because something about them continues to drive me forward in my business.
Fun fact: This is also something Marie Forleo talks about in her book, Everything Is Figureoutable. You may have heard it before, but what can you take from it that’s new or how can you use what you’re learning in a new way or in your current, not-before-experienced circumstances?
2. Take notes. (Seriously.)
Literally every day, part of my morning routine is doing 20 minutes of learning and education. It's crucial to me and my growth as a business owner, and it needs to be a priority for you as well. Even if you don’t feel like you're building some big, you’re still building a business, and you need to treat it like you're doing that.
For a very long time, I put podcasts on in the background, hoping I was actually absorbing the information. But I wasn't! I was just consuming mindlessly, and I wasn’t applying anything because I wasn’t actually hearing it or thinking about how I could use what I was (theoretically) learning.
These days, I like to sit down with my coffee in the morning and listen to Rob Dial’s podcast, The Mindset Mentor, because they’re usually 20 minutes or less.
I act almost like I'm reading a book, and I actually make notes throughout the podcast. At the end of all of my notes, I have 3 little check boxes:
☑️ What are 3 things I can take away from this podcast that I can implement today and incorporate into my life?
☑️ What are 3 things I can implement in my business?
☑️ What can I tell somebody about?
Having that quick checklist makes it very actionable, and I check it off as I go throughout the day.
Really take this in: The key to seeing success after listening to podcasts is actually implementing the things you're learning and having the intention of taking action as you're listening to them.
Don’t just consume. Commit to applying at least one thing that you learn from the podcasts you listen to every single day.
I listen to The Mindset Mentor almost every day. But Marie Forleo’s podcasts I listen to about once a week, and I might listen while I’m doing something like cooking dinner. And with Guy’s pods, which tend to be really long, I obviously can’t take notes if I’m driving!
I use my phone now, but I used to like to keep a notebook handy to jot down the title of the podcast and things I want to implement or quotes I want to remember. At the end of the week, I go back and review those quick notes and listen to that bit of the podcast when I’m more focused and have time to be intentional.
3. I ask myself, “What would I have done in that situation?”
Rob Dial’s podcasts are relatively short, but Marie Forleo and Guy Raz’s podcasts are, a lot of the time, a bit longer. That makes it harder for me to sit with coffee in the morning and listen and take notes.
But each of these podcasts has a mindset element to it. So, when I listen to longer episodes and if I’m not able to take notes right away, I think about how I might handle the situation the host or guest is talking about. It’s a great exercise because, a lot of times, it’s super relatable. I try to write down some thoughts later or record voice notes for myself to return to when my hands are free.
Staying in this questioning mindset helps me to remember to pause before I do anything when I'm faced with challenging situations or things I’ve never done before.
I can also go back through my notes from that podcast and, like Marie says, realize, “Oh my God, everything is figure-outable. I could figure this out. If everybody else can, so can I. I've got this.”
Consistency is Key: Commit to Action
It’s one thing to listen and feel inspired; it’s another to act.
The real difference-maker isn’t the podcast itself—it’s what you do with the information. My morning routine of active listening, note-taking, and setting actionable goals has allowed me to implement new ideas consistently, and this is what has driven my success.
Remember, listening alone won’t build your business. It’s the small, consistent actions you take every day that will. Whether it’s stepping outside your comfort zone, making faster decisions, or staying persistent despite challenges, apply what you learn to your VA business and your life.
If you’re ready to dive deeper and want more training on how to grow your Virtual Assistant business, sign up for the VA Vortex to get weekly trainings right in your inbox. It’s time to take control, implement what you learn, and build the VA business you’ve always dreamed of.
