Simplify to Start: The Neurodivergent Entrepreneur’s Shortcut to Getting Sh*t Done - Danielle Felicissimo

Website: www.dynamogenius.com

https://dynamogenius.podbean.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielle-m-felicissimo-53932178/

00:01 Everyone, I'm Danielle, the founder of Dynamo Genius, and I'm so excited to be with you here today on this summit. I am a mindset and systems coach for neuro diverse entrepreneurs, especially women who are balancing business, family, and real life. I'm also a special educator, a former corporate trainer, and a neuro diverse entrepreneur myself. So ADHD, autism, anxiety, I get it because I've got it. I'm also a single mom and I have two children my son Dylan is 13 and he has autism and my daughter Alyssa is 10 and she has ADHD.  

00:35 So I guess you can say that I live neurodiversity twenty four seven. So I want to start this by saying that if your brain is brilliant but your business back end is a hot mess of almost and I'll do it tomorrow, then this talk is for you. So let's talk about how to finally simplify to start and build a business that works for your brain and not against it. So here's a little secret. I am the president of the procrastination club we were supposed to have our first meeting last month, but it got rescheduled and now we're aiming for maybe next month.  

01:12 All jokes aside, how does that feel does it feel familiar? So if your business feels like it is an old laptop with 47 tabs open and yet none of them are loading, you're not broken, you're just overloaded. I used to think that I needed more motivation, a better planner, a productivity hack that worked. But none of that worked for long. So let me tell you a quick story about what actually did work for me.  

01:39 So a decade ago, I started working at a 100 % special education high school in New York City. And what this means is that every single student, all 500 or so of them, had a significant disability. Now, these students were amazing they were incredible, kind, funny, curious, but most of all capable in their own way. But the curriculum, the system, it was never built for them from the top down. They were treated just like the general education population, right so if it works for one student with a disability, it must work for all of them.  

02:14 Same structure, same pace, same expectations. So we're teaching students with severe cognitive delays about World War 2 while some of them hadn't yet learned how to take care of their own hygiene or manage a social interaction. And I am definitely not saying that history doesn't matter, but in that context, it wasn't what they needed most at that time, right? The students weren't failing the system, the system was failing them. And even one day in the middle of that chaos, while I was trying to still build my business on the side, it really hit me that the same thing is happening within my own business, right? I'm trying to follow the business in a box strategy that worked for other people.  

02:56 The productivity gurus, the marketing Bros, the neurotypical CEO's And even though my brain didn't work like theirs, I kept thinking I was the problem because I couldn't follow their systems. I couldn't keep their schedules. I I couldn't stay consistent in the way I thought I was supposed to. But the truth is, is that I wasn't broken. Those systems just weren't built for me. And once I figured that out, then everything changed. So the reason why I shared this with you is because if you've ever thought, why can't I just finish what I start, or why does everyone else make this look easy and why do I know what to do but I can't seem to just do it? And that one hits close to home because that's me.  

03:41 I want you to know you're not alone and you are definitely not the problem.  

03:49 Now let's talk about what actually does work for your brain, especially a brain like yours. So there are three key shifts I teach every client that helps them to move from chaos to clarity within their business. So here's shift number one. You only need 5 basic systems to start. So most newer entrepreneurs try to build way too much way too soon. And even seasoned entrepreneurs can try to scale way too fast before they're ready. So funnels, automations, webinars, social media, everywhere.  

04:23 Yet they're still not getting the clients they should. So what does this tell us? This tells us that what we really need is just a minimum viable setup, just the five core systems that can get you from zero to 6 figures. So the first system that we need is a way to be found and that's going to be our website or landing page. And you can do something very simple, a three page website, you know, and about me, your offer way to contact you very easy or even just a landing page with your offer on it. So tools that are out there that are very inexpensive and even have free versions or something like Podia card or stand store, and these will be really simple to set up and to maintain and you can get that ready fairly quickly.  

05:15 Now the second system you need is a way to be booked, a calendar that lets people schedule a call with you. And in my years of being an entrepreneur, I have found that speaking one-on-one with prospects is the best way to close the sale, especially if you are using high ticket or if you don't have a lot of, you know, experience in the business. So these people can now speak with you, they can learn more about you, feel comfortable and get more know like and trust, right? So systems that are easy to use are calendly tidy, Cal and acuity. And you can embed these right on that website or landing page, or you can just get a link and send it directly to your prospect in an email.  

05:58 The third system that we need is a way to get paid the best system, right? So we want to make sure we have a clear, professional check out so that people feel safe and comfortable sharing their credit card information with you. I'm sure you don't want to send yours to like a scammy looking website or from 1999 right? So luckily Stripe and PayPal are very simple and they can help you create invoices or payment links that you could send directly to your prospects in an email.  

06:27 Alternatively, you can get a system such as Thrive Cart which is a shopping cart option which is a little more complicated so but that is another option that you could consider. The fourth system that you need is a way to stay organized right? You want to be able to track your leads and your clients, track what they purchased, how much they paid and what you have to deliver to them. The easiest way to do this is just a simple Google Sheet or Excel form. If you are a more visual type learner, there are tools such as Air Table, Notion and Trello which will also have really great templates that you can get for free or low cost and those will be able to help you organize with systems already set up i mean, talk about easy, right? And the fifth and final system that you really need to get in place is a way to follow up with those leads and clients.  

07:20 So you need some simple email systems or text automations. And there are tools such as Convertkit, Mailer Lite, Flow Desk and numerous others that will set up the emails for you. That way you can have a professional looking email address going out to your clients. You really don't want to be sending emails from a Gmail or other personal email address because that just looked very unprofessional. Now there are some programs that are what we call all in ones and I'm sure you've heard about one particular called Go High Level it seems to be everywhere now. I actually used Go High Level and I help my clients to set that up as well because it's a really wonderful program that can encompass all five of these systems and even more.  

08:03 However, it it's a little bit complicated and it takes a steeper learning curve so if you're not that great with tech or you don't have anyone to assist you, I wouldn't suggest going right into something like that. Just stay with these 5 core systems. You know, this will give you the easy way to do the three key things you need to do. You need to sell an offer, deliver that offer and stay in touch with your clients. That's it. Don't build any more. Just simplify to start, all right, shift number two sequence matters more than strategy. Now, a lot of my clients come to me after buying all the programs right? They have all this knowledge, but still no results.  

08:45 Now, why is that? Well, it's because they're doing everything out of sequence. So here's the flow i teach clarity, then set up, then action, then automation. So what does this mean? What it means is that you really need to focus first on getting clarity. Define what actually needs to happen. What is your offer? Who is it for? What problem do you solve? You need to really hone in on your ideal client and your market and see what are they looking for.  

09:17 Do some market research that you know you're solving a problem that people will actually pay for. You don't want to spend a bunch of hours making a course or setting up a program and all these other things, and then you're going to get crickets because that's not what anybody wanted, right so get that clarity first, then you're going to build those five systems we talked about in the first shift in order to support delivering that offer. After that is when you start taking action you're going to start talking about it on social, booking those calls, sending emails, getting feedback, right and then you're going to reiterate that cycle.  

09:50 There's no sense to put the cart before the horse, right you may also hear this referred to as ready fire aim, right? Kind of in that kind of backwards way. And this works better because we're know that what we're doing is what our clients actually want. And we're not spinning our wheels we're actually creating something that people are willing to pay for. Now, once you have those three steps done, then you can automate only after something is working manually would you just, would you want to automate it, right? Because if you automate too early, you're just automating all the confusion, right? You need to simplify what you're doing, then you're going to test, and then you're going to scale.  

10:30 You don't want to do that too soon because it's just going to backfire.  

10:36 Shift number three build systems that fit your brain. Now, this is the biggest shift of all. Because here's what I know about you and about me, right? We don't want to be rigid. We don't want one more system that's just going to turn into this spiral of shame because it doesn't work and we don't finish, right? We need structure, but this structure has to flex with our energy, our ideas and how our brains actually work, right? It can't just be another plan that somebody else has developed. So we need to develop that plan ourselves. So here's a few ways that I help my neuro diverse clients, neuro divergent proof their systems, right? So you can do energy based scheduling instead of using time blocking and other, you know, deep focus work that other people are suggesting.  

11:26 Do blocks of time based on your energy. Take an energy audit for a week. You know, write down how you feel at certain times of the day. When do you feel energized when do you feel drained? When do you feel like you, you know, really are getting some excellent work done? And then record these blocks and then you want to schedule your task based on this energy cycle. And that will really help you to be in the best possible state to get what you need to get done next you should use visual dashboards like Notion or Trello instead of endless To Do List.  

12:03 So I am that person that has a million post it notes, right and you know what happens is is they fall down, they get out of order, they get misplaced and then your list goes to hell, right so it's so much easier to just have a nice visual list of things you can do you can check them off, you can move them over it gives you that little dopamine hit that we all crave, right? Another thing that I do is, you know, we have to reconcile that perfection is never going to happen.  

12:31 I am a recovering perfectionist and I am in recovery every single day. So what I try to do and what I do for my clients is what I call a done for now checklist. So it's not done period. You know what's not final what we do now is not going to be the forever we can always change it. So let's just get it done for now. And then if we really sit with it for a few days and think that it needs to be changed or it needs something else, we can circle back to it and and fix that.  

13:00 Ok, Another thing, body doubling and accountability, and we can even do this virtually, right there are platforms now where you can log in and meet up with somebody else and you can both talk about what you're going to work on and then work silently. But to get together and get things done right, I'm a big proponent of get stuff done sessions i do that with my clients and groups and we have open sessions where we get together, we discuss what we're going to do each person, then we go off for 20 minutes, do what we're going to do, come back, do an accountability check, go off for another 20 minutes and either continue or do something else and come back and repeat that cycle for about two hours.  

13:40 So it's kind of like my version of a Pomodoro with, you know, the twist of body doubling at the same time. And finally, we want to have fewer decisions because decision fatigue is a real thing. So by using template defaults and certain routines, right, we can simplify all of our decisions and when we say, OK, so when X happens, Y is going to happen and that's it. We've made a decision once and we're going to stick to it. So those are some things that might help, you know, with, with having a system that works more for your brain than what you know everyone says that you should be doing.  

14:16 So if your current system makes you feel guilty or scattered or like you're constantly failing, please, I want you to remember it's not you. It's the setup, right? We need to fix the system. We're not trying to fix your brain, so I just want to take a minute before we end to talk about what you really need to do to finally finish what you start, right? You need to clarify your path, right eliminate the confusion, use those processes and systems we just talked about and streamline, right Pull down, go back to 1 core offer and just really focus on making that the absolute best offer you can make and get those five systems in place and get it out there.  

14:58 The offer is no good if it's sitting in your head, right? And then finally, you can be able to finish something and this small win or it could be a big win, right, will give you that motivation to keep moving forward, right because that's how we function, right based off of of dopamine and wins and feeling good about what we're doing, right, not constantly spiraling in this bug of being confused or busy without getting anything done is not going to help us, right? So what I would like to do is I'm offering a free simplify your systems audit and it's a 30 minute call where we can look at your current setup spot, what's slowing you down, any bottlenecks, and then map out your next three steps that you can take to take your business to either, you know, just the beginning level or the next level.  

15:46 And this is not a pitch there's no pressure, there's no, you know, nothing like that it's just clarity. And if you know, if you we feel like a fit, we can certainly work in other ways together. But for right now, I just really want to help you to take some of these things that I've spoken about today on this summit and implement it in your business. Because the world needs you and it needs your brilliance out there. And like I said before, it does no good to be stuck in your head we need you and we need you out there getting things done. And for all my introverted friends out there, if you're not ready for a call yet, that is totally OK please grab my focus and finish guide.  

16:26 It's a free seven step action plan for brain diverse entrepreneurs who are ready to, you know, stop spinning around and finally get things done and move their business forward. So it's not another To Do List a focus framework that's going to help work with your brain to get things done. So as I wrap this up, let me leave you with this. You are not behind, you are not unmotivated, and you are certainly not broken. You've just been trying to follow systems that were never meant for your brain.  

16:56 So let's build a business that works for you. I want to see you succeed the world needs you. Stop doing more and start doing what actually matters. Let's simplify to start now. Please don't let your business turn into another Chrome tab you leave open. Get started before you get distracted by cat videos yet again, thanks a lot. Take care.