In this episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens is joined by messaging strategist, copywriter, and ChatGPT trainer Tahnée Sanders, founder of The Strategy Studio. Together, they explore the common frustrations that come with outsourcing marketing, particularly when the results don’t quite “sound like you.”

Tahnée shares why so many small business owners end up rewriting the content they outsource, and reveals the real issue behind most marketing challenges: messaging. She explains why creating a strong messaging strategy is essential before hiring a marketing team or copywriter, and how using AI for marketing can be powerful.

From the difference between ChatGPT and Claude to how to train AI tools to reflect your tone of voice, this conversation is packed with practical advice for business owners who want to streamline their marketing, get better results, and maintain authenticity.

This is a must-listen for anyone looking to scale their marketing efforts, whether they’re hiring help or exploring using AI for marketing in their business.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why marketing hires often miss the mark in small businesses
• The critical missing piece that leads to disappointing outsourced content
• How to know if your business is truly ready to delegate marketing
• Strategic tips for using AI without sounding robotic or generic
• The role of a messaging strategy in ensuring brand consistency
• How to get started with using AI for marketing in a more personalised and effective way
  
  
  

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome & Guest Introduction

02:00 – Why Marketing Hires Often Don’t Work Out

05:30 – The Hidden Power of Messaging Strategy

08:45 – Why Assumed Knowledge Breaks Outsourcing

12:30 – When & How to Review Your Messaging

15:30 – ChatGPT vs Claude: Which AI is Best for Business?

18:30 – How to Train Your AI to Sound Like You

22:00 – Should We “De-AI” Our Marketing Content?

26:00 – Smart Tips for Using AI for Marketing Effectively

30:00 – Where to Learn More from Tahnée

LINKS MENTIONED:

✨ Download Tahnée’s ChatGPT Brand Voice Guide
Get her 3-prompt Brand Voice Mastery Guide to start sounding more like you in under 20 minutes: https://thestrategystudio.myflodesk.com/qy35mtsskb

📝 Kickstart Your Content Planning with Tahnée’s 20-Minute Guide
Download her simple guide to spark endless content ideas for marketing your business: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/6358ca8812249eb974a437f4

🌐 Visit The Strategy Studio
Explore Tahnée’s services and resources: https://thestrategystudio.com

📱 Follow Tahnée’s on Instagram
@thestrategystudio

💼 Connect with Tahnée’s on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/Tahnéesanders

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

In this solo episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens shares practical hiring tips for small businesses, unpacking the five key shifts that are shaping how small business owners need to approach hiring in 2025 and what to do to make your next hire the right one.

If you're a business owner planning to hire this year (or even thinking about it), this episode is your heads-up on the new realities in today’s hiring market. From the rise of AI-polished CVs to shifting salary expectations and faster hiring cycles, Paula unpacks the essential tips that will help you avoid common hiring traps and bring the right person into your business with confidence.

You’ll hear why relying on ‘gut feel’ is no longer enough, how to stand out to the right candidates (without sounding like a robot), and the #1 mistake that’s costing small businesses top talent right now.

Whether you're hiring now or preparing to grow later this year, this is essential listening to protect your time, energy and money, and hire with clarity in a rapidly evolving market.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• The 5 big shifts in hiring you need to understand in 2025
  
  
• Why AI is changing how resumes are written (and what that means for you)
  
  
• What makes a job ad stand out in a crowded market
  
  
• Why speed is now a critical hiring advantage
  
  
• The do’s and don’ts of listing salary ranges
  
  
• How to use reference checks to avoid expensive hiring mistakes
  
  
• Paula’s favourite interview structure to find the right fit fast
  
  
  

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Welcome from Byron Bay + Why Hiring Feels Different in 2025

02:14 – Shift #1: The AI Impact on CVs, Cover Letters & Interviews

07:03 – Shift #2: Generic Job Ads Are Turning Candidates Off

10:21 – Shift #3: Why You Must Move Quickly to Secure Top Talent

13:45 – Shift #4: Salary Expectations Are Higher - Here’s What to Do

18:54 – Shift #5: Reference Checks Are More Valuable Than Ever

21:50 – Paula’s Top Hiring Tips for Small Businesses in 2025

24:12 – Wrap-Up: How to Hire with Confidence in a Changing Market

LINKS MENTIONED:

🎯 Kick-Ass Interview Masterclass – Master your interview skills with Paula’s short course. Click here: https://paulamaidens.com/go/kick-ass-interviewing-masterclass/

📞 Book a Dream Team Discovery Call – Get Paula’s personal guidance for your next hire. Click here: https://paulamaidens.com/go/discovery-call-45-minute/

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

In this practical and eye-opening episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens dives into the hidden fears that hold many small business owners back from making their next hire.

If you've ever delayed writing a job ad, second-guessed your interview process, or wondered if you're really ready to bring someone on board, this one’s for you. Paula shares real, actionable hiring tips for small businesses, pulling back the curtain on what’s really going on beneath the surface of “I’m just too busy to hire”.

With over 20 years' experience and her proven Hiring Mastery™️Method, she’ll walk you through the five common fears around hiring from fear of making the wrong choice, to concerns about cost, onboarding time, and “what if no one good applies?”. You'll walk away with small business hiring strategies you can implement straight away to start building the dream team your business needs.

This episode is full of smart, honest and down-to-earth hiring advice for small business owners who are ready to stop doing it all themselves and start hiring with clarity and confidence.

🔍 Paula also shares how you can work with her via her Hiring Mastery™️Method whether you want strategic hand-holding or a repeatable DIY process.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• The five most common fears keeping small business owners stuck when it comes to hiring
  
  
• Why your job ad might be attracting the wrong applicants and how to fix it
  
  
• The overlooked cost of delay when you put off your next hire
  
  
• Fresh hiring tips for small businesses that make onboarding feel achievable
  
  
• How to build your confidence in interviews and assess candidates with ease

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Why small business owners delay hiring (and how fear shows up)
03:45 – Hiring tips for small businesses: Fear #1 – What if I hire the wrong person?
09:40 – Smart hiring tips: Fear #2 – I can’t afford the hire I really want
15:20 – Time-saving hiring tips: Fear #3 – I don’t have time to train someone properly
22:50 – Fear #4 – What if they don’t work out? (and how to handle it like a pro)
29:15 – Small business hiring tips: Fear #5 – What if no one good applies?
36:00 – How fear-based procrastination delays hiring (and costs you more than you think)
41:30 – Hiring tips for small business owners: How the Hiring Mastery™️Method builds confidence
44:40 – Book your Dream Team Discovery Call and get personalised hiring advice

LINKS MENTIONED:

Explore the Team Performance Audit – a powerful tool to pinpoint where trust (and performance) is breaking down in your business. This includes a detailed questionnaire, a 45-minute strategy call, and a written recommendations report.

🔗Click here: https://paulamaidens.com/go/team-performance-audit/

Book a Discovery Call - Unsure of where to start? Let’s talk it through. Access my free resource - a complimentary 45-minute discovery call to explore your specific challenges and what support will make the biggest difference.

🔗Book here: https://paulamaidens.com/go/discovery-call-45-minute/

Transform your hiring process with the Hiring Mastery™️ Method – a comprehensive self-paced course designed specifically for small business owners who want to hire with confidence, not overwhelm. Get the clarity you need to make better hiring decisions, plus enjoy a bonus Private Implementation Call with Paula for personalised guidance tailored to your business.

🔗Get Started here: https://paulamaidens.com/go/hiring-mastery/

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:

In this much-needed episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens dives into a growing issue that’s costing business owners serious time, money and peace of mind. It is the difference between advice and opinion.

Paula unpacks how well-meaning but misinformed recommendations can derail your decision-making and explains how to safeguard yourself and your business by learning to tell the difference. Drawing on her own 20+ years in HR, recruitment and business ownership, she shares practical guidance on when to lean into others' experiences, and when to seek genuine, expert advice that will stand up under pressure.

If you’ve ever been swayed by someone else’s "this worked for me" suggestion, hired based on a referral in a Facebook group, or used a shared document as a legal template, this episode is a must-listen.

Paula also introduces her Team Performance Audit, her powerful service designed to give business owners personalised, expert advice about their unique team setup, challenges and goals.

🎧 Listen in and learn the key questions to ask when someone is giving you input so you can stop relying on borrowed opinions and start making confident, informed decisions that truly suit your business.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• The critical difference between advice, opinion and shared experience
• Four common ways that advice gets confused with opinion (and why it matters)
• How to protect your business from costly mistakes by asking better questions
• Why your growing business needs to move beyond scrappy, borrowed advice
• The shift every CEO must make from free Facebook feedback to expert guidance

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: The advice epidemic in business
01:31 – The danger of taking opinion as expert advice
03:12 – Paula’s personal standard for giving advice
05:40 – The “sample size of one” problem and the difference between advice and opinion
08:22 – Generalists giving specialist advice
10:41 – Industry norms versus legal compliance
12:52 – Why Paula refers clients to lawyers
15:12 – The risks of taking advice from Facebook groups
17:34 – Who you should take advice from (and why)
20:00 – Evolving beyond scrappy startup decisions
22:14 – Questions to ask to test real expertise
24:28 – Introducing the Team Performance Audit
25:40 – Final thoughts: Protect your business with real advice

LINKS MENTIONED:

Explore the Team Performance Audit – a powerful tool to pinpoint where trust (and performance) is breaking down in your business. This includes a detailed questionnaire, a 45-minute strategy call, and a written recommendations report.

Click here: 👉🏻 https://paulamaidens.com/go/team-performance-audit/

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

In this solo episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens dives deep into one of the most pivotal elements of team performance: trust.

If you’ve ever felt like your team isn’t quite stepping up, you’re constantly being pulled into decisions, or you’re stuck re-doing tasks instead of driving strategy, this episode is for you.

Paula shares real-life stories from her clients (and her own consulting experience) to show how misplaced or mismanaged trust can become a massive bottleneck to your business growth. You’ll hear why trust isn’t binary, how to avoid the trap of micromanagement, and what to do when trust breaks down within your team.

You’ll also learn the five signs that trust is off-track and how building it the right way can free up your time, improve your systems, and help your business scale with confidence.

This is a must listen for business owners growing beyond the $600K–$3M mark who want their team to operate at a high level without needing to be in every conversation.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why trust is the cornerstone of high-performing teams (and what it really looks like in action)
• The common “trust traps” many small business owners fall into
• Five warning signs that your current trust levels are holding back growth
• The cost of micromanagement (and how it silently erodes performance)
• How to build trust with clear expectations, transparency and developmental feedback
• Simple strategies to create accountability, autonomy, and collaboration

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: The Power of Trust in Teams

02:00 – What Trust Actually Looks Like in a Business

06:00 – The Trust Tightrope: Overtrust, Undertrust, and Missteps

12:00 – Warning Signs That Trust is Missing (or Too Loose)

17:00 – How to Build and Rebuild Trust With Your Team

22:00 – Wrap-Up & Next Steps: Where to Go From Here

LINKS MENTIONED:

Explore the Team Performance Audit – a powerful tool to pinpoint where trust (and performance) is breaking down in your business. This includes a detailed questionnaire, a 45-minute strategy call, and a written recommendations report.

Click here: 👉🏻 https://paulamaidens.com/team-performance-audit

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

In this powerful episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens is joined by Shelly Horton – journalist, TV presenter, women’s health advocate, and founder of ShellShocked Media. Shelly brings her trademark humour, candour, and energy as they dive into an essential and often overlooked topic: navigating perimenopause whilst running a business and leading a team.

Shelly shares her deeply personal journey through perimenopause, including the hidden challenges she faced with brain fog, anxiety, and depression. Together, they discuss why education is critical, how workplaces can better support women, and practical strategies for managing the mental load, rebuilding confidence, and speaking with impact – even on difficult days.

The conversation also explores how Shelly’s advocacy work is transforming discussions about women's health in businesses across Australia, and how her upcoming book I’m Your Peri Godmother aims to be the guide she wished she had.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone ready to normalise conversations around women’s health, support themselves and their team better, and show up as their most powerful self.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• How perimenopause affects the brain and business performance
• The warning signs many women miss and why education matters
• Practical strategies to manage brain fog without losing momentum
• How to manage negative self-talk (and the hilarious method Shelley recommends)
• Simple public speaking techniques to present with confidence at any stage of life
• How workplaces, big and small, can create more supportive environments
• Why taking a ‘Zero Day’ can recharge your mental health and productivity

EPISODE CHAPTERS

00:00 Introduction to Shelly Horton and Perimenopause

01:38 Shelly's Personal Journey Through Perimenopause

08:31 The Importance of Awareness and Education

12:14 Understanding Brain Fog and Its Impact

18:39 Strategies for Managing Perimenopause in the Workplace

24:36 Speaking with Confidence: Techniques and Tips

31:20 Overcoming Negative Self-Talk and Performance Anxiety

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Pre-order Shelly’s Book: I'm Your Peri Godmother
• Join Shelly’s Workshop: Speak with Impact
• ShellShocked Media Website: https://shellshockedmedia.com
• Follow Shelley on Instagram: @shellyhorton1
• Australasian Menopause Society (Find a Doctor Tool): https://menopause.org.au

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

In this solo episode of Big Dreams Great Teams, Paula Maidens walks through a simple but powerful assessment to evaluate your team's performance and how it may be helping or hindering your business growth. With over 70% of her clients expressing frustration around their team’s output, Paula unpacks the most common performance concerns and explains how to identify the exact areas where your team might be falling short and what to do about it.

If you've ever found yourself wondering if it's okay to expect more from your team (spoiler: it is), this episode will help you step fully into your CEO role, assess what your business truly needs, and feel confident making changes that lead to stronger performance and better results.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• Why 70% of business owners want more from their team
• How to assess if your team is truly delivering what your business needs
• The four core categories to evaluate team performance
• What effective communication and accountability actually looks like
• How to shift out of micromanaging and into leading with clarity
• Why change resistance might be stalling your growth

EPISODE CHAPTERS:

00:00 – Assessing Team Performance for Business Growth
02:46 – Key Areas of Team Evaluation
06:01 – Initiative and Problem Solving
08:47 – Communication and Accountability
12:06 – Embracing Change and Growth
14:51 – Final Thoughts on Team Performance

LINKS MENTIONED:

• Team Performance Audit – A personalised audit process that helps you assess your team’s current performance, identify key gaps, and create a clear plan of action. Includes a detailed questionnaire, a 45-minute strategy call, and a written recommendations report.
• High Performing Teams Workshop – Brisbane, 14 May – A live in-person event for business owners ready to elevate their team culture, performance and leadership. Join Paula for a practical workshop designed to help you build a team that drives sustainable business growth.

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/

Growing pains aren't just for growing teenagers… your business experiences them too!

In this value packed episode, Paula Maidens dives into a challenge that catches many successful business owners by surprise: why your once-perfect team dynamics often struggle as you approach that exciting $1M revenue milestone.

With 15+ years of hands-on experience guiding businesses through team transformations, Paula breaks down the three predictable breakdown points that emerge during growth phases.

Plus, she shares practical, implementable solutions to help you navigate these transitions without losing momentum.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN:

• The surprising truth about why more revenue often leads to less freedom (not more!)
• What's really happening when your previously rock-star team members suddenly seem overwhelmed
• The hidden reason your communication systems start breaking under pressure
• When those "wear-all-the-hats" roles that worked brilliantly in early days become business bottlenecks
• How your collaborative, everyone-has-input approach might actually be stalling your growth

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Simple yet powerful adjustments to streamline communication when complexity increases
• A fresh approach to evolving roles that honours your team's strengths while supporting growth
• The decision-making framework that frees you from being the bottleneck (without losing control)

Whether you're currently feeling these growing pains or planning your path to that next revenue milestone, this episode gives you the practical roadmap to evolve your team structure with confidence and clarity.

KEY MOMENTS:

[05:32] Why communication systems break down during growth
[13:23] When flexible roles no longer scale effectively
[19:37] How collaborative decision-making becomes a bottleneck
[24:51] Practical framework for empowering team decision-making
[29:31] Introduction to the Team Performance Audit

LINKS MENTIONED:

Team Performance Audit – Paula's personalised assessment to pinpoint exactly where your team needs adjustment

Not sure what you need? Book a FREE call to discuss what's right for you >> Book a Dream Team Discovery Call

https://paulamadens.com/team-performance-audit

CONNECT WITH PAULA:

Website:https://paulamaidens.com/

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/paulamaidensconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paulamaidensbuildingawesometeams

LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulamaidens/