The Proffitt Podcast
Are you thinking about starting a podcast? Launching a YouTube channel? Repurposing your old blog content into something fresh? Hi, I'm Krystal - host of "The Proffitt Podcast." And I'm happy to say you've come to the right place!
Business owners and content creators dream of building a platform where they can connect deeply with their audience, and marketing feels easy. But I also know what it's like to feel confused and overwhelmed.
Join us weekly as we strip down those processes and remove all the overwhelm with new tips, simple strategies, and great conversations with creators like you. Tune in to hear how I help creators start, launch, and market their content confidently. The motto here is, "We all have to start somewhere."
The Proffitt Podcast
Business for Sale: A Recovering Perfectionist's Guide to Adventure
Hannah Soto shares a powerful truth that resonates with many creators and entrepreneurs: "The year I hit 2 million was the year I was the most miserable." This striking confession sets the tone for a meaningful discussion about prioritizing growth over comfort and living a purpose-driven life. After 12 successful years running a production company for Fortune 10 brands, Hannah realized that despite her financial success, something essential was missing.
Now, she's embarking on a transformative journey, selling her company, walking the 550-mile Camino Santiago pilgrimage with her husband, and exploring four different cities as potential new homes. This shift from keeping her personal Instagram private to embracing a public brand showcases her commitment to authenticity. Hannah emphasizes the importance of breaking free from fear-based decisions, encouraging creativity and exploration over perfection.
For anyone considering a career change, launching a creative project, or feeling stuck in their comfort zone, this conversation offers valuable insights and inspiration. Hannah advocates for making decisions rooted in curiosity and love rather than fear, introducing concepts like "emotional sobriety" and future-casting. Follow her journey on Instagram at Hello Hannah Soto and reflect on how your life might change if guided by love and curiosity.
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Click the "Send Krystal a Text Message" link above to send us your questions, comments, and feedback on the show! (Pssst...we'll do giveaways in upcoming episodes so make sure you leave your name & podcast title.)
Yeah. So actually, as a coach, I spend a lot of time talking about fear, because most people's default is choosing comfort, which I really believe is driven by fear, because we don't know what's in the discomfort right. People would rather be unhappy than have unpredictable. And so I think first you've got to get really clear about what you want, because there has to be a vision compelling enough to endure the unknown, the challenge, the uncertain, right. And so the Camino has been on my bucket list for actually over 15 years, and I think for a long time I was chasing what I thought impressed other people and made other people happy, and I just realized it wasn't enough. The year I hit two million was the year I was the most miserable and it just wasn't enough. So I had to get really clear about what mattered to me, what made me happy, what was success for me.
Speaker 1:And it's walking the Camino, it's designing my life, but I didn't just wake up and make that happen, right. So it's if you feel unhappy, if you feel like fear is driving your decisions, what would love look like? What would curiosity look like If you think about yourself? Like it's June 2025 now, if I were to call Hannah in June 2026, and she was committed to love and curiosity and growth. And she said Hannah you know she's calling me present day. Like you, would not believe what our life looks like. What would she say? And then build a vision to become that person. Welcome to the.
Speaker 2:Profit Podcast, where we teach you how to start, launch and market your content with confidence. I'm your host, crystal Profit, and I'm so excited that you're here. Thanks for hanging out with me today, because if you've been trying to figure out the world of content creation, this is the show that will help be your time-saving shortcut. So let's get right to it, shall we?
Speaker 1:Explain our videos for onboarding and I was like, oh, I don't like the look of Apple Watch on the videos.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're like I need to remove that. So what Mikhail was saying she was like, just make sure it's like four to six inches away. I'm very loud, great. So I don't have any issues with, like projecting, but I do have issues when I think I'm being too loud and I get too far away. Okay, okay, we're just going to get started, amazing. So, hannah, thank you so much for saying yes to this and this is really cool. So I, you know, for everybody watching and listening, we are at the Craft and Commerce 2025. And I put this post out in the community and I was like does anybody want to come be on my podcast? Like this is fun. So I was like does anybody want to come be on my podcast? Like this is fun. So, hannah, thank you so much for saying yes to coming and chatting with me.
Speaker 1:I'm a huge believer that if we don't put the ask out there, you never get to create it. So thanks for creating it.
Speaker 2:Yes, yes. So are you a regular? Are you a podcaster yourself? Do you do a lot of podcast guests, like, tell us about you. Yeah, definitely lots of podcast guesting. There's probably a podcast host in my future, but I'm going to be pretty nomadic for the next 15 months, so probably after that. Okay, awesome. So tell us about what you do. You came to Kit or maybe you came to Craft Commerce with a specific goal, idea, vision. What brings you to Boise?
Speaker 1:this year. First of all, I love Boise. Yeah, it's a great, great space. I've never been before. I love it as a city. But I came to craft and commerce because for 12 years I've been running a production company Awesome, and it's like B2B. We work with Fortune 10 brands. It's a multimillion dollar business, very proud of what I've built and I'm ready for a pivot. And so, about a year and a half ago, I started getting curious about what would it look like to have a personal brand, because the company I built with the company's name for context, my personal Instagram was on private 15 months ago. It was very much about the business's brand and not anything about Hanasoto as a brand. And so getting ready to transition out of that company and now looking for work that's a little more fulfilling and have discovered that with coaching both coaching creatives and entrepreneurs, but also building up coaches and running a cohort for that.
Speaker 2:Okay, awesome, and this is so funny. In real time y'all, hannah and I, are getting to know each other. I didn't go and do a deep dive on you like I normally would for a podcast guest, and I don't know if you did the same with me or if you had any idea, but our audience we really speak to creators, people that are podcasters, youtubers are trying to figure out those systems, those processes for just creating with confidence and really staying consistent in whatever consistent means for them, right, because it's different for every person. So, knowing now that you have a history of production and everything, tell me more about the nuance, because production, right, that could mean so many different things. So, for you, specifically, what does the production piece?
Speaker 1:look like. So our company is trusted by Fortune 10 brands to create the ads that we see every day. Gotcha, I hosted a meetup last night and I just finished my introduction and there was a TV in this main room and I was like, oh, and actually that's my commercial.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, that's incredible. That's incredible, it's fun. So, for you, what's the draw to it? Do you like the creative piece? Do you like telling a story, like what's the piece that has really kept you coming back to production?
Speaker 1:Certainly so. I originally started because I saw a gap in the way that people were treated treated as content was being created. Yeah, and so I started my company because I believe that, no matter your title, you matter and that you should be treated the same as the person at the top of the call sheet Gotcha. So that's why I started the company. Like I said, it's been an amazing 12-year journey and it's no longer fulfilling to me. I've realized I really love building things, not maintaining, and so here at Craft Commerce, I'm excited to build a community of creators, of people that are owning their personal brand, that are creating content and ideas and programs like-minded individuals. That's awesome. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:So I know you were saying you know 15 months here, 15 months there, like you have a timeline clearly laid out. So what is kind of that vision, like what can we expect to see? Because I'm absolutely going to tell my audience, like you got to go follow Hannah's journey and see what she's doing, so like, do you have that kind of figured out? Are you still in the process of figuring out what that looks like for you? Hannah Soto, the brand.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, if you would have met me as a 10-year-old, I would have had a five-year plan.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I definitely have one.
Speaker 1:Now I'm selling my company, so I'm making a big exit. And then, if you're, are you familiar with the Camino Santiago?
Speaker 1:No, Okay so it's a pilgrimage that starts in France, 550 miles to the coast of Spain. So my husband and I are walking that and then we'll spend a couple months in Europe playing around. And then we've picked four cities that we're auditioning. Because I live in Chicago now but I'm moving in 78 days selling everything After the Camino. We'll audition four cities, live in each of them for three months and say does this feel like home? Could this be where we move?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh Like this is so incredible and I love that you have kind of the dynamic, didactic approach to you have a five-year plan, but you can also be spontaneous and be like a nomad. I just plan the spontaneity. But, it's so incredible because that's me. I'm like I always have a five-year plan.
Speaker 2:And I actually I look at people like you that can be. I'm like I always have a five-year plan and I actually I look at people like you that can be super spontaneous, even coming here. My brother is extremely spontaneous and I just was like you know what? I've had this trip planned for months and I'm like, okay, I'm leaving, I have to get up at this time and I have to do this and I have to do this.
Speaker 2:And then I was just chatting with him and I was just like, hey, do you want to hop on a plane and come with me? And I knew that it was like a 50-50 shot. He did not come, he did not come. But I just am like, oh, but he could do that and I just I don't have that, like, let's just go. I think I have more of like a. I don't know if it's scared, but I think there is a piece of that like fear in it. So if there's someone that's like that too, if they want to adopt this more spontaneity or being more spontaneous in their life in some way, do you have any advice for?
Speaker 1:that, yeah. So actually, as a coach, I spend a lot of time talking about fear, because most people's default is choosing comfort, which I really believe is driven by fear, because we don't know what's in the discomfort right. People would rather be unhappy than have unpredictable. And so I think first you've got to get really clear about what you want, because there has to be a vision compelling enough to endure the unknown, the challenge, the uncertain, right. And so the Camino has been on my bucket list for actually over 15 years, and I think for a long time I was chasing what I thought impressed other people and made other people happy, and I just realized it wasn't enough. The year I hit 2 million was the year I was the most miserable and it just wasn't enough. So I had to get really clear about what mattered to me, what made me happy, what was success for me.
Speaker 1:And it's walking the Camino, it's designing my life, but I didn't just wake up and make that happen right. So it's if you feel unhappy, if you feel like fear is driving your decisions, what would love look like? What would curiosity look like If you think about yourself? Like it's June 2025 now, if I were to call Hannah in June 2026 and she was committed to love and curiosity and growth. And she said Hannah you know she's calling me present day. Like you, would not believe what our life looks like. What would she say? And then build a vision to become that person.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, like I feel I don't know if anybody else like I, I feel that one you were made to be a coach Like, so I want to give you that compliment Like that's, it's so, it's not just a fluffy concept, like it's practical and it's real, but it's also, um, I love the idea of like future casting or, like you know, I do this all the time too where I'm always like, oh my gosh, my current self is thanking my past self for getting my butt up, even though I didn't want to get out of bed today, or making that, like you know. Hi, this is uncomfortable to talk to this like really big creator in this space, but you know what, I'm just going to go do it, and I just think that that's so awesome. So, thank you so much, hannah, for sharing all about your journey. Um, do you have time for just a little bit more?
Speaker 2:Okay, cause we were. We were trying to set this up to where it was like. Okay, we can keep these interviews short, but I do have three questions and I should have prompted you. These are not hard questions, but we do these rapid fire questions with all of our guests, and so the first one is what piece of advice would you give to a brand new creator, podcaster, someone that's putting themselves out there. It's a great question.
Speaker 1:I am an internal processor, so you're going to get to experience this live. This is me answering for within my value system. Right, but I would be more committed to play than getting it right. I would not be so focused on. I've got to nail exactly it because, again, fear is driving that decision. I can say I want to define my clear audience, I want to build this valuable product or service, I want to fill this gap in the marketplace. But to pursue that vision with a mindset of play versus perfection and right. And if you start to hold it too tight, first of all it's not enjoyable, it's not fun to live that life, but I think it would certainly show up in the content you create as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, this one is so good. Well, this next question it's going to stump you because it stumps everybody, so I'm warning you now. Challenge accepted, okay, all right. So what is? It's a two-part question. What is the dream podcast you would love to be on and who is the dream guest you would love to interview?
Speaker 1:Can't answer both right now. Oh, awesome, awesome, awesome, so I would love to be on Diary of a CEO. Oh, awesome, awesome, awesome, so I would love to be on Diary of a CEO Okay, and I would love to have Michelle Obama as a guest.
Speaker 2:Oh, my gosh, see, you had those loaded. They were in your pocket, ready to go.
Speaker 1:I live in vision. I love it, I love it.
Speaker 2:Okay, my last question is do you consider yourself a perfectionist?
Speaker 1:So I actually use the word recovering perfectionist. So people talk a lot about sobriety in like substance. I actually talk about sobriety in emotion. What does it look like to make a decision emotionally sober versus emotionally drunk? And as someone that is a recovering perfectionist recovering people pleaser I have to be as in touch with my sobriety as someone that is sober from substance. Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:This is so good, Hannah. We were destined to meet today. Like I'm so grateful, Like I said, so this is just a reminder for everybody. I just put myself out there and I was like, hey, does anyone want to come hang out with me? And of course I was really nervous that no one was going to take me up on this offer. And then I got. I saw your DM last night about like hey, where do we meet? What are the logistics? I was like, oh, Hannah and I, we can be friends, we can hang out together. So thank you so much for putting yourself out there and joining me on the podcast today. This was so fun. Where can everyone connect with you and learn more about your journey? Are you going to document what you're doing in the UK or Europe, like all the different?
Speaker 1:places I am, so you can find me on Hello Hannah Soto on Instagram and it is. I am going to have some content created during the journey I'm working to find the balance of I don't want to be completely unplugged, but I also don't want to, you know, live blog the whole thing and my husband who's doing it with me. Actually, he does not have any social media rights, everything like has a typewriter and so, wanting to balance, it's an experience for the two of us, so certainly will be some content. I just haven't figured out yet how to balance both of our visions.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, I mean you heard it here first, like stay tuned, more to come from Hannah, but thank you so much for being on the show today.
Speaker 1:Thank you for having me, for creating space. Really enjoyed the conversation. Really enjoyed the conversation. Yeah, awesome, great job. That was incredible. You're a great host.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you so much.
