Lauren Eckhardt is the CEO and Founder of Burning Soul Press. An award-winning, and best-selling author and ghostwriter, she is passionate about helping impact-driven souls capture their life story in a book-led movement that changes lives.
Lauren founded Burning Soul Press in 2020, after 12 years in the human resources field, to work with aspiring and career authors in pursuit of sharing a powerful and deeply impactful story or message.
What is Burning Soul Press all about?
Burning Soul Press LLC transforms life stories into powerful books that empower people and create everlasting change. The Burning Soul Press mission is simple: we want more people to empower each other with their stories, acknowledging the valleys and peaks of the mountains they’ve scaled, and understanding the power their story has to help others when shared.
Burning Soul Press helps new writers and career authors alike write, publish and market their book, leveraging their unique skills and finding the method that works best for them using our unique Soul Writer Framework.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your business?
I spent 12 years in the human resources field, chasing degrees, certifications, and promotions, always successful, but never fulfilled. I kept going for what I was supposed to have to elevate myself versus the things that actually felt purposeful. Once my boys were born – my why, proving dreams are possible – I finally wrote my first book and became an author, which had been my dream since I was six years old.
Once I became an author, other people asked for my help to write and publish their books. Every time I helped someone, my soul was lit on fire, and a new dream emerged: helping people share their stories and overcome the challenge of writing about their own personal journey and struggles.
I started Burning Soul Press in April 2020 as a one-woman show and within months, it quickly grew to a six-figure company with an amazing team that supports all of our global clients in helping them reach their author goals. It’s been an amazing experience exploring new dreams and goals that have come into my path and I now lead a life I couldn’t have imagined even two years ago.
How has the pandemic affected you or your new business?
The pandemic serves as a reminder that there’s never going to be a right time to start a business when you know you’re being called to do something. I could have listed a million reasons not to do it right then– having two young kids home with me 24/7 with no break or help, the financial risks, starting a dream business during such uncertain periods, scared that it was insensitive to do so.
But if it wasn’t 2020, something else would have arisen the following year as another reason why not to do it. The pandemic forced me to get real with my dreams and trust myself.
What was the biggest problem you encountered starting up and how did you overcome it?
I was terrified to tell people that I had started the business. Not only had I started multiple businesses before, but this one was my dream, my heart and soul- and the timing seemed insane since it was right when the pandemic had started.
Also, I was quarantined with a bad bout of Covid the day I was filling out my LLC paperwork, which was a reminder that life is too short. I had to stop putting things off for tomorrow. Nothing would come out of just thinking about doing something more with my life. I had to take action. I could have spent months planning, but I’ve learned that I’m much better when I jump in and adjust as needed afterward. But that takes a heavy dose of self-belief which is something I struggle with at times
What were the top mistakes you made starting your business and what did you learn from it?
- My first mistake was looking too much at what other people are doing instead of trusting my own visions and goals. When most people start off thinking about owning their own business, having freedom and flexibility to do things their way is a major driver. However, when you get in, it’s easy to get caught up in taking programs to advance your skills or networking with other entrepreneurs and hearing about everything they’re doing to be successful, and feeling like you should be implementing the same strategies and techniques. But it isn’t copy and paste, and the same thing doesn’t work for every company. You have to trust what feels right for yours and lean into that, while still continuing to advance your knowledge and skills.
- My second mistake was partnering with other organizations or businesses who don’t align with my company’s values or integrity levels. I realized I had to be firm in my beliefs and listen to my intuition, when partners would act outside of mine and the company values – especially integrity. Ultimately, ending the partnership freed up my team to focus on more fulfilling work.
What are three books or courses you recommend for new entrepreneurs?
- “Atomic Habits” by James Clear
- Business by Design by James Wedmore
What was your first business idea and what did you do with it?
My first business was helping people align with their strengths to form digital businesses around their natural talents. It was fun and I still get to help people do that, but usually, authors who want to take the message of their book and launch a greater mission behind it like coaching, workshops, etc.
It was close to what I wanted to be doing, but not “the” dream, so I simply pivoted and blended in the best components of it.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
Always operate from your core values, even if that means multiple periods of refinement and scaling back. It’s so easy to get caught up in the growth or seize what looks like amazing opportunities, but if you’re not operating from your values, none of it matters and you’ll drift further and further away from your ultimate purpose.
What has been your most effective marketing strategy to grow your business?
Celebrating our authors. We focus more on what our authors are doing than what we’re doing and that naturally draws in people who are like them or doing similar cool things as they are. They’re not just writing a book, they’re making a huge impact in this world and we love showcasing that.
What’s your best piece of advice for aspiring and new entrepreneurs?
Identify your true message (what I call your soul’s message, the one that’s your purpose to bring into the world) that can then feed into your mission. If you aren’t doing something that truly lights your soul on fire, you will reach burnout. It can get murky and choppy in these waters quickly, especially when it feels like there are sharks swimming all around you; if you trust your own light in guiding you to where you are headed, you’ll be set up for success so much more than most people who don’t have a clear vision of what that is before they begin.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Chunking things to be successful. Setting timers for 20 minutes at a time to conquer the tasks you may be dragging your feet on completing.
Also having an open list to keep track of the tasks you need to complete is important so things aren’t falling through.
We use Clickup to keep track of tasks individually, but especially client-related tasks to ensure we’re consistent and communicating with them every step of the way.
What is your favorite quote?
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
– Anaïs Nin
What is your definition of success?
Discovering your life’s purpose, your passion, and boldly stepping into it to help as many people as possible while fully honoring your values, integrity, priorities, and authenticity.
How do you personally overcome fear?
There’s a book called “Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It” by Kamal Ravikant that’s a solid reminder on the power of actually loving yourself. In the book, he talks about reminding us to deliberately say to ourselves, “I love myself,” until it is driven into your subconscious.
I’ve noticed that anytime I start to become anxious or fearful about something, if I return to a statement of, “I love myself,” I suddenly feel more powerful and confident. Because it has nothing to do then with the expectations of the world or whether I fail or succeed, it simply is about being me, and when that’s all you need to be, it feels like enough.
He also talks about the importance of asking yourself, “If I loved myself wholly and completely, what would I do?” when it comes to making decisions in anything in your life whether about relationships, exercise, eating, business decisions, etc. And that’s been a big guiding light on giving me more confidence when I am making a decision, even if it seems slightly scary at the time.
How is running a company different than what you thought it would be?
There are a lot more details and moving parts that go into what you’re doing than just simply providing a service or a product. Especially when you start looking at scaling. In the beginning, it seemed like it would be easy to just “start a business,” but to do one well that’s effective, impactful, fulfilling and not sloppy, you have to have processes in place. I’m great at being a visionary; but not great at processes, so having a team that is able to lend their strengths to your weaknesses is crucial.
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can reach me at hello@burningsoulpress.com or keep up with Burning Soul Press at @BurningSoulPress on Instagram and Facebook. We are Burning Soul Press on LinkedIn, @BSPSoulWriter on Twitter, @BurningSoul on Clubhouse.
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