17. How Can I Grow My Business? 10 Lessons I Took From BODi Summit 2023
Updated: Sep 10
If you've ever found yourself Googling "how can I grow my business?", I'm willing to bet the problem isn't that you haven't found enough things you could do.
There are approximately 4,782 people on the internet willing to give you another marketing tactic before breakfast. 😂
Post more.
Start a podcast.
Make Reels.
Build a funnel.
Go to networking events.
Start an email list.
Create a course.
Run ads.
And while all of those things can have a place in a business strategy, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that growth doesn't usually come from doing more random things.
It comes from getting clearer about what you're building, who you're trying to help and which actions actually move you toward that goal.
I was reminded of that in a big way when I attended BODi Summit in San Antonio, Texas, back in 2023. At the time, I went expecting health and fitness training, company updates and ideas I could bring back to my BODi community.
I came home with pages of notes about mindset, sales, storytelling, leadership, integrity and business growth that applied just as much to Brittany Miller Socials as they did to my health and fitness business.
Years later, those are still the lessons that stand out.
So if you're wondering how can I grow my business without simply adding more to my already-full plate, here are 10 things I'd focus on.
If we haven’t met yet, I’m Brittany — a mom of seven, home renovation enthusiast, an Amazon bestselling author, podcast host, and a business owner who’s all about keeping life real and doable. I know firsthand how messy, beautiful, and overwhelming motherhood can feel, and I share from that space of “in the trenches” right alongside you.
Here, you’ll find encouragement, practical tips, and honest conversations about balancing family, work, and your own sense of self. My hope is that you’ll walk away feeling a little lighter, a little more seen, and a whole lot more equipped to create a life that works for you and your family. Follow me on Instagram @brittanynmiller_ for more.
Table of Contents
Growth Starts With Believing Growth Is Possible
Commitment Matters More Than Motivation
Build Personal Integrity
Stop Expecting Business Growth to Be Easy
Find the People Who Make Business Less Lonely
Build Around Your Strengths
Listen Before You Sell
Get Clear on the Life Your Business Is Supposed to Create
Make Your Marketing Personal, Useful and Clear
Tell Stories About the Destination, Not Just the Product
A Business Growth Exercise to Try
What I Still Think About BODi Summit 2023
Business Growth FAQs
A Quick Note About BODi Summit 2023
Before we get into the lessons, a little context.
BODi Summit was a multi-day event that brought together fitness, personal development, leadership, business training, community, workouts and approximately no sleep. 😅
My brother and I travelled from Detroit to Texas, and one of my favourite parts of the trip happened before the conference even officially started: I got to meet members of my team in person after more than a year of knowing one another through Zoom calls and online conversations.
That experience alone reinforced something I think entrepreneurs underestimate: Business can get really lonely when most of it happens behind a screen.
Being in a room with thousands of people building things, trying things, failing at things, learning and continuing anyway reminded me that nobody has a magical perfect starting point.
Growth happens because you start—and then keep going.
If you're curious what a health and fitness conference is, here's a behind the scenes look at the event: Day 1 here & here | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
1. Growth Starts With Believing Growth Is Possible
This was probably the most repeated message I heard throughout Summit: Mindset comes first.
That can sound a little cliché until you think about how much your beliefs influence your actions.
If you don't believe your business can work, how likely are you to:
Talk confidently about your offer?
Follow up with a potential client?
Raise your prices?
Try something new?
Keep marketing when the first three posts don't work?
Invest time into a strategy that may take months to pay off?
Believing something is possible doesn't guarantee the outcome. But believing it's impossible is a pretty effective way to make sure you never take the actions required to find out.
I experienced this in a completely different area of my life with fitness.
I grew up thinking I wasn't athletic. I hated gym class and assumed exercise was something naturally sporty people did.
Then I needed to rebuild my strength after repeatedly hurting my back, and working out started giving me evidence that I was more capable than I'd believed.
That feeling transferred into other parts of my life.
There's something powerful about proving to yourself: I can do hard things.
Business and entrepreneurship requires a lot of that. I share more of these insights in the full episode of Go Get Great which you can listen to here:
2. Commitment Matters More Than Motivation
One quote from Summit has stuck with me for years: "Commitment is doing the thing you said you would do even after the moment has left."
Motivation feels amazing.
It's buying the planner.
Creating the new offer.
Writing out your goals.
Announcing, This is my year! on January 1st.
Commitment is what happens on February 17 when the newness has worn off and nobody (including you) cares about your planner anymore. 😂
If you're wondering how can I grow my business, look at what you're consistently doing after the excitement disappears.
Business growth usually comes from incredibly unglamorous repetition.
Send the email.
Follow up.
Publish another post.
Improve the offer.
Serve the client.
Review the numbers.
Try again.
Commitment is consistency, it's doing it even on the days you don't want to and starting again when life enevitably happens and you miss a day. You have to be committed to your goals and your business. Commitment is what creates successful people and builds successful businesses. I share more about how to be consistent in this podcast episode. 👇🏻
3. Build Personal Integrity
The commitment conversation also made me think a lot about personal integrity.
Do I do what I say I'm going to do?
Not just for clients.
For myself.
If I tell my kids we're going to the library, I want to follow through.
If I tell my clients that email marketing, long-form content and consistent marketing can help grow their businesses, I should probably be doing those things in my own business too. 😅
Keeping promises to yourself builds trust with yourself and that affects how you show up everywhere else.
So ask: What have I repeatedly told myself I'm going to do for my business that I keep putting off?
That answer might tell you more than another business-growth checklist ever could.
4. Stop Expecting Business Growth to Be Easy
Another message that came through loud and clear at Summit: There isn't a secret shortcut where you do one thing and suddenly everything works forever.
No magical Reel.
No single sales call.
No one recruit.
No one launch.
No business model that somehow generates endless income while requiring zero effort.
Business takes work.
That doesn't mean you should glorify burnout or make everything unnecessarily difficult. It means you should build realistic expectations.
The people who make sustainable progress are usually the ones willing to learn, adjust and stay in the game long enough for their work to compound.
Which is why I think choosing work you actually care about matters so much. It's much easier to stay committed to something meaningful than something you chose because someone promised it would be easy money.
5. Find the People Who Make Business Less Lonely
One of the best things about attending Summit had very little to do with the stage.
It was the people.
Meeting my team in person. Talking to other entrepreneurs. Learning how other people approached problems.
Being reminded that everyone had different strengths.
You can learn an enormous amount from community.
One person may be fantastic at sales.
Another understands systems.
Someone else is a natural community builder.
Another person can look at your idea and immediately see the thing you've been staring at for six months without noticing.
If you're asking how can I grow my business, don't only ask what tool you need, you shoudl also ask: Who do I need around me?
A coach?
A mastermind?
A business friend?
A contractor?
A networking group?
A mentor?
Sometimes support is the growth strategy.
6. Build Around Your Strengths
This was a particularly useful lesson for me because I have always known there are certain parts of business that light me up more than others.
Teaching? Yes.
Workshops? Absolutely.
Strategy conversations? Love them.
Helping someone go from "I have absolutely no idea what to post" to "Okay, I can do this"? My favourite.
Bookkeeping? I'm going to survive it. 😂
Summit reminded me that a good business model should make room for the work where you create the most value.
That doesn't mean ignoring tasks you don't enjoy. Invoices still need to get sent. Taxes remain annoyingly real.
But as your business grows, you can intentionally structure it around your strengths and eventually get support with some of the areas that drain you.
Growth isn't always: "How can I do more?"
Sometimes it's: "How can I spend more time doing the work I'm uniquely good at?"
7. Listen Before You Sell
This is probably one of the most practical sales lessons I took home. Don't recommend the solution until you understand the problem.
It sounds obvious.
But when someone expresses interest, it's incredibly easy to jump straight to: "Oh! You need this package."
Maybe they don't.
The best sales conversations start with curiosity. Ask:
What is frustrating you most right now?
What have you already tried?
What result are you hoping for?
What would make this easier?
What kind of support are you currently missing?
Then listen.
Maybe they need social-media management.
Maybe they need email marketing.
Maybe they need a strategy session.
Maybe they don't need your offer at all.
Personalization is good customer service. But it's also good sales.
People are much more likely to trust a recommendation when they can tell you actually understood the problem before prescribing the solution.
8. Get Clear on the Life Your Business Is Supposed to Create
One of the most meaningful exercises I did at Summit had very little to do with revenue. It was about the person you're trying to become.
We spend a lot of time setting goals like: "I want to make $100,000."
Great.
But then what? What is that business supposed to make possible?
More time with your family?
Travel?
A team?
Creative freedom?
Flexible work hours?
Financial security?
A giant company?
A small, highly profitable business that doesn't consume your entire life?
Those are very different goals.
For me, this became a conversation about the difference between wanting to build an "empire" and wanting to be present for my family. I've always been ambitious.
But if building the impressive thing requires sacrificing the reason I wanted the business in the first place, is that actually success?
That question has become more important to me over time.
I want a business that supports my family.
I want to create useful things.
I want community.
I want to help people feel more capable.
And I want room for real life.
So when I ask how can I grow my business, I also need to ask: What kind of growth actually supports the life I'm trying to build?
9. Make Your Marketing Personal, Useful and Clear
One of the keynote speakers, Erin King, shared a framework I wrote down immediately: PUB.
P: Personal
Use your experience. Tell stories.
Share moments your audience can see themselves in.
But remember: personal content isn't valuable simply because it's about you.
The magic happens when your story makes the reader think: "Oh my gosh. Me too."
U: Useful
Give people a reason to stay.
Teach something.
Make them laugh.
Offer perspective.
Solve a problem.
Help them see something differently.
This applies specifically for social media. You need to honestly ask yourself what the purpose of your account is, yes, it needs to make you money but why would someone want to follow you, because they are not looking for accounts to spend money on.
B: Brief
Get to the point.
Which, as someone who loves a long caption, I accept as occasional advice rather than a personal attack. 😂
You don't necessarily need fewer ideas. You may need clearer communication.
10. Tell Stories About the Destination, Not Just the Product
Kendra Hall's keynote focused on storytelling, and one idea has stayed with me: People aren't buying the airplane. They're buying the destination.
Nobody buys a plane ticket because their dream is to sit in seat 23B for seven hours eating pretzels.
They want Paris.
The beach.
Their family.
The adventure.
Your customers are doing the same thing.
Someone doesn't hire a social-media manager because they've spent their entire life dreaming of having another person write Instagram captions.
They want:
More time.
More visibility.
More leads.
More consistency.
Less stress.
A marketing strategy they aren't constantly thinking about. That's the destination.
If you want to grow your business, don't only talk about what someone gets. Talk about what becomes possible because they have it.
Start collecting your stories
You probably already have a huge library of marketing stories—you just aren't calling them that. Look for:
Firsts
Client wins
Frequently asked questions
Objections
Mistakes
Lessons learned
Unexpected moments
Before-and-after experiences
Everyday situations that illustrate something you teach
Stories don't need dramatic plot twists. They just need relevance t othr .people in your ideal client pool.
10 Ways to Grow Your Business: The Short Version
If you came here looking for the quick answer to how can I grow my business, here's what I took away from Summit:
Believe growth is possible enough to take action.
Choose commitment over temporary motivation.
Keep the promises you make to yourself.
Accept that sustainable success requires work.
Build a community around you.
Spend more time using your strengths.
Ask questions before selling.
Define what success actually needs to look like for your life.
Make your marketing personal, useful and clear.
Use stories to show the transformation behind your offer.
None of these is a magic hack. That's kind of the point, but when done well, these all support a thriving business. If you're thinking to yourself "I'm not doing any of these", don't try and implement them all at once. Pick one and do it until it becomes a habit, then add more.
A Business Growth Exercise to Try
One exercise from Summit is still worth doing if you're trying to decide what comes next in your business.
Grab a notebook—or, realistically, open the Notes app while you're waiting at school pickup. 😅
Ask yourself:
What do I want?
Not just financially.
What do you want your business to make possible?
Who do I want to be?
What kind of person and leader do you want to become while building it?
How do I want to show up?
Do you want to be educational?
Funny?
Compassionate?
Bold?
Supportive?
Direct?
How do I want to feel?
Calm?
Creative?
Financially secure?
Connected?
Proud?
Free?
What do I want to build?
A team?
A community?
A small flexible business?
A large company?
A personal brand?
A legacy?
There's no correct answer. But you should know your answer before chasing somebody else's definition of success. I made the mistake of chasing someone else's definition for longer than I'd like. It took a sever case of burnout for me to sit down and realize what I was working towards was not what I wanted. If you're curious, I talk about it in my chapter of Success Redefined which you can get here.
What I Still Think About BODi Summit 2023
Looking back now, the things I remember most aren't the workouts or company announcements.
They're the business lessons.
The reminder that growth starts internally before it becomes visible externally.
The importance of continuing after motivation disappears.
The value of relationships.
The need to listen before selling.
The power of a good story.
And perhaps most importantly: Growing your business isn't worth much if you build something you don't actually want to live inside.
That part feels even more relevant to me now than it did sitting in that conference room in 2023.
Business Growth FAQs
How can I grow my business when I don't have much time?
Focus on a small number of activities connected to your actual goals. Understand where your clients come from, prioritize the marketing and sales activities that create results, and build systems that make those actions easier to repeat. You don't need to do everything—you need to consistently do the things that matter.
What are 10 ways to grow your business?
Start by strengthening your mindset, staying consistent, keeping commitments, building community, working from your strengths, listening to customers, personalizing your sales approach, getting clear on your goals, improving your messaging and using storytelling to demonstrate the transformation your business creates.
How can storytelling help grow a business?
Stories make ideas easier to understand and remember. Use personal experiences, client journeys, lessons and real examples to demonstrate the problem your offer solves and the outcome someone wants. The story should connect your experience back to your audience rather than remaining only about you.
How can I grow my business without being salesy?
Focus on understanding the customer's problem before recommending a solution. Ask questions, educate, share relevant stories and clearly explain how your offer can help. Selling feels far less uncomfortable when you're focused on helping someone make an informed decision rather than pressuring them.
Why is mindset important for business growth?
Your beliefs influence the actions you're willing to take. Doubt can lead you to avoid visibility, sales conversations, experimentation or consistency. Mindset isn't a replacement for strategy, but believing growth is possible can make it easier to consistently execute the strategies required to create it.
Do I need to attend a business summit to grow my business?
No. Conferences and events can provide education, community and new perspectives, but they're only useful if you apply what you learn. Business growth ultimately comes from consistently implementing strategies that fit your goals, audience and capacity.
Final Thoughts: How Can I Grow My Business?
If you're asking how can I grow my business, you probably don't need another giant list of things to add to your schedule.
Start smaller. What's one thing you've been saying you're going to do?
Write the post.
Send the email.
Follow up with the lead.
Ask the question.
Tell the story.
Clarify the offer.
Join the community.
Keep the promise.
Then do it again.
Because most business growth isn't one dramatic breakthrough. It's a lot of small steps that don't look particularly impressive while you're taking them—and eventually realizing you've travelled pretty far. For more support with growing your business check out the other 100+ episodes of Go Get Great.
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Follow my healthy and fitness journey @run_of_the_millers
Give us a follow if you're ready to take life from good to great, you'll be the first to know when we share more about motherhood and business. If it really resonated, the kids and I would do a happy dance if you left us a review 💗. ~ Brittany
00:00 Intro
00:40 Summit background info
3:00 Our trip begins
5:00 Opening ceremony
7:00 Why I partnered with a health and fitness company
12:25 Key takeaways from Summit
17:00 How I'm applying them to my businesses
22:50 Self-introspection Exercise
27:50 Keynote speakers review
37:10 Summit summary
39:00 Wrap up
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