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I'm an online marketing expert and New York Times bestselling author who helps entrepreneurs like you build online businesses.

My cringe confessions

May 20, 2026

Today's Lineup:

  • The road to $130M was paved with tequila shots šŸ‹ā€šŸŸ©
  • ā€œI want to make a million dollarsā€ and other normal sentences šŸ˜‰
  • Ā Instagram Instants… get in early or skip them completely? 🤳

For the first few years of my career, I couldn't do a photo shoot without a shot of tequila. šŸ‹ā€šŸŸ©

Not metaphorically. Literally.

I'd take one of those little airplane bottles and knock it back quickly, wanting to gag but knowing I needed it. 🤣

This week, I did a photo shoot in Nashville for a website rebrand. No tequila needed.

Just me, my photographer, and my trusty silicone eye patches.

Here’s a little BTS of my shoot.

Just me, my photographer, and my trusty silicone eye patches.

Here’s a little BTS of my shoot.

But photo shoots are a only tiny part of what I do. (Thank God! Hallelujah!)

I've also done over 500 webinars, which means I know what to do when the slides freeze, the audio cuts out, or the energy is flat eight minutes in and you have to decide whether to push through or pivot.

I have worked through what I now teach about messaging, offers, and lead gen in twenty different ways before I landed on the seriously tried-and-true version I teach today.

I have a hard drive full of cringe I'll never use, an inbox full of replies that taught me what actually lands with my audience, and a long list of expensive mistakes I made so now you don’t have to.

What I’m trying to say is that I’ve done the reps.When I was deep in growing my business, what I really craved was a woman who was where I wanted to be, and a totally open book about it.

Someone who'd give me the real picture. What it feels like. What to expect. What to brace for. The lessons she'd already paid for, so I could skip a few of mine. 😬

Making Millions? Obviously.


We just wrapped another Milly Club retreat. The next morning, this post showed up in my feed:

This is exactly what happens when you’re in community with women who get it.

On our own, it’s so easy to qualify your dreams.

“I'd like to scale to a million.”
“I'm thinking about changing my ICA, but that’s probably crazy.”
“I want to take three months off but I don't know if I can.”

You want it bad, but have softened your wants, your ambition, your audacity for so long so that (heaven forbid) no one will think you’re too much.

Then you walk into a room of women at your level who hear you say it and react like, obviously, that’s your next goal. Then what?? Go bigger!

They treat your plan like a done deal because they're working on theirs the same way.

And you start thinking completely differently. You stop adding “but who knows.” You say it like you mean it.

We treat ā€œfind your peopleā€ like a designer bag. One day when we’ve made it, we can afford the luxury. When really, your people are the reason you’re going to make it. This type of room is medicine for the soul, letting your wildest desires out of the tidy, manageable box-and-bow you’ve kept them in, rallying behind you as you dare and go for it. All in great company, of course.

Permission to Post Messy


Instagram has done it again… they’ve added a new feature, just as we got our posting systems dialed. šŸ˜‰

This one is called ā€œInstants.ā€

You take a picture (no filters, no editing) and send it through DM’s, then it’s gone in 24 hours.

The people you sent it to can only see it once. They can't even screenshot it. Kind of feels like adult Snapchat, right?!

This feature shows up in your DM inbox as a floating stack of photos. 

Just tap that, take a pic, then send it to close friends or followers. Done. 

Here's why this might matter for you.

If you've struggled with posting more… and blame it on your lighting, your background, and your “I never know what to say”, this version of Instagram requires none of that.

Raw shot from your kitchen. The dog. The “I'm wearing this to the airport” mirror selfie. The whiteboard you've been brainstorming for an hour.Ā 

Shoot it, send it. It’s supposed to be in the moment, au natural.

But to also provide a counterargument: Instants might just be a distraction.

Another thing to remember, another notification luring you into the app.

There's a real case for ignoring it entirely and keeping your energy in the channels that actually move your business.

The Most Ridiculous Corner of My Instagram Feed


Ok, our friendship is getting weird, because now I am telling you stuff no one needs to know.

The IG algorithm has decided I am a cottage cheese woman now. šŸ§€

I follow normal things. Interior design. Smart business minds. But somewhere in the last six months, between two perfectly respectable posts, the algorithm started showing me a woman blending cottage cheese into chocolate mousse. 

Then alfredo.
Then queso.
Then brownies.
Pizza dough. A thing called “cottage cheese flatbread” that I have now made four times.

I cannot stop. I do not want to stop. I have strong opinions on cottage cheese brands now.

Now that I've gone to my weird place, it's your turn.

What is the weirdest, most niche, most cannot-possibly-be-relevant corner of Instagram that you have ended up in and somehow love anyway?

The chicken coop renovation account. The woman who only posts about salt. The grout-cleaning lady. Hit reply and tell me. I want to take a tour of your feed. 🤣

Nice chat! Let’s do it again next week.

Until then, remember that we all navigate discomfort as we grow, prioritize finding the right room, make a call about ā€œInstantsā€ and stick to it, and try cottage cheese pizza dough, then watch your life change.

Amy

P.S. If you rewrote your sales page three times and the numbers landed in roughly the same place, the podcast this week tells you why.Ā  Listen here āž”ļø

In the last 16 years, I've quit my job, started and scaled my own business to $120 million, become a New York Times Best Selling Author, and taught over 100,000 students how to build a business they love. I've learned more than a thing or two and The Amy Porterfield Show is where I get to open my playbook, yearbook, and entrepreneurial diary to share them with you!

Hi, I'm Amy!

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