Your Edge is the Offer: Values, Stories and Showing Up Raw
There is something powerful that happens when two women sit down and peel back the curated layers of online business, the parts no one talks about and the parts that make entrepreneurship both wildly rewarding and deeply human. In this episode of The Unapologetic Podcast, host Tara Leson invites offer strategist and self described offer magician Lori Young into a conversation about trust, authenticity, and the evolving realities of growing a business in an oversaturated and AI influenced market.
What unfolds is not a highlight reel. It is real business, the messy middle, the awkward evolutions, and the breakthroughs that only come from lived experience. Lori shares her journey from food industry brand strategist to a soulful offer ecosystem architect, and opens a conversation about why authenticity, human nuance, and strategic clarity matter more now than ever. Whether you are a new entrepreneur or seasoned practitioner, this episode feels like a deep exhale of truth.
Key Takeaways
Your offer ecosystem matters more than ever. A scattered offer suite confuses buyers, while a streamlined and intentional client journey builds trust and increases conversions.
The online space has shifted dramatically. Saturation, AI adoption, and economic pressure have changed how clients buy, and entrepreneurs must adapt or get left behind.
Authenticity is the new authority. People are tired of generic content. What stands out today is humanity, honesty, story, and lived experience.
AI is powerful when used correctly. It cannot replace your voice or perspective. It becomes a tool for expansion, not a substitute for your brilliance.
Real business does not happen overnight. Most new offers take time to gain traction, despite what curated success stories imply.
Self awareness is strategic fuel. Understanding your unique wiring or human design can prevent misaligned decisions and burnout.
Your quirks are part of your magnetism. Owning them creates resonance with the people who are meant for you.
Trends are not strategies. What works for one business owner will not necessarily work for another. Alignment matters more than popularity.
There is a real trust recession. Buyers are more discerning and more skeptical, and relationship building has become the most important growth lever.
Impact begins with helping people feel seen. Transformation deepens when people are witnessed fully and without judgment.
Notable Quotes
"I believe everyone has their own unique mojo, their magic, their gifts, and everyone deserves to be paid for that."
"If you are not willing to adapt and embrace what is here like AI, you are not going to last."
"Ask yourself before you publish content, could anyone else write this. If so, dump it."
"A new offer takes time to get traction. So many launches sell zero and nobody talks about that."
"You cannot follow cookie cutter strategies and think they will work for you. What works for one person will not work for everyone."
"I want people to feel seen, to embrace who they are, and to use their gifts to make an impact."
"Your quirks are not flaws. They are part of your brilliance."
Host Bio:
Tara Leson is a multi-passionate entrepreneur who works with online business owners to build and grow their businesses through strategy, systems, and automations. She combines her extensive educational background with experience and expertise to not only see the gaps you need to fill to help you reach your goals, but do it in a way that feels genuine and authentic to YOU. Her passion is helping you truly live out your why and make an impact - with your business and in your life!
Guest Bio:
Lori Young is a certified business coach and offer strategist who helps soul led coaches, healers, and experts design aligned and profitable offer ecosystems. With more than two decades of experience in branding, marketing, and strategy, Lori has a unique gift for seeing what others overlook. She guides entrepreneurs to articulate their magic, clarify their offers, and build businesses rooted in depth, truth, and sustainability. She is the founder of One Mission Brands and host of The Offer Mojo Show.
Summary:
In this episode of The Unapologetic Podcast, host Tara Leson sits down with offer strategist and self described offer magician Lori Young to explore the realities of building a business in today’s online environment. Lori opens by sharing why she does not just help entrepreneurs craft single offers but helps them build a complete offer ecosystem that guides clients from first contact through long term transformation. She explains that many entrepreneurs create offers from impulse or inspiration, which often leads to confusion rather than clarity. A strategic and connected offer suite creates trust, momentum, and a natural client journey.
Lori’s entry into this work began long before entrepreneurship became mainstream. After spending many years in the food branding and marketing world, she shifted into coaching in 2004 when online business was still in its infancy. She describes those early years as a time of experimentation and learning, where she figured out how to create offers, position herself, and build an audience at a time when most people did not even know what coaching was.
Over time, Lori realized that being a generalist was no longer aligned. What she was truly gifted at was sensing misalignment inside offers. She could see where messaging would not land, where structures needed refinement, and where entrepreneurs were unintentionally diluting their magic. When she finally claimed her identity as an offer strategist, everything clicked. Specialization created clarity for both her and her audience, and her work expanded from there.
The conversation then shifts into the dramatic evolution of the online space. Tara and Lori talk about the saturation of new entrepreneurs entering the market, the economic tension that has made buyers more careful, and the rise of AI, which has introduced both efficiency and skepticism. Lori names what many are afraid to acknowledge, that trust has eroded, and pretending otherwise only harms entrepreneurs who need to evolve with the times.
Lori speaks candidly about the role of AI. She describes it as a powerful tool and a strategic thought partner, but not a replacement for originality or humanity. She emphasizes that AI cannot replicate lived experience or personal story, and she urges business owners to ask whether their content could be written by anyone else. If the answer is yes, it will not stand out in today’s climate.
The heart of the episode emerges when Lori talks about embracing her quirks, wiring, and neurodivergence, parts of herself she once feared would be judged. Through inner work and therapy, she learned to see those traits as strengths rather than flaws. She shares an example from the show Love Is Blind, pointing out how someone who appears unusual on the surface can in fact hold tremendous depth, resilience, and heart. Her message is simple. Your humanity is an asset, not a liability.
Lori offers rare transparency when she shares the messy middle of her latest offer launch. After spending months building an AI powered suite of tools, she released it into the world with excitement, only to experience average results. She names what many entrepreneurs feel but do not publicly say, that new offers often take time to gain traction, and most people online only share the highlight reels. The truth is that many launches sell zero. Hearing this honesty is grounding and liberating for anyone tired of unrealistic online narratives.
Tara and Lori also explore the dangers of being sold the dream of cold to high ticket success. Lori shares a story of someone who joined a mastermind promising a five client ten thousand dollar offer launch despite being brand new in business. Lori expresses concern about the unrealistic expectations being set and the emotional toll it can take on new entrepreneurs. They discuss how growth requires strategy, self knowledge, and aligned decision making, not shortcuts.
As the conversation wraps, Lori speaks to the deeper impact she hopes to make in her work. Her desire is to help people feel fully seen, to witness their gifts, and to help them use those gifts to create meaningful change. After spending much of her own life feeling unseen, her mission now is to make sure others never feel that way in her presence. It is a fitting and powerful close to a conversation rooted in truth, humanity, and aligned leadership.
