Summary4 min read

Podcast Summary: Shiny New Clients!

Episode: heckling, humour and the most important mindset lesson your business needs

Host: Jenna Harding (Warriner)
Date: August 18, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Jenna Harding shares a memorable story from her days as a musical theater performer, using the incident to illuminate a vital mindset lesson for business owners: shifting from a mindset of competition and scarcity to one of support and abundance. She draws parallels between comedians who fail to support each other on stage and business owners who feel threatened by competition, emphasizing the benefits of camaraderie, generosity, and embracing one’s unique qualities.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Comedy Club Heckling Story

Setting:
- Jenna recounts performing at a late-night cabaret in a boutique hotel lounge in Toronto, where the audience was almost non-existent ([00:12]).
- Performers (mostly comedians) were waiting their turn, yet the room was lifeless—no laughter, minimal applause, just the sound of chairs and drinks ([01:04]).
The Unexpected Heckler:
- A voice from the bar began heckling, not the performers, but the audience itself—for failing to support and laugh at each other ([01:30]).
- Jenna’s accompanist, Chris Ujiuchi, recognized the heckler as Jan Arden, a well-known Canadian singer and outspoken personality ([02:01]).
- Jenna admires Jan Arden’s boldness and finds the incident memorable and instructive ([02:34]).
Lesson from the Episode:
- Even in environments built for camaraderie, like comedy open mics, people withhold support—mirrored in business by a tendency toward competition and protectiveness ([03:09]).

2. The Business Parallel—Competition vs. Abundance

Scarcity Mentality in Business:
- Jenna explains how business owners often guard their ideas, see others as competition, and worry about imitation ([03:32]):
  
  “We get so protective and we get so competitive and there's enough laughter to go around, there's enough work to go around, there's enough money to go around.” ([03:45])
Reframing the Mindset:
- There’s no need for others to lose in order for you to win—there’s plenty for everyone ([04:04]):
  
  “No one has to fail for you to win…even if you are in the most micro niche possible…there’s enough work out there for everyone to thrive.” ([04:08])
- Whether your niche is “micro” or “broad,” people experience the same fears of competition and scarcity ([04:27]).
Real-World Application:
- Jenna shares her own moments of insecurity when teaching social media managers her strategies, only to remind herself that geography and personality make true competition rare ([05:13]):
  
  “They're in Arkansas. Who cares? There's enough clients for all of us. Like, they're literally not my competition. Because, you know, there's no such thing.” ([05:17])
The Importance of Personality:
- Service providers are chosen for their unique approach, style, and personality—not just for their technical skills ([05:32]):
  
  “People are working with you because of your personality, not just because of what you offer…bring that you onto social media. That’s your industry advantage.” ([05:49])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the importance of supporting each other:

“Everyone knows how hard it is to get up on that stage and perform to an empty room. Everyone is going through the same thing. Everyone is here just to get their reps in at this point and still they're not laughing at each other.” ([01:20])
On abundance:

“There's enough laughter to go around, there's enough work to go around, there's enough money to go around.” ([03:45])
On personality as your business differentiator:

“They like the way that you say something, they like the way that you teach something. They like the unique way that you do your job.” ([05:40])
A light-hearted close:

“If you see Jan Arden, tell her that I said hi. God, that was like at over 10 years ago. I bet that was like 12. Oh, that was a while ago so she wouldn't remember. But I'll never forget.” ([06:12])

Timestamps for Key Segments

[00:12] Jenna sets the scene at the empty comedy lounge
[01:20] Heckling story unfolds; lesson about supporting peers
[02:01] Jan Arden revealed as the heckler
[03:09] Transition from comedy to business: commonality of lack of support
[03:45] Discussion of scarcity vs. abundance in business
[05:13] Jenna confronts her own scarcity mindset in teaching
[05:32] Emphasis on personality-driven business advantages
[06:12] Humorous, personal closing callback to Jan Arden

Takeaways

Support Others: Whether in comedy or business, being each other’s hype person fosters better experiences for everyone.
Adopt an Abundance Mindset: There’s ample opportunity and success to go around—true competition is far less common than it seems.
Leverage Your Uniqueness: Your personality and style are your unique business advantages; don’t be afraid to bring them forward in your client-facing work and social media.
Laugh More: Just as comedians need an audience’s support, business owners thrive when they give and receive encouragement.

This episode delivers Jenna’s signature wit and warmth, blending an entertaining personal story with a practical and uplifting message for any service-based entrepreneur.

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Transcript1 lines

[00:01]
A
Welcome to Shiny New Clients, the marketing podcast that helps you attract shiny new clients to your business. We'll talk about social media, what makes people buy, how to go viral, and marketing psychology all in 20 minutes or less. Whether you're a coach, a stylist, or a wedding planner, if you've got a service based business to sell, this is the show you need to fill your calendar. I'm Jenna Warner, your new marketing coach and this is Shiny New New clients. I used to sing musical theater comedy songs at late night cabarets and comedy shows. And one time I had a gig in a boutique little hotel lounge in Toronto at the Pantages Hotel. So it's really cute. There's a baby grand piano and most people are getting up and doing open mic comedy and there were very few people here in the room. And I was there with my accompanist, Chris Sugiuchi, and we were waiting for turn to get up. This isn't a job where you're being paid. It's really just an opportunity to get up in front of an audience. And there happens to be no audience this night, but the show must go on. We'll still take it as an opportunity to sing, to work the room, to, you know, to work on those performance skills. And I was a little performer. So off we go. All these comedians are going up and honestly, the room is silent. Like there is no laughter. There is a smattering of applause. The only thing that you can hear are people's chairs being adjusted and their drinks hitting back down on their high top tables. Essentially the entire audience is just made up of people who are waiting to go on stage until this voice starts piping up from a chair over by the bar. And I wish I could remember exactly what the voice is saying. I can't remember the zingers it was tossing out, but I do remember what the point they were trying to make was. This person at the bar was, was burning the audience. They were literally heckling the audience because she was so annoyed to see all of these comedians not supporting one another. Everyone knows how hard it is to get up on that stage and perform to an empty room. Everyone is going through the same thing. Everyone is here just to get their reps in at this point and still they're not laughing at each other. They're not energetically supporting each other. They're not even pretending to hype each other up. And honestly, that's kind of how comedians, there's a lot of like kind of downer people in, in comedian circles. I worked in a comedy club for a long time. And I know what they're like. And maybe they're not the most enthusiastic, lively bunch when they're not on stage. But what makes this story actually funny is my accompanist, Chris Ujiuchi, Big musician, big pop culture fan. He whispers to me, oh, my God, do you know who that is? Who? He's like that woman heckling the audience. That's Jan Arden. And Jan is like, arguably, she's known for being outspoken and, and loud and funny and like online, on social media, she's always sounding off about how she feels about things. And she's not a quiet woman. And I respect that. I dearly respect that and I love it. And I will never forget that night for the hilarious story that it ended up offering me and for the lesson about supporting one another. I think that in this, in the comedy circles, it had become very normalized. It is normalized to this day to not, like, laugh at each other. Like, you are not. It's not your job to support the other person. But how much better would you feel if your night was actually spent laughing? If you actually did hype each other up? If you hyped someone up and they in turn hyped you up? And I feel like we need to bring that into business as well. Because in business it's very normalized to feel competitive against someone else, to hold your ideas close to your chest, to get mad when someone rips off your content. Okay, Actually, I'm not going to argue that it's annoying when someone rips off your content. But we get so protective and we get so competitive and there's enough laughter to go around, there's enough work to go around, there's enough money to go around. And if you honestly are feeling that competitive, like somebody else has to fail for you to win, you. You're not going to like your job. And you're wrong. You're wrong. No one has to fail for you to win. Even if you are in the most micro niche possible. I promise you, with billions of people on this planet, with billions of English speaking people on this planet, even there's enough work out there for everyone to thrive. And you know the grass is always greener, right? If you have a really micro niche and you're like, oh, the. Well, it is super competitive. There's the same things happening on the other end of the spectrum where someone who has a very broad niche is complaining about that as well. Like, neither of you are happy. If you have that lack mentality and you don't believe that there's enough work out there for you. There's a million social media managers on the planet, but there's also billions of businesses that need social media. So what do I care? And it's a constant journey and it takes a lot of self talk to get to where you want to go with this sort of mindset. Sometimes the social media manager will join. Mmm. And I still feel that moment of that lack mentality of like, but I'm teaching someone else who does what I do my secrets. And then I'm like, hey, voice, get out of here. They're in Arkansas. Who cares? There's enough clients for all of us. Like, they're literally not my competition. Because, you know, there's no such thing. Especially since you're a service provider. Right? That's why you're here. Most of you are. Most of you listening are service providers, which means people are working with you because of your personality, not just because of what you offer. Because they like the way that you say something, they like the way that you teach something. They like the unique way that you do your job. That's unlike anything that anybody else can offer, by the way. Bring that you onto social media. That's your industry advantage. All right, just a quickie for me tonight, guys. If you see Jan Arden, tell her that I said hi. God, that was like at over 10 years ago. I bet that was like 12. Oh, that was a while ago so she wouldn't remember. But I'll never forget.