There’s a wonderful saying in business, that applies to all companies, in all industries.

“No business plan survives first contact with a customer.”

The truth is, many companies out there run purely based on assumptions: about what the customers supposedly want, what a brand is supposed to be, how marketing presumably works, and how a business should function.

It’s shocking how many business owners would rather spend days and weeks holed up in their office, dreaming up ways to delight their customers… instead of getting out there and talking to a real customer for 20 minutes.

This is true not just for customer research, but all aspects of business: content marketing (blog every week, and then something will happen), social media (post updates on your company account and wait to “go viral”), and practically anything else you can think of.

To build a profitable, let alone visionary business, it takes courage — courage to discard all assumptions and figure out your own unique ways to grow and thrive.

Today, we are talking to two amazing entrepreneurs who specialize in helping struggling businesses to find that courage and solve their real, not assumed, problems.

If you’ve never heard about Christopher Healy and Lindsay Barto, here’s what you should know before diving into this week’s episode:

  • They started off just building cheap and awesome websites for businesses, like literally thousands of other web design agencies out there.
  • Now, Round Two Creative Group (their creative agency) also provides top-notch content marketing, branding, social media, and other services — even video production and making of other creative assets.
  • Chris and Lindsay also founded The Longhairs — a global fraternity for advocating, educating, and celebrating men with long hair. And in case you’re wondering how on earth they manage to run two such different businesses, we’ll talk about that, too!

From guerrilla marketing to hair ties, viral videos, morning rituals, and more, this interview is chock-full of valuable, actionable takeaways. Enjoy!

Here’s what you’ll learn:

Introducing Chris and Lindsay [00:40]

How Round Two Creative Group started, and how Chris and Lindsay went from building $300 websites to closing deals in multiple five figures [01:39]

Different types of businesses Round Two works with [09:35]

Chris and Lindsay’s favorite clients, and how they helped them [11:13]

Branding, and what it takes to find or develop your voice as a business [13:15]

Round Two’s unique discovery process that they’re using to go above and beyond for every client [14:36]

The Longhairs — what it is, how it started, and why it became an international phenomenon [19:52]

How Chris and Lindsay guerrilla-marketed The Longhairs with referral cards [23:20]

The littlest, and the oldest, fans of The Longhairs (grab a tissue, it’s really touching!) [26:03]

Hair Ties for Guys, and plans to expand into hair care products for long-haired men [30:36]

What it’s like to manage 2 different businesses at once [33:34]

Chris and Lindsay’s morning routines and rituals [35:35]

Recap [40:42]

Resources from Chris and Lindsay

Hair ties for guys (Chris and Lindsay donate $1 from every sale to Locks of Love, a non-profit providing hairpieces to children suffering from long-term medical hair loss)

The Longhairs

Round 2

You are your own gym