Going from Service Provider to Tech Startup Founder with Natasha Zoryk

In today’s episode of the HN Haus Podcast, our host Hannah Nieves is joined by Natasha Zoryk to dive deep into the transformative journey of shifting from service-based entrepreneurship to launching a cutting-edge tech startup. 

Natasha, founder of the communication platform Azura, shares her raw, unfiltered experiences in pivoting her career, evolving her business model, and the daily realities of working in the tech sphere.

IN THIS EPISODE, WE TALK ABOUT

[00:00:12] - Introducing Natasha Zoryk and Her Journey to Azura

[00:00:49] - Natasha's Career Transition: From Designer to Tech Founder

[00:02:31] - What is Azura? Exploring Features and Target Audience

[00:03:00] - The Tipping Point: Moving from Business Mentorship to Tech Innovation

[00:04:29] - Taking Action: The Initial Steps to Realizing Azura

[00:05:22] - Market Research and Overcoming Developer Challenges

[00:06:43] - The Breakthrough: Leveraging Network and Opportunities

[00:08:37] - Real Talk: The Unsexy Side of Building a Tech Startup

[00:10:19] - Collaboration and Trust: Key Learnings in Tech Development

[00:11:55] - Facing Fears: Transitioning from Service-Based to Tech

[00:13:02] - Market Validation and User Feedback

[00:15:46] - Daily Routines: From Service Provider to Tech Startup Founder

[00:19:23] - Time Management Tips and Structuring Your Week

[00:21:08] - Productivity Hacks: Tools and Techniques for Effective Work

[00:23:42] - The Vision for Azura: What's Next and Future Plans

[00:24:29] - How to Connect with Natasha and Dive Deeper into Her Journey

🔗 LINKS 🔗
Follow the Hosts: @hannahmnieves & @maritzatobon
Follow Natasha here.
Follow HN Haus: @hnhaus
Request an invitation to The Thrive Collective
Request an invitation to Maison

Transcript

0:12

Hello, everyone. It's Hannah Nieves of the Agent House podcast, and I'm so excited because we have Natasha Zurich here of Azura. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you. I'm so stoked. It's been a long time coming and getting on the podcast. So I'm like, we're here. We're doing it. I can't wait. We're just doing all the things, and I love your story. And, actually, this is so interesting because now for me being on, you know, the tech startup side, it's so cool to talk to someone else who's done the same thing. So, you know, for listeners that are not familiar with you, can you just share a little bit more about, you know, what did you do before and what your new project is? Yeah. So I started out as a designer, and it's interesting because the app is like a physical manifestation of my journey all into 1, even dating back to university days and and being in the government. But I started out as a web designer, quickly transitioned into a digital marketing and design agency, and then I pivoted into business mentorship. And so now in present moment, I'm still doing business mentorship and speaking, but I've built Asura, which is a communication platform. So it's Woo. Yeah. So beautiful. Okay. I have, like, so many questions I wanna ask you. But can you dive into Azure really quickly on, like, the functionality? Like, what is it? Like, who is it for? Yeah. So, Azure, we all okay. Everyone listening here, you're probably a service provider, a designer, a creative, a coach to whatever capacity or niche that is. You run a team. You're a high powered founder, and Azure is a communication platform for exactly that. And so if you use Slack, Vox, or Telegram, even just email, right, the basic communication platforms that we all know, Azura is here for elevated simplicity. It's to power your brand identity and brand as a whole because you can make custom branding capabilities inside of it. And it's a communication platform with features that are for founders, for creatives who really understand the importance of a brand and intuitive, like, really collaborative features. And so, yeah, that's miss Tesura. Oh, okay. I'm gonna put the link in the show notes, guys, so definitely check it out. It is stunning. Let's take, like, a step backwards for a second because I would just love to understand. I think a lot of people listening are going through this beautiful evolution with their companies, with themselves. What was that tipping point for you when you were like, okay. I've been doing business mentorship, masterminds, all these different things, but, like, this isn't the thing that's gonna get me to the next level. Like, what was that tipping point for you when you realized, like, okay. Like, the tech arena is the next level for me? Yeah. That's a great question. And it's interesting. I know you and I offline have had a few conversations where we've seen the shift in a lot of founders getting out of the typical coaching or mentorship and either going into a tech arena or a different, say, product based or so it's interesting. I we've seen that shift. And for me, where I I felt that, I would say because the idea came to me in 2022, August 2022. Mhmm. I sat on it for a bit and took action April 2023. But I would say 2022, where I'm I have to this day still so much passion, and I know you do as well for mentorship. But I was like, we're building such a strong brand, and I really started to feel the impact of that and how it can trickle down into different business models, different aspects, and it could be the pedestal. It can be this the the catalyst to so much more, because we weren't just a service provider. We really were building a personal brand. And so I would say 2022, and it's when the idea came to me, and I was like, oh my gosh. Tech founder. Wait. Hold on. This just feels so in alignment, especially when I take it back to my roots of having a communication and a business degree. I was just like, that feels so cozy. And, yeah, I went full steam ahead in 2023 with that. Oh, and it's been a long time coming since then. I feel like we are just, like, brand new people now. What did the process look like from, okay. You have this idea. You need this as a next evolution. Like, what were maybe some of, like, the phases or steps that you had to take to actually bring this to life? Because I know some people might be listening to this and like, yes. This is me. I know something else is bigger for what I'm building. Like, what were maybe some of those initial steps that you had to take to actually bring Azeron to life? Yeah. And so for you too, I mean, when you had that initial idea I don't know about you, but for me, I was like, hold on. Is this gonna be multi, multimillions? I didn't have a North Star or a foundation on knowledge of what the heck it's gonna cost. I all I knew too as well is I heard nightmares about developers, and I was very hyperaware of that and fear driven. Right? I'm sure you've heard that too. Mhmm. And and so I wanted to not go in like, the blind leading the blind. I was like, I need to gather base information so I feel confident in the decisions. And so what I did was August 2022 right away. This was just pure data collection. This was pure market research. And just to get cozy and comfy in this very brand new space, I interviewed 5 developers so that I could get a benchmark of, okay, timeline, budget, expectation. Is this even possible? So that's what I did So I could feel more confident in this very intimidating space, which is such a beautiful it's been such a beautiful journey, but very humbling too at times because you don't we're used to being in control. We're used to being in our systems knowing all this. We don't know how to code. It's like we have no say. And so, yeah, I gathered base information, and I sat on it for a bit. And it wasn't until I can be very impulsive at times if I have that gut feeling and that and I really tap into my intuition. I know you're spiritual as well, and it's that full body yes. And I listen to signs. And so 2023, I had an insane q one. Massive. It was, like, my highest financial order. It was assigned the most incredible high powered founders as well. And so I started to feel at the end when things were kinda slowing down in April a little bit, in between the next mastermind and stuff. I was like, kinda wanna kinda wanna, you know, look at other options here. And it wasn't until one of my dear friends reached out to me, and she worked in some of the most, profound baking industries in the world. And she helped get apps and their apps and manage them off the ground and was a project manager and also a marketing board leader. And she was like, hey. Pro bono. I wanna tap into the female industry. I would love to come on for whether it's a year or 6 months and manage this project. I remember I don't remember, but, like, exactly about months months ago, you you mentioned an app. I'd love to come on. And then, literally, I think it was, like, 3 or 4 hours after she reached out, identity house Kira reached out to me and said, Tasha, random. I don't know what, like, prompted me, but I know you're launching your mastermind in July. I really wanna join. I know you you mentioned an app a few months ago. I'm not sure if you're open to it, but would you wanna do a switch, a swap? And if that idea is still there and I was like, hold on. And then right away, I I put it out of my story. I got the the recommendation from Merakite, and it was kind of just full steam ahead there. And because I had the base information, I felt a lot more confident in being like, okay. Yes. This is the next step. I love that. So fast forward to now, you have, like, over a 1000 users, which is incredible. Let's talk about maybe some of, like, the not so sexy side of things of building a tech startup. Like, what were some of the biggest challenges that you went through from concept to bringing this into life? Yeah. I think and I know you and I also have talked about this, and this is gonna be a big connection moment, I think, for people listening. It was letting go the idea of what hustle looks like for me and day in, day out and what it looked like to run a successful business because going from very service based, very call heavy, very client heavy workloads from designing to mentorship to then tech, it was, okay. I need to reevaluate what a productive and successful day looks like. I need to reevaluate what it feels like to be safe and secure in your business and also not be in full control. That was an internal mindset mindset and founder shift I had to, and I still am going through. I'm still discovering it because we are new, and we're we're so close to 2,000 users now, which is, like, mind blowing. We just launched and gave people access end of February 2024. But some of the not so sexy things. So tech, it can be it's so beautiful. It's amazing. But, again, you don't have control, and it's inevitable that bugs and hiccups once human beings are stressed testing your brand new technology and platform, things are gonna happen. Errors are gonna occur. So when you are say you really need good customer service, which is, like, nonnegotiable with tech, That's a big one where you also have to accept that hiccups are gonna occur. The platform and technology isn't gonna be growing pains, new code. You're gonna have to tear things down and rebuild it. And it's definitely a different form of collaboration too because you have to have so much trust in your developers and the people that are building your baby and your dream because you physically don't have the keys to it. Like, you have no control. And so practicing that trust within your team and delegating and collaboration and effective leadership is a big one. I would say that and and, again, like, embracing and being a realist in the fact that your technology is going to go through ebbs and flows until you hit that, like, really good base tech. And I I don't know if you've experienced that too. Oh, I mean, that was probably one of the biggest things because I'm sure similar to you, right, like, you want things perfect from the start and having to really understand that, like, a v one or an MVP is not going to be the last iteration of it. And you know what? I really started to embody and embrace this, like, concept of, like, if it's perfect, like, you're too late. You know? And really just taking the idea and just embodiment of, like, we are a work in progress and that transparency even with our members, even for Mason is, like, so humbling. But also it's why they're founding members, because they're giving feedback on, like, things they wanna see and, like, other, you know, additions to the platform and things like that. So I totally agree. Now did you ever have this thought or feeling, because I know we kinda, like, talked about this, like, briefly. But, you know, before you launch this, you went from service provider to now, you know, tech startup founder. You know, when you launch a service, right, like, you can launch a service overnight. You know? You can get yourself a pretty deck, a nice sales page, you have the offer, you talk to people, call it a day. When you launch a tech startup, it costs you tens of 1,000 of dollars, and then you have to trust that whatever you are building is going to be received by the market. Did you ever have any thoughts, fears, anything come up when you were in this transition? Because I know for me at least, like, that was, like, one of the biggest things I think I faced. Yeah. I know. You that random wave of anxiety where you're like this. What am I doing? You know? Yeah. Yeah. For sure. For sure. It's it is so different. And this, I think it's a testament to if anyone listening, you're going through a transitional period or you want to bring something to life in a project that is very different from how you're used to. And it's not gonna be profit. It's not gonna be game first. It's going to be that sense or almost that feeling of putting all your eggs in one basket and going really, really hone in and get super clear on your mission because those thoughts and feelings are gonna come up. Because, again, it's uncomfortable. It's new. We like, as human beings, familiarity. We want to see. We also are in in an era of instant gratification, so it will test your patience. But it is so worth it. But, yes, I definitely did. I yes. But it was very quickly trumped. Call it the lulu. Okay? Because it was very quickly trumped with I know the market wants this because of the years of experience. Myself having such frustrations with Voxer, with Slack, and then clients continuously mentioning in my, offboarding flows, love, love, love your mastermind. I love this. The only piece piece of feedback I have because I wish there was a more aesthetic communication platform Voxer. Like, it's glitchy. The servers go down or, you know, you provide from top to bottom a stellar experience, but there's just this one piece where you literally are delivering delivering the service in, and that's where they hang out the most is in that platform. So they so I knew that there was not only one problem being solved, but many by the features that we were adding, our mission, what we were creating. So I had such a strong, profound confidence in the gaps we were filling. And so, yes, I knew that it was very scary, and, naturally, our brains can go to worst case scenario. It would come up. But I was I was I have been, and I am very confident in our mission. And I know you are too in yours, which is incredible. But and it was. And then the wave throughout the launch, that was validated. And I saw the manifestation of the shared frustrations and people being like, finally. And I was just like Yeah. We get it. We we all, like, understood the assignment with this aura, and it was a beautiful, beautiful experience to witness. Wow. That's so beautiful, and I love just, like I appreciate you openly sharing that too because I think it's so easy to see from, like, the outside perspective looking in, like, the this beautiful brand and everything looks so perfect and all the things, but, like, people really don't see the real shit that happens behind the scenes when you're building a tech startup. And for those listening in, like, it will test every level of patience that you have, every ounce of resiliency that you have. And that's just, like, the beauty of it, but it's, like, you know, high risk, high reward type of thing, and you just really have to trust and surrender, which I love. Okay. So I wanna talk about, a little bit more about, like, routines and habits. And, like, now that your your your life has changed and you have moved from service provider to, you know, tech startup founder, like, what is what is your day, like, typically look like now? Yeah. That's so funny. I play this little game where I like to go, what was I doing? What was my calendar this time last year? And, like, to have a yeah. I'm like, let's have a gander and see what was Natasha doing. What was her schedule? Because 2023, which I'm so grateful for, was, again, in mentorship, like, my biggest, best, most busy, fruitful year, but it also came with a very calendar. At times, I would have 6 hours of calls a day, and that was even out of the norm for me. Wow. Yeah. It was just because some of the the way I modeled programs and working with multispeven figure founders, I was like, okay. I really have to be in there as a silent partner. So it required more of me. And I also I did have over a 1.13 Australian clients. So time zone was taking me out. Time zone, that was another thing. But, yeah, that was that was I love them to bits, but I was like, oh, 7 PM, 8 PM calls. You know, you're so wired after them. You're like, I can't go to bed. But, anyways, I digress. So schedule, it's so different, and that comes back to that point of one of the biggest and I didn't expect it, but it really hit me hard. One of the biggest challenges, I would say, in transitions was embracing this new routine, this new calendar, this new schedule because before I was, like, 5 AM girly. If I wanted to log off around 6 and 7, especially in 2023, it was like I I had to be up. I had to go I'm a huge fitness girl too. So if I wanted to go to the gym, it was 5 or 6. I also got a puppy too, so that was a little chaotic. And but so I had to move that in. Yeah. A little puppy. But routine is it's more lax. Like, yes, it's very structured. I have way more, quote, unquote, open space, but it's been a beautiful journey. And I loved my calendar last year, and I loved working with the founders that I did. It was just more service based. It was more call heavy. And so now I will sometimes I won't set an alarm, and I naturally

wake up around, like, 6: 17:57

37. So that's a beautiful thing. I I get I have a lot of space for creative work. I have a lot of space for visionary work, which has been really good for the nervous system too. A lot of hanging out in Asura to speak with the team. Mhmm. I still have I'm running a mastermind right now, but it's a small scale. And that's been a beautiful experience too, but it comes down to a little bit of easing into my days a tad more. I still even in my busiest season, I took Mondays as my CEO day. I would end work at 3 PM and, like, really no work on the weekend. So I did have a good balance, and and sustainability in my busiest seasons. But, yeah, I would just say the transition is more space, more creative time, less being of service to the the bigger client load. Mhmm. And a lot of back end, a lot of really building the blocks, and delegating. So working with like, I'm even I'm I have a whole photo shoot for Azura with models happening in the UK. I'm not there. So there's a lot of Mhmm. Being truly in that CEO founder role with Azura and prepping for that and being the the creative vision for all of these moving pieces. So I would say that I love that. Any tips for those listening in that when it comes to time management? Like, when you don't have these calls on your calendar, you know, like, what does work best for you with, like, the themes for the week? Like, do you, like, block them into, I don't know, like, sprints or you have days? Like, I'm always so interested in, like, how people work. Yeah. No. I know me too. So before, I did week a, week b. So I would have a very call heavy week, and then week b would be a little bit more lax and creative work in team. Now what I do is so Mondays are my CEO day. Like, very sacred. Like, absolutely no client work, no calls, no nothing. Even self care, if it's not being poured into my business, I'll pour it into myself because I know every founder listening can can resonate that they've probably gone through a few seasons where they, like, forgot themselves and put themselves on the back burner. Mhmm. So for a few years, that has been, like, nonnegotiable. So Mondays, and then Tuesdays, I try to make my call heavy day now, and I'll have calls on Tuesdays. Wednesdays, it is, like, a lot of creative work as well or podcasting or batching. And then Thursdays, I'll try to sneak in a call as well. Fridays, I really take no calls. I'm very strict on that too. If unless it's, like, team or or catching up, but no client work in that sense. And, yeah, I would say that's probably the shift that I have for that. And time management click up, I'm huge with that. It has to go on the calendar. I have to have reminders. If it's not there, ADHD, I'll be like, whoop. Gone. Yep. Yeah. It's gone. So ClickUp is is and I know you use ClickUp too. It's Mhmm. Dave and Grace. Love her for project management. And Yes. Yeah. Time locking. I have a I have a timer as well. That's huge. I really have to, like, put the headphones in, the brown noise or, you know, the zen music, time block 30 minutes to an hour, especially if it's like a I gotta write an article or Mhmm. Not about a photo shoot. I really dedicate that. That's been a saving grace. I love that. I need to get a timer now. You know? Just like one of the old ones that just, like, sits on your desk. Yes. It adds like, it really does add that little, like, backup against the wall, and you're like, okay. Got it. I get it done. And it's so productive. Like, what would take me sometimes if you're procrastinating, like, an hour or 2 or even longer, I'll get it done in, like, 15, 30 minutes. Wow. Okay. We're all gonna go by an old school timer on our desk now. Thank you. Thanks, Todd. This is this is incredible. So what is next for Azure? Like, what is the vision? Where do you wanna take this? Mhmm. I see Azura, like, replacing 4 founders, the Slacks, the Voxers. Because, again, like, we have and I know for Mason too, it's gonna that's gonna occur. We have evolved so much just even in 2 months. Like, we were supposed to be a very basic and elevated and luxury communication app, but at its core is simplistic. But because we created and encoded in a feature road map where users can submit and really, collaborate with the community on what they want in upvote, we have deployed I can't even put a number on it. And we have a file section where you can create, essentially replace Google Docs. You can embed Looms. You're gonna be able to accept payments in Azure. There's so many features, and so it's still at its core when we evolve. I don't wanna be an all in one because that can get really messy. And I think Mhmm. Quality can fall through the cracks. But we are always going to be a very high powered, elevated yet simplistic communication platform. And I see it, yeah, really, again, replacing the Slacks, the Voxers, and being in the hands of amazing founders and teams and agencies that will champion out their brand because you can make this our look and feel like your own because I truly believe that that is the app where we communicate is where we spend the most time on, and I want it to be an extension of your brand. And so I I know founders understand that. And so yeah. And it's it's growing organically. We haven't even run any ads. It's growing so fast. Mhmm. And so I see, yeah, eventually, millions of users in there. And Whew. So beautiful. Too. Yep. I love it. So where can people find you and connect with you after this episode? I just wanna say thank you for just coming on here. This has been such a beautiful conversation. Thank you. Yeah. People can find me. So my personal and my speaking mentorship is natashadotzorick, on Instagram. I have a podcast as well, Tash Talks. Azura is we are Azura. If you wanna follow, we have some great videos coming up and and campaigns that are gonna be launching, especially when we get in the App Store. But that's where you can that's where you can hang out. You can DM me if you have questions about starting an app, anything. I know it can be so intimidating and scary. So by all means, my DMs are open. Please send me a message. I would love to support you in that journey. Amazing. Well, thank you so much for listening in. If you like this episode, please share it to Instagram stories and tag both of us. We'd love to connect with you, and I will see you on the next episode.