Unpaid Interns: The Smarter Way for Solopreneurs to Build a Team with Brittany Braswell – The Nourished CEO Episode 57

At a certain point in your business, it becomes obvious you cannot keep doing everything yourself and expect to keep growing. You need support.

But what happens when hiring a team actually makes your business less profitable and more complicated?

In this episode, I’m joined by Brittany Braswell to unpack a smarter, more sustainable way to delegate without immediately jumping into expensive hires.

We’re talking about how to leverage interns strategically so you can get out of the weeds, protect your profit margins, and build real systems that support long-term growth.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between burnout and overhiring, this conversation will give you a completely new way to think about building a team.

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Unpaid Interns: The Smarter Way to Build a Team Without Killing Your Profit Margins

If you’ve reached the point in your business where you know you can’t keep doing everything yourself, you’re not alone.

Most solopreneurs hit a ceiling where growth requires support, but hiring a team doesn’t always go the way you expect.

You bring on help, your expenses go up, and suddenly your profit margins start shrinking.

Instead of feeling supported, you’re managing people, fixing mistakes, and wondering why your business feels more complicated than it did before.

This is exactly where so many business owners get stuck. You know you need to delegate, but traditional hiring models don’t feel sustainable.

That’s why I want to introduce a different way to think about building a team.

In this post, I’m breaking down how to hire unpaid interns strategically so you can get support, build systems, and grow your business without blowing up your expenses.

This is a strategy I explored in depth with Brittany Braswell, who has been using interns as a core part of her business model since 2020.

Watching her build and refine this approach over the last several years has completely shifted how I think about delegation.

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Why Hiring a Team Often Backfires for Solopreneurs

The Hidden Cost of Hiring Too Early

One of the biggest mistakes I see is hiring before your business is actually ready to support it. Just because you need help doesn’t mean you need a high-level, high-cost team member.

When you hire too early, you often end up paying premium rates for tasks that don’t require that level of expertise. That’s where your profit margins start to disappear.

When More Help Creates More Problems

Hiring doesn’t just cost money. It also costs time, attention, and energy.

If you don’t have clear systems in place, your new hire ends up needing constant direction. Instead of freeing you up, they become another responsibility to manage.

The Overhiring Trap

I see this especially with solopreneurs who are already making good money. They assume the next step is building a “real team,” so they start stacking on contractors and specialists.

Before they know it, they’re making $30K a month and only keeping a small fraction of it. That’s not growth, that’s a very expensive version of burnout.

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Why You Should Consider Hiring Unpaid Interns Instead

A Smarter Entry Point to Delegation

When you hire unpaid interns, you create a lower-risk way to start delegating. You’re not committing to payroll, and you’re not locked into long-term contracts.

This gives you space to experiment, refine your systems, and figure out what actually needs to be delegated.

Building Systems Before Scaling Costs

One of the biggest advantages of using interns is that it forces you to get your processes together. You can’t rely on someone else’s expertise to fill in the gaps.

Instead, you have to define:

• What needs to be done
• How it should be done
• What “done well” actually looks like

That clarity becomes incredibly valuable when you eventually bring on paid team members.

Protecting Your Profit Margins

If your goal is to grow your business and keep more of what you earn, this approach matters. Interns allow you to get support without immediately increasing your overhead.

That means you can reinvest strategically instead of watching your revenue disappear into expenses.

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The Biggest Mistakes People Make When They Hire Unpaid Interns

Treating Interns Like Free Labor

This is where things go wrong fast. If you bring on interns without structure, they will feel like a burden instead of an asset.

You’ll spend your time trying to find things for them to do, which defeats the entire purpose.

Lack of Clear Roles

One of the biggest shifts Brittany teaches is defining specific roles. Interns shouldn’t be “general help.”

They should be applying for a clearly defined position with specific responsibilities.

No Training Process

If you don’t have a repeatable training process, you’ll end up hand-holding constantly. That’s what makes internships feel draining.

A simple, structured onboarding system eliminates most of that friction.

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How to Successfully Hire Unpaid Interns

Step 1: Define a Specific Role

Before you hire unpaid interns, get clear on what they will actually be doing. This should not change week to week.

Consistency is what allows them to improve and become efficient.

Example Roles

• Blog content repurposing
• Podcast research
• Social media scheduling
• Inbox management
• Pinterest or SEO support

The more specific the role, the easier it is to train.

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Step 2: Create a Repeatable Process

What This Looks Like

• Step-by-step instructions
• Clear expectations
• Defined deliverables

You don’t need a complicated system. You just need something consistent.

Why It Matters

A repeatable process removes guesswork for both you and the intern. It also makes onboarding future interns much easier.

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Step 3: Set Clear Expectations

Interns should know exactly:

• What they’re responsible for
• How to track their work
• What quality looks like

When expectations are vague, performance suffers.

When expectations are clear, confidence increases.

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Step 4: Build a Simple Training System

You don’t need to spend hours training every week. Most of this can be done upfront.

Practical Tips

• Record short Loom videos
• Use templates
• Provide examples of completed work

This allows interns to self-correct instead of constantly asking questions.

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Step 5: Use a Trial and Evaluation Period

Brittany uses a four-week evaluation process, which is incredibly smart. It gives both sides a chance to assess fit.

This prevents long-term misalignment and keeps standards high.

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What Tasks Should You Delegate to Interns?

Tasks That Do Not Require High-Level Expertise

Most of the tasks in your business fall into this category. They are important, but they don’t require years of experience.

Examples include:

• Repurposing content
• Formatting blogs
• Research
• Administrative support

Tasks That Benefit from Repetition

When someone does the same task repeatedly, they get faster and better at it. In many cases, they’ll outperform you.

This is especially true for:

• Content formatting
• Scheduling
• Data organization

Tasks Outside Your Zone of Genius

If you find yourself procrastinating or overthinking a task, it’s a great candidate for delegation.

Interns often enjoy the things you avoid.

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What Do Interns Actually Get Out of This?

Skill Development

Interns are not just looking for money. They’re looking for experience.

When you hire unpaid interns, you’re giving them:

• Real-world business exposure
• Practical skill development
• Portfolio-building opportunities

Mentorship and Access

Many interns want access to someone who is ahead of them. They want to see how a business actually runs behind the scenes.

This is something they cannot get from a classroom.

Career Advancement

Internships can lead to:

• Job opportunities
• Strong recommendations
• Better career positioning

For the right person, this is far more valuable than short-term pay.

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How Hiring Unpaid Interns Can Lead to Paid Team Members

A Built-In Talent Pipeline

One of the biggest advantages of this model is that your best interns can become future hires.

By the time they transition into a paid role:

• They already know your systems
• They understand your expectations
• They require minimal training

Reducing Hiring Risk

Hiring someone cold is always a risk. Internships allow you to evaluate performance over time.

You’re not guessing. You’re making informed decisions.

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When You Should Not Hire Unpaid Interns

When You Have No Time to Set Up Systems

If you are completely overwhelmed and unwilling to create structure, this approach will not work.

Interns require upfront clarity.

When the Task Requires Specialized Expertise

Some tasks are not appropriate for interns. For example:

• Legal work
• Advanced strategy
• Highly technical roles

In those cases, hiring a specialist makes more sense.

 

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How This Strategy Improves Your Business Long-Term

You Become a Better CEO

Delegation is not just about getting help. It’s about learning how to lead.

When you hire unpaid interns, you’re forced to:

• Communicate clearly
• Build systems
• Think strategically

Your Business Becomes More Scalable

A business that relies entirely on you is not scalable. Interns help you start building infrastructure.

That foundation makes future growth much easier.

You Break the “I Have to Do Everything” Mindset

One of the biggest shifts is realizing that you don’t need to do everything yourself. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Delegation is what allows your business to grow beyond your personal capacity.

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Conclusion

If hiring a team has felt overwhelming, expensive, or just not worth it, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’ve just been following a model that doesn’t always work for solopreneurs.

Learning how to hire unpaid interns gives you a different path forward. It allows you to get support, build systems, and grow your business without sacrificing your profit margins.

You don’t have to jump straight into expensive hires to get out of the weeds. You just need a smarter approach to delegation.

Start small. Get clear on one role. Build one simple system.

Then let that be the foundation for everything that comes next.

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