From Stuck to Scaling: Building a Business That Fits Your Life | Kristi Chaves

In this episode of Small Business Pivots, host Michael D. Morrison, Founder & CEO of BOSS, sits down with Kristi Chaves, a seasoned business coach with over 11 years of experience helping service-based entrepreneurs grow and scale online the non-conventional way.

Kristi shares her journey of building her business organically without the “corporate safety net,” focusing on client retention, transformational coaching, and marketing that plays to your strengths. From overcoming mindset blocks to designing a business that aligns with your lifestyle, Kristi breaks down what it really takes to scale sustainably—without burnout, rigid rules, or chasing unrealistic revenue promises.

You’ll discover:

• Why clarity about your life vision is the foundation of business growth
• The early mistakes that kept Kristi “stuck” and how she broke through
• The role of mindset, nervous system regulation, and resilience in business success
• How to market to your strengths instead of forcing cookie-cutter strategies
• Practical insights for service-based business owners ready to scale beyond referrals

Whether you’re just starting out or feeling stuck after years in business, this conversation will give you a fresh perspective on creating a business that not only makes money but also supports the lifestyle you truly want.

📌 Small Business Pivots is ranked in the Top 10% of podcasts globally. Subscribe now for authentic conversations with entrepreneurs and experts who know the struggles and share the solutions.

Kristi Chaves: Business Coach

Website: https://kristichaves.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kristichaves/

 #SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth #BusinessCoaching #KristiChaves #SmallBusinessPivots #MichaelDMorrison #BOSS #BusinessOwnershipSimplified #ServiceBasedBusiness #ScalingBusiness #MindsetMatters #EntrepreneurMindset #OnlineBusinessCoach #BusinessStrategy #BusinessLoansWithSupport #GrowYourBusiness #CoachingForEntrepreneurs #WestCoastBusinessCoach 

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Christy: Coach for Service Providers
• 5:40 Design Your Business Around Your Life
• 10:20 Overcoming Business Mindset Challenges
• 17:12 Somatic Coaching: Body-Mind Connection
• 22:00 Finding Time to Scale Your Business
• 30:36 The CEO Mindset: Innovating and Visioning
• 34:40 Business Success Through Seasonal Thinking

Transcript

Host: 0:00

All right. Welcome to another Small Business Pivots. Today we have another special guest from around the world on the West Coast, is where she's coming to us from today. But we all know no one but the business owner can introduce themselves and their business like the business owner. So we let you have the stage and tell us what you want us to hear.

Guest: 0:23

I love it. That is so great. I'm Christy. I'm so happy to be here. And I am a business coach, and I specifically help service-based providers to grow and scale their business online, the non-conventional way, though. My background is I've been a coach for over 11 years. I've never had a corporate job. I've never had a normal job in that sense. So all I know is coaching and entrepreneurship, which I actually think is so incredibly helpful because I just I never had that back door. And I've been able to scale up my coaching business super organically, a lot through client retention, creating really great experiences for clients and always kind of being a step ahead of where the industry is going and really creating marketing that speaks to your strengths. So that's like what I specialize in. And I'm super passionate about it. I love it. I love what I do every single day.

Host: 1:19

Well, it shows. And so for our listeners, I encourage you to buckle up because you have two coaches on the show today. So, but let's introduce the show real quick and we'll be right back. Welcome to Small Business Pivots, a podcast produced for small business owners. I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of Boss, where we make business ownership simplified for success. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at Business Ownership Simplified.com. All right, welcome back to Small Business Pivots from coach to coach. Thank you for being on our show today because small business owners are struggling, right? And so we have a lot of people that's read the big, popular, famous books. But before they read the books, we all grew up. And I know you grew up as a child. Many of us maybe had trials and tribulations. Some of us had a fantastic life. I cannot resonate with that kind, but some of us did. But was there anything challenging that you grew up with? Because small business owners, a lot of times it's their head, that thing between their ears that holds them back. Anything like that that you had to overcome so people can kind of relate to your topic?

Guest: 2:45

Yeah. So I actually have a really unique background in the sense of both my parents were entrepreneurs and both of them were coaches. So I actually grew up. So I would love to, I always am transparent in that. Like I didn't grow up in a typical way, in the sense of because I always saw parents who were coaching and, you know, doing their businesses. But it's like it comes with anyone who has a business, right? Knows it comes with ups and downs. And it comes with so many shifts and so many changes. And I think being in that environment as a kid was absolutely amazing. But also it's like, it wasn't just like this ever consistency ever of anything. It wasn't a consistency of this is how the business is gonna go. This is how the parents are gonna be. But it did really come with a lot of exposing me to a world of constantly breaking free of my own mindset and my own way of seeing things. I actually went to my mom has a meditation leadership movement business still now of over 55 years.

Host: 3:54

Wow.

Guest: 3:54

So it's wild. Yeah. I so that I went to workshops when I was like 13 years old. So I actually grew up going to personal development workshops with oftentimes people triple my age, and I just sat there in misery, but I'm so grateful for it now. Yeah. It changed my life.

Host: 4:15

That's that's funny. I don't know why I'm really sharing this, other than just maybe a proud dad moment. But my son, my oldest son, he's in his 20s now, but he had to go through the same thing you did. And I always wondered if he'd like ever catch on to anything I was saying, right? So because you you said just a second ago, you were sitting there in misery listening to this and that. Well, uh, not too long ago, I went to his where he lives, and in one of his rooms, he had these poster boards with almost every quote I've said for his entire life up on the wall. I was like, okay, he was listening, so it did work. Yes. So I can relate. I was your parents, and you're my son.

Guest: 4:56

Exactly. It does work. It's funny. It's just like it you are so impacted, and even you can resist, resist, resist, resist. But I think about it now, and so many of the things that I teach in business, when I take a step back, I go, Oh my gosh, those are everything my parents modeled to me and things that I liked and things that I didn't like, but they're, you know, we're so impacted by that.

Host: 5:19

Absolutely, absolutely. So, well, let's talk about how you coach because I'm looking at your website and it says uh the transformational business immersion that help you scale to $100,000 plus without burnout, rigid rules, et cetera, et cetera. So the thing that really caught my attention was you have a manageable number. A lot of these coaches, like, let's scale to the millions, and you know, it's this big number that most business owners can't even relate to or fathom. Like, I'll never get there. I can't even make payroll this week. So what are some of the first steps that business owners or listeners need to hear from you?

Guest: 5:58

Yeah, I think that the biggest thing, that is the biggest thing. I think everybody learns from these like really big business owners, like you're Alex Hermozzi, your big guy, you know, and it's awesome. But if you don't master the basics and you don't master also what your business needs and where your what your skill sets are. So something that's very different in the way that I coach is I'm very big about people designing a business model first off of the life that they actually want. And I think a lot of people do this in reverse. They go after the money and they go after what they think will be nice, you know? And I think that the the biggest thing is that it's actually you actually really need to think about, and this is something I was really intentional about is thinking about like, what do I want my life to look like in five to 10 years? And what is a business model that fits into that? You know, and I think that that's something that I'm very I'm I really start with all my clients with is really making sure that we have a model for a business that is gonna give you that life that you want long term. And then we look at the sales and the marketing and the offers and everything. But I would say that's honestly like the first thing that I look at because I see so many people build businesses that eventually they hate and they don't like because it's not it's not giving them the actual lifestyle that they wanted long term.

Host: 7:29

Yeah, that is powerful because with the clients that we work with, or even those that that we don't that I feel are successful, when I ask them what's your favorite part about owning a business, I don't recall any of them saying money. It was all it was always the freedom.

Guest: 7:45

Yeah.

Host: 7:46

And so starting with, you know, what do you want in life versus trying to chase a number? Uh for most people, that doesn't work, like you said. So that's that's pretty powerful. So we've established a business model, then kind of where do you go from there?

Guest: 8:01

Yeah. So the first thing I do is I identify the lifestyle and then the model. And then the biggest thing is really making sure that every business owner is really building out a style of business marketing. And I think you really need to market and build out the foundation to your strengths, right? So so much of being a business owner, honestly, is being bad at things. So much of it. You're not good at things because you're learning. And I think it's this illusion in business that people don't realize until you're in it. And I feel that once you get further along in business, you realize, oh, I'm just not ever going to be an expert at everything in my business. And that's the whole point, right? The whole point of entrepreneurship is to innovate, is to think creatively, is to be ahead of the curve. When something's not working, how do you problem solve it? And I think though, in marketing, and when you're especially when you're starting, like do as many things to your strengths as you can because there's so much that you're doing that isn't your strength, you know, and that you are learning. And I think that that's something that's really important to be able to self-identify is know what you are really good at in business? What are things that just come naturally to you? Maybe it's the people, maybe it's the marketing. It matters what your business is. And then look at how do I build my skill set in specific areas. And I really like the word skill set because it is saying you're not supposed to know how to do it. And it's literally a skill building that you have to put in the reps and the practice of getting better at. And that is literally the only way. No book or podcast is ever going to outdo what repetition and just practice is going to give you.

Host: 9:47

So we're kind of talking about the early phase of business. And unfortunately, I know a lot of business owners that are stuck there and they're probably a decade old, right? Never got past that startup phase. What were some of the things that you learned in your own business? So it's easy for us to say, here's how we do it. And then do we do it? Not always. We try to follow the practice, but we run into obstacles. What were some things that you ran into so we can really be authentic and honest about, hey, business owner, you're not the only one going through this?

Guest: 10:19

Yeah, totally. So I so I started actually coaching when I was 21 years old, which is wild. I had someone approach me when I was in college and said, Hey, can you teach my son what you've done? You're so confident, you're doing well in school, you have a really balanced life. Like, can you teach him? And I had no idea what I was doing. Clearly, I was 21 years old. Yeah. Uh that was yes. I said yes. Never one of business say yes, especially in the early stage. And so what ended up happening is that I naturally started one person started referring to the next to the next. And the next thing I knew is I had clients, which was awesome. It was amazing. I had different clients from referrals. But what I realized though is I don't actually really have a business that I'm in charge of. I just have a business that if a referral comes in, cool, I'm lucky. And if my clients stay, amazing. But I don't have any charge really over my business. And I think that that was the biggest, honestly, realization. And I'm just gonna say it like slap in the face of reality, like thinking that I had so much together in my business, but I had no marketing, I had no presence online or offline, I wasn't doing anything to bring sales in. So, in some ways, it was amazing because I had clients, but I didn't actually really have a business. And so when I really went to go, okay, I'm gonna learn online marketing, I'm gonna learn this thing that I see people doing. It was such a massive ego hit to go from having clients to it was like I felt like a master at coaching, but then I came over to learn online marketing and I was like, I'm a baby and I know nothing. And I actually am so like I not doing well because I didn't know and I was learning. So I honestly think that was one of the hardest things to navigate was these dualities of confidence and then realizing I'm going in the online space and learning about social media, email marketing, funnels, all these things. And I'm like, I don't know how to do any of it, and I feel like a complete failure in it. And um, luckily we learned and we put in a lot of reps.

Host: 12:40

Yeah, I bet you did. So I don't know if you were blessed enough with those clients to be able to afford outside services, but a lot of business owners they can't. So, what kind of advice or insights do you have for those where they're like, I know I need to do marketing and I know I need to hire an accountant, but the funds just aren't there, and everybody keeps saying, well, go get more sales. And I'm like, you know, so they they had this balancing act of what's most important.

Guest: 13:07

Totally. Yeah, and just to say, I didn't hire someone to help me with marketing, like my social media or anything until a couple years ago. So it was definitely doable on your own. And obviously, it's nice when you have the funds to hire out. It's definitely one of the fastest ways to scaling is hiring. But I would say that the biggest thing is just identifying, you know, there's a lot of this is what did help me because of my upbringing. So I watched my mom build her business from word of mouth. No online marketing, no nothing. And in some ways, I think it really exposed me to the real foundational roots of business and of entrepreneurship that gets very out, like is not very talked about in the online space. There's so much noise of what you should do, and so many different philosophies on this funnel and this way, and this is how you generate sales and get your ads going and do it this way. And and I think in some ways, because I watch my mom just literally go, I need a good product, right? I need a good offer, I need to be have like a my business has a mission. I need to be able to talk about it everywhere I go. I need to invite people to it, I need to give them a good experience and then do it all over again. And really, when you think about business, that's what it is. And so I would say if you don't have all of the marketing and budget, it's really dialing in, like, where are the opportunities right below your nose that you're not taking because you don't even you think you need more together. And I think that's the thing is, and so much time clients come to me and they're like, I need this together or my website or this. I'm like, no, you don't go get some clients, then let's build out that website. Like, I don't even let clients touch a website until they're already full with their with their client load. Because I said, You don't even know what you're talking about, you don't know what you're saying, it's going to change. So you're gonna spend all this money on copy that isn't even gonna be what you am.

Host: 15:13

Amen. And well, and to your point, for those that are listening, if you are in that scenario, something that I learned to piggyback on is if you think about the time, so you could spend hours learning how to build a website and do all the copy. And first of all, like you said, you're never gonna get it right. You just started. But secondly, uh all the hours that's spent, or you can go have a coffee with someone in an hour and at the end they can say, Where do I sign up? Yeah, right, to build those clients out. So that's a very valid point as far as pick your time wisely, right? What may be right underneath your nose.

Guest: 15:55

Totally. Absolutely.

Host: 15:56

Yeah. So uh what else? What else do we have here as far as business owners that are stuck? Because most of our listeners are probably stuck in their business, overwhelmed, working lots of hours a day, doing all the different hats. What else do you have for us?

Guest: 16:15

So I think one of the biggest things is also being able to really separate out your emotions about your business and the facts of what is needed in the business. So, one of the things that has helped me so much because my background is in more transformational mindset coaching, I have a ton of experience with basically helping people break through the way that they're seeing things. Cause I just want to say it, your success in business comes down to how you see it and comes down to the actions you take will dictate based off of the way you're thinking about your business and the way you're thinking really about yourself. And so that is why a lot of success in business also comes from you being able to master having your emotions, having your feelings, having all the things, but separating that from what is actually happening in the business. And I will say, I think that this is what keeps a lot of people stuck is that you aren't focused on the areas of your business that are actually needed because likely you're triggered by it, you're avoiding it unconsciously. Unconsciously, you've already decided you're gonna fail at it. So you're already trying a different tactic to distract yourself from the one that you don't even know if is gonna work. And so I think one of the biggest things is really honestly becoming a master of yourself, your nervous system, your mind, your emotions, and your actions is everything. And you can learn that through podcasts, through books, through all of it. Like you do not need to go take a program. I mean, obviously working with someone is very helpful, but you don't need to. And it really is this because I think a lot of times, especially when you're stuck, you're identifying, you see everything through the lens of stuckness, what's not working, what's not sticking the way that you want it to. And it's going to mold the way that you move. Instead of really business is about having all of the emotions you're having about everything in life, your life, your business, all of it. And it's about being able to actually identify what area of my business actually is stuck and what is actually needed. And am I doing the thing that is actually needed to make myself not stuck? And and really in that mindset, also, you know, I grew up with this philosophy that has always been ingrained in me is there's always three solutions to every problem. And what that always taught me in life is there's always solutions. So if I do not see the solution, I am not looking hard enough, I'm not opening my mind enough, and I am not open to the possibilities that are around me. And I think that way of thinking has helped me so much in business because every time when I've been stuck in business, I right away go into, okay, what is the circumstance? What are what are our avenues that we can take? Is it budget? Is it this? Is it leads? And then how can I, what is the best step for me to take from here? But it's really important to work with your own psychology as you're running a business because if not, you will make really expensive mistakes, honestly.

Host: 19:27

Yeah. Yeah. True story from experience. I've made plenty of those. So I also I also tell clients, I say, the the investment you're making on coaching actually cost me like a billion times more, you know, because I'm teaching you what not to do more than I am what to do. So on the mindset. So the two things I love in life are coaching businesses, helping businesses, but then also neuroscience mindset. I just dig that stuff. So any insights tips on that, because that is so huge. And you've made a very valid point. We work with uh business owners that come to us and they think, well, I got a sales problem and I got this and I got that. And it's like two-thirds of the people we end up working with, we end up going into their between their ears, their heads. Everything you said, I was like thinking of this business owner and that business owner. I'm like, you don't have a business problem, you have an up here problem. Any insights that you can give that you know that could help someone if they've never experienced or gone through any kind of stuff?

Guest: 20:40

So uh I'll take it a layer deeper, even. So my background is in a lot of semantics.

Host: 20:47

You're listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is produced by my company, Boss. Our business is helping yours grow. Boss offers business loans with business coaching support. Apply in minutes and get approved and funded in as little as twenty four to forty-eight hours at business ownership simplified.com. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. Now let's get back to our special guest. Everything you said, I was like thinking of this business owner and that business owner. I'm like, you don't have a business problem, you have an up here problem. Any insights that you can give that you know that could help someone if they've never experienced or gone through any kind of musical stuff?

Guest: 21:34

So uh I'll take it a layer deeper even. So my background is in a lot of somatic coaching. So soma is your body, and your nervous system is in your body. So actually, it doesn't just start in the mind, it actually starts in your physical body and your nervous system, and our thoughts are generated from our nervous system. And so a lot of what I do is help people in being able to become a master and really to attune to what's happening in your body before the thoughts even get triggered, right? So a lot of your entire subconscious and unconscious is happening in your body. So that means thoughts you're having about what you can't do or things that you've been triggered up from your past that are being projected onto this business experience that you don't even know you're doing, lives in your body. And our sensations and tenseness, like if you've ever experienced your tight being your chest being tight or that feeling in your belly, that is literally your body being like, hi, I am trying to yell at you, but this is my version of trying to get your attention. And if you learn how to tune into your body and go, there's actually an emotion, there's actually a thought tied to every physical sensation that we're having. And when you can learn to attune to, you know, even before I go to do something in business, and sometimes I'll have that feeling. I tune in, like, is it fear? Have I already decided that I'm scared that I'm not going to be successful? Or am I excited? Or is it what is actually going on? Or is it triggering up an experience that I had, you know, from I had this example that comes up all the time when I was in like seventh grade. And it it's it's the same experience, but yet it is impacting how I move in my business because I lived it. So I think that one, it's really learning how to not just be attuned to your thoughts, but also really how to attune to your body and the sensations that you're having in your body and the emotions you're having in your body. And really what it comes down to is not avoiding it. Like I think so much of society and even positive thinking is still an avoidance of what you're feeling. And anything you avoid controls. So that's why for me, right away, even I was on a client session right before this, and you know, he's in real estate and he was talking about feeling frustrated. And when we really, I was like, where is it? Let's go into it. And what was it? It was like, oh, I'm scared I'm gonna fail at this. That that's what was underneath the frustration. It wasn't frustration, it was a fear. And a lot of times in business, a lot of the time it is a fear of some deeper fear is living there. And if you don't face it head on, it will drive the actions you take unconsciously.

Host: 24:30

So, with that being said, do you think that's why a lot of business owners procrastinate because they don't have a way forward? There's something holding them back. So it's not really procrastination, it's more about uncomfortableness. And so I'll just find something easier to do because that's what business owners do.

Guest: 24:49

Exactly. And what and really what it is, it's avoidance of stretching their nervous system capacity to not be good at something, right? So a lot of us, that's why actually just to say, you see a lot of athletes or people who are really diligent in fitness actually really successful in business. And I think there's a very strong correlation. They have the nervous system capacity to not be good at something and to put in the reps and do it anyways and overcome that level of resistance. And that's why you see, I see it happen all the time, especially in the coaching space. I cannot even tell you how many people who are like uh who did shows and did fitness shows and all these different things or trainers now are super successful in the coaching industry. And it's because they have the nervous system capacity to be with the discomfort of not being good at something, potentially failing at something, and staying with that level of discomfort somatically and then doing the action. And that's where I do think it's about building your capacity for discomfort of not being good at something and not lowering your bar because you're not good at something.

Host: 25:58

Yeah, that's well, well said. What do you think are some of the essentials? We've kind of talked about the the startup part of the business model and all those things, and a little bit about the mindset. But you know, for those of us that get stuck, so we've done all the right things, but we're just literally stuck. What are some of those things that can get people unstuck? In other words, uh most of the time it's because they've ran out of time and they don't know how to delegate and they're just trying to do everything. But I hear business owners all the time, this all sounds good. I know I can scale, but I don't have time to spend on anything else other than my day-to-day.

Guest: 26:39

Yeah, that is a great question. I mean, I think I know, right?

Host: 26:44

I get it all the time.

Guest: 26:46

Yeah.

Host: 26:46

Like you're just giving me busy work, and I'm like, I don't have time to do it. And I'm like, well, you got to find time somehow.

Guest: 26:52

Yeah. Well, and I think to your point, kind of like what I was talking about, is number one is you have to look at if you feel like you don't have time and you feel stuck and you want to scale, you have to look at how you need to find a way in your mind that there's a solution to scaling with your current reality. And if you don't see it, it's not gonna happen, right? If all you're seeing, I don't have time, yeah, you don't have time because that's how you're seeing life, right? It's like you're creating your thinking, you know? And so really being a business owner is constantly expanding your reality to a solution orientation. And there is a solution, and I can find the solution. So I would say number one is like you gotta change the way and hold space that there is a way that you can do everything, and you just probably are not looking at it in a way where there is time for those different things, or maybe there is a solution, or maybe there is someone who can take something off your plate in your personal life that you didn't even realize is taking away from your business. And I will just name that like that that has been so huge for me, especially as a mom and a business owner, to really not just delegate in the business, delegate in my life. Like anything that is not that I don't need to be doing, that is the secret to scaling. I delegate. And I just to be very clear, don't spend a lot of money on health in my life or in my business. It's simple. Um, but I think that that is that that's one thing is like changing the perception of how you're seeing it. And you have to see that there's time for everything. And then I think it's also, you know, in business, a lot of it is phases, right? You go through phases and sometimes it is phases of like, I know I want to scale. And because of where I'm currently at, I do need to put in more time right now to just get myself to that next step, or I need to move things around in my life. And I think, you know, a lot of people who, again, luckily I do not come from a corporate job, so I don't know what a nine to five is like at all. Um, but I think a lot of times business owners can get caught in like a clock in, clock out frame of thinking, or just, oh, I don't have time. It's like the way I think of my time is I have seven days a week to live my life. Seven days a week to live my life. Work, mothering, wifing, selfing, enjoying myself at the beach. I have seven days. I have 24 hours a day. How do I want to choose to use those 24 hours for that week? Is how I look at it. I do not set a this is my schedule. Every season of business of life requires something differently. And I think it's also making that decision about, hey, if you want to scale up, do you need to change things in your personal life to work for the to set things up for the next level? And it's not working a ton of hours. I found it's actually knowing what to work on.

Host: 29:43

Yeah. That just I'm sitting here thinking of people in my head that have that can relate to this. Cause I'm like, it's you're basically, or I guess an analogy would be that taking ourselves to our younger selves when we didn't have money. If you still don't have money, you can relate to it now. But when you didn't have money and you had to save 400 or come up with 400 bucks a month, what do you do? You go look and see, well, I can get rid of Netflix, I can get rid of this and this. And that's what you're talking about. It's like if you want it bad enough, you can find the time. Just go delight, just you know, remove and maneuver responsibilities and things like that. So that's that's real powerful. So when we um get to this scaling section, and I know this is real hard for business owners as well, because we talk about the word scale. Well, as a business owner scales, we're not this little business owner anymore, right? We're leading an organization. So that's a trans transformation in itself. What do business owners that are now I would consider CEOs, regardless how we want to use the term, what should they be working on? Like once once we're out of the business and we're working on the business, one of the questions I'm always asked, in other words, is what am I gonna do if I'm not working in the business? Do you have any tips or insider information?

Guest: 31:09

I would say number one, you know, your job as a CEO is to be innovating. You know, your job is to innovate into vision and to see, like always be aware of the next evolution of where things are going because business is always changing, also, just to say. And so your job is to like be in that creative space. And that's why I really think CEOs need space to be creative. Like if you're always in the business, you can never step outside to see a bigger vision of what's possible for the business if you're just in the day to day. All you you're just gonna see the reality of the day to day, which isn't that just to say in my business, I do coaching. I coach and I run the business. I do both, right? So I'm in the business and I work on the business, but it's still I it's very scalable, right? And my job is constantly innovating, seeing how I can innovate my programs, the vision, where I'm going in my business. That is my job. And I think that that is number one. And then the other thing is also, you know, as a CEO, is being aware and managing all the different elements of business, all the different facets. And like your job almost is like always making sure that everything is like running like a well-oiled machine. And if it's not, your job is to manage it and to get it working well or look at what's needed, but like it's looking at it from a different perspective. I think it's really different. You know, I think of like a bird, a bird looking down at a town or a house. You have a bird's eye view on the town or the house. And that's really what CEOs are designed to do. They see ahead, they see below. You can catch things, but it's not being in it that you're limiting your viewpoint of how vast the vision gets to be.

Host: 32:55

Yeah. So do you own other businesses or are just the coaching?

Guest: 33:00

Just the coaching. Just coaching is my show.

Host: 33:02

That's enough.

Guest: 33:03

That is enough. That is enough for what I love to do and when I what I want to like, it's just my mission and my heart to do more of it.

Host: 33:12

Now, you and I uh well, I've been a coach or owned businesses for almost three decades as of this show. But how does a business owner, because you mentioned something I forgot about? Business owners, like you said, think of time. So like I need to be at the office at eight, I need to work to at least five, and then I need to do how does one overcome like I can't fathom that kind of mindset because I I use I do work-life integration instead of work-life balance. So, like if I go early in the afternoon to a kid's function at his school, he knows that I'm trading that time for maybe having to do something in the evening. So, but I'm still with him. But I am present at all times. I don't just go to go. But how can one flip that mindset? And you may not know since you weren't in the corporate world, but how can one flip that mindset of thinking like I have to be in the office by eight o'clock? Cause that's when you're supposed to be at work.

Guest: 34:10

Yeah. Well, I think actually one of the biggest things that helped me, because even when I started in my career, I was coaching more like normal business hours, and I was filled with one-on-one coaching. But now I run a lot of group programs, masterminds. And so I don't have that many calls on my calendar. So I work when I want to work. And also, as I said, like I, or we said before, but I have a one-year-old at home. So my life and my time is very different. And I think that really the shift is really seeing your again, it's like you have, let's take a month or a year. I personally really recommend thinking of your business in seasons because really every season of your business, about every quarter, your business might need something differently. It might need more of a more time into it. Maybe you're in a launch period of a product or an offer or something and you're really working on something and it requires more of you, you know? And I think it's not thinking about business as, you know, eight to five, nine to five every single day, but it's really looking at the longevity of the year. And something I'm very big about with all my clients. I always say, plug in all of your personal life things first, like personal life, vacations, family, put that in first. Make work work around it. But if you don't plan for it, then you will be in that push-pull between your personal life and work. And so I really think that it is that notion of like really looking at the season. Like, am I in a growth season? Am I in a maintenance season? And then instead of thinking about time, think what is required to get done in the season. And then where does my time need to go based off of that? Because yeah, same for me. Sometimes I will work at 7 a.m. and I have Fridays off with my daughter. And, you know, I have limited child care, but I can get my whole business running and it's totally fine. So I think it's just a different way of yeah, thinking about it.

Host: 36:14

Absolutely. Was there anything that I haven't asked that you're like, I really want to talk about this?

Guest: 36:22

I mean, I would say that the biggest thing is just like anywhere that you are in the stuckness, is that there is a solution. And business is really simple. As complicated as it feels, it is actually insanely simple. And if you're not seeing the simplicity of your path, it's also likely that you're thinking about it in ways and stressing about it and creating a lot of extra anxiety internally that's going to limit your ability to see the simplicity of a business because it really is like a well-oiled machine. And when all the pieces are in place, it runs well. And then one breaks and you fix it, and then another. And it's just, I think also the other thing is you're, you know, someone said this, and I love this quote is like you're in the business of problem solving. You're always gonna have a problem in the business. So anywhere you have an illusion that it's just all gonna be running perfectly, it doesn't exist. But that's part of the fun. And if you orient to like, oh, it's fun, I what's our next problem we get to solve in the business? And how do we have fun and innovate and creative? You're gonna enjoy the process because it really is about the process of your life and your business that makes it enjoyable, not oh, I hit X amount income in the business. That's great. They those moments live for five seconds, 10 seconds, maybe an evening, if that. And the next day you have a business run.

Host: 37:46

Yeah. Well, for our listeners, just for confirmation of what you said, you said business is simple, right? Well, for those watching the video, our company name is Boss Business Ownership Simplified. So you have two business coaches here saying it is simpler than what we're making it out to be. And so that is the value of a coach. How would someone get a hold of you?

Guest: 38:13

You think the best way is you can come over to my Instagram. That is the main way that I connect to people, and you can just say you listen to podcast episodes, say hello. I have lots of different things I can share with you there. And yeah, would love, would love to hear from you.

Host: 38:28

Are you on LinkedIn at all?

Guest: 38:30

I'm not on LinkedIn. I am a simple gal just on Instagram. That's it.

Host: 38:34

Keep it simple. Keep it simple.

Guest: 38:36

Well, yes.

Host: 38:38

Uh, so if you're in a room of business owners, I always follow up with this question, and they could be all seasons, different industries. What's one thing that would be applicable to all of them, no matter where they're at in their business? In other words, it could be a quote, a book, just one final tip.

Guest: 38:58

I would say the thing that would be applicable to all of them is yeah, really knowing what you want for your life. I said it in the beginning, but it really applies every stage. Knowing what you want your life to look like and making sure that you're building a business consistently to that.

Host: 39:21

Clarity equals confidence. So you gotta have the clarity first, or you're always gonna be struggling. Well said. Christy, appreciate you sharing your insights with our listeners and me today. I wish you continued success.

Guest: 39:37

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Host: 39:39

My pleasure. Thank you for listening to Small Business Pivots. This podcast is created and produced by my company, Boss. Our business is growing yours. Boss offers flexible business loans with business coaching support. Apply a minute and get approved and funded in as little as 24 to 48 hours at business ownership simplified.com. If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the subscribe button and share it as well. If you need help growing your business, email me at Michael at michaeldemors.com. We'll see you next time on Small Business Pivots.