Today I wanted to share with you my journey from $3K months to my first 6-figure year.
I personally always find it immensely helpful whenever someone shares their story, and I hope in sharing mine it’s helpful to you.
I know many of you have probably heard bits and pieces of it before, but I wanted to lay it all out there like never before so that you can see clearly -- step-by-step -- what the evolution of my business was so that perhaps you can take something useful from it that moves you forward now :-)
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In 2014, I was the typical overworked, under-earning, stressed out entrepreneur. I was running a business in the yoga industry, and the income was sporadic and inconsistent to say the least. Some months I’d make a few thousand dollars, but one month I only brought in $22.50!
At that time, my hero was Gary Vee, who encourages you to hustle, hustle, hustle and work 24/7, all the while sacrificing time with friends and family and for yourself in order to “crush it!”. This left me questioning myself, my business and my ability to succeed. I didn’t want to have to work that hard, but it seemed like that was the only option if I wanted to be successful.
Then I found out I was pregnant with my first daughter. So you know what I did? I hustled even more to build up enough reserve to be able to take 3 months off after her arrival.
She was born in October of that year, and I did my best to not work during my maternity leave and give myself uninterrupted quality time with her.
But a cloud hung over this time as well...How was this possibly going to work once my little paradise of maternity leave was over in a few months?
There was no way I’d be able to go back to the full-time hustle like before. Not only would it have been impossible timewise with an infant to care for, but also I didn’t want my baby daughter’s first impressions of her mom to be a distracted, always-working, stressed out caretaker who was hustling but barely making it. I wanted her to have tons of quality bonding time with me and vice versa.
As I sat with all this, I questioned whether it was even worth going back to my old business at all -- did I really want a business where I was hustling full-time to make what amounted to part-time income?
But I didn’t want to give up on my dream of owning my own successful business one day. Even though I’d just had a baby, I felt there was still something within me that still needed to be born: my vision for what it would be like to run the business I knew I was here to create.
I realized I needed a new plan if I was going to move forward.
I’ve been a left-brained person -- logical and analytic -- from the get-go. I remember clearly in 3rd grade, we got our first agenda book, and it was the highlight of my school year! I loved that I got to pencil in all my homework assignments, afternoon and weekend activities and weekly to-dos and stay on track. (Not to mention I loved crossing things off when they were done!)
I’ve always been the kind of person who can succeed if I trust that I have a strategic plan and workable schedule to follow. When I have a solid plan, it makes me feel anchored and grounded and clear.
For me, structure gives me freedom.
So, towards the end of my 3 month maternity leave, I decided to do what I’ve been doing since that memorable day in 3rd grade when I received my first agenda book:
I pulled out my calendar, and circled the only days that I wanted to work now that my daughter was part of my life: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
I decided, right then and there, that I was going to make this 3-day-a-week business work. It’s the only way it could work for me, because I wanted and needed that extra time for my new baby.
The birth of my 3-Day Workweek...
I analyzed every minute of my previous 5-day workweek logically, slicing and dicing it to see what was unnecessary, what could be batched, what could be delegated and outsourced, and what could be cut.
As soon as I began looking at my old calendar with this mindset (and this commitment to work only 3 days per week), I realized that I had been focusing on a bunch of stuff that didn’t really matter or wouldn’t make me money.
I pulled up a Google Spreadsheet and dragged-and-dropped what was necessary into one of the Tues-Wed-Thurs time slots, and then pressed “DELETE” on everything else.
How to Develop Multiple Streams of Income, To Free Up Your Time and Supercharge Your Earnings
I realized in my previous business (when I was working full-time hours making a part-time income), I was totally trapped in trading hours for dollars. This capped my income at about $3K a month.
I also realized that if I wanted to live the mommy-friendly lifestyle I wanted, then I needed to develop a mix of different income streams.
This meant carving out space regularly to work on projects and new ideas that would grow my business in addition to still having time to work with my on-going clients.
So, I initiated an A/B week schedule. On A weeks, I had all my client sessions, and on B weeks, I my 3 days open and available to work on my business and explore new, exciting opportunities, projects and connections.
Because of this format, I was able to develop new offerings and layer my income with recurring revenue streams. I was also able to strategically plan for growth because all of my time wasn’t getting eaten up for too-little-money!
At the same time, because I had now restricted the number of hours I had available to see private clients, the old rule of “supply and demand” kicked in...
Before my shift to the 3-Day Workweek, I was doing business coaching sessions for $75 per hour. With the limited number of coaching spots available after my switch to the 3-Day Workweek, at that rate I would have only been earning just $1,200 a month from coaching -- barely enough to cover groceries.
That wasn’t going to work!
So, I began reserving my precious few coaching spots for clients who could afford higher investments. My sessions went up to $150 an hour, and then to $200, and then to $375, then $450, then $700, and today my time is valued at over $1000 per hour for one-on-one coaching!
If you’re ready to release the hustle mentality and want to learn how to sustainably scale your business, just as I have done, my 6 Month Mastermind is now open for enrollment.
It’s for women who are having $3-5K months & are ready to 2X-3X their income and scale towards 6-figures in 2019.
If that’s you...apply here.
The Secret of Monday and Friday…
Every day, I feel grateful that I get to help clients make the same profound shifts in their lifestyles and business that I made -- earning far more money, in a much more calm, relaxed and sane workweek.
Full-time income. Part-time hours. Ease galore. Hustle no more :-)
For me, one of the most emotionally-moving reminders of why I do the work I do happens every Monday and Friday.
Because of my 3-Day Workweek, I get to enjoy 4-day weekends (Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday) every single week with my two little daughters and husband.
But the reason Monday and Friday are especially significant is I probably would have rarely seen my girls on those days had I not discovered and made the shifts I’m sharing with you.
When my second daughter arrived in 2017, my 3-Day Workweek lifestyle was well in place, so I got to welcome her into a calm and peaceful home environment, where all her and my needs were taken care of, because I had created the sustainable business systems and workweek structure to do so.
After she was born, I was able to take 4 months off, and because of the systems I had in place, my revenue actually increased 15% that year.
Imagine that… two days of each and every week, Monday and Fridays, for the rest of my daughters’ childhoods -- that they have more access to me and me to them -- that never would have happened otherwise. If you consider that most people only have the weekends with their families, this means that I have 100% more time with them than I would have had, had I kept the old, hectic, stressed-out five-day workweek.
This has made a huge difference in their lives, and in mine.
And I’m so excited to share that difference with you.
Inside my 6 Month Mastermind, which is now open for enrollment, I’ll be sharing the exact strategies and systems I’ve used to move from $3K months to $30K launches and 6-figure years.
I’ve designed this mastermind specifically for women who are having $3-5K months in their business and are ready for their customized path to 6-figures in 2019. You know that the right support, guidance, community and plan will get you there with ease and flow, and you’re looking for that style of support now.
If you’re ready to receive what you need to scale your business to 6-figures while honoring your ideal workweek and lifestyle priorities, welcome home. This mastermind was tailor made for you.
Fill out an interest form here, and we’ll schedule a time to chat soon :-)
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