Avanti Business Academy for Women

There was a time in my business when I didn’t really trust myself to be able to handle more clients and earn more money...even though consciously I was hustling my butt off to create more clients. This mis-alignment created lots of frustration and NO clients. 

I see this often in the women I work with, they say they want more clients but really, they don’t trust themselves to close the sale and fulfill what they promised and it often leads to self-sabotage. 

Not trusting ourselves can also show up like...

• Looking to others in areas where we lack trust in ourselves - like marketing - consuming more content than we are creating b/c we don’t trust that we know what we’re doing
• Looking for approval from others - likes, comments - because we don’t trust our opinion of ourselves or that we are good enough
• Trying to please everyone with our messaging and watering down - we don’t trust the power of our authentic message
• Staying small because we...

“So, what exactly is it that you do?”

I’ve had multiple conversations recently with women that have asked me this question...okay, let’s get real...my husband even asked me this question a couple months back. Seriously?!

CONFESSION: I wanted to put my hands on my proverbial hips and reply “how is it that you don’t know?”

But I didn’t respond that way, luckily, because that’s rude and it’s not their fault they don’t know, it’s MY fault!  It’s MY responsibility to make sure that everyone in my universe knows and understands how I help people.

Sometimes we think we are entitled to everyone paying attention to us and what we’re doing,  what we’re posting, and understand it all. But we’re not!

We are not entitled to anyone’s attention!

In order to build and scale our businesses, it is our responsibility to show up consistently; to be the one standing in front of our one next...

The other day it hit me, trail running is a lot like building a business. We went for a trail run while we were camping near Mt. Rushmore and when we got to the top - where this photo was taken - this is what came to me. 

The first part, of building a business and running a trail in the mountains - the up - is slow going, uphill. It takes focus, determination, putting one foot in front of the other. 

The tendency is to keep your head down and grind but if you take a minute, decide to enjoy the 'up,' look up and look around, you see the beauty all around. You notice the wildflowers blooming, see the snow-covered peaks in the distance and the blue sky and puffy white clouds above. You're going slow enough to see the little forest creatures scurrying around and hear the birds. 

You get to choose...it can be a painful grind, or it can be magical and beautiful...it's the same 'up' either way. 

Once you get to the top - my favorite part - which is not the end goal, but...

We all have a list of ‘shoulds.’ They go something like this…

“I should be posting on social media more.”

“I should be making cold calls.”

“I should be doing Facebook Lives.”

“I should be on Facebook and Instagram and Linked In and Clubhouse (whatever the hell that is).”

Sound familiar?

Guess what all this ‘shoulding’ is doing for you and your business...it is standing in the way of your creativity, your progress, your massive action, your success and all the money and clients you can handle.

Stop the madness!!

This is what I know to be true:

There are a million (actually, probably more!) different ways to grow a successful business and create clients and money. You do not have to do ANY of your marketing ‘shoulds!’ You can just drop them...drop ‘em like it’s hot! Leave them there.

Instead run with all of your might toward those marketing and sales...

So...one thing I did not anticipate being so important in scaling my business is my relationship with myself.

It means everything! A loving relationship with me means I play bigger, I hide less, I step forward and serve and love boldly because I have my own back relentlessly.

This has been tough for me to learn - and something I continue to work on - because I’ve been conditioned to believe that being hard on myself would make me better. But being critical of myself does NOT work to make me better! What works is showing unconditional love to myself.

Why?

When we have a loving relationship with ourselves, we trust ourselves to follow through on the plans and promises that we’ve made.

We trust ourselves to fulfill commitments we make to our families and clients.

We trust ourselves to manage the money we create in our business and make it safe to earn more.

We don’t beat ourselves up over anything but rather ask “what would love say?”

We make strong...

We all get caught up in rushing sometimes as we’re scaling our business. We want to get ‘there’ faster!

But rushing slows your progress.

Hustling is standing in your way of building the business you envision.

Rushing keeps you in your head, not thinking about how to better serve your clients. It squashes your creativity. It keeps you focused on what you’re lacking and where you’re inadequate.

Scaling a business successfully does not require rushing or hustling, it requires you to have a vision, a plan, and deliberate, focused action and mindset.

If scaling your business without rushing around, hustling, getting burnt out and feeling no closer to your Big Goal sounds good to you, I can help you.

Together, in one conversation, we can slow down, talk about your plan to scale up, look for evidence of all the abundance of what you have right now, right here, right in front of you. This is how opportunities open up to you.

Remember, the...

Marketing does not create clients.

Value creates clients.

Value comes from thinking about how we can help our clients get what they want with more ease.

Our minds like to complicate this concept and tell us that the more marketing 'things' we do, the more clients we'll have.

It's simply not true. Marketing can be much more simple and fun.

Marketing is just how we spread our message out to the world, offer value ahead of time, and serve those that will become our clients.

So, next time Marketing feels heavy and hard, simply ask yourself..."what is the message that will make it easier (and more fun!) for my clients to get what they truly want?"

Then go spread that message in fun, where it's fun for you.

I've built a six-figure coaching business marketing this way - well mostly...my mind still likes to convince me I need to complicate things. If you would like to really understand deeply the value that you bring to your clients and build your marketing and sales around this kind of ...

“It is possible…”

That’s all you have to believe... no matter how small the kernel, all you need is that teeny seed of belief that you can build the business of your dreams and then to act upon it.

Even one tiny action.

Bible says, faith without works is dead. For me, this means I first believe - even when there’s no evidence - and then take action on that belief to grow my business.

So, if you believe it’s possible for you and you’re willing to figure it out, then I know it is possible.

Take my business as an example, at the beginning of 2020 I had 2 clients; this time last year, by the end of Q1, I had 4. By the end of 2020 I had created 13 clients and tripled the size of my business, in pandemic, schooling kids at home, husband traveling, yada, yada.

This year my growth will again be exponential!

How’d I do it? I kept that seed of belief, nurtured it, let it grow and kept acting on it.

I tell you this story because I believe 100...

The audience, the network you have right now is enough for you to get fully booked!

Thinking your audience isn't big enough, you need to meet more people, do more things, write more, post more, go Live more, in more places feels like crap and keeps you stuck!

Of course we feel this way with all the podcasts, courses, videos, and experts always telling us we need to do more, be more, get more.

The truth is...when we focus on what we are lacking we don’t see all those that are already right here showing up for us. 

We judge our audience as 'too small,' and forget they are NOT just numbers, they are people. People that we can serve! They are all beautiful people and opportunities to uplevel that are already here with us now, right in front of us.

Making this shift is something that as a coach, I help my clients with every day. It's a small shift, but one with a huge impact. 

So, think about how you want to show up for those that...

It took me forever to finally realize that I know how to make money. 

My coach had been telling me this for months but I didn't believe her. I just kept on listening to the thoughts my mind was offering that I don’t know what I’m doing, everyone else has the answers but me, and everyone else is better at this than I am.  

Sometimes we get tripped up by thoughts that go unquestioned. 

But then I asked myself...could it be true that I DO know how to make money? And the answer is empirically, yes! I have tax returns, bank statements, and Quickbooks to prove that yes, I know how to make money and I've been making pretty good money for the last 15 years - yes, some years better than others, but nevertheless, I always figured out how to make money in my business.  

Of course my inner critic is always saying it's not enough or won't be enough until I hit whatever number is the next goal out of my reach. My mind likes moving the goalpost on me. When...