The Resource Doula

38. From Hustle to Harmony: Navigating Entrepreneurship and Life Balance with Business Coach Kate Gibbs

• Natalie Headdings • Season 1 • Episode 38

Share episode

Send us a text

Show Notes

Listen to my chat with my business coach Kate Gibbs about what it means to honor your own energy and seasonality of life when it comes to business ownership and entrepreneurial life. We talk about how ditching hustle culture and taking on an entirely new perspective when it comes to the work-life balance can be just the thing you need to root down and bloom in your business and life. I know so many of you are balancing motherhood with small business ownership and I thought it would be so encouraging to hear from Kate on how to feel more confident managing that balance.


Resources she mentioned


Connect with Kate

If you found this podcast helpful, please consider writing a positive review in your favorite podcast app or on YouTube! Thanks so much for listening. I’ll catch you next time!

Sign up for my weekly newsletter and gain access to my most up-to-date resource list here: https://www.resourcedoula.com/resources

Support the show

The Resource Doula Podcast Social Channels:

Instagram: @resourcedoulapodcast

TikTok: @resourcedoula

Resource Doula Podcast Youtube: @resourcedoula

Want to start your own podcast? Edit easily with Descript!

Natalie:

On today's episode, I chat with my business coach, Kate Gibbs, about what it means to honor your own energy. And seasonality of life when it comes to business ownership and entrepreneurial life, we chat about how ditching hustle culture and taking on an entirely new perspective when it comes to the work life balance can be just the thing you need to root down and bloom. in your business and your life. I know so many of you are balancing motherhood with small business ownership and I thought it would be so encouraging to hear from Kate on how to feel more confident. Managing that balance. Welcome to the resource doula podcast. I'm Natalie, your host, and my goal is to equip you with the tools and information you need to make informed health care decisions while having some fun along the way through engaging interviews with experts, personal stories, and insightful commentary. I'll save you the time and effort of. Sifting through countless sources on the internet. Consider me your personal resource dealer, because if I don't know the answer, I can connect you with someone who probably does. So whether you're a seasoned health guru or just starting your journey, I hope the show inspires and encourages you every step of the way. Kate is the founder and CEO of bliss and flourish co she's an Alaska based yoga teacher turned international business coach and is exceptional at guiding women along their entrepreneurial journey towards maximum authenticity, freedom, and spaciousness with a background in both person centered planning and group facilitation. She helps her clients ditch hustle culture. And reorient themselves in alignment with their unique seasons and rhythms. Kate's work is helping her clients grow successful businesses they love on their own terms, and also build businesses that love them back. Hey, Kate, welcome to the resource do love podcast. Thanks so much for being here today.

Kate:

Hey, Natalie, thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited to be here.

Natalie:

I'm so excited that you're here and I wanted to jump right into questions, but I actually wanted to see if you would start our podcast today, how you normally start our coaching sessions with a few deep breaths, kind of lead us all through that before we get into the content.

Kate:

Yeah, absolutely. I love that. I always get like a little bit nervous with interviews, so that will help to calm my nervous system and get us in the flow. So let's do it. If you are somewhere where it's okay and comfortable for you to close your eyes, you are welcome to do that. But if you're not just allow your eyes to sort of soften back in your skull and let your eyelids relax. Take a moment just to really feel yourself in the space that you are in, whether you're sitting in a chair or you're standing or you're on a walk, just letting yourself be in your environment. And from that place of presence, take a deep breath in through your nose. And out through your mouth. That first breath is just an invitation to be even more present. As it feels good, you can take two more breaths, tuning into yourself, tuning into your surroundings, and tuning into your breath even more. Depending on your pace of breathing, you might have one more breath, and if your eyes were closed. Thank you. You are welcome to open them and come back to this episode.

Natalie:

Hmm. I love that. Thank you so much.

Kate:

You're welcome.

Natalie:

Beginning. So, now that we're more settled in our nervous systems, I would love to hear from you kind of a little bit of your back story. What led you to pursue this career in business coaching? How did you end up here? Um, just a little, a little history for all of us.

Kate:

Well, how I arrived in business coaching sort of is funny cause it fell in my lap, but I think what's more interesting is how I arrived at the kind of business coaching that I do. The kind of business coaching I do is really unique because it has this holistic approach where I'm really helping people to pay attention to their nervous systems, pay attention to their environments, and create a business that is reciprocal. Like, it's not just About specific business strategies and, you know, making X amount of money every quarter. It's also about feeling really grounded and supported while doing so. So I'll tell both sides of the story, but I'll start with why I teach. I've been an entrepreneur, um, Oh, just over 10 years now. I've owned several different iterations of this current business, but I also ran an assisted living home for adults with developmental disabilities. And this was not my first experience with burnout. I will say that my, my first major experience was in my early twenties and I was on a bedrest for six months. So pretty, pretty intense burnout there. So I knew the signs and. As I was running this assisted living home for anybody who's in like health care or non profit work or any kind of helping profession where you're care providing, the level of burnout is generally pretty high, right, because you're really pouring out So, um, you You have, you have to. Like there is, there's somebody who needs you and you have to pour yourself out to support that person. So running an assisted living home for adults with developmental disabilities has high, high burnout. And I was feeling that for myself and I was recognizing these signs that I knew if I followed The path that I was on that I would maybe end up on bed rest again, or maybe just catastrophically burning down my whole life in business, you know, um, it was, it was challenging, but I was noticing like my nervous system being ramped up. I could never relax. I could never settle. Um, I was constantly frustrated, constantly angry, constantly tired. Always kind of feeling like I was forgetting something or missing something, like there was just like a piece that I'm like, I know, I know I messed up somewhere and that just kind of keeps you in that place of fight, flight, or freeze, where you're just like, what's happening? I don't know how to, to feel okay in my body and in this moment. So I knew I had to change something. And at that time I was running. Well, a couple of years into it, I guess, I started running my second business, which was a yoga business, probably saved my life. It's probably the thing that kept me from going back into that downward spiral into more burnout, right? Into deeper and more catastrophic burnout. Because yoga brings us back to ourselves. Brings us back to our body, back to our breath, back to that homeostasis place where we can actually make decisions that are supported by What we really need, I guess, rather than this kind of external pressure that we often feel in high output careers, business ownership, various things that really ask us to show up at that edge, right? So I started incorporating more and more of the yoga philosophy into the way I was running my assisted living home business. And then just realized that I didn't have, I didn't have as much control over that business model as I wanted. And that's simply because. It's, it's really tied closely to how the state and the government runs things. Like you can't, you, you only have so much room to make

Natalie:

got it.

Kate:

So I, I sent, I essentially closed that business because it was going to lead me down a path I didn't want to go. It was going to burn me out to a point that I wouldn't be any use to anybody. Um, and so I started in, I started just. Moving more deeply into my yoga practice, moving more deeply into my coaching elements that came in to my yoga practice. I'll talk about that later, but, um, that is why I coach the way that I coach because I see so many different business owners, women in particular, who are caught in that cycle of like, there's this external force. Dictating your speed, dictating where you're supposed, your direction, dictating your, uh, the elements that make you successful. And it's like, I see them either burn out or just feel at a loss, like they can't make any choices for themselves. And so I really wanted to start supporting women in business in a way that would allow them to feel empowered to make choices. That honored their body that honored their seasons and that also brought them profit, right? I don't just want to have a business that is peaceful I also want a business that is profitable and I want to teach women how to do that

Natalie:

amazing, yeah, no, that's What an incredible journey that you've been on to get to this place. I think it's so like It's, it was courageous of you to decide to close that business and move into something else. What do you think, like, where do you think that the desire came from because you've had all this pressure from the outside world of like, you have to be successful in this way. And if you're not giving everything of yourself to this, you know, assisted living home, then like that's quote unquote failure. So what gave you the courage to, to change that and change your trajectory?

Kate:

I think it essentially came down to Who am I choosing? Like I I've spent a lot of time in my life not choosing myself A lot of time in my life rejecting what I felt like was right for myself in favor of what the world said I should do in favor of what the world said would be successful and it never, it never turned into what I thought it would turn into. Right? I never was fully satisfied, fully satisfied. Myself in those choices and so when it came down to closing the assisted living home that that was the choice. Am I choosing Something outside of myself or am I choosing myself and I was kind of reaching an era in my life where I'm done not choosing myself

Natalie:

Way to be. That's yeah. I think so many women in particular have that struggle. Like everyone I know who is a woman who's well, also a parent and also running their own business. Like everyone else needs them. Everybody else needs them a hundred to. Choose themselves in in anything, especially business and feel like they can be successful in that. And I think, um, just my experience and taking courses and, and learning from other like hustlers or the quote unquote, like boss babe people. Right? Like I felt like I had to be something else that And so what draw me, drew me originally to you and your coaching style is like, Oh, like, I can live my life how I want to, like I can have my life and live it too. Like I can really be myself and that's actually what people want. That's actually what people want and what they'll pay for too. Um, so yeah, um, I just, I'm just reflecting on all of that and I'm so thankful I found you. Um, but questions wise, um, what do you think, what would you say is like the, the biggest barrier for women? Specifically in the entrepreneur, entrepreneurial world.

Kate:

You warned me that you were gonna give me a loaded question and that one is a tough question I think can I narrow it down to three?

Natalie:

Yes, yes, you can.

Kate:

Okay. So if I'm going to narrow it down to three, I would say first one is probably that I buying into the idea that our productivity level determines our worth. That's already a loaded answer, right?

Natalie:

Yep,

Kate:

Um, to buying into the lie that we have to do it all ourselves, especially when it comes to business. I think we have this thought that it doesn't count if we're not like a hundred percent self made or we're not a hundred percent doing it all by ourselves. Right. Right. Right.

Natalie:

Yeah, yeah, no

Kate:

then I, I think finally it's that, uh, lack of self trust and really like it's, the system's kind of designed that way to make you question yourself and make you wonder if your choices are right. So that makes sense. But I think again, women in particular, maybe it's just the way that we like to consider everyone who's affected by our choices, but that, that can sometimes get in the way of like these decisive. Actions and these decisive, um, choices that we have to, that we do have to make when it comes to business. There is a point in time where it's, I have to choose and there's no more sitting here thinking about it or I don't choose at all. And then I'm not making any kind of forward momentum. So the productivity piece, the trust piece, the second thing I said was the, the doing it, yeah, the doing it all ourselves piece. So where, where would you like me to go with those?

Natalie:

I want to dive into the productivity. Equals your worth and that lie that we believe like what? How do we even begin to tackle that?

Kate:

Oof, right? I don't know. Like that one's so hard because I think it's like, well, related to business specifically. We can, we often will think that the number of hours we work equals the number of clients we'll get, equals the number of, the, the cash in our bank account, right? It's a numbers game. So if I just Work 80 hours a week. That will equal this business success, this number of followers, this number of clients, this much revenue coming in. And that's actually not true. And in fact, our businesses do better with intentional constraint. When we only have a, we're like, okay, this is how much time and energy I really have to work with. Therefore I can be more efficient. And more decisive with what I do have available to me that also informs your pricing that informs your strategy. It informs a lot of things that that bring on the momentum. You're really looking for and I think, you know, you're a movement educator. So I think you understand this in terms of like constraint also really helps you make gains in the movement world too, right? It helps us get creative. It helps us to really narrow our focus so we can make forward steps. Yes. Those are my

Natalie:

Yeah, if you're spinning your wheels a hundred percent of the time like if I'm burning them in midnight oil I'm waking up early. I'm editing podcasts at midnight I'm being called out personally here, right but then I feel like my energy is shot but then I feel like I it leads to this cycle where I feel like I have to keep charging less To get more, because the hours that I have are so few, because I'm working too many hours, right? Is that, if that makes sense in any way.

Kate:

It does. It does. And then we also kind of have that, like, what's the Brene Brown quote where she talks about Wearing exhaustion like a badge of honor where we're like, oh, I work so hard. Oh, I'm so busy Therefore it's like more valuable because I had I like I tried harder, you know So we there's sort of this weird like this is where I'm gonna curse. It's kind of a mindfuck around that right where we're just like We think we have to put in this level of effort, but what if, and I'm not saying we don't put an effort with businesses because we absolutely do, but what if the effort has some ease to it? And so then the efforting is actually more productive when it's more easeful, when it's more in flow with the way that we actually want to work and that that brings the value in,

Natalie:

Yeah.

Kate:

much at the antithesis of that productivity equals value,

Natalie:

hmm. And to bring it back to the movement example, like if somebody is spending hours and hours and hours in the gym and they're just trying all these different kinds of exercises and they burn themselves out quite physically, literally, and they don't see any productive gains from that, whereas someone who has a program and a plan and they're keeping their lifting to really what is serving them well, and they're. They're, you know, like choosing the proper lifts, which, I mean, I talk about deadlifts and squats all the time on this podcast, but really the simplicity of movement is what results. There's so many people on Instagram in the movement world who are like, try this crazy exercise. It's going to be the one thing that you need to fix your shoulder pain. And it's really like you should deadlift and you should squat and you should push things overhead. And yeah, so I think it's similar in that, like, In the Instagram world, you see all these business coaches saying, you just need this one strategy to like make your life better. And this will fix your issue and this lead magnet and all of the things. But you're saying, bring it back to simplicity. What time do you have and how much do you need to charge for that time that you have? So leveraging it in the way that is most beneficial and productive for the gains that you want in your business.

Kate:

Exactly. And you're essentially training for the goals, right? Somebody who's training for a cross country marathon is going to train very differently than somebody who's training for a prospect competition or somebody who is wanting to bulk up versus somebody who's wanting to like cut weight, right? Like they're gonna, they're going to train differently for those goals and it's the same thing when it comes to your business. Like what matters to you in your business? Like The strategy that you train will, and will inform how you're moving towards that goal.

Natalie:

Wow.

Kate:

we

Natalie:

I love this analogy. I feel like light bulbs. Do you see the light bulbs just like going off?

Kate:

I actually, I love talking with movement people about these analogy cause I have a movement background too. Right. So like, it makes so much sense to me, especially I think when we can get in the cycle of like, I need all the things. I just need to try all of this stuff and hope something sticks like the throwing spaghetti at the wall. And. You know, I think it can, this is where constraint comes in again. So like, say you have somebody who is new to movement. They walk into a gym. We know how many different Like things that they could be using, right? There's a lot of different machines. There's a lot of different free weights There's a lot there's just a lot versus that same person Knows three exercises that they can just use their body weight for or some something simple in their hotel room, right? They're gonna they're gonna know exactly what they can do in the hour that they have to work out They're gonna be able to do

Natalie:

Yep

Kate:

versus the person walking into the gym. He's like, holy shit I don't even know where to start I guess I guess I'll do, like, the full body circuit and the treadmill and, like, And maybe, and then maybe that's fine. If their goal is just to move, awesome. You moved, right? But if their goal is specifically to train one thing, then you might not, you might have just used that hour inefficiently,

Natalie:

Mm hmm. Yeah I love that analogy. Yeah, that makes, it makes a lot of sense. So, okay, going with that even further, what would you say are like the three exercises that somebody could do specifically? Like, I have a lot of listeners who are birth workers, also parents, just busy people in general, um, who own their own businesses, which is amazing. And I love that about my audience. But, um, what would you say are like the three? What are some of the exercises or strategies in business that they could use to really practically combat that, like, my productivity is my value or like, how do they get out of that cycle, that hustle cycle?

Kate:

Well, I think there's a, you definitely have to clarify your goals and your timeline. I think those two things are really essential because then that's going to inform what is the The, the action, what is the thing that you do, right? So for example, if your goal is to create a more aligned audience, for example, I have a lot, I work with a lot of people who have great offers. They are really experts in their field, but they don't have an audience that's receptive or ready for what it is that they're offering. So they don't really need to work on their offer like their offer is great. It's priced well, it works great for their, for their lives, right? What they need is, is to focus on the, the nurture piece that allows you to connect with your audience. Maybe some content creation that allows you to get your thought leadership out there. So if you have. Let's say three hours of time to work on your business rather than creating another funnel, like implementing another like system. I would probably spend those three hours. It's like actually connecting with the people who you think might be a good fit for your, for your offer. Right? So let me back up just a second. I teach that there are three cycles that every business needs to be able to get their best work out there, to be able to have, to meet their best fit people have their best launches, like to really like create some momentum in their businesses and those cycles. Are the sales and launching right? It's also the content creation. Some of that might be creating the program or the offer and visibility. Those go together and then there's the nurture and learning piece. So the nurture might be where I would focus if my goal was to create an aligned audience for the offer that I already have, right? If I already have an aligned audience, They're telling me what they want, which is in my case, this is actually how I started doing business coaching as I had an audience going, Hey, will you teach me? And I was like, all right, I guess I need to focus on content creation in order to get this thing made for what my people were asking for.

Natalie:

Yeah. Yeah.

Kate:

Does that answer the question? Or do you feel like I got too codified there?

Natalie:

No, I feel like that was, that was helpful. Um, Maybe you can give, I'm just thinking, yeah, reiterate it, and then maybe we can go into the other, like, combating the other lies that you talked about.

Kate:

So clarifying your goals is going to be

Natalie:

Yep.

Kate:

the end and probably also prioritizing them because most of us as business owners are going to have more than one goal. Most likely. So prioritizing the order that makes the most sense. Me too. I have more than one goal too. And then looking at a realistic timeline based on your capacity. So based on how much actual time you have. So you're like, Hey, this is my goal. This is my timeline. Then what is the action step that I can do in the time that I have that supports the first goal? That's yes. It sounds so simple. And it's not, it's actually very hard.

Natalie:

So how do you, how do you determine your capacity?

Kate:

Oh man, I love this question. So, You really got to get honest with how you're using your time. I think that's a big part of it. But also have to be honest about your energy, because not everybody has, their hours are not the same, right? If I have an hour and you have an hour, we may have different energy that we're bringing to that hour. So we have to consider that piece as well. But in general, I'm just, this is gonna be a very simple calculation that people can make, okay? So however much time that you've created that, you know, you have in a week for your business, let's say it's 10 hours. I want you to reduce that by 20 percent because you need to have a margin. We all need to have a margin. So that's going to give you eight hours. You have eight hours for your business. Divide that in half. 50 percent is forward facing. That's you actually interfacing with the clients that you have and doing the work that you're doing with them already. Or selling the thing that you're selling, going to the markets, right? How actually being in your business, the other 50 percent is working on your business, doing whatever back end things need to happen, creating the new programs, um, mapping out your social media content, figuring out your launch timeline, that kind of thing. So you have a 50 50 rule on whatever total time you actually have to work on your business. That's going to give you a place to start. It's not going to be true for every business. But it's going to give you some place to really decide, okay, now I know my capacity to work on my business on my business versus in my business is only five hours. What do I want to spend those five hours on? That's going to move me towards that goal in the timeline that I've set for myself. You may find that you need to adjust your timeline. I find a lot of people do need to do that. And that's, and that is okay. There's no failing in that. You're actually going to feel more satisfied giving yourself a timeline that you know that you can reach with smaller steps that get you there than saying, I need to achieve this unrealistic thing in six months or three months or whatever. Like, That's the other Instagram thing, right? Make six figures in six months. Have you, I can't tell you how many times I've seen a coach say that. Sometimes, some people, yeah, that's probably true, but it's not the norm in my experience.

Natalie:

Yeah, and I know you talked about like not having a sustainable business because that's boring and just like getting you through But having more of a regenerative business that regenerates that energy so if you are constraining your hours and being realistic with the time that you have and Lengthening your timeline you're going to be more fulfilled And have more joy in the long run because you're living your life how you want to and not feeling Stressed or like a failure for not completing things in an unrealistic amount of time.

Kate:

Exactly. Sustainable says that we do it the exact same way day in and day out that we're just going to maintain essentially. And regenerative says that things are going to look cyclical. They're going to look different. There's going to be times where we slow down and times where we speed up, times where we contract, times where we expand. And what that looks like practically in your business, um, for me, I have one week a month where I don't have client work scheduled at all. So three weeks are with clients. One week isn't. And that is, that was a game changer in my business for me to give myself that margin for rest, the margin for, um, just being able to, to focus having this space to let my creative juices kind of flow without a lot of, uh, Without the constraint because constraint is awesome, but also sometimes can sometimes can stifle creativity if you're somebody who's like me and feels a little rebellious by the rules and like you need some room to play. So that gave

Natalie:

That's me as well. That's me as well

Kate:

right. So it's like 20 you're honoring that side of yourself to 25 percent of my month is like giving me room to play. And I think that that is an is a essential component to driving my business forward. You know, where we often will guilt ourselves and be like, Oh, no, I'm supposed to do X, Y, Z, because I said I was going to do X, Y, Z. Okay, do X, Y, Z on the first three weeks, the last week, let yourself play and see what happens. Or, maybe you don't work monthly like that, maybe you work more, um, more in the seasons of the year where you, where you know there's gonna be a season where you prefer to slow down, a season where you prefer to speed up, and a season that's maybe in between. I, I, I'll find a lot of people work that way, and myself included. So you build that time in too. You go, okay, I will be spending half the time in my business. In this month, as I usually do, for whatever reason. You don't even have to justify it, it just can be because it feels better to you. But if you have reasons for it, that also helps you hold the boundary, right? Here are my reasons, this is why I'm not going to take on more work in this time. I feel like I maybe got a soft

Natalie:

I first heard you talk about no that this is great I was gonna say when I first heard you talk about taking a week off from client work in your business I was like that is so revolutionary but so you It makes so much sense and it feels like, Oh, like myself. I know I've talked about having endometriosis on this show, like that week. It's really challenging. My energy is really low when I'm on my period, right? Like I don't have the same, I don't bring the same like level of myself to my clients during that week. So it would make total sense to take that off and rest and honor that cycle within my body. And so it just makes me laugh that it was so revolutionary to think about. And even like the whole year, like as entrepreneurs were taught, like hustle grind, like do have the same output. Um, I the year, like every quarter of the year, but thinking it fit more in terms of like, Oh yeah, like in the summer, I want to go outside and play, and I don't have the capacity for content creation as much as I do in the fall or the spring. So can you talk a little bit more about the seasons and more of a trimester approach to the year in business than the quarter, like the four quarter system?

Kate:

Absolutely. In my experience, the four quarter system, Leaves us feeling behind before we even start. Because,

Natalie:

Amen.

Kate:

yeah, just because I think a lot of people will, will understand that it's just shorter. And you, when you, once you figure out the goals and then you figure out a way to implement the goals, you're already more than halfway through the quarter and then you're like, how am I even supposed to reach the goals? So then things get pushed to the next quarter, and then you're, by the end of the year, you've just, you're, you're either overloading yourself or you feel like you're compromising yourself by like dropping things off of this list or these goals. Right? Which also

Natalie:

is that failure.

Kate:

Yeah, and that, that doesn't feel like you, that, that also kind of erodes your self trust, right? When you're like, I said I was going to do this stuff and I can't, I just, I can't get it done. Like there's, it breeds these old stories that pop up in lots of different ways that we judge ourselves. So the system, that four quarter system kind of leads to this eventual hustle mindset, but also I'm failing, or I'm behind, or I can't trust myself kind of stories. So if you expand the year, which we know we still only have 12 months, we can't technically do that, but we can go to a trimester approach, which then gives you so much more time and space. You're like, I'm now setting goals for a third of the year, and I'm now setting a strategy and working with this particular seasonal energy for a third of the year. It feels so much more spacious. And it also gives you the margin, like we were talking about, like having a margin for the week every month where I'm gonna need to chill out, right? So you have some room to actually move towards your goals and honor your own needs to slow down, because we will all need those every week, every month, every day, right? Rest is important.

Natalie:

Yeah. Yeah. And I think I was telling you this before, like business, like pregnancy, like you're growing something new, you're, you're creating something new. And just the juxtaposition of like pregnancy is trimester, you know, trimester approach. And if you change business to that, like it makes a lot of sense intuitively for women to transition to that view and that perspective of like. Let's figure out when we need to rest and when we can be productive and make it beneficial for everyone in our, especially our energy levels. Yeah. So, okay. How do you, like in your coaching, how do you help other people find? What season works best for their flow and their rhythm and productivity and profit, um, throughout the year.

Kate:

so, well, very like the very technical tool, I actually have a, like a customized spreadsheet that I use. I have two that I work together for my private clients, but depending on what group program they're in, I use more of one versus another. But these custom spreadsheets are designed to help you calculate what your capacity really is, but it It also helps you to name those big picture goals, and then we map it out into these trimesters. Like, okay, these are my categories. These are the cycles of business that I, I need to move through, but I also have life things and I also have revenue goals. We map all of those things out. So one of the ways is to life first. Okay, put your life first. So look at your whole year,

Natalie:

Ha ha ha

Kate:

right? What do you, what do you already have planned? Like, what are the trips you have planned? What are the family reunions that are happening? What is the, like, what are the college classes that you're taking or whatever, right? What is the, what are the marathons that you've signed up for already? And then those are going to very much impact Your capacity and your focus in your business. And that's not a bad thing. We're taught that that's a bad thing. And I'm like, no, this is a beautiful place of, of intentional constraint where we can then plan from. Right. So we have life first and then we're going to look at those. Those seasons. And for, for new entrepreneurs, it's, it's definitely, I would say that it's harder for them to know the season within their business where they get busier or they're slower or cashflow is more stable. They don't know that yet. So they need to be in business for at least a year, usually to kind of see, have that hindsight that helps us when we can reflect on our own patterns. But you've lived in your body your whole life. So most of us,

Natalie:

Heh heh heh. Very true. Ha ha

Kate:

yes, so most of us with some introspective questions can look back and be like, Oh, these are the seasons that feel good for my energy. These are the seasons that I feel the most in and most challenged around this season might feel more neutral to me, whatever. So we can, we can play off of that. Even if someone's a newer entrepreneur, we can play off of their own self awareness of their own. Habits and their own energy to, to determine where are we going to maybe load the, the, we're going to load more of the work. If that makes sense, we know we're going to have a certain amount of work and efforting and business. So we want to stack it where you have the best energy and where you have the most capacity, where you have the most space, right? So if you have a really busy holiday season where everyone is visiting and you're going on vacation and you sort of feel chaotic, it's not your favorite season of the year. Maybe we don't plan a launch for that season because a launch in your business is going to require a lot of energy, high output, and that can lead to more burnout when you already are stacked with many other high output things in your life and just based on the season that you're in. That makes sense.

Natalie:

Yeah.

Kate:

So it is very like customized and that's also, I think it might be the thing that I'm most proud of in my coaching is just having, being really present with my people. So even if you're in a group program, I am really connected to each person who's there and I'm able to curate and calibrate the planning, the tools that I give them for them and their life and their seasons and their business. And that feels. It's really valuable, but also really empowering for them to know that these choices are unique. They're not just some plug and play template that somebody says is going to work.

Natalie:

Yep.

Kate:

that's just not how we are created. Things have to be customized for you and your business and your life.

Natalie:

Yeah, I can attest to that being in the group program and having like one on one access to you. It's so personalized and I Like every day i'm like, oh my gosh kate is talking to me like all day long all day long Giving me like real feedback in real time on the projects that i'm working on And I had no idea that it was going to be that amazing. So Um, I think yeah. Yeah. Um, I I would say that I was a little skeptical at the beginning, um, because I was like, how can this work? Like, how can you not hustle? Because all of the messages I've heard for my entire, it's coming on a decade now of being in the entrepreneurial world, like has been work harder, spend more time. If you're not doing enough, you need to do more. And so I was like, how's this going to work? Like, Kate, okay, you better prove yourself to me because. I didn't actually say this to her in real life, but, um, just kind of thinking how, how is that supposed to be productive and successful? Um, so,

Kate:

It, you know, I think it comes down to that. You're able to relax a little bit when you organize your business in your life in this More holistic way. And I think you can also connect this with birth as the analogy. Right? Like there's definitely efforting. And yet there you do want to breathe. You do want to like, see if there's a little bit of like, we don't want to over effort. Over efforting is not productive, actually. Right?

Natalie:

You're like working against yourself, essentially.

Kate:

Exactly. That's exactly what it is. And that's exactly what it is in business as well. And that, that fine tuning does take discernment. That does take awareness. Um, it's not like I've always been perfect at that. I'm not perfect at that now. Right. But it is that, um, willingness to stay curious about how I need to dial things up or down based on my moment to moment experience. And I think that's the piece that carries through from. My yoga background into business is like that showing up in this moment and be like, okay, what do I need right now? And even if I had a plan for how I was gonna show up I give myself permission to change that if necessary or if desired, you know, but I think the other answer to that How is it possible to not hustle is in that second lie the second lie that we buy into that we're supposed to do it all by ourselves We really can't. Like, we really can't. And we need, no, and nobody has. Like, anybody who's like, I am a self made whatever. Not entirely true. Maybe they did a lot of it. But there was always some support somewhere that helped them along the way. Whether that is a... co working group that you work with, whether that is a like super supportive partner at home, whether that is like family or a paid coach or there's lots of different ways to get support, but it does start with you recognizing and being okay with, we can't do it all by ourselves. And then asking for the help that we need.

Natalie:

It's so, you could just say the same thing about motherhood and birth.

Kate:

Yes.

Natalie:

It's so parallel. It's crazy. And I've told you this before, I feel like you're the business doula. Like you're the one who's like, yes, I'll support you in your goals and let me help you see. the ease that you can have in this situation and let's make it a little bit more comfortable for you and like more sustainable, more regenerative, like all of the things. So um, yeah, I think just an add on to like a lot of women in business feel pressure to have the success, but then they decide to start a family. And I think that's a huge thing for people. Can I actually start a family and have my business and all of the things I want to do in life? And so I think that's a big worry for people. And they delay having children even though they want them because they're worried about finding that success first. But you're saying you can, you can have it all in a, in a way that feels right for, you know, that individual person.

Kate:

Yeah. I mean, I think so. I actually really hate it when people tell you you can't have it all when you have to like, choose this or that, like, that just makes me crazy. I'm like, I don't think so. I think there is a third option. And I think that that's just where we have to get creative and Figure out what is the, what is the structure that holds all of it, right? Flexible enough to move with us, but also stable enough to support us. Like that's really the, what we're looking for. And when it comes to business, there's so many different ways that you can set up your business to create more time freedom that,

Natalie:

Hmm.

Kate:

and really what you need is time freedom. And.

Natalie:

Yep.

Kate:

Um, I think it's, there's this expectation that they're going to work the way that they work now and then just change it when they have kids. I don't really think that's how that works. There's a lot of planning that goes into creating the time, creating the space, creating the ease, and making some choices, again, around what support am I going to ask for, what support am I going to pay for, to be able to make this a sustainable thing. My husband and I talk about it all the time. I have co guardianship of my adult sister who has developmental disabilities. And I would say she functions about at like a six. Six year old level, so definitely in, you know, is not cooking her own meals, is not driving herself places, is not getting her own medications, is not waking herself up or putting herself to bed on time, like those kinds of things. So when she lives with me part of the month, that adds a different level of demand to my time. My time has now shifted. My time has now changed, right?

Natalie:

Yep.

Kate:

On those weeks, my husband and I have a little bit of a different rhythm because we have to, because usually I'm fielding her care, so he's fielding more of the house care, right?

Natalie:

Yep.

Kate:

So, taking care of the dogs and being more on kitchen duty than he would be where we might be more 50 50 in other weeks. This is also the same, he also runs a business, I don't know if everybody knows that, and so on his weeks where he's out working with clients, I might dial up what I'm doing in the house. So he has a little bit more ease in space. So there's a give and take there between us. But there was a season, it was actually last fall, when I moved into our new, we moved into our new house. And the move, moves are just like hard on me energetically. And in the fall season, I just have this, My energy shifts and I'm like more delicate. I don't really have a better word for it, but I just like, I'm good until I'm not good, you know, and it could just change. I don't know. So I actually ended up hiring an assistant. Not for my business, but for like my life during that season I was like we used our dividends cuz I hadn't budgeted it in cuz I didn't think the move was unexpected So I had not planned for this margin. So we used our PFDs for those of you who are not in Alaska We get a we get a yearly

Natalie:

Yeah. I was gonna say

Kate:

I I had this extra Unexpected cash that I applied to this person. She came in four hours a week And just, like, did things like she got groceries for us. She, like, ran some errands that I needed. Um, we had a lot of weird moving. You know, moving gives you weird tasks. There's like, the task list is just odd when you move. So she helped us with all of these random moving tasks for that whole season, that, that whole third of the year. And I was like, that was the best thing I could have done for myself. Because

Natalie:

Hmm.

Kate:

I couldn't rely on my husband to do more. He was already doing more. I was already doing more. We were still having my sister live with us. My business was in back to back launches. I don't know who did, clearly did not get coaching from myself when I made that choice. That was bad, bad decision making, but I felt like the best decision I made was asking for that help and prioritizing some, some of our funds towards that. And it made a huge difference. So I think that's some of the problem solving that can go into. Um, how you organize your life and your business around having kids.

Natalie:

Yeah. Um, I'm curious your thoughts on like a practical, um, or process of. Building back up that self trust or building it in the first place if it's never been there for someone who's like, okay, I'm ready to like, take the leap into this methodology and this philosophy and perspective of business, but I don't trust myself to, to actually follow through with it or feel okay with it.

Kate:

I think generally when it is a follow through issue, the steps need to be smaller.

Natalie:

Hmm.

Kate:

if we're finding that we're not following through that, that, yeah, it's like bigger than we really have the energy or time or maybe skill base to be able to do. So breaking it down even smaller. To a, I actually was just having this conversation with a client who kind of took the summer off from things and now she's easing back into, she's like, how do I get back into entrepreneurial life? I just don't know how to do it. So it's the practice of showing up is really what it is. It's the practice of showing up at whatever interval you can, you know, let's say it's every day. Let's say you have 30 minutes every day. It's showing up every day to your business space for those 30 minutes. And here's the trick, without the expectation of an outcome,

Natalie:

Hmm.

Kate:

the trust is built in the action of showing up, not in the results. Where we often, the world tells us that the trust is built in the result, like, do the thing you said you were going to do. Like, yes, and what does that mean? That can have a whole hell of a lot of judgment around it. If I said I was going to earn 500, 000 this year and I didn't do it, I might be very, very disappointed in myself. I might've very much broke a ton of trust. But if I said I was going to launch two group programs with the goal of each of those programs generating a certain level of revenue, and I'm going to do all the steps required to launch those things. The thing I said I was going to do was make the attempt was show up, was do the work that I set out and work the plan, right? And the result is not. I don't have control over the result. None of us do. And we all hate that answer. But if we tie our self trust to the result, we will never build it. But if we tie our self trust to the practice, then we will, we will build it so fast. least that's my experience with that.

Natalie:

Yeah, I love that. I'm just thinking that's it. I think a lot of people need to hear that message myself included because it's so easy to fall into the like Oh, I failed again. Like, okay. I'm not I can't trust myself with the next endeavor. But um, yeah, it shifts it to a place where We can actually build that back up. So Hm, I'm gonna ponder that for a little while. Um, okay, I have kind of shifting into more resources for people as well. Do you have, I know you love resources as much as I do, um, what are your favorite books, websites, or other resources, Instagram accounts even, for someone who wants to learn more about this whole process? And... And you can also talk about your programs that you have coming up as well and how people can work with you. I know that's a lot of different things, but yeah, start with, start with some resources.

Kate:

Oh man, okay, books. I have so many books. So, books on boundaries and asking for what you want. I think I feel like every woman needs to read this, whether you are a business owner or not. It is called Unbound, A Woman's Guide to Power by Kasia Urbaniak, if I'm saying her name properly. I'm sure you're going to link all the stuff,

Natalie:

Yes, I will put them all in the show, in the show notes. Yep.

Kate:

Um, if you are someone who's really curious about making courageous choices and moving with the seasons and sort of following this curiosity piece, um, the book by Sharon Blackie called If Women Rose Rooted, oof, that book is awesome.

Natalie:

good.

Kate:

It's so good. And she talks about moving from this sort of corporate. Workload into becoming a writer, like moving into her art and going to this like far corner of Scotland. And she talks, there's a lot of beautiful lore that she writes about, but she also writes about, um, how she learned about herself through being in relationship with her environment. So that's really beautiful. I love that book a lot. I will be recommending that one as a read for the folks in my new upcoming mastermind. If you want more of a business focused book, Regenerative Business, um, Who's this one by? I have notes on that one. I'm like, uh, by Samantha Garcia. That one is... Awesome. And it's, it's using nature as an analogy for how we all need those slowdown times. And then there's going to be times of explosive growth. And how do we sort of shift out of the sustainability mindset or even like the growth forever, right? Every quarter is better than the last mindset and into more of this cyclical kind of business. Um, I really love. Well, just for the, for sustainable, sustainable, well, sustainable being money that sustains us, um, my coach, Megan Hale is absolutely someone that I would recommend. She is a money strategist and business strategist, and she kind of comes, she comes from this place of helping us Connect with our money on a soul level, like really letting your money feel good and the way that you make your money feels good. And I think a lot of us are like, Oh, that can happen, especially in business. When a lot of us are weird about sales and like the sales process and launching and things like that. She has such a beautiful, a beautiful concept, um, called dream of money is what she calls it. So it's really beautiful. So check her out. She has a podcast and Instagram account and website. You said the whole thing. So that's why I'm like, what else? Like business,

Natalie:

a lot of options.

Kate:

boundaries, money. Like, I think that's a good, that's a good spread. Um, oh, and then I guess me, I'm a

Natalie:

Talk about yourself. Oh.

Kate:

Yeah. So, um, right now I am in the middle of my own launch. I am launching a mastermind and group coaching program called Super Bloom. And it really is this focus on a framework that allows you to root into your own pace, allows you to work within your best seasons and organize your business in this big picture way that is cyclical. That that is almost an energy first strategy. So a lot of times we think, okay, I have to have a certain number of clients, a certain number of cashflow, a certain Instagram following before I'm allowed to go to this next level of business. And I think what makes this mastermind unique is that it weaves into whatever it is you already have in place. And clarifies and amplifies what you've already been working with to create the growth that you've been wanting in a, in a regenerative way. So doors are open to that right now. It closes on the 14th and it's going to be a small container where you will get that one, like the combination that you talked about, a group environment, but also one to one support from me. So you'll kind of get the best of both worlds and. The, the tools that I've created to help you get there. But I'll also, I'm open just to like DMs. Like I'm very much interested in having conversations with people and I never feel like, like you can't reach out. I've had a couple people email me recently like, I wanted to talk to you on Instagram, but I felt like I wasn't allowed. You're absolutely allowed to. Please reach out to me. Like doors always open. I'm happy to answer questions and just chat and like, I'm not gonna give you any high pressure sales, I promise.

Natalie:

This is true. I talked to Kate for a long time before I signed up for anything, and there was never any pressure, and I think that's, it's just, it goes to show that she practices what she preaches as well, so,

Kate:

Thank you.

Natalie:

Yeah, and if you're listening to this, Not in the season of your launch. So we're the doors close on the 14th of October of 2023. If you're listening at another time, Kate is still around. She's available for one on one coaching as well. Um, and lots of resources on her Instagram and her, her website too. So, um, I just wanted to throw that in there too. Um, okay. I want to wrap up with the. Two questions that I ask every guest or I try to ask every guest on the show. First one is What is your number one piece of advice for our listeners? What do you want everyone to know?

Kate:

I think, I think I want people to know that there's always a third option, that there's always a choice, that you can reach your goals, achieve the success that you want, and also enjoy your life, that you can have a business that is reciprocal and forced back into you. My tagline is a business that loves you back, right? Like you can have that. And you can love your life, and it's all possible, and it's not through sacrifice, it's not through let me just, I can get there someday, it is something that's available to you now. Everyone's path is going to look a little bit different, but it's there. It does require courage. It requires awareness, it requires support, but you can have that.

Natalie:

amazing Okay, second question What's your current favorite wellness habit that you're incorporating into your daily life right now?

Kate:

Well, for me in this season, it has really been about a routine, which normally I thought I was rebellious and I don't always like routine. But in this season, like my bedtimes, are so important. And my wake, I go to bed at the same time right now and I'm waking up at the same time. It creates this very, um, supportive rhythm for my body when I'm in high output season. And I am in high output when I'm in launch. So If I'm in that routine, then my body will start to get tired at the, at the time that it needs to get tired so I can sleep well and then I can wake up on time and feel refreshed and go into that high output time of day. So routine is, is very, very supportive. Um, and healing for me right now.

Natalie:

Hmm I love that. I also consider myself a little bit of a rebel. I don't even like being told what to do by myself,

Kate:

Same.

Natalie:

but I do, I do love that routine and the fall is like perfect time to like jump back into those rhythms. So, um, yeah, I'm glad I'm, I'm glad I'm not the only one there. Can you tell us where we can find you online and Instagram website and if they want to email you?

Kate:

Yes. So if you want to connect with me on Instagram, I'm at blisscoachkate and my website is blissandflourish. com You can email me kateatblissandflourish. com

Natalie:

Beautiful. Well, Kate, thank you so, so much for spending your time and energy with us today. I really, really appreciate it.

Kate:

Thank you. This was so much fun. I'm like, I feel like we could have gone on so many different tangents and I'm proud of us for staying on track because there's so many things I could talk to you about. We

Natalie:

I'm proud too. We did good. We did good. Okay.

Kate:

did great.

Natalie:

I hope my conversation with Kate got you thinking about how our perspe... Perspective of the entrepreneurial life could shift to something that feels more like a breath of fresh air rather than feeling like constantly running, but never catching up. If you found this podcast helpful, I would love it if you would take a moment to share it with a friend. Thanks so much for listening. I'll catch you next time.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Natalie Headdings

Host