You guys. I have been so honored to work with the unparalleled Michelle Ward (The When I Grow Up Coach) for the last couple of years, as her “right-hand lady,” as she calls it!
As a business coach who helps creative, multi-passionate women start their dream businesses, Michelle is inspiring—in both her personal life (#2timecancersurvivor), and in her honest, thoughtful, and enthusiastic client work.
In fact, it’s only fitting that Michelle kick off this first “Before and After” interview series, since she’s the coach who inspired me to start The Efficient/Creative!
Read all about how her already-established business shifted in our past two years together below. And it’s only getting better!
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WORK WITH ME?
Ohmygosh, it’s been so long I don’t know if I can quite remember! I *do* remember that I had such a challenge over the years finding a VA that would stick, whether they weren’t a good fit, or they’d work with me for a bit and then I’d get priced out, or they’d go find a full-time job and leave me behind…whatever it was, I kinda had VA PTSD because of it! But then you signed up to work with me as your coach, and you made such an impression on me – your knowledge, your personality, your skillset, your experience and *the fact that you cared about this work* (which is more rare than you might think) – that I put you in my back pocket! Once we wrapped up that coaching package and I had the need to bring on a new VA, you were the obvious first – and only! – choice.
WHAT WERE YOU STRUGGLING WITH BEFORE WE STARTED WORKING TOGETHER?
Well, the stuff I mentioned above. I needed help with the admin tasks *and* the higher level please-help-me-get-some-systems-in-place work. The fact that you could do All The Things felt like it came from the heavens.
WHAT IMPROVEMENTS HAVE YOU SEEN OR FELT IN YOUR BUSINESS SINCE WE WORKED TOGETHER?
I think we started working together in mid-2018, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that my business saw a 29% gross revenue increase that year – and then 24% growth last year! I never ever ever would have had the time, headspace, or bandwidth to have launched a new program and open up more client work without you.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME WHEN YOU NOTICED A SHIFT IN YOUR LIFE OR WORK BASED ON OUR WORK TOGETHER?
I think it’s the ease when we do something the second time. For example, it usually takes us an hour (or less!) to look over and adjust our workflows when there’s a launch for something we’ve already done together, and that is *amazing*. I used to just work from scratch over and over again, or try to piece client onboarding and whatnot like Frankenstein’s monster…but knowing I have you to (a) help me put the systems together in the first place and (b) make it easy to repeat is *everything*.
IF YOU WERE TALKING TO A BUSINESS OWNER WHO IS IN THE SAME PLACE YOU WERE BEFORE WE WORKED TOGETHER, WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR HER?
Stop trying to do it all. It’s enough and doing you zero favors – especially when there’s someone like Kate who can take it all on for you and do a better job than you can (#truthbomb).
WHAT’S THE STATE OF YOUR BUSINESS NOW? HAVE ANY UPCOMING OFFERS TO SHARE?
Ooh yes! I think when you put this out we’ll be just a few weeks away from my 90 Day Business Launch launch. If you’re reading this and are like, “I’d love to work with Kate but I don’t even have a business yet!”, then head to whenigrowupcoach.com/launch because I made this offer exactly for you, and my spring/summer availability is *super* limited.
WHERE CAN WE FIND YOU AND YOU WORK?
Website: whenigrowupcoach.com
Want to see your coaching or creative business get more clients, more money, and more time freedom with less effort? Want to feel more relaxed while knowing that more work is getting done? AND do you want to shift from “burned-out businesswoman” into a true CEO who is serving her mission—not wasting time on admin? Then you’re perfect for Set Up to Scale Up, which is booking consult calls NOW for spring and summer 2020 spots! These slots fill up fast (and I only take one new client per month), so book your consult call today!
