After a year of testing lots of different things, I’m excited for the clear plan I have created for 2020.
If you’re thinking about pivoting, updating, or refreshing your business, I hope this inspires you to thoughtfully go for it. Here’s how this change looked for me.
Our entrepreneurship journey
We began entrepreneurship 8 years ago with our wedding photography business. It was my husband’s passion and I helped him and eventually left my teaching job and operated the business full time.
I had regular panic attacks, anxiety, and coping behaviors that I used to numb the anxiety.
After a rock-bottom season of life, I healed and realized-that stress is not normal! And I became so passionate about helping other women heal, stand in power and confidence like I had learned to do. I began working with women as their coach and mentor, helping them connect with their impactful vision, reshaping their businesses to align with that.
From anxious photographer to excited coach
I named this coaching business The Successful Creative and I found something that energized me, I looked forward to every.single.day.
I began refining my skills in marketing, sales, and client experience as I explored exactly HOW I wanted to coach. I tried out different coaching styles-business consulting style (coaching photographers) mindset coaching (which without the proper structure could easily swerve into therapy) and then stepped back asking what my heart really wanted.
I took recommendations from people I admired…but things weren’t quite clicking into place. And that was okay-I trusted everything was unfolding exactly as it was meant to. (if you get nothing else from this post, this sentence is everything)
I tried out different ways to market and sell. I hosted challenges and webinars, masterclasses, joint lives, interviews, list-building strategies and more.
I had varying results being a run-of-the-mill coach. I had some $20+ k months. I had some months of no income.
Client results that confused me
I had some clients that catapulted into the stratosphere of achievement, going from a $20k year and full time job, mega stressed out and burned out to over $130k year, full time entrepreneurs, regular self-care, and choosing peace and calm as their normal operating state.
And I had others that folded up their businesses or barely moved the needle.. As I scratched my head over my experience in 2019, I asked myself what common threads were present.
What caused such different results?
I get what I AM. When I lead by example, I attract people who get those results. When I believe in ME, I get people who learn to believe in THEMSELVES.
If I get what I am...is my story holding the formula for success? I looked back on my story and saw quantum leaps, powerful releasing of limiting beliefs and decisions, upleveling and breakthroughs.
How I created my signature program | The Breakthrough Method™️
Late spring 2019, I had a conversation with Stephen that changed everything for me. I remembered saying to Stephen
“I feel like the last 2 years have been one big blast off as I completely break through the belief system I operated by my entire life and rewire a completely new belief system. Sometimes it’s really tiring-I wish I weren’t constantly having so many breakthroughs-I like the clarity, but man, breakthroughs are hard!”
Stephen quietly asked “Would you change it if you could?”
And in that moment my response felt like a lightning bolt:
“No. Moving through breakthroughs is the only way to change beliefs. And good thing I know what to look for! Most people don’t.…….wait a minute…..is there something here?”
Stephen: “so...what do you know to look for? How do you recognize a breakthrough is happening?
I got to work furiously mapping out the steps of a breakthrough. I wrote out the natural process that occurs. I wrote out how I take care of myself through this process. I wrote about how I lean into a breakthrough at specific, strategic times, finding hope in the most tense, trying circumstances. And I wrote about the new beliefs I wired into my brain.
The Difference is the Breakthrough Cycle
What I realized is that, everyone is somewhere in the cycle of a breakthrough at any given time. It’s a natural process. But...our natural instinct is to back away from pain and discomfort.
But, with a little coaching and support, I could impact people to no longer back away, but lean INTO the breakthrough, and cement their new beliefs fully into their mind. And I recognized that this foundational element was the first step to full upleveled, thriving, abundant businesses.
I had a tried-and-true method to help people complete the breakthrough cycle instead of spending their lives with 98% of the population waffling between their comfort zones and breakdowns.
Stop and thing about that. 98% of humans never actually have a breakthrough because they back away from pain. But all that means is they’re constantly in either their comfort zones, tension zone, or a breakdown.
All of that sounds SO sucky to me! And I realized I no longer needed to accept that norm. I was fully equipped to change it because of the lessons my own story taught me.
The clients who went through this process with dedication and trust experienced the stratospheric results. The clients who spent time logically analyzing, overthinking, and comparing barely moved the needle in their businesses.
I no longer felt confused at this dichotomy. This was the determining factor.
Some rewired their thinking. Others backed away.
I took this concept and tested it on over 25 entrepreneurs, finding the results consistent with my hypothesis. And every time I tested and coached through this process, I became more and more passionate about it. I was excited and energized.
But I was a little stuck-what do I call this? How do I explain this? And...is this something I can fully focus on? I really don’t feel passionate about business consulting style coaching. I don’t want people to just replicate marketing trends, build systems, or scale. I felt bored and constrained by that kind of coaching. So...could I really coach specifically on how to have breakthroughs?
And then I asked myself a more important questions:
Did I want to do anything else?
The answer was a resounding no.
Read what happened next in part two:
