00:00 You are listening to the scaling to Freedom podcast. I’m your host, Christina Bernhard and this week, we’re talking about lessons I’ve learned from my seven figure coaching clients, I have learned so so much. So I have some really good stuff for you. Because I’ve been working with either multi, multi figure seven, either multi figure, coaches, or now mostly seven figure coaches. And I’ve learned so much by working with them. So working with them, I’m behind the scenes, I’m running their ads. So I’m a part of, they’re a big part of their launches. And a lot of my clients I’ve had for a really long time, so we have really good retention. And so I’m able to see the different phases and life forms of their businesses and how their businesses have scaled to these really, really amazing businesses, but also really, like much bigger businesses, higher revenue, the different kinds of problems that they run into. And just being able to kind of, you know, being on the inside of their world being on their team, but just watching them go through with it. And I of course, build really good relationships with my clients. So we have lots of conversations all the time about our businesses, and I’ve just learned so much from them, they are the most amazing women like they’re so ambitious, and they are such great people to follow and learn from. And so I wanted to share these valuable lessons because I see such a pattern. And I see a lot of them going through a lot of this similar things. So hopefully you learned something valuable or even you just feel validated, if you are a seven figure coach, maybe even just hearing that other people go through these things, too, and how they’ve came out of it. And not all of its bad and like so it’s like really good lessons that I’ve seen, just from you know how well they have just gracefully scaled their businesses. So let’s go ahead and dive in. So the first one is that this is the biggest one. And I think something, you know, I’m hearing more and more people talk about this in this space. But that is burnout is real, like real, that’s probably the biggest or most impactful lesson that I’ve learned because that I’m someone who used to be like a workaholic. And I like to work all the time. And I honestly am not like that anymore. Like I really don’t work, like around the clock or anything like that, like I used to. And I also don’t like feel like I have to I’m more focused on like doing bigger things rather than working more hours. But I used to just feel like working more hours just meant I was doing something meaningful. And I will say when you’re first starting your business, you kind of have to like there’s a lot of shit to do when you’re first starting your business. So sometimes it’s a little bit necessary, I think. But like beyond that point, there was a point where I really didn’t need to do that anymore. But like I just I had to to feel like worthy. And it really was watching my clients. And not all of them. But there’s just like a few of them that I’ve seen hit really, really bad burnout. And I think a lot of this too, was because I did start my business around the pandemic, like just before the pandemic. So I think the pandemic kind of, you know, it just created this perfect recipe for all of us to be kind of workaholics, I guess if that’s the right term for it, because we weren’t really doing anything else, we were all just at home, you know, working. Like that’s it was my experience. And that’s definitely what I saw a lot of other people go through this, I saw this so much. And it’s honestly something that you should be very, very aware of, and prevent, because I feel like I’ve seen so many people miss the cues of their burnout coming or maybe they didn’t, they just kind of ignored them and pushed through and just kept pushing through. And I’ve seen people like not be able to get out of bed anymore. Just really, really bad burnout. And that really helped me to stay in tuned with, like how I was feeling and whether I was going down that path path as well. And I feel like if I wasn’t exposed to seeing how these women were like running into this issue, and how it impacted them. I do think that, you know, that definitely could have been me. So that was a huge lesson that I learned right away,

04:28 is that burnout is really real, and it’s not something you want to deal with. Because I used to feel like well, if I get burnt out, like, I’m just gonna push through, you know, and it’s just it gets to a point sometimes where you literally can’t, and it does impact the business big time as you can probably imagine, if you’re not able to get out of bed or you’re just kind of like going through the motions. This ends up being a business that you hate, like, all the things there’s lots of content out there about burnout, but I just want to like chime in and like say also I’ve seen it from the inside. And it is not a pretty sight. So that one is a huge lesson that I think definitely changed the direction of my business and of how I worked, and how I showed up every day. So that one was huge. The second lesson is that business fluctuations are normal, and everyone has failed launches. So I know that a lot of us know this already. But you know it until you’re behind the scenes, it kind of just looks like everyone’s doing amazing 100% of the time. And a lot of people talk about this with, you know, social media, or highlight reels, all those things. But it being on the inside and seeing that really like businesses do fluctuate, this is totally normal. And there are sometimes the businesses that you would just never think like, I’m just like, wow, like, I never thought that this particular business would even have this kind of fluctuation. And, you know, it’s just, it’s definitely normal to have slow months, quarters, or even years. And the most amazing thing that I’ve learned from my clients is that it’s also possible to handle it with grace, like I’ve seen, so, so many times that I’ve seen this situation, where, you know, my client was someone who is just like, such a good leader, and you can just feel their grace with it all. And now, I will, you know, preface this with by the time a client is working with me, they’re likely have, they’ve likely been in business for a while. So this is not their first fluctuation that they’ve dealt with. I don’t know how they handled it in the beginning days. But I will say that now it’s like, it’s almost as if it’s no big deal. Because they’ve survived probably so many of them, I’m assuming. But it’s just like, not a big deal. And the amazing thing is that they still invest as if they were not having a fluctuation as if they were having like, the highest month of the year or something like they’re still like, so all in and handle it with such grace. And that has been so amazing and inspiring to be around. Because I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced this, but as a business owner, those fluctuations, especially in the beginning, they are they they bring so much anxiety, at least for me, whenever I had a fluctuation, it was just always like, Oh, my God, and you just kind of start to hold back, you get smaller, and you just don’t show up the same way. And so it was amazing to see over and over again, whenever my clients do have a slow launch or, or even a failed launch, although I don’t see that very often. But just because of the nature of the work that we do. By the time someone is investing in Facebook ads, it’s likely live, launch many, many times, it’s a different ballgame. But they’ve definitely experienced failed launches before for sure. And it’s just amazing to see how they handle it and how it’s not that it’s no big deal. It’s just that you just keep moving along and you keep showing up. And the business like fluctuates on like totally the different direction and has an amazing month or here or a quarter or whatever. And so it just really been nice to see that happening to other people who have these very established businesses, and just seeing how they handle it

08:24 so well. Another lesson is that consistency is truly everything. And this might be like duh, but like, really, when you see it, though, like these women, they don’t quit. And this also makes fluctuations less of a big deal, because like I said, they just never stopped. Like they just stay on the course. And they say just as aggressive in their investments and they don’t hold back and they don’t turn small. Whenever there’s a fluctuation like, it’s like this separation between the numbers and who you are. And I, I’m someone who has dealt with this and worked with life coaches on this as well for myself. And that’s just separating yourself from it like basically your behavior and your thoughts about your numbers and just separating that from the circumstance of, you know, whether revenues high or low or whatever. And that’s really able to make sure that these fluctuations go back up. Because if you are playing small and not really showing up in the same way, whenever there is a fluctuation or something and you’re becoming less consistent and things you know that fluctuation is probably there to stay a little bit longer or I mean maybe forever depending on what what your behavior is. But the consistency has been really inspiring too. Because they just always show up and I don’t mean that they never take a day off social media or something like that. But I just mean that they never just like totally skip out. Like they always they’re just always there. They always show up for them. So elbows for their business. And that’s been really, really inspiring as well. Another lesson is outsourcing and having a solid team is a must. So a lot of the burnout that I’ve seen is caused by Team struggles, like that’s usually has been the root of it, where especially once you have a business that’s in the seven figure mark, not having support is really going to catch up to you, like hustling to seven figures is going to hurt. And, you know, a lot of all of my clients have teams, but I have seen them struggled to find good support, that’s, that really is able to stick around. And that’s able to support them for the long term and, and work out. So that’s something that I’ve seen, so, so much of and like, I still see it all the time. Not just my clients, but even like my friends that have businesses and stuff like that, just really struggling with finding good people, even my family and stuff who like works in corporate and stuff like that, and just people that I know, like finding good people, like a lot of people struggle with this. But in the context of having, you know, being a coach, or a solopreneur, that scaling their business, finding good support is just kind of make or break after a certain point. And so that’s something that I have really implemented in my business and a big reason why was because we absolutely had to write and, but also just seeing how important it really, really is. I mean, everyone talks about having a team and I also a couple weeks ago just did a podcast about this. And I have a lot of decent experience in growing a team, not just in my business, but also in corporate as well. And managing a team and training a team. And like all those things, and also SOPs and all of that. And everyone says how important it is. So it feels so cliche, but like, literally, it’s everything. So that’s a huge lesson as well.

12:05 Another lesson is that missions really do drive. So all of my clients that are successful, they really, really believe in their work. And it’s kind of like, well, duh, but like, Honestly, though, they’re not just building these businesses, because they’re profitable. Like, especially once they’re in the seven figure mark, like they’re set, like they don’t need more money, necessarily, but they have a mission that’s really driving them. And that really makes you show up. And I think that really does help with, you know, the business fluctuations, or those times that are just really difficult. And, you know, one of the biggest reasons why they do continue to show up over and over again, is because they believe in their work, and they are out here to make a way bigger impact. It’s honestly not just about making a bunch of money. And I can honestly say that about my clients is that they’re not out there just selling like useless products or, you know, coaching programs and things like that, like they do amazing work. That’s part of why they’re so successful. And they believe in their work. And I think that’s huge. And you know, also with what I do, like, that’s also why I don’t really care to do like random e commerce and stuff like that. I thought that I did want to go that route at one point. But I realized, you know, the reason I work with coaches is because I believe in their work, I believe in the power of coaching, I believe in it so wholeheartedly. And there are some amazing coaches in there in the world. And I’ve seen how they’ve transformed people’s lives, how they’ve transformed my own life. And so whenever you are doing something that like means something, it just changes how you do it. Like I’m, I might be standing in a checkout line at a grocery store, and I’m checking my clients ads. And I just I know I wouldn’t do that if I was like, selling towels or something like I would just probably just, you know, work when it’s work time or whatever. But like, I genuinely want to see like Alice, like how many people have signed up for this webinar, because like everyone needs to get in this room. And that’s just how, how I feel when I’m working. And it’s because there’s just like a bigger mission behind it. So that’s been a huge one, two missions, definitely drive and my clients are great examples of that. So the last lesson that I have for you, which is actually one that I’ve kind of come to the conclusion more recently, this was not as apparent to me in the beginning, in that is slow is often better. And I used to I think I never wanted to believe this before. Because I’m very like I’m Enneagram five but like I’m very close to a three and I am super ambitious. I love the fast pace. I want to like see how far we can push it. And I will say that my clients that grew really fast, went through some really hard times. And I see this the most in business coaches, I think, because I work with all kinds of coaches. But although right now I’ve, I’m seeing this change a lot. But just a couple years ago, the pressured to hit these big milestones really fast was something I saw so much of. And I remember just seeing like being in the space like I run for, like, as a service provider.

15:32 I’m not as pressured to grow my business in that way. Because my competitors aren’t like, oh, we just hit like, you know, another 100k A month or like, whatever. But in the business coach world, I can’t imagine being a business coach at least a couple years ago. And just seeing everyone hit these milestones. And like every program was about hitting the next milestone, it was all about, like making the most money as fast as you possibly could. Like, I feel like at least that was my perception of how things were. And that’s what I saw over and over again, the same messaging over and over again. And it was just how fast can we hit these huge milestones, who’s going to hit him first. All that and I will say, being on the inside, the people who I saw grow the fastest they they went through the hardest times, they struggled the most with the burnouts, fluctuations were definitely harder, because once you have hit these huge milestones, and then you, you fluctuate down, as you know, you’re likely to, that’s going to be way bigger, hit emotionally and mentally, when all you’re thinking about is hitting the next biggest milestone that you’ve ever had. If that’s all your purposes, is to hit those numbers, there’s just so much more that goes into the back end of things to actually hit those revenue numbers and things like that, that takes some, you know, time to slow down and like really get the backend, right. And when you’re not slowing down and getting that back end, right, like your SOPs and your systems and your team, and like all that stuff takes time. And it takes longer than you think it will like, it always seems like fairly simple and straightforward, but it always just takes longer than you think. And that often requires taking a you know, slowing down on the revenue, to get all of that in place. And not doing that. And just skipping that whole slowdown period, often ins into burnouts. I do also have clients that are coaches, but they’re also practicing professionals. So like lawyers and doctors, a lot of doctors actually have had, and then a few lawyers, and they don’t seem to be in as much of a hurry. And that’s probably because they’re practicing professionals, so they have a full time job, a lot of them, their goal is to stop practicing, and a lot of them have. But I will say that in my experience working with them, their journeys seem to be a lot more graceful. And they definitely seem to enjoy it more because they’re coaching because they have this huge mission behind what they’re doing. Right. Like they’re definitely not in it for the money necessarily. I mean, not that they would do it for free. But like, they’re lawyers and doctors, like they have money. And they’ve already found a way in this world to make a lot of money for themselves. It’s not about that anymore. And they’re also not pressured to hit these massive milestones as fast as they can. And I’ve just noticed that whenever I think back on the different kinds of coaches that I’ve worked with, and their different scenarios that it does seem a lot more graceful. And I will say just for myself, as a business owner, like, I used to think that fast was like, the only way and that’s that, if I did it fast, that would make me worthy. And I’ve definitely learned how enjoyable it has been over the past year to slow down. And last year we doubled our team. So as you can imagine, that has been like a main, really big focus last year. And this slowdown has made me really love my business and have the time in this space to come up with like way bigger, better ideas, and it has really impacted the business and our services even in really great ways that I know just would have never happened if I was always drowning. always just trying to sign as many clients as possible and like I can talk about that all day but definitely going slower seems to be seems to be better in my opinion. Just seeing other people’s experiences and my own and then I also do, you know have friends that have businesses as well and they’ve had very similar experiences. So that is what I have for you.

19:52 These are the lessons that I the biggest lessons. I’ve learned many lessons for my clients because they are brilliant, brilliant women out there. Bye These are the main lessons that I’ve learned burnout is real. And it’s definitely not something in that situation you wouldn’t be in. Business fluctuations are normal. Everyone has failed launches. Everyone has slow months, quarters years like it’s perfectly normal and you can absolutely handle it with grace. Consistency is truly everything. Outsourcing and having a solid team is like more. There’s a reason it’s cliche, it causes a lot of burnout whenever you don’t have that kind of support. Missions drive on a whole nother level, and slow is just often better. So that is what I have for you this week. I hope that you found this helpful. If you liked this conversation, I would love to talk to more people about this and just see what your experiences are. If there are any of these that you agree with or that you’ve also seen with or seen as a service provider as a coach. Definitely find me on Instagram, Christina de Bernhard, you can go follow me there and send me a DM I would love to have this conversation with more people. But that is what I have for you this week. I will see you guys next time.