Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] Hello and welcome to the solopreneur Sisterhood Podcast. A podcast designed to help heart centered service providers like you build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to you. I'm your host Becky McCleery and I am so grateful that you are here.
[00:00:25] Hello and welcome to episode one of the Solopreneur Sisterhood podcast. I'm your host Becky Lyter McCleery and I am so excited and grateful that you are here. As Solopreneurs, I know that we are all busy, so my intention is to keep each episode to 30 minutes or less. That way you can hopefully find time to easily listen each week. Now this first episode will be a quick one as it's just an introduction to who I am and what you can expect from this podcast. So my journey as a business owner has been a bit of a winding road. I first started in this online business world back in 2009. Now I have tried and failed many times. I have started and given up more times than I can even count. And eventually, after a lot of trial and error, I figured out how to build a sustainable business doing work that I love, that makes a difference and allows me to live the life I want to live. Now I know that there are a lot of women who are where I once was, wanting to make a change and not knowing where to start, or perhaps feeling like they are doing everything they are supposed to do and still feeling like nothing is working. If there's anything I can share to make this journey easier or to simplify and speed up your path to success, I'm here for it. And if you'd like to know a little bit more about my story, here it is. Looking back, I think that you would probably describe me as the typical good girl. Until I became a mom, I think I pretty much lived my life doing everything I thought that I was supposed to do. I went to college, graduated in four years with a double major. A couple weeks after graduating I got my first job as a teacher. And about the same time I met the love of my life. And then we got engaged after dating for seven months. Ten months after getting engaged, we were married. About six months after that we got the dog. And in a twist of events, a few days after bringing that dog home, found out that we were expecting our first child. So we ended up buying our first house and moving in just about a month before our first child was due. And since I was a kid, this was the dream. And I found that I had kind of checked off all of these boxes of what I thought my life would look like by the time I was 24. And it wasn't until my first child was born that that I started to think about the life that I wanted her to live and how much I wanted her to always love herself and be true to herself. And I realized that I wasn't doing that for myself.
While I loved my life, I can't say that the choices I made were out of intention or alignment, but by what I thought I was supposed to do. And so at the same time, there was this feeling that somethin' needed to change.
When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a teacher. And even as I had started my teaching career, I thought that I kind of had it all figured out. I was so naive, but I thought I kind of had this perfect balance where I would be doing work that I loved and making a difference, and then I would be able to enjoy family time in the evenings, on weekends, and throughout school breaks. But once I became a mom, I started questioning, and I realized that this original plan just wasn't going to work. I found that I was trying to fit my family in around my job, but what I really wanted was a career that allowed me the freedom to put my family first.
So after months and months of reading and searching and brainstorming, I discovered the idea of becoming a life coach. And I decided to start my coach training and learn all about coaching.
I completed my certification the week that I gave birth to our second child in 2009. And again, I naively thought that I had this kind of perfect plan in place. I had the security of my job as a teacher, but now I was ready to start building my business as a coach so that I could finally be home with my kids. I continued teaching and working on my side business. And then when baby number three was born in December of 2010, we decided that I would finish out the school year and then I would be home with the kids full time.
Now I did everything I thought that I was supposed to do to build a business. I spent money on branding, business cards, and a professional website. I created my coaching packages, and I was so excited to start working with clients.
Unfortunately, it didn't take very long to discover that being open for business didn't mean that any clients would actually come. I realized that while I was great at coaching, I knew nothing about building a business.
And so I started a cycle of seeking and learning. I would sign up for freebies, watch webinars and trainings, and convince myself I simply had to pay for one program. After another because it would finally make my business work. Over the course of several years, I would repeat the cycle of starting up my business, trying to make it work, feeling discouraged when it didn't work as I had envisioned, and then pulling back to focus on my family.
So now fast forward to late 2016 when a friend I had connected with online asked if I would consider joining her team as a virtual assistant. This was not something I had ever previously considered, but it seemed to use a lot of my skills and I knew it would bring in some reliable income. So I decided to try it out for a few months.
Those few months turned into a few years and as I worked behind the scenes of service based businesses making multiple six figures each year, I started to see what these business owners had in common. They didn't spend their time enrolling in course after course. They didn't follow some sort of secret system. They didn't succeed with every new idea they tried.
However, they each had a clear vision for their business. They set clear goals that aligned with that vision. They built strategies to meet these goals while strongly honoring their values and priorities. And they did their work to implement each strategy step by step. Throughout it all, they were 100% committed to their success. It wasn't a matter of if they would succeed, but how and when. So you might have heard it said that you're kind of the sum of the five people with whom you spend the most time. And when you work with people who are committed to success and building thriving businesses, it starts to shift your own beliefs of what's possible for you.
So even though I had started off as a VA thinking it would be a little income for a little while, after a couple of years I started dreaming about how this little side business could succeed on a bigger scale. I expanded my vision, set goals that aligned with my vision, and figured out what I needed to do to reach those goals.
Over the course of a year, I transitioned from a part time virtual assistant to a full time online business manager with a virtual assistant agency. In that same year, I more than tripled my annual revenue, earning more than I had ever made in a full time job and I was fully booked with clients now in full transparency. As I learn more and continue to grow, I continue to evolve in my business and make changes so that my business works for me and the life I want to live.
Back in the fall of 2022, I stepped into the role of fractional Director of Operations for my longest client. While this meant that I needed to let go of my OBM clients and the agency. I knew that I still wanted to help more women succeed in building businesses that worked for them, and I've done that through strategy and operations consulting and my journey continues to evolve. Since June of 2024, I've realized that one of my strengths is bringing people together and building community. And so I am leaning into that even more. With a Solopreneur Sisterhood, the vision is to include a few different layers so that we can meet heart centered service providers where you are and offer the support you most need right now. I believe in the power and beauty of community, of coming together to find some common ground, of sharing our stories and cheering each other on through our challenges and our victories. And so that brings us to the Solopreneur Sisterhood Podcast.
The Solopreneur Sisterhood Podcast is designed to provide weekly encouragement and actionable ideas to help more women like you succeed in business. My vision for this podcast is to bring women together for real conversations that help us create businesses and lives we love. Along with sharing my own experiences and expertise, I will regularly bring in other heart centered service providers to share their wisdom and top recommendations to support you in building a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to you.
My hope is that each episode feels like you are taking a little time to connect with a friend and that you feel inspired each time you listen. Whether you gain new insights or ideas that you can apply to your business or life, or you simply find connection and realize that you are not alone in this incredible journey. I hope that this podcast can support you in loving yourself and your gifts, building a business that works for you, and in living a life that lights you up.
And if you need a bit of encouragement right now, here is what I know for sure.
If you are willing to commit to yourself and your vision, and if you are willing to put in the time and work to build a solid foundation, you can absolutely build a sustainable business that supports you and the life you want to live.
You have your dreams and ideas for a reason, and if you can't stop thinking about your vision for your business, I believe it's because we need you to bring this vision and work into our world. And if you're looking for guidance, ideas and inspiration to help you make your vision both for your life and your business a reality, you are in exactly the right place. And I cannot wait to share this journey with you.
And if you're ready to connect with a community of kindred spirits, I would love to invite you to join us in the Solopreneur Sisterhood Community, A free, supportive space designed specifically for women like you who are building service based businesses with heart and purpose.
Inside the free community, you'll discover many trainings focused on purposeful, profitable growth, monthly connection sessions with fellow heart centered entrepreneurs, collaboration opportunities through our member database, and a safe space to share both victories and challenges. The best part is that it's all free and designed to fit into your busy schedule. I invite you to learn more and join us by visiting thesolopreneursisterhood.com community and we'll also have a link to that in the show. Notes for this Episode okay, so that's a wrap for this first episode, but in the launch of the podcast we are releasing three episodes this first week. So I invite you to take a little time to check out episode two where I'm sharing more about what the solopreneur Sisterhood is all about, and episode three where I'm sharing my best recommendations for building a business that works for you.
[00:11:38] Thank you so much for joining us and listening to the Solopreneur Sisterhood Podcast. I hope this episode has offered you some encouragement, some insight and some new ideas to support you in building a business that works for you. Remember that our world needs you. Your gifts, your vision and your work.
And I'm cheering you on as you bring your vision to life and build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to.
