The Fierce Business Babe Podcast 85: Scaling Your 1_1 Coaching with Lacey Sites
In today’s episode I am going to be talking with Business Mentor and Success Coach Lacey Sites. She will be sharing everything from how she got started to where she is now and everything in between. She will be sharing great advice and tips for getting started, what individual coaching looks like and so much more!
I had a special, special guest with me, Miss. Lacey Sites, on my podcast this week! Lacey is a business mentor and success coach who helps high performing entrepreneurs build and grow a service-based business. She truly lights them up and gives them that personal and Financial Freedom as well as the impact they’ve desired. Over the last 4 years she has helped dozens of women create life changing results from a million in Revenue, Holy Cannoli, to leaving corporate jobs, the six-figure salaries, on 25 hours or less each week. Absolutely incredible! Here are a few questions I asked her and her responses, in her own words. Enjoy!
Yeah, totally. I feel like it's a long windy path, so i’ll try to shorten it a bit for you. I started out as a therapist and I really thought that was what I was going to do with my life, but I burned out pretty quickly. So most of my clients were court-ordered to Inpatient Rehab and they were there substance abuse and then they had a dual diagnosis for some other high level diagnoses like depression or bipolar or something like that. I kinda like dove into the deep end of the ocean really fast and I burned out pretty quickly. So I ended up working my way up in the nonprofit world and was running a large non-profit down here, where I was the director and we kind of had it all, kind of had the dream job, so to speak, where I thought I was gonna be able to make the impact that I wanted to make, all that kind of stuff. Just, like, spent pretty much every day driving to work and being like “Is this really all there is? Like, this can't be with this is supposed to feel like.” I vividly remember, I would look at other people in their cars and stuff and be like, “Are they thinking this too? Is it just me? Like what’s wrong with me, am I missing something?” I really tried to make that work for a long time. I even went back and got my MBA and just, like, really planning on staying in the nonprofit space and growing there. Then, you know how it kind of works for life. If you really want something that you're not going after, the universe will kind of like keep giving you a little pushes toward it and then it will kind of like hit you over the head with a frying pan sort of thing. Everyone has that moment where they're like, Oh year, I should have listened sooner. So basically, I had a huge ethical disagreement with the chair of our board of directors and just left one day. So it was kind of like everything I had, You know planned for, sorted of, just vanished. It was interesting, because driving home that day, I remember it was like there was this inclination in me where I was very upset and like really shaken and all. But there was this part of me. That was like, I think I might have made this happen. Like I'm pretty sure this was for me, I'm pretty sure like, this was like me getting what I wanted all along and that's where my journey into business started.
I actually started another business first, vintage new and used clothing resale, and I did that for about a year-and-a-half but kind of got to the point where I like really had to either scale that to another level, bring on a lot more team, or I needed to actually decide what I wanted to do with my life. That’s when I found coaching and it was like the perfect blend of everything that I loved. I got to use the piece of therapy that I love, I got to use the MBA that I had gotten, the strategic planning pieces that I loved that I got during my time in the nonprofit space and it just all came together. I think it's just so important to share that it was such a long winding road that I could have never seen that it would have all come together like that, but it did and it worked out really amazing.
Oh my god, It was so emotional. But it was actually pretty funny because the part that I skipped over was that I actually planned on getting another job. I wasn’t like “Oh that’s it, let’s dive into entrepreneurship”, I was like, okay, I'll probably get another job in the meantime. But it was like giving me the inclination that I should probably start thinking about this. I applied pretty much everywhere and like couldn’t even get an interview, which was wild right? Like I had two Master’s Degrees, I had a ton of experience, like and that's when I finally was like, okay like I have to stop ignoring these nudges, this is ridiculous. Like, it finally dawned on me okay, like all this stuff has happened and I can't even get an interview. I should probably do something with this but it took me so long to get there because very much like you, I was emotional about it. I was sad, I had built my whole life being this director of a nonprofit and blah blah blah. It was a lot to let go of that.
So I'm really lucky because I come from a family of pretty much all entrepreneurs. So my mom’s whole family, like her brothers, her sister and my grandfather all own their own business. So, they were kind of like, it was about time, sort of thing. So that was really nice, having that support. It was definitely hard. I was married at the time, So even having to drive home and say to my husband that I left my job today was very emotional. And I think that the biggest concern that everyone sort of had for me at that time was like, “Why don't you get something in the meantime while you make this work?” But it just kept not happening and I kept feeling all this pressure to like you know, “get something in the meantime”. And finally I had to just be like so guys, we’re not doing that. Like this was not working and I have to just go down this path.
I honestly feel like the first few stops are to just go out and be of service. I think it's so hard to pick before you do some of the work. I think that reminds me so much of college, you get there and then are supposed to pick a major and you’re like “well, I don't know.” I changed my major six times in college. I think coaching or the service-based industry is a lot like that. Go out there and do it and see what you like and let yourself go from there. I believe that picking a niche and solving only one problem is really, really, really important. But I also don't think you have to do that immediately. Like, when I first started I think in the first month I was in business, I did something like 30-plus calls with people, just like helping and coaching.I’m not necessarily saying you should do that, but I'm saying that like, that's how I got clear. You know what I mean? Like I couldn't have possibly been here before I did those thirty. After those Thirty, things started to become more and more clear for me. I think this is a time where people need help more than ever, so you can just utilize that and go out and start early. Action breeds Clarity, like you're going to get more clear through that process.
So it’s also a very long and winding Journey, but basically I started out having one on one clients and really loved that. And then of course, I got to the point where it’s like, Okay what’s next? like how am i going to offer more impact, what am I gonna do? That kind of thing.I ran a group program I think maybe three or four times a week and It was good. Like there was nothing bad about it. Like I think In our last program, We had like 45-48 people in it, something like that at least. It wasn't like it wasnt working. I just literally hate it. Just to be transparent. I love one on one work. I really feel like that's my skill set, that its what I’m put on Earth to do. I could be on like 9 hours of one-on-one calls all day, but if I'm in a group call of like 45 people and trying to personally coach everyone, it’s just not where I strive. I dont think theres anything wrong with people that do thrive there, I have so many clients that thrive like that, it's just not me. I think just being able to be aware of what really does light you up is so important in your business because if I was trying to do that group program, I think I would have been one of those business owners that just burnt out eventually. I could literally do 8,9, 101 calls in a day and not bat an eye and I would be like, give me more. I have so many clients who are the opposite, if they had to do eight one on one calls in a day they would stab themselves in the eye. So it’s just about finding that thing that fits you, you know.
So I did these group programs and was just like this is not for me. This is not my thing. That's not most skilled in giving people results. Then I was kind of faced with this position of like, I want to do what one on one, but how do I grow that. I think I spent about four to six months in the question. I know I'm committed to 1 on 1 but I don't see how to grow from here. And the thing that I look back and I'm really proud of myself about is that I was willing to sit in that place for that period of time and then one day I basically just came up with the idea of like well, why don't you just add a revenue percentage? I did a lot of testing of that, so I took on a few clients that were just paying me based on the revenue they made, so it was like a percentage of what they made in our time working together. I tested it out for a while and then eventually transitioned my whole business model to be a base rate and Revenue percentage and we've been able to scale 1 on 1 exponentially from there. So it’s like it took me awhile and the path was longer, but we created a scalable 1 on 1 model and it's so beautiful because it's what works for me. None of my clients have this business model. It's not like It has to work for everyone but it's just like that idea of finding the thing that fits you that I think is so important.
So, for me, it's about figuring out your favorite thing to do in your business? Right? Mine actually is to be on coaching calls. And again, I have so many clients whose favorite things are creating content or out on livestream, or podcasting. There is no wrong answer, but figuring that out. So for me, it really is being on coaching calls so the way I've been able to do that without burning out or getting overwhelmed is to have a really, really strong team behind me. So basically, the job I have in my business is to be so coaching calls. I also obviously create value and put out content and that kind of thing but my team helps exponentially with that too in terms of helping me repurpose content and all of that kind of stuff. What I really did is kind of set up a situation in which the thing I love the most gets to be my number one job and the team supports the rest and that’s really how I've been able to do that.
So it depends because a lot of my clients work with me for a long time, and so we have a mastermind that's also clients that have worked with me for over a year and their in this Mastermind. So In total, I guess with Mastermind clients, it depends, maybe 20 but the Mastermind clients, we don’t have as many 1 on 1 sessions so it kind of balances out. Especially when you’re not doing, like if I was also creating content for a group program and holding space for 70 people in the program and that kind of thing, I think I could never have that. So it's kind of just about like I've been able to pick that one thing and I could put all my energy there, but it's definitely not for everyone and I think it's really about what lights you up in the process. Yes, I did the revenue percentage with several people for just a year or two before we fully integrated into the business model. So that was nice because it was like I knew at that point, this is what I wanted to do, but I gave myself a lot of time to test it and figure it out before I fully implemented it.
So I actually have this really strong desire to keep it about 50/50 in my coaching and what I mean by 50/50 is, about 50% of my clients are like multi six or seven figures and about 50% of my clients are newer and I really like that because one really serves the other very well. Having my pulse on what it's like for new entrepreneurs, I think really serves my clients who are much further along and then vice versa, having clients who are much further along helps me give a lot of perspective to the clients who are newer. So I really try to keep a balance there. Obviously 50/50 is not always perfect but I like having both.
I think it's just paying attention to how you feel before you're about to get on that call. Like I know when I'm about to get on call, I'm literally excited most of the time. That doesn’t mean I never have an off-day or I’m never tired or whatever, of course, that’s true. But nine times out of ten I’m like “Oh, I can’t wait to talk to Amanda next or whatever”, you know what I mean? When I had the big group that was just not the right fit, it wasn’t like I was in fear or anything. Like I wasn't in that place where I was like, “Oh my gosh, what if they don’t like me? What If this?” I was just dreading getting on those call. I think that is the differentiator, if it's the fear talking, like “Oh I’m scared that this will happen or they won't like me or that I won't serve them” or whatever. That's another conversation. Like we got to work through that, we don’t change our business model based on fear. But if it's really like there's not a lot of fear present, I’m just truly not enjoying this, I think about it like dating. It’s just like are you looking forward to going to that date or are you like I'm not scared to be alone, I just really don’t like you. That’s a different feeling.
So I actually hired pretty early and my business took off really quickly. So I hired probably within the first couple months, within nearly three or four months, something like that, of being in business, but it was really rocky. So I think I went through 6 VAs at the beginning and here is the irony of it. My MBA, My concentration, is in Ethical Leadership. I have taken so many courses and have so many certifications on leadership and I just could not make this work in the online space so by the time I was at my 6th VA, I remember having a come to Jesus moment where I was like “It’s probably not them, it’s probably you. If we’ve just gone through six, I’m the problem at this point, I can’t just be like it’s everyone else”. What I really realized in that process and the advice I would give on hiring a team member, and has really worked for me, is really hiring for personality and fit over skillset. I was hearing a lot of people that had the right skillset, but we were not clicking in a way that made me feel like I could trust them and I could hand stuff off to them and I could have real conversations with them. As soon as I hired the last VA that worked out who's now my COO. I just clicked with her in a way that I felt like, okay, we can teach you anything, but the fact that you got me and we can have a connection and you balance out my personality. All the things that I'm strong at, She's a little bit weaker at, all the things that she is really strong at, I'm a little bit weaker. We just became this really beautiful fit. So that story of I can do it better or faster or whatever started to go away. Megan can do pretty much everything better and faster than me at this point, but it took so much trust being built up to get there. The best thing I did was stay in it. I see a lot of people have one or two bad experiences and give up and decide to do it on their own, but it is literally the way to scale a business, having a team, no matter what you’re doing. I literally couldn't run my business without my team. It just wouldn't work anymore without my team. I think it's also a question of what could you do with that hour, like that's what I'm always asking myself. If I hire a team for 10 hours a month. Could I make two extra sales within 10 hours? What can I do with that is like such an important way to think about it because I think sometimes we think about it as just like money going out and it's like time coming in. And I think it's when you know that, then the value is there, then $20 for that help or whatever, is like nothing.
Yeah. It's really just been based on percentage which is like what we're super proud of. The percentage thing has taken a really long time to play out because what happened is we had a lot of clients that we grandfathered in and at the time. So it was like, if they weren't on percentage before, we weren't like, “surprise! Now you owe us 10% of your revenue”. So it really has rolled out over time, a lot of my clients re-signed as well, so it's kind of been this very long road we've been on, but it’s been so worth it. So every time we’re adding that six figures each year, It's been entirely based on adding client revenue and that felt so good to me because we make more money when our clients make more money. That feels like such a win where it's not like we make more money because we raised our prices or because we did this or whatever. We make more when our clients make more and that feels so exciting to me. So it’s not just like we’re adding six figures, it’s like, well, What does that mean? It means that our clients need an extra million dollars this year.
I do Retreats through my other business that I run with my best friend, which is called Happy Thoughts. So we have a show and then we do Retreats as well. And so we do kind of more like women's empowerment retreats through that.
Yeah, I think it's unmatched honestly. I think that the ability to be in a room with women who get it, is just so important. Especially for us as entrepreneurs, because I think it can get very lonely in the sense that most of us aren't surrounded by a ton of entrepreneurs in our day-to-day lives. Right? So it's just been so cool. We started the Happy Thoughts retreats probably a couple years ago and we have a group that was our first group and they keep asking us to do it again for them. So I think we're setting up their fourth retreat with the same group of women right now. It's just so cool because it's like that Bond you create when you're together in person, Where we’re staying in the same house, we eat every meal together and That kind of thing is just so different from what we get online. I think it shows us the value even more right now, because it's like we can feel what the disparity of not having that feels like.
So the first thing I would say is go out and serve people, like whatever that looks like for you. If you’re a one on one coach, go offer as many free sessions as possible. I think that something that happens in our industry a lot is we almost make it seem like a bad thing to offer for free. I think just based on you talking about like that book and how you took on some new clients and all of that like that like, yes, it can be something that you're not going to sustain forever, but it doesn't mean that offering stuff for free is bad. It is the best thing you could possibly do. I took on three 1 on 1 clients for free when I first started my business and to this day is one of the best moves they made in my business. They all ended up signing up afterwards. They became my biggest advocates. They referred people to me. Like, they were perfect market research. I based all of my content off the thing that they were telling me. We can get wins that aren’t just monetary wins. That exchange was so valuable for me. So I say just go create exchanges where you learn about your people, you serve a time, you have people that are giving you ideas, and they're going to be the ones that are referring people to you, consuming your content, engaging, all of that kind of stuff. Don’t think it means anything to give something for free. Like I think sometimes we’re like “Oh, but people will know I’m like newer or whatever”, that’s okay if they know. Thats not a bad thing. People still want to get support and I think now more than ever people want that support. This is a prime time to go out and serve. And if you give them a result for free they want to pay you. It’s not like that makes them run the other way, that makes them want to pay you more.
The best way to connect with me is my Facebook group which is called The Lit Up and Loaded Entrepreneur. And then I also have a podcast called “Literally” where I coached a client for 6 months for the whole podcast series. So basically, you just get to listen to 6 months of coaching sessions and that is a great way to creep on me as well.
Topics we cover include:
How Lacey Got Started
Advice for just starting out
What individual coaching looks like
How she grew her 1 on 1 coaching business
How to create balance in your business
Determining the best business model for your business
How she scaled her business and continues to do so every year
Action Items you can take in your business today
And so much more!
Times to check out:
(2:00) How Lacey Got Her Start
(8:23) Lacey’s advice on the first few steps of getting started
(11:22) What Individual coaching looks like
(13:33) How she grew her 1 on 1 coaching business
(15:12) How to create balance in your business without burnout
(18:50) How to determine the best business model for your business
(29:31) Action Items you can take in your business today
GET IN TOUCH WITH LACEY:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/alituplife/
Website:
Facebook Group: The Lit Up & Loaded Entrepreneur
https://www.facebook.com/groups/litupandloadedentrepreneur/
LITerally Podcast with Lacey:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/literally/id1456287954?mt=2
GET IN TOUCH WITH MELISSA:
Hot Leads Machine (new course):
https://www.themelissalin.com/hotleadsmachine
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