The Busy to Boss Podcast

Do you have a deep knowing that you’re meant for more? Maybe you know it’s time to expand your capacity or that you’re bumping into an upper limit right now.

 I’m going to talk to you about what all that means and use my own experience to share the 3 biggest things I shifted, so you can get some inspiration and advice for what you can do to start to expand your capacity so that you can grow, get out of that plateau and avoid burnout.

 We will chat through:

• What my plateau looked like when I first started my business 

• The biggest places where I see all business owners get stuck (and what to do if this happens to you)

• Why it’s so powerful to pause (and why so many of us don’t do this)

• The importance of connecting with yourself and understanding what your brain is doing

• Why you need to prioritise discomfort every single day

• How I changed my identity as a coach to help me deliver even better results for my clients

I came at this episode from a different perspective than I originally anticipated so I hope this resonates with you!

Spoiler alert: if you view everything as important, then nothing is actually important. 

Let that sink in.

If you view everything as important then you are actually deciding that nothing is important 

So it goes without saying that if you are viewing everything as a priority then you are actually deciding that nothing is a priority.

So what do you do when you feel like everything IS a priority and you just can’t figure out what is REALLY important 

Tune into this episode to learn how to shift your mindset, identify what is really important and start living a life that is more in alignment with your priorities.

We will chat through:

• A couple of definitions that are super important for our understanding of this topic

• My favourite analogy that I love to use when I teach about prioritising

• A refresher of the 5 keys of being the boss of your life and which ones you need to do before you define your priorities

• The 4 steps I use to help me define my priorities for the season I’m in

• A very simple exercise to help you prioritise when you have a lot of big projects going on

Why do successful people quit their businesses? Perplexing, right?

In this episode, we are going to talk about the paradox of successful people quitting, why it happens, and what to do if you ever face this in your business.

I will walk you through a conversation that I had with my client which inspired this episode, as well as elements of my own story (so this will be a bit of a vulnerable share!)

We will chat through:

• What circumstances led to my client experiencing this

• My experience with fear and shame in my own business and how it led to me wanting to burn everything down

• What happens when shame is in the drivers seat trying to run our business

• How I would coach you through other options/routes to go down if you were my client

If you resonate with this, I really hope it gives you the clarity you’re looking for! 

We've had quite a few different series running on the podcast lately. So, I wanted to take this episode as a chance to reset before our new segment starts. On the first Thursday of each month, I’ll be sharing the Boss News. It's basically a segment where I'll share everything going on in our boss community here at A Branch of Holly.

Tuesday Shorties on the podcast are making a comeback! Yes, indeed. In January 2023, I introduced these short pep-talk style episodes to the podcast. During my maternity leave, I used snippets from older episodes for these Shorties because I have a lot of content I can repurpose. Then, I needed to focus on prepping the core weekly episodes to go live while I was on leave, so I paused the Shorties. But now, I've been able to rearrange things and make space for them again because I realised I missed recording them, and I know you enjoy listening to them too. They'll be back soon on the podcast, so listen for a more spontaneous, behind-the-scenes style recording.

In this episode, I introduce you to my FOCUS method, which I teach in The Embodied Boss Collective - my 12 month group program for online business owners who want to achieve more of their goals and increase the completion of their most needle-moving tasks, so they can gain control of their schedule, increase their confidence and generate sustainable business growth.

You’ll learn about the approach to sustainable growth that I’ve found works best, what areas of your business you should focus on to optimise your growth and why this method really works.

We’re going to cover:

• Why “copy and paste” strategies don’t tend to work long-term

• The 5 core areas we cover in the FOCUS method (macro, micro, map, meet & move)

• Factors that make the FOCUS method be super successful in your life and business.

Boy do I have an exciting one for you today.

I sat down on a Zoom chat with ALL of my private clients and got them to answer a question:

“How have you taken the strategies & frameworks I’ve taught you and implemented them into YOUR life and business?”

The conversation we had was absolutely transformative.

Every single one of my clients leads a different lifestyle and the purpose behind this was to really show you exactly how my methods and frameworks really can be customised to anyone.

I’ve wanted to bring my clients together in one space for so long. This is in celebration of them.

Get ready for a big announcement, Boss!

I’m sharing the details about my *new* program… drum roll please… the Embodied Boss Collective.

I’ll walk through the structure of this new offer, what’s included, how it works, the pricing, and why I created this integrated way of getting your hands on *all* of my strategies, coaching, and tools in one place, at your fingertips. I want you to have as much info as possible so you can plan to join us when the doors officially open to the public on Tuesday 19th March!

Today, we’re discussing:

• Why I am finally launching a program that has been years in the making

• Everything you need to know about the program

• What the Embodied Boss Collective means to me and the philosophy behind building a simple, sophisticated, strategic business that focuses on profit without a bunch of fluff that doesn’t move the needle

• The “pilot pricing” of the first intake of the program - including payment plan options 

• How my approach to business has shifted as I’ve matured as a CEO and why I don’t try to “have all the answers for everyone” anymore

Get excited and get ready to join us when the doors open!

Do you find you often have to throw your 90-day plans out of the window because events come up that throw you off track?

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt.

Over the past few years, the world has felt more chaotic than ever. That impacts you as a small business owner, as do the things going on in your personal life.

So how do you turn your yearly goals into actionable plans?

In this episode of the Busy To Boss podcast, you’ll learn how to take your goals for the next year and turn them into an achievable plan.

I’ll walk you through the difference between outcome based goals and habit based goals, the critical systems you need to make it all work, and examples of where you might need to tighten things up in your business.

We’re going to cover:

• The two types of goals you can set for your business and the difference between each one

• 2 questions to ask yourself when it comes to your goals to see if they’re actually going to grow your business 

• How to do an audit to plug any gaps where your business is leaking 

• The 3 systems you need dialed in for all of your offers so that you can succeed without burnout

• What happens if you don’t implement these key systems in your business before adding new things 

There are lots of powerful questions in here so get ready to make notes!

Welcome to the final part of the How To Run Your Business Like a Boss series!

Let me ask you this: are your mornings the craziest time of the day? 

We are getting up trying to deal with getting the dog outside, putting the kettle on, taking care of your kids, and trying to get yourself ready and focused so that you can get into work… 

But you end up ultimately feeling frazzled by the time you sit down at your desk? 

Or maybe the end of your day, you're just collapsing into bed just flat-out exhausted?

Well, Embodied Bosses know that they need to manage their day well. They need to conserve their brain space and energy for what really matters so that they can get the results they're looking for in their life, health, relationships, and yes, in their business.  

So in today's episode, we're going to round out this series by talking about how you can run your day like an embodied boss.

We’re going to cover:

• Why a great day truly starts the night before and how to maximise that

• How to personalise your morning routine to suit what works for you

• Other things you can consider to keep your days running smoothly

• What I do to simplify decision making

• The things that could be sucking away your time and what to do about them

• How to choose your Top 3 Tasks every day

• What to do if you start feeling resistance

 This is a little bit of a different episode compared to the others in this series and I hope you love it!

Welcome to part four of the How To Run Your Business Like a Boss series! 

Running your business like a boss requires strategy. It requires having a plan. It also requires skilfully managing your time and energy each and every week as a boss, so that you are putting your attention on the boss-level tasks that are actually going to move your business forward. 

But I know we can get stuck because we all know that the inbox, the admin, the busy work, the day-to-day in our business can overtake everything and become a big distraction.

Then at the end of the week, we realise we have not made progress towards those big rocks, those highest priority tasks that are going to move our business forward. 

So in this episode, we're talking about how you can run your week like a boss and make those higher-valued ceo-level tasks a priority.

We’re going to cover:

• What’s a weekly outline, how you use one and examples of how I use my own

• The importance of your Weekly Prep Meeting

• A strategy that I’m ruthless at implementing that helps massively with business boundaries

• Important questions to ask yourself to help you run your week more effectively

• A breakdown of what your Boss Score is all about & why you need it to stick to your weekly plan

• The importance of the review part of a Weekly Prep Meeting & questions to ask yourself

This is what we’ll be doing live together every week as part of The Embodied Boss Collective and it’s going to be so fun to dive into together!

Keep bossing it.

Welcome to part three of the How To Run Your Business Like a Boss series!

In this episode, we’re diving into part 2 of my Triple Threat Method - the Monthly Prep Meeting. I want to talk about how a monthly practice, a monthly meeting on your calendar to actually build in a feedback loop for yourself and for self-accountability will help so much!

Having a system like this in place for your business means that your plan doesn't just become another Google doc or Notion page that you're never looking at again but is actually a living, breathing document that you are actively using and checking in with to create progress and momentum in your business.

 We’re going to cover:

• The check-in process I use for my Monthly Prep Meeting

• What kids of questions you can ask yourself as you look back on the previous month

• The consequences of NOT tracking and documenting things in your business on a consistent basis

• How to check in on your business metrics & revenue each month (without obsessing over them)

• What to do if you discover you’ve fallen behind on your project goals

• The last thing you need to do at the end of your monthly prep meeting

This is what we’ll be doing live together every month as part of The Embodied Boss Collective so I hope it gives you some good insights!

Keep bossing it.

Welcome to part two of the How To Run Your Business Like a Boss series!

If you're anything like me, the new year feels like a fresh start, a blank slate, and a new chance to go after those big amazing goals for our lives and our business. 

But if the ups and downs of entrepreneurship have taught us anything, it’s this: our plans need to be adaptable and adjustable. 

That's why I absolutely love turning my big business goals for the year into actionable checkoffable 90-day plans - which is what we’re talking about today. 

How do you dig in and start creating 90-day plans for more momentum in your business?

We’re going to cover:

• Why 90 day plans are so powerful and the intention behind them

• They 3 key systems you need to have in place in your business (& how to implement them)

• The difference between habit-based goals and outcome-based goals as we map out our 90 day plans

• Questions to ask yourself when it comes to breaking down the action steps for each goal

• How to create a 30-60-90 plan to hold you accountable so you can see real momentum and progress

This is basically like an hour long masterclass, so get ready to take notes!

Keep bossing it.

Welcome to the first episode of a brand new series of the podcast: How To Run Your Business Like a BOSS! 

We’re getting started with a big question…

Have you ever fallen out of love with your business? 

You’ll know if you have but it also might disguise itself as other things… it looks like feeling frustrated all the time, things might not be working smoothly, and maybe you even feel like you want to just burn it all down and start again.

Well, good news for you - if you have ever felt this way, it's likely not because you need to start over from scratch, but because you're out of alignment. 

Sounds fluffy? Don’t worry Boss - in this episode, we're going to talk about how you can realign your vision with your business so that you can fall back in love with it again.

We’re going to cover three key areas:

• Your definition of success - I’ll walk you through 5 different core areas of your life, questions to ask yourself to measure your version of success as well as examples from my own life (I know you love a concrete example!)

• How to figure out your owner’s intent, so what you want your business to do for YOU personally, what you want it to provide in terms of time, money & energy

• Your whole business vision in terms of the direction you are going in with your offers, content, systems, etc.

This is a jam packed episodes full of lots of concrete examples!

This will help you SO much in getting realigned in your business and when you feel more aligned, your business becomes more fun. 

And THAT’S when you start to fall back in love because you see that energy, enthusiasm, and excitement come back.

This is my first episode back from maternity leave - I hope you love it!

Let’s dive in.

Oftentimes after you've run your business for a certain amount of time, you will always get asked this one question: if you had to start over, what would you do?  

As I’ve been gearing up for my launch of The Embodied Boss Collective, I’ve been thinking about the different women I’ve been talking to who want to be inside of the programme and the conversations I’ve been having with my clients, and it got me thinking - what would I do differently?

What would I do if I was my own student sitting here, wanting to join The Embodied Boss Collective to take my business to the next level or pivot or even start over?

 So here we are. Here's that conversation. Here are the answers that continued from that thought process. 

 In today’s episode, I’m going to share if I was starting over today in 2024 exactly what I’d focus on. 

I’ll go through what I would differently, what I would do the same, and what I would just do out of the blue that was never even in the mix for me before.  

This is going to be a juicy episode so let’s dive in!

A phrase that I say often to my clients, and that is one of my guiding principles is this: if you want big results, you've got make big moves.

 This is one of the most common topics of conversation I have with potential clients in the DMs who are considering joining The Embodied Boss Collective this year because we look at, okay, well I'm doing this little thing and I'm doing that little thing.

 But then we go through the same motions every single day wondering why nothing is working or changing…

 So, Boss - it’s time to make some big moves. But to make big moves, you often have to take big risks. It is simply a requirement as an entrepreneur to take risks. 

But rather than me just telling you that you need to take risks, let's actually dissect in today's episode what taking risks means, what safety means, and how you can completely reframe the way that you look at taking risks.

 This episode is actually inspired by some of my clients. Over the past few months, I’ve noticed that they’ve been asking me way more questions about my journey and how I’ve taken big leaps in my business pretty much every year since I started.

 So I’ve almost been dissecting this based on their questions and I had this lightbulb moment one day where I thought oh my gosh, I need to talk about this more. I need to talk about this on the podcast. And so here we are.

 I loved recording this episode so I hope you love listening to it! Let’s dive in.

If you are looking to scale your business to consistent £5k income months this year, this episode is for you. 

 If you dream big and know that you are meant to do big things, you've got this amazing vision - this episode is going to share some real uncomfortable truths (that aren’t always shared on Instagram), of the things that you are going to need to do and what it's really going to take to grow and scale a business of that magnitude.

 What I DO want you to know is that it’s 100% possible. And that's what's so exciting about being an entrepreneur to build a business at this scale. 

 But a lot of people do us a disservice by making it seem so easy, and we often feel like we're doing something wrong or we're missing a secret piece of information, or just simply are not prepared for what it truly takes to scale a business. 

 So this episode is the real and raw truth (10 truths to be specific) about scaling to consistent income months in my business based on everything that I have done over the past 4 years, as well as helping countless students and clients scale their businesses to consistent income months ranging from 3k to 5k and beyond.

 Let’s dive in.

Happy 2024, happy January, and happy first podcast episode of the new year!

I hope you had a gorgeous time with your loved ones and I have to say - I'm feeling really inspired and pumped up for this episode which is all about getting your ish together. 

 This is meant to be a little bit of some hard truths - yes Sassy Holly is back for 2024 you’ll be glad to know!

 But also a bit of yes Boss, we're in the new year, it's gonna be amazing. It’s going to be better than last year and I’m going to give you some really good things to reflect on. 

 This is 1000% not another training on 2024 planning because I know you’ve had enough of that by now… PLUS we talked about that topic loads on the podcast, especially in the series that we did at the end of last year.

 Another thing we're going to touch on in today's episode is about who is actually making your decisions.

 Now, I know what you're thinking: “what do you even mean, Holly? Obviously I'm making my own decisions”. But you might be surprised that it's not you that you want to be making your decisions. So stay tuned.

We've got a good episode today so let’s dive in.

Here we are at our last episode of 2023 - can you believe it?!

 The final episode of the year and all I’m going to tell you before you go into this is that this is going to be a classic, Sassy Holly pep talk  - she had to make one more appearance didn’t she? And I couldn’t think of a better way to end the year. 

 So this is going to be short, sweet and oh so so sassy, so let’s dive in.

 This also means that 2023 on the podcast is officially wrapped! Have a beautiful festive break with your loved ones. Eat, drink, rest, be merry.

 I will see you in 2024 when I will be back from maternity leave and let me tell you… I’m coming back with a bang, Boss.

Here’s a little spoiler for you Boss - being a female business owner doesn't have to be so lonely. 

That’s why in today's episode, I want to talk about some observations I have been seeing in the world of women in business, and how we are creating new rooms, new circles for women who are ready to take their business to the next level.

This episode has been sitting on my heart for a long time and the end of the year felt like the best time to bring it to the table.

It’s come about because of the conversations I’ve been having with my private clients and people in my community.

These conversations have led me in this new direction where I'm going from 2024 onwards with what is going to be my new signature group offer, The Embodied Boss Collective.

So I wanted to share with you why I'm truly doubling down on this and on making more space for female business owners in 2024.

Let’s dive in.

Here is the number one reason so many business owners fail to achieve their goals…

They don't have a plan that keeps them focused in implementation mode. 

As an entrepreneur, that translates into forgetting to promote your offers, forgetting to stay consistent in marketing, forgetting to prioritise making sales… and then you find yourself trapped again in that feast or famine cycle. 

Or maybe you let your schedule just get so completely out of control, trying to juggle all the things that you realise you haven't had any time off in months.

Or maybe you find yourself constantly trying out new things, constantly chasing the dopamine hit, going after the next shiny object, and in turn, wasting tons of time, energy, and money instead of doubling down on what actually works for you in your business. 

In our final part of the Your 2024 Gameplan series, we're taking all the insights from this past 4 weeks in this series and turning it into your 12 month gameplan for 2024.

 Let’s dive in.

I want to start off today with two words for you: GOAL SETTING.

 It seems like an easy enough process. You write a goal down on a sticky note. You put it on your wall so that you can look at it every single day and be inspired about what you're working towards. 

 But then five months later, that sticky note has gone missing. It is lost in the shuffle. You have no idea what direction your business is going in. 

Oops! 

This is one of the reasons that goal setting is often a practice that does not work for most people. We tend to only do it once a year and then completely forget about it. 

 That's why in part four of the Your 2024 Gameplan series, we are going to approach goal setting differently, so that you can create goals you'll actually follow through on.

Let’s dive in.

What would it look like if 2024 was the year that you outsmarted the hustle? The year you didn't have to work 24/7 in order to have a successful business. 

I hear from so many women business owners who are just working crazy long hours. 

 They're doing everything behind the scenes themselves, and then it feels like they're always putting out fires because there's always another emergency they have to deal with. 

 Boss - panic is not a business strategy. 

 If your business is constantly in emergency mode, it might be because you're running it by default instead of by design. You're always reactive instead of being proactive. 

 When you learn to run your business by design, everything changes. Things begin to run like clockwork.

 That’s why in part three of the Your 2024 Gameplan series, we're going to consciously design a business that works FOR you in 2024.

 Let’s dive in.

All too often I find amazing business owners who are fighting burnout simply because they're spending every moment worrying and thinking about their business. 

 And with everything we've experienced over the last few years, many of us are starting to feel that burnout. We're starting to feel just this general exhaustion. We haven't had very much fun. It feels like there's always something going wrong in the world, and it starts to really weigh on us. 

 So I'm here to tell you that no matter what might be happening in the world, we can still intentionally build out our dream life while we are growing our dream business, especially if we just take a moment and get clarity about what we want to be experiencing right now. 

 In part two of the Your 2024 Gameplan series, we’re continuing to create your 2024 game plan by designing your dream life for 2024. 

 We're going to life proof your business by getting clear about what you actually want to be doing, feeling, having, and experiencing in 2024.

Let’s dive in.

Boss - we are in the home stretch of 2023 which means the Christmas season is just around the corner. For us business owners though, we are already thinking ahead to our big dreams for the new year. 

So before you make those plans thought and start scribbling out your goals for 2024 over your morning coffee or your festive cocktail, it's important that you don't just look ahead, but that you also take some time to reflect on your progress this past year in your business. 

 I know that the last few years have been a challenge and so many of us just want to move forward and to have that fresh start already so we can stay focused on those big dreams, big goals, big plans. 

 But one of the reasons that so many business owners don't reach their goals is they come up against the same obstacles again and again that cause them to work harder than needed in order to break through to that next level of success in their business.

 That is why I'm so excited because starting today, I'm going to share with you a 5 part series called Your 2024 Gameplan. 

 Over the next 5 episodes, we’re not only going to walk through the same strategic planning process that I personally have used for nearly a decade - but that I have also been sharing with hundreds of women entrepreneurs to help them create a solid and strategic action plan for the year ahead. 

 By the end of these five short episodes, you'll walk away with a 12 month gameplan that breaks down exactly what you need to be promoting in your business, what you need to be marketing, and what you need to be selling in order to have the profits that you're looking for each and every month. 

 It's time to turn those big business dreams into a profitable reality. I hope you are so excited!

 Let’s dive into part one.

Welcome to the fifth and final instalment of “The Path to Predictable Income” series!

Over the past few episodes, I have walked you through the first four steps to help you create steady, consistent income in your business, so you can get out of the feast or famine cycle for good.

Now we’re wrapping up the series with the final part of the puzzle.

If you're anything like me, there comes a point in your entrepreneurial journey where your business needs to support you, needs to support your family, needs to support your lifestyle, if you're going to stick with it. 

We all got through those startup stages in our business where we knew it was going to be a learning curve. We knew it was gonna take a while to figure things out and to get those paying clients in the door. 

But once you're further along and you know this is what you want to do full-time for a long time, your business needs to pay you a real salary.

No one loves to run a business that isn't actually supporting the entrepreneur running it. 

That's why in this episode, we're going to talk about how to create that game plan to make sure you have predictable income over the next 12 months.

We want to make sure you have a real game plan for how you're going to move forward and design that predictably profitable business and actually plan for predictable income.

Let’s dive in.

Welcome to the fourth instalment of “The Path to Predictable Income” series!

Over the next 5 episodes, I am going to walk you through 5 steps to help you create steady, consistent income in your business, so you can get out of the feast or famine cycle for good.

Let’s do a little pop quiz…

 Number 1: Have you ever found yourself just hustling, hustling, hustling in your business? 

 Number 2: Do you ever feel like you're doing all the things to bring in new paying clients and customers, but you're just not seeing the results? You're just not getting in those potential clients who are ready to work with you and happy to pay? 

 Well, if your experience as a business owner has been inconsistent clients and inconsistent cashflow, then I want you to tune into today's episode.

 We are going to talk about the biggest leak that might be happening in your business that prevents those dreamy prospects from turning into sales. 

 This is going to be such an eyeopener if you have been really struggling to have clients and sales come in the doors of your business each and every month. 

 If you feel like you have been doing all the things and you're just not sure why it's not working, I want you to know this is actually a really simple thing to fix once you understand what's happening.

 Let’s dive in.

Welcome to the third installment of “The Path to Predictable Income” series!

Over the next 5 episodes, I am going to walk you through 5 steps to help you create steady, consistent income in your business, so you can get out of the feast or famine cycle for good.

Today we are going to talk about how to burnout proof your business. 

This is so incredibly important to me and I know that it is a hot topic with female business owners, especially because we have so much going on in our lives. 

If you’ve ever experienced business burnout, raise your hand - I know I am not alone in this and this is such an important conversation.

In this episode, I'm going to share a little bit about why I am so passionate about this topic and then I’m going to walk you through 5 questions you can ask yourself, and exercises you can work through to help you burnout proof your business. 

I’m excited for this one so let’s dive in!

Welcome to the second instalment of “The Path to Predictable Income” series!

Over the next 5 episodes, I am going to walk you through 5 steps to help you create steady, consistent income in your business, so you can get out of the feast or famine cycle for good.

 Have you ever found yourself with a family emergency, something that needed your immediate attention and suddenly you had no choice but to completely rearrange your calendar? 

 Or maybe you just wanted to enjoy a few weeks without worrying about your inbox or your clients. 

 You love the idea of being able to take a week or two or more off throughout the year in your business, but the same problem exists which is this: if you're not working, you're not getting paid. 

 I know this is something that's incredibly common, especially for those of you who are value-led service providers. Maybe you're a coach or a trainer or a teacher and you're running your business by offering one-on-one work with clients by offering services. 

 While that is an amazing first step, it can create a bottleneck in your business where if you're not working, you're not getting paid.

 So in today's episode, I want to break down a simple strategy that can start to free you from this time-for-money trap that is pulling you back from being able to take sick days or holidays and help you start thinking more strategically about your business.

 Let’s dive in.

Welcome to a brand new series here on the podcast called “The Path to Predictable Income”!

Over the next 5 episodes, I am going to walk you through 5 steps to help you create steady, consistent income in your business, so you can get out of the feast or famine cycle for good.

Here’s something that a lot of my clients and students, when they first start working with me, they have in common.

They say: “I've taken training after training after training, and it feels like I'm constantly shifting direction, I’m going round in circles and as a result, I'm just not getting where I want to go.”

Have you ever felt that way? 

Today’s topic is a little bit personal…

This won’t come as a big surprise to you, but sometimes I can be TOO strategic - I like lists, I like things to be in a certain order and I like to just follow the plan. 

So this means I love plans, I love color coding, I am just a really extreme type A person… so incorporating fun and going off script can feel super awkward and stressful for me.

My mindset coach is always reminding me that because I’m so logical I forget to believe in magic and so I thought this would be a great conversation for us to have as we wrap up Q3 and head into the last quarter of the year. 

Because when I do infuse fun and magic and playfulness, that’s when I usually have the biggest breakthroughs and I hope that you can too. 

Here’s the lowdown of what we’re going to cover:

- My personal experience with infusing more fun and magic into my business

- Some journal prompts to help you start to implement this

- A few tangible action steps for you to round this up (because I know you love those!)