How to streamline your business for growth (before hiring a team)

Whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for a while, I’m sure you heard the phrase “don’t work in your business, work on your business.” I always found this to be such an eye-opening perspective on what building a business actually is.

At first, many entrepreneurs are the only ones working for the business so it’s hard not to work “in” the business, that is it’s impossible not to address all the mundane tasks that are required to keep the business going. This isn’t the same as from working “on” the business, which refers to taking steps to grow the business. It’s the difference between focusing on keeping the soup warm rather than making a bigger soup.

Once the foundations are in place it’s important to think about growth. There are different ways growth can manifest in your business. More and more customers might come knocking at your door wanting your products or services, forcing you to work longer hours. Or the profits your business is making might raise the question of investments and where to take your business next. Perhaps it’s your business goals driving growth, or the vision you have as an entrepreneur.  

Whatever the situation, some level of change in how you operate your business will be required to push the business forward. You’ll need to make the switch from working in your business to somehow working on it.

It’s tempting to think that this is the moment you need to hire a team. If you’re a Silicon Valley startup, chances are it is. If you’re a self-employed (online) entrepreneur however, it probably is not.

I know, because I’ve been there. I’d love to tell you I learned the lesson fast and straightened up my act. I didn’t. It took me many years and a lot of money, time, and stress to understand the difference between working in and on my business. But finally I got it. And it changed everything for me.

Before hiring a team there’s one important thing to do first: streamline your business.

The truth is, without systems you don’t have a business – you are the business. It will be almost impossible to delegate effectively, and to let other people work for you. Hiring a team without a plan and clear, documented business systems will do nothing for you except give you more work, more frustrations, and less sleep. Because now you’re not only slaving away for hours on end to keep the business going, you need to find extra time to keep your team at work too.

How to streamline your business for growth?

The magic is in the systems.

Although you cannot automate every aspect of your business, many tasks can be structured, systematized, and put on autopilot. A streamlined business gives you the time and freedom you need to focus on growth instead of maintenance, and allows you to delegate the tasks that can’t be automated in an effective way.

#1 Plan out your business

The first step in streamlining your business is to get clear on what you ultimately want your business to become.

Do you want to keep your business small?
Are you looking to expand and eventually sell your business?
What are your financial goals for your business?
How many employees do you see yourself working with?
By when would you like to achieve your business goals?  

Having a long-term business vision will allow you to get clear on your short and medium term goals. It will help you create a sales and marketing strategy, decide on what products or services to develop, the amount of new customers you need to acquire and so on.

#2 Structure, systematize and automate your business

Once the plan is in place you can start looking at how your business operates. For each business department (sales, marketing, administration, accounting, production, research and development, …) create systems by mapping out how things are done.

For instance, how are clients onboarded in your business?

Every business owner should know the answer to this question. To figure it out, map out all the steps you’re currently taking when a new client signs up with you. This is your client onboarding system.

Now that you have the system you can structure it. Make the steps repeatable so someone else can do this task instead of you. Where needed make sure to finetune the system. If you’re sending out the same email to all your new clients but you’re still typing it from memory every single time, that email needs to be stored as easily accessible template.

By looking at your business tasks as systems you’ll be able to do something else that will make your life so much easier as well: automate. I talked about automation last week when I listed 7 ways to simplify your business for success. There are so many apps that can take over parts of our business systems, and if set-up correctly, do an amazing job for us. Look at your business systems with automation in mind. What parts of the system can apps take over for you?

Once the above is done, you’re ready to hire a team. But not sooner. If you’re in a hurry to build a team, make sure to have at least your most important business systems mapped out and structured before you take anyone on board.

Your team will be grateful for the clarity, and you’ll have so much more time to focus on what really matters to you and makes a difference for your business.

7 ways to simplify your business for success

When asked about the type of business my clients want, most of them tell me they would love a sustainable business that makes money but that also flows and feels easy. Yet most of them, just like many other entrepreneurs and business owners I know, never seem to get it quite right. The majority are often overwhelmed, stressed out, and chronically overworked. With only a percentage of them actually achieving the financial success they’re working so hard for.

For a long time, I used to be like that too.

I would work 12-hour days for weeks on end and not see the needle move an inch. Every time someone would ask me how business was, I’d reply with the all to familiar “busy”. In the end, I can’t say business was bad. I made money, and my business grew. But – and this is a big one – the way I was doing it was unsustainable, and if I consider all the hours, efforts, and energy I put in I have to admit the ugly truth: I did it for peanuts.

When we’re starting out on our own, it’s difficult to resist the urge to try out things, to build as we go, to want to do a million things at once. In a way, and to a certain extend, we absolutely have to. After all, we’re learning how to build our business. The problem is that, as we’re learning, we’re also adding layer upon layer of things we think we need to do. If we’re not careful – and this is what happens in most cases – soon enough we’ll end up overwhelmed by all those to-dos, of which we usually don’t even question the validity.

Finally, because of the inherited dreams of hard work and relentless productivity that our culture has so generously passed down to us, we think being tired from always being “busy” is a sign we’re doing well, and moving forward in the right direction.

I used to believe this. I don’t believe it anymore. A successful business shouldn’t be hard, it should flow and feel easy.

One way to achieve this (perhaps the single most important way) is to simplify as much as you can. This means looking at all those layers of to-dos you’ve piled up over time and for each of them decide if you actually need to do it, and if you do how you can do it better.

In what follows I share 7 ways you can simplify your business for success. I’ve added success in there on purpose because I believe that simplification will bring you more flow and ease but will also keep you energized and happy. This in turn will keep you focused on the important stuff which will bring in more money. See where I’m getting at here?

#1 Focus on the essential

In every business there are a few key things that yield the most results. In order to make your business work it’s important to focus on these essential components. Basically it comes down to identifying what works well in your business, and doing more of that! What follows is that everything that isn’t essential should come second, or be eliminated altogether.

This idea is grounded in the concepts of Essentialism and the 80/20 rule, also known as the Pareto principle.

Essentialism is the disciplined pursuit of less, based on the core question: “Will this activity or effort make the highest possible contribution towards my goal?”. The Pareto principle states that, for many events, about 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. Translated into business speak: 20% of the things we do in our business produce about 80% of our results. So the trick is to figure out what those 20% are and do as much if it as we can.

#2 Automate as much as possible

Business automation is one of the areas in my business I was most reluctant to look at. If you’re in business today, especially online business, chances are you use a multitude of apps on a daily basis.

The problem here again, at least for me, is the stockpiling of apps. Before you know it, one app has led you to another, and another, and so on. My reluctance to look at what I was using for my business, and the way I was using it came from the fact that I knew there would be a learning curve. I needed to first check all the apps I was using to make sure I actually needed them, then figure out how I could use them better.

Once I did the work I realized I was spending more than €5000 a year on apps, most of which I hardly used. My first step was to cancel everything I didn’t need. This left me with about €1000 a year worth of app subscriptions.

Here’s a list of the ones I use most, and the time saved by using them effectively (affiliate links):

Acuity Scheduling
For appointment scheduling. When someone signs up for a free coaching session they’re automatically redirected to my online calendar through Acuity. This saves me and the client time by avoiding the back and forth to find a moment that works for both of us.

Time saved letting acuity deal with my calendar: 2 hours a week

Zoom
I use zoom for video conferencing with my coaching clients. The one tweak I did that saves me massive amounts of time is a build-in integration with Acuity Scheduling mentioned above. Acuity lets you connect with Zoom so that every time a new appointment is created, it included a link to a zoom video conference room. Before this I used to create and send out zoom links to my clients before every session. I know, right!

Time saved letting zoom create its own links: 2 hours a week

Zapier
I’m not sure how to define Zapier. A workflow or task manager? A way to connect apps? In any case what I do know is that I think of Zapier when I imagine how great it would be if new tasks could magically appear in Asana (see point #3) when I create new Google Calendar events for instance, or how awesome it would be that WordPress post drafts would be created automatically from all the newsletters I send out. In fact, that – and so much more – is exactly what Zapier does for me.

Time saved letting Zapier prep content for me: 4 hours a week

Waveapps
I believe in the power of the “important admin stuff” you have to do for your business. I know many entrepreneurs see this as a necessary evil but I’m convinced the success of any business is in part due to the way administration tasks are done. There are a gazillion apps out there that can help you streamline your admin processes. For invoicing I love using Wave Accounting. It’s easy to use and offers great features like recurring billing via email and automatic payment notifications.

Time saved letting Wave Accounting worry about my invoices and payments: 2 hours a week

#3 Structure and create routines

Structure is another one of those things that can save you a bucket load of time. Working without a plan is never a good idea, I’m sure you’ll agree. Why then are so many entrepreneurs working without a defined and thought out structure or set of routines? It’s exactly the same thing!

I have routines for how I write, how I work with clients, how I plan out my goals. Routine is part of almost everything I do in my business.

When it comes to structure, I have a lot of that too. I plan things on specific days, do them in a specific way, and have a lot of templates and workflows (see below point #6 and #7) that I’ve created over the years. To help me stay on track I use a project management tool called Asana. All the essential tasks I have to do are organized in projects, with repeat times for recurring tasks. I give every task an “energy value” of low, medium, high or epic. When I plan my days I use a fixed set of each type of task. This way I don’t plan too many things in a day, while I still move towards my goals quickly, and with ease.

#4 Get organized and schedule ahead of time

To have a business that flows and feels easy it’s important to be proactive instead of reactive. Unfortunately a lot of entrepreneurs I know are part of the latter group rather of the former. Every day they fight with their business, and react to what comes at them. It’s not their fault. They’re entangled in this way of working because it’s the most common way there is. One way to escape it is to get organized and schedule work ahead of time.

I make sure I schedule in enough time every week to write blog posts and newsletters, and even to work on new products and launches well head of time.

For social media I love to use Smarterqueue. This intuitive social media scheduling tool is easy to use, and let’s you put a schedule for your social media together! Once you’ve done this once the only thing you need to do is add content regularly, and the app does the rest.

#5 Set boundaries and say “no” more often

When I first started out in business my boundaries where non-existent. “Yes” was the only thing I knew how to say. In fact, I even put a tagline on my business cards and website that reflected this belief. I’d seen it on the name tag of a hotel manager and found it so on point that I decided to use it for my business. It read: “The answer is YES. What is the question?” I still think it’s a great tagline. Unfortunately what works for hospitality management doesn’t automatically work for other businesses.

By adopting this attitude of “yes” I quickly found myself overworked, overwhelmed, and incredibly unhappy. Saying yes to anything that came my way resulted in a portfolio of not so fun clients, big projects that I wasn’t being paid nearly enough for, and late night and weekend phone calls from clients who wanted to share “one more important thing” with me.

It was unsustainable. Eventually I had to grow up, and shift gears. That’s when I learned the power of boundaries, and saying “no”.

Today I assess every request I get based on the list of things that contribute most to my business. If the request is in line with my long-term goals I might say yes – if I have the time to do it – if not it’s a “no”.

#6 Create templates

One day I was typing an email to a client when I realized I had typed that same email at least 10 times before. I’m sure you know the feeling 🙂 That’s when I decided to create a vault with templates for emails and other communication I deal with in my business.

It wasn’t a difficult process at all. I didn’t sit down with myself and force myself to come up with a list of emails I needed templates for (although this could have worked). I simply decided that whenever I wrote an email from then on I would save it as a template first. By being consistent at this for a few months I put together a rich and extensive library of templates that now save me time and effort daily.

#7 Map out workflows (SOPs) for the different parts of your business

When I realized how easy it was to create a library of email templates I decided to do the same with my business workflows. I mapped out the entire process of the different parts of my business from start to finish, with an overview of all the steps that it takes to complete something.

When I create a new product, put together a new coaching package, or start out with a new client I have a workflow that I can follow. The processes are streamlined in an almost done-for-me way. In Asana I have project templates that I can copy easily. Once created the new project already holds all the tasks I need to do for a particular project. How awesome!

 I set out to write a small post about simplifying your business for success and it turned out to be more than 2000 words long. I guess I’m not a true minimalist yet 🙂 If you’ve still here though, kudos to you! While you’re add it, why not drop a line in the comments below and tell me how you simplify your business. I’d really love to know.

5 networking tips for creative entrepreneurs

Networking is a skill that doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Many multi-passionate creatives, freelancers and entrepreneurs have a complicated relationship with networking. It’s true for me, but I know it’s true for many other people as well. Networking can feel really uncomfortable, especially if you’re not a “one size fits all” person and juggle many interests and passions. How do you even respond to the "So, what do you do?" question?

To various degrees introverts, ambiverts, but even extroverts can struggle with it. Unfortunately, we can’t stick our head in the sand and forget all about it, because in this day and age, networking is a necessity. Whatever you’re trying to achieve knowing people that can support you, offer new perspectives, and help you forward is powerful.

If you think of networking as a way of meeting people you could help and also learn from, rather than a way to push your services or products, you might start seeing networking in a more positive light.

I believe that the biggest issue most people have with networking is the preconceived ideas about what it is, and how it needs to be done. Networking used to be reserved for members of the Old Boys’ Club. For a long time anyone who didn’t fit the bill (or didn’t have the wallet) wasn’t invited. Then, as more outliers became part of the work force, they slowly found their way to networking. But to many it never really felt like home.

The rules of traditional networking are created by a select few, and so work best for them. If you’re not from that context you’ll communicate, and make connections differently. So we need a different kind of networking.

Michael Goldberg is a TEDx speaker, an award-winning adjunct professor at Rutgers University, and the owner of Knock Out Networking. He thinks networking can be serendipitous or strategic, and that they both can help you achieve your goals and dreams.

Serendipitous networking

Serendipitous networking is based on making the most out of every human interaction in your life. It means to introduce yourself to the person sitting next to you on a plane, to someone you’re stuck with in an elevator, to friends of your friends, to other parents at a parent-teacher conference, etc. You never know who the other person is, and it could very well be someone who could become a client or a business partner, or even a romantic interest.

Strategic networking

On the other hand, strategic networking involves having a plan. You need to know where to go (online or offline), what to say, and with whom exactly you want to connect. You need to know who you want to build a relation with – is it start-up CEOs, brand managers in a particular industry, people working in a specific niche you’re interested in?

As Michael Goldberg calls it, it’s all about the “we” dynamic. You want to introduce yourself, and build relations with those people you click with, so you can start using “we” in your conversations. “How can we help one another?”

People have very different reasons for building their social networks. Some do it for generating new business (and this can take many shapes and sizes – from boosting sales to raising funds for charity), others for landing a job, or meeting new friends, or figuring out how to get rid of an issue they’re having, or simply to learn something – about an industry, a job, a new skill. No matter you reason for doing it, is as valid as any other.

Many creatives think of networking as icky

Cassell (A. Ferere), editor in chief of Reverie Page and Fashion Contributor for Forbes, says the struggle is real: networking was a struggle when we did it in-person. Now it’s become an even bigger “digital” struggle. He offers a few helpful tips:

1. Set networking goals. If you know “why” you’re doing it, it’s going to be easier to connect.

2. Prepare to use someone’s time wisely. If you’re going to “borrow” someone’s time, as Cassell puts it, consider using it wisely.

3. Take the creative approach. What else can you do than participate in the dreaded online networking event? There are plenty of ways to connect with people and you, creative superstar, are capable to come up with uniques on how to do so.

Herminia Ibarra is one of the most influential management thinkers in the world and she offers, although focused on the networking struggles of women, 3 key reasons why strategic networking can be difficult for those who don’t feel at home in traditional networking situations:

1. They don’t find people similar to them during events. Even today when we’re thinking of high-ranking business leaders, we’re still mostly thinking of older (white) men. For anyone else looking to make strategic connections these events challenging and time-consuming.

2. Women’s social networks tend to overlap less than men’s. When women and men list the people they turn to for important work matters and then those they spend time with outside of the office, the lists look very different. For men, the two lists tend to overlap. Managing two separate lists implies more effort on women’s part. It also means that men will talk about business in various informal settings, building more trust and being better informed than women.

3. It can feel like using people. Herminia Ibarra points out that “the more we differ from key stakeholders, the more likely that we’ll see a more intentional approach as disingenuous and calculating — all about selfish gain, “using people” and engaging in unmeritocratic ways of advancing one’s career.”

5 Networking tips you can apply today

So, how do we, (multi-passionate) creatives, freelancers and creative entrepreneurs network efficiently, and without feeling weird about it? Here are 5 tips that help me to network with more ease and flow, and that might be useful to you as well:

#1 Have a 1-minute introduction ready

Before going to a networking event, take the time to write down your introduction, to say it out loud and to tweak it to fit into one minute while telling people all they should know about you. Michael Goldberg advises people to use his PEEC Statement for drafting the introduction:

Profession – who you are, what you do, with whom?
Expertise – what if your depth of knowledge? what are you an expert in?
Environment – what is the target market you’re interested in?
Call to Action – what is it that you’d want to achieve?

Here’s an example:

Hello! I’m X and I work as a film producer for small budget web series. You might have heard of Y and Z, they were just released on Facebook Watch. I’ve been involved in creating video content for the web for almost a decade, and now I’m more and more interested in creating content for Facebook’s audience. I’d love to find a brand who might finance a new web series we’re producing next summer.

If, like me, you don’t fit into a 1-minute introduction, these tips on how to introduce yourself as a creative generalist can help.

#2 Figure out what you have to offer

What sort of problems did you face and how did you solve them? What did you learn in your profession or business? What do you know that others might find interesting? Knowing what sort of ‘keywords’ the other people are waiting to pop up into conversations can help you build connections and mutually beneficial relationships easier.

For example, you don’t think of yourself as rich and powerful, but that doesn’t mean the group won’t find you valuable. There are many forms of capital, and money is just one of them. Maybe you know the best accountant in your city, how to source local organic products, or maybe someone in your family is dealing with a challenging condition, and now you know everything about it.

#3 Be present and interested in the person in front of you

Make it a habit to be the person asking most questions when you talk to someone. Don’t look around the room for the next person to approach while you still speak to the first. Interested people have the most interesting lives. It can even serve you to be a matchmaker. Matching people you talk to with people you know could help them is a powerful way to do something for others, while also strengthening your bond with them.

#4 Don’t enter People-Pleaser mode

Meeting people face to face might make you feel you’re under more pressure to say yes to things you’re not interested in. Remember you have the right to politely say “no, thanks” to anything. You don’t have to get coffee with everyone who invites you, and you don’t have to partner up with anyone you don’t match with well. Here are some ideas on how to say “no” graciously.

#5 Follow-up like a pro

If you meet someone you want to build a connection with, and they give you their contact info, follow-up in the next 48 hours. Don’t let them forget about you. Email them, call them – start cultivating the relationship thinking of the long-term gains. The same applies if you agree to do something for someone you met at a networking event – the sooner you do it, the better.

Now it’s your turn. What’s your best networking tip? Let me know.

Are you wondering about what to do next?

Do you have too many interests and don't know how to make them work together? If so, you're not alone. There are so many creative generalists out there with the same issue.

Luckily, it doesn't need to be this way! There are tools for making sense of all these different interests and skills, like my private coaching services, which help you find your "one amazing thing" (or two or three) because you know what: you don't have to choose!

Click here to schedule your free coaching session today!

Why it’s Important For Women to Gather in Sisterhood. And How to Create it For Yourself.

For the biggest part of my life I wished I was a man.

It wasn’t until a personal tragedy woke me up in 2010, that I realized all I’d done was to live my life in the most masculine way possible.

Very early on in my life I made up my mind about the world, and concluded that being a boy would be so much easier than being a girl. I saw boys play, scream their lungs out, climb trees… and never being reprimanded for it. While I was being told to be careful, not to venture too high, to be quiet, to be nice.

What it’s like to be a woman in a male dominated world

Throughout my childhood I feel that I was groomed to fit into traditional gender roles, but with the added difficulty that I was also told to go out and get a job, to be ambitious, and to make it. I know I’m not alone in this. Especially in the West, millions of women are suffering the results of being brought up in a male dominated culture, where we’re being told that competition, success at all costs, and being the winner can coexist perfectly with our feminine qualities such as compassion and love, and even motherhood.

It simply isn’t so.

Of course it’s true that many women retain their feminine qualities, and that a whole lot of us give birth (duh!), and become mothers, but I’d like to argue that this happens despite the world we live in. Our world does not run on compassion, or love.

Our world runs on oil, not on coconuts; on profit, not on charity; on money, not on gifts; on competition, rather than collaboration; and on opposition, rather than support.

And that’s why women need to gather in sisterhood

Something I realized after having spent years of my life trying to become part of the o’ boys club. It would never happen. I was not a man. And even though I was playing by the rules, living my life, and building my businesses in the most masculine way possible, I was never really one of them.

In a male dominated culture, women can never really win. We start out with a handicap that we can never make up for. Even if we try our hardest, succeed in business, throw all of our compassion and love out the door, and toughen up like we’re supposed to, we’ll never live up to society’s expectations simply because we’ll always just be women.

When I understood this, my world broke open. Having thought of myself as a feminist all my life, I realized I had been the worst one at it. I had tried so hard to be a man that I despised myself for being a woman. In fact, I had forgotten how to be a woman. I had completely alienated myself from my feminine, that I had lost all sense of what it meant to be one.

The power of sisterhood

So I went in search. First of myself and my womanhood, then of my sisters. And what I found was nothing short of extraordinary.

#1 Women need women

After waking up to the fact that it was time to fully be a woman, and ever since I started my coaching practice, I realized how much women need women. Many studies have been devoted to the benefits of friendships, especially among women. In one such study, women with a strong, supportive circle of friends had much greater chances of survival than women who where socially isolated.

But there is more, much more.

#2 Sisterhood means deep, emotional connections

We are all social animals, and women especially thrive better when they have a sense of belonging, and community. Through sisterhood, women are able to make deep, and lasting emotional connections. At it’s most basic level, an emotional connection is how we give and receive the emotional support we all need. Emotional support means you’re being seen, being heard, being understood. It’s one of the most healing things we can experience, and something we get from sisterhood.

#3 Sisterhood is empowering

Science has long established that sisterhood is good for your health. But that’s not the whole story. Sisterhood goes way beyond the realm of the physical. In sisterhood women are empowered. Because in sisterhood you’re essential, and what you say, feel, and think matters. Being supported is a big part of sisterhood. You know others have your back, which allows you to stand in your own power more easily, and become the leader of your own life.

#4 Together is freeing

When women are supported like they are in trustworthy women groups, many of them talk about a new sense of freedom. I’ve spend many hours talking about this with women in my work, and what they often tell me is that they felt as if nobody was judging them, as if they could be themselves 100%. And I love that, because what they’re experiencing is exactly that. Gathered in sisterhood we’re able to shed our masculine skins, and to experience our feminine qualities fully. It’s scary at first, I know it was for me, but being together this way is so freeing! There’s nothing quite like it.

How to create sisterhood for yourself?

When I realized the masculine state I was in, I set myself out to rediscover what it meant to be a woman, and to create a tribe of women to gather with. Although it took a while to accomplish, it really wasn’t all that hard. Since, well… women are all around us!

• Be pro-active about getting in touch with the women in your life: when I decided I wanted women in my life, I took matters into my own hands. Instead of waiting for women to walk into my life (which honestly never happens), I decided to be pro-active about it, and (re)connect with women myself. I called or emailed all the women I’d known throughout my life that I liked, and from there build up relationships with them (again). With some, beautiful friendships emerged while with others, not so much. But that’s totally OK. So much so, that it has become a habit that I really cherish. Whenever I meet a woman that I feel a connection with, I’ll get in touch and see where sisterhood can take me.

• Focus on women, not men: following the previous point, another habit I’ve made my own, is to focus on women, not men in social situations. I feel that this is a very important part of this work – and being a woman actually – that women have not learned. Before, when I was in my masculine, when I would go to a business event or any other social happening, I would mostly talk to men, and give my attention to them. Now I do the opposite, and focus on women. I’ve made some amazing friends this way, and every time it’s a beautiful reminder not only that I am, in fact, a woman, but it also helps me to keep choosing compassion, and love over competition, and fear.

• Choose the women you want to surround yourself with: the saying goes that you become the five people you surround yourself with. I believe the same is true for becoming a powerful woman, and sister. If you’re being as intentional as I am about new female friendships, you have the right to pick who you want to surround yourself with (actually you always have that right). By choosing women that share the same values as you, that uplift you, and love you, you’re allowing powerful forces into your life. And that’s precisely the point!

• Don’t be afraid to go deep, and to love: making deep connections with women is not superficial, it’s not a gathering of women to gossip, to make each other jealous, to exchange platitudes. We have enough of that in the world already, don’t we? No, stepping into the sister circle means that you’re willing to go deep, and to love fully, with all that you are, visible, vulnerable. It’s a conscious choice that you have to make. Sisterhood, deep connections with other women, is not something that happens to you, it’s something that you willfully create.

• Leave our male dominated culture at the door: following the previous point, it’s important to mention that in sisterhood the male dominated world must be left behind. Even during my Sisterhood Retreats, where we come together in powerful, and sometimes very pragmatic gatherings on topics such as mindset, fears, goals, we come at it from a beautiful feminine place. Through sisterhood we unlearn what we’ve been told about the world – that it’s a harsh place for women, where competition and jealousy rule the relationships we have with each other – to come out on the other side anew, empowered, supported, and knowing that we’re not alone in this, and that together we can achieve anything.

If you want to experience how powerful it is to gather this way, why not come to my next Sisterhood Retreat, a yearly event in the heart of Paris (France) for women to come together, support each other, and achieve their goals.

Feeling like you could do more in your business or career if you only had some guidance?

I offer private coaching to help women unleash their inner power and create success on their own terms. With my help, you can learn how to use your feminine power to get what you want in life. You don’t have to do this alone – let me show you the ropes!

Imagine what it would feel like to finally achieve the success you know is possible for yourself. Picture yourself confidently taking charge of any situation and getting what you want out of life. It’s time to make your dreams a reality – sign up for coaching with me today!

Schedule your free session!

Why I meditate before I coach, and other things I so to create space for my clients

When I started coaching, I didn’t have a clue about what coaching really was. I came to sessions to the best of my abilities, and wholeheartedly, with a genuine desire to help my clients, but I wasn’t really creating the sacred coaching space that makes the experience so incredible, and life-changing.

It took me to enroll in the Beautiful You Coaching Academy to really learn the ropes of coaching, and to understand how important it is to be fully present for my clients. That’s why I now meditate before I coach, and why I have created a powerful ritual for myself, that I perform before every coaching session. And what I want to do today, is share with what that ritual is all about, and how I learned of it’s importance during my time at the coaching academy.

How I discovered I was meant to be a coach

From as far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to help people. If there’s one passion in my life that has been with me every step of my journey, this is the one. Even as a little girl, the only thing I ever wanted to do was help. Someone would lose something, and I would be the one looking for it for hours. A bird would be injured in our garden, and I would tend to it day and night until it was whole again, and ready to fly away. Whatever it was, I couldn’t help myself (no pun intended), helping was just part of my DNA.

Now my life story is definitely messy, and although helping others remained at my core, for a long time I silenced the need to express it. After college I went on to climb the so-called corporate ladder, I started freelancing, then created my first company.

I did everything I though was expected of me, and helping others wasn’t really part of that. But even through my work at the time, I found ways to still offer advice and help. And eventually, six years ago, a personal tragedy made me realize that your true self can never fully be silenced, and that it will always come back to you, and ask to be expressed. At least, it did with me.

From business consulting to career, business and leadership coaching

Since I was already helping my business client with more than just their projects, I decided to transition into business consulting, and eventually business coaching. At first the sessions where very masculine in nature, and concentrated mostly on the financial goals, and success aspirations of my clients. But as time went on, I felt that I needed more tools, and a better understanding of coaching to be able to really help my clients. Because I noticed that whatever goals they were coming at me with, there was an underlying feeling, a hunger for a more fulfilling life, a quest for happiness that couldn’t be ignored.

And so I enrolled in the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. To this day one of the best decisions of my life. The place were I learned the true meaning of self-love, compassion, and sisterhood. And where I understood how to create sacred space, something I had never done before, but that I’ve now come to value as one of the most important parts of coaching.

What is creating space?

You might be wondering what sacred space is, and if you are, you’re not alone. Although I’ve been creating space for my clients for a while now, I’m still amazed at how powerful, and magical that space really is. And how unique it is to be able to create it for someone else, like a client.

To me creating sacred space looks kind of similar to what is known as speech acts in language philosophy. We perform speech acts when we “open a ceremony”, or “pronounce a couple husband and wife” for instance. Or when we offer an apology, greeting, request, complaint, or anything else of that sort. Basically something is created when it is spoken, as you cannot open a ceremony without speaking the words – the actual act that is born when the words are expressed.

With creating sacred space, I feel something alike is happening.

As a witness, through the work with my clients, I’ve seen how sacred space is real, and although invisible to the naked eye, clearly there for the soul. And the way it’s created is through a bond between coach and client, where the client is open to receiving and accepts the gift of total presence, and where the coach is creating, and holding that space for the client. Almost in a mystical way – and I mean that in the most literal sense of the word. And as such, it’s not an easy thing to do, and something that you must commit to as a coach, and that you cannot take lightly, or rush into.

Holding space requires:

• Work: as a coach you have to open the space, and keep it open for your client, that’s why it’s so important to prepare well for it (see below).

• Respect: coach and client enter this sacred space from a place of respect for one another, with lack thereof there is no sacred space created.

• Trust: as a client you must fully trust that your coach has your best interest at heart, and will do nothing but help you achieve your goals, if not there is no sacred space created.

• Presence: as a coach you must enter this sacred space stripped from all your worries, and the things that distract you from holding space for your client, again one of the reasons why preparing for your sessions is so important.

• Love: and finally (although this list is in no way exhaustive!) I believe that to create sacred space as a coach you need love. Love for your client, love for the work, love for the learnings of each and every session, and love for life itself.

Creating space for my coaching clients

Ever since I graduated from the academy, and became a Certified Beautiful You Life Coach, I’ve been working on putting together a ritual for creating sacred space for my clients. This ritual has become a cornerstone of my coaching practice, and something that couldn’t do without anymore.

Of course, before any coaching session, I always go over my coaching notes, and review homework, comments, or anything else that my clients have sent to me about their actions. And yes, this definitely helps to prepare. But it doesn’t guarantee that I won’t be going into the session with my own stuff, or that I’ll be able to be fully present.

But I find that it’s essential to create sacred space for my client, hence the ritual. Before any coaching session I take around 20 minutes to fully prepare.

During those 20 minutes I:

• go over my coaching notes, and anything else that I need to review to be fully prepared for the session;

• think about my values, remember why I do what I do, how strongly I feel about wanting to serve this client, and ask what I need to do to be fully present for her in this moment;

• feel into the love, respect, trust that I have for my clients, myself, and the coaching process;

• use the final five to ten minutes of this prep time to do a powerful meditation, focused on letting go of all my stuff, and preparing myself to create sacred space in the present moment.

Coaching is a layered process

I’ve come a long way since my early days as a business coach. Transitioning into the feminist, women empowerment, and sisterhood coach I am today, working with so many different, and inspiring women, has made me understand that coaching is a layered process, not only for my clients, but also for me – as a coach. And that’s really what I love so much about it. It’s one of those things where doing really is becoming.

The more I coach, the more I become aware of myself, and in turn the better a coach I become. That’s why this ritual is so important, and powerful.

And if you’re thinking about becoming a coach…

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a life coach, and creating sacred space for your clients, you might want to check out the BYCA, as I can only recommend you enroll in the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. Through my own experience, and that of so many of my fellow academy trainees, I can only say it’s one of the best life coaching courses around (I absolutely want to say the best, but OK I’ll be a little humble).

And if you enroll through my affiliate link, you’ll get a unique bonus package from me (with a total value of €1259 / $1405):

• A 3-month / 6-session coaching series with me to help you work towards your certification.

• Access to The Loft, my membership program, free of charge for the entire period of your studies at the academy.

• 50% discount on tickets for my Live Sisterhood Retreats for the entire duration of your studies.

So check out the Beautiful You Coaching Academy website now

And before you go, in the comments below, do tell me why do you want to become a life coach? And if you are already a life coach, what’s your pre-coaching ritual? How do you like to create space for your clients? I’d really love to know.

How to make money while working with purpose

When I was 12 years old, my father became the CEO of the Belgian branch of a U.S. company listed on the American Stock Exchange. We’re talking 1987, the year Madonna revolutionized the music industry with the hit song “Who’s That Girl”, and by doing so made millions of us want to go and see the movie with the same title, too.

While I was enjoying that pretty harmless tune on my Walkman – for those of you born after 1990, that’s a portable cassette-tape player – one of the first things my father had to do as the brand new CEO of that company was to lay off quite a lot of people. I remember it (almost) as if it was yesterday, despite my young age. Although I can’t recall how we ended up talking about the lay-offs, I do remember a specific conversation we had about it. In that conversation, my father tried to explain the principles of business to me – that is, the obligations of CEOs of companies owned by shareholders, and the pressure that comes from an ever-growing need to make more financial profit. I remember not understanding. So, when my father told me that he needed to lay off people because the company wasn’t making enough money, I asked him if the company needed money – to which he said no, the shareholders just wanted more. That’s when I thought I’d found the solution, and told my father to simply tell everyone that they had enough already. And to share the money evenly among everyone, so nobody needed to be laid off.

Of course, this is not how things unfolded. My father laid off people when he started working at that company, and did so many times after that. Until, finally, he was laid off, too. Many years later, when he had given his all to that company, and done so many things that didn’t align with his personal values.

And this misalignment between values and business is precisely what I want to talk about with you today.

We live in a world that is ever changing, and where new opportunities emerge alongside new knowledge of how things can be done, including business. If you’re reading this post, chances are you’ve watched Simon Sinek’s talk inspiring millions to Start With Why, but if you haven’t, I invite you to do so to understand how working with purpose can help change the way we do things in business, and in life, too. And although this talk is not specifically about doing good, or upholding specific humanistic values when it comes to business, I believe the mechanics are the same.

And they are important. Because this focus on purpose is allowing a new kind of entrepreneurs to emerge from the masses.

Often, they are called social entrepreneurs, but I’ve seen mentions of do-gooders, bottom-liners (I kind of like this one), and disrupters of the status quo, as well as, even, change sustainers (this one’s not bad, either). Now, overall, I think labels are kind of limiting, and in this case I find that ‘social entrepreneur’ is a difficult one to deal with. It sounds as if anyone who is not a social entrepreneur is in business solely for personal gain or profit.

OK, I’ll admit, that’s probably the case for a great deal of corporations, but I don’t believe it’s the case for the solopreneur (there, another label) or for the freelancers and small business owners among us.

That’s why I prefer the idea of spiritual entrepreneur, and I define this as being in business for more than personal gain or profit, answering to something that is greater than ourselves, and upholding spiritual values that we believe in. In short, having a mission of doing good through business. Or better yet, making the world a better place while making money – aka the double bottom-line.

Now, the point of all this is that we can all – and I mean everyone – become do-good entrepreneurs, running spiritual businesses. You don’t have to have spent years in an Ashram in India to do this, or meditate three times a day, or be a vegetarian (although that might be good for the planet, too!). Whatever your business, whatever your background, whatever your beliefs, you can make a difference through your business. The only thing a do-good business is, is a business where the bottom-line is not only measured in terms of financial profit, but also in terms of social and environmental benefits.

So, here are 3 simple ways to get started:

1. Start with why

Being in business for the money alone is not very satisfying in many cases. At first, it might feel good to make money, and to create your own future and sense of freedom, but after a while, you might start to feel something is missing. If this is your case, why not go back to the drawing boards, figure out what your why is, and rethink your business from there.

2. Define what your core values are, and infuse your business with them.

Imagine that respect for and the wellbeing of your employees is part of your core values. If that’s the case, think of ways to make sure that those values become part of how you do business. Perhaps by asking your employees regularly how they’re doing, or by making sure that every voice is heard, or even by making a week or two a year off mandatory – and paid – for the entire staff, so everyone can enjoy time with their family and friends, away from work.

3. Assess the impact that your business currently has on the world, and see where you can make improvements.

Questions you can ask yourself to assess the environmental and social impact of your business include: How much waste are we producing? How much good are we doing in the community? Are we giving back? Are our products or services helping the world or harming it? Whatever the answers to these questions, there is always something more you can do. Changing the world doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t stress over everything at once. Just think of one thing that you could change, to make the world a better place. Then do it.

I hope this post has inspired you to look at your business and the impact that you can have on the world differently. I believe that we can all make a difference – and that we should. What do you think?

How to become a happy, confident, and successful coach

I’ve recently been nominated as a finalist for an international life coaching award by the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. What an honor! And an amazing icing on an already delicious cake, as in 2015, I also became a Certified Beautiful You Life Coach. Another honor, and one that I wear with a lot of love and pride. Little did I know, when I first started wondering about how to become a successful life coach, that the journey I was embarking on would be so amazing.

When I decided to enroll in the BYCA, I really didn’t know what to expect…. Well, that’s not entirely true. I had an idea of what the course was going to be like, based on all the previous online courses I had taken, and the many I had consulted prior to making my decision to enroll in this one. And that idea involved some kind of online classes, lectures probably, and some interaction – perhaps with a teacher or trainer. But nothing of what I had known and experienced before prepared me for what I was going to receive.

Being part of the BYCA has changed my life…

Participating in the course, and being one of Julie’s trainees, has been one of the most beautiful and transformative journeys I have ever undertaken. And from where I’m standing, that’s not a small feat.

I’ve been in business for almost 20 years, I’ve started projects and businesses, I’ve managed and employed people, and I’ve brought hundreds of my clients’ ideas to life throughout the years. So when I started studying through the BYCA, I felt pretty confident that I was already an experienced business coach, at least. And I expected to learn how to become a good life coach, too.

But BYCA gave me much more than that…

By joining the BYCA family, I made friends for life. Never in a million years had I dreamed of making so many new and supportive friendships as I did while studying at the academy.

By joining the BYCA family, I received warm love and profound support from Julie and my other trainers. I had never felt so encouraged to undertake, follow through, and succeed at anything so much as I did while studying at the academy.

By joining the BYCA family, I gained incredible tools and extensive training to be the best coach that I can be. And yes, I did expect some course material, duh! But not to the extent of what I was given. What Julie teaches really works, and it’s based on her own years of experience in working as a life coach.

By joining the BYCA family, I got gently pushed to take a good look at myself and to grow, both as a person and as a coach. Being a trainee at the BYCA doesn’t only teach you how to be a life coach – you go through it and you have to dig deep to become the best and most serving version of yourself. This alone makes the investment worth it.

And these are only the highlights of what I gained from joining the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. Besides offering a life coaching course, the BYCA also gives you a full-blown business course. At the end of it, you’re not only a coach, you’re also absolutely and totally prepped for business.

If you’re wondering about how to become a life coach…

Don’t think for a second that this course is a one-way, take it at your own pace kind of thing. Julie and the other trainers are so accessible to you during your time as a trainee, and the weekly and then fortnightly calls are so supportive and personal that, once it ends, you really miss it. At least I know I do.

So if you’re considering becoming a life coach, I can only recommend you enroll in the Beautiful You Coaching Academy. It has made me a very happy, confident, and successful coach, and I’m confident it can do the same for you, too.

But that’s not all…

I’ll be supporting you along the way, too. If you mention my name upon sign-up (field “code”), you’ll get this bonus package from me (with a total value of +€2000 / +$2200):

• A 3-month / 6-session coaching series with me to help you work towards your life coaching certification.

• Free access to all my courses, and programs for the entire duration of your life coaching studies at the Beautiful You Academy.

Check out the Beautiful You Coaching Academy website now

Important Note: If you enter my name in any other area than the one instructed, (which is the code field at your enrolment stage – please see graphic below), or not at all at the exact time of your enrolment, you will not be able to receive my affiliate offerings. This is not something that can be amended at a later time and so please be careful at your sign up stage to do this as I want to be able to support you on your coaching journey!

If you have questions about how to become a life coach or the Beautiful You Coaching Academy, why don’t you sign up for a free 30-minute complimentary session, during which I’ll be happy to answer all your questions and tell you more about my time at the academy and what the BYCA has done for me.

And tell me, why do you want to become a life coach?