Beth Bourque: Vision, Clarity, and Actions
Many times my 1:1 clients start out with a high level concept. Our first challenge is to work on their vision, clarity, and actions they have to take to get there. Beth was no different.
Beth and I met at a women’s conference, and hit it off right away. She was friendly, smart, and clearly passionate about her interior design business. After listening to my panel presentation, she booked an initial strategy call with me before the day was over.
On our first call I learned that she had just opened a second office then suffered the loss of a parent. She was struggling to keep her head in the game. She had a vision for the future of her business, but no idea how to get there. We needed to clarify that vision and create a realistic plan to reach her goals.
“Rapid change in both my personal and professional life was overwhelming and felt like I was bobbing around in space.” - Beth B.
She needed:
Respect for her own boundaries, which was her biggest challenge. She just wasn’t respecting her own “no” around her work schedule. I see too many entrepreneurs do this to themselves. She would work seven days a week, and nights at her kitchen table. Everything in the business passed through her, even when she hired staff members to help out.
Systems and structure in place so that she wasn't working around the clock. Beth felt like it was quicker to do things herself than to delegate them, that in the time it took to write a list then communicate it to someone else, she could have done it already. So she was doing everything, from the monotonous small tasks to the huge decision making.
She realized that because of this DIY system, she wasn’t getting to do as much of the fun part of her work as she wanted, and needed a strategy for taking some administrative responsibilities off of her plate.
“Kathleen helped me see that it's a short-term loss for a long term gain. I needed to have a little more faith and trust in my staff.” - Beth B.
To hire staff, another big thing we have worked on - the strategy of who does what and what position to fill next. We've spent a lot of time strategizing around this. And I not only interact with Beth, I am connected with all of her team members and I'm working directly with one of them now.
To slow down and grow at the same time. She wanted to streamline and simplify while setting the firm up to handle more growth. She needed to get real about executing the necessary tasks to reach her goals, and to share the responsibility with her staff. We immediately set up a task management system in ClickUp that everyone on her team could access. Beth has a number of projects happening at the same time so putting structure around the actions for each project simplified and organized her process. This allowed everyone to be accountable for their tasks, and made some room in Beth’s otherwise swirling, creative mind.
“Kathleen’s approach to setting micro goals proved to be a calming strategy. Easily opening up to Kathleen I never felt as though she was judging, only that she was genuinely invested as she ushered me towards my own success. Kathleen's business model exemplifies "how to eat an elephant”.” - Beth B
Her main overall goal was to establish a second location for the Beth Bourque Design Studio in New Hampshire where she hopes to retire in the near future. Beth’s business grew solely from solid, word—of-mouth referrals so she never relied on social media to advertise her business. But now she was looking to break into a new area where she hadn’t established a reputation yet.
We hired a social media manager to build her visibility in New Hampshire. We discussed strategies around building her business there so that when she’s ready to move, she will already have work.
We also planned and organized an Open House in New Hampshire where she could meet realtors, referral partners, and people in the community. She was pleasantly surprised by the success she had with the attendance of this event.
I thoroughly enjoy our calls and I do feel like a “partner” in her business. While we've had overall plans in place, we've often had to tackle issues/opportunities that were more immediate, and we make those decisions together.
“Partnering with Kathleen on my professional journey has been an amazing experience and I am so thankful for Kathleen's kindness, humor and above all friendship.” - Beth B.
Would you like to get your plan, processes and systems in order so that you can grow and scale your business? Let’s talk about how to make that happen.
P.S. Ready to stop spinning in place and get to the other side of your goals? Here are several ways I can help:
Download my free weekly planning guide - it will help you become more intentional with your time, develop a clear action plan for your week, and ensure that you are focusing on activities that will move your business forward - Download Now
Join our next CEO Power Planning Session and spend two and a half hours ON your business. During this facilitated workshop, you’ll set and prioritize your next 12-week goals, break them down into an executable action plan and create a resource plan - Join the Wait List
Apply for the next Close the Gap Program and stay on track to achieve your most important goals. 1:1 support and guidance on prioritizing goals, creating a plan and putting structure and routines in place. Then 12 weeks of group support around execution - Apply today