CANVAS REBEL: Meet Kathleen Lawson

Client Stories
Written By Kathleen Lawson

Canvas Rebel Stories & Insights published on April 17, 2025 by Canvas Rebel

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kathleen Lawson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kathleen, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright, so we’d love to hear about how you got your first client or customer. What’s the story?

At the time I started my business, a friend became the leader of a local chapter of a national networking group. She invited me to attend one of her meetings. I went, not really knowing what to expect – and hoping to just meet some new people. From that meeting, I scheduled several 1:1s and one of those people hired me. And actually my plan had been to focus more on the operations side of things – thinking it would be an easier way to build a business. But during my first meeting with that new client, I asked her “what are we doing?” and her reply was, “what should I do?” I shifted my focus to strategy – where, given my background, I realized was in better alignment. And I never looked back.

I often work with brand new service-based business owners. And for most of them, networking is the key strategy to find leads and meet potential clients. I always tell them they need to learn to talk about their business and how they help clients. I also emphasize networking without agenda – you never know where a connection is going to lead. And to try different groups. And my initial experience is a great story that underscores that strategy.

Kathleen, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I love that the work I do today is the result of the work I’ve done all along the way. I started my professional career in advertising as a media planner – which is all about strategy and execution. (And today the work I do with my clients is all about strategy and execution.). I then moved into nonprofit marketing, got an MBA, and then went to work in a big corporate company in marketing and operations. I left the corporate world when my twins were born and I did so to seek more control over what I was doing and to have the flexibility to prioritize my family. For the next 16-17 years, I did some freelance consulting here and there and I worked in direct sales. This was where I picked up the coaching and guiding business owners around how to set goals and break them down, and get themselves into action, and how to work while raising a family. Which I was doing. All said and done, I raised 5 boys. When that set of twins were getting ready to head off to college and I realized I would be in a position to prioritize my career again, and thought about what I wanted to do, it was all about supporting other women who wanted to start and grow a sustainable business – and have the same control and flexibility that I left the corporate world for. It was very mission focused for me. That was about 8 years ago. As a business strategist today, I work with service-based business owners (mostly women) and it’s all about helping them execute on their big goals. I help them put the foundation in place – basically, all the pieces of the business plan – offers, operational processes, the structure and the basic routines. I also support them in learning how to take control of and manage their time and learn how to set and pursue goals in their business. I work with both brand new and established business owners. And I’m able to use the marketing, operations, and coaching knowledge and skills that I learned all along the way.

My clients always tell me I’m very calming and grounding. I often work with very creative people and they are focused on their big ideas. I help ground them so they can bring those big ideas to life. I think that’s one thing that sets me apart. Also, I take a very practical approach. It’s not just imparting strategy and then leaving them to figure it out. It’s about bridging the gap between the goal or strategy and “what do I actually need to do when I sit down at my desk tomorrow.” Also, it’s not a system or a one-size fits all. We’re developing the strategy and tactics that are going to work for each individual business owner and their business. Another thing that sets me apart is that I am very down to earth and speak in everyday language, not corporate jargon. I think that can be intimidating to a new business owner. They are good at the thing they do, but they are nervous about the business side of things and when someone comes along spewing jargon and they don’t quite understand, that’s not going to help them feel more confident.

My primary offer is called “Strategic Vision” – I work with new or established business owners to put the pieces together – we typically work together for 6-12 months. We meet weekly, make lots of decisions, create processes, put systems in place. The accountability is a big part of this, and having someone they can always reach out to if they need. I also offer a “retainer” for clients after we do the Strategic Vision – they’ve got it together and are moving forward. For retainer clients, we might meet on a lesser frequency, but it gives my clients that strategic sounding board – we set goals, stay on track, talk through obstacles and opportunities as they arise. So I do have clients I have been working with for years and I’m intimately familiar with their business. I also do “Laser Consults” which are one-off strategy sessions focused on a specific issue. Sometimes its about sorting out a process in their business. Sometimes its about planning – their next quarter or maybe a big project. Sometimes business owners want to talk through strategies around managing their time. Sometimes it’s just a specific challenge they have been stuck on. And finally, I offer quarterly planning workshops – I call them CEO Power Planning Workshops – it’s a facilitated session for nailing down their goals for the next quarter and breaking it all down into an executable plan. And finally I do have a course around my CEO Hour – which is a weekly planning practice. It helps business owners take control or their time and get themselves organized for the next week. It helps them to prioritize the right activities and stay on top of the “CEO” things such as finances, business development, and networking.

I’m very proud of the work I’ve done with my clients – the way that they have taken control of their businesses and have been empowered to put the strategies in place that helped them to start and grow businesses – and ultimately impact other people. I love thinking about the “ripple effect” among small business owners and the sheer numbers of people who are impacted.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This blog post of mine talks about this: https://kathleen-lawson.com/blog/plan-b

Within a very short timeframe, we had a close death in the family, my husband got laid off, one of my kids got deployed, two of my other kids graduated from college and moved home, I had a case of Bell’s Palsy, and my best friend lost her mother and then suffered a freak accident which left her with significant physical challenges. And with everything happening, we had to cancel a European vacation for the family.

As my blog article talks about, having built the systems and structure for my business was what saved me. I already had the tracks built – which is what helped me keep the train on them.

And boundaries became even more important. I had always talked to my clients about boundaries but all of this really spotlight my need to hold MY boundaries and not feel guilty about about it.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My social media has been an evolution. I started by doing it all myself – deciding what I was going to post about, doing the writing, creating the graphics, scheduling the posts. And I started on the basic platforms – I think FB and LI. Then I added Instagram.

Like SO MANY business owners, I had a hard time staying consistent, which I knew was the most important thing about social media. You have to be consistent. So, I hired someone to help.

We started where I was and in the years we have been working together, we have up-leveled my strategy bit by bit.

I started creating videos – for my basic platforms. I know a lot of business owners struggle to get over this hump. Having someone push me helped. I just “got over myself” and did it. That was 4-ish years ago. And we get better and better at it.

Now I’ve added longer form videos on YouTube.

We have streamlined our system. This year, we set the overall themes and topics for the entire year. That was a huge jump in our process but it makes the monthly work so much easier.

What I would say to someone starting out: You have to create a system and it’s much easier to be consistent when you batch the work. So, create the content for a month out. A lot of business owners resist that because they want to post when inspiration hits. And I say – create that base consistency. And then you can ALSO post when you’re inspired. You’re more likely to be inspired if you don’t have the pressure on yourself to think of something that you HAVE to post today. The second thing I would say is don’t stress over the video – just do it. Video typically gets better results so just get over yourself and do it. And third, prioritize time for engagement. I see the results alter based on how much time I spend on engagement – there is a direct correlation.

The other thing I would say to those just starting out – keep your expectations in check. Clients are not going to start showing up out of thin air just because you are posting on social media. Organic content is a long-term strategy. And it’s more about credibility, education and nurturing contacts. I get people reaching out to me now saying, “I’ve been following you for x amount of time – I love your content.” But they don’t reach out and hire me after the first post they see.

Contact Info:

Kathleen Lawson
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