How Shawne Fully Booked Her Business, Took a Maternity & Returned with her Highest Cash Month to Date
Shawne’s Story
I am a registered nurse turned business coach for high achieving women – mom entrepreneurs and now, other nurses. I was looking to step outside of the conventional model of healthcare. I was a nurse for seven years before discovering that I really wanted to help people on a deeper level that I wasn't quite getting in the hospital and that led me into the world of transformational coaching. I got board certified as a nurse coach and take a holistic, intuitive approach in my coaching programs to help my clients find their authentic voices and overcome the fear of being seen so that they can have a heart aligned business and life.
It’s Safe to be Supported
Moving into my second year in business, I started to realize that I have a lot more that I need to do. I knew I needed 1:1 coaching, but a part of me felt a little selfish for wanting that. But after working six months with Anna, I feel like I have finally learned how to feel safe being supported. That's been my whole mantra since I started working with her. It really changed my entire business being able to receive support that I need so I have more capacity for more cash and clients.
I was about to go through a big life change, having my son, and I knew it was going to completely rock my entire world. That’s why I knew I needed one-on-one support. I’m so thankful to my past self for proactively thinking of that, it really has shifted everything.
Deciding to Work with Anna
The main reason I was drawn to Anna is because first, I knew I wanted business strategy but not just business strategy. I needed to have someone support my growth in a way that helped me become more of me as I grew. Anna’s message of being heart-centered, that really aligned with me. I think it's definitely still one of the best decisions I made this year for my business was to get that support.
Filling Her Practice Before Maternity Leave
I was a little hesitant to fill my one-on-one practice before going on maternity leave. I had other ideas of what I thought would be easier money and impact. But after talking with Anna I realized that we had a plan in place and it was safe to book people up until my leave and even after (and let the income be easy)
I was shocked – people actually started telling me they were willing to wait three months and do some work on their own before starting with me when I’d return. I felt so relaxed and taken care of. I can fill these one-on-one spots and then I can go be a mom for three months and not have to worry about anything else. I was looking at the numbers the month that I had my baby was one of my highest earning months, but I hadn’t done anything this month in terms of sales or posting on social media, but I spent a lot of time and energy really trying to maternity-leave-proof my practice. I just feel so much lighter because I did that. It allowed me to be so present with my son, especially because we had a lot of issues towards the end of my pregnancy and he was in the NICU for a little bit and it, yeah, it was just a really big gift that I gave myself.
Mindset in Business
Taking a break was the best thing I’ve done because it helped me systemize and simplify my business. Really trusting my team and letting go of the non essentials and really leaning in to planning in advance. I also started tolerating the non-essential things on my to-do list and prioritizing the bigger CEO projects that brought my business more stability and income. I learned that it’s okay and strategic to not do things on your to do list. It's okay to not be so regimented. I think in the nursing world, I'm so used to having a checklist and a care plan and a very strict way of doing things and I forget that I don't need to be that way in my business, Anna helped me rewire that as an entrepreneur.
One of the other mindset shifts that I was really concerned about before I went on maternity leave was actually that I would lose my business – that I’d lose clients, money, energy or momentum. I was worried about balancing being a mom and running a business when I have no family support here. There were a lot of different things that were circling around in my mind. But one of the very last things that I wrote in the “take a break” planning doc was, I really need to find support in my business. And that's exactly what I've done; coaches, team members. I think being pregnant and being a new mom in some ways has felt really isolating. But also I know that I have these people in my corner who get that burden and are also helping me hold it.
Advice to Her Past Self
I think I was taking everything so seriously at the beginning because I really wanted my business to thrive and I was so passionate about what I was doing that the thought of failing almost made me sick. Now that I'm where I'm at now, I can look back at that person a year ago and just tell her to have more lightness and fun. I feel like I eventually grew to be able to do that, to have more fun in my business. But I wish I would've started that earlier on, to focus on the things that actually light me up, the things that excite me… enjoy the moments that you can enjoy and don't be hard on yourself whenever you can't show up in the way that you used to. That's another thing that I did a lot whenever I was pregnant – I was so hard on myself for not being able to have enough energy to show up for certain calls or I had to cancel some calls and but I think I'm no longer in the era where I burn myself out and if the previous year ago version of me could see that now I think she would have had a much easier time.
Courage to Invest
I think the biggest thing that gave me courage to invest and continues to give me the courage is looking at the evidence of how past investments have paid off– if I invest a little bit more into my business, I could get so much more out of it and free up so much of my time, my energy, to be even more present with my clients and and in my life. So it was looking at the evidence.
Doing the Hard Work
Another big challenge was thinking about becoming a new mom and the anticipation of potentially feeling resentment for either my business, for taking time away from me being with my son or resentment for my son for potentially taking time away from my business. Being a mom is always something that I've always wanted to be. But being an entrepreneur, I mean, it might not have been something that I've always wanted to be, but because I found it and now that I'm here and I'm good at it and I'm passionate about it and it really lights me up... So it was really challenging to kind of come to terms with the fact that, that there has to be a balance, there has to be a harmony between those two roles. But again, I would come to my coaching sessions with both Anna and, and my other coaches alay it all out there, you know, and naming it so that it's not something I'm holding onto. I know now it's okay to have conflicting feelings and allow myself to feel those in, in their entirety. But no matter how much I didn't want to feel them, especially the resentment piece, it honestly helped me move through that part of my pregnancy and focus on the things that I needed to do to move forward.
Being a Multi-Dimensional Woman
I love the fact that it doesn't have to just be one, you know, I can be both a mom and a business owner. I think that's one of the most beautiful things about being a business owner now is you can create a business that actually flows with your life. That's one of the things that I'm really intentional about creating for myself and for my clients too. I constantly find myself talking to them about doing what feels right, not just what other people expect of you as a coach in business. There's all these stereotypes of how women in business operate and I think that it can get really noisy for people. So just going back to what I was even saying earlier in the episode of just checking in with my body, does this feel correct for me right now? Does it feel correct for me to be working on my laptop at 7:00 PM at night or or would it feel more correct for me to be spending time with my family? And there's no wrong answer – I love that you helped me feel peace in that way, balancing both roles.
Myths of Motherhood + Entrepreneurship
I think the biggest myth is that you can’t be amazing at both. I want my son to see me working and doing what I absolutely love and what I'm passionate about. Then, hopefully whenever he's old enough to figure out what he's passionate about and what he wants to do, he can be inspired to to go after that too. So yeah, I think that's a big thing that I'd love to debunk is that you don't have to be really sacrificing one end of your life in order for others to thrive. I think everything can work in harmony with each other as long as you're constantly checking in with yourself.
There's a lot that I've been afraid of, especially in this new era of being a new mom, so I think just not letting the fear of being bad at something stop me from trying it out. Because I think going into being a new mom with a business, I was pretty scared to figure out how to handle balancing being up here on calls while my husband is downstairs taking care of the baby, feeling guilty about that or how I'm even going to handle our new financial situation because we have another life depending on us. Those are all things that really freaked me out at first. But anytime I feel afraid of something, it almost gives me a little bit more motivation to figure it out because I know it will. And every single time I do, my confidence in myself just grows and grows and grows.
Affirmations for the Mama + Entrepreneur
I actually have this affirmation that I used with a client in my certification program before I even started my business: There is beauty in the mess. There is so much beauty in the mess of things, and honestly, who wants a perfect, a perfectly laid out life? I think about the way that I want my life to be and I don't want it to be, you know, really good on paper, I want it to be messy. I want it to be full of joy and love and hardship and, and all of that because that's kind of what makes us human.
One of the biggest takeaways that I've also had from our work is giving myself credit. I don't give myself enough credit for the stuff that I do and the things that I've overcome.
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Anna Rapp (00:00):
Hi, friends coming to you off the cuff because I just found out that I crossed the million dollar mark in lifetime revenue in my business. It's just so wild to me. I just got the photos back from my dear friend, Cassie, who did pictures, business pictures, family pictures, and having photos done in this house, like having more peace and happiness and freedom and stability then I thought was possible is just a surreal moment. So I wanted to take a minute to celebrate with you. Also, to share with you some mindsets I have been introducing to my clients lately that might be useful to you if you are in the middle of growing and scaling your business, because I feel like this was a big part of the shift towards my million dollars because really your first like a hundred k people may hate me for saying this, but it's hard <laugh>, right?
Anna Rapp (00:58):
Putting yourself out there, figuring out your niche, figuring out your message, getting visible, right? Signing your first clients, like all of that is the biggest challenge. And I think people don't wanna say that. Like people wanna say like, I sneezed and I signed five clients. It's really not that simple. It really takes a lot of intention. It's honestly why I created my signature course Getting coach, your first client, because I just feel like the online space neglects newbie coaches and instead of like, this is the hardest part, but also get past it because it's rewarding. So first six figures challenging, but from there you really have to start letting go, trusting, letting it be easy allowing yourself to be happy. Especially maybe you grew up in a house where things were stressful or pressured, or not peaceful conditioning yourself. That's why I call it my happy, boring dream life.
Anna Rapp (01:50):
Really conditioning yourself that it's safe to have a life that's easy, a life that's simple, a life that's peaceful, a life that's happy. And I truly feel like I've created that. And for me, that's my big, not just the million dollars, but that's my biggest brag, is that I truly have my happy, boring dream life. And I truly, because be believe it's because of what I wrote about in my book, which is the fact that not only did I create a business that's super profitable and fulfilling, but I also went after a lot of financial peace and stability and creating, not just creating money, but saving money and investing my money and doing the mindset work, buying this beautiful house, this house has brought me more peace than I thought possible. I just wanna say a shout out for risk for a second because I think like every big risk in my life, I mean the three biggest I can think of right now are starting my business, getting my divorce, buying this house. Obviously there's been others, but like those stand out to me. And those three things have been the biggest game changers for positive happiness in my life. And yet all three of those, I was like, I don't, I don't know if I wanna, I dunno if I'm
Anna Rapp (02:58):
Cut out for this, right?
Anna Rapp (03:00):
And anyway, so just in celebration of that, I wanna share just a few things about the million, but then I just wanted to share through some mindsets, if you were in a place of first six figures, hard work, right? <Laugh>, don't hate me for saying that, but it's true.
Anna Rapp (03:16):
Then after that,
Anna Rapp (03:18):
It really is letting go of control. First I just wanted to like take a minute. That's okay. And like, almost
Anna Rapp (03:28):
Like
Anna Rapp (03:28):
Say a note to myself, I didn't script
Anna Rapp (03:30):
Or plan this, but
Anna Rapp (03:31):
I am a big fan of like
Anna Rapp (03:33):
A lot of a
Anna Rapp (03:33):
Big thing that I have my clients. Do you guys know I'm into different coaching exercises for my clients?
Anna Rapp (03:38):
And a big one is
Anna Rapp (03:39):
Letter writing. And so I just wanted
Anna Rapp (03:41):
To
Anna Rapp (03:41):
Audio off the cuff,
Anna Rapp (03:42):
Write
Anna Rapp (03:43):
Myself
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Like a little virtual
Anna Rapp (03:44):
Letter, a little audio note to my past self,
Anna Rapp (03:47):
To
Anna Rapp (03:48):
My future self. And
Anna Rapp (03:49):
Hopefully if you guys wanna
Anna Rapp (03:51):
Eavesdrop,
Anna Rapp (03:51):
That's great, but I just wanna take a
Anna Rapp (03:53):
Minute to do that. Anna, I am so proud of you. It's 2016 and I know
Anna Rapp (04:04):
You are pregnant with your
Anna Rapp (04:05):
Daughter.
Anna Rapp (04:06):
You are
Anna Rapp (04:07):
Nervous,
Anna Rapp (04:08):
You are unsure.
Anna Rapp (04:10):
Life
Anna Rapp (04:10):
Feels a little overwhelming, a little
Anna Rapp (04:13):
Stressful,
Anna Rapp (04:14):
A little exciting. You have a big goal of making
Anna Rapp (04:17):
$76,000 as a coach.
Anna Rapp (04:20):
And it feels
Anna Rapp (04:20):
Impossible, <laugh>, it feels so impossible.
Anna Rapp (04:23):
But I wanna honor you for going on faith and fumes that it's possible, even though you're not sure you have that like inkling of a, a inkling that it can work for you and this belief that like, you'll figure it out and you will find success even if there are twists and turns along the way. And I just wanna let you know, your resilience, it paid off the risks paid off the,
Anna Rapp (04:49):
The first, the hard
Anna Rapp (04:50):
Work
Anna Rapp (04:51):
Towards the first six figures,
Anna Rapp (04:52):
Waking up early, staying up late, making
Anna Rapp (04:55):
Mistakes.
Anna Rapp (04:57):
I remember, you know, just at that time in your life, you were also facing a lot of personal hardship, a lot of personal challenges, but yet you had grit, you had resilience, you had courage, you had tenacity, you cried in
Anna Rapp (05:14):
The shower.
Anna Rapp (05:15):
<Laugh>, you gave yourself grace. You tried
Anna Rapp (05:19):
Your
Anna Rapp (05:19):
Best, you overcame the doubt. You reached out to friends when you could. And when you couldn't, you were brave on your own. Because ultimately entrepreneurship, even though friends are
Anna Rapp (05:33):
An important
Anna Rapp (05:33):
Part of the journey, it really is a path that we do alone. And I think that's why so few people are willing to do it because it can be lonely. The benefit is you're completely in charge. The con
Anna Rapp (05:47):
Is that
Anna Rapp (05:47):
You're completely in
Anna Rapp (05:48):
Charge,
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<Laugh>, but you did it and you trusted
Anna Rapp (05:52):
Yourself.
Anna Rapp (05:52):
And even though you were scared to leave a day job without insurance and 4 0 1 k, you ended up getting better insurance anyway and a better retirement plan anyway. And really it was the start to saying yes to you and your kids and your safety and your happiness. And I think that's why those decisions are so hard because we know they're so powerful. And I just wanna give you credit for trusting yourself and for going all in. Okay, now I wanna talk to the Anna. That was like seven years ago now I wanna talk to Anna the seven years from now. So 42 year old Anna. Anna, I can see you owning your five properties. You did it, you bought all five properties and you did it in a way that aligned with you and your heart, one property a year, just creating that co consistent financial stability for you and your kids.
Anna Rapp (06:53):
And you didn't rush it. You allowed yourself to continue coaching, continue doing the work that you love, continue spending time with your kids, continue dancing bachata, and you just allowed your life to unfold because that's really the greatest reward just before God is just living, living your life in a way that you can be proud of being a mom, that you can be proud of being a daughter, being a sister, being a friend, just taking in every breath of life because nothing is promised to us. All we can do is be be present for it. And that's how you did your first seven years and that's how you did your second seven years except for all the work that you're doing is cumulating and building. And so you didn't have to put in any more effort, but the results kept compounding. And all you had to do was keep showing up like you did for the first seven years and not sabotage your business <laugh>.
Anna Rapp (07:53):
And I'm proud of you for just allowing and continuing to release and trust and allow and surrender. Okay? Thank you for being a part of my audio journal <laugh>. So just wanna talk a little bit more about that. What I really feel like got me to the million dollar mark past the six figures, past my first six figures really was a shift of once your business is monetizing and you're making six figures, we talked about this in a mastermind call sell with Heart mastermind today, it really becomes a day job. Not in a bad way, but it's not as sexy. Like when you first start a new relationship, it's exciting, it's puppy love, right? But when you lose the puppy love, you still have that long-term sustainable love, which is actually better than puppy love. It's just not as exciting. Same thing in business. Business becomes a little boring, but in a good way, right? We don't want our business to be dramatic. We want it to be a calm, peaceful place to work. Kinda like our house. We don't want our house or our family to be that exciting. We really
Anna Rapp (08:55):
Want it to be calm and peaceful and safe and this beautiful incubator. And so I really feel like I had to allow my business to get boring. I really leaned into not creating new things. I just created a new little on demand workshop 20 minutes. And that's like the first thing I created in so long. I think the thing I created before that was like my getting coach like a year and a half ago, but really for the first year of my business, I was created the creating new programs left front and center. And then after that you really have to sink into how do I take the programs I have and make them better on the backend so the clients are getting better results, but also the marketing. How do I make the marketing savvier? How do I refine my messaging? And I feel like I did really good at that, especially as an Enneagram seven.
Anna Rapp (09:45):
I'm such a creative, I really allowed myself to parking lot ideas to allow things to be easier and simpler and use the assets I already created, reusing content, reusing programs so that more of your work can go to your clients, to creativity and honestly to life. I'm so glad that I got myself a hobby when, when my kids were little, they were my hobby, right? <Laugh>. But as they got older and in elementary school, I'm so thankful that I started doing dance several days a week and working out because that really allows me to unplug from my business and really create that consistent. It really becomes a job. And so showing up for my clients, going full force, but then unplugging and not thinking about my clients when it's not that time, right? Again, I really feel like for the first year of business, it's kind of unavoidable.
Anna Rapp (10:33):
It kind of consumes your life because it's that puppy love and that's okay, right? But we can't do that forever because we will burn out, right? We'll burn out or we'll wanna burn our business down. And so something I'm so proud of is won't never one, just having so much support around me all the time, but also really allowing myself to let my business become easier. Let it become more profitable, let it become less work, and let it make more money. One of my clients asked me the other day you know, oh my goodness, my business is growing and growing and I'm having more and more clients, and how do I deeply intimately know all of their lives and control everything in it, right? And what I notice for me is like the women in my mastermind, I do know them intimately because they're my, they're my girls, right?
Anna Rapp (11:18):
But for everyone else, like even women in my on my, in my heart center, entrepreneur Facebook group, people that listen to the podcast, right? I I'm not as intimately involved in everyone's life and my community, but also letting that be okay and trusting that even if you forget some details that like you can pop in and give a nugget here and there, and you don't have to be so consumed or involved or in control. It's okay if your team helps you manage your inbox or your social media, right? Letting go, letting it be easy and letting your current assets and programs make more money and really getting out of the way there. That has helped me a ton and I hope that it helps you. I think we all, I am so hesitant, like honestly, this is a message I don't like to say because I think, you know, <laugh>, I am someone that likes to control and likes to plan and is organized and is proactive and is very responsible.
Anna Rapp (12:17):
So I think I always get nervous that this message will hit people that are irresponsible. But I know if you're listening to this podcast that's not you, you are heart-centered, you are responsible, you are service-oriented. And so I wanna say for women like us, after we hit six figures, our biggest challenge is really trusting, surrendering, letting things go, not working harder, but really working softer, working gentler, working more strategic, working less. And I hope that that message resonates with you. Like it's not the easiest or funnest message, but I feel like as I've let go of control, even with my clients, as I have more and more clients, I find that like as I let go of control, like even seeing the women in the mastermind, like they support each other too. You know what I mean? Or like seeing my team not just execute for me, but like make decisions for me or do things on my behalf.
Anna Rapp (13:13):
Like, I just feel like a smaller piece of the puzzle and it just feels really good. The, what I can relate it to is, like, I remember as my kids were getting a little bit older, like preschool age, I really was like ultra involved in their life till they were in preschool. Obviously I still am, but I remember my son going to preschool and being like, wow, he's in preschool for three hours a day and being taught by another woman who's not me. And maybe he'll learn things from her that, that he never learned from me. And like, just trusting, I think like with our clients, like trusting that they're these amazing capable humans. Yes, we're gonna show up as their coach and like do our part. Same thing with our kids. Yes, we're gonna be super involved and do everything within our control to like give them this happy, beautiful life.
Anna Rapp (13:56):
But at the end of the day, can we let go? Can we trust? Can we have faith? And can we let this thing grow? Because I think as something like for me, the heart-centered entrepreneur brand and business and community, it's just become bigger than me. But also I've let it become bigger than me. And I think sometimes we're afraid to let it be something become bigger than us because we have less control over it. What if our team, you know, manages our social media and then picks a photo we don't like, okay, that's happened before. But you know what I was like, I'd rather have a social media with like a picture I didn't like than like burn myself out picking all my own social media pictures, right? Same thing with our kids, right? It's just like asking ourself like, yes, when we let go of control, it's gonna be a little different.
Anna Rapp (14:39):
And yes, there's gonna be some cons, but are there more pros to to surrendering and letting go? Yes. Number one, you feel good. Number two, you can grow and you can go so much further with a community than you can do alone. Here's the thing, people are messy, right? I was talking to a client about this the other day. She's just starting her business and she had an experience with a client that was less than ideal. And I was like, yeah, that's gonna happen 5% of the time. You'll have a client. They're not the best fit. The nice thing about it's just like with the day job, right? With the day job, you have a coworker and they're not great, but you kind of avoid them. The nice thing about a business is you can not rehire not work with a client again if they're not a fit for you, right?
Anna Rapp (15:18):
But it's just remembering that like <laugh>, I just have this joke like, business would be easy if it weren't for people or life, right? But like, here's the thing, like we're gonna have like life is messy. Family is messy because it's humanity. But I also think that some of the beauty in it as we're living life is like that's just the humanity. That's just the flow. That's just the challenge of it all right? Several of my clients have been working with me for a long time and are now also it's so funny 'cause as I was announcing this million dollar thing, two of my clients are like, oh, I forgot to tell you. But I had surpassed the million dollar revenue mark too. In fact, two of my clients beat me there, which is amazing. I love that. But it's just so beautiful seeing them.
Anna Rapp (15:57):
I think for all of my clients that have passed the million dollar mark, I've seen them learn this same lesson because really to get to the million dollar mark, you need people more than ever, right? You need a coach to, you know, debrief all the hard sh that's happening behind the scenes, right? You really need more clients. Obviously to get to the million dollar part, you really need a team working under you. There is no one that I have coached that has met the million dollar mark that has not done it with alone. They've had a team, they've had support, right? People working for them and under them and with them. And I really think like that's why, you know, to get to the first six figures in your business, you really have to master the skill of sales and visibility to get to the million dollar mark.
Anna Rapp (16:42):
You really have to master people. And that's really why I feel like I was able to help several of my clients hit the million dollar mark even before me because I have massive people skills, right? <Laugh>. And I really think that's, that's the thing, that's the thing when it comes to getting to the million dollar mark, right? You're doing people skills again as you're, you know, working with clients, as you are managing team members, right? As you are having your own support to get there. And again, so much of that is surrendering and letting go and relying on others, right? And for me, I've been through a lot of challenging things in my life that almost made me hyper independent, right? That really made me leery of trusting people feeling guilty for letting people support me. But you know, I talk about this in my book.
Anna Rapp (17:27):
I have a whole chapter on surrender, right? And receiving. And I mean we have to really master this even before our six fig first six figures when it comes to receiving money, right? But I really feel like those are two huge skills, people skills, receiving skills. And so I would love to ask you, especially if you're past six figures in your business, which of those two things can you work on receiving people skills, <laugh>? And these are things that often a coach can support you with. And I'm happy to support you with this. The program that's best for you really is my mastermind, those women I work with highest, highest touch. And I would love to support you if you're looking to grow and scale your business, please reach out to me. I just wanna see more heart-centered women become millionaires because I think with that money we become more grounded, right?
Anna Rapp (18:25):
With more groundedness, we do more good in the world for our people, for our clients, for our families, we give back, right? We need people say like money doesn't buy happiness. I'm not sure if it does. Actually research does say up to 70 k, it does buy more happiness <laugh>, but I digress. But what I do think it buys, I think money buys stability and money buys peace. Money buys decision. Money buys you being able to say, no client, I'm not gonna work with you, right? Money buys you being able to move your family across the country when you need to to move in with your parents like I did, right? And so just permission to go after the money, go after the stability, <laugh>, right? Work your people skills, all all the things. And just thankful for you. I just wanted to say it.
Anna Rapp (19:11):
Take a minute to say thank you to you podcast listeners. This podcast has been with me, almost my whole business and I'm so grateful for it. I'm so grateful for this place where we can kind of connect more intimately. I know you're probably listening while you do laundry or in the car. Just know that I don't take you for granted and I'm just really, really grateful for you. I am an open book, so if you ever have a question for me, please email it to me. I would love to answer it on the podcast. If you ever have questions or waves, I can be more of in service to you as you are working to grow your business, sign more clients, create more stability, move to the six figure or the million dollar mark in your business. I just wanna say it's yours. It's possible for you. And I wanna be there for you. I wanna hold your hand as you do it. I wanna help guide you and guide your intuition. So please reach out if there's anything I can ever do to support or encourage you.
PS: In the midst of this challenging time I’ve been asking myself what I can do to help? One of the #1 ways I support my clients is by helping them simplify their business so that they can increase the flow of money without creating extra work. In this season simplified visibility and sales is needed more than ever.
So if you’re craving personal support as you reposition your free and paid work, I’d love to help you simplify your sales process so that you can produce income in your business even during a challenging time. If you want support you can check out my services and book a free discovery call here, or you can send me a DM on Instagram.