Business Growth Expert Sarah Dawn

Intro: [00:00:02] Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, it’s time for Coach the Coach Radio brought to you by the Business RadioX ambassador program, the no cost business development strategy for coaches who want to spend more time serving local business clients and less time selling them. Go to Barak’s Ambassador Dotcom to learn more. Now, here’s your host.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:33] Lee Kantor here, another episode of Coach the Coach Radio, and this is going to be a fun one today, we have with us Sarah Dawn with Sarah Dawn Consulting. Welcome, Sarah.

Sarah Dawn: [00:00:43] Hi. Thanks for having me on the show.

Lee Kantor: [00:00:45] Well, I’m excited to learn what you’re up to. Tell us a little bit about your consulting practice. How are you serving folks?

Sarah Dawn: [00:00:50] Yeah, I’m working with business owners to help them reach all of those growth goals. What do they want to do in their business to make more money and having that set up really super intentionally so that that growing business fits in a lifestyle they love? Most entrepreneurs don’t do just that. It’s kind of all or nothing. And it ends up this roller coaster. And we think that you can have it all.

Lee Kantor: [00:01:20] Now, what’s your back story? How do you get involved in this line of work?

Sarah Dawn: [00:01:23] I actually am an attorney and I think we can tend to serve our best role in helping people down the path that we forged a little bit harder with a little bit more effort. I picture kind of going through that jungle with a machete. That’s what I did. And growing my business as an attorney. I was a partner in a law firm. I was hustle work nonstop. All I wanted to do was build and grow that business success. And I didn’t have any measurement for what personal success would look like. What was the life that I wanted? I just wanted to grow more, have the clout, have the money and the other parts weren’t falling in place. I, I think I had some belief system. I know I had some belief systems behind it on where my value lied within my organization, even though it was mine. I thought I had to work harder and longer hours to be valuable to it. And I fully burned myself out. I had health concerns for several years in a row that I kind of war is a badge of honor, that it meant I must be doing something right, because along with those health concerns was a growing business.

Sarah Dawn: [00:02:40] And ultimately my body knocked me down in a way that I couldn’t ignore it. I ended up with a sudden onset of Bell’s palsy, which is paralysis of half of your face. And that was my pores. I won’t pretend like I’m a quick learner. It’s not like that happened. And I thought, oh, I better do something better. It took some time, but that was my realization that I needed to structure my own work differently. And over the years I realized I could do that. And I didn’t have to give up the success part. I didn’t have to make less money just because I was getting better. I don’t love the word balance, but kind of better variety in my life. And when I did that for myself, I thought every entrepreneur I meet when I’m networking, when I’m, you know, doing anything, meeting other business owners, there’s still that same practice. People say I’m an entrepreneur, so I get to pick which eighty hours a week I work or talking about answering those midnight emails. And I was like, man, everybody else is doing this. And I really want to show them that they don’t have to.

Lee Kantor: [00:03:52] Now, are you still doing lawyering or is this now just one of the tools in your tool belt and you’re consulting in addition to the lawyer lawyering?

Sarah Dawn: [00:04:02] Very, very little lawyering, I don’t take any new clients, that’s actually probably one of the hardest boundaries to draw with my consulting clients, because they kind of are like, oh, hey, we got a lawyer in house, too. Let’s let’s do all that part. And I refer all of that out. I have very narrow little bit of lawyering. And I just realized this is the work that lights me up. Watching this success grow for people has more fulfillment for me than any contract I’ve ever drafted in my career. So I’m I’m moving that direction to have little to no lawyering in my life.

Lee Kantor: [00:04:41] And now you chose to call your firm consulting, not coaching. How do you kind of discern the difference between consulting and coaching?

Sarah Dawn: [00:04:49] Yeah, I know. I know people feel really passionate about those different words when people say, well, which is it? I say, yes. You know, it depends in the strategy part. It’s very much consulting where I’m giving my client tools, showing them how to structure it in their business and guiding them through strategy marketing plans, very much consulting when it’s one on one with that business owner, a lot of coaching, a lot of diving into belief systems and behaviors and leadership training. That’s the part that’s more coaching. But across the board, whatever anybody wants to call it, I am I’m getting people results and whatever it’s called, I love the results at the end.

Lee Kantor: [00:05:40] So now how do people kind of find you? What what are they going through where the solution is to call Sarah and her team?

Sarah Dawn: [00:05:49] I have gotten most of my client base so far just through networking and referrals. I have a huge referral base where this I’m a business owner that loves my life is contagious. And that’s exactly what I want to develop here. I want to I want to create a movement of doing business better where you’re not having to pick between, you know, being mentally healthy and loving life and having success in your business. So a lot of my clients have been referral based. Like I said, one client, I’ll do it. They have their networking friends sing something shift and they’re like, what are you doing? And I get that next referral. And then just through my network, showing up in rooms, talking with people and just kind of having this conversation about what’s possible in an etching away at those beliefs that you have to pick

Lee Kantor: [00:06:46] Now when you’re working with someone, are they they must have a level of self-awareness where they’re like, hey, something’s not going right. There must be a better way. Let me explore kind of some coaching or consulting or advisory services to help me get through this. Or is it something that there are symptoms that they’re like, hey, my business hasn’t grown in six months or a year or I’m losing clients or, you know, having trouble in my relationship, like, are there symptoms or is it something that just self-awareness where they’re just real, they have this kind of realization?

Sarah Dawn: [00:07:22] Yeah, the symptom base is, you know, if I’ll get a referral from an acupuncturist or a therapist of somebody that has gone to them for the problem, those symptoms that are coming up, you know, somebody with some other practitioner modality that the individual has said, I’m burning out, my body’s shutting down, something’s not working for me. And when it’s clear it’s their business, those referrals come over to me. Now it’s what’s the saying? You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t force them to drink. I can tell pretty quickly when I’m talking to someone, especially if it’s somebody that’s wanting one on one services with me, this consulting service. I can tell pretty quickly if they have the level of self-awareness that I can do any good for them, if I hear somebody say, well, I’ve already tried everything and I actually know already that nothing works or or my business is different, you can’t really apply any new strategies to it. Everything has to stay exactly the same way it is. Oh, OK. There’s really not you’ve got to have that level of self-awareness that you just mentioned that something’s not working and something needs to shift that you don’t know about yet. If you’re convinced that there aren’t any solutions that will work and there’s nothing in your business or lifestyle you can change, OK? There’s nothing I could do with that.

Lee Kantor: [00:08:54] So now, I mean, even in your own life, you were having those like the universe was giving you signals and you were like, I got this. This is just another hurdle in front of me. So you weren’t ready for the work at that point?

Sarah Dawn: [00:09:06] Yeah, there were plenty of years that I actually remember a life coach approaching me. He was in my network. And I was putting on this big event that was part of my firm, we would have these huge events that were just kind of bring in not necessarily the clients, but the network and build the clout. And I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and a gentleman there was a life coach which actually put a really bad taste in my mouth for life coaches for a while. But because my mindset wasn’t there, I wasn’t ready. He approached me and just said, Sarah, how are you? And I’m like, Oh, good, great. Thanks for being here. Have a drink. And he’s like, No, I’m watching you. And I think we need to talk. Are you doing OK? And I wasn’t having it for a second. I took major offense to him, noticing that I might not have it all together and he could kick rocks as far as I was concerned. And and so I can relate to that. I can relate to not being ready to make any shifts. And I think that’s why I can see it so easily. And somebody else of I’ve been on that part of the path and I get I get it. I don’t shame anybody for it. I’ve been there. But but you have to be ready to to actually make those big changes. Otherwise you’ll be fighting against your mentor versus working with them to create to create that new structure.

Lee Kantor: [00:10:37] Right. And I think that’s an important issue to deal with when it comes to coaching. If you’re being coached, you have to be vulnerable and you have to be humble. And if you want it to work, I mean, otherwise you’re just looking for someone to argue with and pay them a fee for that. You know, like it’s not really moving the ball for you, but you think you’re doing something and you’re checking that box like, oh, I got a coach. It didn’t work. Another thing that didn’t work and you kind of see yourself sabotaging.

Sarah Dawn: [00:11:09] Yeah. Yeah. And I was a lawyer. I mean, I could argue with anything. Right. And I actually, I, I highly encourage my clients as part of onboarding to take the disk profile. Now, you know, there’s disk, there’s Enneagram, there’s several different of those personality profiles. I love disk. I have no affiliation with them, but I love disk because in a work in leadership setting, it gives a really, really good idea on how controlling they are of the whole situation. That’s the D level of disk and then how open they are to any kind of change, which is the S. I immediately look at their D. And S levels to say are are they going to need to control every bit of this process and how open are they to have any kind of change? And all not just because of the disk profile scores, they would also be a conversation. But I don’t want somebody’s money if if we can’t do anything, I need to be fulfilled by my work, too. So if if we can’t make movement, if if they can’t open up, you know, take some more time. Look, I’ll give some more resources for them to look into for them to decide that they’re ready to come back around and really dove in.

Lee Kantor: [00:12:33] Yeah, I find that a lot of coaches, they’re hesitant to just use that TrueNorth and say, look, this is a good fit or it’s not. And if it’s not, let’s not work together because it’s not going to be good for either one of us. But a lot of people are. So, you know, the money part of it is so in front of them, it’s hard for them to pass up money. But, you know, sometimes that’s the best thing to do is to just just work with good fit and everything will take care of itself. Your life becomes a lot easier rather than just forcing every client with every challenge into what you do, even though it may not be really what you do.

Sarah Dawn: [00:13:13] Yeah, it may not be the best fit for either one of us. And, you know, it’s kind of the same thought process. Is that expensive money? Just because you’re a business coach or a consultant doesn’t mean you’re immune to the same problems that you help people with. So those money issues can creep up for anybody. And it’s really hard to turn away money even when it’s good. It’s hard to turn it away, but it can be really expensive money to chase and energetically expensive to take on those clients that you just can’t move the needle for them. So now, this is not my work. It’s not the coaches work that moves the needle. It’s the clients work with your guidance.

Lee Kantor: [00:13:57] Well, that’s the that’s the ultimate thing, though. The client has to want to more than you like if they don’t want to do the work, unless they’re just going to pay you to do work, which is a different service, you know, then they can’t work. I guess it’s just not going to work.

Sarah Dawn: [00:14:15] It’s like how much I want my child’s room to be cleaned. Doesn’t matter,

Lee Kantor: [00:14:19] Right? Well, unless you’re going to go and clean it and then the child’s trained you into cleaning their room.

Sarah Dawn: [00:14:27] Exactly. He’ll do a whole new service model there.

Lee Kantor: [00:14:30] Now, talk me through the onboarding. So like, say, I come to you and I got a challenge or I’m frustrated or things aren’t going my way. What is that first kind of conversation look like? What what what are some of the questions you’re asking me and how are you able to kind of see if it is going to work or not?

Sarah Dawn: [00:14:47] Yeah, and that first conversation, I love for it to be casual and just really genuinely learning about the other person, how did they get into their business? What did they love about it? What what aspects of the work they do that just really light them up and remind them, oh, yeah, this is the reason I started this work. And then also getting curious about what do you procrastinate on all the time? What is always in the back burner and then you’re mad at yourself for it, what comes across your desk and you instantly can feel some resentment towards that being there. Tell me about your customers. Tell me about how you want to serve them and what the highest moneymaking parts of your business are, just getting really curious about all of that. And that doesn’t even have to be an onboarding conversation. Any entrepreneur I meet, I just get giddy listening to all of that. But that gives me really great insight on where where do we need to make some changes or do they even know? Do we need to do a whole lot more work into just diving in on what’s not working for them, what’s not the money making activities? And then I kind of follow that up with I have a set questionnaire that asked similar questions and then goes into, you know, what are some measurable goals you would really like to reach in the next three months, the next six months, and see how realistically we can implement some strategy and get those goals met, because oftentimes they’ll have something that they want to reach in the next three months.

Sarah Dawn: [00:16:27] But it’s because it’s been a goal on their list for the last two years and something’s just prevented them from getting to that. And then that last piece is the risk profile. I love to get it from the client themselves. If they have a team that’s going to be integral to the work we do. I love to get the disk profile from the employees and from the team, too. I’m very, very cautious about that, though, because it can freak people out, employees. It can really freak them out. And the last thing we want is to create a flight risk from there, what we’re trying to make positive.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:05] Why is this person asking me these questions?

Sarah Dawn: [00:17:08] You know, that’s how they feel that they you know, you’re their team also feels fulfilled by their work. So if somebody from the outside is coming in, they instantly have the question of did I do something wrong? And then now I have to take this personality test that in their mind, what if I fail it? And this third and Sarah comes in and tells my boss I shouldn’t be here? Right. And that’s that’s not how it works. But it’s really hard to convince them that that’s not how it works so. Well, I would well, I love to have that information. It really helps us structure things to be optimal for the team. We are so delicate about that, that there’s trust there first and excitement about the work we’re doing first before we go throwing personality tests in front of team members.

Lee Kantor: [00:17:54] Now, do you do most of your work with individual entrepreneurs or business leaders or do you work with the entire teams?

Sarah Dawn: [00:18:01] I’ve worked with entire teams, that is so fun to get everybody on board, but it has to start with that business owner operator and that’s my ideal client, is the owner operator. It’s not an entrepreneur that just kind of threw their money into a business. And there’s a whole different group that’s not really my niche, but those owner operators that have a role within their business. But that role is just way too intense for them to keep creating and innovating to make the business grow. They need to get out of the weeds and be more of that kind of umbrella person than the critical employee in their own business.

Lee Kantor: [00:18:41] Now, when you’re working with that person and and do you have a story you can share that maybe you help somebody go to a new level and has that happen?

Sarah Dawn: [00:18:52] Yeah. Oh, yeah. OK, so one of one of my clients actually started as a solo partner and was hitting a place in her business that she had more and more clients coming to her. She was a fitness coach, so she had more and more clients coming to her. And she was maxed out and she was getting to the point that she was rethinking whether her business would work for her or not, considering just completely crashing the whole idea and starting over, because it’s it’s it’s emotionally draining, especially like fitness, nutrition, that kind of thing. The clients need a lot from you emotionally as they go through their transformation. And she just didn’t see how she could serve everybody she wanted to serve and and have any level of her own mental health. So every time she gave to a client, she was breaking down a little bit more. And within a year of work, I worked with her for about a year, a little bit more, maybe about a year and a half. And within a year, she went from this mindset that she was the only person that could ever serve her clients. There’s no way she could ever hire on to she had a team of five. She had other coaches underneath her taking care of the client base. She was able to take her services at a premium price level and doubled her profit, not just revenue, but doubled her profit in that year just by looking at things more systematically and realizing that she wasn’t the only person that could do what she did. She was the face of the company and she was the innovator within the company. But she could train other skilled individuals to serve her client base. And that one was so much fun watching that transition go from a burned out. So Panurge to the president of an actual company.

Lee Kantor: [00:20:57] Now, you mentioned the nature of an owner operator. Do you have a niece from an industry standpoint?

Sarah Dawn: [00:21:04] You know, I haven’t had to narrow that down, and it’s so fun when people with different industries come in. I’ve worked with several nutrition and fitness coaches. I’ve worked with salons and institutions and various cosmetologists. I’ve worked with attorneys and CPAs. And I’ve worked with artists, graphic designers, people in that kind of industry. So I haven’t needed to do that because the pain point has been the nesh for me. It’s I’m operating this thing and I need to get out of the weeds. And that pain point has been so specific, I’ve been able to apply this modality across the board.

Lee Kantor: [00:21:50] Now, if somebody wants to learn more about your practice or get on your calendars or a website.

Sarah Dawn: [00:21:57] Yup, it is w w w Sarah done consulting dotcom, and actually when you go to my website, the very first thing you’re going to see is a free tool to get you started on doing the work I do with my clients. It walks you through a week of itemizing what needs to come off of your plate and exactly how to do that without losing money in your business. And then pretty soon, within days on that website is going to be a link to a new program that I have started called Blissett Business Mastery, where it takes the work I do one on one with people and lets me expand it in a course level with individual support to just reach more people to start doing, like I said, doing business better.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:49] Well, Sarah, congratulations on all the success. You’re doing important work and we appreciate you.

Sarah Dawn: [00:22:54] Thank you, I appreciate it and I love being on here talking to you today.

Lee Kantor: [00:22:58] All right. This is Lee Kantor Rules next time on Coach the Coach Radio.