What does it take to start a business?
Don’t worry! We’ll spill the beans. Because this week, you’ll learn from Andrea Liebross – a coach, speaker, podcast host, and soon-to-be published author, who built not just one, not two, but three – yes – three businesses, all while raising two kids. It’s an impressive feat because all three of her businesses are thriving.
Want to know how she successfully built her businesses? Through the help of her secret sauce! And that’s only two elements. Andrea shares them all in our conversation. So, if you want to level up personally and professionally, and start building your interior design business, this episode is for you.
Why you’ve got to check out today’s episode
- Differentiate between mentors, coaches, and counselors and assess what you need
- Recognize the three elements that make a successful person
- Discover how to overcome your first hurdle of starting your own business without falling into mindset traps in 4 steps
About the Guest:
As a coach, speaker, podcast host, and soon-to-be published author, Andrea Liebross, helps bold, ambitious women make confident, clear decisions to achieve what they want every time and not just add more to their list of things to do.
Her clients become the ‘I’ve Got This’ kind of women by creating their own custom secret sauce for success in both life and business. This sauce has two ingredients; the right mindset and solid systems.
She shows them how to shift from believing what they want is impossible, complex, and daunting to possible by simplifying and making things doable and fun, even the systems, and adding a bit of confidence.
Her signature process leads them to find success on their terms and, ultimately, joy and freedom in life and business.
After graduating from Dartmouth College and marrying the guy that lived down the hall, she and her husband settled in Indianapolis.
Over the last few decades, she has started three successful businesses and ultimately became a certified business and life coach, all while raising two kids, now ages 21 and 18, and several giant puppies.
Connect with Andrea Liebross:
Website: andrealiebross.com
Instagram: @andrea.liebross.coaching
Podcast & Quizzes: andrealiebross.com/links
Check out these episode highlights
03:23 – Andrea’s definition of a leader and our three most valuable resources
04:20 – Her career in a nutshell: From working as an employee to being a parent to building three businesses from scratch one at a time
08:21 – The differences between a mentor, a coach, and a counselor; and how having a coach helped her with her second business, as well as building her third one
- A mentor gives you their perspective from what they’ve experienced and guides you in that way.
- A coach helps you move from the present into the future and create your desired future. They give you some perspective, but their job is to ask you hard questions and to stand next to you as your guide or Sherpa along your journey of business ownership. They make sure you don’t turn back and keep you moving forward.
- Counseling helps you navigate the past, understand what’s happened, and get to the present.
4 Benefits of Having a Coach
BENEFIT #1: They help you with your self-doubt by asking you hard questions and being by your side while you’re doing hard things that’ll make you feel uncomfortable
BENEFIT #2: They point out all the things that are going well
BENEFIT #3: They plan and help you figure out all the things that aren’t going well and all the things you want to do differently
BENEFIT #4: They help you craft your next business venture
11:16 – How to handle the frenemy that lives in the back of your head
- Clarity. Get clear on what you want.
- Confidence in being vulnerable. Coaching helps you quiet the frenemy that lives in the back of your head, that little voice that makes you doubt yourself or reminds you of your shortcomings.
13:07 – The three elements that make a person successful
- Vulnerability. Jump out of your cave and face your bears.
- Mind Management. How you manage your time reflects how you manage your mind.
- Self-direction. Be okay with not getting an ‘okay.’ As a business owner, you’re no longer following orders or others’ plans. You have to be okay with having no one to check in with.
15:48 – Turning obstacles into opportunities while being uncomfortable: An effective mind management tool
17:07 – What separates the successful interior designer from the not-so-successful ones and her client’s success story
21:39 – Why there has to be some freedom built into any business plan and how to achieve it
- Vision
- Traction piece (What you are going to do next)
22:27 – How not having a plan is setting you up for failure
25:01 – How to overcome your first hurdle of starting your own business without falling into mindset traps in 4 steps
By seeing your business journey as a GPS, you only need to know the next best step.
STEP #1: Know where you’re going. Your vision is your destination.
STEP #2: Know where your current location is. How much resources are available for your new endeavor (time, money, and brainpower)?
STEP #3: Know which parking lot you’re leaving from. Assess where you’re at in your thinking.
PARKING LOT #1: Am I doing this business because I’m moving away from something?
PARKING LOT #2: Am I doing this business because I’m moving toward something?
PARKING LOT #3: Am I doing this business because I’m trying to make things better?
Why must you know which parking lot you’ll be coming from? Because when times get tough and you start questioning things, you must remember your why. Reminding yourself is essential since going down the slippery slope is very easy.
STEP #4: Know what to do at stop signs. When you see a stop sign, you don’t automatically turn around and go home. You’re going to keep going. Can you work on this for as long as it takes? Will you quit before you reach your goal? Because it might be tempting.
29:08 – Quizzes you can take to help you get the traction you want to create the life that you want wherever you are in your business journey
- Need to figure out what your productivity archetype is and how you are most productive? Take the Productivity Quiz
- Ready to scale your business to another level? Take the Business Freedom Finder Quiz
30:57 – Time to Level Up Podcast with Andrea Liebross to learn more about the two ingredients to the secret sauce to success
Next Steps
Grab your freebie:
- NEW!! Your Roadmap to a Career in Interior Design
- 3 Things I Wish I had known when I started my career
Join the Design Mentor to kickstart a successful career in interior design!
Enroll in Business of Design with Kimberly Seldon or DesignYou with Tobi Fairley today to scale your interior design business!
Email me at [email protected] if you have suggested topics
DM me on Instagram at @rwarddesign if you have a burning question
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Thanks for listening! I hope this helps you discover if interior design is the career for you. See you next week…