7+ years into her coaching career, Becky Mollenkamp is honing in on the work she is most passionate about
Find out how the mindset coach and time-tested creator Becky Mollenkamp is evolving her creative business in order to accomplish more of what she loves.
What would happen if you let go of the 'shoulds' and started following your gut instincts?
For mindset trainer Becky Mollenkamp the decision to stop being a'shoulder' changed everything -- including her career.
Becky aids people to make the change from "small proprietor" to CEO and develop profitable businesses that aren't burning out. Through the Gutsy Boss brand, she has assisted thousands of customers release their own 'shoulds' and set success in their criteria.
Her experience spans nearly 20 years of experience in the field of entrepreneurship to her job, including having a 6-figure content marketing agency before starting her own coaching company in the year 2015.
We recently checked in with Becky to find out the evolution of her business in the past few years as well as look back on the journey she took to create. Her business is currently moving through a period of transition, while she focuses on working specifically with midsize business owners and their consultants as well as employees.
Continue reading to discover the ways Becky has increased her company's success by following her intuition and getting rid of the 'shoulds' -- and is helping fellow entrepreneurs do the same.
Finding her calling as a coach for mindset
While Becky has been an entrepreneur for nearly two decades, coaching wasn't always a part of her strategy.
"What started me down the path of coaching was that my brother died in 2010 of a heroin overdose. The loss really brought me from my bed," Becky explains.
"I was living a life filled with'shoulds' and going through the motions performing all the tasks you're supposed to do. It made me realize that my life is much too brief to live one that's not exactly what you want to live."
"I did not know what I wanted. It was just clear that I didn't want that," Becky remembers. The writer shut down his business and moved back to her home with her mother. Then came the internal work to figure out what she wouldwant the rest of her life look as.
Becky was able to build her writing company. "It was what I knew and was proficient at. But I realized what I really wanted to accomplish was help other people break free of the 'shoulds'."
She then began to coach.
"I realized I could help people with the same stuff that I've been through. That's why I came to the conclusion that the thing I'm supposed to be doing. This is my passion."
The work she did as an agency's owner, and the desire to assist others made Becky's unique perspective a perfect match for mindset coaching.
"I'm an expert in strategy nor consultant, but rather I'm a coach. Thus, I guide people to their own answers and their own understanding about what they want from their life or their business, and then help them move forward on that," Becky explains.
In line with helping people live their lives more fully, she brings her own values into her work. "I'm a feminist coach this means that I value lived experiences and am trauma-informed. and that my coaching is about compassion, no condemning or blaming."
Inspiring by her experience and experience, Becky began building her coaching online business but it was not without a lot of "shoulds," too.
Distinguishing the noise of what an online business should be like
When asked about the challenges that she faced in building her business as a coach, Becky laughs. "There was no challenge I couldn't handle. I feel like I had all the challenges."
The battle of the 'shoulds was played out in this instance, too. "I think the greatest issue was all the noise in the online space about how a business should look, how you have to conduct it, and what that you have to accomplish to be successful," she says.
In retrospect, Becky finds this common assumption that business owners who do not commit to their business from the beginning do not believe in themselves, which is harmful and privilege. "I did not know this when I was younger, and I was filled with regret and a feeling that I was not doing an adequate job because I still had to write in order to make ends meet."
She remembers thinking "Why did I not succeed in making the coaching thing more successful more quickly? What could be wrong?"
The truth is, most people aren't in a position to leap in to a brand new venture full-time -- and that's okay! It's a slow process. However, that doesn't mean you're less determined or worthy of being an entrepreneurial.
"I was forced to perform myself the work of releasing me from that blame and shame and realize that advice [to go all-in] was not feasible for the majority of people."
"The biggest challenge in the beginning was understanding that I was able to gradually transition from a writing business to a new business." She concentrated on shifting her workload by 25% per year. In the beginning, she was 25% writing and 25% coaching percentage coaching. "Honestly this is the first time that we've had 0% writing," Becky tells us.
"That was a slow transition. Accepting it and then being able to let go of the shame about that, to know that it's okay could be the best and most efficient way to launch a new venture, instead of feeling like they need to put all their effort into it or that they aren't sure about their abilities."
Becky also struggled to treat herself as the CEO to see the value in her work and think big picture.
"You can be an independent contractor, be a solo entrepreneur or an owner of a small-sized business by utilizing a couple of consultants . However, you're still the head, you are the CEO and you're the one who has vision," she emphasizes.
"It's about having the confidence of being there and saying, 'I know what I'm doing. I'm capable of doing this.'"
The CEO's mindset is a central theme in her interactions with clients.
A more targeted client (while offering her services to a wider market)
Becky's career is at a point of transition Her focus is shifting on coaching midsize businesses as well as their teams .
There are many reasons for this change:
Her work is aligned closer to her personal experience and learnings in her role as a business leader.
Her time and talents in exchange for a fee earns Becky the biggest amount of money.
The work she loves most.
Based on her own experience, Becky wants her clients to experience "the change that occurs internally when you start treating your business like a business and treat yourself like the CEO."
"I have been working on a personal basis, and continue to do so, however I'm moving towards working more with women, mostly, who own midsize businesses," she describes. "It's about work-life harmony for them, and also engaging with their employees or their consultants to offer them assistance to achieve better harmony at work."
This shift will make the difference in Becky's bottom line as well.
"You cost more for coachingbecause you charge more], and you have to find one individual to generate the same amount with those guides for $7 or even a course worth $200. I have to sell many more courses and guides] which means I have to have lots of people on my list because the majority of clients turn into products." Clients who coach are more likely to recommend others, which means even more potential coaching revenue in the future.
But, Becky plans to continue providing her services to a wider audience even if it's not the right fit for her new , one-on one coaching.
"I'm keeping my venture as I've been doing it, which is Gutsy Boss. I'm also working to help both businesses and individuals," Becky explains. "I am not going to leave those other people in the dust. I've worked with people for a long time, and lots of them listen to my podcast or are included on my email lists."
In the spirit of helping those people, Becky has repurposed a large portion of her previous material to create Gutsy Guides that help tackle particular issues like boundary-setting and making huge demands, and getting over imposter syndrome.
"Generally individuals are professionals in mid-career, instead of doing a lot of one-on-one coaching sessions with them, I give them a vault of resources which they can utilize to help them self-coach on these things," she says.
If someone finds Becky's work, they fall into one of two segments:
Potential coaching clients
Anyone who would profit by Becky's self-guided mini-course , self-study program as well as the Gutsy Guides that are hosted by Becky on
How can she determine the segment that each prospective client fits into?
Automated segmentation, automation and some Inspiration taken from The Golden Girls.
Using automation, segmentation, and fun tests to connect potential customers with the right products
Becky offers a test on her site: "Which business owner are you?" The six-question question (built using Interact ) informs users which Golden Girls-inspired business owner personas they match: Newbie (Rose), Flirt (Blanche), Pro (Dorothy) (or Sage (Sophia).
Each character represents a specific level of ownership in a business, starting from the beginning to an experienced professional.
"To be clear, this is a much more sophisticated email opt-in," Becky cautions fellow creators. "I don't recommend you start with something like this if you don't yet already have an opt-in... I got started with a single download. It's the easiest method to get started."
If you're looking to categorize your customers, a more complex opt-in such as Becky's test can assist you in doing so. The segmentation can be used to automate the process of contacting them with offers tailored to their specific needs or level of expertise.
The email sequence is automated by using ConvertKit This means that she does not have to invest valuable time sending the right items to the appropriate individuals.
"It takes place while I'm sleeping," she describes. "They're receiving their emails as well, and should they decide to purchase these guides they're extremely affordable. So it makes it simple, and an easy process."
Becky believes that it will continue to grow as her company expands
Since Becky's company has grown in its growth and development, so has the method she employs .
Becky introduced (and often deleted) new products in the course of growing her business, including the digital downloads, further classes, as well as group coaching.
Now Becky is getting ready for this year's 2023 Gutsy Accountability program which includes group coaching, downloadable resources, coaching 1:1 with Becky or live sessions, based on the type of program clients pick.
"I enjoy being able to conduct group coaching as all of the tools that I want to make available can be stored there. Clients can go to get them. I can make assets that I already own available to them. This is a lot much easier. They can also pay for it . It's not necessary to think about any of that."
Its buy buttons embedded in the page and checkout functionality make it convenient for clients to purchase products such as Gutsy Accountability without leaving the website.
Throughout her creator journey she has allowed Becky the flexibility to explore the various types of products and discover what is most effective for her as well as her customers.
"Almost every week I get someone to reach out to me and say, 'I know the product you're using , let me know about it, and I'm always delighted to hear," she says.
"I think it's good for the public to know that it's possible to build upon this foundation... There's everything you need here at the price that you can afford."
Trust your instincts and build an enterprise that is true to your values
Becky's final advice for creators is similar to the advice she gives her clients: Trust your gut.
"Listen to your intuition. Most of the people that come to me... They have numerous doubts and don't have confidence This creates a feeling of being stuck and then they feel like they're not making any progress in their business. This is disappointing. That's the feeling I'm able to remember," she says.
"In Beginning, really believing in you is crucial to have any achievement."
Becky's coaching business has come a long way since the very first coaching course she started in the year the year 2018. However, the core in her teaching -- helping others release those "shoulds' -- remains steadfast. We can't wait to see what direction the next four years (and even beyond!) will take Becky and her company.