How to Avoid Burnout When Launching and Growing a Coaching Business

In this episode, Emily Merrell and Lexie Smith break down ways to avoid burnout when launching your coaching business, revenue stream, or side hustle. They provide personal tips that have enabled them to avoid burnout in their own businesses and share a variety of actionable strategies that will enable and empower coaches to put their health first (without their business paying the price.)  

Here’s what you’ll learn: 

• Tips on taking inventory on how to best time block according to your personal energy levels
• Strategies on how to keep yourself accountable for prioritizing wellness 
• Advice on how to create sustainable systems for your business to grow
• How Em & Lex have personally avoided burnout when launching and growing their own businesses
• Different systems the pair have utilized to schedule out content and recurring business activities
• Why it makes sense to prioritize wellness if you truly want to grow your coaching business in the long term
• And more!

Follow Em & Lex on Instagram at @readysetcoachprogram

Learn more about the Ready Set Coach Program at Readysetcoachprogram.com

Learn more about Six Degrees Society and THEPRBAR inc.

Transcript

How to Avoid Burnout When Launching and Growing a Coaching Business  - Podcast Transcript

Lexie Smith  

Hello Emily and Hello YouTube. How are you today?

Emily Merrell  

Do you like my draft?

Lexie Smith  

I like your draft. What is your draft? Where are you? I know where you are. Tell everyone else where you are.

Emily Merrell  

Oh man, a friend's baby nursery aka my podcast studio. What are you talking about? You're

Lexie Smith  

in then. Okay. What's the drafts name?

Emily Merrell  

Jerry.

Lexie Smith  

Jerry giraffe. Ashlyn has a little draft stuffed animal and its name is stilts. Like it's a Beanie Baby once literally,

Emily Merrell  

I don't know it might have a name. I didn't name it. So I just came up with that name right there. But he's very cute, very cute nursery. But yeah, I'm in San Francisco at the moment visiting some friends and so it's been a week away from snowy Denver and traded it in for rainy California.

Lexie Smith  

You had to know so many guys we hosted a masterclass a live masterclass last night. And if you've been following the news, I think this episode will not air until February. So this is now we're talking in past tense, but basically the state of Southern California was underwater. And I cut out of our live master class about I don't know 18 or 20 times it was a hot mess. But I watched the recording of it this moment and I just gotta give a shout out to my girl Emily, who despite me freezing every two seconds, held it down like a champ. What an example of Shi t happens you gotta roll with it.

Emily Merrell  

No, I love it. I'm very grateful for teamwork. And on the flip side, on Monday, I text a Lex basically an SOS and I'm like, Hi, I'm puking my brains out. I can do nothing today. And she whips up a whole masterclass. So, you know, we had our moments of holding down the fort. And it's been so so great to have that teamwork in place, because otherwise we would have just floundered.

Lexie Smith  

And you know what if we did slander, that's okay. Because guess what, guys, we're human. And we are imperfect. So first and foremost, let this little soapbox be reminder to each and every one of you watching or listening, that stuff happens, life happens, and it's okay. You just gotta roll with it, especially in business. But what's the most important thing is that at the end of the day, you're protecting yourself from burnout. That wasn't really a clever transition. But here we go. Today we're talking about how to avoid burnout when launching and growing your coaching business.

Emily Merrell  

That was that was a decent transition. Let's, before we properly transition, I just need to tell you and I think everyone out there, they need to remember this song if they haven't listened to it in a while. But one of my favorite songs when I am feeling I'm feeling down it is Chumbawamba tub Thumper. I get knocked down, but I get up again, never gonna keep me down. And so like literally when I am having my worst days, I blast that song and I listen to it all over the house. And it just reminds me like, whatever Shit happens. You get knocked down. You're gonna get up again.

Lexie Smith  

You get back up. Okay, well, I love that you said that. I'm going to share mine. Kelly Clarkson. What doesn't kill you makes you

Emily Merrell  

lightning hits you right there.

Lexie Smith  

You're either dead or you're gonna get stronger from it. But we're gonna avoid you getting dead because that's where burnout leads and extreme.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, and Lex, I think to kick things off. Why don't you share with everyone your story of burnout in the corporate world?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, if you guys have been with us from the beginning of the show, then you know, there's an episode where I talked a little bit about this. But a quick reminder to set the scene. I was the vice president of PR marketing and business development. So I oversaw three departments at the fastest growing telecommunications company in America. That is relevant because I was a young 20 Something girl, woman Woman, excuse me, operating in a male dominated industry and in a lot of uncomfortable rooms. I was operating very high efficiency. I was great at my job. But I also was miserable, miserable, and it all culminated to a random I don't know, Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. I can't remember what day it was where, literally I collapsed. In my office and a couple of male colleagues had to put together a makeshift stretcher, to roll me out to my husband who had to take off work, come get me and drive me to the hospital. And long story long, a bunch of things were happening. And one of the biggest culprits one of the biggest root causes of all the things going wrong in my body was severe burnout. I mean, talk about a freaking wake up call. So this kind of inspired my transition into entrepreneurship. And I'm very grateful that I started entrepreneurship, with the clarity and the mission to create a business from the get go, that doesn't put me back in the hospital.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, and I think that story, I love that you share it. And I love also that you had to you had to be this single or one of the few women in your business, you were younger than a lot of people. And you then had this super vulnerable moment where you were collapsed. So I'm sure there was a lot of uncomfortableness to be vulnerable in that moment, and how love lovely that you were able to recognize that about yourself, that you needed that change and a transition to something else. And

Lexie Smith  

yeah, thanks. And you know, it's interesting, back back in that moment, I thought my story was so unique. And yeah, faced that were, especially with female entrepreneurs and those entering the space, holy cow, it is such a common story. And I think we highlight that because the our mission, Emily United's mission with ReadySet Coach is to help people to build a sustainable coaching business that supports their lifestyle. We're very pro, working to live not living to work.

Emily Merrell  

And I think yeah, I feel like we know so many people who have become coaches, because something similar, where they're like, I was paralyzed for half my life. And then I left the corporate world, and I learned to walk again, or something very extreme had happened. And usually there is a, we talk about this a lot, even with our clients, when they're finding when they're looking for their own clients. Like, there's usually something that happened, that has them seeking out their services. And similarly, like something happened to you. And then you sought out a whole new, offering a whole new way to make money and a whole new way to produce. And I think with coaching, the corporate world is great for so many people, and it's phenomenal. It offers structure and 401k isn't like that. That's great, guys, I'm not knocking that. But if you I think for the people that want to do a little bit more, have a little bit more control of their lives, that coaching is incredible and flexible, and you don't have to hesitate to take a doctor's appointment, or I remember my boss used to always think that every time I took a doctor's appointment I was interviewing elsewhere, like is that a doctor's

Lexie Smith  

use you? Yeah. And so to kind of kick off the tips we have here. The first one that I have, if you can, is make a commitment, first and foremost, to sorry, if you guys heard that I'll show everyone watching my dog is that little white puff that just walked

Emily Merrell  

by that it was the pillow that was just moving the pillow.

Lexie Smith  

The first first step is to thoroughly commit to prioritizing your health, you know, easier said than done, but start from day dot building this business in a way that is going to support your health and get clear on what that looks like. So can you give me some examples of what I mean there am

Emily Merrell  

Yes, and I'm gonna give you examples because I didn't take this advice and I was the queen of launching a business and running straight into his into burnout. So time blocking, be really really strict about when you are going to work. I when I started my business, I worked 24/7 I closed my eyes and I felt guilty not working like I needed to stare at my business for it to survive or to keep it afloat. So yeah, time block your your schedule, give yourself time for you. Be it time for for working out for just that gene. If you are watching Netflix, close your laptop, you don't always have to have it open. giving yourself the boundaries for weekends. I'm also huge on our we are huge on time blocking your calendar for the future view you to thank you so for example, birthdays, holidays, like that's the worst when you are working for yourself and you're like, why is my memorial day completely blocked? Oh, because I forgot to time block my calendar. So using your calendar to your advantage.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, and I think one of the biggest aha moments that I can't and I think Emily and I actually really demonstrate this perfectly as a duo. There is not a one size fits all to avoiding burnout. It is so so important to understand your own personal energy levels. So Emily and I have very, very different thresholds of energies. And so what I mean by that, I'm someone I am not a morning person, and I'm not a night person, I am like a healthy 9am to 3pm person that is when I thrive. Beyond that I'm also someone who needs time to reset after a call, it's something I've learned about myself. So when I open up my Calendly, I time block it in such a way that allows me rest and recovery time in between calls, or Emily, what do you do?

Emily Merrell  

I'm a psychopath. I like to pair with three way calls. Because one of the things with that, as I'm a talker, as you guys all know, and if I don't, if I don't have them back to back, I'll continue through that five minute period. So I have a hard stop, like, Okay, let's see, I want to let you know, I have a hard stop at 1130. In when I have a hard stop, like, that's it. So I like to power through, but I like to do them in chunks so that I can be in the energy of spurts for calls versus just having them intermittently throughout my day.

Lexie Smith  

So the takeaway there is to sit down and start to brainstorm or pay attention to your energy levels. And what do you need as an individual to really show up in full capacity. This also works in terms of time blocking activities. So I like I mean, motherhood is really put this on the forefront is understanding how much energy I need to perform a certain task. I call it I laugh, and I go, What do I need my brain for? What do I not need my brain for? And I block my time, per my brain capacity, meaning from nine to 12. I know I'm super, super like with it, usually not today.

Emily Merrell  

It's like a fake Friday. I feel like these are big Fridays,

Lexie Smith  

it's been a week, but I'll do my like, I really need focus activities. And I'll block myself then where my more multitasking ability tasks will be time blocked to the afternoon.

Emily Merrell  

And I think that's a really good thing to take inventory of for yourself, like it. Are you someone that's arrives at phone calls first thing in the morning? Or would that energy be better served writing and doing the hard things, I found that when I realized this, and I took inventory of my own strengths, like I was using my superpower time for things that were low energy. And so I was putting the harder things to later in the day when that my brain is complete mashed potato. And so you have to really rearrange your day to to better fit you. And the other thing that that I think is really, really vital, at least, I think, Lexie, you do this too, is carving out personal time for yourself in the morning and morning in some capacity. Like hell, it could be playing Wordle on your phone for five minutes in bed. Or it could be writing down five things that you want to do in your journal, but just giving yourself just like a little bit of moment before you transition to your business. Lexa how can people find out

Lexie Smith  

how to work with us? Super simple, go to ReadySet Coach program.com and you can show notes. I'm more for me. And this is again, personal inventory. I need that at night. So I'm ready to wake up and go mode. I don't actually like a lot of people do my morning meditation or journals. I don't need that to get me going. But what I do need is time to unplug in order to be able to go to bed. And what again, a perfect perfect example of not one size fits all. So really like have some honest time with yourself. Practice the morning medicate medication, take your meds.

Emily Merrell  

Do you really feel like a burden, slip their

Lexie Smith  

practice you know, try if you don't know, try like doing a morning journal, see if that is something that resets you or see if you're someone who needs that knee time in the evening and really start to take notes and take again inventory is the theme word of this episode on yourself. Okay, so beyond time blocking, what is another thing that we can offer advice we have to avoid burnout,

Emily Merrell  

accountability. It could be like one girlfriend it could be joining a program it could be hiring a coach but having that accountability of answering to another person in some capacity. Especially if you had just left your corporate job where you're used to like a manager check in of some sort. Being able to report to someone what you're doing is incredible. So when I first started I had a group of girlfriends that were all entrepreneurs and we would be able to talk to each other and be like okay, I pitched the thing I was wanting to pitch or I made my website live whatever the that when was back in the day. What about you, Lex?

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, and I think we so often talk about accountability from a business lens to helping us do the damn thing. But it also can be used As a reminder to help you not burn out a accountability partner for your health, it can be someone involved in your business. Emily, you are this for me, which is fantastic. It can also be a partner. This is something, you know, if you are a partner, and this is something that appeals to you, you know, my husband and I have pretty clear understandings with each other that we, at the end of the day, put the phones down, and we stop working. And we have family time. It's almost like it's accountability, and agreed accountability to stop working and be present. So it can exist within business within group programs, it can also exist with the people already in your life outside of your business.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah. And I think also with accountability, one thing to keep in mind is if you are wanting to do the damn thing, like if you want to quit your job, or if you want to take the plunge into becoming a coach, saying it out loud, keeps you accountable. So I did that for for quitting my corporate job to start six degrees society full time, I was like, Hi, I'm starting six degrees full time. I am starting six degrees full time. And I told so many people that at a certain point, I was like, Okay, I gotta do the damn thing. I've got to rip off the band aid. And by having it out into the world, like I couldn't feel them, even though they could care less. I couldn't feel them.

Lexie Smith  

No, I think that's so so such a good point to bring up. And I like to one of the things that helps me. And look, I'm human, I'm not always perfect. I'm having a week.

But always perfect.

Lexie Smith  

Perfect. practicing what you preach. So I, you know, I preach Emily and I preach to have a lifestyle to avoid burnout. And that helps actually hold me accountable sometimes and check myself like I can't be coaching. I can't be preaching this. If I'm not self practicing. So if that is something that helps you feel accountable, like I don't know, put up a sticky note on your desk that says practice what you preach.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, that's a big one. So what's the next one lacks? What do you do? Yeah. So

Lexie Smith  

I think from a very like practical standpoint, you need to also create sustainable systems. Once again, not a one size fits all approach. A good example here, I think, is how Emily and I structure social media content production. Emily, will you share with them how you go about creating this? What's your sustainable system?

Emily Merrell  

I was like, How do I do it? Lexan? No, just kidding. Yeah, so what I like to do so for my company's extremely society, I have everything mapped out for the entire month with the themes are the pictures and then writing the caption. So I'm done with my social media, usually a month or two in advance. And then my assistant schedules it uploads it, like does the whole thing. And I I just engage with it on social media. It same thing with my personal social media and for ReadySet. Coach likes, on the other hand, has a different system.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah, so I don't as much batch social media. But there's other and the reason why, let me copy out this for the PR bar, just because I try to really talk into current events. And so that's kind of hard to predict, out, out forecast out. But I like to batch different types of content. So when, for example, I need to rerecord part of curriculum for the PR bar, also to cider or batch out, you know, one day, every quarter, where that is what I focus on. So I batch in different ways. I batch content, blogs, you know, I'll sit down, it'll be a blog writing day, that's something that I can batch. sustainable systems for me is also utilizing technology to do some things for me, and to automate some things. So here's a quick example of something that I recently upgraded. For the PR bar, I have accountability check ins for each individual one on one client. And I used to do those very, very manually. I have now automated that. So on a given day in time, there's an accountability robot that drops their check. And it's to both the client and mice benefit, because one, I'm not missing them anymore. And so it's a lot more consistent. And it's one less thing from my plate, so that I can show up in a place of a full cup and not you know, burning the candle at both ends.

Emily Merrell  

And when you do accountability robot, is it a robot or is it like a scheduled Slack?

Lexie Smith  

Slack robot?

Emily Merrell  

So cool. That's, that's another thing that I think we should talk about, too. It's just the importance of like what you said, giving yourself days and mindsets to do certain things. So if like, Monday, the first Monday of the month is your writing Monday, like give yourself a whole day just to be in writing flow and get that stuff out of your system. And similarly like scheduling, scheduling, check ins like you can pre schedule a lot of things. So while it might be like one day of a little bit of annoying work, but future you is always going to thank you because it's already pre scheduled.

Lexie Smith  

Yeah. Big fan of scheduling another thing that I guess my last point I want to share is a reminder that one of the most like repeated cliche, whatever quotes is you can't pour from an empty cup this really came into the example I want to share what I'm getting at happened last night so I had a rough day yesterday I did and then we had this really tech hectic masterclass where despite what I tried personal hotspots restarting Wi Fi, I could not get on to Emily nice event that was happening today. There was other things going on. I despite being very, very behind on a lot of things in my to do list mounting, saw myself at the cusp of burnout. And I saw that I texted Emily, I'm like putting my phone down, I'm stepping away from work, I'm stepping away from life, I am allowing myself to feel all the feels I need to get it out of my system so that I don't burn out. And so I literally put my phone in a different room. And I turned on my child to my husband and I turned on a Netflix show. And I just allowed myself to feel however I needed to feel to kind of cleanse myself of it. And I think I'm sharing that because it's okay to not always have your shit together guys.

Emily Merrell  

Oh, amen to that. And Amen to knowing that you didn't push through the discomfort to text back or two people please or to try to do work that would be mediocre and you're gonna have to redo in the future. Sometimes the best bet like what you said, is just put on the Netflix show, or put yourself to sleep. And when I feel that way, I'll put myself to sleep. And I'm like Emily at 530 in the morning, it's going to be a much better Emily than Emily at 830 at night, so I'm gonna go to bed at 830 tonight. I will feel energized when that new person comes around.

Lexie Smith  

Such a good point. And like our little last reminder for you guys. sleep. So sleep water. We're human beings, we are machines that we have to keep running and you can generally pinpoint that if you're feeling like you're going towards burnout. Have you have you eaten lately? Have you gotten enough sleep? Heck, when's the last time you had a glass of water? like simple things, guys, we need these as human means.

Emily Merrell  

Yeah, I think those are great reminders for people to be like, Wait, where's my water bottle? It's not it's not nearby. I need it myself included. I'm like it's in the other room. Well, LAX, I'm so glad that we were able to teach these lessons based on our own personal experience.

Lexie Smith  

Yep. So we're gonna give you some homework before we wrap it up today. And the theme of the episode was inventory. So your homework is just that sit down and take inventory of your personal energy levels of your health. What do you need? How do you operate? What my dog is barking really wants out Mack really is personal space. That's what he needs. But what do you need and allow yourself to start to brainstorm and create a system that uniquely fits your personal energy levels.

Emily Merrell  

And with that, we will see you the next time on The ready. Coach podcast by now. If you're enjoying the ReadySet coach podcast, please leave a review wherever you are listening. For more information about Ready Set, coach, Visit Ready Set coach program.com