Big Things I’d Do Differently If I Were Starting My Business Over as a Mom of Two

What would you do differently if you had to start your business from scratch today? After a full decade in entrepreneurship, Laura’s looking back—with honesty, a little tough love, and plenty of clarity.

In this episode, she’s sharing the biggest shifts that changed the game for her: from boundaries and burnout, to authenticity and community. Whether you’re just starting out, pivoting into something new, or craving a fresh perspective, this one’s for you.

Here’s what you’ll hear:

00:35 – Why taking time to reflect actually matters—and how to tell when it’s time to pivot or realign.

01:15 – Lesson #1: Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. The kind that protect your peace and your profits.

02:36 – Letting go of scarcity mindset and trusting that the right clients won’t run away when you raise your standards.

03:35 – How your boundaries need to evolve as you do—and why it’s okay to change the rules as you grow.

04:00 – Lesson #2: Be fully yourself. Laura opens up about hiding behind “professionalism” early on and how authenticity turned everything around.

04:53 – Redefining success: What if wealth wasn’t just money—but joy, alignment, and freedom too?

06:00 – Selling without being sleazy. Yes, it’s possible—and it works better when you lead with heart.

06:40 – Lesson #3: Get into community sooner. The truth about how going it alone can stall your growth.

07:22 – Becoming a go-to person. How building genuine relationships led to referrals (and less hustling for leads).

08:35 – Embracing sales without shame. Because when you believe in your offer, selling becomes service.

09:46 – Prioritizing your human needs as a CEO. Laura gets real about what she neglected—and what she’s doing differently now.

11:15 – Her personal non-negotiables (hint: sleep, movement, and saying no).

12:02 – A powerful quote from Pauline Reid that every entrepreneur should hear.

12:45 – One final nudge: Pick a lesson from today and act on it. You don’t have to overhaul everything—just take one step.

Key Takeaways:

• Boundaries aren’t selfish—they’re necessary for sustainable success.
• Let go of fear-based decision-making and trust that aligned clients will stay.
• Authenticity isn’t just feel-good—it’s profitable.
• Your version of wealth should include joy, peace, and freedom.
• Sales doesn’t have to feel gross—when you believe in what you’re offering, it shows.
• Community is everything. Relationships will grow your business faster than any algorithm.
• Your personal needs matter. Your business can’t thrive if you’re running on empty.

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Transcript

Laura Sinclair (00:01.304)
I've been an entrepreneur for 10 years, which is a really long time. It's an anniversary that I'm getting to celebrate in October of this year, and I cannot wait to do that. But in today's episode, I want to have a look at what I would do differently if I was starting over. And I am a person that likes to reflect on these things quite a lot. And let me tell you, there's a lot of things that I would do differently. And so if you are in a season of getting ready to pivot your business, start something new, and are looking for some inspiration on how you can move the needle faster,

Today's episode is for you.

Laura Sinclair (00:35.454)
Welcome back to another episode of This Mother Means Business. I am so excited for today's episode because I get to be retrospective and that is fun for me. It is fun for me to have a look at how far I've come and I hope that you give yourself some space to look at how far you've come in your business too. But today I want to dive into things I would do differently if I were building my business again. And I'm not just talking about the business I'm running now, like as an entrepreneur.

today, this 2025 version of myself, what I would do differently if I were starting over today. And I'm going to use it in the context of both building my business, but then also how I function as a leader and CEO. And so this is going to be helpful for you if you're in a season of recognizing that you need to make some change. Maybe you're looking to make a pivot.

or you're just been a little bit stagnant and you are ready to light a fire under your business butt and make some action happen. firstly, when I think about the very, very first thing that I would do differently in my business, and you've heard me say this before, is I would have better boundaries. I was such a people pleaser, the ultimate people pleaser. I lived in so much fear of losing clients, losing members at my gym that I twisted myself in knots to make other people happy.

which was such a big mistake because I was doing it at my own failure, right? was the, was.

I was doing it to my own demise, right? It was entirely hurting myself. And I just didn't give myself the credit and the realization that like, hey, I am the juice, the energy behind this business. And if I consistently do things that are hurting me, this business isn't going to succeed. And so when I think about what I would do differently if I was starting again is that I would have created really, really strong boundaries and communicated those boundaries early and often with people.

Laura Sinclair (02:36.268)
I also would have learned to shift my mindset away from scarcity and this fear that, my gosh, what if people leave and get to a place that's like, I know the right people are gonna stay. I know the perfect clients are gonna stay. And don't get me wrong, I still feel a little sad when I lose clients or clients leave or they move on. That's just part of it. Especially in the work that I do, I really live in the belief that I don't want my clients to need me forever.

I want you to outgrow me. want you to build a business that's larger than what I'm capable of helping you to build. And so for me, you know, it's really just being able to set those boundaries and holding those relationships. And I'm a person that's very boundaried right now, but it's taken me some time and way too long and way too much pain. So on like the human element, having stronger boundaries from the beginning and then being able to revisit them, because I think as your season changes, as your kids get older,

As you change, your business changes, you get to reestablish those boundaries and being sure that it's not just like I said it and forget it one time, like your boundaries are allowed to change. You're allowed to change your mind. It's your responsibility to let other people know that you've changed your mind and that your boundaries have shifted. And so certainly for me, when I think about, what would be something that I would do differently? This one is going to be very, very loud. Another one that I would do differently that I think is just really important is that I would be more myself. I think when I...

first became an entrepreneur. Again, I lived in a lot of fear, both when I started my online business, my first one around nutrition coaching, my brick and mortar business, and even when I stepped into the space that I did now. I think I tried really hard to fit into a box of what I thought people expected me to be and what people would want me to be as a leader. And that was really uncomfortable for a really long time.

I'm in a place and now my business and life where I just get to be authentically myself and living in this knowing that, Hey, if I'm not for you, then that's fine. Right. If you're listening to this, I'm probably for you. That's a good thing. And for that, I'm grateful, but I know that I'm not for everybody and that is perfect. That is in fact how I want things to go. And I would love to make the invitation of you to think about where are you trying to fit yourself into a box that really isn't for you? And how is that affecting your bottom line? Because I

Laura Sinclair (04:53.858)
Believe me, it is. And you may be a person that's making a ton of money and you are not being yourself and it's affecting your bottom line as far as how you feel day to day. Because building a business is about wealth. And when I talk about wealth, I don't just mean how much money you have in your bank account. I also mean how wealthy your life is, how full of joy it is and relationship. And if you've built something that isn't you, that is going to chip away at your wealth.

and not in the traditional sense. And so for me, I'm in a business now where I get to be fully authentically myself and there's so much freedom in that. And if I were to start over, I would make sure that I was myself from the jump because I definitely had to unlearn a lot of things. I had a business mentor years ago tell me that I need to take my hair and whip it around a little bit. And that is one of the mentorship lines that I hold onto because it's easy for me to get back into the box.

Because sometimes the box feels safer. Sometimes it feels safer to just be there and not have to expose myself to the vulnerability of being myself and knowing that that's not for everyone. And that can be really hard. And so I would just encourage you if you're not being your authentic self in the way that you're building your business or how you show up to market your business to do that. Because the other thing that I would do differently is sell from a place of authenticity and sell and show up in a place that's really true to who I am.

And I was taught a lot of different ways to sell and I've talked about these on the show before, but being able to come up with a sales strategy that actually feels really good for me and is authentic to me and the way that I want to show up and the way that I want to serve has also been something that's been really instrumental for me in growing my business. And so those pieces are super, super important. Another thing that I would do differently is I would get into community faster. And this is something that I eventually learned, thankfully, when I started in the online space, but

Certainly when I was growing my nutrition business, when I was in the brick and mortar gym, I spent a lot of time isolated and isolating myself and just sort of deciding that I can figure it out myself. But everything moves faster when you work with others. And I don't just mean becoming business partners. That's not for, it's not for me. It's probably not for you either. And if it is for you, that's great. But I mean, finding collaborative partners and being in community, whether that's joining a formal one.

Laura Sinclair (07:22.262)
like This Mother Means Business, or if it's going out and finding peers and being in a peer group locally, it's really about finding people that can be referral partners for you. One of the things that I'm most proud of as a mentor is the fact that I am the number one referral partner for a lot of my clients because I meet a lot of people. I'm very lucky to meet a lot of people. And in meeting a lot of people, I get to connect a lot of people and send them back.

to my clients. And for me, that's really fun. But getting in community and being in spaces where I'm actually growing my network with intention has been something that has been an absolute rocket ship for my business. gosh, I wish I had done that sooner. It's so silly of me looking back to have not done that sooner. And so that for me is another really big one, right? Is the power of people in your corner who's saying your name in rooms that you're not in.

in positive ways to connect you back to your business. Just this week, I've connected, I think, three people to one member inside of this mother means business. One business owner. I have met three people that I have sent her away that are going to turn into clients or full partners just from conversations that I'm having. And that happens to me quite a lot, too. People send people my way because I have built a network. It's not just for me about making noise and being obnoxious on the Internet. It's also about the relationships that I've built.

outside of the online space. And so being in community with others is just so essential for your business growth. And I wish that I had done that sooner. The other thing that I would do differently is just be absolutely unapologetic about the things that I'm selling. It took me a really long time, way too long to love sales, to be good at sales. I love selling. Being in selling environments is so fun for me, because I ultimately know that the work that I do is so wildly impactful.

that I'm actually doing you a disservice by not telling it to you. And for me, I have learned that that's been a shift over time. I love the art of sales and doing it in a way that feels good for me, but I would have been on a more, I would be more unapologetic about it if I were starting again, there's nothing to apologize for, right? Like I have what I believe to be the most incredible transformational offers for women entrepreneurs. Why wouldn't people want to know about them? And living in that energy has been something that's been

Laura Sinclair (09:46.574)
so, so impactful for me. I hope that if you are in a place where you are not unapologetic about sales, that you really have a look at how you can shift that. Other things that I would do around being... The last thing that I would do is really thinking about how...

Wow, words are hard for me today. The last thing I would do is really think about how it is that I want to prioritize myself. And certainly in the early years of my business, I put myself last. And this is something that I've talked about quite a lot. My business was first. And now I'm in a season where I really do know that I have to take care of me first, because if I don't take care of me first, nothing good happens from that. And for me, I would start with that earlier.

And listen, I'm not gonna tell you that you shouldn't hustle and you shouldn't work hard. I believe that you should. There are seasons for it. I'm not anti hustle. There are seasons where girl you have to hustle and that's okay. But I think that it's really important for you to put in systems and create boundaries around the things that you actually need. I had a therapist years ago talk to me about my essential needs as a human being and how those needs need to be cared for in order for me to be effective in any other spaces in my life and

I want to encourage you to think about what those might be for you. My needs as a human being, the things that I need at my core, I need to sleep, I need to eat well, I need to exercise, and I need to be in community with others. I cannot be in isolation, my relationships. And so when I'm in a season where I'm struggling or hustling, I have to take care of those four things. Otherwise, I literally cannot hustle. I will not move out of struggle. And I would really encourage you to think about what are those four things for you?

and maybe five things or three things, but what are your base human needs in order to take care of yourself because prioritizing your human as an entrepreneur is so, so important. I was at an event at the end of May and Pauline Reid was one of the speakers and she talked about the fact that in entrepreneurship, you are going to pay a mental health price. You are going to pay a price

Laura Sinclair (12:02.306)
in the form of your mental health every single day. But it is up to you how much that price is. You are in control of how much you pay. And I really do believe that being able to identify your core needs, these base needs and starting there is going to help you pay less. It doesn't mean you're gonna pay nothing. We're all paying something, but it's going to help you pay less. And this for me is something that

I have had to live in order to find out because I have paid massive prices over the last 10 years because I didn't take care of myself. so prioritizing my mental health, my base needs, all of that are things that I would do absolutely do earlier. So those are just a few things. I think that this could probably become like a 90 minute episode if I were to dive into the minutia of things. But what I want to encourage you to do is to really think about what are things that you would do differently?

if you were starting over. And if one of these things resonated with you, if you heard me speak one of them and they were, and you thought, Oh, that's something that I need to do more of now than perfect. Take that one thing. But I really do think that it's important for us to look back at how far we've come and what we do differently and what we're doing differently now that we maybe weren't doing before and be proud of that shift because it's a really big deal. And I'm absolutely going to have more content for you over the next few months to celebrate this 10 year.

stretch because my goodness, there have been so many moments that have been amazing, painful, incredible, all of the above. I just, I'm so grateful for all of it, truly, which is a crazy thing to say when I think about how wild the journey has been. But I'm just so proud of what we've created together. I'm so proud of you for continuing to show up. I hope this was helpful for you and I'll see you in the next one.