
Uncopyable Women in Business
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Uncopyable Women in Business is the go-to podcast for women entrepreneurs, business owners, and sales leaders who are ready to break through the noise and build a brand that's unforgettable.
If you're ready to grow your business, increase your sales, and create a personal brand that sets you apart, you're in the right place.
I'm Kay Miller — speaker, consultant, and bestselling author of Uncopyable You and Uncopyable Sales Secrets — and I’m here to help you stand out, sell more, and succeed on your own terms.
Each week, I share casual, fun, and power-packed 30-minute conversations with amazing women: CEOs, sales superstars, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders who’ve risen to the top of their fields.
You'll hear real-world stories, smart strategies, and actionable advice you can use to:
- Build a magnetic personal brand
- Grow your sales without being pushy
- Overcome obstacles and setbacks
- Stand out, succeed, and stay uncopyable
A little about me:
During my outside sales career, I was named Walker Exhaust’s National Salesperson of the Year (earning the nickname “Muffler Mama”). Today, I’ve built a 8-figure family business with my husband Steve using the Uncopyable Framework that we teach to entrepreneurs and businesses around the world.
If you're ready to create an advantage that no one can copy, hit subscribe and join me on this Uncopyable journey.
(Podcast formerly known as Uncopyable Women in Sales.)
✨ Connect with me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/millerkay
📩 Contact me: kay@uncopyablesales.com
📚 Grab my books:
Uncopyable You | Uncopyable Sales Secrets
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Uncopyable Women in Business
Episode 143 | The Truth About Business Burnout and Breakthrough - Charity Brown
Feeling burned out in your business—or stuck in a corporate job that drains you?
In my latest Uncopyable Women in Business episode, I talk with Charity Brown, founder of The Happy CEO Method. Charity shares how she went from corporate burnout and back surgeries to building a thriving business using her “Four Ps” framework:
Power. Planning. Positioning. Profits.
We talk about:
– How to turn your experience into a profitable business
– The real reason confidence matters before you quit your 9–5
– How to attract clients without spinning your wheels
– Why doing the work before you're ready might be the smartest move
Charity also shares how she caught the attention of Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank—and how her method helps entrepreneurs create real momentum, even in midlife.
If you're ready to grow a business that aligns with your life—not the other way around—this conversation is for you.
Listen to the episode and explore Charity’s free tools at charitybrownbiz.com
About Charity:
Charity Brown is a keynote speaker, author, and founder of The Happy CEO Method, a powerful framework that helps leaders align vision, strategy, and mindset to achieve lasting success. Through personalized coaching and workshops, she equips entrepreneurs with tools to scale sustainably—combining emotional intelligence, branding, and advanced technology.
Charity also leads clients through her 5-Star Business Accelerator, focusing on Planning, Positioning, Prospecting, Profits, and Performance. Whether it's securing funding, increasing margins, or building a standout brand, Charity helps business owners grow profitable, purpose-driven businesses with clarity and confidence.
Resources:
Clarity with Charity podcast
Check out Kay's Uncopyable Sales Secrets Video Series: https://www.beuncopyable.com/sales-course
Want to be more successful, make more sales and grow your business? If so, you'll love this podcast. In this show, I (Kay Miller, aka "Muffler Mama," interview superstar business women from all industries. Their experience and advice will give you specific tools you can use to crush your goals like those grapes in my favorite "I love Lucy" episode. I earned the nickname “Muffler Mama" when sold more automotive mufflers than anyone in the world. Besides being a #1 Salesperson, I've been a successful entrepreneur for over 30 years. During that time, I (along with my husband, Steve) have generated 8 figures in revenue for our business. Besides hosting this podcast, I'm an author, speaker, coach, consultant and most importantly....Kelly's mom.
Order my Products!
Uncopyable Sales Secrets (Book by Kay Miller)
Uncopyable You (Book co-authored with Steve Miller)
Sign up for The Uncopyable Sales Secrets Video Series (Video Series by Kay Miller)
Contact:
kay@beuncopyable.com...
As a happy CEO keynote author and coach, charity Brown is dedicated to helping leaders clarify their vision set, ambitious, yet achievable goals, and unlock their full potential using the power of the happy CEO method charity.
Welcome to the show. Thank you so much, Kay. I am so happy to be here. It was fun chatting beforehand. We've, we've had some experience in the same part of the country. I'm from Seattle. You said you lived in Portland for quite a while anyway, it was fun catching up on, on your background.
But we're gonna talk about what you've got going on now. This concept of the four Ps really fascinates me. And so I wanna talk about, or have you talk about what is the happy CEO and how did you start that business? Yeah, so the happy CEO is my legacy project. It's everything that I've developed in the past 10 years as an entrepreneur and a thought leader.
From gleaning it off of my mentors and coaches and learning some frameworks that have shifted my entire mindset and business over the years. And it's those things that, they don't teach you in college, they don't teach you in high school. They don't really teach it in society. And it's things in life that we need to be able to, scale to the summit of our success without sacrificing our happiness.
Because being successful isn't easy. One of the things that I've noticed about the women that I interview super successful, they have a really strong work ethic. And, it's the balance between hustling and balance, balance with your life. What is your perspective on, on doing that, and where do the four Ps come in?
Yeah. So that's, we come from a hustle culture being an entrepreneur, a restaurateur owning my own accounting and bookkeeping business, being a mom, I was an academic for 10 years. I got a triple degree. So like I was always hustle. How many more businesses can I start?
How much more can I make? I was determined to be successful even at the detriment of my own mental health. My own happiness, my own joy factor, my own freedom. Definitely a workaholic. That gave me a lot more, confidence in life to say, oh, I have another degree, or I have a certification in that.
Or, oh, I started another restaurant. Oh, I've made multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. That was going to prove myself to everybody that I am worthy. I am enough, I am, successful. But inside I'm like self imploding, too much. Too much. Too much. Yeah, I think that there's things in life that we need to learn earlier about self-care and envisioning our success in a way that's healthy and really taking our power back and stepping into what makes us happy.
What is life look like when we feel happiness and success, not just, I look like I'm successful to all these people, but inside I am literally my worst critic and I'm not happy at all. So it's one of those kind of frameworks that brings people back into, who they are authentically, what makes them, what makes, what really makes you happy.
And at the beginning of my journey, after my burnout from corporate, and I sold my restaurants and I thought, oh, I'll just get a nine to five. I'll have a salary. I'll get weekends off, I'll get paid vacation, I'll retirement. I can like, leave the office, go home, and no one's gonna be blowing up my phone, and oh, I'll have so much more peace.
No, it was even worse. So it was worse in the aspect of once, like your, capability of being able to, make enough money to support your family and not have to clock in and clock out and be part of the matrix in a way that's so conforming and, limiting my creativity, my resources, my time.
I realize that. I had to make a decision in life and choose me, and it was at my lowest low where I did experience burnout. Like physically, I'd have two back surgeries. I was a hundred pounds overweight. I literally lost all my joy and happiness, like my fire that I had when I was an entrepreneur and when I was studying, like I used to be really passionate and like really excited about things.
And this was just like, I couldn't even peel myself out of bed. And now I'm like, what is happening here? And that was probably like in my mid thirties and my daughter was like a teenager and. I was still like taxi mom and making sure I showed up at every football game. She was a cheerleader and still trying to like, maintain, wanted, always wanted to be like the best mom I could be, provide the best life for her.
I could, but then I am suffering like so hard not to mention like my loved ones were passing away. So I was also grieving and I was having a really hard time like imagining my life without my loved ones. It was like rock bottom, and I was like, how am I going to shift this? How am I going to be able to get back to where I was like 10 years ago?
And I had my restaurants and my accounting business, I always knew, like I could always just, get some accounting clients. Like I could always get booking accounting, payroll clients. Like all I have to do is put an ad out there and all of a sudden I had five clients. So I literally did that and I was like, I'm gonna do this.
And then as soon as I start making enough the same amount I'm making in my salary, I'm ditching my corporate job. And I was working for a very high level CFO company. I was a fractional CFO for big corporations restaurants because I'd been in the restaurant business and the hospitality business. So I worked for golf courses and elite hotels and steakhouse and banquet facilities and things like that.
And I was a, I was like managing like 25. Locations from my laptop, but I was still in the corporate box. Even though it was like a hybrid company where I felt like I was still my own boss, and I was like, independent, but I was making 20% of what I should have been. Like, I'm making them millions of dollars and I'm getting like this little peasly like salary and it would just eat away at me.
And I was like, wow, I can do this myself. What am I doing? And it's amazing that we put ourselves in these positions, and I really felt like I, I pretty much was subject to my own compromise, and it took a couple years for me to finally, muscle up enough energy to start my, consulting business and within five weeks I had, 15 clients and I was like, bye-bye. So yeah, I think it's about vision and self-belief. Honestly it has a lot to do with what we set our own selves up for and the happy CEO and the four P's method is power planning, positioning, and profits.
So first you have to have the personal power and the vision to see the possibilities of your success and how are you going to make that money, what are you gonna be doing when you're standing triumphantly on the mountain top? I win. How much are you making? What are you doing? Who are you with?
Where are you at Getting clear on your goals and actionable attainable goals to accomplish that. And, being real with yourself and it's hard, taking self inventory, 'cause I to lie to myself all the time. It's the key thing to the happiness method is dialing into self-awareness essentially, and clear vision.
Okay, so we started out with power and I might, I'm not quite keeping up with you. There's a lot. So what are the other Ps? Planning. Planning, okay. Uhhuh. So that's the business. GPS And it's a proprietary software that I use that really dials into your mission, your vision. Your audience your target market your sales channels and the type of marketing that you're gonna do on those channels.
And then I get into the numbers, which comes with the profit. So power planning, positioning and profits. And I'm a numbers girl, so I help people get comfortable with just five key KPIs. Key percentage indicators that help you know, where you're at in business, where you need to shift. And without getting into all the equations and the complications.
As they say, there's a lot to unpack here. Oh, charity. Wow. If you're not watching this, you might think with all that charity has done, she's about 90 years old. But not only is she not 90, she doesn't look even as old as she is. But you've done a lot, you've packed in a lot and interesting that you have such a robust experience in the corporate world.
All kinds of different things. And one thing I do hear a lot is like the grass is always greener. Mainly people who are in the corporate world say, I wish I could be an entrepreneur. You name your own hours, you can take vacation whenever you want. And all the perks that people see from the outside, of course, it's not that simple.
And I know that with your background and also the frameworks you've put together, you help clients. Dial in on these, the four Ps and help them through this process. And I'm sure you love doing that. Do you know I do. What is your favorite thing to do with clients? I love working with people, especially corporate executives.
Okay. They're my favorite because I was so them. So I'm like, I relate. I know how you're feeling and there is a solution. Okay, the pain is real and I know how to shift it. Whether you wanna stay there for a couple years and start a side hustle and really get confident because it has to do a lot with confidence and security.
To leave corporate, you have to feel secure. Like I have to at least have my salary. I have to at least be able to know that's gonna come so I can pay my mortgage and take care of my family, and I'm not going to leave until I have that. So there is, and that's how you know I jumped corporate ship, was that I started my own accounting business.
I put one ad out and I got 15 clients in less than two months, and I was making three times the amount of my take home salary from corporate. And I was like. Why did I wait so long? If you have a trade, a skill, you have a degree, you're already, a human resource expert, or you're already like, an accountant or a business manager or an engineer, or an attorney or, like those are the best ones to be able to start an agency online like that and get clients because it's like a, it's a demand, and it's a very, as long as you know who your audience is or who your clients are, you'd be able to like, find them without corporate, right?
Because it's a strategy and it's the way you position yourself. And that's why I offer that in the four Ps. We have this million dollar branding strategy from humanity protocols, and it really gets into the psychology of marketing, the subconscious of your clients or your and. The emotionality of how to gain those clients by knowing what their pain is.
Essentially. Yeah, I love that. But I, I do wanna go back to what you're saying because a lot of people do start businesses, men and women. I just read one of the fastest growing group of business starters are women. Over 50, which both of us are. But they might say, oh, I like to do this or that.
I always pick on candle making because I, when I was a kid, I had a candle making business and I called it candles by K and I spelled both a with a K. But making something or doing something and finding customers. Now that was fairly easy because all my prospects were relatives. But that doesn't exactly work when you are a grownup.
So you said you have these skills, you have these ways that you could help people, but I think you said something about just putting out an ad or making the, your services known. It's a lot more complicated than that for a lot of people. Tell me how, listen, you listening, if you're in the position like charity, how would you do that?
How would you make this jump from corporate? Like you said, you have to have some security, obviously confidence, but then how do you exactly go out and get those new clients? Yeah. That's why I have the business GPS, that's all baked into the happy CEO. First. You get your mindset, you get that vision.
Okay. What is your skill, passion, or trade that you are going to monetize? Number one, and if you don't have one, sell something online. Literally, like digital products right now are amazing. We got all these AI tools, apps that you can sell. Even if it's oh you, maybe you don't even wanna be an engineer anymore.
Maybe you don't even want to do whatever your degree is in that you've been in corporate 15 years and you're like over it and you're just like, I wanna do something different. Like the easiest way is to do what you've been doing, what you're good at, what you've been paid for. That's an easy exit strategy.
But a lot of people, are burnt out and they wanna do something into their creative. Go back to when you were like 15, 16, 17, or even nine or 10, what did you love to do? What did you get excited about? And I was always in the kitchen playing shop. I was always like starting my own store.
Like I was sewing, I was like drawing or find that fire, that passion. That's something, I really enjoyed that one. I wish I could actually, I could totally make money doing that. And then start there. And then, so then you have, okay, something that you're passionate about.
You're lighting the fire again. You're doing something that you enjoy. Because in corporate we get stuck in the mundane day and day out doing the same thing, and so sometimes it's just that finding your passion again, like I was always passionate about business. I guess I was just like born into it.
I'm the only one. 'cause all my family were medical professionals. Okay. Unlike the weird one that wanted to start a business when I was like 12. So no one ever was really getting that. They're like, why doesn't she wanna be like us? But that was like. I got so much joy out of creating my own dog rooming and snack bar.
Okay. Like I'll go door to door and try to sell the tie DI made last weekend. That was just my passion, so I had to tap back into it. 'cause numbers, deficit and credits can get really lame, right? But I knew that I could make, a quarter, a million dollars a year on my own. Like I was when I first started Cubics Financial, when I first graduated with my accounting degree in 1999.
And. I was so excited to have my first client, like it was like just liberating. And that's how it can feel now too. Even 20, 30 years later, like when I got my first client outside of corporate, when I decided like I'm starting my business, I literally started it with $250. I was like at my ultimate low, I had just had two back surgeries.
I was on leave. I was like, I am not going to live my life this way. I need to make a change. And so I reached out and I got a new coach and a mentor. And so that's the other thing, like you, one, you need to get a coach and a mentor. You need to have somebody who's done it, who knows the way and the path.
And that has some tools and things for you to be able to shift your mindset and your vision so you can get back to, your purpose and position in life. And help you then through the process because I do think. Some people are luckier than others in that having a passion. I was just talking, I started taking piano a year and a half ago or something, and I told my piano teacher, I'm pretty good at a lot of things.
I, I like, I. That's, that can be a plus and a minus. You also have a lot of interests. So choosing one is the first one, and then getting your clients who resonate with what you offer. What you're describing sounds really great. And I like your point of having a mentor even, that accountability, that encouragement, having someone on your team.
I think a lot of us know the answers, but to sit here by ourselves in our own head it becomes very difficult to figure out that what that is. But then, as I alluded to before then, what is the next step? You said you it's easy to sell things online. There are a lot of people selling things online.
I'm one of them. So what do you feel like the magic is for being successful selling online? For one, you have to have a strategy and it's not wish marketing. Okay? We're gonna set it here and then wish, hope people are gonna come buy it, right? Because we'll be sitting there all day spinning in our chair wondering why isn't anyone clicking the link?
Just as I do that, it takes a whole system. Because it is saturated, there's just so much online right now. So you have to have the best tools. You have to utilize ai, you have to position yourself, you have to put yourself in front of the right people. 'cause if it's just everybody, then it's gonna get diluted and no one's gonna find it.
But if you're like, oh, this is for women over the age 45 that, want to, tap into their creative and it's like an art book and this and that, and it's specific you want a product that is like very narrowed into this segment of people, like whether they're, by age demographic, you gotta kinda, do SWAT tests, like what's the strength, weakness, and opportunity and threat to this product? And we go through that in the business GPS. So we vet it all out. Is this viable? Are you gonna wanna invest $10,000 and 10,000 hours of your time in this? And you'll find out through the happy CEO method, the process, we'll literally vet it out and get you very defined on who your target market is.
And we mentioned before we've started recording, and if you're watching, you can see there's a big picture of a moose behind me, and that is one of the uncapable one of the most important parts of the framework. Because yes, if you spray and pray that is not efficient and, doing, there are a lot of methods that work.
I like to say there are many roads to the top of the mountain. Now, if you're selling something that, like we are, consulting and speaking and training, things like that, we need to be more specific about our moose, and I'm sure you do too, because if it's just you're selling a one-off or you're selling something not really valuable, it might not be worth the time in doing that.
But yes, finding the right prospect, the right person who has that pain that you can fulfill that need. One of my favorite moose are solo entrepreneurs or business owners. I hate, I've been in the corporate world too. There's so much red tape and all the different pe, finding the decision maker and all of that.
So when you have a smaller business, I love that because you can make a bigger impact on, and you have someone who's a decision maker who can write the check, so on and so forth. But the point being, yes, it really pays to dial into who. You can help the most who will see. Yeah. That need if you, we always say too, if you find someone who has the need in your mind, but they don't have an acknowledged need, wow.
Then you have to sell the service or product and then you have to sell them on the fact that you are the right one. So those are some of the things that, my interpretation of what you're talking about. I know you have a lot of free resources on your website and you do provide consulting, coaching.
I don't know what else. So why don't you tell me what the best thing for people to do if they wanna know more about how to learn from you? Yeah, you can visit my website, charity Brown Biz, and there's book your clarity call at the top of my page. And then we chat about, I just to get to know people.
Mostly 'cause then I can help them find out what the block is or where they're stuck at. Even if you don't know, you're just like, I'm complacent. I don't know. I don't know what my passion is. I don't know. You know where to go next. I'm just I. I've been stuck in my job and I haven't been enjoying it.
Fine we'll find out on one call with me, what it is, where you're at and how I can help you shift you out of that. So that's the hybrid coaching and consulting method. Essentially that I use, it's, it does come from years of experience in business along with I'm a certified Zen Zone coach, and I have a framework and a plan and some amazing mentors and experts that also join us on our strategy call sometimes.
And our group accelerators that we have for the Happy CEO program and we just bring it all to the table and get, real clear on our vision. And then we start, developing the roadmap to success and the achievable goals and actionable items and hold each other accountable well, and.
As we talked about, you have a strength in being involved in all kinds of businesses, restaurants being included. In that list I've worked a little bit in restaurants, which is they're all, they all have their fun and they all have their stress. And of course, so does being an entrepreneur.
That's why it is important to have someone to help you and, a system, a roadmap, something that you can follow, because being an entrepreneur isn't always easy. It's been so interesting. No, I know it's not the easy way out, but it's, it is fulfilling and you can attain abundance and a life of freedom more easily than having a corporate job.
And it does take you have to be able to handle some risk too. And the rollercoaster ride.
And the rollercoaster, but it's fun. I like action, I'm good with that. I like challenges, so not everybody's up for a challenge, but I welcome them. And I think, on my website, I have some great books that talk about this exact same thing. They're also workbooks and they're free downloads and ones, the one I wrote when I was overcoming burnout mastering the Art of Resilience and, there's very actionable steps that will shift you immediately if you do the work.
If you really want it, then do the work. That's right. And you said they're free books, so Yeah, they're free. Have those links in the show notes. And I actually, I'll plug my own thing that, because I just recorded a video sales course based on my book and Copyable sales Secrets. And when you say do the work, that's, I think that's a great phrase because I actually offer a money back guarantee on the course.
If you do the nine modules and you do the work, there's no easy way out. You can't just, have something beamed into your head or even read it or hear it unless you follow it and implement it like you're talking about. You're not gonna get the benefit from it. I think that's a great point about the do the work.
So yeah, go check out those books. I'm gonna go check out those books too. Yeah, my podcast is on there. Everything's free on my website. The strategy call or the clarity call is free. The download books are free. There's a million dollar branding strategy download for free. That's like my resource site where, you can get to know who I am.
You'll see the endorsement from, Kevin Harrington from Shark Tank? Yeah. Why don't you mention that? 'cause I watched that short video. He's one of the original Sharks on the Shark Tank. Tell us about that. Gave yourself a plug that he gave you a plug. He gave me a huge plug. Yeah.
And that was during Covid and everyone was suffering at that point. I'm sure his investments in businesses were tanking as well. And he reached out to me 'cause I was in my woman cave. Putting on my first business accelerator, with my first cohort of students and I had nothing else to do.
I started my YouTube channel and I started doing these videos and one of 'em like made it viral and it ended up making it into his agent. Somehow his agent called me and said, Hey, we saw your video on the the business GPS the investor pitch, the five star business accelerator, and Kevin loves it.
And he said, if people would do what you're talking about, they would fund 80% more businesses. And like literally he was like, this is literally the steps that everyone misses when they start a business. 'cause we go from inception, we would go the five star businesses, accelerators for brand new business owners that want, they have an idea and a concept, but they don't know how to legally set it up.
And we use the same GPS we use in the, the happy CEO, but we don't go do the LLC and the EIN and the bid numbers and all that. You can hire me as a coach or consultant to help with that if that's something people like. But he literally was like the planning that I do in the investor pitch, I also help them nail their 67, 60 second elevator pitch.
So if you're talking to an investor or a banker or somebody you know in the elevator, they ask you what you do, who you are, who you serve, you can boom boom. And then immediately they know what you do, who you are, who you serve, and it how they can get ahold of you. And that's like the number one thing that people in new to business, they have a really hard time articulating that in a way that is effective.
And so he was like, I need you to come out to the studio. I wanna interview and interview you in my studio. 'cause he has shark TV and he has these other networks and it was covid and. Our airport was closed. So I'm like, I can't get to Florida. So I can't right now. I would love to. He is you know what, I'm just gonna do an endorsement for you and I'll send it.
So he did this. They like, I couldn't have said it better than myself. Would you have to pay for that? Yeah, that's what I was saying, like people want that, they want that so hard. They're like, how much you pay that? I was like, you're never gonna get the deal I got. 'cause he literally flew me out to a studio after that and then interviewed me at the same time.
I have a five minute interview on his set bragging about the, the greatness of the the accelerator. And now people call me that I know that I sent him, 'cause he's part of my sharp Dream team on partnerships. We ha I send him clients all the time and they're like, he wants 25 or 50 K to do that.
Oh wow. I got so I have to also, you'll have to give me the link for that video that went viral. Everyone's dream. Of course. And again, all the links of that what we've talked about charity. You might have other links that you want me, me to put in. But boy, you have given me a lot and I feel like we've just scratched the surface.
You've done so much and I really have enjoyed this conversation. And thank you so much. I really appreciate you being on the show. Thank you. Kay. And to your audience, you guys, if I were to tell you anything, start before you're ready. It's time. If you fill it, don't hold yourself back. You don't have to be ready to start a business.
You should actually do it before you're ready. And get with someone like me who can guide you and Kay, you're our moose. That's right. Thank you. That's a great place to end and Charity. Thanks so much. Thank you. Bye.