Owning a Business is a Hero's Journey - A Candid Conversation with Business Coach Leslie Boyce

I often tell people that owning a business is a hero’s journey. Nothing is going to stretch you and push your buttons more than the daily adventures of running a business. 

Leslie Boyce knows this better than most people. Over the course of her career Leslie has been a cabaret performer, owner of a local gym, and is now a business coach who helps women business owners get unstuck and level up their game.

In this conversation Leslie and I discussed the challenges of business ownership, her experiences coaching women business owners, and trying to balance the challenges of entrepreneurship with being a loving mom.

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My mission is to change the way small business owners market themselves and it’s very important to me that I reach as many people as possible.

Transcript

TRANSCRIPTION

Judy Murdoch

Hello and welcome to the Marketing Root Work podcast Today my guest is Leslie Boyce. And, I've known Leslie for a couple years now. She does amazing work and I will let you introduce yourself and, and say a little bit about your business. 

Leslie Boyce

Sure. Well, thanks for having me first of all.

I'm excited to talk to you. Uh, so yes, my name is Leslie Boyce. I do, business coaching for entrepreneurs. But this is not what I've always done. I sort of found my way into this role, by way of, I've, I've really been a career long entrepreneur. And I guess if I can just like.

Dive right into my story. When I really start to think about my. My foray into entrepreneurship. It's, as a musical theater performer. And yeah, so I, I performed my whole childhood all growing up and, I never really took it too seriously, although 10-year-old me would probably disagree with that.

And as I got older and after I graduated college, I got a degree in broadcast journalism. I knew I loved to connect. I love to, bring people together. I, I got back into performing and I realized that I wanted to do my own one woman cabaret shows. And that was a way for me to be able to continue performing and.

Exercise my con controlling tendencies because I got to plan the whole thing from start to finish. But really it was like a little mini business model and I selected the music and I wrote the script and I hired the band and I chose the venue and I sold tickets and marketed and, and all of that.

And um, you know, that sort of kicked off my love for being able to come up with a concept and then see it. Through to completion. Um, and I was living in New York at the time and was also waiting tables. 'cause of course that's what you do in, in Times Square, no less. And um, well I hated waiting tables, so I wanted to find another job that allowed me the same, you know, flexibility.

Um, to, to continue to perform. And so I, I found myself, um, in the fitness world as a personal trainer, I'd always worked out and that'd always been important to me. Um, and then personal training was something I just fell in love with and thought, you know what? This is, this is the industry I wanna go into.

So, um. So I started doing personal training, more full time. Realized that I did not need to live in New York to do, to be in the fitness industry. And I came back to Colorado, which is where I had gotten my undergrad degree. Um, and I opened a gym here in Denver in 2012 and ran that for about nine years.

And, uh, closed, uh, for, for a number of reasons it was. I closed in 2020. It was obviously COVI. Um, I was pregnant with my, my first baby, my, my first and only baby. Um, and I was just ready to move on. And so I closed my gym and I went back to school. I got my MBA and I was like, okay, now what am I gonna do to sort of bring all of these seemingly random worlds and roles together?

And, um, you know, recognizing that I love. Coaching people. I love helping people, um, understand more about, um, clarifying where they wanna go, um, what they wanna do, what's getting in their way, how can I help, uh, bring in some of that clarity? And so that, that's how I found myself doing business coaching for entrepreneurs.

And I really do a lot of, uh, small group coaching, um, which I love to bring communities together. So that was very lengthy. No, it was great work on my elevator pitch. 

Judy Murdoch

No, I love it. I mean, it's like you, every single time it seems like you, you choose the business that is like one of the hardest businesses.

Yes. To create and succeed at. I mean, man performing arts girl. 

Leslie Boyce

I know. I, and I think that like it's one of those cases of, well, I knew I loved to do it, and someone said to me, you know. You're, you're talented. You should go to New York and pursue this. And I was like, okay. Like I, I, that, I guess that's just like sort of how I'm wired.

Um, yeah. I wouldn't say I'm like impulsive. I definitely think things through, but I'm kind of like, well, okay. So I try, but you're right. It's, I try in very, very competitive industries. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. And they're, they're competitive in ways that, it's not like technology where quite often in technology, if you have a really good product, um, and it has some sort of a, a competitive difference from what other people offer.

That's its selling point with, with performing arts, with art in general. Um, the thing that sells art is, can be really difficult mm-hmm. To the put into like. Like a good definition because so much of it is just the energy the performer brings or the artist brings to their work. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Um, you connect with people or you don't.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Um, yeah. Anyway. I'm impressed. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Well, thank you. And yes, it's incredibly subjective and I'm, I'm also a very sensitive person, so you're right. Like none of this really makes logical sense, so. 

Judy Murdoch

And yet here we are. 

Leslie Boyce

We are. And yet I am. I'm undeterred. Which also makes no sense. 

Judy Murdoch

I love it. So I know you recently changed your branding.

Did, you said you had done that over the summer. So what was your thinking? Um, what was the process? 'cause changing branding is like a pretty, that's a pretty major thing to do in your business. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. And I think I didn't really appreciate how major it was until I sort of like. Got into the thick of it and, and was committed.

And, um, so like I said, I, I, I went back to school and when I finished my graduate degree, it was early last year and I had a pretty clear idea at that time. Of the type of business that I wanted to launch and, and what the program was going to look like. So it was a six month, um, cohort based course for ent, for local entrepreneurs.

And so that part of it I was pretty clear on and I was just like, I've just gotta get a business established. I've gotta get a website up and running. Mm-hmm. And so I think. You know, in retrospect, I think I did sort of that, that branding and messaging work like a little backwards because I was a little bit more focused on putting this, um, program together.

And was like, well, I just need to have a landing page for, you know, for, for people to find me and sign up, um, and all of that. And, um, once I finished that six month program. Um, a, a series of sort of life events happened, um, that forced me to, to kind of take a step back from like, the hustle of getting another cohort up and running.

Um, I had, I, I had a pretty clear idea that I wanted to start a podcast. Um, and so that became sort of my focus, and so I actually sought out the help of a. Podcast coach who, and the reason I selected her after interviewing several people is because she starts all of her coaching clients with a complete brand audit.

Judy Murdoch

Oh, interesting

Leslie Boyce

Yeah, and, and so as we went through it, she was like. You know, here, here's a few things that are working well, and then here are all the things I recommend you do differently. And she's like, I hope I'm not overwhelming you. And again, I was going through some, some tough stuff in my personal life that I was like, you know what?

Right now that's exactly what I need. I need someone to tell me exactly what to do and give me this checklist. And I have no problem executing. But I was just not, I knew my branding was not totally aligned. With, with me, with what I do. And so she, she sort of like confirmed all the things that I knew. I just didn't really know how to go about it.

And so, um, so that was it. It that was sort of the catalyst to, to actually go forward with the branding change or the rebrand. Um, but it was a lot of work. To your point. It was a lot of work. 

Judy Murdoch

It's a lot of work. It's a lot of internal processing work. Yeah. In particular. Um, do you wanna just share like what kind of, what your former brand was and what your new brand is now and, and Sure.

What it is you love about it? 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Um, so my former brand was, uh, LB Consulting. Um, I, I really struggled with the word consulting versus coaching. I don't feel as though either one really. Captures exactly what I do. Um, I think it's sort of a hybrid. I think there's more to it. I think I was always really struggling with, um, I.

Being so compartmentalized and, and having this label of consulting or coaching. Um, so that was part of it. LB Consulting was where I started because I was like, it's my initials, it's easy, the domain was available. Um, and then I just designed my own logo. I picked my own colors because I thought they were pretty.

And, um, you know, as she was going through them with me, she, she sort of like echoed, yes, the, the colors are pretty, but they do not represent your personality. Like, the color's a little more muted and a little bit more buttoned up and a little bit more stuffy. I, I think those are my words, not hers. Um, and she's like, you have all this personality and a sense of humor and I don't feel as though any of that is being conveyed.

And I was like. Oh no, I think you're right. Um, and so now my brand and she also, we talked through this quite a bit until I could like really wrap my head around, um, changing my brand to just Leslie Boy. So my website is just leslie boy.com. And then having all of my sort of, um, offerings, uh, podcasts, coaching programs, courses.

Fall under my personal brand. So we changed my Instagram to Leslie Boyce and my website and my LinkedIn. Um, and that, you know, I think what was, what has been maybe the hardest sort of mindset shift in that regard is that when I ran a gym for 10 years, my brand was the gym and I like to tell other people's stories.

And I had this physical location and. Now it's like I am the brand and that is still something that I'm, that I'm struggling to totally get behind. 'cause it's like, well really it's, but yes. Yeah. And when you're coaching or consulting or doing a lot of one-on-one or facilitating, like people are going to work with me, that's.

Yeah, they have for better or worse, you're gonna get me. So it better be. Uh, so that made a lot of sense to me. And so we updated the colors and um, the logo and I just think it's a lot more fun. It's a lot more approachable. Um, yeah, just a lot more representative of. My personality if, if someone doesn't get to talk to me, hopefully they land on my website or my Instagram and they see, oh, you know, she seems like someone I could spend some time working with.

Judy Murdoch

Right. I mean, and that is the intention. Yeah. When, when you are your brand and you are a coach and most of what you do is about how you show up in the world and, and your skills and your values and all that type of thing. Yeah, totally. Um, so I'm gonna, I have a couple questions, but there, there very related.

So the first thing I wanna say is you were one of the first people to send me a referral mm-hmm. When with this new business. That I have. Um, and I was, and in a way I was, I was delighted, but I wasn't surprised because you just, I, I think one of your superpowers is you are really good at connecting with other people, and you're also really, really good at.

Seen ways where like your business and the other person's business where there are opportunities to compliment and strengthen what each brings to the table. That's, man, that, that is such a fantastic. Capability. Not everybody can do that. Hmm. Just fyi, you're Oh, well thank 

Leslie Boyce

No, I appreciate that. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. It's a superpower when you're an entrepreneur. So I'm curious, like, do you use referral marketing? In your business and, and how is that going for you? I know you just rebranded, so in a way it's kinda like you're, you're having to start over a little bit, but, you know, just like, tell me a little bit about that.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Um, do I intentionally, no, I don't, I don't think, um, I guess to, to, to sort of like respond to what you said, like. I genuinely love connecting people, and I was, I just came from a coffee meeting with a, a friend of mine who we meet pretty often for coffee, and she's a, she's a entrepreneur as well, and she was saying today that she has this like totally wild different business idea that, and it was like way outside of anything she's done.

And I was like, oh, well did you meet so and so at that event that I did last year? And it's like that. I don't know, that just it comes to me naturally. It feels really good. I cannot understand why people don't do that more. But I think I also just maybe remember people's stories. I, I don't know. Um, so it's something that just like is very rewarding for me to do for other people.

I am not good at asking for sort of reciprocation for. Myself, it's, yeah. You know, like I, I said I just launched my podcast and, um, you know, I'm, it's hard. Like, I want, I want reviews, I want lots of reviews. I want more, you know, visibility and to show up higher in searches, and it's, I really struggle with it.

Judy Murdoch

Well said. Do you think it's because, um, I mean, I'm, I'm very similar to you in that I'm a natural connector. I. Just, I'm, I'm wired in a way so that I, I just see opportunities for connection. Yeah. Um, it's just, it just seems to be where my attention just naturally flows. 

Do you think it's because you, you just don't like to promote your own stuff? Or do you think be because like you promote other people's stuff? 

Leslie Boyce

Um, yes. I think, um, part of it is that, and this is like what I talk about in my coaching with people too. Like, I can't see my business objectively. And so to be able to speak about it in a way that, um, I, I hope other people perceive it, um, is, is challenging.

Yeah. And. I think that, um, maybe I'm a bit of an optimist in the way that, you know, I, I li I, I connect other people because I, it genuinely feels good and I see opportunity and so much talent and, and, uh, possibility. And I just sort of hope that it comes back around. But I, I think what I really appreciated it when I, when we first met, is that.

This is an area you've chosen to focus and it's crucial and there's probably a lot more mes out there that have a hard time asking for that help or doing it in a really like, methodical, intentional way. Um, so I just always appreciated that this is the, the sort of angle that you've chosen. Um, 'cause I think it's there, there's so much potential there.

I just personally have not tapped into it. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. Yeah. So a couple points came out from what you just said to me. So first of all, you made me think of the tipping point. It's a great book. It's really good. Um, the, yeah, the whole idea behind Tipping Point is how does something become viral?

That's really sort of at the heart of the book and what, I can't remember the author's name, but what he, what he, he found in his research that for something to become viral and he actually, it was so interesting, it used Paul Reveres. Ride. He's Paul Revere actually as his example, which fascinated me.

And he said, for anything that becomes viral, you need three, three different talents. Three different talents have to work together. One is the Maven. The Maven is the person who is very knowledgeable. They're the person who, like, they have a particular subject matter like, like fitness might be one of yours.

You know everything about it. The thing about the Maven that makes them different from another expert would be Mavens like to share. They love to share their knowledge and wisdom with other people. They genuinely, it's a real pleasure for them. The second person, or, or talent you need is you need someone who's a connector.

So you and I are like really, really typical to connectors in that we simply get pleasure. Connecting people, connecting people with ideas con connecting people with resources. We just see the world that way, so it's really easy for us to to be connectors. Mm-hmm. The last person who's really, really important is the sales person.

So the sales person is the one, you know, like you can connect somebody with an idea, you can have the credibility that a Maven has. But in order to move people to action, you need a salesperson. And those three people have to work together. They may not be separate people. Apparently. I did not know this about Paul Revere.

He just seems like one of those like kind of stuffy guys from, you know, back in the day. But apparently he was an enormously talented person. He was very good at all three, which is why he alone was so good at spreading the word. I mean, fascinating, right? Yeah. I to think of Paul, Paul Revere as being sort of like a really good salesperson, but apparently he was.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Um, I am not a good salesperson. That is not my thing. Um, uh, so what this brings up also for me is this idea of, the other thing you and I have talked about is this idea of collaboration where we bring people. With complimentary talents and knowledge, skills, et cetera together. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

So I always think to myself, like, if I could just get a really good salesperson, I think the same, I would be unstoppable.

Yeah. Um, but it, it goes back to what you do, which is, I also know one of your. Or, I think I already mentioned this, but you're also, you're a really good collaborator. You're very good at seeing how people by different strengths can work together. And in your podcast you talk to somebody who had a CrossFit gym close to your CrossFit Fit gym, and I thought it was just so cool that the two of you, you know, like what came out for me was we are stronger together.

That's beautiful. Yeah. It's also very feminine. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah, it is. Well, interesting you say you add that because, um, and, and I mentioned this in, in the podcast, but at the time. I mean, I, I've always known this connector quality was, um, and, and Drive was very strong. Um, obviously I opened a CrossFit gym like that is community and connection.

Um, like under the guy, not under the guise, but under the umbrella of fitness. But I really wanted at the time to, and I, I went out and I had conversations with other CrossFit gym owners. To try to form like CrossFit owners, you know, um, meetup groups or let's just all get together and let's, and I got major pushback major until Kathy and I met.

And again, we, we cannot, for the life of us remember how we initially met. Um, it doesn't matter because immediately we're like, well, obviously we're gonna, let's support each other. And it just never felt. Tense. It never felt like there were strings or expectations. It was like, oh, thank God. I mean, I'm surrounded by people, you know, 150 gym members and 10 people on my um, staff, and yet it's incredibly lonely because I could never go to anybody and say, oh, I'm having a problem with my employee, with my manager, or.

Whatever. 'cause they were all, they didn't have the same, it, it just wasn't appropriate. Yeah. And so, yeah, the, the fact that we, you know, could, could have been seen as competitors and I suppose we were, it just was like very refreshing. And we still are, you know, obviously very close friends to this day.

Judy Murdoch

 That's a gift. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

 It's every, every good friend is a gift. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah, absolutely. 

Judy Murdoch

That brings up, so not too long ago I learned that somebody I know who had not been doing marketing, that was not their area of expertise, their area of expertise was scaling, I think, or something like that. And they have moved into referral marketing.

Um, and I. I wondered why they hadn't shared this with me. 

Leslie Boyce

Hmm. 

Judy Murdoch

And I also wondered if some of it was because there might be some concern. Somehow they're like, they're, they're copying me or they're taking my idea, or something like that. I mean, not that there's anything original about referral marketing, you know, I mean, and what came to me was, um, like I, I will admit there was a little part of me that was a little bit like, you know, like that feeling of like, somebody else is doing this or whatever.

Yeah, maybe they're doing it better than me. Um, but I also thought, well, I'll tell you, I don't. First of all, this person and I, we work with very different people, so. Totally cool. Um, they're in another part of the world and I, I mean, I, I, I don't need that many clients. I really don't at any given time. 

Leslie Boyce

I think that's so important because I like, I need to hear that often.

I need to tell my clients that often. Yeah, you don't need everyone to be a client. You just need, right. A few. Um, but that's, it's very easy to lose sight of that, especially when someone else sort of enters the, the marketplace, um, doing this, the same thing you're doing. 

Judy Murdoch

And the other thing too is that which, and I think this is a hard thing for entrepreneurs to wrap their head around.

I really do. It's just, I think it's so important to keep remembering that your ideal client. Is not the other person's ideal client. Yeah, and I mean, like, just to give the example of realtors, right? There's a bazillion realtors out there, it's very competitive. Um, in, in Denver, um, there aren't a lot of market listings, so everybody's kind of competing for market listings, and then they're competing for.

Clients that they can, you know, sell homes to. And, but at the same time, right, you get two realtors into the room, they're different people. There are, there are realtors that, um, I would love to work with, that somebody else would not wanna work with. I mean, I, I like people who are a little bit more relational and a little bit, you know, a little softer.

Um, I am not necessarily looking for the person who's just like hard charging and like. You know, let's get it, you know, and let's bid for it and, you know, yeah. That type of thing. You know, I like people who are a little bit more, take a little more time to understand like, oh, I don't know if you would like this neighborhood or not.

I mean, I had, I, when we first moved here, we had, we had a couple dudes, man, I told them specifically, we don't wanna live in like one of those neighborhoods like. Like they, they, the, the neighborhood, like they created a neighborhood like in a year, you know, we were just, we were really specific, like, we don't wanna live in a new neighborhood.

Yeah. We don't wanna live in a massive neighborhood that's in a suburb outside of the city, but this guy showed them to 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Did you not listen to what I said? 

Leslie Boyce

No. Well, I think that that's like, um, the, the ability for somebody to. Listen and actually take in what their, what their client is saying versus just seemingly listening, but still pursuing their own agenda.

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. 

Leslie Boyce

It's, yeah, there's a lot of that. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. And I'm, I'm not their client for sure. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

You know, um, I'm not a one size fits all kind of gal. 

Leslie Boyce

 Mm-hmm. 

Judy Murdoch

Um, so you are a coach. Slash consultant. I know it. That can be a very strange, blurry, um, definition. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Somebody asked me that. My brother-in-law has actually said, what's a coach?

I said, you know, the way I put it was that a, a consultant will give you advice. 

They may give you a step-by-step plan. They may give you checklists, they may do all these different things. So like if you were going to climb Mount Everest, a consultant would, you'd go there, they'd give you all your stuff and they would say, have a great time.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

The coach is a Sherpa who comes with you. 

Leslie Boyce

Mm-hmm. 

Judy Murdoch

And the reason I like being a coach is because my, I I, I did some consult marketing consultation and I always felt that when it comes to implementation. It's always where people choke. 

Leslie Boyce

Mm-hmm. 

Judy Murdoch

You know, like, not necessarily in business, corporate's a little bit different.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

But in these small entrepreneurial situations where people really need the help. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Like, like personal training, right. Yeah. It's, it's the same thing. 

Leslie Boyce

Yes. 

Judy Murdoch

 It would be like you told somebody, well here's your exercise plan. You know, have at it. Yeah. See you in a month. And, and they come back and they're like, well, right.

Leslie Boyce

Yes. Well, that's, that's exactly why I bring in all the fitness parallels and analogies into my coaching is because there are so many of them to, to the point you just made. Um, I think sort of going back to that, the question about branding, I think one of the things that I really, really struggled with getting super clear on is.

What do I offer? What is my deliverable? If someone comes to me and says, well, you know, after three months of working with you, you know, what can you guarantee? Right? And because they're in, certainly in like social media marketing and more conventional marketing, um, there's these guarantees all over the place that yes, are shiny and appealing and sure.

And I've never felt one, I don't feel qualified to quantify anything. Yeah. Nothing. Um, right. Similar to what you do. It's a, and, and when I have you on my podcast tomorrow, it's, one of the questions I'll have for you is like, what, what are the metrics? And so I really Yeah. To like have a lot of back and forth conversations with, with my coach, with people I've worked with.

And like ultimately she was like, in everything you've done. And the environments you create, you are selling. Motivation. It is motivation that people cannot necessarily find within themselves. Like ultimately you are helping motivate them to get to the next level, whatever that is. Um, and so I think that's the coaching piece of it is, um, like I can see your potential.

How can I help you recognize your potential and how can I help you create the steps 

Judy Murdoch

Exactly to get you there.

Right, exactly. I mean, and that's the thing, as a Sherpa, like you are not, you don't carry Right. The person up the mountain, they have to do the work. 

Leslie Boyce

If I was climbing Everest, I would want a Sherpa to carry me.

Judy Murdoch

I’d never even get to base camp. You know, like that's just like Uhuh. Not at all. 

But um, I think the other thing, some of the other pieces in coaching are. Um, I think it can be a little tricky to say that what one of the deliverables we bring is transformation.

Mm-hmm. But we do. We do bring transformation because I think in the process of somebody, right, it's the people have experiences and experiences transform us. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

And um, I think the other thing a coach brings in addition to the motivation is we just bring support. I mean, we're in their corner. Yes. A lot of entrepreneurs, most entrepreneurs I work with, it's lonely in a lot of ways. Like, and even when you're surrounded by people, it, it's just that nobody cares about your business, the way you care about your business 

Leslie Boyce

And they never will. 

Judy Murdoch

I don't know how I'd be an entrepreneur. Without at least having a mentor or having, having a couple people like in my corner that like they, they see the potential.

They don't own my success, but they very, very much want to see me succeed. Because they support what I'm wanting to create. 

Leslie Boyce

Who are those people to you? Can I ask you questions in this too? Of course. So who are those people? Yeah. Who I'm curious who's like on your, on your committee. 

Judy Murdoch

That's a really good question.

Um, you're one of my people in my committee actually. Oh. Um, my husband is a person on my committee. My, um, I just began working with a new business coach. He is one of the persons on my committee. I am. Doing an exchange with a woman who is a coach, but her area of expertise is in, in spirit and in some of those challenges that, that kind of inner challenge and I'm calling her my root work coach. 

How about you? 

Leslie Boyce

Um, yes, I would put you in, I'd put you in my corner. I won't make you stay in the corner. 

Definitely my husband and yeah. Um, you know, some of my closest friends and, um, people who. Have known me kind of throughout every iteration of my career careers, um, and my pursuit, who, you know, will say to me like. I will sign up for anything. Oh, that's so sweet. You're doing. Yeah. You know, um, God bless those people.

Right? I know. God bless those people. I have a friend and she's, she's not like, uh, coaching with me or anything, but this is a friend. She was one of my first personal training clients in New York. Um, we both lived in New York at the time, and we became very good friends. I mean, this was 20. Oh, 2008. 2008.

This is a long time ago and we've remained close. She's got this, you know, amazing corporate legal career. She splits her time between New Zealand and the the States 'cause she's from New Zealand and she just came to town last week and was like, Hey, I'm coming in for work and I'd love to see you. And I think the people that, that you, I 

Judy Murdoch

Love that.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. That I feel like I can just. I can tell her about my personal life. I can tell her about my professional life and she knows me at my core. And I think that's, um, yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. They know and love you at your core. 

So you have, you have a little child.

Leslie Boyce

I do have a small child.

Judy Murdoch

Barely out of toddler years. Yeah. And you know, damn, it's hard being a mom. It's hard to be a mom and it's hard to be an entrepreneur. Um, like how do you handle it or how do you know how to handle it? 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. More the latter these days. Yeah. So she's four and a half, um, going on, you know, 35 always has been going on 35.

Um, man, it's, it's really interesting because when I had my gym. I was single, did not have kids, and I like ate, lived, breathed my business. Yeah. Yeah. It was like, this is my identity. 

Judy Murdoch

Right. 

Leslie Boyce

I don't know how to separate from it and it was not, that was not the healthiest thing. Now I'm a mom. And a business owner.

And what's kind of interesting is like when I'm with her, you know, with the exception of, of sort of things that happen unexpectedly. Like I am, I have to be with her and totally present. Yeah. Yeah. And so I have to turn off my business hat even though she, she got in the car the other day and she said, mommy, can we listen to the Fitness of Business podcast?

Judy Murdoch

Oh, that's so sweet. Do you think she would enjoy it? 

Leslie Boyce

I mean, I think she, because she's known some of the guests I've had on so far. Yeah. And so she's like, oh, is that, you know, so and so, and she gets really excited. Yeah. She, and she actually, she was listening to it in the car with my husband the other day and I, I was telling some story talking about boundaries and she said to my husband, um.

Well, why don't they just, you know, why, why wouldn't they just use their safe word or, you know, something that it was like it, she got it. 

Judy Murdoch

You go little girl, right?

Leslie Boyce

So she is a, uh, she's challenging because if I'm not fully present with her when I'm physically with her. It backfires like nobody wins my, my business.

I'm not gonna give my full attention to her. I'm not gonna give my full attention. And so it's, it's really forced me to, um, prioritize and com compartmentalize. And so when I am in work mode, I am like, head down. I, I have to get stuff done because I have to go pick her up, 

Judy Murdoch

I think that being the mom of a small child into school age, well al maybe always, I mean, some ways it, it doesn't get easier. Um, thank you. Thank you for that very man. I, I, I mean, who can say, but, um, um, I, I really enjoyed my son when he was small and when he was a school age kid.

When he got into his teens, he got into that, you're really stupid mom. 

Leslie Boyce

I've seen the light now. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah. But I think what it forced, forced me to do, um, because I care and I, I, being, being a supportive, loving mom is, is important. I mean, my son's important to me, and it made me a much more patient, less reactive human being. Mm. Um, because I had, I had to be that way with my son. I mean, that's what he needed. 

It's funny looking back now and just realizing in some ways my, you know, being a mom was such a great training ground mm-hmm. In some ways to be an entrepreneur because. You can handle people so much more with, with It's a lot easier.

Like if you can handle your challenging child you can handle a challenging client. It's a blessing and it's a huge challenge. 

Leslie Boyce

It's a huge challenge. And, you know, luckily we are, we have sought out many resources that have been, yeah, amazing and supportive.

But, um, I think the other piece is like, you know, whether this is just a, a byproduct of getting older and less tolerant, of putting up with. Crap in general, or being a mom, or having been in business for as long as I have. I don't know. It doesn't really matter the combination of factors, but I certainly feel a lot more resilient. And a lot less, um, inclined to take everything so personally. 

Judy Murdoch

For sure. Yeah, that's a really, really good point. I think too, for me, it. It, it really forces you to decide like what is and is not negotiable. 

You know, in terms of like, where am I really gonna push back on my kid when they push you, right?

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. When they push on literally everything. 

Judy Murdoch

If you have a smart child, they will do that because that's how they're wired. 

Leslie Boyce

Yes. 

Judy Murdoch

There are times where it feels really good when I can just root into myself and just be somebody who can say, no, I'm not gonna give this away for free.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

No, I'm not gonna give you an extra session. It comes from a very just kind of chill place. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Which is amazing. I, I, I don't know that I'm quite there yet, but I'll get there. 

Judy Murdoch

It, it just is. Even though it's, it's good for, it's, it's good for the, the, the boundaries are really good for them, even if they push back and naly, um, protest. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Well, it's also about what kind of example do I wanna set? 

Judy Murdoch

Yep. 

Leslie Boyce

You know, like she, she sees that. I, I'm always, you know, working hard in my office or I'm going out to a meeting or I'm doing another mentorship program, or whatever it is.

And she does, she picks up on everything. 

Judy Murdoch

Yeah, they do. 

Leslie Boyce

And I want her to, you know, be proud of what I do and also agreed. Proud that I can connect with her at the same time. 

Judy Murdoch

I speak to a lot of women who are entrepreneurs and many of them are moms.

And I really think that it is such a challenge for them. Um, I mean, I felt that way too, but you're always feeling a little guilty. Mm-hmm. You're always feeling like, I'm not doing enough. For my kid as a mom and for my business. Yeah. So it's a, it's really challenging. It's, you know, and just like so much kindness to all of all, all of us working moms, you know, who are trying to do this.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

It ain't easy. 

Leslie Boyce

It is not. And you know, I just, because, you know, I do work for myself and my schedule is as flexible as I want it to be. And, and my husband mostly works from home, but his, it's a full-time position. Um, you know, so I'll usually do the earlier school pickups and take her to afterschool activities and just spend more of that time with her.

And it is, it's hard to. Know when that balance is met of like, oh, I was not ready to, you know, close my computer for the day yesterday at two o'clock. Yeah. But I had to, yeah. And we spent the next three hours together and just, I, you know, I skipped out on some work that I wanted to get done. There's, like you said, there's always something that you feel like you are Yeah.

You know, not prioritizing or not completing. 

Judy Murdoch

It's a hero's journey. It really is. It is a hero's journey. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

So I wanted to ask you, um, Leslie, a little bit about, for, for you, like, who would be a client for you that would, I mean, like, part of me is like, well, I could send you anybody, you could probably help them, but for in, for you from your perspective, like who would be, um, a, a client?

Or a business where you would really like, it would be a really fun it, they would be a fun client. You think you could really, you know, really take them far. What are some examples of that? Or, or one example? 

Leslie Boyce

I would say one example would be a person who has an established business. Maybe they are a solo practitioner or solopreneur who is feeling stuck. 

They know they want to grow, but they aren't entirely sure how, so I'm, I'm sort of like thinking about someone who I have worked with in the past that I was like, oh, this was, this was so great because she came to work with me with the. I, I say preconceived, and I don't mean that in a negative context.

She thought she knew how she wanted to grow, she thought mm-hmm. She was ready to hire, you know, her first one or two employees. 

Judy Murdoch

Oh, wow. 

Leslie Boyce

She was ready to expand. Um, yeah, she business for five years and throughout the course of our work, because she was also so open to the, the feedback 

She, you know, we went through sort of a series of like playing out scenarios.

Okay. What would that take and how, what are the steps you need to get there? And ultimately she just decided she did not need to expand the way she wanted to. Interesting. I guess it, it wouldn't, it wouldn't really be scaling, but to move her business to the next level was she wanted to actually reduce her number of hours that she was working and increase her rates. And, um, she's had a wait list ever since. 

Judy Murdoch

Wow. 

Leslie Boyce

And like, that was Wow. Really unexpected because I think she would be, you know, she thought about doing like a mentorship program or a, um, bringing in sort of new practitioners, um, to Yeah. Help them get their businesses started and she'd be phenomenal at all of that. 

But ultimately it was just none of those were the right directions. Yeah. For now, you know, maybe in a year it'll be different, but mm-hmm. Um, I loved that. We got to sort of like go through playing out those journeys together. 

And ultimately decided on something that really seems to suit her that she wasn't expecting to, um, as you.

Judy Murdoch

Wow. Like, so, okay, so this, I love this because that makes me think of like another gift. A business coach brings for their client often is, um, something like they didn't think they wouldn't have thought of on their own. 

Leslie Boyce

Oh, yes. 

Judy Murdoch

Had they had you not, you know, given them sort of that container and structure to work through those things.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

It also sounds like she was really open. She was. Which also sounds fantastic. 

Leslie Boyce

She is, yes. Fantastic. And so it, you know, it takes the, the coach. Getting very, very curious. Yes. Yes. That as well. And I think that is like, so key. I mean, going back to your, you know, point about the real estate agent, it's like, yeah, you're asking the, the questions you're supposed to ask.

Where do you wanna live and what do you, what do you want? What do you not want? But are you really curious? Are you really. And then what's, how are you digging into that deeper? 

So it takes that on the coaching side and then on the client side, it, you have to be someone who's open and that can be really hard.

Judy Murdoch

Coachable, 

Leslie Boyce

Coachable. Yes. Well, exactly. Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

I mean, I mean, you know, that, that, that is kind of, that's a fairly subjective definition, but I think some, if, if somebody comes to a, if, if you go to a coach. Um, you need to go with the understanding that like. Like you need to be willing to do things differently and think about things differently.

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. 

Judy Murdoch

Because if you're not, you probably don't need to come out. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. What would be point, you don't need a coach or the time is not right. 

Judy Murdoch

Yes, exactly. That's exactly how I would say, say it. 

Leslie Boyce

Like people who you know are going through a, a tough time personally. Who do the same thing over and over, and then they refuse to, you know, go to therapy or seek out, you know, support in any other way.

Because like, it's scary getting vulnerable and saying, when it comes back to business coaching this, well, this is the way I'm, I know this is an awesome thing I'm going to do, but it may be awesome for you and it may be awesome for other people, but it also might not be, and that that isn't a reflection on you.

Yeah, it's in fact, I think it's a reflection on you that you're able to. Receive that feedback and accept it.

Judy Murdoch

I think, um, I hate to put it this way, but sometimes people just need to experience more pain. 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah, no, I totally agree. 

Judy Murdoch

You know, like, there's a pain point where you can't ignore it anymore, but like people can go on for quite some time in less than ideal situations.

Leslie Boyce

Yes. 'cause how else are you going to learn what to do differently next time? Or a great teacher? Develop Great teacher. Yeah. Develop coping mechanisms. 

Judy Murdoch

Leslie, for people who are listening to this and they're thinking, oh man, I, I'd really like to check this one out.

Listen to her podcast, maybe have a conversation with her. How do folks get in touch with you? 

Leslie Boyce

Yeah. Um, my website, my newly branded and, and, uh, full of fun colored website is just leslieboyce.com. That's B-O-Y-C-E. Uh, and I'm on Instagram also as Leslie Boyce underscore. And then my podcast is called The Fitness of Business, and it's on all the, all the podcast platforms.

Judy Murdoch

Awesome. And it's real. I, will vouch for you that. You, it's, it's an excellent podcast. It's really good. Um, you, you cover the business points, but you also do a really nice job covering the more, the more personal and interior stories that, um, business owners are experiencing. Um, no, it's, it's very well done.

Leslie Boyce

Oh, thank you. Thank you.

Judy Murdoch

You’re very welcome. Thanks again for being a guest.

Leslie Boyce

Thanks for having me.