Ep 32. [The Rebrand] Welcome to The Career-Integrated Entrepreneur™ - A New Chapter Begins

After 19.5 years full-time corporate career in financial services… and 5 years building my online coaching business on the side… I’ve officially gone all in.

And with that - comes a brand new name and a bold new direction for the podcast.

Welcome to The Career-Integrated Entrepreneur™ Podcast - the rebrand of the podcast formerly known as Hustle With Heels.

In this reintroduction episode, I’m taking you behind the scenes of:

• Why I rebranded the podcast
• What career-integrated entrepreneurship really means
• How I built my business with limited time and full-time responsibilities
• Why job security is no longer enough - and how a side coaching business can become your real safety net
• What you can expect from this new chapter of the show

This next chapter is here to support you as you start mapping out your own version of career-integrated entrepreneurship. One that gives you options, stability, and a business you actually want to show up for.

Resource: 

>> Free eBook: Validate Your Coaching Idea in 30 Minutes (With My Free GPT Validator Tool)

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 0:30 Personal Update and New Beginnings
• 1:35 The Concept of Career Integrated Entrepreneurship
• 3:08 Building a Business While Working a 9-to-5
• 4:49 Rebranding and Future Vision

Transcript

 Welcome to the Career Integrated Entrepreneur podcast. Lead podcast for corporate women building a side hustle coaching business with intention and creating that financial runway while still thriving in the nine to five. I'm your host, Cindy Excell. Each week we talk strategy, mindset, and the real behind the scenes of what it takes to grow a business in the margins without burning out or blowing up your career.

Now let's dive in. Hey, friend, it's been a while, and if you are a long time listener, you will know that it's been about four weeks since my last episode of this podcast, and I took that pause intentionally. Well, partially, intentionally, and also because I got really, really sick last week as well because something actually big was happening behind the scene over the last few weeks.

After 19 and a half years working in financial services, financial device, and the wealth management industry, including the five years of growing my own online coaching business on the site, I officially wrapped up my corporate career on Friday the 27th of June. It's actually wild to say that aloud, but it's real.

And today I'm back with a brand new season of this podcast with a brand new podcast name. It's called The Career Integrated Entrepreneur. This isn't just a rebrand. It is actually a reflection of where I am now and more importantly, where you might be heading to as well. I want to release this episode as an introduction and a rebranding episode because I want to tell you why I want to make the change, because after I pivot my coaching business from fitness coaching to start hustle business coaching for this last nearly 12 months.

I realized that there are so many, so many smart, ambitious, and high achieving women in corporate. They want to build something on their own, but they don't want to throw away everything they've worked so hard for to do that just yet because especially if they haven't test out their business ideas, if they haven't even built a business or if they haven't even had any experience in starting and growing a business themselves, they want to do it strategically.

They don't just want to go all in without any plan. They still need that nine to five job to maybe pay the bills. Maybe they still like that nine to five job, but they also want to have something of their own while they figure things out. Because that was me as well years ago. I loved my job when I first started my coaching business five years ago.

I loved my team. I still had so much to give back then. I also knew that I wanted to create something of my own on my terms. That's where the idea of career integrated entrepreneurship came from. That actually means to build a business that works with your nine to five job, with your family life, not against it.

It means creating, not only creating purpose, income options, but also doing that before you ever hand in your resignation. It means learning how to monetize your existing skills, testing your ideas, and build a real confidence while your daytime job still pay the bills without the financial pressure that allow you to learn all the business building skills as well, because this is what I believe the smartest way to transition from corporate to entrepreneur is not quitting your daytime job cold Turkey.

It is to build a business slowly, strategically and intentionally while you're still in the stability of having those regular income coming in from your nine to five job, because that's what I did over the last five years. I carved out 10 hours a week. On average, working in a very demanding corporate role as a senior financial advisor.

And my husband is also working in a very demanding corporate role as well. And we both don't have any other family support, and we have two school aged young kids. So I made mistakes, I changed niches. I hired business coaches. I signed up so many programs and consumed a lot of courses, programs, content, et cetera.

But here's what I've discovered. Most of the strategies out there were built for full-time entrepreneurs, and I wasn't a full-time. I was squeezing business into evenings, weekends, school, pickups, holidays, et cetera, and I had to learn the hard way that building a start business requires a different strategy while you have a full-time copy job.

You don't have to do more. You have to do what matters most, and I learned how to simplify, how to stay focused and build my financial runway as a priority. Now I want to help other cop women do the same. So while I'm rebranding this podcast, I wanted to highlight that this podcast isn't just about me sharing my stories anymore.

It is about helping you build yours. Whether you've just started failing the quiet nudge, or you've already got a maybe a Google Doc of your business ideas, or maybe you've always wanted to start something off your own. Because you are tired of relying on one single paycheck and you want to know how to start, you are in the right place inside of, because job security isn't not what it used to be.

Roles get restructured, teams get cut, offices shut down. And even top performance get made redundant all the time. Your job title, even if you're at state level, it won't protect you anymore. Your resume. Doesn't matter how beautiful that is. It won't protect you either. But building something off your own will protect you and your financial future.

A business you've built slowly and strategically, a skill set you've monetized and a plan B that's strong enough to become a plan a one day. If and when you need it, that's what will protect you, and that is your real safety net. So this rebranded podcast is here to help you build income, build a purpose, build your career options, your financial security without blowing up your career.

Because you don't have to leap blindly. You can build before you leap. And I will be here every step of the way with you on this journey. And if this resonates, hit follow, share the show with a friend and come back next week. Every Wednesday we publish a new episode. We are just getting started and I can't wait to see you back here next week.

Bye for now.

Thank you so much for tuning in to the Career Integrated Entrepreneur podcast. If this episode sparked something in you or gave you the little push you needed, I'd love for you to hit follow, leave a quick review or share it with a friend who's also interested in building an online business on their terms.

Your finished runway starts now and I'm so glad you are here. I will catch you next week.