You Are The Magic

From Chaos to Mastery: Navigating the 5 Stages of Business Growth

• Christine DeHerrera • Episode 10

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In this inspiring episode of You Are The Magic, we're zooming out to look at the big picture of business growth — and the five key stages every entrepreneur moves through: Grit and Determination, Chaos of Opportunity, Decide and Refine, Expansion, and Repeat. Whether you're just starting out, scaling something extraordinary, or secretly wondering if you’re supposed to level up or give up, this episode will feel like a breath of fresh air. Christine shares real-world stories (including a brilliant breakdown of Shonda Rhimes' career pivot!) and offers powerful insights to help you normalize the messy middle and stay committed to your unique journey.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by your own success or stuck in the chaos of momentum, you'll love the wisdom packed into this conversation. You'll walk away understanding exactly where you are in the cycle, what questions to ask yourself, and how to move forward with more clarity, confidence, and ease. Remember: building something that works and lasts is rare — and you’re doing it!

✨ Ready to detox your business and reclaim your energy, time, and impact? Grab your free copy of the Business Detox Playbook here. The reality is small, intentional actions (not more hustle) are the secret to extraordinary growth!

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Learn more Christine and how she helps high achievers reach next level business success on her website.

Thank you for listening and just remember, you are the magic!

Christine DeHerrera:

Hello, my friend. Welcome to you Are the Magic. I'm so happy you're here. Last week, we talked about endings, why our brains and nervous systems love them and why it's so important to consciously let go of what's no longer aligned, and this week we're zooming way out to look at the entire journey of building a business, because every chapter has an ending and a new beginning. Whether you're just starting out or scaling something incredible, I want to walk you through what I call the five stages of business. These stages aren't a straight line. They're a spiral, each one bringing new lessons, new clarity and sometimes new chaos. So if you've ever asked yourself why does this feel so messy, or why am I exhausted even though my business is working, or maybe is this the part where I'm supposed to level up or give up, then this episode might feel like exhaling for the first time in weeks. And stay with me till the end, because I made something just for you the Business Detox Playbook. If you're stuck in the mess of momentum and secretly craving clarity and space, then you're going to love this. I'll tell you more about it in just a bit. So let's dive into the five stages and find out where you are right now Stage one is what I call the grit and determination phase.

Christine DeHerrera:

This is when you're just starting out and you're offering your skills to the world. You're testing, experimenting, adjusting. You try a new offer, you post on social, you email your list or you start your list, and then you see what happens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it flops. You're figuring out your ideal client. What kind of transformation do you or your product actually help them create? Do you like delivering it? Do you prefer the marketing side? Or maybe the back-end systems light you up. In this stage you're doing all the things because you have to. You're wearing every hat, sending invoices at 1130pm, watching YouTube to figure out how to use chat GPT as your virtual assistant. This stage ends in one of two ways. The first option you decide the business didn't work and you close it, boo. Or number two it works so well that suddenly you're completely overwhelmed.

Christine DeHerrera:

In the beginning of my business, I was creating publicity campaigns for Olympic athletes, developing marketing strategies for events and manufacturers, and taking calls at every hour of the day, every day of the week. I'm not even kidding. I once woke up at three in the morning to talk to somebody in Switzerland. I did all of these things writing proposals, the delivery of the work in the proposals, marketing meetings, invoicing admins all of it that kind of hustle, while necessary to get your business off the ground, eventually leads to stage two. Stage two is what I call chaos of opportunity.

Christine DeHerrera:

In this stage, your business is working, it's thriving, clients are coming in, people are snapping up your products, people are talking about you. You're getting more invites, collaborations, media attention. The names are bigger, the pinch me moments. They keep rolling in. You've said yes to everything and each time you say yes, you cannot believe how lucky you are. All of these yeses keep piling up More and more and more work, team members, contractors.

Christine DeHerrera:

But as the creative genius behind the business, you're the one everyone wants and needs. You approve everything. You are the name behind every single thing. It's all you and it's a lot. You're running at full speed and still you can't catch up. And it's not because you're not capable, it's because there's exactly zero way to catch up. You're on what feels like a runaway train. You're overwhelmed, maybe even burned out. But you are also really proud of how far you've come. You cannot believe how lucky you are and even if you don't believe in luck, you have so much gratitude and appreciation for what's been accomplished that you don't dare say no, which is a real problem. You're at a crossroads and you might not even know it, because now you've got all the success tons of work and people and expectations and do not downplay how expectations change the dynamic of everything and if you're not very wise with how you handle this stage, you begin to ask these questions what would happen if I just quit? How can I shrink the business because I cannot take one more day of this? Do I burn it down and start over or, even worse, get a job? I've hit this wall in my own business and it's the absolute. All these feelings had been building up for years and eventually I had to make changes, and back then nobody talked about any of these things. So I felt like a failure, even though I had done so many cool things that I could never have even dreamed of, like having a client on the Martha Stewart Show or writing the marketing column in an industry magazine or with my team winning big industry awards against some of the best advertising agencies in the country, and yet I had to stop growing the business because I literally could not go on. The way everything unfolded is why I'm so passionate about helping you navigate this stage, because building something is hard and building something that works and that lasts is incredibly rare. You've done the hard thing and I want to help you keep it, and because I know you want more, whether that more is 10xing the revenue or getting the six figure book deal or getting bigger speaking opportunities or whatever your more is. I want that for you.

Christine DeHerrera:

Stage two is the quicksand where you perish or you commit to making permanent changes. Only you can decide, but that decision leads you to the next phase. Stage three is decide and refine, and this is one of my favorite phases. This is when you slow down, you start simplifying, you take a good hard look at everything in your business and start making decisions, and you have to ask the hard questions who am I now? What's actually working, what's draining me and draining the business, and what do I really want to be known for? This is the slow, smooth, smoothest, fast phase, and when I work with clients, I say that to them over and over again because we all want to go fast, and how you go fast once you've built something is you go slow, because slow is smooth and smooth is fast, which is a military expression. So if it works for the military and you know how that goes, it is definitely applicable to business, and I say it all the time. So in this phase, you start refining your offers, you get clear on your niche again, you streamline your systems, you fire the toxic clients, you double down on your best employees and contractors and let the rest go.

Christine DeHerrera:

This phase, you stop saying yes to everything, you reclaim your time, you design your business instead of reacting to it. It might feel slower at first because you're used to running yourself off your feet. You have to create time for deep thinking and deep work where nobody can bother you. No more using busyness as a badge of honor and a way to avoid feeling all the feelings. This is where the true rubber meets the road, because now it's time to get into your zone of genius for real. And that is scary as hell because you don't know, when you start and you're doing all the things, truly what your zone of genius is. And now you're going to find out and you're going to commit to it, and this is where you lay the foundation for something that is so much more sustainable and powerful.

Christine DeHerrera:

One of my favorite stage three stories of all times is the media company Shondaland. Shonda Rhimes, one of my idols, built an empire at ABC, creating kick-ass hits like Grey's Anatomy, scandal and how to Get Away with Murder. Her shows absolutely dominated Thursday night TV and changed culture in the process. Yet behind the scenes, she felt constrained by traditional broadcast format, ie tight run times, rigid pacing, limited freedom to explore storylines the way she wanted and, despite delivering massive ratings and billions in revenue, she felt undervalued by the network. I mean, it seems wild, but of course she did. There was even a famous incident that involved a $150 Disneyland pass for her sister, which ABC refused to accommodate. That became the tipping point 150 bucks. So she had other offers. Of course she did. And so she left the chaos of stage two and took a leap of faith into stage three, leaving behind the structure and the network that she had known, that had made her a household name and signed a big landmark deal with Netflix. And it wasn't obviously just about the money, it was about creative autonomy and appreciation. And at Netflix she got to tell new stories, such as Bridgerton, one of the platform's most watched shows ever, and Swoon, the spinoff, queen Charlotte, one of my all-time favorites. And then there was Inventing Anna, which drew over 500 million viewing hours. Her latest series I don't know if you've watched it yet is called the Residence, a murder mystery set at the White House, and this continues her style of storytelling and her evolution. It's a bit bold and experimental and fully in her zone of genius, and what we've come to expect from this magnificent company that she's created.

Christine DeHerrera:

Shonda's pivot is a masterclass in stage three slowing down, recalibrating and choosing a real legacy versus being afraid to make change all with spectacular results, which is what happens in stage four. Stage four is expansion, which the end of the story I just told you about Shondaland is exactly what happened, and this is where the magic really starts to compound. So once you've recalibrated, you're on a whole new level. Your ideal client is your actual client. Your offers are clear, potent and your sales are replicable. Your systems are supporting you instead of draining you. Your boundaries. They're strong now and the best part is truly working in your zone of genius, which is really the point of having a business rather than a job. So your income is growing and you're happy and creative and able to have a positive impact on your people and the world. This is what happens when you build a business that actually reflects your values, your rhythms, your brilliance and your creative genius.

Christine DeHerrera:

You're not doing more at this point. You're doing less, but with so much more intention and power and depth. Well done you. And guess what? Stage five? We repeat these stages Because these stages aren't a checklist that you finish once and forever.

Christine DeHerrera:

They're a spiral that you revisit at every new level. That's stage five. I say it again, repeat Each time you grow. You're going to return to grit, to refinement, to chaos, but with more awareness, more mastery, more wisdom. So, if you're feeling like you're back at the beginning, you're not and you're not behind. You're just starting a next level. And don't forget to acknowledge all the little endings throughout the process and all the celebrations. This keeps you appreciating how far you've come and gives safety and spaciousness to your mind and nervous system. So, in closing, wherever you are right now whether that's gritty beginnings, chaotic growth you are right now. Whether that's gritty beginnings, chaotic growth, refinement or expansion I want you to know there's nothing wrong with you or your journey. And if you let yourself, you're evolving. And if you're in that middle place maybe stage two or three where you know something has to change, but you're not sure how.

Christine DeHerrera:

I made something just for you. It's called the Business Detox Playbook. It's a free tool to help you get clear on what's no longer serving you so you can reclaim your energy, your time and your impact. And the best part is you can do it in just a few minutes. And that's the real key is small, tiny actions repeated are what move the needle forward. Just remember you don't have to do it all to build something extraordinary. You just have to focus on what actually moves the needle right. You can grab the Business Detox Playbook right now at the link in the show notes. And that's what we have for today. Thank you so much for listening. I'll see you next week, same time, same place. And always remember you are the magic.