EP2: Rebuilding Your Identity as a Solopreneur with Guest Valerie Alawiye - Part 1

In this episode, Jennifer welcomes Valerie Alawiye... a retired senior executive with 30 years of leadership experience, now a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), author, speaker, and founder of Navigating Chronic Illness with Heart and Hope. Valerie shares her journey from managing large corporate teams to building her own solopreneur business, and the surprising emotional and practical shifts that came with it.

This is part one of a two-part conversation, mapped to three of the nine catalysts in the Flow Flex Scale framework: DNA, Productivity, and Conversations & Community.

In this episode:

• Why Valerie shifted her focus from creating to building an ecosystem and the moment she realized talent alone wasn't enough
• The power of defining an ideal client, even when your instinct is "I want to help everybody"
• How community "speaks for you" when you're not in the room and why skipping this step costs solopreneurs time later
• Valerie's vision board practice 
• Time-blocking around her natural energy
• The "Wheel of Tasks"... Valerie's playful, low-pressure system for daily prioritization
• What metrics she actually tracks
• Rebuilding identity and community from scratch after 30 years inside an established network 

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Guest Links & Resources

Valerie Alawiye website is: https://www.coachingforchronicillness.com/ 

Valerie Alawiye newsletter is: https://coaching-for-chronic-illness.kit.com/newsletter 

As a special gift when joining Valerie's mailing list, guests will receive her free journaling companion, "Journaling Through Grief & Grace."

***Host Links & Resources***

Quick Link to Podcast Website

FlowFlexScalePodcast: https://www.flowflexscalepodcast.com/

Quick Link to Substack
FlowFlexScale Substack: https://flowflexscale.substack.com/
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Transcript

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SPEAKER_01 0:08

This is the FlowFlex Gill podcast, your field guide to the Solopreneur operating system with author and coach Jennifer Britton. If you're a coach, consultant, creator, or service-based entrepreneur who wants to build a business that's sustainable, adaptable, and impactful, you are in exactly the right place. Every episode will have something you can put to work right away. So here's what to do right now. Follow us so you never miss an episode. And if you know another solopreneur who needs this, share it with them. That's how this community works. Daily steps plus consistent action equals momentum. That's Jennifer's mantra, and it starts right here, right now, with you. This is the Flow Flex Gill podcast. Let's get started.

SPEAKER_02 1:13

Hi everyone, and welcome back. Today I'm really excited to be welcoming Valerie Alawie to our studio. And Valerie, I've had the pro pleasure of knowing you for a few years now, seeing you with many different hats. I know that you've stepped into solopreneurship. You're now in your second year of business. And I would love us today, in addition to talking about what you love about being a solopreneur, what you're doing, to also help us understand what it's like to make that transition from corporate into your own business. So welcome to you. I'm going to give you a chance to introduce yourself. Welcome to the FlowFlex Scale Field Guide. And yeah, what are you bringing to us today? Let's meet you first.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Well, thank you so much, Jennifer. As you mentioned, I have had the privilege of being a student of yours for many years and also you being my mentor coach. So truly appreciate you and excited to be here today. As you mentioned, I am a professional certified coach, which you helped me achieve in the last year. And I also am a retired senior executive with 30 years of experience. And most recently, I can put the title on my head of author, trainer, and speaker. And I'm also a chronic illness warrior. And in 2025, I founded Navigating Chronic Illness with Heart and Hope. And I specialize in supporting individuals with chronic illness and their caregivers and helping them design adaptable, sustainable, meaningful goals that support them no matter what phase they are in their journey. So thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Well, my pleasure. And what I love, you're a conversationalist like me. I know our listeners are going to enjoy today's episode. We're anticipating we'll probably make this into two parts. So if you have listened to part two, welcome to part one. And what we're going to look at is a variety of things in our conversation today. First of all, we're going to look a little bit at the Flow Flex Scale process. So for early listeners, this is one of our first episodes. You might have the FlowFlex Scale book, but for those that haven't heard about this is a business model that I've iterated over the last two decades. And really, in seeing business owners, especially solopreneurs of all kinds thrive, there really are nine catalysts to growth. So before we meet Valerie, I want to put these on the table just to because this is going to probably create some of the roadmap of our conversation today. So under the flow bucket, we are going to probably look at things like your DNA and what makes you unique. I hope that you'll be able to share a little bit about what are you noticing that makes you unique as a business owner and as a business itself. We're going to talk about conversations and business foundations. That can include things like business modeling. So I know, Valerie, you might share with us a little bit about what you're noticing, what shifts you're going through in the business model arena. And I would even say for me as a 23-year-old business, the landscape of the world, including things like AI, invites us to constantly be re-examining what is our business model? What are we offering? How are we responding to the market needs right now? That's all under flow. Under our flex, of course, it's critical to keep adapting, just as I said. And so we might get into the landscape of productivity, our team, which are probably other solopreneurs or subcontractors, and a wide myriad of relationships we have. And then finally, we've got execution and getting things done. Finally, under scale, programs and products, marketing invisibility, and of course, business acumen. So with that in mind, let's sit back. I hope you've got your feet up because you know the life of a solopreneur is very full. And I'd love to kick off by inviting you to share like, what are you focusing on right now?

SPEAKER_03 5:12

So, as we've talked about in other discussions, I focused a lot at first on creativity and on creating. And I was so excited to move from a very analytical role to creating. And so creating a training program and writing my book, and it was really fun. And then I had to focus on selling that. Oh. And I realized I had spent so much time in my bubble on myself focusing on creating and design that I had not really focused on, as you talk about in the later stage marketing, but building an ecosystem which includes the people. And so with, you know, my videos that I do and things like that, I am reaching people, but it's who am I reaching? And am I reaching the right people? And so what I'm focusing on now is building the community part, connecting with partners, defining my ideal client, which uh at first I kind of was like, I don't want to do with that, because I want to help everybody. But it really is an important step. And so focusing on defining and identifying my ideal client and then where are they and trying to reach them.

SPEAKER_02 6:25

So that's great. And it's interesting that you take us to sort of one of the business fundamentals of like who are you serving? What have you learned in this last year, Valerie, as you've been like, you know, putting the word out? What have you noticed about how important it is to really connect deeply with your people?

SPEAKER_03 6:43

Oh my gosh, that one of the things I've noticed is that when you connect with your people, they will speak for you. And I think you've talked about this as well about this the sponsorship and when you're not in the room that there's people that are speaking for you. And so reaching the right people, it just kind of multiplies itself. And uh I actually have a segment of my navigating chronic illness with heart and hope video series called Heart and Hope Conversations. And I had somebody reach out to me and he said, Hey, I am in the medical field, I resonate so much with your heart and hope conversations. Can I be a guest? And um, such a beautiful thing that, you know, I like I said, I wasn't really aware of who I was reaching. And and as I am digging into that more in um looking at my metrics and things like that, I really am realizing who I'm connecting with and how to leverage that in a positive way and authentic way to grow community.

SPEAKER_02 7:40

Yeah, I love that. And again, you you know yourself, you know, you are you come across as so clear and confident. I know that's probably, you know, it's been a long time coming. What would you say to new solopreneurs about owning yourself, owning your strengths, owning your talents?

SPEAKER_03 7:59

We read that a lot and we hear that a lot. And when you're a solopreneur, it really becomes obvious. And so just a really quick story, because I've thought about this. So I was a in my work, we had to respond quickly. And I was, I'm also a checklist person. And so I love to have my checklist at the end of the day. And what I realized, I was spending so much time on the admin piece and the things that weren't really priority that weren't gonna grow my business. And I went and looked back at some of my strengths and I was like, okay, I should not be spending my time here. I really should spend my time, as you said, connecting with people and uh writing and speaking and those kinds of things, which are my strengths. And it has been a challenge to then say, okay, I'm gonna have to ask someone to help me with those other things. Um, the other thing that I've done is something that we all learn about in business classes and things like that, which is time blocking. And I set that with my schedule, and I looked at blocks of time when I were my peak time for creativity, my peak time for more short tasks. And what surprised me is that I'm a night owl, but I do better in the morning doing some of my deeper work, my creative projects, things that take multiple hours, and then doing more of the shorter tasks in the afternoon. So I say all in that to say it's so important to really get to know yourself and to honor your strengths and be willing to seek support in those areas that are not your strengths.

SPEAKER_02 9:35

Letting you are, you know, you're giving such an important through line for readers. You know, I want readers to actually you're connecting deeply with three of the nine catalysts. Number one, DNA. What's our DNA? And maybe we jump into strengths in just a minute. But you know, if we're building a business that does not represent us, it's gonna be a lot of work, right? It's a lot of work to build a business aligned with our strengths, let alone something that doesn't fit who we are and what we love to do. Two, I love that you spotlighted us into productivity. When are you at your best? And we might talk about that for readers. You're gonna see more about circadian and alteradian rhythms in the chapter on productivity. And again, in line in alignment of really being able to work at our best. Maybe you can talk to us a bit about how did you go about tracking your time? Because I think this is a really important activity done on maybe an annual, you know, semi-annual basis to really see where am I spending my time. So talk us through a little bit about what you did, Valerie, to come up with these insights around productivity for yourself.

SPEAKER_03 10:43

Sure. So I did what I always do. I did a vision board for the year. Well, I guess it really wasn't for the year, it was actually for my business. And but this time, instead of just putting up images that just like were nice and pretty, I actually thought about what do I want to accomplish in my business? What is the purpose? And so, for example, I knew I wanted an ICF accredited training program. And so I actually printed out a fake letter and I put it on my vision board. And so I did that. I wanted my PCC. And so I put my the PCC logo on there and I've put down, you know, a check of how much money I want. And and, but not just that, I put down pictures of people that I want to reach. And so that was really it helped ground me that I'm not just doing these things, that there really is an end state that I'm hoping for. And some of it is longevity, you know. And so I do I did that from my annual, and then I do quarterly check-ins. And one of the most fun things I did was participate in your second quarter business reset. Um I try to do things like that every quarter so that it reminds me because I do get in my own way and it reminds me of what's really the bigger picture and what's really important. And then I do monthly, I set my goals for the month, and then I do weekly. So weekly I do my time block. So when Friday is my admin day and I do my planning for the week ahead, and sometimes I do good, sometimes I don't, but it helps me set some sort of framework so I don't get I, you know, I don't get caught in the thick of thin things, and I'm really working on what's priority. So I do multi-layer planning. I probably have way too many calendars and trackers and things like that, but it all helps me to stay on task. And then my last favorite thing is uh if you all have never heard of the wheel of names, I use it for wheel of tasks. And when I have a lot of subtle things to do, um, I put them all on the wheel and I let the wheel pick. It's like a bonus. Is that is that like how you do you do one a day, or how do you use your wheel of tasks? So I have a really long to-do list, and so I try to prioritize what's important. And so I move what's important to the wheel, and then whatever's left at the end of the day, it comes off. And so I try to restart every day.

SPEAKER_02 12:57

That is so creative. You, you know, again, you bring such a wonderful creativity strength. So thank you. That is a golden tip. And uh maybe we may, yeah. Well, you've you spoke to the business reset that I did in Q2. That now is available for listeners. It was a five-day challenge. You can sign up at no cost. But speaking to the quarterly, you know, the quarterly assessment reset. Uh, you also said, you know, maybe I have too many of planners, but can anyone have too many planners? Because one of the key things, and maybe some of you read plan do track, right? It was not plan do do, it was plan do track so that we can always look at our metrics. So I'm curious, like let maybe we go a segue. I want to come back actually, though, to conversations of people, but while we're on this productivity and numbers piece, didn't ask you about those to think about, but maybe you could just share with us off the cuff, like what are the metrics you're tracking right now? Just very high level, what do you take a look at as you're going through your quarterly, your monthly, even your daily? What are some of the metrics you're you're keeping an eye on?

SPEAKER_03 14:04

So, one of the things to grow my ecos ecosystems, it's important to keep track of how many. And then, of course, the who. But I look at my subscribers. And so in my the system that I use for my newsletter, right now I'm I'm paid up to a certain number. And so I look at how close am I getting to that number. It also tracks for me what they're connecting, what what their entry point is. So whether it's my newsletter, whether it's a training class and things like that. So I can see what's important. I also do surveys. And so I send out surveys and it's, you know, ask people, hey, how is this message resonating from you? What's missing? Um, in that conversation. And that's that was one of my action items from your second quarter business reset. And so I receive that type of information as well. And then with my training courses, I ask for feedback on, you know, not only what worked with the course and what didn't, I also ask, um, hey, what's what's out there? What are you all seeing? What do people need? And that type of thing. And so it's not um specific metrics in all cases. Some of it just really is reading the landscape and reading the room. And of course, I look at my finances. Um I have recently acquired some business software and I love it. I was tracking things in a spreadsheet and I put everything into this software and it just gives you graphs and tracks that charts and all of these amazing things, just super quick. And that really helps me to say, okay, this line is it working or is it working the way I want? I need to adjust here, or hey, some of my passive work, like with my workbooks or with my book or whatever, I'm getting this type of revenue. Maybe I need to focus here. So just at the you know, touch touch of a button. So that's been really helpful.

SPEAKER_02 15:51

I love that you take us there. And you know, this year at Potentials Realize, we're doing the make it visual uh retreats as part of the Experiential Road show. And I think as business owners, our ability to not just see the numbers, but see the trends and the through lines. And it sounds like whatever software you're using allows you to do that. Because yeah, we're gonna start seeing things, and every year is different in business, especially right now. So you peaked me on something that I want to, another thread I want to take us on is sort of doing the work. But let's go back a little bit to the heart of solopreneurism. Many of us start our business for many reasons. You know, I know, uh, like me, you had a large team that you managed for many, many years. Certainly when I started this business 23 years ago, I would say I was burnt out as a leader, right? I loved my team. I think there was a fear in me that maybe I would never work with such a great team again. And so I didn't even want to try to duplicate that instead of potentials realized. And I've kept it that way, right? I love being able to bring in people as we need them, um, but keeping things lean and responsive, right? Again, we're a very agile business. And so that's been intentional. Um, now it means though that building that set of relationships is so important. So I'm wondering if you want to share a little bit about what it's like to have moved from being a team leader to now being a solopreneur and any tips or insights that you want to share about that experience.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

So it was an interesting transition. So when I stopped working and retired last year, I still had some things at play. I was um outside of work. And so I was on some teams, I had a lot of clients that um I had acquired, and it was, but it was all focused on business and those types of things. And so I kind of rode that wave last year just as things kind of trailed off. And then I was picking up more of my creative work. And then somewhere around the holidays, it's like everything just I realized that there was this empty space where there used to be a lot of busyness. And I am definitely someone who has as a survivor of burnout. I had a pretty significant burnout and recovered from that, thankfully. But then I'm in this space where I had always had a team, I'd always had people that I could, you know, that could support me, that we would bounce ideas off of each other. And I'm in this quiet space and I realized that I have to start, I don't say start over, but start anew. Start fresh. And that came down to doing the work of not only identifying my ideal client, but identifying in this space of solopreneur in this new world, who do I want to connect with? And I get to pick. And in 30 years in your career, you don't get to pick, which is fine. I mean, the the network is built for you and the people you're supposed to connect with, but I get to define that now. And so it has been um a lot of fun. I have been exploring connecting with um, like I'm in the ICF community, I had I'm in your community, I some of my other mentors have communities. So I've just been dipping into that and just seeing how I connect and seeing who I connect with. And so that that's been um that's been a journey. Uh, I would say to anyone that just a tip is don't skip that step. Um, don't skip that step and go right to customer. You know, I've got to sell and you know, I've got to get this out there because building your community, as I said before, they're gonna speak for you and they're gonna give you connections and information that you hadn't thought of. And it takes time. It's this is new, it takes time. People don't not people don't know me in this new space, like a lot of people don't. And I was used to that. And so it's just rebuilding your identity. And one of the things I I just read recently was about we talk about brand and identity, but it's being that. And so being your business and not just this is what I'm because I just think at so much in social media, everybody's a something, you know, because every I'm a guru at something, but actually being that and being authentic, and you're just gonna build a really strong community from that.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

That's part one of Jennifer's conversation with Valerie. If today's episode struck a chord, whether it's rebuilding your identity after a career change, learning to time block around your own rhythms, or finally giving yourself permission to define who you want to serve, make sure you're subscribed to this podcast so part two lands right in your feed. In part two, Jennifer and Valerie pick the conversation back up, going deeper into community building, the realities of solopreneur burnout and recovery, and what it actually looks like to grow a business that reflects who you are, not just what you do. Daily steps plus consistent action equals momentum. That's Jennifer's mantra. And it starts right here, right now, with you. This has been the FlowFlex Scale podcast. If you know of another solopreneur who needs this episode, please share it with him. That's how this community grows. We'll see you next time.