Ladies with Tradies - WORKIN' THE TRADE, LIVIN' THE LIFE!
Grab a cuppa, or go through the coffee drive through, press play and buckle up Tradie business owners! We will cover things in this podcast that don't shy away from the raw honest truth about business. It is hard, it is raw, and we also wanna deliver you all the tips and tricks you need to learn about business too.
IN LOVE: How are you trekking in your relationship as a couple in business? Are you respecting each other? Are you finding it hard to toe the line between business and home? Do you squabble like husband and wife like you do at home when you are in 'work mode?' It is not easy to maintain a relationship and business at the same time. But the relationship should be #1 at all costs! Learn how to improve on this.
IN LIFE - do you have one or is your business taking over? Many couples need permission to actually have a life. The tradie thinks if he doesn't work he doesn't get paid - but you need some semblance of balance too. So how do you strike it?? First you need to be clear about what you want and how you want your life to look both now and into the future. Otherwise - you can just wander aimlessly with no real plans as to what you want your business to provide.
Ladies with Tradies - WORKIN' THE TRADE, LIVIN' THE LIFE!
EP. 53 She Was a Tradie Wife First: Donna’s Journey Into Coaching
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Podcast Summary
Before she was a coach… she was a tradie wife.
In this episode, Kate sits down with Donna Brown — one of the powerhouse coaches inside Ladies With Tradies — to share the full-circle journey from overwhelmed tradie partner to confident business leader.
Donna didn’t start as a coach.
She started where so many of you are:
- Supporting a tradie husband.
- Juggling cashflow stress.
- Growing too fast.
- Hiring staff.
- Carrying the mental load.
- Wondering how to help without causing more tension.
From running a pressure washing and cleaning business with her husband Clayton, to scaling up, burning out, scaling back, and rebuilding intentionally — Donna shares the raw reality of what it takes to build a profitable trade business without losing your family in the process.
This isn’t just a business story.
It’s the story of a tradie wife who lived it first — and now coaches others through it.
In this episode, Kate and Donna unpack:
- What it really feels like to be the tradie partner carrying the mental load
- The pressure of trying to “grow” because you think you should
- The cashflow realities of NDIS and volume-based services
- Why scaling fast nearly broke the system
- How niching down changed everything
- The dynamic between a visionary tradie and a financially-minded partner
- Why sometimes the bravest move is shrinking
- What coaching actually is (and why it’s not us telling you what to do)
- How confidence in the numbers reduces relationship tension
- Why doing the uncomfortable thing (like firing staff) changes everything
Donna also shares what she loves most about coaching — helping tradie couples back themselves, reduce the stress, and finally build a business that supports their life instead of consuming it.
This episode is a powerful reminder that:
You don’t have to do it alone.
You don’t have to grow big to grow well.
And sometimes the woman behind the tradie becomes the leader who changes everything.
Check out: https://www.ladieswithtradies.com
🎧 Ready to take your tradie business to the next level?
🚀 Money Junket 2026
Join us for our biggest event of the year—helping tradie couples build profitable, sustainable businesses (without burning out or breaking their relationship).
👉 https://ghl.ladieswithtradies.com/the-money-junket-bne-2026
💡 The Empowered Tradie Business Program (FREE)
Get clarity, structure, and direction in your business—without the overwhelm.
👉 https://ghl.ladieswithtradies.com/empowered-tradie-program
📞 Book a ‘What To Fix First’ Call
Not sure what’s holding your business back? Let’s figure it out together.
👉 https://links.ladieswithtradies.com/widget/bookings/30min_chatdirect