Welcome to the Rich Coach Club, the podcast that teaches you how to build your dream coaching practice and how to significantly increase your income. If you're a coach and you're determined to start making more money, this show is for you. I'm master certified life coach Susan Hyatt, and I'm psyched for you to join me on this journey.

Well hello and happy Monday, Rich Coach Club. Today, we’re talking about making your first 100K. And people often say the first 100K is the hardest to make. I think there’s a tipping point that happens, and I’m going to spill all the tea on my first 100K and what I learned, and hopefully, I can save you time, energy, and money as we dive into this really important topic.

So later in the episode, I’m going to break it down but first, I want to talk about something because when you look at my business today and you look at my life today, you may see for example, a video of me sipping rosé at a swanky spot in New York with some of my best friends.

And we’re like, cheers to life, yes queen, and we clink our glasses and toast our businesses and our successes, and our big audacious goals. But after looking at a video like that, I often want to remind people that yes, that is true, all of it. I love putting updates of my trips and my travels and my friends and my family and those champagne moments are amazing.

They’re beautiful moments, but it’s also important to tell the rest of the story because there’s so much more that goes on. It’s not all champagne and brunch and photo shoots and giggling with my girlfriends. And sometimes, I think people forget that.

So when you see someone like me posting about having fun, whether it’s a rooftop champagne toast, or dinner parties, or speaking gigs, or hair and makeup styling sessions, or sold out programs, trips, all that stuff is real. All of it is true, and also, behind the scenes there’s a whole lot that people don’t always know about.

Yes, there’s joy and beauty and excitement, and also there’s a lot of effort and a lot of unglamorous work that goes into running a business. And a lot that goes into producing products like the Go Time Planner or the Bare Deck and putting together programs, like my masterminds and events like Finish Strong.

There’s the part where I haul ass to the airport the night before a speaking gig only to discover that my flight’s been cancelled, or the part where I drive across state lines at midnight to catch another flight, only to discover that that’s been cancelled too. There’s the part of the story where I only get four hours of sleep because I still have to wake up, smile, show up at the event, and give everyone the experience they paid for.

Now, I’m not complaining, but I just want you to know about the three suitcases filled with workbooks and party favors for clients up five flights of stairs and there’s the part of the story where I sit all day in my sweaty workout clothes banging out blog posts and podcast scripts and webinar notes and emails to clients.

And then there’s the part where I’m doing a photo shoot, video shoot, and the microphones malfunction and the lighting’s all wrong. And after eight hours of filming, we got to do it all over again. And then there’s the part of the story where a client backs out at the last possible second, leaving me with an empty bedroom at my retreat and having to scramble and figure out how to fill that spot within 48 hours.

And meanwhile, Moses the cat is throwing up again, or there’s a kid in trouble again, or somebody’s rear-ended me, or somebody on Facebook thinks my photos are inappropriate, or just wrote a lengthy rant about how I’m a terrible role model or a fake feminist and want the entire world to know.

Gee, thanks. So if you want to run your own business, hell yes, you should, but you should also know what you’re signing up for with no delusions. You’re signing up for self-expression, freedom, and deep joy.

You’re also signing up for everything else. The boring parts, the repetitive parts, the stressful parts. The heavy lifting, the hustle, the work. The parts that nobody sees. And you’ve got to be willing to embrace it all. The rosé champagne moments and everything that comes before and after those moments too.

So sometime this week, I want to challenge you to send an email to a hardworking business owner that you admire. It could be the owner of your favorite restaurant or the owner of your local yoga studio, or it could be your favorite blogger, podcaster, consultant, or coach, a colleague, or your best friend. Someone whose work makes a difference in your life.

And tell them, say, “Hey, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you do. I know there’s a huge amount of effort, time, courage, risk, and hard work that goes into running a business like yours. And I know most of that work happens behind the scenes and nobody sees it and it never gets acknowledged. So today, I want to say thank you. Please know that you’re appreciated and you’re making a difference in my life.”

And if you send an email like that, I can promise you, she’ll be incredibly touched and she’ll probably cry, and she’ll feel even more motivated to keep going. And whether you’re having a champagne day or a cranking out the work in sweatpants day, I want you to keep going too.

Hustle like you mean it, and remember, those at the top of the mountain didn’t fall there. Nope. They didn’t fall there. They worked their way up to the top and they’re still working hard to reach the next peak. And 95% of the work is the part you’ll never see.

This is the part of the show where I share some encouragement and inspiration to get your week started off right. And I try to keep things to 120 seconds or less. Here’s your two-minute pep talk.

People typically hire me when they’re facing a massive, intimidating goal, like launching a new business or dramatically growing their business revenue, or they might hire me for Bare goodness, Body positivity, or reinventing themselves.

And when you’ve been coaching clients for over 12 years like I have, you’ll hear a lot of amazing dreams and goals, and you’ll also hear a lot of complaints, rationalizations, and excuses. And we’re all human, right? We all rumble around with the same excuses.

Maybe you can relate. “I don’t have time. I can’t stay focused. I don’t know the right people. I can’t afford it. It’s just unrealistic. My family wouldn’t like it. It’s too hard. I don’t have what it takes." And my personal favorite, “Nothing works.”

Now, raise your hand. I can feel you raising your hands if you’ve said that one. Nothing works. And for whatever reason, that particular excuse has been coming up a lot lately. And over the past couple of months, I’ve had at least four or five clients say to me, “I’ve tried everything. Nothing works.”

And when people say this to me, and if you’ve said it, I know you’re feeling discouraged, defeated, and very firm in your belief that nothing’s ever going to work. And yet, deep down, some small part of you and my clients know that something might work or you wouldn’t be listening to this podcast, or they wouldn’t have bothered hiring a life coach.

So when I’m working with a client who’s locked into the nothing works mindset, we have to work on dismantling that mindset before we can discuss anything else. Because if you’re convinced that nothing is ever going to work, then that’s going to be your reality. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy. That’s how the brain works.

We say nothing works and then we want to prop up evidence that, see, nothing works. I’ve tried two things. Nothing works. So we need to replace that negative belief with a different belief that’s going to serve and help, rather than limit us.

So here are a couple of other beliefs and perspectives that you can try on, like a new outfit, and see how they feel for you. So new belief from Maya Angelou, “Nothing will work unless you do.” So when it comes to your goal, have you been working consistently and earnestly with 100% devotion? Have you been really working? Really giving it your best effort, or not so much?

Maybe nothing’s working because you’re not really working. That can be tough for the ego to swallow, but maybe it’s time to be honest with yourself and fess up. How bad do you really want it? And are you willing to work for it? If not, it’s fine. Let’s just release that goal and focus on something else instead. But if so, great. Let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work for real this time.

Here’s another new belief to try on from Albert Einstein. “Nothing happens until something moves.” I love this one. Nothing happens until something moves. So what needs to move inside of you in order to create some real changes? Do you need to move a big boulder of resentment out of the way so that you can move forward with your goals?

Do you need to move past a huge wall of self-doubt or fear of public criticism or shame? Something’s got to move and it’s probably an emotional block. Get with a coach that can help you with this type of work. The results are amazing.

Okay, here’s another new belief from Earnie Larsen. “Change is a choice.” Alright, so if you look online or talk to friends, you’ll find countless examples of people who are stuck, stuck, stuckity-stuck. So incredibly stuck. And then one day things changed. Why? Because that person made a new type of choice.

So I used to be a coach potato who never exercised, like, 13 years ago. And then one day, after doing a Pilates video a few times, I decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood. And then the next day, I decided to do it again. And a few months later, I decided to jog for a few minutes.

There was no parade of screaming fans throwing glitter and roses at my feet, y’all. It was just me, alone, making a choice. The choice to move my body. I chose it and I did it.

So my friend Melissa Cassera dreamed about writing TV screenplays, and she dreamed about this for years and years. And then one day, she decided to take her dream seriously and actually started pitching her TV show ideas to decision makers in Hollywood.

One day she wrote that first pitch email, and she attached her script, and she clicked send. And she was nervous, of course, but she did it. And that choice was the very first choice in a series of choices that unlocked a series of new opportunities for her.

She’s had now three TV movies filmed for a major network. Nothing works until one day something does because you made a choice, because you lace up your sneakers or attach the document or click send, or whatever you need to do because of you.

Nothing works is a lie. Things can work. Things can change. Things can improve. Things can evolve dramatically beyond your wildest dreams. But change is always generated and powered by you, by specific choices that you make.

So if you’re caught in the nothing works mindset, the best thing you can do is challenge that thought when it pops into your head. Talk back to it. Argue with it. Say to yourself, the idea that nothing works is simply not true. It’s a false belief. Things can work. Things do work. Things can get better because I can make different choices. I have that power. I always have.

You always have and you always will. So this week, decide that the phrase nothing works is officially going to be removed from your vocabulary. Because it’s a flat out lie, just like the earth is flat. It’s just erroneous. Choose to believe something new and then choose to do something new. Pep talk complete.

So now we’re moving into the part of the show where I give shout-outs to you; shout-outs to listeners, clients, all you wonderful people in my community. And today I want to give a shout-out to Stephanie.

So Stephanie left me the most beautiful five-star iTunes review and she entitles this, “My touch stone. I’ve been an avid follower of Susan and her work for years. And each year, better than the last. She is my touch stone for remembering the life I want to lead, both for myself and as an example for my little girl. Any time I’m sluggish or need a jolt of genuine full lifed-ness,” she put in parenthesis new word.

I love that word. Full lifed-ness. “I tune into her podcast and I’m never let down. She is a gift.” Stephanie, girl, I see you. Thank you so much. And those are my shout-outs for today.

So if you want to hear your name on this show and you have something good to say, send us an email. support@susanhyatt.co, or post a five-star review wherever you listen to podcasts. I love giving shout-outs to people in my community so holler at me. Thank you for the love. I love you right back.

Okay, so now what you’ve been waiting for. I want to talk about some things that you can anticipate on the road to earning your first 100K. So here’s some things that I’ve reflected on.

Number one, I say this until I’m blue in the face, but you have to set actual business hours. So at first, I was so excited to be in business for myself so I was very much like, I’m my own boss, I can do whatever I want, I can go for a walk in the middle of the day, I can go to the movies, I can go get a pedicure.

All of it true, however, you want to treat your business like you’re serious and show up like you’ve hired yourself for a full-time career. So coaches and entrepreneurs who are new in business want to argue with me on this one and say, “But I’m a night owl, but I’m a creative, but I like to be spontaneous, but I get to do what I want, Susan Hyatt.”

Yes you do, boo. And while I’m not going to insist that you get up early like I do, if you’re a night owl, great. Work when your energy is the highest. I don’t care when your business hours are, as long as you set business hours and keep them.

This signals to you and to your business that you are treating this business like an actual professional entity. When you do not have set business hours, things are loosey-goosey. Your energy’s all over the place. You’ve got to set hours and show up for them with your whole ass. Not half assed.

Number one, set actual business hours. Number two, hire help sooner than you think. So I talked a little about this in my creating your dream team episode, the last episode. But I have to say it again that you have to change your mindset from what is this going to cost me in terms of hiring help, to thinking of it as an investment.

So instead of what’s this going to cost me, what is this investment going to do for me? So if I hire a virtual assistant or a personal assistant or a graphic designer or fill in the blank, whatever you need to outsource that’s not your zone of genius, instead of thinking, well, that’s going to cost me $50 an hour, you have to think about well, what’s that $50 an hour going to help me do?

It’s going to help you leverage your zone of genius. So when I mailed off my first $600 retainer for a virtual assistant, what that did for me was free up a bunch of time, a bunch of white space, so that I could sell more packages, coach more people.

So you really have to change your mindset on hiring help. So number one, consistent business hours. Number two, hire help before you think you need it. I didn’t hire help soon enough and as I mentioned in the previous episode, I needed to hire more team members sooner and I didn’t.

So go back and listen to that episode and you can hear how I created a lot of drama for myself and left a lot of money on the table by just trying to still do everything with one assistant.

The other thing I want you to consider, and there’s a lot of talk about to niche or not to niche. And while I agree in theory that yes, if you niche down super tight, people know exactly the problem you solve and who you serve.

However, for a lot of entrepreneurs, it’s too soon to do that. And when you niche too soon, you basically can kill your whole business. And I think that there’s a period of time where you’re what we call in writing, clearing your throat, where I want to encourage you to try different things and see what you actually love and what lights you on fire before you narrow your focus.

So I think before you can name it, you have to narrow it down. And in order to narrow it down, you need to allow yourself to be creative and adventurous and try different things. So just know that there’s a period of time where you’re going to be clearing your throat before you actually find your voice.

I already mentioned giving - I used the phrase give a whole-ass effort instead of half-assed effort. And only you know if you’re whole-assing it or not. So I want you to really sit with - I talked about it when I talked about nothing works.

And if you’re story fondling, as Martha Beck would say, that nothing works, I want you to really think about why you’re committed to that belief system, and is it allowing you to just sort of show up and sort of hide?

So one thing that I would say for sure is when I set consistent business hours and really showed up with whole ass effort, things really started to scale for me. Also, I want to encourage you to understand the difference between exposure and call to action offers.

A mistake that I made was spending a lot of money on glossy color ads in local magazines that were great exposure, I guess I could say, but there was no call to action. There was no offer made. So while it was great for the ego to go oh, look at Susan Hyatt, she’s in Evansville Living, I didn’t understand that I needed to be making consistent offers to actually make money.

So if you think like, as soon as my website goes live, or as soon as this ad runs, my phone is going to ring off the hook, no. You have to put offers together to sell your services. So understand that difference.

And then also, I want to encourage you to think about what you need to spend money on. So I do think it’s important to spend money if you need it, on coaching to get your mind right. I also think it’s important to learn how to put offers together.

And if you don’t have sales experience, if you don’t know how to sell things, then I think it’s important to learn how to create offers, package offers, sell offers, and reserve your budget for things that you can leverage and sell, versus things that just look and sound nice.

And the last thing I want to say that I think is important is having a squad. So whether this is a group of local entrepreneurs or online entrepreneurs that you can hang with and go to when the shit hits the fan or you’re feeling insecure or you don’t know what to do about something, I didn’t, at first, have enough entrepreneurs around me that understood this world.

I had plenty of entrepreneurs around me that understood what it meant to be in business for yourself, but I think being a coach and doing business online as well as locally, it was so helpful for me to have a squad of people or to curate a squad of people around me that knew what was up.

And I could text and say, “Oh my gosh, I don’t know what to do about this thing that just happened.” So I want to encourage you to also reach out and surround yourself with entrepreneurs that can help you.

So again, it doesn’t matter if it’s a circle of local friends that you curate in the community who are doing business in a way that aligns with your integrity or if it’s people that you find online that you curate, or you obviously can pay to join a group, which I have done and found immeasurably beneficial.

So I’ve done both. I’ve locally curated friends who know what’s up, I have virtually curated friends who live in different areas who know what’s up, and I’ve paid to be part of a mastermind of women who are doing business in a way that I admire.

So I encourage you to really think about this list. Think about claiming your business hours, clearing your throat, hiring people as soon as you can, whole-ass effort instead of half-ass effort, understanding the difference between creating exposure for yourself and creating offers that have a call to action, and spending money on things that matter and having a community of entrepreneurs who have your back.

So I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode so far about earning your first 100K. And something else that I thought I would close this out with is a pep talk. Another pep talk about feeling guilty because your life and business is awesome.

Maybe you’re doing great on the road to your first 100K or your first seven figures, but maybe your friends are still stuck. So listen to me. 13 years ago, you really would not have recognized me. I was stuck in a job that drained the light out of my eyes. I was about 35-40 pounds heavier than I needed to be. And every morning, it was a monumental effort just to pull myself out of bed.

Every night, I would collapse back into bed, bitter, bored, exhausted, and if you had asked me, hey Susan, what are your greatest passions in life? I would have said, passions? I’m too exhausted to even think about it and pass the Doritos, would you?

But one day I hit my breaking point when my mom came to visit. Something snapped in a good way and I decided to stop making excuses and create a life that I could be proud of. And so for my sake and for my kids’ sake, they were little at the time, for the sake of my health, my marriage, and my spirit, there was no other option.

I simply had to make changes. And I did. And it didn’t happen instantly, but hundreds of baby steps later, I’ve created the life that I’ve craved. I have a strong, healthy body, I have a career of my dreams, I have cashflow on my own terms, I have time to rest and play and travel, I have creative projects that really get me going like writing my books and having retreats and running masterminds.

But as my life changed for the better, I noticed something kind of scary. There were times through the years that I felt guilty for taking steps to change my life, and even guiltier for savoring the rewards, particularly if the people around me were struggling while I was soaring.

But guess what? Guilt does not have to be a side effect of self-improvement. And there’s a really simple phrase you can tell yourself to free yourself from that nonsense. Ready? Here it comes. Happiness for you equals hope for the world. That’s all you need to remember.

By creating what you crave and refusing to settle for crumbs, you become an inspiration to others. And every time you say yes to the workout instead of staying on the couch, every time you say now to building the dream career instead of grinding away at a job you hate, every time you sing out, aim higher to self-love over self-destruction, you show the people around you what’s possible. So don’t hide your happy, yo. We need your light. Not your guilt.

Thank you for listening to Susan Hyatt's Rich Coach Club. If you enjoyed today's show, please head over to susanhyatt.co/cash where you'll find my brand-new money magazine. Now listen, we designed this magazine to be entertaining, educational, and help you make serious bank.

So you can download the magazine, there’s a money quiz inside, there’s an interview with one of my favorite clients who went from making no money and being served eviction papers, to making over six figures in a very short amount of time. So the magazine includes that feature, lots of resources to help you do it, lots of resources about creating wealth and investing money.

It’s pretty robust, y’all. So head over to susanhyatt.co/cash to get that magazine. And you’ll also find a link to join my free Facebook community, especially for coaches called Rich Coach Club. So bring your coaching practice and your income to the next level at susanhyatt.co. See you next week.