59. From Freelance Writer to Business Coach for Creative Freelance Digital Marketers + Tech Writer I Rachel Meltzer

In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, I’m joined by Rachel Meltzer, a business coach for creative freelance digital marketers and a seasoned freelance writer. Rachel shares her incredible journey from part-time freelancer to building a sustainable full-time business, all while overcoming burnout and crafting a life she loves.

We dive into the challenges freelancers face, including navigating burnout, setting boundaries, and finding the right clients. Rachel opens up about her approach to coaching and how her “ungatekeeping” philosophy has transformed her business and supported countless freelancers in achieving their goals. She also discusses the importance of experimenting with your business model, trusting the process, and creating offers that align with your values and lifestyle.

Whether you’re a virtual assistant, OBM, or service provider, this conversation will leave you inspired to prioritize your well-being, refine your strategy, and scale your business intentionally.

Key Points Covered:
✨ Strategies to prevent burnout and build a sustainable freelance business
✨ Why “ungatekeeping” is a powerful approach to attract clients
✨ How experimentation and alignment lead to lasting success

Connect with Rachel:
Website
Instagram
Threads
Youtube
LinkedIn
Pop Club Membership
Subscribe to The Fizz Newsletter
Free resources for freelancers

Thank you for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community!

FREE RESOURCES
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(⬆️ Burnout to Balance Free Masterclass & The Aligned Offer Suite Roadmap)

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WAYS I CAN SERVE YOU
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🪄 Ascension Group Coaching
⭐️ Offer Suite Alignment Intensive
🔥 Burnout Reset Strategy Call

🎧 Podcast produced and edited with love by @FerAssists 🩵

Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for Soulful Service Providers and Coaches. Welcome to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat because that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth behind the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for sole preneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow and create? Create a business that fully supports your dream life. Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in before we begin.

[00:01:02] Make sure to hit that subscribe buttons. You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:11] Hello and welcome back to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. I am here with Rachel Meltzer who is a business coach for creative freelance digital marketers and a freelance writer. Hey Rachel, how are you?

[00:01:27] Rachel Meltzer: I'm really good. How are you?

[00:01:29] Andrea Elibero: I am lovely today. We were just chatting on how Rachel also has a podcast along sort of similar lines and so I'm really excited to dive into this chat today.

[00:01:41] But tell us, introduce yourself, tell us what you do.

[00:01:44] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. Uh, so I mostly coach on the business side of freelancing for people who do digital marketing. So anything from freelance copywriters and content writers, SEO specialists, email marketers, that sort of thing. And I run a membership [00:02:00] community for those folks, but I also do a ton of free stuff. I love I call it un gatekeeping freelancing.

[00:02:06] So, I'm hosting, I host a lot of like, workshops and webinars for free. We host free co working calls for our community in, um, my community. Yeah on our community calendar and I also am releasing a course that I actually used to sell as like a paid course that just teaches you how to go from like knowing nothing about freelancing to Becoming a full time freelance writer.

[00:02:29] Um, i'm releasing it for free on youtube this year because I Absolutely hate launching and we can totally talk about this. I'm so tired of launching, but it's still really good, valuable content. And I would so much rather people have the support of my community and be able to pour into that paid community and one on one coaching options than selling a course that like feels distant.

[00:02:52] You know what I mean? And like having to launch, like I just didn't like the feel of courses. So that's going to go on YouTube and you guys can learn from me for free there.[00:03:00] 

[00:03:00] Andrea Elibero: I love the aspect of, you know what, I'm going to give away tons of stuff. I just love that. I think that's the way it just really should be, right? It's like, it's just beautiful because you, and I think that people don't do it because there's such a scarce, this weird scarcity mindset of, well, I can't give away too many things because then people won't pay me or whatever.

[00:03:17] But I wonder if you found the opposite.

[00:03:20] Rachel Meltzer: totally, totally. The more I give away, the more people want to work with me and pay me. It's incredible. And it's so confusing that that's the case. Like, why is, why? I mean, I get it because you're building that like, no trust so much more easily by naturally just like showing it. You're not telling them.

[00:03:39] I know how to do this. I'm the perfect coach for you. You are literally showing them I know how to do this and I am the perfect coach for you. You know what I

[00:03:46] Andrea Elibero: right. Well, and the other thing too is that I think when you are like, here's what I do Here's exactly what I do and then somebody starts to do it and they're like, ooh Like the actual magic is not in the content. It's in the working [00:04:00] together you know like like you need somebody else to bounce ideas off of to Brainstorm with to somebody who knows who's been there before to tell you, you know, this has been my experience all of those things I think that's the thing that makes working with somebody so special Mm

[00:04:16] Rachel Meltzer: to remember that being human is excessively nuanced and it doesn't matter what realm you're existing in, whether that's business, your personal life, whether it's therapy or school or your friendships, like what works for me isn't necessarily going to work for you, but being able to have a roadmap as a base to then experiment with, like,

[00:04:37] Andrea Elibero: hmm. Mm

[00:04:39] Rachel Meltzer: That's what matters.

[00:04:40] Like I tried for my first like four years of coaching doing it the way that other people told me to. I took courses, I worked with business coaches, I learned from them and when I implemented those strategies I felt kind of stifled and I had a hard time being successful but as soon as I started doing it my way, so [00:05:00] using that foundational knowledge I learned, I needed to learn those things, right?

[00:05:04] And then Moving into making it my own, that's when I really started to find success.

[00:05:10] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and this is the case across the board, so And this is what, and I have seen firsthand, I have seen clients, not just like my coaching clients, but my online business manager clients who have six and seven figure businesses enroll in these crazy expensive courses that are like follow steps A through Z and copy my exact business.

[00:05:29] And I, and I've had them tell me that other people in those programs, people are not successful. Like they're not getting it. And it's like, well, yeah, because if it were that easy, everybody would be doing the same thing. And it's such like, I love that you said it's nuanced because it is. this combination of, Oh, what am I amazing at?

[00:05:45] What am I naturally good? You know, like, where do I shine? And, and we all do so in different ways. So it's really going to be the things that we're amazing at and kind of like taking all the pieces and putting it together and experimenting and playing around and all that fun [00:06:00] stuff to really create something beautiful.

[00:06:02] And then the second thing that came to my head from what you had said was that, Oh, the other part of.

[00:06:11] working with somebody is,

[00:06:13] But the other part of working with somebody is not just the strategy, it's also the mirroring.

[00:06:18] It's also the fact that, that like I, and I'm sure you can see somebody and mirror back to them what you're seeing that they don't see for themselves. And, And that is really, really powerful. So all of this to say is that one, yes, I love giveaway all the things and ungate keep everything. And it's such amazing advice and it's so powerful and it's really freeing.

[00:06:40] And I think that's just really cool. You know that, that, yeah. That you can do that and that other people, you know, this is a thing that we should all be encouraging everybody to do.

[00:06:49] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah, yeah, it feels so much better this way. I would so much rather spend the time where I get paid on actually interacting with people. And I'm just a people person, not everybody is that way. [00:07:00] Um, but like actually being able to help them. Like someone in our, in my pop club community DM'd me today. Like, Huge, like three paragraphs long.

[00:07:09] He was just freaking out because he had taken two courses before he joined my membership community. And he was seeing all these examples of other people who are saying they were successful overnight, which is not real. If anyone tells you that. It's not real. Like

[00:07:25] Andrea Elibero: I rolled my eyes so hard just now that my whole head rolled.

[00:07:30] Rachel Meltzer: yeah, it's like you can see growth happen quickly. Like this year, my growth has exponentially increased more than previous years, but I can tell you exactly why that's happening. And it took all of the previous seven years of me learning and experimenting and fu messing things up in order to get to the point where this year I can experience a lot of growth because I finally know what I'm doing.

[00:07:56] That's different than you showing up, deciding you want to [00:08:00] be a freelancer and three months later not seeing success because you're still learning.

[00:08:04] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:08:06] Rachel Meltzer: panicking and being like, should I switch to personal branding? Should I be like doing direct outreach? It's not working. Nothing is going to work in under three months.

[00:08:16] Just you have to trust the process. You have to be persistent and you have to know that you like, You really can't compare what you're doing and your experience to someone else. You have no idea where that overnight success has been. And one of the perfect examples of that that I love to give that's just like really in the zeitgeist lately is Chapel Rhone.

[00:08:37] She spent 10 years to get to the point where now they had to move her to a main stage and replace headliners as someone who was supposed to be a supporting artist at a music festival Packed the place, but she would not be there. And she says this herself on the podcast interviews she's been in, if she hadn't had the last 10 years of making mistakes, having to overcome roadblocks [00:09:00] and work through all of that to get there.

[00:09:02] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. I don't think there's actually such a thing as an overnight success. Even when you see people pop up into the online space and they seem to be successful really quickly, it's often because what they were doing before was so related to what they're doing now. They're just showing up in a different way or something like that, right?

[00:09:20] This has to do totally with their background and all of that. So, it's a brilliant reminder of, um, Yes, please only compare yourself to you and not to other people online because you have no idea what their stories are. And and also the other part of that is too, is that overnight success is not necessarily sustainable.

[00:09:40] Both in a strategic side and in an embodiment side, you know, like are you can your nervous system handle this? Are you going to self sabotage because all of a sudden your nervous system is like what is going on? Like, why do I have all this money? You know, why am I successful? What's going on? So there's so much to it That's not just like oh the good strategy, [00:10:00] you know Mm

[00:10:02] Rachel Meltzer: you get successful. It's never what we think we're going to feel and what we end up feeling. Literally never lines up and there's that that's good kind of sometimes but sometimes it does come back to harm you but like the amount of videos I have seen on tick tock of people who have gone viral and then after posted a video of like this is what it's really like to go viral.

[00:10:25] Trust me, you probably don't really want it the way that you think you do. It's not going to feel the way you think it is. And again, it's not sustainable, sustainable success, you're going to see this for like. I don't know, 14 days you'll see something change and then you just go back to being yourself.

[00:10:42] Yeah, you're, you are always you. The mountain is you.

[00:10:47] Andrea Elibero: No matter how much you try not to be, you cannot

[00:10:50] Rachel Meltzer: Totally.

[00:10:51] Andrea Elibero: Okay, let's get into your story because I'm guessing that you did not start out with an online community, successful online [00:11:00] community membership and give doing all these things for free and all of that good stuff. What

[00:11:08] Rachel Meltzer: for freelancers in 2020, much like many other people in the pandemic. I had been freelancing part time from 2017 to 2020. And I was, um, I threw hikes for part of that time, 2018. And then after that, I moved to North Carolina from New England and I was just working in a coffee shop, trying.

[00:11:30] To figure out how to become a successful freelancer because I wanted to do van life next and I knew that I needed a business that I could do online and take anywhere with me and I also didn't really want to be an employee. I don't want to be a remote employee. Um, I have chronic health issues, so I really had a hard time doing anything that wasn't more than part time.

[00:11:52] Um, so. That's all, like, the whys for starting and then COVID hit and I got laid off from my [00:12:00] barista job, but because I had been freelancing part time, I didn't get approved for unemployment, but everybody else that worked there did. So I was just like, what? Like, I literally had no choice but make freelancing full time work for me.

[00:12:17] And within three months of that, I was full, like, I figured it out. I sat down and experimented. I ended up realizing the best way for me to get clients is through LinkedIn. And I,

[00:12:29] Andrea Elibero: What was your business at that time?

[00:12:31] Rachel Meltzer: uh, freelance writing. Yeah. So I was doing like blogs, mostly SEO blogs. I wasn't even doing strategy. I was literally just writing the blogs.

[00:12:41] That's like four people who already had strategies. Um, and I was just using LinkedIn. I actually like, there's a surprise free guide I have for this, um, of exactly like how I get my clients on LinkedIn. And within like three months of using that method, I was so [00:13:00] overbooked, but I was confused because. I just said yes to everything.

[00:13:04] I didn't know that I needed to say no to things. I didn't know how many clients I was supposed to have or how to manage my business or how to, like, determine my rates. I had just, like, made them up. I had just guessed. I was like, well, I used to make 18 an hour, so now I'll charge 30. I don't know. And

[00:13:21] Andrea Elibero: the funny thing when you were saying that you were just when you were blog writing I was like, oh that sounds like a recipe of i'm working 24 7 and not getting paid Enough

[00:13:32] Rachel Meltzer: totally, totally. And it's crazy because like, for two years, like later, a couple years later, I did make a full time income exclusively from writing SEO blogs, but you need to know how much to charge and you need to know which companies to go after that are willing to pay that. And that's something I learned from experience and that's something I do teach my coaching clients now so that you don't get stuck in that, like getting paid 99 Per blog for [00:14:00] years, you know, cause that's awful.

[00:14:02] Uh, and it's a recipe for burnout. I did get burnt out multiple times, but, um, I learned a lot. And then I was working with a business coach and she was like, well, if you're getting burnt out from this, you should probably diversify your services. And so I started learning other types of writing to offer, but she also was like really pushing me to become a coach.

[00:14:22] I used to be a teacher. So I'm very, I like literally have a degree in teaching. I'm. into it. I know how to do it. And I missed talking to people. Like, I felt really lonely being a freelance writer. So I ended up a coach

[00:14:41] Andrea Elibero: So let me ask you because I want to dive into this a little bit because it sounded like you're like, oh, she was pushing me into this and it sounded like there was resistance there. And I'm curious. What that was like on your end, because so I'll tell you why I'll give you the back the background as to why because if I take [00:15:00] me And what I do is is a really exploration of of you know, what is somebody amazing at what do they love to do?

[00:15:07] What is their vision? What is what are their values? What's their what is their dream life look like and let's craft something really amazing Offersweet around those things and make it, you know, very collaborative So it gives me the ick when I hear People say, oh, my coach told me to do this. In your case, obviously it worked out.

[00:15:24] So I'm curious what that, you know, what that was like.

[00:15:28] Rachel Meltzer: I also generally try to, as a coach, ask questions first and then show them that there multiple ways to get to that place. And Letting them feel out where, which path might be best for them and reminding them that like, you can choose another path later,

[00:15:44] Andrea Elibero: right. You're not getting this tattooed on your body forever. You can, you can experiment and play around and shift and, and, but it really is the, the thing of being able to, okay, so, so what I think is really important is not just the, oh, pick [00:16:00] the right path, quote unquote, but it's the, What does that feel like to know that it's the right path?

[00:16:05] You know what I mean? And, and can you do this again in the future without somebody? Like, are you gaining those skills to trust yourself and to feel into that and all of that?

[00:16:15] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And like there, I liked it. Like there is no right path. There's no one path that's going to get you there. It's what feels good to you. And that might change later. Um, this coach in particular, She was not the coach for me. I was gifted, um, like five or ten sessions with her. My sister had started a business, decided she didn't want to be a business owner anymore, and then was like, had already paid for this business coach and asked if she could give those sessions to me.

[00:16:45] She knew this, um, particular coach because she was married to someone that my sister went to college with, whatever, long story. But, so I got this. Coach gifted to me. I never would have invested in this when I first started. And I was very [00:17:00] surprised in some ways. She did help me, but she was also kind of new to coaching, I think.

[00:17:04] And She definitely was like telling me what to do and a lot of the things didn't work for me. I didn't realize at the time that I was neurodivergent. I hadn't been like, uh, uh, diagnosed with anything yet. And now I look back and I'm like, Oh, of course it didn't work for me. I'm time blocking does not work for me.

[00:17:22] And that's such a like neurotypical, like, well, this is how you do it. Of course, make a map, you know what I mean? Um, so her coaching techniques didn't really work that well for me, but she, saw something in me that was like, you should be coaching. I was lacking a lot of confidence. I felt like I didn't know what I was doing as a freelancer.

[00:17:42] I feel like I didn't know what I was doing as a writer. I, my number one goal when I first started freelancing was to be able to show up to work at AKA sit down on my couch at my laptop and feel like I knew what I was doing. Like that was, that was my first goal like that. And

[00:17:59] Andrea Elibero: mean, [00:18:00] right, this is a very important goal when you're starting out. I mean, honestly, like you joke about it now, but, but it's a big deal to be like, Oh, right. Like I'm good at this. I can do it. Great. Like this. I'm a professional. And to actually own that is a big step.

[00:18:15] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. And so she would ask me, like, you know, what do you do for this? How do you do this? How do you do this? And I would answer those questions and she'd be like, you know what you're, see, you know, you already know, you know what you're doing. Your brain is saying her favorite thing to tell me. And I still think about this and I do still think that this part was useful.

[00:18:35] Your brain says, I don't know, as a defense mechanism, I don't know is not an answer in those coaching sessions because. It's the first thing that comes to your brain. And if you really sit there and you let, I don't know, dissipate, there's like this curtain that sort of lifts in your brain where you can see more clearly, you do know.

[00:18:57] And if your first instinct is to say, I don't [00:19:00] know, wait a minute. And dig a little deeper because the answer is in there. You just need to let your brain think and like, give it time. We're so used to like, you know, like react, react, react, swipe this Tik TOK, look at this Instagram, like quick, quick, quick.

[00:19:18] And that's not how our brains function best. So I think I took that as like, Oh, okay. And I didn't. When she told me to think about coaching, I didn't take it seriously at first. And I had been actually sharing an Instagram every single day since 2017. When I started preparing for my Appalachian trail through hike, I shared every single day, except when I didn't have service on trail on Instagram.

[00:19:48] And I started that before stories were a thing, but by the time I was working with this coach, stories were a thing and I was basically using my stories as like a daily vlog and interacting with people on there and I was [00:20:00] really growing a following and people started asking me when I posted about freelancing, how did you get started?

[00:20:06] How do you do this? How do you find your niche? How do you write this? And I knew the answers to these questions and I was just like, giving it away for free. And then I just started offering one on one coaching to anyone who DM'd me asking for help with freelancing. And it was like cheap as hell. It was like 50 an hour coaching.

[00:20:29] Andrea Elibero: I mean, I, but I think that is amazing because this is a way that you're building up your confidence, right? So it's helping you just as much as it's helping them. And then you don't feel bad, you know, that you're charging so much, right? And like, oh, I don't know if they're going to get anything out of it.

[00:20:42] And this way, I feel like you both got what you needed out of those sessions. I think this is

[00:20:46] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. It was really interesting. And at that time I kind of felt like, I should know, I should know how to craft a signature program. I should know how many weeks someone might need one on one coaching for. I should have a roadmap because like, [00:21:00] I saw what other coaches were doing and that's what they were doing.

[00:21:03] And I was like, I should know this, but you shouldn't, that's not real. Like, why would you know?

[00:21:08] Andrea Elibero: Okay, can I interject here because I feel like my, my coaching journey is Talk speaks to this. So when I started, I've always been, except for one period, like really focused on service providers, right? Because I, VA, OBM, I've done everything, the whole gamut of, you know, everything involved as an online service provider.

[00:21:30] But I didn't have Like a very, it was like, okay, I'm a business coach for V8. Like, it was very nebulous. It was very like, I don't know what's going on over here. And just kind of like trying this and that. I've had really like, you know, I've experimented with a couple of group type programs, like, very short term.

[00:21:47] But it took me, Literally two years to get to the point where where I am now at my current offerings where I realized no This is the thing that I want to be known for this is what I'm amazing at this is you know, I really [00:22:00] want to work deeper with fewer people and not do the shorter term whatever because Because I need the transfer, you know, I need to be there like for me like this my values for the transformation, etc So two years

[00:22:11] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. Yeah. It

[00:22:12] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, more or less two years.

[00:22:13] Yeah. So it's only now that I have like, I'm like, Oh, my offers are really good. I'm really like excited. You know, like now, years later. So, so yeah. So that speaks to what you were saying previously.

[00:22:25] Rachel Meltzer: the same as that, there's no such thing as an overnight success. You're just not gonna know until you try and you can learn and learn and learn but until you do something about it and have an experiment and it's so much easier when you treat it like an experiment and not like, I have to sell this course to people.

[00:22:42] Because people can feel that in your marketing and then they don't want to buy your stuff.

[00:22:46] Andrea Elibero: Oh, a hundred percent. If you come in, yeah, exactly. Playful as an experiment. And then you're later about it. I hope that translates.

[00:22:54] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah,

[00:22:54] Andrea Elibero: this is really cool. I'm having fun. Mm

[00:22:57] Rachel Meltzer: it was very helpful too that I was [00:23:00] still freelance writing. I was just talking to someone about this earlier today in PopClub that the transition, I'm so passionate about coaching and all I want to do is PopClub all the time, but also I'm too afraid to let go of writing because I need to still know how to get clients the way that we get clients now because that thing's too expensive. But the transition was very much like my first goal with coaching was to get it to be 50 50 with my income. And then, I slowly ooched from there, so then it was like 60 40, you know, 60 percent coaching, 40 percent writing, and now I'm like 75 25. I have like, I don't know, six assignments on my books right now for writing, and at first, that's like, if you don't ooch, into that ratio, you're just going to be terrified because you're gonna be like, where's my money coming from?

[00:23:55] Like, how's my marketing working? Where are my clients going from? Because you're not used to it. But having that [00:24:00] support, it's kind of like people who are like working a full time job and then moving into freelancing. But I had more flexibility than

[00:24:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, a thousand percent and also it's another thing where it's calming your nervous system Then you're not showing up in this desperate state of I need clients like you need to work with me because I need your money You know, it is like having this part time job. You're like, okay, I do this.

[00:24:22] It supports me And I love that you say cuz I feel the same way. I'm like, oh, I'm not gonna I don't feel I mean this could change But I feel like for people like us who work with service providers and do coaching. It's really important to stay in the moment current on what's happening and because things do change because because there are trends because It's just then you know, like you still know what's going on because I've talked to people who have worked with coaches who have only coached other coaches and They don't know anything about being an online service provider, you know, like at all.

[00:24:55] So the coaching is weird and, and people think, oh, because this is a famous [00:25:00] coach, whatever. No, right? Like you want somebody who knows who's been in the trenches and who's done the, you know, I write blogs for 99 bucks a blog,

[00:25:08] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah,

[00:25:09] Andrea Elibero: and I've burned out and I've, and I've pivoted and done this and that.

[00:25:12] And who can, who can empathize with you, right. And who can share that. So I think it is super important to. continue to do those things at least a little bit.

[00:25:23] Rachel Meltzer: yeah, totally, totally. And there's something to be said about someone who walks the walk and doesn't just talk the talk.

[00:25:32] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. So, so let me ask you. So along this whole journey, so the way you're talking about it,

[00:25:38] it seems not that it was necessarily smooth. Like there are definitely a lot of shifts and pivots and changes. So if you think back to some of these bigger pivots or bigger shifts, what were some of the things that were big hurdles for you?

[00:25:55] Rachel Meltzer: I, I would say like the main roadblocks for me [00:26:00] was figuring out burnout. I am kind of always doing too much and expecting too much of myself and being a little too hard on myself. And I'm working on it and I've been working on it. But the nice thing about entrepreneurship is that it forces you to get to know yourself in a way that you would never otherwise.

[00:26:24] And there are certain things, like the last three weeks I felt really burnt out and I couldn't figure out why it didn't actually, I mean, it did have to do with my business, but I just realized, like, I moved in with my partner this year at the beginning of the year in February and we both work from home and we're obsessed with each other and we'll just like go in each other's offices and talk to each other during the workday because it's fun because we live together and we're lonely and we want to talk to our friends.

[00:26:50] Yeah, no, that turns into interruptions. I don't have focused work time and I was like unable to get my work done and then I was like stressed about having too much work but also somehow not making enough money and I was like, how am I being [00:27:00] In this situation, this doesn't make any sense. I'm doing these business audits and being like, no, everything lines up.

[00:27:05] I'm just not getting enough work done. Why am I not getting enough work? Why do I feel burnt out? And I realized it was just like, I need more uninterrupted time where my partner isn't coming in my office and talking to me during the day. And so we like. Worked that out together. And now we have like a notebox system in the hallway outside our office doors We can leave little notes for each other and we're not allowed to look at them Unless it's outside of the hours of 10 a.

[00:27:28] m. And 4 p. m When we're supposed to be working and it really helped but then there's other things Like I used to when I first started in 2020 be able to write four blogs a day

[00:27:41] Andrea Elibero: god.

[00:27:42] Rachel Meltzer: That is the thing psychotic. The only reason I was able to do that is because, Oh, found out this year I have ADHD and I was so stoked on freelancing that I was able to force myself to hyper focus on those blogs because the reward and [00:28:00] the dopamine was like so good.

[00:28:02] But now Like, it doesn't feel like that anymore,

[00:28:06] Andrea Elibero: Mm hmm.

[00:28:07] Rachel Meltzer: and I kind of have done the thing. I've mastered blogging. I'm not as interested anymore. I mastered freelancing. I'm not as excited about it anymore. I need to always be in the pursuit of something. I need to be on a mission. I need to be doing things for a reason, um, so that can contribute to burnout too.

[00:28:24] And also just doing too much work. Um, yeah. And too much work can look like as little as like 17 hours a week on an email marketing retainer. And then suddenly six months in I'm burnt out and I can't figure out why because six months ago I was able to do this thing. There's always a reason. There's always a trigger for burnout.

[00:28:44] And sometimes it's not what you expect, which is the hardest part of it. Um, and this is where like working with a business coach and like talking to a therapist is really helpful. I myself have a coach that I work with. Um, I'm actually hosting a retreat with her in [00:29:00] October together. Yeah, and she's amazing.

[00:29:03] And it's so helpful to have that person to be like, I can't figure this out. I need like some thing outside of myself to help me figure this out. That I think has been my biggest, biggest struggle because I have never for a moment doubted whether or not I could be a successful entrepreneur. I think it really helps that I have entrepreneur parents and they, with Every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears in their bodies have built finally a successful business, but they've spent my whole life like trying to figure it out and with two kids and mortgages and dogs and, you know, all the works, but So it helped me to know that I can do it.

[00:29:45] And also through hiking makes you believe that you can do anything. If you can hike over 2, 000 miles in six months, you can do absolutely anything and live out of a backpack and a tent. Like, come on. But there, that was never the problem for me. The [00:30:00] main problem was figuring out how to support my body while I do this.

[00:30:04] I also have, um, chronic Epstein Barr, which is like, just getting mono over and over for the rest of your life. And, I have, uh, polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is like, very much made worse by stress, and that will like, take you down. Um, so learning how to manage those illnesses, realizing I had ADHD, This year, like all of those things really were kind of always in the background affecting my business. I just was so hard on myself about those things. Like, I never want to accept that they can affect my business. I never wanted to take time off, but it was to the point one year where I was taking like a week every month off to deal with having my period so badly. And these are the sorts of things that no one talks about, you know?

[00:30:58] Andrea Elibero: No, but it's true, [00:31:00] right? It's such a good point because people talk about, oh, the strategy and or, you know, and sometimes like the mindset stuff, and that's it. But it is so true that your health and these underlying medical conditions, the ADHD, all of this have,

[00:31:17] you have to craft your business in a way that supports you.

[00:31:20] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah.

[00:31:21] Andrea Elibero: Right? And not the other way around. You can't just go, go, go, go, go all the time, because yeah. It's not sustainable. You're going to burn out. It's inevitable. And then it's interesting because it sounds like you put each piece of the puzzle together one by one and slowly Right over time and are still doing that in order to actually be able to work Just function right and function and grow and create like really craft how you're showing up in a way that supports you Which is so important.

[00:31:50] So So yes, I think that's amazing. Mm hmm

[00:31:53] Rachel Meltzer: the Grids behind me. Do you see that on the wall? Okay. Those are Am I allowed to kind [00:32:00] of swear? Okay, cool. Um, those are called the big ass calendar and it's every day of the year on one poster board and all the dark blue ones are the weekends

[00:32:11] Andrea Elibero: Okay.

[00:32:12] Rachel Meltzer: and I got that for the first time last year and it has been Life changing for me because in the past I really struggled with like taking vacations or I would do something I would be booked up like every weekend to like go on a camping trip go visit my family do this thing And I was not getting enough downtime, but I didn't do it realize it because you're just living week to week and not looking at it from a high level view.

[00:32:39] And ever since I got this calendar, now I can see, I'll be like, oh no, we had stuff three weeks in a row. I can't hang out this weekend. This weekend's for me because I have to rest. And this year is the first year that I have only gotten burnout twice. in very small blips,

[00:32:59] Andrea Elibero: Wow.

[00:32:59] Rachel Meltzer: [00:33:00] which is nothing, nothing for me.

[00:33:01] But they were like three weeks at a time. And the first time was because I moved, which I think is normal. And the second time, and I didn't take time off from moving, which I realized now I should have. And the second time was Because there was just too much buildup and overstimulation and not enough focus time.

[00:33:21] And I was also having a health flare up at the same time and I was trying to push myself to keep working through it. But that only lasted two weeks. And that is way different than feeling burnt out for three months straight.

[00:33:32] Andrea Elibero: can I tell you, but this is true and I'll tell you, I'll tell you a story. We have very similar stories. I love it. I'm going to chat forever. So I had moved from the US to Spain and with my partner and with our giant dogs. And for some reason I thought I didn't need any time off, like after, you know, in order to move to a whole different country, like halfway across the world.

[00:33:55] And prior to this, I also was working mainly with my one on one [00:34:00] monthly retainer OBM clients, which are very high level clients. I had too many of them making lots of money and then, and preparing to, to do all the things to move to a whole nother country. And so then once I got to the other country, it wasn't too long until everything kind of came a bit crashing down because.

[00:34:21] Too much was going on. I wasn't supporting myself. I was go, go, go, go. And then once all the excitement kind of waned a bit, then I had burnout for, I think, I don't know, almost a year. I couldn't even open, like I needed, I was like, no, I really could use another client. And I couldn't even like, I would see, you know, the somebody's looking for an OBM.

[00:34:39] I couldn't even bring myself to type on the laptop. You know, so it's like, I can't do it. So, so all of that to say, hopefully people get from this that you really need to take care of yourself. You are top priority.

[00:34:51] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah.

[00:34:51] Andrea Elibero: not healthy, you are your business, right? And if you're not healthy, you literally can't do it.

[00:34:57] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. Totally.

[00:34:58] Andrea Elibero: if you want to.

[00:34:59] Rachel Meltzer: [00:35:00] Yeah. And I think, like, preventing burnout is all about, people always say, it's all about knowing your triggers. And like, that's important, but it doesn't matter if you know your triggers and you're gonna do them anyway, right? It's just like, I know drinking alcohol is gonna give me a hangover, I'm gonna fuck, I'm gonna do it anyway, you know?

[00:35:20] You don't know what the right solution is for you until you find it and until you try things. This calendar has been the solution for me and that's great. I can't say it's going to be the solution for every single person ever. I just got my 2025 one this weekend though and I'm very excited about it, right?

[00:35:36] Um, but it's not just about knowing the triggers. It's also about having a strategy to maintain perspective. A lot of times burnout happens because we're not respecting our own capacity or we don't know what our own capacity is. If you're not tracking In some way, you're not gonna know, right? Like, I've never been one for tracking my time, but I always [00:36:00] tell people like, use a time tracker so you know how much to charge.

[00:36:03] So I, I've used them briefly to like, find out how much time it takes me to write a blog post or create a website or whatever, so that I can price my services accordingly. But if I don't track all my time, and that data would be helpful. But, One of the things that can be revealing is plugging in every task you need to do and how long you think it's going to take and all of their deadlines into either an AI tool like Claude or ChatGPT or using something like, um, Motion Calendar or I forget what the other AI calendar is.

[00:36:40] The other one's better than Motion, but whatever. One of these like AI tools will tell you. Actually, you can't fit these other five tasks on your calendar. Sorry. Like literally they will tell you because you can't do it and that's That happens to me every single freaking time I use one of these tools.

[00:36:58] So I've started doing it [00:37:00] monthly this year just to see what happens. I started doing it a couple months ago. I'll plug in all that stuff just from my like, um, project management tool. It's not like I have to type it all. I just copy and paste and every single time it tells me you don't have enough time to do all this stuff.

[00:37:15] Andrea Elibero: No, like, nothing like an AI tool calling you out for, right, for doing too much. Mm

[00:37:20] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah. I also like to include in my project management tool that I have actually You're welcome to use it. I have a free version of the template, um, that I use for Notion for like my project management dashboard for freelancing. I have a column next to how long I think it's going to take that's called energy.

[00:37:40] And it's a scale of one to 10. So I love coaching. This isn't like a ding against coaching, but one on one coaching calls, podcasts, things like this, where you're really intentionally focused for a full hour on somebody else and sharing your energy with them feels [00:38:00] more like two hours to your body. So being able to, to my body, at least being able to acknowledge that and write it out so that I'm budgeting two hours.

[00:38:08] So I have decompression time after is so important. And I never used to do that. I would just like go from this to like a one on one coaching call. And like, that's not, that's not going to go well.

[00:38:20] Andrea Elibero: I love that. Yeah, I love that. And you know, one thing that I learned for myself is because so I actually, even though I'm really introverted, I actually am energized by The coaching calls and these types of podcast calls, but I can't do a million in a row. So for the podcast, I used to just have my calendar open.

[00:38:37] So there was a day, I know, I know, there was like, there could be a day, only like two days a week, but I didn't have a limit on the number. So at like one point, you know, they're like four or five calls in a day and I was like, no, wait, actually, I can't do this because I'm not gonna show up as my best self.

[00:38:52] You know, I'm not going to be super engaged because it's exhausting. So yeah, so similarly, so now it's limited at one. It's like, no, one, [00:39:00] one a day and that's it. I think two is, I don't remember. There was something like, I have a very low max because I realized that that's what I need to do for myself to be able to continue to do this.

[00:39:09] You know, because this is one of the favorite things I do in my business. Like I love doing these types of things, you know?

[00:39:14] Rachel Meltzer: I did the same thing this year. Yeah.

[00:39:16] Andrea Elibero: Isn't it amazing? Oh yeah. Yeah, and when I've, when I've coached my, uh, my clients on this and say, Oh, like their clients can just book in any times, like, no, no, let's limit this because same, right?

[00:39:30] Because the same, like you were saying with your partner, interrupting you all the time, you need a focused work time. So if you're only working and you have random calls spaced throughout your day, you can't get your work done. And it's really hard to focus and do that. And I've noticed a lot of fear of like, Oh, you know, when somebody is putting in boundaries in their business.

[00:39:48] Like a lot of fear is like, oh, like, am I going to, you know, are my clients gonna be upset at me? What if somebody can't book in a discovery call? These types of things. But in the end, there's never any issues ever.

[00:39:59] Rachel Meltzer: [00:40:00] literally never had somebody say that the available meeting times I have wouldn't work for them. Podcasts, I only do on Thursday between 11am and 4pm. Okay. Monday, Wednesday, Friday, no calls. Tuesday, Thursday, I accept one on one clients and Tuesdays, I'll do like new client discovery calls or current client feedback calls, things like that.

[00:40:23] Those are literally the only options they have. Most of

[00:40:25] Andrea Elibero: Yeah,

[00:40:25] Rachel Meltzer: have one day.

[00:40:27] Andrea Elibero: yeah.

[00:40:27] Rachel Meltzer: has ever complained to me about it.

[00:40:29] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and if somebody's like, oh, I can't meet, like, I've had times where I've talked to people in Australia and it's like, okay, well, then, okay, then we figure it out. You know, it's not a big deal. Right, right. An

[00:40:39] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah.

[00:40:39] Andrea Elibero: but not the rule. The best day, yeah.

[00:40:42] Rachel Meltzer: Only if you are not located in the United States or Canada will I make an exception to these rules.

[00:40:48] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, and the best day that I think I've had this year in my business was the day that I realized that I don't want to have calls on a Monday. So I'm like, no, and, and it's amazing to, [00:41:00] to start my week and not have calls and be able. And that's my day where I'm creative. That's the day where I write my newsletter or I do, you know, I do content type stuff and it's fabulous.

[00:41:08] Rachel Meltzer: We are so sim.

[00:41:10] Andrea Elibero: Oh, we should be best friends.

[00:41:13] Rachel Meltzer: Exactly. It was

[00:41:15] Andrea Elibero: I love it. No, but it's like so People listening if you have fear over not being completely available all the time for your clients play with it do an experiment See what happens see if you get any feedback, you know and Boundaries, yes, but that's a whole other topic that we would we can dive into a different time but

[00:41:36] Rachel Meltzer: episode.

[00:41:36] Andrea Elibero: really, I mean, it's a whole course, I think.

[00:41:39] It's a whole, a whole lot of, uh, yeah, something. Okay, amazing. Um,

[00:41:43] before we wrap up, is there anything else that you're like, ooh, I really wanted to share this or talk about this or anything else that has come up or, or anything else you want to share before we

[00:41:52] Rachel Meltzer: Uh, yeah, I think I,

[00:41:54] Andrea Elibero: you?

[00:41:54] Rachel Meltzer: I very briefly mentioned it. Um, but actually when is this episode being [00:42:00] posted? Okay.

[00:42:03] Andrea Elibero: November, so it might be

[00:42:04] Rachel Meltzer: Nevermind. Nevermind. It'll be after the retreat. Okay, cool. Um, yeah, I guess just, um, Um, Go check out my YouTube. I should have a free course up there by the time you're listening to this.

[00:42:17] Andrea Elibero: Oh,

[00:42:19] Rachel Meltzer: it should be up there.

[00:42:20] Andrea Elibero: exciting. Yeah, let us know how can we, where can we find you? How can we stay in

[00:42:24] Rachel Meltzer: yeah.

[00:42:24] Andrea Elibero: podcast? All of that stuff. So go ahead and

[00:42:26] Rachel Meltzer: Yeah, I'll start with my podcast. It's called the guidebook, uh, with Rachel Meltzer. If you search either of those things, it should come up in your favorite podcast player. Um, I interview solopreneurs and digital nomads, and I also do solo casts about like mindset and freelance business.

[00:42:43] And, uh, yeah, you can go listen to that. And I also. have a membership group. It's only 33 a month. It's for freelance digital marketers. You'll get my entire freelance resource library, the replays of every workshop I've ever done. And then we also do two workshops and two office hours every [00:43:00] month. And we have a awesome Slack community with 24 seven support.

[00:43:05] And I do do one on one coaching sessions as well. And you can always find me on LinkedIn, Rachel H. Meltzer, YouTube. Also Rachel H. Meltzer threads, same, same handle. What a surprise. Instagram, um, basically all your favorites. And I do have a newsletter as well. And if you want to find all of that in one place, just go to MeltzerSeltzer.

[00:43:27] com. It's all there.

[00:43:28] Andrea Elibero: I'm sorry, I didn't know your website name. And that brought a smile to my face. I love it so much.

[00:43:39] Rachel Meltzer: Oh, cool. That's easy to spell now.

[00:43:44] Andrea Elibero: Amazing. Thank you so much for being here, Rachel. Super lovely.

[00:43:50] Rachel Meltzer: This was great. Thanks for having me. Yeah. 

[00:43:53] Andrea Elibero: Thank you so much for [00:44:00] joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancingleafsolutions. com slash resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:44:18] And thank you again for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community, your presence and dedication to growth, inspiring me every day.