87. How to Recognize Burnout as a Growth Signal in Your VA or OBM Business with Quinn Tempest

In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, I sit down with Quinn Tempest, a business and marketing strategist who helps solopreneurs build sustainable businesses aligned with their values and vision. Quinn shares her journey from the corporate world to running her own business serving purpose-driven entrepreneurs, and reveals powerful insights about recognizing burnout as a sign of growth rather than failure.

During our conversation, Quinn introduces the concept of two distinct types of burnout: the familiar exhaustion type and a deeper burnout that signals you've outgrown your current business system. She explains why so many service providers hit a wall despite working harder, and offers a refreshing perspective on how to view these challenges as opportunities for transformation rather than personal shortcomings.

If you're an online service provider feeling overwhelmed, resentful of client work, or sensing there's a different way to structure your business, this episode provides actionable strategies for creating a business model that truly reflects who you are and where you want to go.

Key Points Covered:

✨ The distinction between exhaustion burnout and system burnout

✨ Early warning signs that your business needs restructuring

✨ Why cookie-cutter business models and comparison lead to burnout

✨ The importance of building your business from the inside out

✨ How to let go of what's not working in order to grow

✨ Creating a vision based on your values, not others' definitions of success

Connect with Quinn:

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LinkedIn

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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 Solepreneur 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 'cause that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth of the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for sold entrepreneurs 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 a business that fully supports your dream life? Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in. Before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe buttons.

[00:01:03] You never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:10] Hello, hello. Welcome to Solepreneur Scaling Stories. I'm so excited to be here today with Quinn Tempest, who is a business and marketing strategist. Welcome Quinn. Thanks for coming.

[00:01:22] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to chat.

[00:01:25] Andrea Elibero: Um,

[00:01:26] so why don't you share what you do? What does your business look like today?

[00:01:32] Quinn Tempest: Yeah, so I am, as you said, a business and marketing strategist. I started off in the corporate world, uh, so I was director of marketing at a digital agency for many years, and. Kind of learned the tricks of the trade back then. I was traveling all over the country to teach on content marketing strategy, brand strategy, and also working on the strategies for our clients. But really there was always a piece of me that didn't like that corporate world. I think for anyone that's [00:02:00] been in it. Who just don't feel connected. It can be hard, especially when, you know, I was delivering these strategies to these large corporations and you know, that only maybe 1% of it would get implemented.

[00:02:12] And it just kind of hurt my heart because I cared so much. I put so much into it, and. All along that journey, I had my own business on the side, so I was working with more women, solepreneur, purpose-driven entrepreneurs, especially small business owners, and I felt like the work that I was doing there actually made a difference.

[00:02:32] It actually had an impact on. That woman's life, that woman's livelihood and her sense of purpose and impact. So back in, I think it was 2017, I left the corporate world. I went full-time for myself and my own business to serve that population. So I took my background in marketing strategy, which of course. When you do marketing, it's so much more than marketing and it ends up spilling into business strategy is [00:03:00] where are you focusing your time? Where are your offers coming into the mix? How do you prioritize, you know, what you do to grow your business? So now that's kind of where I am. I do a little bit of one-on-one work, uh, where I provide strategic support to solopreneur women.

[00:03:16] And I also run the Create Your Purpose Collective, where we have around 26 women. Where it's a more affordable way to get strategic support and also connect with other solopreneurs, because so often we are doing our business alone, but we don't have to do it and feel so lonely. So that's kind of what I do.

[00:03:36] Andrea Elibero: Love it. Love it. And so the first thing that came up as you were talking for me was when we're talking about. Online service providers like VAs ODMs, these like behind the scenes people who are doing amazing things, I feel like a lot of times the marketing strategy is not necessarily tailored to this population.

[00:03:56] So I'm curious from your standpoint or from, [00:04:00] you know, your wisdom and your knowledge and what you've seen,

[00:04:03] what kind of pops out for you in terms of like, oh, if we're talking about this type of business, these are some things that like maybe you should focus on that somebody else hasn't told you.

[00:04:14] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Well, I think first and foremost with any marketing, you really have to do something that you enjoy because. not the thing that you are necessarily doing every second of every day. You know you're running your business. So I always say to anyone in really any business type, is to focus on the things that you'll actually show up to consistently.

[00:04:33] And that depends on the client. So some of my collective members really like Instagram. Some of them can not even take any time on that channel, and they need to go just. Tap into their existing network and do it more one-on-one. So I think that's the biggest thing is just find what works for you, both from like an energetic standpoint of what do you enjoy, but also what is working, what actually converts leads or contacts [00:05:00] into clients.

[00:05:00] So it's a little mix of purpose and profit. What is actually working and what do you enjoy?

[00:05:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, I'm totally on the same page with you with that. Um, I see a lot of times people saying, you know, like, my clients, people I talk to are like, oh, I don't really wanna have to spend all this time on social media. And I'm like, well, guess what? Like, you don't actually have to, 'cause I know so many VAs OBM service providers who.

[00:05:23] Are barely on who focus their marketing efforts elsewhere. And a lot of those people are with the networking with the one-on-one and with referrals and things like that. Because you don't need 7 million clients, right? You just need a handful of clients and you're good. So I think that hearing you say that, I'm sure people are breathing a sigh of relief.

[00:05:42] Like, oh, I don't have to, you know? 'cause that's the first thing I think nowadays that people think of when they think of marketing. I think they actually associated with social media.

[00:05:51] Quinn Tempest: Oh, totally. And I, I love social media, don't get me wrong. Like I'm big on Instagram. I love it, but it's like you said, not necessary for every business, depending on the [00:06:00] type of business model they run. If it is a small client scale, you know, five or six clients a month, you don't need to be on a platform to reach more people.

[00:06:10] But if you are a little bit further along, like for example, I have my collective, so there's a little bit more of a trafficked element of that. Combined with relationship marketing, so I

[00:06:20] Andrea Elibero: Right.

[00:06:20] Quinn Tempest: a channel to reach more people. So it really just depends, like you don't just have to be on social media to be there.

[00:06:26] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:06:27] Quinn Tempest: there's like a legitimizing aspect, but I think the most legitimizing thing you can do is do good work, ask for referrals, and have a really strong network.

[00:06:36] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, totally, totally agree. And so one thing that we discussed before starting, which is a topic that I want to dive into now because it's a topic that I am intimately familiar with, and, um, you were saying that you are as well as a topic of burnout. And so I'm very excited to talk about this because in this population, with this audience in [00:07:00] particular, this comes up so much, right?

[00:07:03] Because. Online service s are the doers, like the givers, the people pleasers. Like, I'm gonna do all these things. And yes, of course I can do that and I'm gonna handle everything, and, and it comes from such a beautiful place and I see so much burnout in this community. I see it all, and I experienced it myself.

[00:07:22] So I would love to know first, what made you interested in this topic in particular?

[00:07:29] Quinn Tempest: Oh gosh. Well, I think because I lived it and I've lived it multiple times, unfortunately I have an inclination to burnout, uh, because I tend to go all in. I throw myself into something. I don't check in with myself. I don't pause and ask, is this what I really want? Does this feel good, uh, or am I just completely drained and sometimes I don't catch myself until it's too late?

[00:07:51] So from definitely personal experience, but then of course with my clients themselves, I see it all of the time with my solopreneurs and my [00:08:00] collective within my one-on-one clientele. Where they just get to a point where they just don't even know if they wanna keep going because they are so burnt out. And I think there's a distinction here we have to make that I think is important to say is that I really see there's two types of burnout.

[00:08:17] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:17] Quinn Tempest: that's kind of familiar to a lot of us where we go all in, we do that, people pleasing, we just put everything in and then we're just exhausted, we're depleted. And oftentimes the solution is like go to a spa or take a day off. But that seems like the literal opposite of what you can do, and that's. State. I also wanna argue that there's a different type of burnout that I'm trying to raise awareness around, and it's when you're operating within a system that no longer matches where you wanna go in your business, and I think this is kind of where probably a lot of your clients are hitting, is that they've built a good clientele, they're doing all of the things they're, they're doing great [00:09:00] work. But there may be operating in a way that served them in the early stages of their business that kind of throw spaghetti on the wall and see what sticks, hustle without intention, and they've hit a wall. And so typically, I like to look at burnout in that sense, or overwhelm or stuckness as a a signal, not necessarily a failure.

[00:09:22] Like you are not broken if you are listening to this. It's not your fault, you're not broken. This tends to happen and is a normal phase in business growth. It's when you've outgrown the way of operating in hustle that got you to where you are now, but what got you here is not gonna get you there and there is wherever you wanna go next.

[00:09:43] Something that feels peaceful at ease, something that feels like less conflict. And so I almost liken it to, you know, like your phone operating system. it's getting buggy, when you need to upgrade it to the new os, you start to [00:10:00] see things crash. You start to see things not work well, and that's exactly what burnout and overwhelm is.

[00:10:06] And so in order to navigate that well, we can go into that, but I think what you really have to do is pause. Go plug your phone in, plug yourself in. Into yourself and let that upgrade run. And afterwards, you know, when you open your phone, it's usually a little weird, it's a little different. You're like, where are things? But that is just a time to kind of refine and recalibrate how you are operating within your business as an entrepreneur. And I think that's something that we're not talking about enough in online business circles.

[00:10:36] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, so you, there were so many nuggets in there that I want to pull out. So the. First thing that really popped for me was that you were like, no, burnout is not a sign of failure. And I wanted to just like stand up and be like, yes, because, right. And so I would love to share my little story of burnout because it really speaks to that.

[00:10:58] So for [00:11:00] me, so when I was at a time in my business operating solely as an OBM who was only had retainer clients, so I was working one-on-one with like three or four clients, and it's very. Intense work, right? So it's like very much like I'm in charge of everything, so things go right. Great. Good job, things go bad.

[00:11:17] Whatever it is, it's on me, right? So like it's all the things. And I had been doing this for years and, and it was fine, but the thing that I didn't realize till after the burnout started happening was that that role was actually my zone of excellence. So meaning that it is something that. I'm very good at.

[00:11:38] Right. But it didn't necessarily light me up. Right. It didn't necessarily, like, I didn't jump out of my out of bed every morning being like, I want to go and do this all day, every day. And so that is this like misalignment, which at first it wasn't there, right? Like at first it was great, but then after a couple of years, I, I grew, which is exactly what you were talking about, right?

[00:11:59] So like. [00:12:00] I grew in my own self and doing all these other things and et cetera, et cetera. And there came a point where I was kind of just like pushing, and I felt like that's all I was doing all day. It was like pushing, pushing, pushing.

[00:12:13] Quinn Tempest: Mm-hmm.

[00:12:14] Andrea Elibero: there was a point where I had like a couple of clients, we had parted ways for randomly at the same time.

[00:12:19] And it would've been normally a time when I was, okay, let me go and find another OBM client and I couldn't bring my fingers to the keyboard, right. To like. Actually find this client. And the other thing that you said that I really related to was that. It's a time to, to pause and take a breath because that's exactly what I did.

[00:12:37] So at that time I was like, well, this is interesting, right? Like why am I so resistant to this? This is how I've been running my business. And so I. I, I did just that. I was like, okay, well let me just stop, because I also have been, at that time, had been doing coaching on the side, you know? And it was then that I realized after I stopped, after [00:13:00] I, I took this course on intuition, like I did all of these things and I was like, no, actually this is what I want to do.

[00:13:07] Like for real, for real. Like all in.

[00:13:09] Quinn Tempest: Mm-hmm.

[00:13:09] Andrea Elibero: after doing that at this point, and it's also another really good distinction that you made was that it didn't matter, like now. I don't care how long I work, you know, like right now, because I feel so in alignment with what I do. And granted, I don't, I'm, I've set up a lot of things in systems.

[00:13:24] Yeah. I'm still OBM, but like I set up all these things. I don't have to work a gazillion hours a day, but I'm happy to, like, I'm excited when I get to do my work. So that's my burnout story. That kind of, I think to use as an example to really highlight some of the things that you've mentioned.

[00:13:41] Quinn Tempest: yeah. Well, and I think you probably experienced that it happens multiple times over your entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial journey. It's not one and done. You know,

[00:13:50] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:13:50] Quinn Tempest: that's, that's kind of the privilege we have as entrepreneurs is to creatively approach our work and ourselves. And we have to just constantly check in.

[00:13:59] You know, [00:14:00] I became a mom two years ago and

[00:14:02] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:03] Quinn Tempest: chance for me to pause, to ask big questions and to shift my business model, to align with the things that both lit me up and the

[00:14:10] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:11] Quinn Tempest: would give me that sustainability now. And I. I think what you touched on is just a change in your role, like you even said, like your identity and your role has to change, and I think that's the power of these signals of burnout, dread.

[00:14:25] You mentioned stuckness is that you get to decide, okay, how do I wanna operate moving forward? And. If I were to compare it, it's like moving from being a hamster on a wheel, hustling with, you know, coming from a place of overwhelm to really leading with intention and being the captain of your own ship.

[00:14:45] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:46] Quinn Tempest: different energy that then informs very different decisions. In your business. So how I always like to think of business strategy is really growing it from the inside out. So [00:15:00] in this stage of what I call purposeful refinement, it's what we take our collective members through during the first three months with us, you really have to pause.

[00:15:10] Zoom out, ask yourself big questions and come out the other side with clear priorities. And I think that's so something that's so hard to do because you're so in the mode of like, just throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. But at the end of the day. know where that ends and it

[00:15:31] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:32] Quinn Tempest: well. And if you wanna grow something that's actually sustainable, that you're gonna be running for many years, not from just a profit standpoint, but from standpoint of feeling lit up by your work, then this process of purposeful refinement and pausing is essential to go through. Yet it's so hard to do.

[00:15:52] Andrea Elibero: Yeah, no, I a thousand percent agree with you. And the other thing too that's really interesting, specific for this population is that. [00:16:00] It can look very standard, right? Like when you're an online service writer, there's, it almost feels like there's like one way to run your business.

[00:16:09] Quinn Tempest: Oh

[00:16:10] Andrea Elibero: Right. And that is so not true.

[00:16:14] And so like, and I think that's where a lot of people get stuck, is that they feel like, oh, well this is how you do it. This is just what it looks like and it's not right. Because there are so many people who do things differently. And it's when you get to that point of feeling like, oh, like, and you kind of start dreading a little bit, you know, like.

[00:16:30] Almost to catch the signals earlier on than when you get to the full burnout. That can be really helpful. So I'm curious from, from your end, what you've seen in other people in terms of like these earlier signals of, oh, maybe I should pause before I actually get to like the edge of the cliff and about to fall off.

[00:16:48] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Well, I think there's, I actually call it the. Spaghetti strategy, uh, we're all familiar with it. So these are kind of like the things that you're trying before you probably hit full burnout, [00:17:00] and it can be a lot of different things. Like you are googling for three hours to figure out how to fix something in your business, or you're buying another course to address a certain challenge you have.

[00:17:11] But then you let it collect dust on your shelf, or you are buying another planner because you think that it's just gonna be another productivity tool that's gonna fix everything. And so I call this the spaghetti strategy 'cause it's literally like you're trying all of these things and nothing feels like it's working.

[00:17:28] And then at one point it's gonna hit ahead and. Burnout looks different for everyone. It might not be like exhaustion. It might just be dread, or it might just be a lack of motivation. But I think that's really, those are like the early things to pay attention to. And like you said, the other piece of it is comparison is looking at everyone online, which is so easy to do and saying, well, her business is like this, or his business functions like this.

[00:17:53] Maybe I need to do that in order to be successful. Full. And I can tell you as someone who is literally under the [00:18:00] hood of many different types of businesses every single month with my clients, no one business is alike. No one business functions the same. No one model has the same offer mix, and especially for solo business owners, small business owners, it should be a reflection of who you are and your values first and foremost.

[00:18:20] So that's kind of that inside out thing is once you kind of have that clarity internally. You can then extend that clarity into your business strategy, into your business model, and that will change over time. You

[00:18:32] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:32] Quinn Tempest: it was 2017, I was 97% service-based, so I was all one-on-one clients and it took me many years.

[00:18:40] And now I have a much, uh, much more varied mix. And that came from my desire to. Have a family

[00:18:47] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:47] Quinn Tempest: be present to take Fridays off. You know, I got to make those decisions, which, how lucky am I to be able to do that? But that came, those external shifts in my business came from internal Clarity first.

[00:18:59] Andrea Elibero: [00:19:00] Yes, and I want to, so it was funny when with, the thing that I thought of when you were talking was that I've had so many clients, and even as an OBM with these really successful people, and I've seen other people as well go through this where they will pay for a. Course a program, whatever that teach you step by step, fit into this cookie cutter model, right?

[00:19:23] It's like, okay, I did this. I was successful at that, and I can teach you how to do the same thing.

[00:19:27] Quinn Tempest: right, right.

[00:19:28] Andrea Elibero: being on the inside was so interesting because most of the people in these groups were not successful. And I found it and I was like, oh, well obviously, because, and it's not like necessarily like they're doing something like the people hosting these types of things are doing something wrong or bad, but they didn't, they don't realize that they were successful because that's their unique magic, right?

[00:19:51] That's the thing that they're amazing at. And other people have different things that they're amazing at. So you can't necessarily expect everybody to just say, oh, follow steps 1, 2, [00:20:00] 3 x, y, z. And I can, you know, I'll guarantee that you can. Whatever, you'll be a gazillionaire. If it were that easy, then everybody would be doing that.

[00:20:08] Right. So what you're saying about looking from the inside out is Yes. Like totally on board with that, because that's what I do as well. So that's why I love talking to other people who, like,

[00:20:16] Quinn Tempest: Yeah.

[00:20:17] Andrea Elibero: I love that I attract people like you who like, oh, like yes, of course. I think how could you do it any other way?

[00:20:22] Because we're, we're all unique, right? Like we're all have things that we're amazing at, things that we love and they're different from. What other people do are amazing at or, and or what they want in their life.

[00:20:33] Quinn Tempest: Mm-hmm.

[00:20:34] Andrea Elibero: checking in with yourself first and not feeling the need to be to compare to other people and saying like, oh, like that's how I have to do it because it worked for them, is really, it's really scary, right?

[00:20:45] But also really important.

[00:20:46] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Well, I think you bring up a good point, and we're kind of coming out of the era of these online business gurus who

[00:20:53] Andrea Elibero: Thank God.

[00:20:54] Quinn Tempest: the,

[00:20:54] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:20:55] Quinn Tempest: they promised the moon. But then you go inside and it's all smoke and mirrors, and I would argue [00:21:00] that they aren't doing something good. They aren't doing something ethical. Um, but it worked. So they win all in

[00:21:06] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:21:06] Quinn Tempest: And I think the problem, and I, I don't think there's as many now, but I saw it so often where they would do exactly what you said. They would say, here's what happened to me.

[00:21:17] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:18] Quinn Tempest: 10 step framework, and it will happen for you too. But at the same time, they've never done it for anyone else.

[00:21:24] So like I always say, you know, if you're looking at those people. Look at the results that they got for other people, not just for themselves. Because if they can't replicate that, they shouldn't be teaching it. And I just ran into that so often, especially as someone who literally helps people develop strategies, like I would never give them a framework, I would never give them a blueprint.

[00:21:45] I would give them a structure on how to think through things.

[00:21:48] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:21:49] Quinn Tempest: we could say that's like semantics, but I think it's very, very different.

[00:21:53] Andrea Elibero: No, I think it's different. Yeah.

[00:21:54] Quinn Tempest: we're coming out of that era. 'cause I

[00:21:56] Andrea Elibero: My God. Yeah.

[00:21:57] Quinn Tempest: there's to so many people who got [00:22:00] sucked in, my clients included, where they would come to me saying, well, I wanna make 10 grand for my course within two months.

[00:22:05] I was like, cool. How many people on your list? Oh,

[00:22:08] Andrea Elibero: Like three. Yeah.

[00:22:09] Quinn Tempest: I'm like, well,

[00:22:09] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:22:10] Quinn Tempest: did you get this idea? Well, I attended this webinar with this person and you know, so it's hard. It's hard. To grow a business on purpose and with purpose when there are so many opinions, so many frameworks, so many blueprints, so many false promises

[00:22:27] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:28] Quinn Tempest: that tell us we are the ones that are the problem.

[00:22:31] And I'm telling you, you're not. It's just part of the. Process of growing a business and you need people like the, you know, us in conversations to say, Hey, like, there's a way through this, and it, it comes from you.

[00:22:45] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:22:46] Quinn Tempest: gonna come from you first and foremost.

[00:22:49] Andrea Elibero: And for people who say, well, I don't know anything, that's why there's people like us out there to help guide you, right? To bring it out of you. Because you do know. You do know, but you just don't trust yourself that, you know. [00:23:00] And I think that's the difference. Of course, there's like things, right?

[00:23:02] There's strategies and things like that when you have experience to be like, okay, no, like do it this way. But deep down, you know, and it's really cool to see that. And I don't know, I'm sure you've had that experience as well with your clients.

[00:23:13] Quinn Tempest: Oh, for sure. Although, I will say I think connection, like, you know, whether it's in a listening to a podcast or just connecting in a community like my collective, I find that to be also an essential part of this refinement process is because you tend in this. This hustling phase to think you're the only one going

[00:23:33] Andrea Elibero: Yes.

[00:23:34] Quinn Tempest: or you're the only one facing this challenge, or that you're the only one who can't get enough leads.

[00:23:40] And I'm telling you, you are not alone. That's literally why I created my collective 'cause I had all of my clients saying the same things to me

[00:23:48] Andrea Elibero: Mm-hmm.

[00:23:48] Quinn Tempest: like, Hey, I'm glad they get to talk to me about it, but I wish they could talk to one another. And so that's. Such an important piece is don't try to do this alone. Like compare notes, share [00:24:00] vulnerably with people because as soon as you do, I see it every day in my collective. Someone's gonna chime in and say, oh, I went through that, or I'm going

[00:24:08] Andrea Elibero: Yes.

[00:24:08] Quinn Tempest: right now. Or,

[00:24:09] Andrea Elibero: Yep.

[00:24:09] Quinn Tempest: a piece of advice or give you a word of encouragement. So if anyone's listening, who's feeling these feelings of dread, these feelings of overwhelm and burnout. Talk to someone, connect with someone, reach out. You are not alone, and you don't have to do this alone.

[00:24:26] Andrea Elibero: And, and I think a lot of people feel shame, right, when they get to that point, because it's almost like there's this pressure of, well, you know, I left my nine to five and I got, and I'm doing this thing and I should be grateful and. You know, I should be whatever, and not feeling these resent towards my business or whatnot.

[00:24:44] And it's honestly a normal, I know. I think anyways, it's a normal part of when you're growing.

[00:24:49] Quinn Tempest: Mm-hmm.

[00:24:50] Andrea Elibero: stay, you know, some people they build a thing like, okay, that's good, and they kind of stay there for a long time. And then there's others who want to continue. You know, they have this drive in them to grow and evolve and change and or life happens and they have to change and [00:25:00] things like that.

[00:25:00] So. Don't feel bad or don't feel like you're not grateful because these things are coming up. Because this is literally a normal part of the journey. And I love how you put it as, excuse me. It's almost like a signal that, you know, it's not shameful, it's not bad. It's just like let's, it's just sign to just like restructure things.

[00:25:19] Let's change things around and that's it. And it's nothing beyond that. And I think that takes off a lot of pressure.

[00:25:25] Quinn Tempest: Oh yeah. We, especially women, we, I work with

[00:25:28] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:25:28] Quinn Tempest: They're all

[00:25:29] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:25:30] Quinn Tempest: you know, we're socially ingrained with the self-criticism and judgment, and it just breaks my heart sometimes to hear what, what women say about themselves and about their business and. It's, you know, part of my mission to help them feel more empowered, very authentically of leading with intention and purpose.

[00:25:51] And that's hard to do, especially if you're coming from an employee mindset. Uh, to running your own business. You call the shots, you make all [00:26:00] the decisions. Of course, you're gonna second guess yourself. Of course, you're gonna not be sure even what to decide when you do make a decision. And I think it's so important for us to help each other through these times and to lift each other up because I saw this stat. I think it was like only 12% of women ever hit a hundred thousand dollars in their business. And this isn't

[00:26:24] Andrea Elibero: Well,

[00:26:24] Quinn Tempest: the revenue. Like it's not about the number, it's just about only 12% of us make it to the point of building something really sustainable. Um, you know, and that, that number doesn't matter 'cause that could be whatever number you want it to be, but only 12% get there.

[00:26:43] And so we gotta help each other along the way because we're facing a lot of challenges both in and out of our businesses. And if we can really create something meaningful, not just for us, but for other people, I think we make a really big difference in the world.

[00:26:57] Andrea Elibero: You know, that's such a good point [00:27:00] because a lot of people feel like, oh, I don't wanna share that. Or like, there's a lot of scarcity. But in reality there, the world is incredibly abundant and the more that you give and the more that you help, the more abundance comes to you. So this really like. You know, I love the fact that you call your, your group a collective because that's really, is this, you know, the, I know there's a feeling behind that word.

[00:27:24] So I think that we should all take that to heart and to do what we can to help other people, because it's literally going to come back to us and we all need the support at one time or another.

[00:27:36] Quinn Tempest: For sure.

[00:27:39] Andrea Elibero: Awesome. Okay, so my favorite question to ask is on somebody who is on their growth and scaling journey in their business, what is your top tip or thing that you would like to share, either from your own journey or what you see from helping your clients in terms of like, okay, like this is one thing across the board that I wish I could tell [00:28:00] everybody who's growing a business.

[00:28:01] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Well, I think especially when it comes to scaling, think it's hard, but one thing you have to do is let go in order to grow. Uh, so what do you have to let go of? And this could be strategic or tactical. be, Hey, this offer is dragging me down. I gotta get rid of it, or I've gotta streamline it. Um, or it could be, you know, mindset based where, you know, I lack confidence in myself on a sales call. I need to get better on sales, you know, and speaking to people with authority about what I do. So I think that's the thing is just ask yourself like. What do you need to let go of in order to grow? And the second piece of that is where are you growing to? are you growing to? Like what is the vision that you have for your business now? And it's so easy to act from a vision that we initially had in our business [00:29:00] because it was so powerful. It probably is what compelled you to start your business in the first place. But if you don't check in on where do I wanna go now? Your decisions in the meantime can be really based on an old operating system. It can be based on where you used to wanna go, and it's not gonna be moving you forward. So I think it's really those two things is redefine your vision, re-clarify where you wanna head so that the decisions that you're making on a day to day basis actually move you towards that goal.

[00:29:30] Andrea Elibero: I love that. And I will add too, the second half of that is that not only can it be, oh, what you would. Thought you wanted to go to, you know, before ages ago. Also, what you see other people doing doesn't necessarily have to be your desired direction.

[00:29:48] Quinn Tempest: Mm-hmm.

[00:29:48] Andrea Elibero: And a lot of people have these financial goals, but it's only because they hear other people say them and they kind of bring that on as their own goalposts.

[00:29:56] But for, but there's no reasoning behind them.

[00:29:59] Quinn Tempest: Yeah.

[00:29:59] Andrea Elibero: know, [00:30:00] it's kind of like empty financial goals. So to have it have meaning for you and to. Have your, the vision of where you actually want to head, be thoughtful and from your own heart and soul, that's the thing that's going to drive you so much more than these empty financial goals as well.

[00:30:19] Quinn Tempest: Yeah. Yeah, I think it's, it's easy to compare other people's outsides

[00:30:24] Andrea Elibero: Yeah. Yeah.

[00:30:25] Quinn Tempest: it's often not helpful, so. I think being very clear about what is your definition of success from both a financial standpoint and other ways. You know, like right now in the season of my life is. Taking Fridays off, I keep my

[00:30:40] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:30:41] Quinn Tempest: home from daycare so she can be with grandma in the morning with me in the afternoon.

[00:30:44] I can do like grocery shopping and life stuff. Um, and also working with clients that light me up.

[00:30:50] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:30:51] Quinn Tempest: you know, that changes over the season of your business and your life, and I think you gotta consistently check in on that. To really be clear [00:31:00] on what is success to me right now and how can my business work for me instead of running me into the ground.

[00:31:07] Andrea Elibero: Yes.

[00:31:08] Quinn Tempest: thing is like

[00:31:09] Andrea Elibero: Yeah.

[00:31:09] Quinn Tempest: gotta become the leader that runs your business because otherwise either it will run you or your clients will run you. I've seen it day in and day out with my, my clients.

[00:31:19] Andrea Elibero: Yes, same. Same. I totally agree. Allison, thank you so much for sharing all of that wisdom. I'm, I know that you have inspired everybody listening, so amazing. Um, can you please share how, where we can find you, how can we stay in touch if you have any free gifts or anything like that?

[00:31:36] Quinn Tempest: Well, I'm on Instagram far too often, so you can find me at Quinn Tempest, and then I do have a free priority planner. That could be really useful since we talked about. That idea of, well, what are you focusing on day to day and how does that support you in moving towards your vision? I find that so many entrepreneurs in this transition stage don't have a strategic business planning [00:32:00] process in place, and so I developed this really simple priority planner, and it's specifically for solopreneurs.

[00:32:07] It's free, so you can download it at quinn tempus.com/priority, and it will literally walk you through the difference in. Growth priorities and maintenance priorities, and then it will help you actually outline your next 90 day focus plan. So I made it really simple. It's been downloaded like thousands of times, so I hope you guys enjoy it.

[00:32:28] And yeah, it's at quinn tempus.com/priority.

[00:32:32] Andrea Elibero: Awesome and everything will be linked. Of course. And thank you so much, Quinn, for being here. It was a lovely conversation.

[00:32:38] Quinn Tempest: I appreciate it. 

[00:32:40] Speaker 2: Thank you so much for 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 [00:33:00] to dancing leaf solutions.com/resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:33:05] And thank you again for being a part of the Solepreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspiring me every day.