Little Hands, Big Plans - Motherhood and Business

Scaling a service-based business beyond $500K with Nicole Troster

• Emilia Coto • Season 1 • Episode 13

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Nicole Troster, CEO of Courage Labs, shares her journey helping women scale service-based businesses beyond $500,000. We discussed:

• Drawing inspiration from her entrepreneur mother who ran a hospitality business for 34 years after immigrating to Canada
• Developing frameworks to help women scale service-based businesses while avoiding burnout.
• Navigating the tension between career growth and being present for young children.
• Planning for maternity leave as an entrepreneur through stakeholder conversations.
• Shifting from working IN the business to working ON the business to enable scaling.
• Letting go of tasks that aren't your strengths to focus on high-impact priorities.
• Building support systems and having honest conversations about motherhood challenges.
• Creating business systems that provide both time freedom and financial growth.
• Working with clients to create human-centered design for service businesses.

Connect with Nicole on LinkedIn or visit Coeurage Labs to learn more about her coaching programs and services for women entrepreneurs.

If this episode resonated with you, please share it with another mom who needs encouragement. Subscribe so you never miss an episode, and connect with me on LinkedIn.

For other episodes and resources, visit our website at https://littlehandsbigplans.co/pages/podcast

Speaker 1:

In this episode, I'm joined by Nicole Troster, former leader of Ella, canada's first women-focused business accelerator. At York University, nicole has guided hundreds of women entrepreneurs towards scalable, service-based business models. Now she is the CEO of Courage Labs and a strategic coach for women. Scaling service-based businesses beyond 500,000. Service-based businesses beyond $500,000. Nicole shares her honest journey from navigating a post-maternity return to work to launching her own company that empowers women to grow without burning out. We explore the emotional tension between building a business and being present at home, how to prepare for maternity leave as a founder, and what it really takes to scale without compromising your time, your values or your motherhood. Nicole also shares wisdom for workplaces and founders looking to build cultures that retain and support working moms. If you're craving both freedom and financial growth, this one is for you.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to Little Hands Big Plans the podcast for moms who want to reimagine work after kids and build a life where family comes first, without giving up your dreams. I'm Amelia and I know firsthand how much motherhood shifts our careers, our priorities and our pace. But instead of seeing it as a setback, what if we saw it as an invitation, an opportunity to design a life with a little more freedom, a little more presence and a little more fulfillment. Each week, we'll have honest conversations with moms who've shaped their work and business around what truly matters. Whether you're considering a career pivot, dreaming of a slower pace or just wondering what's possible, you're in the right place. So grab a little something warm, settle in and let's explore the possibilities together. I am so excited to hear more about your latest adventure. For people that might not be familiar with you, can you share a little bit more about your journey to becoming an entrepreneur and what you were doing before and what you're up to now?

Speaker 2:

Well, first of all, amelia, thank you so much for having me here. I'm really excited to have this conversation with you. In terms of becoming an entrepreneur, this is something that I have wanted for the last seven years, and it has not been a straightforward journey, but I'm finally where I want to be, and it's been a culmination of years leading up to this point. Part of it was that I decided seven years ago that I wanted to be, and it's been a culmination of years leading up to this point. Part of it was that I decided seven years ago that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, that I wanted to have my own business, that I wanted to work with entrepreneurs directly, because I had been working in the innovation and ecosystem for something like eight years and in different roles and I just found that I wasn't able to see the fruits of my labor. So I really wanted to work with entrepreneurs directly, and that's what I've been doing for the last seven years.

Speaker 2:

Prior to coming into my business full time, I had my business running part time since 2022. And really, what I've been doing for the last five years was I started an accelerator for women entrepreneurs called Ella at Yspace and designed three national programs and one regional program to help well over 450 women scale their businesses, and I've taken the proven frameworks that I put together through Ella and now through my own coaching business, I'm working with women and I'm helping those with service-based businesses scale to beyond $500,000 in revenue, using again this proven framework that I've tested and I've validated with so many entrepreneurs and just really excited for the next phase.

Speaker 1:

And you're also a mother. Can you take us back to that season of becoming a mother and how it shifted your perspective on work and leadership?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think I became a mom almost three years ago and it's something that I love Like. I cannot imagine my life not being a mom now that I am a mom, but it's really gotten me thinking about the question of legacy and what we leave behind for the world. And when I think about the work that I am doing now and the projects that I'm able to take on, I'm able to be so much more intentional with my effort and my knowledge and my expertise and really work with either individual women entrepreneurs or with institutions that are very centered around the idea of growth and progress and making sure that, on one hand, women are able to be successful and to build sustainable businesses that you know grow, and then, on the other hand, from an institutional perspective, that we're creating an innovation ecosystem that is inclusive, especially from the perspective of women You've shared before that.

Speaker 1:

Purge Labs, which is your business, was inspired by your mother. Can you share a little bit more about her journey and how she inspired you to do what you're doing now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, such a great question. So my journey to support entrepreneurs is absolutely inspired by my mother. The earliest ideas that I've ever had about entrepreneurship came from watching my mother. My mother was the first female lawyer at the biggest commercial bank in Brazil. She immigrated to Canada and then her credentials were not recognized. She would have had to go to law school all over again and unfortunately, because of family responsibilities and a whole host of other challenges being a newcomer and others, for example she wasn't able to go back to school. So she ended up buying a business and running that business small hospitality business successfully for 34 years.

Speaker 2:

When I think about that business, if you stood in the reception of the business, you could see into our kitchen and our living room. So from a very young age I was very aware of the business transactions that took place and the way that my mother would strategize to make sure that she could meet customer needs effectively, and so that's something that really marked me from a young age. And then I've devoted the last 15 years of my career to supporting entrepreneurs in one form or another. And then my work at Ella really was dedicated and very intentional in terms of supporting women like my mother, giving them access to the mentorship, giving them access to the entrepreneurship education and the community to help them scale their companies. All help which my mother didn't necessarily have when she was going through her entrepreneurial journey her entrepreneurial journey.

Speaker 1:

I love hearing that because, as a mom, I always think about that and how much impact it makes to our kids what we do and the example that we're setting for them in terms of what they believe is possible for themselves. You've worked with so many different entrepreneurs in so many different areas. Was there a moment or experience where you said this this is what I want to do? Or did it develop over time with working through so many entrepreneurs?

Speaker 2:

Such a great question. So I knew I wanted to have my own business. I think I made the decision seven years ago and you know I had worked with a number of different entrepreneurs before starting up Ella. But I was very intentional in coming into Ella because I knew that I wanted to work specifically with women entrepreneurs. So the experience at Ella allowed me to really again test out, experiment with different frameworks and see what's the winning mix to help women scale up their company successfully. So in working over five years and working with well over 450 entrepreneurs through Ella, I was able to figure out that framework. And now the work that I'm doing is a continuation of that work and helping to support women in scaling their companies. And so really it was a culmination over many years and something that progressed over time. But I'm equally as passionate, if not more passionate, about it today than what I was back then.

Speaker 1:

How did you come up with the niche that you have? I know you focus on service-based business. There's scale beyond 500,000. What led you to choose?

Speaker 2:

that. So for me it was working with so many service-based businesses throughout all of the programs at Ella. But it's also the idea that throughout my whole career I have worked in services, so I really understand what it takes to scale a service, what are the nuances and, if you kind of look at it, services are all about people and relationships, and so when we think about scaling the business, yes, it's about bringing more people in, but it's also about how you position that company to bring in those additional people. How do you position that company to make sure that the operations and the processes and the systems and the tools like everything's aligned to help support that growth? So, because it's something that I have such tremendous experience in, it was a natural segue for me to help women with service-based businesses, because really I've been living and breathing that for as long as I can remember.

Speaker 1:

It totally makes sense to me as someone that has admired you from afar for a couple of years now. I think anyone that gets to work with you is going to be it's going to gain so much from how much experience with so many different types of businesses you have. One thing that I think is unique to women is, once we become mothers there's this giant tension that for me I didn't really foresee as much, I think, as it hit me about wanting to grow and continue growing, and we spend so much time in our careers before children that it there's that pull. But then there's also the pull of my kids are only going to be little ones. I don't want to miss anything about their childhood, and so it's a huge transition I have found.

Speaker 1:

I was wondering, in your experience coaching women through that transition, how much do you think is possible to plan in advance? Because for me I just it really was a bit of a shock. I spent a lot of time planning, but because I had never been a mother, I had no idea until I was actually there and then it was back to the drawing board, despite how much planning I did do. What do you think about that?

Speaker 2:

I think you're right. I think, yes, there is a certain amount of planning we can do in advance, but we won't know until we get there, and that's something that I understand well in my own life, like that push and pull tension that you talk about. But it's also, I think, so, individual to each woman who's going through her own journey. I think part of it depends on the needs of her child or children. It also depends on, like, what is the family structure and how much support does the woman have within the family structure, and is there support outside of the family structure? All of these things really play into that dynamic and things like postpartum depression or postpartum anxiety and how the woman deals with having a child. That's all layering on top to make it a very complex situation that maybe, despite our best efforts to plan for, we can't fully plan until we're ultimately in it. That was for sure. My experience.

Speaker 1:

Despite that, do you think there are some strategies for someone that may be trying to plan right now for that transition? What are some things that could make it a little bit easier?

Speaker 2:

That's such a great question, amelia. I think part of it is making sure that you have conversations ahead of time. I think I had an understanding of what my support system was going to be and then in reality ended up being very, completely different. My partner and I, we are pretty much on our own in terms of being our own support network. Unfortunately, we don't have family that is involved to a large extent, that can share in the childcare responsibilities, for example. We're lucky enough to have childcare for our child, so that is certainly a huge help, but I think, anything beyond my partner, myself and the childcare we don't have much support beyond that, so it's been very difficult from that perspective.

Speaker 2:

So having conversations up front with yourself, with your partner, if you have a partner, with the people who are in your inner circle, if there are relationships beyond the inner circle from a community perspective, having those conversations and trying to get an understanding of what the support may or may not look like after can certainly help, and just educating yourself on different supports within the community, I think, is also important, because there are community programs, for example, that I drew on when my child was about five months old, and part of it was free programming paid for by the government, that we were able to access and I used that as a way to socialize my child. For me to start socializing again, I thought that it was very helpful. So I think doing some research, having those conversations, all of that is incredibly important.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, those are great tips. And when it comes to scaling to beyond 500,000, I think you know it takes a lot and I've noticed a difference between. It seems that sometimes there's people, like entrepreneurs, that experience a lot of burnout and there's some that seem to do it with a little bit more ease. In your experience, what are some things that differentiate those two? What kind of things can people and mothers do, especially because I know a lot of the childcare responsibilities often do fall on mothers? What are some difference between those two opposite?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think that's another great question and I think part of the answer lies in the fact that, as women, we always have a lot on our plates but we also take on a lot, so it's easy to feel overwhelmed and to be wearing so many hats and being not sure, like, what step to take next.

Speaker 2:

So there's a certain confusion or fog that results because of this and I think for some people, when they sit down and they clarify what they want to focus on and realizing that we can't focus on everything within the business, like we have to think about two or three strategic areas of focus, focus so that we can put more of ourselves into those areas of focus and, like really show up, as opposed to doing eight different things and not really showing up for any of it.

Speaker 2:

I think that's part of it. So many of the women that I work with, part of the work that we do together is to really prioritize, like what needs to happen now, what can happen in three months and six months, in order for all of this to be a success, and I think I talk about the idea of scaling to beyond 500k. But that does take time and it takes clarity and intentionality and systems and processes and procedures, and it takes a lot of things to be able to get there. But part of the work that I do with my clients is mapping that all out, getting the clarity, getting the confidence and knowing exactly what steps to take in what order, and I find that makes a world of difference. So being able to ask for that help, to seek out those resources, I think that's really ultimately the difference between the confusion and the clarity.

Speaker 1:

There's also the moms that are or were entrepreneurs and choose to step back for a season but want to be strategic about being able to come back into entrepreneurship. Do you think there's any strategies that a mother in that situation might be able to put in place to make coming back a little bit easier?

Speaker 2:

So much like I talked about conversations in the personal realm in terms of the support circle.

Speaker 2:

I think having conversations early on, especially if you have employees or contractors, like having conversations to see, for example, is there an appetite to step in while you step away for a season? Are there other business owners, for example, that you could work with on a referral basis while you're away and then work with the clients when you come back? Are there other ways about getting what you need from a work perspective or career perspective or a business perspective, to ensure that you can comfortably take the time and then come back to the business? And then, ultimately also, it would require conversations with customers too, right, like letting them know that I'm preparing for this, this is how things are going to unfold while I'm away and then, when I come back, this is how things will unfold from that perspective, and making sure that you close the loop on all of that so that you know everybody's aware of what's going to happen. I think, again, it comes down to those key conversations with the key stakeholder groups.

Speaker 1:

Those are really good strategies. Stakeholder groups those are really good strategies. And I think they also apply to even just planning for maternity leave, which is a completely different ballgame than when you're employed, because even if you're going to come back, there's still going to be a period of time, whether it's four weeks or eight weeks, where you're not going to be available. And having gone through with maternity leave and planning in such a high leadership position for yourself, is there anything that, looking back on, you wish you had known, or that you wish you had done differently?

Speaker 2:

I didn't know what to expect coming into it, so it would have been hard for me to plan realistically. I think one of the things that I would have liked coming out of it would have been those conversations that I talked about, and I don't think those conversations were necessarily had. I think, for transparency and all the rest of it, it's really important to have those conversations. So that's the one thing that I would have hoped for, in all honesty, in terms of because I know you, you also advise companies that are trying to be more inclusive.

Speaker 1:

How can a workplace shift or have policies that aim at retaining mothers, especially because, for example, I remember in the law firm world people would say that some law firms were so hesitant to have certain policies because, in their experience, first-time moms don't know what to expect, which I think is true you can't imagine until you're there but then that it ultimately a lot leave anyways. But I personally have the opinion that it's because it's not easy to come back. And so the companies that are doing a great job that you've worked with at retaining mothers and leadership positions, what are they doing differently to create that space and flexibility?

Speaker 2:

I think you don't necessarily have to come up with a company-wide policy. I think it's about having conversations on an individual basis to understand, like, what are the needs of that individual? And, again, part of what feeds into what that individual needs is whether or not they have access to a support system. It's very individual. Every single woman will have a slightly different situation and, from that perspective, only by having those conversations can you really start to understand what the needs are and how you might be able to support it.

Speaker 2:

I think, on a whole, most companies aren't doing a good enough job of providing the flexibility that parents in general need in order to do a good job at work but also do good jobs as parents. Accommodation, I think the employer gets like the win-win situation because they get to retain top talent and the parent gets more flexibility to do what they need to do, both as a professional or a business owner and as a parent. So, again, I think companies really need to think about how to provide flexibility and I think, if nothing else, the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I would agree for sure. I think that was the number one thing that I, even in my business, craved. Going back from maternity leave is just complete flexibility to try to adjust to both roles, and we've talked a lot about how you help women scale beyond 500,000. What are some of the key things. If that's a goal somebody has but wants to avoid burnout, wants to avoid a lot of the mistakes that you see, how does someone that wants to get there get started?

Speaker 2:

Great question and I think there's a couple of things. One a lot of times we, as women, try to go out alone and building a business, scaling a business, especially beyond the $500,000 mark, is not easy, so we have to ask for help. If you want to avoid burnout and overwhelm, you have to ask for help. You have to be clear about the steps that you are going to take in order to get from where you are to where you want to be, and you may work with a coach to get there. You may work with a community to get there. You may be involved, for example, in masterminds, or you may have what they call business besties, for example, that you meet with frequently to gain some clarity, gain some confidence about how you're going to get from where you are to where you want to go. But I think, first and foremost, it's about having that clarity on like, what are the steps that you're going to take to get there? And I think part of that clarity is being very clear on what you're going to prioritize.

Speaker 2:

As I talked about before a lot of times, especially solopreneurs will take everything on. They're trying to do business development, social media marketing. They're trying to execute on the client work, they're doing the bookkeeping and then they're doing a whole host of other tasks within the business, and it's virtually impossible to do everything well. So that's where, again, being super focused on what are the things that only I can do and what are the things that I can either delegate, outsource, refer out or what have you, to make sure that I can focus on the priorities that only I can do within the business. So I think those are probably the two key things that would help somebody who is intending on scaling to get there.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that you have mentioned is the letting go part, the asking for help. What are a couple of areas of resistance that you see often that founders have a difficult time letting go of but need?

Speaker 2:

to do. It's funny because I can remember a number of different entrepreneurs that I've worked with and there is resistance sometimes because the entrepreneur may feel that they can do it better than anybody else. So if there are things that you excel at, then a lot of those may be the things that you want to keep. And if it's something that like, for example, figuring out how to execute on paid ads is something that you're going to have to take 21 days to figure out how to execute on, then maybe you should be thinking about again outsourcing that to somebody else who already has the expertise, the experience to execute on that, because there are only so many days in a week and time is valuable and, let's face it, like moms are juggling so much, they have so much on their plates. There's lots of mom guilt and too many things to be done in all of that time. So, again, I think it's individual to each person. If you're good with marketing, then If you're good with marketing, then maybe you're not so good at the bookkeeping, and then you can outsource that.

Speaker 2:

There are things that we excel at and there are things that we need to be honest with ourselves, that we should not take on because it's not within the interest of the business. One other thing I will say about that is a lot of the clients that I work with. One other thing I will say about that is a lot of the clients that I work with. Part of the work that I do is shifting them from working in the business. So like doing client deliverables and doing the client facing work, pulling them out of that so that they can work on the business. So work on the strategy, the growth strategy, and implementing the things that are going to be required to get you from where you are today to where you want to be.

Speaker 1:

So that's another distinction that I will make as well some strategies that can be implemented with limited time, especially as we've mentioned mothers. That's typically very limited commodities, so can you share some tips or strategies in that area?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely so. Things like optimizing your online presence is really important, like what platforms are you on? Have you done a review of your presence online? Have you used AI tools like ChatGPT to help you optimize your online presence? These are things that are very low cost and that can make a difference, because when somebody who's interested in the line of work that you do comes along, at least your presence online is accurate, it's up to date and it'll lead to better conversations than if you don't have a presence online or that it's outdated or people don't know how to reach you or what have you.

Speaker 2:

I think another opportunity that people often miss out on is upselling to current clients and making sure that you're having your clients, whom you have good relationships with, vouch for your work. Are you asking for testimonials? Are you asking for referrals? Are you checking in to see how your clients feel about the quality of the work that's being done? These are easy ways, because the customers are already there to ensure that they're happy with the work and that they're willing to talk about the great work that you're doing with them. And again, if we're not asking for those testimonials and putting those up on our website and talking about those when we have the opportunity to. That's an absolute missed opportunity and something that doesn't require a whole lot more effort, so not adding to the overwhelm.

Speaker 1:

After you became a mother. What is one of those main mindset shifts that has come into your business from that experience of being a mother and how it relates to growth and sustainable?

Speaker 2:

growth. That's such a great question, and I think we talked about the issue of legacy earlier, and for me, my business is not only about the legacy that I leave behind for women entrepreneurs and making sure that their day is perhaps a little bit easier as a result of the work that I do, but it's also about leaving a legacy for my family and doing work that they can feel proud of as well. Before I had a family and a child like I, didn't think about the concept of legacy to the extent that I do now, so I think that's one area that I'm most marked by in terms of being a mom and thinking again about what do we leave behind after we're gone, so to speak.

Speaker 1:

I like that. You've also talked about learning to advocate and ask for help in this journey, also talked about learning to advocate and ask for help in this journey. What have you learned, also from since you became a mother in this leadership space?

Speaker 2:

on that topic. That's such a great question and when I think about it, like two things come up for me. Advocating for myself is just asking for help, and part of it is a process, I think, and that help, so to speak, evolves as you become more comfortable with becoming a mom. Like one thing. One thing that I've asked for help with is different challenges that I'm seeing as a mom and how to deal with different behaviors and different growth milestones, how to do different things, because I've never been a mom before and, as I mentioned before, my support system is really small. So being able to ask questions of other mothers and how they dealt with it not only helps me to do better as a mom, but I think it also helps to normalize what we're facing as moms.

Speaker 2:

I think the one biggest surprise that I had in becoming a mom was just how hard being a mom is, especially, I would say, in the first three years, and how we don't talk about it. And if you compound that with the fact that you are running a business, growing a business, starting a business, like of that difficulty, and how society's norms and structures and constraints all play a role within that, my one wish for all of that would be for us to be more open about that, be more open about our own struggles, be more open about our collective struggles as women, and to shine light on exactly what we're dealing with, which, in my view, after having so many conversations with so many women, is quite universal.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I completely agree. The first three years are so all-consuming in a way that I had no idea before. And yeah, it's just such a big time and it goes by so fast too. But I think I had personally not heard of it. I don't know. I don't know if I just didn't have enough mom friends or what beforehand, but I don't think I don't know if I just didn't have enough mom friends or what beforehand, but I don't think I was super prepared for that. You've experienced motherhood working at a large organization and now you've also experienced it as an entrepreneur. Can you share a little bit about what changes you have made, how you make it work? So, for example, what your childcare looked like before, what it looks like now, Is your schedule different? Are you working normal hours, different hours? How do you make it work in terms of the logistics? What does that look like for you?

Speaker 2:

Oh, it's really funny because if you would have asked me what my schedule looks like when I was working as an employee versus what I would be working as an entrepreneur, I thought I would have much more free time as an entrepreneur, but the truth is that I am working just the same, very similar number of hours, very similar number of evenings and weekends and things like that. I think the one difference for me is that when I need to work late, I know I'm doing it to build something for myself, my family and my community. I didn't feel the same way when I was an employee. I think, from a logistics perspective, I was, as I mentioned, lucky enough to have daycare for my son working as an employee and then now working as an entrepreneur.

Speaker 2:

I have access to daycare which allows me to be fully immersed in the work, and then, when it's time for my son to come home, I put things down intentionally and then, for two hours, like after he comes home, I'm fully dedicated to him and I spend time with him. Now there are evenings where that's not possible, because I'm out at events and networking and doing professional development and working with clients, and there may be a whole host of reasons why I may not be able to be with him. But I try to be very intentional in my time with him and put the phone away and focus my efforts on him and my time on him, and then when I'm at work, I'm at work really very much focused on what I need to do for the business. So, again, not as much change as what I would have anticipated, but I think the feeling around it has changed for me and in a very positive way.

Speaker 1:

That's great, and it's also good that it sounds like the childcare situation that you had before didn't have to dramatically shift, or that now it wasn't going to be possible or it wasn't going to work. It sounds like the transition has been really positive from that end.

Speaker 2:

It has. And one thing I have to do is give my partner credit. He's been an incredible support to me as I've been building the business. His support of the business, his unwavering belief in the business, has really helped me to show up fully and to be able to take the time to build the business and not feel guilty about not always being home with my son, because I know that I'm doing something good for our family. And his unwavering belief in me and the business helps me to feel that way.

Speaker 1:

I'm so glad you mentioned that In the last interview that I did, we spent, you know, a similar amount of time talking, and that was something that she gave me was that I didn't ask about that, and I think that's such a huge part because, because parenting and running a business are both hard and so the support that you have in a partner if you have one plays such a huge role in like what you mentioned, even just when things get hard, just knowing that you have that someone that has fully believes in you, that fully believes in what you're doing and that will also support and encourage you through all of the ups and downs that come with entrepreneurship and with parenting. So so glad that you that you mentioned that. Can you tell us more about how you help women entrepreneurs? What services do you offer for someone that might want to work with you and, if you can, also some of your favorite success stories?

Speaker 2:

yeah, absolutely so. In terms of the services that I provide, I work with women on a one-on-one basis. I have an eight week coaching program where we look at a number of facets within the business and we basically tie all the functional areas together around the client. So what do I mean by that? I think some of the best businesses, especially service-based businesses, are the ones that basically borrow from human-centered design and they build their services around their client. And part of the work that I do with my clients is really looking at their business, at their ideal client and, from a functional perspective, how do we make sure that things like sales, marketing, operations, finance are all tied together around this core client? Part of it is prioritizing, as I mentioned before. Part of it is really mapping out like what are the goals, and then it's about mapping out the steps in between and making sure that everything is connected so that again, the scaling can happen, happen and that the systems, the processes, the people, everything are in place to help facilitate that. Some of the other work that we talked about that I do is work with private and public institutions to help make innovation ecosystems more inclusive. I also give talks, I give workshops and work with different organizations and entrepreneurs to help meet their needs in that way as well.

Speaker 2:

In terms of some of my favorite success stories, there's a couple that come to mind. I worked with a client named Tina. She had a consulting firm and it was just incredible to watch her transformation. I think it took something like three weeks and that initial tension or hesitation started to melt away and I really started to see these little aha moments that ended up turning into quite a large transition. And it was just incredible to see how confident Tina was after the course of working together six, seven, eight weeks kind of thing and to see the transformation in her business. And the funny thing is that she also interacted with some of her clients to follow up with them and they also noticed the transition in terms of how she showed up as a professional and as an expert for them. So I think that's one of the most memorable stories.

Speaker 2:

I also worked with one of my clients, sarah. She really didn't know where to kind of start. She was doing all of the things and she was just really very much on the verge of burnout, like she was. Just she had too much on her plate, so part of it was really sitting down and thinking about, like, what did she want out of the business, who did she want to work with and how could she reach more of those people? And so how do you talk to those people, how do you identify those people and how do you ensure that you set up the tools and the systems to replicate the sales with your ideal customer?

Speaker 2:

So a lot of the work that we did with her was like around client acquisition, internal processes, but I think in her case it was just incredible to see, like, the potential of how she brought in clients after she understood the systems and the processes and was very clear on what she wanted to achieve. For me, it's about those aha moments. When I see the light bulb go off in the heads of my clients, I feel joy and a warmth on the inside that I cannot describe and it makes the work that I do worth it for me because, like, it's all about those moments.

Speaker 1:

I loved hearing those and I don't doubt them, because when we worked together through the programs, I think there was a couple of huge things that happened, and the transformations that my business experienced as a result of working together were two things. In terms of monetary, I definitely saw a big business growth in terms of financial, but I also gained a lot of time freedom, which I think now is even more important to me than financial, like just the demands of parenting and the way that it's set up, and I'm able to do that in large part because of our work together. So I'm really thankful and I'm so happy for future business owners that are going to get to work with you and get to experience that type of growth, whether it's financial or whether it's time or just, yeah, less feelings of just undoing everything and burning out, from trying to figure every part of the business out.

Speaker 2:

I love hearing that. I love that, and you were one of my favorite clients to work with as well.

Speaker 1:

Thank, you, thank you. Yeah, it was such a great fit and I think that's one of the best things when you find in a coaching relationship that you have someone that gets you and you get to implement. I think that was the main thing that made the big difference was so much guidance on actually implementing. It was so practical, and I can't wait to see more of how this all unfolds. And let me know if any of your clients want to come on the podcast. I'd love to have them as well. Where can listeners and future clients connect with you and learn more about your work?

Speaker 2:

Oh, thank you. So LinkedIn I'm on LinkedIn. My name is Nicole Troster, also through my website. So Courage Labs spelled C-O-E-U-R-A-G-E, so it's Courage, but it's got heart embedded in it couragelabscom. People can learn about all of the different types of work that I do. But really this has been such a pleasure. Amelia, I really appreciate the opportunity to have this conversation and I just appreciate all your support throughout the years. Like I know, you've been cheering me on from afar and just really appreciate all that you've done for me. Thank you, nicole.

Speaker 1:

For today's episode takeaways I have five. One becoming a mother deepened Nicole's sense of purpose, shifting her focus towards legacy, both in her family and her business. Her journey reflects how motherhood can lead to more intentional, value-driven entrepreneurship. Nicole emphasized that women scaling their business need clarity, a focused strategy and support systems. Trying to do everything leads to burnout. Scaling successfully means prioritizing what only you can do and learning to delegate the rest. Three the foundation for scaling is human-centered design. Nicole's approach to helping service-based businesses scale beyond 500,000 starts with building around the ideal client. Aligning every function, sales, marketing, operations around the client creates sustainable systems that support growth.

Speaker 1:

Four maternity leave and business breaks require strategic communication. For moms stepping away temporarily, nicole suggests proactive conversations with partners, contractors, clients and community. Planning for transitions, even with imperfect support, makes integration smoother and protects business momentum. And five we need to talk about how hard it really is. Nicole vulnerably shared how difficult the first few years of motherhood are, especially when layered with entrepreneurship. She calls for more honest conversations about this reality and more structural flexibility from employers and ecosystems more structural flexibility from employers and ecosystems.

Speaker 1:

That's it for today's episode. Thank you for spending this time with me. I know how valuable your time is, and I hope you're walking away feeling encouraged to dream a little bigger about what's possible for your work and family life. If this episode spoke to you, it would mean so much if you shared it with another mom who needs this kind of encouragement. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode, and if you want to keep the conversation going, connect with me on linkedin. Just search emilia cotto. That's e-m-i-l-i-a, c-o-t-o. Until next time, remember, motherhood isn't the end of your dreams, it's just the beginning.