If you're a kind and gentle person, do you wonder if you can lean into those qualities AND grow your business? Or do you worry that you have to let those things go to be really successful? In other words, do you wonder if you have to be an asshole to have a really successful business?

My guest today is committed to doing things gently and ethically.

You'll hear some specific choices we've each made in the past that we wouldn't make again because they didn't feel right. You'll also hear what's actually working for her to grow her business and serve her clients.

Introducing Sarah Santacroce.

Sarah encourages people to bring more empathy and kindness to business and marketing. As a 'Hippie turned Business Coach', Sarah hosts the Gentle Business Revolution podcast and works with heart-centered entrepreneurs to question their assumptions when it comes to marketing and give them permission to market their business their way.

Here's some of what we talked about:

• Creating a community or "circle" for business owners
• Why her 1:1 coaching happens in 3-month chunks
• Setting up boundaries in her 1:1 coaching
• Her simple marketing system: her podcast, guest podcasting and her book
• Automating everything that can be automated!
• Her approach to pitching podcasts
• Why she's gotten more discerning about joint ventures
• Her morning routine, including one hour of writing every single day

Here are some takeaways that particularly stand out to me.

Takeaway #1:

When you're designing a community, you've got to set clear expectations about what kind of communication will happen. In Sarah's community, she's setting an expectation of people sharing their experiences rather than advice.

Takeaway #2:

Sarah sets up clear boundaries in her 1:1 coaching so that she's not using extra energy tracking her clients. She teaches her clients in the very beginning where and how to communicate with her in order to get her help.

Takeaway #3:

Sarah does a lot of guest spots on podcasts. For each podcast pitch, she researches the podcast and includes a video in her email. This gives the host a better sense of her and increases the number of invitations she gets.

Show notes at http://rebeltherapist.me/podcast/156