No Broke Behavior Analysts

What's holding your business back probably isn't a lack of knowledge. It's that you don't have the time, because you've given it away. In this episode, Sarah makes the case that protecting your time is a prerequisite skill to getting your first client. She walks through the short, direct sentences to use instead of the long replies that you’re trying to people-please with.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• The overexplaining habit, why we're so conditioned to do it, and what it's actually costing you

• The pause, decide, respond sequence, along with the question to ask yourself before you say yes to anything

• How to tell when a one time favor has quietly become the expectation everyone has of you

• The respectful script that hands prioritizing back to your boss

• Why your rate is actually a time boundary too, and why you never owe anyone an explanation for it

• The 24-hour rule for emotional emails, and why responding to emotion with emotion never ends well

• How to set client expectations and working hours from day one

If you've been telling yourself you'll start when things calm down, this episode is your reminder that the time won't appear on its own...you have to take it back.

Ready to stop guessing and start building a business people can actually find? Beyond Billable Hours, our on-demand course and community, is now available here.

• Love FREE high quality CEUs? Join our free community by clicking here.

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 32 CEU coaching program? Grab your exclusive podcast discount here.

• Follow me on Instagram: @sarahburby and @mindbodybehavior

• Follow me on TikTok: @mindbodybxanalyst

Subscribe + review: If you're a BCBA building a life and business you actually love, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. If this one helped, a quick review helps other BCBAs and entrepreneurs find the show.

If you think a successful business requires someone who can get people to say yes on a call, you're thinking about sales backwards. In this episode, Sarah pushes back on the advice flooding the online business space and explains why sales actually starts the second someone finds your content. She also shares why her consultation calls have zero pressure in them.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• Why every interaction someone has with you is a trust building opportunity, not a sales pitch

• Why being clear about who your offer is NOT for brings you better clients

• The real test of whether your marketing is ethical: what you do when someone tells you no

• Why leading with your credentials falls flat, and what people actually want to hear instead

• What Sarah actually does on a discovery call rather than being “salesy”

• Why someone can meet you and not buy until two years later

If marketing has ever felt like something you'd have to become a different person to do, this episode is proof that clarity does the work that pressure never could.

Ready to stop guessing and start building a business people can actually find? Beyond Billable Hours, our on-demand course and community, is now available here.

• Love FREE high quality CEUs? Join our free community by clicking here.

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 32 CEU coaching program? Grab your exclusive podcast discount here.

• Follow me on Instagram: @sarahburby and @mindbodybehavior

• Follow me on TikTok: @mindbodybxanalyst

Subscribe + review: If you're a BCBA building a life and business you actually love, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. If this one helped, a quick review helps other BCBAs and entrepreneurs find the show.

If you've put in the work and still feel like you're nowhere near where you should be, the problem might be what you're measuring against. In this episode, Sarah walks through the gap versus gain idea and why looking at how far you still have to go will always leave you feeling behind. She also shares the prompts she uses to pull herself out of that spiral.

In this episode, you’ll learn about:

• Why measuring yourself against how far you still have to go leaves you feeling inadequate and ready to quit

• Sarah's honest look back at her own year, including letting go of employees

• The one-line journal prompt she uses when she starts spiraling

• What teaching her 3-year-old to ride a bike shows about focusing on the gain

• Why nobody would ever finish grad school or 2,000 supervision hours by looking at the gap

• Why switching up a habit can change what you notice in your life and your business

If you've been talking to yourself like you're behind, this episode is a reminder that the evidence of how far you've come is already there.

Ready to stop guessing and start building a business people can actually find? Beyond Billable Hours, our on-demand course and community, is now available here.

• Love FREE high quality CEUs? Join our free community by clicking here.

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program? Grab your exclusive podcast discount here.

• Follow me on Instagram: @sarahburby and @mindbodybehavior

• Follow me on TikTok: @mindbodybxanalyst

Subscribe + review: If you're a BCBA building a life and business you actually love, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. If this one helped, a quick review helps other BCBAs and entrepreneurs find the show.

You can have a solid salary and still be broke. In this episode, Sarah explains what the name No Broke Behavior Analysts really means, and why feeling bound, overworked, and exhausted shouldn't be the norm in our field. She also covers the first small, doable step toward making income and impact outside of billable hours.

In this episode, Sarah chats about:

• What BROKE stands for: bound, restricted, overworked, knowing but not doing, and exhausted

• Why the real drain is the disconnect between what you signed up for and what you're doing day to day

• Why she doesn't recommend quitting your job to go all in on a business, and the scarcity trap that comes with it

• How learning to get your first client builds a skill that generalizes to any business, product or service

• Sarah's own story of how that disconnect spilled into her marriage, her friendships, and her quality of lifeThe three questions to answer this week: who you want to help, what impact you want to make, and what your bigger why is

• Why money matters, and why it only makes life better when it amplifies your impact, freedom, and flexibility

• If you've been telling yourself this is just part of the job, this episode is your reminder that it doesn't have to be.

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer. ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program? ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our CEU community here.

Long before "BCBA in health and fitness" was a category, Dr. Nicholas Green was already building one. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Nick, founder of Behavior Fit, to talk about how he turned a grad school research niche into a full career helping people change health behaviors, and why waiting for the "ideal job" never actually works. 

In this episode, Sarah chats with Nick about: 

• How a random public health blog post about sedentary behavior turned into an entire graduate research focus, and eventually a career 

• Why you don't need a clear plan going in, you need to sample different jobs and tasks until you find what actually clicks 

• The worst case, best case exercise Sarah uses to help clinicians weigh the risk of leaving a traditional role 

• Nick's "plus, minus, equal" framework for choosing mentors at every stage of your career 

• Why picking one platform and doing it well beats spreading yourself across every social channel 

• Why a website only works once you're crystal clear on who you're actually trying to reach 

• How pricing rejection is data, not a verdict, and why lowering your rate the first time someone says no is the wrong move 

If you have ever felt boxed into one path just because that's what your graduate program emphasized, this conversation is proof there is more than one way to build a career and a business around your BCBA. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here. ⁠

Follow Nick: behaviorfit.com and @behaviorfit

If the word "selling" makes your stomach turn, you are not alone, and you are not doing anything wrong by wanting to help people while also making money. In this episode, Sarah breaks down the exact framework that separates ethical marketing from manipulation, and why staying quiet about your offer is not actually the more ethical choice, it just means people never find you. 

In this episode, Sarah chats about: 

• The three things that make marketing ethical: clarity, specificity, and a direct invitation 

• Why hiding your pricing to "sell on the call" is not the only way to do business, and why she does the opposite 

• The difference between naming a problem clearly and exploiting someone's vulnerability with fear and urgency 

• Real examples of manipulative sales language versus clear, respectful language, side by side 

• Why a "no" is data, not a failure, and what it actually might mean instead 

• How to talk about outcomes and transformation without ever guaranteeing results 

• A quick update on what's changing with Clinicians Doing More, and a first look at the upcoming Beyond Billable Hours program 

If marketing has ever felt gross, aggressive, or like it required becoming a different person, this episode gives you the reframe and the exact language to talk about your offer without losing sleep over it. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here. ⁠

67% of behavior analysts report being burned out, and Sarah wanted to know why, and what actually fixes it. In this episode, Sarah sits down with Daniella "Dani" Galvez Moreno, a fellow BCBA and founder of Self Set Go, the only conference built specifically around self-care and systems for behavior analysts, to talk about pivoting without shame, building something from scratch with zero experience, and why your nervous system deserves its own system too. 

In this episode, Sarah chats with Dani about: 

• Why 67% of behavior analysts report being burned out, and what that says about the field as a whole 

• Why pivoting your business idea, sometimes more than once, is a sign of growth, not a red flag 

• Dani's own path from quitting the clinical side of ABA, to solo world travel, to building a conference with zero experience 

• This year's Self Set Go theme, and why it centers on real systems for both your professional and personal life 

• Why nervous system regulation earned its own pre-event workshop, and why grad school never taught any of it 

• The one-degree airplane metaphor that reframes what "changing your life" actually looks like 

If you've been feeling the burnout Dani and Sarah talk about, or you've ever been scared to pivot publicly, this episode is the permission and the roadmap in one conversation. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here.

• Follow Dani: @danigalvezbcba 

• Register for Self Set Go 2026: https://behaviorlive.com/conferences/SSG26/registration/3797

  Use code: NOBROKEBA15

Subscribe + review: If this conversation hit home, subscribe so you don't miss the next one. And if you've been feeling the burnout Dani and Sarah talk about, registration for Self Set Go is open now. 

You don't hate selling, you hate how you've been taught to do it. In this episode, Sarah breaks down why sales is simply a communication skill, not a personality trait, and why the real problem isn't your offer, it's that you're selling the features instead of the transformation. 

In this episode, Sarah chats about: 

• Why having one single, clear offer beats five different options, and the fishing rod analogy that makes it click 

• How confidence in selling comes from repetition, not the other way around, and the exact math behind why most people never build it 

• The difference between selling features and selling transformation, illustrated through closets, drills, personal trainers, and meal prep services 

• The FFL framework: feature, functional benefit, and lived outcome, and how to run every piece of your offer through it 

• Why clients don't care about your process or your evidence base, and what they actually care about instead 

• The simple exercise to test whether your messaging is clear: list five features, then ask what each one actually makes possible 

• Where the line is between confident selling and unethical promising, and how to stay on the right side of it 

If explaining your offer has ever felt like throwing spaghetti at the wall, this episode gives you the exact shift to make it land. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here.

Subscribe + review: If you're a BCBA building a life and business you actually love, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. If this one helped, a quick review helps other BCBAs and entrepreneurs find the show.

You do not need a massive following, a finished certification, or rock solid confidence to start booking clients. In this episode, Sarah sits down with client and friend Kathryn Petersen, founder of 2 Steps Forward Consulting, for an honest conversation about what actually moved the needle in her business, and it was not what most BCBAs think. 

In this episode, Sarah chats with Kathryn about: 

• Why she signed up for Sarah's first retreat waitlist without knowing a single detail, and what that says about betting on yourself before you have proof 

• The moment community, not clinical skill or business knowledge, became the biggest unlock in her entrepreneurial journey 

• Why starting with one side client outside her ideal niche was actually the smartest first move, not a compromise 

• How niching down brought her the right clients instead of shrinking her business 

• Why rejection and email unsubscribes are just data, not a verdict on her worth or her offer 

• The real mindset shift that mattered more than any clinical or business skill: taking action first and letting confidence catch up later 

If you have been waiting for a bigger following or more credentials before you start, Kathryn's story is proof that none of that is actually required. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here.

• Follow Kathryn: @2stepsforwardconsulting 

Subscribe + review: If Kathryn's story hit home, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. And if you know a family navigating a new autism diagnosis, check out her business.

Everyone wants to know which website platform to use before they have any idea who they are actually building it for. In this episode, Sarah breaks down the platform she uses now, why she does not recommend it to beginners despite a lucrative affiliate deal, and the one thing that matters more than any drag and drop template. 

In this episode, Sarah chats about: 

• Why Go High Level is powerful but the wrong first platform for a beginner business owner, even though plenty of coaches push it 

• The three beginner friendly platforms Sarah actually recommends, and how Podia, Squarespace, and Wix each stack up 

• Why website and email need to live on the same platform, and the headache that comes from stitching two systems together 

• What tagging your email subscribers actually means, why it matters from day one, and how it helps you see exactly what is working 

• The $5,000 lesson Sarah learned from paying for a beautiful website with copy that did not convert 

• Why AI tools can now build the design of a website in minutes, but still cannot write copy for you if you are not clear on who you are helping 

• The real order of operations: know your offer and your ideal client first, then choose your platform second 

If you are stuck comparing website platforms before you have even nailed down your offer, this episode will save you time, money, and a whole lot of frustration. 

ALL THE LINKS! 

• Want to build your first private-pay client outside the clinic without quitting your W-2, needing a huge following, or becoming a pushy marketer.⁠ ⁠Join Beyond Billable hours HERE. ⁠⁠

• Want a step-by-step framework to make attracting your first client feel easy? Download it here!

• Thinking of joining our 40 CEU coaching program?⁠ ⁠Grab your exclusive podcast discount here⁠⁠

• Love high quality FREE CEUs? Join our ⁠CEU community here.

Subscribe + review: If you're a BCBA building a life and business you actually love, subscribe so you don't miss the next episode. If this one helped, a quick review helps other BCBAs and entrepreneurs find the show.