There are five stages of business you'll move through as your business evolves from startup to its final destination. As you move through these five stages, your business follows certain recognizable patterns.

People have questions all the time about how to navigate the growth of their business, not just mentally but practically. And every stage comes with its own questions and considerations.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn about each of the five stages and the patterns that occur in each as you grow your business. I’ll also give you questions to ask yourself as you move through the stages so you can have a clear idea of what’s necessary for the growth and scale you desire.

2:54 - The simple but crucial first stage of business

6:19 - Signs that you’re in the “survive to thrive” stage

9:28 - Your concern as an entrepreneur at stage three of your business

12:38 - The added priority and shifts necessary for moving on to the final two stages

15:03 - A review of the five stages and identifying which one you’re in right now

Mentioned In Five Stages of Business and the Decisions to Make as You Grow

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

Simplicity and Confidence Workshop

“Understanding the 5 Stages of Business Growth” | Lucidchart 

“Identify Your Business Growth Stage to Maximize Profits” by Brandon Matthews | Alliance Virtual Offices

“The Five Stages of Small-Business Growth” by Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis | Harvard Business Review

“Learn how to make better decisions with 3 powerful habits” by Maggie Wooll, MBA | BetterUp 

“I’ve Got This” Coaching

Runway to Freedom

Vision to Action Intensive

Book a Call with Andrea

Andrea’s Links

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

In your mind, are you an employee, business owner, or CEO?

Each of these scenarios involves taking a specific approach to how you allocate your time and money for achieving the result you want. But not everyone who is a CEO has a CEO mindset. To get to that place, you have to upgrade your mindset as well as how you use your most valuable business resources.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll hear about the three stages you might go through as you start, build, and grow your business. I’ll discuss the different mindset approaches in each stage, which depend on how you think of yourself.

1:41 - Why you might feel like an employee, not a CEO, in your business

5:58 - The scenario where you really start to think of yourself as an entrepreneur

9:34 - What you focus on when you have the CEO mindset

Mentioned In Are You Behaving Like an Employee, the Business Owner, or the CEO of Your Business?

Zone of Extraordinary Achievement Matrix

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

“I’ve Got This” Coaching

Runway to Freedom

Book a Call with Andrea

Andrea’s Links

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

Think you don’t have the time, bandwidth, or interest in learning how to get a grip on the numbers in your business?

Ciara Stockeland is back for the third time to show you how! She’s the genius who helps business owners with inventory create profit, so she loves digging into the numbers and getting her clients to learn to fall in love with it, too.

We always have great conversations, and this one is no different. Even if you don’t have inventory, you’ll still want to listen in as she has so many great ideas and tactics that can apply to your business.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn how one small step can help you get your business financial house in order. Ciara will also reveal examples of what happens when you start small, how urgency and distraction help lead to a loose grip on understanding your numbers, and so much more!

2:26 - What many entrepreneurs tend to do with a sense of patience versus a sense of urgency

4:35 - Why it feels like you don’t have the time or bandwidth to start handling your numbers and how to start small

7:47 - What happens when you take that first step towards better understanding the financials of your business

14:33 - When it pays off to add something to your business (and why many business owners feel compelled to do so)

19:11 - Contemplating the choice to do or not do and one way to mitigate the urgency factor might feel

23:33 - Why you’re never too far gone to get a grip on your business finances and speed round questions with Ciara

Connect with Ciara Stockeland

Ciara Stockeland is a mom, wife, triathlete and serial entrepreneur who built a seven-figure retail business. She was featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and even invited to the White House. But in over 10 years of business, she never took home a consistent paycheck… until she learned the numbers and understood what they meant. Now as an inventory and cash flow expert, she helps her clients get focused on the right things in their business so they can finally get a consistent paycheck.

Ciara Stockeland | Instagram

Inventory Genius: Create More Profit and Keep More Cash by Ciara Stockeland

The Inventory Genius Podcast

Mentioned In Fall In Love With Your Numbers By Starting Small with Ciara Stockeland

“Thinking Big and Eliminating Complexity, Interview with Andrea Liebross” | The Inventory Genius Podcast

Andrea’s Links

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

You schedule a consultation call with a coach because some part of you wants to say yes to working with them. After all, you’re not going to spend the time having the conversation otherwise.

Yet, when it comes down to it and decision time arrives, you hesitate with reasons to say no. So what’s stopping you from investing in yourself and your business?

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn 10 reasons why you might hesitate to invest in a coach (or anything, really) and why these objections aren’t entirely true. I’ll also teach you how you can begin to overcome any of these objections so you can level up your business and life.

4:34 - The irony of statements like “I don’t know enough yet” or “I’m not ready”

7:01 - What your worry about the benefits of investing in something is really about

9:12 - A “scary” requirement (and common fear) about investing that makes you hesitate

11:16 - How you let creating your own requirements get in the way of investing in coaching

13:51 - Why letting economic uncertainty or perceived complexity stop you from investing is futile

17:10 - The perceived value justification that might make you hesitate to say yes

19:57 - Concern over opportunity costs and the problem with letting it prevent you from moving forward with an investment

22:09 - How your self-assessment and high expectations can create doubt and cause you to say no

26:25 - How to start dealing with any of these objections you might have

Mentioned In 10 Reasons Why You Say No to Investing In a Coach When You Want to Say Yes

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

“I’ve Got This” Coaching

Runway to Freedom

Book a Call with Andrea

Andrea’s Links

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

As much as it feels great when you reach a goal, it can feel equally awful when you miss one.

Now, you might not achieve a goal you set for several reasons. But there could also be an underlying factor sabotaging you that you don’t even realize is tying you down.

Whatever your goal is, is it really yours? Your goals are influenced by your kids, parents, spouses, and others around you...and not always in ways helpful for you.

In this continuation of our “Mom Series” on Time to Level Up, you’ll learn reasons why you might be striving for goals that aren’t your goals. I’ll also give some examples of what this looks like and discuss the importance of having a compelling reason for your goal and how to lighten the heaviness of goals you set.

4:31 - Example of how someone’s goal might reflect deeper issues that have nothing to do with the goal

7:20 - The consequences of striving for a goal that’s really someone else’s

10:12 - Why trying to prove yourself to yourself or other people doesn’t work well

15:11 - Other reasons people have for setting goals they don’t actually desire to achieve

19:14 - The thinking you need to shift to so you can lighten the load of your goals 

Mentioned In Are You Missing Your Goals Because They’re Not Really YOUR Goals?

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

Jody Moore

Simon Sinek

Vision to Action Intensive

Andrea’s Links

Book a Call with Andrea

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

Imagine spending a couple of days in an 11-bedroom, three-story house with private bathrooms for everyone. 

That was the beautiful setup for Runway to Freedom mastermind members on our spring retreat in Destin, Florida. And while everyone enjoyed the house, the catering, the kayaking and more, participants also had the space to do the deep work and big thinking to level up their business.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll get a behind-the-scenes look at what went on and the kind of experiences available to you as a mastermind retreat attendee. I’ll walk you through what we did on each day of the retreat and how having this time and space away helps create big thinking that produces big wins.

3:30 - How I advised the attendees to prepare for the retreat and set themselves up for success

5:49 - How I coach during mastermind retreats on day one and the most impactful part of going on the retreat with peers and a coach

9:29 - The second day and the wins that participants got thanks to having this space to relax, refresh, and reflect

14:36 - Four things some of the attendees implemented when they returned home

Mentioned In Relax, Refresh, and Reflect: Behind the Scenes of a Mastermind Retreat

Runway to Freedom

Andrea’s Links

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

We all know people who put all of their attention on focusing on tasks in their business or home, or connecting with others in their business or family.

You’ll see this imbalance depicted as the workaholic type who works late hours every day and is never home, or the social butterfly who amounts to nothing career-wise in the eyes of family and friends. Most people are naturally inclined to lean towards focusing on tasks over making social connections, or vice versa. They haven’t mastered the balancing act needed for maximum success.

So how do you figure out where you are on the focus and connection scales as a mom and business owner? And how can you integrate a better balance that’ll have you feel like you’re at your best?

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll hear about the paradigm between deciding what to focus on as a mom and business owner and whether that could jeopardize your chances of connecting with others. I’ll teach you about the importance of balancing your focus and connection in your business and personal life, how to find the right spot on these spectrums, and examples of the positives of doing so and the consequences if you don’t.

2:10 - Why you need to balance your focus and connection as a mom and entrepreneur

6:30 - What you need to understand to help you find that sweet spot for success in your business and personal life

9:06 - Examples of rewards and consequences of striking a balance between focus and connection versus being all in on one over the other

15:47 - How to figure out where you want to be on the focus and connection spectrums and find a better balance in business and life

18:24 - How to know you’re not in your sweet spot and what integrating better focus-connection balance requires of you

Mentioned In How to Find Your Focus As a Mom and Business Owner

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

“10 Ways Working Moms Can Balance Competing Priorities With Ease” | Career Mom Community

Andrea’s Links

Book a Call with Andrea

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

If your partner or spouse isn’t necessarily on board with your business ambitions, you’re not alone.

Lack of (emotional) support is a topic that comes up often for women business owners. In fact, it came up several times among attendees during my April mastermind retreat and even after everyone went back home.

Striking that balance (lacking a better word) between your role as a big-thinking business owner and your role as a relationship partner is challenging to find. But it’s not impossible!

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn eight reasons why your significant other can be unsupportive of you pursuing your business dreams. I’ll also teach you four things to do to resolve it and make the situation (and the conversation about it) a little easier for you both.

6:11 - Eight reasons why your partner might be opposing your business dreams and aspirations

18:26 - Four steps to create a balance between your big-thinking business ambition and happiness with your significant other

23:58 - What to do and what not to do when speaking with your partner or spouse about their support for your business dreams

26:30 - What your level of compromise in this situation will depend on and how to know you’re on the right track

Mentioned In How to Handle an Unsupportive Spouse or Partner As a Big-Thinking Business Woman

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

Vision to Action Intensive

Andrea’s Links

“My Partner Doesn’t Support My Career Dreams” by Kurt Smith | Psych Central

“What to Do When Your Spouse Doesn’t Support Your Dream” | Laura Noel | Stretch Into Success Consulting

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

It’s one thing for me to tell you what the Vision to Action Intensive experience is like. But it’s another to hear the whole journey in the words of someone who’s done it.

When I walked you through a session in a previous episode, you heard clips from some actual clients. Now, you get to hear an entire story of what happens before and after you extract your vision mentally and turn it into physical action.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn about Hillary’s journey going through the Vision to Action Intensive. She’ll reveal key principles she had to grasp to get the most out of it and other realizations she had along the way, how it helped her process through her struggle with goal-setting, the changes she’s undergone since the session, and more!

2:32 - The first thing you should know about being a big thinker and walking into an Intensive session

4:02 - Two key principles Hillary had to grasp for the Intensive to have the desired impact

7:23 - What Hillary realized about the investment she’d made when she saw how we were turning her vision into action

9:26 - How the Intensive helped Hillary overcome her struggle with successfully setting goals

15:10 - The permission you receive from the session and how business dynamics have changed for Hillary as we continue working together

17:18 - How going through the Intensive has affected Hillary the most and deciding if you want to expedite turning your vision into action

Mentioned In A Journey Through the Vision to Action Intensive: Case Study with Hillary

She Thinks Big by Andrea Liebross

Andrea’s Links

Vision to Action Intensive

I’ve Got This Coaching

174: Your Roadmap to Clarity: Inside the Vision to Action Intensive 

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.

Let’s put the finishing touches on your vision-to-action plan!

In previous episodes, you’ve heard me (and others) talk to She Thinks Big Live attendees about creating WILD goals to turn your vision into action and adjusting your vision to elevate your business. Now let’s get into part three of the third session of the event, where we finish covering the action plan in depth.

In this episode of Time to Level Up, you’ll learn how to narrow down your WILD goals, create a list of 25 things you’re willing to fail or suck at, and contemplate things that could prevent you from turning your vision into action. To help you brainstorm ideas, you’ll also hear plenty of examples from the participants at the live event.

00:22 - Questions you can ask yourself to narrow down three (or four) WILD goals

7:52 - A few participants share one or two of their WILD goals for the year

15:00 - Plenty of examples of things (among 25) you can be willing to suck or fail at

27:56 - Obstacles that can get in the way of you sticking to your goals and turning your vision into action

37:16 - Some obstacles that attendees expect to face and differentiating between what you can and can’t control

48:38 - Why not taking yourself too seriously is a superpower worth wielding

Mentioned In Narrow Down Your WILD Goals and Think of Potential Failures and Obstacles

173: How Adjusting Your Vision Helps You Elevate Your Business

172: How to Turn Your Vision Into Action with WILD Goals

Vision to Action Intensive

Andrea on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook

Untangle your time, reset your role, and build systems that don't depend on your every move. No more white-knuckling your way through success because you're not just scaling your business, you're scaling yourself.

Get the clarity and capacity to lead differently and ascend to your next level. Learn how and join us at andrealiebross.com/ascension.