Consultant-turned-agency-owner Nicole Serena joins Gwen Bortner to talk about her journey from a one-woman consulting practice to leading a thriving healthcare operations agency. Nicole pulls back the curtain on the early days—juggling every client, deadline, and inbox herself—and how she knew she needed to make a change before something important broke.

She and Gwen walk through the pivotal decisions that allowed her to scale sustainably, including hiring her first consultant instead of a VA, shifting from doing everything herself to leading a team, and learning the art of transferring trust (even when it’s uncomfortable).

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why Nicole’s first hire wasn’t admin support—and how that changed everything
• How she manages rapid growth without burning out her team
• What “stability quarters” are and why they matter during fast scaling
• How quarterly planning and weekly accountability transformed her business
• The difference between being the expert and becoming the CEO

If you’re a consultant or service provider dreaming of building an agency—or even just wanting more breathing room—Nicole’s story offers a clear, honest look at what it really takes to scale sustainably.

If you want support creating your own version of sustainable success, let’s chat. (http://everydayeffectiveness.com/clarity)

Links and Mentions

Connect with Nicole (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-serena-876a1913/)