The Libby DeLucien Podcast

Martha Woodward had a master's degree in business and more than 20 years of management experience before starting her cleaning company.

But how much did that experience actually prepare her for the realities of running a cleaning business?

In this episode, Martha shares what she learned through 13 years of business ownership, from hiring and managing people to understanding the financial side of the business.

We also talk about employee accountability, setting standards, and knowing when to stop holding on to people who aren't the right fit.

Because knowing how to lead people in one environment doesn't mean you know how to lead them in another.

Get 1 Layer Deep. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LibbyGDeLucien/

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Follow Martha 👋

➡️ Website: thepayforperformanceexpert.com | qualitydrivensoftware.com

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/payforperformanceexpert

Sponsored by: LAYA

➡️ Website: 1ld.ai

Are you still doing the same work you did at $300K, even though you're trying to grow to $600K or $1M?

As your business grows, your role needs to change. But that means figuring out what still requires you, what can be handed off, and what needs to be documented.

In this episode, we go 1 Layer Deep on:

• Why business owners need to reassess their role as the business grows
• How to identify tasks you should stop doing and delegate
• The Think, Decide, Build, and Review process
• Why documenting work makes it easier to hand off and hold people accountable
• How time audits can reveal wasted time and unused team capacity
• Why systems need to be reviewed and updated as the business changes
• How to build a team that can handle more without relying on you for every decision

Because growing your business means learning to do different work, not just doing more of the same.

Get 1 Layer Deep. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Sponsored by: WootRecruit

➡️ Website: https://wootrecruit.com/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WootRecruit

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

Chris Schwab started his cleaning business with around $700, developed a remote operating model, and moved to Japan.

But how did he make it work, and what can other business owners learn from his approach?

In this episode of the 1 Layer Deep Podcast, Chris shares how he built a remote cleaning business and why entrepreneurship was a way to create the freedom and balance he wanted in his life.

We also talk about knowing your numbers, building systems that support your goals, and why growing just for the sake of growth can pull you away from what matters most.

The goal isn’t to build the biggest business possible. It’s to build a business that supports the life you actually want.

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Follow Chris 👋

➡️ Website: christopherschwab.co.uk | localbusinessmba.com

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schwaaab

Sponsored by: 1LD VS Program

➡️Website: https://1ld.co/vs-program/

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

Before you blame the employee, look at the system.

When someone on your team isn’t performing, how do you know whether it’s a people problem, a systems problem, or a leadership problem?

In Episode 130 of The Libby DeLucien Podcast, Chris and I will break down the four things to assess before deciding what needs to change:

• Clarity: Do they know what to do and what good looks like?
• Capability: Have they been trained to do it?
• Capacity: Do they have the time, tools, and workload to get it done?
• Will: Are they willing to do it consistently?

We will also dig into time audits, role clarity, repositioning the right person into the right seat, and why adding another checklist or process can make a job harder instead of solving the actual problem.

Because you can’t confidently call it a people problem if you haven’t examined the systems around them.

Get 1 Layer Deep. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Sponsored by: LAYA

➡️ Website: 1ld.ai

Candice Rodriguez came into the cleaning business after leaving cosmetology.

She started in her family’s business as a cleaning technician, then moved into training, field management, and eventually operations.

Along the way, she discovered she was good at spotting gaps in systems and figuring out what wasn’t working.

But as she grew into leadership, doing things her way came at a cost.

What did she learn about control?

What did she have to rebuild?

And what changed when she became more open to other perspectives?

Candice and I go 1 Layer Deep on systems, leadership, accountability, micromanagement, employee relationships, and what it takes to keep evolving as your business grows.

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Follow Candice 👋

➡️ Website: https://naturalcarecleaningservice.com/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LaMejorMamacita

Sponsored by: WootRecruit

➡️ Website: https://wootrecruit.com/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WootRecruit

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

How do you know your team is actually following the system when you're not there?

I was in the field.

Aaron was in the field.

And both of us were seeing things that made it pretty clear: something had drifted.

So the question became bigger than training.

How do you audit your team, your trainers, and your systems without becoming the bottleneck

yourself?

In this episode, Aaron and I go 1 Layer Deep on:

● How to identify when a standard has drifted

● What to actually look for when you audit

● The difference between training, practicing, demonstrating, and verifying

● Why your best employee isn't automatically your best trainer

● How owners can create visibility without creating dependency

● And why the cadence of your audits matters

Because you can't maintain a standard you never check.

Get 1 Layer Deep. 🧡

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Sponsored by: 1LD VS Program

➡️Website: https://1ld.co/vs-program/

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness

#Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

Derek Hazelwood came into the cleaning business completely by accident.

His background was in insurance, financial consulting, and business ownership.

Then he met his wife, who owned a cleaning company.

Derek stepped in to help with recruiting and found himself in an industry he knew very little about.

What transferred from his previous businesses?

What didn’t?

And what did he have to learn once he was inside the cleaning industry?

Derek and I go 1 Layer Deep on hiring, structure, sales, technology, AI, scaling, and what it means to become a student of the business you’re in.

Get 1 Layer Deep. 🧡

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Follow Derek 👋

➡️ Website: https://ricochetbusinesssolutions.com/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/derek.hazelwood

Sponsored by: LAYA AI

➡️ Website: 1ld.ai

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

Before I built a cleaning company, I trained elephants.

Yeah. Elephants.

I spent years working with Asian elephants, traveling the world, and building a career I thought I’d have for the rest of my life.

Then life changed, and I had to walk away from it.

Starting over forced me to figure out who I was outside of the career that had defined so much of my life.

Eventually, that led me into organizing, cleaning, and a completely different kind of business journey.

But looking back, I realized something:

I hadn’t started from zero. I had started from experience.

In this episode, Chris and I talk about the experiences, failures, lessons, and mindset shifts that shaped how I think about business today, and how the skills I learned long before becoming a business owner continue to influence how I build, lead, and create systems.

You don't start from zero. You start from experience.

This one is personal.

Get 1 Layer Deep.

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

Sponsored by: WootRecruit

➡️ Website: https://wootrecruit.com/

➡️ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WootRecruit

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

A bonus isn't supposed to fix your employee.

It isn't supposed to fix your process.

And it isn't supposed to make someone do the job they're already being paid to do.

A bonus is for exceptional behavior, going above and beyond what the role already requires.

In Episode 125, Chris, Aaron, and I get 1 Layer Deep into what actually makes a bonus work and when a bonus is simply masking a problem that needs to be fixed somewhere else.

We talk about:

• Why showing up and doing your job shouldn't automatically qualify for a bonus
• The difference between an expected responsibility and exceptional performance
• Why you shouldn't use a bonus to repair a broken process
• How to structure incentives around outcomes employees can actually influence
• Why sales bonuses can make more sense around upsells, add-ons, profit, or efficiency not simply closing the sale
• How to make sure the bonus is affordable and sustainable for the business
• Why employees need to understand exactly what they're being rewarded for
• The difference between an expected "If-Then" incentive and an unexpected "Now-That" reward
• Why the right bonus structure starts with the role, the expectations, and the outcome

Because if the job is already the job...

Doing the job isn't exceptional.

Fix the issue first.

Then reward the extra mile.

Get 1 Layer Deep.

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result. 🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment

What are you hoping will change?

Your business?

Your relationships?

Your health?

Your environment?

Your life?

Because hope can become a very comfortable place to hide.

If something is outside your control, put it in the parking lot.

But if it's inside your control...

Do something about it.

In Episode 124, Chris and I get 1 Layer Deep into the difference between living on hope and taking control of what is actually within your domain.

We talk about:

• Why hope can keep you stuck in frustration and despair
• How to identify what is actually within your control
• Why your environment can either support or sabotage consistency
• The power of purging physical, digital, and emotional clutter
• Why consistency in an inconsistent world requires adaptability
• How to make action so simple that you actually do it
• Why you can't stay in the same rooms and expect to keep evolving
• What it means to put yourself in places where you can catch the winds of luck
• How taking intentional action creates opportunities that can look like luck from the outside

Because you can hope for things to get better.

Or you can pull the things you can control back inside your domain and do something about them.

Hope can be the parking lot.

It just can't be where you live.

Let’s get 1 Layer Deep.

No BS. Just the right action to get to the result.🧡

Let's connect! 👋

➡️ Website: https://libbydelucien.com/

➡️ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/libbydelucien/

➡️ Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/LibbyDeLucien

➡️ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbydelucien/

➡️ Twitter: https://twitter.com/libbydelucien

#OneLayerDeep #LibbyDeLucien #Entrepreneurship #BusinessOwner #FamilyBusiness #Leadership #Burnout #Mindset #BusinessGrowth #PersonalDevelopment