The Sharon Francisco Show

Let’s talk about fear.

Not the big, obvious kind.
The quiet kind.

The kind that sounds like
“I’ll do it later”
“I just need to think about it a bit more”
“Now’s probably not the right time”

And it feels reasonable.

In this episode, we unpack how fear doesn’t stop you in obvious ways. It shows up in small, everyday decisions and over time, those decisions shape your results more than anything else.

This is a grounded look at avoidance, growth, and how to start taking back control without trying to become someone else overnight.

In this episode we cover:
• Why fear rarely shows up in obvious ways
• How avoidance disguises itself as logic and timing
• The subtle decisions that are actually driven by fear
• Why staying where you are can feel like a choice but isn’t
• How avoidance behaviour makes things feel bigger over time
• The difference between something being unsafe and just uncomfortable
• Why growth and fear often sit side by side
• How fear starts shaping your identity and decision making
• The reason confidence never comes before action
• How to start moving without overwhelming yourself

Key insights:
• What you avoid doesn’t disappear, it grows
• Fear often sounds logical, not emotional
• Small decisions driven by fear compound over time
• You don’t need to go big, you just need to move
• Confidence is built after action, not before it

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

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👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

I read something recently that didn’t give me a big breakthrough… it made me uncomfortable.

And sometimes that’s the stuff that actually changes things.

In this episode, we unpack a powerful idea from Napoleon Hill’s Outwitting the Devil and how it shows up in business in a way most people don’t realise.

Because the issue usually isn’t that you don’t know what to do.

It’s that you’re not doing what you already know.

This is a deeper look at why nothing seems to shift… even when you’re capable, experienced, and trying.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:

• The concept of “drifting” and how it shows up in everyday decisions

• Why not deciding is still a decision

• The hidden cost of delay, avoidance, and staying busy

• How small choices quietly shape your business outcomes

• Why most people already know what they need to do

• The gap between knowing and actually doing

• How we justify inaction in ways that sound reasonable

• The role of habits, thinking, and reactions in holding you back

• Why growth rarely comes from big moments but from consistent small decisions

• The question that shifts everything about how you show up

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

• Not deciding is still shaping your results

• Most people are not stuck because they lack knowledge

• Avoidance often disguises itself as preparation or timing

• Small decisions compound into confidence, income, and growth

• The real shift happens when you consciously decide how you show up

🎧𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀

https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook

Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Let’s talk about video.

Because the second someone says

“you should be doing more video”

something happens.

You avoid it.

You overthink it.

Or you tell yourself you’ll get to it later… and don’t.

In this episode, we unpack what’s actually going on underneath that resistance and why it has nothing to do with your ability and everything to do with how aware you suddenly become of yourself.

Using real stories, behavioural research, and practical experience, this is a grounded look at why video feels uncomfortable and how to move through it without trying to become someone else.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:

• Why video triggers overthinking and avoidance

• The spotlight effect and why you feel like everyone is watching

• The real reason you become hyper aware on camera

• The identity fears that show up when you try to be visible

• Why “being yourself” can still feel uncomfortable

• How early beliefs about being too much or not enough show up

• The moment that normalises the struggle and changes everything

• Why confidence on video is built through repetition, not talent

• The difference between practising and performing

• How to make video feel natural instead of forced

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:

• You are not bad on video, you are under practised

• People are thinking about themselves far more than they are thinking about you

• Confidence is built through action, not preparation

• Authenticity is not something you master, it is something you practise

• Repetition creates comfort and comfort creates confidence

🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀

https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook

Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Today Sharon is joined by Alex Alexandrou, General Manager of Reckon.

Alex has been with Reckon for more than two decades, which means he’s seen the accounting and payroll software space evolve from desktop to cloud to AI — while staying close to the real-world challenges small business owners, bookkeepers, and accountants face every day.

This conversation goes beyond software.

It’s about leadership, culture, support, industry pressure, and what it really takes to build a more sustainable business in a world that keeps changing.

In this episode we cover:
• Alex’s journey into Reckon and the founder story behind the business
• What strong leadership looks like in real life
• Why authenticity in leadership matters more than ever
• The silent pressure bookkeepers and accountants are carrying right now
• Why compliance is still heavy, even while everyone talks about advisory
• Where bookkeepers and accountants may be underestimating their value
• What Alex has learned about leadership, patience, listening, and energy
• What excites him most about the future of the profession
• How AI and automation may create more space for better client conversations
• How Reckon approaches the market differently from the bigger players
• Why affordability, support, and real relationships still matter
• The power of staying connected through industry communities and partnerships

Key insights:
• Great leadership is clear, honest, and grounded.
• People want to do business with people they genuinely trust.
• Support matters most when pressure is high.
• The future of the profession is not just about tools — it’s about confidence, connection, and better conversations.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
 Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Sales is happening all day, every day… whether you like it or not.

Getting your partner on board. Getting your kids to listen. Asking for your money back on something you forgot to cancel.

And then… you go to talk about your own services
and suddenly it feels awkward.

In this episode, we unpack why sales conversations can feel uncomfortable even when you know you’re good at what you do and how that awkwardness has very little to do with your ability and everything to do with what’s happening underneath.

Using a real life story, grounded insights from behavioural psychology, and ideas from Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, this is a powerful reframe of what’s really going on in those moments and how to shift it. 

In this episode we cover:
• Why sales conversations feel awkward even for capable professionals
• The moment your energy shifts and what’s actually happening there
• Why over explaining, rushing, or softening your price isn’t random
• The real role of emotion in decision making
• Why connection matters more than information in sales
• How self protection shows up in conversations without you realising
• The link between visibility, rejection, and discomfort
• Why silence in a conversation can feel so hard to hold
• The difference between performing and leading in sales
• How confidence in sales is built over time, not overnight

Key insights:
• People make emotional decisions first and justify them logically
• Awkwardness often comes from self protection, not lack of skill
• Connection creates safety and safety drives decisions
• Over talking and under pricing are often signs of discomfort
• Sales becomes easier when you see it as leadership, not pressure

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

We spend so much of our lives trying to do things properly.

Build the business.
Stay organised.
Be responsible.
Keep everything moving.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that…
we forget to actually enjoy being alive.

This episode was sparked by a book that stopped Sharon in her tracks and brought her back to something we don’t talk about enough: life is finite.

Not in a heavy way.
In a way that sharpens what actually matters.

Because when you really sit with that idea, a lot of the noise starts to drop away.
The overthinking.
The pressure.
The waiting for the perfect time.

In this episode we cover:
• Why we’ve become disconnected from the reality of life and death
• How modern life keeps us busy but not always fulfilled
• The subtle ways we delay the things that actually matter
• Why discipline and enjoyment both need to exist together
• How your environment, habits, and the people around you shape how alive you feel
• The cost of holding onto emotional weight and resentment
• Why constant exposure to negativity drains more than you realise
• The small, ordinary moments that actually make up a meaningful life

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
• Life is not waiting at the end of your to-do list
• Most people act like they have unlimited time without realising it
• Energy, people, and environment shape your experience more than success does
• You don’t need a full life overhaul, just small intentional shifts

Because life isn’t something you get to later.

It’s happening
in the middle of everything.

Between the emails.
Between the meetings.
Between the plans you keep postponing.

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

There is something quietly shaping your business right now…
and it’s not your pricing, your systems, or your team.

It’s what you expect.

Not what you say out loud.
What you actually believe.

In this episode, we unpack the 𝗣𝘆𝗴𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁… a powerful concept backed by decades of research that shows how people rise or fall to the level of expectation placed on them.

Using two powerful studies — one with rats and the other the well-known Rosenthal and Jacobson classroom study — Sharon shows how belief changes behaviour, and how behaviour shapes outcomes. She then brings it straight back to business: your team, your clients, and the story you may still be carrying about yourself.

And once you see it…
you can’t unsee it.

Because it’s showing up everywhere.
In your team.
In your clients.
And most importantly… in you.

𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿:
• What the Pygmalion Effect is and how it works in real life
• The famous experiments that prove expectations shape outcomes
• How your behaviour subtly changes based on what you believe
• Why teams don’t step up when trust isn’t fully there
• How expectations impact pricing conversations and client behaviour
• The hidden ways you may be holding yourself back
• How you’re training people how to show up around you without realising it

𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀:
• People respond more to belief than instructions
• Expectations shape behaviour… and behaviour shapes results
• What you assume about others often becomes true
• You are not just reacting to your business… you are creating it

🎧 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

What happens when a bookkeeper stops tolerating chaos… and starts backing herself?

In this episode, Sharon sits down with Natasha Stadnikoff for a real conversation about growth, systems, confidence, client boundaries, and the mindset shift that changes everything.

Natasha shares what was happening in her business before things started to shift, how reactive work was keeping her stuck, and what changed when she decided she needed a better way — not just for her clients, but for herself. 

This conversation is honest, practical, and deeply relatable for any bookkeeper who knows something needs to change, but isn’t quite sure how to move from overwhelm into structure, confidence, and leadership.

In this episode we cover:
• What was happening in Natasha’s business before things started to shift
• The move from reactive work to more pre-emptive, strategic support
• Why tolerating non-payment and poor client behaviour takes a bigger toll than we realise
• How automation, workflow, and systems helped create more control
• The mindset shift from doubting yourself to backing yourself
• The impact of winning ICB Professional Bookkeeper of the Year
• Why belief borrowed from others can help build belief in yourself
• How coaching, growth, and confidence ripple into parenting, training, and personal life
• Why pricing confidence changes more than just your bank account
• The importance of understanding clients more deeply, not just doing the bookkeeping
• Why some clients need to be educated — and some need to be let go
• Natasha’s advice for bookkeepers: build strong systems from the start 

Key insights:
• Confidence grows when you stop abandoning yourself.
• Better systems create better business decisions.
• The clients you tolerate affect more than your workload.
• Pricing confidence is never just about pricing.
• When you back yourself, everything starts to shift. 

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
 Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

Have you ever hit that moment where you think, why isn’t this working?

You’ve done the work.
You’ve followed the process.
You’ve put in the effort.

And still… nothing.

In this episode, Sharon unpacks why silence is not failure, why quiet results don’t mean you’re not good enough, and why business often asks for more refinement, more consistency, and more courage before momentum kicks in. Using a real-life story, this is a grounded reminder that when something isn’t working yet, it doesn’t mean stop. It means adjust. 

In this episode we cover:
• Why “it’s not working” is often the wrong conclusion
• The difference between silence and real feedback
• Why we make slow results mean something personal
• How self-doubt gets louder when results are quiet
• Why one post, one conversation, or one attempt is not a strategy
• The power of follow-up, refinement, and staying in motion
• Why outcomes come from iteration, not perfection
• The practical question to ask instead of turning on yourself
• What it really means to be so good they can’t ignore you
• Why passionate people don’t stop at silence — they adjust 

Key insights:
• Silence is information, not rejection.
• Quiet results do not mean you’re not capable.
• Momentum is built through consistency, not one-off effort.
• The goal does not need to change just because the first approach didn’t land.
• If someone else can do it, the path already exists. 

🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast

Connect with me on LinkedIn and Facebook
Questions for the podcast? [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

This one might hit a little deeper.

Because when things tighten… when clients slow down… when pressure builds…

It’s easy to point to the economy.

But what if the economy isn’t the problem?

What if it’s simply showing you what was already there?

In this episode, Sharon unpacks a powerful insight from The Road Less Stupid — and why pressure doesn’t break your business… it exposes it.

Structure.
 Money.
 Leadership.
 Time.
 Confidence.

The cracks don’t suddenly appear.

They were always there.

Pressure just turns the light on.

In this episode we cover:
• Why pressure is a spotlight, not the cause
• The hidden cracks in your business structure
• What cash pressure reveals about your pricing and decisions
• How leadership shows up under stress
• Why time pressure exposes poor planning (not lack of time)
• The truth about confidence when things feel uncertain
• How to prepare in the good times so you’re not scrambling in the hard ones

This isn’t about fear.

It’s about clarity.

Because once you can see it…
 you can actually fix it.

🎧𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀.
https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast
Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook
Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]

---
👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program

Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook.

Have a question for the podcast? Email [email protected]