Ep. 341: Playing the Marketing Long Game with Katelyn Hamilton

Shannon Mattern: Welcome to episode 341 of Pep Talks for Side Hustlers. And I am so excited to introduce you to today's guest Katelyn Hamilton, who is an online business manager that helps entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize the backend of their business to go from overwhelmed to out in front. Katelyn, thank you so much for being here. Can you share a little bit more with our listeners about you and what you do?

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. I'm so happy to be here. I'm an online business manager and I also am a business coach as well, kind of dabbling into that arena as well since growing my business over the last few years. But mostly I am the right hand woman to people in their businesses. So I work with six figure, seven figure business owners and I essentially am their right-hand woman, their operations lead. I help them manage the day to day backend sort of tasks in their business and manage their team. I also have a team of my own to support me really just to help them stay in their zone of genius. I help them be able to do the things that they're good at, serve their clients well, and then make sure we're keeping the operational things in the backend flowing,

Katelyn Hamilton: organized, things are efficient. There's systems and processes for all that we do and just keep a business running because there's so many things that people don't realize as you start and grow a business that have to happen for it to be sustainable. So that's what I do most of the time. I also help people launch and grow their online businesses as well. Just having done it, having walked through it, that's something that brings me joy because I have found so much freedom and just love for working for myself. And there's different stress that comes with it, but just the relief from not being tied to that corporate world. And I just love helping people break free from that and allow them to be able to do something they're passionate about and be home for whatever reason that may be. And you know, my life's changed over time for sure. But that is what brings me joy, really helping people build the confidence and grow those businesses as well.

Shannon Mattern: Oh my gosh. So that's one of the reasons why I was so excited to have you on the show because I read your journey from like your corporate job to owning your own business, which I want to dive into, but you basically help people have their dream life and run the business that they want to run by helping them with all of the other things that they maybe weren't so passionate about when they decided that they wanted to do this thing for a living and you help make all of that happen. And so I absolutely love that. So let's just kind of dig into your backstory a little bit. Tell me a little bit about how it came to be that you started this business.

Katelyn Hamilton: Yeah. So, back in 2017 I lost my job unexpectedly. And a little bit just about me as a person. I am like Type A, super go getter, very passionate. And while I originally had this thought, you know, we're taught as a society that you're gonna go to college, get the job, climb the corporate ladder. That was very much what I anticipated doing. What I found in the corporate world is that it's not that easy or that simple. And there's a lot of politics behind the scenes. And so for me that was, I think, frustrating as I felt like I was being semi held back. So when I lost my job, 1) that was never in my vision, but it really is what propelled me to figure out what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be and dip my toes into entrepreneurship.

Katelyn Hamilton: And I am an Enneagram 6, and so I love security and I love having a plan. I always have a plan and this was not my plan. So, you know, those feelings surfaced of like, what am I going to do? But over the next six months I was able to connect with people in my network, get freelancing. I worked in the marketing world. I should say marketing and public relations. So, kind of get my feet wet in that arena of doing freelance work. And the biggest thing for me was lack of health care. I was dating someone at the time, not married. So not having a secure job meant trying to figure out the health insurance component. So all of that to say, I did go back to the corporate world. I did take a corporate job again.

Katelyn Hamilton: While my plan was, I launched this awesome corporate marketing agency side business, and I was planning to work for a year to however long I felt secure, so to speak. And then that's what I was going to do full time. And, I launched my website and about six weeks into the new job, that CEO called me into her office and was like take your website down or you can't work here anymore. And I was like, no, excuse me? You know, again, the corporate politics side of things. So I walked out. I said, you know, I've been down this path before. I see the possibilities. I had a very supportive boyfriend, now husband, at the time who was like, we'll figure it out. And I left and I launched my first business, which was a corporate marketing agency. And I feel like you always start in business with what you know, right.

Katelyn Hamilton: So I left the corporate world to start my own business, doing what I knew, which was marketing and PR. I had a handful of clients that I had worked through my network. I'm really big on relationship building and networking. And that's what got me started. And as I dabble more into the entrepreneurship space, I found that there was a need for my skillset outside of just marketing and PR. I'm very organized. I'm very systems driven. I like learning tools to be more efficient, to create more automations for you and your business. I had never heard of an OBM. I'd never heard of an online business manager until I dove into these entrepreneurship type groups. I saw a need for that, for more of that in the online space. I hired a mentor who did that and was now coaching other people to do the same.

Katelyn Hamilton: And I launched a second business, basically. I launched a business doing exactly this OBM work and that took off. So I hired this mentor who helped me figure out what and how to grow that business and what those systems that I could help my clients set up were. And it was awesome just to feel that evolution of like, this is exactly what I'm meant to be. So, you know, kind of merging all of my skillsets together through the marketing and corporate sort of world and being able to transition that to help people in the online space.

Shannon Mattern: I love that. I can totally relate to that journey. Not the take your website down or you're fired. I had a really supportive boss when I was growing my side hustle. So that was like, thank goodness. But I tried to hide it for a long time cause I was afraid that would happen. And I think a lot of people here also try to do that. They live a double life, you know, where they're like, Oh, I'm secretly doing this business on the side cause I'm afraid my employer's going to find out and I'm going to get fired. And what I love about your story is you're just like, I've been down this road before, clearly, like this isn't secure. I can count on me to go out and make this happen.

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. And if you think back to what's been the last year of 2020, I have watched countless friends lose their jobs and the so secure job they thought they had wasn't so secure anymore. And I grew my business 35% last year. It just made me feel so good to know that like there is security in entrepreneurship. While it may not feel like that at first, you have the ability to create the success that you want. And I think people don't always know that or they don't feel that. They feel strapped or tied to that 9-5 where it does take kind of a little bit of blind faith to make the job sometimes. And you're never going to be a 100% ready to do it. Because it never will feel like you have enough saved or you're secure enough. But I think there's security in its own way. And to me, that's what 2020 has also reinforced and taught me is that I have built my own security in this business.

Shannon Mattern: I couldn't agree more with you. I feel like even though when I quit my day job, my business was making the same amount of money that I was bringing home from my corporate job at the time, I still had not built the confidence in myself that I know without a shadow of the doubt that I will figure this out no matter what. I still had that fear. I still was like kind of putting that faith outside of myself in other people's marketing tactics and courses and trainings and all of the things. I was like a scared course taker, you know, trying to just make sure that I didn't lose everything. And I think the security came when I finally realized Oh, I can count on myself. I know that no matter what, I will not give up on myself.

Shannon Mattern: I know that I will figure it out no matter what. I don't have to put my faith in someone else or something else, like a course or a training or a strategy that could change tomorrow to grow this business. And I think when that changed, everything changed. And I also feel like one of the things that I really resonate with you is the relationship building. When you know how to market yourself outside of all the tactics and the shiny objects and the algorithms and all of that, business building gets a lot more certain, I guess. What do you think about that?

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. I mean, that's the one thing that I have built in the beginning of starting my business. How am I going to find clients? What am I going to do? And again, I went back to my network. I went back to the people that I knew and their circle and used that to grow my initial business. I hired a mentor because she connected me with people as well. And I think relationships, having quality relationships, and the ability to grow those really will serve everybody well. Because now I'm at a place in my business where I can actually give an example. I only take on a certain amount of OBM clients at once because I am very, like I mentioned, very involved in their business. And I feel like I am a part of their business and while it is totally their business, I know the depths of their business just as well as they do at times.

Katelyn Hamilton: And I think, for me, it feels good to have fewer clients that I can really dive into. And so I'm very selective in who I take on. So I just had a client that recently let me know that she needed to transition out for her own personal reasons. And I had an opening and I'm also about to have a baby. So for me it was a moment of panic of, okay, what are we doing? What should I do? What's the best option to take? I filled that spot within a few days. Like it just worked out. I have an amazing team that is supporting me through maternity leave. And I literally didn't even have to blink. Like the lead came right into me. I have a waitlist as well. And I just was able to take those relationships, take the audience that I've built, the network that I've built, the relationship I've built. It actually came from a referral from another client of mine and use that to my advantage, to hold the opening. So I am always a fan of continuing to build and deepen and connect with other people because you don't know how you can serve each other and what that relationship will be a year from now, a month from now, five years from now, in any capacity. You know, whether it's business related or not. So to me building relationships, not only with my clients, but also within my audience is really important. And I show up and give value every day online, through podcasts, through my stories on Instagram, like all of those places. Because I think that is truly to me at the core, having relationships with roots. When I started my marketing agency, one of my taglines was like, I'm marketing a agency and we build relationships with roots. Because it's more than just surface level that grows your business. So I think that's extremely important.

Shannon Mattern: I think what I heard you say is that even though you have a full client roster and a waitlist, you are still showing up and giving value. And you're not like, Oh, you know, I'm good, I'm booked out. I'm going to go away and not do podcasts and not show up on my stories and not build relationships. You're still doing all of those things, even though you are booked out. And I think that's something that people think, Oh, marketing is something like I can stop doing once I, as a service provider, get booked out or something that eventually will become passive income, and search engine optimization will just send me all my traffic and I'll never have to do anything ever again. And I think it's because maybe they think it's harder than it is, or it has to be disingenuous or, you know, you're handing out business cards and trying to sell people or something.

Katelyn Hamilton: "It's so complicated". And I can say, obviously I have a background in marketing. So I've learned a lot of this along the way, too, just in my overall career. But that's also a benefit I feel like I bring to my clients. I help them too alongside their marketing plans, not just in the business and operations side of things, because I feel like I'm a successful marketer in general. And so marketing and sales, that doesn't have to feel sleazy. It's truly about sharing value, giving value and building relationships. And I talk a lot about the building the know, like and trust factor through your marketing, because if you're doing that, people remember that. Marketing on all platforms, in my opinion, is not a quick sort of fast track to getting clients or getting results. I preach the long game and it's showing up consistently because what you're doing today may be fruitful for you three months from now, or six months from now. And sure, like during launch periods or things like that, you can go heavier on the sales and the marketing element to fill a program. But in terms of general marketing to your audience and building your audience and generating those long term leads, marketing is a consistent everyday thing. And you kind of have to just show up if you want to grow your business.

Shannon Mattern: So, so good. And back when I was first starting out, because it was my side hustle, I was afraid of the thing that happened to you, which was, basically, being given the choice of do you want to keep working here or do you want to, you know..... I'm like, I'm not ready to run my own business yet. I would have been fine, but I was scared. I tried to hide behind my laptop and do things that I didn't have to put myself out there. I also didn't understand that marketing was just me letting you know how I can help you. I thought it was like, Oh, I have to sell myself. I have to convince you. I have to, you know, ugh! And it just no wonder people don't want to do it, you know? And so I think of it just the same way. I understand your problem. Here's the solution. Here's all of the information you need to know if I'm the right person for you, or not. If not cool. If yes, let's do it.

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. I mean, people get so caught up in finding your audience or niching down or making sure of that enoughness. Say they're a business coach. There's so many other business coaches! That scarcity mindset in a way. And I'm like, yeah, but your client, your ideal client is going to be inspired by and connected to you and your story and your offerings and how you're sharing that information. So to me, it doesn't even matter. Like it's not even about necessarily the selling. When I do my content, I share two promo posts a week and the rest of my content is all centered around value add, and I give a ton of value. And those promotional type posts, some of them are designed for my freebie. It's not always a direct, in your face, sales approach. Again, I find when you give value consistently, that's what people are attracted to and care about and want to come back to you for and will remember you for that. So you're almost doing your own sales and leads generate in its own way. And you don't always have to be selling, you know?

Shannon Mattern: And then you have a client that's like, our time is done and you have a freak out moment. And you don't even need to because you have people who are like, Oh my God, she finally has a spot open. You better get it now while you can get it because it's not going to last. And that's the kind of business that you want. And I coach web designers. So I coach web designers to get clients, run their businesses, and like you, some of them want to work at scale, right. Some of them want to help a lot of clients with shorter term projects, VIP days, intensives, things like that. And some of them on a mix of longer term projects. And some of them want to, like you, have some longer term, deep, long relationships. And I think the fear there is Oh, but if I go all in with this client on a longer term capacity, what if this big chunk of money goes away? And it's like, if you're still consistently doing all the things that got you the first client, you're going to have one just waiting in line for you when you finally have that open spot.

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. And I think from a mindset perspective too, that's something I've learned over the years and taken a lot into account as doing personal development work and knowing and trusting that 1) the universe is going to show up for you when you need it. And 2) having that confidence and belief that next client is right there. They're going to walk in the door. And everybody has that momentary like freak out moment. I think it's second nature. I have the tools, the mindset tools, to come back to the fact that it always works out perfectly for me. Right? It always works out perfectly. The next client always shows up and walks in the door. This door closing is just an opportunity for something better to come along, or more aligned to come along at that next phase of your business. Right? So I always think about that. And to be honest with you, I haven't onboarded a new client, I don't think, since early last fall because, like I said, I've just filled and remained with those clients for such a long period of time. And I think that when you have to do that again, you get that momentary freak out. But I always trust that it's going to work out for me.

Shannon Mattern: So you mentioned you've done a lot of personal development work. You mentioned scarcity mindset earlier, and those types of things. I personally did not realize that building my business was going to be this exercise in personal growth and development that it has been. Can you share a little bit more about some of the work that you've done to get to this point? I'm always fascinated by that.

Katelyn Hamilton: Yeah. So to be completely honest, when I was still working in the corporate world, back in 2015, I joined an MLM. I joined Beach Body and that was the first time I was actually introduced to personal development. My mindset has done a 180 total shift. I was very, unknowingly, a negative Nancy, worst case scenario. Always thinking like what's going to happen if...? Definitely scarcity mindset. She hit this goal first. Now I'm not going to hit it. And I don't know why I naturally just thought that way.

Shannon Mattern: I'm nodding over here. You guys can't see me because it's a podcast, but I'm like, yes, that was me also.

Katelyn Hamilton: So for me, I love health and fitness. I grew up playing sports and being really active. And going to college and then going into the corporate world, your lifestyle changes and that has to look different for you. And so I found this at home mechanism to work out and get healthy. And I still do home workouts and I love them. But that turned into so much more for me because one of the pillars was personal development. And so the first book I read was You're a Badass by Jen Sincero. And it was just the start of this totally transformative journey of empowerment and self-empowerment and realizing that I had the control. I was no longer a victim and there was no longer victim mentality.

Katelyn Hamilton: And I'm not saying it transitioned overnight. But that was the start of what led me down this path. And I read so many different books, like Compound Effect, The Slight Edge, Fail Forward, John Maxwell, just tons and tons of books. And now I have like hundreds of books. I listen to Audible. Right now I'm listening to Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty. I don't know if I'm saying that right. But, I mean, it's such a great book. So for me, I have really prioritized it because even when you don't think it's important, don't think it applies to you, don't think it's working or you think it sounds crazy or ridiculous, I promise you, it's seeping into you. And you start to notice when situations come up you're starting to think about them maybe in a different way. Your instinct isn't to go to negative Nancy.

Katelyn Hamilton: So for me, I think, I did a lot of that work internally. And I won't say it was like any sort of light bulb moment. I think it was just consistently prioritizing reading or listening to those books that helped me kind of change how I looked at situations. And again, coming back to the point of everything's working out for me. So I write out affirmations that are empowering for me. I do a fear inventory. What am I afraid of? What are my biggest concerns? And then I write out what the benefit or positive could be from those concerns. And I think we're constantly growing and evolving. Like Jay just mentioned in Think Like a Monk, talking a lot about fear and how you can use fear as an indicator of actual alarm and distress, like if your house is on fire, that's something that is good for you. But a lot of times we're taught and conditioned to run from fear, that fear is bad when really it's not. You have to kind of sit with it and analyze what is that fear teaching me? Is it something that I actually need to lean into and dive deeper into why I'm feeling that way and covering those things? So, anyways, I think that kind of defines my journey through personal development. And I think for me, it was just pushing past some of those fears, internally asking myself why I was so triggered by that. And I think that has helped me a lot in business because you work with all sorts of clients, you get all sorts of reactions from people over time. And it's helped me in my personal life with relationships, with friends, with my family to say okay, this person's triggered. It's not me, it's them and their own issue. And it's helps me learn how to cope with people. How to communicate better with people and how to use that to my advantage to push past those roadblocks you have in your business and your life. We are always going to have hard times. I know people experienced a lot of that in 2020. We were always faced with something. And I can look back at every year for the last three, four or five years and tell you what crap happened in those years. But also I can tell you how they changed me and how they helped me grow to the next level version of me. So I am a huge proponent of personal development, mindset work and diving into what those triggers are for you and how you can uncover them and how you can release them and work through them to become the best version of yourself.

Shannon Mattern: I could listen to talk about that. I am super passionate about that too, because the moment that I realized Oh, things are going to happen and I get to decide how I think about them. I get to decide what I make it mean. I get to decide what actions I take. Nobody gets to dictate to me any of this. There was no one light bulb moment, like you said, that led to that. It was a lot of podcast listening, reading, studying. Just really immersing myself. And coaching and all of that type of thing to lead me to the place where if this feels hard, it's because I'm thinking something that's making it feel hard. And so what is that? What t is making me afraid? What am I thinking that's making me feel afraid? What am I thinking that's making me think this is hard? What am I thinking that's making me feel so guilty about this being so easy sometimes when you do hit those strides. And then just to realize Oh, it's always something I'm thinking. And if it's something I'm thinking, what do I believe that's making me think that. And is that even true? And, you know, questioning everything.

Katelyn Hamilton: Yes. The true thing is I think the biggest. I asked myself that all the time and I tell my clients this all the time. My mom makes fun of me for saying this, but I truly believe that. What are my truths? What is the truth in this situation? What is actually something that I can go back to or tell myself that it's true versus the lies or the assumption that I'm making up in my head or don't know, right? What are the truths in this situation? And that, to me alone, it brings you back to being present. I think that is the number one thing it does for you?

Shannon Mattern: Yeah. It's like, if you're in business and you make an offer and someone doesn't buy it, you could make that mean that you're terrible. Your business idea sucks. You are fraud. You shouldn't even be doing this. Or you could make it mean that, huh, they decided not to buy it. I wonder why, what their reasons were. Maybe I should ask them and get some information that could help me make this offer, improve this offer in the future. Because what I used to do back in the day and be like, Oh, you know, I'm gonna sell this thing. And if it didn't sell, I was like, Ugh. Now just start all over instead, because there was something wrong with me. Instead of Oh, maybe it really had nothing to do with me. The timing wasn't right for them. Literally it could have been the price was fine, everything was fine. I would assume people couldn't afford it. Like, all the things I was operating with just projecting them onto other people. And when I stopped doing that, business got a whole lot easier, Imagine that.

Katelyn Hamilton: Yeah. And you can take their response too and make it mean something like, Oh, well, you know, I didn't send a follow-up email so they went with somebody else. Or you can say, okay, well that wasn't the client that was meant for me at that time. Next time I'll make sure I always send the follow-up email. You know, that's something that I think you can beat yourself up about. Like, Oh, if I had just charged $50 less. Or if I had just done XYZ. But to me, at the end of the day, now I come back to the fact that if that happens to me in any capacity I'm like, okay, well, they're not my ideal client right now. And they will be a better fit or a better match for somebody else. And I will have that space open for somebody else to walk in and be that fit for me. So I think you can always ask yourself what does that mean? What does this mean? And explore that because you get to decide what you make it mean and how you choose to accept it or not accept it and how that makes you feel, you know?

Shannon Mattern: Yeah. And just even what you said there, you have to know yourself and your standards. And even if you could have lowered your prices by $50 to get that client, do you want to? Or do you want to have the business that you want to have with the terms that you want to have and design everything to not only serve your client really well, but serve yourself really well and have a sustainable, thriving, profitable business, instead of basically turning yourself back into an employee who takes orders from your clients. Which that was me at the beginning of my web design business.

Katelyn Hamilton: Yeah, absolutely. My coach talks a lot about trade-offs. It's the trade off. Either you take the client and you take the reduced rate or whatever it may be, if you feel like you want or need the business, or you're trading off passing on that client but protecting your energy or protecting your boundaries or whatever it may be. There's always a trade off for what you decide and you get to make that decision. But to me, what I have found is the more I stick to my boundaries and the more that I do things that are aligned with my energy and how I'm feeling, the better it feels. Because if you sacrifice those things, that's the trade off, right? And you agree to a lower rate or you agreed to whatever it is that maybe you're not a hundred percent aligned to, you're going to either resent that client, or you're not going to enjoy the work that you're doing. Because you made a trade off that wasn't aligned with who you are. So that's another thing. You can't just be about the sale. That brings in the money mindset. And there's so much more you can unpack there. But it's really making sure that you are aligned to that because you have to move forward and be okay with whatever decision you make and that will affect your energy and how you're showing up and serving your clients as well.

Shannon Mattern: Mm. So good. So I want to circle back to how you support your clients. I know you have some longer-term clients. You also do some coaching and some intensives and things like that. Why does someone come to work with someone like you in their business? What's that transformation look like for them when they come to you and then after you have been working with them?

Katelyn Hamilton: Most of the time they're overwhelmed. And it can be business owners, like I said, across the board. So, working with people, 1) from a coaching capacity, is they're getting started in their business. They don't really know where to start, what to do first, what to do next, what's fruitful. I think there's a million different ways you can run a business and I'm going to have different ideas than somebody else. But they're looking for that guidance and support from someone who's been there before. So maybe they are newer in business, just starting a business, or they've been in their business a little bit, but they haven't figured out how to uplevel, so to speak. That's my target audience in terms of business coaching. And so basically I help them navigate that, help them figure out what they need to do next, how they need to show up what will be fruitful for them.

Katelyn Hamilton: Usually it does involve setting up some sort of systems or foundational elements to free up your time. You either have extra time or money. And if you can get back some of that time, then you can go out and make more money. So, usually the transformation through coaching is really just kind of feeling empowered and getting to that next step and having somebody, as a business owner you work so much by yourself, to bounce ideas off of, somebody that's walked through that before that can help guide you to that next phase of your business.

Katelyn Hamilton: For intensives, I call them systems with speed. It's really centered around setting up systems in your business that you don't have. So kinds of foundational elements. Or maybe you have a system, but it's not optimized. And I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs, I would say. So people that don't have that Type A organized brain and so they have all the ideas floating around of stuff they want to do, or what they actually do for their clients, but they don't know how to structure it in a way that works for them that's efficient for them. And they spend a lot of time operationally on the backend responding to emails, going back and forth to set up calls, onboarding a new client. So those intensives are full day accelerator type programs. So I spent a whole day in your business and we'd get on a call beforehand, to understand what you're lacking, figure out the systems you need to put into place. Usually it's some sort of onboarding system. I'm a huge fan of Dubsado. That is what I use from start to finish. And I also pair that with Acuity. So an automatic scheduling tool certainly kind of partnered with this platform, Dubsado, that allows you to set up workflows and automations to truly just transform the efficiency level in your business. So setting up emails, even if you don't have like a workflow that standard. I work with people that are designers. Actually my latest client as we speak, is a website designer. I've worked with a modeling agency, coaching clients. Like literally across the spectrum to help you create that SOP or whatever that looks like, and then use those systems to support you in doing so. So it's very systems oriented. It's really centered around the people that want help getting those foundations set up, but they don't need the long-term support. So I give them the start. I set the systems up for them. I leave them with videos for how to use that system so they save the time of having to figure it out for themselves and getting it set up. But they now have those videos to refer back to if they need to make changes or adjustments. And it allows them to be able to move forward with those kind of foundations.

Katelyn Hamilton: Then my OBM clients are, again, typically more of your six and seven figure type clients. You're making solid money in your business. Maybe you have a virtual assistant, couple of virtual assistants. Maybe you have a few team members. Maybe you have a full team of 20 plus people. And sometimes it does take a little bit more organization and system revamps. Those people have grown maybe from six to seven figures very quickly, or six figures to multiple six figures quickly. And they don't have everything set up in an efficient way. They've gotten by with support from a virtual assistant or something like that. And now they need more structure. They need more processes and they need somebody to help manage their team because they are now trying to do all of the things and serve their clients. So those clients really want somebody to help them get more organized, help them stay on track and be accountable to what they need to get done, make sure deadlines are met within the team. Make sure clients are being communicated with. There's a huge client care component to that as well. It can really go all across the board. Everything you think of in business - marketing, content marketing, social media efforts, design - managing all of those pieces. That is what I do. That's like my day-to-day to make sure that everything is moving forward and nothing is being dropped. And there are smooth processes being sort of implemented across the board. So when they are done, and usually those people don't end up finishing. Those are my really long-term clients, but the goal is that they're feeling more organized, efficient, streamlined, less stresses on their plate, and they're allowed to serve their clients better. So that's the three sort of different areas of my business.

Shannon Mattern: I was just thinking is she talking to me when she's talking about this, what she does in the business, for the OBM? Because you get to a certain point, like me, where you're doing the role of the OBM, and you're running your team and you're making sure that they know all of the things that they need to be doing. And I prioritize that. I prioritize making sure that they have what they need to do their stuff. And then I'm like, crap, now I need to do my stuff, you know? And so it's like almost figuring out okay, now when am I going to do my thing? Cause you're running the show for them. And especially like a Type A person like me, who's like, Oh great, I'm my own OBM. But at some point I become bottleneck in my own business because I am wearing all of those hats. So, I think for someone like me, I'm super organized. I've got all the processes, but now I'm the one like running the show. But who's doing the content creation that only I can do. And who's doing all that stuff while I'm running this business here. And so that's a really interesting point that I'm finding myself in now where it's like, okay, now I'm working again, as we entrepreneurs do, two full-time jobs being the content creator and then the person running the business. And so that's kind of like, there's always this new crossroads that we find ourselves at, right?

Katelyn Hamilton: You're always evolving and there's always going to be a new challenge. And I'm to that point as well. I'm going on maternity leave here the next few weeks. And that has been something for me that I'm looking at myself and I'm trying to find the time to prep for that in my own business and be really intentional while also training my teams to support my clients while I'm out. And I'm obviously very organized, like I said, super Type A. So I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure that everybody knows what they're doing and knows how they can serve my clients in a way that I do. So I put a lot of effort into training my team for that, but in the same breath I look back and I'm like, okay, how am I going to have content that goes out for the two, three months that I'm out? What am I doing in my own business to make sure that leads are still coming in. How am I doing that? What's that look like ? To have those backend tasks that if I want to step away completely, I have to let go. So I think I'm finding myself in my own shoes in that position as I come back to this business in a different season with a newborn, how can I take more off my plate? And part of that will be outsourcing more to an OBM that can probably help me manage team and client stuff and things like that. Because that will allow me to continue to show up and give value, continue to create new opportunities because I am booked out for my OBM work. So I can do intensives, which are one day accelerators, but I don't like to do more than a couple of those every month. So those tend to fill up. And then business coaching. So that's an arm of my business I definitely want to grow as I have the new baby, because that feels the best and easiest for me in a way to continue to grow my business. So, yeah, a lot has gone into this next season and you're always looking ahead at what that next challenge is and how you can adapt and still show up as yourself, but also continue to grow. And I think you are, and probably a lot of people listening are, high achievers and that is something that I think we're constantly, I don't want to say plagued with because that sounds so negative, but just encountering is how do we continue to grow while also still maintaining or being able to have that life, that freedom, the opportunity that we wanted. And I think that's where I'm at because I've built this business for three years.

Katelyn Hamilton: And my goal was to have the freedom and flexibility to stay home with my kids. And this my firstborn child. My husband has a son from his first marriage who is nine. And I do plan the mom life when we have him as well and doing all the things and juggling it. And I know it's a lot and we're adding a newborn to the mix. So how do you transition into that next chapter, have that level of freedom and flexibility, because I am somebody that loves my work and I can definitely get entangled in my work, but I have to remind myself that this is what I've built that business for. So how do you get even more efficient? And I will say that that's another thing people come to me for is like, Hey, I want more time back.

Katelyn Hamilton: So I need to outsource. And that's what I help with, right? So it's challenging me to do that in my own way, in this next season to make sure that I'm giving myself the reason, the why, of starting this business, to have that freedom and flexibility. Which in my first year was great. I traveled. Man, I miss traveling. I traveled so much. I think I took 50 plus days "off", but I worked at a business that allowed me to do that. And in this new season, my time off is giving me that freedom and flexibility to be present with my son. So I think that you're always evolving. You're always figuring it out and there's always a way to be more efficient and to have the support and to outsource more, to be able to do that in whatever season that is for you, because every season is going to bring something different, you know?

Shannon Mattern: Uh, that is so good. And you said something that just kind of like hit me. It was how do I let go? You know, how do I let go? Because I want to. I want to reap the benefits of this business that I've created. And I know that I'm the only one putting all of this pressure on myself. And then if I would figure out how to let go and trust someone else to do a better job than I can then I guess the next step for me is like, well, what will I even do with that time? So it's a journey. It really is. And gosh, I have had so much fun talking to you. We are just about out of time, but I feel like I could continue this conversation. We could continue to talk about all of these things, but I want to ask you a question that I ask everybody that comes on the podcast. And that is what belief about yourself did you have to change to get where you are today?

Katelyn Hamilton: Oh yeah, for me, I think the hardest lesson I had to learn was that I can do it all, but I can't do it all necessarily at once. And I'm capable of whatever I want to do and whatever I put my mind to, but I can't be everything for everyone. Right? So I am very skilled in different areas. But, I'm not going to appeal to everyone. And I really have just learned about myself and about the energy I'm putting off and who I'm attracting and the ideal client I want to work with. And that's taken a lot of trial and error too. But it's really, I can show up as me and I don't have to be anybody else. I don't have to, even if I can do something, if I don't like doing it or I don't want to do it or whatever it is, I don't have to be that person. You know, I can just show up and do what I'm meant to do, be who I'm meant to be, serve the client I want. And I don't have to be it all to everyone. Getting over that a people pleaser mentality for me has been huge. And just being confident in who I am, my skillset, what I bring to the table and letting the rest go. I think that's the number one lesson that I continue to learn, letting go of more and more in whatever season that is.

Shannon Mattern: Uh, so good and the perfect place to wrap up our episode. Can you let everyone know where they can go to connect with you and just learn more about what you do?

Katelyn Hamilton: Absolutely. So my website is www.katelynehamilton.com. And you can find it on Instagram as well @KatelynEHamilton is my handle. I show up there very frequently in Stories. On my website you can grab my freebie, which is basically going to teach you the strategy I use to get organized in my business. And check out my Intensive offerings. They are definitely available to be booked, and business coaching consults as well. So be sure to check on my website for kind of all of that information.

Shannon Mattern: Awesome. We'll link all of that stuff in the show notes. You guys can go check that out at shannonmattern.com/341. Katelyn, thank you so much for being here. I really enjoyed talking to you today.

Katelyn Hamilton: I did as well. Thanks so much for having me.