From passion project to financial security, with Rachel Huff-Doria

Rachel Huff-Doria 0:02

Like, I need to shift and have control over who my clients are. I want to have control over how I get paid and how often and again, like that year, it kind of just eventually worked out. But I was like, I don't think I can rely on things to just keep working out for me.

Leah Neaderthal 0:18

Welcome to the smart gets paid. Podcast with me. Leah Neaderthal, I help women land higher paying clients in their independent consulting businesses, but I've never been a salesperson. My background is in corporate marketing, and when I started my first consulting business, I learned pretty quickly that it's about 1000 times harder to sell your own stuff than it is to sell someone else's so I taught myself how to do it, and I created the sales approach that I now share with my clients so they can feel more comfortable in the sales process. Get more of the right clients and get paid way more for every client contract. So whether your client contracts are $5,000 $100,000 or more, if you want to work with more of the clients you love, do more of the work you love and get paid more than you ever thought you could, then you're in the right place. Let's do it together. Thanks for tuning in, and don't forget to rate, review and share. Hey there, Leah here, and thanks for tuning in. I hope wherever you're listening to this, wherever you are right now. I hope you're having a great week, making some good progress in your business and taking some time for you. So a few episodes ago, Episode 126, if you want to go back and listen, I did an episode called if you didn't mean to start a business, but here you are, because I'd been hearing for really, like for the past few years, from a lot of women consultants who told me that they didn't actually mean to start a consulting business, but they maybe taken on some projects, then they'd taken on some more work, and then a few years into it, they realized like they actually did have a business. And in that episode, I talked about this strange Limbo you can be in where you're effectively running a business, but you're not treating it like a business. And I talked about what it means to actually decide to treat your consulting work like a real business, not a passion project, not a side thing, or not something where you're just sort of seeing how it goes like a real business. And that episode really resonated with a lot of folks, and so today, in this episode, I want to show you what it actually looks like, like? What happens when someone makes that decision for real? Like to start treating their business like a business? What changes? What gets hard, what gets better, and what's possible? On the other side today, I'm talking to Rachel Huff Doria, who's a consultant based in Missoula, Montana, who works with civic and nonprofit leaders to help them build alignment, build capacity, and develop actionable plans to guide change. And when Rachel Leah first connected, she was doing, you know, good work, and she had clients, but she was really thinking about her consulting more like a creative passion project than a business, she was sort of, you know, waiting for work to come to her. But I would say she wasn't really, and she would say this too, she wasn't really, like in the driver's seat, but, you know, work had come to her up to that point, so she was just sort of going with it. And then when a couple of her potential projects got delayed at the same time, it was kind of a wake up call that, you know, just because things had worked out up to that point, that some things don't last forever. So she made a decision to start treating her business more like a business. And in this episode, you're going to hear what happened next. You'll hear how Rachel went from reactive to proactive, from sort of waiting to see what came her way to actually building a pipeline and moving her business forward. You'll hear how she nearly doubled her revenue without adding more hours. You'll learn how she and her husband hit their family's annual savings goal six months early. And you'll hear why she says that before she didn't realize it, but a lot of business was probably falling through the cracks simply because she wasn't set up to catch it. So take a listen to my conversation with Rachel. Huff Doria, and at the end, I'll come back and share a lesson that you can apply to your business, and then hopefully someday soon, you'll partner with us to help you build your consulting business, and you'll come back on the podcast and share your story. Enjoy, Rachel, thanks so much for being here. Yeah, thanks for having me. Leah, why don't we start at the beginning and just tell the good people who you are and what you do?

Rachel Huff-Doria 4:29

Sure. So my name is Rachel haftdia, and I help civic and nonprofit leaders build alignment capacity and actionable plans to guide change.

Leah Neaderthal 4:39

I love it. Who are civic leaders, who are like your actual clients? Yes.

Rachel Huff-Doria 4:44

So I work with a lot of nonprofit organizations and place based organizations, and I also work with municipal agencies. Ooh, I love it. I mean, sort of doing the good work on the ground, everything local. I love. Mm. Where are you based? I am in beautiful Missoula, Montana. I've lived here for 10 years and moved from West Virginia, so I've always kind of been in the mountains, yeah, right,

Leah Neaderthal 5:10

from one mountain range to another. What did you do before this work? How did you get into this work?

Rachel Huff-Doria 5:17

I originally started in West Virginia. I worked with a reproductive health and justice organization. I was doing organizing work. Moved into organizing, coalition building advocacy. I then moved to Montana, and I was the executive director of an organization that was focused on building power with and for young people. And then I left that organization after having my first child, and started doing freelance work, which is what eventually turned into my business.

Leah Neaderthal 5:52

So you weren't out there being like, I want to start a business. I am an entrepreneur. You just sort of like, took a few steps, and here you are. And how long ago was that

Rachel Huff-Doria 6:01

that was right before covid consultants were certainly happening in the nonprofit space. But it was like, right before, I would say, like, we've seen a lot of people shift into consulting. So it was a total shift, for sure, having a new baby, having covid Start, and then starting to do freelance work. And it really wasn't until I came to the program that I actually thought of myself as a business, and was transitioning more to like, Oh, I am a small business, and shifting that mindset,

Leah Neaderthal 6:34

yeah, I

Rachel Huff-Doria 6:35

just for a moment, was like, brought back to covid times, because my son was also six months when covid started, and taking on all of that at that time, looking back, I mean, wasn't that insane? Oh yeah, it was a, it was a wild time, I mean, and it was so often too. It's, it's fascinating, because, like, I immediately loved the freelance work I was doing. And at the same time, I was constantly being like, Should I leave? Should I just, like, take care of my child? Should I stop doing this? Like, what am I doing? And so there was a lot of brain back and forth those first few years of what is going on. How am I spending my time? Type of

Leah Neaderthal 7:15

thinking, yeah, yeah. It's a whole swirl really well. So fast forward to when we met each other, which I think we were put together. I think I think Caitlin couple put us in touch, right?

Rachel Huff-Doria 7:29

She did. Yes. A friend of mine had connected with Caitlin, which I knew Caitlin previously from some work. I think Caitlin was like, oh, yeah, I know, Leah, you should definitely connect with her. I was

Leah Neaderthal 7:39

like, Okay, love Caitlin. Hi, Caitlin, if you're listening to this, well, so what was it that, if you can remember back, like, what was it that you were saying, or what was sort of going on, where she was like, Oh, my, you have to talk to Leah. I mean, I sort of like to ask people like you reach out to us for a reason, like, what were the reasons?

Rachel Huff-Doria 8:01

And I would say too, a big connecting point was actually listening to your podcast and going through and it was like I didn't know that I needed the program yet, and I didn't know that I needed you. And the biggest shift in my brain was I was going through this really long, kind of, like discovery period in consulting, where I was like, this is interesting, kind of, like exploring a passion, and that's how I thought of my work. And then I started shifting into like, oh, like, this is a business. How am I, like, sustaining a business in I remember talking to Caitlin. She was really focused on the building of a business. And I was like, okay, like, maybe I'm interested in that. But I really wasn't even, like, when I talked to you, I don't think I was like, 100% there yet that, like, this is definitely what I want to build. And then the interesting thing after I talked to you, I actually had this period, like, work had just kind of worked out, if that makes sense, like I always had enough clients. I had repeat clients. Like it was, it kind of like moved fluidly into one thing into another. And I was really afraid of protecting my capacity. Like it was, like my biggest thing is, I wanted to protect my free time, in my time, like with my family above all else. And so I was really kind of like afraid of expanding my business, but between, like, talking to you the first time and then actually going to do the program, I had all of my work lined up, and then it just like, one project was delayed for an entire year, another project was delayed six months, and I was like, Oh my God, if this is not why I need this program like, it was like a kind of, like, a huge wake up call of like, I was already shifting into seeing like it makes sense to run a business and to have a longer term vision and more stability in the way that you're doing projects and getting. Paid for projects. I often worked as a sub consultant at times to planning firms who were then working with different agencies or organizations, and you just realized like, this isn't actually ideally what I want to do. This is kind of like I need to shift and have control over who my clients are. I want to have control over how I get paid and how often, and again, like that year, it kind of just eventually worked out. But I was like, I don't think I can rely on things to just keep working out for me.

Leah Neaderthal 10:32

I think that's a huge realization. And you know, a lot of people do come to that, whether it's like, because something happens right, like the bottom drops out of a bunch of potential clients, or you just sort of get a sense, but, you know, it's like, if things have worked out up to this point, that's not a replicable strategy, right? And you know, whether you want to be a business, you know, air quotes, like a big business, or a big girl business, or you just want to keep sort of going along, as you are, like you always used to say, like trusting the universe is not a strategy, and that's a strategy that I think a lot of people are relying on whether they know it or not.

Rachel Huff-Doria 11:10

And I think it was just one of those things too. It was like I was waiting for people to reach out to me, and that works, but it's also like it's really reactive. I'm not guiding necessarily the work I want to do, you know, and I might put that out there, but it was like, my own network didn't know what I was doing because I didn't tell anybody, and I didn't post anything on LinkedIn, and I never, like, sent anyone like information about it. But it was just it was really obvious to me that it was like, you need to, kind of like, rip the band aid and start doing some of those things, or, like, you can kind of do it the same way you've done it, and maybe that was okay for me in that time period and what I needed then. But if you actually want to, like, build something, if you want to get continue to be really, really good at the things that you do, and keep doing those, you need to shift and have more time to do that, and be more specific with who you're working with, like, I'm a big person of like, I need to know where I'm going before I can get there. And so I was like, I needed, like, the help in defining that vision and then building that plan to do that.

Leah Neaderthal 12:16

Yeah, and you mentioned a fear that I hear from a lot of women, which is, you know, if I expand my business, if I even invest in turning this into a business business, or, you know, thinking of it as a business business, or if I try to get more clients, or try to make more money, or whatever, I'm going to sacrifice time for myself, time for my family, or what have you I mean, was that the only thing You were afraid of. I mean, what else might have been keeping you from, like, feeling like this was a business?

Rachel Huff-Doria 12:47

Yeah, I think that was definitely a big one. Was the capacity the time, the workload. There's also, like a stress factor, I think of, you know, moving from having working with just one or two clients to, oh my gosh, now I have more to manage. I, you know, I've managed an organization before. I've managed staff members before. Like, I didn't want to necessarily become an executive director again, but to a business like that's a similar size, etc. And one of the things that's funny, because I look back at some of the goals of like, coming to this program, and there's things about more pay security. Further out, there's streamlining systems. And then it was pushing me to share what I was doing, essentially. And I think that was really hard of just saying I own a business, and here is what I do, and feeling comfortable with it like it's something I'm constantly still trying to feel comfortable about, and I know we've had conversations about social media and things like that, but like that is hard for me to show up in those spaces. Like, it's not an easy thing for me to do. Yeah, I

Leah Neaderthal 13:52

think a lot of women struggle with it, and frankly, I did too. If you had seen me 10 years ago, like I would be nowhere. I would not be online at all. You know, what do you think that's about? I mean, if you have to guess, and we don't have to do therapy here, but like, what do you think that's about?

Rachel Huff-Doria 14:07

I think there's probably a couple things at play when I think about why I didn't email everybody I knew and just shared with them what I was doing. I think some of it is like a bit of and I wouldn't even say perfectionism, but I certainly carry like a bit of a fear of failure, of like going out and saying, I'm doing this thing, and then if there's any indication that I've ever made an error in any way, or I'm not doing it to like a standard that I want to be doing it, the fear of failing, or the fear of like not being accountable to your community or your clients or something like that is, like, really heavy on me. Like, it's really heavy. So it's almost easier not to, like, put your name out there and like, what you're doing and why you're doing it, because there's like, this, well, what if I can't live up to that? And so it's, it's scary to do that, yeah, like, if nobody knows about it, you can't fit. Feel at it, right? Yeah, it's like, I'm just doing this thing, and I'm just committed to like this. You know, small thing that's happening. It's individual, but, yeah, it's, it's scary to put it out there. And then social media, I think, for me, has always felt so permanent, like I look back at the things I wrote on Facebook when I was 18, and I thought it was just like my college roommate in the dorm next door, and it's like, it's silly, it's absurd. Oh, but now everyone in my whole life can read that, and so I think there's like, this barrier when I'm thinking of social media, when I'm thinking of LinkedIn or email newsletters, where I'm like, I don't know, a year from now, I might think differently. 10 years from now, I might be, like, wholly embarrassed by any of the things that I write. So that idea, again, stemming from some form of fear of failure, perfectionism type of thing.

Leah Neaderthal 15:50

Yeah, really holds you back. Yeah, well, and also, you know, I think just functionally, like, when you don't really think of it as a business, you know, I'm using air quotes here for everybody who can't see that. When you don't really think about it as a business, there's no need to announce anything. There's no need to show up. You know, that's like, what other people do who are like, trying to market their business. I'm not trying to market my business. I'm just helping people, or I'm just taking some freelance gigs, or what, I'm just subcontracting or whatever. I don't know if there's any part of that that plays in here.

Rachel Huff-Doria 16:25

Yeah, definitely. I mean, deciding that I was a business and just having that initial conversation with you of like, oh, this is like running an organization like, you have to have a vision. You have to have a plan to get there. And that's not how I was functioning. I was really, truly treating it like this creative passion project, which again, worked to like an extent of what I needed it to be at the time. And now I consider myself more in like a building mode of like building a business and building work to be more replicable too, which I think is actually really important.

Leah Neaderthal 17:06

Yeah, well, let's sort of, you know, bring us up to, like, present day, and let's talk about how things look now, and then we'll talk about how you got there. What have been some of the results you've seen from the work that we've done? And, you know, this sort of renewed focus. What's changed for the better?

Rachel Huff-Doria 17:23

Definitely, the mindset shifts with applying new tools have made some really big, immediate shifts, and some of it is it almost feels like low hanging fruit, maybe when I think about how it might work, but literally, just following up with people has been such a groundbreaker for me. And it's funny, because it's not like, I don't know, yes, of course you have to follow up with people who are asking you about things. But again, it's this shift of people saying in passing, like, oh, this organization I'm on the board of, or I work with, or whatever. Could really use your services. Like, before I would've been like, great, have them get in contact and just like, you know, again, let the world decipher, trust the universe check out. Doesn't really matter to me. Like, maybe I want more work. Maybe I secretly don't want more work. Like, it'll all kind of flesh itself out, because I don't have a plan that I need these folks to, like, be in my network and whatnot. This is at the time, yes, yes, so I'm still in history here. And then just literally following up with people, when people share things like that has been groundbreaking, and then asking them again, like, Okay, can I follow up with you in six months? Has been just keeping it on your plate and making it easy for people to engage with you. Is really, it seems so simple and it seems so small, but it is really, truly like a game changer for me, of taking back that kind of like, that control in a way, and it's not, I don't know if it's control, but it's like that. I do see the value of having a bigger pipeline, and I see the value of people knowing what I do in a way that I didn't before, like it wasn't a priority for me, for extended folks in my network to know what I do.

Leah Neaderthal 19:22

I mean, the follow up thing is so interesting, because I think anybody listening to this would be like, it's kind of like you, you're like, oh, obviously this is something you should do. But I think if people were honest with themselves, they're not doing it. Because I see it everywhere, right? Like people just like letting things sort of fall off or not being intentional, you know, just to be like, sounds great. Would love to talk. Why don't we set up some time, you know? And if they book time, or don't book time, it's like, oh, you know, were you able to find the time? This is like, you know, following up with them on the follow up, right? It's like, I think again, it's taking the action back from do. Know who's going to drive this. It's like, is it the universe, or is it me? Yes. And I

Rachel Huff-Doria 20:06

think I reflected that I have almost two modes previously of operating in business, of either, like, I really want to work with someone because I think it's a cool project, I don't want to be a part of it, and then I am, like, driving the conversation and like giving them ideas and like moving things forward, but I'm not really listening to their needs, like I should be, because I'm excited about like, this idea or project or vision that I have, and then this other mode where I'm like, great, whatever. Just let me know, because I may or may not want to do it, because I haven't decided yet, so I'm not. And again, it's like, it's two modes, and it's so funny, because part of what I do is facilitation, and so much of it is listening, but it's like I wasn't really doing that in discovery, like I wasn't doing that in sales conversations, because it was like I had already made up my mind. Of, like, Yes, I really, really want to do this. Or again, like, maybe I do, maybe I don't. I don't even know if I have enough time to do it, so I'm not gonna pursue it. That's so interesting well. And so what's something else that you can sort of point to? Like, you might have done something a different way back then, and and now you approach it really differently, I would say sticking with like the building of the pipeline and the tracking of relationships. I also close my relationships differently than I did previously. Again, it was like, sometimes folks would mention things like, oh, it'd be great for you to work on this project in the future. And again, I was like, great. Let me know I believe in closures as a whole. Like that. People like to close things and feel good about them. And just the tool of you know, what you call the executive debrief is so helpful. And I think just retaining trust between folks too. Of here's the outcomes we said we would hit. Let's talk about how you feel we hit them, and doing that at different points along the time and at the end, it feels really good, like I think it feels good for clients, it feels good for me, because not everything ends in the exact way you anticipated it at the beginning. And it's one of those pieces that is functional in right marketing and sales and all of that, but it's also functional in like client work. And I found that so much of the program was not only applicable in marketing, but it was really applicable in how I I work with my clients, and thinking about what is a better process for them during the actual project that is going to make them not only feel good, but also help us again, hit the outcomes that we agreed to in the Beginning.

Leah Neaderthal 23:01

That's so interesting. I do hear this a lot, and you know, this is not like a customer service program, but I have said a million times that, like the way you begin a strong client relationship starts in the sales process, right? And, you know, there are some principles that we talk about a lot, like leading the client, like putting things in terms that benefit the client, like following up and not letting things just sort of fizzle out, right? Like all of those do make for a better client relationship, and also, they allow you to show up better for yourself and like, in the client's eyes, you know, like somebody who's really Junior and has no confidence, you know, might sort of let things fizzle because they don't want to, like, ruffle any feathers or whatever. Somebody who's really confident says, Okay, this project is coming to a close. Like, let's talk about the results. You know, I think it's, it's all sort of intertwined. So I love that you were able to sort of pick these pieces up and, like, bring them into not just the sales process, but into the actual client relationship.

Rachel Huff-Doria 23:59

Yes, and one of again, I've had so many like, insights about myself through this process of how I, like react to things. And something in sales calls that we worked on was right? Like, you talk about silence as confidence, which, like, if you've done fundraising before, you know that as well. Like you make an ask and you're silent because they need time to respond, right? Someone needs time to respond to you. But for me, I don't necessarily fill that gap after asking somebody a question with a lot of chatter, but I will start working on things. And so I recognized about myself that oftentimes I don't actually have firm commitments from people, and I just start working on things as like a mode of keeping things in motion. And one of the things that I've learned in particular, that I take away again in both sales but also project work, is this idea of consent and making really clear questions, of asking of would you like to work? With me on this is just, like, this amazing question. I don't know why, like, I didn't consider it before, but, like, a really, really good question of, like, what is your timeline? And so often, even throughout projects, right at the end, it's like, I find myself for some reason, like, oh, I'll just start doing like, more work as, like, this fear of, like, some type of closure, or like that, I haven't done enough in the project when what a client really needs is just, like an actual close and like that formal closure on a project. So a lot of insights, like the Insight moving through the work, but then also like the tool that can be applied, which is just really how I learn best, and also I think the major transformation that has happened has been because of both of those things acting together.

Leah Neaderthal 25:50

Yeah, more of my conversation with Rachel heftdia Right after this, I just pulled up. I wanted to make sure I had this for this. But you know, you were saying, Can I read something that you posted in Slack? I guess it depends what it is. But yeah, yeah, well, it's so, you know, I think it just sort of encompasses everything you're thinking about, both, you know, at the beginning of the sales process and how you approach it, and even at the end, and seeing sort of what's next and how, you know, executive debrief is a tool that we use, not just for closure, but for referrals, upsells, you know, et cetera. And this stuck in my mind. I wanted to make sure I had it for today, which is, you wrote, it's kind of amazing to me to think about how much business probably fell to the wayside before I was a part of this program, just because I wasn't attuned to it and didn't have the mindset, plan or capacity to take action on it in any meaningful way. That's like, huge. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Rachel Huff-Doria 26:43

Yeah. I mean, so much of it is what I was sharing, where it's like, I would run into people physically, who would ask, say things of like, hey, it would be great if you again, like, I have this challenge, and it would be a challenge that I help people with, and I wouldn't pursue it like, and I think again, it's, it's part that mindset, and it's part tool. Like, if I only had the tool, it's almost like it wouldn't be enough for someone to just be like, Hey, you should follow up with people. And here's like, a good way to do that, because I hadn't really firmly decided that I wanted to do that and like and should do that for my business, but just also with the mindset itself, and not having a tool to do that, I don't know. I could have done that artfully in any way.

Leah Neaderthal 27:33

Yeah, well, I think you're so you really hit on something, because there's a lot in this work that is, I mean, you to do this work successfully, you have to have both, you know, like, I've, I see this a lot with, you know, business coaches, or whatever, people are, like, You should do this thing. And it's like, yeah, I know I should do this thing, right, but like, you know, help me physically do it. You know, is there a template for this, or what have you? And then I see the other side too, which is like, Here are 25 ways to do this. But if you can't, you know, address like the mindset, the head trash, then none of those 25 ways is going to work. You really do need both. You know, when you're running a business, a consulting business, you're a solopreneur, you're doing the work like business is emotional, and so we have to sort of acknowledge all the things so that we can move through the things to do the work. Yeah, yeah. Was there anything else that you had to sort of decide, in a way,

Rachel Huff-Doria 28:40

definitely had to decide that I was running a business which is no, like, easy thing to do. I had to decide on my ideal client, which also just took a lot of work. Like, there's a lot of work involved in the program. And I know I was one of those folks that was like, Oh my gosh, this is so much work, but it's true, because when you shift into that gear of deciding that's what you're doing, there's a lot of reflection that you need to do on not only where you've been, but like, where you want to go. So that was a really big piece for me, of trying to understand, like, when am I most helpful for folks? Like, when do I really enjoy doing the work? And I enjoy working with folks when they're kind of on the edge of change, like when they're moving towards something new, and they they need alignment from folks on, like, the vision and the plan to get there, and that's not every project, right? And so in defining that, it helps me call people in, and also, like, keep it clear for things that are better suited for other types of consultants and other types of work and programs and whatnot. And one of the breakthrough understandings, I think, of how to share more about. About what I'm doing on LinkedIn or newsletters or other platforms was even just this concept of like, you have to talk about what you do, and the reason why is not because you are being like, I am so wonderful, and I have all of the answers and this and that and this really proud thing, but you're actually giving people an opportunity to understand if they want to work with you. And that shift for me was really helpful, because I do come I think, as so many women do, but I come from team sports, and I come from organizations where, even if you might be named the leader and sure you can be out there in press releases or speaking or whatever, but you're always giving credit to your team and making sure that there's other folks at the forefront. And so it's really hard when you are a business of one to then be like, Oh, yes, I should talk about myself. And so just shifting that mindset of like, well, why? Like, why am I talking about myself? Why am I talking about the work that I've done or the things that I'm doing? And it's like people need to understand if they're a good fit for you, and they will, like, tune in or tune out. And that was a really helpful mindset shift for me. And then, of course, the tools of like, how to write a good post that people actually want to

Leah Neaderthal 31:22

read, yeah, yeah. What team sport did you play?

Rachel Huff-Doria 31:26

I played soccer. So since I was like a little wee child to college, awesome.

Leah Neaderthal 31:32

Well, yeah, I mean, that will sort of imbue you with, you know, just certain beliefs, right? And how are you supposed to be in the world? Is there anything else that really was like a game changer for you?

Rachel Huff-Doria 31:45

There's been so many game changers. I think the last phase that I really feel that I'm at is this streamlining my systems piece. And it's something I've wanted to do for a while, but it's like I needed to get to this part where I had, again, I could commit to, like, the why I was doing it, and just the work of understanding, like, here's the skill sets and the experience that I bring, and where I really, really want to focus, and here's where I need all of that extra help. And it's not necessarily from I see a lot of consultants doing collaborations with other consultants, and I like doing that, and I think that can be fun, but there's also internal support. I need to be able to just do my work better and focus on my work. So that has been really incredibly helpful in finding, like, the assistant type of work. That's like moving my organization forward at this moment, and that'll look different, you know, a year or two from now too.

Leah Neaderthal 32:47

I love it. I mean, you really have made this shift from, like, happenstance, taking on some work, helping some people. I mean, this is a great moment to be focusing on, like, your actual systems as a acknowledgement of where you are and where you want to go. And, you know, I think just back to the universe, right? We can't sort of ignore it. But like, I think the universe cooperates with a made up mind, and you have made up your mind to grow your business in this direction, right, to, like, be intentional. And I have to believe that that will call something to you, yes. So what other results are you seeing? You mentioned you were worried that growing a business would impact your capacity. I wrote down your capacity, your time, your bandwidth. Has it? Has it killed? All of those things that you were afraid it would kill

Rachel Huff-Doria 33:41

I would say, I hate the phrase, like, when people ask you how you are, oh, you're busy, right? Like, it's such, like a terrible response, but I mean, I am busy right now. Like, there's no way to pretend like I'm not busier than I necessarily want to be doing client work. But it's not necessarily that I am more busy than I was last year at this time or the year before at this time. It's interesting to me, because it's like I actually continue to see this way out of continuing to streamline my systems and moving more to making sure of like admin assistant and things like that are really functioning at a high level, so that I can keep spending less and less time on the things I don't need to be doing. So there is, there is, like, a challenge with capacity, but I can't say it's actually more than there has been in the past. But the difference is that I'm also, like, bringing in revenue that's not quite double, like what I was bringing in you in the beginning of the program, had said to set a really ambitious goal, something that would make you excited. And, you know, set that goal. And I was like, it revenue goal. And was like, you know, this feels like potentially not doable, but whatever, if you don't hit a goal, it's going to be okay. You. And like, I said that knowing that, like, I'm not totally okay when I hit a goal and I don't set a goal and I don't hit it, yeah, it'll be okay if you don't hit it, it's fine. But, I mean, truly, I am on track to hit that goal by the end of the year, which does kind of astound me when I think about it, for sure.

Leah Neaderthal 35:16

Oh my gosh, that's so incredible. And I mean, what has that allowed you to do? I mean, your same amount of busy but making almost double. I mean, what's that meant for you guys? Yeah, you know,

Rachel Huff-Doria 35:27

the beginning of the year, my husband and I had set savings goals because we basically realized, as I was going into the program, we're like, oh gosh, I don't know if I can make this investment into this program, because, you know, we have two small kids. Cost of living in Missoula is like, super duper high, and just this realization that, like, the income we thought was good for us is potentially no longer like serving us in the same way it has five years ago. And so it was this realization where I was, like, we went through like our savings like we didn't have, like our savings buffer. And so our end of year goal for 2025 was to like, add in our six month savings, and we were able to hit that in July, which, I mean, again, just it does really feel amazing to just have that security, and we're just adding it into like savings right now, but the feeling of that is really big for us, because now we can think about other things we're looking at, like, gotta figure out the minivan in a couple years. Like, you know, more thoughtful, like, donations of like, what does that look like for us? You know, how do we, like, align that with our values? So it's just, it's, it's a more fun place to be, for sure.

Leah Neaderthal 36:43

Yeah, I love that. And yes, I mean, we have kids, you know, roughly the same age, like this is an expensive time of life, and so the ability to not only pay for that, but save and build up six plus months of savings is fantastic. That's wonderful. So I'm curious. You alluded to this a little bit, but fill in the blank for me, I almost didn't work with you because, or, you know, I almost didn't join the program because the cost investment for me for sure, I knew after our phone call that this was 100% what I wanted for my business. But I have never invested this amount of money into,

Rachel Huff-Doria 37:32

I mean, truly, anything that I've done. You know, I'm not the type of person that I'm not gonna get a degree because, like, there's a cost involved. Like, I'm just a very like, highly practical financial like, there's all those like, money things tied up into that money mindset, et cetera. You could have a whole other conversation about, but doing that is really challenging. The idea of like, spending that amount of money on yourself in any sort of like, or your business in any sort of meaningful way was certainly the biggest barrier. But I knew for sure after the conversation like, this is what I, like, wanted and needed, and so being able to think about that and take those steps towards that was important.

Leah Neaderthal 38:15

Yeah, I do get that a lot. Did you earn it back? Yeah.

Rachel Huff-Doria 38:19

I mean, I think, yeah, based on what I shared, like, it's so funny because you can't do like the tip for TAP. But I mean, I feel like, totally transformed the business and the revenue too. I can't complain about the investment. Like it really was. I was like, Oh, maybe I should invest in other areas of my life. I've never, you know, invested

Leah Neaderthal 38:40

into, yeah, yeah, thinking back to that time also. I mean, what would you say to anyone who's in the position you were back then, you know, like, kind of on the cusp of maybe thinking about this as a business, but hadn't to that point? What advice would you give her? I would take some

Rachel Huff-Doria 38:58

time to reflect on what you really want and why you want that. Because I think no matter what you do, when you do decide, like, if you do decide to invest in yourself, in your business, I would personally go more than like, a training, right? Like, I just see folks as doing like, oh, well, I'll spend a small amount of money and a small amount of time on doing a training, and then maybe six months they'll do another training, or something like that, or a small amount of coaching. But the difference in that is like, are you applying all of that to what you do? And I think this program, for me, has felt much more like, almost like a wraparound service type of like model, which is maybe a weird term to like, use in this regard, but it's just helping you as you actually do the work in a way that, like a small investment of your time or your money can't really do you. And so I think you had said something to me in the beginning conversation we had of like, Yeah, I'm sure you could figure this out. It would probably just, you know, for most consultants, it takes you, like, X, many years. And I was like, Oh, that makes sense to me, like that. This is something, sure, yeah, the tools are out there. There's online training. There's you can chat, GPT your way through a lot, but like, if you want to actually get somewhere and you know where you want to go, investing the time and energy and money into doing it will help you get there in a much, much more decisive and quicker type of way.

Leah Neaderthal 40:39

Yeah, absolutely. You can't do a transformation. Just think about, like, your body, right? You can't, like, transform your body by, like, working out here and there every couple months. You know? Like, what happens when you really invest, like, not just financially, but like, with your own energy?

Rachel Huff-Doria 40:55

Yeah, I've just seen such a transformation in the business. As far as the way I think about what I'm doing, the revenue has been huge, and it's hard right now, because I feel like there's so many people online being like, get rich quick schemes of, you know, do this for your business and do that. And I don't want to make it seem like it's like that, because it's not like the program, it was a full year, and it took so much time and energy in that investment, and I think that's really important to consider. Like, there's an investment that you have to make to see certain outcomes. But I do think those outcomes are really big too. That's a really big transformation. Absolutely. And, yeah, this is not a get rich quick program. And in fact, like, when people are like, ah, you know, I need to make X amount tomorrow. And like, I'm not your girl. Like, this is just not how this works. And it's not how B to B consulting works either. A lot of the get rich quick sort of, if it feels like that, it's usually B to C. But I think your bigger point is so right? It's like any transformation that sticks takes time. You know, you can see little bumps here and there,

Leah Neaderthal 42:08

or try new things, and maybe something will work for a short time, but like any transformation that sticks does take time, and it takes your focus, but the payoff is bigger and much longer.

Rachel Huff-Doria 42:18

Yeah, I'm not worried. I guess, after the end of the program, that I'm going to slip back into not doing marketing or leading things in a different way, because it feels ingrained in how I do my work now,

Leah Neaderthal 42:32

yeah, that's something really interesting. I do hear from a lot of women. They're like, I'm afraid that this will all go away. This could all go away at any moment, and the work that you've done, the work that we do in the program, like systems are the barrier to that, right? Systems create a moat around your business. If you've been, you know, hoping that the universe provides or whatever, of course, you would feel like it could just disappear. But that's what having a marketing system and a sales system, do you know they make it so, like it's not just gonna all disappear, and if something not great happens, you know exactly what to do to build it back. And I love to see that it's paid off for you in these really important ways. Yes, Rachel, where can people find you? You You can find me

Rachel Huff-Doria 43:21

on LinkedIn at Rachel huff duria. My business is called RHD

Leah Neaderthal 43:26

LLC, and what about your website? You can

Rachel Huff-Doria 43:30

visit Rachel huftdria.com

Leah Neaderthal 43:33

Awesome, Rachel, thank you so much for being here.

Rachel Huff-Doria 43:36

Thanks. Yeah. Thanks for everything that you

Leah Neaderthal 43:38

do. All right, what a great conversation. And if Rachel said anything that spoke to you, reach out and let her know. And of course, if you know someone who might like to hear this episode, be sure to share it with them. So there's a lot we could sort of parse from this episode, and there are a couple things I want to pull out for you to take away. One of them is that you know something that you know, something that Rachel said, and it's actually pretty personal for me right now too. So my wife and I have three young kids, a little younger than Rachel's kids, actually, and when Rachel was talking about hitting that six month savings goal and what it meant for her family, that landed for me, because, you know, I said it in our conversation, and I need to keep reminding myself of this, that this is an expensive season of life, and I think a lot of you know exactly what I mean. And with that in mind, you know, here's the thing I keep coming back to. I think we tend to treat our revenue goals like destinations, right? Like once I hit that number, I've arrived, I can exhale, I can stop working so hard. But you know, that's not really how it works, right? Like your revenue goals in your business, your financial security, the business that you're building, these are things you have to tend every day. It's a practice, not a finish line. And I don't want that to be like a discouraging thing, right? I actually think that for high achievers, it actually kind of takes the pressure off, because it means that you. Have to have it all figured out, and it means that you don't have to try to get to this mythical place that you're never actually going to get to, right? You just have to keep showing up and doing the work and doing the work and building a business means having a system that gets you where you want to go, revenue goals or otherwise, right, not just sort of hoping that things work out, not waiting to see what comes your way, right? A system. Which brings me to what I want to leave you with just one question to sort of sit with after this episode, and it's where in your business right now, are you trusting the universe instead of trusting a system? Like, where are you not exactly driving things, or where are things maybe falling through the cracks, not because you don't know better, but just because you haven't fully decided that catching them is your job. Just sit with that. I mean, obviously you don't have to answer right now, but I think if you're honest with yourself, there are probably things that you are trusting to the universe that really should be trusted to a system. And I want to just say one more thing about that, because I think this really matters right now. You know, there is so much that feels out of our control these days, the economy, what's happening in our country, what's happening in the world, like it's a lot, and it feels like, you know, the ground is sort of shifting under our feet. It doesn't feel in our control. And when everything feels uncertain, one of the most grounding things you can do is put your energy into the things that are actually in your control, right? And your business is in your control. So deciding to give it what it needs to grow, that decision is yours to make. And I think the sort of bigger point here is, you know, especially in the context of this conversation, is having a system to get clients, you know, knowing how to fill your pipeline, knowing how to land the work, and being able to use that to build savings and financial stability like that is security. You know, it's not just building a business like right now, in this moment, knowing how to do that, and being able to be in control of that, and, you know, build savings and whatnot, that is security, and not in the like abstract motivational poster kind of way. I mean real, concrete, like in your bank account, security, the kind where you have a cushion, or, you know, if something shifts in the economy or whatever, you're not in a panic, because you have a system, and you know how to use it right? Systems are security, and you can build that Rachel did, and so can you. So thanks so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai