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Replay: This week on the podcast we've been talking about building your business while you still need a paycheck. So I wanted to bring back the episode where I share my whole story of doing exactly that. In this episode, I share: How I went from a steady paycheck as a corporate consultant (crunching numbers I didn't love) to building Classy Career Girl from scratch How I navigated burnout, an MBA, imposter syndrome and a side hustle that became my full-time business, even before I quit my job The real story of planning, saving, facing my fears and building a business that supports my family and our lifestyle Whether you're dreaming of quitting your job, starting a side hustle or just need a reminder that you can do this, this episode is for you. Want to see if coaching could be your next career? Grab my free Career Coach Startup Kit at classycareergirl.com/coachwebinar You've got this.

"I want to run my business full time, but I need a paycheck." If you've ever said that, this episode is for you. You don't have to choose between walking away from your job tomorrow and giving up on your business. In this episode, I share how I built my business while I was still working full time, why that in-between season isn't a failure, and how to use it to get to full time on purpose. You'll hear: Why keeping your paycheck can be the smartest move for your business right now How to name the season you're in so you stop feeling behind Five practical tips for building your business while you still have a paycheck The signs your next career is already right in front of you Thinking about becoming a certified career coach? Applications for this year's Career Coach Certification close soon. Apply at classycareergirl.com/apply You've got this.

Replay: this one is for you if your week feels full and your goals keep getting pushed to "someday." I recorded this episode a few years ago, and I still come back to it because it is true every single season of life. You do not need a free year to go after the work you love. It takes about 15 minutes a day or 1 hour a week, as long as you are taking the right steps. In this episode: Why you should stop believing you do not have enough time How to balance your life with building your business Why the biggest mistake is thinking it will take forever to start How baby steps add up when you are doing the right things Want help getting started? Grab the Startup Kit: classycareergirl.com/coachwebinar You've got this!

You know what you need to do. So why is it so hard to find the time—and energy—to actually do it? When I was building my business with a newborn, one simple question stopped me in my tracks: "What's your schedule?" My answer changed how I worked. In this episode, I'm sharing that story, why I still face this challenge as a homeschooling mom of three, and seven practical ways to make room for your goals in the middle of real life. You'll learn how to: • Choose work hours that fit your current season. • Protect your best energy for your most important work. • Give each work block a clear purpose. • Focus on three daily priorities. • Batch, simplify, and ask for help. Start with one protected block of time this week. Your dream deserves a place on your calendar. Ready for work that supports the life you want? Join my free live webinar, Break Free From the Wrong Career, on Wednesday, October 14, at 6 PM Eastern. Save your seat: https://www.classycareergirl.com/breakfree

Do you keep planning your business but never quite start? This week I closed the doors on CLASS and sat on coaching call after coaching call with smart, capable women. On almost every call, I heard the same thing: big plans with no finish line. In this episode, I share what those calls taught me: Why "join anytime" quietly kills momentum, and why I put a real deadline on CLASS How one new member gave her plan a finish line instead of another draft Why "I don't have time" is often doubt in disguise Why 90 days beats an open-ended commitment, for your clients and for you What's carrying me through a season where I'm doing too much If you've been sitting on a business idea or a dream of becoming a coach, this episode is your sign to give it a date. Ready to talk about becoming a certified career coach? Book a free strategy call: https://www.classycareergirl.com/coachwebinar You've got this.

What would change if you spent the next 90 days focused on the one goal that matters most? In this episode, I'm sharing my Plan the Next 90 Days workshop. Grab a notebook and plan along with me. You'll look at what worked and what stalled, choose one focus, and turn it into three dated actions that fit your actual week. We'll also make a "not doing" list so you have room to follow through. If you'd like me to help you create your plan and execute it over 90 days with support from a coach, join us in CLASS at https://www.classycareergirl.com/enroll.

A woman asked me a fair question: "Why would anyone pay a coach when ChatGPT is free?" I use AI in my business every day. It helps me plan and get through work that used to take hours. But I've also learned what happens when I make a great plan and have no one to help me follow through. In this episode, I share what a year of weekly coaching did for my business, why a conversation with an aspiring nutrition coach brought that lesson back to me, and what a human coach can offer when information is available to everyone. If you've been sitting on a business idea or a career change, I'll give you one small step you can take this week. **Join me for the free, live 90 Day Planning Session on Sunday, September 27, at 5 p.m. ET. We'll put your next 90 days on paper together. Register here: www.classycareergirl.com/planwebinar

How to Build a Business That Fits Your Life (Start With Your Life First) What if you built your business around the life you actually want—instead of building your life around your business? In this special training from inside my CLASS membership, I'm sharing why one of the most important things you can do when starting or growing a business is to start with your life first. Before you decide what to sell, how much to charge, or which business model to follow, get clear on what you want your days, schedule, priorities, income, and family life to look like. In this episode, you'll learn: Why your life vision should come before your business plan How to choose a business model that supports your priorities Why career fulfillment and life fulfillment should work together How to stop building a business that requires you to sacrifice the life you wanted it to create How to think differently about success, flexibility, and growth Plus, Career Coach Certification starts tomorrow, and our pricing is increasing. If you've been considering becoming a Certified Career Coach, I highly recommend applying for the Fall cohort now. You can complete Certification in as little as 90 days, but you currently have up to one year to graduate. Apply for Career Coach Certification: www.classycareergirl.com/certification Watch the free Career Coach training: www.classycareergirl.com/coachwebinar

What if you could actually look forward to Monday? If your career looks good on paper but doesn't feel like the right fit anymore, this episode is your mini career clarity class. I'm walking you through 4 practical steps to get clear on what you want next — without quitting your job or having your entire future figured out. In this episode, you'll learn: How to identify the "career clues" showing you what needs to change The simple Money-Out Test I use to help determine whether you need to redesign your career or make a bigger change How to design your career around the life you actually want How to run a small 30-day career experiment instead of making a huge leap How your existing experience could become the foundation for your next career or business You don't have to start over. You may already have years of experience, skills and knowledge that can lead you toward work that gives you more purpose, flexibility and freedom. FREE TRAINING: Break Free From the Wrong Career Join me live on September 9 at 7 PM Eastern for a free training where I'll show you how to take the experience you already have and turn it into a flexible, profitable career coaching business. Register at https://www.classycareergirl.com/breakfree

If I could go back and talk to myself before becoming a working mom, there are a few things I would want her to know. Have patience. Give yourself grace. Keep moving toward your vision. And know that working fewer hours doesn't mean you're less ambitious or productive. In fact, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that cutting my work hours actually made me more focused, efficient, and happier. In this final episode of the Working Mom's Survival Guide series, I'm sharing what I wish I had known about balancing motherhood, work, business, and the life I actually wanted to create. We'll talk about: ✨ Why fewer work hours can actually make you more productive ✨ How to identify what really deserves your time ✨ Why systems at home AND at work are essential ✨ The simple phone changes that helped me become more present with my kids ✨ Why you don't need to check email, Slack, or social media all day ✨ How your 5–10 year vision can help you through overwhelming seasons ✨ Why taking a break can make you a better mom and business owner One of the best changes I ever made was removing work apps, email, and social media from my phone and creating specific times to check them instead. Because when work is done, I want to actually be DONE. You don't have to be available to everyone all the time. You don't have to do everything. And you don't have to sacrifice being present with your family in order to build meaningful work. Give yourself grace. Keep creating systems that support the life you want. And remember WHY you're doing all of this in the first place. Your action step: Ask yourself what is distracting you from being present with your family. Is there an app you need to remove—or a boundary you need to create—so you can truly log off?

If you constantly feel like you're putting out fires at work and at home, you may not need to work harder — you may need better systems. In Part 4 of the Working Mom's Survival Guide, I'm sharing one of the biggest changes I made after having my third daughter: creating simple systems and routines to eliminate as much last-minute stress as possible. Instead of relying on myself to remember everything, scrambling to meet deadlines, or constantly answering questions from my team, I started asking: How can I create a system so this is easier next time? In this episode, we'll talk about: → Identifying the areas creating the most stress at home and work → Creating systems for meals, groceries, laundry and cleaning → Batching work and content ahead of time → Delegating tasks instead of doing everything yourself → Creating processes so your team doesn't always need you → Building routines around your kids and family → Protecting your energy and scheduling what fills you back up → Creating boundaries when you work from home → Turning recurring stress into a repeatable system Your home doesn't have to be perfect. Your business doesn't have to be perfect. And YOU don't have to do everything. The goal is to notice what keeps creating unnecessary stress and build a simple system that makes it easier next time. Your challenge: Identify the top three areas causing last-minute stress in your life right now — and decide what system you can create for each one. And if you want to see how I plan my weeks, months and priorities as a busy mom and business owner, grab my free planning guide at ClassyCareerGirl.com/freeplan.

What if you didn't need eight uninterrupted hours to make meaningful progress? In Part 3 of the Working Mom's Survival Guide, I'm sharing how to restructure your work around the life you actually want — instead of constantly trying to squeeze your life around your work. Because 15 minutes really does add up. In this episode, you'll learn how to: → Make progress even when you only have 15–30 minutes → Use timers and deadlines to get more done in less time → Create simple daily routines for recurring tasks → Identify your best times to work → Stop expecting yourself to do everything → Build more fun and breathing room into your days → Create a weekly work calendar that works for you AND your family You don't have to sit at a desk for eight hours a day to be productive. And you don't have to wait until you have the "perfect" schedule to pursue the work that matters to you. The goal is to get creative, focus on what matters most, and restructure your work in a way that supports your life. Go at your own perfect pace. ❤️ And if you want to see how I plan my weeks, months and priorities as a busy mom and business owner, grab my free planning guide at ClassyCareerGirl.com/freeplan.

You can't do everything. You have to prioritize. In Part 2 of the Working Mom's Survival Guide, I'm sharing how to get clear on what matters most, protect your time, and stop spending your days on things that aren't actually moving your life, career, or business forward. One of the biggest lessons I've learned as a working mom is this: If there isn't enough time, there isn't enough time. Something has to go — and it's not the kids. In this episode, you'll learn how to: • Identify your "big rocks" and top 3 priorities each day • Get your most important work done earlier in the day • Look honestly at where your time is going • Stop doing things that aren't working • Focus your career or business on the activities that are producing results • Make sure the way you spend your time actually reflects the life you want to create I'll also share how I track my time and why one of my goals has always been to figure out how to work less while focusing on what matters most. Your action step: Identify your top 3 priorities for tomorrow. And if you want to learn how I plan my weeks, days and months as a working and homeschooling mom, grab my free planning guide at ClassyCareerGirl.com/freeplan.

Do you ever feel like you're trying to be a great mom, build a meaningful career, grow a business, take care of your family—and somehow you're still falling behind? You love your kids. You care about your work. But you're tired. Welcome to Part 1 of The Working Mom's Survival Guide, a special series I'm bringing to the Classy Career Girl Podcast. I originally created this training four years ago for our Corporate Rescue Plan members, but the lessons feel even more important to me today. And we're starting with one of the biggest: You have to decide what you want your LIFE to look like before you build your career or business around it. In Part 1, you'll learn how to: → Re-envision what you actually want your life to look like → Get clear on your WHY and the vision you have for your family → Decide how many hours you actually want to work → Set boundaries around your career and business → Stop building your life around work → Create a career or business that supports the life you want Your season may have changed. Your priorities may have changed. Your definition of success may have changed. Maybe it's time to create a new vision for what comes next. FREE PLANNING GUIDE Want to see how I plan my months, weeks and days as a busy mom and business owner? Get my free planning guide at classycareergirl.com/freeplan

Think you're too busy to become a career coach or start a coaching business? Meet Melanie Smith. Melanie is a mom, finishing her undergraduate degree, running a recruiting and staffing agency AND building a coaching and consulting business. In this episode, Melanie shares how she stopped feeling scattered, got clear on how her recruiting and coaching businesses could work together, and learned how to turn her years of experience into meaningful, purpose-driven work. We talk about: Why becoming a career coach doesn't mean starting over How to turn your existing career experience into a coaching business What helped Melanie go from overwhelmed and scattered to clear and focused How she manages two businesses using 90-day planning How Career Coach Certification helped her clarify her offers and messaging Why you don't have to wait until life "slows down" to pursue work you're called to do How Melanie went on to sell out her VIP Days and build more confidence in her business One of my favorite reminders from Melanie's story is this: You're not starting over. You're taking everything you've learned with you and turning it into purpose. If you've been wondering whether your experience could become your next career, this episode is for you. Ready to become a career coach? Applications are now open for the Fall cohort of Classy Career Girl® Career Coach Certification. Learn more and apply at ClassyCareerGirl.com/Certification.