We were lucky to catch up with Barbara Maisonet recently and have shared our conversation below.

Barbara, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?
First and foremost, a business owner always knows when it’s time to scale up… Things are moving along. There’s many successes and a few failures. (Ok.. sometimes many). Revenue is up (but not quite to where you know it could be). There are a few systems in place but you can see how implementing more would catapult your business into a new dimension. And… there is that gut feeling. That feeling when you realize that all the hard work, thus far, as gotten you to where you are YET you know that there’s more. More possibility. More growth. More impact on the universe. I had that feeling. I knew it was time to scale up. And I knew that in order to be successful at it, I had to a) get help and b) step out into the unknown… where things aren’t comfortable. at. all.
So, the first thing I did was hire a Business Coach. I knew if I was serious about scaling up, I needed to have someone looking at my business with a fresh pair of eyes who’s sole job was to help. I also knew that hiring a coach would keep me accountable to actually following thru with the assignments and action steps given to me. I discovered along the way, this one key element of accountability is one of the most valuable tools any business owner can ever implement into their growth plan. On the day I hired her, I handed her my credit card and cried. Not joking. This was a huge step, outside my comfort zone, which meant there was a hint of fear mixed with the uncertainty of knowing, for sure, this would work to grow my business. well… It worked. My business doubled in a month. A second strategy I took when scaling my business was putting into place a second source of income- for me, it was producing an online course. Now, I had expanded the ways for income to be generated which is an important step when scaling up. A third strategy I implemented was being very conscious of making business-growth choices that ONLY were necessary. Many times, business owners get caught up in feeling the need to buy this or that or take this course or attend that seminar but don’t give themselves time to fully integrate or apply the product, skill or knowledge attained. With every, single business-growth choice, I ask myself “Is this ____________ IN or OUT of alignment with my Vision?” Period. And once I make a decision, I fully commit to learning what I signed up to learn and then integrate it in a way that ONLY grows my business. I’m not swept up by the next big thing. I always step back and ponder how what I’m considering to invest in will help me achieve my next business-growth milestone. If it won’t help now, I don’t purchase. (I can always table it to revisit it later but if it’s not in step with my next business-growth step, it’s a “no” for now. Each of these strategies have greatly impacted my business’ growth and helped in the process of scaling up.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a Southern Californian native who landed in San Diego more than 20yrs ago! I was working as a Behavioral Specialist in a local school district when one day a college friend called and asked me if I had heard of Life Coaching. I hadn’t but my interest was peaked. She explained what this new profession entailed and then connected me with her friend who was going thru a Life Coaching program. I visited a training day they were having and it was there I came to the conclusion that my next endeavor was to become a Coach. That was almost 16 years ago. Since then, I’ve built a boutique coaching business specializing in helping small-medium sized business owners scale up. My whole goal is to partner with these already amazing people to guide them in growing their business to the level that fulfills their dreams. We work on designing and implementing new business systems, I offer insight into what is blocking their growth, we create marketing and sales plans, we create tangible actions steps and we have fun along the way. Because they have hired me to hold them accountable, they see results immediately… which in turn, grows their business. One of the things I pride myself on is that my clients stick around for a long time… because they receive tailored service to meet their needs while also being made to feel special along the way. My clients are valued. And they feel that with me. They aren’t just a number or a participant in a group. They are individuals who receive excellent coaching combined with excellent customer service.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
The day my husband walked out of our marriage, leaving me with a 1yr, is the day my resilience came to life! I knew two things: I was going to raise my son AND I needed to work enough to allow us to stay in San Diego so my son could still be near his father. So, I buckled down and built a thriving coaching business that revolved around me also being a stay-at-home- homeschooling-mom.
I coached my clients well AND I was a mom to my little boy.
It was hard, not gonna lie, but my resolve to do both gave me the fortitude to make the choices needed to achieve the success of running both a business and being a mom!

Have you ever had to pivot?
When Covid hit, it became apparent that pivoting was necessary… so I began offering Zoom group coaching sessions for a select group of ladies so we could face Covid together. Every call had a specific topic and every call I intentionally made sure each lady had the opportunity to share and gain insight, should they choose. This pivot was readily received and truly became the backbone of my business during the pandemic.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.barbaramaisonet.com
• Instagram: barbara_maisonet_coaching
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.maisonet.coach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-maisonet-a3a61610/

Image Credits
Simpson Portraits