We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Brenna Stanford. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Brenna below.

Brenna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How do you feel about asking friends and family to support your business? What’s appropriate, what’s not? Where do you draw the line?

When it comes to asking friends and family to support your business, I’ve come to realize that their understanding and knowledge of what I do may be limited. It’s not that they don’t care or want to support me, but they may not fully grasp the intricacies of my work and how I help others. Initially, I used to feel constrained by their understanding, seeking their approval or enthusiasm. However, I had a breakthrough moment when I decided that I didn’t need their validation or even their understanding of my business.

By letting go of the pressure I placed on my family and friends to fully comprehend my work, I found a sense of freedom in embracing my own excitement and gratitude for my business. This shift allowed me to step into my role with more authority, confidence, and ultimately led to greater success for my customers. Moreover, it transformed my relationships with my loved ones, as I released the expectations I had placed on them.

To fellow business owners who may feel misunderstood or unsupported by those close to them, I encourage you to find solace in your own passion and purpose. Trust in your abilities and the value you bring to your clients. Embrace the freedom to pursue your vision without seeking external validation. When you focus on your own growth and success, you’ll inspire others and attract the right support along the way. Remember, your journey is unique, and it’s okay if not everyone fully comprehends it. Stay true to yourself and let your accomplishments speak for themselves.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hello! I’m Brenna Stanford, your number one number two! I am a passionate content creator, virtual assistant, and empowerment coach dedicated to helping overwhelmed business owners find success while maintaining balance in their lives. With a strong foundation in integrity and a genuine desire to see others thrive, I treat every client’s business as if it were my own, ensuring the utmost care and attention to detail. With years of experience in website design, CRM optimization, creative writing, and administration, I bring a comprehensive skill set to the table. My goal is to provide you with top-notch services that align with your business goals, enabling you to focus on what you do best while I handle the rest.

I fell into this industry, I had been performing various aspects of it for over 10 years and in various circumstances. In my youth, I worked inside my church as a ministry assistant and did whatever anyone needed help with. From there I then worked directly with our youth pastor and was his assistant. He is actually the first one to start calling me “Number 2”, I hated it then haha I was young, stubborn, and passionate and started to hide my admin skills because that wasn’t what culture taught us leadership was, and I was a leader! (so adamantly and passionately I strived) In this place, I did everything from developing CRMs, planning events, coordinating volunteers, sending emails, developing leadership training, managing social media, and writing blogs, speaking notes, and discussion outlines.

The thing I am most proud of is that in 2010 my youth pastor and I worked together to form an internship, and as far as I know it is still up and running. Growth mentality, leadership development, and skill development are so near and dear to my heart. They are a part of who I am, so these skills are evident in every aspect of life.

I truly believe that life isn’t about what you do as much as it is about how you do it!

After I got married and my family started growing, the cost of child-care outgrew my paycheck so that is when I came home. There are so many details in this 13-year story, but this is one of the pivot points for me. As I mentioned earlier that being a number two and someone’s “admin” was NOT what I wanted. I ran as far from it as I could for a long time. Purpose is so important to me and I knew that mine was transformational and would impact the lives of so many. So when I came home from work in the church, a place that I was sure was the pinnacle of purpose, I felt defeated.

There was a process here that I won’t bore you with the details of, but if you have found yourself in a similar place definitely feel free to reach out to me. I would love to chat and assist you however I can.

Over about 5 years, the Lord taught me so many other skills and gave light to what I understood purpose and leadership to be. Skills, like funnel creation, website design, lead generation, and content creation are important, and valuable tools. But the value doesn’t compare to the value of learning the true heart of leadership, the true passion to my purpose!

I have learned that my purpose here is to help others succeed. It’s not an either/or scenario, it’s life. To be successful in life you have to survive first, then you can thrive. You have to keep a roof over your head, food on the table, and clothes on your back. But you don’t stop there. From experience, I know that you can’t live in survival mode. You have to be able to begin thriving. The book of Ecclesiastes teaches us that the purpose of any living is to enjoy the living. So there is mindset, there is a wholeness and fullness to what we do during our days. That is how I aim to serve my clients.

If all you need help with is writing emails for your list then I will do that as if they are my own subscribers. If you are looking for a strategic partner to help you brainstorm and strategize, then I am here! If you need community management, course creation, website management, pdf made, tools to reduce stress, and better ways to organize and schedule your days. gratitude reminders, affirmations, and anything else, I am here!

So while my business primarily provides content creation and virtual assistant services, I also offer an Empowered Living Membership Program. I am here to be your number one, number two! Whatever that looks like for you.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

The pivot is a fundamental skill that every business owner needs to master! haha So in my journey I began inside the church with the idea of leadership. I thought I would lead a ministry group, developing others in leadership from within the church. Then my position within the church changed after I began having children and I moved into an admin position. I felt demoted and without direction for the purpose I felt so strongly called to. I had to pivot into finding purpose in another form. I leaned further into blogging and I started a bible study group for moms.

From there my family grew and I came home from work and struggled with my entire identity. I loved my children, but ‘mother’ was not my whole identity. Yet again, another pivot. I had to learn the purpose in how my children were an extension of the purpose, they were the people I had in front of me at the moment to train and teach. There was also a lot of emotional healing that had to happen in that season. But not long after I saw the result of that healing and training and began informally coaching other moms to feel empowered regardless of what their days held. We worked on goal setting, mindset, time management, and self-care. Then January 2020 we moved. PIVOT.

2020 was a pivot the whole world felt in numerous ways. Before the pandemic took full effect on our world I was lonely, in a new place, and trying to get my family settled in while discovering how the tools that the Lord had taught me could be used for greater good here.

After this is when I really had to dig in. Up until 2021 we had not only survived the effects of the pandemic, but my husband’s industry thrived. I was developing skills and serving moms on a deeper level than I was back home with the study groups and unofficial coaching. I was learning more and more skills, writing books, developing lead generation skills, and growing an online community. My email list went from 200 to 500, my facebook group went from 26 to 2.6K. We were growing, women were seeing results, I felt like I was right in the middle of my purpose and what I would be doing for the rest of my life.

Then came the moment where I had to pivot the most and be willing to learn lessons.

My husband decided that it was the time for him to come home from work and develop his own business. I was all for it. I saw how deeply he wanted to be a business owner and how miserable he was missing our kids ball games. I thought great, he will come home and get his business going, I will help a little and continue building this coaching business.

That’s not what happened. I had to abruptly stop everything and put all of myself into partnering with him to try to make a go at whatever he was attempting. I thought, okay a few months we will get him up and going and I will pick back up. This was a giant emotional and mental pivot. I struggled. I wondered why I had to give everything up. I had been working so hard for this for so long.

A few months became a year and a half and we were on the brink of losing everything. I prayed I surrendered, I was willing to learn again. Willing to pivot into the scariest unknown. Right after we listed our home for sale the market switched again and it was no longer realistic. So here we are. Neither of us had a job or a way to create income lined up. We have 4 children who live an active life with sports, which all sports parents know is not cheap. But I was willing to pivot into whatever was needed for my family to survive.

I thought about the things I learned from the business adventure with my husband over the last 18 months and what it was that he needed my help with, what I learned from other business owners struggled with and needed. Then I decided to start looking for jobs with those skill sets. I ended up joining a digital marketing agency, Ginny Consults, which is run by an absolutely amazing woman. We both saw how God was aligning things so we decided to step out in faith and go with it.

She knew I was still looking for more work to provide for my family and she encouraged me to pivot away from coaching moms and use my passion of serving people and step into a virtual assistant role. After a lot of trials, pivots, and refinement I have discovered the unique ways that I serve people and now I get to do it on a daily basis.

So to say learning how to pivot is ‘pivotal’ in my business journey is one way to wrap it all up! haha

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In the previous question, I shared about how important it is to be able to pivot in business, and in life. But I need to clarify there is a difference between pivoting and quitting. I can’t speak to all the circumstances in life, there is a person I know who has had a lot of success in their employment life by quitting one area and moving to another. They almost always have something next lined out for when the time is right. But notice I said employment.

In business ownership and leadership in general, you have to have a level of resilience. Things will ebb and flow, and you have to be able to stay steady through all of the ups and downs. If not for a strong resiliency no business would survive. Napoleon Hill wrote that great leaders are quick to decide and slow to quit. But they are always looking for a way to shift and make things better.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.brennastanford.us
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/brennastanford
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/BrennaStanfordEmpower
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/brenna-stanford
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCWbf9aVb3rtT0sTeDYkk-CA