Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Emma Bonthius. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Emma, appreciate you joining us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

Growing up, my younger sister has always been the entrepreneur of the family. Starting as a probably too young babysitter to a too young shift lead a the local fro-yo shop, she’s always had a way of going after what she wants. When she was in high school she started a photography business and I was not surprised when later in college she told me she wanted to start a magazine. I’ve always been so inspired by her ability to know what energizes her and turn it into her career. As a business student I was excited to help her pursue this dream. We sat at cafes talking through her ideas, brainstorming marketing plans, and slowly bringing her dream to life.

When I was in college, one of my best friends and roommates started a sewing business, up-cycling clothes with one-of-a-kind patchwork designs. And again I felt inspired by her creativity and tenacity as she grew her business into the incredible success that it is to today. That’s when I realized my own dream.

My dream was, and is, to help people like them bring their dream to reality.

Over the next couple years, I sat at my desk at my corporate job day dreaming about what it would be like to spend my days working with small business owners and helping passionate, creative people create and grow successful businesses. And that’s all that it was, a daydream, until I was introduced to the idea of coaching and I got an idea of how this could really work.

I was scared to trade the stability of my 9-to-5 for the unknown ahead, but at the end of the day my fear of not trying was bigger than my fear of failing and I’m proud of myself for taking that leap. So, I spent the next few months calculating how long I would need to stay in my job to save up the money I needed to live off of essentially no paychecks for a few months while I got my business off the ground.

I signed up for a coaching fundamentals course through the Co-Active Training Institute where I learned the skills and values that I’ve built my business upon. During the course I felt energized by instructors and classmates and left feeling confident in my ability drive meaningful conversations with my future clients and provide the support they needed.

The next month, I submitted my two weeks and had my sights firmly set on the journey ahead. I spent the following weeks building a website, registering my business, developing the services I’d be offering and creating a marketing plan. In May, I launched my website and told everyone that would listen that I was open for business!

Emma, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Emma and I’m the founder of Bongo. A playful word combing the first half of my last name (Bonthius) and “go” – a verb meaning to move, make one’s way, or progress. I started Bongo to help creative entrepreneurs do just that – move, make their way, and progress. I am fortunate to work with individuals that own or want to start businesses that allow them to pursue their creative passions any where from art, to handmade jewelry and clothing, to magazines and even landscape design.

My approach to business coaching is rooted in the belief that my clients are capable of creating the life they desire and as a business coach it is my job to provide them with the tools, support, and accountability to do so. I aim to create a safe, judgement-free environment where my clients can speak freely about their vision and the challenges they’re facing.

I typically meet my clients in person or virtually for 60 or 90 minute sessions and provide them with session notes that guide them in taking the next steps we discuss. I meet with clients any where from once a year to every week based on their needs and the stage of their business. My services are based on the client’s individual needs but typically fall under one of these three categories:

Business Creation – support with everything from registering your business and developing your mission and values, to setting attainable goals and outlining strategies for specific areas of your business plan like pricing and marketing.

Sustainable Growth – support with identifying areas of business that need improvement, creating systems to improve efficiency, setting goals and outlining a specific plan to achieve them, practicing exercises to support work-life balance, and more.

Accountability – in these sessions we review progress on current projects, work through obstacles, and address whole-life balance.

In addition to these areas of support, I like to incorporate exercises that address my clients’ whole-life balance and personal development to help them utilize their natural strengths and tailor my coaching to their needs. Whether you’re just starting out, ready to create sustainable growth, or just need someone to help you stay on track, business coaching with Bongo will get you where you want to go!

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

As a service based business the most effective strategy in growing my clientele has been offering free or discounted sessions to gain experience and feedback. Not only do I learn from each experience, but I get excited by how much of an impact just one session with a client can have on their business.

While continuing to put effort into my social media helps me build my brand and establish credibility in my field, what actually helps me engage new clients is offering sessions at a discounted rate, learning from each experience, and gathering reviews that I can use to market my services.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One lesson that I’ve had to unlearn is that you need to have a fully-developed plan before launching into action. While I still believe that it is important to have a plan when you’re making a big change, taking a risk, or trying something new, the plan itself can often be the thing holding you back from actually “doing the thing”.

I’ve always been a person who loves to-do lists, calendars, checklists, any sort of plan or routine. And I think that’s helped me in a lot of ways when it comes to running my business. However, something an old colleague once said to me when I was telling them about my idea for Bongo was, “You’re never going to *feel* ready.” That really shifted my perspective and gave me the confidence to pursue my dream and figure out all the details along the way.

A metaphor I like to use with my clients nowadays to visualize this perspective is the high dive. When you think about jumping off a high diving board into a pool, there is a certain point where no amount of planning is going to change the outcome. You can check the water below to make sure it’s a safe depth and even have lifeguards around, but when you’re up on that board looking at the water below it’s still going to be scary! Everyone at the pool can be cheering your name and supporting you in taking that leap, but there’s nothing that’s going to make you *feel* ready to jump off. Eventually you just have to take a deep breath and jump. You might belly flop, and it’ll hurt a lot. Or you might make a perfect splash and come up with a big smile on your face. Either way, you’ll make it back to the surface and be proud that you did it!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.bongo-llc.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bongo.llc/

Image Credits

Allie Bonthius