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

Kelly, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

When I decided to start my business, I was working a highly demanding job at a Fortune 500 staffing firm. At the time, I was putting in 60-80 hour weeks to achieve my goals and climb the ladder into a senior leadership role where I was making a multi 6-figure income.

But as I achieved more and more success in my role, I came to the realization that I was unhappy and unfulfilled. On the outside, it was a dream: I was breaking every record in the company’s history for profit, growth, expansion and sales, I was meeting CEOs in boardrooms in my 20s, training hundreds of individuals, managing 17 branches – but I had sacrificed relationships, family time, and years of being present.

I was craving more fulfillment, financial and time freedom, and wanted to help others do the same. Starting my own business was the only way to achieve my income and lifestyle goals, and I knew that I could achieve them while earning in millions if I focused on helping others succeed in the process. My mission when starting Kelly Roach coaching was to empower as many people as I could with the skills and resources to take complete control of their freedom and finances.

In my situation, quitting my full-time job to follow my dreams wasn’t an option. I was and still am the breadwinner for my family, and I didn’t want to burn the boats and leave on bad terms. So, when I decided to make the leap and start my business, I went to my boss immediately to get his blessing.

I was honest and straightforward about what I was looking to do, and committed to meeting and exceeding what was expected of me in my current position, as no boss wants to find out their employee is starting a side hustle if they aren’t performing in their current role.

From that point, with his approval, I was building my business on the side of a full-time executive position – in just a few hours a day – while also working to be the most invaluable person in my company, so that they knew they couldn’t afford to lose me.

For the first few years, I would wake up every morning and work from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. before work, during my lunch break, and then from 6 to 10 p.m. after work. I would do my launches in the evening after putting my daughter Madison (who was a baby at the time) to bed. It was by no means easy, but I’m proud to say I continued to break records for the company and was able to scale my business to nearly 7-figures before leaving (on good terms, of course) to pursue entrepreneurship full-time. Now, 10 years later, I still go back and do corporate consulting from time to time for that company.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Absolutely – I am a 4x bestselling author, podcast host, and CEO of Kelly Roach International and The Business Advisory, where we help business owners, leaders, and high performers achieve freedom, fulfillment, and financial abundance through entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. We are an Inc. 5000 recognized company whose mission is to become the world’s best business education and leadership development company.

I transitioned into entrepreneurship after a highly successful career in Fortune 500 where I built and managed teams to profitability, added millions to the bottom line, and scaled my business to 7 figures while working in an executive leadership role (now a multi-8-figure company). We provide hybrid coaching services, exclusive mastermind groups, and 1:1 consulting – as well as a full product suite of programs. I also mentor individuals on personal development and achieving 1% wealth in my Inevitable Millionaire program, as well as run The Advance networking society for collaboration, innovation, and elevation.

In the online business world, many people fall victim to what we like to call “shiny object syndrome.” There’s a huge focus on the latest and greatest marketing and sales tactics, and where our company really differentiates is our focus on simple, timeless strategies to scale and sustain long-term success both on the front end and backend (client service delivery, retention, upsells, systems and operations) without burning out or overcomplicating it. Many of the tactics you see online today are here today, gone tomorrow – and while we hand deliver custom, just-in-time solutions for clients based on what’s happening in the world around us, we also lean heavily on proven strategies that any everyday entrepreneur can leverage – whether they are parents, executives building their side business, or multi-passionate CEOs who run multiple companies.

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

After almost 20 years of leading high-performance teams through multiple economic downturns, crashes, and turbulent markets, I can say that these were for sure moments of resilience both in my corporate career and in my business.

My first experience leading through a recession happened in my mid-twenties, during the 2008 crash. I was working as a senior vice president at the forefront of the employment market, and thousands of people were getting let go or laid off, our competitors were closing down offices, and I was responsible at the time for 30+ professionals.

I was committed to making it through without a single layoff, and through training my team to develop their sales skills and optimize performance, I was able to preserve the careers of my staff and actually break company records and stay profitable despite the market collapsing.

As a CEO, leading during the 2020 global pandemic was another instance where we had to show up and stay resilient, especially for our clients. We had clients closing down their brick-and-mortar businesses and pivoting online, and many clients had their most profitable months in business during that time.

We are now operating in another extremely difficult business season (arguably the most difficult one yet) and our team continues to show up for our clients and lean in with strategies to pivot and maintain profitability in a time when many are cutting back, looking to exit or sell.

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

One huge lesson growing up was that many times we are so focused on what we don’t want, that it’s exactly what we attract. This resulted in a huge mindset shift for me at a young age that shaped the way I think now.

Growing up with 5 kids in our family, our parents drove an ugly station wagon (complete with wood paneling on the sides), and I did whatever I could to avoid being seen getting in and out of that car.

When I was turning 16, I saved a few thousand dollars to buy my first car and what I had saved up didn’t get me very far. I needed a car because I worked a lot, and was always participating in after-school activities, and up until that point, my mom was running me all over town. All I could think about was how excited I was to no longer have to ride in that station wagon, and how I’d never drive one myself.

When the time came to buy one, my father was pretty strict and would only let me buy from a few people that he trusted, since he knew the car would be older and run down. Of course, the only thing available in my price range was an ugly red station wagon. I had the choice to wait around for something else or finally have a taste of freedom – but I had attracted exactly what I didn’t want.

This taught me that what you focus on expands, and where your focus goes, energy flows. This is why people go through repeated cycles of issues in their lives because it’s where they fixate.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kellyroachcoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyroachofficial/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2080754075505322/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kellyroachinternational/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyroachlive

Image Credits
Layla Cevallos