We recently connected with Linsi Brownson and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Linsi thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am happier as a business owner! I’ve been an entrepreneur for almost my entire career (20 yrs) and it was clear from the beginning that I wasn’t cut out to be an employee. I’m too stubborn and I thrive on seeing my own ideas come to light.

When I was younger, though, I fantasized about having a regular job. My friends who had jobs were able to build their lives a lot faster than me, and it just seemed like an easier way to live. I do think that when you’re starting out having a job is easier. But in the long run, I think it’s easier to have the life you want as an entrepreneur.

For many years, I was in a pattern where I would start a business I felt really passionate and excited about, and work like crazy until I burned myself out. Then I would try to escape it by getting a job (usually a low paying job). But it never took long before I was bored and unhappy, so I would quit the job and try to “make it work” with my business again. I walked away from three great businesses because of this burnout cycle.

That held me back for so long. I had to break the whole cycle by learning how to manage my habits and health, and by developing a better relationship with my business. I realized I had been relying on the business to make me feel happy and successful, and when it didn’t I used jobs to temporarily make myself feel better. In hindsight that was really unhealthy and unrealistic. But I learned a lot in the process so I don’t regret it :)

I do sometimes still have fantasies about working for someone on something fun. My latest fantasy is becoming a florist at Margot Blair! But it’s just a fun fantasy, because I truly already have what I want.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I work as a business and life coach for creative entrepreneurs. Big picture we work on improving their business, but the biggest wins are often personal – more confidence, energy, time, creativity and better relationships.

Clients usually approach me when they feel stuck and need to realign their business, or when they want to grow or scale their business. That can look like a lot of things, from developing operational systems, raising prices, hiring teams, writing a book, launching a new product, etc. Sometimes all of the above.

In a single session we might develop a new pricing strategy, finesse a marketing email, and talk through how to handle an annoying client interaction. There’s so much variety in my work, and I love it!

How I got here was a long and winding road, but I think that experience has made me more valuable as a coach.

By the time I started coaching in 2016, I had owned an interior design practice, an e-commerce home furnishings store, and a digital creative agency. I had experience doing nearly everything that a creative business owner would do.

Not that I did things “the right way” (I would say I did most things the wrong way first), but having the experiences I had meant that I could talk about a lot of topics that creative entrepreneurs couldn’t talk to anyone else about.

My clients often call me their “business therapist.” It makes me laugh and I think this is what they mean. They can talk to me about anything, and they always walk away with new insights and renewed hope. I don’t tell them what to do but I help them decide what feels right to them based on their personality, lifestyle, and goals.

From a tactical perspective, I don’t think there is a right way to run a business, but there are things that make work easier or harder. I’m of the mindset that we should aim to make our business as easy as possible. Creativity requires a lot of time and energy, so we don’t need to struggle through the things that can be easy.

What works best is highly individualized. I now have experience with dozens of successful businesses and have a lot more intel to help guide people to their best-fitting systems and support. It’s nice to be able to draw from that to help my clients.

What I’m most proud of is seeing my clients grow far beyond their own expectations. In the beginning they have a limited view of what’s possible for them in terms of happiness and opportunity. They aim for certain improvements, but as they start accomplishing these things their confidence and perspective grows. So they keep asking “What else do I want? What else am I capable of?” I love the moments when a client looks back and exclaims “can you believe I did that?!” I smile because of course I already knew they could do it, but it’s so fun getting to help them believe it.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

As a service provider, developing great referral relationships has always been the most effective strategy for me to gain clients.

This is generally a parallel business that serves my ideal clients in a different way.

Sometimes our services work well together, so they can refer me to help their client at the same time. For example, a web designer can send their client to me to help dial in their branding, messaging, and pricing as they work on a new website.

Other times, they might send someone to me before working with them. For example, a financial advisor may want me to help a business increase revenue to meet the threshold of working with them.

And vice versa. I often refer clients to service providers for marketing, financial, legal, creative, and administrative support.

These relationships are a gift that keeps on giving because as long as they have great clients, some of those clients will want my services too.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

A big habit I’ve had to unlearn is spending time to save money.

It took me many years to understand the importance of investing money in my business. I was afraid to spend money, or even pay myself. The thought of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars made my skin crawl. I was so uncomfortable with it, and always thought “I can do that myself.”

I do think it’s wise to be conservative and do a lot of things yourself in the beginning, because you learn valuable skills that will make you a better leader and manager later.

But, time is our most precious resource. The more we do, the less we do well.

And creativity is our differentiator. It’s what makes our business unique and valuable. Generally in a small business, the owner is the primary, or only, person who can generate this kind of value. If they are spending their time on other things, then the business is being starved of that value.

Knowing what I know now, I don’t think that saving money should be the goal in business. The goal is to invest wisely, so you are always getting more in return than what you pay. This applies to everything from hiring teams and coaches, continuing education, branding, personal development, tools, and creating new products and services.

If you strategically invest, you’ll continue to get returns that buy back your time and allow you to keep investing in new ways.

I wish someone had explained investing to me as a new entrepreneur. It would have helped me to reframe things and to make sound investments that would have saved me a lot of time, pain, and money.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.linsibrownson.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/linsibrownson
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/linsibrownson/
• Other: https://www.linsibrownson.com/podcast

Image Credits
Alicia Leigh Photography Linsi Brownson