We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mary Gaul a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Mary, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

After working for someone else my entire career of over 20+ years, I took the leap to start my first business in 2013. It is a Virtual Assistant business, which allowed me to use all of my skills in marketing, operations and communication to work for small business owners. It started great – I had my first client before I left my full time job!

Within 6 months of networking, I was at capacity. Now that is a good problem to have but I was stuck and feeling overwhelmed on how I was ever going to grow my business if I couldn’t take on more clients. That’s when I found a business coach and joined a Peer Advisory Board. What a game changer! To have a thought partner and other entrepreneurs to ask questions and get advice and shortcuts from – yes!! With their advice, I revamped my packages, hired another contractor, and was able to sign a rather large job.

I was seeing these results in my business and in the other business owners that were in my Peer Advisory Board. When the leaders of these groups decided to license other coaches – I knew I wanted to do it. I got certified to teach and coach their methods in the fall of 2015 and have been going ever since!

Each day I know that I am that safe space for entrepreneurs to go and ask their questions, help them move forward when they are stuck and encourage and celebrate with them when they have a win!

I still have the Virtual Assistant business too. With the skills I have learned as a business coach, it helped me to set up that business so that my team does 95% of the work serving our clients and I get to reap the rewards.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

For my entire life – I have loved getting people together to have fun around a purpose. When in my teens – I created theme parties for my friends, and once in the corporate world, I was the one who coordinated the office parties, celebrations and contests. I also love to figure things out – I’ve just had a knack for seeing the big picture and then knowing how to make it happen.

One of the courses I teach entrepreneurs is called the Pinnacle Gift course. At the end of the day you walk away with your Pinnacle Gift statement – who you are and how you show up. Mine is below and even though I wrote it almost 7 years ago, it still gives me goosebumps each time I read it. This is who I am as a Mom, a volunteer, a business owner, and anywhere I show up authentically.

“CreativeTrusted Leader”

I create community and increase the energy, joy and well-being of those around me through nurturing a warm genuine connection.

With confidence, I use my strong intuition to see the big picture and then easily design creative, innovative, and simple solutions.

I bring the calm, clarity and thoughtfulness of a trusted leader to encourage action, connection and celebration, inspiring people to live bigger, achieve results and have fun!

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

I know every business owner had to pivot over the last few years as we dealt with the Covid 19 Pandemic. When everything was shut down in March 2020 – we all thought it was only for a few weeks! Wow – here we are 2 years later and still dealing with repercussions. Pre-pandemic I was coaching my clients live in my office. They would drive to me for coaching sessions or for the Peer Advisory Boards. All of my 1 day courses were taught live as well. All my networking was in person.

During the pandemic – I shifted everything online. It was a bit different at first, but everyone quickly adjusted. What happened next was that I began to receive referrals from other parts of the country. Instead of only working with clients within driving range, I now have clients internationally and all across the U.S.
I have joined some networking groups that have a national presence and been a speaker to groups on both coasts.

I realize that the pandemic was not so kind to many business owners and many of them could not pivot and grow due to their industry. I feel very fortunate to have made the shift.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Showing up with value and a positive attitude.

When I join a networking group, I tend to always jump in to a volunteer/leadership role. This helps you get to know the other leaders in the group and build trust with them. They in turn will help introduce you to others in the group.

When you show up and add value time after time (consistency is key), rather than showing up once or twice and wondering what’s in it for you, people notice. Showing up with a positive attitude is key as well. Don’t be the one complaining about how things are not getting done. Bring a solution and a smile!

I love the quote from Maya Angelou “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Contact Info:

• Website: www.successmagnified.com
• Instagram: @successmagnified
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marypgaul/
• Other: https://linktr.ee/TheMaryGaul

Image Credits
These are all my own photos.