We were lucky to catch up with Racheal Cook recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Racheal, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear your thoughts about family businesses.

As someone who comes from a long line of entrepreneurs, I honestly don’t think I could have NOT become a small business owner. My great-grandparents owned a hosiery mill that made silk stockings in the 1930s-1940s (in fact, they shifted to making parachutes during WWII). My grandfather owned a small grocery store. My mom started her business in the 1980s as a soil consultant (prior to women even being able to get a business loan). And my dad has owned an insurance agency since 1985.

Growing up in that world, you don’t always want to work with or for your parents. You want to do your own thing! But my after-school job was working at the insurance agency. I did everything from filing paperwork to writing thank you cards to accepting payments from clients. When computers came out, it was my job to input a decades worth of data! And in high-school, I learned how to ‘Smile and Dial’ to set appointments for the agents.

I didn’t love it at the time – but in college, I ended up starting a tutoring business. Accidentally. I started tutoring for athletes that were required to maintain a certain GPA to keep their scholarships and spots on the team. I quickly realized that 1) there was a shortage of tutors for business classes such as finance, accounting, and economics and 2) I could run study groups vs. tutoring 1×1. It allowed me to make over $250 an hour while I was finishing my BSBA and MBA.

You only learn the lessons looking backwards and I realized that my exposure to small business from an early age really shaped the way I see the world. I know that as long as I can help someone or solve a problem for them, I can always find ways to get paid.

Now, my teens work with me in the business as paid interns. Yes – they are on payroll! They help with everything from mailing welcome packages out to my clients, editing videos and podcasts, and creating graphics for social media. Whenever they realize they want to make some extra money for their own hobbies, they know I’ve always got a list of things to do! And I have no doubt these skills will transfer into any career they could possibly want.

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.

In 2008, I found myself at a breaking point. Ten emergency room visits in as many weeks due to extreme panic attacks, overwhelming anxiety, and inexplicable exhaustion signaled that my body was shutting down. The diagnosis was clear: clinical burnout from years of 75+ hour workweeks in a demanding consulting career and a diagnosis of chronic pain and fatigue syndrome.

This health crisis became the catalyst for transformation. I left my corporate position and dedicated months to prioritizing my wellbeing and burnout recovery. A cornerstone of my healing journey became my daily yoga and meditation practice at a studio owned by my friend Arlene.

As our friendship deepened through these daily sessions, Arlene posed a question that would change the trajectory of my life: “Rach, I know you don’t wanna go back to corporate, but do you think you could help me with my yoga studio?”

The request sparked an epiphany. With an MBA in Entrepreneurship and Small Business and years consulting for companies with 100-500 employees, full departments & leadership teams, and millions in revenue, I suddenly recognized a significant gap in the market.

Here was Arlene, who had bravely launched a yoga studio on her own—no funding, no full-time employees, just herself and a handful of part-time yoga teachers.

I realized that over 80% of small businesses were owner-operated, yet in 2008, these entrepreneurs had minimal support available to them. This insight launched my business as “The Yogipreneur” that same year. I carved out a niche providing specialized business and marketing consulting for yoga business owners.

As my reputation for practical, results-oriented business guidance grew, clientele expanded beyond the yoga community. I regularly heard from people “Racheal, I’m not a yoga teacher, but I’m a photographer/website designer/functional medicine doctor/etc. Can I work with you?”

While my clients are absolute experts at their field, they reach a point where “just winging the business stuff: is not longer sustainable. They need real strategy, real systems, and real support if they want to reclaim their life and actually enjoy their business again.

Fast forward to 2025, I’ve become known as a coach for women business owners seeking success on their own terms through my business The CEO Collective, my podcast Promote Yourself to CEO, and multiple books including Your Business Sweet Spot and Fired Up & Focused.

What keeps me going is my clients. I have clients who have worked with me for over a decade – I’ve witnessed them completely transform from overworked and underpaid, missing out on time with their families, and putting themselves on the back burner to feeling fully empowered and in control again. Nothing has made me happier than seeing clients who have been able to take a full month sabbatical knowing that their team is running the day to day, or they can now tackle bucket list projects like writing their book now that their business can run without them.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Hustle mindset. As someone raised by entrepreneurs who worked a LOT, I went into my career fully believing that the secret to success was the ability to outwork anyone else. That work ethic was instilled very early in life for me and served me well through school and my early career until I hit debilitating burnout.

As I started my own business, I realized that hustle harder reaches a point where you start to experience diminishing returns on your time, energy, and attention. When you’re overworking, you’re more prone to decision fatigue, mistakes, and losing sight of what matters.

So I intentionally designed my business to fully support all areas of my life. Yes, that includes making sure my business reaches the financial goals that allow me to support my family. It also means allowing me the time freedom to be a present mom to my three kids as well as a caregiver to my aging parents. It allow me to embrace the real rest and downtime I need to care for myself.

After 17 years of working just 20-25 hours a week, I can now see so clearly that the hustle is required when you don’t have the business model, strategy, systems, and support that allows you to sustainably grow your business without sacrificing your life, health, or family.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I have a philosophy that business grows at the speed of relationships.

Over and over again, the biggest opportunities for me have come through the relationships I’ve built over the last couple of decades. Invitations to speak at the US Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC? A business colleague made the connection. Invitations to be interviewed on hundreds of podcasts? Another peer make an introduction. Over half of my clients come from referrals and introductions from other clients.

Yes – I also have a podcast, post on social media, and occasionally run ads. But these days, people are looking for someone they can TRUST. They ask their friends who they are working with before joining any online coaching program or online course. And I’ve found that once they are introduced to me or my work, they then binge watch my free content, Netflix style, to learn more about my work.

How do I keep up with all these relationships? It does take being intentional and proactive.

When someone starts working with me and my team at The CEO Collective, we have a client experience framework that ensures every single person is getting the support they need. But on top of that, I really like getting to know my clients! I join their newsletters, follow their social media, and talk to them regularly.

When they finish their time with us, I send a Client-Only newsletter to past clients with exclusive content and opportunities to work together again. I keep in touch with them via social.

My business isn’t built on serving tens of thousands of clients who I don’t know – I intentionally designed it to be incredibly profitable and sustainable with just a few hundred clients a year. I think that decision has allowed me to build deeper relationships that result in clients working with us for multiple years, higher lifetime client value, and lots of repeat clients.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.theceocollective.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/racheal.cook/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/racheal.cook
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachealcook/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@the_ceo_collective

Image Credits

Kimie James Photography