Three years ago, I called into the Dave Ramsey Show with the idea that I wanted to have a side hustle. After talking with me for a few minutes, Dave says, “It sounds like you want to be a business coach?” I said, “uh, ya, maybe…” He said, “I’ve got just the thing for you, Christy Wright’s Business Boutique Live, I’m going to give you 2 FREE tickets!” then the phone went silent, I went silent, and a minute later a cheerful voice said, “okay, can I get your email so I can send you your tickets?”
We’re going to Nashville!?
So, I called a few friends, and my friend Laura said she was up for the adventure (plus she had points to get us a free hotel room!) a month later, we were sitting in the audience at Business Boutique Live, listening to Dave Ramsey talk about Finance for your Business. 
Of course, I had to also go to his office and say thank you!
I met so many other women on the path to starting their own businesses: we met bakers, hair bow makers, Rodan & Field’s girls, website designers, all kinds of women who were there with a dream like us, of having their own business. It was amazing & exciting & fantastic! I decided right then and there, that I wanted to become a certified Business Coach by next year!
I might have done a little shopping, boy, was there a lot of shopping! My favorite purchase was Rachel Cruz’s new wallet, I love it, and she is so funny:)
We also had a great time exploring Nashville, the food trucks, the Frothy Monkey, Five Daughters, and the Southern for seafood.
Plus, I got to squeeze in a night with Bets, my gramma and celebrate the Cubs winning the World Series! She is still a force of nature, running her creative writing class and quilting circle, and volunteering at church and the thrift store, and the million other things she does:)
Then we came home and it was back to the day to day of work, raising kids, picking up the house & crazy, busy days. But, my life was changed, I knew I had more to offer than just what I was doing, a dream had been planted & started to sprout during that weekend in Nashville. And if all those women could have a dream, then so could I!
The Holidays came & went & I hadn’t done much towards making my dream come true. My oldest son was finishing high school, and my youngest son was entering high school. There were a lot of raging hormones and activities in our new little apartment. Somewhere between moving to a new place, getting through graduation with my oldest, I managed to get a promotion at my 9-5 job! Maybe all these business books I was reading and podcasts I was listening to really were making a difference…
I still longed for my own little side-hustle of coaching women in business. I coached a few colleagues, with great results! So, I called an old friend who was a coach herself & she told me how I could become a Certified Coach. I applied and was accepted to an ICF Certified program for Business Coaching – I couldn’t believe it!
I needed an accountability partner to see me through this, so I asked my partner if he was interested & he said yes! We both studied, attended 2 weeks of immersive, intense live training, had a list of assignments to do & 20 coaching clients to coach to become certified. We pushed each other, my goal was to be certified before Business Boutique Live 2017.
And guess what?! I did it! I was now a Certified Coach:) And I was on my way back to Business Boutique Live for a second time!
I learned to set my goal high, put an absolute deadline on it, enlist my friends to help, get an accountability partner, and a coach & make the time to get one-step closer everyday.
So, I would recommend to you, set your goals just a little bit beyond what you think is actually possible for you to do on your own. Create a timeline and a deadline to reach it, get help and connect with other like-minded folks, get a coach & believe you can do it! It could change your life, too:)
In my next blog post, I will talk about this year’s journey and what happened at last year’s Business Boutique that changed my business life forever…
Until then, I urge you to hug the ones you love, celebrate the tiny wins and embrace your inner CEO!
Hugs,
-Marilyn
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Thank you, perhaps in the future I will look into this. Currently, I do offer 1-1 coaching for those who have a 9-5 job and also for folks who have a side-hustle. Good luck with your photography!