EP 62: Frustrated to Fearless: How Alison Turned 7 Business Moves Into A Superpower

Melissa: Hey guys, welcome back. This week. We have a treat for you guys. Allison and I have been interviewing a bunch of other people and I poll her, the other week and I was like, why aren’t we interviewing each other for at least

Alison: It is smart. It’s really good insight. I don’t know why.

Melissa: I mean, y’all, it’s our podcast. So

Alison: So here we go.

Melissa: so I thought it would be fun to interview Allison, a little bit more about her coaching business.

Melissa: ’cause I did tell her, I was like, I don’t feel like you talk about it enough.

Alison: I probably don’t.

Melissa: Yeah. So if you guys don’t know Allison, is a coach for helping you move your business and

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: like to start your business because as

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: before, it’s the same stuff that you’re gonna do, whether you’re starting or whether you’re moving and starting in a new location. So, Allison, let’s talk a little

Alison: let’s go.

Melissa: a little bit about your coaching business.

Alison: Okay. Watch. Okay, so that’s a big question. so it all started. When I was moving, right? Like I’ve moved my business seven times. We know that. But back in 2019, my business had really taken off after living in Okinawa for three and a half years. And I just knew, we knew we were moving. I was, I knew it two years out.

Alison: I knew it one year out and that whole time, just watching like that move date get closer and closer, I was just looking around really frustrated and aggravated that this little photography business of mine. Which wasn’t so little, didn’t play well with my lifestyle. And I was like, I’m not the only photographer married to the military.

Alison: There’s got to be a better way to do this. and so I got really frustrated and I got really angry and I was, you know, looking at all these other photographers that I was taking, mentoring with and, that weren’t moving, that weren’t part of the military, and just making more and more money, at least from my vantage point.

Alison: And I just got really frustrated that that wasn’t me, because I was pulling the plug and starting over, over and over, over again, like just on repeat. So I let, I let myself get a little angry and then I turned that into some motivation. and I just put my nose to the grindstone and started like researching like how to do this on Instagram, how to get my SEO, right?

Alison: Like how to, like, I mean, it was really expensive to hire somebody I looked into having somebody else do it with me. Mind you, I’m also homeschooling at this point. My kids were 4, 4, 6, 7, and. Almost nine at that point. Eight and a half. and so I was still homeschooling, but I was like feeling that urge to, to not do that anymore.

Alison: I wanted to work more. and so I just really like go deep. I was how to move my business, how to, how to move a service-based business. And everything that kept coming up, even from like some military resources were these vague blogs about that were completely unhelpful or. How to relocate an office within the same city.

Alison: Also very unhelpful. So, so I just was like this, I, I’m not the only one. I can’t be the only one, but I cannot find any resources that help me. So I just piecemealed things together as I was learning from hours and hours of podcasts, blog posts, and just deep diving. Instagram, Instagram, tv back then, anybody remember that?

Alison: Instagram, tv?

Melissa: Yes. I used

Alison: Yeah. Yeah. And so. I just, I just, I just worked on it. We knew where we were going, we were going to Quantico and so, I just started everything that I could. I had office hours to start, moving everything over, blog posts, all the things. and that’s actually how we ended up connecting and meeting sort of, not even in person, because I was using the hashtags.

Alison: No, I physically wasn’t there, but I started probably six or eight months out. just tagging everything as both Okinawa and Quantico, which looked nothing alike, but

Melissa: Yeah, and

Alison: you know, do what you gotta do.

Melissa: to do a little bit more with Instagram. And so that’s where I came across. I came across you on there and that’s how we became photography friends and stuff. And then when we were moving, I got to kind of be one of Allison’s coaching people

Alison: Yeah. Yeah.

Melissa: default or whatever of me venting and her helping me work through things.

Melissa: So I, you know, as we chat through all of this, I have my own personal experiences I will

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: but,

Alison: That’s how we got to where we’re right now. Like we met in person to polos to holy cow, we have a, we have something to share and that’s why we’re here, right?

Melissa: Yeah. I mean, this is a big topic about, you

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: this podcast is about, is about moving. I mean, it’s obviously, as we’ve said, it’s also about getting set up and stuff, but we did feel like, you know, there’s just this missing, you know, there’s a lot of people who are moving now, like whether it’s for jobs or whether it’s

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: you

Alison: and just, I mean, even just going on our mini mentoring episodes, it is not all military people. It is so much more than that. Like golf, who would’ve known the golf industry moves so much.

Melissa: Yeah. And I mean, like for us, we, it wasn’t a military move when we moved to South Florida and stuff, and it wasn’t a military move to come back. It was, you know, a

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: but it was move prompted by lifestyle and stuff

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: to get to a new area. So, so yeah. so let’s, let’s dive into some questions I have for you.

Alison: let’s do it.

Melissa: All right. So what do you think is the thing that most photographers are feeling overwhelmed with when it comes to like, moving their business? Like, what’s that? What, what is that first thing that they come to you and they start venting about?

Alison: They are one of two things. Terrified I. Outta their minds, they’ve never done it. They’re born and raised in the same place, or they’ve at least had their business in that same place, and it’s a small town and they don’t know what to do. And they’re freaking out. Or they’re not freaking out and they’re just overwhelmed.

Alison: They have a better idea and sense of like, okay, I’ve done this before. I’ve started this. I can do it. But they’re so overwhelmed by. What to do, how to do, how to do it. They can’t see the force for the trees. and they need, they need some handholding. They need some, okay, what’s the next right step? How do I, how do I do this effectively, efficiently?

Alison: Because they’re also raising kids. They may or may not be homeschooling, and they’re also running a regular, sometimes full-time business as it is. Like they, they recognize that they can’t do all of it by themselves, and if they do, they’re gonna suffer for it. So it’s,

Melissa: I mean,

Alison: it’s one or the other.

Melissa: too that at this

Alison: A hundred percent.

Melissa: what the order of operations is and when, when to do things and what to tackle first. And when you’re moving, you’re like, well, I know I need to do everything, but what order should I do it in?

Alison: And, and since 20 19, 20 19 was really the impetus where I was like, there’s got to be a better way. But that was like, move five or. That was four or five, I can’t remember. and so since then I’ve moved twice and each time has gotten more and more profitable. And some of my big strategy changes happened without even moving, which.

Alison: It probably was foolish, but it worked. So, so it worked. And it, so, and it worked. It can work for you too, right? Because on top of, not only have I restarted my business seven times, I have done every form of photography structure that there is from all-inclusive, hybrid, in-person. Like real, real I-P-S-I-P-S that did not last long to virtual IPS, which is what I’m at now.

Alison: and so. I feel like I’ve done every gamut of it, and I, I’ve experienced the homeschooling, the, at the same time the, and now I’m not homeschooling. So it’s, it’s a lot. It’s a lot.

Melissa: Yeah, and I think then there’s the other, aspect of it of. There’s things that you’re doing in your business. And this was a big thing for me when it came, when, you know, with working with Allison, like I knew my SEO y’all, like I

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: to do and I knew it was gonna take time.

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: you know, I saw where Allison was showing up on Instagram before she’d even moved.

Melissa: It was getting on my radar and like that was a big thing that you were like, yes, this is the stuff you need to be doing. And I even booked clients before we had left. In South

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: because they found me on Instagram. I mean, obviously I do not rely on Instagram to get

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: are breaking into a new area and there’s nothing else like that is a way to start getting in front of people kind of thing. but I think the

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: impact for me that you had was you’ve obviously forget the business side. You have picked up and moved with your husband, and your kids. All of these times and had to reestablish everything. I mean, even

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: y’all, she’s like, have you found a doctor? Have you found a dentist?

Melissa: And I was like, no. And then she was like, you, yes, you can take off from work today and unpack boxes. And it

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: to give me permission to step away from the business because I would’ve sat there at that desk hammering on that keyboard, trying to get in front of

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: as possible.

Melissa: While my kids are like, mommy, are you gonna hang our pictures back up on the wall? Like, when is that gonna happen?

Alison: Uh, knife to the heart, like, ugh.

Melissa: And it’s, you know, it’s stuff like that that I super appreciate. It was like, ’cause not only was it just like a business coach, but it was like having a life coach with me, like giving

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: do

Alison: it’s,

Melissa: make my life better.

Alison: it’s one of the things I say, somewhere on my website, but it’s like some light therapy, heavy venting and light therapy. Like it’s part of it, it’s part of the journey. It is incredibly frustrating, y’all know, being a business owner without moving. Can be just beating your head against the wall, right?

Alison: Like, then you add in the whole wrench of moving and relocating and starting over and knowing what you’ve done and that it’s worth it, knowing where you have been and where you wanna be, and that you’re not there and you’re somewhere in the middle and

Melissa: Yes,

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: after

Alison: the lu. Yeah. So, yeah. So.

Melissa: Y’all.

Alison: It does. So, yeah.

Alison: So that usually happens right after you’ve moved, so there’s all these stages, right? Like, you know, you’re gonna move, especially in the military, like, I don’t know where I’m going, but I know we’re going somewhere. And I suppose in the golf industry too, that happens. Like you’re looking around, but you don’t know who’s gonna hire you yet.

Melissa: We’re

Alison: and

Melissa: had a mini mentoring

Alison: you,

Melissa: where she

Alison: yeah.

Melissa: ’cause her

Alison: hey.

Melissa: the golf industry and we were

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: That’s crazy.

Alison: It’s so interesting. Uh, you get pastors, you get, I don’t know why we had firefighters for a little bit, but then, military, but then, yeah. okay. And so, so yeah, so there’s those stages. Like, you know you’re gonna move but you don’t know where, and then you get your location.

Alison: That’s when, that’s when it’s really like nose to the grindstone. Work, work, work, work, work from wherever you are. And then you actually get there and it’s like, okay, you’ve pulled that full plug out of wherever you were working before,

Melissa: Yep.

Alison: now it’s like cricket. It’s

Melissa: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Alison: SE o’s baking in, and you may or may not be doing everything you can on social.

Alison: You know, keeping your sanity is important too here, but that’s, that, that’s that lull that you were talk Yeah. That you were just talking about. And that’s when you need to get away from the computer, you need to live your life. You need to unpack the boxes, make the house the home, figure out the doctor, the daycare, the school, the extracurriculars, all the things that you haven’t already done, that some people do that before they get there too.

Melissa: Yeah.

Alison: and you need to like live life and you need to network and you need to find things to, to write about on your blog and become that local expert. And starting with. Your family, what parks are you gonna go to? What restaurants are you gonna take your kids to? Uh, where’s safe water to play in at the beach?

Alison: Like, what time of year, da da da da. What are, when do I have to pay the parking meters at Front Beach? Like, oh, you don’t have to pay them until 10:00 AM That’s good to know. Let’s write about that. Ask me how I know real life situations here. But yeah, so that’s that law where it’s it, and then, and then things start to pick up and there’s no telling how long that law’s gonna last.

Alison: And that’s where your sanity can really,

Melissa: Yeah,

Alison: lose, you can lose it.

Melissa: is very much hard to hit because I do, like you said, I remember my husband and the kids went with my in-laws for a weekend getaway for my mother-in-law’s birthday. And I was like, I love you all. Happy birthday. I’m opting out. I’m

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: and I’m gonna spend three days and I’m gonna change my entire website over.

Melissa: I’m gonna do all of the SEO stuff for it. And at that time I actually got, I had a whole new design. I did everything. ’cause I had been

Alison: That’s huge.

Melissa: I remember doing all of that stuff. I remember I was doing all the inst, like I was doing all the Instagram stuff. And that was that point, like you said, where you’ve gotten that date, but you’re still not like, we weren’t at packing stage yet.

Melissa: Like

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: like two months before we’d even listed the house. So it was like I was already busy there. And then once that was set, oh, and I was booking clients because I was

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: were all like, oh my God, you’re leaving. Yeah, we want a session. So it

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: duper busy. And then

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: house.

Melissa: ’cause you’re selling the house and then you’re moving and then you get down there and then yeah, you’re like. I, I don’t have any work. I don’t have any

Alison: Yeah, yeah.

Melissa: I don’t know

Alison: You’re literally going from like, you’re going 60 miles an hour, running literally two businesses in two locations,

Melissa: Yeah,

Alison: and then you hit a brick wall.

Melissa: yeah.

Alison: Like you feel like, like, I know, you know where you just came from, you know where you wanna be, but that time in the middle is, is, is tough. It’s tough.

Alison: and that’s why, and that’s why I tell so many people, and I feel like every person I’ve worked with says the same thing. I wish I would’ve started sooner. Like, because that’s my biggest thing is like, as soon as you know where you’re going and you have a date and can reverse engineer that timeline, like it’s, it’s all in, you are above your head treading water because there’s so much you can do.

Alison: So if you can start earlier and not feel as panicked or, just threatened by how little time you have,

Melissa: Uhhuh?

Alison: then you’re gonna, your mind is gonna be better for it and you’re just gonna feel better. Especially even in that lull, having had more done.

Melissa: This is something Allison and I’ve been able to test on our, our last moves of like how early is too early. And we both kind of figured out there’s no

Alison: It is not, it doesn’t, it doesn’t exist.

Melissa: if you’re like a year out, that might be a little

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: early, but six months, nope. Get

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: Start

Alison: even then I would, I wouldn’t pull the plug on a current location a year out, but I would totally start a year out on, on SEO duplicate pages, blogging, because it takes 12 to 18 months to debate all that in.

Melissa: Yeah.

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: can even start blogging and even if you wanna keep it in draft mode or something, but you can

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: that

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: I definitely feel like, like you said, there’s not any business coaches out there who are like,

Alison: Mm.

Melissa: help you move.

Alison: Right. Like, girl, y’all, I back in 2019 and it, 2019 is when I moved. So all this actually started 2018.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: looking for podcasts, looking, I mean, any podcast on photography, business, any blog, any resource for military, any military spouse, entrepreneur, resource I had, and nobody had anything to say about this that I could find, right?

Alison: So either, I mean. There was nothing. There was nothing. I would’ve gladly paid a little money to figure and have some, have some handholding for this, but there just wasn’t. And so that’s, that’s what I think what is so unique about this is I don’t know that people are even know to look for it because there’s so few people talking about it.

Alison: but it’s, it’s real. There’s so many of us.

Melissa: moving my business, you’re gonna get stuff like,

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: rent the dolly to move your desk across

Alison: two it in a truck and how to rent and like a timeline and preparing your employees and all this stuff that doesn’t pertain to us.

Melissa: it’s like,

Alison: So, yeah.

Melissa: that’s not exactly. Yeah. I feel like

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: one to figure out. What

Alison: yeah.

Melissa: keywords

Alison: know, I, I know other military spouse entrepreneurs. There’s actually somebody here in Hawaii who has started her business here and moved it to Florida and moved it back.

Alison: but I don’t know anybody in any industry as a military spouse who has moved their business seven times.

Melissa: Yeah.

Alison: At all.

Melissa: Yeah, I,

Alison:

Melissa: ’em too, ’cause they’re, a lot of them aren’t service based, you know,

Alison: mm-hmm.

Melissa: doesn’t matter where their desk is because they can do it anywhere. It’s kind of like on the

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: for us. I don’t have to worry about mo like, that is a

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: business because I just need a desk and here we go.

Melissa: But when you’re

Alison: Right.

Melissa: provider, that’s a, that’s a

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: ’cause you are restarting.

Alison: Yeah. I mean, a hundred percent. And then, I mean, maybe hair, hairstylists, hairstylists. They probably could do this well, because all you gotta do is put one post out on a Facebook page and you’re inundated, but that’s different.

Melissa: hairstylist too, you can find, like you can booth rent, you know, so

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: in a salon. I only know that word

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: sister-in-law’s a hairstylist, so shout

Alison: Yep.

Melissa: South Carolina.

Alison: Lots of people work in their own homes on base, off base. Yeah. There’s, there’s a lot of ways to,

Melissa: it gives them an opportunity to like, okay, well I’m at least booth

Alison: mm-hmm.

Melissa: salon.

Melissa: If somebody happens to walk in and just like me who walks in randomly is like, I don’t care who cuts it, just somebody cut my hair today.

Alison: Right.

Melissa: that makes it a little easier, but I know it’s still hard for them. so what would you say is one challenge that everybody just does not see coming when it comes to like, moving their

Alison: Oh,

Melissa: that

Alison: easy.

Melissa: think about?

Alison: This is easy. How time consuming it is.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: They think, oh, I’m just gonna throw up a page. I’m gonna throw up an article or two and then I’m gonna, you can do that. You can just change your keywords in your alt text and, and maybe some photos on your site. You can, it’s not gonna get you any results at all.

Alison: people are, are,

Melissa: you so long to

Alison: it will take you so long and, and we don’t have, that’s the one thing is, especially as military spouses, when we know we’re moving and we only gotta have three to five years, other people, may, may not have a timeline like that. They may not have an in a definite end date, but. This industry standard to start a business is three to five years to get off the ground.

Melissa: Right?

Alison: I have maxed three years and I’m sure as heck not winning that entire time to get consistent income.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: and so if you want it. You gotta work for it and it’s going to be hella time consuming. It, it just is. Especially if you’re running a pretty, pretty substantial business where you’re already located, like it’s, you’re running, you’re literally running two businesses.

Alison: You’re trying to get and maximize your calendar and your schedule where you are before you literally drop off a cliff and don’t know what’s coming. So yeah, that’s, they don’t realize how, how time consuming is, and everybody want wishes they would’ve started earlier.

Melissa: Yeah. And that, that, I was gonna say, that’s why you wanna start as soon as possible, because there

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: to do. There’s a lot, because, you know, for some people too, like this is, this isn’t just a hobby, this isn’t just fun money. This is

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: the mortgage. And if you don’t have that coming in, then you know you’re gonna have a lot of issues and stuff.

Melissa: So getting restarted as fast as possible is really, that’s the goal, which there’s a lot of work behind that. I

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: it’s just how it is.

Alison: a hundred percent. Like for me, I was just personally driven and motivated to just have a contributing income to our family. Right. that was, that was enough to get me started. But then once we put the boys in private school, it was like freaking magic. I no longer felt guilty or questioned my prices.

Melissa: Yeah.

Alison: had done my expenses, I did my profit first. I saw how much the government was gonna get, how much I needed to retain for the business to keep the, the cash flow going. And then how little of that I actually got went to my family was like, it, it was magical. It was like, it was a complete mindset change.

Alison: And, and that was it. Like, it was, it was no longer fun money or extra, or maybe, no, it was, this is real and I have no qualms about this.

Melissa: I need to earn a certain amount every

Alison: Mm-hmm. All right. Yeah. And

Melissa: who might be facing a move in the next few months, what, what are some

Alison: mm-hmm.

Melissa: that they can do right now? Like I. Wherever they are in their stage. Even just thinking about it, because sometimes people I’ve seen where people post, they’re like, Hey, we’re thinking about a move.

Melissa: Like what should they be doing first?

Alison: Uh, research location. You cannot over research where you might end up. So even if you don’t know exactly where you’re going, if you have. Two or three possibilities, research them. What’s going on? Like what’s the market like, what’s the neighborhood like? What, what’s the demographics? Because

Melissa: Yeah.

Alison: one thing, you know, I love the idea of doing a course for all of this because a lot of the steps are physically the same.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: But every market is different. Every demographic is like a military town is completely easy for me to break into versus a completely milit a civilian town with no military presence whatsoever, everybody already knows everyone, and so I have to do so much more work in person and online to show up and to get into.

Alison: To just get any sort of inquiries, versus the areas with high rotation. So like that by itself is different. And then you talk about like beach versus like, where, where are you gonna shoot? Are you studio, are you outdoors? What are your locations gonna be like? Are you in the DC area and you’ve gotta pay a hundred dollars to get a permit at, in even just one place for one shoot.

Alison: Like,

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: that’s, that’d be good to know. Uh, what’s the traffic like? Like I didn’t shoot, I couldn’t shoot at all in Quantico on Fridays because the 95 traffic was awful. Yeah, right. But like, so, okay.

Melissa: would not do sessions in Northern Virginia for families because I’m like, I, there is no way in heck you are gonna catch me at

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: 5:00 PM on 95. I was like, it’s just not happening. If you want a family session, you gotta drive down to me. But even like you said, I don’t wanna drive on Friday anywhere in the DC area.

Melissa: I’m sure

Alison: Exactly.

Melissa: are like, preach it, girls, preach

Alison: Yeah. So that all that’s gonna inform your business model, your availability, and then your ability to bring in income, right? Like all of that matters, so you can’t research it too much. but I would say,

Melissa: with that research, I was gonna say, you could researching the competition,

Alison: mm-hmm.

Melissa: out there and, and this could even be a factor if you’re looking at your competition and you’re like, everybody looks the same, this is a good time for you to sit back and go, well, what could I change in my business to be a little

Alison: Yes. Eliminate the competition. Yeah. And when you do that, you’re, you’re eliminating the competition by, by not having competition. Right. By making yourself unique. That’s your unique value proposition. Right.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: and so that’s really, that’s, again, that’s one of the things I do when it comes to refining a business, whether it’s a complete business restructure with the way you.

Alison: Like do collections or in person or a virtual IPS or you know, sessions or client model or natural light versus studio. Like, those are all refining things that I help people with because it all matters. Right? But I would also say the first thing you need to do, get a discovery call with me. I am, I do complimentary 15, maybe 20 minute discovery calls where we talk about one thing, one thing in your business, totally free.

Alison: We make a game plan for you and we see how we can help. so yeah, so.

Melissa: who is your, who’s your ideal client on when it comes to,

Alison: Well it, female, female entrepreneurs, but really photographers, especially, photographers, because I speak your language right. But I’m, if you got questions for me, I am not, I’m not gonna decline anybody for that call. so anybody like female entrepreneurs, especially service based businesses that where you’re picking up and moving.

Alison: So I know I’ve worked with, some wardrobe stylists. I’ve worked with some hairstylists, I’ve worked with photographers, the gamut.

Melissa: Awesome. guys,

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: do some quick fire questions ’cause we thought this would

Alison: here we go.

Melissa: We’re gonna, we’re gonna ask Allison a few things. All right. So first one, what is one thing you wish you’d known during your first business? Relocation.

Alison: Oh, I already talked on this. You can’t start too early. You cannot start too early. So every location of market is different. You’ve, you’ve got to deep dive as soon as possible.

Melissa: There you go. All right. So what’s your number one tip for maintaining sanity during a move?

Alison: Breathe. Breathe. You need to trust yourself. you’re gonna be overwhelmed, you’re gonna be terrified. Prioriti, prioritize what’s gonna get you the greatest return on your time. Uh, block, block off some off office hours so you know you have dedicated time to attend to those priorities. and then just rest.

Alison: And what? What you’re gonna be able to get done in those times. And you mentioned our earlier, a workcation, like if you can get a weekend, a 20, y’all, 24 hours. I do this on a Sunday where I, we go to church and then I leave, go to a hotel with a lot nice lobby, get all day. Colin takes the boys to school the next morning and then I pick them up from school the next day.

Alison: And I’ve gotten. Like a dedicated, what, almost 20, at least 24 hours, 36 hours away. and I can go for a run. I can get food, I can drink wine, but I am like guilt free in the zone, starting and stopping an entire project, which is great for something like what you were talking about with a website, re overhaul, blogging, research, all that stuff.

Alison: So I would, I would do that at least once before you move, if not twice.

Melissa: a good work,

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: as you said. okay. And then this is a good one too, like, ’cause I get this with SEO also, but how, how can someone know if they need coaching versus just figuring it out on their own?

Alison: So this was a really good question, but I think it all comes down to how bad you want it.

Melissa: Mm-hmm.

Alison: you want it badly, you need help. Anybody can do this on their own. I did it. I didn’t have help. You really could. But the time you’re gonna spend a learning what to do and then how to do it is. Taking away from your ability to actually execute those plans that we were talking about.

Alison: So if you want some handholding, if you want some, as I said, light vent, light therapy to go along with it, then, then hire somebody that’s been there. Hire somebody with experience that knows what you’re going through, can see, see past the current hurdle, and get you from point A to point B as fast as possible.

Melissa: Yeah, I definitely think when you’ve got a coach, it’s going to, it’s gonna challenge you and it’s gonna

Alison: Mm-hmm.

Melissa: So if you’re a procrastinator or you know, or you have a tight timeline, like you just don’t have time to figure this all out on your own,

Alison: Yeah.

Melissa: when having a coach to push you and keep you on track, like, I mean, I have a business coach and stuff, and it’s specifically for could I figure this stuff out on my own?

Melissa: Yes. But I pay her so that, that way I can, I can voxer her with a question and get an answer and

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: There we go. I’m

Alison: yeah, absolutely. And there’s multiple ways to work with me. Like, yes, I do a a 20 minute, a 15, 20 minute discovery call for everybody. But if you just need a one-off brain dump, like I have all these ideas, help me organize my thoughts. That’s available, but I also have what I call ongoing handholding.

Alison: It’s month to month with exactly what you’re, we do a regular call every other week. You get written plans, action plan, customized to where you’re going, where you’re coming from, what you do, and how you run your business. But then also that ongoing boxer support is included. Like you hit a wall on something, you start working on your homework.

Alison: You can’t figure out what you’re doing, what to do next. You got a question box for me? I’m here for it.

Melissa: Awesome. Well, this was super

Alison: Yeah,

Melissa: was

Alison: those are some great questions.

Melissa: I was like, I feel like Allison doesn’t talk about it enough. And so as her, one of her biz besties, I was like, it’s my duty to make sure you talk about

Alison: Yes. Absolutely. Well, thank you. You brought, you brought the heat and really made me think about some of it too, so, so yeah. So y’all get on, get on Alison bell.co and schedule your discovery call.

Melissa: Yeah. All

Alison: Awesome.

Melissa: till next time.

Alison: See ya.