Key lessons I learned on my 9-month sabbatical [PART 2]

Continuing my ‘Sabbatical Series’ (Part 1 here) with Part 2! The final update on my business journey this year.

A number of the things that have changed for me in my business over the last 9-months have come about because of where I'm at in life!  It's a new season for me.

For the first 12 years of my business, I was predominantly in my 30s.

And it was really fun and exciting to build, build, build the business as big as I could!

So, all through my 30s I ran massive launches, I ran large cohorts, I had a big team.

(And yes, I had a tremendous amount of success—success that enabled me to take my sabbatical in fact.)

That definitely feels like the old era, though! 

This year I’ve realised that the business model that I was running was no longer in the highest alignment for me personally.

Fully in my 40s now, I’m seeing changes in my personal values, hormonal changes and radical honesty about what I want in my business for it to be sustainable longer term.  

• I don't want to be working in huge group programs anymore.

• I don’t want to be headlining enormous launches and shouldering intense ad spends.

• Instead, we're going to be focusing more on smaller, intimate groups where we can be more hands-on and direct with clients, giving much more intimate feedback, and providing more personal attention—to help people as they nurture and grow their health coaching businesses and step into their own entrepreneur eras. 

As I realised I had outgrown my “old” business model, I also realised that I always want to be modelling this idea that your business should match your highest value.

Not just what is trending at any one time. And not just what someone else might want you to do. 

ESPECIALLY as a health coach who values health, the goal should always be building a business to serve and support you, as well as your clients. 

I 100% loved the high growth era in my 30s—and the 1000+ women I earned my stripes supporting—but in my 40s I’m looking for something really deep, and rich, and connected in this next era of my life.

So, I’m easing off on my big launch era, and I’m leaning now into a more sustainable, smaller business model where I’m not managing large teams and huge groups, and I’m realigning my business with my own life, desires and values. 

(You might find this as a health coach! Perhaps you too might have gotten burnt out, out of alignment, in your work, and relate to where I was at, at the start of this year.)

The business model I’m bringing in for myself is one that’s focused on the healthiest business model for me—because simplicity and ease are some of my highest values.

// What’s next //

If YOU want to build a business that serves YOU as well as your clients—your package is an ESSENTIAL part of that.

I know, I know, it’s not that sexy — people want socials — but you know what? Your package matters more than anything. It’s what’s going to make you good money, give you a sustainable schedule, and get you good results for your clients. 

Selling single sessions simply won’t cut it, and if you want the clients to sustain your business, you need a package that is a slam dunk and a hell yes for your ideal clients.

Key lessons I learned on my 9-month sabbatical [PART 1]

Did I disappear altogether? No. I was on sabbatical. And, I’m back!

Over the last 9 months, I consciously chose to take some time out.

I’ve been in the online business for 12 years, and in my previous digital marketing job for 13 years before that.

If I had been in a standard job, in a standard career, I would have totally earned a 3-6 month long service leave by this stage in my career… 

But this is not something most entrepreneurs talk about, think about, or plan for!  

For me, though, it was always there on my vision board as a marker of success in my business. This idea that I would be able to take time off if and when I felt called to. 

The reality is, my business has been successful over the last 12 years, and I was in the position to be able to take a break because… 

• I’ve been able to save money ALONGSIDE investing in my business. 

• I’d been mindful of my finances.  

• I’d been running a highly profitable business supporting health coaches for over a decade.  

…and because of that, I was able to keep my life and business running stably behind the scenes this year without actively marketing on social media (and elsewhere) and selling my programs. 

It might look from the outside as if I haven’t been working much—but behind the scenes, I’ve still been coaching health coaches enrolled in my programs, and working with some 1:1 clients.

Full transparency: In taking a break, there was a real part of me that wondered if I might go in an entirely different direction in my business, and take on a different market. 

As many of you know,  I'm very passionate about all things health, nervous system, brain health, physical health, and coaching — so I was open to exploring ANY of these areas.  

But the more questioning I did,  and the more self-reflection I undertook, the more I realised how much I love working with health coaches. 

I believe in the industry so much.  

I love the ripple effect that we have. 

I love the work that we do. 

And I’m feeling genuinely excited and fired up to continue bringing all of the learnings I’ve had as one of the leading experts in this field over the last 12 years—and from the last 9 months—into an exciting new chapter.

A bit of backstory…

…I went to the US at the end of 2023 to attend a number of Masterminds (as I regularly do - a lot of my mentors are in the US).  This trip opened up my eyes and revealed to me the vast extent of the changes that had taken place in the online space that hadn't hit Australia at that time.
And in my heart, there and then, I knew that 2024 would be a good time to not just take a deserved breather for myself…

...but also to put myself in a really powerful position of freeing up my time and taking advantage of the opportunity to be in “observer mode”.

I spent a lot of this year studying the industry changes, observing, watching, having virtual coffees with my peers, and taking a good long bird's eye view of the industry — because I didn't need to be in the weeds of making money for my own business and bills all day, every day. 

It was quite a unique position to be in this year.

Some of the key changes that I observed were: 

• Economy changes 

• A really flooded marketplace that's hit saturation point after the last 4 years (2020 to 2024) saw a high interest in remote work and a huge influx of coaches hitting the market. 

• A high level of burnout—both in terms of experiences (not always positive) that people have had with different courses, but also a feeling of information overload.

This is something that I have a LOT of thoughts on and is going to lead a lot of my work moving forward…because you MUST understand how to get you—as a health coach, in your business—having a ‘cut through’ in this new market. 

One of the most important ways you can create this ‘cut through’?

Your coaching package. 

It is actually a hugely postent time to be selling health coaching services, as people are consistently INVESTING in their health…

…BUT your coaching package MUST be a hell yes for your ideal client, the minute they see it.

Nowadays, people are simply not willing to guess if what you do might benefit them, or wait around to take the time to figure it out. If they don’t *get* it seconds, they’re gone.

THIS is why my VERY FIRST Masterclass back post-Sabbatical is going to talk about how to create your ‘slam dunk’ offer that your ideal clients are going to understand is for them in less than the time it takes to watch a reel or scroll a carousel post.

Those that master this will thrive in their health coaching business.

Those that don’t? Won’t.