Design a Business That Fits Your Life. (Not the Other Way Around) | #234

Too many women leave corporate jobs or start businesses for freedom, only to recreate the same burnout in a different form.

In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, business coach and former TV producer Shannon Russell shares how to design a business that truly fits your life. Not one you have to squeeze your life into.

If you’re starting a business, scaling an existing one, or feeling overwhelmed by hustle culture, this episode will help you flip the script and build a life-first business that supports your priorities, energy, and values.

You’ll learn how to stop building a business based on what should work and instead create a business model aligned with your schedule, family life, and long-term goals. From choosing the right business model to setting boundaries, systems, and workflows, this episode walks you through how to create freedom without burnout.

This episode is especially helpful for women in midlife who are:

• Leaving a 9–5 job
• Starting a second act career
• Launching or scaling a business
• Seeking flexibility, freedom, and fulfillment

Your business should support your life. Not consume it.

*Get the full show notes here!

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Subscribe now for actionable insights on how to shift your mindset, take control of your career, and build a thriving business.

Read the Second Act Blog for more advice and inspiration on creating your business. 

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Transcript

Transcription:

Second Act Success Podcast

Season 1 - Design a Business That Fits Your Life. Not the Other Way Around | #234

Episode - #234

Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

 [00:00:00] We're so busy making a living, earning that money, doing the hustle the day to day, but we forget it really is about making a life all encompassing, the work, the family, the friends, the personal, all of it.

Speaker 2: today I wanna help you design a business that aligns with your life and your priorities.

Speaker: Hey there everyone. I am Shannon Russell. I'm a business coach, a former TV producer, , and someone who has learned the hard way that a [00:01:00] business or a career should fit your life, not the other way around.

 We're so busy making a living, earning that money, doing the hustle the day to day, but we forget it really is about making a life all encompassing, the work, the family, the friends, the personal, all of it.

Speaker 2: today I wanna help you design a business that aligns with your life and your priorities.

 Let's start with the truth.

Speaker 3: The truth. We all need to know now your business should fit your life, not the other way around. So if you are thinking about a business, if you've recently launched a business, if you're in the thick of your business, you know that it should fit your life. That's why you created a business in the first place.

This is all about you.

Most people create a business and then they try to squeeze their life into the leftover spaces, and it doesn't always work that way. And when you're leaving a corporate job, you're leaving that 40 hour plus work week.

You wanna make sure that you're doing it for a reason. You're very [00:02:00] intentional because you're leaving something quote unquote stable to create a business and go into this new adventure where you can't control every aspect of your business. So you wanna make sure that you build that business with that intention so that you know it's going to offer you that freedom, that flexibility and that creativity that you need to bring in the income that you want and to be able to work the hours that you want.

Think about when you buy a pair of shoes and they're a little bit too small, but you're hoping, okay, I really love them. I wanna be able to wear them to this wedding this weekend, and you're trying to squeeze your foot into the shoe. It's not going to work. It's not gonna be comfortable, and it's not going to fit right.

The business that you're building is not that shoe. Your business needs to fit around your life, your priorities, and why you wanted to begin this business anyway.

Let's begin with you. I want you to ask yourself these three questions. Number one, what do I want my daily life to look like? Write down your [00:03:00] morning routines, your school pickups, drop offs, your workouts, your creative time, your family time, anything that is a priority to you and that is involved in your day to day.

Number two, how many hours do I truly want to work? Write down the amount of hours per day, per week. Write down realistically what you can squeeze into your already busy life.

Number three, what freedom do I want my business to give me? What freedom are you building toward with this business? Think about the time. Think about the location. Think about if you want to be able to travel. How independent do you want to be with your schedule? Think about financial flexibility. Maybe in your nine to five job, you weren't able to be creative or think outside of the box or use your skills and talents in the way that you wanted to.

What do you wanna be able to do that you weren't able to do before?

Your answers to these three [00:04:00] questions to what you wrote down here. Those answers become your life first blueprint. And this means that every decision you make about your business should go back to this blueprint. Everything should pass the test. So if you're thinking about taking on a new client, taking on a new partner, go back to this blueprint to those answers that you wrote down, and use that as your guide to say, Hmm, will this be a good business decision?

Does it fit with what I want my life to look like? The hours that I want to work and the freedom that I want to have Ultimately, does this business of yours support the life that you want or does it just squeeze into it?

Make decisions using the Life First filter. Here's my filter question, does this move me closer to the life I want or further away from it?

Does this business or this business decision lead me towards that life? I want those priorities that [00:05:00] I am stating. Or does it shrink it?

This question becomes your new CEO compass. It becomes your guide, your arrow to make sure that again, you are on the right path towards building this business and this life that you want that really truly fits.

This is the part where you really have to be honest with yourself and not sit in that daydream. You want to really say, okay, this business is becoming a reality, or it is already a reality. So how am I going to form this and shift this so that it does fit my life and my priorities? Now is the time to do it, not five, 10 years from now.

So really be honest with yourself

if a business proposition or an offer that you get requires you to work more time than you want to, then it's a misfit. It doesn't work for you, and it's okay. More work will come, more business will come, more opportunities will be on the way. Just be truthful in making that decision so that you don't regret it [00:06:00] later.

And if a marketing strategy really burns you out, if social's getting to you, if networking in person is becoming too much, whatever that marketing strategy that you have in place is doing, how it's making you feel. If it's too much, if you're feeling that verge of burnout, it's a no go.

Then stop it and find something else that feels better.

This next one is important. If a client or a customer is really draining you, if you're feeling like you're not getting through, if nothing that you can do or offer is making that person or that customer happy, then that is your data to move on because you do not need drama. You went into business so that you can serve the people you want to serve and so that you can feel good about those products or services that you're offering.

It is okay to choose your clients or your customers wisely.

Remember, as you go through these motions and you're making these decisions in building or scaling your business, make sure that [00:07:00] you refer to this life first filter question because it really will become that compass that you need to move forward knowing that you're creating the business that will really, truly fulfill you.

Speaker 3: Now it's time to talk about how we can build that business model around your lifestyle. Now that you know your truth and you have this path, you can reverse engineer a business model that will make this possible this is the part of building a business where many new entrepreneurs can take a wrong turn, and I don't want that for you.

I want you to be able to be very confident 1000% that this is the business and the business model that will work for you. Here's how you can do it.

Oftentimes you think about a business, you see what kind of model it is, whether it's service based or in person or digital, and you think, okay, great. I'm gonna jump into that. This will be a great business for me.

Whatever model it is, it'll work. I'll make it work, I'll squeeze it in, I'll squeeze that foot into the shoe, I will make this work. However, there [00:08:00] is a way to choose a business model and a business idea that really is perfect for you in the season of life that you're in.

So let's walk through how you can figure out the business model that will work for you.

. Number one, what level of flexibility do you need if you need flexibility, service-based businesses, online coaching, digital products, those offer a lot of flexibility with time and location and schedule. If you love structure, then group programs and workshops may be great for you because you can plan those out ahead of time

these can be service-based offerings that are online or in person

because You can make your own schedule. You can decide which services you're offering, and you can really work it into the pockets of your day or your week. Think about a service that you can offer or one that people have asked you about. 

If you want to be able to scale your business, then think about products, digital products, tangible products, what can you create that you can [00:09:00] eventually scale and offer more of, or duplicate or make different versions of when you have a product, then the sky is kind of the limit.

You can keep creating, keep inventing, and eventually scale that as big as you want to.

if you wanna be completely evergreen, then you can sell digital products online.

You can open an Etsy shop. you Can offer passive services or passive products.

Question number two. When do I want to be on. Energy matters. So you wanna create a schedule that really compliments when you are feeling the best and most creative and most productive. If you are not the best in the evenings, then don't build a business around nighttime activities.

Make sure you schedule your services that you will be offering in a time that works best for you.

If mornings are when you thrive, then stack your CEO work in the morning.

 When I began my first business, and even now with my coaching business, I have to pack my school day hours [00:10:00] in for all of my work. I offer one night a week for coaching sessions that I kind of block off on this one Tuesday evening where I can take coaching calls.

Speaker 3: Otherwise, everything is during the time where my kids are in school because that is what fits my schedule best,

you can do the same for you. Think about the services you want to offer, the way your energy levels work throughout the day, and then pack everything into that time.

Question number three, what do I want to be known for? Think about it, your brand, this business that you're building is you. It is you. You are the boss, you are the CEO. And what you're creating really does reflect you.

If your mission is clear, you won't shapeshift, you won't move around. You'll keep in your lane,

this way you feel really connected to the business you're building, to the brand that you're creating, and the offers that you put out into the world are ones that will really align with you. This will help you build longevity and ease and really make you excited to get up every [00:11:00] morning and dive into your business.

Think about these different kinds of business models and really think about your lifestyle and what works best for you.

Speaker 3: We touched on this a little bit, but your energy matters. So design your schedule around your natural energy. Yes, it's your time and the time you have available during the day, but also think about when you feel you're most creative. You're most energetic, you're most awake and alive and excited to dive into your work.

if you're a morning person, maybe you wanna create your CEO work and your creation time first thing in the morning. If afternoons work a little better for you and your energy and your schedule, then maybe you schedule calls, in-person meetings, any kind of one-on-one, FaceTime with people after lunch.

No matter what you do, you don't wanna build a business in your slump hours. I have some friends who love to put the kids to bed, and then they end up working from say, eight to 10 or nine to midnight. So whatever really works for you. I find that I get to work a lot as soon [00:12:00] as I drop off the kids. I have this energy in the morning, and then things start to slump a little bit after lunchtime.

It really is all about you listening to yourself, your body, your energy levels, and figuring out how you wanna stack your day and schedule your week.

Speaker 3: I want you to set boundaries as you build and scale this business.

 You wanna be able to control your schedule, your boundaries, your feelings, and your freedom.

Speaker 3: So think about a life aligned business and how that really requires you to say yes to some things and no to a lot of things. Boundaries don't have to be restrictive. I look at them more as they are protective. They protect my time and my sanity and my schedule.

Think about your boundaries and what you want to create so that it brings freedom into your life because this business is yours.

Think about the hours that you want to work, and again, go back to your energy levels too, because we wanna make sure it's all aligned, because that's how you'll get the most out of [00:13:00] this, and how you'll feel the most energetic and productive. So If you have clients, what are the hours that they'll most likely need you?

And then put boundaries around those.

Think about what drains your battery, what really just takes away your energy and start to be protective of that and know that, okay, if this particular person or this particular task, whatever it might be, that kind of drains you. Put that in a time where you.

Are protective where you know that, okay, this one time a month, this one time a week, I'm going to deal with this particular, area of the business that I may not love so much, but I'm going to protect myself enough to put a boundary around that and know that this is happening during this set time so that the rest of the time you have a flow of really being in your zone of genius, doing what you need to do, and creating this business of yours and really building it.

And I have to say this last one because we all are guilty of it, that shiny object syndrome. Ooh, this is a [00:14:00] great idea and this is a great idea, and as an entrepreneur, I know that you are creative entrepreneurs have lots of ideas. Put some boundaries and protective fences around your shiny objects that really light you up.

So make a Google Doc or Google sheet that you can just dump all those ideas in and come back to them when you have the time and the capacity. You don't want them to leave forever, but you wanna have a boundary around them for when you're able to look at them and have more capacity to dive in and be creative.

Speaker 3: We touched upon systems briefly, but I wanna dive into a little bit more about these because when systems run well, they can run while you live your life. And that freedom that comes from having systems in place means that you will not be hustling every second of the day.

The sooner you can create these systems. The sooner you'll be able to design a business that kind of runs without needing you 24 7. I always say that systems create that breathing room so that I [00:15:00] can take a breath and say, oh, okay, that email is going out, or that out of office was on, or My calendar link is set so that people can create meetings with me.

So whatever you can do to allow that breathing room in your life and in your business will help you later. Some examples are automated onboarding. So if you have a new customer, a new employee, or you have a new client, these are people who need to be onboarded.

They need to know what it's going to be like to work with you, and so you can automate these onboarding systems. You can also automate offboarding systems if you are letting someone go or if you're coming to the end of your contract with a client, you can have certain emails ready to go that can thank them.

Ask for a testimonial, tell them other ways that they can work with you. Ask them for a referral. Have all of these set up so that automatically when that person is finished working with you. you can set them up with this onboarding process that you've already created and it's [00:16:00] automated.

Calendars and booking schedules are such a lifesaver. So if you are someone who has clients, you have a lot of meetings with potential partners, then you can set up a calendar link through systems like Calendly. That you can set up your availability, send that link to someone, and they can schedule the meetings.

Now let's talk email, because building an email list is of course one of the main priorities in building any business. It is your database. It is the way you communicate it is the way that you'll sell. So think about your email sequences,

Once you have an email service provider that you choose, whether it's ConvertKit or flow desks, once you have your email provider, you can set up automated email sequences. So when someone signs up for your newsletter, when someone enrolls in a course, when someone books a time with you, you can set a funnel of emails that will go out automatically every time this person enters your world.

Content batching. I batch [00:17:00] everything, from my podcast, to my blogs, if I am doing social media, I'll give myself a few hours to do social media posts for the next week or so. It's when I get in that creative zone that I can really bang them out.

And then you're just focused on one task. For that hour, two hours, day, whatever it is, and you're focused and you're really the most, you're in your most heightened creativity working on that one task, and you're getting a bunch of things done during that time.

Lastly, I just wanna mention project workflows. So you might be in a place in your business where a Google Sheet or a Google Doc will work for you, where you can kind of keep what you need to be doing every day, every week within your business.

Or you might be someone who wants a program that really helps you categorize every to-do list that you have for your business or your schedules and just kind of putting everything in one software. And you can think of Asana or Airtable or Notion. These are all programs that really help [00:18:00] you take all of your ideas, everything about your business and put it into this one platform where you can really get it organized and it helps you figure out your projects, what's due, when, and how to execute them in the best way for you.

Speaker 3: Alright, my friend, we are gonna pull everything that we just chatted about and I'm going to give you a few action steps that you can implement to move forward in your business

action, step one. Map your ideal week. So first, you're going to block in your life. First priorities, so your kids, your workouts, your appointments, your rest, your lunch, all of those things that you know are priorities in our everyday life and in our business.

Make sure you block those off in your weekly calendar, your planner, whatever you use to keep track of what you're doing the next seven days.

Once you have this mapped out, then you can add in your business hours. And again, remember to think back to when your energy level is, when you need to have breaks, when you feel like your clients or customers will need you. Think [00:19:00] about all of that and add those hours in, and that will give you a map to what your ideal week will look like.

This Weekly map can change over time. It's really just a place for you to start getting your week organized in the ways that will fit your life and align with you the best.

Action. Step number two, do an offer audit. This means that I want you to think about what you're offering your clients or customers. Are they services? Are they products? Think about everything you want to offer and keep the offers that align with your goals, that fit into your schedule, that energize you and excite you, and that bring you that sustainable revenue. Everything else gets cut off your list. Either remove it or reshape it, but you want to concentrate, at least at this point in your business with what truly aligns with your goals and your lifestyle.

Action. Step number three,

choose one system to automate this month. Think about the one thing that drains you, that you [00:20:00] dread doing in your business and decide to systemize it. and Automate it. Outsource it if you need to, but just simplify it. One task simplified this month.

Action. Step number four, set one new boundary this month. Maybe it's no client calls. After 3:00 PM maybe you implement a 24 to 48 hour response window when someone sends you an email or leaves you a voicemail, Maybe you want weekends off, or at least one weekend off where you don't check your email.

Action. Step number five, plan a quarterly Check-in with yourself. Revisit this video. Revisit everything we talked about here every quarter of the year because life changes, seasons change, and your business will change, and your business should evolve with you as you grow.

You don't want your business to trap you and keep you in the place you're in now. You wanna build a business that feels right to you, that will build and scale with [00:21:00] you as you evolve. You might change your products, you might add services, whatever it is. Mark it down in your calendar every quarter.

Make this a priority. So that you can kind of assess where you've come from as you continue to grow.

Remember, you're not just building a business. You are building a life. You're building the second act for yourself. So make it one that you are excited to wake up for every morning.

Because when your business aligns with your values, your family, your energy and your priorities, you become unstoppable.

This is when you show up every day with more passion, you begin to create your offerings, your services, your products from the heart.

It's what you want to bring into the world and how you want to show up and serve your customers and clients because that is who you are. That is why you created this business, and you want it to all align and fit together as, and you want it to all align and fit together because this represents you.

Remember, it's you producing [00:22:00] your best life instead of trying to squeeze your life around this business. Don't put everything into a box. You wanna make everything in a way where it just shines, it evolves, and it becomes a part of you and your everyday life.

 So

Speaker 4: Here's your reminder that you're not just building a business, you're building a life. So make it one that you are excited to get up in the morning for and one that you are excited to continue growing with over the years ahead.

As a business coach, I am here to support you as you start, launch, and scale your business.

If you have questions about anything that we discussed or just want to chat about your business, you can book a free call with me at www.secondactsuccess.co. You'll see a link Then we can talk about your business plans where you are and any questions you might have.

Alright my friend. It has been so great to hang out with you. I hope that you have some next steps on how you can really make sure that you are designing your business around your life. Talk soon.

Speaker 5: Thank you for joining us. [00:23:00] I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.