Karalee 0:01

95% of us, or probably 99.9 realistically, started a business not so we could be chained to a desk or our computer, you know, at all hours of the day. You wanted it to be flexible but not constant.

Michelle 0:16

Hey Moxie family, it is so exciting. We're going to relaunch our podcast talking about uh freelancing and entrepreneurship. And I'm very excited about my first guest, Carolie, who is making better CEOs in the world. And I really love uh what you're doing at the Productivity Impact. Um and today I would really love to hear about kind of your journey to start here. You have a little bit of it on your website about having your own business hitting a point where it was not working. And I would just love for you to take us through um kind of how that happened.

Karalee 1:04

All right. Well, I started my business because I homeschool my children. I have teenagers now, but um they've been homeschooled their whole life and I needed more time to be able to spend with them. More flexibility was the key there. And so that was what like I needed to figure out how to make money from home. So I started my own business and I actually started out with website design. I didn't even start in the operational space, but the website design part was what got me all of my clients and started, you know, getting referrals and things like that. But then I realized that after, you know, you have to have the systems in place in order to be able to keep those clients moving, otherwise you burn out, which is what happened. And so um I'm naturally systems-oriented, so I ended up going and figuring out how do we incorporate this all into business, right? Because like I have systems all over in my personal life, but like how do we put this into business? And then uh so I did that for my own business, and then I really, really loved it. And it was like this this is exactly my calling at this point. Um, and so I ended up moving into supporting other CEOs to get all the behind the scenes things really figured out. And uh, this is year six now, so like we're we're moving. It's it's a lot of fun. Like, you know, you give me a messy business, and I'm over here like, okay, tell me, like, we're gonna go sit down and figure this out, where other people are like, no, like I'm gonna not gonna touch on the 10 foot pole. So yeah, I love it. Like chaos is amazing to me. I like to make sense of chaos, so yes, I love that.

Michelle 2:30

So when, like, when maybe early on in your life, it maybe even in your personal life, did you realize that like, oh, but I can like I can systematize that. Like, I I can set that up for myself. Like, where did you spot that in your life uh before you know you realized it was your calling?

Karalee 2:53

I mean, probably with always being like the most organized person in my family. I was always the one that like had the calendars and the planners and like stuck to things. Um, and everyone else was just doing their own thing, and I'm the one reminding everyone. So, you know, thinking back, it was probably around just how my family functioned in general and how I seem to be the outlier.

Michelle 3:14

That's amazing. What kind of a planner are you? Are you like a written, like you've got a favorite, like handwritten planner? Is everything online?

Karalee 3:22

It's crazy enough, I go in seasons. So everything is online except for there's a specific system that is in place, right? And I sometimes when I get like super overwhelmed or like personal life gets really hectic, I just need to have it all on like a paper planner. So I do have a paper planner, I just don't use it routinely. It's just for like those really hectic weeks where I'm like, I need to see it all in front of me instead of like virtually. You know, kind of go back to your roots where you know, pen and paper, write it down, it kind of like helps your brain uh kind of know what's going on instead of just looking at it and reading it, right?

Michelle 3:55

Yes, absolutely. I'm I'm totally like I have my like notes in front of me. Like I I am absolutely a an an organizer. I love a good like online, like a lot of my stuff lives online. But if I want to like sit down, clear my head, it's pen to paper, like always exactly.

Karalee 4:16

Same, same. I'm like, I gotta write it down, I gotta get it all out, and then make sense of it from there.

Michelle 4:21

Yep. Okay, here's here's like my thing though, is that the act of writing it down is all my brain really needs. I I'll like write down my list and like get my head clear, and then I might never look at it until the next time I write it down.

Karalee 4:38

That that is a as long as you're putting it somewhere the important thing to identify somewhere else, that that's exactly what I do. Just don't miss that step and you're good to go.

Michelle 4:49

That's excellent. So, part of what you do at the productivity impact is what you were just talking about. Like, okay, so you've got chaos and I want to get the calm to that. So what is, you know, since you do this on a regular basis, how do you walk into a business and and say, like, oh, okay, like I I can fix this?

Karalee 5:16

Oh man. Okay, so normally someone comes to me with like they need a project management tool or they need to get like invoicing figured out. It's normally something minor. Um, and they they come to me for that specific purpose. But I always tell them we need a backup because I guarantee you that the problem you identified is not what's actually causing the bigger problem. Um, you know, and so we have to go back to like the foundation. And so I actually do like a complete assessment of their business as step one to make sure that I'm actually addressing the root of what is happening instead of just trying to put a band-aid on it because I've done it both ways where I don't do the assessment first and I just like jump into something and I'm like, man, this is complete chaos for me, and that's not what I want. And so if we have like a firmer foundation to begin with and I have data, like actual things, then it's easier to move forward to get started on that first thing properly. So yeah.

Michelle 6:14

I love that. So thinking about you know, a business owner, a CEO, what are some signs that maybe your current system isn't working? And, you know, we you need that assessment. We need you in our lives.

Karalee 6:31

Um, normally it's because you don't have time. Like you feel like you don't have time to do everything. That's like the biggest thing. And uh there's a lot of people that you've even really good at time management, they just have too much on their plate and they're not seeing that you can automate certain things or that you can, you know, put something you know, instead of using five different softwares, you can put things together. So it's really just either time or you identify that, oh, like your team members aren't quite doing what they need to, maybe even need project management. Like those are normally two of the things is I don't have enough time or my team isn't doing what they're supposed to do, it depending on where they're at in their business. And uh, you know, you definitely those two things are not going to make you be able to scale easily at all.

Michelle 7:13

Exactly. I I do think, okay, so obviously, you know, full transparency, like my role is it at Moxie, and we are a tool that is for entrepreneurs and freelancers to run their business and hopefully, you know, kind of also bring some of that calm to chaos. But I also recognize that, you know, I see a lot of times that like people will try to get just a tool and hope that that's gonna fix everything. But like you get to see kind of the other side of that. So why does adding more tools not necessarily make things easier?

Karalee 7:53

Well, that's a great question because that happens all the time. People come to me for I need this tool. Like, can you implement this tool for me? Um, like that exactly, like project management, a CRM, right? The those tools aren't gonna necessarily fix your problem if you don't even know what the problem like it's not mapped out, like you don't know where it's coming from. You don't have a process or workflow for that specific thing. And so you can implement a tool with the features, but you might not even be implementing the right tool, especially the right way, unless you know exactly how your business needs to use it. Because tools are meant to be versatile to different types of businesses. So sometimes, you know, one workflow in one type of business isn't gonna be the same in another. So you have to set the tool up differently. So you have to have it mapped out first. Otherwise, it's it's not gonna fix it. It's actually gonna create more chaos in your business. You just aren't gonna realize it until like later on, usually.

Michelle 8:46

On the Moxie side of things, you know, when I when I tell folks who are just getting started, like, start with one client, like get into Moxie, start with a single client and work your process. And if you don't have a process, that's a great time for you to set that up with a single client. Like, what would my ideal way for this client to go through my, you know, my workflow? What would be the ideal? And then you can set it up for all your other clients. Obviously, that's from like my very biased perspective. So without, you know, like like giving away all of your trade secrets, what would you say is a good first step for a business owner who's like, I I'm in that place where I don't have time. How can I start to to process, you know, what I what I don't know yet?

Karalee 9:34

Oh my goodness. Um, I'm I always tell everyone that you either need to have an assessment by an expert, okay, because they're gonna do a lot of the heavy lifting for you, or just do the initial mapping of your things. How do people like your client journey essentially? Map that all out from start to finish, and that's gonna identify a lot of gaps. It's gonna identify a lot of the friction that you have, and it's gonna be able to allow you to put that into a tool to be able to have it work for you and save you time in the long run. So actually doing the initial mapping first is gonna save you a lot of time and headaches later, especially if you're trying to learn a new tool, because that in itself is a headache. And so if you're not having someone implement it for you, you're already, I would rather you spend your time learning the tool to use it properly instead of trying to figure out halfway through that you have to redo everything because you realize it's not gonna work the way you wanted it to.

Michelle 10:24

Yes, I I have seen, I've seen it happen.

Karalee 10:28

Yes, so have I plenty of times, obviously.

Michelle 10:31

Yes. So let's think about, you know, you talked about in your own business, you got to a place where you needed a system and then realized, like, okay, now I've got my system and I love systems, and now, you know, you're kind of on the other side of that, you know, peak or valley, depending on how you look at it. So what give us a sense of what does it look like in a business where you do have capacity, like you've got the right systems in place, and and now it's you're you're doing the stuff that you set out to do.

Karalee 11:07

This is gonna sound wild, but you almost get bored. And you that's where you end up having the capacity to be way more creative and lead the business how you want to lead it, and then bring in things as it feels good instead of reacting to everything. You have more, so in that sense, you have more time, you have uh more structure, you're able to bring in team to where you don't have to do everything or bring in more teams, you don't have to do as much, right? So it looks like delegation being simple, your capacity being much more, you know, open. You have that flexibility because 95% of us, or probably 99.9 realistically, started a business not so we could be chained to a desk or our computer or answering, you know, text or whatever you do, you know, at all hours of the day. You wanted it to be flexible but not constant. And so that is a way of having the systems are able to help support you with automation. And if you already know the workflow, you don't have to like use your brain power to be able to figure out what am I supposed to do next? It's already there, and so it just makes it lightens your brain up, it lightens like so, which of course helps you in every aspect of your life, and you can bring in support a much easier when you already have all of that figured out.

Michelle 12:26

I love that. I love that I like flexible and not constant, like that's like such a great mantra. It really is all entrepreneurs. Yeah. So tell us a little bit about what you personally love about you know having your own business. You mentioned your your kids as kind of your initial need. Um, obviously that hasn't gone away because they're still around. But what are what are some things that you love about what you get to do on a day-to-day basis?

Karalee 12:55

My favorite this this is also gonna sound crazy. I actually don't get up until like 10 a.m. like in the morning. Like I don't, I don't, I get to create my own sleep schedule, which means I get to cater to my personal schedule with my family. So if I want to stay up later, I can start my day at 10 a.m. and that's fine because I get to create my own hours. And just that extreme flexibility is amazing. I can take a day off if I want, I can move things around, I can, you know, it's just a lot easier to just do what I need to do to make my life easier, but still run a business in the background. So personal life first, and then it's business. We we create it in that order to make sure that we're creating the services and all the things to cater to that.

Michelle 13:40

That's amazing. I I think getting like starting my day at 10 a.m. sounds amazing.

Karalee 13:47

I've never been a morning person. I am a night person, so I was like, how do I do this? I would not live in a corporate nine to five. I would be so tired.

Michelle 13:54

Yes. Are your kids late late sleepers? Are they night owls also?

Karalee 13:59

Yeah, we actually have my husband works second shift, so we have a schedule that kind of caters to that. Like we take a first shift schedule, move it, like shift it to later. Um, and so my kids are homeschooled, so they have they do schoolwork at midnight sometimes. They go to bed at 2 a.m. Like we have a schedule that works for us. Um and it I mean it's great. Like I am so much more of a productive person when I'm able to work when my brain is at its best, and I'm able to sleep when it's at it, like when it needs to, instead of trying to force it into a system that doesn't work for me or my family.

Michelle 14:34

So yeah, I love that. And what a great like gift that is to give yourself, you know, working when your brain is is also working. Um, well, so I want to close with a couple of um quick hits here on just like you and who you are and you know, uh thing things outside of work because that's you know just as important, honestly. So um you uh uh mentioned on your website that you love to read. So what are you reading right now?

Karalee 15:06

Oh no. Oh gosh. Okay. Um I'm reading Fourth Wing. I'm actually on book two. I read the whole first, so I don't remember what the second book is called, the name. But yeah, I'm uh I read audiobooks a lot um because then I can, you know, do dishes and all the things. Like it's a productivity hack, really. Um is reading audiobooks and uh yeah, so I'm on book two. I read the first book in two days. So nice.

Michelle 15:32

So all right, and then you also mentioned that you have cats. Um who which one is your favorite cat today?

Karalee 15:40

Oh no, you asked my favorite cat. Oh my god, today.

Michelle 15:44

Just maybe like this this minute.

Karalee 15:46

But there's 13 of them though. There's 13 of them to choose from. I can't, I guess they're never gonna see this, so I can't. My favorite one.

Michelle 15:55

No, I won't tell.

Karalee 15:56

Her name is Inka. Um, my husband named her, but she's like one of our tiniest cats, but she just it doesn't matter what mood she's in, she's always the one that comes up to you and just wants to love on you. And I just it melts my heart. It helps me stay calm and everything.

Michelle 16:09

So I think it's okay. I uh I've always been of the strong opinion that we all have favorites. So excellent. Well, I want to leave some space here for you if there's anything else that you, you know, like an opportunity to say to other business owners that you, you know, might be in a similar situation to where where you were, kind of when you were thinking, I need to make a change, or maybe someone who is just getting started, like what's one thing you might say to someone about like uh, you know, where where they're they're at in their business.

Karalee 16:46

That's an amazing like ending here because I actually have a perfect example from a client. Uh I have a client that uh we just finished wrapping up actually implementing Moxie, and she was able to just she was able to breathe when we were done. She was doing so many different things manually, she didn't have her processes mapped out. I did it with her and we I implemented all of it in Moxie was obviously with her support, but um but it's just don't necessarily wait to start looking at the operations, even if it's just mapping it out to where you can actually pick the proper software for your business, and then you have options as far as for pricing and all of that. Um, because it's like I said, it's never too late to start working on the behind the scenes because you don't know. Tomorrow you could have five clients and you would be freaking out because you're like, I don't know how am I gonna do this, right? So start it from the very beginning because habits take time, systems take time to implement, and just and then when you do grow or scale even, you have you already have it and it's just easier and it's not a headache, and you're not trying to be like, I have an SOS here, you know, and trying to hire someone to do it immediately when things take time. So yeah.

Michelle 18:00

Absolutely. Great advice to to look ahead, you know. It no matter where you're at, you can always, you know, start from today and get that operational foundation set up.