September 2, 2025 • 50 mins
Do you ever feel like you’re running in circles in your business — putting out fires, answering team questions, juggling clients — and never getting ahead?
In this episode of Female emPOWERED, I’m joined again by my go-to content strategist and business bestie Latasha Doyle, founder of Uncanny Content
. Together, we dive into the real-life benefits of stepping away from the day-to-day and giving yourself a CEO Day, VIP Day, or DIY business retreat.
This isn’t about working harder — it’s about clearing the clutter in your business, creating space to think, and walking away with a focused action plan.
We cover:
- Why CEOs must step out of the weeds to see the big picture
- How to structure your own DIY retreat or VIP day (even on a budget!)
- The “messy kitchen” analogy — why you need to clean up as you grow
- The 3D Framework: Delete, Defer, and Delegate to lighten your load
- How to use VIP days to clarify priorities, streamline systems, and build a stronger team
✨ And here’s the best part: at the CEO Summit this November in Miami, we’re creating this exact experience in a room with fewer than 30 women. You’ll walk away with clarity, a strategic plan, and real implementation steps for 2026 — plus insights from marketing, financial, and acquisition experts.
👉 Spots are almost gone! Save yours here: www.christagurka.com/ceosummit
Because the truth is: CEOs don’t do everything — they create the vision, set the plan, and lead. This episode (and the Summit!) will show you how to step fully into that role.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (00:01):
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and we have, I think, our most
returning guest on the podcastever.
I'm super happy to have LatashaDoyle with me, founder of
Uncanny Content, and my literal.
Ride or die human being on thisplanet that has helped me grow
(00:25):
the Christa Gurka brand andFitbit strategies to where it is
today.
And so Latasha, welcome back tothe podcast.
Uncanny Content (00:32):
Thank you for having me.
I don't know if like in SNL whenthey have a five, five time
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (00:37):
you get the jacket.
Uncanny Content (00:38):
smoke jacket.
I want that.
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (00:40):
have sent you one.
I should have sent you a jacketthat just said.
off or something of five years.
It just, I, that would've beenclassic Next time.
See, you have all the greatideas.
That's why I love having you onmy team.
The best ideas.
And isn't it crazy, we just, theepisode that just aired this
week, at the time of thisrecording was our 300th episode.
(01:03):
How crazy is that?
Uncanny Content (01:04):
Confusing, and I've been with you since the
beginning.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:06):
Since then, because I, I literally
remember the conversation.
That started when they werelike, you should do a podcast.
I was like, absolutely not.
Uncanny Content (01:14):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:16):
Abso.
I was like, I cannot, I'm,barely keeping it together right
now.
Like, I can't do one more thing.
And everyone's like, just allyou have to do is talk.
And
Uncanny Content (01:25):
Well, you were already doing the female Fridays
too, so you were already settingup a lot of interviews.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:30):
Yeah.
And that's why I think, I don'tremember who said, they're like,
just use the first year can beall your, all the stuff you've
already had.
And then I was
Uncanny Content (01:36):
Okay.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (01:36):
And I'm so glad people convinced me
because I love podcasting now.
I love it.
It's
Uncanny Content (01:41):
Alright, cool.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (01:43):
So today what we're actually gonna
talk about is the benefit andactually like the how to of
stepping out really of the likethe day to day to do a kind of
like DIY or a VIP day or abusiness retreat kind of thing.
You and I got together recentlyin Denver.
(02:06):
I flew out.
I mean, I was using as an excuseto fly to go travel, but I was
like, I'm gonna come to Denver'cause I need help.
Me personally, I'm the type ofperson, like I'm a very.
Visual person we work togetheron zoom all the time.
It's great.
But sometimes my, the way mybrain works, like to be able to
(02:27):
sit down in person and hash outsome things is just helpful for
me.
So it was a really helpful dayand we're gonna talk about that
today.
So from a content.
Expert strategy.
I mean, you're really great withthe strategy and putting all the
pieces together.
From that aspect, what do yousee as benefits to doing these
(02:48):
type of things?
Uncanny Content (02:50):
So I think the biggest thing that I've seen is
that anytime a business ownerwho is.
In a growth stage or atransition stage, you are
busting your ass.
Every day you are answering teamslacks.
You are at the studio, or youare building funnels and writing
(03:11):
emails and paying the bills anddoing all the things because you
are trying to keep up with wherethings are headed.
And that is.
The nature of being a CEO,right?
Is that like our, you're wearinga lot of hats all the time, but
one thing that happens a lot isthat you get so caught up in the
momentum of all of that, thatyou don't take a step back and
(03:33):
you don't say, okay, we've allbeen cooking in the kitchen and
now it's time to like clean upsome dishes and put stuff away.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (03:40):
Oh, that's such a good
Uncanny Content (03:41):
you have flour everywhere and there's a bowl
that's been soaking in the sinkfor way too long, and it's just
things are getting messy.
And the doing like a DIY retreator like A-DIY VIP day to really
walk through everything that youneed to do and everything that
(04:02):
needs to be cleaned up withoutexpectation that you're doing it
that day.
It's like doing, when you'rereally overwhelmed and you're
just like, I just need to writeit down.
It's like doing that brain dump.
And actually making a plan tomake the changes that have been
spiraling in your head.
It just like, it takes such amental load off of us.
(04:23):
And when you treat it as like a,I am creating the plan for the
next three months, or the nextsix months or the next year, you
are able to see so much clearerwho can.
Be delegated to'cause you seethings and you're like, okay,
actually I don't have to be theone doing that.
Whereas if you keep waiting forit to be a fire or one day
(04:46):
you're just like, oh, well Ihave time today so I'm gonna do
it myself.
Everything falls back on you.
Always all the time already.
So getting it out of your head,thinking about what you really
wanna do, what you wannaaccomplish in this, like DIY
retreat, DIY VIP day, it justreally helps you clarify what
you need to do and actually whoelse can help you do it.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (05:08):
Yeah.
I totally agree.
I love the analogy of thekitchen, the messy kitchen.
'cause you're so right.
So many of us, when we'restarting our business,
especially those of us that arelike the technicians in our
business, like we're the doers,we're the service providers,
right?
We're kind of.
Duct taping a lot of stufftogether and we're just kind of
(05:30):
trying to get shit out there andget it done and so, which is
fine.
I agree that that's the bestthing.
Like just put some stuff intoaction.
Do it.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
So I'm, agreeing with that, andespecially what happened with
that, this strategies was I waslaunching that while I was
growing Pilates in the Grove,and so we literally just duct
(05:51):
taped a lot of stuff together.
I was like, okay, this works.
Okay.
I guess I, I was learning how touse Kajabi.
I was learning what, I didn'teven know what beta meant.
People, I was in coachingprograms and they were like, I,
I know,
Uncanny Content (06:02):
Oh.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (06:03):
they, they were like, what is, it's a
beta, like you're gonna do abeta run.
Like, and I was like, what thefuck is that?
Like, I don't, they were like atest launch.
I was like, I don't know whatthat means.
So was, and we just like layeredon top of, layered on top of
layered on top of layered.
So.
When I first started doing thesewith Pilates in the Grove, I
(06:24):
would call them like CEO days,and I would just take a day.
I would try to go away likelocal, but I would get outta my
house because it's distractingand I would do like an Airbnb or
something.
I would just go for a day andliterally that whole day I would
plan like the next quarter ofwhat has to happen, what are the
my biggest priorities.
(06:45):
What can I delegate?
What can I delete?
What can I defer?
and that was reallyinstrumental.
And people I know might listenbut might be listening and being
like, I don't have time to dothat.
And when am I gonna have time todo that?
You have to make time, we haveto make time for what we
prioritize.
a day ended up becoming like twodays.
Two days became three days, thenbecame like a week from time to
(07:08):
time.
So your perspective.
When business owners like myselfwho are like more visionaries
and have a really hard timesometime honing things in being
like, this seems like a bigthing.
So what would you suggest interms of where should people
start?
What's the first thing theyshould do if they want to do one
(07:30):
of these things?
Uncanny Content (07:33):
Number one, put it in your calendar, block it
off.
Nobody can take that time.
There's not gonna be like, oh, Icould probably pop into the
studio and check that out thatmorning.
Or, oh, I could probably squeezethat client in.
I don't care.
Block it off.
It doesn't exist.
Nobody can talk to you.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (07:49):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (07:50):
And while you're at it, do it again next
quarter or in the next sixmonths so that like, that time
is blocked off.
I have a client, her name isAnna.
She calls him Anna days.
And every quarter she has a daywhere she does her like big
picture thinking and then shegoes to like get lunch and like
go to a massage or a facial orsomething afterwards.
(08:10):
And.
Every time she does that, shecomes back with more clarity on
what is happening in herbusiness.
And she just got a day off tolike, not deal with all the
fires and not deal with all thecommunication.
And she's not checking,everything.
number one.
Look at your calendar right now.
We'll wait
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (08:28):
Yeah,
Uncanny Content (08:28):
and block it off.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (08:29):
so good.
Look at your calendar for thenext, like sometime between
September and November and justdo it.
One of the things that helpedme, that was what I did, like I
looked at my calendar and Iblocked it.
One of the things that did helpme was to book.
A hotel room or a conferenceroom or a coworking space or an
Airbnb because if I hadsomething booked that I couldn't
(08:51):
cancel, it was gonna cost memoney to cancel.
I was much less likely to belike, oh, forget it.
I'll just push it on mycalendar.
So that was helpful to me.
And I don't wanna tell peoplelike spend money that you don't
have, but as a business owner,think of it as an investment to
keeping you from canceling.
Uncanny Content (09:06):
It is a business expense, and if you're
like in a really tight season.
Call your library up and bookone of their conference rooms,
their study rooms.
I, I have never done better workin my life than when I've locked
myself in a study room in alibrary.
but there's a lot of optionsthere.
And then I think the next thingwould be taking some time to
(09:26):
brain dump, brain dumpingliterally all of the things that
have been like, oh, I gotta dothat.
Oh, I gotta do that.
Oh, I gotta look into that.
Oh, I have to do that.
Oh, like just the never ending.
Noise that goes on in our headsas CEOs, right?
Write it down.
Just have a, have a sheet ofpaper or like two sheets of
paper, whatever, for the next,maybe week or so, maybe two
(09:48):
weeks, where you're writing downeverything that's just like, oh,
I gotta do that.
All right.
all these little things so thatyou have a laundry list that you
can then later sort intocategories, but do the brain
dump.
Write down the things that arelike.
Oh crap, I gotta fix thatfunnel.
Or, oh, I need to look into thattrigger for our packages.
Or I need to see if that teacheris actually gonna be available
(10:09):
starting in November when she'ssupposed to come back from, her
disability leave or whatever.
write it down, keep writing itdown.
That list is gonna get fairlylong'cause you're a busy person,
but just keep adding to the listand then within, a couple of
weeks once you feel like, okay,a lot of the same things are
coming up or they're coming upin themes, where it's like,
(10:32):
okay, this is mostly about,inventory for the studio, or
this is mostly about equipmentupdates, or this is mostly about
backend marketing, or this ismostly about like.
Team management and systems,start bucketing those things out
so that you can then make a planto look at everything on your
VIP day, CEO day, retreat day,whatever you wanna call it.
(10:55):
Do not expect to overhauleverything on this day.
This is a day for you toactually look at things, make
plans, delegate, or delete anddiffer.
'cause there's gonna be thingsthat come up that even when
Kristen and I did this earlierin August, there were a couple
of things where she was like,just get, I don't, I, we, I'm
not gonna do that.
Just get rid of it.
(11:15):
And you don't have to do thatright now.
You're brain dumping and thenyou're putting those, Dumped
items into different buckets,and you can keep adding to those
buckets however you wanna do it.
and I can talk through a few ofthe buckets that we touched on,
for you and that I thinklisteners might need.
But that is first steps braindump.
And then when you have a longenough list, you can start
(11:36):
bucketing those things out intoquote unquote categories.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (11:40):
Yeah.
I also think some, one of thethings that is helpful and so.
used to call this like an issueslist.
Like we would just be like,here's an issues list.
What are all the issues in thebusiness?
And we would do this everyquarter.
sometimes when you look at theissues list, it's, you can also
then start to dig a littledeeper and figure out like
(12:00):
what's the real issue behind theissue.
So an example, I.
We hear this all the time,people on my, oh, the people on
my team are not responsible forwhat they're supposed to do.
Okay.
That could be the top issue.
Like Jane isn't doing what she'ssupposed to do, but what's the,
could there be another issue?
Does Jane not have the she needsto do what she's supposed to do?
(12:24):
Number one, you not holding Janeaccountable for what she's
supposed to do?
Number two.
And does Jane even know whatshe's supposed to do?
So is it the onboarding process?
And so sometimes being able tofigure out.
What is the real issue behindthe issue Solves the basic
problem versus just likeband-aiding like right over the
(12:46):
solution.
Uncanny Content (12:47):
Yeah, and once you get those categories right
of like, God, I just have a lotof personnel issues, right?
You start to see the themes, solike.
For Christa Gurka specifically,when I was doing the outline, I
was like, honestly, her biggestissue right now is that her
website is, a product of thelast seven years and it's that
kitchen, right?
(13:08):
Where it's like all of our, allof the things that we started
are out and half of them arebaked and half of them are not.
so we need to really look atthat.
And for some of you it may be, Ireally need to get my offers on
lock because I feel like I'veadded 18 different offers.
And really my people only want,this one package that we do.
(13:28):
Uh, I have a massage therapistwho I hope doesn't listen to
this, no offense, but she addsdifferent packages weekly.
She's added, oh, well now I havea sauna in my, studio and I have
this foot bath and I have, areformer now.
Like she's adding all thesethings all the time and
everybody has said, I only wantmassage.
(13:51):
That's where she makes hermoney.
So she would have to, if shewere to ever do a VIP day,
really look at, okay, am Ioverwhelming my people with all
these offers?
Am I overwhelming myself withall these offers?
Am I overwhelming my team?
But that would be like her bigbucket, is that for some reason
my offers feel chaotic as hell.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (14:10):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (14:10):
for some of you, it might be team, for some
of you it might be like backendmarketing or operations where
you're like, I feel like we needa project management tool.
I feel like we need a different,marketing system or scheduling
system.
Like there just may be thosethings where you're just like.
Everything there is annoying thecrap out of me all the time.
This is where those VIP days canbe really, really helpful
because you can, like you said,sit down and say, okay, why do I
(14:31):
wanna cry every time somebodynew schedules an appointment?
Okay, big picture.
Let's actually ask ourselves, isit the system?
Is it the team?
Is it that you're at capacityand you've absolutely run
yourself into the ground and youneed to hire things like that?
But during your VIP day, rightbefore your VIP day, what I want
(14:51):
you to do is like actually writeit down in a notebook.
Or if you have a whiteboard likeChrista Gurka has, or if you
have a, an easel like I haveback here.
You wanna write down your topthree to five issues within
those categories.
Not, not like the brain dumptask lists, right?
(15:11):
The categories.
What's your biggest category?
What's your second biggestcategory?
What's your third biggestcategory?
I'll tell you right now bycategory three, you're gonna be.
Pretty tired, so don't expect toget 10 things, you know, 10
categories addressed.
I would really focus no morethan three to five categories a
(15:32):
day, and I'm talking like, uh,my biggest pain point right now
is marketing systems.
My second biggest pain pointright now is team onboarding
system.
My third biggest pain point is.
Offboarding clients to my team.
My fourth biggest one is like, Ineed to have a new bookkeeping
tool.
(15:53):
Then fifth biggest is, you know,I don't pay myself enough or
something like that.
But they can't be massive thingswhere it's like, okay, first
thing I'm gonna do is I'm goingto rewrite my whole website on
this VIP.
That's not what you're doing.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (16:06):
No.
Uncanny Content (16:07):
literally looking at, the theme, the
category, and you're saying,these are all the things that
need to happen to make this feelbetter.
These are all the things thatneed to change here.
Then category two, what'shappening here?
What are all the things theyneed to change?
What are all the things theyneed to do or what the team
needs to do?
Category three, what's actuallyhappening here?
What needs to change?
What action items are there?
(16:29):
And when I say action items, ifyou're the only person on your
team, if you're listening tothis and you are the sole owner
and operator, you have no teamwhatsoever.
Be honest with your capacityhere.
If you have a team though, youneed to be really honest about
who can help you and who can't.
And if you're looking at thatlist and you're saying nobody
can help me, I think you need toput hiring as your number one
(16:51):
category.
'cause that sucks.
But so you write your braindump, you write down your
categories as you get like abetter idea of, what kind of
themes are coming up in your,mental CEO noise.
And then you get to the week ofyour VIP day.
I want you to write down yourplan.
I'm gonna address these three tofive topics, these categories,
(17:13):
and then I want you to go toyour VIP day armed with enough
paper and pencil or dry erasemarker or Sharpie or whatever
you like to write in.
And if you're a a laptop girly,fine, use your laptop.
But there is something to besaid about paper and pen when it
comes to these things because.
When Christa and I did it thereended up being a doodle involved
(17:34):
that she's like, now I wannahave that illustrated for the
website.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (17:37):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (17:38):
I could refer back to it really easily because
it's a visual, like it'sliterally right here and I can
stare at it when I need to.
so something to be said aboutpen and paper, right?
But then when you go into yourVIP day, this is.
I think people think this is aworking day.
I want this to be, like I toldyou, I have that client, the
Anna Day, she starts the day offwith breakfast at her favorite
(17:58):
breakfast place.
She goes to wherever she'shaving her Anna Day, which is,
sometimes like a quiet room at areally quiet coffee shop.
But a lot of times she gets likea hotel or like a conference
room.
I want you to go into that roomfully fed, fully caffeinated, or
whatever you need.
you've peed, you're comfortable,all notifications are off.
(18:21):
Okay?
I don't want you being like, ohshit, somebody slacked me.
Because you will find ways todistract yourself.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (18:25):
of course.
Uncanny Content (18:27):
And then I want you to get everything that you
need out, and I want you tostart on category one.
And the question is, what is thebiggest pain points here?
What's not going well?
If you wanna write down what'sgoing well, great, do that.
But it really does help to see,let's say your biggest category
is.
Scheduling and marketingsystems.
biggest issue is scheduler workshalf the time.
(18:50):
Biggest issue is marketingfunnels aren't set up.
Okay.
That's information that youneed.
So, and you have that brain dumpof tasks where it's like, need
to research other marketingtools, marketing and scheduling
tools.
Need to research how to set upmarketing funnel in this tool.
Need to do all these things,right?
You've looked at category oneand you've thought very honestly
about what the problem is.
(19:11):
So when Christa Gurka and I didthis, the first thing that we
talked about was this.
This is maybe different for someof you, but one of the biggest
things that Christa Gurka hascome up against is for Christa
specifically, not for thestudios, is that the brand has
changed from what it wasoriginally, and that has been
the biggest friction point forus is does.
(19:33):
What we're doing now reflect theaudience that we're serving.
And so the first thing that Iasked her is, has your mission
and vision changed?
And she immediately said no.
And I was like, okay, great.
Cool.
Let's move on to this, which isour biggest pain point, which is
the website.
And we need to look at all ofthese different pages to say,
(19:53):
what's not working for ourcurrent audience?
What's not working for ourbackend tech?
Right?
But for some of you, it's goingto be.
A lot more tactical thanmission, vision, values.
Some of you're like, yeah, Iknow my mission, vision, values.
That's not an issue.
Some of you're gonna be like,actually, the thing that is
really tripping me up is that Istarted out as a solo PT
(20:16):
practitioner and now I have astudio and we do pT and Pilates
and dry needling and all thesethings.
So you're gonna have to take astep back and look at all of
that.
Does our brand reflect all thatwe do?
Does our audience know that wedo all these things?
That we do?
Things like that.
So it can be really tactical orit can be pretty big picture,
but that's why it's a VIP day,right?
Is that like you can actuallythink about these things and
(20:37):
have the space to do so.
so you're gonna have your penand paper and you're gonna start
with that category one.
You're gonna ask yourself like,what's the friction here?
What's not working?
And then you can start writingout action items.
Need to research new marketingtool.
Or if you're in a season ofbrand transition, it can be need
to talk to new brand designers.
(20:58):
or for Christa Gurka it was, Ineed to call my web designer
'cause it's time.
Then you can kind of list thoseout.
But if it's easier for you to gocategory by category and list
out what's not working or whatneeds to change, do a quick pass
on everything if you can, ordeep dive into something if
that's your like learning style.
(21:19):
I personally like to do a.
A little bit of category one, alittle bit of category two, a
little bit of category three.
Okay, let's go back to categoryone.
Is there anything after we'vethought about these other
categories that's coming up,what about category two,
category three?
Okay.
Now we're good on those things.
'cause we had three things totalk about for Christa.
For you it might be five.
Go through all five.
And then when you're donewriting down, this is what's not
(21:40):
working, this is what I want itto feel like.
This is what I want it to belike.
This is what I need it to do.
Start making those action items.
So step number one, we need tocreate a new site map for the
website because it doesn'treflect all of our services.
Step number two, I need to callmy web designer, make sure that
she's available.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (21:57):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (21:57):
Step number three is, I need to get the
doodle that we put on our pieceof paper illustrated, things
like that.
for some of you it might be.
I'm gonna have to fire thisperson on my team.
I'm having a lot of issues withmy team.
I want it to feel like they'reactually showing up to work with
(22:18):
the skills that I need them toshow up with and with the
excitement that, this brandrequires, and let's say Janet is
not fit in the vibe.
I now need to research how tofire an employee, and then I
need to schedule a terminationdate, and then I need to
schedule a call with her todiscuss her termination date, or
it could be I'm drowning.
(22:39):
I cannot do all this by myself.
I need to look into hiring.
I need to look into how muchthat's gonna cost.
I need to look into onboardingmaterials.
I need to think about myonboarding process, and then I
can start writing a jobdescription, and then I can
start interviewing, and then Ican hire somebody.
And then obviously onboardingplan after that.
(23:01):
But the idea is that you sitdown with those three to five
categories.
And you really take a hard lookat what needs to be done, and
then you create action steps.
So website needs done.
Delegated to a web designer anda copywriter, backend marketing
needs fixed.
Maybe somebody on your team iswilling to do the research on
(23:22):
like a marketing and schedulingtool.
Maybe somebody on your team hassaid that they'd love to help
with the marketing and they canhelp with those funnels that
you've been avoiding for sixmonths.
maybe you need to get a newscheduler set up, and that
sounds like a nightmare to you.
Maybe your teenage son lovestechnology and wants to buy a
scooter.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (23:38):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (23:38):
When you are listing out the things that need
to happen, be very honest withyourself and say, do I have to
do this?
Or is it just that I don't feelcomfortable delegating this?
And you'll be surprised at howmuch stuff you actually don't
have to do yourself.
If you have a team or a supportsystem, obviously I know some of
(24:00):
you're like, it's me, myself,and I, and I get that I've been
there, and you're gonna have toreally look at your calendar and
say, what can I do here?
So then the next step to all ofthis is scheduling.
If you, if you're the one doinga lot of this stuff, you have to
take an honest look at yourcalendar.
You have to set deadlines forother people if they're
involved.
and you go from there.
(24:21):
I've talked a lot, so I'll wait.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (24:23):
No, I think it's, I think it's
helpful to like help people seethe importance of these days.
I do think sometimes, businessis hard.
There's no bullshitting aroundthat, but sometimes we make it
harder than it has to be becauseI.
We haven't taken a step back tosay like you, the massage
(24:43):
therapist example is yourclients are telling you one
thing and you are not listening.
So by adding all these services,you're just making it harder
than it needs to be.
And sometimes as businessowners, I think we're afraid to
say no to things.
We're like, oh, shiny object.
Oh, do this.
businesses are like, Hey, I, Ijust did a workshop with a PT
and I think I'm.
Gonna rent her a room and dothat.
(25:05):
And I'm like, that's taking youaway from your goal right now.
Yes.
Is that a good idea?
Could it be a good idea?
Yeah, it could be.
I don't know that that's thething you need to be focusing on
right at this very moment whenyou have all these other things
that you could do.
And then that's how businessowners that we're always like,
oh my God, I have so much to doand I can't figure out what to
do because we're just making ourbusiness harder.
Uncanny Content (25:28):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (25:28):
I also agree with your statement
about finding help.
When we did our day and we werelooking at there's a lot of
programs on there that were likepre COVID.
I was like, we don't, why, whydo we have these?
It's like when you clean outyour house.
When we just recently moved, myhusband and I still found, sippy
cups in our cupboard.
boys are 22 and 19.
(25:49):
I don't know why we had sippycups still, but sometimes you
just gotta like.
you still have stuff that isjust not needed.
or the jackets with shoulderpads that are still in my closet
that I don't know why I amkeeping them.
Uncanny Content (26:04):
They might make a.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (26:05):
They will, they're gonna be my
Halloween costume one day.
I don't know.
But anyways, yeah, so I thinksometimes it's good to get rid
of services or things that areno longer profitable.
An example is, I tell businessowners a lot, especially studio
owners, like, that 40 classpackage that you have that you
think is great because it costslike$3,000.
(26:25):
It's really terrible for yourcash flow.
Not that many people are buyingit.
Just take it off your, just takeit off your.
Surface.
Right?
Take it off.
And then what can you, I likethe 3D.
So what can you delete thatdoesn't need to be part of the
process anymore.
What can you defer to later?
Like, yeah, this is a greatidea, but it doesn't have to be
(26:48):
my top priority now.
And then what can you delegate,So what can you delegate to
someone else?
And when I say delegate, Ireally mean giving.
That person, the power to takethat entire task, right?
Not you micromanaging them, yougiving them that task.
(27:09):
And if you need to hire someone,you need to hire somebody.
I ended up hiring, when we weretalking about it.
I was like that.
All that Kajabi stuff seems verydaunting to me.
So I'm gonna look for a Kajabiexpert.
And I did, I hired a companythat's, they're experts in
Kajabi, which is my website.
So they will do like the sunsetting of the projects and then
(27:30):
the re we're redoing our, theFit Biz Foundation's course,
like we're redoing the videos.
They'll do all that.
I was like, I don't, could I doit?
Yes.
Should I do it?
No.
Hiring somebody to do that.
And so it doesn't have to be afull-time person.
Uncanny Content (27:47):
It could be project.
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (27:48):
Yeah, project based is like super
helpful.
And when you're paying an expertto do it, might be like, oh
that's like$2,000.
They're gonna charge me.
But how long would it take you?
So the way that I tell people,so if you're a PT that charges
$200 an hour for a session, ifit takes you longer than 10
hours to do, which it probablywill'cause you're not a website
(28:10):
expert.
You are already underwater andlike what that is.
Right.
So just pay the expert to do it
Uncanny Content (28:17):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (28:18):
your time.
Uncanny Content (28:18):
There's also the, so let's say you need to
overhaul your systems becauseyour scheduling and marketing
tool is just like not working.
people are not getting notifiedthat they booked an appointment
or they're not gettingreminders.
So they're not showing up toappointments.
There's so much lost money inthese systems.
that.
Yes, investing in things alwayssucks.
(28:40):
And I'm not saying go into debtto do so, I'm not saying that at
all.
But as you do this VIP day andyou look at your categories and
you look at what needs to bedone, there might, you might
feel better'cause you're likegetting it outta your head and
onto paper.
Right.
But there's also gonna be thislike, oh shit, now I have a lot
of work to do.
CEOs don't do all of the work.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (28:58):
They don't, not successful CEOs.
Uncanny Content (29:02):
No.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (29:03):
Not, six figure CEOs with five figure
mindsets.
That's like, that's like theproblem, right?
So it's important to delegategood leaders, create other
leaders.
Uncanny Content (29:15):
they do.
And it's, I'm not ruling outthat that's, it's not easy to
do.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (29:20):
it's not easy.
If it were easy, we would all,we would all be fabulous and we
wouldn't be burnt out, and wewouldn't be worried about having
difficult conversations with ourteam.
But if,
Uncanny Content (29:29):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (29:29):
not easy.
Uncanny Content (29:30):
Yeah.
the other thing I will say,speaking of team, is that
sometimes it helps to do this.
With either like a businesspartner that you are you really,
really trust, or with anotherbusiness owner.
So like if you have, you're a PTand you know an acupuncturist
who has their own practice thatlike they're doing really well
(29:50):
and you guys have met up forcoffee a few times, like it can
be really good to bounce theseissues off of another person
because they can see holes thatyou can't.
So when Christa and I did this,I came with questions and then
she would tell me things that.
I know Christa Gurka reallywell, but let's say she said
something that I was like, oh, Ididn't realize that, or I didn't
think about it that way.
And then that changed what wedecided to do.
(30:13):
So like even for the websitewhere we were going through and
realizing like, actually this isgonna need a redesign because we
are changing so much.
And quite honestly, ChristaGurka was doing that by herself.
I think she would've been like,no, it's fine.
We'll just delete those pagesand like.
Hide them kind of thing.
Whereas, looking at it deeperwith one person really helped
see everything that needed tochange.
(30:34):
there were also a couple ofthings that, as she was going
through, I would ask questionsand it like, it honed in on what
she saw that.
I didn't see it, but it honed inon what she needed to do next.
So if you have that relationshipwith somebody, or you have like
a biz bestie, things like that,make it make it a weekend if you
want to.
(30:55):
but if it has to be a singleday, that's fine.
the other thing that I wannamention is that like, bring
snacks.
Plan for breaks.
This is not, again, you are nota workhorse on this day.
You are the CEO.
You have ideas and you arehaving your ideas.
You are organizing your ideas.
You are not doing the work,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (31:13):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (31:13):
not this day.
You are taking a step out andthen you're going to Applebee's
for lunch,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (31:19):
And drinks and cocktails.
Uncanny Content (31:21):
which is.
Christa Gurka | Fit (31:22):
cocktails.
a couple people in our innercircle and in our Fit Biz
membership, they have actuallycreated like these
accountability groups and theywill do it together with
themselves.
Like, they'll go, they'll, agroup of women from the Fit Biz
that I know they got together totalk all about business.
I know a couple women in theinner circle got together to
(31:43):
talk about, business and, andsame thing, like they can.
ideas off someone and askquestions the right way.
And, and sometimes a good onewill like push back a little bit
and say, I don't, I don't know.
Like if that's actually true.
Is that true?
Right.
we did it with our teamquarterly.
Uncanny Content (32:02):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (32:03):
I started just myself.
Then I started having my team,members come with me, and it was
a day.
so, yeah, and I thought it wasreally helpful for you to be, to
do it with me because I, one ofthe biggest things with me since
I sold Pilates in the Grove was,okay, I get to die of full-time
into the mentorship and coachingand consulting, which I love and
(32:25):
which
Uncanny Content (32:25):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (32:26):
I've grown like gangbusters in the
last like three months,
Uncanny Content (32:30):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (32:31):
but I also.
Having learned from growing abusiness that if I don't fix
some of these things now, it'sjust gonna be harder in the
future.
So I was like, I need to fixsome of the tech.
This is no longer like a sidehustle.
I need to fix some of thebackend because I want the user
experience to be really good onthe front end for customers and,
(32:51):
and having you.
Ask me the right kind ofquestions'cause my brain, is
just like a little bit all overthe place, is helpful to push
back, but to also get a littlebit of clarity.
we were able to discuss our reallike customer avatar.
In terms of where are they whenwe meet them and where do we
(33:12):
want them to be?
And that's where we did ourlittle like visual drawing that
I thought was really cute, thatwe're working on for our
website.
so anyways, that was superhelpful.
So I, I agree with you, likehaving someone, another business
owner that you can do it with
Uncanny Content (33:26):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (33:26):
also keeps you focused, right?
Or having someone from your ownteam
Uncanny Content (33:32):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (33:33):
do it.
Uncanny Content (33:34):
Yeah, your team will bring a lot of perspective
to you.
you do have to be willing tohear it, so
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (33:40):
just about to say that.
Yeah, I was just
Uncanny Content (33:42):
might be.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (33:42):
that.
Uncanny Content (33:43):
not critical, but they might have feedback on
some things that you're marriedto or emotionally tied to.
But I do think that level ofchallenge when you're stepping
back to say, who am I serving?
How am I serving them?
How am I growing my team?
What do we need to do that?
Well, it really helps to havesomebody who is on your team,
who you feel is invested.
Don't bring somebody you justhired two days ago.
(34:04):
Don't bring somebody that youdon't trust with your clients.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (34:07):
Yeah, also that really thinks
strategically like an owner,right?
So they have to be able to seeand understand the big picture.
Uncanny Content (34:16):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (34:16):
really does help sometimes some of your
team members realize like, howmuch goes into making
Uncanny Content (34:22):
Yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit (34:23):
successful?
Uncanny Content (34:24):
yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (34:24):
know, when they realize, oh, there is
thought process behind what we
Uncanny Content (34:29):
yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:29):
why we do, and how
Uncanny Content (34:30):
She didn't just increase those prices for no
reason, just to make morerelief.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (34:35):
So I think that it's not, I, again,
I wouldn't invite I, when I didit with my team, it was like
myself and two other people.
It was my director of operationsand then our studio manager.
So like she was always theliaison between the leadership
team and the staff.
Uncanny Content (34:52):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:53):
she brought a good perspective of
like, I like that.
How can we best roll it out?
Uncanny Content (34:58):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:59):
the
Uncanny Content (35:00):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (35:00):
So that was like, good.
And she saw both sides.
Uncanny Content (35:04):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (35:05):
I thought that that was always
powerful
Uncanny Content (35:06):
Yeah.
And if you're not there yet withteam, it's just something to
keep in mind that like, this maybe a solo VIP day or like biz
bestie, VIP day, but as you growyour team, grow it thinking, do
I want this person in the roomwith me when I do this?
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (35:22):
they come with good ideas?
Are they good sounding boards?
I mean, you and I work reallywell together, so it was
perfect.
and I also got to see you inperson.
And you're right.
So we planned out like ourentire, like what we were gonna
get rid of, what we were gonnalean into, how can we streamline
it?
And then, then we had actionsteps.
So then we were like, okay, thisis what you're gonna do, meaning
(35:43):
you, Latasha is gonna take careof this.
Christa Gurka had her own actionsteps.
We had like an idea of, we werelike, okay, can we get on Jess's
schedule for the website design?
I was like, okay.
So she's open to redo it inNovember.
Great.
It's not an emergency.
We don't need it.
Read, launch tomorrow.
(36:04):
So now Latasha and I had, know,three months for the most part.
To then build out the website,right.
Work on sunsetting certainprograms, work on the copy.
I wanna get new pictures.
I realized I don't even haveDuncan on my website.
Like how is that even possiblewithout my dog on my website?
How is that
Uncanny Content (36:24):
Yep.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (36:25):
Um, because back when I started my
website, I wasn't a dog personand so there's no dog on my
website.
um, yeah, so now we have enoughtime to really.
Move in a very strategic,intentional manner where we're
not overwhelmed
Uncanny Content (36:41):
Yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (36:42):
and we have a plan.
So
Uncanny Content (36:44):
and a lot of what's gonna come out of, the
listeners' VIP day is you'regonna see all the things and you
might feel overwhelmed at allthe things you're going to be
asking for help.
And these things are not goingto be done overnight.
These are things that are goingto be done over the next like
three to six months.
There are some things whereyou're like, I got that.
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (37:02):
12 months.
Uncanny Content (37:03):
But it's not, it's not going to usually be, I
gotta fix that overnight.
Obviously if your websitecrashed and you can't get it
back up, you're gonna need toget help and you're gonna need
to get that back up as P.
But there are things that yes,might need to be like, I gotta
get this done in the next twoweeks.
I gotta get this done in thenext month.
There are also gonna be a lot ofthings where it's like, this is
gonna be a 70 step process andit's gonna take me three months.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (37:26):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (37:26):
Take me six months, it's gonna take me nine
months.
That is okay because yourbusiness will still be here in
3, 6, 9, 12 months.
Like in the kitchen analogy.
If you're in a Michelin starkitchen, they are cleaning up as
they are cooking, they aremixing stuff, and that bowl is
(37:48):
clean.
They are putting stuff in theoven and then everything that
that touched is cleaned.
Like you are in this new spacewhere your business is growing,
you're transitioning, and you'reable to create space for you to
clean the dishes as you make themess.
You're cooking something whileyou're doing it, but you're
keeping, your workspace clean.
(38:08):
And that's more what I want youto think about with these VIP
days.
Not that you're like gettingeverything done on these VIP
days.
It's that you are mixing things,you're putting them in the oven
to bake.
They're not gonna be ready foranother two hours, but you're
cleaning your space.
You're making sure that yourmental space
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (38:23):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (38:24):
is tidy because you are going to have to do
this.
This is a long haul, right?
Like your business is not, a, asprint to the finish line.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (38:33):
No.
Uncanny Content (38:33):
You are going to be doing this for years.
You wanna make sure that yourmental space is tidy, that you
have a plan for where you'regoing, that you're touching base
with how things are going morefrequently than just, it's a
crisis and I'm crying and it's1130 at night on a Saturday.
And I have to think about thisright now.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (38:50):
Right.
Uncanny Content (38:50):
clean your space as you cook.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (38:52):
Yeah.
that's kind of what we're gonnado at the summit in November.
So the women in wellness.
business Summit is for women inwellness, so women who own
boutique fitness and wellnessbusinesses, physical therapy,
Pilate Studios, yoga studios,combinations of all of the
(39:12):
above.
And so the what makes our summitdifferent?
Is it's actionable, which wasvery important to me.
Like I don't need a bunch ofvision boards and like cute
cutouts.
I need people to walk away with,like get shit done attitude.
And so November 6th, which isthe first day of the summit,
(39:34):
we're actually gonna be doingthis exact thing in a room.
Of less than 30 women.
So you can bring your team.
Some people are bringing theirteam members, but we will be
there.
So basically the first half ofthe day is year in review and we
have very strategic, what's theword I'm gonna thinking of plans
(39:54):
like.
Break breakouts of like how youcan decide, like look at your
20, 25 year, what worked well,what didn't work well, what
needs to change?
So we're gonna help you createthose buckets.
Uncanny Content (40:06):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (40:06):
then the second half of the day on
that first day is, is how are wenow planning for 2026?
How are we getting you to yourrevenue goal or your systems
goal, or your profit goal, or tohave the schedule you want goal,
like where you're not the oneproviding the, the services 24
(40:27):
7.
so that is literally, we'redoing this kind of VIP day in a
room with experts, you, myself,we'll have financial experts and
then.
Friday.
The day Friday will be, a paneldiscussion with a lot of
business owners that do this onthe regular.
So we'll have a marketing panelthat's gonna talk about builds,
(40:49):
SEO, brand development andthings like that.
We'll have a financial panelthat's gonna talk about.
How to look at your books, howto structure your books, how to
invest in your business, how toinvest in retirement.
And then we're actually gonnahave a, sale and acquisition
panel that talks about a.
(41:10):
Whether you're interested inacquiring a business, which by
the way, last year we talkedabout exiting, but this year
we're gonna talk about both howto set your business up for an
acquisition, meaning you're inexiting, and how to decide if
you wanna grow, how you cangrow.
Through acquisition, throughbuying other businesses.
And so it's a very differentsummit than most conferences
(41:32):
because you're not in a roomwith a hundred people, you're in
a room of 30 people.
We feed you good food and it'sin Miami.
And so I think I had two.
Three registrations yesterday,so I think we're literally down
to the last three availablespots.
I know, it's crazy.
(41:52):
So, I'm gonna link that in theshow notes, like, but if you're
interested in getting room in, ascene in this room, it is a
really, really powerful stuff.
And I'm not just saying thatbecause it's mine.
Well, maybe I am, but I built itbased on what I wished I had.
At the time, and so Latasha'sbeen a part of it since the
(42:15):
beginning, since the first one.
Right.
So, how do you think, what doyou think about the summit?
How, what's your takeaway from
Uncanny Content (42:22):
I don't go to any other client events.
Christa's
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (42:26):
having
Uncanny Content (42:26):
the only, Christa's events are the only
ones that I go to.
One, she, and I'm not sayingthis'cause I really like Christa
Gurka, I'm saying this becauseit's truly, impactful.
Is that.
Everything is taken care of foryou.
Like once you pay to get thereand stay there, like Christa
Gurka's got everything elsefigured out.
the, the agenda is very welldone.
(42:51):
and we've also worked on it forthe last few years to where we
know exactly like pacing and weknow, okay, we, we know that we
threw too much information inthis section, so next year we're
like, you're getting theculmination of like every year
it gets better and better andbetter.
it's also in Miami, so like,it's gorgeous, but the thing
that I'm most excited for thisyear is the panels, because it's
(43:12):
going to be really important forpeople to get perspectives.
this isn't just Christa Gurkagetting up on a podium and
talking to you for.
Eight hours.
This is, she's sourced reallygreat experts, and the women who
are in this room are alwaysfantastic.
They're so supportive, they'reasking great questions.
They're excited to be away fromtheir studios and their kids and
whatever else.
(43:32):
and they're just so happy to bein the room and it's such a fun
event.
So if you're hearing this andit's sold out, I'm so sorry.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (43:41):
I know at the time, hopefully we
have, we're down to three, whichis really exciting for me.
but it's grown.
and I agree with you.
I think the women in the room, Ithink they ask really good
questions.
I also like bring in otherexperts that are business owners
so that you can see the reallife of, like,
Uncanny Content (44:00):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (44:00):
like you, you run your own business.
So you, besides understandingcontent and strategy, you are a
business owner.
Uncanny Content (44:07):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (44:08):
And so you understand what all the
women are going through andit's, I think it's good to see,
other women doing things maybein a way you didn't think about
or to show like what isavailable,
Uncanny Content (44:23):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (44:24):
what is available to us.
It was huge for me to be in theroom with women that were
talking about sellingbusinesses.
'cause at one point, even thoughPilates in The Grove was doing
great.
I never thought that was.
Uncanny Content (44:36):
Enough.
Christa Gurka | Fit B (44:38):
available to me.
And it's been great and it'sfun.
And we do, I do.
I'm like an overdeliver, so I'mjust like, I want you to come, I
want you to eat, I want you tohave good food.
I want you to have good people.
so it is November 6th and 7th,2025.
Uh, depending on when you'relistening to this, we will link
(44:58):
in the show notes.
Under this episode, the linkalso of where you can go and
reserve your spot.
We are also hosting a VIP room.
Which is Friday afternoon, soFriday, November 7th, it's
supposed to end at 12, but we'reopening a VIP room that's gonna
be limited to only eight women.
(45:19):
we're gonna do a VIP like lasercoaching.
Come ask me anything.
Session from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Sothat's an add-on if you're
interested in that.
And I'm excited to have Latashathere.
we'll have Kari Saitowitz, whoactually was.
Is the podcast next week you'llhear her.
She's a marketing expert.
She was a founder and CEO offitting room that was acquired
(45:41):
by New York Sports Club.
So now she's this ChiefMarketing officer of New York
Sports Club.
She's gonna talk about brandingand marketing.
Her podcast episode is nextweek.
We're also going to haveDanielle Hayden, who is the
founder and CEO of KickstartAccounting Inc.
Which is our like money team inthe group, our bookkeeping and
accounting, as well as KristenAbel, who is.
(46:04):
The money person in thefinancial expert in boutique
fitness broker, which are thebrokers that helped me sell my
business.
So she's gonna come and she'sgonna talk about all things,
finances when it comes toacquiring or selling your
business, which is.
exciting and I just tell peoplelike, yeah, you might not wanna
sell your business, but what agreat opportunity if you set it
(46:26):
up like you did want to, andthen you were able to exit when
you wanted to.
At least for something like you,you just didn't have to like
close up shop and be done
Uncanny Content (46:35):
also we all retire.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (46:36):
huh?
Uncanny Content (46:37):
We all retire.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (46:38):
all retire.
It's great.
Uncanny Content (46:39):
Or have a retiring event,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (46:41):
have a That's true.
Yeah.
And I actually, I grew mybusiness through like
acquisition a little bit and sothere was, acquiring another
business rather than openingfrom scratch is also an
opportunity, to grow.
Uncanny Content (46:54):
Yep.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (46:54):
So.
Any last words my dear?
Uncanny Content (46:58):
if you can't make it to the summit in
November, we've given you thetools to host your own.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (47:02):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (47:02):
But I also think this is something you
should do quarterly anyways, atthe very least, every six
months.
treat yourself a little bit.
You deserve it.
You work hard.
Your business deserves youstepping back and looking at it
from a new angle, and you gotthis.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (47:18):
Yeah, that's great.
I'm so excited to see you inperson again in November.
And like I said, if you'reinterested, grab the link in the
show notes so you can go and seeif we have spots still
available.
And until next time, my friends,bye for now.
Hello everyone.
Welcome back to another episodeof the Female Empowered Podcast.
I'm your host, Christa Gurka,and we have, I think, our most
returning guest on the podcastever.
I'm super happy to have LatashaDoyle with me, founder of
Uncanny Content, and my literal.
Ride or die human being on thisplanet that has helped me grow
(00:25):
the Christa Gurka brand andFitbit strategies to where it is
today.
And so Latasha, welcome back tothe podcast.
Uncanny Content (00:32):
Thank you for having me.
I don't know if like in SNL whenthey have a five, five time
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (00:37):
you get the jacket.
Uncanny Content (00:38):
smoke jacket.
I want that.
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (00:40):
have sent you one.
I should have sent you a jacketthat just said.
off or something of five years.
It just, I, that would've beenclassic Next time.
See, you have all the greatideas.
That's why I love having you onmy team.
The best ideas.
And isn't it crazy, we just, theepisode that just aired this
week, at the time of thisrecording was our 300th episode.
(01:03):
How crazy is that?
Uncanny Content (01:04):
Confusing, and I've been with you since the
beginning.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:06):
Since then, because I, I literally
remember the conversation.
That started when they werelike, you should do a podcast.
I was like, absolutely not.
Uncanny Content (01:14):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:16):
Abso.
I was like, I cannot, I'm,barely keeping it together right
now.
Like, I can't do one more thing.
And everyone's like, just allyou have to do is talk.
And
Uncanny Content (01:25):
Well, you were already doing the female Fridays
too, so you were already settingup a lot of interviews.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (01:30):
Yeah.
And that's why I think, I don'tremember who said, they're like,
just use the first year can beall your, all the stuff you've
already had.
And then I was
Uncanny Content (01:36):
Okay.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (01:36):
And I'm so glad people convinced me
because I love podcasting now.
I love it.
It's
Uncanny Content (01:41):
Alright, cool.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (01:43):
So today what we're actually gonna
talk about is the benefit andactually like the how to of
stepping out really of the likethe day to day to do a kind of
like DIY or a VIP day or abusiness retreat kind of thing.
You and I got together recentlyin Denver.
(02:06):
I flew out.
I mean, I was using as an excuseto fly to go travel, but I was
like, I'm gonna come to Denver'cause I need help.
Me personally, I'm the type ofperson, like I'm a very.
Visual person we work togetheron zoom all the time.
It's great.
But sometimes my, the way mybrain works, like to be able to
(02:27):
sit down in person and hash outsome things is just helpful for
me.
So it was a really helpful dayand we're gonna talk about that
today.
So from a content.
Expert strategy.
I mean, you're really great withthe strategy and putting all the
pieces together.
From that aspect, what do yousee as benefits to doing these
(02:48):
type of things?
Uncanny Content (02:50):
So I think the biggest thing that I've seen is
that anytime a business ownerwho is.
In a growth stage or atransition stage, you are
busting your ass.
Every day you are answering teamslacks.
You are at the studio, or youare building funnels and writing
(03:11):
emails and paying the bills anddoing all the things because you
are trying to keep up with wherethings are headed.
And that is.
The nature of being a CEO,right?
Is that like our, you're wearinga lot of hats all the time, but
one thing that happens a lot isthat you get so caught up in the
momentum of all of that, thatyou don't take a step back and
(03:33):
you don't say, okay, we've allbeen cooking in the kitchen and
now it's time to like clean upsome dishes and put stuff away.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (03:40):
Oh, that's such a good
Uncanny Content (03:41):
you have flour everywhere and there's a bowl
that's been soaking in the sinkfor way too long, and it's just
things are getting messy.
And the doing like a DIY retreator like A-DIY VIP day to really
walk through everything that youneed to do and everything that
(04:02):
needs to be cleaned up withoutexpectation that you're doing it
that day.
It's like doing, when you'rereally overwhelmed and you're
just like, I just need to writeit down.
It's like doing that brain dump.
And actually making a plan tomake the changes that have been
spiraling in your head.
It just like, it takes such amental load off of us.
(04:23):
And when you treat it as like a,I am creating the plan for the
next three months, or the nextsix months or the next year, you
are able to see so much clearerwho can.
Be delegated to'cause you seethings and you're like, okay,
actually I don't have to be theone doing that.
Whereas if you keep waiting forit to be a fire or one day
(04:46):
you're just like, oh, well Ihave time today so I'm gonna do
it myself.
Everything falls back on you.
Always all the time already.
So getting it out of your head,thinking about what you really
wanna do, what you wannaaccomplish in this, like DIY
retreat, DIY VIP day, it justreally helps you clarify what
you need to do and actually whoelse can help you do it.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (05:08):
Yeah.
I totally agree.
I love the analogy of thekitchen, the messy kitchen.
'cause you're so right.
So many of us, when we'restarting our business,
especially those of us that arelike the technicians in our
business, like we're the doers,we're the service providers,
right?
We're kind of.
Duct taping a lot of stufftogether and we're just kind of
(05:30):
trying to get shit out there andget it done and so, which is
fine.
I agree that that's the bestthing.
Like just put some stuff intoaction.
Do it.
It doesn't have to be perfect.
So I'm, agreeing with that, andespecially what happened with
that, this strategies was I waslaunching that while I was
growing Pilates in the Grove,and so we literally just duct
(05:51):
taped a lot of stuff together.
I was like, okay, this works.
Okay.
I guess I, I was learning how touse Kajabi.
I was learning what, I didn'teven know what beta meant.
People, I was in coachingprograms and they were like, I,
I know,
Uncanny Content (06:02):
Oh.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (06:03):
they, they were like, what is, it's a
beta, like you're gonna do abeta run.
Like, and I was like, what thefuck is that?
Like, I don't, they were like atest launch.
I was like, I don't know whatthat means.
So was, and we just like layeredon top of, layered on top of
layered on top of layered.
So.
When I first started doing thesewith Pilates in the Grove, I
(06:24):
would call them like CEO days,and I would just take a day.
I would try to go away likelocal, but I would get outta my
house because it's distractingand I would do like an Airbnb or
something.
I would just go for a day andliterally that whole day I would
plan like the next quarter ofwhat has to happen, what are the
my biggest priorities.
(06:45):
What can I delegate?
What can I delete?
What can I defer?
and that was reallyinstrumental.
And people I know might listenbut might be listening and being
like, I don't have time to dothat.
And when am I gonna have time todo that?
You have to make time, we haveto make time for what we
prioritize.
a day ended up becoming like twodays.
Two days became three days, thenbecame like a week from time to
(07:08):
time.
So your perspective.
When business owners like myselfwho are like more visionaries
and have a really hard timesometime honing things in being
like, this seems like a bigthing.
So what would you suggest interms of where should people
start?
What's the first thing theyshould do if they want to do one
(07:30):
of these things?
Uncanny Content (07:33):
Number one, put it in your calendar, block it
off.
Nobody can take that time.
There's not gonna be like, oh, Icould probably pop into the
studio and check that out thatmorning.
Or, oh, I could probably squeezethat client in.
I don't care.
Block it off.
It doesn't exist.
Nobody can talk to you.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (07:49):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (07:50):
And while you're at it, do it again next
quarter or in the next sixmonths so that like, that time
is blocked off.
I have a client, her name isAnna.
She calls him Anna days.
And every quarter she has a daywhere she does her like big
picture thinking and then shegoes to like get lunch and like
go to a massage or a facial orsomething afterwards.
(08:10):
And.
Every time she does that, shecomes back with more clarity on
what is happening in herbusiness.
And she just got a day off tolike, not deal with all the
fires and not deal with all thecommunication.
And she's not checking,everything.
number one.
Look at your calendar right now.
We'll wait
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (08:28):
Yeah,
Uncanny Content (08:28):
and block it off.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (08:29):
so good.
Look at your calendar for thenext, like sometime between
September and November and justdo it.
One of the things that helpedme, that was what I did, like I
looked at my calendar and Iblocked it.
One of the things that did helpme was to book.
A hotel room or a conferenceroom or a coworking space or an
Airbnb because if I hadsomething booked that I couldn't
(08:51):
cancel, it was gonna cost memoney to cancel.
I was much less likely to belike, oh, forget it.
I'll just push it on mycalendar.
So that was helpful to me.
And I don't wanna tell peoplelike spend money that you don't
have, but as a business owner,think of it as an investment to
keeping you from canceling.
Uncanny Content (09:06):
It is a business expense, and if you're
like in a really tight season.
Call your library up and bookone of their conference rooms,
their study rooms.
I, I have never done better workin my life than when I've locked
myself in a study room in alibrary.
but there's a lot of optionsthere.
And then I think the next thingwould be taking some time to
(09:26):
brain dump, brain dumpingliterally all of the things that
have been like, oh, I gotta dothat.
Oh, I gotta do that.
Oh, I gotta look into that.
Oh, I have to do that.
Oh, like just the never ending.
Noise that goes on in our headsas CEOs, right?
Write it down.
Just have a, have a sheet ofpaper or like two sheets of
paper, whatever, for the next,maybe week or so, maybe two
(09:48):
weeks, where you're writing downeverything that's just like, oh,
I gotta do that.
All right.
all these little things so thatyou have a laundry list that you
can then later sort intocategories, but do the brain
dump.
Write down the things that arelike.
Oh crap, I gotta fix thatfunnel.
Or, oh, I need to look into thattrigger for our packages.
Or I need to see if that teacheris actually gonna be available
(10:09):
starting in November when she'ssupposed to come back from, her
disability leave or whatever.
write it down, keep writing itdown.
That list is gonna get fairlylong'cause you're a busy person,
but just keep adding to the listand then within, a couple of
weeks once you feel like, okay,a lot of the same things are
coming up or they're coming upin themes, where it's like,
(10:32):
okay, this is mostly about,inventory for the studio, or
this is mostly about equipmentupdates, or this is mostly about
backend marketing, or this ismostly about like.
Team management and systems,start bucketing those things out
so that you can then make a planto look at everything on your
VIP day, CEO day, retreat day,whatever you wanna call it.
(10:55):
Do not expect to overhauleverything on this day.
This is a day for you toactually look at things, make
plans, delegate, or delete anddiffer.
'cause there's gonna be thingsthat come up that even when
Kristen and I did this earlierin August, there were a couple
of things where she was like,just get, I don't, I, we, I'm
not gonna do that.
Just get rid of it.
(11:15):
And you don't have to do thatright now.
You're brain dumping and thenyou're putting those, Dumped
items into different buckets,and you can keep adding to those
buckets however you wanna do it.
and I can talk through a few ofthe buckets that we touched on,
for you and that I thinklisteners might need.
But that is first steps braindump.
And then when you have a longenough list, you can start
(11:36):
bucketing those things out intoquote unquote categories.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (11:40):
Yeah.
I also think some, one of thethings that is helpful and so.
used to call this like an issueslist.
Like we would just be like,here's an issues list.
What are all the issues in thebusiness?
And we would do this everyquarter.
sometimes when you look at theissues list, it's, you can also
then start to dig a littledeeper and figure out like
(12:00):
what's the real issue behind theissue.
So an example, I.
We hear this all the time,people on my, oh, the people on
my team are not responsible forwhat they're supposed to do.
Okay.
That could be the top issue.
Like Jane isn't doing what she'ssupposed to do, but what's the,
could there be another issue?
Does Jane not have the she needsto do what she's supposed to do?
(12:24):
Number one, you not holding Janeaccountable for what she's
supposed to do?
Number two.
And does Jane even know whatshe's supposed to do?
So is it the onboarding process?
And so sometimes being able tofigure out.
What is the real issue behindthe issue Solves the basic
problem versus just likeband-aiding like right over the
(12:46):
solution.
Uncanny Content (12:47):
Yeah, and once you get those categories right
of like, God, I just have a lotof personnel issues, right?
You start to see the themes, solike.
For Christa Gurka specifically,when I was doing the outline, I
was like, honestly, her biggestissue right now is that her
website is, a product of thelast seven years and it's that
kitchen, right?
(13:08):
Where it's like all of our, allof the things that we started
are out and half of them arebaked and half of them are not.
so we need to really look atthat.
And for some of you it may be, Ireally need to get my offers on
lock because I feel like I'veadded 18 different offers.
And really my people only want,this one package that we do.
(13:28):
Uh, I have a massage therapistwho I hope doesn't listen to
this, no offense, but she addsdifferent packages weekly.
She's added, oh, well now I havea sauna in my, studio and I have
this foot bath and I have, areformer now.
Like she's adding all thesethings all the time and
everybody has said, I only wantmassage.
(13:51):
That's where she makes hermoney.
So she would have to, if shewere to ever do a VIP day,
really look at, okay, am Ioverwhelming my people with all
these offers?
Am I overwhelming myself withall these offers?
Am I overwhelming my team?
But that would be like her bigbucket, is that for some reason
my offers feel chaotic as hell.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (14:10):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (14:10):
for some of you, it might be team, for some
of you it might be like backendmarketing or operations where
you're like, I feel like we needa project management tool.
I feel like we need a different,marketing system or scheduling
system.
Like there just may be thosethings where you're just like.
Everything there is annoying thecrap out of me all the time.
This is where those VIP days canbe really, really helpful
because you can, like you said,sit down and say, okay, why do I
(14:31):
wanna cry every time somebodynew schedules an appointment?
Okay, big picture.
Let's actually ask ourselves, isit the system?
Is it the team?
Is it that you're at capacityand you've absolutely run
yourself into the ground and youneed to hire things like that?
But during your VIP day, rightbefore your VIP day, what I want
(14:51):
you to do is like actually writeit down in a notebook.
Or if you have a whiteboard likeChrista Gurka has, or if you
have a, an easel like I haveback here.
You wanna write down your topthree to five issues within
those categories.
Not, not like the brain dumptask lists, right?
(15:11):
The categories.
What's your biggest category?
What's your second biggestcategory?
What's your third biggestcategory?
I'll tell you right now bycategory three, you're gonna be.
Pretty tired, so don't expect toget 10 things, you know, 10
categories addressed.
I would really focus no morethan three to five categories a
(15:32):
day, and I'm talking like, uh,my biggest pain point right now
is marketing systems.
My second biggest pain pointright now is team onboarding
system.
My third biggest pain point is.
Offboarding clients to my team.
My fourth biggest one is like, Ineed to have a new bookkeeping
tool.
(15:53):
Then fifth biggest is, you know,I don't pay myself enough or
something like that.
But they can't be massive thingswhere it's like, okay, first
thing I'm gonna do is I'm goingto rewrite my whole website on
this VIP.
That's not what you're doing.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (16:06):
No.
Uncanny Content (16:07):
literally looking at, the theme, the
category, and you're saying,these are all the things that
need to happen to make this feelbetter.
These are all the things thatneed to change here.
Then category two, what'shappening here?
What are all the things theyneed to change?
What are all the things theyneed to do or what the team
needs to do?
Category three, what's actuallyhappening here?
What needs to change?
What action items are there?
(16:29):
And when I say action items, ifyou're the only person on your
team, if you're listening tothis and you are the sole owner
and operator, you have no teamwhatsoever.
Be honest with your capacityhere.
If you have a team though, youneed to be really honest about
who can help you and who can't.
And if you're looking at thatlist and you're saying nobody
can help me, I think you need toput hiring as your number one
(16:51):
category.
'cause that sucks.
But so you write your braindump, you write down your
categories as you get like abetter idea of, what kind of
themes are coming up in your,mental CEO noise.
And then you get to the week ofyour VIP day.
I want you to write down yourplan.
I'm gonna address these three tofive topics, these categories,
(17:13):
and then I want you to go toyour VIP day armed with enough
paper and pencil or dry erasemarker or Sharpie or whatever
you like to write in.
And if you're a a laptop girly,fine, use your laptop.
But there is something to besaid about paper and pen when it
comes to these things because.
When Christa and I did it thereended up being a doodle involved
(17:34):
that she's like, now I wannahave that illustrated for the
website.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (17:37):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (17:38):
I could refer back to it really easily because
it's a visual, like it'sliterally right here and I can
stare at it when I need to.
so something to be said aboutpen and paper, right?
But then when you go into yourVIP day, this is.
I think people think this is aworking day.
I want this to be, like I toldyou, I have that client, the
Anna Day, she starts the day offwith breakfast at her favorite
(17:58):
breakfast place.
She goes to wherever she'shaving her Anna Day, which is,
sometimes like a quiet room at areally quiet coffee shop.
But a lot of times she gets likea hotel or like a conference
room.
I want you to go into that roomfully fed, fully caffeinated, or
whatever you need.
you've peed, you're comfortable,all notifications are off.
(18:21):
Okay?
I don't want you being like, ohshit, somebody slacked me.
Because you will find ways todistract yourself.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (18:25):
of course.
Uncanny Content (18:27):
And then I want you to get everything that you
need out, and I want you tostart on category one.
And the question is, what is thebiggest pain points here?
What's not going well?
If you wanna write down what'sgoing well, great, do that.
But it really does help to see,let's say your biggest category
is.
Scheduling and marketingsystems.
biggest issue is scheduler workshalf the time.
(18:50):
Biggest issue is marketingfunnels aren't set up.
Okay.
That's information that youneed.
So, and you have that brain dumpof tasks where it's like, need
to research other marketingtools, marketing and scheduling
tools.
Need to research how to set upmarketing funnel in this tool.
Need to do all these things,right?
You've looked at category oneand you've thought very honestly
about what the problem is.
(19:11):
So when Christa Gurka and I didthis, the first thing that we
talked about was this.
This is maybe different for someof you, but one of the biggest
things that Christa Gurka hascome up against is for Christa
specifically, not for thestudios, is that the brand has
changed from what it wasoriginally, and that has been
the biggest friction point forus is does.
(19:33):
What we're doing now reflect theaudience that we're serving.
And so the first thing that Iasked her is, has your mission
and vision changed?
And she immediately said no.
And I was like, okay, great.
Cool.
Let's move on to this, which isour biggest pain point, which is
the website.
And we need to look at all ofthese different pages to say,
(19:53):
what's not working for ourcurrent audience?
What's not working for ourbackend tech?
Right?
But for some of you, it's goingto be.
A lot more tactical thanmission, vision, values.
Some of you're like, yeah, Iknow my mission, vision, values.
That's not an issue.
Some of you're gonna be like,actually, the thing that is
really tripping me up is that Istarted out as a solo PT
(20:16):
practitioner and now I have astudio and we do pT and Pilates
and dry needling and all thesethings.
So you're gonna have to take astep back and look at all of
that.
Does our brand reflect all thatwe do?
Does our audience know that wedo all these things?
That we do?
Things like that.
So it can be really tactical orit can be pretty big picture,
but that's why it's a VIP day,right?
Is that like you can actuallythink about these things and
(20:37):
have the space to do so.
so you're gonna have your penand paper and you're gonna start
with that category one.
You're gonna ask yourself like,what's the friction here?
What's not working?
And then you can start writingout action items.
Need to research new marketingtool.
Or if you're in a season ofbrand transition, it can be need
to talk to new brand designers.
(20:58):
or for Christa Gurka it was, Ineed to call my web designer
'cause it's time.
Then you can kind of list thoseout.
But if it's easier for you to gocategory by category and list
out what's not working or whatneeds to change, do a quick pass
on everything if you can, ordeep dive into something if
that's your like learning style.
(21:19):
I personally like to do a.
A little bit of category one, alittle bit of category two, a
little bit of category three.
Okay, let's go back to categoryone.
Is there anything after we'vethought about these other
categories that's coming up,what about category two,
category three?
Okay.
Now we're good on those things.
'cause we had three things totalk about for Christa.
For you it might be five.
Go through all five.
And then when you're donewriting down, this is what's not
(21:40):
working, this is what I want itto feel like.
This is what I want it to belike.
This is what I need it to do.
Start making those action items.
So step number one, we need tocreate a new site map for the
website because it doesn'treflect all of our services.
Step number two, I need to callmy web designer, make sure that
she's available.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (21:57):
Yep.
Uncanny Content (21:57):
Step number three is, I need to get the
doodle that we put on our pieceof paper illustrated, things
like that.
for some of you it might be.
I'm gonna have to fire thisperson on my team.
I'm having a lot of issues withmy team.
I want it to feel like they'reactually showing up to work with
(22:18):
the skills that I need them toshow up with and with the
excitement that, this brandrequires, and let's say Janet is
not fit in the vibe.
I now need to research how tofire an employee, and then I
need to schedule a terminationdate, and then I need to
schedule a call with her todiscuss her termination date, or
it could be I'm drowning.
(22:39):
I cannot do all this by myself.
I need to look into hiring.
I need to look into how muchthat's gonna cost.
I need to look into onboardingmaterials.
I need to think about myonboarding process, and then I
can start writing a jobdescription, and then I can
start interviewing, and then Ican hire somebody.
And then obviously onboardingplan after that.
(23:01):
But the idea is that you sitdown with those three to five
categories.
And you really take a hard lookat what needs to be done, and
then you create action steps.
So website needs done.
Delegated to a web designer anda copywriter, backend marketing
needs fixed.
Maybe somebody on your team iswilling to do the research on
(23:22):
like a marketing and schedulingtool.
Maybe somebody on your team hassaid that they'd love to help
with the marketing and they canhelp with those funnels that
you've been avoiding for sixmonths.
maybe you need to get a newscheduler set up, and that
sounds like a nightmare to you.
Maybe your teenage son lovestechnology and wants to buy a
scooter.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (23:38):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (23:38):
When you are listing out the things that need
to happen, be very honest withyourself and say, do I have to
do this?
Or is it just that I don't feelcomfortable delegating this?
And you'll be surprised at howmuch stuff you actually don't
have to do yourself.
If you have a team or a supportsystem, obviously I know some of
(24:00):
you're like, it's me, myself,and I, and I get that I've been
there, and you're gonna have toreally look at your calendar and
say, what can I do here?
So then the next step to all ofthis is scheduling.
If you, if you're the one doinga lot of this stuff, you have to
take an honest look at yourcalendar.
You have to set deadlines forother people if they're
involved.
and you go from there.
(24:21):
I've talked a lot, so I'll wait.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (24:23):
No, I think it's, I think it's
helpful to like help people seethe importance of these days.
I do think sometimes, businessis hard.
There's no bullshitting aroundthat, but sometimes we make it
harder than it has to be becauseI.
We haven't taken a step back tosay like you, the massage
(24:43):
therapist example is yourclients are telling you one
thing and you are not listening.
So by adding all these services,you're just making it harder
than it needs to be.
And sometimes as businessowners, I think we're afraid to
say no to things.
We're like, oh, shiny object.
Oh, do this.
businesses are like, Hey, I, Ijust did a workshop with a PT
and I think I'm.
Gonna rent her a room and dothat.
(25:05):
And I'm like, that's taking youaway from your goal right now.
Yes.
Is that a good idea?
Could it be a good idea?
Yeah, it could be.
I don't know that that's thething you need to be focusing on
right at this very moment whenyou have all these other things
that you could do.
And then that's how businessowners that we're always like,
oh my God, I have so much to doand I can't figure out what to
do because we're just making ourbusiness harder.
Uncanny Content (25:28):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (25:28):
I also agree with your statement
about finding help.
When we did our day and we werelooking at there's a lot of
programs on there that were likepre COVID.
I was like, we don't, why, whydo we have these?
It's like when you clean outyour house.
When we just recently moved, myhusband and I still found, sippy
cups in our cupboard.
boys are 22 and 19.
(25:49):
I don't know why we had sippycups still, but sometimes you
just gotta like.
you still have stuff that isjust not needed.
or the jackets with shoulderpads that are still in my closet
that I don't know why I amkeeping them.
Uncanny Content (26:04):
They might make a.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (26:05):
They will, they're gonna be my
Halloween costume one day.
I don't know.
But anyways, yeah, so I thinksometimes it's good to get rid
of services or things that areno longer profitable.
An example is, I tell businessowners a lot, especially studio
owners, like, that 40 classpackage that you have that you
think is great because it costslike$3,000.
(26:25):
It's really terrible for yourcash flow.
Not that many people are buyingit.
Just take it off your, just takeit off your.
Surface.
Right?
Take it off.
And then what can you, I likethe 3D.
So what can you delete thatdoesn't need to be part of the
process anymore.
What can you defer to later?
Like, yeah, this is a greatidea, but it doesn't have to be
(26:48):
my top priority now.
And then what can you delegate,So what can you delegate to
someone else?
And when I say delegate, Ireally mean giving.
That person, the power to takethat entire task, right?
Not you micromanaging them, yougiving them that task.
(27:09):
And if you need to hire someone,you need to hire somebody.
I ended up hiring, when we weretalking about it.
I was like that.
All that Kajabi stuff seems verydaunting to me.
So I'm gonna look for a Kajabiexpert.
And I did, I hired a companythat's, they're experts in
Kajabi, which is my website.
So they will do like the sunsetting of the projects and then
(27:30):
the re we're redoing our, theFit Biz Foundation's course,
like we're redoing the videos.
They'll do all that.
I was like, I don't, could I doit?
Yes.
Should I do it?
No.
Hiring somebody to do that.
And so it doesn't have to be afull-time person.
Uncanny Content (27:47):
It could be project.
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (27:48):
Yeah, project based is like super
helpful.
And when you're paying an expertto do it, might be like, oh
that's like$2,000.
They're gonna charge me.
But how long would it take you?
So the way that I tell people,so if you're a PT that charges
$200 an hour for a session, ifit takes you longer than 10
hours to do, which it probablywill'cause you're not a website
(28:10):
expert.
You are already underwater andlike what that is.
Right.
So just pay the expert to do it
Uncanny Content (28:17):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (28:18):
your time.
Uncanny Content (28:18):
There's also the, so let's say you need to
overhaul your systems becauseyour scheduling and marketing
tool is just like not working.
people are not getting notifiedthat they booked an appointment
or they're not gettingreminders.
So they're not showing up toappointments.
There's so much lost money inthese systems.
that.
Yes, investing in things alwayssucks.
(28:40):
And I'm not saying go into debtto do so, I'm not saying that at
all.
But as you do this VIP day andyou look at your categories and
you look at what needs to bedone, there might, you might
feel better'cause you're likegetting it outta your head and
onto paper.
Right.
But there's also gonna be thislike, oh shit, now I have a lot
of work to do.
CEOs don't do all of the work.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (28:58):
They don't, not successful CEOs.
Uncanny Content (29:02):
No.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (29:03):
Not, six figure CEOs with five figure
mindsets.
That's like, that's like theproblem, right?
So it's important to delegategood leaders, create other
leaders.
Uncanny Content (29:15):
they do.
And it's, I'm not ruling outthat that's, it's not easy to
do.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (29:20):
it's not easy.
If it were easy, we would all,we would all be fabulous and we
wouldn't be burnt out, and wewouldn't be worried about having
difficult conversations with ourteam.
But if,
Uncanny Content (29:29):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (29:29):
not easy.
Uncanny Content (29:30):
Yeah.
the other thing I will say,speaking of team, is that
sometimes it helps to do this.
With either like a businesspartner that you are you really,
really trust, or with anotherbusiness owner.
So like if you have, you're a PTand you know an acupuncturist
who has their own practice thatlike they're doing really well
(29:50):
and you guys have met up forcoffee a few times, like it can
be really good to bounce theseissues off of another person
because they can see holes thatyou can't.
So when Christa and I did this,I came with questions and then
she would tell me things that.
I know Christa Gurka reallywell, but let's say she said
something that I was like, oh, Ididn't realize that, or I didn't
think about it that way.
And then that changed what wedecided to do.
(30:13):
So like even for the websitewhere we were going through and
realizing like, actually this isgonna need a redesign because we
are changing so much.
And quite honestly, ChristaGurka was doing that by herself.
I think she would've been like,no, it's fine.
We'll just delete those pagesand like.
Hide them kind of thing.
Whereas, looking at it deeperwith one person really helped
see everything that needed tochange.
(30:34):
there were also a couple ofthings that, as she was going
through, I would ask questionsand it like, it honed in on what
she saw that.
I didn't see it, but it honed inon what she needed to do next.
So if you have that relationshipwith somebody, or you have like
a biz bestie, things like that,make it make it a weekend if you
want to.
(30:55):
but if it has to be a singleday, that's fine.
the other thing that I wannamention is that like, bring
snacks.
Plan for breaks.
This is not, again, you are nota workhorse on this day.
You are the CEO.
You have ideas and you arehaving your ideas.
You are organizing your ideas.
You are not doing the work,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (31:13):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (31:13):
not this day.
You are taking a step out andthen you're going to Applebee's
for lunch,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (31:19):
And drinks and cocktails.
Uncanny Content (31:21):
which is.
Christa Gurka | Fit (31:22):
cocktails.
a couple people in our innercircle and in our Fit Biz
membership, they have actuallycreated like these
accountability groups and theywill do it together with
themselves.
Like, they'll go, they'll, agroup of women from the Fit Biz
that I know they got together totalk all about business.
I know a couple women in theinner circle got together to
(31:43):
talk about, business and, andsame thing, like they can.
ideas off someone and askquestions the right way.
And, and sometimes a good onewill like push back a little bit
and say, I don't, I don't know.
Like if that's actually true.
Is that true?
Right.
we did it with our teamquarterly.
Uncanny Content (32:02):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (32:03):
I started just myself.
Then I started having my team,members come with me, and it was
a day.
so, yeah, and I thought it wasreally helpful for you to be, to
do it with me because I, one ofthe biggest things with me since
I sold Pilates in the Grove was,okay, I get to die of full-time
into the mentorship and coachingand consulting, which I love and
(32:25):
which
Uncanny Content (32:25):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (32:26):
I've grown like gangbusters in the
last like three months,
Uncanny Content (32:30):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (32:31):
but I also.
Having learned from growing abusiness that if I don't fix
some of these things now, it'sjust gonna be harder in the
future.
So I was like, I need to fixsome of the tech.
This is no longer like a sidehustle.
I need to fix some of thebackend because I want the user
experience to be really good onthe front end for customers and,
(32:51):
and having you.
Ask me the right kind ofquestions'cause my brain, is
just like a little bit all overthe place, is helpful to push
back, but to also get a littlebit of clarity.
we were able to discuss our reallike customer avatar.
In terms of where are they whenwe meet them and where do we
(33:12):
want them to be?
And that's where we did ourlittle like visual drawing that
I thought was really cute, thatwe're working on for our
website.
so anyways, that was superhelpful.
So I, I agree with you, likehaving someone, another business
owner that you can do it with
Uncanny Content (33:26):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (33:26):
also keeps you focused, right?
Or having someone from your ownteam
Uncanny Content (33:32):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (33:33):
do it.
Uncanny Content (33:34):
Yeah, your team will bring a lot of perspective
to you.
you do have to be willing tohear it, so
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (33:40):
just about to say that.
Yeah, I was just
Uncanny Content (33:42):
might be.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (33:42):
that.
Uncanny Content (33:43):
not critical, but they might have feedback on
some things that you're marriedto or emotionally tied to.
But I do think that level ofchallenge when you're stepping
back to say, who am I serving?
How am I serving them?
How am I growing my team?
What do we need to do that?
Well, it really helps to havesomebody who is on your team,
who you feel is invested.
Don't bring somebody you justhired two days ago.
(34:04):
Don't bring somebody that youdon't trust with your clients.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (34:07):
Yeah, also that really thinks
strategically like an owner,right?
So they have to be able to seeand understand the big picture.
Uncanny Content (34:16):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (34:16):
really does help sometimes some of your
team members realize like, howmuch goes into making
Uncanny Content (34:22):
Yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit (34:23):
successful?
Uncanny Content (34:24):
yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (34:24):
know, when they realize, oh, there is
thought process behind what we
Uncanny Content (34:29):
yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:29):
why we do, and how
Uncanny Content (34:30):
She didn't just increase those prices for no
reason, just to make morerelief.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (34:35):
So I think that it's not, I, again,
I wouldn't invite I, when I didit with my team, it was like
myself and two other people.
It was my director of operationsand then our studio manager.
So like she was always theliaison between the leadership
team and the staff.
Uncanny Content (34:52):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:53):
she brought a good perspective of
like, I like that.
How can we best roll it out?
Uncanny Content (34:58):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (34:59):
the
Uncanny Content (35:00):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (35:00):
So that was like, good.
And she saw both sides.
Uncanny Content (35:04):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (35:05):
I thought that that was always
powerful
Uncanny Content (35:06):
Yeah.
And if you're not there yet withteam, it's just something to
keep in mind that like, this maybe a solo VIP day or like biz
bestie, VIP day, but as you growyour team, grow it thinking, do
I want this person in the roomwith me when I do this?
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (35:22):
they come with good ideas?
Are they good sounding boards?
I mean, you and I work reallywell together, so it was
perfect.
and I also got to see you inperson.
And you're right.
So we planned out like ourentire, like what we were gonna
get rid of, what we were gonnalean into, how can we streamline
it?
And then, then we had actionsteps.
So then we were like, okay, thisis what you're gonna do, meaning
(35:43):
you, Latasha is gonna take careof this.
Christa Gurka had her own actionsteps.
We had like an idea of, we werelike, okay, can we get on Jess's
schedule for the website design?
I was like, okay.
So she's open to redo it inNovember.
Great.
It's not an emergency.
We don't need it.
Read, launch tomorrow.
(36:04):
So now Latasha and I had, know,three months for the most part.
To then build out the website,right.
Work on sunsetting certainprograms, work on the copy.
I wanna get new pictures.
I realized I don't even haveDuncan on my website.
Like how is that even possiblewithout my dog on my website?
How is that
Uncanny Content (36:24):
Yep.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (36:25):
Um, because back when I started my
website, I wasn't a dog personand so there's no dog on my
website.
um, yeah, so now we have enoughtime to really.
Move in a very strategic,intentional manner where we're
not overwhelmed
Uncanny Content (36:41):
Yeah,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (36:42):
and we have a plan.
So
Uncanny Content (36:44):
and a lot of what's gonna come out of, the
listeners' VIP day is you'regonna see all the things and you
might feel overwhelmed at allthe things you're going to be
asking for help.
And these things are not goingto be done overnight.
These are things that are goingto be done over the next like
three to six months.
There are some things whereyou're like, I got that.
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Stra (37:02):
12 months.
Uncanny Content (37:03):
But it's not, it's not going to usually be, I
gotta fix that overnight.
Obviously if your websitecrashed and you can't get it
back up, you're gonna need toget help and you're gonna need
to get that back up as P.
But there are things that yes,might need to be like, I gotta
get this done in the next twoweeks.
I gotta get this done in thenext month.
There are also gonna be a lot ofthings where it's like, this is
gonna be a 70 step process andit's gonna take me three months.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (37:26):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (37:26):
Take me six months, it's gonna take me nine
months.
That is okay because yourbusiness will still be here in
3, 6, 9, 12 months.
Like in the kitchen analogy.
If you're in a Michelin starkitchen, they are cleaning up as
they are cooking, they aremixing stuff, and that bowl is
(37:48):
clean.
They are putting stuff in theoven and then everything that
that touched is cleaned.
Like you are in this new spacewhere your business is growing,
you're transitioning, and you'reable to create space for you to
clean the dishes as you make themess.
You're cooking something whileyou're doing it, but you're
keeping, your workspace clean.
(38:08):
And that's more what I want youto think about with these VIP
days.
Not that you're like gettingeverything done on these VIP
days.
It's that you are mixing things,you're putting them in the oven
to bake.
They're not gonna be ready foranother two hours, but you're
cleaning your space.
You're making sure that yourmental space
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (38:23):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (38:24):
is tidy because you are going to have to do
this.
This is a long haul, right?
Like your business is not, a, asprint to the finish line.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (38:33):
No.
Uncanny Content (38:33):
You are going to be doing this for years.
You wanna make sure that yourmental space is tidy, that you
have a plan for where you'regoing, that you're touching base
with how things are going morefrequently than just, it's a
crisis and I'm crying and it's1130 at night on a Saturday.
And I have to think about thisright now.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (38:50):
Right.
Uncanny Content (38:50):
clean your space as you cook.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (38:52):
Yeah.
that's kind of what we're gonnado at the summit in November.
So the women in wellness.
business Summit is for women inwellness, so women who own
boutique fitness and wellnessbusinesses, physical therapy,
Pilate Studios, yoga studios,combinations of all of the
(39:12):
above.
And so the what makes our summitdifferent?
Is it's actionable, which wasvery important to me.
Like I don't need a bunch ofvision boards and like cute
cutouts.
I need people to walk away with,like get shit done attitude.
And so November 6th, which isthe first day of the summit,
(39:34):
we're actually gonna be doingthis exact thing in a room.
Of less than 30 women.
So you can bring your team.
Some people are bringing theirteam members, but we will be
there.
So basically the first half ofthe day is year in review and we
have very strategic, what's theword I'm gonna thinking of plans
(39:54):
like.
Break breakouts of like how youcan decide, like look at your
20, 25 year, what worked well,what didn't work well, what
needs to change?
So we're gonna help you createthose buckets.
Uncanny Content (40:06):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (40:06):
then the second half of the day on
that first day is, is how are wenow planning for 2026?
How are we getting you to yourrevenue goal or your systems
goal, or your profit goal, or tohave the schedule you want goal,
like where you're not the oneproviding the, the services 24
(40:27):
7.
so that is literally, we'redoing this kind of VIP day in a
room with experts, you, myself,we'll have financial experts and
then.
Friday.
The day Friday will be, a paneldiscussion with a lot of
business owners that do this onthe regular.
So we'll have a marketing panelthat's gonna talk about builds,
(40:49):
SEO, brand development andthings like that.
We'll have a financial panelthat's gonna talk about.
How to look at your books, howto structure your books, how to
invest in your business, how toinvest in retirement.
And then we're actually gonnahave a, sale and acquisition
panel that talks about a.
(41:10):
Whether you're interested inacquiring a business, which by
the way, last year we talkedabout exiting, but this year
we're gonna talk about both howto set your business up for an
acquisition, meaning you're inexiting, and how to decide if
you wanna grow, how you cangrow.
Through acquisition, throughbuying other businesses.
And so it's a very differentsummit than most conferences
(41:32):
because you're not in a roomwith a hundred people, you're in
a room of 30 people.
We feed you good food and it'sin Miami.
And so I think I had two.
Three registrations yesterday,so I think we're literally down
to the last three availablespots.
I know, it's crazy.
(41:52):
So, I'm gonna link that in theshow notes, like, but if you're
interested in getting room in, ascene in this room, it is a
really, really powerful stuff.
And I'm not just saying thatbecause it's mine.
Well, maybe I am, but I built itbased on what I wished I had.
At the time, and so Latasha'sbeen a part of it since the
(42:15):
beginning, since the first one.
Right.
So, how do you think, what doyou think about the summit?
How, what's your takeaway from
Uncanny Content (42:22):
I don't go to any other client events.
Christa's
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz (42:26):
having
Uncanny Content (42:26):
the only, Christa's events are the only
ones that I go to.
One, she, and I'm not sayingthis'cause I really like Christa
Gurka, I'm saying this becauseit's truly, impactful.
Is that.
Everything is taken care of foryou.
Like once you pay to get thereand stay there, like Christa
Gurka's got everything elsefigured out.
the, the agenda is very welldone.
(42:51):
and we've also worked on it forthe last few years to where we
know exactly like pacing and weknow, okay, we, we know that we
threw too much information inthis section, so next year we're
like, you're getting theculmination of like every year
it gets better and better andbetter.
it's also in Miami, so like,it's gorgeous, but the thing
that I'm most excited for thisyear is the panels, because it's
(43:12):
going to be really important forpeople to get perspectives.
this isn't just Christa Gurkagetting up on a podium and
talking to you for.
Eight hours.
This is, she's sourced reallygreat experts, and the women who
are in this room are alwaysfantastic.
They're so supportive, they'reasking great questions.
They're excited to be away fromtheir studios and their kids and
whatever else.
(43:32):
and they're just so happy to bein the room and it's such a fun
event.
So if you're hearing this andit's sold out, I'm so sorry.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Strat (43:41):
I know at the time, hopefully we
have, we're down to three, whichis really exciting for me.
but it's grown.
and I agree with you.
I think the women in the room, Ithink they ask really good
questions.
I also like bring in otherexperts that are business owners
so that you can see the reallife of, like,
Uncanny Content (44:00):
Yeah.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (44:00):
like you, you run your own business.
So you, besides understandingcontent and strategy, you are a
business owner.
Uncanny Content (44:07):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (44:08):
And so you understand what all the
women are going through andit's, I think it's good to see,
other women doing things maybein a way you didn't think about
or to show like what isavailable,
Uncanny Content (44:23):
Mm-hmm.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (44:24):
what is available to us.
It was huge for me to be in theroom with women that were
talking about sellingbusinesses.
'cause at one point, even thoughPilates in The Grove was doing
great.
I never thought that was.
Uncanny Content (44:36):
Enough.
Christa Gurka | Fit B (44:38):
available to me.
And it's been great and it'sfun.
And we do, I do.
I'm like an overdeliver, so I'mjust like, I want you to come, I
want you to eat, I want you tohave good food.
I want you to have good people.
so it is November 6th and 7th,2025.
Uh, depending on when you'relistening to this, we will link
(44:58):
in the show notes.
Under this episode, the linkalso of where you can go and
reserve your spot.
We are also hosting a VIP room.
Which is Friday afternoon, soFriday, November 7th, it's
supposed to end at 12, but we'reopening a VIP room that's gonna
be limited to only eight women.
(45:19):
we're gonna do a VIP like lasercoaching.
Come ask me anything.
Session from 1:00 to 4:00 PM Sothat's an add-on if you're
interested in that.
And I'm excited to have Latashathere.
we'll have Kari Saitowitz, whoactually was.
Is the podcast next week you'llhear her.
She's a marketing expert.
She was a founder and CEO offitting room that was acquired
(45:41):
by New York Sports Club.
So now she's this ChiefMarketing officer of New York
Sports Club.
She's gonna talk about brandingand marketing.
Her podcast episode is nextweek.
We're also going to haveDanielle Hayden, who is the
founder and CEO of KickstartAccounting Inc.
Which is our like money team inthe group, our bookkeeping and
accounting, as well as KristenAbel, who is.
(46:04):
The money person in thefinancial expert in boutique
fitness broker, which are thebrokers that helped me sell my
business.
So she's gonna come and she'sgonna talk about all things,
finances when it comes toacquiring or selling your
business, which is.
exciting and I just tell peoplelike, yeah, you might not wanna
sell your business, but what agreat opportunity if you set it
(46:26):
up like you did want to, andthen you were able to exit when
you wanted to.
At least for something like you,you just didn't have to like
close up shop and be done
Uncanny Content (46:35):
also we all retire.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (46:36):
huh?
Uncanny Content (46:37):
We all retire.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (46:38):
all retire.
It's great.
Uncanny Content (46:39):
Or have a retiring event,
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz St (46:41):
have a That's true.
Yeah.
And I actually, I grew mybusiness through like
acquisition a little bit and sothere was, acquiring another
business rather than openingfrom scratch is also an
opportunity, to grow.
Uncanny Content (46:54):
Yep.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (46:54):
So.
Any last words my dear?
Uncanny Content (46:58):
if you can't make it to the summit in
November, we've given you thetools to host your own.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (47:02):
Yeah.
Uncanny Content (47:02):
But I also think this is something you
should do quarterly anyways, atthe very least, every six
months.
treat yourself a little bit.
You deserve it.
You work hard.
Your business deserves youstepping back and looking at it
from a new angle, and you gotthis.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz S (47:18):
Yeah, that's great.
I'm so excited to see you inperson again in November.
And like I said, if you'reinterested, grab the link in the
show notes so you can go and seeif we have spots still
available.
And until next time, my friends,bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.