September 9, 2025 • 25 mins
Today, we dive into the world of entrepreneurship with Sonya Corkery, founder of Clear Plan Consulting, who shares invaluable insights on transitioning from the corporate grind to leading her own business. Sonya emphasizes the significance of applying corporate structures to streamline operations in trade businesses, ensuring they work for owners rather than the other way around. She candidly discusses the challenges of implementing standard operating procedures while balancing her role as a wife and mother. Our conversation highlights the importance of recognizing individual team members and their unique needs to foster a thriving work environment. Join us as we explore practical leadership strategies that can elevate any business, all while keeping it relatable and engaging!
Jaclyn Strominger warmly welcomes Sonya Corkery to the Unstoppable Leadership podcast, where they embark on a journey through the highs and lows of leadership and entrepreneurship. Sonya, the founder of Clear Plan Consulting, shares her remarkable story of transitioning from a high-powered corporate banking position to the unpredictable world of running a family business in the trades. Initially hesitant to join her husband's venture, Sonya reflects on the challenges she faced in adapting her corporate mindset to the realities of entrepreneurship. Her experiences reveal how structured corporate systems can be both a blessing and a challenge in a less formal business environment.
Throughout their conversation, Sonya emphasizes the importance of implementing standard operating procedures (SOPs) to ensure quality and consistency in operations. She discusses how her corporate background prepared her to tackle the chaos of a family-run business, driving home the point that effective leadership requires not just direction but also empathy and understanding. As they dive deeper, Jaclyn and Sonya explore the nuances of balancing personal and professional roles in a family business, highlighting the need for clear communication between partners to navigate potential conflicts and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Sonya's insights into the emotional landscape of leadership are particularly compelling. She stresses the value of recognizing individual team members' motivations, advocating for a workplace culture that prioritizes listening and understanding. By fostering an environment where employees feel valued and supported, leaders can significantly impact team morale and productivity. The episode culminates in a discussion about Sonya's aspirations for international expansion, reflecting her commitment to helping others in the trade industry. This episode is a treasure trove of practical advice and inspiration for those looking to enhance their leadership skills and create a thriving business that truly serves its people.
Takeaways:
- Sonya Corkery transitioned from a corporate banking career to entrepreneurship, learning valuable lessons along the way.
- Effective leadership involves acknowledging team members' unique needs and creating a supportive work environment for them.
- Implementing structured systems and procedures can significantly improve the operations of a trade business.
- Communication is key; open dialogues help leaders understand their team's challenges and strengths effectively.
- Sonya emphasizes the importance of recognizing individual stories within a team to foster better relationships and productivity.
- Living one's values loudly can inspire others and create a strong organizational culture.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Clear Plan Consulting
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:41):
Well, hello everybody andwelcome to the Unstoppable Leadership
podcast. I am your host,Jaclyn Strominger And as you know
on this podcast we hear fromamazing leaders and get their game
changing insights about beingincredible leadership, about incredible
leader, incredible leaders, Ishould say, and incredible leadership
and how we can actually bebetter at that. And so today I have
(01:03):
an amazing guest, Sonya . AndSonya , let me tell you a little
bit about Sonya . She has, letme just, I'm going to read her little
bio. So Sonya Corkery is thefounder of Clear Plan Consulting,
specializing in helping tradebusiness owners build profitable,
sustainable businesses thatsupport their personal goals. With
nearly two decades ofexperience as a business owner and
background in commerciallending, banking and financial planning,
(01:26):
Sonya understands the uniquechallenges and opportunities in the
trade industry. She plays akey role in scaling her own business
into a multimillion dollarenterprise, earning recognition along
the way. And now through ClearPlan Consulting, she helps trade
businesses owners streamlineoperations, improve profitability
and create businesses thatwork for them, not the other way
(01:49):
around, which is so important.And through over those amazing years
has also garnered a lot ofknowledge on leadership. So welcome
Sonya .
Thank you so much, Jacqueline.Really a great pleasure to be on
here today.
Yeah, so, all right, so here'sa couple things like so we were talking
obviously pre show about likewhat you're doing and obviously you're
(02:11):
in Australia, I'm here in theUnited States. So I'm really, really
curious. You know, as youknow, you are, you've got different
businesses, you come fromcorporate and so I'd love for you
to share, you know, how you asa, as you know, the leader in your
(02:31):
business made that transitionright from corporate to entrepreneurship.
And now that you're as this, Iknow it's a two part question. As
a coach I shouldn't ever dothat, but I am, you know, how does
that play into how you lead asan entrepreneur?
(02:56):
Well, I came from a well oiledmachine that corporate is. So I worked
for a major bank withinAustralia and it's obviously due
to the grand size of thebusiness that I kind of grew up in.
The systems and procedures,everything was run like a well oiled
machine. It had to, there weremillions of employees, you know,
(03:18):
so many locations and so manydepartments within the machine. And
so for me that was kind of mynorm to be in a very structured,
output focused entity. That,that was my normal. So when I was,
and I, and I'm just gonna bereally clear, I really had no intention
(03:38):
originally of coming into thebusiness. I did not want to have
a part of it. It was not gonnabe a part of me because I was coming
home every evening from havingthis 100 hour a week job and then
helping in this business thatmy husband decided one day he was
going to open without evenasking me. And I was doing all this
work, right? And I was veryresentful at the beginning because
(04:01):
I was already working 100hours a week for a massive company
that in hindsight now, youknow, I was a number in a huge game.
And that was, that was finebecause I was grateful for the experiences
and so much of the learningsand the education I got in that machine,
you know, because that waslargely paid for by that organization.
So I have to be extremelythankful and grateful for that. I
(04:24):
fell into entrepreneurshipbecause my husband came to me one
day and he just said to me, Ineed you, I need you full time. I
cannot do this on my own. Youhave the expertise, the understanding,
but without you in this, we'renot going to get to that point. So
he could at that time envisionso much more than I could about what
the journey could potentiallyhold for us. Because I was like,
(04:46):
I'm earning, you know, 140grand a year. My corporate job. This
is awesome. I get to wear nicecorporate outfit makeup. I turn up,
you know, it's, it's great.But then, you know, throw a child
in there very early on and Iwas like, well, I'm doing 100 hours
a week and my baby's the firstin daycare and he's the last out.
And this is probably not greatfor a child, right? So twofold on
(05:10):
that the leadership reallycame from. I had to walk into this
business that had hardly anyframework, nothing going on, so many
things that shouldn't behappening because it was like I just
get in and do it attitude. AndI had to apply all of those corporate
learnings and take, just takehold of those reins and start getting
things in place and making ithappen. But it was due to what I'd
(05:32):
come from and that experiencethat I'd learned in my payg job,
you know, to be able to apply that.
Right? So, so a couple thingsthat I'm going to first say like
first of all, like number one,I first of all, like your husband,
like I want to, I want tolaugh because I will share this with
you and listeners. I was in acorporate job one at one point and
(05:56):
in one of my corporate jobs. Ithink it was my last corporate job
actually. It was. And Iremember sitting at sitting, I just
come back from some Trip. AndI'm sitting at my home office and
I'm on some zoom call with abunch of people, hung up the phone,
and I was like, what thefreaking hell am I doing? And mind
(06:22):
you, like, I have been. I'mpaying for someone while I'm sitting
at my. My desk, my corporatejob at my home office, because that's
how it was. I'm paying someoneto go get my kids. Right. And I.
Without, like, anything, Iliterally picked up the phone, called
(06:43):
the CEO and told him I quit.Yep. And then I called, told my husband.
I said, by the way, I justquit my job. Like, I am. I'm VP of
sales. I'm bringing in, youknow, money, whatever. He's like,
why? I'm like, because I can'tdo it. I'm just like, I hit uncle.
Right? So, like, so yourhusband buying the whatever, like,
without. I'm like, I get it sometimes.
(07:03):
He just like, My baby was 2weeks old. My husband. Husband came
home and he's like, I quit myjob today. And I went, what? No conversation?
Same same thing in reverse.And like, I said, like, it. I was
like, this is happening.There's nothing I can do but get
on this train. And so whilst Iwould have appreciated a conversation,
(07:24):
I. He's extremely visionary.And so I, you know, commend him on
his bravery to just go aheadand get that done. And same to you.
You know, it takes a lot tosay, I am done now. It finishes now.
And now the journey is for me,for us.
Yeah. Yeah. Right. So. So theother part is, you know, you were
talking about, like, obviouslythe corporate structure has all these,
(07:46):
like, sops in place and socoming in, you know, and this is,
you know, a little bit. Youknow, part of my brain is like, you
know, it's. My family grew up.My. I grew up in a family of. Of
my parents work together. So,you know, you. You. You know how
to put in all these SOPs. Andso from a. Like, from a leadership
standpoint, like, how do you,like, how did you all of a sudden,
(08:10):
like, go, you know, and like,what is that tip that you can say
to somebody? You know, you'regoing from that, you know, that corporate
life, and you're. You've gotsomething big and you're the leader,
and you've got to put on thishat to create, like, you see that
there's something that needsto be done. How do you tell the.
How do you become that leaderto create those sops without rocking
(08:35):
the boat so much? Or maybe youdid Rock the boat. Oh yeah.
I rocked the boat. I rocked ithard. My husband, who asked me to
come in and wanted me there,wanted me to do the things that he
thought he wanted me to do.And there was so much more that I
wanted to do because I wasconcerned about compliance, I was
concerned about safety, I wasconcerned about just the quality
(08:56):
of output and the consistencyin the business, making sure that
everyone was following thesame pattern so that everything was
structured and nothing wasmissed. And so he was reluctant in
the beginning to give me, youknow, what he thought was control.
But what it was was I wassaying, I'm not trying to rock the
boat to offend you or upsetyou. I'm doing this to show you where
(09:18):
the issues are so that we canidentify them and we can fix them.
Because if we don't, this is ashort lived ride and I am all in
on this now. So this is whatwe need to do. And so essentially
he said, okay, well that'sfine, if you want to do that, you
can do that. I, you know, itwon't stop you. And I said, but I
need your brain. I am not fromthis industry. And so I am learning
(09:40):
a whole new industry all overagain. So I'm going to ask you a
lot of questions and you'regoing to be pissed off and that's
okay because we need to getthrough this. And so I got to a point
where I was like, I need to bean electrician apprentice. And he's
like, what for? And I said,because I need to understand the
process, okay. I need tounderstand when they walk on that
site and they get out of thatvan, exactly what they do, what is
(10:01):
the first thing that they do,you know, what tools do they need
to have on board, you know,what, what checks do they need to
do? What do they need to dowhen they wrap up at the end of the
day to make sure it's safe?You know, is it an existing property
they're going to, is it new?And, and all of these things started
from a macro level and thatcan get really overwhelming if you
(10:22):
don't have a system in placeto create a system, if that makes
sense.
Right, and yeah, right. No,yes you do.
And so I, a lot of it wastalking, voice dictating and then
summarizing into macro levelsteps, creating flowcharts and then
micro from there. So it, ittook a long time to build that for
(10:42):
a trade based business. Butonce we did the framework that was
adaptable to most trade basedbusinesses essentially. And so it
kind of became this, thisasset that we could use across the
board.
Well, right. And then, wellthen my brain is like, okay, that's
a framework that becomes asellable asset too that you can then
teach and coach other peopleand other trade based businesses
(11:06):
and they could obviously comeinto your fold or not come into your
fold, but you can actuallyhelp them in some ways. Yeah. Okay.
So listeners. Right. Likethat's my brain, how my brain thinks.
Like, right. Like I'm, Ialways think about how can we actually
entrepreneurize that processand you know, and create that. So,
so you said something that Ithink is really kind of, that is
(11:27):
really important that youbasically acknowledged obviously
like where you're coming from.So like key thing, you know listeners
as you're hearing that like ifyou've got something that comes to
acknowledge like make surethat you acknowledge like where somebody
else is and, and theirexpertise and let them know that
you're not there to questiontheir knowledge or, but you're there
(11:53):
to, there's a, you'reacknowledging their knowledge as
well.
So. Oh absolutely.
And then you said somethingthat I thought was, was really important
is that you, and you basicallysaid to him, you basically kind of
set the stage. It says you aregoing to be, you may get pissed off.
Yeah. And, and that. Is thatso important. Yep.
(12:16):
It's like feelings are goingto come out because I'm going to
make, I'm going to question.And I'm not actually questioning
your capability, I'mquestioning to gain understanding.
And so you may interpret it assuch, but let me be clear, I am not
questioning your capabilities.You obviously extremely capable person,
you've built this fromabsolutely nothing yourself. It's
already more successful thanmany others. You know, had already
(12:40):
lasted two or three years atthat point before I came into it.
So you know, most businessesin Australia fell within the first
three years. 85% of businessesfell within the first three years.
So on his own, right, he wasalready more successful than most.
And so I'm, I wanted to behonest about, you know, you asked
me to come in but I need thisto be the best version of what it
(13:02):
can be. And to do that I'mbeing objective and I'm here to help
you. I'm not here to hinderyou, I'm not here to upset you. But
it may appear that way in themoment because it's emotional because
you feel like somebody's kindof judging you and, and that wasn't
the intention and I needed tomake that clear so that we could
(13:23):
be wearing Those separatehats. And, and as I said, you know,
we're married, so that's awhole nother level of complexity.
And you know, when you'regoing home, you need to be able to
separate that business hataway from your home life and make
sure that you can still be amarried couple with a family and,
and make sure you support eachother in that regard as well. So
(13:46):
I could never bring in thatI'm your wife to work. That was never
going to happen. You know, Iwas here to do a job and I did it
well and he did his part welland that's why it worked.
Yeah. Okay, so, so that, youknow, that questioning and that sharing
of like, you know,information, how would you take that
(14:10):
and put it into the, like, ifyou could take that and put it into
corporate, how do you see,what would you say? How, how do you
envision that happening inlike a corporate world?
It's really interestingbecause in the corporate world, as
you well know, they havemeetings for the sake of having meetings.
Right. And that you walk outand you're like, that could have
been an email or we could havejust had a two minute conversation
(14:30):
instead of that being an hourof my time. I think if it was a constructive
setup of actually saying,okay, well, we're here to, to help
grow this business, we need tomastermind a workshop. What needs
improvement. You guys are onthe ground, we value your feedback.
We need to really understandthe intricacies of the processes
(14:52):
and feel what's missing orwhat can be added to streamline that
more effectively for you guysas the team on the ground in the
operations. We also need tomake sure that it's cost effective,
that we're delivering to ahigh quality. So let's talk, let's
have this conversation becausein your own experience, like how
many times have a CEO comeinto a company and gone, I'm new
(15:14):
here and I'm going to shakethings up and I'm going to change
things that don't need to bechanged. And then people on the ground
are like, what is going on?You know, it's not broken, we don't
need it to be fixed. And theymight make a change that they can't
see the outcome of becausethey're not an on the ground operational
person. So I think it's superimportant to have that open communication
(15:36):
because every department orevery role in a business needs to
concurrently work with theother roles because the output needs
to be the most effective thingfor the client, the end user, the
teams need to feel Supported,they need to feel heard, they need
to feel understood. And whenthat dialogue is open, that is the,
(15:58):
the most amazing thing tocreate everything that you need,
as long as you are listening,acknowledging, and applying so that
it works for everybody.
Right?
And I think that's. That'sjust pinnacle in any business, you.
Know, and it's so true. Likeacknowledging, listening and, and
the, and listening to thepeople who, you know, the people
(16:19):
who have the boots on theground, who are there are so important,
you know, and listening to thepeople who, you know, you don't know
that, you know, you might notrealize, like, you know, I'm just
going to use my. Like thatthis case doesn't work well because
you're not using the case. Butif you're the person that's using
(16:40):
the case and you're going tobe like, oh, that just, you know,
that really does not workwell. We could. We could use something
else that's better. You haveto listen to those people.
Yeah.
Like, you have to listen tothat. And, you know, and it's so,
It's. It's really. It's reallyquite amazing. So, so if you could
think, like, you know, as yourbusiness has grown, what were. What
(17:02):
were some of those key things?I mean, obviously we know, like putting,
you know, SOPs and standardoperating procedures in place, but
was there something that youthought, like, you know, come from
them coming, coming from thisbig corporate conglomerate bank that,
you know, or whatever, youknow, is hugely successful. What
was like. Like the one or twothings that you took from that, that
(17:23):
you were saying, you knowwhat? I want to make sure we do that
here.
I wanted to recognize peoplein the business. I wanted to recognize
who they were. They each had astory. They each had needs. They
each had different needs. So.So sitting down and having a conversation
with each of those peoplesaying, what's going on? Talk to
(17:43):
me like, what. What makes youtick? What drives you? Like, and
it's. I can tell you to ask atradie that he was like, who is this
person? Why are we having thisconversation? Come to work. I get
in my van, I do my thing, theygive me a run sheet. And you've got
this person saying, who areyou? Like, tell me about yourself
(18:05):
and help me understand you sothat I can best serve you. Okay,
so what is it that you need?What drives you? It's not a barbecue
once a week. It's not, youknow, a new van. It's, oh, I've got
a family of five, and I wantto spend time with My kids. Okay,
so what can we do in thisbusiness to give you more time? Well,
(18:26):
it'd be really good if I coulddo one of the drop offs or the pickups,
you know, if we could do likechange my start time and finish time
so I still do my eight hours,but I could do all the drop offs
for my wife and she could doall the pickups. I'm like, sweet,
let's do that. Let's make thathappen. Right, this gentleman is
now working these hours andhe's going to be in this team and
this is going to be where he'sstationed. And this is why, you know,
(18:49):
it's listening and applyingit. We have the ability as our own,
as our own business, as CEOsof our own business or owners or
entrepreneurs of our ownbusiness to break the mold. There
is no must do's. Let's thinkoutside the box. Let's serve the
people who are doing thebusiness. Let's. They're operationally,
(19:12):
you know, we're dependenteverything on them. It's, it's. We
need to make sure that theyhave what they need in their, in
their actual job. Are theysafe? Are they, you know, do they
have the tools? Do they havethe knowledge and understanding?
Have we provided the righttraining? Yeah, that's all still
standard. Right. But they'repeople we need to help serve the
people.
(19:32):
Right? Right. They're peoplefirst. You know, Sonya , it's, you
know, I'm so glad that yousaid that because I think it's so
important, you know, I thinkit's so important to be able to,
number one, get to knowpeople. Like I talk about that all
the time. I think it's like,it's, it's a huge thing to be able
to say to people, you know,to, you know, and I hate the word
(19:54):
employee because it brings anegative connotation to me. Like
they're, these are the peoplethat are, that are in your fold.
They're part of your tribe,they're part of your team. So like
to be able to get to know yourteam members for who they are and
what they want. Yep. You know,it brings that emotional intelligence
into, into the, into theworkplace, right? Yep.
(20:14):
Absolutely.
Absolutely. So, you know, soyou, you know, you shared, you've
got, obviously you've got fourdifferent businesses. You're, you're,
you're a mom, you're, you're.And you're busy, obviously your wife
too, you know, in there. Andso if there's like one bit of advice
(20:35):
you could share with A leaderwho is that busy person just like
you. Who would it be?
Find out what your own valuesare and leave them loudly. And be
open and understanding ofothers that they also have their
own values and they too needto live them loudly and understand
(20:58):
that each to their own.Everyone has different drivers, some
more than others. And don'ttry to push people into something
because it's your own belief.You need to be open and understanding
that sometimes people haven'tfound their thing yet and sometimes
they have. And you can eitherbe a part of that journey and for
a long time or a short time.Some people are lifers and some people
(21:20):
aren't. But it's the impactyou make on people's life that's
the most important.
I love that. I love that. So,so what's next for like. So what
are you working on next?
We're looking at, you know,taking this more internationally.
That's, that's largely what wewant to do because we feel that we
(21:41):
can help people in, you know,a lot of locations, you know, especially
in the western world. They'reour brothers and sisters across the
ditch, as we say. You know,we've got New Zealand, America, Canada
that are very well alignedwith Australia and the way that we
do things. And so I thinkthere's a lot of things we can share
and just put out there topeople and, and see how it's received
(22:03):
and that's our next step.
That's so. And that's. Andyou're talking more from the standpoint
of is it from like helpingpeople in the trades, businesses
or is it also in the construction?
Like, yeah, it can, it can be,it can be any type of business really.
I think the framework reallyworks across most of those and having
the experience of corporatebusinesses as well as trade based,
(22:27):
you know, we have the abilityto extend that across. So yeah, we're
here to help whoever we can. Ithink if we can touch a few lives
in this lifetime, it'll beworth it. So that's right.
That's so true. Okay, so, sonow I could talk to you for hours.
And this is like, I'm like, ohmy God, you're so, and you're so
easy to talk to. So how canpeople connect with you and learn
(22:49):
more about you, yourbusinesses and how they could, you
know, even work with you?
So I'm across most of theplatforms. You can find me on all
of the socials. I have a webpage as well, www.clearplanconsulting.com.
i know it's a mouthful, sorry.And you can reach out to me anytime.
(23:11):
I'm happy to chat, do a zoom,you know, find out where you're at
and just even have a, a 20minute conversation. Be, you know,
it's not an obligate, notobligation, no obligation there.
So you can have a chat with meand just have a good chin wag and
find out what's happening inyour world. And sometimes it's nice
to just have someone thatunderstands and listens. And if nothing
(23:33):
else, then it's a great conversation.
Right? It's a greatconnection. Right. So, all right,
so listeners, please do me thefavor of going to the socials, going
to Sonya 's website. I willput all of that in the show notes
too. But please reach out toher, connect with her on social.
She's truly amazing. And youknow, we are here to help you be
better leaders and this is agreat conversation and thank you.
(23:56):
Please do share this with yourfriends and colleagues because, you
know, I love what you justsaid and I wrote it down. You know,
to live our values and livethem loudly is so important. And
so with that, thank you forbeing an amazing guest. This is the
Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. Again, like I
said, please click subscribeand share. And we hope to help you
(24:19):
be a better leader and be unstoppable.
Thank you.
Well, hello everybody andwelcome to the Unstoppable Leadership
podcast. I am your host,Jaclyn Strominger And as you know
on this podcast we hear fromamazing leaders and get their game
changing insights about beingincredible leadership, about incredible
leader, incredible leaders, Ishould say, and incredible leadership
and how we can actually bebetter at that. And so today I have
(01:03):
an amazing guest, Sonya . AndSonya , let me tell you a little
bit about Sonya . She has, letme just, I'm going to read her little
bio. So Sonya Corkery is thefounder of Clear Plan Consulting,
specializing in helping tradebusiness owners build profitable,
sustainable businesses thatsupport their personal goals. With
nearly two decades ofexperience as a business owner and
background in commerciallending, banking and financial planning,
(01:26):
Sonya understands the uniquechallenges and opportunities in the
trade industry. She plays akey role in scaling her own business
into a multimillion dollarenterprise, earning recognition along
the way. And now through ClearPlan Consulting, she helps trade
businesses owners streamlineoperations, improve profitability
and create businesses thatwork for them, not the other way
(01:49):
around, which is so important.And through over those amazing years
has also garnered a lot ofknowledge on leadership. So welcome
Sonya .
Thank you so much, Jacqueline.Really a great pleasure to be on
here today.
Yeah, so, all right, so here'sa couple things like so we were talking
obviously pre show about likewhat you're doing and obviously you're
(02:11):
in Australia, I'm here in theUnited States. So I'm really, really
curious. You know, as youknow, you are, you've got different
businesses, you come fromcorporate and so I'd love for you
to share, you know, how you asa, as you know, the leader in your
(02:31):
business made that transitionright from corporate to entrepreneurship.
And now that you're as this, Iknow it's a two part question. As
a coach I shouldn't ever dothat, but I am, you know, how does
that play into how you lead asan entrepreneur?
(02:56):
Well, I came from a well oiledmachine that corporate is. So I worked
for a major bank withinAustralia and it's obviously due
to the grand size of thebusiness that I kind of grew up in.
The systems and procedures,everything was run like a well oiled
machine. It had to, there weremillions of employees, you know,
(03:18):
so many locations and so manydepartments within the machine. And
so for me that was kind of mynorm to be in a very structured,
output focused entity. That,that was my normal. So when I was,
and I, and I'm just gonna bereally clear, I really had no intention
(03:38):
originally of coming into thebusiness. I did not want to have
a part of it. It was not gonnabe a part of me because I was coming
home every evening from havingthis 100 hour a week job and then
helping in this business thatmy husband decided one day he was
going to open without evenasking me. And I was doing all this
work, right? And I was veryresentful at the beginning because
(04:01):
I was already working 100hours a week for a massive company
that in hindsight now, youknow, I was a number in a huge game.
And that was, that was finebecause I was grateful for the experiences
and so much of the learningsand the education I got in that machine,
you know, because that waslargely paid for by that organization.
So I have to be extremelythankful and grateful for that. I
(04:24):
fell into entrepreneurshipbecause my husband came to me one
day and he just said to me, Ineed you, I need you full time. I
cannot do this on my own. Youhave the expertise, the understanding,
but without you in this, we'renot going to get to that point. So
he could at that time envisionso much more than I could about what
the journey could potentiallyhold for us. Because I was like,
(04:46):
I'm earning, you know, 140grand a year. My corporate job. This
is awesome. I get to wear nicecorporate outfit makeup. I turn up,
you know, it's, it's great.But then, you know, throw a child
in there very early on and Iwas like, well, I'm doing 100 hours
a week and my baby's the firstin daycare and he's the last out.
And this is probably not greatfor a child, right? So twofold on
(05:10):
that the leadership reallycame from. I had to walk into this
business that had hardly anyframework, nothing going on, so many
things that shouldn't behappening because it was like I just
get in and do it attitude. AndI had to apply all of those corporate
learnings and take, just takehold of those reins and start getting
things in place and making ithappen. But it was due to what I'd
(05:32):
come from and that experiencethat I'd learned in my payg job,
you know, to be able to apply that.
Right? So, so a couple thingsthat I'm going to first say like
first of all, like number one,I first of all, like your husband,
like I want to, I want tolaugh because I will share this with
you and listeners. I was in acorporate job one at one point and
(05:56):
in one of my corporate jobs. Ithink it was my last corporate job
actually. It was. And Iremember sitting at sitting, I just
come back from some Trip. AndI'm sitting at my home office and
I'm on some zoom call with abunch of people, hung up the phone,
and I was like, what thefreaking hell am I doing? And mind
(06:22):
you, like, I have been. I'mpaying for someone while I'm sitting
at my. My desk, my corporatejob at my home office, because that's
how it was. I'm paying someoneto go get my kids. Right. And I.
Without, like, anything, Iliterally picked up the phone, called
(06:43):
the CEO and told him I quit.Yep. And then I called, told my husband.
I said, by the way, I justquit my job. Like, I am. I'm VP of
sales. I'm bringing in, youknow, money, whatever. He's like,
why? I'm like, because I can'tdo it. I'm just like, I hit uncle.
Right? So, like, so yourhusband buying the whatever, like,
without. I'm like, I get it sometimes.
(07:03):
He just like, My baby was 2weeks old. My husband. Husband came
home and he's like, I quit myjob today. And I went, what? No conversation?
Same same thing in reverse.And like, I said, like, it. I was
like, this is happening.There's nothing I can do but get
on this train. And so whilst Iwould have appreciated a conversation,
(07:24):
I. He's extremely visionary.And so I, you know, commend him on
his bravery to just go aheadand get that done. And same to you.
You know, it takes a lot tosay, I am done now. It finishes now.
And now the journey is for me,for us.
Yeah. Yeah. Right. So. So theother part is, you know, you were
talking about, like, obviouslythe corporate structure has all these,
(07:46):
like, sops in place and socoming in, you know, and this is,
you know, a little bit. Youknow, part of my brain is like, you
know, it's. My family grew up.My. I grew up in a family of. Of
my parents work together. So,you know, you. You. You know how
to put in all these SOPs. Andso from a. Like, from a leadership
standpoint, like, how do you,like, how did you all of a sudden,
(08:10):
like, go, you know, and like,what is that tip that you can say
to somebody? You know, you'regoing from that, you know, that corporate
life, and you're. You've gotsomething big and you're the leader,
and you've got to put on thishat to create, like, you see that
there's something that needsto be done. How do you tell the.
How do you become that leaderto create those sops without rocking
(08:35):
the boat so much? Or maybe youdid Rock the boat. Oh yeah.
I rocked the boat. I rocked ithard. My husband, who asked me to
come in and wanted me there,wanted me to do the things that he
thought he wanted me to do.And there was so much more that I
wanted to do because I wasconcerned about compliance, I was
concerned about safety, I wasconcerned about just the quality
(08:56):
of output and the consistencyin the business, making sure that
everyone was following thesame pattern so that everything was
structured and nothing wasmissed. And so he was reluctant in
the beginning to give me, youknow, what he thought was control.
But what it was was I wassaying, I'm not trying to rock the
boat to offend you or upsetyou. I'm doing this to show you where
(09:18):
the issues are so that we canidentify them and we can fix them.
Because if we don't, this is ashort lived ride and I am all in
on this now. So this is whatwe need to do. And so essentially
he said, okay, well that'sfine, if you want to do that, you
can do that. I, you know, itwon't stop you. And I said, but I
need your brain. I am not fromthis industry. And so I am learning
(09:40):
a whole new industry all overagain. So I'm going to ask you a
lot of questions and you'regoing to be pissed off and that's
okay because we need to getthrough this. And so I got to a point
where I was like, I need to bean electrician apprentice. And he's
like, what for? And I said,because I need to understand the
process, okay. I need tounderstand when they walk on that
site and they get out of thatvan, exactly what they do, what is
(10:01):
the first thing that they do,you know, what tools do they need
to have on board, you know,what, what checks do they need to
do? What do they need to dowhen they wrap up at the end of the
day to make sure it's safe?You know, is it an existing property
they're going to, is it new?And, and all of these things started
from a macro level and thatcan get really overwhelming if you
(10:22):
don't have a system in placeto create a system, if that makes
sense.
Right, and yeah, right. No,yes you do.
And so I, a lot of it wastalking, voice dictating and then
summarizing into macro levelsteps, creating flowcharts and then
micro from there. So it, ittook a long time to build that for
(10:42):
a trade based business. Butonce we did the framework that was
adaptable to most trade basedbusinesses essentially. And so it
kind of became this, thisasset that we could use across the
board.
Well, right. And then, wellthen my brain is like, okay, that's
a framework that becomes asellable asset too that you can then
teach and coach other peopleand other trade based businesses
(11:06):
and they could obviously comeinto your fold or not come into your
fold, but you can actuallyhelp them in some ways. Yeah. Okay.
So listeners. Right. Likethat's my brain, how my brain thinks.
Like, right. Like I'm, Ialways think about how can we actually
entrepreneurize that processand you know, and create that. So,
so you said something that Ithink is really kind of, that is
(11:27):
really important that youbasically acknowledged obviously
like where you're coming from.So like key thing, you know listeners
as you're hearing that like ifyou've got something that comes to
acknowledge like make surethat you acknowledge like where somebody
else is and, and theirexpertise and let them know that
you're not there to questiontheir knowledge or, but you're there
(11:53):
to, there's a, you'reacknowledging their knowledge as
well.
So. Oh absolutely.
And then you said somethingthat I thought was, was really important
is that you, and you basicallysaid to him, you basically kind of
set the stage. It says you aregoing to be, you may get pissed off.
Yeah. And, and that. Is thatso important. Yep.
(12:16):
It's like feelings are goingto come out because I'm going to
make, I'm going to question.And I'm not actually questioning
your capability, I'mquestioning to gain understanding.
And so you may interpret it assuch, but let me be clear, I am not
questioning your capabilities.You obviously extremely capable person,
you've built this fromabsolutely nothing yourself. It's
already more successful thanmany others. You know, had already
(12:40):
lasted two or three years atthat point before I came into it.
So you know, most businessesin Australia fell within the first
three years. 85% of businessesfell within the first three years.
So on his own, right, he wasalready more successful than most.
And so I'm, I wanted to behonest about, you know, you asked
me to come in but I need thisto be the best version of what it
(13:02):
can be. And to do that I'mbeing objective and I'm here to help
you. I'm not here to hinderyou, I'm not here to upset you. But
it may appear that way in themoment because it's emotional because
you feel like somebody's kindof judging you and, and that wasn't
the intention and I needed tomake that clear so that we could
(13:23):
be wearing Those separatehats. And, and as I said, you know,
we're married, so that's awhole nother level of complexity.
And you know, when you'regoing home, you need to be able to
separate that business hataway from your home life and make
sure that you can still be amarried couple with a family and,
and make sure you support eachother in that regard as well. So
(13:46):
I could never bring in thatI'm your wife to work. That was never
going to happen. You know, Iwas here to do a job and I did it
well and he did his part welland that's why it worked.
Yeah. Okay, so, so that, youknow, that questioning and that sharing
of like, you know,information, how would you take that
(14:10):
and put it into the, like, ifyou could take that and put it into
corporate, how do you see,what would you say? How, how do you
envision that happening inlike a corporate world?
It's really interestingbecause in the corporate world, as
you well know, they havemeetings for the sake of having meetings.
Right. And that you walk outand you're like, that could have
been an email or we could havejust had a two minute conversation
(14:30):
instead of that being an hourof my time. I think if it was a constructive
setup of actually saying,okay, well, we're here to, to help
grow this business, we need tomastermind a workshop. What needs
improvement. You guys are onthe ground, we value your feedback.
We need to really understandthe intricacies of the processes
(14:52):
and feel what's missing orwhat can be added to streamline that
more effectively for you guysas the team on the ground in the
operations. We also need tomake sure that it's cost effective,
that we're delivering to ahigh quality. So let's talk, let's
have this conversation becausein your own experience, like how
many times have a CEO comeinto a company and gone, I'm new
(15:14):
here and I'm going to shakethings up and I'm going to change
things that don't need to bechanged. And then people on the ground
are like, what is going on?You know, it's not broken, we don't
need it to be fixed. And theymight make a change that they can't
see the outcome of becausethey're not an on the ground operational
person. So I think it's superimportant to have that open communication
(15:36):
because every department orevery role in a business needs to
concurrently work with theother roles because the output needs
to be the most effective thingfor the client, the end user, the
teams need to feel Supported,they need to feel heard, they need
to feel understood. And whenthat dialogue is open, that is the,
(15:58):
the most amazing thing tocreate everything that you need,
as long as you are listening,acknowledging, and applying so that
it works for everybody.
Right?
And I think that's. That'sjust pinnacle in any business, you.
Know, and it's so true. Likeacknowledging, listening and, and
the, and listening to thepeople who, you know, the people
(16:19):
who have the boots on theground, who are there are so important,
you know, and listening to thepeople who, you know, you don't know
that, you know, you might notrealize, like, you know, I'm just
going to use my. Like thatthis case doesn't work well because
you're not using the case. Butif you're the person that's using
(16:40):
the case and you're going tobe like, oh, that just, you know,
that really does not workwell. We could. We could use something
else that's better. You haveto listen to those people.
Yeah.
Like, you have to listen tothat. And, you know, and it's so,
It's. It's really. It's reallyquite amazing. So, so if you could
think, like, you know, as yourbusiness has grown, what were. What
(17:02):
were some of those key things?I mean, obviously we know, like putting,
you know, SOPs and standardoperating procedures in place, but
was there something that youthought, like, you know, come from
them coming, coming from thisbig corporate conglomerate bank that,
you know, or whatever, youknow, is hugely successful. What
was like. Like the one or twothings that you took from that, that
(17:23):
you were saying, you knowwhat? I want to make sure we do that
here.
I wanted to recognize peoplein the business. I wanted to recognize
who they were. They each had astory. They each had needs. They
each had different needs. So.So sitting down and having a conversation
with each of those peoplesaying, what's going on? Talk to
(17:43):
me like, what. What makes youtick? What drives you? Like, and
it's. I can tell you to ask atradie that he was like, who is this
person? Why are we having thisconversation? Come to work. I get
in my van, I do my thing, theygive me a run sheet. And you've got
this person saying, who areyou? Like, tell me about yourself
(18:05):
and help me understand you sothat I can best serve you. Okay,
so what is it that you need?What drives you? It's not a barbecue
once a week. It's not, youknow, a new van. It's, oh, I've got
a family of five, and I wantto spend time with My kids. Okay,
so what can we do in thisbusiness to give you more time? Well,
(18:26):
it'd be really good if I coulddo one of the drop offs or the pickups,
you know, if we could do likechange my start time and finish time
so I still do my eight hours,but I could do all the drop offs
for my wife and she could doall the pickups. I'm like, sweet,
let's do that. Let's make thathappen. Right, this gentleman is
now working these hours andhe's going to be in this team and
this is going to be where he'sstationed. And this is why, you know,
(18:49):
it's listening and applyingit. We have the ability as our own,
as our own business, as CEOsof our own business or owners or
entrepreneurs of our ownbusiness to break the mold. There
is no must do's. Let's thinkoutside the box. Let's serve the
people who are doing thebusiness. Let's. They're operationally,
(19:12):
you know, we're dependenteverything on them. It's, it's. We
need to make sure that theyhave what they need in their, in
their actual job. Are theysafe? Are they, you know, do they
have the tools? Do they havethe knowledge and understanding?
Have we provided the righttraining? Yeah, that's all still
standard. Right. But they'repeople we need to help serve the
people.
(19:32):
Right? Right. They're peoplefirst. You know, Sonya , it's, you
know, I'm so glad that yousaid that because I think it's so
important, you know, I thinkit's so important to be able to,
number one, get to knowpeople. Like I talk about that all
the time. I think it's like,it's, it's a huge thing to be able
to say to people, you know,to, you know, and I hate the word
(19:54):
employee because it brings anegative connotation to me. Like
they're, these are the peoplethat are, that are in your fold.
They're part of your tribe,they're part of your team. So like
to be able to get to know yourteam members for who they are and
what they want. Yep. You know,it brings that emotional intelligence
into, into the, into theworkplace, right? Yep.
(20:14):
Absolutely.
Absolutely. So, you know, soyou, you know, you shared, you've
got, obviously you've got fourdifferent businesses. You're, you're,
you're a mom, you're, you're.And you're busy, obviously your wife
too, you know, in there. Andso if there's like one bit of advice
(20:35):
you could share with A leaderwho is that busy person just like
you. Who would it be?
Find out what your own valuesare and leave them loudly. And be
open and understanding ofothers that they also have their
own values and they too needto live them loudly and understand
(20:58):
that each to their own.Everyone has different drivers, some
more than others. And don'ttry to push people into something
because it's your own belief.You need to be open and understanding
that sometimes people haven'tfound their thing yet and sometimes
they have. And you can eitherbe a part of that journey and for
a long time or a short time.Some people are lifers and some people
(21:20):
aren't. But it's the impactyou make on people's life that's
the most important.
I love that. I love that. So,so what's next for like. So what
are you working on next?
We're looking at, you know,taking this more internationally.
That's, that's largely what wewant to do because we feel that we
(21:41):
can help people in, you know,a lot of locations, you know, especially
in the western world. They'reour brothers and sisters across the
ditch, as we say. You know,we've got New Zealand, America, Canada
that are very well alignedwith Australia and the way that we
do things. And so I thinkthere's a lot of things we can share
and just put out there topeople and, and see how it's received
(22:03):
and that's our next step.
That's so. And that's. Andyou're talking more from the standpoint
of is it from like helpingpeople in the trades, businesses
or is it also in the construction?
Like, yeah, it can, it can be,it can be any type of business really.
I think the framework reallyworks across most of those and having
the experience of corporatebusinesses as well as trade based,
(22:27):
you know, we have the abilityto extend that across. So yeah, we're
here to help whoever we can. Ithink if we can touch a few lives
in this lifetime, it'll beworth it. So that's right.
That's so true. Okay, so, sonow I could talk to you for hours.
And this is like, I'm like, ohmy God, you're so, and you're so
easy to talk to. So how canpeople connect with you and learn
(22:49):
more about you, yourbusinesses and how they could, you
know, even work with you?
So I'm across most of theplatforms. You can find me on all
of the socials. I have a webpage as well, www.clearplanconsulting.com.
i know it's a mouthful, sorry.And you can reach out to me anytime.
(23:11):
I'm happy to chat, do a zoom,you know, find out where you're at
and just even have a, a 20minute conversation. Be, you know,
it's not an obligate, notobligation, no obligation there.
So you can have a chat with meand just have a good chin wag and
find out what's happening inyour world. And sometimes it's nice
to just have someone thatunderstands and listens. And if nothing
(23:33):
else, then it's a great conversation.
Right? It's a greatconnection. Right. So, all right,
so listeners, please do me thefavor of going to the socials, going
to Sonya 's website. I willput all of that in the show notes
too. But please reach out toher, connect with her on social.
She's truly amazing. And youknow, we are here to help you be
better leaders and this is agreat conversation and thank you.
(23:56):
Please do share this with yourfriends and colleagues because, you
know, I love what you justsaid and I wrote it down. You know,
to live our values and livethem loudly is so important. And
so with that, thank you forbeing an amazing guest. This is the
Unstoppable LeadershipSpotlight podcast. Again, like I
said, please click subscribeand share. And we hope to help you
(24:19):
be a better leader and be unstoppable.
Thank you.
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