In this inspiring episode of You Are The Magic, we're zooming out to look at the big picture of business growth — and the five key stages every entrepreneur moves through: Grit and Determination, Chaos of Opportunity, Decide and Refine, Expansion, and Repeat. Whether you're just starting out, scaling something extraordinary, or secretly wondering if you’re supposed to level up or give up, this episode will feel like a breath of fresh air. Christine shares real-world stories (including a brilliant breakdown of Shonda Rhimes' career pivot!) and offers powerful insights to help you normalize the messy middle and stay committed to your unique journey.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed by your own success or stuck in the chaos of momentum, you'll love the wisdom packed into this conversation. You'll walk away understanding exactly where you are in the cycle, what questions to ask yourself, and how to move forward with more clarity, confidence, and ease. Remember: building something that works and lasts is rare — and you’re doing it!
✨ Ready to detox your business and reclaim your energy, time, and impact? Grab your free copy of the Business Detox Playbook here. The reality is small, intentional actions (not more hustle) are the secret to extraordinary growth!
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Learn more Christine and how she helps high achievers reach next level business success on her website.
Thank you for listening and just remember, you are the magic!
Episode Transcript
Hello, my friend.
Welcome to you Are the Magic.
I'm so happy you're here.
Last week, we talked aboutendings, why our brains and
nervous systems love them andwhy it's so important to
consciously let go of what's nolonger aligned, and this week
we're zooming way out to look atthe entire journey of building
a business, because everychapter has an ending and a new
(00:23):
beginning.
Whether you're just startingout or scaling something
incredible, I want to walk youthrough what I call the five
stages of business.
These stages aren't a straightline.
They're a spiral, each onebringing new lessons, new
clarity and sometimes new chaos.
So if you've ever askedyourself why does this feel so
(00:45):
messy, or why am I exhaustedeven though my business is
working, or maybe is this thepart where I'm supposed to level
up or give up, then thisepisode might feel like exhaling
for the first time in weeks.
And stay with me till the end,because I made something just
for you the Business DetoxPlaybook.
(01:06):
If you're stuck in the mess ofmomentum and secretly craving
clarity and space, then you'regoing to love this.
I'll tell you more about it injust a bit.
So let's dive into the fivestages and find out where you
are right now Stage one is whatI call the grit and
determination phase.
(01:27):
This is when you're juststarting out and you're offering
your skills to the world.
You're testing, experimenting,adjusting.
You try a new offer, you poston social, you email your list
or you start your list, and thenyou see what happens.
Sometimes it works, sometimesit flops.
You're figuring out your idealclient.
(01:47):
What kind of transformation doyou or your product actually
help them create?
Do you like delivering it?
Do you prefer the marketingside?
Or maybe the back-end systemslight you up.
In this stage you're doing allthe things because you have to.
You're wearing every hat,sending invoices at 1130pm,
(02:08):
watching YouTube to figure outhow to use chat GPT as your
virtual assistant.
This stage ends in one of twoways.
The first option you decide thebusiness didn't work and you
close it, boo.
Or number two it works so wellthat suddenly you're completely
overwhelmed.
In the beginning of my business,I was creating publicity
(02:30):
campaigns for Olympic athletes,developing marketing strategies
for events and manufacturers,and taking calls at every hour
of the day, every day of theweek.
I'm not even kidding.
I once woke up at three in themorning to talk to somebody in
Switzerland.
I did all of these thingswriting proposals, the delivery
of the work in the proposals,marketing meetings, invoicing
(02:53):
admins all of it that kind ofhustle, while necessary to get
your business off the ground,eventually leads to stage two.
Stage two is what I call chaosof opportunity.
In this stage, your business isworking, it's thriving, clients
are coming in, people aresnapping up your products,
(03:14):
people are talking about you.
You're getting more invites,collaborations, media attention.
The names are bigger, the pinchme moments.
They keep rolling in.
You've said yes to everythingand each time you say yes, you
cannot believe how lucky you are.
All of these yeses keep pilingup More and more and more work,
(03:36):
team members, contractors.
But as the creative geniusbehind the business, you're the
one everyone wants and needs.
You approve everything.
You are the name behind everysingle thing.
It's all you and it's a lot.
You're running at full speedand still you can't catch up.
And it's not because you're notcapable, it's because there's
(03:59):
exactly zero way to catch up.
You're on what feels like arunaway train.
You're overwhelmed, maybe evenburned out.
But you are also really proudof how far you've come.
You cannot believe how luckyyou are and even if you don't
believe in luck, you have somuch gratitude and appreciation
for what's been accomplishedthat you don't dare say no,
(04:21):
which is a real problem.
You're at a crossroads and youmight not even know it, because
now you've got all the successtons of work and people and
expectations and do not downplayhow expectations change the
dynamic of everything and ifyou're not very wise with how
you handle this stage, you beginto ask these questions what
(04:44):
would happen if I just quit?
How can I shrink the businessbecause I cannot take one more
day of this?
Do I burn it down and startover or, even worse, get a job?
I've hit this wall in my ownbusiness and it's the absolute.
All these feelings had beenbuilding up for years and
(05:06):
eventually I had to make changes, and back then nobody talked
about any of these things.
So I felt like a failure, eventhough I had done so many cool
things that I could never haveeven dreamed of, like having a
client on the Martha StewartShow or writing the marketing
column in an industry magazineor with my team winning big
industry awards against some ofthe best advertising agencies in
(05:30):
the country, and yet I had tostop growing the business
because I literally could not goon.
The way everything unfolded iswhy I'm so passionate about
helping you navigate this stage,because building something is
hard and building something thatworks and that lasts is
incredibly rare.
You've done the hard thing andI want to help you keep it, and
(05:51):
because I know you want more,whether that more is 10xing the
revenue or getting the sixfigure book deal or getting
bigger speaking opportunities orwhatever your more is.
I want that for you.
Stage two is the quicksand whereyou perish or you commit to
making permanent changes.
Only you can decide, but thatdecision leads you to the next
(06:14):
phase.
Stage three is decide andrefine, and this is one of my
favorite phases.
This is when you slow down, youstart simplifying, you take a
good hard look at everything inyour business and start making
decisions, and you have to askthe hard questions who am I now?
What's actually working, what'sdraining me and draining the
(06:38):
business, and what do I reallywant to be known for?
This is the slow, smooth,smoothest, fast phase, and when
I work with clients, I say thatto them over and over again
because we all want to go fast,and how you go fast once you've
built something is you go slow,because slow is smooth and
smooth is fast, which is amilitary expression.
(07:00):
So if it works for the militaryand you know how that goes, it
is definitely applicable tobusiness, and I say it all the
time.
So in this phase, you startrefining your offers, you get
clear on your niche again, youstreamline your systems, you
fire the toxic clients, youdouble down on your best
employees and contractors andlet the rest go.
(07:23):
This phase, you stop saying yesto everything, you reclaim your
time, you design your businessinstead of reacting to it.
It might feel slower at firstbecause you're used to running
yourself off your feet.
You have to create time fordeep thinking and deep work
where nobody can bother you.
No more using busyness as abadge of honor and a way to
(07:45):
avoid feeling all the feelings.
This is where the true rubbermeets the road, because now it's
time to get into your zone ofgenius for real.
And that is scary as hellbecause you don't know, when you
start and you're doing all thethings, truly what your zone of
genius is.
And now you're going to findout and you're going to commit
(08:07):
to it, and this is where you laythe foundation for something
that is so much more sustainableand powerful.
One of my favorite stage threestories of all times is the
media company Shondaland.
Shonda Rhimes, one of my idols,built an empire at ABC,
creating kick-ass hits likeGrey's Anatomy, scandal and how
(08:27):
to Get Away with Murder.
Her shows absolutely dominatedThursday night TV and changed
culture in the process.
Yet behind the scenes, she feltconstrained by traditional
broadcast format, ie tight runtimes, rigid pacing, limited
freedom to explore storylinesthe way she wanted and, despite
(08:47):
delivering massive ratings andbillions in revenue, she felt
undervalued by the network.
I mean, it seems wild, but ofcourse she did.
There was even a famousincident that involved a $150
Disneyland pass for her sister,which ABC refused to accommodate
.
That became the tipping point150 bucks.
(09:10):
So she had other offers.
Of course she did.
And so she left the chaos ofstage two and took a leap of
faith into stage three, leavingbehind the structure and the
network that she had known, thathad made her a household name
and signed a big landmark dealwith Netflix.
(09:30):
And it wasn't obviously justabout the money, it was about
creative autonomy andappreciation.
And at Netflix she got to tellnew stories, such as Bridgerton,
one of the platform's mostwatched shows ever, and Swoon,
the spinoff, queen Charlotte,one of my all-time favorites.
(09:51):
And then there was InventingAnna, which drew over 500
million viewing hours.
Her latest series I don't knowif you've watched it yet is
called the Residence, a murdermystery set at the White House,
and this continues her style ofstorytelling and her evolution.
It's a bit bold andexperimental and fully in her
(10:12):
zone of genius, and what we'vecome to expect from this
magnificent company that she'screated.
Shonda's pivot is a masterclassin stage three slowing down,
recalibrating and choosing areal legacy versus being afraid
to make change all withspectacular results, which is
(10:33):
what happens in stage four.
Stage four is expansion, whichthe end of the story I just told
you about Shondaland is exactlywhat happened, and this is
where the magic really starts tocompound.
So once you've recalibrated,you're on a whole new level.
Your ideal client is youractual client.
Your offers are clear, potentand your sales are replicable.
(10:56):
Your systems are supporting youinstead of draining you.
Your boundaries.
They're strong now and the bestpart is truly working in your
zone of genius, which is reallythe point of having a business
rather than a job.
So your income is growing andyou're happy and creative and
able to have a positive impacton your people and the world.
(11:18):
This is what happens when youbuild a business that actually
reflects your values, yourrhythms, your brilliance and
your creative genius.
You're not doing more at thispoint.
You're doing less, but with somuch more intention and power
and depth.
Well done you.
And guess what?
Stage five?
(11:40):
We repeat these stages Becausethese stages aren't a checklist
that you finish once and forever.
They're a spiral that yourevisit at every new level.
That's stage five.
I say it again, repeat Eachtime you grow.
You're going to return to grit,to refinement, to chaos, but
with more awareness, moremastery, more wisdom.
(12:02):
So, if you're feeling likeyou're back at the beginning,
you're not and you're not behind.
You're just starting a nextlevel.
And don't forget to acknowledgeall the little endings
throughout the process and allthe celebrations.
This keeps you appreciating howfar you've come and gives
safety and spaciousness to yourmind and nervous system.
So, in closing, wherever youare right now whether that's
(12:26):
gritty beginnings, chaoticgrowth you are right now.
Whether that's grittybeginnings, chaotic growth,
refinement or expansion I wantyou to know there's nothing
wrong with you or your journey.
And if you let yourself, you'reevolving.
And if you're in that middleplace maybe stage two or three
(12:49):
where you know something has tochange, but you're not sure how.
I made something just for you.
It's called the Business DetoxPlaybook.
It's a free tool to help youget clear on what's no longer
serving you so you can reclaimyour energy, your time and your
impact.
And the best part is you can doit in just a few minutes.
And that's the real key issmall, tiny actions repeated are
what move the needle forward.
(13:09):
Just remember you don't have todo it all to build something
extraordinary.
You just have to focus on whatactually moves the needle right.
You can grab the Business DetoxPlaybook right now at the link
in the show notes.
And that's what we have fortoday.
Thank you so much for listening.
I'll see you next week, sametime, same place.
(13:30):
And always remember you are themagic.
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