Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 If you believe like I do, that confidence is a muscle that we can all strengthen and we should work on for our whole lives. You're gonna love this next episode, Leslie Randolph in Confidence Coaching for Girls has an absolutely amazing belief that if we work on our confidence in the young years of our life, that can carry us through. I hope you'll listen because her mission to change a thousand young girls and have them confident and able to go about their day to day in a really strong position is really admirable. She's also got a fabulous entrepreneur's story that I know you're gonna wanna hear. Okay. Leslie, I have to know how you decided to become an entrepreneur because you had a pretty great gig before that. So can you tell me a little bit about that?
Speaker 2 00:01:01 So we're gonna get off on a very honest foot. Okay. I did not, I am, what I say, am an accidental entrepreneur. I knew that when I left my job in PR and marketing, that I wanted to be a coach and that I wanted to help people. I did not realize that when I took that leap, I was then gonna be an entrepreneur. It truly was like weeks into being a coach, I was like, oh my goodness, I'm a business owner as well, <laugh>. And so while I was really skilled and passionate and purposeful and intentional in my coaching, it was a lot of spaghetti on the wall for my entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 0 00:01:37 Yeah. So I think there's always the, the part where you're, I call it a solopreneur first. And, and at some point you become an entrepreneur with a company. Um, and there's lots of ahas. I had this experience where I was the top salesperson at a company. I was running the division, I was acting like an owner. And the day I became a real owner, I was like, oh, that's the difference. And it's really a big aha because you think you can work at a company and feel very good, like you're operating like an owner, but it's just so different. What would you just say, like the one or two things where you're like, um, that's so different than getting a paycheck.
Speaker 2 00:02:16 Well, you are the one calling the shots. And I think for me, I was always a star employee. Very similar to you. I, if you ask any of my past bosses, I had sterling reviews. I always loved a performance review. 'cause I always knew I was at the top. Um, but I'm the one now who's holding myself accountable. I'm the one who's judging my own performance. And I think that's why, like, my training as a, a confidence coach is so critical because I could be very critical and demand more and say, that's not enough. And so then I always remind myself to take that step back and see what I am doing. Right. See, but very honestly, what I could be doing differently, how I could be doing it better. And I'm the one who is developing all this strategy now. You know, I'm the one throwing that spaghetti on the wall Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:03:01 And seeing what sticks and furthermore, what lights me up. Yeah. If something doesn't light me up in this business, now I'm invoicing is never gonna light me up, but it's a means to an end, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I enjoy the result of submitting that invoice. Um, but if it doesn't light me up and it's not necessary, again, my call of this, if it's necessary, then I don't have to do it in this world. You know? I love doing speaking engagements. I love talking and meeting people that I'm gonna keep doing. But if there's something that I find that I'm doing day to day that doesn't support my client or support growth of this mission that I have, then I'm okay to walk away from it.
Speaker 0 00:03:43 It's funny, I think so many of us that do our own thing are very high value, very much, um, autonomy. And I, I think autonomy is what we're, you know, you say, I'm, I'm not into that. I'm not into that. And at some point you can hire people to do all those things that don't light you up, which I love the way you say that. Um, but until then, they're just, it's grind through. I mean, there's just a lot of this job that's just grind through. You just have to do it. It has to be done. Invoicing has to get done. You might be the one to do it. You don't like it. Um, but talk about what does light you up? What have been the things that have really, really, um, just been better than what you expected, better than the prior job?
Speaker 2 00:04:23 Yeah. I mean, I'm gonna always go back to the client knowing that I'm making an impact, knowing that the work that I do has a purpose that's greater than myself. Um, and, and the bottom line, I think a lot of entrepreneurial journeys, we, we do focus on the bottom line. For me, it is an impact driven business. I, I, I don't say this flippantly. I wanna change the world. I want young women and all the, I say the teenage girl that still exists in all of us, to know that we are worthy to love and believe in ourselves. And that might seem soft, but I know that that message, particularly in corporations, benefits the bottom line. When you are believing in yourself, believing in the work you're doing, no matter what it is, whether it's getting through high school or college, or getting to the C-suite, it is so critical to have self-confidence. So what what lights me up is knowing that I'm making the world a better place. So I look to my clients, I will never put anything above serving a client. So that might mean my own marketing. That might mean my own networking or lead gen. It is always a client first business.
Speaker 0 00:05:31 So I, uh, was fortunate enough to go to girls school in high school, and I think it's one of the things my parents did for me that was a game changer for confidence. Um, it really, believe it or not, at that time, when people can be very ruthless. In high school, we didn't have any of that. We really had each other. So I've always had, uh, um, the belief that women being around women helping each other is really important. But I know that's not really a real world belief. I've obviously experienced that older in life. I'd love you to say how'd you pick teenagers, um, to really change the world, which I think is, is such a formative years, but what, what really drove that, um, passion for you?
Speaker 2 00:06:11 Sure. So when I launched my business, I just put on my, you know, we are open sign and said, I'm a general life coach. I will coach anybody. And in that time, I coached humans 11 to 75. And it was a, a beautiful experience because no matter what, what they brought to the session, if it was, you know, I had a A C E O who wanted to become a better leader. I had, uh, women that wanted to support their health and wellness moms that wanted to have, you know, more patience with their children, others that wanted to pursue creative endeavor endeavors or go into an entrepreneurial path. But I found that the, um, like the universal pain point was this lack of self-confidence. And it showed up in all of these different, you know, areas of life. And so as I took a step back and thought, Hmm.
Speaker 2 00:07:01 Rather than, you know, dance around the elephant, that seems to be in everybody's room of low self-confidence. What if I built my practice solely on cultivating confidence? Because I know from the work that I've done and my own path that self-confidence is a choice. It's not, you know, something you're born with. I, I used to think it was this genetic lottery ticket that you either had it or you didn't. I know that it's a choice. I know that it's a muscle that can be strengthened. And I also know that it, when you have that, that love and belief in you, you can do anything. Now with my older clientele, at that point, it was a lot of like reprogramming of the mind. You know, confidence is a mindset. Yeah. And so I was really trying to help them rewire their brain. And I think there was a lot of, you know, well, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Speaker 2 00:07:51 And well, I've always been this way. And so I thought, man, what if I could get in on the ground level of our belief systems as, as a society that our young girls today didn't need to be rewired, that just their baseline was knowing that they were worthy, they were enough, and that they were lovable, and they were so worthy of their own love to go after their goals and to chase their dreams. I, I wish that I had had that when I was a teenager. I, I often tease, you know, I could've saved my mom a lot of suffering. Yeah. If I had known then what I know now, that's
Speaker 0 00:08:26 Interesting concept because I think in our age bracket, um, we had so many less distractions. We did not have the phone and social media, so we didn't know about the parties. We weren't invited to, we didn't know who was best friends with whom, unless we saw it face to face. And we just kind of knew what we read once we had a day in the newspaper, which I believe, you know, less information kept your world a little smaller, and you could work on that muscle at home with your family. Now, I think the girls and, um, boys of today's generation are faced with so much, you know, truth and not truth on social media. Yeah. They aren't old enough to filter what is real and what is not real, but yet they aren't old enough to have that muscle really developed. So how do you work? You know, it's, it's an inside job. It's an outside job, but the parents, do you think that, um, there's a root cause that's making so many more of these teens seem like they need help in mental health and, and I feel like it's, it's absolutely just everywhere. Uh, you'll never run outta customers, but I don't think that was the way it was when we were younger. So what is really, in your mind, driven this extreme amount of teens to need the extra support that, um, you know, is your ultimate opportunity?
Speaker 2 00:09:38 Yeah, I think, I think you hit the nail on the head with social media. It is, you know, it is everywhere. It's omnipresent and you are so aware of what you are not included in. I mean, belonging is such a, a human need, particularly in these formative teen years. And to think maybe I wasn't included, or I don't belong. Yeah. That's detrimental to one's self-esteem and self-confidence because it then, you know, begets the question, well, what's wrong with me? Why not me? Um, so I think social media is huge. I think the pandemic all that isolation, when you are alone with your thoughts, if those thoughts are not kind to you, um, that could be very detrimental. I also think, you know, where, where we're growing up, there is a lot of pressure. There is academic pressure, there is cultural pressure to look a certain way to act, a certain way to be a certain way.
Speaker 2 00:10:30 So it's coming from, from everywhere. I don't think we can pinpoint one thing. Um, I think it is the, the mountain of all of it that's contributing to it. And I think that it just, it speaks to why it's so necessary that we learn, you know, that the, the thoughts that we think, especially what we think about ourself, that that's a choice that you make. Yeah. And, and even if you're not invited to that party, I'm not, listen, my work does not like shield anyone from humanity that's gonna hurt. That's part of the human experience to not be included. It's hurtful. But what do you make that mean about you? How do you talk to you when that happens? Yeah. And then what do you do after that? I'm not, I can't shield anyone from, from the human experience. It's good and bad.
Speaker 0 00:11:18 Yeah. I think you're teaching reframing, really, which is so positive. So let's switch gears and talk a little bit about the business. You could have easily done this work and saved the world from someone else's practice. Why did you choose to do it yourself? Because
Speaker 2 00:11:32 I get to do it my way and I'm figuring it out. What, what speaks to my clients and what, what lights them up? What drives them to create that change in their life? Um, I think the opportunity to, to do it one-on-one and to be the one in the trenches just gives me so many opportunities to create systems and processes and tools that will further support their growth. And then that ripple of, of change out in the world.
Speaker 0 00:12:03 But at some point, as a solopreneur, you know, you have a certain amount, 2080 hours, you know that that 40 hour work week per year, and there's admin and things to grow your business that you would not be able to scale this business at some 1500 hours a year, whatever the number is. Um, so have you thought about growing the business beyond yourself?
Speaker 2 00:12:25 I have not thought about growing the business beyond myself. Currently, my only employee is my nine year old son who does all my photography. Um, I have thought about scaling it in different ways through different modalities. I think a lot of coaches do online courses. Yeah. I see that as an opportunity because I think there's an education about self-confidence that needs to be written. Um, and I would love to do that through my voice that only, that only I, the lens that only I see it through. So I see the opportunity for online courses. I see group coaching as an opportunity. Okay. Particularly for teens, so that they know, you know, they're not alone in this experience. Um, I think that's part of what makes it feel so heavy is thinking I'm the only one like this. So I think the group aspect, I think perhaps retreat aspect, but I haven't seen it as me building yet this empire, which I think so many other coaches in this space have done.
Speaker 2 00:13:22 Um, I'm still very much enjoying my chapter one and seeing what comes from this and continuing to, you know, check in of, is this lighting me up? Yep. I think in the coaching space, and I'm sure this is around, you know, any industry you go to, there are certain benchmarks of success, right? In the coaching space, you know, it's either a hundred thousand dollars, a million dollars, this monetary benchmark for me, it's gonna be lives touched. And how I I continue to create that legacy beyond just dollars and, you know, scaling to that next level.
Speaker 0 00:13:57 So that's important. I think that, um, you're doing this, um, you know, almost like, not, I'm not saying this, but almost like a 5 0 1 c in that you're really mission driven and yet you're in an entrepreneurial place. So things like, like how much do you charge an hour? Does that, is that like a math equation that you feel like you've got, had the support to figure out so that you do create a sustainable firm down the road? Or how, where have you leaned for advice on things like that?
Speaker 2 00:14:25 So I get coached every week. Oh, good. Um, and so I have a network, a beautiful network of business coaches and allies and friends that I can pick their brain. And when I have a new opportunity that comes my way, you know, when I when you're on that, when you're in that first chapter, you, you are making it up as you go along, or you're relying on the expertise of your network. So when I had my first corporate speaking engagement, you know, I, I called a friend, friend who's been in this space for a long time, and I said,
Speaker 0 00:14:53 Well,
Speaker 2 00:14:53 What do I, what am I gonna charge? You know, and I, I say this to my clients, and so I, I have to walk that walk and talk that talk. There is no right decision. Yeah. There is the decision that will be right for you, and that you then put all your energy into supporting it, you know? And if it doesn't work out again, all right, let me take a step back. I'm not gonna just rah rah be my cheerleader, but I'm not gonna be my critic and beat myself up because that will have me tapping out of the game. I know that it's okay, what lesson can I learn from this? And, you know, maybe was this not the right price or was this not the right fit? And then also be willing to ask, you know, so when I, when I developed my pricing for my business, particularly in the teenage market, I want it to be a no-brainer. I want it to be a no-brainer because I don't want cost to prohibit someone from working with me that would want this type of support. Um, but when I'm in a corporate space, I'm, like, I say, I know that that's gonna benefit the bottom line. That's when I might be a little more, you know, liberal with my pricing, so that, yeah, I can always maintain that affordability for the teenage client that I'm really hoping to support.
Speaker 0 00:15:57 That's really good. We should, we should do, um, a boss bite about that. And I call that opportunistic pricing. Um, and the reality is, you know, if you made the price to high that parents really struggled to make this decision for who you really wanna help, well, then you don't get clients. Um, you know, having a reoccurring client, referral client that really does the mission you're providing, but as you talk to corporate and or group things, those are places where you can step on the pricing a little bit to, you know, cover investment into your business, which is part of being an entrepreneur. So I, I think that, um, you are innately, uh, a good business person. Obviously you had that through all your real estate and pr because pricing is such a big part of it. But I, I think that many people don't think about it in that way.
Speaker 0 00:16:44 You know, we always say a lot of times we have to price lower when we're starting a relationship because we don't trust each other yet. And, um, over time you can charge a little bit more. You're also providing more value. But, um, it's, it's just a fine dance in our businesses to figure out what is the right price so that you get the work and the work at a profitable level. Yeah. So I think that's, um, that's interesting. From a consulting practice, what does it look like? Um, you know, if you said, what does your business look like in three years where you know that, you know, you're on your path and you're maybe at the go-go stage, which is sort of stage two, you know, you're in infancy right now.
Speaker 2 00:17:19 Yep. I, I mean, I would assume, yeah, pricing might look a little bit different. That course will be out in the world. Perhaps. There is, you know, I, I listened to some past episodes, obviously,
Speaker 0 00:17:29 And
Speaker 2 00:17:30 The, the idea of maybe writing a book and sharing, you know, my knowledge so that if cost is prohibitive of someone not being able to work with me, they, they still have access to my mission and my message, and that they still have access to the tools. Because I think you're absolutely right. It, this is a mission driven business. When when you say, I wanna change the world, you can't really then have an ulterior motive that's kind of, you know, the, the vision statement. Um, so to be sure that anyone who wants access to self-confidence and you know, is interested in this type of growth can find me and find those tools. Um, so I think it'll be different, different avenues of getting that message out there. Um, and still doing the one-on-one coaching at that point. You know, I, you speak to the pricing, and I want to just add this, it's also, you know, self-confidence does not make you immune to imposter syndrome. I was intimately acquainted with imposter syndrome in my corporate career, and as you are starting out on something new, you are absolutely going to have that collection of thoughts of who do I think I am? How, what am I doing it? Why would they do this? And so I think as my, um,
Speaker 0 00:18:40 Your confidence as well
Speaker 2 00:18:41 As my confidence, but as I have more evidence in my file for confidence, yeah, I have that belief in me, but then I get to build this evidence file of all these clients whose lives have changed for the better because they've worked with me. Then, then that then too adds to that, that idea of, okay, perhaps now there is a different tier of pricing. Um, but I don't, I don't have that plan yet. I really do have trust in me that the path will pave its way, um, because I'm so committed to what it is I'm doing.
Speaker 0 00:19:13 That's amazing. Good for you. I mean, I think, um, uh, your own confidence, uh, and sometimes part of the journey, I think is knowing that there are things you're just not particularly focused on, but they're there. And I think that's good too, because there's just a lot of work to do. So if you get too mired down in what's next and what's coming and what could sideline you, um, it's pretty tricky. So I think it's good to stay laser focused on what's right in front of you. Your mission's incredible. I think there's no shortage of teenagers on the North Shore that could benefit from what your firm does. I hope that, um, you will figure out a way to scale your message so that, um, others who are doing, you know, a solopreneur journey can think, you know, there's the one-to-one, but the one to many approach is also part of just getting your, your, your mission out there in a bigger way. So whether it's book or classes or retreats or downloads, um, there are things to think about, and they're not mutually exclusive. You can do both. And, and I love wrapping it all in a bow, like what gets you excited. So as you're, um, um, do you have a partner who's very supportive, who pays your bills and doesn't let you worry about the money <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:20:24 I do. I do. Um, when Covid happened, um, I had just started, I was, we lived overseas for five years, okay. And when we moved back, I took a summer to get my family settled, and then was like, all right, I'm going back to work. And at that point, even though I had had the seed in my mind twice in my life now that I wanted to be a coach, I had pushed it aside. And then I was like, well, my background's PR and marketing. I'm going back into PR and marketing. And I had started my job February 20, February of 2020, and then the office closed in March of 2020, obviously. So now I am at home homeschooling my kids. I'm onboarding myself after five years of being out of work. Um, but that was like riding a bicycle. I soon found out, uh, and then in, in the wake of Covid, we lost, uh, my father.
Speaker 2 00:21:14 And I think everything on top of each other was just so much. And I had hired a life coach, and that was the third time in my life that I had hired a life coach. And when I heard that call again of this is what you should be doing, I answered the call and then I knocked on my husband's door and said, this is what I'm thinking about doing. I'm going to quit my job and I'm going to invest because I like that evidence file to, you know, as a rebuttal to my imposter syndrome, I'm going to invest in certification. While I have done training throughout, uh, the past 15 years in personal development work, I wanted to have, you know, that diploma that said, yeah, oh no, she's, she's qualified and she's credible. And he just said, go do it. He had nothing but faith in me.
Speaker 2 00:21:59 Uh, even in my PR days, I always, I'm just a mission-driven person. Uh, I remembered in one of my first, uh, PR jobs, we worked with a graphic design company that solely worked with non-profit organizations. And they were very quick to say, if your mission does not align with us, we're not taking you on. I was fascinated by that. And I remember coming home and telling my, then boyfriend, now husband, like, can you believe they do this? Yeah. And he was like, you should go do that. You should start your own PR firm and only work with nonprofits. That's what lights you up. Because even then I wanted to change the world. I just, I, my path took me here. Yeah. Um, and so he's, he's my biggest cheerleader and, um, yeah, he does support the business. He supports me. Well, he doesn't support the business. <laugh>, I'm supporting the business and my clients who gave me the opportunity to support them are what funds the business. Um, but he supports me. And for that, I'm very grateful.
Speaker 0 00:22:59 I wanted to have you tie for us together, what benefit did your PR marketing background, um, help you with as you set up your firm? And how has that really been a catalyst for your, your marketing today? Yeah,
Speaker 2 00:23:12 So as I said, I was an accidental entrepreneur, but I did have this very developed skillset of PR and marketing. And I knew that when I would support other businesses through PR and marketing, I, I was such an advocate for them of, you know, PR is just telling your story and getting your message out there. And so I, I teased that I put on that, you know, open for business sign, but it wasn't that I just sat at home and waited for people to knock on my door. I sent out an email to everyone and their mother and my mother of, you know, I am open for business. This is what I'm doing. Let me help you. And if you know someone else who would benefit from this help, let me help them. Please, you know, send this message out to them. My marketing and pr it does light me up.
Speaker 2 00:23:59 I had spent, you know, almost 20 years in that world. So I have, I, I enjoy sitting down and writing a blog. I enjoy sitting down and writing a pitch to, you know, the old editors that I used to be pitching my clients to that now I'm like, oh, well full circle. Now the story's me and this is what I'm doing. Um, and I think I, I know that PR and marketing telling your story, making sure that then your story is heard by not just the people you tell it to, but then who they tell it to is critical for growth. And, and particularly, you know, as I am a, a startup as I am in chapter one, I don't have this grand advertising budget. Yeah. It needs to be organic. Um, so I am, I am very roll up the sleeves and hungry of, you know, making sure I'm posting every day on social media, making sure that the editors that used to know me as the PR gal now know me as the, the self-confidence coach for Team Leslie.
Speaker 0 00:24:58 This is so good for people out there to listen to the fact that, um, many times I visit with social, uh, people that are, you know, solopreneurs, and I ask them how, what their strategy is for, uh, acquiring customers, and they say referrals. That's a great thing. Referrals are wonderful. We all need 'em in business. It makes things go a lot faster, but it's not a strategy. Referrals is not a strategy to getting business. So I love that you are intentionally and offensively going out there using the internet, using blogs, using newsletters to acquire, um, clients. And that's what you have to do every day to get the amount of clients we all want. Is it been a hard shift for you to go from, you know, telling other people's stories in PR to telling you the product of Leslie that you know, Hey, look at me, look at me.
Speaker 2 00:25:46 Absolutely. Absolutely. Because those voices are gonna come back of, you know, oh, well, what will they think? And you know, when I had my first, uh, magazine article, I remember the, the emotion that I felt was very exposed. You know, you are very exposed and you feel very exposed every time you do a post, you do a video. I had when I launched my business and, you know, I was picking the brain of every coach that was in my network or anyone that was doing something that maybe was, you know, five steps ahead of me. And I would knock on their door and say, Hey, can we chat? They said, oh, you've gotta go, you've gotta go do video. You know, this was when I was doing PR and marketing reels were new. They aren't what they are today. Right. And I remember just having my jaw on my kitchen table of like, I have to do what?
Speaker 2 00:26:36 And then, and then I did it. Um, because I knew, okay, well this is where social media's going. I'm gonna go with the current. I'm not gonna, you know, I wanna build my business. I wanna share my message. I have so many outtakes of that first video. But then once you do it, it's like I say to my clients, the edge of the diving board is always scarier than jumping. And if you stay at that edge, you're never gonna go, go. And then you'll be that child that keeps running up the stairs, the diving board, and going again and again. That's
Speaker 0 00:27:07 Right. We have to get good, um, at trying new things and failing and not being afraid that, you know, what other people think. And it, it sounds really easy, but it's hard stuff. Um, I applaud you for just doing it standing at the edge of the diving board. Make sure you tell everybody where are we gonna find you.
Speaker 2 00:27:24 Yeah. So thank you so much. I am the Coach Chronicles on social media. Um, and then you can find more about my, my approach to coaching at Confidence coach for girls.com. And then I also share the lessons that I learned late in life that I wish I had known when I was a teen on my podcast, which is, why didn't they tell us
Speaker 0 00:27:44 Awesome power of the internet? That's, um, it's really amazing that we connected that way and excited to get to share your story. I think that so many things resonate. Um, you know, making sure you're doing what you love to do every day is, um, we've all earned the right at this age. Um, and, uh, then really focusing on your customers. I mean, that's what you're doing. And whether it's a mission or your bottom line, ebitda, if you focus on them, all of those things work out. Your enthusiasm for the confidence muscle is really great. And I hope that, uh, I hope a lot of teens find you. We're gonna make sure of it. Oh,
Speaker 2 00:28:19 You and me both. Thank you so much.
