Case Study: From Laid-off to Business Owner in 4 Weeks

Lauren Norinder is the owner and CEO of the Silver Lining Strategist Inc., a marketing company that specializes in content curation, content writing, blogging, and social media.  She helps small business owners free up some of their time by taking on those services.

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The following was pulled from Lauren’s program recap at the end of our work together:

What had been the greatest challenge you were facing?

For me, I think my biggest struggle was that I think I’ve always felt a little bit overwhelmed or unsure if I could really make the leap and start my own business. 

It’s something that’s always been in the back of my head actually for several years and recently during COVID, I became unemployed. I lost my job. 

I just kind of went back and forth about toying with the idea of starting my own company, but I just needed a little bit of clarity trying to figure where I should start, and had to take the first step. I also needed to decide if it was something that I really truly wanted to invest my time into.

Why was that keeping you up at night?

For me, I think it was keeping me up at night because I’m all about not having any regrets in life. I kept going back to the idea of, “what if?” 

What if you really like you’re having your own company? Or what if it’s something that you truly are meant to do, and you’re just not doing it because you’re too afraid to take the leap? Or that you’re just not sure how to do it? 

So I think for me keeping me up at night was really just the fear of being 10, 20, 30, years from now and never truly giving it a chance to start my own company.

How did you discover the Create & Validate Coaching Program and what were your expectations for it?

I discovered your group coaching program on social media and to be completely honest, I had really no idea what to expect. So I really didn’t have any hopes for it. 

I maybe slightly was hoping to gain a little bit of clarity and a little bit of insight into how to go about doing everything, but I really just didn’t know what to expect.

What pushed you over the edge to give it a try?

Speaking with you actually, pushed me over the edge to give it a try. 

I was kind of reluctant, but I think everything that you had mentioned that would be covered was everything that I felt I was lacking and that I needed to gain clarity on. So that was really what pushed me over the edge.

What was it like when we first started working together?

I think for people going into this coaching, that it’s important to realize that you’re going to have to do the work. If you want to see the full results, if you don’t really spend the time and devote the energy into doing the trainings and doing the worksheets, you’re only cheating yourself.

The introspection as to “what did I like to do as a child?” and “why is this holding me back?” or “how can I best serve people?” or “what is my ideal client?” was important.  

I also think accountability by having other people in the group program that held you accountable to your actions and the fact that we had calls once a week to the group calls, were great because it was a nice support group of people that were all in the same position. 

So it was really nice. We had trainings, worksheets, and group sessions, and also a group Slack channel where we could all communicate with each other and share our questions. 

I think the whole program was great.

What wins did you achieve as a result of working together?

I think my biggest win obviously was number one, I started my own company. 

About maybe three weeks into the program I actually landed my first client. Several days later, I landed my second client, and a week later landed my third client. 

So I currently have three clients on a monthly retainer that I truthfully had an expected. I didn’t expect any of those wins, especially right away!

So I really feel doing the work and learning everything that I learned and just kind of pushed me over the edge and gave me the confidence that I needed to say, “Okay, I can really do this!” 

That was really a big contributing factor to my wins, and I’m still going. I’m still talking to people, and I have another client that I probably will be signing next week. 

What impact has this transformation had on your life?

The biggest impact that the transformation has had is actually in my confidence.  I’m a pretty confident person in general, but I was never really confident enough to take the leap to start my own business. 

I think that was something that despite being confident in other aspects of my life, I never really felt like I was confident in a business sense. 

I had been a stay at home mom for many years and only really worked part time for the first few years after my kids were old enough that they were back in school. So I think for me, I just kind of always felt like I didn’t have the confidence that I needed to go out there and invest full force and go in without looking back. 

I feel so happy that I was able to do this, and to be able to have the freedom to work from home, make my own hours, and fit everything into my family life the way that I wanted it.

Who do you think is perfect for my coaching programs and why?

I think your group coaching program is perfect for people that are just like me!  Anyone who’s maybe ever toyed with the idea of starting their own company, but just wasn’t sure if they should, what kind of company to start, where to begin, anything like that. 

I would definitely recommend it to anybody at all who’s ever considered starting their own company.  For anyone who is considering the program, I would highly recommend that you do it. 

For me I was on the fence about it and I decided to do it, and I’m so happy that I did. 

I was so focused on… “it’s probably not going to work” and “it’s too much work” and “I don’t even know how to do it” and “I’m so overwhelmed” and “what if I fail? What’s going to happen?” 

Then while doing the work, the exercises and the coaching, I just kind of realized “hey, you know what? You can succeed at this!” and I reframed my thinking to start to say what if.  “What if I succeeded?”. “Why are you holding yourself back?”. 

So I think really to anybody who’s considering it, just do it. You will honestly be so happy that you did.

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