Bad Moves Made Me a Better Boss
Bad Moves Made Me a Better Boss
How can generosity fuel growth and success in business?
Even as a young girl, I felt a strong entrepreneurial spirit, always creating, making things, and offering value. I’ve always tried to bring goodness to others and be generous, even with limited resources. My core motivation is really to help people. Giving back is a major driver for me now. We talked about how generosity breeds abundance, and I truly believe in that. We live with a sense of karma—what we give, we receive back many times over. It’s not about the return, but that giving seems to fuel everything else.
What decisions and actions drive business success?
I don’t believe there’s just one good decision that leads to success; it’s a mix of several key factors.
First, it’s about people. For us, having amazing people who believe in our mission, vision, and values is everything. We have core values not just for our business but also for our family—our North Star that guides us. Hiring people who support and work toward this vision is crucial, as is removing anyone who isn’t fully on board. A business is its people, plain and simple.
Second, entrepreneurship involves risk, and business owners must accept that. In my experience, especially coaching and helping businesses scale, I see too many leaders who are risk-averse. But sometimes, you have to go all in. I’m a 110% kind of person—I go all in with everything, from my workouts to my gratitude practice. You have to fully commit to your vision and know what you want. Defining and sticking to your mission, vision, values, and core behaviors is essential. We used these values to guide our hiring, promotions, and daily operations.
Lastly, stay intentional and focused on your end goals every day. It’s easy to get distracted by shiny objects, but if you’re committed to your vision, this collection of decisions and actions can create lasting success.
How can business owners ensure new hires align with their company’s mission and vision?
We used Predictive Index assessments to analyze personality traits, stress responses, and communication styles. Many interview processes lack a mission, vision, and values focus, and often don’t define the role clearly for a candidate to succeed. So, step one for us was to redefine our hiring process to target specific needs. Often, hiring can turn into a ‘click’ moment—you connect in the interview, but that doesn’t mean they’re right for the role. We used Predictive Indexing, discussed mission, vision, and goals, and had candidates do working interviews to see if they fit the role and team dynamic. In some cases, team members who would work directly with the candidate also had a say in hiring. For higher-level roles, I was directly involved in ensuring alignment with our mission and vision. As we scale, I can't be everywhere, so it’s crucial that our team members represent our values and direction. We create roles first and then hire people who fit. We used the EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) and held monthly L10 meetings to stay focused on our goals, rocks, and priorities, ensuring we hired people who could advance our mission.
How can business owners turn setbacks into growth opportunities?
There have been a lot of lessons in my journey. For me, failure isn’t failure unless you quit; everything is figureoutable. This is something I teach my kids—bad decisions are part of learning and growth. If you’re not making mistakes, you’re not pushing yourself to grow. In our house, we don’t call them failures; we call them lessons. If you learn something, it’s not a failure; it’s a lesson. For instance, we once made a bad investment, and I took it as a hard lesson. Risks sometimes lead to setbacks, but it's worth it if you grow from them and avoid repeating the mistake.
I’ve also made hiring mistakes, like one employee who left to open a competing business, even taking clients with her. It was tough, but these challenges fueled my drive. Adversity often leads to abundance because it pushes me to do better. When faced with competition, I focus on what I’m doing rather than worrying about others. I concentrate on creating value and serving people. If we offer true value, the right people will find us. This mindset, to me, ties back to viewing setbacks as growth opportunities.
How can business owners integrate family goals with business ambitions?
It’s all about integration. I bring the same intensity and purpose to my family as I do to my business. We set goals together as a family, like visiting all the continents, and work toward them just as we would in business. It’s about being all in, whether at work or at home. My husband and I operate as a tag team, anticipating each other’s needs. We’re both deeply committed to our kids and family, ensuring we nurture those relationships as much as we build our businesses. It’s challenging, but it’s about being present, purposeful, and making sure everyone is on the same page, working toward something bigger together.
People often ask me how I balance everything, and I say, 'Balance? There’s no balance!' It’s a constant tag team effort, all day, every day. My husband and I are both fully invested, supporting each other all the way. There’s also a need for intuition—you have to know what the other person needs before they even ask. I’m deeply connected to my family and my work. I’m obsessed with my kids, my family, my job—just everything. I’m simply obsessed.
*This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.*
