“My business had been fully booked out for a year and a half, if not longer, and I knew I needed to grow and scale. I needed to hire people and wanted a small, nimble team supporting me within the next two years.”

Akari’s client waitlist was long and getting longer, and Ally knew that to properly service these clients and generate more income, she needed additional staff support. Experts she could rely on to help her manage multiple projects all at once.

“I wanted to grow and hire, but I also wanted to be set up for success. I’d been in negative situations before, where people had been hired before the business was ready for them. So I wanted this to be a positive hiring experience that didn’t waste time or money.”

With many client projects on her plate already, Ally wanted to ensure that when she hired new staff, she was well prepared to do so. In addition, she wanted to clarify the roles she needed to fill, how onboarding and training would flow, and what the fiscal impact would be.

“I initially came to Sara to support me with HR, but after talking with her, it also became clear that I wasn’t looking far enough in advance for my business — I didn’t have a 5 or 10-year plan.”

Ally found herself gravitating to client work because she felt unsure of what she needed to do to grow her business. She needed clear long-term goals aligned with her values and bigger mission within the company. This clarity allows her to work on the business easily rather than being frustrated and stuck working in it.

“Life wasn’t feeling joyous. I was taking on projects that I didn’t necessarily want to be doing anymore and was always checking emails because I knew if I wasn’t connected at all times to my business, it would fail”

Ally was feeling lost and alone. She was doing work and making money but was overworking herself and experiencing costly scope creep because she felt unable to set clear boundaries.

“I felt like I was in a place where I didn’t really know how to be a manager and like I was feeling my way through the dark. I needed to explore what leadership looked like with a bigger team”

In 2020, Arcade grew from having just 4 employees and 2 contractors to employing 15 full-time staff members, who suddenly all looked to Mitzi for leadership.

“I wanted to have confidence in who I am as a leader and what I bring to the table. I didn’t want to try and emulate another person”

Arcade was working with larger clients and stakeholders, which left Mitzi feeling less experienced and more unsure of herself in meetings. She wanted to feel more confident.

“I was in too many places at once. I was putting out fires, but not really sitting in my sweet spot or equipping my team to solve problems on their own”

Mitzi didn’t feel at home giving feedback, so it wasn’t something she was making space for. When challenges arose, her initial reaction would be to solve the problem herself, leaving her overwhelmed and her team feeling disempowered.

“I was running my own business for a few years without ever articulating why I worked or the values that framed how we worked. I knew I needed to articulate my values not just for me but also for the rest of my team.”

The business needed a clear articulation of its brand values and cohesion of these values across the entire organization in order to build a strong company culture, unite the team, and ensure future hires were aligned.