IAM1042- Business Coach Guides Her Clients to Create Scalable Businesses

Debbie Page is the leading authority on cash flow and profitability for women business owners. As a business coach, she guides her clients to creating scalable and sustainable businesses with strong revenue and healthy profits. An accidental entrepreneur, over the past twenty-five years she has acquired scaled, and sold two businesses and helps her clients do the same. When not talking strategy and money with clients you can find her digging in her garden or sharing a glass of wine with her best pals.

• CEO Hack: Book- The Success Principles by Jack Canfield
• CEO Nugget: Go for it
• CEO Defined: Being able to create a vision for my world and making the best impact

Website: http://debbiepage.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DebbiePageBusiness
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/debbiekpage/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/debbiekpage
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbiekpage/

Full Interview:

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Transcription

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00:35 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

01:03 – Gresham Harkless

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Debbie Page of DebbiePage.com. Debbie, it's great to have you on the show.

01:12 – Debbie Page

Thanks for having me.

01:14 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely super excited to have you on. And before we jumped in, I wanted to read a little bit more about Debbie, so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing. Debbie is the leading authority on cash flow and profitability for women business owners. As a business coach, she guides her clients to creating scalable and sustainable businesses with strong revenue and healthy profits. As an accidental entrepreneur over the past 25 years, she has acquired, scaled, and sold 2 businesses and helps her clients do the same. When not talking strategy and money with her clients, you can find her digging in her garden or sharing a glass of wine with her best pals. Debbie, it's great to have you on the show again. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:53 – Debbie Page

I am ready. Let's do this.

01:55 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Let's do it then. So I feel like I should pour out a glass of wine while we have this conversation. And I feel like that would be perfect. But I wanted to hear, I guess, a little bit more about how you got started, what I like to call your CEO story.

02:07 – Debbie Page

Yeah, so like, possibly many of the people listening, it was an accident. I didn't wake up and set out on this path to become a business owner. I, you know, grew up in the 80s and saw a working girl and aspired to middle management and maybe a corner office 1 day inside corporate America. But got really lucky early on and had an opportunity to work in financial services with a couple who owned the company and really trained me to think like an entrepreneur inside their organization. And that was really edgy in the early 90s. That wasn't something that you were seeing a lot of.

And then that created the space for me to acquire a piece of business and to go out on my own and negotiate leases at the ripe old age of 32 and you know, trying to figure out who in the heck is going to do this for me. Some of the best advice I ever had though was you're great at what you do, you're a great technician in your industry, but you don't know the first thing about running a business and you need a coach. And I was like, coach, what's that? And so I hired mine, worked side by side with him through, for a number of years through the sale of the first company and into the second.

It was in that space that I recognized that there was a place for me to do my own coaching specific to women around the space of money cash flow and profitability. Again, things that were not, none of us, men or women, are taught specifically when it comes to running their business. It is a skill that you have to go out and seek information about and learn. And I'm able to package that up in a way that makes sense for people to increase revenue and profit and create really happy, healthy businesses.

03:52 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, so often I say, you know, when you're a CEO, entrepreneur, business owner, whatever title we might give ourselves is that there's a balance between having a healthy ego and knowing and believing that you can create something big, but there's also that ego that says, there's a lot more that I can learn and you have to kind of have that balance beam. So I appreciate you for telling that story because I think so many times when you hear that, oh, you're not good at that, you're not a technician, you're not this, that, and third, you might get on defense mode and say, well, I know everything. I don't need to hear from you, but you've taken it to where you learn and then you've been able to excel and you're helping so many other people do that as well.

04:28 – Debbie Page

Yeah. It's, you know, I think that I don't remember which guru said it, but you never wanna be the smartest person in the room. And that was something that I've really taken through all my professional life is, I know enough to know, I don't know everything and I can't know everything. And quite frankly, It doesn't serve me to do that. So surrounding ourselves as CEOs and leaders and executives with people who are really good at the things that aren't our natural strengths.

It used to be when I was growing up, we were really beaten over the head about, well, if you're not good at that, you know, you can learn to be better. It's like, yeah, but maybe that's not the best use of my time. Maybe I can lean into the things that I'm much better at making space for somebody else to come into that relationship and business into that conversation to fill in that gap and support me so that I can go on and do my greater work in the world.

05:25 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. It allows us to be more present and spend more time and resources in our zone of genius, the thing that we do better rather than trying to be good at everything, which ultimately can kind of be very draining and very exhausting, to say the least. So I know that cash flow and profitability are what your zone of genius is. Could you take us through a little bit more about that, what that looks like, and how you work with your clients?

05:48 – Debbie Page

Yeah, so, you know, I don't know about you, Gresh, but 1 of the things that disturbed me when I was growing my first business was the emphasis on top-line revenue. Everyone was talking about my multiple 6 figures, and my multiple 7-figure business, beating themselves on the chest like they're all super cool. But then if you really listen to what was going on after those words left their mouth, there were tons of business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs who were broke as a joke, right? They're making all this money, but they cannot tell you what's happening between the top line and the bottom line. Either they don't understand what's happening with their expenses, or they're not managing their expenses well.

They have people who are kind of living free and easy on all the revenue that's coming in because they have a cake job. And what I started to recognize in my work was that, you know, women in particular are really called to start their businesses because they have a passion. They have a calling, they're finding their purpose. And I'm gonna speak a lot specifically to women because that's who I serve. And I know there are gonna be men listening who go, yeah, but that's me too. And that's good, you know, that's good. But what was happening is they would throw their passion into this entity and they would get a couple years down the road, and then they'd be like, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Like, I brought my thing to market my product or service, I got it going, I've done some marketing, I have some sales, but I have no strategy, I have no systems, and everything is just cobbled and cobbled and cobbled together with not 1 big wrapper around it. And at the time, you know, this was back in 2009, 2010, I wasn't coaching full time. I was still working as a financial advisor doing private investment work for my women clients. Many of them were inheriting and starting businesses though. And it was the questions that they were asking me that led me to understand, and this is 1 of those CEO, like, you know, forehead palm moments. Oh, apparently I have a thing. Like, I didn't know I knew how to do the thing, but apparently I knew how to do the thing.

Because I had surrounded myself with the people and I had listened to them and I hadn't arm rustled about no I know how to do this you don't because my ego the point that you made was like puffed up and you know my ego was super like yeah I don't know this so why don't you come in and help me And when I got to that point, and I started to see these women really like getting to this place and it was like, you know, if you've ever been to the carnival, or to a fair, and I don't know which ride it is, but it's the 1 where it kind of starts up a little bit, and then it swings back down, Then you kind of go up a little bit and you almost get to the top and then you swing back down again. And there's a lot of that that happens in business.

And what typically happens for most business owners, that visual is when you get to the top, the free fall on the other side is completely out of control. There's no strategy, there's no system to it. And so by stepping back and working with my clients and meeting them where they are, figuring out what's occurring organically in their business, what are the things that we can expand on quickly to get them some wins. And then how can we put together that bigger vision for them? You know, people again, we're not taught how to do goal setting. Everyone hears about it. Hey, how are you doing with your goal-setting your strategic plan? Like, I don't know, pretty good, I guess, like everything.

Or if they do it, it's something they do once a year and then they tuck it back in a drawer and can't tell you today what their goal, big goals, or even the micro goals were when they set them in November or December. And so really bringing my clients through this process to look at very intentionally, very mindfully about what are the specific steps that need to be taken every day. The little micro-movements in business, not the big swings, but the little teeny tiny things where all the difference is made. And when we can dial that in for a business owner, and it essentially becomes this, you know, wash, rinse and repeat the process, everything opens up.

Absolutely everything opens up because you don't need to be a CEO, a business owner, or an entrepreneur, spending all your time trying to think about yourself, what do I need to do next? I want you to have all the next laid out and to be stepping back and looking as a CEO down into those next and thinking, what are the little tiny adjustments that I can make with the levers and dials in order to get bigger results? That's where I think the greatest success can happen for small business owners.

10:26 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely appreciate that. And what would you consider to be what I like to call your secret sauce? This could be for the business or yourself or a combination of both, but what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

10:35 – Debbie Page

Yeah, I would put it at the top of that list and I'm anticipating my clients listening to this would say the same thing. It's accountability and the ability to be incredibly direct.

10:48 – Gresham Harkless

I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an Apple book or habit that you have, but what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

10:58 – Debbie Page

Yeah, so Anyone who's known me for more than a minute knows that I am a devotee to Jack Canfield and his brilliant book, The Success Principles. That book changed my life when it first came out. I go through and read it once a year, my very dog-eared copy that's flagged and marked. And when I get stuck, I turn to it often throughout the year, almost like a daily devotional. So something that's just kind of sticking, I don't look for that page in the book or that chapter.

I just open it up and I start reading and somehow, magically believing in whatever cosmic force we want to, it seems that in those words, there are actions and wisdom that I can apply that bring me either out of a funk or to a clearer thought. So I would say Jack Canfield's The Success Principles. All my clients get it, and all my clients read it. I do a free accountability session towards the end of the year, gearing people up for doing goal setting around that book every single year. So that's mine.

12:07 – Gresham Harkless

I definitely appreciate that. And so I wanted to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this could be a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. It might be something you would tell a client or if you were to hop into a time machine, you might tell your younger business.

12:20 – Debbie Page

The best advice he ever gave to me was to go for it. And I have now added to that for my clients is for the love that all is sacred, stop getting ready to get ready. Like just go do it right. Just go for it. You'll figure it out. You cannot have everything determined about all possible missteps and opportunities. Just get If you can get whatever it is you're working on to 75, I'll even give you 80%, then let it out into the world and figure it out. But to try and get it to 100%, not only are you holding yourself back, The greatest disservice you are doing is to the people who you are meant to serve. If you're not getting your product, idea, or information out into the marketplace because you want it to be perfect, the people you were destined to serve will never know about you. Stop getting ready to get ready and just go for it.

13:17 – Gresham Harkless

Definitely, definitely, definitely. And now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. And we're hoping that different quote-unquote CEOs on the show. So Debbie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:30 – Debbie Page

Being a CEO to me means being able to create a vision for my world, define that as I will, and being able to take really thoughtful steps to execute that, getting me closer and closer every single day, making the biggest impact that I can in the time that I have on our beautiful planet.

13:49 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, it's extremely powerful. And I think if we, you know, are appreciative of the time and aware of the limits of the time and resources that we have, it gives us that energy towards, you know, figuring out that big vision that we have and the impact that we want to have, but also kind of, as you do so well with your clients, streamline that down into steps, actionable steps, ways that we can eat the elephant, so to speak so that we can get to ultimately where we want to be.

14:14 – Debbie Page

Yep, 100%.

14:15 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Well, Debbie truly appreciate that definition, and I appreciate your time even more. What I wanted to do is just pass you the mic, so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional you can let our readers and listeners know, and of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about all the awesome things you're working on.

14:29 – Debbie Page

Yeah, well, thanks for having me. I mean, for everyone listening, you can hear like I could talk about this for hours, like hours and hours, like you said, crush, you know, a glass of wine, a cup of coffee, a cup of tea, whatever it is like we could sit down and just riff on this forever.

14:41 – Debbie Page

You know, I think for all of us who are super passionate about our stuff, whatever our stuff is, you know, we can geek out on it all day long. Mine is about personal and professional development and how it leads us all to be better people, better CEOs, and better stewards of our communities, our families, and our world. And, you know, for people wanting to connect with me, there's probably 2 great ways. Obviously my digital home at Debbie Page dot com. You can find out about me there. And there's a blog and resources for you to download.

And then I also for you who like Facebook, I have a Facebook community called the Women's Business Profit Lab. It's a community I've been curating for about 4 years, there are about 800 women in it now, from all around the world. And we come together to share ideas and best practices, I do 30 minutes of free coaching in there every single week. And it's a great place, whether you're an itty bitty baby entrepreneur, CEO, or whether you're really seasoned and skilled and you just want to either pull in more resources or even contribute resources to other people who are on that path too.

15:47 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Well, Debbie, truly appreciate that. We will have the links and information and the show notes as well too so that everybody clicks through and follows. And as we kind of talked about, I think we're all given a gift and something that you know sometimes put on our heart that we want to kind of give to the world and to make a bigger impact. And I think we don't often see the domino effect of having those gifts kind of come out into the world and take effect.

But I appreciate you so much for using your talents and your gifts to be able to bring that delight to so many people because sometimes we don't necessarily know how. And I think all those resources, all the information you talked about today is definitely a great way to kind of get started and get going. So thank you so much for your time I appreciate you again and I hope you have a great rest of the day.

16:29 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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