IAM2206 – Founder Helps Clients Leave Careers They No Longer Enjoy to Achieve Clarity in Life and Business

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Blake Schofield Teaser 00:00

The clients that I take on. To really help them do the same for themselves. Most of us have no idea the amount of talent and value that we each individually have. And that has become so abundantly clear through this work.

That through really helping women be able to understand that unique value, they now can see how they can Really be able to stop sacrificing and create exactly what they want for their life and their career.

Intro 00:26

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 Harkness 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.

Gresham Harkless 00:53

Hello, hello, hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Blake Schofield of Connections Illuminated LLC. Blake, it's awesome to have you on the show.

Blake Schofield 01:03

Thank you so much for having me.

Gresham Harkless 01:05

No problem. And what I want to do is read a little bit more about Blake so you can hear about all the awesome things that she's doing.

And Blake is a former corporate executive mom of three kids and founder of Connections Illuminated LLC. She provides tailored coaching to driven women who want to leave a career that she no longer enjoys so she can do more fulfilling work and make a bigger impact in the world without having to sacrifice either being present in her children's lives or the lifestyle she's worked so hard for.

Blake helps her clients to get clarity on the bigger vision for her life, showing her how to use her skills, experiences, and passions to replace or exceed her income and serve as a trusted business advisor, walking with her step by step to validate and scale her business so she has the confidence and results to know she can be successful.

Blake's clients commonly achieve clarity on the type of business and life they want and have begun making money from their business-validated business model within three months. For those that have already started their business before working with Blake, she is able to help them get focused and clarity on steps they need to take and create a bigger and more impactful business that will lead in the market.

Blake, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

Blake Schofield 02:16

I am.

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Gresham Harkless 02:17

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So, I wanted to hear a little bit more about your CEO story and what led you to start your business.

Blake Schofield 02:22

I, I was grew up being a person that loved to learn, but I would say my venture in terms of figuring out what I wanted to do and how to build a career that was fulfilling was a really long one.

And one that every couple of years, I just really felt like I wasn't in the right spot, but I believed so many people believe a lie. The lie that women can't have a really successful job and a fulfilling life. The lie that you can't have the corporate boardroom and be able to take your kids and pick up your kids after school.

And that's truly what kept me trapped in so many ways for so long. I just believed and grew up with parents who had been in the corporate world and believed that the way to success was to climb the corporate ladder. And that level of success then required an equal level of sacrifice. But it got to a point, obviously, after I had moved cross country three times, constantly seeking for things to get better, that I realized I just was no longer willing to sacrifice.

Feeling like I was doing meaningful work and having a more sane life where I had more time for my family. I had time for myself and I felt like I was doing things that were really impactful. And so that was really what led me on the journey to decide to chart my own path and figure out a better way to do this than what I had been doing.

And so I really consider myself in some ways, a pioneer or trailblazer for the women ahead and the clients that I take on. To really help them do the same for themselves. Most of us have no idea the amount of talent and value that we each individually have. And that has become so abundantly clear through this work.

That through really helping women be able to understand that unique value, they now can see how they can Really be able to stop sacrificing and create exactly what they want for their life and their career.

Gresham Harkless 04:10

That's awesome. And that's great that you've been able to do that. It's funny because I always sometimes think that, we always paint our own pictures of reality to figure out exactly what reality looks like.

So we all sometimes think that that's not possible, that you can't do that. But when you start to, figure it out. Pick up that paintbrush, so to speak, and start to paint your own reality. And like you said, you can be a woman, be in the corporate boardroom and have your children. That's something that you create that and make that into your own.

So I wanted to hear a little bit more about these clients that you work with and what exactly you do to help support them.

Blake Schofield 04:38

Yeah. So each one of my clients. Has her own unique story. The work that I do really is tailored to each of my women but within a framework, so what I really do really in three steps, the best way to describe my client journey is this first and foremost, I help her understand her value.

One of the first things that get women stuck is they don't have clarity on what's next for them. And the reason they don't have clarity is you can't read the label from inside the bottle. They don't actually understand that the things that are their natural gifts and talents really can be leveraged to make a really good living for themselves.

So I help them understand actually who they are and what they want, because most people, by the time they come to me, actually have never actually done that deep work. Once we understand that, then I teach them all the skills they need to validate their business, right? Really bring in money and recognize, Hey, this business will work.

And then the third step is velocity. I work with them as a trusted advisor, really giving them access to what I call secret weapons to really be able to build their business. I believe that an entrepreneur alone is an entrepreneur at risk. And one of the greatest gifts that I've always had throughout my whole career has been able to then building teams and leveraging the skill sets of those around me.

And so I am essentially, I provide a blueprint. And a bridge for these women to leave their old career behind and actually create something that's much more fulfilling and much more impactful. Like I said, it's really a three-step piece. Value, validate, velocity. That's what I do.

Gresham Harkless 06:05

I love that value, value, date, and velocity.

I can say that three times fast. I love that. And especially the velocity piece, because it's all about, bringing everything together and, hitting that next gear, so to speak. So I love how you're able to do that with your clients. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call your secret sauce, and this could be what you feel distinguishes you or sets you apart.

But do you have an example you can share with us?

Blake Schofield 06:25

Yeah. So, there are a lot of business coaches out there. Interestingly enough, when you look underneath the covers, most business coaches or most business strategists are really marketing or sales focused. One of the things that makes me really unique is that I spent 16 years in corporate America building, turning around and growing multi million dollar businesses.

One of my greatest gifts is that I am a visionary and I'm really able to not just envision how to build the business, but actually make it come to fruition and story upon story upon story of that happening in my career. But I'll give you a an example of one of my clients. And that value validate velocity piece that we built for her because I really think that that helps put it to A good understanding for the people listening.

So I had this client Samantha who came to me She had been working in hr her whole career and really was Not passionate about the work that she was doing really wasn't leveraging her skills She came to me. She had zero clarity about what she wanted to do What we discovered is she actually is extremely creative She had six or seven really amazing talents, but we had to understand what kind of lifestyle she wanted what she really valued That goes back to that value piece.

What we really discovered is her passion for graphic design and that that would really enable her to lead the life that she wanted. So then we worked through the validate piece. Today, her business has been validated. She is a brand strategist and designer. And what she does is she helps take big brand experiences and gives them to the smaller or medium sized businesses.

And when I say that, what she does is she turns customers into raving fans. They're really putting together holistic branding and packaging that is so targeted to their customer that their customer has an experience every time they receive the product. And so what's the velocity piece of her business where she growing to the vision is for her to actually build a full scale branding agency where not just what she'd be doing what she's doing today, but she will have access to in house printing.

If you look at the marketplace for people that do design work, whether it's websites or products. Our printing, they're all separate today. So they require somebody, if you aren't a big, big brand and you can't afford those big agencies to have to piecemeal a lot of things. So what she's actually going to become is that one stop shop come to her and she'll be able to do all of that for you.

Talk about amazing convenience.

Gresham Harkless 08:41

Yeah, definitely. And of course, the biggest thing I've always heard is that if you can, create something that's really new and innovative and creative, but you can make it mass market where people can afford it instead of affordable price, that's when you hit that secret, that sweet spot, so to speak.

Blake Schofield 08:55

Yes. And the businesses I've always built and turned around. Are really, really unique in the market. And I think that's to your point. What makes me unique about what I do. It's not just the personal side and I am my client. I know her. I know what she's thinking. I know the journey and the pitfalls and the shortcuts ahead for her and I know how to walk that path with her.

And I do. And there's a really unique and personal piece about that. That makes me very different. But I think secondarily, if my ability really to be able to see how to take those kernels and build them into something really unique, the businesses that I built and built my whole career, either create an entirely new opportunity within the space or blue ocean, as they would say in the marketing world, or they combine things in such a way that they really dominate their market because nobody's doing that type of business.

And I'm so passionate about this because we have so many women today who are really not leveraging their skills or their talents. In the way that they can 15 percent of corporations today are led by women. So it's, one executive seat really in most of these companies. And the reason is because women have to give up so much to get those seats that they don't want to.

And on the flip side, we see a 20 year trend of growth of women building their own businesses, 114 percent growth in 20 years. Of women starting their own or leading businesses versus 44 percent in the average. So women are leaving corporate America, but here's the most surprising statistic. 39 percent of our businesses in the United States today are women led and they're driving 4 percent of the revenue.

So what's the pattern? The pattern is women aren't making it to the top of the corporate. world because they don't want to sacrifice any more than they're already sacrificing. And those that are leaving are building businesses that are so far beneath their talent or experience. Why? Because they don't have the right mentors.

They don't have the right doors open and they don't have the right vision. And that's what I'm providing for the women who come work with me.

Gresham Harkless 10:51

That's awesome that you're, you're, you're able to do that. And I find that a lot of people, sometimes when people become entrepreneurs or business owners, sometimes it's out of necessity.

Necessity in the sense that, sometimes those avenues of the traditional path don't actually open up. So a lot of people that do start businesses are, immigrants, minorities, or of course women who don't necessarily have the opportunities so they decide to create their own opportunities.

So it's great that you are doing it yourself, but also empowering others to do it.

Blake Schofield 11:15

Yeah. Thank you. It's obviously you can tell something I'm really passionate about. It's definitely my life's work and my calling. And man, all those days when I sat back in corporate America thinking, am I selfish for wanting more and why can't I just be like everybody else?

It's so abundantly clear why, because every day I was sitting in the corporate world, I wasn't helping people that really, really needed my help that I can help today.

Gresham Harkless 11:37

There you go. Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to switch gears a little bit and ask you for what I call a CEO hack, and this might be an app, a book or a habit that you have, but it's something that makes you more effective and efficient as a business owner.

Blake Schofield 11:48

Yeah, I think we talked a little bit about this the first time we talked about the fact that so many entrepreneurs today still believe they have to do everything on their own and what they don't actually realize is how much the industry is changing and that you actually can hire contractors to do pieces of your business that you're not as good at.

So you really can stay in your zone of genius. And when I discovered this, it was life changing to me and definitely life changing for my clients. So today I actually have a virtual chief operating officer. I have access to a virtual chief financial officer, and I have really a group of what I call secret weapons.

People who really are enabling entrepreneurs to successfully run their business by them really bringing their zones of genius and then allowing the CEO to do what they do best, because I think. Number one, that's one of the biggest challenges. And one of the reasons people struggle to start their own businesses is this thought of, can I do it on my own?

And then number two, it stops you in a lot of ways from being successful or fully being able to scale your business, because let's just face it. We're not good at everything. There are very few people that truly are a Jack of all trades. And so to me, that's one of the best hacks that I can tell you when you're looking at truly being CEO of your business, so many people believe they have to wait until they have enough income to hire a full-scale.

Full-time staff and you don't, you actually can hire contractors and consultants to really do those pieces of the business for you much earlier so that you can scale and much. Not only can you scale, but you can enjoy the process so much more.

Gresham Harkless 13:23

Exactly. You're not running around like a chicken with your head cut off, so to speak.

So no, that definitely helps out to do that. And now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. And this is a word of wisdom or piece of advice, or if you can hop into a time machine, what would you tell your younger business self?

Blake Schofield 13:35

Trust your gut. I see far too many entrepreneurs start this journey and believe that if they follow a marketing tactic, if they follow this one person, that that person is going to have the solution for them.

And what I've continued to watch over and over again is. It's not the tactics and I know this because I'm a strategist, but you fall into the hoop, right? It's not the tactics that make you successful. And there is no 1 way to build a business. But when you build a business, based on what somebody else is good at, or based on what somebody else believes, you'll never be as successful in that business as you would.

If you built it based on your strengths and your talents and your passions. And so there are obviously key tenants. We as entrepreneurs all need to understand about being successful in business, but you can get there from a thousand different paths. And if you go in and you really trust your gut and you really understand what you're good at and what you truly enjoy, instead of trying to go in and learn the latest and greatest marketing or sales tactic, you will end up getting much further, much faster.

Because if you don't, what you'll do is you'll bring in income doing these tactics, and you'll find that you have a business that you don't love. And you'll face tremendous resistance because of that, or you'll want to burn it all down, because I've seen that happen to you.

Gresham Harkless 14:46

All right. Yeah, that makes perfect sense.

Yeah, that could definitely happen. So no, I think that's a phenomenal CEO nugget. And now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question. You might have touched on it a little bit, but I like to ask people the definition for being a CEO, because we have different like types of CEOs on this show. So I wanted to ask you, what does being a CEO means to you?

Blake Schofield 15:04

Being a CEO means to me being the visionary and the driver. of the future of your business.

Gresham Harkless 15:11

I love it. I love it. Awesome. I truly appreciate you Blake for taking some time out of your schedule. What I want to do is pass you the mic just to see if there's anything additional you want to let our readers and our listeners know.

And also how best people can get a hold of you.

Blake Schofield 15:23

Awesome. Thanks Crash. What I would say is if you're listening to this and this really resonates, And you're a female who is either aspiring to be an entrepreneur or an early entrepreneur. If you're interested in learning more and being a part of my community, I have a Facebook group.

It's called Creating Life on Your Terms. And we'd love to have you see you there. You can also find me on my website, www. connectionsilluminated. com. I'm pretty active there as well as on LinkedIn. So I believe so much in the power of networking and the power of. Of people and really leveraging their talents and their gifts.

So I welcome anybody who listens to this and would love to be a part of my network.

Gresham Harkless 16:03

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. And we'll have those links in the show notes, but Blake, thank you so much for being on the show for one and definitely all the awesome work that you're doing to help out so many women. I truly appreciate you.

I hope you have a phenomenal rest of the day.

Blake Schofield 16:14

Thank you. You too.

Outro 16:15

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO podcast powered by CB Nation and 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 Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google podcast, and everywhere you listen to podcasts, subscribe and leave us a five-star rating.

This has been the I AM CEO podcast with Gresham Harless, Jr. Thank you for listening.

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