In today's fast-paced world, achieving work-life balance can seem like an elusive dream. As an entrepreneur, I've been there—juggling multiple responsibilities, working long hours, and pushing myself to the brink of burnout. But what if I told you that balance is not only possible but essential for sustainable success? Today, I'll share insights from my conversation with Sailynn Doyle, a successful entrepreneur who transformed her life by prioritizing balance and avoiding burnout.
Burnout is more common than we might think. It manifests in various ways: constant fatigue, emotional exhaustion, reduced performance, and even physical symptoms like headaches and muscle pain. Many entrepreneurs, including myself and Sailynn, have fallen into the trap of believing that success requires relentless hard work and long hours.
"I was working 80-plus hour weeks," Sailynn shared, "but I was completely burnt out. It took a toll on my health and personal life." Recognizing the signs of burnout is the first step towards addressing it. For Sailynn, it was the realization that her relentless work schedule was unsustainable. "I had to draw a line in the sand and decide to make a change."
The transition from burnout to balance doesn't happen overnight. It's a process that involves reassessing priorities and making intentional changes. Sailynn's journey began with redefining her personal and business goals. She developed a blueprint to empower women entrepreneurs to achieve balance in just 90 days.
"I started by clarifying my definition of success," Sailynn explained. "It wasn't just about making more money. I wanted more time for myself and my family."
One of the most overlooked aspects of maintaining balance is the importance of celebrating wins. Both big and small achievements deserve recognition. This practice not only boosts morale but also reinforces the progress made.
"We don't celebrate our wins enough," Sailynn emphasized. "Taking the time to acknowledge accomplishments recharges you for the next challenge." Reflecting on successes and learning from setbacks helps in maintaining a positive mindset and prevents the feeling of constant struggle.
Sailynn advocates for a 90-day sprint model, where work is broken into manageable three-month periods. This approach allows for intense focus followed by recovery, much like interval training in fitness.
"Business should be like a marathon with short-term sprints," she explained. "Work hard for 90 days, then take time to celebrate and reassess before the next sprint." This model helps in avoiding prolonged periods of stress and burnout.
Work-life balance is not about an even split between work and personal time. It's about creating harmony between the two. Sailynn's blueprint focuses on four pillars: personal vision, business mission and values, a curated portfolio of products and services, and streamlining operations.
"Balance is having a successful business and a fulfilling personal life," Sailynn noted. "It's about defining what success means to you and aligning your actions accordingly." For her, this meant working just 16 hours a week while significantly increasing her revenue.
Achieving balance and avoiding burnout is possible with intentional effort and the right strategies. Sailynn's journey from working 80-hour weeks to finding harmony in her work and personal life serves as an inspiration. By redefining success, setting clear goals, and celebrating achievements, we can all move from burnout to balance.
"You don't have to do it alone," Sailynn reminded us. "Seek support and take control of your life and business."
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Kelly Berry (00:00) Hi friends, welcome to Life Intended. Life Intended is a podcast that explores what it means to be true to yourself and live an authentic and purposeful life. Each episode explores my guests' version of personal growth, self-discovery, and the pursuit of becoming the best version of themselves, as well as how to find the joy in the journey. Today, I am talking to Sailynn Doyle. Sailynn started her entrepreneurial journey to reclaim control over her time, money, and flexibility after working five jobs in seven years. She opened her first business in 2007 by purchasing a senior home care franchise in Massachusetts. In just three years, she had achieved a million-dollar revenue level but was completely burnt out because it required her to work 80-plus hour weeks. So she drew a line in the sand and went on a mission to figure out how to work less and make more. After two years of fine-tuning her system, she was able to triple her business revenue, four times her personal paycheck, all while reducing her hours to just 16 hours a week. She achieved her ultimate goal to retire from her full-time career before age 40 and then sold it all to start over in sunny South Florida. In January 2021, Sailynn turned her proven system into a unique blueprint to empower women to banish burnout and improve their work-life balance. She now uses this blueprint to help you shift from burnout to balance in just 90 days. Welcome to the podcast, Sailynn.
Sailynn (01:32) Hey, thanks so much for having me.
Kelly Berry (01:35) Burnout to balance in 90 days, I think that’s amazing. Something I think a lot of my listeners find glorious, actually.
Sailynn (01:44) Well, it's one of my favorite topics because I think it has become the norm in the times that we live and work in nowadays. So yeah, let's get into it.
Kelly Berry (01:55) Yeah, I totally agree. I think it has become the norm. And so I don't think people recognize it as such, that they are burned out or that they should be able to keep up with things better. So yeah, I'd love to get started. If you just talk a little bit more about like, what did your journey from kind of being in this state of burnout to, you know, recognizing that and doing something about it and now coaching other women, what has that looked like for you?
Sailynn (02:24) That's such a great question. And so when I meet women entrepreneurs or I'm at a networking event or whatever, I usually say, I work with entrepreneurs who are burnt out, who are on the verge of burnout or who are in denial about burnout. And when I always say that third part, I get all the giggles in the room. And I think it's because I was in that exact same situation. I knew something was wrong. Back in 2010, I was working those 80-hour weeks, but burnout, that can't be, right? That's other people. That is not me. And I think I also saw it as a sign of weakness. I got to the point. It was just a regular day. I had been working 16-hour days for weeks on end, that happened every day, but it just pushed me over the edge. And at that point, I declared that truly something had to change. Like no matter what, that was that line I drew in the sand, like I had to go back. And at that point, I shifted from, no, I'm not burnt out to, I am completely burnt out. Like crispy bacon has nothing on me, right? And that I think is where I'm seeing so many of the women I work with is, I try and get to them before they're at that last point, but so many are ready to close or quit or sell. And it's really, really sad because we've worked so hard to get where we are to achieve success, but it's just not what we thought it was gonna be.
Kelly Berry (04:10) Yeah, so I have a couple of questions about that. Like what did actual burnout feel like for you?
Sailynn (04:18) That's such a good question. So for me, I felt like I had lost control, right? I was also emotional, you know, I was slamming things, I was yelling, and that's not who I was as a person. I'm normally a very laid back kind of person. But I just couldn't seem to control my emotions. I would just cry out of nowhere. Like I don't think I've ever cried so much as I did in that time period. And it was because I had just really hit that breaking point and I didn't know what else to do. And as a problem solver, right, so many of us pride ourselves on being multitaskers and problem solvers. It got to the point where I felt so defeated that I couldn't figure it out. And I thought something was wrong with me, that maybe entrepreneurship wasn’t for me because there must have been something wrong.
Kelly Berry (05:17) So follow-up question to that because, you know, I'm a coach, I have been a coach and personally as a business owner, you know, I think what I have seen and what I've also experienced is you feel like you're always working towards something and a lot of times that can feel like a sprint or it feels like, you know, I just gotta get this project done or I just have to get this next initiative complete or I gotta get over this hump. But sometimes it can be initiative, project, hump, back to back to back. So how do you separate the difference in just pure burnout and that feeling, and maybe it's all the same, that feeling that like, I just gotta get over the hump and then things are gonna feel different.
Sailynn (06:05) Yeah, so I think that's really twofold. So in my entire career, I have worked in 90-day increments, right? It's just, I remember when I worked in development, like fundraising, marketing, all of that for nonprofits that say, what's your development plan? And I'd be like, it's all up here, you know, in my head. But really, I never really was a person to lay things out long term. I always worked in 90 days. I was like, what's the thing that needs to be done next? Let's get it done. And so I know in business for me when I was experiencing burnout is when my 90-day sprint, right. So if we think of running, that's a great analogy. You know, my 90-day sprint then turned into six months or nine months or a year, and it just kept going and going and. You know, really your business should be like a long-term marathon sustainable plan. And we're of course going to do short-term sprints, which I don't think should be any longer than 90 days. I prefer more like 30. But that allows us to just like runners go really fast for a short period and then recover and go back to those long-distance. And it really, when you think about that in your business, it comes down to, I think, the other part of this, which is we don't celebrate our wins enough and also assess, you know, what went well and what didn't go well. We just, as you said, go to the next thing. And so I think that's such a huge thing. And when I realized how important it was to celebrate the win, good or bad or whatever it is, and then really assess how it went before I moved to that next quarter, that next 90 days, that's when things started to turn around in my business.
Kelly Berry (08:04) Yeah, that's a really great point because I think that there is a difference in just being in a perpetual state of burnout versus being like you're talking about in a sprint or I like to talk about it like it's interval training or something like that. You're going high intensity for a short amount of period, but then you have to recover. So, If you're not recovering or you don't have any built-in recovery time, it's going to feel like burnout no matter if it's back-to-back-to-back projects Yeah.
Sailynn (08:35) Exactly. Yeah, and it doesn't do anyone any good. You, your customers, your clients, your family, your friends, anything. The go, go, go, go, go does not get you anything more than more work.
Kelly Berry (08:50) Right, right. Something else that you said that I think it's important I want to stop and highlight and kind of this is something I would like listeners to stop and think about too is you know you said we don't celebrate our wins or our successes enough and I completely agree I've actually written articles and emails and social posts about that. I think not only as humans but as leaders as business leaders you know it's important to think about are you stopping and celebrating. We are always setting goals. We're always working towards things. We have these 90-day plans, these rocks, but oftentimes we're so caught up in the work and then it gets done and it's like onto the next thing. But I really think it's so important to stop and reflect and celebrate the work that you've done, digest that, celebrate your team, anybody who's come with you along the way, because if not, it just feels like this never-ending timeline of working towards something that you're just never going to achieve. So I love that you said that. I want to take time to just call that out because it really is so important and it's really important as it relates to burnout.
Sailynn (09:58) It's super important. And I think it's, I don't really know where it stems from. You know, it's like, we're always chasing the next thing. When I had my franchise, it was like, okay, you achieve this revenue level, let's go to the next one. And we, when I learned to take the time to celebrate, like you said, with my team, however that may be, we go to like, you know, dinner, I give them, you know, bonuses or whatever it is, you know, it really truly charges you up in order to do the next goal. And I find that people get, you know, that goal fatigue when they're not stopping to celebrate well and well, what didn't go well. And there's always something to learn, good or bad, you always learn something. And that's why I truly think that we have so much burnout and fatigue is because we're just always chasing something and for me, what I realized is, is I hadn't clarified what my definition of success was. All I said when I started was I want more time and more money. Well, what did that really mean? And so that's one of the first things that I work with my clients on, is in order to build a solid foundation in business, you have to clearly define what your definition of success is so you know when you achieve it. And it's okay to move the needle, but we have to know what that first needle is, right?
Kelly Berry (11:24) Mm-hmm. Yeah, exactly. And to kind of marry those two points, it's absolutely okay to move the needle. And I think that we should be thinking about that. Don't get caught up in always moving the needle and never recognizing that you got to your, that first rung on the ladder or whatnot. Yeah, but that's all, yeah, just really good, really relatable. So you know, you are such a huge advocate for work-life balance. So why is that so important to you and just in life in general?
Sailynn (12:00) You know, I guess I had a different experience than probably most people. So I started my business and I was working in the senior home care field. So I helped senior citizens remain independent in their homes. And when you first start a business, right, you do everything. And so I did a lot of caregiving shifts. And even as the years went on, there were random times where I continued to do them. And having worked with seniors at the end of their life or just as they got older, they never once said to me, I wish I had worked more hours. And these were all very successful men and women in their lives that had successful businesses or careers because they had the private pay funds to pay me. But so many of them had regrets of, I wish I had taken that trip. I wish I had a better relationship with my spouse. I wish I had gone to my kids' games. I wish I had lived a life that I was proud of. And you know, that truly, when you hear that over and over and over again from so many people that we would deem successful, it really starts to make you think like, what am I doing? Is this going to be me in 40, 50 years? And what can I do now to change it? And so I truly, after hearing that for, you know, so many clients over and over and over again, I was like, I truly have to figure out how to be able to have a successful, profitable business and also have a life at the same time. And the thing I think that balance is so skewed is so many people think that it has to be 50-50 and it's never gonna be 50-50, right? Call it what you want, balance, integration, harmony, whatever. But it really is just having the successful business and a life on whatever that means for you on your terms. So balance is super, super important to me because I got to see so many people firsthand, older in their life have regrets and that truly breaks your heart.
Kelly Berry (14:20) Yeah, it does. Can't imagine it actually kind of gives you goosebumps because that's, you know, it's an analogy that people use a lot is like, think about yourself at the end of your life and looking back, but to, you know, hear that from truly you want to make the change while you still have a lot of life ahead of you and a different perspective. Yeah, so tell me a little bit about like I know you have a pretty specific niche of women that you work with. So tell me about who your clients are.
Sailynn (14:52) Yeah, so my clients, like I said, they're on that verge of burnout. They're, you know, burnt out or they're in denial about burnout. They're usually around that three to five year mark in business. They have had success financially and do have some time freedom. But if you have the opportunity to chat with them one on one when maybe no one's around, you find out what's really going on behind the scenes and what that looks like is. They're feeling defeated because in order to maintain what they've built, they're having to work seven days a week in some capacity. Their profits, sure, they're making money, maybe, you know, they're six figures or six-plus figures, but the profits that they're actually putting in their pockets is way less than they ever thought, right? They haven't been able to fund their kids' college, their retirement, pay off their debt, you know, buy their dream home. And they're at a point in their business where their revenue has been stagnant or plateaued for a while, probably like 90 plus days, and they're just frustrated. They feel like they've tried everything. And like I said, there are a lot of them right now, and I think so much of this has come up after the pandemic is they're at the point where they're ready to throw in the towel. And that means either quitting, closing, or selling. And so disheartening because they've worked so hard to get where they are. And so with some small tweaks, you know, I'm not about big changes. I'm all about like small tweaks, doubling down on what works. Then you can really get the results that you envisioned when you became an entrepreneur.
Kelly Berry (16:40) Yeah, so what are some of the ways that you help women, you know, kind of take control of that and flip the script and, you know, just be all different?
Sailynn (16:50) Yeah, exactly. That's a great question. So I developed a unique blueprint, which I call the legacy business system, and it has four pillars. And the first pillar, I call your business model structure, and it contains three crucial elements. And what I find is most coaches and gurus and all of that, they tell you you need to have a business model, but they're missing the foundation of what that really means. And the first thing is your personal vision. So we talked about this, you know, What do you truly want your life in business to look and feel like? Like you need to know that clearly. Like it should be so clear that I could tell you right now exactly what I want. And then the second thing is what does your, what is your business mission, vision and values? And this has gotten to be a really hot topic over the past five years, people want to know as a business, like, what do you stand for? What are you all about? Right? And what this does is it helps you attract the right clients and customers and team members and also push away the people that aren't, you know, meant to work with you. And then the third part, which I think is what so many people miss is it's your curated portfolio of products and services, right? We're all guilty of having a product or service list that is looking more like a laundry list than an actual curated portfolio. And it's because we added on a product or a service to help a client that has growing needs, right? Or we had a potential new client that we wanted to entice, so we added on a product or a service to get them to say yes or you had that friend that was like, can you just do this one job for me? And so you added in and then all of a sudden you are blending in with any with everyone else. You are not known to be an expert on anything because it's just like a big blur of everything that you cover. And so I find when you add your personal vision, your business mission, vision and values and the curated portfolio of products and services all together. That gives you that solid foundation in business and every decision that you make going forward in systems and support teams and streamlining and all of that. We're going to use that solid foundation to build the rest of it. And so many women have skipped that part. I was guilty of it and pretty much most of my clients are or wasn't deep enough. And that's how you end up in burnout. And so my blueprint really has you dig deep on that first pillar so you can have that sustainable success.
Kelly Berry (19:46) Yeah, I think that everything that you just described in my experience, I think that people don't realize how important or the actual impact that it has on your business. It kind of feels like one of those things, it's like an exercise, okay, I need to do this so I can check the box, but truly when it's done well and it is something that guides all of your decisions, it really acts like the I'll say the bumpers on a bowling lane or something, keeps you in line with where you want to go and make sure that you're making that forward progress towards it. I think a trap that people fall into, especially business owners, exactly in that revenue range that you described, they're truly afraid to say, I am for this group of people and I'm not for anybody else because you can operate from a scarcity mindset or something like that. You know, I don't want to eliminate anybody or I'm for everyone. And you know, we know you can't be for everyone and do something really well. So you do have to have a little bit more defined market, defined product offering, everything like that. So I love that you mentioned that. A question, a follow-on question is when you're working with a group of women and you find out where they are and the problems that they're facing, what are their biggest limiting beliefs or things that are holding them back from making the changes that you're trying to get them to make?
Sailynn (21:20) \Yeah, that is such a great question. And so truly, honestly, the biggest limiting belief that has been ingrained in probably since day one is that in order to be successful, we just need to work harder and longer. Right. So my parents were average, you know, family, beeper cleavers, I like to call us. And, you know, they said, Sailynn, you can have anything you want in life. You just have to work for it. So when I became an entrepreneur, after that, having been brainwashed for 26 years into me, it was like, OK, I didn't take the time to figure out what I really wanted. All I said was more time and money. And my parents said I could have anything if I wanted. I just had to work harder. And so that's what I did is I dove head first into working and that's how three years in, I was so burnt out working 80-plus hour weeks and I was also on call 24/7 trying to maintain what I had built because that message that we've all, most of us have been programmed, you know, you can get whatever you want by working harder and it's just not true, right? Because, I'm sure Kelly, you have known someone or even yourself that has worked really hard on a project or a business or this or that or whatever it may be or to lose five pounds or whatever. And no matter how hard you worked, you weren't successful, right? Working harder does not guarantee success. And so that limiting belief is what keeps us stuck in that hustle hamster wheel that we just can't seem to get off.
Kelly Berry (23:11) Yeah, so what is a simple thing that we can do to get back into balance?
Sailynn (23:17) Yeah, so a simple thing really is to start with what you want for that personal vision. And just like you said, like most women think it's like an exercise, like, welcome to my, you know, course or program, check the box. But it's really everything. And as I go through the 90 days working with them, is, you know, I'll ask them a question and they'll say something and I'm like, okay, but when we started, you said that you wanted XYZ. Does this align with that or has XYZ changed for you? And so the simplest, easiest thing is to grab a journal and just write out what is your ideal day look like, right? Start with I wake up. And right? Like, what do you want that to look like? And when you do this, and I'm a big advocate of morning routines, and you review this every single day, five minutes, three minutes, right? It doesn't even take that long. It stays fresh in your memory. And then you can use that as your North Star, right? As you said, your bumpers to keep you on your path. And that truly has helped me tenfold. I could give you all the strategies and systems and tactics and hacks and all of that, but that one thing has kept me on the right path and the path that I want to be on.
Kelly Berry (24:51) Yeah. So tell us, since you've gotten your schedule under control, and I know this about you because I know you, but tell us like, what is your, what do your days look like? Cause when I think about somebody who's working 16 hours a day or a week, I'm like, well, what are they doing? And how are they spending their time? So tell us about what your schedule looks like.
Sailynn (25:45) Yeah, so that slip up was totally true. I used to work 16-hour days and now I work 16-hour weeks. And so basically my ideal day is I wake up refreshed and excited to work on my business without an alarm. I don't start work until 10 a.m. I am not a morning person. It's not that I am lazy and sleeping until 10. It's just more I don't like to have to talk outside of my world until 10 a.m. when I'm fresh and I'm ready and I'm fully awake and alive. And so my mornings, I have lemon water, I exercise, I review my morning routine, which is goals, visions, dreams, affirmations. I come back, I clean up house, get dressed, I'm listening to some personal or professional development. And then around 10 o'clock, I'm ready to go. And the first thing that I do is what I call my power hour. And this is the three needle moving activities in your business. And if you don't know what these are for your business, this is something you need to find out ASAP. But when you look at your business, and what's going to move the needle, right? Gets you more sales, gets you more time, gets you more white space on your calendar, whatever your goal is, then you need to do those things first. So for me, those get knocked off. And then I try and complete any must do tasks before lunch. My boyfriend usually comes home around lunch, take some time with him. And then after lunch is when I usually do coaching calls, offer support in my weekly group support sessions for my clients, work on bigger projects. So I do a two-hour block there. And it's enough time to, you know, do whatever I gotta do. If I'm like revamping a website page or I'm writing a YouTube video script, I wanna make enough time that I don't feel rushed. And then I like to wrap up my day around three, chill out for a little bit. And then normally it's family dinner. And then I relax after dinner, no and read a chick lit book, and then I'm in bed by nine o'clock. So, you know, this is one of the things that's so important is when you write out that ideal day, it should not be like your birthday, a holiday, a vacation. It should be your everyday groundhog day, you know? And what do you want? Like if you had to do the same thing every single day, what would that be, right? And so that is my average day.
Kelly Berry (28:06) Yeah, I love that you said like it doesn't have to be like your birthday. You know, you're not trying to build this so that you can go on vacation every week or every week feels like a vacation. You know, to me, it sounds like you're taking care of yourself. You're taking care of your health. You're taking care of your mental health so that you can operate in your best in those limited times that you've set for yourself. So, you know, I love that that is that is life, you know, every day over and over. It's not the one-off things, although those are great memories and you should definitely do those things. Your life is the day, today, today that you're living every day. And I think, you know, in my experience, a lot of people are actually working less than they probably think they are. I think people are wasting a lot of time because they have they're expanding their work to fill, you know, the quote-unquote time that they have. And so I've noticed for myself when I create smaller blocks of working time that are more intentional, that I have top three priorities or whatever else it is, that I am getting that stuff done in the time that I have allotted for it so that I can do other things in other times. So yeah, that was a great example of, yeah, just kind of like a regular day.
Sailynn (29:25) Yeah, you're so right. I mean, I think so many of us that worked, you know, the typical eight-hour day, you know, you waste so much time and it could be doing anything. And so really making a shift to four hours a day, it's a challenge for some entrepreneurs, but it's really doable when you're exactly what you said, intentional with your time and you know what needs to get done and what is your top priority. So my top priority is to have my mental, physical and spiritual health in check all the time because when I have that, everything else falls into place, right? The business works out, the numbers come in, the clients come in, everything happens, right? I feel good. And so when you have that priority, whatever it is for you, straight, then you have so much more ease and fulfillment in your life and business.
Kelly Berry (30:30) Yeah. So I would imagine that some women that you work with or some people that you've talked to and maybe they think they're not a good fit for working for you, probably one of their objections is, well, I don't make enough money to be able to work only four hours a day or my business isn't there yet or insert any other objection that they might have. So what do you have or what's your advice or I guess the way that you talk to women who believe that.
Sailynn (31:03) Yeah, so so many people think like, how am I gonna go from a 16-hour day or a 12-hour day to four? And so I have a free workshop called the No BS Work-Life Balance Workshop and inside there a free gift for showing up is my four-hour workday template. And I walk you through the steps of how to make this happen. And I think no matter what your objection is to it. If it's something that you can be open to, like just be like, let me go through the steps and see if it works. And you stop, I don't want to use the word making excuses, but if you stop really kind of thinking about this is never going to work, then for most people it will because what we find is that a lot of people are just doing tasks to stay busy, right? And so it's one of those things where if we can get out of the busy mindset, then we really can build the business of our dreams.
Kelly Berry (32:15) Yeah, so when you said, you know, open your mind, consider that it could be a possibility. Something my husband always says is, you know, how can I? If you think about something in that frame, you know, if you say, well, that won't work, well, how could it work? And force yourself to actually not just ask the question and like kind of chuckle about it, but force yourself to go through the exercise. Well, how could that work? How could this work for you? How could you get from 12 hours to four hours or even 12 hours to six hours and then continue to work towards four. But yeah, if you find yourself immediately, you know, shooting something down or saying, well, that won't work or that has never worked or I tried that, yeah, do that, how can I? Or how could you? Or how could that be different for me? I think those are all.
Sailynn (33:04) My God. Yeah, I think that's great. And if you're immediately putting that up, most likely you're on the verge of burnt out or already there. Right. And because you I know that's how I felt like I felt like I tried everything like there's nothing left. I haven't tried. But it really was a mindset shift that I needed in order to start my shift. And that was that drawing that line in the sand and say, no matter what, I'm not going back, something is going to change today.
Kelly Berry (33:41) Mm-hmm. Yeah, so I know you've mentioned, you know, some of the ways people feel burned out. They want to quit, they want to sell, they want to give up, but there are probably like some pretty serious signs of burnout or some pretty serious consequences. So what are some things that you have seen or even worked with people to kind of reverse for themselves?
Sailynn (34:05) Yeah, there are so many signs of burnout. It could be crankiness, right? You're constantly irritated by people and most likely you're taking it out on your support team or your family or friends. It could be medical things, right? Like sore shoulders, achy necks, back pain, stress, headaches, all of those kinds of things. It could be that you're just feeling defeated and exhausted, brain fog. There's so many different symptoms. It could be anxiety. There's so much, really, if you're feeling anything that's not yourself and you're like, I don't even know what myself is anymore, then you're probably somewhere on the scale of burnout. And it for me, like I said, I was really in denial because I thought it was a sign of weakness. And it's really not a sign of weakness. It's a sign that something has to change and you need to be open to it because it really, if you can get yourself out of burnout with some hope, with some help from, you know, a friend, a colleague, a coach or guru, a mentor, whoever it is, then you really can live the life you envision, but you have to really like take that awareness and say, something's not right. And what am I going to do about it? And a lot of times just admitting that something is not right is the first step, right? And you maybe can't identify what it is, but it's just saying like, something's not right and I need to get some help.
Kelly Berry (35:59) Yeah. So what would you say the biggest differences in people when like day one when they start working with you versus at 90 days when they're I guess either at or significantly on their way to balance?
Sailynn (36:14) Yeah, so one of my clients, Haley, that I worked with, she was a sales and marketing, she's a sales and marketing strategist and she works with women entrepreneurs and helping them get sales and in the health industry. And she said it so perfectly. She said, with coaching, I got my sparkle back in business. And I think that's the thing, right? IYou know, we're going to do the systems and the strategies and get your support team and we're going to streamline everything with tech tools and automation. But it's really getting that entrepreneurial fire, that sparkle, that passion and reigniting it and making you feel that same excitement and joy and fulfillment that you had back on day one, right? Like giddy feeling in your stomach again. And I was listening to something the other day and the question was, are you supposed to wake up excited every day in your business? And I don't think that's true, right? We're never gonna wake up every single day. But if we wake up relieved or feeling fulfilled and know that maybe today might not be perfect, but it's a lot better than it used to be, that's a good place to be you know, in 90 days and then just keep making it better and better and better.
Kelly Berry (37:40) Mm-hmm. Yeah, as you were talking about that, one thing that I've seen is when burnout can crush your creativity. And so I think maybe that's what Haley was talking about, getting her sparkle back. But I think that's probably another symptom is if you started your business and you felt really creative and you had a ton of ideas and never enough time to get to them all. But now you're just going through the motions or everything that you're working on feels just almost dreadful. You know, it's like getting through this can really reignite that creativity that you felt or that you feel as a business owner. And as somebody who's like, I started this business because I wanted to solve this problem for people and it's something I'm passionate about. But you know, like the life has been sucked out of me.
Sailynn (38:31) Yeah, and that's such a good point. I have a lot of creative clients and we work really well together because I think I have a true knack of working with creatives if you're working on just checking tasks and doing all those things, you really don't have that space to be creative, right? And so that's one of the things that I think they feel so relieved on is that they have the space to be more creative. And even myself, one of the shifts that I made in January is, you know, for the past five years or so, I have gone for a walk or done exercise or something like that with a podcast or a webinar or whatever in my ear, right? And in January, I went, a friend of mine invited me to go to her home in Costa Rica for two weeks and I was like, yes. And so because I was in like a foreign place when I went to go for a walk, I didn't put my anything in my ear. And I was like, wow, I feel totally different. And so I kept it going and I'm still going today. And it has really allowed me that half an hour every morning, just some like free creative space to just think and digest and just like see what's going on in the world without having something constantly in my ears. So everyone needs that space, whether you're in a creative field or not.
Kelly Berry (40:05) Yeah, I love that. I think, you know, we're all busy, right? We're all trying to get the biggest bang for our buck, but sometimes, you know, you just need to take a pause. I don't do that every time I go for a walk, but I try to be intentional about when I'm listening to something or when I'm just walking and taking advantage of the time, free from technology or just out and about paying attention to like what's going on in the world around me. So yeah, I love that. Well, one thing before we get to the end and wrap up, I love talking to coaches because I think coaching is so important. So tell me a little bit about your perspective on coaching and why or like who you think needs coaching or what role does coaching play in people's lives?
Sailynn (40:53) Yeah, so I never realized how important it was, but I intentionally purchased a franchise because at age 26, I knew I needed support, right? I needed someone to coach me and mentor me. I didn't know anything about business. And so that was really like a coach in a box with the franchising model. I heard a statistic that the average entrepreneur who hits a million dollars in business has had seven mentors or coaches by the time they hit a million dollars. So I think it is something that nowadays we can all benefit from and it could be anything. It could be a personal coach, it could be a business coach, it could be a life coach, it could be a health coach, it could be anything depending upon where you are right now and what are your goals but coaching really is an opportunity to have someone that's an outside perspective and be a sounding board for you, have a resource for you, and really just someone in your corner that's cheering you on and saying, you've got this, like on those tough days and helping you celebrate those wins. So I'm a huge believer in having a coach or a mentor and really someone that is just there for you in your business, in your unique needs and finding the right person for where you are in your journey, right? Some people, you outgrow a coach, you need them at one point. I know I had a marketing coach the first couple of years in my business, because that's not my zone of genius. And you know, now I've moved to the next level. And so, it's really important to find someone that you align with personally and professionally for where you are. So.
Kelly Berry (42:47) Yeah, I love that. I've heard that statistic too. And I also, I tell people this all the time, but any successful person that you look at, whether it's an athlete, a business owner, really any successful philanthropist, they have mentors and coaches. They do not do it alone and you don't have to either. It's like somebody can walk alongside you and guide you and help you. avoid mistakes or help you fix mistakes when you make them. But life sure is a whole lot better when you've got somebody walking alongside you, helping you achieve your vision or your goals. So yeah, I love that. Well, anything else that you want to share about what you do, who you work with, their burnout in general?
Sailynn (43:28) Exactly. No, I would just say, you know, if you are a woman entrepreneur or any entrepreneur or business owner and you're really feeling like stuck or defeated or down on yourself or it's just not what you imagined, you know, just reach out to someone and have a conversation to get started. Don't be embarrassed about it. Don't think it's a weakness like, ut's okay to ask for help because it's essentially gonna help you get those quicker, better, faster results. And whoever and whatever level you decide to move with, it really will change the way you work and think and change the way your business can grow. So, yeah.
Kelly Berry (44:28) Yeah, don't have to do it alone. Yep. Well, I have a couple of end of the podcast questions that I would like to ask you. So the first one is what is something personally or professionally that you would like to accomplish this year?
Sailynn (44:44) Gosh, that's a good one. So I'm going for 10X my revenue from last year.
Kelly Berry (44:50) Okay, that's big.
Sailynn (44:51) Hahaha!
Kelly Berry (44:53) Well, we're almost, you know, not quite halfway through the year. How are you doing at that?
Sailynn (44:57) Great. You know, I, this is something I always ask my clients is whether their business is seasonal. I have been in business 17 plus years now, and I know it's not over until the end. And so we have so much more runway in 2024. So I'm excited to achieve this goal this year. And I think in part, also do it on my terms with continuing the work-life balance. So yeah, that's important.
Kelly Berry (45:30) Yeah, that is important. Yeah, that's a big goal. I love that. And then the second question is how do you, you might've already answered this, but how do you recharge?
Sailynn (45:43) Ooh, for me, sleep fixes everything. So I am like in bed nine o'clock every single night, if not earlier. But like if I'm really struggling to figure something out or a project or, you know, I'm just this morning, I was just feeling like a little sluggish after going for my walk. It could be the heat, whatever it is. But I just like laid down for 30 minutes and just kind of recharged. So for me sleep has always fixed everything that I need. So I love having the flexibility in my schedule where I can take that midday break if I need to.
Kelly Berry (46:23) Yeah, yep, that's great. Sleep is another makes a huge difference in your life. So yeah, I love that. Well, thank you so much for coming and sharing. I think this will be incredibly impactful for a lot of people and empowering too, because you can take control, you can make things different. There are ways and strategies. And if you will look in the show notes, I will include all of Salilynn's social media handles and any way to get in touch with her. I know she mentioned her free webinar, but I think if this is something that has resonated with you or if it's something that you know somebody who may be struggling, just pointing them in Salem's direction, I think could be super helpful for them. So, awesome.
Sailynn (47:08) Awesome, well thank you so much for having me. I truly appreciate this.
Kelly Berry (47:13) Yep, this was great. Thank you, Sailynn. We'll talk later.
Kelly Berry is a strategic business leader and business coach. She is known for her operational excellence and her ability to drive growth and results across multiple industries.
She is also hosting her own podcast, Life Intended.
