How Joy L. King Built Two Businesses on Intuition + Referrals (While in a Chief Role)

In this episode of Do Small Business Like a Big Boss, host Aisha Jorge Massengill sits down with Joy L. King, founder of Lifestyles by Joy and Sweet Life Business Coaching, to talk about building intuitive, referral-based businesses while balancing a high-level executive role. This conversation covers the real-life lessons behind starting messy, trusting your instincts, and creating a business rooted in relationships—what worked, what didn’t, and what every aspiring entrepreneur needs to hear. 🎧 What You’ll Learn in This Episode: How to stop chasing money and start building through relationships The “repeatable value” concept every founder must define before scaling How to protect and maintain your business while stepping into a corporate role Why mindset and self-worth are the biggest blockers to growth What to focus on in your first 30 days before investing in branding or assets ⏱️ Episode Timestamps: 00:00 – Introduction 00:46 – Guest introduction: Joy L. King 02:05 – Launching during the pandemic 06:29 – Turning design into therapy and purpose 09:21 – Building through referrals 11:42 – “All money ain’t good money” 17:34 – When chasing money backfires 24:14 – Tools and systems Joy uses 27:00 – Negotiating an executive role while keeping her businesses 33:31 – The #1 mindset block 38:15 – The first 30 days as a founder 44:14 – What “Big Boss” means 👤 About the Guest: Joy L. King is a lifestyle architect, business coach, and executive. She is the founder of Lifestyles by Joy, a referral-based interior design firm, and Sweet Life Business Coaching, where she helps entrepreneurs define repeatable value and scale with intention. She also serves as a Chief at NCAN (National College Attainment Network), leading strategy and operations. 🔗 Connect with Joy: lifestylesbyjoy.com sweetlifebusinesscoaching.com LinkedIn — linkedin.com/in/joyking912 🚀 Ready to Make Your Business Official? Join Aisha’s FREE weekly webinar, Make Your Business Official, and learn how to build, brand, and bulletproof your business with confidence. 👉 Register here: https://www.igotnext.co/training 👉 Grab your FREE Legal Guide at: https://www.topemployermistakes.com 🔗 Stay Connected with Sedgwick Andrews: Follow us across all platforms for legal tips, business strategy, and boss-level motivation: 👉 https://linktr.ee/Sedgwick_Andrews_LC Podcast Mantra: Build the dream messy, build it scared, just don’t build it small. If this episode helped you, don’t forget to subscribe, download, and share it with another boss who needs to hear it.