Simplify, Succeed, and Follow Your Bliss with Carol Williams

Unlock the secret to working smarter, not harder. Certified Business and Life Coach Carol Williams reveals how women entrepreneurs can simplify to succeed. Carol explains how she became an "accidental" entrepreneur and introduces her Productivity Success Cake Framework, which emphasizes the importance of building a strong foundation in health and environment, before focusing on time management strategies. Show Notes | Transcript "When it's fun, it gets done. If you feel like you're in your bliss, you're going to want to do it. You're going to do it. You're going to invite your friends to do it with you, it's going to get done, and we're going to look behind you, go, oh, my gosh, I did that." - Carol Williams Carol Williams is a solo business owner, certified business & life coach, and single mom. With a background in design and project management, she combines her passion for psychology and experience to help scattered entrepreneurs live the lives they dream about. Carol is the founder of Unscatter Me, where she offers coaching and training programs to help entrepreneurs prioritize and pivot in their businesses. Key takeaways for this episode: Time management issues often stem from a lack of focus on foundational aspects of life, such as health and environment. The productivity success cake framework emphasizes the importance of building a strong foundation before implementing time management strategies. Procrastination and avoidance are often rooted in perfectionism and fear of failure. Following your bliss and finding joy in tasks can lead to greater productivity and fulfillment. It's important to make decisions aligned with your purpose and to regularly reassess and course correct. Related Live. Love. Engage. episodes you may enjoy: How Self-Care Propels Entrepreneurs to New Heights with Yvonne Nobles Sarah Walton’s Secrets to Empowering Women Entrepreneurs Powerful Beyond Perfection: How to Grow Your Business Authentically Finding Your Inner GPS to Happiness with Marina Shakour Haber Resources: Connect with Carol here Join Carol's Wisdom Warriors group here Join the Soulful Women's Network here Send me a message here ☕ Support the podcast here ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating here Connect with Gloria Grace: LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube TRANSCRIPT Gloria Grace Rand: Namaste. I am Gloria Grace, the light messenger. And I am so excited because today we’re going to be talking a lot about, number one, how to stop working so hard for so little money. We’re going to talk about time management. And if these are issues that have vexed you in the past, you’re going to want to stick around and listen or watch if you’re watching this, either on social media or you’re watching on the replay on YouTube. But I’m going to be bringing on an awesome woman right now, and I’m going to bring her on and I’m going to introduce her as I bring her on. So her name is Carol Williams and she is a solo business owner, certified business life coach, and single mom who knows what it’s like to prioritize and pivot while building a life she loves. Gloria Grace Rand: And after working in the design professions for 18 years, she struck out on her own in 2009, combining her passion for psychology and project management experience. And she helps scattered entrepreneurs so they can live their lives and have the business they dream about, which I think is something that we all want. Definitely. I know I do. So welcome, Carol, officially to live, love, engage. Carol Williams: I am absolutely thrilled to be here. Gloria Grace Rand: Well, I’m thrilled to have you because I know that I’ve gotten better, I think, with time management, but there’s still times when I could use some help. So I’m curious to have you get into that. But I want to start a little bit because I love to ask our guests a little bit about their background. And so I mentioned that we’re working in design. So what made you decide to kind of go out on your own and launch? Carol Williams: Yeah. So, Gloria, as I talk, please interrupt me because I’m not known for a short, succinct answer. If I were to give a short and succinct answer, it was quite simple. And that is, I was laid off. I was in the design professions. I had worked at the job I was working at in nine for about 13 years out of the 18 years. And design and construction are tied together. And anybody who’s been around the block for a little while will know that in nine we had a great recession. And when you don’t have construction, you really don’t need a project manager. So that’s why I said, well, God, do something else. Gloria Grace Rand: I know that feeling well because I was, in 2009 myself was when I actually launched my business doing SEO copywriting because I was working part time for the television station I used to work full time for. And I was in the middle of training or studying about this anyway, and they said, well, we don’t really need you anymore. Writing the calendar, the monthly calendar. I’m like, okay, I guess that’s a sign I’m meant to dive in. Carol Williams: Sometimes we have to do that. Gloria Grace Rand: So how did you get started? What was that experience like for you of launching your own business? Carol Williams: Yeah. Well, let’s see. I definitely did not plan on this. I guess I’m one of those accidental entrepreneurs, which I’m glad to hear that you and I share that. That’s even one more thing besides spirituality and just general coolness that we share. So I was like, at first, obviously, I tried to get another job, even though I probably knew it was unlikely. Once I said, that’s it, I’m going to be an entrepreneur. Carol Williams: And I did it really out of necessity. I just took one step at a time, I’ll be honest with you. I started out as a professional organizer and right away put an ad in the paper and got a local tv person to do a little show on me. I got a website. I did all the things and I did them quickly. And I’d like to share that. I did them so quickly. Well, first of all, because I don’t have a lot of energy, which is kind of cool, but there’s actually, for every gift and every strength, there’s a corresponding lesser strength or weakness. Right. And that actually just going to touch a little bit on my main topic. Stop working so hard for so little money. Carol Williams: Had I not been in that kind of a hurry up, a rush, and if I’m completely open and honest, huge fear. We were living in this, and I know the pandemic, there was a lot of fear as well. Of course, in that moment, it felt for me and my former husband like the whole world was caving in on us. So that was, I had, like a one year old and a six year old, and I kind of knew it, but it really became obvious. A toxic husband, and the fear was just palpable. Carol Williams: So that’s why I was in this big, fat rush. I had a do over. I would have slowed down because that big rush actually wound up having me redo things. And that rush continued for years in different ways, which I’m happy to answer questions about. But as I said in the beginning, I’m not that succinct all the time. That was how I got started. Gloria Grace Rand: Well, and that, I think, leads into my next question, and you’re sort of hinting at it, is then what kind of lessons did you learn along the way. You mentioned already about the need that you should have slowed down. So was there something in particular, maybe, that even then deals with either time management or, as you say, working so hard for so little money? What did you learn? Carol Williams: What did I learn? I learned that with my first coach, which was, I started my business in 2009, right. I think April 1 was the official start date of it. And within three weeks or something, I had a website, like, a rough business plan, and I hired a coach. And she said, oh, my gosh. Nobody’s this far ahead. You’re so far ahead. I said, how do I make some money? How do I make some money? And she goes, well, you need to not need the money. And I said, what the heck do you mean, not need the money? I did not understand. We were, like, doing one of these. And now I know. Carol Williams: Now I know. So if I were to do it over, I’d actually listen to the people that I hire. You can’t be in this needy space. So that’s a lesson for those of you who are, like, getting after they’re working. You’re working really hard, and you don’t seem to be making the money. The answer might be counterintuitive, and that is slow down. Maybe listen to some of the light language that Gloria does at the end of every one of these and really breathe into some of the messages, because it’s all there for us. Carol Williams: We just have to listen. Listen to the Angels around us, listen to the angels that live within us. I believe the divine lives within us and then allow ourselves to take one step at a time and be open to failure, because failure will absolutely happen. In fact, Sarah Blakely. Right. You know Sarah Blakely, the woman who did the Spanx. Right. Did you know the story how she sat around the table with her father, and they always said, like, at the end of every day, what did you fail at? That was the question. Her father said, what did you fail at today? And they had to give an answer. Gloria Grace Rand: I like that. Yeah. We have such a. I don’t want to say bias, but like, this feeling that failure is. Oh, well, that. It’s, like, shameful. That’s what I’m trying to think, that it’s a shame thing to fail. But it’s how we learn. We have to be able 100% do that. Yeah. So why doth you actually. Here, let me rephrase that. Why do entrepreneurs have trouble with time management? Carol Williams: Right. Well, I believe people often will have time management issues when it’s really, they think they do because the world is saying, oh,...