The Power of Focus in Business Growth w/Katie Stoddart

Welcome to another episode of the Whole Human Podcast. I'm your host, Peter Sorgenfrei, and today I have Katie Startak with me. She is the founder of The Focus Bee. Katie, welcome on the show.

Thank you so much for having me, Peter.

Katie, there might be a few people who will be listening to this or watching the video on YouTube who do not know who you are. So would you mind introducing yourself and tell us a little bit about your background?

Yes, of course. So I'm Katie Stoddard, as you said, founder of Focusbee. I also host the show, The Focusbee Show, that's almost at 300 episodes. Peter was also a guest on the show, and I work primarily with high-achieving entrepreneurs To help them to break through and grow their business with ease and joy and having that alignment and purpose along the way.

I'm already on my back heel, right? You've done 300 shows. I think I've done 3. Well, maybe a little bit more at this point. And the work that you do is not dissimilar to the kind of work that I do. And I think that's how we got into each other's universe. So how did you come up with the idea for The Focus Bee? Where did that come from? How did you get started?

Well, I started my career as an engineer working at sea, and that in itself would be an entire conversation. It's something I've spoken about on previous podcast episodes, and I realized that even though the adventure and going at sea for months at a time was fun and exciting, I was really passionate about people and psychology and philosophy, spirituality, and also Helping people to grow. The whole self-improvement world was really what I was most passionate about. So I pivoted and started my business, and I realized that some topics were what people came to me for. And a lot of this was around high performance, productivity, intentional leadership that I know you talk about a lot, wellbeing. And I named my company The Focused Bee because I don't want people to just be constantly busy and busy bees. This is something I discuss quite a lot in my book, The Magic of Focus. Stop being so busy and instead be more conscious, intentional, and purpose-driven. Hence the Focus Bee.

And how easy was it for you to get started when you first launched, when you stepped off the boat and decided to be a landrigger and build this company? Was it easy to get going or was it a challenge in the beginning for you?

Well, it was very easy the first few months because I was extremely excited and totally clueless. Yeah, and it wasn't as easy. I think it was fantastic that I was so naive when I started. I did not anticipate all the challenges and hurdles because that got me to quit my job and start the company. I was very into coaching. I trained as a coach and I never thought, this is where the naive part comes in, I never thought about business, sales, marketing, branding. I didn't know what a CRM was. I didn't know what a newsletter was. I'd never heard of Mailchimp or ConvertKit. And so when I began, I just thought I needed a website, a business card. And it was as I grew that I realized, oh, actually sales is a bit tricky. And how do I do my pricing? And how do I manage my packaging and my offers? And what do I do when they say no, and I don't have enough clients for the month? Then what do I do? And should I be present online? And how about growing my podcast? And so the first 1 to 3 years were a very intense learning curve. Also extremely fun in some ways because you learn and grow so much. And I think I'm extremely lucky that I like the business part. And I'm sure you'll agree, Peter, that being a coach, it's at least 50% about the business of marketing. And at different phases, it might be 70 or 80% of your business. And in other phases, it might be just 20%. But if you don't like that aspect, don't start your own company as a coach.

Yeah, I typically tell anybody who wants to start a business that 80% of the time you spent doing stuff that's not why you started the business. Accounting, sales, marketing, you mentioned a few of the other things that you need to do, right? So, and clearly not everybody is born to be or is good at everything as they start. So like you. Most of us had to learn different aspects of it. Many of the people that I speak to, one of the big ones is sales, right? It's the actually going and asking people for the business. And back to your point about your website and a business card, I have a friend, he has a brilliant idea. He spent 6 months working on a website, and every week when I talk to him, I tell him it doesn't matter. Go talk to customers, tell them what you're doing, email old friends, see if somebody wants to buy this before you fiddle around with where the comments should be on your page. But you've been very successful. You have a business now, I think it's going 6 years, 7 years, is that it?

Yeah.

Which by any measure is a huge success. So how do you, what do you attribute that success to? Is it your tenacity? Is it your focus?

How did you manage to I think just like anything, it's always a combination of factors. Obviously, there's some form of determination and perseverance, but that fluctuates just like motivation does. And focus, I am pretty focused and I do start the day with the most important task and not checking my email. What I often struggled with most was what to focus on. So actually sitting down and doing deep work, I enjoy, and I don't like multitasking and doing many things, but I would often wonder, okay, so should I be building my next offer or posting more on LinkedIn? Or, and so I would struggle to know what to focus on. And that's where, well, what you and I do make a hell of a difference. I've worked with maybe 10 coaches or mentors. I counted 10 or 11 in 7 years. So I really walk the talk and I think that's how I got where I am because it's a lonely and hard journey. And even if you share it with maybe your partner or your friends, they're not living it every day. And I don't have a co-founder. I sometimes have an assistant or some support here and there, but I feel without the continuous support, accountability, being challenged, also seeing some of my own obstacles, some things that I wasn't aware of. Without all of this support along the way and also investing in yourself, so then the commitment is so much bigger. I think without that, I would probably have quit.

And I think that's a really important point. A lot of people don't necessarily realize that coaches have coaches too. And so do I work with certain people on certain aspects of my personality or of my business, whatever we need. I think what we sometimes see happening is people start a company and they spend a lot of time trying to figure it out instead of doing it, right? So they try to create the master plan, but it sounds like you were able to essentially launch something relatively quickly and then iterate along the way. Is, is that reasonable to assume or did you do it differently?

That's exactly what I did. And this is what I did many times. So my podcast is a good example. I had the ideas mid-August 2020, and I launched 1st of September 2020. And I've met many people who've been like, I've been dreaming about having a podcast for years. And I started, I didn't even have a mic. I didn't know what software to record. I just used Zoom, which I used for years. I didn't have a good webcam and I was just like, let's start. I just need to find a guest. And this has been my process. There are obviously pros and cons to doing it this way. This means that I didn't have a whole batch recorded before I launched. It meant that the first ones are pretty poor quality, at least in terms of audio and video recording, but it does mean that you start and that's pretty good compared to some people who never start. So I guess there are some advantages.

And I do think that's one of the things that distinguishes the entrepreneurial mind from maybe more corporate-minded minds. Can even divide it that, which is we start something, we do do something, we take action, and then we fail, and then we keep going. And it's the tenacity that gets us to, or gets you to, being in business for, for 6 or 7 years and being as successful as you are. But we should also talk a little bit about, it hasn't been easy all along, right? So there has been moments where you maybe have wanted to toss in the towel or where something else affected you negatively. Can you talk a little bit about that? Were there moments where you were— Almost about to give up or think you should do something else?

I love the hesitation in your voice. Like that was never the case.

I feel it. Well, I don't know. I don't know you that well. From the sides of it, right? You're sitting in this regal looking coworking space in Stockholm. You're put together. People look at you and they're like, she's got it made. But I'm suspecting that there might have been challenges along the way.

Yes. I, I think it would be impossible to find someone who didn't have challenges along the way. And it's funny because recently I spoke with someone in my coworking space and they said, so after 6 or 7 years in business, do you still struggle? And I said, look, if you start becoming a parent of a child, when they turn 6 or 7, do you find parenting easier? No, it's just a different set of challenges. And I feel I'm constantly challenged. And I do remember specific phases where I was crying every single evening and I wanted to quit, but there was nothing else I wanted to do. And so it's like there's no other door that interests me. And that was the only purpose and drive I had. And I feel that the hardest, or some of the hardest phases in entrepreneurship is when that initial honeymoon phase ends. So after 2 years or 3 years, those are typically the people I coach who've been in business 3 to 5 years. So a bit after this honeymoon phase. And we're not getting the external results that we think we should be getting by doing all of this internal work and external work. And when we don't get those results, we start to doubt and we doubt ourselves and we doubt the business and we doubt we could ever make a difference. And we doubt that we can ever make it work financially. And when we have all this crippling doubt, obviously it reflects in the sales. So the business continues to fall. And those were maybe 3 to 6 very dark months. And I'd love to say I picked myself out on my own, but I didn't. I worked with an amazing coach and she helped me to see, and through the mirroring, I started to realize that I was in victim mindset, disempowered, that I'd stopped believing in myself and the journey, and that if I just changed my attitude, which I knew all about because that's what I help people do, but it's always hard on yourself. Then things would change. And one of the things that made the biggest difference, and I think this is so powerful, and I remember this in my hardest phase, well, since then, is that we need to flip the focus from focusing on the problems to focusing on the opportunities. So when I was struggling, I was constantly focusing on this isn't working and that isn't working and no calls are coming in or the sales didn't work. And so my whole mind was constantly going back to everything that was challenging and a problem. And what happened when I started to work with this coach was I started to ask myself every single day, what is a potential opportunity out there that's interesting? What's a bolder action I could take to lead me towards this opportunity? And my mind slowly drifted and shifted from this problem focus to the solution and opportunity focus. And as I did this, I took more bold actions. I felt more empowered. And sure enough, after about 2 or 3 months, everything picked up at once. And that was the end of that 3 to 6 months of desert-like behavior.

Because it is, it can be a desert walk sometime, but, but the question is, are you going to lie down and succumb to the heat and the environment, or are you going to take another step? So I heard this is in a different context. This is a lot of the clients I work with are also challenged in their personal relationships. Because it is, it can be pretty hard to be an entrepreneur and a partner, and it can certainly be hard for the partner when you're an entrepreneur. But we spoke about, there was a couple that have been together for a long time. I'm 50. This couple is in their mid-40s. They'd been together for 22 years or something like that and married for almost 19. And I asked them, I said, what's your secret? And the woman, she said, one more day. And her point was that if things were horrible in their relationship, which they can be, and things, it goes up and down as it does in business, it does in personal life, they would go to bed and they would say, we're just going to take one more day. We're going to do it. We're going to be together again tomorrow and we're going to see if we can fix this. And I tell this story because I think that's also very describing for entrepreneurship. I see a lot of people who give up At that, to your point, 2, 3-year phase. It's gone well in the beginning. They're struggling a little bit. That corporate job that they left starts looking alluring again, or they're spending so much of their savings, they're worried about getting too low, or they actually can't make rent and they need to figure out how to do something quickly. And then they bail, understandably. But if they had the fortitude to stay on for a couple of more months, Like you did, then they could get out of that. So if they could take that extra day. So I think the talking about the mindset, I think that's important. Everybody says you need to have a growth mindset, but what does that actually mean? I think to, you put it very eloquently, you know, what can I do? Which actions can I take that takes advantage of some of the opportunities that are out there? So instead of sitting on my hands and feeling sorry for myself or having just looking at all the stuff that's not working. Can I write 5 more people about what I'm doing? Can I be more active on social media again? Can I call old people who have high written baths who know me and talk to them about it? As long as, as soon as you hide, as soon as you don't talk about it, nothing will happen, right? On that happy note, tell me a little bit about your, the partnership. Are you married? Do you have a partner in your life? What What's the situation there?

Yes, I'm married. I've been married for 6 years. Yes, 2018. And we've been together for 11 years. And I would also say when I said the support from the coaches and the mentors, I took it from a very professional perspective, but my family and parents and brother, my brother supports me a ton and likes all of my YouTube videos and comments and says how great it was and which guests he liked. And my parents are always like, you could do it. We're so proud of you. And my friends think I'm a superstar, which is very nice. And in the very strong lows where you do not see yourself as a superstar, it's nice to have friends that support you. And my husband made a tremendous difference. I think I would've definitely quit probably after a year if it wasn't for his emotional support, financial support, and just being there. And Both in terms of emotionally, I could just, and I still do every single day. There's like mini business therapy for an hour. I just pour out my whole soul and whole day to him and also some business strategy, but it's more the emotional support. So yes, I'm extremely grateful and I think a strong partnership and if one doesn't have it, then very strong friendships or family and also the coaches. Support is everything when you're on this journey, I feel.

So he knew you before you started this company. He knew you when you were a sailing engineer.

Yes, we met on the boat. So we met on the boat at sea years and years ago, and that's how we met. So he knew me as an engineer. He knew that this wasn't what I wanted to do my whole life. He saw me struggle with what shall I do with my life? Then he saw me fall in love with coaching, loving it, starting the training. And then obviously we discussed me. Quitting my full-time job, starting my business, and he was 100% supportive all along the way, which sounds too good to be true, but lucky.

We have to pick our life partners as well as we possibly can, but he didn't necessarily, or you didn't necessarily know that when you met, right? That you were going to go in this direction. So it can be hard to predict what happens at home when you go from a, let's say, well-paying job. To this uncertainty of being your own woman and being an entrepreneur. The family thing I also wanted to touch upon. Is there a history of entrepreneurship in your family? Does your parents have done anything or others? Are you the first one?

Right now, yes. My, my mom is also maybe a bit of a solopreneur doing English classes and teaching, but they were both employees. I think probably because also I had maybe a more traditional path to begin with and I was an engineer. And also, I think they just knew that it was suited for me and my personality. And also, I think it's a bit different once you're not living at home and you have your own life and you're married and you're somewhere else as well. Do what you want. And there was no, I didn't need to prove anything, which was nice. So I would say that in terms of the family support and partner and friends, this does make a big difference. And I have spoken with entrepreneurs who didn't have that support or who felt the pressure to stay in a corporate job or as a lawyer or as an engineer because that's what their parents always wanted of them. And I think that would have made it harder. But on the other hand, when you really have that strong calling, you will end up doing what you feel is best at some point.

Right. I hear that a lot where people are the first entrepreneurs in their family. And even after they become as successful as you have become, their parents are still like, Are you sure you want to keep doing this thing instead of going to work at accounting firm X or lawyer legal firm Y, right? So, so, but there's another thing that we can remind people here, which is if you don't have sort of people that you can model yourself after in your immediate family or in your friendship circle, places like LinkedIn where you and I got to know one another is filled with entrepreneurial minds who are ready, willing, and able to support you in formal and informal ways. And so it is just to speak up and talk about what you're doing. I think for me, the journey has been when I started becoming public on LinkedIn and writing more 4 years ago, I had like 7,000 or 8,000 people follow me, right? Now I have almost 50,000. I, not because I'm a genius, but because I write about stuff that people can relate to and I am helpful to people who are then in turn Helpful to me. So there's a tremendous community of people who will support you if they know what you're doing, if they know what you're about. So to anybody listening, thinking about starting a company or is in the middle of starting a company and is frustrated with progress, be public about it because out of the woodwork is going to come people who will support you. Katie, what's next for you? You've written one book. You have a successful podcast. You have a thriving business.

Yeah.

What's your next focus?

Yes, before I answer that, I just want to confirm what you just said, because I am pretty much the only entrepreneur in my family and most of my friends are employees. And I would say that a lot of the entrepreneurs that I've found and business owners have been through networks like LinkedIn and through other business networks and coworking. And that makes a huge difference in terms of not just emotional support, but networking and entrepreneurial support. So yes, to answer your question, what's next? So I'm looking to publish another book. I'm not 100% sure yet if I want to focus on continuing with high performance or go down a bit more conscious spiritual direction, or maybe merging both a bit like I did in The Magic of Focus. So that's definitely in the cards for 2025. And I'm launching my program in January, Elite Entrepreneur. Which will be exclusively just one-on-one coaching for the business owners who've hit this plateau. And I'm really excited about this because I really love working one-on-one and I know a lot of coaches also have groups and that's fun, but I really love this one-on-one strong depth with business owners. So for the moment, those are really my strong focuses. I feel it's good to stay focused. So one is, so supporting the business owners, and the other one is publishing the book, and those are top of mind for now.

And the business is still just you and sometimes some assistants, right?

Yes. Yes.

Is that a deliberate choice or have you just not gotten around to building a team for yourself?

I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking especially about having maybe a co-founder for my podcast and YouTube, someone to do the SEO work and the thumbnails and the video editing and all of this, and then maybe discussing the direction of the show together. So I'm definitely considering a co-founder for the podcast. I think for the overarching business, because it's coaching and my speaking and workshops, I feel I don't necessarily need a co-founder, but a CMO would maybe be interesting to discuss the LinkedIn strategy and the newsletter. So these are all things that I think about. I often feel it'll come at the right timing with the right person. So it's more in the background.

Understood. We're getting to the, towards the end of this episode, but I always ask my guests the following 2 questions, and I'll start with one, which is, what do you wish you knew that today when you started? So what's something where you're like, oh, if I had just known this 7 years ago, my life would've been better, easier, different.

That's a very easy answer. Build your newsletter. What the fuck is that?

That's a very tactical one. I like that. So again, to anybody listening, if you start a business, start a newsletter. Day one.

Is that what you're saying? Day one. And overall, I'd say learn about marketing. I wish that in the very first year I'd jumped into absorbing as much marketing as possible. And the newsletter, that's in terms of external strategy, in terms of internal strength. I would say be present and have a really consistent meditation practice, slowing down, taking breaks. Super, super, super important. So those are probably external and internal.

I love the tactility. Is that a word of that advice? The other question I ask is, if somebody is thinking about starting a business, what would you tell them? If somebody's an engineer on a ship, And they're thinking about going ashore to start any business, what would you tell them?

It's funny because people would probably think that my advice would be, go for it, quit tomorrow, start your business. That's not actually my advice, even though that's what I did. I'd say be strategic about it. So plan your exit date, look at the finances, anticipate how much you have for how long. I have a bit of a strategy around it because the fact that I didn't have this means that 6 months in or a year in, I was freaking out. Whereas if I'd planned this and maybe built my business slightly on the side and had some cash flow as I invested in some coaches or learning about marketing, that would have made it maybe easier. Then again, if someone's like me and they're just like, no, this is it, can't do it anymore, I quit. That's fine too, right? It depends on where you are and what your personality. But I'd say have a strategic perspective if you're about to start, but don't let fear hold you back. Being strategic doesn't mean don't do it. It means think things through, plan it through, and then you can, for sure, it's a wonderful journey to have your own business.

Excellent. Katie, thank you so much for coming on the show.

Thank you so much, Peter.

To everybody listening, this was another episode of the Whole Human Podcast. I'm your host, Peter Sorgenfrei. If you wanna talk more about any of these topics, Let us know in either the show notes or where you are listening to this or watching this. And if there are amazing people like Katie that I should speak to, I'm also happy to hear from you who we should invite on next. Thank you so much and have a great day.