This month marks a double milestone that has me looking back, reflecting, and celebrating. It has officially been 25 years since I launched my first HR consulting business, and 15 years since I started Scattered to Streamlined.
When I look back at “Year 1 Me,” I see a young founder from a decidedly un-entrepreneurial background trying to figure out how to build something new. I also see someone carrying traditional “hustle culture” beliefs. Back then, I truly believed – and my early business partner reinforced – that being a business owner meant thinking about the business 24/7. I held the reins with a white-knuckled, exhausting grip.
Two and a half decades later, my business is 10 times more successful than those early days. Better yet, I work with more flow, intention, and joy, and far less stress.
If you are currently feeling scattered, overwhelmed, or like your business owns you, here are the four most pivotal shifts I’ve gathered from 25 years as a solo professional service provider.
1. Don’t Burn the Bridge Before You Build the Island
When people hear I transitioned from HR consulting to business strategizing and coaching, they often assume I shut one door and took a blind leap into the next.
But longevity in business happens most often when it’s strategic and a lower-risk evolution.
Instead of starting from scratch, I introduced business coaching as a side service right inside my existing HR business. I used that runway to experiment, test my ideas, and build a solid roster of clients before officially launching Scattered to Streamlined.
The Takeaway: If you have a new curiosity to follow or a major business pivot in mind, treat it as a side endeavor first. Test the market, prove the concept, and build your foundation while your baseline revenue is still supporting you.
2. Shift from “Dollars for Hours” to Value
In my HR consulting days, my revenue model was built entirely on trading hours for dollars. My previous decade of work in a law firm had ingrained this in me. But I quickly learned that tracking the clock is a fast track to a strict capacity ceiling and eventual burnout.
Over the years, I developed an appreciation for value pricing. My clients aren’t paying for sixty minutes of my day; they are paying for the transformation, the relief, and the freedom they walk away with. When you stop charging for your time and start charging for your expertise, your income potential unlocks from your calendar, and your clients get better results because the focus is entirely on the outcome.
3. Relationships Are the Ultimate Currency
Consistency in relationship building has been the single greatest driver of my business growth. Both virtual and in-person networking, along with the individual conversations that follow, are the hands-down keys to my success.
When the pandemic arrived in March of 2020, navigating that sudden global shift meant finding entirely new ways to connect. Instead of retreating (as any good introvert has a tendency to do), a good friend and I asked a simple question: How can we support the local small business community right now? Together with another peer, we founded GROW Buffalo Business, an online space providing virtual networking, educational, and community-building resources. It turned out to be one of the most fulfilling endeavors of my life, introducing me to an incredible community of professionals who became lifelong friends and clients.
Though I’ve since moved and the organization has beautifully continued its evolution as Forge Buffalo, that experience solidified a core truth of my 25 years in business: Relationships are the ultimate key to business success.
4. Lean into Simplicity and Use Technology for Efficiency
Because my business is named Scattered to Streamlined, people frequently assume that running a highly successful company requires a large tech stack. But over 25 years, I’ve seen countless shiny business tools come and go.
While I absolutely use several apps and technologies in my business, the systems that are often the most impactful are simple and low or no-tech. My personal day-to-day workflow relies on a straightforward combination of Google Tasks and my spiral-bound monthly journals.
One of my most successful clients, a top-tier financial advisor I’ve worked with for years, manages his entire multi-million dollar pipeline using a classic yellow legal pad. He keeps a running handwritten list of people to stay in touch with, and whenever he has a spare 5 or 10 minutes, he pulls out that pad to make a connection. He is a constant reminder that fancy technology with endless bells and whistles is often just a distraction from the real work.
With that said, focusing on simplicity doesn’t mean being anti-technology. I am completely leaning into the power of AI right now. There is a big difference between “bells and whistles” tech that takes you down unproductive rabbit holes and smart tools that give you your time back.
For me and my clients, AI has been a game-changer for streamlining backend operations. Recent examples of its use include: helping build standard operating procedures (SOPs) in a fraction of the time, streamlining proposals, and sharpening business planning sessions. The rule of thumb I live by is simple: use tools that grant you efficiency, time, and freedom. Delete the ones that cause frustration, turn your messaging robotic, or waste your time.
Releasing the Grip
If I could tell the Year 1 version of myself just one thing, it would be: Let go of the tight grip.
Early on, I believed owning a business meant thinking about it 24/7. It is easy to get caught up in the idea that more hustle equals more success, but business grows so much more easily when you release that grip. Give yourself permission to follow genuine opportunities, remain consistently focused on relationship-building, and rely on simple, sustainable routines.
Today, I am incredibly proud of the longevity, the wonderful client and colleague relationships, the lessons learned, and the freedom I’ve built over the last 25 years.
Thank you to every client, peer, friend, and supporter who has trusted me with your vision or cheered me on over the last two and a half decades. Cheers to the journey, the evolution, and whatever comes next! 🥂✨