Balancing Act: Navigating Personal Growth and Business Success with Helen Thacker

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Balance Code Podcast, a place where you have permission to step outside the hamster wheel of day-to-day life and learn tools to create more balance. My name is Katie Russell. I'm a licensed therapist and burnout and hidden grief specialist. I support ambitious, goal-driven people who are ready to get off the one-way train, to burnout and start to enjoy life again to the fullest. Oh and, by the way, I'm a mom of three, an ex-pat living in Germany who's still learning the language, and an entrepreneur Living. My balance code is what keeps me able to work in incredible ways without burning up. So let's find your balance code. Welcome back everyone to the Balance Code Podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:50

Today, I am sharing with you an interview that I got to do with Helen Thacker, and we are talking about how we can start to manage better when we grow in our business, in our jobs, in our lives. So this isn't just for entrepreneurs, though. The work that she does is primarily with entrepreneurs. The tools and lessons that we talked about are perfect for anyone. All of us have a desire to grow in our lives and to be better, earn more, experience more, and Helen and I dive into what does it actually mean and what are some tools and steps you can take to help you in that growth process. I find a lot of my clients are all about what's my next step, but as they go in that direction they don't like how it feels, and Helen and I really discuss what you can do to better manage the emotions, the thoughts and the experiences you have as you're growing in your life.

Speaker 1: 1:47

Now, as a sales and strategy coach, she worked with ambitious coaches who are ready to take their businesses way beyond six figures and after two decades in careers in sales, she is very aware about financial growth in your business and how to really master the cornerstone skills of sales and messaging. So if you hear that, you're like, ooh, I need that in my work too. You need to talk with her. She's been a solo entrepreneur for 19 years, building businesses from scratch and taking two of those businesses to six figures. So this is a woman who understands growth and what can come up, the challenges, the positives, all of it. She's now helped hundreds of business owners successfully grow online. She has included work through financial recruitment and network marketing, both internationally and nationally recognized within her company. So again, this woman knows what she's doing.

Speaker 1: 2:41

Helen also happens to be the host of the Purpose, potential and Power podcast, and in real life, she likes to do workshops abroad as much as possible. Hey, hey, who doesn't love to travel? She's a wife, mom to two gorgeous boys. She's obsessed with, of course, travel, fitness, amazing food, red wine and living life to the very fullest. So I introduce to you Helen Dacker. Hello, helen, and welcome to the Balance Code podcast. I'm excited to have you on here and talking about when we start really growing in our business and our careers and our life, how we can reassess our balance. So, helen, share with us first a little bit about yourself and where you're coming from.

Speaker 2: 3:25

Awesome. Oh, thank you so much for having me, casey. Yes, so I am over in the UK and you can probably tell from my accent. I am a sales and strategy coach and I help coaches to really master those really essential cornerstone skills for success, which is profitable, clear messaging and really sophisticated sales. I get so excited about teaching what I teach because it really makes such a huge impact. These are the things that everyone misses. They get plateaued, they'll go and learn other skills and then they kind of get stuck in their business and then they need to learn how to communicate effectively and they need to learn how to convert the sales. So I do it in a very gentle way and, yeah, I've been in sales for 21 years, so I love it. I love what I do.

Speaker 1: 4:10

So I found you on Instagram and we connected through that. I noticed that a lot of what you talk about is like when you're growing, when you're growing, when you're growing. So if you are not an entrepreneur and you're listening to this and you're like, oh well, this isn't for me, just wait, because often the skills and tools that entrepreneurs learn is the same for people who are in their careers, or even if you're at home, you're retired or you are in a space of kind of in between jobs. You're still growing and things are progressing and you're probably bringing in a lot of new ideas and trying out new things. So Helen's strategies and thoughts on this are, I think, things that you will learn from too, so please continue to listen Now.

Speaker 1: 4:51

Helen when we start to really grow in our business, in our careers, it is important for us to take a step back and say, hey, the way I've been balancing my life is no longer going to be effective. What are things that you're teaching your coaches to do so that they're not going like whoa? This is too much, too fast and I'm going to self-sabotage.

Speaker 2: 5:12

Yeah. So, like you said what you said earlier as well about this being relevant to everybody, because I think we've run around, whether we are parents or we have a job, we're juggling both. If we're pushing things to the limit, there are definitely things we need to change. No matter what you do, whatever your kind of life looks like, it's that point of overwhelm and we don't want to get to that. We don't want to get to that point where we want to burn everything to the ground. We don't want to get up in the morning, we don't feel passionate about what we do. We want to love life. We want to love the journey that is taking us on to get to where we want to go to. And, yes, I absolutely love to kind of really help my clients to get to this point where they're living a life which feels right for them, so they're structuring a business in a way that feels comfortable for them.

Speaker 2: 6:01

And this comes from my own personal experience of being I am a very ambitious girl, I'm a go-getter.

Speaker 2: 6:08

I want, you know I was very much about the hustle, hustle, hustle, and so much has changed for me really since the start of this year, but particularly in the last few months where I've really got to that point where I was like I just don't want to do this anymore and I've always absolutely loved what I do, like I have so much passion and such a huge purpose, which is to help women particularly, to feel very seen and valued for who they authentically are, and it really took me by surprise that I had this moment of feeling I don't really like this anymore and I really did not sit comfortably with me whatsoever, so things had to change.

Speaker 2: 6:48

So when I work with my clients, it's very much about like let's construct something that's right for you. The way I run my life and my business might not be relevant, but it's. Let's look at how we can get efficient with your time, how we can focus on the things that are actually going to move you towards your goals so that you are not wasting time. How we can focus on the things that are going to really light you up and that it's going to make you want to get out of bed in the morning and come on to social media, host about whatever it is that you're passionate about for your listeners. It could be their business, it could be a hobby, it could be a much bigger purpose and we want to get to that point. So I've definitely got some kind of methods that I've used to really kind of simplify everything down so that we're just focusing on those core things and the things that we love to do.

Speaker 1: 7:37

What are the warning signs? You see people start to show or experience or feel of like, hey, it's time to stop and assess what you're doing and how you're doing it.

Speaker 2: 7:48

Yeah, it's a great question. I think it's two things. I think it's resentment and anxiety, and those feelings really do come up. So, with regards to like the anxiety levels that you're gonna feel when you just very nervous about what it is that you do and you don't feel comfortable with that anymore, those feelings of the overwhelming, how am I gonna deal with this? How am I gonna juggle family life, business life and all those things? And then that Resentment over having to do something that you once looked and I know that was from my personal experience. I know a lot of people talk about this that I deal with, like my clients. Definitely they have this feeling of like no longer Wanting to participate in what it is that they're doing, and I don't know about you, but I definitely feel that those are the two kind of core Emotions that come up. We don't want to get to that point Absolutely not the resentment piece.

Speaker 1: 8:39

I mean that really rings true to me and the clients that I work with. There's that feeling of like oh, you get to have all this free time, or you get to do this, or you get to do that. And when you sense that in yourself, that is the ding, ding, ding. I'm actually jealous.

Speaker 2: 8:54

Yeah as well.

Speaker 1: 8:55

Yeah of this you know I want to have that freedom too, so I love you brought the resentment and the anxiety, and for me the anxiety is always I call it like the monkey mind Right, like the hamster wheel is, like you can't turn it off Even when you're not working, and that is a sign like there's something way out of balance.

Speaker 2: 9:15

Clearly, and that comparison piece that you just said, it's that like looking at other people and thinking that's sort of element of jealousy. You know why do they have that life that I'm looking for and then that just eats you up inside.

Speaker 1: 9:26

Definitely. So what would be the first step then? You would say, okay, if a coach came to you or somebody's, just like, okay, red flags. Yeah, both, helen. What do I need to do right now? What is the first thing you have them do?

Speaker 2: 9:39

So we look at what they want to achieve. So let's get very clear, and Clarity is the first piece in my kind of three-part Way that I approach Every client. So every client that comes to me, we get very, very clear on what exactly they want to do and and that's their passions and their skills combined ideally an ideal world we can combine those two like we're winning. But it's like what are the goals? What do you want your life and your business to look like? So let's be clear I'm not a mindset coach on the sales and strategy coach, for the strategy pieces really All about like let's construct a business that you absolutely love, that is in line with the life that you want to have, and it's like a life of business thing. Then we'll look at the kind of details of the business itself.

Speaker 2: 10:22

So when people come to me, obviously coaches, what office do you have? Are you not enjoying doing? What are you kind of dreading doing? Because I know that I have something going on in my business that I was like, oh, I really don't want to do that today again. It's like I don't feel like that. I used to love what I did and you know I need to change some things.

Speaker 2: 10:42

So we look at you know the emotions behind the different offers. Let's look at how we can then Combine all of that with you getting to your financial goals, because there are infinite ways, as you know, to run a business. There are infinite ways you can construct the offers, the way that you support your clients. And I truly believe and I'm sure you'll agree with this as well that if you don't have that energy, that passion behind what you do, you're never going to help your clients to achieve what they want to achieve and you're never going to actually grow your business, because the energy just isn't there, like that passion isn't there and you're gonna sit there. It comes across on social media, comes across in your messaging, it comes across in every single way that you show up.

Speaker 2: 11:25

Someone actually said to me, like one of my clients said to me, you seem like you just in hustle mode and I don't actually like being around that. And she was very honest and I was like, wow, you know really open my eyes. That is how I was coming across work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And I was like, okay, my clients telling me that she's a bit put off by the way that I am showing up, I thought, okay, big red flag. So you really have to kind of find that energy and that passion and Really looking to then driving that across everything that you do and that's how you'll be successful. We won't the other. I get more realized very little ones, and you really got to enjoy that journey.

Speaker 1: 12:08

Definitely. And what I'll say here is saying is, as you're up-leveling, as you're increasing, as you're growing, you need to hear the feedback, you need to be able to take the feedback and you need to also be mindful of, like you said, do I like how this feels anymore? Like maybe two years ago I did and now I don't. And instead of waiting for those red flags to happen, it's almost sounds like it'd be good to do quarterly, if not half-gear, check-ins with yourself and go is my dream still my dream? Is that income I want to be making still the income? Or is that, if you're in the world of, like the corporate world, is that job I really want worth it? Because it might be more responsibility last time at home, things like that. And what is my long-term goal, the type of life I want to live? They don't tend to equal each other. I find that our work desires in the life we want to live don't tend to be like perfect puzzle pieces together until we reassess and say what actually makes sense.

Speaker 2: 13:12

Because we've been fed.

Speaker 1: 13:13

This belief of this is how it should look and this is how it should be, and as the hustlers and the ambitious women it's like, and we have to work so hard, if not more than right. We're always trying to catch up and yet so many are out there sharing. It doesn't have to be that hard.

Speaker 2: 13:30

Oh yeah, but there is that reality. So I mean, one of my core four values is authenticity in my personal life and in my business life. And that's the whole of the conversation about the coaches that sit there like with dollars literally falling from the sky while they're on the beach. No, thank you. It does take work. But you know, Casey, the biggest lesson I'm sure lots of your listeners will agree the biggest lesson that I've had as an entrepreneur in my last 19 years of having my own businesses is patience and that long term attitude that I take to my business growth. And I love that you brought that up.

Speaker 2: 14:03

And I actually do weekly check in. So on a Sunday I will look at what's ahead for the week. I only work Tuesdays to Thursdays with my clients or recording podcasts like this connecting with my community. Mondays and Fridays are really I still support my clients on those days, but they're really free. Time is complete white space in my diary. I look ahead and I see what's coming up and I actually think right, is what's happening this week going to actually move me forward in terms of my long term goal, even though it's just a tiny, tiny flashing time? So it's those small weekly steps building up to the longer term picture. And that check in with myself, Okay, does this week sit with what I promised myself and my family, that the way that I will live my life with this simplicity but with this power and confidence and actually being very efficient in what I do and having so much space and I do that weekly?

Speaker 2: 15:01

But I think that check in, like you said, you're so, so right, so important, because we kind of just get lost, Don't we get a head down buried in our business? We're like, before you know it, you look up and it's Christmas. Yeah, oh, it goes so quickly, doesn't it? So, having that reminder and I would definitely say, If you need that, put it in your phone diary and it will ping up as a reminder Use that. Oh, just have a little check in with yourself Are you actually living in alignment or creating an alignment with what you promised yourself? It's really important to do.

Speaker 1: 15:36

The marathon versus the sprint.

Speaker 1: 15:38

I feel, like every person I interviewed, that comes back to this marathon versus the sprint, thinking of the long term and not the short term. But the marketing world would tell you short term, instant gratification, and it's like no, actually the growth that we need is the longer term and it's actually good. And because of that, there are short term wins. Like anytime you start a new habit, you've got the short term wins. You feel great. But the longer term, valuing the win at the end of the marathon, is so much better and those weekly check-ins are a great way to be like you're on point, you're on point, oh, we've taken a step back. Where do we want to pivot? Like, I think that's genius, I think that makes total sense.

Speaker 2: 16:19

Yeah, you're so right and it is like, yes, there will be short term sprints. There are going to be periods when, maybe launching from the new, or you're changing something up or you're learning something, so you feel like you just have to pause, or kind of run faster, perhaps on a new skill set that you're just implementing. It might feel a little bit busier in those times but, like I said, I've been an entrepreneur for 90 years.

Speaker 1: 16:42

It's been a long game.

Speaker 2: 16:43

It is a long, long, long game. I'm definitely walking the walk when it comes to that. I think it's just that whole kind of attitude of acceptance that it will take time and knowing that it's not going to be perfect for a very, very, very long time. And we are always learning, there's always room for improvement. So you're never going to reach that end goal Never. You're never going to be as good as you ever can be. There's always more. It's for the less.

Speaker 1: 17:12

So, first off, just kind of know where you want to be and, if you've just kind of studied on yourself, create a new paradigm. That kind of kind of think is going to be. How will you agree with what you're doing and you say it's good to do bad things on you? Here there is been a new concept to producing an investment and that's a cool thing in that when you're 12 years under that, there's always room for improvement, for learning. You have access to that appropriation. Yeah, as an ambitious woman, the feeling of disappointment and like what is the relationship you have with that emotion?

Speaker 2: 17:45

That's a great question. So there's a couple of things I wanna say on this. Firstly, I started four businesses from scratch, taken two to six figures, and every single time I have accepted that I'm going to be learning, it's gonna be a new phase, and I've literally like said to myself okay, this is a two year thing, so I'm actually about to launch a brand new program. That's kind of a transformation from what I've been doing already. But I know now I've actually put this onto social media. It's on my podcast. I've said that I'm gonna give this at least two years. So I'm here again at the beginning of a new tiny little phase piece of my business, accepting that and I'm open to that. I'm happy again, it's that long-term picture. So I really want to encourage anyone listening and I definitely encourage my clients to like you've got to just think in that way and accept that there will be disappointments.

Speaker 2: 18:42

Going back to what I said before, you're not going to get everything right straight away.

Speaker 2: 18:45

And the other thing, the way that I looked at it as well, and the way that I support my clients through this, is I honestly see my business as a great big experiment, See it almost as a game and it's fun. We get to have fun with it. We get to try things. We know we're not gonna, it's all gonna work, so we try this, we tweak that, We'll take this bit. That's working. And I really genuinely have had that attitude as a coach from the very beginning and I think especially because I do with messaging and clear messaging and those nuances, the different small tweaks that you can make in the language, how you show up, where you show up, there were so many different kind of combinations that we do have to play and tweak and experiment and test. So if you can sort of see your whatever it is, your project as an experiment, as a game, and really have that attitude, have fun with it and it's almost like being created with it, I really think that helps.

Speaker 1: 19:43

Love that tip. It's being curious. Yes, like oh, let's try this, let's see if this works. It makes it fun and releases the attachment from your performance. Has to be a certain way for it to be successful, yeah the learning process is the success, then I think that's a wonderful tip, helen. Well, helen, if people want to find you, work with you, learn more from you and check out your podcast, please share with us where they can find you.

Speaker 2: 20:10

Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 1: 20:11

Katie.

Speaker 2: 20:11

So, yeah, just slide on over to Instagram and please do drop me a DM, just tell me you've listened to Katie's podcast and would be more than happy to drop you a couple of tips on your own Social media content if you need some help there. Yeah, so that's where you'll find me, just at Helen Sucker. I'm sure you'll link it in the show notes. And then, yeah, my podcast as well, which is the purpose, potential and power podcast, which I know you're coming on to in a couple of weeks time. So I'm so excited about that. And yeah, the other thing is I do run a free coaching session for 20 minutes or so every single Wednesday and Come along and learn all about content, intention behind it, how you can go away and apply that to your own Social media and, again, the links. You'll find it all through my Instagram.

Speaker 1: 20:56

Yep, and I'll definitely have an issue. Notes I didn't know about your Wednesday 20 minute calls. That's awesome that you offer that guys. Go go check that one out for sure. That's amazing. Well, helen, thank you so much and thank you for your wisdom. You know those weekly check-ins being curious and fun with the work that you do and your personal growth, and allowing for breaks because rest is productive. We forget that we need that, creating that space. I really appreciate all that you've taught us today. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2: 21:23

Well, thank you so much for having me, casey.

Speaker 1: 21:29

Thank you so much for listening to today's episode. If you have a moment, please leave a rating or review so that others can find this podcast who are looking for support, just like you. Let's connect on Instagram at katie dot wrestler or at Balance code podcast, or check down in the show notes to find ways that we can work together and see other offerings that I have for you at this time and, as always, here's to finding our balance code.