In this entrepreneurial episode, Olga Kirillova, Co-Founder of mettaCOaching, shares how she and her husband started a business in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic with very little resources, achieved success on their terms, and help other founders and leaders do the same.
In this episode you will discover:
– How to clarify the vision for what you truly want for your business
– Role of hard work in a lifestyle business
– How to find a profitable market as quickly as possible
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome welcome once again to the secrets of the high demand coach podcast and I am here with yet another high demand coach and that is the one and only Olga Kirillova. I think I just completely butchered her last name, but she’s graceful enough to move forward with it anyway. But why is Olga here Olga has spent over a decade in business heading up teams and managing up to $2 billion businesses within the likes of Adidas or Wayfarer, you may may have heard of those too. But she realized that she just wanted to have more time for her family. So she and her partner started their own coaching business back in 2020. They built a thriving business without a website without an email list and with a horde of followers on Instagram. And the best part was that she could spend eight months of the year traveling with her family enjoying a flexible schedule and doing it all with the highest amount of energy she’s ever had. She now helps other founders and owners and busy professionals create the lives they’ve truly desired. Well, thanks so much for being on the show. I’m so excited about this conversation. Before we kind of dive into how you help founders and owners and professionals, I’d love to take a step back and just put some color in this story, tell us a little bit about what it is that you’re doing and why that ultimately led you to make the leap to coaching?
Olga Kirillova
So yeah, I’m full on I’m super excited to be here with you, thank you for having me. And basically like, like you said, like you’re reading the bio, we’re helping people to do exactly what we did, because it really, really helped us to have just a different quality of life. Because it’s kind of like at the moment, we work with two types of clients. And like one avenue, like we’re working with small lifestyle founders, so people who majority of the times wants to go out of corporate environment and start their own business. But we also work in with the tech startup founders in the Lisbon area, because that’s where we based right now. And for example, like for the tech startup founders, like they want to, like, you know, create their next unicorn, like, at least 1 billion business, but people who come you know, like from high pressure environments in corporate, they just want to have a good quality of life and have the income that allows them to have this lifestyle, right. So that’s basically what’s what we’re helping them with. And so we came to that, because both myself and my partner, we kind of we weren’t quite successful in our corporate careers. But Carson was almost completely burnout, I had like really strong anxiety attacks to the point that I couldn’t really like feel my buddy, who couldn’t get pregnant for like, over two years was the second child even though we really wanted, and it’s kind of like, just failed at some points. Like, why we’re putting so much effort in something that feels so meaningless to us. You know, like, there is a shareholder pressure to deliver, deliver, deliver. But if we put so much effort in making money for someone else, why don’t we do it for ourselves? Right, but it was difficult to understand what is it we can do? So it’s kind of like understanding like, Okay, this shit, I don’t want to do anymore. But what else right and you don’t have this clarity. And that actually was my first experience was hiring my own coach to find the direction. And that’s how like, step by step came to the idea that I might be good coach, you know, so I took the leap of faith investment, my only savings I had at the time, when it’s like, got the coaching education, here we go.
Scott Ritzheimer
Wow, and it’s a fascinating point. And it’s actually I don’t think most people recognize this, but the entrepreneurial journey starts before you ever become an entrepreneur, right? And I actually call stage one of that process, the dissatisfied employee knows that it’s you right, sitting in the office, why in the world, am I doing this? The real big challenge with that is that not every dissatisfied employees an entrepreneur, right? Not every single person should do it. And, and I’d be fascinated to hear if you agree with this statement, because it’s a little harsh, but I found that it’s true. And that is, if you can do anything other than start a business, do that, right? Because it takes a lot out of you. I love starting businesses, I help people do it all the time. But I think and I’d love to hear your thoughts on that. What would you say to that person who’s who’s sitting in the office that they’re wondering whether or not they should start a business, or pursue some type of other opportunity?
Olga Kirillova
I actually agree with you. And I don’t know, probably the only advice for me is try like, it’s not necessarily you know, like, I would never never ever advise people to do it like I did, because like I was at some point that like, I just can’t take this anymore. So I dropped out cold turkey so I didn’t have any like side hustle or anything. So we were basically on one income with my partner. And that was harsh because like once I dropped out of corporate I also got pregnant and then it became really depression, right, it kicked my butt. So like to get out there and start getting clients, but I would not advise this to anyone. But if you want to know whether it’s for you or not, for me, the only way to know is to try Yeah, try, like build something on the side, build a side hustle, see how you like it. And at some point of time, it’s gonna get hard because you’re gonna work two jobs. And then like, this is the point where you need to make a decision, do you want to invest more of your time and effort into this side hustle that is growing this growing baby, right? And drop out of your corporate, or it’s not for you. Because some people realize that they go through our programs, they get their first clients, and they’re like, You know what, I realize that’s not for me. But it is also a decision because being in that space of maybe I have a dream, but I never tried, maybe I’m missing out. The only way to know is to train.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah. And so let’s talk a little bit of like, you make this like, what are some reasons why folks decide to be founders to be entrepreneurs, because even in your entry, you kind of open up with two very, very different groups. So you got these small lifestyle founders and these texts, you know, trying to shake the world? What is what are some of the common threads? Or are there common threads behind why folks start businesses of their own?
Olga Kirillova
Some people just don’t fit into, like other environments, they’re like that to nonconformity. And I think like one of the probably first signs that like you might be good founder, if they use it in your corporate meetings, and you’re looking at your boss and your boss’s boss, and you’re like, I don’t want to be there. Or you understand that you’re in a player, but you’re stuck with a bunch of like C and D players, because you have division, and you have the ideas. But the environmental corporate moves too slow, right? So a lot of times, like founders are those people who’s like, I’m just like, I can’t take this anymore. Because I have the idea have the vision, I want to put it into practice, right? I’m burning with that. And especially tech startup founders, they’re like, very honest. Right. So like, put something together, try try try like speeds like Trumps, like everything. So yeah, it’s kind of like this.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. And, and so one of the things that I see happen, and I would imagine, you experience this quite a lot, but folks come into it with this kind of preconceived, anytime I hear founders say, should write that, that to me is that there’s a problem behind that, you know, where are you getting that idea? So this idea of, if you’re going to start a tech company, it has to be a unicorn, or if you’re going to start your own business has to be a million dollar business, you know, what would you say, you know, is that true? Right? Do you have to be a billion dollar business? Do you have to be a million dollar organization? What is it that really makes success for an entrepreneur?
Olga Kirillova
This is really interesting, because a lot of times people don’t get what they want, because they don’t define what they want. Right? Like, there’s clarity that’s that you mentioned. So what is success for you? What, like, what is it that you want? And I’m, like, very firm believer that the business needs to support our lifestyle, and not the other way around. You know, it’s like, our life should not be built around our business or our work or whatever that is, right. But it’s the other way around. Like, what lifestyle? Do you want to live? Like, what will make you happy? What do we want out of like, freakin life, right? We want to spend more time with your kids. And we want to spend more time with your kids. Maybe you don’t want to work? I don’t know, like 70 hours per week on your business. So what is it that model that will allow you to have a decent lifestyle and decent quality of life and have what you actually want to have? What is success for you? Yeah, right. But to the point that a lot of times, like white people need to have like the next unicorn, the next 1 billion euro business, because people just identify their self worth was their success. And it’s like, it’s so like, stuck together, right? So like, it’s kind of, I’m only worthy. If I reach x like that. And a lot of times it’s driven by the external validation, right? So like, then people will think of me this. And that, right? So this is why I guess, yeah, a lot of times that this, this comes to this.
Scott Ritzheimer
And so what do you do instead? Right? How can we get clear on because I mean, you ask anyone, it’s like, you want an extra million dollars? Everyone says yes, right, million euros, or whatever it may be, right? We all would all be fine with the additional income and revenue. And so how do you kind of clarify what is right sized or right shaped for you as an entrepreneur?
Olga Kirillova
So actually, in this moment of time, I go to subconscious tools, because a lot of times logic here is useless. So we do visioning, usually with our clients. And for me, it’s like kind of your quality of life or your success is every single day of your life. Because like if every day is an ideal day for you, then you ultimately have in your success, right? So we take certain periods of time in the future, and we dive into the visioning, and they guide people through the vision of how their ideal day would look like and so much becomes clear from that when subconscious already has all the images of what people actually want out of it.
Scott Ritzheimer
Wow, there’s another aspect to this that I feel like kind of inadvertently gets woven in. A lot of times if we’re saying, hey, success isn’t up into the right it’s not a million dollars. It’s you. It’s what you want it to be I can also bring in kind of this element of laziness or apathy. Right? It’s kind of woven into that, like, Success for me is not working. It’s sipping martinis. You know, or doing something like that. Nothing wrong with sipping martinis. But what’s the role of hard work in, in creating the lifestyle that you want?
Olga Kirillova
I mean, you need to understand, I guess that there is no such concept as something for nothing. Right? In order to get something out, you need to put something in. And it is the hardest in the beginning. It’s always the hardest and the beginning, like your first couple of 1000s of dollars, a years that you make will be the hardest money you ever made in your business. It is like this. I always compare it to like, I don’t know if you have kids, but I have to write so it’s like having a baby. Because your whole life changes like you imagine your business as a baby is a separate being from you. Right? So like, you can’t be like sitting on your ass. Sorry, sorry for my language, right? And like, and be like, Oh, I’m not feeling like feeding my baby today. Like, yeah, but then the baby dies. You know, it’s like, it’s the same as the business if you don’t jump in, if you don’t create this revenue, right? If you don’t feed the baby, the baby dies. And that’s probably the number one reason because people like when they start businesses, they experience the cashflow issues, right. And when like, you experience the cash flow issues, and the gap is too big, that’s when your business just can’t survive anymore. So the role of every founder to make the business cashflow positive, as fast as possible. Like that’s the number one task, right?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Yeah. And we call that stage early struggle, right? It’s like, how do you how do you get cashflow positive? How do you find that profitable, sustainable market? One of the things that we like to say is the best, the best strategy for being a startup is to stop being one, you know, like there’s this kind of glamorization of like we’re a startup, we’re always a startup, it’s like, well, you know, what it really means to be a startup is not a romantic endeavor. You know, it’s it’s a very difficult process. And so yeah, best, the best strategy for being a startup is to stop being one and, and as I was kind of looking through your website, this was the the kind of theme that kept resonating through is when you know what’s important to you, right? It’s not about working harder, not working hard. And when I’m saying working hard, I’m not saying 70 hours versus 50 hours. That’s not what I mean at all. But like going in and actually doing the hard work, making the call, you don’t want to make right and you’re writing the email you don’t want or whatever it is, there’s hard work that has to happen. And, and that is, it’s not so much that it’s not hard work or hard work. That’s not really what we’re going after, what we’re going after is what is the fruit of that hard work? Right? When you have that vision that you mentioned, that’s what makes the hard work worth it. And I love so much about your approach, because there is you know, and just your website, it’s fun, right? It’s exciting that like there’s freedom in it. And that’s ultimately I think, what most founders one has that degree of freedom. But I think the way that you create that the way that you help folks create that is through that vision, and then saying, Okay, what’s necessary to make that happen? What would you say, kind of in light of that they’ve got a vision, they have an idea, what are some of the next steps that they need to do maybe even to start pursuing profitability.
Olga Kirillova
So I’m a big believer in the lean startup methodology. And we actually take it from kind of like the tech world, and we always bring in the lifestyle turf, as well, because for me, it’s like, really go through this build, measure, learn feedback loop as fast as possible, right, because the one thing is to have the idea in your head, the other thing is to actually go out and test it, you need to test it as fast as possible. And what I find super interesting is that a lot of times when people like even explore this lean startup methodology, they misunderstand it, or they miss a step. And there is a stat which is called, like, customer problem fit. Because much majority of times people have this idea in their head, and they’re so attached to this, like, you know, the love was the idea was that product was their service, their process, whatever that is, right. So they go out and they test by telling people the solution without asking the problem. Right? So like, you need to actually like the first step that I would do, like just talk to hungry people sake hungry people, like how many people you have in your network 2000 5000 At least, you know, like, if you like even look at your LinkedIn Instagram, like, I don’t know your whatsapp contacts, whatever that is, right? So you have this people talk to 100 people, get them on the on the phone, get them on Zoom, and ask them if in this space where you want to start the business, what is that problem? What they wish was was there what are they looking for? Right? And once they tell you build the solution around it, right, but don’t offer them a solution and then ask them what do you think about that? Because people are nice. They will tell you like whatever you want to hear they and you kind of like closing this door actually listening out from them what the actual problem is?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, it’s so true. It’s so true. And I think this is tied into it was a little bit of a segue here. When it comes to people being nice, right, and kind of giving their opinion and whether or not that’s helpful, non paying clients are, you know, and with regard to the package that you offered, that’s not very helpful. I think you identified that really well. The other one is the folks in their life, right? So maybe family or friends or other people who are not entrepreneurs? What’s, what’s their role in the entrepreneurs journey?
Olga Kirillova
This is like a painful question, because so when we started out the most time supportive people around us were family members, who were like, You guys like crazy. Look at you, you are like, in the stable jobs with really good income, like, you worked hard for this, like, why would you drop out? Why would you like just go and do something, which is unpredictable, there is a lot of uncertainty, what about your pension? Right? Like, all those things, and I, I believe it’s very, very hard for people who, a lot of times just put their insecurities onto you, right? And they like, they will not hold you back. Because they don’t want the best for you. But because they’re truly scared for you, like, you know, like, they love you, they don’t want you to hurt yourself, right? So in for them, it’s scary. So if I don’t know, like, if you have a friends, like family, like people who are watching us and listening and us be the most supportive you can be, because it is very hard, the founders journey is very lonely and very hard, because for majority of times, our environment doesn’t support us. So finding this group of people who are really like minded, who are on the same journey, that you can very openly share your ups and downs, because it normalizes the process so much. Like, it’s for everybody, like I was just a couple of weeks ago, like in Lisbon, we have a unicorn factory. So they’re basically accepting companies, which are scale ups, right, who are like, has the ambition to scale 2 billion euros, euros businesses. And like, just talking to those people, like how hard it is, you know, like how everybody at some point is on the verge of given up, because the money is not coming in the cash is running outside the countries the investment. But if you pull through this, right, like the first investments, like the first round of investment is very hard to raise. But the second one becomes easier, right? Yeah. And a lot of times people say like the first 100k was, was so hard. But then 20 million after that 200 million after that was like this, but it’s because he goes through this, but you need people who understand the journey who can support you in this moment, when you bout to give up when you bout to say like, okay, you know what, like, I don’t want to do this anymore.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah. There’s so much good stuff in there. Yeah, I love it. And I kind of want to piggyback on that, because you’re one of those people, right? You understand that you help other folks through it? What would you say in light of that is the biggest secret you wish wasn’t a secret at all? What What’s that one thing that you wish everybody listening or watching today knew?
Olga Kirillova
I don’t even know. Like if, if that’s the secret. But like, I actually think like, you don’t need to be anything special, like in the way to be an entrepreneur. But you just need to understand that if you have this, like very deep, why inside of you, you will find the way to make it happen. Right? So like, you don’t even need the confidence. You don’t need to like, you can just do it from service. Right. And I think like, probably, I mean for us, right? Because we also work in this in this space of purpose driven businesses and purpose driven for us means that at some point of time, you went through some shit in your life that you weren’t able to find the solution for. Right? And then you’re able to like, bring it into your own business and you helping others with this thing, right? And you have this deep desire and have this deep empathy. You just need this mentality of service. You know, sales is not about like, selling people on something that we’re like looking at them as like ATM machines, but it’s about being of true service to people. So I think like, if everybody just had this mindset, like it, it’s not a secret, but switching their focus from what people will think about me, what if I fail, you know, it’s like, me, me, me, me, right? Just switching this focus for a second. On the other side, to the people on the other side, come to you want to help, you know you’re doing sales calls, not because you want to drag the money out of them, but because you truly want to offer them a solution to the problem. You know, and they think like, this is the secret of success. And it’s the same thing. It goes for every founder, it doesn’t matter if we are you know, bootstrapping our business and we are doing sales by ourselves by reaching out to somebody like in our network or I don’t know, cold emailing someone or if you’re fine, fine. Under, like, who’s raising the capital? Right? And you’re just like, going to meet venture capitalists, right. But in this moment, like switching your attention to other humans in front of you. And then for me, it was probably the biggest revelation. Because once you switch the focus, like everything changes.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Yeah, that’s so good. So one more question for you. And then I want to make sure folks know how they can get in touch with you. Because there’s, there’s founders, even pre founders out there, that this is just exactly what they need exactly in the moment that they need. But before we get there, I want you to actually take off your coach, consultant, advisor hat, right? Put on your your CEO hat, if you will, and talk to us what’s the next stage of growth look like for you and your business? And what challenges will you have to overcome to get there?
Olga Kirillova
So actually, like we’re building something, right now, because, as I said, Right, we’re working on this to kind of like very different avenues. And what we discovered because we work also within the ecosystems of business incubators, business accelerators, business, like for tech startup founders, right. And they have this, this ecosystem of mentors and a lot of business tools, right. But people who come from the lifestyle, like who don’t want to have this like hugely scalable businesses, they have almost zero chance to get into those incubators or accelerators just because, you know, like, they’re not accepted, because the ideas are not so scalable. So we are trying to take this, like the system and this framework, and build a digital business incubator for lifestyle entrepreneurs. Because what I observe and like what our clients are telling us as well, it’s so overwhelming, like, there are so many different courses and experts and like, there’s so much of expert advice, like which is controversial, and you don’t even know where to go, right. But creating this ecosystem for people where they have, like a pool of mentors, like when they have like mentors who are following them, like in their business, like for the duration of one year, like I don’t know, having like a business advisor, having the marketing advisor having their financial advisor at all times with you. But then also have a pool of experts who are experts in certain areas, like I don’t know, if you need social media, then you get something from social media or whatever that is, right. And like given this possibility for people to have access to that. So that’s our next like, I would not say challenge, but like the the exciting part, like something that we’re building right now. And the challenge, I think, is to find a really quality mentors, people who don’t just like read something from from books, or whatever, but who really went through this process of bootstrapping their business, at least to the first six figures, because people understand what they’re talking about, right? And they can really like being like holding this space for people who are just starting out, right, and bringing them together, like on this journey. So that’s, that’s what we’re doing at the moment.
Scott Ritzheimer
Remarkable. Remarkable. I love it. So folks want to find more about maybe that in the future, or the work that you and your partner do. How can they get in touch with you? How can they find out more about your company?
Olga Kirillova
I mean, like you mentioned our website, which looks horrible at the moment. So it’s in the reconstruction on the back end, but you can go to mettacoaching.com and metta not like Metaverse, you know, but meta like Buddha’s metta with double t, you can also find us on LinkedIn. Yeah, that’s probably the easiest way is like we’re on LinkedIn on Instagram on our own website.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. I love it. Well, Olga, thank you so much for being on thank you so much for what you do. It was a remarkable episode and a remarkable journey that you guys faced and it’s such a privilege to see you being able to help so many others through that same journey. So thank you. Thanks for being on. For those listening today. You know, your time and attention mean the world to us. I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did. And I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care
Contact Olga Kirillova
Olga spent over a decade in business heading up teams and managed up to $2bn businesses within the likes of Adidas and Wayfair. But, she realized she just wanted to have more time for her family. So she and her partner started their own coaching business in 2020. They built a thriving business, without a website, without an email list, and with a horde of followers on Instagram. And the best part was she could spend 8 months of the year spent traveling with her family, enjoying a flexible schedule and doing it all with highest amount of energy she has ever had. She now helps other founders, owners, and busy professionals create the life they truly desire.
Want to learn more about Olga Kirillova’s work at mettaCOaching? Check out her website at http://mettacoaching.com
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