Trust, Problem-Solving, & Tolerances: Preventing Burnout While Growing an Agency from the Ground Up with Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea

BURNOUT-PROOF YOUR BUSINESS PODCAST | WORKFLOW & PRODUCTIVITY SPECIALIST | BUSINESS COACH | PREVENTING BURNOUT | GROWING AN AGENCY | SOLOPRENEUR VS HIRING A TEAM | BEING A PROBLEM SOLVER

Ashley Mahoney, Owner & Creative Direct of Hello Big Idea, grew her creative agency from nothing. She went on an Eat, Pray, Love trip to reconnect with herself and see if she could make this idea she had work. 3 months later, she returned home with a company and began growing an agency. Today she's sharing how she's been able to grow so fast and prevent herself from burning out along the way.

Hello Big Idea is a creative agency that creates striking brands, authentic websites and honest content. They do everything from helping name your business to execution of all creative design work - brand, web, social media, photography, videography, etc. Check them out at https://www.hellobigidea.com

“It’s not always going to be easy, but there are ways to uncomplicated things. So, if you can concentrate on that, then that’s the goal.”

— Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea
Guest on the Burnout-Proof Your Biz Podcast

Click below to listen to this week's episode:

Want help problem-solving & creating an action plan?

Let’s chat! In my coaching & consulting sessions, I help busy and overwhelmed business owners find joy in their business again and feel the freedom they’ve been dreaming of since before they started their business. Book your free discovery call today .

Inside the episode:

• Being ok with alone time

• Being proactive and a problem solver

• Putting yourself in the right position to be growth oriented

• Building a business bigger than yourself, beyond being a solopreneur

• Giving yourself a deadline to figure out your business before going to Plan B

• Building a freelance business 

• Taking the time to stop and reflect in order to problem solve when something doesn’t go right

• Making decisions as a solopreneur vs. as a business owner who will hire full-time employees

• Starting with contractors before hiring full-time employees

• Setting long-term business goals

• Breaking goals down into sizable bites

• Keeping yourself accountable in your business

• Rewarding your employees and hiring the right people 

• What to do when you’re not sure you’ll meet your business goals

• Trusting yourself and the foundation you’ve built in your business

• Creating a resource page for your clients and how to know what to create resources for

• Keeping a list of tolerances 

• Creating habits that prevent burnout

“It’s all about figuring out what’s the end goal and what are the bite size chunks we’re going to take and what are the steps we’re going to take to get to that bigger goal.”

— Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea
Guest on the Burnout-Proof Your Biz Podcast

MORE RESOURCES:

• Strategy Session with Chelsea B Foster

• Journaling - Check out Episode 035 - with Tonya Vanderhardt for some great journaling activities

• Organize your action plan using Asana or Trello*

“I consider us problem solvers in everything that we do.”

— Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea
Guest on the Burnout-Proof Your Biz Podcast

Today's Permission Slip:

Each episode I give you a permission slip - a reminder to give yourself permission to run your business and live your dream life on your own terms.

Ashley shared how she prevents burnout by using a list of tolerances. These are the things she’s tolerating until she can get them off her plate. Knowing that there’s a plan for change, even if you can’t make the change right now, is all you need to keep you going when everything is hard.

So today I want you to create your own list of tolerances. And pick out one or two things you can start taking action on.

I give myself permission to create my list of tolerances and an action plan to get some of them off that list.

Make sure to include things from all areas of your life - not just biz items. And remember to focus on the action you can take to remove these from the list. The goal here isn’t to get stuck in all the things you want to change, but to help you create that plan for making the changes actually happen.

“It’s always a process. We’re always shifting and we’re always problem-solving.”

— Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea
Guest on the Burnout-Proof Your Biz Podcast

Connect with Ashley:

• Website: hellobigidea.com

• Instagram: @hellobigidea

• Facebook: @hellobigidea

• Pinterest: @hellobigidea

“I had to release. I had to trust in what I had done. I had to release those doubts, release those fears.”

— Ashley Mahoney of Hello Big Idea
Guest on the Burnout-Proof Your Biz Podcast

Let’s Connect!

If we aren't already friends, I'd love to get to know you! The absolute best place to do that is on Instagram. I hang out there pretty much all the time. I'm @chelseabfoster. Come say hi!

---

---

If you liked today’s episode, I’d love for you to share it on Pinterest and/or leave a review on iTunes.