Kimberly Erhardt
Kimberly Erhardt is a Leadership Mastery Coach dedicated to empowering individuals by enhancing their coaching skills. She believes that coaching is one of the most impactful benefits leaders can offer, fostering growth and creating more meaningful lives for team members. Drawing from her HR experience, Kimberly understands the challenges leaders face in driving morale and retention without much control over resources. Her work emphasizes the power of coaching to not only improve performance but also cultivate fulfilling lives for those she mentors. With a focus on natural rhythms and a mindset of experimentation, Kimberly guides fellow entrepreneurs through their journeys, advocating for a balanced approach to business that encourages growth and resilience.
If your business could have a mascot, what would it be and why?
It would be an owl, to represent my passion for helping others bring their wisdom to the forefront.
What strategies do you employ to maintain a healthy work-life balance while running your own business?
The most important strategy I use to find balance is intentionally shifting my focus from other humans and toward nature. When I try to emulate others, my nervous system takes a hit. I start thinking I need to be constantly active, productive, creative, and that’s exhausting. But when I look at nature—how winter is so different from fall, or how trees grow at their own pace each year—it reassures me that my experience is a natural one.
Nature isn’t always about spring growth or fall harvest; those seasons of rest, dormancy, and letting go are just as necessary. I used to fight against my own natural rhythms, pushing myself to be consistent in ways that just didn’t feel sustainable. But now, by paying attention to the lack of consistency in the natural world, I’m learning to work with my own cycles, instead of against them. And that’s what’s helping me maintain a healthier work-life balance.
When faced with unexpected detours on your business path, how do you pivot with grace and resilience, showing fellow women entrepreneurs the way forward?
I haven’t hit many unexpected detours yet, but I’ve definitely had to pivot a lot while figuring out how I want to build my business. What helps me is treating everything as an experiment or a chance to learn. It takes the pressure off because you can step into each decision knowing it might work, or it might not—and either way, there’s something to be gained.
The sheer volume of decisions you have to make as a business owner is overwhelming. Every choice—whether it’s your business name, colors, niche, ideal client, website platform, or even what payment software to use—feels like it comes with zero certainty that you’re making the right call. It’s intense, exhausting, and you still have to figure out how to actually do the work of your business on top of it all. The creativity required to keep moving can feel like a tall order. That’s why I lean on this mindset of experimentation. It creates space for pivots and takes away some of the pressure to get it right all the time.
It’s harder to make those pivots if you’ve set harsh or unreasonable expectations for yourself. If you’re finding it tough to offer yourself grace or stay resilient, it might be worth looking at the expectations you’re holding. Are they realistic? Are they kind? Expecting yourself to run a flawless business with zero experience is not a reasonable—or kind—expectation. But when you let go of that and allow room for learning, it’s easier to navigate the twists and turns that inevitably come with building something new.
How do you measure the success of your business beyond financial metrics, such as customer satisfaction or community engagement?
Client satisfaction surveys and personal satisfaction. It’s far less tangible, but my own energy level seems to be a pretty good indicator of how successful my business is.
What role do you believe mentorship plays in the success of small businesses, and how have mentors influenced your own entrepreneurial journey?
I am part of a small business owners social media group and use that for my mentorship needs. I like receiving multiple suggestions when I seek advice, so that I can filter through them, take what resonates and leave the rest. I’ve steered away from seeking out a single mentor. Part of that is probably due to my bias towards coaching. Coaching acknowledges how each person’s wiring and situation is unique and therefore what may work for one person would not necessarily work for another. When I seek advice from my coach friend and fellow business owner, I know that she will offer it with the understanding that we are different people, in different situations and therefore what works for her may or may not be helpful for me and so she is able to offer it without attachment. That seems to be a rare trait to find in another though. I believe mentorship is good for highlighting opportunities and resources that an individual may not be aware of, or for answering specific questions about how certain things work, but for most of my business support needs, I prefer to work with a coach.
What’s your work all about, and how does it make a difference in the world?
My work is about helping leaders develop their coaching skills because I believe coaching is one of the most impactful benefits you can offer a team member. It empowers them to grow and create a more meaningful life. Unlike traditional benefits that require approval, external support, or a budget, coaching is something you can provide anytime, anywhere.
After years in HR, I’ve seen the difficult position leaders are often in—responsible for morale and retention, yet having little control over things like pay, benefits, or staffing levels. That’s why I’ve come to see coaching as the most powerful tool leaders have. It not only improves performance but helps people grow in ways that equip them to build lives of meaning and fulfillment.
Coaching is incredibly fulfilling to provide, and the best part is, it simply requires learning the skills and rethinking how you spend time with your team. When you do, you make a real difference—not just in work outcomes, but in the lives of those you lead.
Get in touch with her:
www.linkedin.com/in/kimberly-erhardt