Julie Duncan
Julie Duncan is a Certified Master Life Coach and the owner of Empowering Life Coaching & Consulting, LLC, specializing in empowering professional women and entrepreneurs to overcome limiting beliefs. Inspired by the butterfly’s transformation, she emphasizes that success is 80% mindset and 20% skill set. Julie maintains work-life balance through clear boundaries, prioritizing tasks, and seeking support from her network. Her passion lies in witnessing her clients’ growth and helping them unleash their true potential to make a positive impact in the world.
If your business could have a mascot, what would it be and why?
I’ve been captivated by the butterfly for years. Their transformation from a caterpillar beautifully illustrates the power of change. Their metamorphosis shows us how true growth often means outgrowing our current self to reveal our true potential within. My mascot in my Life Coaching would be a Butterfly.
What strategies do you employ to maintain a healthy work-life balance while running your own business?
I am the owner of Empowering Life Coaching & Consulting, LLC in conjunction with working a full-time job. I’ve had to learn creative ways to find success in both arenas, while maintaining a healthy life outside of both work environments.
My Top Five Strategies include:
- Setting Clear Boundaries: It’s imperative that I define specific work hours for my business and stick to them. If we treat our business like a hobby, we will get hobby results. If we treat it like a business, we will get much better results. I stick firmly to the hours set to allow for personal time, as well.
- Prioritize Tasks: Lists and calendars are my BFF’s. They are critical for organization; time management; maintaining focus; prioritizing important and urgent tasks first.
- Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle. I love them saying, “If we don’t have our health, we don’t have anything.” The truth is our health is the foundation for everything. When we have our health, we can live a vibrant life. Without our health, getting up in the morning, brushing our teeth and leaving the house can be very taxing. I am blessed with terrific health which enables me to exercise, maintain a balanced diet, and get sufficient sleep. These factors play a key role in one’s productivity and work life balance.
- Seek Support: It’s been said that we are the sum product of the five people we spend the most time with. I am blessed with a strong network of supportive professionals. Having like minded people in your corner to cheer you on, ask for help and support your journey is empowering. The more empowered we are, the more we can set boundaries and say no when needed to maintain a healthy work life balance.
- Evaluate and Adjust: I regularly assess where I’m at week’s end. If there is work that needs to be done in my business that I didn’t get to during the week, I’ll schedule time on Saturday for completion. If everything is in order, I allow myself personal time.
When faced with unexpected detours on your business path, how do you pivot with grace and resilience, showing fellow women entrepreneurs the way forward?
Pivoting gracefully and resiliently is fundamental in any business. It allows you to maintain momentum and inspire fellow women entrepreneurs.
I’m reminded of a pivotal point in my business. I spent copious amounts of time creating content and learning my craft. I followed many of the greats who have gone before me, such as Les Brown, Tony Robbins, and Dean Grazioso, to name a few. Then it came time to market my business. I quickly realized I was ill equipped with the mindset and skill set of a “marketer.” As a “Mindset” Life Coach, I was faced with my own limiting beliefs regarding sales and my value and identity as a high value life coach.
I spent some time peeling back the layers of what was holding me back from marketing and my own self-imposed limiting beliefs. My realizations were transforming and empowering. I also aligned myself with a business coach to build the mindset and skill set needed for success.
My Life Coaching message is now: Success is 80% mindset, 20% skill set. I’m here for the 80%!
How do you measure the success of your business beyond financial metrics, such as customer satisfaction or community engagement?
Success can come in a myriad of ways. Within six weeks of deciding (success is always a decision) that I was going to start making connections, forming relationships and marketing my life coaching business, I was a guest on six Podcasts; featured in Force Magazine with my article, “Pain as the Pathway”; signed up for three virtual speaking events as a presenter; signed up as a contributor to an Anthology, “Thank God It’s Monday: Choosing to Create the Life You Love to Live.”
These events were not only important for visibility, but they also fed my soul and affirmed my path.
Feeding our passions and finding our life purpose, can do far more for us than any single financial metric.
Can you share a memorable moment where you witnessed significant growth or transformation in your business, illustrating the impact of your services/products?
Client testimonials are single handedly the most impactful part of my business.
Being a part of my client’s transformations over time is incredibly rewarding. However, when my clients can articulate the changes in identity, thoughts, feelings and actions and the impact upon their personal and professional relationships, that solidifies it all.
This is one of my favorite moments regarding client testimonials. A client related that she was broken in our first meeting. We explored what being broken meant to her and how it felt.
I used the analogy of a glass shattering on the floor in a million pieces. That glass was broken in the true sense of the word. When she wrote her testimonial, her words spoke of empowerment and transformation. She no longer identified with feeling broken.
What role do you believe mentorship plays in the success of small businesses, and how have mentors influenced your own entrepreneurial journey?
Mentorship is truly one of the biggest keys to my success as a life coach. No man is an island, and this statement rings so very true for entrepreneurs. We all need like-minded people in our corner.
Since the inception of computers and the Internet, we have access to billions of bytes of information every single day. I admittedly, was one of the information junkies running with the information superhighway. Years back, I recall hearing Les Brown, Best Selling Author, and Renowned Motivational Speaker, on a Facebook Live. He is a four-time cancer survivor and was living from his hospital bed. In all my life, I have never witnessed anyone so vivacious, in such a moment of adversity. Les laughed and joked as he asked the nurses to give him a moment; he was “talking to his friends.” I was captivated and became a follower. Because of Les’ influence, I wrote my story, “Coming Full Square,” in his newly released book, “The Come Back: Turning Your Life Around With Les Brown & Friends.”
Since then, I have followed many of the greats and aligned myself with one-to-one mentors. Why wouldn’t we want to learn from those who have found tremendous success in our industry?
What’s your work all about, and how does it make a difference in the world?
As a dedicated life coach, I’m committed to empowering professional women to transcend limiting beliefs. I’m their guide to self-confidence and self-worth for unstoppable success.
My niche is working with professional women, entrepreneurs, and business owners, aged 45-60, who are prepared to overcome their limiting beliefs and step into their true potential.
If success truly is 80% mindset, I’m here for the 80%. It’s time to BREAK FREE FROM YOUR LIMITATIONS AND UNLEASH YOUR TRUE POTENTIAL! Imagine the impact your life would have upon the world if you mastered the 80%!
Get in touch
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/julieduncanempoweringlifecoaching/