Kathryn Binkley:
Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. Today I'm super excited to have clients Brianna Battles and Heather Osby with me. Why don't the two of you introduce yourselves and then I can't wait to chat about the topic today. And you might be dreading it, I'm not sure. But I'm really excited to share.

Brianna Battles:
Thanks for having us, Kathryn. I'm Brianna Battles. I am the CEO and founder of Pregnancy and Postpartum Athleticism. And that business is dedicated to supporting pregnant and postpartum athletes and the coaching professionals who work with them so that pregnant and postpartum athletes can pursue a lifetime of athleticism. And so my business has a variety of online resources and programs and even a certification course for professionals to really help with our mission of pursuing that lifetime of athleticism while honoring the seasons of pregnancy and postpartum.

Heather Osby:
I'm Heather Osby. I'm the, I guess, recently COO of the company, and I kind of run the marketing department as well. So I came on to just fix a couple of e-books in 2020, and that sort of evolved into where we are today, which speaks volumes for, like, that's just how it has gone. And so I'm just super excited to be a part of the mission of the business and to work alongside Brianna and our team.

Kathryn Binkley:
Again, thanks for both of you joining. Like I said, I'm really excited to chat about this topic. It's not always a fun one to talk about, but in business, you set things up, you start scaling the business, you start growing the revenue. But oftentimes we really build a business around us, and when we do that, we're setting ourselves up to not always be able to step away. And so many of my clients come to me really worried about being able to take that time off for fun, but then they're forced to when something happens in life, and the thing is, life is inevitable and things are going to happen. I've had experiences where I've had to step away, and the two of you just have this incredible story, I think, of how to handle all of that, like all the ups and downs of it and come through it on the other side, not settling for less than what you went into it with. So I really want to talk about how to set your business up to succeed even when life happens versus it succeeding only when life goes perfectly. Because, of course, life isn't perfect.

Kathryn Binkley:
So before we even dive into some of that, let's set the stage a little bit. Brianna, I met with you first before I met Heather. Of course. And why don't you tell everyone kind of what you were looking for or where the business was when we first started working together. Because it's been over a year now.

Brianna Battles:
I think with my business, I like to say that I fell into it ass backwards. Right. It was like this thing I was really passionate about. Even though I was like a career strength conditioning coach. It all kind of started as a hobby where I was just genuinely sharing because I cared a lot. Well, and then it turned into an online business and online products and I didn't even really know what an online course was, but then here I was creating one. And so the business had just evolved so much over the years to the point where it's a really successful business both in impact and in revenue and with all of the things I want to do. As a very visionary CEO, I knew that I needed like, I didn't need a coach to give me ideas.

Brianna Battles:
I needed a coach to help me optimize how my business was running so that I could scale to seven figures and beyond and then really grow. Just the impact of what we're really.

Kathryn Binkley:
Trying to do here.

Briana Battles:
But knowing how to do that when my background is like strength and conditioning and fitness and like not business at all and no entrepreneurs in my family, like nothing. Zero exposure to entrepreneurship or especially like the online world, I didn't know a lot. And as it started to scale and become more successful it was like great. But also I'm very much in the mindset of like, I want to protect my shit. I want to make sure I'm doing this right. I want to make sure that, you know, this can be a really sustainable business because it's not just my family relying on me to be successful, but it's a lot of people that are looking for, you know, this information now it's my team. So I knew I needed a lot of help from you as somebody who really understands the back end of a business so that I knew what needed to be done in order to keep taking the vision to bigger places.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. And could you share a little bit just to give context for roughly where you were, your multi six figure business, how big your team is, that kind of thing? I think you were right over 400,000 when you came to me.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, I think I was right around that 400,000 mark. And I had two people working in the business at that time. Heather had just stepped in and in a very much like, like hesitating. Cause I wasn't sure. I was like, this is where Heather is going whether she knows it or not, like she is very good with marketing and thinking in those terms. But like she had to come to her own process with where her business was at to then being willing to step into mine more formally. So that was like a new-ish thing, newish dynamic. And then I had Alexis, who had also stepped in when my previous project manager had to bow out.

Brianna Battles:
She was like life happened. She was diagnosed with colon cancer. And so there had been a lot of changes and I was sitting here with this new team going like, okay, well and now what? How do we really optimize these roles? I didn't know anything about like friggin director of bros and director of this. Like that was not how my brain operated in assigning people like titles. It was just like, I don't know, do these things, like these themes that need handling because I didn't have that structure or that way of thinking at all.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. And then I'll even share from my perspective, when we first met, I knew that you wanted help with the team stuff and to, you know, really look at the operations side. But also I was looking at it as okay, if we're going to grow revenue. Typically one of the first things I do is simplify a business. And you're like, okay, I've got different audiences, I've got all of these offers and they're all staying on the table, which of course we could work with and we have worked with. And so I just want to put that out there that sometimes business owners do have multiple very successful offers and a couple of audiences and it's still possible to scale. If you're just starting out and you're deciding, I wouldn't recommend that you try to go that way because it's more complex. But I just want people to know that that is possible.

Kathryn Binkley:
And you're an example of that because there are so many people that have that complexity in their business.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, I don't like to do anything traditionally. I guess we're inside of any boxes, which drives both Heather and Kathryn a little crazy. But we're getting really creative. So it's been, it's been mostly positive.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. Heather, anything that you want to add about, you know, as you came on board where you saw that the business was pre, let's say pre the spring launch last year?

Heather Osby:
Well, I've just had a really interesting seat at the table for a long, long time because I was Bree's ideal client four or five years ago. I was someone who was coaching athletes myself. And then I had had my own babies and I had my own issues with my body. And so I found her early and to, like, help me with my own stuff and with the way that my brain works, I instantly started seeing opportunities. Well, like, maybe if this was structured a little better, it would be clearer to people and like, oh, well, I'm going to go ahead and still buy this thing. But it's not exactly easy, right?

Heather Osby:
So it really. I was. I had these seeds in my brain early on of, like, how we could take this really excellent offer and make it better. And luckily, a friendship developed out of that relationship. Like, out of I mean, she was my mentor initially,right. And that turned into a friendship.

Heather Osby:
And let us hear. So it's been awesome to watch this evolution of someone who has such high, high skill level and is so excellent at what they do and to be able to, like, come alongside and then take things that I'm excellent at and, like, bring them together to really just, like, grow the impact of what the brand can do.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. So good to hear that. I love that you had that relationship before and then grew into this role. It's interesting to see that happen in so many businesses that you can hire from people who are already in love with the brand in whatever aspect that that means. But so good. So let's go back to kind of where we kicked things off pretty quickly. We jumped right into planning for the launch because that was coming up. That was kind of the first big milestone we needed to work through.

Kathryn Binkley:
And let's just touch on this briefly. And I'd love for each of you to share the different kind of support that you had or how it was different to go through the launch with support because there were calls where we were really deep in numbers and in the weeds and Bree was getting her hair done. And then there are other times where we're, like, talking bigger picture and Brianna's all in it and Heather maybe was listening in and excited, but not necessarily, you know, in the weeds with topics. So tell me your two perspectives on that.

Heather Osby:
Well, I just can remember. So while Bri is, like, a really big picture visionary, I have a lot of visionary in me too, you know, so I can be great with the details, but that's not always, like, my strongest suit or whatever. So I can remember, like, one of our first calls when we were talking about launch and we were trying to figure out, like, what the average cost per webinar registration was going to be and setting our marketing budget based off of that. And you were just all over us with, like, well, how many registrations did you have last time? And what was the. The cost per that? And, like, having to pull stats? And I was just like, this is a much smarter way to do this, you know, and of course there is. Our audience is really interesting because we have a really responsive, warm audience, and then we also get paid traffic. We're trying to consistently bring new people in, but you've made us really, like, look at the numbers through a different lens. And that was my first experience doing that.

Heather Osby:
Really. Really to that level. I had done it before to a smaller level, but it was just more so before. I'm like, well, we want to have X amount of people buy, so we need roughly about this amount of people on the webinar. And then let's, I don't know, 50 bucks a day. That sounds good kind of vibe, right? And so that was good enough to get us started. But our first experience of really, like, knowing the numbers inside and out to prepare for that launch, like, that was such a good experience and a growth experience for me. And then, you know, we met our goal.

Heather Osby:
So that was. That was also really great. When you start with, like, that end goal in mind and you keep your eye on it the whole time, as it turns out, that's a good strategy.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah. And I don't think in terms of numbers or data. And I remember one of the first questions you asked me was like, what are your revenue goals? And I was like, I don't know. I'm just happy to be here. Like, I just I have never, ever set, like, financial goals or even, like, I have to sell X amount of courses or whatever launch or sale numbers. I had never put a number behind what being good was or better or best ever, because that's just not how I thought. I was like, well, I'm just going to, like, go full send.

Brianna Battles:
And I'm just happy to be here. I'm happy if people buy it because that means this stuff is getting out into the world. And, like, that is good enough for me. So then to be literally kind of forced to sit and look at these spreadsheets and ask questions and not being able to be like, I don't know, like that, you know, being able to, I guess, step into that way of thinking, even if it doesn't come naturally or even if it's, like, not super comfortable initially for me has been good. And then learning how to leverage the way I do think in terms of, like, impact and bigger picture. And then, like, say, okay, well, bigger impact would mean about this number and that's what that would allow me to do for here. So, I mean, it's, It's, I guess, expanded my, my mindset toward money and numbers and how that can keep positively influencing the. The path I'm on and the mission I have beyond, like, oh, we made X amount last month or whatever.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. I remember that conversation where we sat down and tried to go through a sales forecast together and how uncomfortable it was and it often is for visionary CEOs. Like, I get that and you're not unique in that at all. But I remember even, like, just the talk about numbers being uncomfortable and not really having those numbers. So we ended up setting a goal of 20% increase year over year, which felt very, I think, comfortable.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, I was like, I don't know, like, you tell me, like, what, what should it be like? I don't know, whatever you think should be. We'll do that.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. So knowing the changes that we wanted to make from an operations standpoint, internally, 20% sounded like a really good start. Sometimes I say you can double revenue or, you know, go with a higher percentage, but 20% was a really great number for that first year. It felt comfortable and not out of touch for you either. I mentioned you, like, sometimes, like I mentioned getting your hair done, but sometimes you glaze over when we're talking in a sense of you don't have to be involved. And I think that's a good thing. So could you also just maybe touch on what it's like to have someone else like Heather in the business who can handle those aspects of things and allow you the flexibility and freedom to really step back and just focus on the big picture?

Brianna Battles:
Yes. So having freedom within my business has always been really important to me. And that is why I, you know, I was a really appealing thought of being able to step away from, you know, coaching in more formal settings in a prior life to be able to, like, well, I'm just going to, like, coach and be mom and whatever. Obviously that has changed dramatically. But being able to have that freedom by now, having a team that supports me, and then in particular, Heather, who knows me as a human, but then knows the business really well. So there's a lot of trust there. I don't feel like I have to micromanage or like anybody, which also I hate doing. I never want to micromanage anyone, but I'm like a kind of controlling of the mission of the business, of the messaging of the business, of what I do and put out into the world.

Briana Battles:
Very controlling there. But on the back end. You know, I want to be able to give that control to my team so that I can trust that it's running well and that Heather knows what I want, how I operate, how I think, what I'm going to be okay with, like, what I probably won't be okay with. And then knowing that she can step in to have a lot of those conversations, like, on my behalf or from a different. Just like a different perspective that I value. You know, if she comes to me and is very certain about something, listen, because I know her very well, to know, like, okay, like, if she feels that. That certain about something, then we just got to go with that. And that will override.

Brianna Battles:
That overrides me.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. I love working with companies that have the dual roles because I do think that there's so much benefit to really separating those responsibilities and just how well those any two leaders can work together. And so I really love coaching both of you and giving you that flexibility to not have to pay attention to all of the numbers and to be able to focus and other things right.

Brianna Battles:
Where I'm strong, you know, like, we can lean in and kind of complement everybody's strength within the business. That's like, to me, that's coaching. That's just like, you know, certain role players who are really good at their roles. And I think there's so much about sports and coaching that translates into business, and we have to be able to think of it that way, and it helps, especially visionary people to see it a lot more clearly. It's like you have to trust that person to really shine in their given role and. And know what your role is.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah, you're right. There are lots of sports analogies that really make sense. Let's shift gears and talk about. So, as Heather mentioned, we passed the launch goal for that spring launch, and then we start to move into summer, and we still had our goals for every month of where we wanted to be and life happened. To put it simply. Brianna, maybe you can set the stage a little bit about kind of what was going on for you.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, I just had a lot of stuff come up for me personally and in my family life that required me to take a significant step back so that my focus was only on myself and my family for a period of time. And I did not know what that meant. I didn't really know what that looked like. All I know is I needed to just. I mean, I called Heather, just gave her a rundown of everything, and basically passed the torch and did not. I just needed to Solely focus on my own stuff and not have any other distractions.

Kathryn Binkley:
And what did you think was going to happen in the business? Were there any worries or fears or like. Or did none of that matter because you just knew that you needed to focus on the personal stuff, like what was going on there?

Brianna Battles:
A little bit of both. Like, I felt like I absolutely need to step away and that is fine. I have the freedom to do that and, and like, if we can just keep it afloat, that's fine. Like we don't need to be hitting numbers or doing anything extra that maybe we would have done if I was going to be more involved. But at that point in time it was just like, keep it afloat enough. Like, enough. We don't need to be just enough. Make sure like emails get responded to tech issues, whatever, but like, just keep it afloat.

Brianna Battles:
Kept my bar really low for a lot of things and you know, I would talk to Heather quite a bit, but for the most part, any kind of front facing stuff, I just bowed out completely.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. And so Heather, can you describe what was going on in your mind when you heard that, when that torch was passed and even what you were thinking about?

Heather Osby:
Yeah, I mean, I think Brie and I both live with like a family first mentality and it was really clear that like, that was where her energy and focus was needed to be. And I was like, I got this, like, we, we can definitely at least keep it afloat. Right. I think we can do better than keep it afloat. But she had me, she had Alexis and I knew that we could keep it going. And so what we lost was our ability to be on social media on a regular basis. We really wanted to step out of that capacity and that was made perfect sense. But I think that we in our minds were kind of trained that like, well, this is where so much of our business is coming from.

Heather Osby:
And it is like, don't get me wrong, we have a large amount of people that just like, keep up with us because Bri is regularly very active on social media. But I also, in my brain I knew people's attention spans are short and they probably weren't thinking about Bri as much as Bri thinks that they were thinking about her. Right. And that's something unique to her. That's everybody on social media. So I think while she was concerned that, you know, our audience might like really drop off, I was like, they won't notice that you're gone, likely until you come back. And they're like, oh, yeah, I didn't See a lot of posting from her, so. But I knew that we didn't have that avenue to use as from like a marketing perspective.

Heather Osby:
So I leaned into the things that we did have, which was paid traffic. We had been running paid traffic like a low, you know, five, ten bucks a day that we were spending on a few different offerings. And they were converting really well. We had some free offerings that were. We were getting to convert around 50 sets per opt in at the time. So we started to lean into that a little bit more and make sure that that funnel that they were going through was solid so that they were getting those opportunities to make purchases throughout the process. And then we looked at the customer base that we did have. You know, our customer journey really starts in pregnancy, and then they can do our postpartum program and then we have like a regular strength and conditioning program and then we have this coach program.

Heather Osby:
Right. So where could we move these people? How could we continue to advance them throughout the customer journey? And those were not things that needed to be like, front facing social media. A lot of that could be done with the email lists that we did have and the tagging that we had. And so we focused a lot on that. And then I was like, well, we have all these people who've opted in for like the free coach thing. Like, let's do some retargeting ads to those people and see if we can actually get them to enroll in our professional certification. Well, like, that worked. Like, we just were trying stuff and a lot of things worked, worked and that was great.

Heather Osby:
We were able to. The summer we met our revenue goal, two of the three months of the summer, and the third month was also a month that we didn't meet our revenue goal the year before. August can be a tough month in the fitness industry for whatever reason. And so I think we were really proud of that, that we were able to not just keep things afloat, but meet our revenue goal, which was 20% of an increase on the year before. And so. And we went above and beyond that. So that was a really, I think, incredible thing for us to see of like, hey, we think social media is what drives so much of our traffic, but actually it's a good mix of these other sources as well. And so just leaning in, like when you kind of shut one down, lean into some of the other ones.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. And I love that you went through and shared kind of what that plan was. I want to go back even to the first conversation I had where you and Alexis both hopped on a call with me instead of Brianna, she was already stepped out. That was immediate. Wasn't like she and I got to strategize on anything. She was out. And the two of you came to the call. And when we started talking about the goal, initially, I can't remember whether it was your Alexis, but the two of you were like, yeah, so we're probably not going to be able to hit this goal.

Kathryn Binkley:
That's okay. Like, Brianna doesn't care, like, as long as we keep things going. And I remember saying, but what if we could? And that's when we started thinking about all these other things that you just mentioned. And I was so glad that we really thought about leaning into that side, because that immediate month that was coming up, the goal was already higher than last year by several thousand. And I remember you even saying that the year before, there was some launch revenue in the mix that was still carrying over from payment plans that wasn't going to be there this year. And so we had to make up the additional plus the payment plans. And then, like you said, you surpassed that goal. You blew past it for the month and then continued.

Kathryn Binkley:
So it was awesome.

Heather Osby:
Yeah. I so appreciate your perspective. Right. That you were like, but what if we could? And that's always how it goes with you. You're like, you look at things with a totally different set of glasses than what I have on. And it was like, well, okay, I guess if we're going to think about it like that, we'd have to increase what we're doing over here and, you know, do this and do that and just like went back to the drawing board, you know, and we were able to make it happen.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. Brianna, how did it feel for you when you heard the numbers and that the business wasn't just staying afloat, it was hitting all the goals and then blowing past them.

Brianna Battles:
At that point, I didn't care what was happening with the business, to be honest. Like, I was just like, keep it, like, good again, like, I'm. I'm happy the business is doing okay. Heather would check in with me on a few things here and there. So I had enough finger on the pulse to know that where things were at, ish. But it just wasn't a priority. And that was the first time business had not been a priority in my life. And sometimes life just forces you to focus on other things and really reprioritizes for you.

Brianna Battles:
And that was the season I was in there, and I knew it wouldn't be a forever season. It was a temporary season that just required my attention elsewhere. But I had enough feedback from Heather and she had enough of my permission to like, yeah, throw the Hail Mary. Like, I don't freaking care. Like, do what you think is best. You have Kathryn and Alexis and like, I know that they know me enough to make informed choices on behalf of the business. So again, that trust factor with kind of relinquishing a lot of that control, which frankly, I kind of do anyway in a lot of those more strategy conversations. But it.

Brianna Battles:
I was fine with the Hail Mary, and I also just wasn't focused on results. It was. And I. I never really am. Right. Like, Heather is always, like, so excited about hitting numbers. I'm like, that's awesome. I suck at having good reactions.

Brianna Battles:
I don't know, like, that's not what. Like, that's not what, like, totally pumps me up. Of course it's nice to hit revenue goals and that is exciting. Especially, like I said, like, it's not familiar territory for me at all. But I just was relieved that the business was doing okay so that I could just take care of me.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. I so appreciate that honesty because I want, obviously, I just, I want you to share what really was going on. And if that number didn't matter at all, then you're not the only one out there. I have other clients who say, I'm not driven by the money. The goals don't matter as far as revenue. And it's good to see that you were able to really focus on what did matter to you and that bigger picture, just that sense of relief that you just mentioned, just feeling that relief that, okay, everything is working was enough to just again, allow you to stay focused on what you needed to.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, because I could keep it afloat. Like, if this wasn't going to be a forever strategy, this was just something I needed to handle now. Like, life will just always present seasons of like, just to different, varying degrees of, you know, I. This can't be my number one priority. I can't be as all in as I usually am. But then we can reintegrate. And being able to have that on my own terms versus, like, I have to show up to work on a Monday. Like, I'm glad that that was not my situation.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah. Is there anything that you would have done differently if you knew that you were going to need time off to prepare for that? Obviously you didn't have that opportunity to prepare. But looking back, is there anything that you would do differently? Or even if I phrase it this way, is there anything that you would tell other CEOs who are listening now, and everything's going great. Life is good. But you know that life is going to happen to them eventually, and there's going to be something. What would you tell them to do now that maybe you wish you did or maybe maybe just worked?

Brianna Battles:
Well, I think it's more of just making sure you have people on your team that can hold it down, that you who, like, support the human you and the business you. And I had that with Heather. Like I said, we had been friends for a really long time, and I knew that I could just be super honest with her, tell her where I'm at, what I need, what I'm worried about. And she was there to support human me and also, like, what the business needs on behalf of me. And I think just that person, like, that personality, that relationship in a business is really freaking critical, and it's worth nurturing and finding that person if you want to keep scaling a business, knowing that life will absolutely happen. And you got to have somebody who can hold it down with you.

Kathryn Binkley:
Heather, from your perspective, how do you build that relationship, maintain that relationship, or what advice do you have from the inside of the business that a CEO might need to be thinking about?

Heather Osby:
Well, I think probably the beautiful thing about Bri and I that works so well is I trust her vision, like, 100%. Even the days when it makes me want to slam my head against the wall because it's a new idea, that I'm just not ready for it, right. I trust her vision and where the business is going, and I let her stay in that lane. And I say in my lane of, like, digest the vision and formulate it into, like, a cohesive action plan and, like, figure out who needs to do what. And I never feel in competition with her visionary, and I never feel that she is, like, questioning my plan to kind of, like, make that happen. It's very, like, we have our lanes, and then we're, like, very collaborative. And so, like, she'll talk through her vision with me to, like, get it out, right? And I'll talk through kind of, like, my plans, make sure that is, like, cool with what she is, you know, as long as it gets her kind of the end result, usually it's. Well, it's cool.

Heather Osby:
And so I think that relationship is really, really important. And I didn't know. I didn't know that going into. When I was solo doing this on my own. I think part of what I struggled with was that I didn't have as much visionary as Bri did. So I Always had that sense of, like, but can we really make that happen? Like, I don't know, like, some limiting beliefs, which, as it turns out, were great when you're with somebody who's like, hi. Hi. Visionary.

Heather Osby:
So just having that really good combination and then taking time to, like, nurture the whole relationship, like, the human relationship, you know, the fact that Bri knows, like, what my kids do for sports and that I was mad at my husband yesterday for not washing dishes and things like that, like, those things go a long ways in just, like, building the whole relationship.

Kathryn Binkley:
That is. Yeah. That is so good. I remember talking to so many clients over the years and telling them how important it is to really invest time upfront if they just hired a second in command that they didn't know before. Like, spend time, whether it's, you know, a little bit of time every week or at least something more extended every single month, to get to know the person, to really understand everything about them. Because it's so much like a marriage. It really is.

Heather Osby:
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's so much like a marriage. And I think, you know, one thing that we do regularly is, like, we vacation together. We vacation together more than we vacation with our spouses. And it's usually, like, work type of vacation.

Brianna Battles:
But we call it business.

Heather Osby:
We call it business, and you never stop thinking about business while we're there. But, like, having those times where we, like, we get away and we walk and talk and we, like, talk about content and we talk about the vision, and we eat, like, copious amounts of sugar and Diet Coke and all of that. Like, we have those times where we remove ourselves because we're both mothers, right? And so there is just a whole, like, all that shadow work that comes when you are a mother from, like, I got to make snacks, I got to make breakfast, I got to do bedtime. That. And when you can remove that for 48 hours, it just, like, opens a lot of space for creativity. So I think that's, like, one of the really great things that we have done to build that rapport together.

Brianna Battles:
And something I think that's really helpful is Heather and I are both in a lot of therapy. Not like, a lot of therapy, but, like, we go to therapy. So I guess there's a brief. But, like, we go to therapy. So I think that there's, like, a level of emotional intelligence that a lot of people that you can get when you, like, do some personal work on yourself and you have a better understanding of, like, humans. And, you know, it. It's. It's just something that I really value about Heather is that I know she's super emotionally intelligent and she can handle my shit.

Brianna Battles:
And also, like, I can, I understand her very well and can kind of like tap into, like, coach brain and know how to, like, work with her humanness. Because, like, I'm also doing, like, a lot of work to be, like, more emotionally intelligent in a lot of different areas. And I think that that's a really, like, that's like the art of coaching, right? Is communication, understanding other humans and what makes them tick or, like, what are their blocks? Knowing their freaking enneagram, whatever it is. Like, I think that's super valuable in business. And then knowing, like, I can trust that, like, Heather has her head on straight and has the support to, like, handle all of my shit is like, that just adds to the trust factor, is that she is doing what she needs to do to take care of her and she is, like, stable.

Heather Osby:
Yeah. I mean, I know for me, like, the ability to have uncomfortable conversations together, whether it is around, like, anything, anything. We can have uncomfortable conversations and like, say, good, like, relatively, like, during them and, like, we can hear each other and we might not always agree about stuff. Right. But, like, it's going to be okay. And that is 100% because we're both really good communicators and that didn't happen overnight. You know, the ability, like, like said, being coaches, going to a lot of therapy, like, those. Those things make a big difference.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah, absolutely. There's a concept that's a part of your brand and obviously the name of a program and the name of your podcast, Practice Brave. I'd love for you to chat about how that applies in business, whether it's related to anything we talked about today or something else in general.

Brianna Battles:
But how. What.

Kathryn Binkley:
What does that really mean to you to practice brave? And how do you apply that to business?

Brianna Battles:
Practicing brave, especially in terms of business, isn't about always knowing, like, the exact right move. It's being brave enough to just try the next. What you think is likely the next right thing, the next best thing. It's not. It's not that guarantee. And I see so many people get in the way and, like, just get stuck in imposter syndrome and they don't take action. And it's not because they're not qualified or able. Like, they're just not being brave enough.

Brianna Battles:
And there's so much confidence that's found when you can practice the act of being brave, even if it doesn't deliver the exact result. You were going for. You get reps in building confidence in who you are, what you're about, what your business represents. And you also have that permission to not get it right. And I want that work out. And like, that's okay because you were just practicing towards what actually will be the thing that takes you to the next level or grows your business or grows you as a professional. It's not. I think there's just less pressure when we put practicing in front of brave instead of, well, you just gotta be brave.

Brianna Battles:
Well, no, you just gotta practice it.

Kathryn Binkley:
That's so good. Heather. Anything that you would add from your perspective.

Heather Osby:
I mean, like, I'm just doing all kinds of hard things these days that I never wanted to do before. And so, like, it's that mentality. It's, it's. And it is like I would overthink everything, right? And like, everything would just be such a big deal. But it's usually like, singular decisions, moves, whatever, typically aren't like, as huge of a deal. It's like the sum of our actions, right? The sum of those, like, attempts at just doing the next right thing and the next great thing, the next right thing. And that is really what practice brave is all about. And it's.

Heather Osby:
Yeah, I think like Bri said, putting practice in front of everything makes you. Gives you permission to not get it right. And that's what we all need in business is like, we're just trying it out, you know, my 8 year old this morning was after me about some. Some decisions that Bri and I have made in business. Like, just laughing about some of the things that have gone down in the last couple years of quarter that we were laughing about. And. And I said, baby, like, you got to know, like, when just as a business owner, like, we don't always have the right answers. Like, we're operating off of our best guess, we're doing the best we can, and we're adjusting as we meet, as we need to, and then the course correct, you know, And I think that is like such an important thing for her to know is like, we don't have it all figured out.

Heather Osby:
That's why we practice.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah, I love that. Okay, so let's wrap up here. And the way that I want to do that is by saying, first of all, last year, like, end of the story, you didn't just surpass goals in the middle of the summer months, but the whole year went really well. You surpassed the 20%. I'm a numbers girl, so I know that it was actually closer to 30%. It was I think just under 30%. So congrats. It may have been more.

Kathryn Binkley:
Okay.

Heather Osby:
I think you were looking at like early December numbers. I think we ended right at 34%.

Kathryn Binkley:
Nice. Okay. Amazing.

Heather Osby:
Because I am, I am details person now.

Kathryn Binkley:
You're a numbers person.

Heather Osby:
Love it. Yes, yes, love it.

Kathryn Binkley:
Okay, so 34% over the prior year's revenue, of course, well above the 20%, which is amazing. What's next for you? So tell me, what, what's your focus this year and specifically how are you going to practice brave this year? What are you learning? What are you doing that's different? How do you have to develop to not just keep doing what you're doing to increase revenue, but to learn and grow?

Brianna Battles:
Okay, no, that's a big question. I think I have over the last, I mean this past year has involved moving out of state for me. Like it has involved so many significant life changes. Just like a sit down, figure out who you are, what you're doing, what you want. Kind of like personal transformation in a weird way. Not to be super woo woo, but just like really trying to evolve a lot for where I'm at right now. And that has included a whole new freaking location. So it's been a lot.

Brianna Battles:
So I think now that I've gone through this like super rocky transitional season, I'm now wanting to feel like settled in, almost like settled in like my body, in my environment where like as a human settled. So then I can in turn, you know, I've like slowly over the last six months or so like reintegrated into sharing more and stepping up and like adding more to the business. And like I was very strategic with how I kept, how I decided to keep showing up and showing up and showing up. And it was a very, very gradual process for me. And because I've put in those reps and work of showing up in a way that felt really authentic and timing that I am now ready to hit the gas in business. Like it had been paused, it had been slowed, it had been consistent and now to me hitting the gas looks like, I don't know, bringing on a bunch of freaking new team members to fill roles in the business that I just had blind spots for prior. So we've shifted dynamics within the business. We've brought on a couple people to really like optimize areas of the business, business that need more attention so that I can really stay in my zone of genius and do the things that feel really meaningful for me that will move the dial forward for the brand.

Brianna Battles:
As a whole. But I need the back end support to be able to do that. And so practicing brave in a way is taking the risk, financial risk, I guess, to invest in human capital and to know that like I trust myself and my team to make this a worthy investment in order to reach the ultimate goal, which is yes, increased revenue, increased impact, et cetera. But there's a lot of, there's a lot of risk taking there. Even if you're, you know, you did well last year. An entrepreneur always thinks, but like, okay, but when is it going to fall apart? And now I can think like, well it kind of fell apart and like we survived, it's okay. So you know, I think you learn to bet on yourself a little bit. You learn to bet on your vision and it has like, that part has not guided me wrong.

Brianna Battles:
I know exactly where I want to bring this thing and what I want to do and I, I'm way too competitive to let anything get in the.

Heather Osby:
Way of that part.

Kathryn Binkley:
Yeah, I really want everyone listening to hear that like at this point you have more than. So you've crossed the half a million dollar mark and you still have thoughts about what if it all falls apart and that's normal. And I, some people think that's going to go away at some point, but it's not only normal, but like you said, things did fall apart in different ways and you still survived.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah, still survived. And like the business can keep going and when you have good support around you. You know, even if I get into a funk or I'm like, I don't really, I don't care about any of this shit right now. Like, because I get like, Heather calls them my flus. Like I just get like a weird like creative flu and I just am like. But like, you know, it's easy in those moments or seasons to be like, I'm going to lose everything. Like everything I work for is just all going to fall apart, it's going to disappear. And it's super easy to go into that like spirally way of thinking.

Brianna Battles:
This is also why we do a lot of therapy. But you know, I think it's knowing that if you have the gift of being really creative and having a big vision and a big picture and you know, that impact is important. There's going to be a lot of ways to apply that, a lot of different opportunities both in your business and beyond. So it's almost like you got to write out your God given abilities and, and see how the cards fall.

Kathryn Binkley:
So good. Thanks for sharing all of that Brianna, Heather, I also want to toss it to you. Same kind of question. How are you practicing brave this year?

Heather Osby:
Oh my gosh, so many ways, right. I am now in more of like a leadership role with the team. And so before I was kind of on a pure level with everyone else in, in the, in the company and now I am kind of stepping into more of a leadership role which I think it really what we wanted to do was free Bree up to go out and be the face of the business. And she is in her zone of genius. I want, I watched her early in the year do conduct a training and I was like, this is where she needs to be in front of the customers. She needs to be coaching professional athletes. She needs to be on stages. This is where, where she should be all the time and that and like where I should be all the time.

Heather Osby:
I don't want to do any of that stuff. That sounds awful to me. But like I really like taking our conversion rate from 30% to 50%, you know, like and I actually we talked a little bit before we got on the call here though. Like my Iowa, I'm from Iowa and so like I enjoy people and I enjoy like investing in our team and helping them like be the best version of themselves, both in work and just in life. Right. Like that brings me probably like more joy than the amount of like revenue that we're going to do is to watch bring these other all women at this point on our team and really like invest in them and help them grow as a human and then yeah, that helps grow our business and that's great too. So. But this is, this is new for me, right.

Heather Osby:
I've been either like a one woman show or like breeze wing woman. I haven't been in this leadership role. So I'm practicing all kinds of brave. And there have already been days this year where I have wanted to throw up. It's not always fun but like I am growing at rapid pace and that can be uncomfortable some days.

Brianna Battles:
Yeah. And like Heather has the freedom to grow too. Like I think that's like a big piece is like there's a. I'm not like there's no like the pressure she puts out there is like self induced pressure that we all do. But I think that the business, you know, team culture has always been incredibly important to me in every, every single thing I've been involved with in career. And I think that that becomes like that top down effect. Right. Like they know what I think they know what I like.

Brianna Battles:
We all work together and everyone is able to rise to their own occasion and then I think that empowers the brand to rise to its potential. I should make that a tweet.

Kathryn Binkley:
You totally should. Well again, thank you both. It was a great conversation. I love that you shared everything that was going on behind the scenes. Like I said, I know sometimes those topics aren't easy to talk about but it's so important I think to normalize that this does happen. These are thoughts that you're thinking. These are things that happen in life and just to help everyone know that they're going to be okay. They can survive it.

Kathryn Binkley:
If people are listening and they want to learn more about you, where should they go? How can they connect with you?

Brianna Battles:
Go to my website www.briannabattles.com. Instagram is @brianna.battles. The brand page is pregnant postpartum athlete and my podcast is the Practice Brave podcast.

Kathryn Binkley:
Awesome.

Heather Osby:
Thank you.

Brianna Battles:
Thank you.