605 - From Corporate to CEO: How I Built a Sustainable, Profitable Business as a Female Entrepreneur

In this week’s pep talk, I am sharing the origin story behind the business, the podcast, and the life-first philosophy that shaped everything, why it didn’t start polished or planned, and how small, aligned decisions built something sustainable over time.

In today’s episode, I share:

• 01:48 – Why it took 600 episodes to finally tell the origin story
• 03:36 – How the podcast became the anchor for the entire business
• 05:36 – The Jenny’s Ice Cream moment that changed how I thought about impact and work
• 07:15 – What the “bus stop dream” is and why it became the real metric for success
• 09:47 – Starting a business in the margins while working full-time and raising twins
• 12:01 – How the pandemic forced a life-first business model before it was trendy
• 14:10 – Why community beat courses and shaped the direction of the business
• 16:08 – Making the leap from corporate with clarity, support, and imperfect timing
• 18:56 – Building systems around energy, capacity, and real life
• 21:01 – Why SEO, relationships, and the podcast outperform constant visibility
• 24:15 – Hiring specialists instead of trying to do everything yourself
• 26:48 – Using AI as a support tool without losing voice or humanity
• 29:13 – Three prompts to define your own bus stop dream and non-negotiables

🔗 LINKS MENTIONED:

👉 Take the FREE CEO Week Challenge → www.hollymariehaynes.com/ceoweek

🌎 Website → www.hollymariehaynes.com

📲 Instagram → @thehollymariehaynes

🗨️ Chat with Holly → https://www.hollymariehaynes.com/chat

🔗 FREE RESOURCES:

https://www.hollymariehaynes.com/workwithme