Yolanda K. Churchwell

I think my greatest accomplishment has been coming in and having clients who thought that they needed to give up, when in reality, we were able to put the processes and systems in place so that they could be more strategic in their thinking, and they did go from a position of, do I give this up, to a position of thriving and loving what they do, and being able to do it better than ever. Part of the reason that I do that so well is not just because I'm very strong when it comes to systems and processes, but I've been there. I had a retail store that was an instant success, but I wasn't able to keep up with it because I had a plan not to fail, but not a plan to succeed. What I learned from that experience is that a plan not to fail is not the same thing as a plan to succeed. Sometimes the thing that will shake a business, the thing that can take you from scaling to failing, is not necessarily negative. It could be the wind of success. I learned that my business didn't have a girdle, that firm foundation. My 20-year career with the federal government also helped me. If you can do processes and systems with the federal government and all of the paperwork and red tape they have, you can do processes and systems anywhere. For 12 years, I did investigations of preparers and promoters and businesses, so I know what it looks like to fail, I know all of the warning signs, I know all of the things that you don't want to do, and that allowed me to create a plan, a blueprint, to ensure that companies' businesses don't experience that.

We know that 8 out of 10 businesses fail, but what a lot of people don't realize is that those businesses fail somewhere between 2 and 5 years, not because people don't have what it takes, but because they don't have the foundation and the systems in place. A lot of times, people plan for the negative what-ifs, but do we plan for the positive what-ifs? Sometimes the thing that will shake a business, the thing that can take you from scaling to failing, is not necessarily negative. It could be the wind of success. Does your business have a foundation strong enough to support you if your business grows double-fold, triple-fold? Can you handle that? I come in to disrupt that status quo and help businesses continue to scale and grow between that mark where sometimes they fall off, not because things aren't working, but because they are.

I start out my day with prayer and Thanksgiving. I was raised that you allow your results to speak for you, move in silence. Then I spent 20 years working with the federal government, and there was a lot of, you know, don't talk about it, don't talk about it. For me, at this point in my life, there is a shift, there's a pivot that I have to make in that I don't want to move in silence, I don't want to be a best-kept secret, and so I am learning how to step out of the shadows and express what it is that I do, share that with the world, because at this point of time, I need to make sure people know who I am and what I do, because I want to make sure that I can make an impact, and that those people who need me are able to easily find me. They don't have to look for me, and they don't have to continue to fall into those traps that business has as they figure it out on their own, but they can reach out easily, and I can assist them.