Dealing with my own ambiguity

I have finally come to the conclusion that I really NEED a business coach. After working with Ladies Who Launch and other networking groups, I've learned that having someone I'm accountable to that isn't a relative, a teammate, or anyone else that I deal with on a daily basis and who can take all of my creativity, ideas, and chaos and make some sense out of it. The biggest thing that I look for in my coach is someone to help me reach the next level and bring some organization and process into my life. Karrie sent me a questionnaire that I needed to fill out. I've included my answers and the questions as I think they are important things you need to consider in your own lives. Below you'll also find info on Karrie...

PRE-EMPT - The answers to my questions are personal and pretty aggressive. I don't want anyone on the team feeling like they should have the same goals or they won't succeed. Let's just say I'm going to work Karrie like a dog and get my $'s worth (j/k sort of LOL). I'm sharing these so that you can ask yourself these questions and truly know your answers or your "why."








Visit http://biznik.com/members/index.html?name=Karrie_Kohlhaas to see her credentials, etc.


Initial Client Questions Thoughtshot Consulting


You’ll find 10 questions below to get us started. Please answer these questions and email them back to me before we meet. There is no right way to do this. Your answers may be short and specific or long, exploratory answers. I just want to get a sense of where you are with your project or business.

1. Describe your business.

Urban Botanic is a party plan start up that just launched nationwide in late 2006. The company brings the glamour of signature fragrances like Paris Hilton or Hillary Duff have achieved with lots of bucks to the regular person living in Seattle or anywhere in the US for that matter to be able to have their own custom fragrance that really says who they are and portrays their personality.

2. Why do you want to do this business?

I’ve always had a passion for glamorous and pretty things and being part of the "IT" crowd. Fragrance is dreamy and takes me to another place and it’s an equal playing field for anyone so I enjoy the experience I’m able to give others by bringing this to them. It’s also a great way to fill my own love of being in the spotlight and being the it girl for friends, family and consultants all over the nation.

3. How long ago did you conceive of this business? How long have you since been actively working on it?

I was approached in August by the founder and her father and they created a sample fragrance for me based on some personal achievements in my life. It was so awesome I couldn’t believe how I felt when I opened it and I absolutely adored the fragrance. This was a start of a new beginning.

4. What is the current state of your business?

I am the first manager in the company and have 10 people currently on my team. That will change to 12-13 by the end of January and maybe more. Lately I feel like I've become a magnet to those looking at UB and I want to keep up the momentum.

5. Where are you feeling solid / good / strong in this business or in thinking about it?

I definitely think I have the recruiting thing down but I’d like to turbo boost it and be able to duplicate what I’m doing within the team. I think I’m confident, a go-getter and have lots of great ideas but sometimes they get lost or I try to focus on too many things and nothing really gets the oomph behind it that it needs due to all the randomizing in my head.

6. What areas feel sluggish or where do you personally feel stopped when thinking about this business?

I actually want to get more personal business and parties and move more product. Building a team is great but moving product is where I get paid, they get paid, and I get paid on their production so it’s imperative that I be awesome in that space.

7. What would you ultimately like to see happen with this business?
What is your desired outcome?

I’d love to make millions and have a team that loves and adores me. I’d like to take the business to a new level and really work to have corporate listen to what I say and move in those directions. I’d love to be the main speaker at events and have other companies want to interview me, etc. for my accomplishments.

8. What are 3 things that must happen to move this business forward?
Which of those feels easy? Which challenge you?

More people hired and more product sold. I think the product piece is actually the most challenging for me right now, or figuring out how to equally put myself into both spaces.

9. Why were you interested in my consulting services?
What do you expect to gain from working with me?

I recently joined Biznik and found you on there and I liked what you had to say and the fact that you had been in Corp and had left and shared a lot of the same sentiments about Corp America. I can’t stay there, I’ll suffocate and die and I can see the light so it’s even more frustrating and more frightening to think I could actually end up there for life. So this is my ticket and I really want to make sure that I’m successful and those on my team are and it’s my total passion. I hope that you can help me be the best I can be and see other avenues that I haven’t learned yet in marketing and bringing more people in and selling more product so that I become invincible and totally duplicatable.

10. Rate (1-10) how you feel about your current ability in these areas (even if they seem not to apply to your current business or situation):

organization __3__ managing money__2__ managing people__8__ managing time_4___

self discipline__0__ technology__7__ marketing yourself__8__ results __7__


Thanks for answering these questions and sending them to me before we meet. This will not only give me a good starting point for working with you but it will also stimulate your mind to think more specifically about what you want to focus on before we meet.




I've set it up to work with Karrie 1x per month for the next 10 months. This will help me to put in place duplicatable systems in order to assist the team in building and moving product consistently and managing time and people. I know this investment will make a big difference for me and I plan to share my knowledge with The Hive so that everyone wins!

Karrie and I really hit it off and I will keep all of you informed of our development in our new relationship LOL. I want to be clear that this isn't for everyone and the upfront expense (hourly rate for Karrie is $150.00) is definitely a challenge but in checking in with her referrals they all told me how much working with her had changed their businesses for the better and they were all from different paths. So being the "roll the dice" kind of girl that I am we'll see how it goes! Best case we put some incredible processes in for the team and really automate this.