Abby teaches newbie entrepreneurs how to place their stamp on the world, by guiding them to create the aligned business they’ve been dreaming about.
She envisioned her professional life 20 years ago, but let her family talk her out of it because it didn’t make sense to them. No one had ever heard of a Business Coach before, but eventually, Abby trusted her intuition to pursue her unique path, and she succeeded.
Abby has been a serial entrepreneur since she was 24, starting with a brick-and-mortar dance apparel store, Dance Diva. She taught herself sales, advertising, web design, social media, and all other aspects congruous with running a business.
In 2014, she built websites for personal trainers. In 2016, that morphed into small business coaching, and she taught all aspects of business systems. In 2018, she became the Systems Architect for the Matthew Hussey team and built all of their email sequences and sales funnels.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
I knew 20 years ago I wanted to be a business coach, but no one was doing that yet, all I had was an overwhelming knowing in my heart, but that wasn’t enough of an explanation for my logical-minded family, so I went to college like a good adult.
Two years into my corporate adventures I was laid off due to corporate downsizing, so I did what any girl in her early 20’s on unemployment would do, I started a business!
In 2006 I built Dance Diva, a brick-and-mortar dance apparel store. I had no idea what I was doing in the beginning, so I sought help from the Small Business Association office in downtown Oklahoma City to create a business plan, forecast financials, and acquire a $30,000 business loan.
I figured things out as I went: advertising, sales, client acquisition, how to create the perfect flat-lays for Instagram, writing emails, web design, inventory tracking, financials, etc. It was an incredible 8 years, but I realized I didn’t have the freedom I desired, and we closed the doors in 2014.
It didn’t take long for the entrepreneurial itch to hit me again, so armed with my previously acquired tech skills, I began a web design company called HTML & Heels, where I built websites for personal trainers and Crossfit boxes. I set a goal to hit $100K that first year, and I hit it!
It didn’t take long to realize that clients wanted help with more than just their websites; they wanted help with creating and automating their backend systems so my web design company morphed into a full-service small business coaching business so Abby Schultz was launched and I helped the team at Matthew Hussey build out all their marketing automation and email sequences.
What is Abby Schultz all about?
In the past 15 years, I’ve built 4 separate 6-figure businesses.
I love creating new businesses and I love technology but found most women were scared about this part of building their business and it stopped them dead in their tracks.
I watched it flare up in March 2020, when women were losing their steady jobs through no fault of their own, struggling to create income and turning to online business, but getting stuck on the tech, and I knew I needed to step up and do more to help. I decided to go back to my roots of teaching women simple, practical ways to build an aligned, and profitable, business.
I want to cure cancer, to create access to clean water for everyone, to solve the hunger crisis, end racism and reverse global warming. These aren’t things I know anything about, but I know there are women out there who have the dream, desires, and answers for these issues, but they feel stuck, or like they are too average to have dreams this big.
My mission is to let every female entrepreneur out there know, you aren’t stuck, you’re just scared and to provide her the courage and confidence to move forward and begin chasing her dreams, no matter how big and scary and unreachable they may seem in the beginning!
Let them call us Dreamers, let them call us Crazy; to paraphrase a quote from Steve Jobs: “…because the ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
How do you separate yourself from your competitors?
I’m here to change the world. I was never sure how that would happen, or what it would look like, but I just knew, deep inside, I was here for something HUGE!
The past few years I’ve helped some amazing women do amazing things, when it dawned on me; I don’t have to change the world myself, I just have to help others realize they have world-changing ideas and facilitate them in learning how to show up in the world.
I tried following other coaches’ content strategy plans, and playing to the Instagram algorithm, while churning out blog-style emails every other day and honestly, it’s exhausting! So I stopped competing with other coaches, started looking at them as inspiration, and stepped fully into who I am.
I don’t have a particular strategy; I simply show up fully as myself and do things that feel good, when they feel good to do them. I found more growth and meaningful connections happened when I showed up as myself, spoke from my heart, and gave from a place of overflow.
My advice to you for separating yourself from competitors is to show up as you, whatever that looks like, and share the lessons you’ve learned, and give the advice you wish you had been given before.
It’s such a simple concept, yet it can be tough to implement.
Tell us a little bit about your marketing process, what has been the most successful form of marketing for you?
My secret to success is to spend time in the beginning creating your Ideal Client Avatar. Knowing your person will guide you on so many questions like which social media platform to show up on, what to say, what words to use, what brand colors to use, what they respond to, and how to reach them. This helps you hone in so you aren’t exhausting yourself trying to show up everywhere, for everyone.
Stop chasing them, start attracting them to you. It’s a very simple concept; speak directly to your person to attract them to you however it’s not always so easy to implement because newbie entrepreneurs want to help everyone so they have a bigger audience. Heck, even some experienced biz owners trip on this from time to time.
I know, so deeply within my soul, who I am talking to whenever I show up. Her name is Molly. I’ve described her struggles, her pain points, and how I can help her, so whenever I post, speak, or write and send an email, I’m speaking directly to her.
If you align with Molly, then my words of wisdom will touch you deeply and inspire you to take action and chase your dreams; if you aren’t Molly, then you’ll probably scroll right past me.
What have been your biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for me to overcome has been people pleasing. I’ve struggled with it since I was 12. My parents had a very messy divorce and I had to grow up really fast because I was taking care of my younger sister. At that point, I was no longer allowed to be a child, dreaming and playing, because I had responsibilities and so I began to play it safe by doing and being what my family wanted me to be as I pursued the “good adult” path.
Tech was always a great escape for me because whenever it gave me problems, I could Google the issue and eventually finds a solution. I always felt in control when building tech systems, however with people pleasing, that requires inner work, and I had to scratch the scab off of old wounds to be able to address my people-pleasing. I’m 38 now and while I’m definitely in a better place of allowing myself to see what’s possible, those people-pleasing tendencies can still creep in.
My advice to you if you are struggling with something is to face it head-on. Things are much less scary when you stare right back at it; you take back the power and see it for what it really is.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
For the past year, I’ve been learning more about feminine energy (being) and masculine energy (doing), learning how those two energies co-exist within us all and how when we combine the feminine energy of mindset work with the masculine energy of practical strategies, we can create massive success.
This opened my eyes to the spiritual side of business and it’s taught me more about myself. I’ve been doing more inner work to find out who I am, the triggers I have, and why those things bother me. I refer to myself as a witchy woo-woo unicorn.
I love straddling the world of energetic healing and the technological world because as entrepreneurs with a service-based business, it is no longer about the services we offer. I’m sure you’ve heard Simon Sinek talk about how people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it, and it’s important to discover your why. Blending the feminine energy and masculine energy in a business will help you define who you are, what you do, and why you do it, with such a beautiful ease. When we embrace both sides, we can truly create an impact and find massive success.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
Screw your To-Do list. Sure these are a Type A tool, but how much stress is it actually causing you when you have to force yourself to do something you don’t want to do? Are you actually getting it done or does it get to stay on your list forever? Stop forcing yourself to do stuff you don’t want to do when you don’t want to do it. It’s pretty obvious, but To-Do lists just don’t feel good to me, so I changed it up.
I create To-Be-Done lists instead. On Mondays, I brain dump everything onto a giant whiteboard that I’d like to get done during the week. I use the board as a reference for the tasks, and I choose them when I feel good about doing them. No more grumpiness, no more forcing things to happen, no more stress, and honestly, everything typically gets completed for the week.
I like making things really easy on myself; this is an amazing way that happens. I remind myself often “It gets to be easy”
Try it and let me know how it goes for you!
Can you recommend one book, one podcast, or one online course for entrepreneurs?
I’m a sucker for both business and self-help books so I have a massive collection, but the 1 book that sticks out is “4 Hour Work Week” by Tim Ferriss.
I was on vacation in New York with my hubby; we were staying at an Airbnb in Greenpoint (back before they became illegal) and we each picked a book from the host’s bookshelf to take with us up to the rooftop hammocks for an afternoon of relaxation.
I chose “4 Hour Work Week” because of the cover colors and the absurdity of the title. I read that entire book that afternoon. I ordered a copy of the book for myself so it was waiting for me as soon as we got home and I vowed to begin outsourcing pieces of my life that I didn’t enjoy or didn’t want to do; we hired a lady to clean the house and a crew to do the yard work and just like that we had free weekends again. It forever changed the way I look at tasks.
If you only had $1000 dollars to start a new business, knowing everything you know now, how would you spend it?
I would buy a plane ticket and rent an Airbnb somewhere incredible for as long as the $1,000 would cover.
I’d post photos and content that inspired me, I’d show up fully every day and devote my every minute to the new business I wanted to launch and the life I desire to have from it.
Things I would do: Show up, share my story, figure out my ideal client and share my why behind the biz, build connections, have real conversations with people, and have fun because, by the time the initial money ran out, I’d have raving fans who are obsessed with me and would want to pay me for my time and knowledge.
Things I wouldn’t do: build a website, worry about brand colors, map out sales funnels, set up any systems or worry about launching. There’s plenty of time for that to be put in place later.
What is your favorite quote?
I often paraphrase Earl Nightingale’s quote
“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
It reminds me to focus on what I want and to continue moving forward on my path, no dream is too big to accomplish when you take it step-by-step.
What are you not doing because it will take too long?
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
I have a 4-step process that I walk all my clients through:
1 – You aren’t stuck, you’re scared. I see you, thinking you need more experience, or you need to read another book or take another course but it’s not true. You have all the information you need to get started, you are just scared, and that’s ok too.
2 – Take the first step and just get started, no matter how small it seems, it’s still a step forward. What’s something you could do today, right now, to get started on your journey?
3 – There isn’t a right or wrong way to start a business, it all depends on what you want to do, who you are and what feels most aligned with your goals.
4 – Find a mentor or coach who can help you navigate the overwhelm of feeling like you have to do all the things and provide accountability for you to move forward.
How can readers get in touch with you?
If you have any questions about what tips I’ve offered here, or if you try any of the techniques I’ve recommended or want help with struggles you are encountering with starting a business, DM me on Instagram @theabbyschultz or you can reach out to me via my website at www.abbyschultz.com
Random Interview: Meet Daniella Green, Founder of Slaypedia
