Kelly Roach is a business coach, CEO of The Unstoppable Entrepreneur best-selling author and host of the top-rated marketing podcast, The Unstoppable Entrepreneur Show. She brings her 8 years of corporate experience working as a Fortune 500 executive to the online business world, mentoring 6 and 7-figure service-based CEOs to scale online.
She serves clients globally through her 12-month accountability-led, comprehensive business incubator. Kelly has been featured in some of the world’s leading publications and is also the co-founder of three additional companies: The Courageous Brand, Social Sellers Academy, and The Advance Womens Expert Network.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you ended up writing a book?
Absolutely, so I began my career in the corporate world working in Fortune 500. After coming to the realization that I wasn’t totally fulfilled in my career, despite the promotions and raises, and titles, I knew it was time for change. I wanted to be able to create even more financial abundance and lifestyle freedom for myself and my family. I was already coaching, training, and hiring people in the corporate setting and I knew I could be transforming lives on an even bigger scale if I had started my own business, so I kept my full-time job and built my business on the side which has since grown into a multi-8 figure company with over 50 full-time employees.
The biggest motivating factor in writing my first book was because I not only wanted to be able to make an impact globally, but I wanted people to be able to transform their businesses and lives for under $20. The more people we could impact, the more movement we’d create in simplifying the path to financial freedom through entrepreneurship.
What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
I’ve written three books and am writing another as we speak, Conviction Marketing, which I hope readers will learn to build a category of one, peerless brand that allows them to make a massive global impact and build a legacy. My first book, Unstoppable, aims to inspire readers to make their dreams a reality through the 9 principles required to achieve unstoppable success in business and in life. The goal of that book is to help readers understand that the life they want to live is 100% possible no matter who you are or where you’re starting from, if you truly commit to the end goal with your entire being.
Bigger Than You, my second book, is all about teaching business owners how to be successful leaders and with that I really want them to understand that without building and retaining a winning team, you can not grow your business profitably and sustainably. And building that dream team always comes down to your leadership.
My most recently published book, The Live Launch Method, teaches readers that over automation and digitization isn’t always the most effective way to grow your business. In that book, I teach one of the easiest methods for scaling 1 to many by leveraging authenticity, accountability, and human connection. I want readers to understand that there is a strategic, sustainable, and SIMPLE way to change thousands of lives without selling 1 to 1.
What were the top mistakes you made writing or publishing your first book?
One of the mistakes I made when writing my first book was writing my first book. I absolutely love to create. I love being on camera, recording, speaking, being behind the mic, but I actually don’t like writing. With the following four books, I recorded audios, did interviews, transcriptions and never actually sat and wrote and it was a complete game-changer for me because I created the book the way I enjoy creating versus the way I least enjoy creating.
“You can show up, clock in, and take what’s handed to you, or you can go in and set things on fire, squeezing every ounce of juice out of every opportunity you see. Two people can have the exact same circumstances, intelligence level and amount of talent, but the person who sees the opportunity and seizes it with vigor will always come out on top.” -Unstoppable, 9 principles for unlimited success in business and life
Know your WHY and stick to your plan with a clear end-to-end strategy. So many people start their book and either never finish it or end up making no money from it because they don’t stick to that plan. Gather the testimonials and promotional partners, build up your waitlist, generate buzz and anticipation on social media with different campaigns and really market the concept by understanding who you aim to serve and what gap you’re filling. Have a clear cut plan for how you’re going to get that book into the hands of the people who it’ll have the greatest impact on.
What is the one thing you wish you knew before publishing your first book?
The biggest thing for me was learning how important it was to make sure all of the promotional activities starting from that 6-month mark are mapped out in advance and that you stick to the timelines. Every time we did a book launch, it was definitely a learning process in terms of pulling all of the pieces together and planning ahead of time. It’s important to really think about how you intend to use the book and to make sure you have a backend growth and monetization plan that supports that.
For sure! Like I said before, 6 months out you want all your promotional activities planned out. Think email sequences, waitlist pages, countdowns leading up to the launch of your book are all great. I also recommend a workshop that coincides with the launch, which you can use to close your back-end services that are tied to your book. Compile all sorts of graphics to promote across platforms as well: images of the cover, of you with the book, of excerpts, and any promotional videos if possible.
What helps you stay driven and motivated?
I truly believe that entrepreneurship is a calling, and every day I wake up and answer that call. It’s my passion and purpose in this life to help people simplify their paths to freedom, financial abundance, and happiness and it’s what I set out to create myself when I first started my business — I wanted more time with my family, financial and lifestyle freedom and to build a legacy that would continue far beyond me and that would allow me to give back on a huge scale.
What is a productivity tip you swear by?
Time blocking, delegation, and taking time for self-care are three crucial tips to staying productive. Get your most important tasks done during your peak productivity hours and dedicate strict time blocks in your calendar to do them. Delegate anything outside of your zone of genius — and not just in business. Get help at home with chores, laundry, errands, anything that doesn’t move the needle for your business or contribute to your wellbeing, happiness, or family.
If you’re a new entrepreneur, your first few hires can be to get those tactical to-do’s off your plate — whether it’s a VA, intern, or admin assistant. And lastly, the most important thing is to take care of your physical and mental well-being. You can’t pour from an empty cup. Stay hydrated, fuel your body, get enough sleep, get up and move (even if that means 15-minute breaks from your desk to take a walk or do a quick workout. So many people don’t realize how your well-being impacts your levels of productivity. Don’t get caught up in the hustle and compromise those things.
How do you personally overcome fear?
Too many people operate out of fear and focus on what could go wrong rather than what could go right. I think for me, surviving fear and uncertainty comes back to developing that mental toughness. You can do that by being resolute in your goals and staying 100% committed to the outcomes you want for yourself no matter what, being emotionally invested in those outcomes but making decisions based on logic, not emotions, and magnetizing immediately to the learning when you fail. I think that looking at failure as a learning tool is a great way to overcome the fear of “what if.” Failure is feedback, and if you can immediately begin to understand the learning each time something doesn’t go as planned and begin to develop a solution, you will be successful.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
Right now I’m learning the difference between building a team on the front lines that can build and grow the company through execution, versus leadership that provides support and direction to those individuals, versus thought leadership and strategic insight that comes from executive leadership. So, really working through the tiers and layers of infrastructure and support that’s needed in a company, and that’s what will enable us to grow from 8 to 9 figures.
How can we get in touch with you?
You can connect with me on LinkedIn or my Facebook page, or follow me on Instagram @kellyroachofficial!
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