Own Your Energy: Coaching For Hospitality Growth with Christine Smith

0:02Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Epic Entrepreneurs podcast where we are all about helping business owners just like you achieve success. So we don't do fancy smancy. We don't do flashing lights. We don't do a lot of things that a lot of podcasts will do. These are just real stories about real people and their entrepreneurial and business experiences. We go into their wins, their challenges, and their learnings. So we hope you enjoy it.

0:36Hey there. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am super happy today to have a very special guest, but let me introduce myself. I'm Bill Gilliland. I am the host of the show. I'm also the principal of Action Coach Business Coaching and one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit. But today, it's not about me. It's not about Action Coach. It's about Christine Smith and spotlighting her business, CS Consulting 101. So welcome to the show, Christine. Tell us a little bit about you, your business, your company, how you serve our community. All right. Thank you, Bill, for the introduction.

1:14Happy to be here. I am a hospitality business coach, helping those in the hospitality sector who are either growing their business are in transitions and wanting to grow their business. Maybe there's some change happening within the organization. And I come in and help them on the areas of communication and relationship building, primarily focusing on the human development and emotional intelligence. So are you mostly working with the teams within the hospitality sector? or is it more customer service folks that are working together? Tell us a little bit more about that. Yeah, so it's primarily, honestly, it's one-on-one coaching with business owners, hospitality business owners.

2:09And it's also working with their teams, primarily teams of 50 or less.

2:19Right, and the focus of that is getting them to work better as a team or what's the outcome they can expect? Yes, the outcome. Bill, have you ever worked, you know, let's go back to prior when you were a coach and you worked for an organization and maybe you come into work and you're working and there's a lot of friction and tension in between the staff. Maybe you feel like you're walking on eggshells. Maybe you feel like you're overcompensating and not listening to your true self. Maybe you are hesitant to speak your truth to accomplish the goal. A lot of times we hide what actually was what we want to say, what we're feeling behind this facade because we're wearing a hat and a role at a job.

3:08And those goals that we're trying to obtain may or may not actually get to flourish because there's some things that we're hiding internally. Yeah. So I come in and kind of clear that up and show each other, you know, whether it be one-on-one or with the team, that basically we're all human and we all have some things that are going on internally. And to create a safe space for them to share what's going on, to then overcome the fear and actually achieve the goal. Yeah, I got it. Yeah, yeah. So, yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on that we may never see if we don't get it out in the open. Yeah, I get it.

3:52I get it. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Well, let me, let's shift the gears a little bit and talk a little bit about business in general. So if you had to start over in business, what would you do differently? Cool. I ask myself that question a lot, though. I'm not going to lie. You know, I self-reflect all the time as an solo entrepreneur. I would listen to myself. I would listen to my own knowing, my own gifts, my intuition. And what's ironic about that is actually what I teach others how to do. Yeah, I get that. Yeah, that's interesting. So, yeah, it's a hard one to do sometimes. Sometimes you do need someone outside looking in to sort of like, you know, hang on.

4:39You know, this is what you teach. You know, take your own medicine kind of thing. So, yeah, do you find that your intuition has gotten better or more sharp over time? Yes, and that's the key word, Bill, time. that learning that about ourselves as you know and our listeners know those skills take time to hone in a lot of times we question our intuition right that's natural even I do it it's taken many many years for me to get to this level where I can discern between what's real and what's not and it takes a lot of practice. I still practice it every single day. I remind myself every single day, but it did.

5:30It did take time. And in the midst of that taking time, I would battle with self of like, why isn't it happening now? What's going on, right? That internal battle with self. But when our listeners are listening to this, I just want to say, one thing a it takes time and b why are you in a hurry are you in a hurry because you have it there's expectations of others of what you know that you're supposed to be doing xyz i'm living proof of that i had to slow down my own life of like oh that's actually not what i wanted i had to go within and go christine what do you actually want for your life like is it are you doing it for yourself are you doing it for are expectations of others that thought you're going to have to be this thing in your business.

6:23And of course, it's really revealing, right? Over time, it's really revealing of what's true and what's not. And I'm glad I'm at that space now as a coach and entrepreneur. That feels good. Cool. Good, good. So what have been a couple of your learnings as a business owner? Oh, man. So many. I would say that let's bring in the foundations of business. Like let's talk about finances for a second. I had to learn that just because you think or believe that you don't have enough finances to make something happen does not mean it's the end all be all. There is always a way. There's people like you out in the world.

7:14people like myself out in the world. There are so many resources that I would hate for someone as an entrepreneur, whether they're scaling or entering the space to really consider like there are so many people out in the world to help and so many resources. Don't let your fear of not having enough money allow you to grow. Yeah, I love that. That might be a good title. There's always a way. In other words, be resourceful. Yes. Yeah, I like it. So what are some of the common misconceptions about running a business?

7:56That you're smarter than someone else. That you know something that I don't know. or you must have a lot of money to start a business or you come from a line of other entrepreneurs. Newsflash, I did not. I am the black sheep of the group. I love the family. There's so many, though. What do you think? What are some common misconceptions? The ones that I hear most often on this podcast are that the owner is rich or that it's easy. And those are the two biggest ones I hear. But you're right. There are a lot more. So thanks for bringing that. But those are the two that I hear the most of, that it's easy, which it's not, and that the owner is – and, in fact, in a lot of the businesses we work with, when they start out, the owner makes less than their employees, particularly on an hourly basis.

9:08Right. Yeah, so it's an interesting one. So, anyway, so what do you attribute your growth to?

9:19that's a great question

9:24uh i'm gonna say a couple things a couple things are selfishly for myself right sure attribute my my growth and my peace and my happiness overall

9:41also others that have been in my my wheelhouse my community my network there are so many people in my network even in this moment right now with you bill on the show with you you are part of the testimony to my journey every people every person that i choose to include in my circle or choose not to include in my circle, even the ones not in my circle, I attribute to them as well because they, I've cleared the space for me to follow my path. Right. So it's not just about self. It's, it's contributing to everybody that has been on this journey with me. Yeah. I have a saying, you can't do this stuff by yourself.

10:27Yeah. So that's, That's well said. You just said it better than I did.

10:34Any, I mean, you seem to maybe have figured some of this out, but how do you deal with the conflicts that often arise between growing a business and your personal life? Yes.

10:53They intertwine heavily, as you know. So there was a coach in my life at one time who asked me a question that I resisted. And it was pretty much the same concept what you asked me. Who are you apart from your title? Who are you apart from your business? You are, we are not our business. and that question that perspective really kind of at first I rebelled and resisted I was like that's not that's not funny like I am that's it's me I'm the face I'm the thing and I'm still a human that enjoys things in life who likes to eat pineapple on her pizza right like figuring out who Christine really is.

11:45And so to answer your question, it goes back to that concept of time, learning those things about yourself. So every day it's a practice and I go, wait, I'll ask myself questions, like real tangible things that I can do, action steps that I can take for myself of like, is this you or is this a business thing? And in entrepreneurship, As you know, and others know in this space, entrepreneurship's journey is more so about self rather than the business. Yeah, that's a good point. Love that. Yeah, I've often, you said you resisted. I have often felt like whenever I resist something, I better take a harder look at it and see why I'm resisting.

12:33It might be important to not fight it, but it also might be important to fight it. So it's an interesting one, but you need to take another look. I love that thing. So BEPIC is one of our taglines or our main tagline, and it's an acronym. So I'm going to give you the – this is kind of a quick fire round. I'll give you the acronym, and then I want a couple of sentences on each or words or however you want to keep it to the point on each one. So the B stands for bring the energy. Give me a thought or two about energy. bring the energy oh i could take that so many different ways right uh

13:19bring the energy see i tend to go tend i tend to go philosophical a lot go ahead go go for it Go for it. Go for it. I say bring the energy that you have because you're human. If your energy is low, own it. Create space for yourself. Maybe disassociate from others for a minute. Own your space. Own your energy. I love it. Own your energy. I love that. Own your energy. If you're having a bad day, it's okay. Own your energy. Yeah, you can't have the good without the bad. So, I mean, it's a good stuff. All right. The E stands for education. Education. Always educate. I am always learning. I am always researching.

14:08I say education is not, it's, first of all, it's not linear and it never ends. So keep educating yourself. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep doing the thing to grow. I love education. Yeah. No, I love that. All right. The P in EPIC stands for planning. I can't wait to hear the philosophical side of planning.

14:35Yeah. You know, I planned so many different ways. My plan came out of a space of rebellion. That's where my plan grew from. and you can imagine the whirlwinds. It took me through that plan.

15:04I say plan to what feels good to you and don't worry about the attachment of the outcome. Pivot your plan when needed and know that it's okay to pivot and replan. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, I think that's, I mean, a plan by definition is going to be wrong. So you have to pivot all the time. I love that. Yeah. So the I in EPIC is inspiration. inspiration oh my gosh inspiration is around us everywhere if you're willing to view it that way right inspiration we in this space of entrepreneurship wouldn't be here if we weren't inspired by something or someone remember that inspiration that was fired up in you when you thought of the entrepreneurship journey or wanting to continue the journey, always be inspired.

16:11Find the inspiration. And the inspiration generally stems from something that you truly value in life. Yeah. Well, that's a good, that's inspiring. I'll think about that for a minute. Yeah.

16:30So the last letter is C in epic, and the C stands for commitment. Oh, commitment. Oh, my gosh.

16:42Commitment. Okay.

16:47I'm one of those that actually don't believe in when you commit to something that you have to follow through because life changes. life happens. However, if you are truly inspired, right? If your inspiration is bigger than you and you find yourself committing through all the pivots, right? I'm bringing it full circle here. If you find yourself committing through all the pivots, your commitment is now bigger than you, like follow it, follow that commitment that you have made within yourself and your heart, because it is bigger than you and you are going to succeed. And I hope you don't have attachment to time because we can talk about it all you want.

17:34It'll take years maybe. So commit to something that you really love and value and keep being inspired. Yeah, I love that. I think it is about something bigger than us. So that's sort of the only way it's got to be big enough to commit to in the first place. And, you know, little things you don't need to commit to. You can just do them. So, all right. So what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow? Simplify. Simplify. Slow down. Listen to what your body and heart is telling you, not necessarily what others are trying to influence on you. You know yourself better than anybody else.

18:30Take one's advice or opinions with a grain of salt and that can be inspiring, but it's not the end all be all. Again, going back to yourself, go within. Really find out what works for you and you only. Be willing to receive, receive love, care, and help and guidance.

19:08know that this journey can be never ending

19:18and know that your thoughts or choices are not right or wrong that they just are

19:32that's awesome that's great advice so what's the next big thing for christine smith oh mg okay i gotta tell a fun story bill i actually went to a next big thing event it was actually called the next big thing. And I, I'll tell you the truth. I wore this sign on my body. I created a billboard for myself and I wore it to this next big thing conference. And it was the message. It was a message not only for myself to overcome my own fears and my business, but it was a message to others to show them that maybe they're going through something of something similar in their own business. And so that was my message wearing this board and said, what fear are you holding back?

20:27Or no, what truth are you holding back in your business? Is that was the question? What truth are you holding back in your business? And you can imagine I got a lot of eye rolls, I got a lot of laughs, I got a lot of head turns, I got a lot of people turning their backs to me, they want they don't want to face that challenging question for self and their business and life. And so my next big thing was to be seen. Bill, I'm overcoming. Yeah, I've done the thing. I've helped the people grow, et cetera, et cetera. But my next phase of my own entrepreneurship journey is getting over the fear of being seen.

21:08Like it's time. It's go time. Right? Right. So it was a fun experiment to see who would be willing to interact with that question and allow me to hold space for them to answer that question truthfully. So my next big thing is, yes, getting getting over the fear of being seen and heard. Right. Go be in presence more. And I want to be speaking more. in my business. Even this conversation was a lot of fun, and I felt, I'll ask you, Bill, was it inspiring? No, it's been great. This has been really good. I was going to ask you, was speaking part of your plan to be seen more? Yeah, it's usually a good way to go.

22:00Right. Yeah. So that's a way to be. There's a lot of ways to be seen. But, you know, I often find, at least regionally, I walked into a meeting yesterday and there was a bunch of people who knew I was and I didn't know who they were. And it's just because they've seen me speak or, you know, know me from another place or something or saw a LinkedIn post or something that I'd done around somewhere. So, yeah, it's fantastic. So, last question. How do you get in touch with you? What's the best way? So I do have a website and LinkedIn, LinkedIn and my website. And I also write on Substack, but primarily I am on LinkedIn.

22:48And my website is csmithphilosophy.com. csmithphilosophy.com. Got it. Yeah. Yeah. And they can find you on, and it's just Christine Smith or Chris. Well, how's that? There's got to be more than one of those. Yeah. On LinkedIn, I believe I come up as Christine Smith or my business, CS Consulting 101, either way. Perfect. All right. Well, get out there and find Christine. She wants to be seen. So get out there and find her. So this has been fantastic. This has been fun. Thank you so much for being part of the community. We really like all you're doing. There's a lot of people that need what you have, particularly in the hospitality space that you serve.

23:34So, yeah, I know that you're going to continue to grow and continue to be successful because you're asking all the right questions and being an inspiration to a lot of people. Thank you, Bill. Thanks. And until next time, all the best.

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