928 Amanda Riffee:

Melinda Wittstock:

Coming up on Wings of Inspired Business:

Amanda Riffee:

What we do together is probably about 80% mindset and about 20% strategy. I think the strategy part is actually the easier part. Somebody could hand you the blueprint or say, follow these five steps or do these things, but if you have limiting beliefs, if you have things that are going to, you know, sabotage you from doing this stuff, it’s never going to work for you. Number one, it’s following your own path, what makes you uniquely you, and then clearing the mindset blocks that you might not even realize are there that are stopping you.

Melinda Wittstock:

Entrepreneurship is an “inner game”. It starts with what you can consciously visualize for yourself, and your future, and the real work gets done on the inside, overcoming any subconscious blocks holding you back from your authentic path and your true value. Amanda Riffee is an internationally certified executive coach helping women overcome their blocks to success, and today she shares her secrets as well as her new book, Unleashing You.

Melinda Wittstock:

Hi, I’m Melinda Wittstock and welcome to Wings of Inspired Business, where we share the inspiring entrepreneurial journeys, epiphanies, and practical advice from successful female founders … so you have everything you need at your fingertips to build the business and life of your dreams. I’m all about paying it forward as a five-time serial entrepreneur, so I started this podcast to catalyze an ecosystem where women entrepreneurs mentor, promote, buy from, and invest in each other. Because together we’re stronger, and we all soar higher when we fly together and lift as we climb.

Melinda Wittstock:

Today we meet an inspiring entrepreneur who said goodbye to a 17-year corporate career to branch out on her own, on a mission to help women in business be their best selves, unlock their potential, create fulfilling careers and lives aligned with their deepest values—all without succumbing to burnout or guilt. Today we dive deep into the importance of authenticity in entrepreneurship, the pitfalls of cookie-cutter business advice, and why actionable mindset shifts are key to sustained success. Amanda shares honest lessons she learned along the way and the significance of building a strong support squad. She reveals practical tools and exercises from her new book Unleashing You that encourage reflection, self-awareness, and lasting change.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amanda will be here in a moment, and first:

[PROMO CREDIT]

Eight years ago, I started this podcast because I wanted to help women succeed as entrepreneurs. Over the years, I’ve driven more than $10 million in sales to the women I’ve featured on this show, and this year I’m taking my investment in female founders to a whole new level as a venture partner of the new firm Zero Limits Capital, where we’re dedicated to investing in highly scalable seed stage startups founded by women and diverse teams – a mission more important than ever as the Trump administration cracks down on anything and everything DEI. We’re looking for innovators with exciting new applications of AI, Blockchain and other emerging technologies that make a social and sustainable impact to change the world. Is this you? If it is, take a moment and tell us about your opportunity at bit.ly/ZLCintake – that’s bit.dot.ly/ZLCintake – capital ZLC lowercase intake.

Melinda Wittstock:

Are you ready to unlock your full potential without the burnout or guilt? Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just starting your journey, today we get some invaluable advice on overcoming limiting beliefs, reframing challenges, and celebrating even the smallest wins.

Melinda Wittstock:

We’re talking how to build an actionable roadmap to success that aligns with the authentic you, so you can break through any and all limiting beliefs, know your true value, build a support squad that lifts you higher, and do it all without burnout.

Melinda Wittstock:

Amanda Riffee is an executive coach for women and the author of the new book Unleashing You. Drawing from her personal journey and experiences coaching clients, Amanda shares her practical roadmap for transformation, from her signature “Put it on a Post-it” reminders and interactive coaching exercises to advice on how to align your passions and values with your goals and implementation so you can make meaningful changes that stick.

Melinda Wittstock:

Let’s put on our wings with the inspiring Amanda Riffee.

[INTERVIEW]

Melinda Wittstock:

Amanda, welcome to Wings.

Amanda Riffee:

Thank you so much for having me. I’m excited to be here.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, I’m excited for you because your first book is debuting, like, now.

Amanda Riffee:

I’m so excited.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, it’s called Unleashing You. Tell me about the book.

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah, so it’s like you said, it’s called Unleashing You, which anyone who is familiar with the products and the services that that I offer, Unleashing You is just kind of my brand. It has taken off, and it’s all about unlocking your potential, creating the career and life that you really love, that really aligns with you, but without the burnout, without the guilt, without the sacrifice. So, the book is meant to be a roadmap for you to create that for yourself. It has my own personal stories, my client stories. It also has a lesson. I call it put it on a Post it. So, you can just put it on your computer, on your mirror or whatever to remind yourself of those lessons. And then we have in each chapter an actual coaching exercise that you can go through to really make each one of those learnings very actionable for yourself.

Melinda Wittstock:

I love that you said that about making it actionable, because we get so much advice all the time, whether it’s just like scrolling on social media and all the coaches and all the people say, you should do this or you should do this or be like this or, you know, or right the way through to actually having mentors and coaches. If you’re not actually implementing it, I guess in your daily life, it’s hard to sort of see the results.

Amanda Riffee:

So, it is.

Melinda Wittstock:

Tell me about how you make that actionable, like how you do that in practice.

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah, that’s a great question. So, when I was writing the book, I went through, and I made a really strong outline of just kind of the journey that I’ve taken to create the results that I have. But to your point, it’s not a one size fits all approach. And that’s one of the things that I really love about coaching, is that true coaches help you bring out the answers from within you, rather than let me just tell you the cookie cutter model that I followed. And so, with each chapter, I said, okay, how can I take this story or, you know, this experience and make this something that they can do on their own to bring out the answers from within themselves on that. So, some of them are visualizations. Some of them are some journaling prompts. Some of them are just really actionable things that they can take and do on their own.

Amanda Riffee:

But all of them have one common element, which is reflection. And so, it’s really figuring out for yourself what are the. What is the business, what is the career that’s really going to align with you and getting that clarity…

Melinda Wittstock:

This is really important advice because there’s a lot of coaches out there, Amanda, as you know, right, who say, and they have the blueprint. Just follow this and you, too can be like me.

Amanda Riffee:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

In my entrepreneurial career is that no success is replicated exactly. Like, if it’s not authentic to you, like, all entrepreneurs have their own journey, and you think, oh, okay, I’ll just copy this. I’ll copy all these prompts on ChatGPT, or I’ll do this, or I’ll follow this coach and this particular blueprint, and my funnels will work or like, whatever it is.

Amanda Riffee:

Yep.

Melinda Wittstock:

It never happens that way.

Amanda Riffee:

It never happens that way.

Melinda Wittstock:

And a lot of people make a lot of money selling all these courses, and I guess you can take something from them, but if you can’t figure out how to make it your own, it never really works. Right. So how do you do that when you’re working with people? How do you really hammer that home about, like, the authenticity? Like, it’s really got to be their own authentic path?

Amanda Riffee:

Yep, absolutely. The first thing that I do is I ask a lot of questions, and it’s so interesting the amount of times that I’m in a conversation with a client and I ask them a question, and they’re like, oh, okay, yeah, I never really thought about that. Or as they’re saying something out loud, they’re like, oh, I think I’m answering my own question here. Or, you know, those types of things. Because when we speak those things out loud, it just hits different, and we start to hear it differently. And that’s when we get those really major insights and realizations. So, I really work with my clients on helping them to understand their intuition, their inner voice, their inner knowing, and I ask them a lot of questions before I ever give my two cents on something, because I really want their business to be something that is totally aligned with them.

Amanda Riffee:

And we do a lot of work around things like values and, you know, what motivates us and all of those things so that when they’re building that business, they’re building it around their life and what is really going to light them up. So, yeah, I think it really boils down to questions. And then the other thing that I would say is that I always tell people, if, you know, if they’re interested in working with me, that, hey, what we do together is probably about 80% mindset and about 20% strategy. And the, to me, I think the strategy part is actually the easier part. But to your point, you, you know, somebody could hand you the blueprint or say, follow these five steps or do these things, but if you have limiting beliefs, if you have things that are going to, you know, sabotage you from doing this stuff, it’s never going to work for you. I think it’s number one, it’s following your own path, what makes you uniquely you, and then clearing the mindset blocks that you might not even realize are there that are stopping you from, you know, showing up on social media or sending this email or, you know, making that connection.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah. The mindset is everything. If you’re trying to master sales or you’re trying to master, you know, marketing or just even showing up on camera, say, if that’s important to your business or your brand or you’re. I don’t know that it’s all mindset. Like, I, I found even those. Just even. So many women that I’ve mentored over the years are really good at preparing, getting everything perfect, and they’ll do a great sales meeting but forget to ask for the sale.

Melinda Wittstock:

It’s sort of like there’s some sort of little inner niggle inside, like, I’m not worthy. Or it’s like, afraid of success. Or like, I don’t know, you think sales is icky? I guess you have to help them diagnose, like, what is the thing that’s holding them back.

Melinda Wittstock:

So how much of your work is actually, I think I know the answer already.

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

How much of your work is that in practice? How do you deal with that?

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah, absolutely. And you’re right. It’s a lot of it. It’s a lot of it. And because, you know, I work with women who have really big dreams, so maybe they want to speak on stages, maybe they want to write a book, maybe they want to start that side hustle for the first time that they, you know, just never even thought was possible for them. And so they get super excited and they’re talking about those things. And then I will ask them, okay, now what are the stories that are coming up for you right now? Because the minute that we start to take a dream from a dream to, okay, now we’re about to take action on something, that’s usually when all of those limiting beliefs start to come flooding in. And so, I’ll ask them, like, all right, like, tell me the truth.

Amanda Riffee:

Like, what are the things that are going through your mind right now? And that’s when we start to. For. For some people, it’s the very first time that they’re recognizing these things of, like, let’s just dump them all out, and then we can start to pick them apart one by one to figure out, okay, where, you know, coaching doesn’t spend a ton of time in the past. You know, like. Like, therapy spends a lot of time in the past. But I do think it’s important to get to the root of where did that belief come from? Because I always say, beliefs are just thoughts you’ve thought for so long that you now think they are true. And so, we really think they’re truths, honestly, when we’re saying these things. And so, when we can peel back the layers and get to where was, you know, the first memory that we have of thinking that, it almost takes away its power in the fact that you realize, oh, my gosh, at some point, whether, you know, subconsciously or consciously, I chose to believe this because of this thing.

Amanda Riffee:

And it’s like, oh, well, if I can choose to. If I chose that, then I can choose another path now. And then, of course, there’s, you know, so much more that goes into it, because these are beliefs usually we’ve held for most of our lives. So, there’s a lot of rewiring that goes into that. But I think it really starts with understanding where it came from and then realizing, like, oh, my gosh, that’s. That’s not just the way that it is. That was something that. Whether it was from society or family or, you know, something that might have felt insignificant to somebody else as a child, but for you, you made a story out of it, and then you’ve carried that story through your whole life.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, exactly. I mean, a lot of these things start when we’re toddlers, you know, even before. A lot of people who think it’s kind of epigenetic as well, that we, like, inherit all these beliefs, you know, passed down over generations. But, you know, as little toddlers, when our brains are being formed, we’re absorbing all this information without the equipment. I mean, our brains aren’t even developed to actually even know what the kind of truth is. And we carry that with us our whole life. We carry that with us our entire lives in some cases, without even knowing what’s driving us.

Melinda Wittstock:

Like, I’ve sort of come to the conclusion that the world is actually being run by toddlers.

Amanda Riffee:

I like that approach. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Melinda Wittstock:

And then once you realize that, like, everybody else is in that mode kind of as well, and they do things without even being conscious of, like, what they’re doing. And likewise, like, within ourselves. My entrepreneurial journey has just made me more and more and more and more aware of that because you’re confronted with these problems, and what does every problem have in common is like, you’re in the room, you know, right?

Melinda Wittstock:

And so, it may not all be about you, obviously. But you’re there, right? So, what’s your power in that situation?

Amanda Riffee:

I think there’s so much to learn in each one of those scenarios. Even if it is somebody else that did something or said something, like, somebody could. Could say something to me like, oh, my gosh, you’re not very smart. And that would probably just roll off my back, honestly, because that isn’t something that I feel about myself. But if somebody said, you know, oh, my gosh, like, you don’t care about other women, that would really trigger me, because that’s something that. That I’d be like, oh, my gosh, like, that’s so much of what I stand for. And so, I think there’s always that invitation when you feel that triggering feeling about what somebody else has said or done.

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Melinda Wittstock:

And we’re back with Amanda Riffee, executive coach and author of the new book, Unleashing You.

[INTERVIEW CONTINUES]

Amanda Riffee:

It’s always an invitation to be able to look inside and say, okay, what is this showing me right now? Because to your point, I think naively so, when I opened my business, I did not realize the personal growth journey that I was signing up for, because suddenly you were so out of your comfort zone, and suddenly every limiting belief, every, you know, thing you’ve ever thought about yourself comes rushing to the surface. And I’m so grateful for that, because the amount of personal growth that I’ve done in the years that I’ve been in business has Just been like tenfold what it would have been if I would have stayed, you know, in my 18 years in corporate America and in my comfort zone. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

Well, so much of it is actually just daring to get out of your comfort zone. Just putting yourself in situations where, well, I guess entrepreneurs just do this by default. Because we’re just permanently in that situation. Right?

Amanda Riffee:

Yes.

Melinda Wittstock:

Kind of like either master it or go home, right? But we do, but we do need support and coaches to do that because we have all kinds of doubts that get introduced into the process from other people and without those other people even knowing, like, they don’t necessarily mean to do you harm, but it’s just their own doubts and fears kind of projected onto you. And we can choose whether or not we’re going to accept that from them or not. So, the people around you matter?

Amanda Riffee:

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I, I always say, like, there’s even a chapter in my book around creating your squad because I, I firmly believe that if I didn’t surround myself with the right people who really got that part of me got my big dreams, got all of those things, I, I don’t think I would have made it in business because there were so many times that I was questioning myself or so many times that I needed to borrow somebody else’s belief in me on the days I didn’t feel it myself. And so I think surrounding yourself with the right people, and by the right people, I mean the people who really understand what it’s like to have those big dreams and get yourself out of your comfort zone and, and do all of the, you know, those types of things. There might be people in your life that are great for other aspects. Right. Like I have my mom friends, I have, you know, just the girls I love to just vacation with and not talk about worth our business. I have my family and then I have this really strong community of, of other female entrepreneurs who genuinely want to lift each other up, open doors for each other, you know, all of, you know, be there to be able to support you on the days where the self-doubt is just overwhelming.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, yeah, 100%. It can become overwhelming to the point where you don’t know necessarily where you’re most effective or what you should actually do. And then it can lead to either inaction or just straight-out burnout, right? So, take me through how you help say entrepreneurs at these different stages of their growth, their correlated to their business growth, about kind of what’s going on to help them get to those next milestones without burning out, like without this kind of false idea really, that we have to be doing it all, you know?

Amanda Riffee:

Yep. Yeah. And the reason I’m so passionate about this, like no burnout required, is because I have been there so many times myself and I have seen this cycle of burnout in myself as well. Especially someone who is an achiever, is really goal oriented. All of those things were usually the most susceptible to burnout. And so, I think it’s, it’s first understanding what are kind of the cues for you. So now I know I can feel myself when I’m getting close, when I’m starting to get to that type of phase. I can be like, oh, okay, I know the signals, you know, I know that if I keep going this path, I know where that leads.

Amanda Riffee:

So, I don’t want to do that. So let me make different choices, let me lean into self-care, let me, you know, set better boundaries, those types of things. The one thing that I found when, and there’s a chapter in my book on this as well because I had a friend ask me one time, like, how do you know when sacred, when it’s too much sacrifice? Because we know that there’s always those times in our life where maybe, you know, our career or even short like maybe we have a project at work or you know, there’s a big launch coming up or something like that and like your career is going to take center stage for a little bit and then there’s times where your family needs to take center stage or your friends or yourself or whatever the thing is. And it’s like, how do you know when you’re sacrifice, like the sacrifice is worth it because you’re working towards something bigger. And so, I really reflected on that and what it came down to for me was the times when I was putting more time into my business but felt still really great about it and had that balance versus the times when I could see myself going down that path of burnout. It really came down to how aligned was I with my values at the time. So that’s why I’m a firm believer in really doing values work. And I might have a different approach than others, but like I just dig really, really deep to figure out values that apply to all areas of your life.

Amanda Riffee:

And all of the times when I have Hit burnout. It’s because something has been really conflicted with my values and so it’s no longer filling up my cup and the work that I’m putting into it doesn’t feel worth it to me anymore. I think that’s a great question to ask yourself is if you’re starting to feel that it’s number one, what are the signs for you? So be aware of that. But then also when you can start to identify where that’s coming from, you don’t have to be in that burnout cycle all the time.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, it’s interesting though, this is a conundrum. So, say, for instance, you’ve been walking around with limiting beliefs like say about, I don’t know, let’s pick one like money, which is something that everybody has some sort of issue around money, often, especially women, like knowing your own value. I see a lot of women either over deliver or under price or think when someone’s purchasing something from them, that person’s doing them a favor of some kind. So, if you’re walking around with those sorts of beliefs, then you have things happen to you in the world that confirm those beliefs. It almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Melinda Wittstock:

So how do you help people break those patterns once again?

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah, I would say, first of all, I would say in those cases, especially if it’s really impacting your ability to show up, that is one of the perfect times to get a coach. And I think you would agree with that because there’s just so many blind spots that we have that they’re, they’re your blind spots for a reason. They’re really difficult for you to see. So, for somebody else, especially someone who is trained to look for, you know, patterns and really listen at that high level of listening when you’re talking, they can help you identify those types of patterns. Because sometimes we can’t see it ourselves when we’re feeling stuck. Usually that’s where people are just like, I don’t know, I feel really stuck. So, they don’t know where, where it’s coming from. If you notice that, like, hey, okay, I have this awareness around, I, I know I have old money stories, I want to rewire these money beliefs.

Amanda Riffee:

But man, all this crap keeps happening to me and, you know, all these things keep happening. Your subconscious is designed to protect you and keep you safe. And so, it does not like to challenge the beliefs that you already have. And so, what that means is it’s Literally going to start to look for all of the evidence to support the things that you believe, to show yourself that you are right. And when you can consciously start to look for evidence that supports the opposite, that supports the new belief that you would love to have, you are rewiring your subconscious to start to look for, for that evidence versus the other things. So, think about like when we have a bad day and you’re like, oh my gosh, I just spilled my coffee. Well, that just set me off then, oh, now I’m running late to school. Now this happened, now that happened.

Amanda Riffee:

Those are the things. There could have been so many good moments in between those things that happened. But we’ve already decided it’s a bad day. And so, we’re going to find all of the evidence that supports we’re having a bad day. And it’s the same thing when we think about those money beliefs, we’re automatically wired to look for the evidence that supports the beliefs we already hold. And so, it’s up to you to consciously go looking for that evidence. One of the things that I like to say too, especially when it’s around money, let’s say you’re looking at your bank account and you’re like, like, I, I do not feel abundant. Like this amount of money just does not make me feel abundant.

Amanda Riffee:

So how am I supposed to be okay, yeah, I have a million dollars in the bank. When I don’t, when that happens to me, I like to look at, okay, where do I find, where can I find abundance in my life? I’m still getting that feeling of the abundance, but it’s like, oh my gosh, I live in this beautiful home. Or I have, my kids are so great, I have a great partner. Oh my gosh, I have so many friendships. Like all of that breeds that feeling of abundance if you’re not feeling it in other areas.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right, right, right. I think that’s really true of just getting into a vibe of gratitude as well. Like everybody has something to be grateful for.

Amanda Riffee:

Absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:

Your darkest moments, right? When things are not going well or when you’re worried about the world around you or like any of these things. How to find that, that sort of gratitude, but also self-acknowledgement.

Melinda Wittstock:

You can be grateful for something that has nothing to do with you. Like, I’m grateful that the sun came up this morning. Do you know what I mean?

Amanda Riffee:

Like, absolutely.

Melinda Wittstock:

But acknowledgement is different. That’s acknowledging something that you’ve done or been or anything.

Melinda Wittstock:

We’re so in the doing of getting things done. It’s done; it’s gone. It’s sort of like we have not taken the time to even celebrate that or acknowledge ourselves for it. So, it’s a very powerful practice.

Amanda Riffee:

Right. And that could have been something that had been on your to do list for all week of like, oh, my gosh, I finally got the laundry done. Like, amazing. Go me. And I had. I had a coach model this for me early on. And I completely agree with you. And I mean, there were times where, you know, my goals were so big, and I just felt like, oh, my gosh.

Amanda Riffee:

Like, I was just always looking ahead, and she really challenged me to be like, hey, didn’t you? And this is going to sound so silly, but she’s like, didn’t you just have your highest revenue month ever? And I looked back and I did. The reason I didn’t see that was because my goals were still tenfold. That they were nothing felt enough to me yet. So even though I wasn’t, you know, at that next level goal, like, that was absolutely something to celebrate. Even if it was like, $1,000. Like, you have to. You start from zero. Right.

Melinda Wittstock:

So, yeah, just even celebrating paying a bill because, like, sometimes, like, bill feels like, oh, God, I’ve got to pay this bill. But instead, if you can flip it, it’s like, oh, look at me. I can pay this bill. This is awesome. Right? Like, it’ different.

Amanda Riffee:

Yes. Like, I’ve had gratitude for my credit cards before of, you know, if there were times where I was like, oh, my gosh, like this, you know, debt or whatever it might be. If you can flip that and be like, you know, I’m just so grateful that I had access to be able to afford these Type, you know, these types of things. Like, there’s so many people that don’t even have that ability to do as well. And I read a book by Kate Northrup, and it’s called Money A Love Story. It was one of the first things I did that really started to heal my relationship with money. But she talked about in there reframing your bills to be. She shortened it to I bar, but it stands for invoices for blessings already received.

Amanda Riffee:

And so, she’s like, you know, when you’re paying that cell phone bill, it’s like, yeah, I don’t want to pay that cell phone bill, but that cell phone has kept me connected to my family. That cell phone allowed me to FaceTime my grandma, that cell phone. And so, when you really think about the. The blessings, you’ve already received it and now. Now you are paying the invoice for. Does start to reframe that. I have heard and I don’t know the scientific backing of this, but that it’s very difficult to be grateful at the same time as, you know, feeling that scarcity type of feeling. And so, when you can flip those thoughts to those feelings of abundance and gratitude, oh, my gosh, it just goes so far, 100%.

Melinda Wittstock:

It really does. I mean, there’s so many aspects to this. I want to get into your transition, though, from working in corporate to entrepreneurship, and some of the things that you learned along the way. You’re coaching people, you’re doing all these things, many, many years of experience doing what you do, suddenly you say, okay, you know what? I’m going to go out on my own. I’m going to create my own business around this. What were some of your challenges? Like what. What were some things that came up for you, even though you’re really experienced, obviously, at coaching other people?

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah. Oh, my gosh. How long do we have? There’s so many lessons that I have learned and continue to learn along the way. I like to tell people that because I feel like I have really been able to collapse time and create so much in just a little over two years. And that is because of the mindset work.

Amanda Riffee:

It had been on my dream list of like, oh, maybe someday, maybe someday I could write a book. I had it come to me when we were doing a meditation when I was on a retreat, and I.

Amanda Riffee:

I saw the book cover, I saw the things, and I was like, whoa, okay, this feels different. I could have left it right there. I could have left it at just that. Oh, that’s so cool. Yeah. I’m super inspired in this moment. But what I do now is I follow it up with action. And so, when I have those intuitive hits, when I have those things that come to me that don’t maybe always feel logical, that I was like, okay, well, let me take the first step.

Amanda Riffee:

What’s the first step? All right, let me figure out what that is, then I’ll take the next step. I have tattooed on my arm, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’. Because I was always a person who felt like. And you mentioned this at the very beginning of our conversation, that I needed to be fully 100% prepared and confident before I did something, before I took action, before I put something out there. And as I started my own business, I realized, number one, I’m never going to feel fully ready and confident. That’s never coming. So, we’re waiting for nothing.

Melinda Wittstock:

Yeah, you get. You have to get comfortable in that. In that.

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

And the taking action is really the only way you can go. And, and also being, you know, and then figuring out what’s the impact of that action and like, you know, course correcting when you have to. But, you know, if you don’t make. If you don’t take the steps, you know, you never know. I think it’s really important what you said, though, about when you get those kind of like, divine inspiration. Right. Like something comes to you.

Melinda Wittstock:

I mean, I think most people don’t do anything with that.

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah.

Melinda Wittstock:

And. And I think everybody gets these all the time. And the difference between someone who succeeds or someone who actually is an entrepreneur is whether or not you put it into action. Like, that’s actually. Yeah, that’s. That’s that and kind of knowing when, When. When something really does feel right in your bones, you know? Yes, that’s so. That’s so interesting.

Melinda Wittstock:

I’m curious about coaching businesses because I’m Sort of entrepreneur that always likes scalable sort of things, right?

Amanda Riffee:

Like, like that.

Melinda Wittstock:

So not really so much the kind of service, one on one kind of person. So yeah, when you’re thinking about your business and how it grows and scales, what are your thoughts on that? Like how many clients can you actually take? Is it mostly one on one work or do you do, or do you have a scalable element of what you do?

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah. When I first started out, it was one on one. I think this is important for people to know too. I did not quit my job. So, I was doing both things for, for a while and then I started to scale back my corporate career and, and kind of switch the pendulum the other way. Because I think there’s also a narrative of like, you’re not serious about it unless you like totally quit your job and do all the things.

Amanda Riffee:

I was the breadwinner in my family. It was not a financial thing I could do. And, and so I had to do both things for a while. And so, I looked at, I said, okay, how do I, you know, how do I fit? How many one-on-one clients could I, could I take? You know, all of that? And as I evolved, my business has evolved. So, to your point, I said, okay, what’s, what naturally feels like the, the next step for me. I do one on one. But even this year I made some pivots. I felt like I was like, you know, I might, you know, have a client for three months and then, you know, and then they’re off on their own and I bring in somebody else.

Amanda Riffee:

And it just kind of felt like that a little bit of that hamster wheel of like constantly selling and having somebody start and having somebody finish. And it was starting to get a little bit exhausting. I was like, okay, so how do I pivot this? What, what would feel really good for me? And so, at the beginning of this year, I launched a Mastermind, which is essentially, you know, a group, group coaching program for anyone who is not familiar with masterminds. I think we all are. But a group coaching program that, you know, I had just a very specific woman in mind for somebody who was wanting to grow a business and had a full-time job or really limited time. And I was like, okay, let’s what if I made this for six months? And then I also host retreats and so I was like. And then tag on that retreat with that. So, it’s a higher price point because it’s so intimate.

Amanda Riffee:

It’s so like the, the experience is so elevated. But now it all. And it also works for me because now, you know, I have the same regular clients for six months that will, you know, then lead into other things. So now I do, I do events, I do retreats, I do, you know, masterminds. I’m actually not taking on nearly as many one on one clients as I did when I first started out for that exact reason.

Melinda Wittstock:

Right. And then you’ve got your podcast.

Amanda Riffee:

Now you’re both.

Melinda Wittstock:

And so, all these pieces start to, you know, self-reinforce. You know, that’s, that’s, that’s very, very exciting. Well, Amanda, we’ll make sure that everybody knows how to find your book and your podcast in the show notes as well as where best to kind of connect with social media. Are you sort of a social media person?

Amanda Riffee:

Yeah, I would say Instagram is really my jam. That’s the, that’s the funnest place for me to hang out. So, if you’re on Instagram, I’d love to connect with you there. It’s @AmandaRiffee_coaching.

Melinda Wittstock:

Fantastic. Well, thank you so much for putting on your wings and flying with us today.

Amanda Riffee:

Thank you. Thank you for having me. I love this conversation.

[INTERVIEW ENDS]

Melinda Wittstock:

Amanda Riffee is an executive coach, author of the new book Unleashing You, and host of the podcast Unleashing You.

Melinda Wittstock:

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Melinda Wittstock:

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