Hello! I'm Cathy.

Sometimes instead of being money-poor, we are time-poor. Living check-to-check is eclipsed by living hour-to-hour.

We never have enough time to do what we love, to be there for the people we love, because we are so busy trading hours for dollars. Creating passive income is a real way to create more balance in our lives, work less for more money, and develop a business that supports our lifestyle, rather than the other way around.

If you’re like I was, you may think:

“I’m busy (aka my business is thriving). Why would I need to develop a system for passive income?”

I’ve thought this over and over – and figured the whole “passive income craze” had no relevance in my service-based, client-based, CUSTOM, built-from-scratch, one-of-a-kind business. But I was totally wrong. It is relevant – to ANY business, but especially creative ones, and here’s why:

• Invest your time instead of just spending it

The biggest case for creating a passive revenue stream in your business is it’s an amazing INVESTMENT. Not investment of money in the traditional sense, though. As your business grows, you’ll realize your most precious asset is time. You may think time is time and goes by no matter what – but it’s not really true. There’s a way to invest your time – and it’s in developing a passive income system. You spend the time ONCE and it keeps working for you – without you spending the time over and over again. Your time is exponentially MORE valuable when spending it creating a passive income system. It can potentially grow and grow, unlike how you’re spending time now. Time is finite in the trade-hours-for-money scenario.

• Easiest time in history for passive incomes

Right now is the easiest and most fertile planting ground for developing a passive income system. It’s a bit ridiculous how easy it is to start. The cost is super low, and you can start it RIGHT NOW. You don’t need a degree, or even a specialty. You just need a passion – ANY passion. If you know anything about anything – there’s a profit to be made on it. There are people out there who want to know what you know, or want to buy what you make. And connecting those clients with you and your offering is the easiest it’s EVER been. NOW is the time to start. It truly is the future, and the entrance gates are unlocked and are wide open right now. Why NOT start now?

• Business “insurance” plan

As women, building a business can be particularly scary. We have an extra set of worries when it comes to starting a family. There is such an uncertainty. If you already have children, you already know how big of a change happened in your life. If you don’t already have kids, you can only imagine how your life would change. For all of us though, when a business depends on only us – we get worried something could happen to us and render us temporarily unable to work. Developing a passive income system is a way to serve as a backup plan – or an insurance type business for us. It reduces our client dependency for our business to thrive. And who doesn’t want a little extra security right?

• Helping other people isn’t limited

The businesses that do the best, are those that HELP people. It is fulfilling as a business owner, and a as person, to be able to help people. As it currently stands though, you can only help so many people, because you’re just one person. When you develop a system, it can grow and grow and help many more people than you could ever handle on your own. Your reach is spread to the sky – and you can truly feel amazing about that! It is worth it!

So now that we’re in agreement – you may be wondering where to start? How do you develop a passive income stream in YOUR businesses? I can help you navigate WHAT to sell and HOW to sell it in my course, Create Passive Profits. You may be on information overload and have NO clue where to start. I’ve worked hard to devour all the information, speak to those currently doing it, and clean it up in an easy to understand and customizable way for CREATIVE businesses. There’s a lot of junk information out there, car salesman type techniques and just generally outdated information. I created a course that I wish was out there. This course will help you to develop the idea and hit the ground running with it. This is my 3rd time running the course, but I’m doing it differently this time with keeping the class small, and adding in the group coaching element. I’m opening registration VERY SOON, so make sure you’re signed up to be first to know when registration opens, so you can be guaranteed a spot and can get started on creating that revenue stream ASAP.

Cheers to a bright future – filled with passive incomes, fulfilling work, and being with the ones you love!

Yesterday I did an impromptu Periscope that got a lot of views and a lot of people buzzing.

Community over competition movement has been a positive shift, but it can (and is already) going wrong a bit.

Before you totally freak out, please hear me out. This comes from a place of love. Hugs. Take a quick breath, and let me ‘splain.

Rising tides lift all ships. But only if the water is being added to, not only drawn from.

The idea of rising tides means the body of water is being added to. Those who continually take and take, without adding, are going to find that the community will quickly get tired. And those in said community will stop sharing. Thus, without the proper balance, Community over Competition will crumble. In order to ensure this doesn’t happen, make sure you are ADDING more value than you are taking. 80/20 it if you need to. 80% value adding, 20% value taking.

TRUE communities support each other. And sometimes that means spending money.

I’m not saying that you have to spend all of your money to support community. But sometimes the BEST way to support someone is to get out your wallet. (Tough love time, ladies). If you truly believe in someone, HIRE THEM. There truly is no greater form of respect. Don’t just take all the free info they give out and never actually support them financially. Shop within your community, instead of looking outward. Keep each other in business, friends!

Community over competition can be used as a veil to take advantage of competition. Remember to REMEMBER the people who helped you get to where you are.

This is one of the biggest problems I see happening right now. A way to combat this is to REMEMBER the people who helped you, and to call them out and THANK THEM. There is nothing worse than helping someone in need, and them forgetting to thank you for it. It hurts, and it makes others not want to help ever again. Take time to thank your community and mentors for all they have done for you.

Only share what you are comfortable with.

Just because people are sharing more than ever before, doesn’t mean you have to “tell all” or share everything. You can politely send them to a resource in which they can gain more information on their own (like sending them to a business coach or online course). Or, you can be honest at say you aren’t comfortable with sharing proprietary business information with them. You DO NOT have to let them pick your brain for free. Offer a consulting call for a fee, and if they truly need help, they will support you.

Have a lovely week friends!

REGISTRATION FOR CREATE PASSIVE PROFITS IS OPENING SOON!

Tired of trading time for money? Need to develop a system of passive profit that doesn’t depend on you? Have no clue what to offer or how to start? This is exactly why I developed the e-course, Create Passive Profits. This course will help you to develop the idea and hit the ground running with it. I’ve also added a coaching portion this time, so I’ll help you one-on-one to help you get started.

Hello friend! Happy summer to you!!

It’s officially summer, a perfect time for a FRESH start to your business. Sometimes we start our business with the best intentions, but it’s extremely difficult to get it perfect when… well… we aren’t experts at starting a business in the first place.

We are creatives and we love what we do, so much that the rest doesn’t matter much in the beginning. We think we can tackle it all on our own, but pretty quickly we realize we would LOVE (desperately need?) some help.

How do we get more of those clients we LOVE and less of those kinds we’d LOVE to AVOID? Maybe we’ve spent time and money creating a brand we thought we wanted, but we’re still not HAPPY with it. It’s not a reflection of US. Whomp, whomp.

We need community. SOMEONE to chat with. Someone to talk to, to bounce ideas off of. Someone who’s been there. Someone to ask – “Am I doing this RIGHT?”

We want to make our message clear. We want to tell our story and share our heart. We know that we can help people and there’s just a big disconnect on HOW to actually get there.

Oh friend. I HEAR you.

Business coaching can be expensive. We charge $150/hr for it, and there’s a lot of coaching that’s much more expensive. But it WORKS. We’ve seen it change businesses dramatically, when they are finally ready to bring someone on to HELP and guide their path.
So I’m trying something new that I’m SO excited about. It’s called the Styled Brand.

And I’m opening only 5 seats — like RIGHT NOW.

What is the Styled Brand?

The Styled Brand is a four week, intimate business + brand coaching program. The Styled Brand will help you relaunch your business with grace and style. The Styled Brand will help you get clear on money stuff and what to charge for it, and a rock-solid visual brand board and plan to make it all happen. Get real, personal help, to re-build the business you love.

What’s included:

1. Weekly group coaching calls (recorded if you cannot make it live)
2. Weekly coaching content, Video & Worksheets Weekly check in office hours email with Cathy
3. Community for you to connect with each other & like-minded entrepreneurs
4. A stylized Visual Brand Inspiration Board for you to keep you on track & share with other

Don’t just keep struggling with business issues and questions and indecision. You’re ready.

“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” Karen Lamb

To find answers to all your questions, and to grab one of the very limited spots for August 2015, go here. Or, just email me directly and I’ll answer your questions personally.

I’m so grateful for you, and I’m excited to go on this journey together!

I still kinda can’t believe I’m going to teach this session. I never imagined myself teaching others how to do what I do.

It’s been on my heart lately to find ways to help others. I’ve felt a pull to help others no matter what, and no matter how deep the information is that I’m sharing. If I hear the need, I need to share it. A few months back I was toying with some topic ideas to pitch to speak at Amber Housley’s conference outside of Nashville, Tennessee, called Inspired 2015. I thought a lot about the questions I always get asked, the gaps in the market, and quite simply – what other’s WEREN’T teaching. I then thought about the many amazing entrepreneurs out there who’ve contacted me and said,

“I love your stuff so much, but it’s outside of my budget right now. Hopefully some day in the future I can hire you!”

Every time I hear that, it makes me a bit sad inside. I totally know my worth, and my cause, but it still hurts that I can’t help that person.

So I thought, that’s what people need. They need to learn how to do this themselves. They need that knowledge. Why don’t I teach DIY design for those who can’t quite make the commitment for custom design? I then thought… “No way! I’m not teaching my secrets!” And then I realized…

Those secrets aren’t mine to keep inside.

If I really want to help and connect to the 30 people at Inspired, I need to share. I need to open up and show people why and how I do what I do… How I use those gifts that God has given me.

So here I am friends, open and vulnerable, and I’m going to be sharing ::GASP:: how I design websites. If this session sounds like something you need, come join us. I won’t be teaching this anywhere else. This is a one-time opportunity for me to share a piece of my heart. Here’s a video from last year’s Inspired to give you an idea of the experience:

Here’s exactly what I’ll be teaching in my session:

DO IT YOURSELF (DIY) WEBSITE DESIGN

Are you ready to take creating your website into your own hands? It sounds like a big feat, but it doesn’t have to be! I will show you lots of options, depending on your level of design ability. I will talk about total DIY, partial DIY or working with templates. This session will cover some basic web design theory:

• Where (and why) to place things
• What to include in your website
• What programs to use
• Choosing a platform and webhost
• Finding & working with a programmer to bring it all to life

No coding knowledge necessary, but I will give away some of my best secrets and how I envision and execute a design from start to finish. You will feel empowered and in the know, no matter where you are in your website journey.

If this is on your heart to learn, I’d love, love, love if you’d join us. Early-bird registration ends this Saturday 2/28. You will also get $200 off with promo code LOVEINSPIRED.

This event always sells out, so reserve your place now if this feels like something that fits.

I’d love to encourage you today, to also step outside your comfort zone, and share something personal if you think it can help someone else. It’s worth it.

Recently I was interviewed by Whitney English and Mary Verett of the Day Designer®. See the original post here, and below for the interview!

This week’s #WellDesignedLife interview is with the incredible Cathy Olson! We just adore this hardworking (and super sweet) lady! Whitney has not only had the privilege of getting to personally know Cathy over the past year, but also worked with her to start a community project called Go Inspire Love!

Cathy will introduce herself a little further down, but we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to express our admiration for all the ways she helps others and manages to get.stuff.done. We love her and know you will, too!

What accomplishment are you most proud of in life so far?

My family, hands down. I love them more than there are stars in the sky, and they make life worth living. Nothing I do in my business life will ever compare to building and raising human beings. But, in my business, I am proud of getting the opportunity to really connect and help others through my art and experience.

Tell me about your big dreams. Where do you want to go and what do you want to do and why?

I learned early on that you really can’t over plan your life TOO much. It’s imperative to have goals, and to work towards them, but it’s necessary to be flexible and to be able to roll with the punches of life. So I don’t plan too far ahead anymore. But I can say in my immediate future, I’d like to grow my team a little more (I’m actually hiring right now for a position), and I’d like to be open to growing my reach and helping more people.

Actually I think that can be my long-standing goal/big dream. To help others exponentially with whatever I have than can help. I want to leave a legacy and make a mark – even if it’s just one person.

Do you face any struggles in achieving your dreams? What’s the scariest thing about them?

Of course I do! I struggle with a lot. I struggle with not being enough, not doing enough, not helping enough. I’m in a constant state of wondering if everything is ENOUGH. I have to remind myself that there is nothing to prove, only people to help. I remember that helping just ONE other person is enough.

As far as dreaming – it’s scary because I am a huge dreamer AND doer. So when something comes in to my mind, I put an enormous amount of pressure on myself to get it done and make it perfect. It is SO fun and exciting but can be exhausting if I’m listening too much to the negative voices.

What three daily things can you not live without?

Jesus, Hubby, my kids Aven and Maizen, and my computer with dual Mac screens. Sorry that’s five things.

How do you design intention into your life?

Being present 100% wherever I am. No regrets, no time splitting.

BUT… forgiving myself when I make a mistake or fail at it.

How do you create balance in your life?

I actually teach a course on it! So I have a complete system but the basics are – Customizing your schedule to you, and leaving room to be flexible.

What does your daily routine look like?

Morning with kids, alone time to work or run errands, then kids + family again.

What checklist(s) do you live by?

I use my monthly and weekly calendars, and do a fresh to-do-list every day (in my Day Designer).

What do you wish you had more of in life?

I guess I could always use more free time. I’m still working full time hours. Maybe in the future I can work part-time. We will see!!

What do you wish you had less of in life?

Negativity, perfectionism, doubt.

Are you willing to share a story with us about a time in your life things felt out of control? How did you get things back on course?

I would love to – but it’s long. The story of my crazy tumor is a long read, but I PROMISE you won’t feel the same about LIFE after you read it.

Thanks again to the lovely ladies who make the amazing Day Designer®! If you don’t have one, make sure you get on their mailing list to be updated when they go on sale!

Have a lovely day friends!

How can you be confident in your pricing? Confident in your offerings? Confident in your niche or confident in even your TALENTS?

Is it about faking it? NO.

I believe that we are all WORTH it and so we don’t have to fake it.

Since this is such a deep topic, we decided to do our monthly premium webinar on gaining Confidence in Your Business.

I would be so thrilled if you would join Whitney English and I TOMORROW, October 15th, live at 12pm PST/ 3pm EST.

Can’t make it live? Missed it and still want to watch? You can purchase the recorded version instead (Go Inspire Love members – no need to register).

• Grab your seat right now: GoInspireLove.com/Confidence

• Ever feel like work and life is just a juggling act?
• Never feeling very present wherever you happen to be?
• Do you feel so overwhelmed that you don’t even know WHERE to start to fix it?

I have been there friends. I had gotten myself into the overflow too many times and I finally decided it needed to STOP. I needed to find a way out of the cycle and a way through. I want to share it with you.

As business owners, we all are feeling the pressure of “too much to do and not enough time.” When you’re with family and friends, you feel like you should be working. When you’re working, you feel like you’re missing out on family and friends.

(Do you ALWAYS feel like there are not enough hours in a day?)

We all need to not feel guilt and be more present when spending time with our family and friends. We are always seeking balance, and it almost seems impossible some days.

Do you ever wonder if this is just what life is supposed to feel like, or is there some way to adjust and make life seem more fulfilling instead of fast?

THIS TUESDAY I will be presenting Finally… Balancing Work and Life, a 1 hour webinar with Stationery Academy, to help you start balancing RIGHT away with simple strategies and roll with it when crazy strikes.

Please join me so that we can clear out overwhelm, and find balance, so that you can live your life. You will learn how to really balance life and work and friends and family once and for all.

(Sound like a plan?)

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

My developed plan for implementing boundaries and systems that will help clear up your overwhelm immediately, so we can get the MOST of our time and stay productive.

When you’re balanced, you are happier, your clients or customers are happier, and YOU are doing your BEST work.

Reserve your seat for Tuesday Sept 30th. 
Only 50 seats available before this Masterclass is full.

Don’t waste any more time being overwhelmed.

It’s yucky and it does no one any good. Start clearing it now, and be able to look forward to a fresh 2015 free of guilt, over-scheduling, and overwhelm!

Excited to see you there! xo!

Who’s wanting to grow your audience, but doesn’t want to compromise yourself and what you put out there to get it?

:: Raises Hand ::

We’d love for you to join Whitney and I next Wednesday for our Grow Your Audience webinar. If you can’t make it, you can purchase the recorded version instead. AND this webinar is totally FREE for Go Inspire Love members! Register: GoInspireLove.com/grow

Recently in the Facebook group for the Design Life Project alumni, Alicia Sturdy wrote,

“Thinking about what it means to help & love our clients. Helping I get. But loving? How do you love a client well?”

I was kind of stumped by her question. We are told to love on our clients, but yes, what DOES that mean, when you are thinking of it in step-by-step terms? I’m finally just now formulating an answer to this question. I think loving on clients looks different on everyone, perhaps it is semantics, on how we as individuals show our love to others. So then, I can only say how I strive to love on clients. When thinking about it, I found 3 major ways that I try to love on my clients:

Come from a place of love

This means to always be on the positive. Brighten their day. Always give clients the best of you. Come from a place of pure intentions and come to them with a full heart. Serve them and their needs with joy in your heart. I hear you – this can be tough sometimes. I get that people have junk going on behind the scenes. I have my fair share of junk going on, but I try my best not to dump my baggage on my clients. I come to them from a place of love, of wanting to help. I check my ego and my problems at the door and I clear my head, if I need to. They deserve the best of me, I’m grateful for every one of my clients and if I’m having a bad day, I cast my cares on Him and pray about it, effectively dumping the garbage, so that I can approach them with a clear slate. Come from a place of love.

Respect their decisions

A lot of times clients come to me having had a less-than-stellar experience with another designer or coder. Sometimes I hear from them is that the last designer did not AGREE with their vision. While I think it is amazing to have a personal style, I still believe that the ‘customer is always right’ in this scenario. What separates designers from a traditional artist (painter, etc.) is that we are solving a problem FOR a client. It’s NOT about us. You have to let go of your Diva and respect your clients decisions, visions and wishes. You lovingly give your input and your feedback, but you need to respect when they don’t agree with you, or if they want something else. I also find a lot of clients apologizing when they don’t like or agree with a design that I’ve chosen. I tell them, hey – do not apologize for your thoughts – it’s NOT about me. YOU need to love it. What YOU think is the most important thing of all. MY version of success comes from a client feeling WELL REPRESENTED and authentic. I’m not painting the next Mona Lisa. I solve a visual design problem. Period. Respect their decisions, and listen to them. Which leads me to my next point….

Listen to them (and hear what they aren’t saying)

Of course I mean this in the literal sense, but I sort of mean it in the hypothetical sense too. Hear not only what they say, but what they aren’t saying. Hear their needs, but also think about what they really need – those things that they are NOT asking for. Going through a re-design is NOT an easy process, and we as professionals OWE it to them to fully utilize our experiences. We know things that they will need, that they have not yet thought of. Listen to what they are asking for, and calculate what else they may need. Pretend it’s your loved one that you are proving this service for – you would make sure they knew all the tips, tricks and helpful hints so that they would be truly successful. THAT’S how you go the extra mile to love on them. You are truly helping them to the best of your ability and hearing their needs whether they state them or not. Invest in them.

Bottom line, if you are genuinely caring for your clients and you are coming from a positive place, they will feel the love. We won’t always be perfect at it, we are human and inherently will make mistakes. But we get back up and try again. It’s loving on others that makes our job fun.

Have a lovely weekend friends!

REGISTRATION FOR CPP IS CLOSING SOON!

Tired of trading time for money? Need to develop a system of passive profit that doesn’t depend on you? Have no clue what to offer or how to start? This is exactly why I developed the e-course, Create Passive Profits. This course will help you to develop the idea and hit the ground running with it. I’ve also added a coaching portion this time, so I’ll help you one-on-one to help you get started.

I am thrilled to announce that the lovely and super talented Whitney English and I are collaborating on a fun project together for faith & love based women entrepreneurs, called Go Inspire Love. Mark your calendars – we are hosting a FREE insider Webinar on August 21st, at 12pm PST / 3pm EST, for those who’d like to learn more. We’ll be talking about the vision for Go Inspire Love and how we think this will be a game changer.

We hope you can join us!

Hop over to http://goinspirelove.com to register for the free Webinar. We’ll be sending out a reminder the day before, and the details and link the morning of, via email, on where to go to participate.

Till then, Go Inspire Love!