#awinewith Clare Wood
MEET Clare Wood, Founder of Clare Wood
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Transcript
Danielle Lewis (00:05):
Oh, Claire, welcome back to Spark tv.
Clare Wood (00:10):
Thank you so much for having me again Daniel, it's always nice to chat to you.
Danielle Lewis (00:13):
I'm so excited. I don't often have repeat guests, but it's so nice because we get to do a bit of a check-in and see where life has taken us over the months and years. And now we were just saying before we hit record, the last time you were on the podcast, you had literally just launched your book. I think it had come out like the day or two before our recording. I'm so curious to hear what impact that's made on your business this year.
Clare Wood (00:44):
It's been really fantastic. So the book became an Amazon bestseller across multiple categories. It's stayed in the charts for months, and I've even, every now and again, I see it pop back in the charts again, which is pretty cool. But the biggest thing that I think that it did was really uplevel my profile and visibility. So a big thing that's happened in 2024, I've done a lot of paid speaking and traveling and literally being able to go around talking, which was such a big fear of mine that I never thought it would be possible. And yeah, it's really just sort of elevated the brand, the positioning. I know this sounds silly, but I'm sort of mixing with different people, a lot of author friends now, and yeah, it's been a really cool experience.
Danielle Lewis (01:39):
I think that is so incredible because I think a book is on people's business bucket list, but the barrier to fitting in writing a book, or perhaps even the cost of publishing a book or insert any excuse here, really, I feel like sometimes that holds us back. How did you overcome those things? Did you sort of think, okay, I know that this is going to have such a big impact on my business, therefore I'm going to find the time, find the money, find the motivation, whatever it might be. How did you get from not having a book to having a book?
Clare Wood (02:21):
That's a really great question, and the reason why this is so pertinent is because when I finished the book and had such great success with back of it, I'm like, I'm going to write another book. It's been a couple of years now, and honestly, I'm kind of going through the same mental struggles, thoughts, et cetera, again, because you way up. It's so much, honestly, I want to be completely honest here. It's so much time and money
(02:52):
And you think that it's not going to be that hard. I've been on the journey now, so I imagine it would be easier the second time around, but it's just so much time that gets spent on finicky little things. And when I'm sitting here looking down the barrel of, I could invest that time and energy into fixing my Facebook funnel or rewriting the copy on my website or creating content or bringing new clients. Does that make sense? It's really hard. Totally. And being a profit gal myself, I'm weighing up this exact thing myself. I think that if you go into the decision, you have to go in with a view of not this is going to make me a ton of money. I've sold thousands of copies of my book, which is apparently really, really good. Most people don't hit that kind of metric. But yeah, has it been a profitable decision for me on paper, I would still say no.
(03:54):
And that's even with the paid speaking gigs and things like that. So yeah, it's one of those things that I think that you've got to weigh up the pros and the cons and work out if it's right for you. I am so glad I did it. I am so proud of myself. As I said, it's been a huge elevation piece in terms of my brand and profile, but I think that I want to sort of say to people, don't just rush into the decision because it is a lot, particularly if you want to do it well. And I think that this is the thing that I send in my clients as well. The reality is you can sit down and punch at a book and stick it on, but if you want to actually have it edited and cohesive, and for me, it was very, very important that my book was structured and had really practical action. So I myself couldn't see my blind spots. So I was working with a copywriter who helped me say, well, hang on, that doesn't really, I don't know what that means. You need to give me the context around that. So all of these things are extra investments, and you just got to
(05:07):
These
Danielle Lewis (05:07):
Things through, oh my God. And literally, it's interesting. I guess that's like any decision in your business, any kind of opportunity that might come across your desk or new marketing channel that we're going, Ooh, should I invest time and energy into that? You're right, it is. What are you saying no to, and will this actually be a profitable venture? Now you said, because I'm a profit gal, so let's tell everyone what you actually do now that we're halfway through the conversation, halfway
Clare Wood (05:37):
Through the interview. So I call myself a money mentor, which basically means I help small business owners to get across their money. And I do that in two ways. One is through I'm a CPA, so I'm actually teaching people about their business finances, how to understand what profit means, what cashflow means, and I also teach about money mindset, which is about how to think differently about money, how to have a positive view on money. And the way that these two kind of marry together in my teachings is that if you look at your numbers and you're like, oh my gosh, that's a disaster. I'm like, Hey, that's okay. We're going to work out a game plan around it. I didn't just want to be the accountant that comes and says, yeah, well, that's what's going on, because that's not how I myself navigate business. If my numbers aren't telling me what I want to see, I go and make decisions. I'd be empowered around it. I'm like, right, okay, that didn't work. Let's try that. Well, that worked really well. Let's lean in. Let's leverage that. Let's try that again. So that's really what I want to empower my students and my clients to do as well is look at your numbers, but don't freak out about them and really view things in a lens of, I am in control of my life and my business, so what decisions can I
Danielle Lewis (06:57):
Make? Yeah, I love that so much. And it's really interesting that marrying of the, I think Jenna Kutcher says it really well, the woo and the work, the mindset and the data, because I think it's so important. So talk to me about, because I feel like did mindset teaching come a little bit later for you? You started out more in the nuts and bolts of data, actionable items in the business, and then mindset came later. Is there a reason you introduced to that kind of work when you're working with business owners?
Clare Wood (07:33):
Yeah, I love that. So I am an accountant by trade. I'm very black and white, and to be honest, I still am a really practical coach. A lot of my clients are surprised that we leave calls. I send people action list. I'm not just think positive and turnaround. I'm like, Hey, you've got to take action. And that's actually part of the mindset work. So I'm still a very practical kind of person. I'm still a very practical kind of coach. But something that I learned, I was a couple of years in a business and someone told me about this lady called Denise Afield Thomas, who's now become a friend of mine, and I did her course. And suddenly I realized how negatively I speak about money, how many money traumas I have from my childhood, and how that was affecting me in business and in life because I was so scared of losing money. I was so scared to invest in myself. I didn't want to be a rich person because my parents said to me growing up, rich people are awful, and my dad still calls rich people, be elite. I'm happy.
Danielle Lewis (08:41):
I'm happy to have that
Clare Wood (08:42):
Tag. And so I realized that I had all of these stories that were affecting me as a business owner, and then that I learned about mindset and even manifestation. I realized, wow, I actually do manifest things without even realizing sometimes bad things, sometimes good things. And so I wanted to start to use these tools in my work and in supporting my clients to create breakthrough success in their business. So yeah, it's been a journey.
Danielle Lewis (09:18):
Wow. I love that so much. And I think it's amazing that business evolves as we grow, as we learn. I love how you call them tools because it is exactly that. As we learn more tools, we can empower ourselves, change what we decide to do in our business and grow, I think it's exciting that there has been such a huge evolution.
Clare Wood (09:42):
Yeah.
Danielle Lewis (09:42):
Yeah, it's incredible. So thinking about that, what has worked well for you in 2024 in terms of growing the business?
Clare Wood (09:54):
So I'm going to be completely honest. 2024 hasn't been a big growth year for me. In fact, it's been a really tough year,
(10:03):
And I think a couple of things that I've realized is that what used to work a couple of years ago isn't working. Now I'm seeing a lot of people pivoting in ways that don't feel aligned for me. I'm noticing that there's a lot of coaches, coaching coaches, and not to discredit that, but for me, I'm like, I feel like there's still a thriving market in that space of the market, but that doesn't excite me. My passion is really working with creatives, working with digital marketing agencies, really people with that left brain way of thinking. I bring that really practical money side. So I've got a lot clearer about what I don't want to do. I also am not interested in the game of making up sales numbers, which again is something I've seen a lot of people unfortunately doing in the online space. But I'm like, I could see why there's not a lot of faith in coaches these days.
(11:05):
But 2024 has been a good year for me in that, like I said, there's really been a big up level around my visibility, around my brand, my brand recognition, and really being able to attract in just beautiful high quality clients into my world. And I think that I'm really, really grateful for the fact that I do attract good hearted, impact driven humans into my space and my spaces. And I've also just recently returned from a trip to America. Oh my God, I saw that. That looks so good. It was so good. I've come back with such a fire in my belly and such excitement about business, and I'm launching something new in 2025, which I'm so pumped about. If just feels so aligned, I'm so ready. So yeah, it's been a really good year of learnings, of lessons and excited to hit 2025. I feel like it is going to be a breakthrough year for me in terms of my business and in terms of the results that I'll be creating with my clients.
Danielle Lewis (12:13):
I love that so much, and I love your acknowledgement that perhaps there's some things in the online world that we shouldn't just take at face value. I think that is really, it can be really disheartening for us as business owners. And I love your honesty because it has been a bit of a tough year for a lot of people in business. And I'm not even talking about maybe we had a flat year. There are people I know that have gone out of business this year, really sadly. And so across the board, I think there's been so many people that have been struggling in a multitude of different ways. And I think that it doesn't matter what level you're struggling on, it still feels like a struggle to you sometimes. So I'd love that you're just being honest about it. I love that you have then said, okay, how can I invest in myself and get inspired and then take that inspiration into 2025? Do you think that there are some key things that you will do differently in the business in 2025?
Clare Wood (13:16):
Yeah, so one of the big things that I'm shifting up is my pricing. I am really starting to go, okay, I work with six multi six figure business owners. I'm working with the part of the market that's hurting right now, people who are the top end of the market. A lot of my clients have really, really high end clients, and they're still spending, they don't get affected by interest rates or what's going on in the economy. But I do feel like that middle market is hurting right now. So what I'm going to be doing is creating a new package that's at a new price point that is really, really focused around empowering people to, hey, if you have been having a bit of a tough year coming to this space, we are all going to be going through a massive elevation together. And reminding people too of their inherent power, because I think that when we have a bit of a crap here, we can forget how powerful we are.
(14:14):
We can forget, Hey, do you know what? I've come through sticky situations before. I have created epic growth before. And so what we're going to be doing is getting back into that frequency, getting back into the energy being around people who are really focused on that same thing as well. Because to your point, a lot of my friends and a lot of really big businesses as well have been hurting. And some are talking about it, some aren't. I've also had some friends who unfortunately have gone out of business this year, but I'm here for the journey. I'm here for the ups and the downs, and I'm really ready to support some people as we come into the new year to have a breakthrough
Danielle Lewis (14:55):
Year in 2025. Oh my God, I love it. So on board for a breakthrough year, this sounds incredible, and I absolutely love how you just said, I'm here for the ups and downs because I think that's something that isn't talked about enough. It very much it is that more growth, growth, growth online and also our desire who doesn't want to just keep growing. But I think that business on all levels sees ups and downs. It may be revenue ups and downs, maybe profit ups and downs. It might be ups and downs just with your team and customers and things like that. So business is a bit of a journey, can be a rollercoaster. And I love that. It's like you acknowledge that and that's okay, and we're all in it together. And that doesn't mean that we can't see something amazing transform in our business.
Clare Wood (15:47):
Absolutely. And look, sometimes I think that breakthroughs come after a breakdown, and this happens in business, but also, I was chatting to a friend of mine the other day she's dating, and I was like, if you think you're going to get into any relationship and it's going to be easy, there's going to be times where things are really fricking tough. There's going to be times where things are amazing. There's going to be a lot of in the middle. And that's kind of the same with business. It's not even the people who go up and up and up. To your point behind the scenes, I know people are having legal battles and people absolutely bullying the crap out of them and team members and awful clients. And even if someone's revenue consistently goes up, which quite frankly, I don't know that that necessarily happens month on month on month for any business. But even if it is, I guarantee you that they are still having struggles behind the scenes. So yeah, I think that the more that we can have honest conversations about it, but also say, you know what? Just because you're going through a challenging season doesn't mean that there's not potential. Doesn't mean that there's not amazing things that lie ahead. And I inherently believe that. And when you hang onto that faith and that belief, that is how you get through the tougher times.
Danielle Lewis (17:11):
And I do love, I think sometimes as business owners, we kind of think we're in it alone
(17:18):
And we have to. We're sitting at home, we're working from home, we're behind our laptops and we're running, running, running. And we sometimes feel a little bit ashamed if we're not having the best year ever and posting about our new handbag on social media or whatever it might be. And I think that the key message is, and I know this is something that I had to learn as well, is there are so many amazing people out there that do have your back people in so many different areas of business. And I know that from a money mindset, money strategy point of view, having someone like you in your business corner is absolutely incredible. And then the other communities and business communities and business support that's out there, I feel like as business owners, we need to ask for help more and surround ourselves with people that can see the light when we might be struggling to Absolutely.
Clare Wood (18:14):
And yeah, remember too, so this is something I just want to remind people. Social media is a highlight reel this last year. I been going through perimenopause and I've had crippling anxiety at times, and I'm like, even my husband probably didn't know how bad it was. That's what you do. You put on the brave face. I was still showing up consistently on my social media. People wouldn't have known how unwell I was behind the scenes, and I didn't want to dump that on my audience. I didn't want to dump it on my friends. I didn't want to dump it on my family. It wasn't that I was being misleading. It's just that sometimes that's what you do. You're sharing the, Hey, yeah, there's some crap stuff going on behind the scenes, but guess what? This amazing thing's happened and I've had this opportunity and I'm speaking on stage and I'm going to America.
(19:09):
And I think that just a reminder that you're always just seeing a portion of what's going on in someone's life. And when you remember that, I don't think that anyone is trying to be misleading or it's just that they're sharing a portion of their life online. So just remember that. And that's something that I remember when I find myself getting triggered by, oh my gosh, they're having another a hundred thousand dollars a month or whatever it might be. It's like you don't know what's going on in their life behind the scenes. You don't know. They might've had the crappiest six months of business in the lead up to that one big month. So I just always try and keep that in mind as well.
Danielle Lewis (19:52):
Yeah, I do love that. And I do love that you do share moments every now and again. I noticed when you were recovering from the car accident, I remember you did a great one. I think you're about to speak on stage, and your friend was doing a reiki healing on you. And then when you're overseas, I was like, you do share the highlights and the accomplishments, but you also do pepper in behind the scenes now and then as well, which is amazing. I know, because I think about my social media and it's like, I don't love being vulnerable. I don't love sharing the crap days. So I know I'm guilty of that as well as just go, just showing up when I've got a wine in my hand, my life's perfect. Exactly. Exactly. I haven't been crying all day. This is great. So then do I do love that comment that you do kind of have to take things with a bit of a grain of salt. Think about how you show up online. If you're not posting on the bad stuff, it's probably likely that other people aren't posting that stuff as well, but they may still be going through it. It's a good lens, I think, to have around social media. But I think all the more reason why you need to select people to bring into your world really carefully, you need to say, what are my business goals and who is really going to help me to get there?
Clare Wood (21:16):
And I've learned that for me, authenticity is such an important part of having a mentor because I know that I've worked with people and they're like, oh, I've never felt like that. Oh no, everything's just great for me. And if you're having a launch that didn't go to plan or a crappy day, and for me, I'm like, yeah, I want someone who's going to lift me up and inspire me, but I also want someone who's going to share a bit of their own vulnerability with me and in the online world. So yeah, that's something that I've definitely, I'm aware of with mentorship and and then the flip side of that as well, I know there's some people who every time I shopped their social media account, it's just like, everything sucks. Doom and Glo, this sucks. And I'm like, oh, that's not the vibe. So I think that it's trying to find the balance. Everyone's going to have a different idea of what's the right fit for them. I think that it's about finding what that right mix is for you, whether it's looking for a mentor or people even that you follow online, because really they become your mentors as well. That's the energy that you're in. It's the messaging you're hearing. And so yeah, just being really aware of that.
Danielle Lewis (22:24):
I couldn't agree more. I love it. Now, it would be remiss of me not to ask this question because you're the profit gal. So for people who are perhaps reflecting on the year, or if this is going live in January, planning for the year ahead, why is profit so important as a metric to think about in your business?
Clare Wood (22:45):
Because at the end of the day, your sales, and again, this is another bugbear of mine, but people will talk about their sales numbers online, and that's not the money that you get to keep your profit is. So your sales minus your expenses equals your profit. And depending how your business is structured, you might pay yourself a wage as well. So some business owners I work with make zero profit, which sounds terrible, but they're paying themselves a 10,000 wage each month. So I always add together profit and director's wages, and I call it adjusted profit because it's totally fine to make no profit if you're paying yourself a healthy wage on the side. But essentially why I talk about profit so much is because if we are spending increasing our spending, as our sales are growing, we are going to have less money left over.
(23:38):
And again, being really transparent here, 2024 was a real year of realignment for me because I've been in rapid growth. I've been like, yeah, I'll grab that thing and buy that subscription. And this year I've really had to brutally look at my business and say, do I really need to have all these subscriptions? Do I really need to be doing this thing? Do I really need to be spending money on that thing? So there's seasons for tightening the belt and there's seasons for reinvesting and growth. And again, for me, I know for that mentorship is something that's incredibly important. That is something that I'm leaning into in investing. But yeah, I've cut back in other areas of my business really quite tightly in this year. So look, if you are listening to this episode in January, 2025, what I would suggest for you is have a think about the year ahead.
(24:36):
What are your profit goals? What are your life goals as well? Because I know a lot of people who've grown their business rapidly and become absolutely miserable because they're just working their ass off all the time and feeling overwhelmed and stressed and all of the things. So what are my life goals? What are my business goals? And then breaking it down into a month by month profit target. So generally what I like to do is that we sit here and we go, okay, if I want to make, I dunno, $10,000 of sales in February, what investments am I going to make into my business to achieve that goal? This is the disconnect that I think a lot of people don't make is that they're like, I'm just going to grow it. I'm like, but how marketing?
(25:21):
How are you getting more eyeballs on your brand to achieve that growth? So I like to really connect the two. So we have our sales by month, our expenses by month, and then that will give you an indication of how much profit you'll be making throughout the year. I find this really empowering as well, because if your profit goals say at January, February, March aren't where you want it to be, you can say, okay, so I know that things are going to be a bit tight for the start of the year. We're going to strap ourselves in hold onto the ride. But the way that I am intentionally growing my business and that I'm investing, I'm confident that by June I'll be hitting the goals that I want. By September, I'll be in growth mode, and by December next year, I'll be really freaking proud of how my business finished out the year. So I think that that's a really cool exercise to do. Sit down, do a month by month budget and really be intentional about the growth that you want to create about your skills gaps. So if for example, you are an accountant by trade, you probably don't hire, you probably don't need to come and do my money course. You probably got that down pat, but you might find that you need help with your marketing.
(26:31):
And so when you're looking at your investments, you might say, I'm going to need someone who can really teach me how to uplevel my Instagram, or I'm going to need someone who can help me work on my money mindset, work out what your gaps are, and then do I need a consultant? Do I need a coach? Do I just need to stick some money into Facebook ads and then map that out for the year? And then that is how you set yourself up for a really big growth year in 2025.
Danielle Lewis (26:56):
I love it. And I love that you used the word intentional because I think sometimes it's so easy to just, like you said, I'm going to double. It's like, but how that actually, sometimes it can be a little bit scary looking at where things are, especially if we're unhappy with where things are kind of confronting. That situation can be a little bit scary. However, when you are intentional and you do map it out, and you do figure out the how, I feel like that's what almost takes the stress away because you're like, oh, now the gap is me taking action. It's me finding that gap that I have, filling it with any one of those solutions and then taking the action that I need. And when we get that clarity by being intentional and really looking at the state of play, it's really empowering.
Clare Wood (27:44):
I think a big thing that I've learned over the years, that feeling of being depressed down, stuck. You're stuck. You don't have a game plan out of it.
Danielle Lewis (27:54):
If you
Clare Wood (27:55):
Are in a situation and you go, this really sucks, but I've got a strategy, I've got a game plan you can navigate through. I know that I've just got to keep putting one foot in front of the other. It's when you're like, I have literally no idea how to fix this problem. That's where people feel really helpless, overwhelmed, and yeah, have a real sense of, I can't keep seeing the positive in this. So having a game plan is a really great way to feel empowered to your
Danielle Lewis (28:25):
Point. So good. I absolutely love it. Now, I always love to wrap up these podcasts with one last piece of advice. So reflecting on your time in business, what would be a piece of advice that you would give to another woman on her business journey?
Clare Wood (28:41):
Number one thing, work on your mindset. It is the one thing that will get you through the challenging times. If you build a real sense of self-belief and self-confidence, you are not going to be crumbling. And every time that something goes wrong in business, it will. Let's be honest. When you've got that inevitable, I know that I am going to be wildly successful. I know that this is my purpose. I know that I've got a gift that I need to share with the world. That is the one thing. So work on your mindset and everything else will fall into place.
Danielle Lewis (29:19):
You are absolutely incredible. Thank you so much, Claire, for sharing your time and your wisdom with the Spark community. I'm so grateful for you.
Clare Wood (29:28):
Oh, thanks so much for having me again, Danny, really appreciate it.
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