From Ideas to Action: Everyday Effectiveness CEO, Gwen Bortner, on Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

Debra Coleman [00:00:11]:
Well, hello, beautiful, and welcome back to another episode of Have A Seat, conversations with women in the workplace podcast. Excuse me, my friends, this week. I am battling ahead cold, but that wasn't gonna stop me from bringing you this wonderful conversation because I am beyond excited to have an incredible guest on this week, miss Gwen Bortner. Ladies, if you are in any stage of your entrepreneurship journey, turn the volume up because this episode is one not to miss. Matter of fact, grab a notebook and pen because you're going to definitely be taking some notes. This is the episode for you. And you know what? In full transparency, even if you are not on an entrepreneurship journey, what is it that a lot of our coaches and influencers say today? Treat your career path and what you do as if you are the CEO of your own company. Like, you are the CEO of you.

Debra Coleman [00:01:12]:
So a lot of what we talk about today in my episode with Gwen can absolutely translate and transfer into your w two life. So don't lose heart. Don't turn out just because you may not be along your entrepreneurship journey because a lot of what we talk about still applies. Alright, everyone. So as I said, I am beyond excited to have a seat with miss Gwen Bortner. Gwen is the founder of Everyday Effectiveness, an operations strategy firm where she helps women entrepreneurs turn their big visions into thriving businesses that scale to 7 figures and beyond. Amazing. No big deal.

Debra Coleman [00:01:54]:
Right? Oh my gosh. It's an incredible it's an incredibly big deal, and I love that Gwen really focuses on helping women entrepreneurs. So if you've ever felt stuck trying to figure out how to actually run your business day to day or you're full of great ideas, but not not quite sure how to bring them to life, my friend, this episode is for you. Gwen's superpower is simplifying all the messy, complicated processes behind the scenes and creating a clear, effective path forward. Plus, she's also the host of the cohost, excuse me, of the Business You Really Want podcast that she cohosts with her business partner, Tanya Kubo. Together, they have created the business you really want podcast, and it is a showstopper. Trust me. After hearing this episode with Gwen, you should jump on into your podcast directory search engine and pull up the business you really want and add that to your podcast lineup, you will definitely want to add that to your entrepreneurship toolkit.

Debra Coleman [00:03:06]:
Because in that podcast, she and Tonya share even more wisdom on how to build a business that truly works for you, truly works for you. Because isn't that a part of the reason why you got into business for yourself in the first place? So in this conversation, my friend, we are talking about Gwen's approach to problem solving, how she supports visionary women, and why she's so passionate about helping entrepreneurs get the results they want, get this, here's the secret sauce, without all the overwhelm. Not the o word, overwhelm. Oh, no. So my friend, grab a seat, get comfortable, turn those earbuds up, and let's dive in to my conversation with miss Gwen Bordner, founder and CEO of Everyday Effectiveness. Alright. Well, welcome back to another episode of Have a Seat Conversations with Women in the Workplace podcast. I am your host, Deb Coleman.

Debra Coleman [00:04:04]:
And joining me this week, I'm so excited to welcome Gwen Bortner, CEO of Everyday Effectiveness, also the host cohost of her very own podcast, which we will get into a bit. But I just wanna thank Gwen for taking time out of her busy schedule to sit with us today to talk to us a little bit about entrepreneurship, especially for women. So thank you, Gwen, for joining me.

Gwen Bortner [00:04:26]:
Oh, I am so happy to be here, and I love to talk about women and entrepreneurship because I've been doing this women entrepreneurship thing as a woman entrepreneur for a really long time on and off. Sometimes I've been working for other people, but, man, I there are lots of stories. Lots of stories.

Debra Coleman [00:04:44]:
You have. I've gotta really tip my hat to you because you have been doing it, if I'm not mistaken, since 2015, or even maybe earlier if I'm if I'm

Gwen Bortner [00:04:52]:
not mistaken. Yeah. No. No. No. Where my my first entrepreneurial venture, I started in, 89. Okay.

Debra Coleman [00:05:01]:
Well

Gwen Bortner [00:05:02]:
So Yes. Yes. 1980

Debra Coleman [00:05:04]:
9. Yeah. Thank you for that clarification. Yeah. That's amazing. So you were doing it even before it was, quote, a thing. Right? Before Jose?

Gwen Bortner [00:05:17]:
Yeah. Way before it was a thing. I I I did another interview with someone else who was talking about working from home, and I was actually working from home as an entrepreneur in 1989, which, of course, no one had ever heard of such a crazy thing back.

Debra Coleman [00:05:30]:
Exactly. They must have been like, Anantra, what now? You know?

Gwen Bortner [00:05:33]:
Yeah. No. It was one of those that people would just like,

Debra Coleman [00:05:38]:
Well, if you don't mind me asking, what what sort of facilitated that change? Because so many women I don't have to tell you. I'm preaching to the choir. Especially since 2020, I think the the script is flipping a bit for many of us, and we're really seriously giving thought to that journey, that path. But what was it for you? What kind of helped you get find that stay at home mentality or that stay at home vibe, that stay at home career?

Gwen Bortner [00:06:03]:
You you it's well, and like I said, it's gone back and forth many, many times, and it depends on what I'm doing at the time. Mhmm. And and so at the time, I was doing a, an an, computer consulting kind of role, and I didn't need an office because I it didn't matter where I did my work, and I would have to deliver it to whoever my customer's office was because this was long before,

Debra Coleman [00:06:32]:
you you

Gwen Bortner [00:06:33]:
know, Internet was really a thing. And, you know, and so it was it was a practicality thing if I didn't need to be paying for space that I didn't actually need to have. And and then there's been times that I've I've taken jobs, because it just made sense to to have that either for some, more stable income and not having to chase clients down and, you know, doing all of that. And so there's just been times back and forth, that that's done it. And a lot of times, it's about what is my interest and what is the best way to facilitate what I'm wanting to do right now with my life and my work.

Debra Coleman [00:07:13]:
I like that. What is the best way to facilitate what it is I'm doing right now with was that in finding, like, the balance for you? Is that kinda what that translated to? Like, finding the work life balance that eludes us all?

Gwen Bortner [00:07:28]:
It it wasn't necessarily that. And part of it is because a lot of my, a lot of my professional career, I've either been single or I've only had a husband. I say only because a lot of women have children, which I think adds, like, a multi exponential complexity factor

Debra Coleman [00:07:48]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:07:49]:
Into things. And so I I feel like I've always been able to make different choices because because of that, but I also totally respect what that actually means for for women entrepreneurs because I really do think it adds a huge, huge complexity factor, into the in the whole piece. But usually, it really was about what kind of work did I wanna be doing at the time. And based on that, you know, what kind of experience did I wanna get? What kind of things were I was I wanting to do? And sometimes it made sense to get that experience in a a corporation, and sometimes that made the the it made sense for me to get that experience as being an entrepreneur. And so I I have bounced back and forth multiple multiple times. I don't foresee me bouncing back to nonentrepreneurship ever again. I'm old enough that's probably not gonna happen.

Debra Coleman [00:08:41]:
Mhmm. I can respect that. Absolutely. And I'm kind of right there with you. You know? I I tell people all the time. You know what? At 53, I've been working since I was 16, and I just don't need that anymore. I don't need the office anymore. I don't need, like, driving in every day, all that.

Debra Coleman [00:08:57]:
You know? Yeah. You know what I'm talking about. Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:08:59]:
I do. I do.

Debra Coleman [00:09:00]:
I get it. I get it. Wow. Well, let's let's get into your your work in everyday effectiveness as CEO and owner of Everyday Effectiveness. I love that title, by the way. It kinda, like, speaks for itself. But let's let's start there. So with your business, you're known, for helping women entrepreneurs, that's sort of our focus today, turn their big ideas, into a reality, I guess, you know, to kinda scale and take, you know, that concept and make it work and turn it into business.

Debra Coleman [00:09:30]:
What's the first step you take when when someone maybe, like, a prospective client or a client comes to you with a big vision, but they're like, when? Here it is. The kitchen sink. Now how do I get started? Like, how what what how what's the intake like? What do you how do you vet? What do you how do you get to that first step with somebody?

Gwen Bortner [00:09:50]:
So once there we the the client and I decide there's a good fit, a personality fit, because I'm going to get very, very involved in their world. And they have to feel really comfortable with me because I push back a lot. I say a lot of challenging things. I say it with love. I say it with compassion, but I still say it, which a lot of folks don't. And so that's one thing is they have to be ready for that. That's that's the first piece. And and so I test that before they become a client.

Gwen Bortner [00:10:25]:
And what you described is the first thing I do is I push back on everything they say they want, which

Debra Coleman [00:10:33]:
is

Gwen Bortner [00:10:33]:
is very counterintuitive because what I've discovered is a lot of women in particular, but I think I think it's true for men as well, but I I really do think it happens a lot more to women, is we don't realize that what we say we want has absolutely nothing to do with what we actually want. We've gotten caught up in the societal, cultural, familial, you know, you name it. There's a whole lot of potential expectations of others of what our right answer is supposed to be.

Debra Coleman [00:11:11]:
Wow. Okay. Elaborate on that.

Gwen Bortner [00:11:14]:
So, for example, people think, oh, I want a successful business, and they put a number on it. Right? It could be I want a 6 figure business. I want, you know, half a $1,000,000. I want a $1,000,000. I want $2,000,000. It doesn't matter what the number is. You know? But they put a number on it, and usually that number is because they've been told somewhere in their story that that defines success. And that may or may not define their version of success because of what they're really trying to do is to have flexibility to be able to spend lots of time with their kids who are, you know, in junior high and or and or starting high school and there's lots of, you know, soccer games and volleyball games and this and that and and all of the other things, that may not actually line up with building a $10,000,000 business.

Gwen Bortner [00:12:14]:
And and so we want that freedom, and what we're gonna do is we're gonna spend the next 5 years building this $10,000,000 business, so we can spend time with the kids, oh, who are no longer home.

Debra Coleman [00:12:26]:
Right.

Gwen Bortner [00:12:27]:
Now I'm not saying that the $10,000,000 business is a bad idea

Debra Coleman [00:12:30]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:12:31]:
Because it may not be. But it also is like, but is that what you really want now? Mhmm. So I really try to help people think about what does success actually mean to you for real, not what you're supposed to say in public, but what does it really mean in your soul, right now, knowing that that can change at some point, and that's okay too. It doesn't this isn't necessarily the success for forever. But success for now may be I'm working 20 hours a week. I'm bringing home, you know, x amount of of money into the household, and I am able to drop off my kids at school every day. I'm able to pick them up. And when I pick them up, I'm able to be there for them to do all of the things from that point on, and I don't need to work.

Gwen Bortner [00:13:17]:
That can be a different answer, and still be success, but it may not be a $1,000,000 business.

Debra Coleman [00:13:24]:
Oh, clarity. Complete clarity. I can see where that would be a difficult conversation because you're I I get it. We go in with these dreams. Well, I wanna make this widget, and I'm gonna be so successful and yada yada. That's fantastic. Hold on to that. That's a sticky note on the mirror type vision, but like you said, now what do you want? Like, to get there though, certain sacrifices have to be made.

Debra Coleman [00:13:48]:
We'll have to kinda define it, really see, you know, what does your life look like now? How do you wanna show up for it? For others in your yeah. Good stuff. Wow.

Gwen Bortner [00:13:57]:
So so that's where we start with most every one of our clients is let's make sure that what you're trying to go after really aligns with who you are at your core.

Debra Coleman [00:14:07]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:14:07]:
What your real principles are and what your real drivers are and and all of those things. Because if if they don't, it doesn't matter what we're trying to do. It's just gonna be an uphill battle. And most of the time, you're gonna feel like a failure because you're not really motivated to do the thing. Mhmm.

Debra Coleman [00:14:23]:
I can imagine that is a wake up call for many.

Gwen Bortner [00:14:27]:
Oh, yeah. It's a hard conversation. And I also let people know, And it's actually hard to figure it's hard to answer that. Yeah. I mean, I make it sound like all you have to do is but but that's a really hard thing to figure out because we've been so conditioned from such an early age to want certain things.

Debra Coleman [00:14:45]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:14:46]:
Right? Because if a child says, what I wanna do when I grow up is be a garbage man. When they're young, we you know, really young, we're like, oh, well, isn't that cute because they wanna be on a garbage truck and a garbage truck is fun and blah blah blah blah blah blah. Right? But if someone who's 12 or 13 says that, it's like, oh, you're not thinking big enough. We're told that that's a bad dream.

Debra Coleman [00:15:08]:
Mhmm. Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:15:10]:
Right? Yeah. And there's all sorts of reasons why that could be an awesome dream for them.

Debra Coleman [00:15:16]:
Mhmm. Exactly.

Gwen Bortner [00:15:17]:
Right? But we're we were immediately start saying, no. You're you're wanting the wrong thing. We do that as a society completely.

Debra Coleman [00:15:28]:
Right? Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:15:29]:
Yeah. And I think women so much more Yeah. Than men.

Debra Coleman [00:15:33]:
Yeah. Exactly. Because it's almost like with men, sure, we expect them to make sacrifices, and there's something called building a business and running a business. And yeah. But women, okay. That's your dream, so poof. Here's your here's your fairy godmother. It should be, like, just add water ready to go.

Debra Coleman [00:15:52]:
You know what I mean? Like, what do you mean you have to work long hours? What do you mean you can't do this? What do you mean you have to dinner's gonna be late? What do you mean? Well, this is all a part of what it means to build my business. You know? Like

Gwen Bortner [00:16:03]:
Exactly. And, typically, historically, patriarchal society, I'm not I'm not, like, down on the patriarchy, but, you know, it's it's systemic. Is the reason men could sacrifice that is because there was often someone behind the wings, handling a lot of other things that typically, historically, have fallen on a woman to do. Yeah. And when women look to have someone to put it on, that usually means not a partner, usually. It usually means that they're having to now pay someone to do that work. Right? Which adds to the complexity of the whole thing.

Debra Coleman [00:16:47]:
Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:16:47]:
And so it's, you know, it's not a simple it's not a simple formula. And and like I said, I've I've seen a lot of women who are going after a goal to get a thing that they could actually the thing that they really want, they could actually have today if they weren't trying to go after this goal that they think is gonna get them the thing.

Debra Coleman [00:17:09]:
Right. Fresh perspective. A little bit of reality too. A little pragmatic.

Gwen Bortner [00:17:14]:
Very pragmatic. It's probably my my best and worst trait.

Debra Coleman [00:17:20]:
Wow. How honest of you. I love that. I love that. So it sounds like then to like, maybe the next layer to that is that many of us then might get overwhelmed by the how of running a business. So is there a way to simplify that or kinda get that in perspective? Because then there's that too.

Gwen Bortner [00:17:40]:
Well and so the reason we start where we do with our clients specifically is we can optimize for what your true definition of success is. But we want to optimize for that true definition, not the thing that you think that you want. And so, by optimizing for that true definition of success, we can make all sorts of different choices in the business. And and one of the the examples I use all the time is when all you own is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Right? It's the way it is. Well, with operations, which to me is everything that's not client facing. So all of those aspects, which there's a lot of, we often think that that just has to be the way that it is because we did we came up with our best, most logical answer given all the information we had at the time. But my background is so broad and diverse, I often can give you a solution that would have never occurred to you in a zillion years because you wouldn't have ever had the experience to say that's even possible.

Gwen Bortner [00:18:49]:
And, because I I come with, like, 47 different industries of experience.

Debra Coleman [00:18:57]:
Wow.

Gwen Bortner [00:18:58]:
And so what I've done for folks before is I give them a solution. They're like, that'll never work. It's like, no. It's worked for 40 decades. I mean, it's like, it's been around forever and ever and ever and ever. It's just not ever been in your business. Right? Or your industry, which is one of the things there's

Debra Coleman [00:19:17]:
advantages to using industry

Gwen Bortner [00:19:17]:
professionals because they can go deep really fast. But the problem with problem with industry professionals is sometimes they only know the answer that they've learned from being in that industry. And so Yeah. For me, that's what part of this process is,

Debra Coleman [00:19:29]:
is

Gwen Bortner [00:19:34]:
let's make sure we know what we want. And now based on that, let's redesign the back end of your business to support that in whatever way that needs to happen. And so there's not, one of my my classic statements I use all the time and we considered our number one core value in our business is context matters. And so 2 people with the exact same business, I can give very, very different answers to.

Debra Coleman [00:20:00]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:20:01]:
Because their context, each of the each of the owners context is different for all sorts of reasons.

Debra Coleman [00:20:07]:
And that makes perfect sense. It's it's every it's subjective. Everyone's going to have their own business model, their own way of conducting business, their own goals. Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:20:16]:
Right. And what's driving them? Someone who's in, you know, empty nesting stage will have different drivers than someone who has 2 little kids that are just about to enter elementary school.

Debra Coleman [00:20:29]:
Mhmm. Right. Exactly. And that makes perfect sense. And that's where and then that's is that where you come in, or is that where everyday effectiveness comes in to kinda bridge that?

Gwen Bortner [00:20:39]:
It's it's to help them think through those processes of where where do we how do we want to to look at this? So our overall arching goal is to always say, let's align your strategy to your behaviors. And although everyone, everyone, that's a big generalization, most people are really good about aligning their strategy to their front facing parts of their business, their marketing, their customer delivery, their customer support, all, you know, their sales process, all of that usually aligns really well with their strategy. They don't think about that the back end of their business also needs to align to their strategy. They think of it as a default. It's just the way it is. And it's like, no. No. No.

Gwen Bortner [00:21:20]:
We can we can we can align that strategically as well.

Debra Coleman [00:21:25]:
And what do you mean by back end?

Gwen Bortner [00:21:27]:
So back end for me, everything that's not customer facing. We use a framework that we call the gears, and the gears, is because I think of the back end as gears with all the pieces intermeshing, but it also is an acronym. And so g stands for your goals and objectives. E stands for effective leadership. A stands for accounting and finance. R stands for resource management. That's all the resources, time, people, technology, all the resources. And s stands for systems and processes.

Gwen Bortner [00:21:58]:
Wow. So we're looking at all of that together as an integrated piece, not just one at a time.

Debra Coleman [00:22:06]:
Wow. This is such a heavy I I wanna say heavy lift because and I see now we're partnering with you would be so beneficial because trying to figure all this out, it's almost like you're building the plane while you're flying it.

Gwen Bortner [00:22:20]:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. For sure. Okay. Yeah. For sure. That's a great analogy. That's absolutely true.

Debra Coleman [00:22:28]:
Yo. I'm not gonna sugarcoat it. That's exactly what it is. But if you have Gwen in your life and her team, they may be able to help, you know, get that skeleton of the plane put together, and then we could talk about filling it in with seats and an engine and a pilot and all that fun stuff. Okay.

Gwen Bortner [00:22:43]:
Well and and sometimes, you know well, we'll stick with the analogy because I like it. Sometimes it's about saying, yeah. We're actually gonna pull engine 3 right now, and that's gonna be scary because now you're only down to to, you know, 3 of their 4 engines. But it's okay because we know the plane's gonna stay up in the air. And now we're gonna put a different engine on there, and then we're gonna do that with yet another engine. You know? And and and that feels scary, but if you know how to do that, it's it's not as bad as it seems.

Debra Coleman [00:23:14]:
Mhmm. Mhmm. And not not to sound crass, but isn't that a part of what being a business owner is? You've gotta face some of those realities and make those tough choices?

Gwen Bortner [00:23:23]:
Yeah. You really do. And and the thing that we discover is when, you know, our best fit clients are prepared to start dealing with some of these harder aspects of business. They're not fun. They're not sexy. Not you know, there's no one gonna say, oh, look at you. You just, like, revamped your entire accounting system. Like, no one cares.

Debra Coleman [00:23:46]:
That'd be so cool, though. No. But Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:23:48]:
But no one's gonna do it. So let's just you know, we'll just own that right now. You know, but but some of those things make giant improvements in your time management, in your profitability, in your ability to serve your customers. I mean, all of those things can actually have huge benefits. And one of the phrases that that we use from time to time is what we do is not sexy, but the results really are.

Debra Coleman [00:24:16]:
I like that. I like that. That's swag worthy.

Gwen Bortner [00:24:20]:
I like that. That's a good idea. You know what? We we do swag from time to time, and I I'm just gonna write that down because you're right. That is a really good that is a good swag one. We use it all the time, but we haven't done it. So I'll just make a little note here that who that is.

Debra Coleman [00:24:34]:
There you go.

Gwen Bortner [00:24:34]:
Swag worthy.

Debra Coleman [00:24:35]:
I celebrate that. You heard it here first. I'm so excited to be on the ground level of that one. That's awesome, especially with women entrepreneurs. Yes. Kind of a play. Well okay. There you go.

Debra Coleman [00:24:45]:
Speaking of women entrepreneurs, is there a common challenge you see? I mean, because you've worked with so many different kinds of businesses and industries as you said. And do you see maybe a a common theme or common challenge across all those industries when it comes to working with women entrepreneurs that they tend to all struggle with, that we all struggle with?

Gwen Bortner [00:25:08]:
I I always hesitate because I fully believe in context matters. But one I will say that comes up a lot is and it doesn't apply to everybody because not everyone's at a point where they have team of any sort. And when I say of any sort, I mean, you know, independent contractors or employees or, you know, anything kind of in between. Right? Whether they're full time, part time, very part time, doesn't matter. The thing that I see most, folks struggle with is when they have someone who is good but is no longer a a right fit for where the company is now. Oh. They keep them on. And what happens for that and and and I'm not saying we just immediately let people go, but it's it's where we've tested and we've tried and we've tried some making some adjustments, and where at one point in time, they may have been an a, you know, an a player, an absolute a player, but now they're a b player.

Gwen Bortner [00:26:09]:
And and the reason they're a b player is not their fault. It's the fact that the business has changed in some fundamental ways, which can be all sorts of reasons, you know, that there there's a host of reasons how that could happen. Yeah. And because women care and are they tend to be more emotionally, aware, they tend to be more empathetic, they don't wanna let somebody go. And the challenge that happens here is twofold. The first being that that means you can't have someone in that role who's an a player. So that's a that's a problem. And the other is, a players don't actually like being b players.

Gwen Bortner [00:26:55]:
But usually at the b player stage, no one's willing to talk about it. And so the b player is actually no longer being, is no longer as happy in their role, but they're not willing to leave because it's not bad yet. And they also have loyalty to their employer. It's like, oh, if I leave, I'm gonna leave them in the lurch. So they don't leave. And the employer is doing the same thing on the other side of, oh, but they're so good. I wanna make sure that they they have a job. What actually will happen, 90 plus percent of the time, is someone who's good, if you release them back out into the world, they will find another role where they can be an a player again, and everybody's happy.

Debra Coleman [00:27:36]:
Amen.

Gwen Bortner [00:27:39]:
But that's a really hard thing because we get emotionally caught into, I have to care for these people in ways that actually are not appropriate for you as a business owner.

Debra Coleman [00:27:55]:
Right. And you're right. Women, even in in as a w two employee, we take on some of us take on that sort of nurturer and the one, you know, who it has brings more emotion to it. And I can see when it's your own business, that would be for some, that could be a challenge, absolute challenge to let someone go or to look at it that way. I love how you framed it. If they're that good, they will land on their feet. They'll be okay. Maybe you've actually contributed to their success.

Debra Coleman [00:28:24]:
Maybe this is a clear cut example of one door closing another opening, and you're a part of that.

Gwen Bortner [00:28:29]:
I I will say every time that I've helped a client through that, the moment was hard. Mhmm. But often before they're you know, often they give them, like, kind of a 2 week time frame. Often before the 2 weeks is up, they've already found another job

Debra Coleman [00:28:44]:
Wow.

Gwen Bortner [00:28:44]:
And you can tell they're going to be happier at it.

Debra Coleman [00:28:47]:
Yeah. Yeah. Wow. But they

Gwen Bortner [00:28:49]:
would have never left because they didn't wanna leave you in the lurch.

Debra Coleman [00:28:52]:
Exactly.

Gwen Bortner [00:28:53]:
Right?

Debra Coleman [00:28:54]:
And how is the woman how is the owner now? How is she?

Gwen Bortner [00:28:57]:
Oh, she's thrilled. Right? The the conversation is hard, but it's like, oh, wait. You're gonna go do this. And then they've got a space that they can now bring in an a employee.

Debra Coleman [00:29:11]:
That is and that's a win win for everybody.

Gwen Bortner [00:29:13]:
For this new role that is now different than the role that the other person was originally hired for because the business changed.

Debra Coleman [00:29:19]:
Yes. Business changed. And isn't that sometimes a good thing? The business changed

Gwen Bortner [00:29:23]:
Oh, yeah. Usually, this is because it's a really good thing, the reason the business changed.

Debra Coleman [00:29:27]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:29:27]:
Yeah. Absolutely.

Debra Coleman [00:29:28]:
Wow. That's yeah. That's a good way to look at it. That's true. I can I get that? That makes sense why that would be a common challenge. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

Debra Coleman [00:29:37]:
Yeah. As we kinda touched on the beginning of our conversation, do you find that that whole I know people don't like this term, but the work life balance is also a challenge for

Gwen Bortner [00:29:48]:
it often is, and what I find is what the real challenge is is holding boundaries.

Debra Coleman [00:29:55]:
Oh, okay. Okay.

Gwen Bortner [00:29:57]:
Right? So most I I I'll I'll tell you, you know, just to be completely straightforward. I hate the word balance because people think of it being absolutely even on both sides. And and that is not what balance is. It actually moves up and down and up and down, you know, if you're thinking of a teeter totter. Balance is not when you've got exact same weight, you know, and it's and it's just hanging mid midair, you know, perfectly parallel with ground. I mean, that is balance, but that's not necessarily balance. It can be going up and down and up and down and and back and forth on an ongoing basis. And that's to me what we really are looking for

Debra Coleman [00:30:33]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:30:33]:
Because it's never gonna be static like that. There's gonna be times that you've gotta put more into the work, which means your family is not gonna have as much. There's gonna be times that the family needs more, and that means work's not gonna have as much. But where I find the real issue for managing those pieces is not about balance per se, it's about setting boundaries that says, this is this and that is that, and I'm going to manage both with very concise clear rules, and I'm gonna hold to those rules even when it's hard.

Debra Coleman [00:31:10]:
So well said. Yes. Boundaries. That's where it stops and starts there, quite frankly.

Gwen Bortner [00:31:15]:
It it really does.

Debra Coleman [00:31:17]:
Mhmm.

Gwen Bortner [00:31:17]:
And, you know, folks folks who work with me who are able to set up better boundaries will say, like, oh my gosh. That made all of the difference. And what they were talking about initially was work life balance. And it's like, yeah. You're actually your work your work life and your family life haven't actually changed at all. It's how you're setting up your boundaries and holding them.

Debra Coleman [00:31:40]:
Yeah. Exactly. And holding them. Yes. Exactly.

Gwen Bortner [00:31:43]:
But holding them if if if you don't hold them, they're not boundaries.

Debra Coleman [00:31:46]:
That's right. Right.

Gwen Bortner [00:31:49]:
And they're they're just fun ideas. Right?

Debra Coleman [00:31:53]:
Look at you being all boundary setting. That's adorable, but you're not doing it. Yeah. Exactly. Exact a for effort. But, no, we we don't want that. We want you to be successful in holding your boundaries because, actually, that I would think that actually lends to you being more successful because then you come at your business from the right mindset knowing that other facets of your life was kind of taken care of for the moment, and now you can focus on this. Almost compartmentalizing almost.

Debra Coleman [00:32:16]:
You know?

Gwen Bortner [00:32:17]:
Yeah. There are a thousand ways that it helps. And what what, one of my clients said to me recently is I realized that I was as I was setting better boundaries within the business and just with our clients and, you know, she says I'm setting way better boundaries outside of my business. Right. Because this is back to that's one of those skill things that once you start doing, you start seeing it everywhere. And it's like, oh, yeah. No. I could I I don't have to say yes to that.

Gwen Bortner [00:32:43]:
I could say no to that. And and and no one's gonna die.

Debra Coleman [00:32:47]:
Right. Exactly. Exactly. And if they are, then we have other issues to talk about. But Right.

Gwen Bortner [00:32:53]:
Yeah. Because that's not where we're talking about boundaries for.

Debra Coleman [00:32:56]:
We're,

Gwen Bortner [00:32:56]:
you know, that that's a that's a different kind of kind of issue and a different kind of question. But, but but, yeah, it's it's one of those things that they realize that the the boundaries piece plays across absolutely every aspect of your life. And it doesn't matter where you start focusing on it. If you get better at it, you will get better at it everywhere.

Debra Coleman [00:33:17]:
Love it. Gosh. Excellent words to live by right there. Good advice. Especially now when so much is blurred. So much is blurred these days.

Gwen Bortner [00:33:25]:
Right. And and one of the reasons that I've been successful is I've always been able to not blur the lines when I worked at home. I I know when I'm working, and I know when I'm not working. I don't, like, I don't ever work in front of the TV. Ah, okay. I I don't I don't check email. I don't, you know, I don't do any of that. If I'm in front of the TV, I'm not working.

Gwen Bortner [00:33:50]:
Yeah. Yeah. And that's okay. And I don't feel guilty about it because sometimes our brain needs to shut off and we need to be in front of the TV.

Debra Coleman [00:33:57]:
That's right. Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. You have an off switch. It's okay to quote clock out for the day. Yeah. Exactly.

Debra Coleman [00:34:04]:
Mhmm. I think a lot of that gets guilt. Like, well, I I I, you know, I work from home. I probably should be you know, it's I probably should always have my laptop open and be, like, hustling all the time. Well, no. As you just clearly outlined, that's not healthy, and that's not reality. Right. It shouldn't be, anyway.

Gwen Bortner [00:34:21]:
Shouldn't be. But Yeah. But back to setting that boundary starts making all of the other boundaries easier.

Debra Coleman [00:34:27]:
Yeah. Oh, well, Gwen, oh my goodness. I could keep you on the line for so much longer. It's no wonder that your business is so successful and you have a podcast. So please film tell my listeners where they can find you and to learn more about your own podcast.

Gwen Bortner [00:34:43]:
So, you can find more about us at everydayeffectiveness.com. And the podcast that Tanya, who is my marketing CMO, and I cohost together is called the business you really want. And, that can be found at the business you really want dot com.

Debra Coleman [00:35:06]:
Love it. And it can be found on Apple, Spotify, even YouTube.

Gwen Bortner [00:35:10]:
Oh, yeah. We've we've got it. We've got it in all sorts of places. So what whatever is your favorite, your favorite platform, I think we're there.

Debra Coleman [00:35:19]:
Oh, that is fantastic. And hello, Tanya. Shout out to Tanya. And so if by tuning in every week, what will what sort of insights will we be, privy to?

Gwen Bortner [00:35:29]:
So what we're talking about is the conversations that Tanya and I have where she helped me realize as my marketing person's, like, your brain works differently than everybody else's brain. And so we talk about things much like what you and I have talked about, Deborah, is my different approach of, like, oh, yeah. No. I should think about this different differently. But it's always about the functionality of your business. And what are some of the things that you can be doing to make adjustments to really create the business you really want, not the business everyone has told you you're supposed to have?

Debra Coleman [00:36:08]:
That right there is empowerment in that statement right there. You know? I just read a quote today that said, you know, why fit in when you were born to stand out? So why

Gwen Bortner [00:36:18]:
do Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.

Debra Coleman [00:36:21]:
Mhmm. Love it. Everyday effectiveness, and I will, of course, have links to that and the podcast, the business you really want, in the show notes. So you've many ways to connect with Gwen and Tanya and to learn more and to just continue this exact conversation. I love it. Oh my gosh. I honestly, I'm like, how much time do we have? I can't just

Gwen Bortner [00:36:44]:
Pardon? These are really fun conversations.

Debra Coleman [00:36:47]:
It has. Oh my gosh. So insightful because I'm sure I know again, preaching to the choir, it just seems like there are a lot of women who are entertaining or going to start businesses of their own right now. And the more we can get this type of messaging and help and guidance out there, the better.

Gwen Bortner [00:37:02]:
It does not have to be the way everyone has told you it has to be. It can absolutely be the way that you need it to be.

Debra Coleman [00:37:09]:
That is perfect. That is perfect. Well, do you have time, miss Gwen, for one more silly bonus question before I let

Gwen Bortner [00:37:15]:
you know? Silly bonus questions.

Debra Coleman [00:37:18]:
Okay. Alright. Well, I've got 2. Okay. So, one just came to me right now. But, but we'll we'll start with this one. You are a busy lady. It's obvious in this in this span of this conversation we have learned that.

Debra Coleman [00:37:31]:
When life, though, does get a little crazy and Gwen feels pulled in a lot of directions, how do you reset and rebalance?

Gwen Bortner [00:37:39]:
My favorite thing is to do a a float. And what I mean by that is those since I don't know if you've seen them, but they're sensory deprivation pods that are filled with, really heavily saturated Epsom salt water. So Oh. You you just naturally float, and it doesn't matter who you are. I I've got enough extra padding that I would I float anywhere. But, even if you were skin and bones, you would still float. So but but it allows you to close down the lid and it's just dark, And I love a float because it allows me to really let and because I'm also a water person, so it allows me to to be both quiet and relaxing and in my element all at the same time. Afloat.

Gwen Bortner [00:38:29]:
That's it.

Debra Coleman [00:38:30]:
Oh, just the way you described it, put me there. That is wonderful. It's almost a case of physician heal thyself because by admitting that you do that, you know, you have your own business to run, and so you need to also reset from time to time.

Gwen Bortner [00:38:44]:
And I I I consider it super important, and I make sure, even though it's an hour drive to get to my float place, I float, at least twice a month.

Debra Coleman [00:38:53]:
Wow. Good for you. Good for you. Well, we selfishly are the beneficiaries of the float, so please keep it up. That's fantastic. Thank you, float center, for accommodating, Gwen. We appreciate it. And then the last question I have for you, Gwen.

Gwen Bortner [00:39:08]:
Yes.

Debra Coleman [00:39:09]:
What does it mean to you to be effective every day?

Gwen Bortner [00:39:14]:
So for me, it really is not about being productive or busy, which a lot of people assume that's what effective means. Mhmm. It really is about doing the one super important thing that's actually moving the needle in the direction you want it to move.

Debra Coleman [00:39:35]:
And then the direction you want it to move. It's very important that that is that seems to be the the message through the throughout this conversation that we need to remember that because you're right. I think we get so caught up in what other people tell us to do. We're we're the dumb female trying to run our own business, so do it this way. And it's like, you know, I'm being really, you know, harsh. But still, you know, we're not we need to trust ourselves. You know? Absolutely. Yeah.

Debra Coleman [00:40:01]:
Yeah.

Gwen Bortner [00:40:01]:
Absolutely.

Debra Coleman [00:40:02]:
I love it. And when we need help operationally to see that vision and to put it into place and to build that plane. Yes. Even as we're flying it, we have the team at at Everyday Effectiveness to help us do do just that, to, to become, that visionary female entrepreneur.

Gwen Bortner [00:40:17]:
Absolutely. We we would be honored to be able to help anybody.

Debra Coleman [00:40:22]:
Love it. Oh, thank you, miss Gwen. This has just been a fantastic conversation. I truly appreciate the time.

Gwen Bortner [00:40:28]:
I have loved it. Thank you for having me on your podcast. I really appreciate it.

Debra Coleman [00:40:33]:
Well, that's a wrap on today's episode. I hope you found this conversation with Gwen as inspiring and insightful as I did. She has got such a gift for breaking down big ideas and putting them into actionable steps that we can all relate to. And I also really appreciated a lot of her honesty and candor. Like she said several times, I may not be telling you something that is easy to hear, but it is something that you need to hear. Because actually, it may help us move the needle and to see and grow our business into what we want it to be. So I'm so glad she could share her wisdom on how to build a business that truly works for you, that truly will work for us. If you want to learn more about Gwen's work, be sure to check out her business, Everyday Effectiveness.

Debra Coleman [00:41:19]:
I will have a link to that in the show notes. And definitely tune into her and Tanya's podcast, the business you really want, where she and Tanya give tons of amazing advice for women entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses and simplify their lives. Right? Because we didn't start businesses to overcomplicate our lives, to hopefully simplify and bring our lives some joy. As always, thank you, my listener, for so much for for listening and supporting. Have a seat. Don't think I don't see you out there leaving wonderful reviews and offering up topic math, topic subjects. I'm so happy and and excited for the engagement, and and especially a big thank you to those of you on LinkedIn who follow the Have a Seat group page there. I appreciate the thumbs ups and the, comments of encouragement.

Debra Coleman [00:42:10]:
They mean the world. So, again, don't forget to check out the show notes for links to connect with Gwen and links to the Business You Really Want podcast, to give you access to diving deeper into all the great resources that are available for you through Gwen and her partner, Tanya. So until next time, you know the homework assignment. Stay safe, be well, and remember, keep having those conversations.