How Maria Golding, founder of Intuitive Motherhood, has embraced the world of support teams to achieve her business goals
Virtual Success Show
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Episode breakdown
In this episode, Intuitive Motherhood & Embodied Parenting Coach & Speaker Maria Golding, talks us through how she has built a team of virtual specialists to assist her in achieving her business, and personal, goals. This episode is full of insights from Maria on how she has played to her strengths and the things she loves doing, whilst surrounding herself with amazing virtual teams, to essentially do the rest.
- The importance of not waiting too long to seek help
- Listening and implementing sound advice can definitely work in your favour
- Expanding, rather than contracting, your business when things seem tough
- Identifying your genius, and letting go of the rest
- Why having the right business tools is important to the overall success of your business
Getting the right people and the right systems is what makes a launch succeed.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction
Barbara and Matt open the episode with light conversation about the weather, Barbara sharing her recent Christmas in Europe. They then transition into the main topic: the challenges of launching online programs. Barbara highlights that product launches, like Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula, can feel overwhelming—especially for those without experience in technology, systems, support assistants, or strategists.
01:47 – About Maria
Barbara introduces guest Maria Golding, founder of Intuitive Motherhood, who nearly gave up on launching her program due to the challenges of technology and systems. After seeking help, Barbara advised her to bring in a strategist, a support assistant, and a system like Ontraport. Despite a tight timeline—planning in late September for a November launch—Maria followed the advice fully, implemented every step, and achieved a successful program launch by mid-December. While the process was stressful, Maria emphasizes it was essential to honor her commitment to the program’s vision.
04:26 – Why Maria sought help
Maria explains that while she had a great support assistant who helped her with social media, her website, and webinars, she still lacked a clear plan for launching her program. Coming from a clinical and creative background, she struggled with the systems, processes, and IT side of business. She admitted she was getting sidetracked with collaborations, not seeing enough financial return, and felt uncertain about how to properly roll out her program online. This led her to seek Barbara’s guidance to refocus and move forward effectively.
06:41 – Accepting sound advice
Maria decided to follow Barbara’s advice by adopting Ontraport, hiring a strategist, and creating a clear plan to guide both herself and her support assistant. This ensured focus, structure, and the steps needed to successfully roll out her program and launch funnel.
07:16 – The importance of having specialists on your team
Maria shared that with limited time, she didn’t follow a detailed plan but instead relied on weekly guidance from her strategist, who directed both her and her support assistant step by step. This approach reduced overwhelm and created an effective triad between Maria, her support assistant, and the strategist. The strategist not only guided Maria but also supported the support assistant directly with instructions, recordings, and manageable task lists—ensuring clarity and preventing overwhelm. Barbara highlighted that a good strategist bridges the gap by creating clear steps that align with the support assistant’s skills, making the whole process run smoothly.
09:45 – Expanding, rather than contracting, your business
Barbara explained that many entrepreneurs fail by relying only on themselves and a support assistant, then retreating when it doesn’t work. She praised Maria for instead choosing to expand rather than contract, investing in the right people and systems. With strategist Heather’s guidance and tools like Ontraport, Maria created a solid foundation that made her launch both manageable and successful.
10:46 – Business automation
Maria shared that while she hasn’t fully mastered Ontraport, it has been invaluable for segmenting lists, hosting her online program, and streamlining processes. The key benefit was that her support assistant already knew how to use the platform, allowing Maria to focus on her business while still leveraging a powerful system to take her to the next level.
11:27 – Having a support assistant with the correct training and support
Maria emphasized how crucial it was to have a support assistant already trained in Ontraport and backed by The Virtual Hub’s specialist help desk. This support allowed her support assistant to solve challenges independently during the launch, making the process smoother. Barbara added that most support assistants struggle to manage high-speed launches alone, which is why pairing them with a strategist and backup support is essential for success.
13:04 – Identifying your genius…and letting go
Matt highlighted that Maria’s success came from recognizing her strengths and letting go, allowing her team to handle the rest. Barbara reflected on Maria’s shift from fear and doubt in September to now having launched successfully. Maria shared that she feels excited and confident, having overcome her fears and built a strong foundation with the continued support of her strategist and The Virtual Hub.
14:15 – Transitioning to a new support assistant
Barbara noted the unique connection that Maria’s first support assistant gained from working on Intuitive Motherhood before transitioning out due to pregnancy. Maria explained that the transition to a new support assistant was smooth and seamless thanks to documented systems, support from the outgoing support assistant, and the TVH help desk. While she initially feared the change, these structures gave her confidence and kept her business on track for multiple launches. Maria also reflected on her growth, saying she now embraces systems and processes as essential, treating herself as a student who continues to learn and trust the structures in place to support her success.
17:20 – Following the success formula
Matt praised Maria for her openness and willingness to follow a proven success formula, emphasizing how she’s surrounding herself with the right people to achieve her goals. Maria expressed gratitude, highlighting the power of collaboration and focusing on her strengths. Barbara noted the financial and emotional value of investing in a strategist and team. Maria agreed, saying it felt like an investment aligned with her life purpose. She shared that while she’s stepping into the unknown, she already enjoys a fulfilling lifestyle, more creativity, and the satisfaction of positively impacting mothers. She’s confident the financial rewards will follow because the strategies have already worked.
20:30 – Facing your fears
Maria shared that she faced deep fears throughout the process — financial insecurity, fear of failure, fear of not fulfilling her purpose, and personal struggles with her own health and her child’s illness. To manage them, she relied on the same tools and practices she teaches mothers in her program, emphasizing embodiment and presence. Barbara noted that Maria has been experiencing these fears on multiple levels — personally, as a mother, through her clients, and as a business owner — which made her journey especially challenging but also deeply aligned with her mission.
23:08 – Maria’s advice for overcoming your fears
Maria advised entrepreneurs facing fears not to retreat but to stay focused on their vision and take gradual steps toward their true desires, even if it means starting part-time. She emphasized the importance of taking leaps of faith, surrounding yourself with business wisdom, and investing in support early on. In hindsight, she wished she had hired a strategist sooner and recommends building a team — especially through platforms like The Virtual Hub, which provide both trained support assistants and training for business owners. This, she said, prevents flailing and creates clarity, structure, and momentum.
25:43 – Wrapping things up
The podcast wrapped up with Maria expressing gratitude for being featured and Barbara highlighting the value of her story for entrepreneurs facing similar struggles. Barbara encouraged listeners to engage by leaving comments, reviews, and ratings on iTunes, especially sharing experiences about building teams and dealing with the challenges of hiring the right people. The hosts thanked Maria again and closed the episode on a positive note.
