Matt emphasizes the importance of supporting team decisions and having strong systems that guide them. Barbara adds that while her processes were solid, she was still too involved in everything, and stepping back during her pregnancy forced her to truly let go. She started allowing her team to make decisions months in advance, coaching them on understanding client mindsets so they could gain confidence. This approach ensured smoother operations later. She also highlights the importance of creating a detailed sales script—though time-consuming, it enabled her sales team to succeed independently. Matt notes that transcribing calls can help speed up building such scripts.
How to keep growing your business even if you have to take time off
Virtual Success Show
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Episode breakdown
In this episode, Barbara shares with Matt and the listeners, her own personal journey of the process she followed to ‘fire herself from her own business’ when a very important life event – having a baby – meant she had to step right back from the day-to-day running of her business. This episode focuses on the step-by-step process that Barbara followed to ensure that her business went from strength to strength, whilst she focused on being a mother to her baby girl.
- Think expansion, rather than contraction
- The importance of strategic planning – taking yourself out of business processes is a process within itself
- Don’t expect your new processes to work from day one – allow time to smooth out any ‘bumps’ and refine your processes before you ‘exit’ the business
- How to empower your team to make important decisions in your absence
- The importance of having the right people, in the right seats
- Believing in your people and their abilities ultimately leads to a more engaged team and successful business
Think in an expansionary mode rather than a contraction mode.
In this episode
00:00 - Introduction
Barbara Turley and Matt Malouf opened the episode by discussing the theme of “firing yourself from your business.” Barbara shared how motherhood pushed her to step back and restructure her business so it could run without her, highlighting that while pregnancy was her trigger, the same process applies to anyone facing a major life event or simply wanting their business to grow independently. Matt emphasized that these strategies are crucial for scaling quickly. Barbara noted that many women, when expecting a baby, tend to contract their businesses instead of finding ways to expand and create growth during that time.
03:02 – Think expansion rather than contraction
Barbara stressed that the first key step is adopting an expansion mindset rather than contracting out of fear. Contracting may feel safer but only stalls income and makes restarting harder. For her, the fear wasn’t about growing too much but about not growing enough before her baby arrived, which would create more stress. She emphasized that even taking time off—whether for motherhood or travel—requires scaling up first, not scaling down. Matt added that growth provides more cash flow to invest in good people, while contraction often forces letting them go, making business harder long-term. Both agreed that expanding, though stressful at first, ultimately makes things easier and more sustainable.
06:05 – You have to plan strategically
Barbara’s second key point is the importance of strategic planning. Since she had planned her pregnancy, she had time to prepare, but emphasized that whether planned or unexpected, you must go into strategy mode immediately rather than avoiding it. Properly setting up your business for time off takes around six months, though it could be done in three with focus. In her case, pregnancy challenges like fatigue and sickness made the process longer, highlighting why early, deliberate planning is essential.
06:54 – Taking yourself out of processes
Barbara explains how she strategically removed herself from business processes step by step, starting with the smallest tasks and working up to the biggest one—sales. She aimed to have all responsibilities delegated at least three months before her due date, since babies can arrive early. Matt adds that delegation often fails when people abdicate instead of guiding properly, causing tasks to bounce back. By delegating gradually, leaders build both their team’s confidence and their own. Barbara admits she finished about a month later than planned, but still had things running two months before birth. She stresses that during this stage, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and fall back into fear and contraction, but the key is to stay focused on systematically freeing yourself from each process, starting small and building up.
10:22 – Allow time to smooth out the new process, once handed over
Barbara’s third point is about the evolution of processes during handover. She emphasizes that when transferring responsibilities, even the most experienced team members will make mistakes due to misunderstandings or unclear steps. Instead of expecting perfection, leaders should allow time for trial, errors, and refinement, using daily or weekly huddles to review and improve processes. She stresses the importance of staying calm, supporting the team, and working together to clean up inefficiencies. Matt adds that Barbara’s early planning gave her enough time to oversee, refine, and train while still present. The key lesson: expect processes to fail at first, refine them with your team’s feedback, and evolve them into clarity and efficiency.
13:22 – Refining your processes
Barbara’s fourth point focuses on empowering the team to make decisions during the handover phase. She explains that some processes require judgment calls, and leaders must support their team’s decision-making—even if choices differ from their own. Initially, she worried about stepping back from handling major client issues, but when her team took over, they often achieved better results because they were less emotionally attached and more objective. Clients felt supported, and the business benefited. The key insight is that trusting and empowering the team not only reduces dependency on the leader but can also lead to stronger outcomes, while allowing her to step back and enjoy motherhood without being constantly called in.
15:40 – Empowering your team
Matt emphasizes that leaders must teach and model decision-making, then empower their team to step up; otherwise, the business will always depend on them. Barbara adds her fifth and final point: preparing the team for independence when the leader is fully unavailable. She reassured her team that if something went wrong while she was in hospital, they should huddle, decide together, and act—knowing she would support their choices afterward, even if mistakes happened. This gave them confidence, ownership, and resilience, ensuring the business could run without her.
17:28 – Believe in your people
Matt highlights that true empowerment requires belief in your team and having the right people in the right roles. Barbara agrees, admitting she kept one underperforming team member for too long. While nothing went wrong during her absence, it was clear she couldn’t fully trust that person, reinforcing the importance of addressing performance issues early to ensure confidence in the team.
18:26 – Support your team’s decisions
22:09 – Give yourself time to fine-tune the processes
Matt stresses the need to identify weak spots in a business and turn recurring problems into documented systems and training. Barbara shares that even with strong processes, it still took her six months to prepare her business before her baby arrived. She emphasizes that focusing on operations creates a scalable foundation, allowing growth without chaos. Matt suggests setting a firm deadline—like writing a “termination letter” to yourself for your current role—to force action, since otherwise owners risk staying stuck in the same tasks for years. Barbara agrees, noting that her baby created that non-negotiable deadline, which ultimately set her business up for massive scaling.
25:15 – My key people are now more engaged in my business
Barbara shares that an unexpected outcome of preparing her business for her baby was that her key people became more engaged, proactive, and excited. They started taking ownership, making decisions, and even driving new initiatives without her. Matt explains this comes from fulfilling their deeper human needs for growth and contribution, making their roles more meaningful. Barbara adds that this process developed her team’s strategic thinking and proved the effort was well worth it, stressing that business owners should commit to a six-to-twelve-month timeline for such transformation rather than dragging it out.
27:04 – Wrapping things up
Matt and Barbara wrap up by emphasizing the importance of expanding your mindset rather than contracting your business, noting that this approach reduces long-term stress. They recap the key steps: strategic planning, redefining processes, empowering the team to make decisions, and letting go while having faith in the people you’ve chosen. Barbara highlights that many women naturally contract during pregnancy out of fear, but expanding and delegating properly mitigates risk. They encourage listeners to share their experiences and reflect on how they’ve leveraged themselves out of their businesses, acknowledging that the process includes both highs and lows but is ultimately rewarding.
