Whether you love the idea of a sabbatical or need to plan for a longer break from business due to upcoming life events (like welcoming a new baby), you may find yourself wondering if it’s really possible to step away from your work when you’re so entangled in the day-to-day. The Copywriter Club’s Kira Hug wondered similarly - and found solutions to her questions as well - when she decided she wanted to take a 3-month maternity leave. In this episode of Better Than Big, Kira joins me to share how she set herself and her business up for her break. We talk about where she decided to scale back, about how she learned to delegate to her team and about the importance of trusting that the momentum she’d built in her business could carry her through her leave. We also talk about what she learned during her time away that’s changing her role in the business, and creating more time freedom moving forward.  Learn more about Ashley’s Time Freedom Coaching program: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram   Book a free consult with Ashley: https://ashleymgartland.as.me/discoverycall   Take Ashley’s free Time Freedom workshop: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedom   Learn more about Kira and The Copywriter Club: www.thecopywriterclub.com   Check out The Copywriter Club Podcast: https://thecopywriterclub.com/podcast/

From the very start of her business, communication consultant and coach Hillary Rea held tight to a core belief that she could live life on her terms if she designed her business intentionally. In this episode, she joins me to talk about what “life on her terms” looks like (it involves Japanese lessons and fun exercise classes) and about how she set up her schedule so she could live fully and still run a thriving business. We also talk about the importance of defining your capacity for client work and about scarcity and why it makes us say yes to too many things. Finally, we discuss the importance of holding space for the opportunities you don’t even know exist yet.  Learn more about the Time Freedom program: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Hillary: https://tellmeastory.info

Conversion copywriter Amisha Shrimanker spent the early years of her business saying yes to everything and reacting to whatever her clients needed. When she realized it wasn’t working to be a “keyboard warrior”, she started asking herself some tough questions - questions that helped her see where she could take back control in her business. In this episode, Amisha joins me to talk about the adjustments she made to her services, the boundaries she set with herself and the collaborations she utilized to better her business and create space for what was actually important. We also talk about why Amisha realized that success wasn’t just about reaching a financial goal and about why she’s baking more me-time into her business in the year ahead.    Learn more about the Time Freedom program: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Amisha: https://thecopycrew.com/    Follow Amisha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecopycrew/

Too often, we’re told that the best way to schedule our days and plan for our business is to adopt someone else’s approach to time blocking or color coding our calendars. But what if that kind of structure doesn’t work well for you? That’s the topic I’m discussing with my guest, business designer and strategist Michelle Warner, as we talk about how she’s designed her business so she can push when it feels right, and rest when it doesn’t. In this episode, we talk about when Michelle realized she needed to set her business up around her own energetic seasons and also about what the realization has meant for her service design, client work, marketing and more.  Learn more about the Time Freedom Program: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Michelle: www.themichellewarner.com   Follow Michelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warnermichelle/

Many business owners start their business because they value choice and autonomy over how they spend their time but sometimes forget just how much they can exercise it. That was the case for writer and stress management coach Justine Sones who, over time, came to realize that she could set up her work and schedule to match her needs instead of just mimicking industry standards. In this episode, we’ll talk about the choices Justine has made and tradeoffs she’s weighed to create a business that matches her definition of success. We’ll also talk about the importance of saying no to something good to make space for something great and about how small changes have helped Justine create a business that better serves her life.  Get the Time Freedom training: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedom   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Justine: www.justinesones.com   Follow Justine on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/justinesones/

If you’re a self-described people-pleaser, it might be hard to imagine what it would look like in your business to do less. But in this conversation with Malia Tippets, the founder of Bridgetown Marketing, you’ll hear that it is possible to step away from people-pleasing tendencies and run a business that protects your time and energy. You’ll hear Malia share how she learned to set better boundaries, communicate clearly and say no. Plus she reveals the two tools she uses to say no to requests in a caring, supportive way. Malia also talks about the assumptions she made with her schedule and the changes she made so she could run her business and make time for her life’s work in the theater.     Get the Time Freedom scheduling training: www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedom   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Bridgetown Marketing: https://www.bridgetown-marketing.com/   Follow Malia on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wearebridgetown/

When Charlotte Isaac first started her business as an operations consultant, she had a lot of clarity around what she wanted her business to provide for her - including time for travel and lots of space to take care of the necessities of everyday life. In this episode, she talks about the unique ways she’s created that time and space in her business including her decision to take Mondays off and the boundary she set of only checking email twice a week. We also chat about the importance of knowing what success looks like for you and about the benefits of being realistic, not overly optimistic, about your client capacity. Finally, Charlotte tells us all about how her systems act like the bouncer in her business to protect her energy and time. Learn more about the Time Freedom coaching program: https://www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Charlotte: www.charlotteisaac.com   Follow Charlotte on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charlotteisaachq/

It’s easy to define success in purely the financial sense but so important to look at it more holistically and consider what you want your business to create for you emotionally and personally as well. Financial behaviorist Jacquette M. Timmons explores this broader definition of success with her clients, and it’s something she lives out in her own business as well. In this episode, she joins me to talk about how she’s created a business that deeply serves her life by challenging the assumptions about online businesses and how they need to look. We also talk about the unique factors she considered while re-evaluating her offers and about how reverse engineering her systems helped her find tools that worked for her specific needs. And Jacquette shares a big aha she had around her marketing that allowed her to keep it simple and streamlined instead of overcomplicating it.    Learn More About the Time Freedom Program: https://www.ashleygartland.com/timefreedomprogram   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Follow Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/   Learn more about Jacquette: https://www.jacquettetimmons.com   Follow Jacquette on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquettemtimmons/

The narrative around doing more and being more and growing more in your business is everywhere - and it gets even stronger as we approach a new year because that’s the time when business owners are supposed to set big goals and aspirations. But what if the idea of adding more and more and more is not feeling so aligned for you anymore? What if you’ve come to realize that staying on the constant hamster wheel of busy is making your life too complicated and stressful? And what if you’ve realized that the pursuit of more is hampering your freedom and flexibility and costing you something that feels far more valuable than growth...that thing being your time? In this episode, I’m going to answer those questions as I invite you to rethink your pattern of doing more in your business and instead take a subtractive approach. I’ll explain what a subtractive approach to business looks like and give you tangible examples that you can apply to your own business. I’ll also share why it will help you create more time freedom and flexibility in the coming year.  Book a Discovery Call to learn more about the new Time Freedom Program: https://ashleymgartland.as.me/discoverycall   Discover how to create more time on the private Do Less, Live More podcast: www.ashleygartland.com/dolesslivemore   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Connect with Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/

When I first started thinking about trading the classic coaching model for a different type of offer, my brain went wild with ideas. I struggled to figure out which idea to pursue until I asked myself a key question that clarified everything. In this episode, I’m going to tell you what that question was and share how it led me to create a coaching offer that combines the best parts of my past services in an entirely new way. I’ll also tell you about what that means for my business in the coming year and about the small shifts I’m making to the podcast too.   Book a Discovery Call to learn more about the new Time Freedom Program: https://ashleymgartland.as.me/discoverycall   Discover how to create more time with my private podcast Do Less, Live More: www.ashleygartland.com/dolesslivemore   Learn more about Ashley: https://www.ashleygartland.com/   Connect with Ashley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ashleygartland/