Ep #118: The Feminine Approach to a Million-Dollar Goal

Hey, Coach. I want to take a moment to highlight this episode for the very best of reasons. Out of every episode released this past year, this one rose to the top. It was the most downloaded, the most shared, and the most talked-about episode of the entire year. And I'm not surprised, because this conversation cracked something open for so many of you ambitious, sensitive women in my community.

This episode is all about choosing a million-dollar goal, not as pressure, not as a fantasy, but as an act of leadership, as an identity decision, as a turning point. Women wrote to me saying this episode completely shifted the way they saw their potential. So today, we're replaying it in full, the best of the best episode that clearly struck the right note for you. And if you've been whispering a secret million-dollar desire but haven't fully claimed it yet, this is the episode you need in your ears. So, let's jump into the most loved episode of the year.

Welcome to The Money Coach School Podcast. To really excel at coaching women, you have to be skilled, confident, and even fearless at money coaching. If you're passionate about women holding genuine money power and love supporting women entrepreneurs, then this is the show for you. Now, here's your host, money feminist Kendall SummerHawk.

Hello, beautiful coaches. We are diving right in today into a controversial topic, which is choosing to focus on creating a million-dollar revenue as your big, hairy, audacious money goal. I actually feel this episode needs a sister counterpart to it, all about the money feminism side of a million-dollar goal. So I'll put that idea into the episode idea bank for the future.

And what I want to talk with you about here today is first, why this goal is life-changing, not when you reach it, but from the first moment that you claim it. Why the challenge of creating a million dollars in revenue is worth it, the value in setting this goal now, even if you're at ground zero with your coaching income, or even if you've been at a plateau for a while, and what to do if you find yourself saying things like, "Well, Kendall, I really don't need that kind of money."

First, I want to fully express that I am 100% behind setting a million-dollar revenue goal. I am not here to console you with setting a much smaller goal because the million-dollar goal feels too challenging. I'm not here to tell you that if you don't feel you need a million dollars, that's okay, because that's just not the point. A million-dollar goal is not about, quote unquote, "needing" the money. It's not even about what you will do with the money. That's not at all what this is about. It's about who you become in the process. It's about you dreaming big, evolving, and committing to something bigger, more expansive. It's about giving water and sunlight to the seed of greatness that is already within you.

I committed to my million-dollar goal when I was nowhere near seven figures. I did it when my income was plateaued. I did it when I had no earthly idea how in the world I was going to achieve it. I did it without a time frame attached to it. I did it without any external pressure from social media. I did it without any personal role models, men or women. I did it not knowing in any way what it would be like to achieve it. I did it coming from a place of frustration and dissatisfaction with where I was. So, basically, I made the decision to be a million-dollar business owner because I wanted to be that version of myself. I wanted to be her. I wanted to be different. I wanted to stretch and grow and feel challenged and feel that incredible sense of accomplishment. I wanted the pride of saying, "I did it."

So, number one, you have to genuinely want it, even if it scares the living daylights out of you. I did not start my journey into being a million-dollar business owner by saying, "Woohoo, this is going to be so fun. I'm so excited." No, not at all. The moment of making the decision, I felt determination and drive, absolutely. And I'll never forget it because I was standing next to this tiny little $99 cheapy desk I had from Target. And this thought came into my head, "I want to be a million-dollar business owner."

And then the next moment, total fear and imposter syndrome swept through me. And that's the through line of it, right? I would bounce between determination and fear, between desire and "who am I?" which was my prevailing money block. I would bounce between "this is the decision I've made," and "how the heck will this ever even happen?" The point is, you have to keep coming back to that desire, to that determination, to that decision, because at the end of the day, it is just a decision.

I never wavered in my decision. I wavered constantly in my belief I could do it, but I never wavered in the decision to do it, if that makes sense at all. For me, I wanted to have something that I could reach for and achieve. I never went to college, so I did not have that bachelor's degree or the master's degree. And there was a part of me that wanted recognition of achievement. And I know that's ego. I get that. But that's not always a bad thing. It's called ambition. And ambition is what drives innovation and creativity, which are traits that I admire deeply and hold as valuable.

I was also driven by the desire to be of service in a profoundly deep way for many more people than just the 10 or 12 people that I was coaching at the time that I made that million-dollar decision. You know, just staying where I was felt like playing small. It felt nice, but definitely not satisfying. I wanted to be in deep connection with more people, coaching and positively impacting the lives of more and more women.

So, if I had to boil it down to one fundamental driver, I would say the million-dollar goal was an expression of my leadership. It wasn't really about the money because I had no idea at the time of how life-changing making that kind of money would be. It just wasn't in my field of vision, right? I wanted what the money represented, which was achievement for me and making a contribution into the lives of others.

And number two, a million-dollar goal will change and up-level you before it ever changes your tax bracket. The goal is life-changing, not when you reach it, but from the first moment that you claim it, because you see yourself differently. You start valuing yourself in ways that you never maybe have before. You stop putting up or tolerating anything that is not in alignment with being a million-dollar business owner. You clear out clutter. You get rid of everything old or broken or that has no real emotional significance. You start respecting yourself as a million-dollar business owner, and you expect others to respect you as well, which can be very challenging if you're someone who has struggled with boundaries.

You start saying no to anything and everything that does not align with being a million-dollar business owner. And you start saying yes to new ventures, to new projects, to giving voice to what you believe in is possible for the clients you want to be serving. You don't hold back, you lead. You take your business seriously, and you focus on the transformation that you're here to make. And in between feeling scared about making that kind of money, you feel proud to be on your path to making that kind of money.

And this is really why the challenge of creating a million dollars in revenue is worth it. And it's the value in setting this goal now, even if you're at ground zero with your coaching income, even if you've been at a plateau for a while. You're doing it for the person you become and for the impact that you want to contribute to the lives of others in your process.

I was committed to my million-dollar goal. I kept it private though, but internally, I was proud of having this really big deal goal. And I remember attending workshops and events and feeling like I was carrying this secret, this flame inside that I am becoming a million-dollar business owner. Again, I did not have a time frame attached to it, but I kept the vision of it and the feeling of it close to my heart every single day.

It actually only took two years to go from just at $100,000, which is where I was at when I made the decision, to my first million-dollar year. And that was in 2008, in the midst of that huge, gigantic recession and economic meltdown. I just ignored all that, and I stayed in my lane. I worked hard, but I kept my business model really simple, to just two coaching programs so that I could grow.

Number three, you break through the money blocks you've been living with all along that it's definitely time to release. This is so huge. I can hardly emphasize it enough. All of us carry money blocks. And when we're not aware of how they show up, we give our power over to them. So saying things like, "Well, Kendall, I don't need that much money," that's a money block. Feeling resentment about people who make more money is a money block. Feeling stressed about making more money is a money block.

I'm filling you in on some of the ways money blocks show up because it's so easy to think that these blocks are legitimate concerns that have to be catered to. They don't. They are meant to be acknowledged, absolutely, and then a new, enlightened, alternate path that fits for you can be found. In other words, you don't stop your pursuit of the million-dollar goal because a money block is whispering sweet lies in your ear. Instead, you learn how to recognize it and reframe it.

And this is some of the coaching we do inside of Secret Energy of Money, which is my money mastermind for coaches and consultants who want to step into that dramatically more profitable version of their businesses. And you can go to SecretEnergyofMoney.com, check that out, or click on the link in the show notes for details because we are enrolling right now.

So one of my money blocks was thinking a bigger business, meaning more clients, would really stress me out, that I somehow wouldn't be able to handle it, whatever handle it means. And I think that comes from me being a highly sensitive person, what's called an HSP, you know, as it's referred to, and being more than just a little bit empathetic. That's not something I talk about very often, but it's something I am hugely aware of about myself. So being around a lot of people or having a lot of clients used to feel very challenging. It's like I could feel all of their feelings, which was emotionally overwhelming, until I learned how to be fully engaged with people and my clients without taking on their emotions to such a big degree. And that was freeing, and it really allowed me to grow my coaching business very, very quickly.

Now the truth is, it's small thinking that's stressful. Not big thinking, small thinking. Trying to juggle a business bringing in $100k or less is very stressful because yes, it's good money, but it's not really enough to create stability or cash reserves or pay off debt or to be able to buy support. And that was the place I was at when I made my first million-dollar goal decision.

The reality is that having more clients gives you a buffer. If one client's payment fails, it's not the end of the world. You have the cash reserves to handle whatever comes up. And things will come up. You're a woman in business, things are going to come up. And it makes you, quite frankly, a little bit of a badass. Actually, a lot of a badass, with stronger skills and a sense of your own capabilities that is truly priceless. I now love having lots and lots of clients. I find it exciting, and I find it deeply, deeply fulfilling.

What I think is critical is that you don't use your million-dollar goal as a weapon against yourself. It's not something you use to compare and despair or use to slip into self-criticism about. Because the truth is, if that's where you tend to go with this goal, then that tendency was there already, and it's definitely time to reframe the thinking that takes you to that place. In this way, the million-dollar goal can be an incredibly powerful catalyst for self-growth.

Now, I use the million-dollar revenue goal as a way of measuring how fully am I stretching into what I'm capable of. I use it to measure how many women's lives am I impacting. I use it as a measure of how am I breaking through money blocks and letting go of worrying about what other people would think of me. I use it as a measure of how independent I can be, relying on my own money, not just to get by, but to live a lifestyle that is near and dear to my heart, which for me is all about having these beautiful Spanish Andalusian horses, good saddles and bridles, and the things that make my horses work hard for me, and spending tons of time with them with very little time constraints.

My million-dollar goal is not a measurement of my self-worth, but it is a measurement of how much I am valuing my abilities and talents as a coach. As you value your abilities and talent, you stop being willing to undercharge. You stop being willing to try to be all things to all people. You stop being willing to shrink to fit, as I always say, because shrinking to fit with money means shrinking your business. You start saying yes to your leadership. You start saying yes to clients. "I can help you because I'm good at what I do." You start saying yes to being treated with respect in your personal and your professional relationships.

You discover new boundaries and you value your time. You make decisions faster. You stop sweating the small stuff because you're filtering out things that just don't matter. Social media scrolling that doesn't enrich you, for example, contractors who aren't performing to that million-dollar standard. And by the way, none of this makes you a B-I-T-C-H. It makes you a well-grounded, considerate leader.

Women are just starting, I mean, really just starting to have a bigger voice. And dreaming big, evolving, and committing to your million-dollar goal, what it does is it opens a pathway for the women and the young girls right behind you. And what I so highly recommend is making that decision that a million dollars is your goal. Don't put a time frame on it, but definitely start operating from it every day, with every task, every decision, every action you take in your life and business. It will challenge you to step into owning your leadership and owning your worth at a deep soul level.

If you want to do the money work that frees you to earn more, save more, and have more money, then my Secret Energy of Money Mastermind may be what you've been seeking. This mastermind with me is an exceptional integration of practical money tools plus the inner money work. Secret Energy of Money includes very specific coaching and exercises with me that result in you making more money, creating a new dynamic with money, and knowing how to handle your money like the badass businesswoman that you are.

So if you're clear that you want to start making, keeping, saving more money, then definitely go to SecretEnergyofMoney.com and check it out. And remember, money coaching changes lives, starting with yours, my beautiful soul. All right, thank you so much for listening. Thank you always for your loyalty. If you would do me a beautiful big favor and drop a five-star review, I would so appreciate it. It would mean the world to me. All right, thank you and I'll see you in next week's episode.

Thank you so much for tuning into this week's episode of The Money Coach School Podcast. If you enjoyed this podcast, make sure you follow so you never miss an episode. Also, I would so love and appreciate if you would leave a 5-star review. Your review supports women just like you in discovering all of the juicy tips and insights I’m sharing here on how to coach women on money.

And if you want to learn how to excel at coaching women on money, definitely go to KendallSummerHawk.com and check out the wealth of money coach trainings that we have for you. Thanks so much for being part of this money coaching movement and for tuning into the show every week.