Mahfuz talks with Fiona Stevenson, co-founder of The Idea Suite and Energy for Growth, about the hows and whys of running two businesses -- and what it takes to keep the passion for entrepreneurship.
Key Takeaways:
[00:23:25] Be resilient, but flexible. When conditions change, entrepreneurs need to be prepared to rethink their businesses. Too many dismiss long-term trends as minor roadblocks or cyclical dips—so pay attention to the signs, Stevenson urges.
[00:24:35] Be smart about passion projects. Starting a second business isn’t for everybody, and some entrepreneurs get sucked in to thinking they can turn a personal passion into a successful venture. Stevenson says that passion for a business idea is necessary, but not sufficient—the fundamentals have to be there, too, for a startup to succeed.
[00:26:20] Join a community—or a few communities. Entrepreneur groups and even informal get-togethers of four or five people with similar challenges can be a vital way to share ideas, problems and advice, Stevenson says. Don’t be afraid to get involved and reach out.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Welcome to Growth Decoder, a podcast that digs into those pivotal moments that real entrepreneurs face every day to find out how they rose to those challenges. I'm your host, Mahfuz Chowdhury.
Fiona Stevenson: So it's almost starting with a bit of the experimentation and seeing that combination of, hey, as I put more of my time into this, do I enjoy it? Does it feel good? And then also is the market responding? Does it feel like there's a need or demand here?
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Today on episode seven, we're talking about a double dose of business.
It's not uncommon for owner operators to spot and pursue new opportunities while running their core business. But now you have two organizations that require your time and attention. How do you manage? Someone who can help us answer this question is Fiona Stevenson of the Idea Suite and Energy for Growth.
The Idea Suite is a creative agency she co-founded in 2015. Five years later, she co-founded Energy for Growth, a corporate coaching program. Fiona operates both companies and they work hand in hand with one another. I can't wait for you to hear all about Fiona's journey and how she manages to run two businesses.
Here's Fiona Stevenson. Fiona, I can't express enough how excited I am to have you on Growth Decoder. Thank you for your time today.
Fiona Stevenson: Of course. Thanks for having me, thrilled to be here.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: It's an absolute pleasure. And I got to get into a big part of your story that I think doesn't get talked about enough. Even on Growth Decoder a lot of people have expressed on this microphone how difficult and challenging it may be to manage one business and the time and effort that goes towards it.
And the challenges that come with that singular business. The part that stood out to me is somewhere along the way, about five years after your initial one, you decided that maybe you wanted to, I don't know, amplify the challenges a little bit more, make it a little bit more difficult in your life. What was it that happened at that five year mark that made you start to think about maybe a second division or a second part of your organization here?
Fiona Stevenson: Yeah, well, um, funny you should ask. So five years is 2020, which was the pandemic. So it is definitely a pandemic story. Um, and what happened essentially? So we were rolling along. Business was great. Business is really booming. 2019. We had a fantastic year. And then 2020 obviously caught us by surprise, um, in March.
And, you know, we sort of went from, I wouldn't say coasting, but just, you know, everything was going fantastically. And suddenly it was like, oh, my gosh, we have to pivot our entire business to a virtual one. Because we did a lot of in person ideation sessions. It was a largely in person business. In fact, In 2019, um, my business partner and I were on a plane almost every week, uh, because a lot of our clients are in the U.S. or in Europe or, you know, we might have research in South America. So it was a pretty crazy consulting type lifestyle. And suddenly we were grounded and we had to look at, okay, how do we pivot and make this virtual? So that was a massive challenge, um, which we attacked pretty quickly in March, April. We changed our offering to become, you know, completely virtual and then sort of went back to our clients, uh, where projects had been postponed and got things back online and then started to sell this virtual approach.
So, um, you would think that then we would sort of rest and say, hey, we just had this big challenge of pivoting our entire business, but what we found by the end of 2020 and into 2021 especially in Toronto, um, is people were in a really rough state. So we were looking at ourselves 2021 was definitely a low point for me personally.
And I'm just talking to our clients, talking to other entrepreneurs, and people were feeling extremely burnt out, like really using the term a lot at that point, um, and we're always in touch with our clients and, you know, talking to them in general about what's happening with them and what are their challenges.
And more and more that was coming up rather than the innovation work that we sort of do with them.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Yeah.
Fiona Stevenson: That was top of mind. And so that's where we sort of saw this opportunity, um, and I can talk a lot more about this, but this opportunity to, you know, do something that really addresses this burnout and help to energize teams who are really struggling.
And we got super excited about that. It was sort of a passion area for us, something that we thought we could benefit from, um, something our clients really needed, but it was really quite different than our core offering. So that's where we thought, hmm, maybe this is something, um, that we should think about starting sort of in parallel, but as a new business,
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Right?
Fiona Stevenson: Um, while keeping our old business alive. So that was the birth of it.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Yeah, I think it's also fascinating that it didn't come down to hey, we need a completely different business model with brand new resources with a new business structure. It's almost like how do we layer on top of what's been working well and where we know our strengths already exist.
What does that look like in terms of resourcing? Can you talk a little bit about your relationship with your co-founder and how that discussion has happened and who's managing what side of the business and uh, whether or not you've continued to work with the existing team in both areas or did you feel like you needed more resources to fill that gap?
What did that planning stage look like when you were transitioning into this very new chapter of yours?
Fiona Stevenson: I think, um, we were sort of typical entrepreneurs in that we got super excited about the opportunity and didn't do a ton of strategic thinking first. It was almost like now we see an opportunity.
We're in innovation, so we're always about ideas. We see something huge. Um, you know, this is a passion area for us. So let's build this. And we immediately decided we quickly brainstorm what a name could be. We looked into trademarking and we decided to establish it as a separate business. And I wouldn't say that was a very, um, thought through process necessarily.
So if I think about it in hindsight, we probably could have had some good discussions around should this just be a line of business? Should this be a new business? But we just felt like this is something different. Let's incorporate this.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Right. A lot of it driven by passion and emotions.
Fiona Stevenson: And I think there was also just this, it's hard to think back to 2021 and that pandemic moment now, because we've kind of pendulum. It feels like a blip now.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Doesn't it?
Fiona Stevenson: It does feel like a blip. It's like, ah, remember the pandemic? Yeah, but it was kind of dire at that point and I think having that feeling in 2020 of we could lose our business and we need to pivot our whole business and will this all ever come back, I think there was this kind of fear around and this desire to almost diversify our portfolio I like that.
So it's like, let's create this other business. So we've got our innovation business. We've got this business, which is really about energizing teams. And hey, if the world stays in this, you know, pandemic kind of stream and people are going to be grounded, um, and this is the new reality, then this is going to be our big bet.
Or if things swing back, which was hard to imagine at that point. We've got our innovation business.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: That's so interesting. So it's almost like both of them play a role as a plan A and a plan B.
Fiona Stevenson: So then to your question about resourcing, we sort of talked to our teams and said, okay, we're, we need you to be a little bit flexible in terms of flow to the work.
Um, so we kind of said to them like, hey, you, you know, person A, you're primarily on The Idea Suite, but you might have to do a little bit on Energy for Growth. Person B, you're a little more here. We tried to mostly keep most of the resources in the innovation part of the business, so we didn't have to ramp them all up.
And the beginning of the business, the Energy for Growth business, was really us, Shelli and I, and my co-founder, coming up with the programs. So, coming up with this 12 week signature program, which I can talk more about, um, coming up with, kind of deciding what our offerings were, repurposing some of our old offerings into this side of the business.
So, we kind of handled the brunt of it. We had one employee completely dedicated who we brought on to build the sales funnel to deal with a lot of pieces of this business, which were much different than our other pieces, um, just in terms of, uh, like lead pages and things like that, that we didn't have in the same way.
And then we had one employee who was 50 per cent on one business and 50 per cent on the other. So she was really hired to be 50 per cent on both. And then everyone else, it was a little bit flexible.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: What about yourself individually? Where, how do you find time to make sure both? Businesses get the same time, effort and love even to make sure that it's set up for success in either direction.
Fiona Stevenson: Yeah, this was hard. Our innovation agency, it's a boutique agency, but we always have more demand than we can actually service. So we're always sort of saying no. And what happened is we decided to build this business. business as we had to say no even more often, which was difficult because the innovation business had come back.
People were doing it virtually comfortably. And so we had to look as things came in, like, okay, do we want to take this project or do we want to keep, you know, some of our capacity free to really grow and nurture this new baby, which was the new business. So, um, we were actively reducing, you know, our pipeline, um, which was difficult for sure.
And especially when you build a new business, you know, we learned from the first time we started a business is at the beginning, you just want clients. You just want to say yes to everything. That's exactly it. So we had said when we started our first business, make friends, experiment and say yes to everything.
So this was the same thing. So whereas for an innovation program, we could be charging. You know, often six figures, um, with big global projects, uh, lots of, you know, resource and, and, and stuff. These were sometimes, um, I mean, we'd have small organizations coming to us and saying, hey, our teams are burnt out.
It might be friends of ours who are entrepreneurs and we'd say, oh, we'd love to do something for you and want to test this new material. So we'd kind of look at, well, what can you afford? What makes sense for us? So it was, you know, obviously, like a much cheaper proposition, not profitable necessarily, but it was we really want to just get started and sink our teeth into this and put stuff out in the world and see what sticks and what doesn't and refine the offering.
So it was a huge investment.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Right? I like the fact that you you never really need to leave anyone hanging dry. If the budget didn't maybe meet the requirements, there's some variation of support they can get based on the way that you set up both sides of the business.
Fiona Stevenson: Good or bad, I think that was where the passion came in.
We just saw an opportunity, like people are really in a rough state. And we'd always been told when we started our agency, our innovation agency, um, and we asked our clients like, hey, what's different about us? What did you like? Why did you call us back? Why do you like working with us? And they always talked about energy.
They talked about, um, oh, you guys energize us, or you have a lot of energy, or the whole process of working on a project with you brings us energy. So we always thought it was a bit of our secret sauce. And that's where we almost felt a bit of, you know, it was kind of this Ikigai thing of what does the world need?
What are you passionate? What are you good at? Where we could kind of provide this service to people. And so that's where again, we were willing to say, hey, you know, what can you do, or can we do a bit of a bartering or, you know, we'll do this one kind of on the cheap, but we'll really learn, or can you provide us some testimonials or things like that?
So it's a bit of that at the beginning. Yeah. And it felt good to be part of like the pandemic solution a little bit.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: It also looks like you get to taste a little bit of where you are in your business journey with the first business, but also that startup feeling up in the air at the same time.
Fiona Stevenson: I was going to say that as I was thinking about this interview today, I just remember the excitement in building something new again.
And we like to build things fast. And so I remember my co-founder and I getting in a room and we were like, kkay, we want to build this curriculum from scratch around energizing teams. We said like, it's a 12 week program, there'll be these different modules. And then we just sort of said, okay, what do we think?
Like, what's our perspective on everything? So we're writing down new kind of models and like building she started at McKinsey so she loves like the two by twos and all those like the triangles of this like all these different models of energizing teams and we started searching at like what are ways to address burnout?
What are different things that exist out there? Reading articles, reading books. I'm sticking stuff up on the wall. So we were just building building and creative and entrepreneurs love that creative people love that. So we were just in heaven. We were trying to build quickly, but we were also just loving the process.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Yeah. Enjoy. I was just going to ask about your relationship with your co-founder. You know, you talk about the Ikigai. And I think about like, if we took yours and your partners’ Ikigais and stacked it on top, where are the overlaps?
Fiona Stevenson: Yes. Um, it's funny. I've done this. I'm going to be doing kind of like keynote on, um, 10 lessons learned from business partnership.
And there are these interesting things, like there's some things that need to be aligned. Values, I mean, in my opinion, um, values, work ethic. We always say it really always feels like 50/50 or 100/100, like we're always giving the same amount, even if there are periods where someone's kind of, you know, I was just on vacation, so certainly she stepped up there, one of us has a health issue, the other person steps in, so, um, I think those are kind of the non-negotiables and just that, like, passion for delivering great work that, um, we call ourselves quality monsters.
So that's all super aligned. But then in terms of the things we like to do, it's funny, there's such a split. So she is more, you know, the CFO, I'm the CMO. Um, she's more the, uh, like and also just really into like the operations of the business and how do we like operate most efficiently. She's really excited about AI right now and how do we bring that into the business.
Um, I'm often like very passionate about the work itself. You know, the work that I love to do in the business is more sometimes the writing, the kind of like stepping back. She loves the front of room. So we definitely have really complimentary skills, I think.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: It sounds like it. And it sounds like the vision and the eyes on the prize and what gets both of your heart rates going a little faster is the same, but how you get there and the skills you put kind of fills in the map overall.
Fiona Stevenson: Totally. Like she's sometimes the starter. Um, I'm the finisher or the closer.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: I like that. Yeah. And you know, you talked a little bit about the excitement around AI, for example, and AI is often controversial in the terms of whether or not people are willing to embrace it or a little bit afraid of what AI can do.
It may take away from their existing roles and positions and even their client needs. How do you stay open and open minded along with your team with embracing some of the changes that's happening? And you often hear about the shiny object syndrome where you lose your eyes off the prize of your initial plan because something caught your attention and you stare away from the goal.
How do you build a balance between that so that you don't focus about, you don't lose focus on what the business is really about as you're entertaining new ideas?
Fiona Stevenson: Hmm, that's a great, great question. We definitely both suffer from shiny object syndrome, I would say. Um, even with this business energy for growth, it was like, oh, we can build this.
I think with AI, you know, because we're in innovation and we've been talking to futurists and we are futurists. Um, yeah as part of projects for many years you know, it's something we saw on the horizon for a long time. I don't think we were ever scared of it. But I think we also, um, at the beginning, didn't want to almost like over romanticize it, if you will, as well.
So even, you know, right when, um, AI like Chat GPT came and things you had some of our clients saying like, hey, you know, how are we using these things? Can we use Chat GPT to come up with product ideas? And there is, you know, there are some challenges with innovation, for example, it's highly sensitive and you know, some of those open systems at the beginning, um, you have to be careful, like everything was part of a massive research project.
And so you didn't want to necessarily talk about confidential aspects of a brief um, just loaded into ChatGPT. So we were very careful with our team to be principled about here's what, you know, how we can use it and how we can't. So we can look at, hey, let's generate flavor ideas. Like what are you know, fruits that go super well with chocolate, if we're coming up with flavors for a new granola bar or something.
But not, you know, we are trying to crack the latest whatever for this particular brand for this year, what should we do? So we used it kind of smartly. I think, you know, where it's been most beneficial for us is in our operations. So kind of behind the scenes, even things like, um, you know, to do with payroll or administrative tasks or keeping, you know, taking
Mahfuz Chowdhury: away the redundancies, all that kind of stuff.
Fiona Stevenson: Redundancies.
Like, how do you just make our team really work in their zone of genius as much as possible? And how do you, um, reduce kind of, you know, time spent there? We found great ways to build code to kind of, um, strip products from sites. So we do a lot of global analysis of hey, what's launching everywhere? Like, what are the latest trends in Asia or here?
A lot of work that had to be done really manually before now could be done super quickly leveraging tools. So I think in 2021, we felt like, hey, this is really needed. And people are asking for it a lot. Early 2022 ton of inquiries. And then it kind of shifted where our innovation business really started to boom again.
So in fact, in 2023, we had a massive year, we actually hit a record year for our innovation business. And we had to kind of, um, you know, dial down stuff on our Energy for Growth business, and there just wasn't that same need. And because we were now working with people in person again, they were getting that kind of, um, you know, energizing work just by being around their colleagues again.
So there wasn't a need for like a focus on energy specifically, it was more like the way we were working, um, again, as humans was helping bring that energy naturally. So that's where it's a bit of a dial up, dial down. What we've found right now is um, there's less demand for Energy for Growth for our, um, kind of training programs or team programs, these 12 week programs that we had, and it's more about keynote speeches now, so we're getting a lot of demand, you know, come into a team offsite, they're doing those again, or the 200 person, like gatherings in Niagara Falls and you can see that people are really craving it.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Oh, people are totally craving it.
Fiona Stevenson: So they're like, come in and do a keynote on how to energize teams or how to bring your best self to work. So that's what we're finding is a bit more of the demand right now and a bit less on training programs. And then innovation is just absolutely booming right now. I think people really, um, wanting to differentiate themselves through innovation as the marketplace heats up and gets more competitive.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: And it really sounds to me like Energy for Growth is still evolving and growing and trying to find itself is going through its own little spiritual retreat right now and figure out who it wants to be. And, um, do you feel like it's at a point where the keynote and maybe high level coaching is where a lot of the vision is, um, as an entrepreneur, what, what do you kind of look for to figure out which way to allow this business to evolve?
Fiona Stevenson: I think as long as, um, we continue to be in this great place that I love now where we're kind of back to being together in person and life is normal again. I think it's more about keynotes, coaching with leaders like team leaders, and then we've thought about starting and we are really exploring this quite seriously, like a high growth business academy for it might be more entrepreneurs, but kind of going through like a cohort program that might be a year program or a six month program where people who are really focused on growth.
Yeah. They really want to, you know, grow their startups or grow a new line of business, getting together in this cohort environment and learning, you know, it's kind of both like how to energize yourself, how to energize your team, and then also what are the principles to maximize the growth of your business.
So that's what we're excited about. Um, I hate to say this, but when I do you talk to futurists? You know, there could be another pandemic on the horizon. Um, we hear sometimes that that could happen in 2025 or 2026. I'm a little bit in denial. Um, but if we had to go back to that kind of working from home, um, kind of situation in a big way, we might actually see the need for some of our offerings.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: You often hear about businesses that talk about a plan that they have, but willingness. The willingness to change the plan and be okay with the outcomes being different. Can you talk a little bit about some of those difficult days where it didn't come out the way you were hoping it would and what you and your partner have done as a result of that to make sure you still came out better on the other side?
Fiona Stevenson: Yeah, I love that. You have great questions. I remember in, I think it was January or February 2022, where we sort of started to look at, hey, if we want to make this one, our big bet, um, Energy for Growth, you know, what would it take to almost make it as big as the innovation side of our business? We sort of started to look at like, how much would we have to sell?
Um, could we scale it? And we started to realize what people loved about the side of the business was the high touch. So the access to Shelli and me. So whether we were speaking or delivering a training, you know, we talked about video based training and offering that, and people always chose the live training.
And so we started to look at it and thought, this isn't, um, and these engagements are lower budget than a typical innovation program. And we started to look at, we would have to be delivering this constantly. Um, and we sort of realized like, hey, that would mean, you know, we'd be doing it all the time.
And we'd have to really, um, move away from our innovation business in a big way. And suddenly, even Shelli, who, as I said, had been doing innovation for a long time. We sort of had a mourning period of but we love the innovation work. We love those business challenges, too. Um, and that doesn't feel right either.
And, you know, I think it's important if you are an innovation agency, you can't just, in our opinion, do one or two projects a year. You need to be doing a lot of stuff. You need to really have, um, your foot in it because things are always changing. Um, and you learn so much through the project itself. And so, you know, that kind of has to be at a certain critical mass.
So we realized, like, I think innovation has to maybe be be the bigger bet here than Energy for Growth. And we'd almost like gone the way of, as I said, incorporating it as a separate business, we built a website, paid a lot for the URL, you know, when you have to like, yeah, sitting on it. And suddenly, that's where it was a bit of, hmm, you know, maybe we almost should have started this as just within our existing business, like another line of business, we have multiple offerings within our innovation business, um, and see kind of experiment with it, but we made that really early decision to establish it at its own business, which again, I think there were some benefits to that.
I don't know if it's, I think you can argue both sides, even having a bit of that skin in the game, um, gave us the energy to really develop it in a big way versus it just being a passion project. Sometimes when something is just a passion project, you don't invest the same time or it's always the second fiddle.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: It, it may often take the, the shelf when priorities change, right?
Fiona Stevenson: And that's what often happened with us. Like we talked a long time for writing an innovation book, and then we just kept deprioritizing it because, um, you know, a big project would come in and it was the shiny object. And so we are finally actually writing that book, but it's taken a lot of discipline on our part to say, okay, we have to treat it like a project and, you know, reserve time for it and prioritize it because it's tough.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: I've heard about, uh, an agency mindset in the past that talks about treating your agency as it's your own biggest client.
Fiona Stevenson: Yes.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: And the part that often gets overlooked in those scenarios because you, you justify it with for good reasons, you know, other clients need our attention, they're paying clients and all that good stuff.
So yeah, it's interesting that you found a way to give you some discipline time that you park to make sure we're trying to initiatives. And it sounds like a fantastic book. Because we're called the Growth Decoder, I want to spend a little bit of time really decoding this part of your growth, which I think a lot of.
People will be really interested in thinking about the part that made you say, it is the right time to start a second initiative or a second business. What are some of those indicators you think about other entrepreneurs that are trying to figure out, is it the right time for me? What are some things that you would ask them?
To maybe ask themselves to to figure out whether it's a yes or a no in that situation.
Fiona Stevenson: Yes, um, great question. Well, I think first of all, um, really staying close to the market. So, you know, I see and I'm now in a lot of entrepreneur networks over the past four or five years. I've joined a lot of them. And so I'm exposed to this where, um, people start to really see signs of, hey, the market's changing or something's happening.
You know, things used to generate this much and suddenly there's a change. Um, and it's very easy, especially with your babies, like your business is kind of your baby to rationalize why, oh, it's just a blip or, um, you kind of want to hold on. And I think it's really important to be reading the market. The signs and as soon as you see something suggesting that the current offering isn't working That's where you really need to think about hey, like could my business I mean some businesses have literally gone away because of AI there just isn't the same need for them or they will go away so I think market signs are really important.
I think your own passion level right if you feel like you're getting to this a bit of complacency. You don't have the same passion I think clients can see that; certainly, um, smell that. And, you know, if you are a service based or whatever you're doing, you know, if you're not serving your clients with that real passion energy, they can tell even, um, subconsciously, I think, uh, you know, looking at a lot of entrepreneurs are kind of in that stage of life where it's, Hey, what's my second mountain or third mountain, what do I want to do?
So I think if there's this longing, you know, a soul's calling for, hey, is there something else that I'm really on this earth to do? I mean. Whether it's a bigger commercial opportunity than your current business or not, I think there's a time when that starts as a little whisper, but then sometimes it picks up.
Um, I think for a lot of us around that same age, and it's maybe listening to that and nurturing that, and exploring whether there is something there. I would say the one thing is, it doesn't always need to be a whole new business. And that's where, you know, some people have said, you know, they love cooking, let's say.
So then they think, okay, I'm going to like, go back and become a chef or open a restaurant. And then they realize, ooh, that really should have stayed a hobby. Right? So it's almost starting with a bit of, um, the experimentation and seeing and that combination of, hey, as I put more of my time into this, do I enjoy it?
Does it feel good? Um, and then also is the market responding? Does it feel like there's a need or demand here? Um, and looking for kind of both of those signs. So I do like to use the Ikigai model. I like that a lot.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: And it always comes back to that listening. You're really paying attention to the market, the customers and what's being asked for.
What are some areas that they could look at for maybe getting some additional guidance, whether it's mentors or other other types of areas they can look at to help them guide with that decision. And that maybe that voice in the head that's saying, you're not fully fulfilled. There's a little more you could do.
How did they, how did it scratch that itch?
Fiona Stevenson: Yeah, I've, um, it's funny cause when we started our business, the first five or six years, we were very much head down and just like focus on the business. And so we didn't join any communities or entrepreneur networks, to be honest, we barely saw our friends. Um, we were also both raising families, you know, young kids.
So there's just only so much that you can kind of spend time, um, investing in. And then what really changed serendipitously, it was right before the pandemic, but, um, around 2019, beginning of 2020, we said we should really join some entrepreneur communities. And so we joined. Um, one that was kind of most pivotal, uh, just as the pandemic took hold.
And it was so useful through the pandemic because suddenly it was this place where you can say, hey, I'm experiencing this problem. Are you, or do you know this person? Or so over time, we've joined a lot more communities. So I think joining more communities. One, two, even three communities. Um, you know, it could be, you almost want the different cross sections.
Like maybe one's just entrepreneurs, one's, um, maybe people who are in the same sort of industry as you, one might be, um, more about like life stage or men or women or people with similar interests, but it's kind of having these communities, um, to match with cross sections or parts of your lives and just really using that community, leaning in and asking for help.
We didn't tend to do that. We used each other. Thank goodness we had each other as co-founders for sounding boards. But it's amazing in these mastermind type setups, which you can also set up yourself. So I think getting, you know, four or five people and agreeing to meet monthly for, you know, three hours and using some kind of format where you're each sharing, you know, maybe for 20, 25 minutes.
Like here's a particular problem I'm struggling with or a challenge I'm having and letting people, I mean, honestly, their advice can be really helpful, but even just um, articulating it yourself tends to be super, super valuable. And then I think also just looking at your whole self. So looking at, um, you know, are you exercising?
Are you running? When I started running kind of early in the pandemic, it was amazing how all that time just with your thoughts, I could really sort things out being in nature. Um, so using kind of different modalities to, uh, tap into a bit your inner wisdom and, and stuff that's there that in the busyness can get lost.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: It's been so incredible to see how much the overlapping theme of self care and really paying attention to your mental health along the way has become such a much louder topic this time around than it's ever been. Um, in terms of giving business owners advice about that one characteristic that maybe you could credit your success to, you know, it sounds like there's, uh, a big group of things that's really supported it.
But if there is one area that you'd say, uh, give the award to this one part of me that really allowed me to not only build two businesses, but continuously even today be able to manage both. What would you say that that's that one area that the business owners should be paying attention to?
Fiona Stevenson: I do think persistence, yeah, is a big one.
And, you know, it's, it's tough because, um, prior to the pandemic, you know, that whole like hustle culture and like even resilience and stuff. I mean, it kind of suggests this like, just keep going, keep going, even if you're burning out. And I think there's a more positive side to persistence, which I found kind of because I've been on both sides of it.
I've just, um, not giving up. You know, when you first start a business, there's a ton of rejection in any creative endeavor. There's a ton of rejection, but it really is a chance for feedback. And so it's that whole thing about embracing failure. You know, you try to sell something and it doesn't work. You lose a pitch.
Okay, why? What can you learn from that? And not giving up. Not giving up too early. Every time, refining your offering a little bit, changing things up, and then coming back, and just knowing that at one point you're gonna get it right, and it's gonna, you know, explode, but it does take some persistence when you, when you read the stories of, you know, how many times people were rejected, um, there's some fun ones I read recently, like Steven Spielberg, I think he was rejected from film school three times.
Right, right. Stephen King had tons of rejections for like his first novel, and now he's, you know, done tons and tons of stuff. There's so many people who experience that, so I think it's just, especially if you do feel like, I think there's something here. I don't know exactly the how, I don't know how to execute it necessarily like perfectly, but I feel like there's a nugget here and something inside myself says it is not giving up.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: Fiona, your story is incredibly inspiring. And I hope you know how many businesses that may have gone through similar challenges in many different industries could really benefit from your story. Your ability to listen and I even like how you put a little bow at the very end where you're listening to your inner self. You know that feeling of fulfillment and purpose that's pushing you to continuously stay persistent. I really want to thank you for your time on Growth Decoder.
Fiona Stevenson: Thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: That was a great conversation with Fiona Stevenson of The Idea Suite and Energy for Growth. My first big takeaway from today's episode is the importance of keeping your fingers on the pulse of the market so you can read the signs and seize new opportunities as they arise.
If you see a pattern, especially a reoccurring need among your clients and partners, chances are it's true in the wider marketplace as well. You might be able to expand or repurpose your existing offering or even launch a whole new entity to meet the demand. Lean on your networks, communities, and advisors for honest feedback and to help refine your ideas.
The second big takeaway is to look for efficiencies. When you're launching a second business, you can't be in two places at once. Explore ways the two companies can overlap, whether it's sharing office space or clientele. AI and other tools can help streamline operations from payroll to research and administrative tasks.
Whatever will allow your team more time to work in their zone of genius, as Fiona puts it. And finally, find business partners who are aligned with their values and vision for the future but aren't necessarily your carbon copy. Prioritize complimentary skills over overlapping skills when you're looking to scale your business, or in Fiona's case, two businesses.
In the next episode, we'll hear how Mike Nolan of Altea Active applied his experience as a champion decathlete to the detail oriented business of running fitness centers with locations across Canada.
Mike Nolan: Protecting culture and getting the good numbers and performance. It needs to come from the top down.
You need great leaders to create great leaders.
Mahfuz Chowdhury: If you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to Growth Decoder wherever you get your podcasts. You can also visit www.cwbank.com slash podcast for more about The Idea Suite, as well as the other businesses and topics featured on Growth Decoder. I'm your host Mafhuz Chowdhury. Thank you for listening.
Growth Decoder is brought to you by Canadian Western Bank with production by SJC.