Choose Curiosity, Keep Your Values Aligned with Goly Anvary
In this episode of Good Enough For Now, we talk to career coach, entrepreneur, and parent, Goly Anvary as she shares her personal and professional transformation from corporate marketer to professional mentor and the strategies she’s adopted to ensure her career choice is in alignment with her authentic self.
Goly Anvary is the Founder and CEO of Core Create Advisors and has mentored leaders for over twenty years as a business executive, coach, advisor, and board member across a range of industries.
Tune into this episode to unlock how you can push yourself out of a cycle of fear and into curiosity that opens up a world of reflection, choice, and alignment.
LISTEN NOW
Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
Learn how to step into curiosity about your life and career, and leave behind fear and negative self-talk.
Transform your relationship to choice into a daily practice.
Optimize the alignment between your career and your authentic self.
Highlights
After graduating college, Goly worked in consulting. But after checking in with herself and her values, she realized she was ready to make a shift.
What I work on matters to me. I decided I wanted to go back to business school so I could really focus on marketing.
After graduating, she landed a job at Del Monte in consumer goods where she solidified her marketing skills.
But then she had another realization: she didn’t even like canned fruit, the product she was in charge of marketing.
It's not just that I love marketing, it's also what I work on and how I connect to the product and how I connect to the offering. It makes a difference.
She decided to make another shift to her dream job at Neutrogena in their cosmetics division. Though she enjoyed it, she found herself needing a healthier work-life balance.
Yes, industry matters. What I'm doing matters. But, you know, the how of how I'm working makes a difference to me.
Goly then made another shift, this time to the online group of Banana Republic as part of Gap, Inc.
And that's where I really started to define my leadership style, figure out what excited me, what kind of, you know, got me going, what allowed me to inspire and motivate other people.
She spent the majority of her corporate career at Gap Inc. growing her family at the same time she climbed the leadership rung to Senior Director of Marketing.
Children were a really important part of my career trajectory because they were check-ins with myself. Is this still working? Is this still resonating?
On her third and most recent maternity leave, she had another check-in with herself where she decided she needed something different. She chose to redefine the gap in her resume as a sabbatical.
I needed that time to figure out, you know, who I was and who am I now and what excites me.
Throughout that period, people continued to reach out to Goly for career advice, and she continued to lean further into what aligned with her energy.
It started finding me as I was finding myself…I sort of fell into it by checking in with myself and taking that space. I needed to figure out what it truly was that I was looking for at this stage in my career.
As a result of the hills and valleys of her professional life, Goly has found it instrumental to continue to check in with herself.
As I got to know myself more, I started to really check in. Do I like this product? Do I like this kind of company, the values, the culture?
She also relies on a network of sisterhood she has built--from her own sisters to a chosen family of women who support one another––to help her refine her boundaries and feel confident in her choices.
There's always been a power in seeing my struggles reflected in other women and seeing the choices that I'm making. And it allowed me to just begin the process of saying, “Hey, maybe this is not just me,” right?
Goly has found that taking the space to reflect and surrounding yourself with people that reflect you pushes you out of a cycle of fear and into a cycle of curiosity.
That space allows you really to get out of that fear cycle and get into the curiosity of like, Hey, is this working? What could this look like? And there's a real kind of benefit in observing when you're in fear and not judging it… that allows us to go into curiosity versus that fear, shame, judgment cycle that's so easy to get pulled into.
Goly was able to refine her strengths after reading Stand Out by Marcus Buckingham and becoming accustomed to Jim Dethmer’s idea of Conscious Leadership. Stand Out gave her the language to understand her strengths, and her application of conscious leadership allowed her to transform them into tangible results.
Can you find your coordinates, your zone of genius? What gives you energy? That's a really good first place to start.
As Goly felt more comfortable giving language to what she sourced her energy from, she leaned further into that cycle of curiosity. She found herself arriving at a place that g allowed her to see choice and agency where she hadn’t before.
A friend of mine recently told me: Behind every disappointment is a better offer.
When I really focused on what I wanted to do versus what I didn't want to do, all of a sudden, it's like, oh, I have all these other options that I couldn't see while I was in it.
Goly has embraced a daily practice of choice, and her entrepreneurial journey is a reflection of that.
Choice for me really looks like a daily practice. It's part of my curiosity practice…And this choice becomes a constant companion in a way, which feels really, really empowering. And I feel like it attracts other people and it allows them to see also where they have choice.
In her sessions, Goly sees herself as a mirror to her clients, and she measures her success by her impact. As she reaches closer alignment with her most authentic self, so do they.
I'm really just this kind of reflection of someone else's light. It's just the best feeling in the world…There's something really fulfilling to me about reflecting each person's light. And to me, that's success right now.
Her biggest growth occurred as a byproduct of sisterhood; Recently, a fellow founder gave one of her close friends a session with Goly as a Christmas gift. The referrals expanded and her clients continued to pay it forward, and her light was reflected back to her.
I think the authenticity of the frequency that I'm working at right now that is spurring growth, but in a really different way than I've ever experienced…there's something really fulfilling about it happening in this way.
What Good Enough For Now means to GOLY:
What comes to mind for me is what I'm doing right now. The choices I'm making are working right now. And that is perfect. Doesn't have to be any different. I don't need this title. I don't need this level of income right now. I'm happy with myself and the choices I'm making…And I think it allows us not to feel this perfectionism that we were questing for all of these years.
When you say good enough for now, I feel like I'm taking my full space. I'm confident in my decisions. I feel really good about the choice and the options I have in the future. And I feel like I wanna tell other people that phrase as well, because it allows them to see where they have choice.
ABOUT
Goly is passionate about inspiring purpose-driven executives to lead through alignment with their core values.
She is known as a growth catalyst, focused troubleshooter, and business design expert. Equal parts heart and mind, she helps organizations accelerate growth and guides leaders forward for positive impact. Her holistic advising approach brings a unique combination of business and leadership experience, curiosity, strategic thinking, innovation and intuition.
As a direct and empathetic advisor, Goly encourages her clients to think differently about the way they perceive themselves, their customers, their business challenges, and opportunities. Leaders who have worked with her and have gone on to thrive call her “the missing ingredient.” She is often the first person they call when seeking targeted help or exploring new opportunities.
She has advised leaders for over twenty years as a business executive, coach, advisor, and board member across a range of industries including technology, retail, electronics, education, entertainment, consumer goods, healthcare, financial services, and non-profit.
-
Stephanie (03:16):
Goly Anvary is the founder of Core Create Advisors, a global advising company that creates positive impact from leaders, core values and purpose. She's passionate about inspiring purpose driven executives to lead through alignment with their core values. She's known as a growth catalyst focused troubleshoot business design expert, and a personal friend of mine, equal parts, heart, and mind. She helps organizations accelerate growth and guides leaders forward for positive impact. Her holistic advising approach brings a unique combination of business and leadership experience, curiosity, strategic thinking, innovation and intuition. She is advised leaders for over 20 years as a business executive coach advisor and board member across a range of industries.
Harper (04:04):
Welcome Goly. We're so happy to have you here.
Goly (04:07):
Thank you. I'm so happy to be here today.
Harper (04:10):
Can you tell us where you are in your life right now?
Goly (04:15):
Such a good question. So I would say from a life perspective, a lot of different areas. I am a mother with three kids from 15 years old to seven years old. So I'm still in active parenting mode. And I'm also in active entrepreneurship mode. I started my own company where I'm advising executives, but also advising companies. So I feel like, you know, I'm midway through parenting and from a career perspective, I'm right at the beginning of this new trajectory.
Stephanie (04:52):
Take a bit, you're in a us a little bit of a sense of where had your career and what inflection point happened to lead you to where you are now?
Goly (05:05):
My career followed a pretty traditional format. I went to a liberal arts school and had a choice between going into consulting and going into investment banking. And I knew investment banking wasn't for me. So I chose consulting, not always the best way to choose a career <laugh>, um, but had a really good experience. Just kind of learning everything I didn't know, and had a range of clients from aerospace to the national cement industry association, sort of all over the place. And I realized, you know, what, I work on matters to me and I decided I wanted to go back to business school so I could really focus on marketing. And so I left consulting to go to graduate school in business and decided, you know, I've been in consulting telling people what to do, but I kind of wanna learn the basics of marketing. So decided to take really traditional CPG marketing role.
Goly (06:05):
One of very few in my class, I came to Berkeley and, you know, one of the big tech booms where everyone was going into tech and said, yeah, I may eventually do that, but I really wanna learn kind of the basics. And so went into and worked for Del Monte foods in consumer packaged goods, really traditional marketing, great basis of just kind of learning what is marketing all about product pricing, all of those things. And as I was there, I had an aha moment that I don't really eat that much canned fruit, fresh point, canned fresh food. And that was sort of the beginning of my journey of like, Hmm, it's not just that I love marketing. It's also what I work on and how I connect to the product and how I connect to the offering. It makes a difference. So moved to LA to sort of, at that point, take my dream job, working in marketing for Neutrogen in their cosmetics division, doing lots of new product development, lots of advertising PR sort of amazing, amazing company values really started to see like, ah, this is what it's like to be passionate about product, but also started to realize that certain industries had no work life balance.
Goly (07:41):
We were all working 60 to 70 hours a week. It was frowned down upon if you left before 7:00 or 8:00 PM. And so it started to become kind of the next step of like, yes, industry matters what I'm doing matters, but the how of how I'm working makes a difference to me. And when for family reasons, I moved back to the bay area, I really said, okay, I need somewhere <laugh> that has a good culture, but it's also something that I'm really interested in. And I started in the online group of banana Republic as part of gap, Inc. And that's where I actually met Stephanie. And we worked together for many years and it was really, really kind of amazing to see what it was like to learn a new industry. One that I was really interested in, but really start to connect to customers and also to teams.
Goly (08:39):
And that's where I really started to define my leadership style, figure out what excited me, what kind of got me going, what allowed me to inspire and motivate other people and spent the majority of my corporate career there had my first child had my second child, had my third child. And what's interesting for me, children were a really important part of my career trajectory because they were check-ins with myself. Is this still working? Is this still resonating? And what's so interesting is the job was amazing. But I started to change as I had these kids, as they required more attention than I had anticipated before I had kids. And so on my third mat leave <laugh> with my now seven year old. I checked in with myself and I said, you know, I think I'm ready for something different. And what I ended up doing is taking Stephanie knows what I call the sabbatical <laugh>, which ended up turning into entrepreneurship.
Goly (09:47):
And the sabbatical was really, really important to me because I was just going, right. You go to college, then you get that job. And then you have kids and you don't really have time to think and check in with yourself. So I needed that time to figure out what is it about who I was and who am I now and what excites me and like many things in my life before I had figured out what I wanted to do, living in the bay area, people like, Hey, can you help us with this company? Hey, could you, I know you're on sabbatical, but could you assist with our startup? And so it started finding me <laugh> as I was finding myself. And so it was less planned than like I'm the launch, my own business. And it's gonna look like this. And I sort of fell into it by checking in with myself and taking that space. I needed to figure out what it truly was that I was looking for at this stage, in my career,
Harper (10:43):
You bring up so many amazing points here in so many realms that I'm like, which one do I wanna tackle? But what I wanna focus on is this concept of how much you wanted to be dedicated to the work that you were doing and that you cared about the product and talking about this canned good thing is such an interesting one. You said, what? I work on matters connecting to the product, what excites me. And I think about my parents generation and older really didn't look at business that way and work that way. They really thought about it as it's a job, we go, we get paid, we have our family at home. And I think that has shifted so drastically in the last few decades. And I'm interested if you could speak a little bit more to that.
Goly (11:31):
Yeah. It's interesting. Because a lot of times I feel like right out of college, you're in survival. You need a job, you need to make money. You know, it needs to look like this. So it's about, who's gonna take me <laugh> and we haven't really, and I think that's a generational thing. I think that's changing. I'm seeing that changing pretty dramatically with Gen Z, but kind of back when I was looking for a job, you were lucky to have a job. You were lucky to be paid. Like it was very much a take what you can get. And as you saw what I picked was like, oh, this will be less painful <laugh> than this other option. So what's interesting about that is as I got to know myself more, I started to really check in, do I like this product? Do I like kind of this company, the values, the culture.
Goly (12:26):
And what's so interesting is throughout the trajectory. Like I knew that canned fruit was not it for me, but I really loved cosmetic. I really loved fashion. Like I was like, what I get paid to do this. This is incredible. And what's so interesting is although I loved those industries also, I started to become deeper in a way and more complex. Like it was great that I loved those things, but I also started looking for more, it was meaning and purpose and what I really think. And a lot of the work I do right now, marketing, marketing, yourself, marketing and companies, you know, in a way used to be about acting. And so a lot of times when we're acting, we don't actually know, do I actually like this <laugh>
Stephanie (13:17):
Completely,
Goly (13:18):
Is this what I meant to be doing? And so part of my process was like, okay, goal. I know what you're saying. Is that really true? Do you really love this? And so part of the work I do right now is what does authentic marketing look like? And I really think that's about building a bridge of trust between a person, a brand and the person on the other side. And how do you build trust? You understand what their needs are, what their wants are, what their pain points are, what their challenges are just so much deeper than product price, promotion, advertising, right? You're really looking for human connection between people, between brands. And I feel like for me, that's not something I learned in a textbook. It was just kind of this school of life. <laugh>.
Stephanie (14:11):
And I imagine too, I mean, I know some of this story because I lived it alongside you and had similar challenges of I'm getting paid to do something that I like, at the same time you're building a family as you're building your career and you're managing others and you're managing perhaps a commute or, you know, the timeless-ness of boundaries, right? When can people contact you all the time, anytime you're available, how did you start to put together and look for different resources for yourself to do that inner work, to say, well, wait a minute, how do I stop performing this role? And start bringing my authentic self to where I wanna be every day, you know, in a job in my life with myself,
Goly (15:05):
I have four younger sisters. I went to a women's college. Like sisterhood is really, really important to me. And when I was in survival, the number one way I started doing the inner work was by having really deep conversations with not only my actual sisters, but the sisterhood, which includes Stephanie and we're sort of reflecting each other. Is it just me? Are you also seeing this? And what's so interesting for me is there's always been a power in seeing my struggles reflected in other women and seeing the choices that I'm making. And it allowed me to just begin the process of saying, Hey, maybe this is not just me, right? Oh, how are you handling boundaries? How are you handling this? And what's interesting is boundaries started to really blur, you know, as our kids started to get older, I first had my own phone and then I had a work phone and then my own phone and work phone became one.
Goly (16:15):
And then you're sending hundreds of emails over the weekend. And so this sort of blurring of boundaries became difficult because it happened so slowly. It wasn't something one day where it's like, oh, you go to work and then you come home. It was like, oh, did you check your email? Did you check your phone? And at the same time, you're trying to be present for your spouse for these kids. And so it's really slowly losing them to me, that kind of allowed me when I had time off for my mat leave to say like, is this working? And so, you know, that's the second piece of advice I would give in addition to looking for people who reflect you is space time to just B when we're always doing, we can't really reflect on whether it's working or not. And so as, you know, a type a or recovering type a, I wouldn't really stay still, there was always some type of project, something to do someone to see. And so actually just having that time to be with your own thoughts for me went a really long way.
Harper (17:27):
I love that you bring that up about space. I think people think they need to jump from one to the next and that a space in gap in your resume is a negative thing. And you're really proving the value in it. And obviously maternity leave is different from taking a sabbatical or leaving, but I think it's still like an important thing to acknowledge.
Goly (17:50):
Yeah. And one of the things I would add, which is really interesting is when you don't have time, when you don't have space, you go into survival. How do I just get through this day? How do I just get my child into kindergarten, then everything will be great. Or how do I get past this next milestone? And so I think that space allows you really to get out of that fear cycle and get into curiosity of like, Hey, is this working? What could this look like? And there's a real kind of benefit in observing when you're in fear and not judging it. I think a lot of my process, and I know Stephanie, you and I have talked about this is really kind of shifting into neutrality about where we are in our journey and not judging ourselves or past decisions we made or, you know, anything and saying like, Hey, neutrally, here's where I'm at. Here's how I'm feeling. Yep. I've made a lot of decisions in the past that, you know, I might make differently now, but how do I just be with where I am that allows us to go into curiosity versus that fear, shame, judgment cycle. That's so easy to get pulled into.
Stephanie (19:09):
So one of the things that I noticed when you and I were talking Goly recently about careers and some of the decisions that I had made was comparing myself to people who we both used to work with and that they're now, you know, SV VPs and CMOs and title, title, titles, success, success, success. And I didn't do that. I didn't stay on that path. And you had said, look, take a step back. Not everything happens to you, let it happen through you and those decisions that you made. And that was such a big unlock for me back to what you're saying about getting out of the fear cycle and into curiosity. And I'm wondering if there are other resources that led you to aha moments with this.
Goly (20:00):
I have two really important resources. One was Stand Out from Marcus Buckingham, which allows you to really see your strengths and not in a really complicated way, but really sort of what gives you energy. And for me, when I took that assessment, the two areas that I was strongest in which you probably won't be surprised is influencing others and then being a pioneer thinking differently. And so as I really started to sit with that, I was like, yes, the parts of my career, where I was launching something new, where I was like, let's look at this totally in a different way. I was really energized. And when I was in more mature businesses where I was running a business, it was less exciting for me. And I was looking for that fulfillment somewhere else. So that's a really good resource that I like to start people with is can you find your coordinates, your zone of genius?
Goly (21:02):
What gives you energy? That's a really good first place to start. The second for me has been conscious leadership. There's a book called the 15 commitments of conscious leadership. They have classes, they have various videos online. That's also been really good for me. I would say kind of the biggest aha. There is really building on this curiosity, right? How do you see all of the areas where you have choice? And I think a lot of times when I go back in my own career or where I'm talking to people who feel stuck, it's a lot, like my boss did this, this happened with the economy, my kids, my, and a lot of times when we are all stuck, we don't see the choice we have. And really, you know, sometimes when I say to someone, why did you, co-create this situation? They get really mad. They're like, what do you mean? Are you saying that this is my fault? And it's like, you know, now how is this situation for you? A friend of mine recently told me behind every disappointment is a better offer. And it's so interesting.
Harper (22:18):
I love that.
Goly (22:21):
Yeah. My friend told me about this and that's really deep. I have to think about that. I go back through my career and I go back through some of the places where I felt like I didn't have choice. And when I shifted, when I reframed, when I really focused on what I wanted to do, versus what I didn't want to do, all of a sudden, it's like, oh, I have all these other options that I couldn't see while I was in it.
Harper (22:50):
So now that you are working for yourself for a few years now, how does choice play a role when you are someone who gets to make all the choices
Goly (23:00):
Choice for me really looks like a daily practice. It's part of my curiosity practice. It's how many calls does it make sense to take during the summer when the kids are home? Does this person who I'm considering working with? Are we aligned? Are our values aligned? When I was in corporate America, it was about maximizing revenue. You needed every single sale all the time. And so there was no sort of check-in process. And in this entrepreneurship journey for me, what's been amazing is saying, does this make sense right now? Does this client make sense? Does this type of work make sense? Does this timing make sense? Do I have five clients this week? Or do I have 25 this week? And this choice becomes a constant companion in a way which feels really, really empowering. And I feel like it attracts other people and it allows them to see also where they have choice
Stephanie (24:04):
As you were talking. It made me think about how you are engaging and aligning with your clients now, right? So you have a business where you're taking on clients and helping them think through their next step in their career or their life journey, as well as you've been advising entrepreneurs, startups. Can you talk a little bit about what that processes look like for you?
Goly (24:33):
I came from such a business background, right? What does business growth look like? How do you optimize KPIs? How do you drive demand? How do you increase conversion? That sort of just in my space business growth is in my space. It's how I think how I look at things. What I've layered on is personal growth. And so how I work with clients is really what I would say is the intersection of that personal growth and business growth. A lot of times people are like, are you an executive coach? Are you a business coach? Are you a growth coach? You know, you can't separate these parts of me. And what's great is sometimes I'm working with a client on marketing strategy and how to optimize their website. And other times we're talking about limiting beliefs and imposter syndrome and what that looks like. And it's been really great to use these as a filter for me in working with people and also ensuring that I'm checking in with what my purpose is, is, is there opportunity and is there a desire for business growth and personal growth at the same time?
Harper (25:45):
I'm very similar in my business as a business coach, I think so many business coaches, growth coaches, position themselves, as I'm going to make you X amount of dollars and you are going to have this kind of outcome. And that is all super valuable, especially for an entrepreneur, but I'm so thrilled to hear. There are other people out there that are addressing people's personal, physical, mental health, because that is all tied into this and you can't move forward with certain aspects of your business and be a good coach, whatever the title is without being able to emotionally feel connected to whatever it is that you're doing and know that it's coming from a place that's really intentional. And I think so often it's so much more and more, more, and you are really proving that, yes, you can do that and make sure you have the right mindset. And you're coming from an intentional place.
Goly (26:44):
I love to hear that you're doing that too. What really was an important shift for me is really getting out of trying to be the hero that saves the day, even as an advisor or as a coach, it's kind of easy to see where the opportunity is. And there are times where I'm tempted to go into corporate mode and saying, just get this done, do it like this. It should look like this. And what's so interesting is that's not really fulfilling for me. It's also not so fun to receive on the other side, because my goal is for people to learn these tools, to learn a way of thinking to go and to bring them to their organization. So I can free up capacity to be of service to others as well. And so this idea of truly being a coach versus being a hero that needs to save someone is really, really helpful.
Goly (27:43):
Not only in my personal life <laugh>, but also, and work. It's really exhausting trying to save everyone, you know, although really good intentions in doing this. It also has a little bit of ego in it that is important to look at. And so really saying, what do you think I've really turned into someone who asks myself, friends. Those, I work with a lot of questions, right? What does this look like? How does this feel? What are you thinking? What do you think your blocks are? And a lot of times, you know, someone just wants the answer and you giving someone the answer versus them coming up with it feels really different to them. And, you know, has a very different business result as well.
Stephanie (28:32):
How do you define success? Whether in your partnerships or your personal life, or just for you in your career now,
Goly (28:42):
It's such a deep question and I think of it all the time. And I remember being in corporate asking someone who you were looking to hire, how do you define success and thinking, wow, like I've changed so much since I used to ask that question. And for me, I really think it goes back to my own growth. I don't go into a situation thinking that I'm a guru that I know more, that I'm somehow at some other level, I see us really all doing the work together. Co-creating prosperity. Co-creating growth, really working on this. When I go early on in my career, I see this as well is if I can be a mirror to truly reflect each person's strengths, their greatness, their opportunity, their potential also for their business, same thing. Yes. There are lots of things we can work on. There are lots of problems and yes, we should think about those, but what's blue sky.
Goly (29:44):
What does that look like to me, that reflection of that person or company's true potential is success for me when I keep polishing my own mirror. So I'm not a fun house mirror. I'm not a fitting room mirror. I'm really just this kind of reflection of someone else's light. It's just the best feeling in the world. I get excited about it. I say, wait, how did I have a whole day working? There's something really fulfilling to me about reflecting each person's light. And to me, that's success right now. And if I'm not doing that, I go and I say, is there some work for me to do here? Is there a place where I'm getting stuck? And so it's almost like I benefit equally from the work that I'm doing, then those I serve. So it's been really a cool redefinition of success for me.
Stephanie (30:45):
And how do you see that? Because you're working with executives at all different levels in their career, and also doing the advisory work with startups. What kind of shifts are you seeing as you're having these conversations, whether it's after they go on to their next chapter or after the startups get funding or the boards that you're working on, are you seeing shifts in this mindset?
Goly (31:12):
I am really seeing shifts. I'm seeing people check in with themselves, you know, is this what I'm looking for? Yes, I could get all of this funding. And then my life would look like this. I could pick slower growth and it could look like this. There isn't a formula anymore. And I'm seeing a lot of people question beliefs that they went into entrepreneurship with beliefs that they have in their corporate environment. Really second guessing these programs we have running like, oh, I never wanna get beyond a VP level because this, I never want to take funding because this, um, I work with a lot of BIPOC founders and I work with a lot of women and there's a lot of bias in the system. You know, women only get 4% of funding when you're going into a fundraising climate, especially in a down market trying to raise, we can't be beating ourselves up before we go in. So really kind of the shifts of what does aligned funding look like? What does aligned investment look like? Right. Really talking about, Hey, you actually have choice and showing them that has been really interesting. And I'm seeing shifts in people not just taking what they can get, but really ensuring that it makes sense for them where they are now and changing beliefs that might be holding them back or changing beliefs that might have them make decisions that they wouldn't otherwise.
Harper (32:52):
It's really clear that people are being more intentional with how they use their time personally and professionally. And I think the pandemic played a huge role in that of, we just don't know what tomorrow brings. So how do we wanna spend our days when you think about your own business, what does growth look like for you? Is it something that you focus on?
Goly (33:14):
It's so interesting. So it's sort of happened organically again is, you know, when I first launched, I said, okay, my capacity is this many a week. And as I started to get comfortable with those numbers, I'm thinking back every single client, I have came through someone else, imagine me a marketer by trading someone who knows all the things, not actually driving through websites and formulas and this and that. And so to me, kind of growth looks like checking in with myself, checking in with the people I work with. And the biggest growth for me actually happened with one of the founders who I was working with in Canada. Who's now become a very close friend as a Christmas gift. She gave her closest friends a session with me and I was blown away. I was like, what? And I went into like, you don't need to do that.
Goly (34:16):
And I, you know, and she was like, no, please just let me do this. And what's so amazing for me, one that she would do this two, that every single person she did this to became clients. And then they started to pay it forward in other ways. And no amount of marketing, no amount of, I don't have refer a friend. I don't have, like, there's just something about, I think the authenticity of the frequency that I'm working at right now that is spurring growth, but in a really different way than I've ever experienced. And there's something really fulfilling about it happening in this way.
Stephanie (34:56):
That's amazing.
Harper (34:57):
I love that so much. What an amazing gift
Stephanie (35:01):
Now I know it's gonna be on my holiday list for presents, for my dearest friends, Goly. Thanks for that idea. <laugh>
Harper (35:08):
<laugh>,
Goly (35:09):
She's like, do people do this? And I'm like, I don't know, it might be weird. What if they don't walk coaching? And she's like, no, they are women in business and they need you. And I was like, okay. And I received, that's actually something new that I'm learning to as well is to receive. I'm such a giver, you know, part of that hero complex. Cause we were talking about earlier, I will coach nonprofits. I will go into accelerators for women and volunteer my time, but it's really new to receive for me. And it's been a really amazing growth for me. It's hard to receive. It's not always easy to receive something like that. And so that's been great for me as well.
Harper (35:52):
I really relate to that. I'm so glad you brought that up. It's so hard to receive. I appreciate you acknowledging that
Stephanie (36:01):
This has been an amazing conversation and I can't help, but given everything we've discussed, wonder for you when you hear the phrase good enough for now, what does that evoke for you?
Goly (36:15):
Well, when I first heard that phrase, I was like, I say that all the time. <laugh> what comes to mind for me is what I'm doing right now. The choices I'm making are working right now. And that is perfect. Doesn't have to be any different. I don't need this title. I don't need this level of income right now. I'm happy with myself and the choices I'm making. Could you see me as a CMO in five, 10 years? Yes. I'm not saying I'm never doing that again, but for right now, this business, the work that I'm doing, my family it's really working and it's really good enough for now. And I think it allows us not to feel this perfectionism that we were questing for for all of these years. This works right now. It's a good decision and there's sort of a confidence and a strength in it where we're taking our space. A lot of times I was used to shrinking, like I now have this child or now I have to do this or I have to take care of this family obligation. And to me, when you say good enough for now, I feel like I'm taking my full space. I'm confident in my decisions. I feel really good about the choice and the options I have in the future. And I feel like I wanna tell other people that phrase as well, because it allows them to see where they have choice.
Harper (37:47):
Ugh. I love that. So, so much. Thank you so much, Goly. This was such a lovely chat. Can you tell our listeners where they can find you?
Goly (37:57):
Yes. So I have a website it's corecreateadvisors.com. I'm also on Instagram core, double underscore create and, um, looking forward to meeting anyone who might be aligned or who this might resonate with.
Harper (38:19):
Thank you.
Stephanie (38:20):
Well, all the things you say resonate with me, I can't thank you enough. I feel like I just got to have my own private goalie session, which I always look forward to. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you for joining us.
Goly (38:32):
Thank you so much.
