Amy Chambers: Five Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Launched My Business or Startup

An Interview With Doug Noll

Expect it to be hard. Don’t expect that hard work to pay off overnight.

90% of small businesses fail, and many do it within the first year. I thought my experience was going to be easier. It hasn’t been. It doesn’t matter how many years of experience you have in your industry or what you did prior to starting your own shop. It is going to be difficult.

Taking the risk to start a company is a feat few are fully equipped for. Any business owner knows that the first few years in business are anything but glamorous. Building a successful business takes time, lessons learned, and most importantly, enormous growth as a business owner. What works and what doesn’t when one starts a new business? What are the valuable lessons learned from the “University of Adversity”? As part of this interview series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Amy Chambers.

Amy Chambers is a Mindset and Success Coach, Leadership Consultant, and two-time bestselling Author. Her first book, 7 V.I.R.T.U.E.S. of Exceptional Leaders launched in 2023. 6 H.A.B.I.T.S. of Powerful People launched in 2024. Before starting her own business at the end of 2021, Amy spent 21 years in financial services, last serving as Chief Operating Officer for SkyOne Federal Credit Union. She’s run 227 half-marathons, 12 full marathons, and is an avid skier.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My passion for transforming lives is what brought me here. Within that, feedback from others is what really inspired me to strike out on my own.

During my years as a senior leader, colleagues routinely told me that I had changed their entire way of thinking. Having so many people tell me that I transformed their mindset (and thus, their life) felt ridiculously good! Numerous individuals told me that I was born to speak, influence, and inspire others. Often, these colleagues urged me to “write a book” or “start a blog”. At some point, I got motivated to give people what they wanted! I decided to create a job for myself where sharing lifechanging ideas and influencing others from a mindset perspective were some my key responsibilities. I’ve since written two books and started a YouTube Channel that houses well over 100 videos all on topics of motivation, happiness, success, leadership, mindset, and building a great life for oneself.

Can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?

My story isn’t uncommon. The toughest thing I faced when I started my journey was finding the right clients. There were many people that I’d worked with over the years that I hoped (and expected) would eagerly sign up for my 1:1 coaching services. Many of them were the same individuals that had given me the powerful feedback that I just described. But, they didn’t. This was an early letdown.

I’ve since learned that many people SAY they want to change some aspect of their lives, but not nearly as many are willing to do the hard work to actually DO it. In some cases, I’ve watched these individuals struggle with the same frustrations and setbacks repeatedly but remain unwilling to work with a coach or consultant to change those things. That’s been difficult to watch. For a long time, I just couldn’t understand why they’d complain so loudly about the pain of their current situation, but not want to invest in the help required to change it.

I’ve since embraced a simple truth: we can’t want change for others more than they want it for themselves. Many people are willing to deal with dull, chronic pain (even for extended periods of time) because they’re simply too afraid or unwilling to do something different. I’ve learned that nearly a majority of people aren’t willing to endure some financial pain (and the mental, emotional, or physical pain of change), to curate the life they truly want. They’d rather wish for it than work for it. I’ve had to accept that these individuals are simply not in my target market.

Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

Interacting with my best clients (who are having great success) is how I’ve gotten through these challenges. I have a few clients that hired me shortly after I started my practice and their results are phenomenal. Some of these clients have been promoted, gotten major pay increases, or moved into more challenging roles that they love. Others have improved their marriages or solved their relationship problems. Still others have lost weight or gotten into better shape. Many have overcome fears they’ve had and tried a new sport or hobby. Still others have developed a much greater sense of self-awareness or overcome childhood traumas they didn’t realize they had.

These clients have not only been willing to embrace the tools I’ve provided them, but they’ve also done their homework. Here are some examples of things my coaching clients have done with me or for me:

• Read numerous books I’ve recommended. (Many have also read my two books!).
• Created vision and mission statements. Some have written out a list of daily affirmations.
• Identified their core values. Daily Affirmations.
• Overhauled their resumes and practiced interviewing skills.
• Changed their company’s compensation and incentive plans.
• Created vision statements and core values for their organization.
• Had tough conversations with their boss, spouse, family, or friends.
• Set annual, monthly, or weekly SMART goals that they want to achieve in many areas of their lives.
• Created daily or weekly lead measures to achieve those goals, and let me help hold them accountable.

The clients who have been willing to do these things have had the greatest success. For each person I’ve found who isn’t willing or able to do the work, there’s another person who is. Spending time with those people (who truly “get” it), and reviewing the progress they’ve had is how I stay motivated to continue on this path of helping others.

So, how are things going today? How did grit and resilience lead to your eventual success?

Things are going great! One of the biggest goals I set when I started this business was to write. When I left corporate America, I had the idea/concept for five different books in my head. My first two books became bestsellers and are both available for consumption around the world. I’m in the process of writing my third. I’ve had over 40 articles published in magazines such as Entrepreneur, Authority, and Yalla! It feels so good to finally scratch the itch of writing.

As for helping transform lives, I’ve acquired 18 clients during my first two years as a coach and consultant. Some of my satisfied clients have referred others to me. I’m in the process of developing a 13-week group class on the topics of happiness, mindset, choices, and success.

If anything, being rejected so many times has only toughened me. It’s allowed me to refine my processes and think harder and longer about what I need to change and do differently. Had all my proposals for work been immediately accepted, I wouldn’t have had to rethink my processes and practices, which has only made me stronger as a coach and consultant. For that, I am ever so grateful. These experiences have also kept me current on the same struggles and challenges my clients face. If I wasn’t overcoming adversity myself, I probably wouldn’t be equipped to advise others on how to handle it.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I made several mistakes when I was starting out. Perhaps my biggest “facepalm” moments are the sales calls I scheduled where I never made a sales pitch! When I first started out, I worked to reconnect with some senior leaders and chiefs at previous employers of mine. I was hopeful those calls might lead to an opportunity for me to either coach or consult at those organizations. However, instead of having the courage to directly ask for the business, I only told the leaders what I was doing and then waited for them to provide me an opportunity. It never came. Later, I kicked myself for not just asking for the business.

One humorous example of me not being more courageous happened in 2022. I reconnected with a woman named Sarah that I’d worked with nearly 20 years prior. We met in a management development program during our first year out of college and hadn’t seen each other since 2006. As we talked, I was blown away by how much overlap there was in our approaches to professional and personal pursuits. I was greatly impressed by her mindset, drive, and values. We scheduled a second call to continue our spirited dialogue. On that call, she literally said the following to me:

“I’ve been thinking to myself, “should I hire Amy as a coach?”.

I blew it. Instead of saying, “Of course! You absolutely should!”, my response was, “Well gosh, I’d love to work with you, but I don’t have any idea of what I’d help you with! You seem to have so much already figured out.”

Talk about stupidly! I basically turned down my ideal client. On a later call, I tried to backpedal by sharing that I greatly respected her, and simply didn’t know what (if anything) she was struggling with. (In hindsight, I should’ve asked). I shared with her that the best organizations and individuals I know all have coaches. (It’s true; they do). So, no matter what stage she was at in her business or personal development, it would be a great idea to have a strong mentor or coach. But, these statements fell flat. It was obvious I’d missed the moment. I’d erred on the side of humility- to a fault.

With each of these interactions, I’ve grown more confident in my abilities to help anyone. My call with Sarah occurred in early 2022, and I’ve since realized that my ideal clients do have many of the fundamentals figured out. That doesn’t mean they don’t need coaching, or they don’t need me. They’re not hiring me to help a bad life become better. Instead, they’re hiring me to help a great life become exceptional. I can absolutely help them achieve that, and now I’m more forceful about saying so.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

The level of personal attention and responsiveness I give each client is the biggest way I differentiate myself.

When I first started out, I hired a coach who essentially does the same thing I do. I never felt I had her full attention. She’d assign homework, and I’d turn it in, but never got the sense she read it. I can only recall one instance where she even responded to it. On numerous occasions, she’d tell me that she hadn’t gotten my emails and “something must be wrong” with her inbox.

On our calls, I’d often hear background noise. It often sounded like running water. I think she’d often do her dishes during our calls! On another occasion, when I expressed frustration that people often don’t do what they say they’ll do, my coach told me that I have an usually high expectation that people keep their commitments. She advised me to lower these expectations, so I don’t feel so disappointed. On still another occasion, she encouraged me to be unethical and dishonest in my dealings with one of my own clients.

My biggest regret is that I didn’t fire her sooner.

In hindsight, I’m almost glad I picked the wrong coach when I started out. She taught me so much of what not to do. Today, almost all my calls with clients take place on Zoom or in person. I avoid the phone because I want my clients to feel seen and heard, which is easier to achieve when we’re face to face. I take detailed notes on my clients’ situations during our calls, and often recap or debrief our calls after our meetings via email or text. I want us to both be clear on what the takeaways and action items are. When clients reach out to me in between our calls, I am sure to respond. I never want them to wonder if I got their message and read it.

Because I think it’s more powerful to hear this answer in the words of my clients (instead of my own), here’s three recent testimonials from clients:

“Amy’s encouraging words, no-nonsense support, and confidence-building has done wonders for me. I want to repeat: HER COACHING HAS HELPED ME SO MUCH! I feel so blessed to have connected with her. Every good coach engages in serious pushback and push-forward, and Amy is NO exception. Between our regularly scheduled calls, I love her emails. No wait, I LOVE HER EMAILS!”

“Calls with Amy are literally the BEST calls. I have not only been inspired since we started working together, but I have a sense of energy, excitement, and purpose now. I think that’s what I was struggling with before working with her. She’s really helped me get back in touch with the leader that I am innately am and validated my human way of executing it. To Amy: thank you, thank you.”

“Since working with Amy, I took on a brand-new career opportunity at exactly the pay I asked for. At that time, my husband told me that Amy was worth every penny I’d paid for her services and he (looking in from the outside) was impressed at how Amy can make an impact on an individual in a very short amount of time. Amy has helped me unlock my potential. I knew I had it, I just didn’t have the confidence. And this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see what the future holds as we continue to work together.”

I truly believe that this experience my clients have with me is unique.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in your industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Always remember your WHY. All small-business owners and entrepreneurs have tough days. When you’re experiencing those, it’s key to remember why you started and why the world needs you.

One specific way of doing this is to keep and frequently read any customer endorsements you have. I highly recommend asking satisfied customers for testimonials (like the ones I just shared), and keeping them in an accessible place where you can readily see and read them. Hearing what you do well (from someone other than your partner or mother who are obviously biased), can help jumpstart your mood in even the darkest of hours. These testimonials serve as a reminder for why you started and why you must keep going.

I’d also recommend that you set some boundaries around work. People who work around the clock and don’t build time for rest and recovery into their schedules always burn out (at some point). It can be tempting to work long hours when you’re trying to get your business off the ground, but I recommend taking at least one day a week where you don’t work (at all). Devoting time to the other aspect of your life (health, fitness, hobbies, loved ones) is imperative to balance the devotion you’ll surely have to your work.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?

My former boss is the first person to comes to mind.

After resigning from my last role and leaving the company, I thought I might not hear from my boss. Instead, he was extremely supportive and more than eager to help me. Only a few months into my new gig, I learned an employee from his organization wanted to work with me but wasn’t quite sure he could afford it. While this employee was reviewing his finances to see if it would work with his family’s budget, I shared his interest in working with me with my former boss. I just wanted to ensure there wasn’t any kind of conflict with me coaching this individual, even though I’d been the former COO of our company. My former boss not only supported the possible partnership but said that the organization would be open to footing the bill for my services. His words were, “This is someone we deem a top-performer. Why wouldn’t we want to invest in his development, especially with a coach who we know shares our values and is intimately familiar with our company’s culture?”

That’s exactly what happened. Many bosses wouldn’t have done this. Some might feel bitter or resentment that their direct report left. Others might not be creative or innovative enough to see there was an opportunity for a win/win. I’ll never forget how differently this boss of mine reacted to my news. Later, when I wrote my first book on leadership, I asked him to write the foreword for the book. He gladly did, and also bought 50 copies of the book to give away to his entire leadership team. To this day, we’re still good friends, and it’s a friendship I cherish.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

I’ve written two transformational books. My first book is entitled 7 V.I.R.T.U.E.S. of Exceptional Leaders: Becoming a Legendary Leader Who Transforms Teams. This 7-step framework will completely change how you view leadership. The principles in the book are the ones I used at the end of my career, and they led to an incredible amount of success and exactly the results I wanted. I guarantee its success.

My second book is entitled 6 H.A.B.I.T.S of Powerful People: Becoming a Happy Human Who Has It All, and it contains nearly everything I know about creating and maintaining joy, fulfillment, happiness, success, results, and what I call personal power. The principles inside both books, when used consistently and as a set, change everything. If you want to lead others better, pick up the first book. If you want to lead yourself better, pick up the second book.

What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first launched my business,” and why?

1 . Self-discipline is harder than you think. Plan and schedule your days so you can complete your work.

Owning your own business means you’re the boss. There’s no assignments to turn in and no deadlines to meet. No one is going to write a performance appraisal for you. And this often proves to be harder than we think.

I had to learn this unexpected lesson the hard way. It came as a surprise, because I’ve always been highly organized and structured. For the last decade of my professional career, everything I did was scheduled and calendared. I planned my days in advance, and even my team often knew where I’d be and what I’d be doing at any given time.

Things were different when I struck out on my own. Conference calls and meetings weren’t on a recurring cadence, and that caused big gaps on my calendar. At first, it was hard to get in a rhythm. I began noticing I wasn’t leveraging all my time. I was sleeping in a bit later than I’d ever done before. I was putting off workouts until the very end of the day. If I said I’d check email for ten minutes, it often became an hour. The same thing happened when I went to read just one news article. I started realizing I was allowed myself to become far more distracted throughout the day, because my day wasn’t full of all same hard stops that had previously existed.

I began setting a daily schedule for myself. The only way I was able to write two books in my first two years of business was by scheduling time to write and edit (and sticking to it). Now, at the start of each week, I write down the week’s most important priorities and set goals for myself. I determine exactly what actions I’ll need to take to achieve those goals. I schedule them on my calendar. And then, I stick to it. This takes willpower. But if you don’t do it, you’ll find yourself wasting far more time than you’d be able to if you worked for someone else.

Setting goals and KPI’s for yourself is a part of this process. What gets measured gets done. I wrote about this in both books.

It’s easy to lose motivation when you’re not graded against metrics on a scoreboard. So, I highly recommend you create your own. In addition to setting goals around how many hours I planned to write each week, I set goals around how many pages or words I wanted to write. I set goals around how many people I wanted to respond to and or how many prospective calls I wanted to make. When my books hit the market, I tracked sales, revenue, and income. On one of my social media platforms, I set some key performance indicators about my engagement rates, and began to watch those. On that platform, I have the most success. (What gets measured, gets done). Figuring out what metrics you’re going to watch is critical for success.

2) Pick the right clients and partners.

Not everyone is going to be a fit for your services and products. You’re also not going to be a fit for everyone.

One mistake I made in my first year as a business owner was taking on anyone (that would have me) as a client or a partner. In addition to firing my first coach and two vendors, I’ve parted ways with two clients. People who suck your energy or drain your time with nonsense shouldn’t be on your calendar. In the case of my clients, they resisted all my suggestions and were hesitant to take any of my advice.

At some point, I realized that neither of us were getting anything out of the relationship. It feels good to hold space on my calendar for only those people who are aligned in their thinking and really want to achieve great things together. Initially, and because I was just starting out, I was afraid to let go of the income. If someone was willing to pay me, I was willing to take their money. That isn’t the case anymore. Great businesses only work with great clients.

When it comes to vendors, I shop around a lot more than I used to. When I first started out, I hired the first coach, web designer, cover designer, and publishing team that I found. Some of those were mistakes. I’ve since decided to broaden my search process when I’m hunting for the right vendor. I do my homework and often ask for referrals. In other cases, I like to see examples of prior work. When vendors can’t produce that (or seem annoyed I’m asking), I know I’m not dealing with the right partner.

3) It can get lonely sometimes. Make sure you find ways to add human interaction into your days.

I didn’t know how “lonely” being an entprenuer could be. Before striking out on my own, I was always part of a big team. During much of my career, I was surrounded by (and interacted with) a few hundred others at my organization. That all changed when I became a private coach and consultant. It was just me. When you’re an employee of an organization, you’re constantly involved and engaged in conversations with others. When I struck out on my own, there were several hours a day that I wasn’t. Right away, I felt a twinge of loneliness. I didn’t have an endless reserve of people with whom I could share ideas.

I now make a point to schedule lunch with clients, prospective clients, or colleagues a couple times a week. I also have found great joy in sharing what I call “Transformation Tuesday” Videos with my network and engaging on a few social media platforms with likeminded people regularly. When I’m sharing videos and articles on leadership or mindset, it puts me into conversations with others about things that are important to me, and that helps me overcome these solitary feelings. If your job is primarily done solo, find ways to connect with other people regularly.

4) Building a network of others (who do what you do and have also been successful) is imperative.

When I first started out, I was a bit hesitant to meet other authors and coaches. To some degree, I saw them as competition. I’ve since had a complete mindset shift on that. I’ll share a few examples.

Last year, a friend of mine introduced me to another coach, Reggie. I couldn’t believe the overlap in our stories! Like me, Reggie gave up a stable corporate career to coach, consult, teach, and write. At the time I’d met him, we’d both published our first books. After our introductory lunch, I began following Reggie on social media and was shocked to notice the similarity in our messages. Since then, we’ve written the forewords for each other’s books! It’s been an honor and a joy to support Reggie that way. You never know where you’re going to find your next best friend or fellow teammate. So, say “Yes!” to opportunities and events where you might meet quality people.

For my third book, I’m looking to work with an publisher (instead of self-publishing). I recently went to an event called Pitch-O-Rama (which was put on by the San Franciso chapter of the WNBA (Women’s National Book Association), a group I also recently joined. I couldn’t believe the commodore and value I found in that event. There, I had the opportunity to meet numerous other authors who are facing the same challenges I am (and in some cases, overcoming those challenges). I also met a plethora of agents and publishers and learned so much about what they’re looking for.

Going to this event reminded me of how much power lies in groups. When we join teams and find others who have already done where we’re wanting to do, we become stronger together. Networking with others who are doing exactly what you’re doing (and doing it well) can only help you; not hinder you. I wish someone had encouraged me to start my professional network (in my new role) much sooner.

5) Expect it to be hard. Don’t expect that hard work to pay off overnight.

90% of small businesses fail, and many do it within the first year. I thought my experience was going to be easier. It hasn’t been. It doesn’t matter how many years of experience you have in your industry or what you did prior to starting your own shop. It is going to be difficult.

Recognize that most businesses don’t become instantly profitable overnight. Have the financial resources or reserves to manage through some tough months (or years) and don’t feel like a failure if you need to dip into those. If you’re willing to throw in the towel after one tough quarter, you’re not going to make it. You have to be willing to stay in it, for the long term. Believing in yourself and the value of what you really have to offer is imperative for you to weather some storms.

Can you share a few ideas or stories from your experience about how to successfully ride the emotional highs & lows of being a founder”?

Make a list of your small wins and victories- and refer to it often.

When you’re building a business, it’s so easy to focus on what you haven’t done or mastered yet. That rarely inspires us to do more. Instead, make a list of accomplishments and small successes- things you have already done. Whenever you’re feeling a bit down (or even overwhelmed by all that you have let to accomplish), glance at the list and breathe it in. Choose to feel proud of yourself. Remind yourself that you already are heading in the right direction, making progress, getting things done, and seeing results.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Helping as many people as possible find, read, and practice the two frameworks found in my two books!

I haven’t found a leadership model more effective than 7 V.I.R.T.U.E.S. of Exceptional Leaders. And, I know the secrets to personal fulfillment, joy, and success are contained in 6 H.A.B.I.T.S of Powerful People. I’m positive these concepts change lives, so helping them gain national and global recognition is the movement I believe would bring the most good to the world!

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Pick your poison!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/runcheeseball27/

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy-chambers-4335008/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@coachamychambers2001/videos

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoachAmyChambers/

Website: https://amymchambers.com/

Buy a Book: https://amymchambers.com/product-category/book/

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.