Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Marissa Boisvert, partner at Accountability Works®, located in Asheville, NC, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Accountability Works® is a professional planning and coaching company. We provide bold, compassionate accountability in service to your most important goals and bravest vision. As a female-founded and led company, we know how to deliver accountability that works.

Accountability is a tool that we’re all familiar with and understand that it helps us accomplish what we want in life. However, sometimes its reputation as a harsh consequence causes people to avoid it, and as a result, they don’t make the progress they desire.

To us, that’s silly and where we excel. If you don’t want to show up, it won’t work. Our signature 5-step process and the mindfulness-based program are designed in a way that excites you to not only show up but to take intentional, consistent action. Therefore, the procrastination stops, and desired progress happens.

Tell us about yourself

I am a Duke-certified Integrative Health Coach with a solid foundation in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. My diverse background in the arts, coaching, and online business led me to identify that there is a sweet spot between driving and allowing, where you are connected to what is most important to you and what you value most. This, in turn, allows you to know your next intention or step(s).

Prior to AW and meeting Ali Schiller, my business partner, and founder, my work was focused on helping people cultivate mindfulness. The problem I ran into was that while becoming more mindful and present is a desire of many, it is, at the same time, difficult to grasp and put into practice. When I started facilitating the AW process, I discovered that accountability is the unlikely tool that helps people become mindful and present in their lives. That’s when I knew I had found my match at Accountability Works, where process and presence meet.

Beyond staying true to the meaningful work of integrating mindfulness into the world, having the honor of helping people accomplish what’s most important to them keeps me going.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Since the service we provide is timeless, the commitment to creating solid systems and processes so that our company can live well beyond our tenure.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Learning how to embrace uncertainty and allowing it to be a part of the day-to-day. These days most of us are aware that even if we are employed, there really is no certainty. With that said, having a steady paycheck, benefits, and leadership does provide stability. As a business owner, stability comes from a deep trust in yourself and what you’re building. An ongoing course in personal development.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Ask for the Right Support. What do you really need help with? Are there skills you know you need to develop for your next level of growth? Is there too much on your plate? Are you becoming the bottleneck in your business? These are great questions to reflect on. From that clarity, give yourself permission to receive support.
  2. Take Time Off. You will feel like you can’t take time off until X. That is a mindset that will lead to burnout. When you’re planning, build in time to unplug. During peak levels of growth or business, take a short break. During slower times and as you put more support in place, challenge yourself to unplug for longer periods of time.
  3. Reflect and Plan More Frequently + Consistently. We carve out time to plan every year and block time every quarter. We also check in once a week to set the priorities for the week. We do that as business partners, and we also offer that as part of planning and coaching programs. This level of focus is important and also allows us to pivot when needed.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://accountabilityworks.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accountabilityworks/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountability-works/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

Feel inspired to start, run or grow your own subscription business? Check out subkit.com and learn how you can turn "one day" into day one.