Ready to make more? What if letting go meant gaining freedom? In today’s episode, I’m talking with business coach Nata Salvatori about using mindful delegation in order to scale. Nata shares her priceless advice for delegating strategically, identifying revenue-driving tasks, and embodying leadership. 

On Quianna Marie Weekly, we’re chatting about business growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating wins of all sizes through the lens of a photographer at heart. Sprinkled throughout stories and interviews with past clients, photographers and other business owners this podcast is designed to help you step into your purpose and to truly create a life you’re proud of, a life worth photographing and sharing.

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Today’s episode is brought to you by The Green House, my resource garden for photographers! Let me help you AMPLIFY your heart online and in real life to turn bridesmaids into future brides through templates, workshops, and freebies!

Review The Show Notes:

What It Means To Do Less (3:37)

Prioritizing Rest And Delegation To Make More (6:13) 

Your First Task To Delegate (9:23)

The Cost Of Not Delegating (13:18)

Being Strategic When Hiring (18:11)

Auditing Your Business Before Delegating (21:57)

Playing The Long Game In Your Business (27:59) 

Identifying Your Revenue-Driving Tasks (33:20)

Working In Your Business Versus On Your Business (36:14)

The CEO Delegation Method (40:54)

Connect With Nata (43:16)

Key Tip From Nata (44:10)

Mentioned In This Episode:

The CEO Delegation Method: quiannamarie.com/ceo

The Green House Resource Garden: quiannamarie.com/shop

The Accidental CEO Podcast Episode 5 with Quianna Marie: accidentalceo.co/5-brand-authentically-subtle-strategies-for-brand-awareness-with-quianna-marie/

Connect with Nata:

Instagram: instagram.com/accidentalceo.co

Accidental CEO Collective Facebook Community: facebook.com/groups/accidentalceo.co

The Accidental CEO Podcast: accidentalceo.co/podcast

Website: accidentalceo.co

Connect with Quianna:

Website: quiannamarie.com

Instagram: instagram.com/quiannamarie

Review the Transcript:

Quianna: Are you ready to scale? We’ve come this far. Put the time in. Made investments in coaches, purchased online courses, got ourselves in the room, and yes, we’re hungry for more. You and I both know you are ready for more, more time, more freedom, more revenue, more stages to speak. On that next version of yourself is calling your name.

If you feel like you’re spinning your wheels out of time, burnt out, and not exactly sure how to grow your team. This episode was made for you today. I have the honor of welcoming the accidental CEO NATA Salvatore, the delegation Queen Nata is passionate about helping high performing entrepreneurs upgrade their business from feeling overwhelmed with too much responsibility to embodied leadership with clarity, trust, and ease.

If you’ve built a successful and profitable business, but feel tangled in the doing and wanna spend more of your valuable time growing and scaling, I’m thrilled to introduce you to my business Bestie nata. Nata and I have been following along with each other for years, and finally got to connect and meet in person at the Mic Check retreat.

Hosted by our podcast producer Hailey Gaffin with Gaffin Creative. The first time I met nata, I was mesmerized by her confidence, beauty, and get to the point conversations. I will always and forever respect a girl that can get to the point and have really meaningful conversations without the fluff. I admire her hustle and grace as she balances raising two sweet daughters, running six successful businesses.

Yes, I said six while coaching, podcasting, and speaking on industry leading stages. For this episode, NATA will be sharing insight for scaling and expanding through growing a team, making your first hire, shifting our mindsets to accept help and confidently outsource and delegate the tasks that we can release to make more time for the needle moving tasks.

Only we can do. For our life and business. If you’re ready to start delegating and growing your team, this is the chat for you from Clear Across the country in Florida to sunny Arizona. Please welcome nata. Welcome to Keana Marie Weekly, a podcast for creatives who love to celebrate wins bigger, small by dancing in the kitchen photographers who are excited to serve their clients and friends who are ready to chase.

Really, really big dreams. You can find all of the resources mentioned in this episode@kianamarie.com slash podcast. Join me as I share weekly motivation, chat about growing pains, finding genuine connections, and celebrating your wins through the lens of a photographer at heart. Come join me for a dance party.

Ready? Let’s go.

Alright. All right. Welcome to the party Nata! It is such an honor to have you here. How are you?

Nata: I’m doing great. I’m so excited to be recording with you. You were one of the first guests on my podcast, so I’m excited to have this conversation on your end now.

Quianna: Yes. Welcome, welcome. Oh my goodness. We are going to really knock out a ton of education, inspiration, and action items for listeners that are feeling a little bit overwhelmed.

What It Means To Do Less

And so I wanna kick off this party with the first question. What does it mean to you to actually do less? To make more?

Nata: Yeah, this is great. Uh, it’s really thinking about a mindset shift, right? So doing less is not slacking, is choosing a few moves that only that CEO can do, and letting go of things like small systems and running people, the small minutiae of the day-to-day work.

Letting all of it go. You know, your job is not to do the work, it’s to design the results so people can follow that, can take that and run with it. So doing less a lot of times is, you know, associated with laziness. Like you don’t wanna be working on your business, and that’s not it at all. It’s about being a leader.

That’s what a leader really does. You know, you stopping that product for your business and you start being the owner of your business. You eliminate, you automate, you delegate everything that is not Strategy is not sales, it’s not an asset creation. And when you work on that 10 k task, you, you know, your offer design, your key relationships, the things that really create.

Your business that evolve, your business, your revenue is gonna rise and your hours should be dropping, right? So I take my clients to this like three P framework to help them understand really what that means is and is prioritize the process and the people. So look at what your priorities look like first.

What is it that you will not be doing? What is it that, not importantly just what you are going to be delegating, but what you are not gonna be delegating, right? So separating those two things. The P for process, you know, what are the templates, the checklists, the strategies that you need for that quality to be repeatable in the future?

And then the people you know, who are the right person in right seat. Is there some clarity on, you know, delegating a task? So. You don’t wanna do more things. You wanna do the right things longer.

Quianna: Yes. I love this so much and thank you for sharing those three Ps. I feel like that’s already gonna be encouraging and a good little framework for us to get started with all of this delegation.

And I really wanna dig deeper into this mindset because this is something I wanna have this conversation about that. Oh my goodness. I don’t know what it is. Anytime somebody calls me lazy or I take a pause to rest, it is rage bait for me. Like it is infuriating when people call me lazy, and when I say me, I’m speaking for all of the hardworking entrepreneurs, creatives, and business owners.

And just like you mentioned, hustling, running six to seven businesses, right? I mean, these are the type of people I surround myself with. So anytime someone calls me lazy. Or I have the notion of pulling back to slow down. It can feel so scary, and I just would love to dig deeper into this mindset shift.

So how can we actually look at prioritizing rest and prioritizing delegation to actually make more money? Like let’s break down this mindset shift so people feel actually excited to let things go and not so afraid.

Nata: There’s definitely a few things that come to mind because I gather this data not only from myself as you know, I speak, speak from experience, but also from taking clients through this process of like letting go of things.

There’s a few things that stick out when it comes to mindset. Number one is this thought that like, I don’t wanna lose control, right of my company, of my, this business that I spend so much time creating. And there’s a really good quote from Elizabeth Gilbert that I love that it says you don’t want to surrender because you’re afraid of lose control, but you never had control.

All your had was anxiety.

Quianna: Oh my goodness. That just gave me the chills.

Nata: I know. And that’s an amazing quote that I know a lot of us can resonate with and and why I kind of brought that into the forefront of what I speak about is because I know that we all have this fear and we think we have this control.

And we really don’t like, we’re wasting our time and energy trying to hold on to everything when we should be making smart decisions on how to make the shift. So I think the first thing is understanding what are your limiting beliefs? What are the barriers that are keeping you from delegating? Which is why I made that, you know, I created a whole course that has a first module that is about mindset.

’cause I can give you all the strategies that you want, but if I don’t spend the time talking you through the shifts that need to happen from a mindset standpoint, it’s very likely that this delegation journey is gonna fail. And you are gonna get frustrated and you’re gonna get discouraged and things are just not gonna go well.

That’s one big one of them is understanding that you’re not losing control. You are regaining control of your time and your energy and your position as a leader. And then the other big one is, you know, the, oh, nobody can do it as well as I can. Absolutely a lie. I’m sorry. That is just a lie that we tell ourselves.

I have said that out loud to my coach, so I get it guys. Is, you know, we, we truly think that, but the reality is that it’s probably. A good amount of people out there, they can do it just as well as you. If not even if 80% or 90% as well as you do, that’s all you need. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It has to be done well with thought, with vision in mind.

So we need to understand what is really a priority. And you know, a lot of the people that I work with, we got to this point where like I work more, I make more money, I work more, I make more money. The hours are gonna be capped. There’s only so much you can do. So what is it that’s gonna take you to the next level and help you continue to make money if there’s only 24 hours in a day?

And that is exactly what we’re talking about, is learning how to be a CEO and how to delegate properly to make sure that you can have peace of mind and continue to grow your business.

Quianna: Yes. Yes. Okay. This is incredible and I am here for this conversation, so let’s take some action. What’s the very first task or role you recommend business owners delegate?

Even if they feel like we’re not ready or we can’t afford a full-time team yet. So like what would you suggest? Is that first hire or that first delegation thing?

Nata: Yeah, I think there’s a couple ways to look at this. First, you can, it’s very easy for us to let go of things that we know we don’t have the skill for, right?

So if you are a photographer. Accounting needs to happen. Taxes, you know, bookkeeping, we should be, it should be very clear that unless you’re one of those people that have that skill, that’s something you should be delegating. That’s something that you easily should hire a professional to do. So it’s easier for us to come into terms with things like that, that we like, don’t have the skill to delegate.

So you can start there. You can start with something like you just know if you’re more comfortable, like, I actually cannot do a good job on this, so let me pass this on. Then start looking at things that are repetitive in your business. They’re small and repetitive that you can kind of replicate by passing that on to somebody else.

So what I mean by that is maybe you look at your week and you realize that you’re spending 10 hours a week doing. Some admin tasks. Maybe it’s your client onboarding, maybe it’s answering, you know, to emails, your ease, your inbox management, and then grab one of those and record a two to three minute loom video.

Like record yourself doing it, talk through that task, and then do a little trial. We’re not telling you to go on and hire somebody full-time as an employee in your business. That is not what I’m talking about. Talking about taking small planned steps to help you feel comfortable and confident about delegating.

So record that little video. You know, make that training and then go on, you know, and get a contractor off a website and try to do a trial of like, I’ll pay you for four hours for you to complete this task this week, and see how that goes. You know, have a feel for it. Have them refine the instructions, you know, do a feedback section to see how that feels.

So you can start with something small like that, that you don’t feel like would have a huge effect in your day-to-day if it wasn’t done exactly the way you want it. And then gain confidence from there and start thinking about bigger things to delegate.

Quianna: Yes. This is so helpful and I love how you really broke down the obvious stuff, which I feel like isn’t always obvious.

Sometime it is difficult, but the obvious things that aren’t in our wheelhouse, things that don’t come natural to us, things that we, and I do air quote, like hate doing, right. Things that I, from the bottom of my heart, I can honestly say, oh no, there are people out there that are better at this than me, and I need to have some understanding of what it is that they’re doing.

But at the end of the day, that’s their wheelhouse. Like that is their lane, and I am willing to invest in that. And then I love how you mentioned the repetitive tasks, because even for myself. There are so many things in my business that I love to do, and it’s not that I have to have my hands in it all, it’s just that I actually enjoy it.

But those may not be the actual revenue driving tasks. Those are things that are on repeat that I am logging. And I’m trying to get better about actually logging these tasks, but just keeping track, you’re right, like these could be five to 10 hours of work weekly that I’m doing that I can easily pass off.

So thank you for really defining the difference between things that maybe aren’t on your, like on your list of things that you’re really good at or things that are just repetitive. So that’s a great place to start. Okay, so there’s this fear that delegation costs too much, or it’ll make time. It’ll take too much time to train someone, and just doing it yourself may just be the quickest, best option for right now.

But I wanna ask you, NATA, what’s the cost of not delegating?

Nata: I love this question. I love when people tell me it costs too much to delegate. Yes, yes. ’cause yes, it’s a, it’s a myth that I love debunking because I can show you numbers and we can talk through it, and it’s so simple. When you actually look at it, you’re like, oh my gosh, why am I not doing this?

I’ll start with this sentence like, if you are waiting for wealth before you start delegating, you have it backwards. Like that’s not how this happens. You have to free up your time and resources and energy to go get that money yourself. Instead of wasting your time in the level tasks. So there’s this concept called opportunity cost, and that talks about the amount of money that you are missing by not putting your time and effort and focus on those high level tasks, right?

So. Let’s say that you were a really good business owner and at some point you did the whole calculation of your cost of doing business, and you actually understand that your rate, your like Ana’s rate of doing work for a client is $200 an hour, right? So that’s your rate. And then you realize when you do that task audit that you’re actually spending 10 hours a week on admin tasks.

So that’s $2,000 a week walking away out the door from your business. And if you add that up over a year, that’s six figures. That’s over a hundred thousand dollars that you are costing your business by sitting down and completing those tasks. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want that employee in my business and that a lot of times it’s us, right?

It’s you and me and everybody else that refuses to delegate. So that, yeah, that hidden p and l is really like not taking the time to hire the va. That might cost you 15 to 25. Dollars an hour, right? So now you’re reducing your cost significantly and you’re really allowing your time to be shifted to the revenue generating tasks.

You, you know, you’re not that tired, CEO, you’re not making sloppy decisions. You’re not having to rework the, you know, the things that happen in your business because you are so spread out thin. So there’s hidden costs behind the actual money. There’s that fatigue, there’s the resentment, there is the burnout.

You know all those things. And then there’s stagnation of your business. Nothing is growing because you were spending all of your time. Doing those low level admin tasks. So let’s start thinking about delegation. Like an investment is a strategy for growth and is an investment in your business. Would a two to four week payback time, you know, that’s gonna be helping you build those SOPs, you know, and and run things more efficiently.

So there’s a definitely a mindset shift that needs to happen. Which again, that’s why that’s so important.

Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh. Like I am literally being mind blown right now because I do believe. There is this fear, and I’m living in this fear. I will be transparent and vulnerable to share that. It does scare me about the cost of investing in admin support, in assistance in VAs.

I mean, even at this point, like I’m ready for a OBM, like an online business manager. Like, please, someone just tell me what to do. Like I, I would love to invest in that, but it is really scary. But the way you laid that out and crunched those numbers. What’s insane to me is having that mindset shift, that it’s not actually an output of money that you are like air quoting, investing in, or wasting it’s money that’s already in your business that you’re losing.

Like that just gives me the chills and makes me wanna fight for delegation and really start taking these steps and learning more from you about what are those next steps because. I don’t want to be stuck doing these $200 an hour tasks when I could graciously pass those off to 20, $25 an hour tasks to someone who would be so blessed to have that income and to have those jobs like so amazing.

Nata: Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, I said that myself too at some point. So, and again, we’ve all been there and it’s a very, very common concern that I just, I feel like people just need a little bit of a shift in perspective to realize that. Oh yeah, I can do this. Like this makes sense for my business.

Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh.

So one thing, let’s say that we’re on board. Okay? So I love a good little timeline, a good little story as we are learning and taking action with this process. So let’s say we’re on board, okay? We have listed out the things that we want to delegate. We’re proud of the position we’re in, that we can potentially invest in project-based jobs, right?

Building Culture and Trust With Your Team

Like just kind of like getting our toes wet and actually delegating. So one fear that I feel like a lot of us have is. Losing control of that personal touch. So what is your advice for delegating and growing a team, but still building that culture and building just that love and passion that you have for your business?

So that doesn’t get lost. Do you have any advice on that?

Nata: Yeah, I mean that’s, that’s a couple things that go into that. And again, that’s, that’s a very common concern and valid, very valid one. So let’s just first acknowledge that it is a valid concern. We’re not dismissing that. I think there’s a combination of the person you hire and how you train them, right in the system that you build around to support.

I’ve heard from many people before, like, oh, I’ve tried delegating and it failed. They’re like, it did not go well, so it doesn’t work for me. Most likely there was some kind of a breakdown on the process, or there wasn’t even a process, there wasn’t communication, there wasn’t a system, right? So I think it’s important to first understand the what to delegate and the how to delegate, right?

So what is it gonna look like? What tasks can be delegated? What, which ones should we not delegate to maintain that like integrity and personal contact and excellence. Which ones should be delegated to, to free up your time and your opportunity to create more business. And then how to delegate. What is that gonna look like?

Am I, you know, how is that person gonna understand the final vision or that vision completion is what I call it of that task. So having the process in place for that and then making sure that you hire the right person. And that is also hard. Like it’s not easy to do that. So understanding what kind of person do I need to hire?

What kind of skills do they need to have? I think a lot of the mistakes that we’ve made in the beginning trying to hire the the person to help us out is trying to find that unicorn, that person that does everything or claims to do everything. Guess what? You’re just trying to hire another one of you.

How’s that going? Right? You’re the one drowning right now trying to do everything. So why would you add somebody else trying to do everything in your business? That is just not a good strategy. So let’s be very specific on what kind of skills this person needs to have, what kind of experience, and then be laser focused on those tasks that that person’s gonna be taking off your plate.

So once you really establish that and you have a good, like, you know, structure on what kind of the voice and standards that you want in your brand and the delegation levels, is it a task? Is it a responsibility? Is it an outcome? Like there’s different things that you’re gonna delegate. Then you build a good system around that feedback loop and, and what are things gonna look like?

That sets you up for success way more often than just trying to throw tasks out there and get stuff off your plate.

Quianna: Yes. Oh, this is so helpful. ’cause I, I truly believe one of the biggest limiting beliefs that I’ve had is a fear of bringing someone on into my business, whether it’s admin support or like special projects or even just seasonal work.

Right when things get crazy, I think one of my biggest fears has been, oh my gosh, that means they’re gonna like open the hood of my business and just look at what of a hot mess it is that I’m running the show. And then, and then taking the time to train them and have them like get into the all the details in my head and like, how do I explain this right?

Where I also believe. And I’ve seen it done, um, with other business owners that I follow and that I am close with. Like I’ve seen them bring on help and admin support. They bring on hires that they come in and they clean house, like they actually teach you processes and help with those SOPs and help build systems and just ways of doing things that run smoother so you can remain in your zone of genius.

I just wanna chat about that a little bit because I do feel like those are two very distinct buckets where we think we have to bring on somebody and teach them everything and really like push pause on our business to teach them. Versus having an investment in a hire that actually helps move the needle.

So could we chat about that and like what advice you have for different opportunities or maybe different times in your business to choose one or the other? Or like how does that work? I don’t know. This is just in my head. I wanna chat about this.

Nata: I think it’s really, it starts from understanding what you need help with, right?

If you don’t take the time to really understand that, then you, there’s very likely gonna make the wrong decision and the wrong hire and get frustrated. So the quote is, make the video before you hire the person. In that video, what I mean is like create those trainings. That training library for yourself is start recording yourself before you even think about going out there and hiring somebody.

I use Loom very often. We talked about it already, and I have it in my course. You know, start recording yourself completing tasks that you find yourself doing often and talk through it. And the issue that you mentioned is like, we are some very often trying to read the labor from the inside of the bottle.

Like you can see the pitfalls of how you set up this business because you’re just so into it. Like it’s, you’re in it, you’re, it’s so part of you that you can’t see. It’s not that you’re resistant to change. Sometimes you don’t even know that things need to change, right? You are willing to make the change, but you’re just like, you can’t even see it.

I mean, I had that happen to me a few weeks ago. I, as part of a mastermind group, and we were talking and you know, I found out my messaging wasn’t quite hitting the person that I wanted to. I was, I made a change in like seconds. I was willing to make the change. I just didn’t even know the problem was there until somebody else pointed it out to me.

So sometimes we just need somebody to come in that has that expertise and take a look at it, because there are things that, you know, I talk about these four things for classes of tasks. There are things that you need to keep. Those are your zone of genius tasks, right? The things that you only will do.

There are things that you should automate. They don’t need a human, they just need, you know, something that can be out there reproducing that same kind of answer. Uh, those are things that are connected to your CRMs, right? Your, your automated email responses and things like that. Then there are things that need to be delegated, which are the ones that need a brain.

They just don’t need your brain, right? That’s an important distinction. They need a brain. They just don’t need your brain. And then there are things that you should eliminate. Like when was the last time you actually took the time to go through everything that you have set up and got rid of processes and procedures that you actually don’t need to be following anymore?

Maybe you set up something right on the beginning of your business and now we’re like two, three years down the road. You have changed the way you do things. Maybe you don’t even offer that, you know, service anymore and that thing is still there, you know, keeping some valuable seconds or minutes off your day and off your week because you just haven’t had a time to clean up.

I think it’s important to do a self-assessment of your business first and have a good understanding where having somebody else help you with that comes in, right? Because that’s where your blind spots are. Have some good understanding of what needs to be delegated, eliminated, automated, you know, all of that.

And then go take that step to make the hire, because then you’re gonna have a better understanding of what kind of person am I looking for? Am I looking for a purely admin task person? Am I looking for a, you know, OBM, somebody who has a higher level thinking kind of cap on that is helping me with strategy and growth.

Do I need a fractional CFO? Do I need a fractional CEO? Like there’s all kinds of assistant levels that you might need, but if you don’t understand your business first, you’ll not know who to hire.

Quianna: I love this so much and it literally reminds me, ’cause I’m such a visual person, it’s literally creating the roadmap for your business, right?

So I go through this whole strategy with branding shoots where I love to really dive deep into the business. I love to celebrate where you’ve been, right? Honor the experiences that you’ve had. I’d love to really capture where you are now, and then also forecast what’s next, right? So like we are literally documenting all of this in a photo shoot.

And so I love comparing that to making a roadmap for your business. Because if you don’t know where you’re going, if you don’t have an address or a game plan or a destination. Then you’re literally just spinning your wheels and just taking directions from everybody else and getting lost and confused.

So having a game plan and a roadmap for your business, that’s when you can bring in. The people that are actually gonna help you get there. So that is just so powerful.

Nata: Or even sometimes just looking from the standpoint of, you know, sometimes we know where we’re going or where we want to go, but you don’t know where you at.

You need that first address spot before you, you know, when you put a destination in there, it needs two points of reference. So if you don’t know where you’re at, if you don’t know the current state of your business, you don’t know where you need to get, where you need to, where you wanna go, right?

Quianna: I love that so much.

Yes. Oh, I love that. Okay, so I wanna chat about. Deciphering the difference between urgent tasks and tasks that are gonna help with like the long haul. Because I think sometimes, and this may go back into delegation some more, where you’re like, okay, these are like repetitive things that need to get done.

These are big goals that I’m working on, whether that’s extending into education for your business or I know a lot of listeners. That are in my circle. They are successful service-based business owners, and now they are launching podcasts. They’re getting on stage speaking, they’re creating new avenues of revenue with their education and different types of offers.

All the things, like all of this stuff is swirling around for growth and expansion. So I would love to chat with you Nata, about really understanding the difference between. What’s urgent? What needs to get done versus what are we doing with some like slow growth business moves, like the difference between like the fire and smoke playing checkers versus playing chess, like playing the long game in your business.

Can we chat more about that?

Nata: So I think you can, you can look at it a few different ways. So let’s put our CEO filter on, and the things that you’re gonna look at is like IOI, right? What is your return of investment for something for you to, to decide to pay attention to something? And a good question to ask yourself is, will this matter in 90 days?

Like, is this something that creates energy or drains energy for me? Am I the only one who can do this? So those are three good questions to kind of ask yourself. And then what is that scalability of this? Is this something that I can count on to to help me continue to grow my business, or this is just a checkbox that I need to get done today to move on with my life?

Then once that you set up your delegation system that everything is running and you have some extra time, what do you do with that? Obviously, rest, you know, is something that you have to think about. It’s part of a growth strategy. You know, rested founders see around the corners. You have the ability to see further when you’re rested, so you can even schedule rest that can be put on your calendar, like you don’t have to earn rest.

It’s part of your strategy. And then so understanding that and then taking a look at some professional and personal development things. I think that’s very important that we, it’s the first thing that we kind of, you know, we don’t have time. It falls off our radar, but when was the last time that you created time to intentionally network with people in person?

Or even if it’s online, but like, were you not so burned out and tired that you barely show up and you’re like, you’re out in 30 minutes because you just can’t hang right now. ’cause you just spend all day answering emails and sending links to, you know, zoom meetings and all that. So spend, when was the last time you spend the time really developing relationships that would, that would turn into more clients, into more business?

Collaborations, partnerships, all of that are higher level activities that you should be focusing on as a CEO that kind of get, you know, passed on when you are so busy doing everything. So I think understanding priorities from like, what is it that your business is wants to focus on? Is it that growth that.

Bringing in the money and building your rest inside of it. And what is taking you away

Quianna: from that? I love this so much. ’cause that is something that I think we all actually need to pause. We have to pause to think to make this game plan. And I love, I love that you mentioned the 90 day checkpoint, right?

Where does this really matter? Is this putting the reps in for that growth or are we just spinning our wheels and chasing trends and trying to show up? Show up, show up. But how was it really showing up? How was it really moving the needle and actually gaining traction for that growth?

Nata: Absolutely. It’s definitely, you know, one of the things that I started doing once I started delegating and created a team to support me is I started blocking Thursday mornings.

Those are my learning days because when was the last time again that you took time to learn? Mm-hmm. And get better at that one thing that you love doing. You know, when was the last time you got some training under your belt for that? So I start creating a list of things for me to do on that Thursday morning that are all learning related activities.

Maybe there’s a podcast episode that somebody recommended. Maybe there is some training that you wanna watch. Maybe you purchase a course and you haven’t had the time to go through it. How many of us do that? You know? So all of that started falling under that, you know, learning, you know, half a day for me, and I could not block that time before I had.

You know, help and I wasn’t the only one doing everything. So

Quianna: yes, I love this. Okay, so in addition to your learning Thursdays, I love that so much. I think I need to start implementing that too. Especially dedicating the time so you’re not just scrambling and trying to kind of fill the cracks or fill time with education.

Having an intentional morning even, I mean, it doesn’t have to be all day. It could literally just be two hours or 45 minutes in the morning, whatever. I love that. So what advice do you have for taking that bird’s eye view of your business and really identifying those revenue driving tasks? Because here’s the thing, this is where I think I get future tripping on things and thinking about investing in hiring and growing a team.

In the back of my head, I think, okay, cool. If I hire admin support or if I hire specific. Projects or help with things, then does that mean I just get to take a nap and does that mean I get to just kind of veg a little bit? Like right, we, we do get, that does free up some of our time, but how are we being really efficient?

So in my head, we’re not just tackling these $200 an hour tasks plus these 20, 25, $50 an hour tasks, but then we’re like doubling up on that time. Like we are literally multiplying our efforts. What in your opinion, can we look for for those actual revenue driving tasks?

Nata: Yeah, that’s a great question. So I wanna keep it very simple.

Think about this concept of cash proximity, right? So what that mean is. The first step is to protect money, right? So what is it that keeps the money that we already have earned in, you know, and the clients that we already have. So a lot of people try to go get new clients and new things, and they forget to, to take good care of the people.

They’re already clients, you know, is the looking at the delivery quality, looking at checking in with your clients, fixing anything that is kind of wobbly in your sys in your system, you know? Those little, like sending invoices, collecting little late payments and things like that. So really taking care of and looking at the things that are already in your system.

You know, are you making sure the people giving you money in your system are well taken care of, no churn, no leaks, kind of thing. Uh, step two is progress. What is it that will move those near money across the line today? Like maybe they’re like this close to signing with you for whatever service you offer.

What is it that’s gonna make that next step happen? You know, think proposals. Am I sending the proposals and I’m not taking sitting too long on, on an inquiry, uh, you know, tightening that scope, following up with a hot lead. What is that? Who is one little conversation away from saying a yes to you? Right?

So invest in your time into those people. And then step three is plant. Where is tomorrow’s revenue coming from? You know, planting those seeds. So one partner, you know, reaching out to somebody or collecting a testimonial that’s gonna help you increase your, your credibility, create a piece of authority content that you’re gonna share with potential clients.

Building your list, you know those activities that are gonna help you in the future. So spend a good amount of chunk of time on those first two, and don’t forget to spend some time on that last one because you always need to be looking forward. And I think sometimes we get lost by looking forward all the time, and we forget to pay attention to the things that are close to us.

Quianna: This is so helpful, and you’re absolutely right. We all need this reminder to love, support, and nurture our current clients because at the end of the day, not only are you going to over deliver those experiences, but they literally will become your biggest and best salespeople to share their experience with you and share with their friends.

And I love that so much. It’s so true. And then taking the time to actually forecast, make some plans, plant some seeds. You know, I love my plants. And just really focusing on what’s ahead I feel. So for me personally in this stage in my business, I feel this pull in, this draw in very distinct different directions where one, my nervous system knows that when I am photographing someone.

That’s when I’m making money. When my camera is in my hands, I am making money. There’s an exchange of energy and it happens when I am working a photo shoot, where as I am continuing to grow and expand with my podcast, with education, with speaking events, with building out my BH b-roll course and all of these really fun offers inside the greenhouse, which, which is my shop, my digital shop.

A lot of that can be really terrifying because. That isn’t generating the type of income that I have been accustomed to with my photography right yet. Yes, yes. I love you. It’s like a.dot.capital YET. Yes. I love that so much. And so that’s where I think I feel pulled in so many directions is because I, I wanna put the time into my shop and I know I have so much to offer.

And you know, I really just wanna help as many people as I can with my experiences and with my education, all that good stuff. And then I get tripped up because I’m like, well, hold on. This is where success is. And as I’m saying this out loud, my angels are speaking to me. My thoughts are downloading because I was once in this position.

Being a preschool teacher before I went full-time in weddings. Right? Yeah. So this is something I had done before and I’m sure those that are listening can absolutely relate that you hit this plateau, you climb the ladder, you’re trying something new. So. Even though these tasks may be new to you, the transformation, the growth is not new sister.

Like this is stuff you’ve done before. So yeah, I just wanted to kind of unpack that with you as well. And, and if you have any examples of that as well, where, right, like we get caught up in the, I’m doing this because it’s working and there’s this inkling, there’s this pull on your heart that you know you’re meant for more or you’re meant for that next step.

And by delegating and investing in your business. All those opportunities are there for the taking. So I just wanna chat about that some more. ’cause that is just, that’s definitely a vulnerable share that I’ve been pulled in all these different directions. And can you relate to that too?

Nata: Oh, absolutely.

That’s the life of an entrepreneur and somebody who wants to always be growing. You know, we are never satisfied with what we are. And that’s not a bad thing. That’s okay. That, that’s just you being, you know, you wanted to continue to grow. You wanna be, you’re ambitious and that’s completely fine. Where you’re trying to allude to is that fight between working in your business and working on your business.

It’s really easy to just work in your business. ’cause like you said, that’s where you see the money coming in and you’re like, I’m doing the thing that’s my zone of genius. This is what I like to do. But if you really don’t take the time and protect time to work on your business to ideate, to put that CEO head on, it’s gonna be stagnant.

It’ll be a plateau of growth that’s gonna happen there. It’s investment in the future. It’s, you’re not gonna see it right now, but you see it and you feel it in your heart and your gut that that’s where you wanna go. And if you don’t take the time to listen to that, it’s gonna continue being around and it’s gonna distract you.

But you also have to be careful not to go all the way into the other direction and be so. Distant from the day-to-day things that bring money, that you dropped the ball there and now you potentially don’t have this money that would gonna help you fund this next step of growing your business. Again, reserving that time and being very aware of the current state of your business so you can actually dedicate some time to working in your business and working on your business is really makes a difference.

You have to be, have both of them in mind and make sure that, I wouldn’t say balance ’cause I think it balance is such an overrated and overused word. But like, go with the, you know, have a back and forth. You know, maybe this week is the week that things are a little bit slower on the photography side, and you can dedicate a little bit more time on the growth of what’s coming.

But maybe next week is full of sessions. And girl, you’re gonna be busy and that camera’s gonna be in your hand 70% of the time. And so that’s okay to go back and forth as long as you don’t completely forget to address both of them.

Quianna: I love this so much. Thank you for sharing that advice and mostly encouragement to know that yes, it’s possible.

It’s coming, it’s on its way, and we just have to be really smart about how we are using our time. So one thing that I’m so grateful for you and our friendship is that you really are the delegation queen. And you have this course that is ready to share and I just wanna shout it from the rooftops. So can you please share more about the CEO delegation method?

Nata: Yes, I’m super excited to have that out there for people now. So basically, this is my, you know, baby of going through this myself, but then helping several of my clients understand this process. So I put together this method package all in a framework for you to help you understand what are the mindset shifts that need to happen for you to feel comfortable and confident delegating, you know, what is it that you need to delegate.

So understanding the what? Understanding the how, understanding how to hire and vet the right person, understanding how to set up the systems to support that, and then how to continue to measure that and improve what you delegate. All the way from A to Z, everything that we talked about here and everything that has to do with, you know, being able to delegate to grow your business and using that as a sustainable strategy for growth is what’s in the course.

And I’m so excited about that. It also comes with a one-on-one session with me, which is a little bonus gift that I put in there for you guys, uh, for us to really sit down together and help implement, um, the strategies into your business. Because every business is a little bit different and unique. So making sure that we.

I’ll tie that bow on top for you.

Quianna: Amazing. What a generous offer. Holy smokes, that’s incredible. Nata, thank you so much. I cannot wait to learn more about it and help promote it for you, and I’m just so proud of you for recognizing that. This is something that business owners need no matter what stage of business they’re in, right?

So whether they are just getting started as a side hustle and they’d like to outsource cooking for their family, or outsource shopping or laundry, right? Like starting with things that are maybe personal things that they can delegate to allow more time for their business growth. All the way to the complete opposite gamut of someone who’s been in business for decades and just wants to clean up, shop, tighten things, and really scale.

I feel like this course is perfect for any match.

Nata: Absolutely. You got it?

Quianna: Yes. Oh my gosh. So how can we connect with you not to, how can we find you online? How can we be BFFs with you and just continue? Learning from you.

Nata: Yeah. There’s two places that I would recommend. First one is on instagram@accidentalceo.co.

I am always there. I’m the one who answers my DM still to keep that conversation very personal. And then I also have a free community on Facebook called The Accidental CEO Collective. I would love for you to join us. I share a lot of information in there, and strategies actually go live once a week now.

Uh, to share all kinds of great things. So love to see you guys, uh, there. Amazing.

Quianna: And how can we learn more about your podcast too?

Nata: Oh, yes. You can just look up accidental, CEO on anywhere that you listen to podcasts, and I’ll be there and Kira

Quianna: Kean will be there with me. Perfect. Oh my goodness, I love this so much.

So, one question in closing. I’ve been loving this conversation by the way. I feel like I can talk to you forever and ever. But one question I love to ask every guest, what is your key tip? What is something that you wish you knew sooner or something you’d love to share with entrepreneurs today?

Nata: Yeah, so I, one thing I would love to share with you that if you learned now is better than learning later, is that rest is not something you need to earn is something you already deserve, and you should build into the structure of your business.

So rest is not something you need to earn.

Quianna: Wow. That literally gave me the chills. It’s gonna bring tears to my eyes because. We talk about breast all the time being, this is right, this is a tool in your business, this is something you need. But when you say those words, it resonates so differently knowing that I don’t have to earn it, it’s something that I deserve.

And thank you so much for leaving us with that mic drop moment here. Not to, and that was amazing. Yay. Well, I, I appreciate you so much, and. You truly are giving me homework in the best way possible for my business to pause, create those two dot locations, the beginning and end goal for my roadmap. And I’m so excited to share with you once I start making future hires.

So thank you.

Nata: Yes, please do. Thank you for giving me the space to share this passion and you know, try to help more people. Put that CEO hat on and stop being the do all and all in your business.

Quianna: Yes. Let’s go. We are ready to scale. Thank you so much. Wow. I knew this conversation was going to be educational and it legit felt like a coaching call for me.

Thank you, nata. I learned so much, and I’m feeling more empowered than ever to grow my team, invest in growth, and really take a look at the cost of not investing in the help I need to expand. If this episode was just scratching the surface for you and you’re interested in learning more about delegating, making your next hire, and focusing your valuable time on the things that actually increases your revenue, DM me CEO on Instagram or head to keana marie.com/ceo.

To learn more about the CEO delegation method, you can always check the show notes as well. For more links, resources and freebies, make sure to follow along with NATA at. Accidental ceo.co on Instagram too. She’s always dropping empowering quotes, mindset shifts, and education for business owners. One thing that of the many things that I am very inspired by NATA is she gets out, she invests in conferences and workshops and just tons of educational opportunities.

So if that is something that is on your vision board for 2026. Make sure you’re connected with NATA now to ask her what she’s up to, what conferences she’ll she’ll be attending, and where she’ll be speaking. This is the type of connecting opportunities I live for and why I started the podcast is to literally have my people know your people.

So if that is something that you’re interested in as far as investing in that education, getting in the room. Make sure to follow along with nata ’cause she’s going places and I hope we get to bump into each other again in real life soon. So before you go and conquer your week ahead, I wanna leave you with some powerful affirmations.

You can just take a little pause here, take a deep breath and maybe like, I don’t know, like roll your neck gently, just kind of drop your shoulders, just kind of feel your body move a little bit. Okay, let’s do a little pause. I am worthy of support. Every task I delegate creates space for me to step deeper into my purpose and impact.

Letting go is not losing control. It’s gaining freedom. I trust my team. I trust the process, and most importantly, I trust myself to grow. Oh, I love that one. I am building something bigger than me, and I do not have to do it alone. With each season, I am expanding, supported and capable of more than I imagined.

You may love or capable of making your dreams come true. Let’s map out that roadmap, connect the dots, and find the resources, systems and hired brains. We need to bring these visions to life. Also, if you’re still here, hey, I love you and so grateful that you’re still listening. Make sure to check out episode number five on the accidental CEO podcast, subtle Strategies for Brand Awareness with Quianna Marie.

That’s me. I had the honor of chatting with nata all about building brand awareness and aligning the energy you’re sharing in real life. With what you’re posting online, it’s a good one, packed with branding and marketing strategies. I believe if you love this episode, you’re absolutely gonna love our conversation over there, so make sure to check out the accidental CEO podcast as well.

I hope this week is filled with payments coming your way, vibes, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets. You are incredible, and I am so, so proud of your progress. Let’s start growing our teams and scaling together. Okay, we got this. Keep on dancing, baby. Cannot wait to chat with you next week, Kay. Love you. Bye.

That’s a wrap on another episode of QuiannaMarie Weekly. Thank you so much for your listenership and support. You can find the resources and show notes for this episode and more at quiannamarie.com/podcast, I’d be honored if you’d show your support by leaving a review and rating on your favorite podcast app.

Until next time, keep on on dancing. Okay, love you bye!