Welcome back, visionaries. Today, I am super excited to be interviewing one of my long-term clients, Dr. Ronda Sharman. She’s been practicing for over twenty-six years as a chiropractor.

She is really involved in her professional organization. She creates some really amazing change and transformation in people’s health and lives, but when we first started working together, she needed some help to expand capacity in her business. I can’t wait for you to hear her story!

The Need to Expand Capacity

Madeleine: I’m super excited to be sitting down with you, Ronda, because I’ve been thinking a lot about when we first connected. We were in the middle of the lockdown, I believe, and you were working with a smaller team because people were on leave and dealing with their personal stuff. And I remember that on top of being a brick and mortar business and actually touching people all day long as a chiropractor in the middle of the lockdown, you were also dealing with a lot of financial stress. Your profit margin was very slim because an accounting firm didn’t do their job, and you ended up with some tax debt. On top of that, you had an associate doctor that wasn’t the greatest fit for your practice and your vision and your mission. You had a lot of things blocking your ability to expand capacity.

Ronda: Yes. I remember it so clearly, because I remember seeing some content on Facebook from your business talking about taking a deep dive into the profitability of the practice, and it just sparked my interest. We were in the pandemic and I had lots of extra time, so it was a good time for me to take a deep dive and figure out how to expand capacity.

When we first spoke, I remember we spoke for hours just to see if you could help me at all. 

I remember that my percentage of my payroll was very large compared to most businesses, so that was a real eye-opener. And at the same time, I was dealing with caring for my mom. She has Alzheimer’s, and at that time, I had no caregiver. I was running my business and caregiving, I was seeing patients all the time because my team was reduced, and I was just depleted. There was no way for me to expand capacity.

During all of this, you were a wise, steady, stable voice of reason, and I just thought, “Wow, maybe I need to work with this person. I think that maybe she can create some peace in my life and help me expand capacity in my business.”

You used words like “spaciousness,” and in the chaos of my life at that time, words like that really attracted me to whatever you were going to tell me. 

The Boulder

Madeleine: I find that your journey to being able to expand capacity is super inspiring, which is why I wanted to have you here for an interview.

In business, we want quick fixes. We want the results now. We want to expand capacity as fast as possible. And I find a lot of times, people set out on this journey full of inspiration of what they want to create, but then along the way, things don’t quite pan out the way they had hoped. 

They aren’t able to expand capacity as fast as they want to. They’re not seeing results, and they get discouraged and they quit.

I have this analogy in my head I want to share: growing a business is a little bit like pushing a boulder up a hill. You’re pushing that boulder, and it’s heavy and it’s hard, and you’re working hard to get the boulder up the hill. But I find a lot of people quit right as the boulder’s about to crest the top of the hill and start rolling downhill…and when you quit, then the whole boulder rolls all the way back, and now you’re pushing another boulder up. 

You’re going to try something different, and you’re still pushing the boulder uphill. Then you quit again, because you’re not seeing results, and the cycle repeats without you ever getting to expand capacity.

I see people doing this over and over again. But what I find so inspiring about your journey to expand capacity, Ronda, is that you’ve stuck with it for three years now, and you’ve seen the results you wanted to see. 

Ronda: That’s so kind. In the beginning, I know I’ve told you before, you were so patient with me. You kept telling me I was doing great, but for me, it didn’t feel like that. You could see the big picture, but I couldn’t confront all the steps it would take to get myself there.

Thankfully, you were able to just give me the pieces you knew I could digest, and slowly, I started seeing the picture come together.

The Need for Help

Madeleine: I remember that way back when, the reality was that you didn’t have the time to expand capacity in your business.

You were working six to eight weeks in a practice, taking care of patients, managing your team, taking care of your mom…you literally did not have any time. And the very first thing that you did on your journey to expand capacity was hire somebody to help you with your mom, yes?  

Ronda: Yes. And you helped me so much with that, because in the beginning, I didn’t know what to do. I knew my mom needed help, but it’s very common for the elderly population to not think they need any help.

My mom just kept saying, “I don’t need it. I don’t need help.” And then finally, one day, she said, “You need help.” 

I mentioned that to you, and you were like, “Exactly. Just say that.” And then I did. I told her, “Mom, I need help. I can’t handle all this.” And once I presented it to my mom, that way, she was agreeable.

Once I got things stabilized at home, my capacity to look at the issues and problems and challenges in my business was utterly changed, and then we were able to really get working. 

The Onboarding Process

Ronda: Another thing that you really helped me with is that I had tolerated people taking advantage of my generosity for a long time. I needed to grow as a leader and be firm with my boundaries, and you really helped me clean that up and also recognize that as I’m changing as a leader and our systems and our ways of doing things are changing, there are going to be some people in the group that can’t be rehabilitated. 

I did get rid of some people along the way, and it was very scary for me. But now I look back and I see that absolutely needed to happen, and I feel so good about my team right now.

I feel that my team respects me more. We met our monthly and quarterly goals so far this year, and I was able to reward everybody. People were very excited about that. 

On top of that, I haven’t even had a chance to tell you this yet, but yesterday I onboarded my new chiropractic assistant, and she was so impressed with the onboarding system that you and your team created. She was just amazed. She loved that everything was written up and that we both signed the agreement of what our expectations are. 

That’s another thing I’ve learned: people don’t mind being held accountable. They actually like it, because they know what they’re working with. There are clear expectations. 

Madeleine: Yes. When we raise the bar, it allows people to make a choice. Either they have to rise with you, or they’re going to chip out, but there’s an option there.

Next Steps

Madeleine: I’m excited about where you’re taking the business next, because now that your team is settled and you have the help you need, there is capacity for growth. I think this is just the beginning, and it’s all because you stuck with this.

Ronda: I’m very excited. In fact, I’ll be getting ready for my trip to Europe soon, when I used to never take vacations. I never had the help or the capacity I needed to be able to step away. But when we started working together, we worked out that I would be taking one weekend a month, one trip a quarter, and one big trip a year. I have done that so far every month in 2023, and I’m about to do my two-week trip to Europe. I’ve never taken two weeks off of work for a vacation in my life. Twenty-six years of practice, and I’ve never taken two weeks off. 

The best part is, I’m not worried about what’s going to happen. I trust my team to handle it.

There would always be a fear—not necessarily a distrust, but a fear—that something would go wrong. I just didn’t have the confidence that everything was going to be okay. I was sure that big pieces were going to be dropped or missed, but I don’t feel that way at all anymore. So thank you.

Madeleine: You’re so welcome. I’m sure it will continue working for many years thanks to your persistence, and it’s been a joy working with you. Thank you so much for sharing your story. 

I hope this inspires those of you reading who feel like things are not moving fast enough that all you need to do is complete the thing right in front of you, and then just keep building on that.

There’s a level of momentum that comes from doing that one thing, even if you can’t do the ten things that you need to do overall. Do the one thing, keep building on that, and you will get there. 

If you want to make sure you never miss an episode, come follow the 7 Figure Freedom Podcast on Spotify, subscribe on Google, or head over to Apple Podcasts. In the meantime, I’d love to connect with you over on Instagram or in the 7 Figure Freedom Club Facebook group so we can chat about what you got out of this episode!

Are you wondering if you’re ready to take the next step in your business? Curious about whether you’re a good fit for our services? Take the free business assessment quiz to find out! And if you want to learn more, you can visit my website or schedule a call with me today. I can’t wait to hear from you!