Hey there,
I’m Rachel Kurzyp
I’m a Business and Marketing Coach for MULTI-TALENTED business owners who are ready to embrace their main-character energy.
I DOUBT you would remember what you were doing on Friday, August 20th, 2021.
But I remember this Friday so clearly. It was the day I retired all my profitable courses and programs and launched my 1:1 coaching program.
I sent a personalised email to every client I had worked with in the past two years, saying I was retiring everything and inviting them to work with me in my new program.
I didn’t have a sales page, a name for the offer or a marketing strategy. I didn’t even say how many spots I had available.
I simply gave a few dot points of what was included, who it was for, the price and a link to book their spot.
I sold 7 spots in 48 hours. I added 5 more spots and sold them in 24 hours. I released 5 more spots, and they sold over the next few days.
In just a week, I had a fully booked 1:1 coaching business and had made $60k AUD in sales.
But what I haven’t shared openly before is that the day before I sent that email, I was ugly crying over my computer Googling marketing manager jobs on Seek.
If you had looked at my business from the outside, you would have thought I was doing well, and you’d be RIGHT.
My courses and programs were filling. I was being asked to speak at events, in masterminds and on podcasts.
My podcast ranked at the top of the Apple marketing charts in Australia and worldwide.
My email list had doubled in the past 6 months. My Instagram account had great engagement, and I made a lot of sales in the DMs. I even had a team.
But I was struggling; not my business. Even with all this “success,” I didn’t feel good, and something felt missing or not right, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
I was doing everything I had been told to do – grow a following, launch multiple offers, create freebies and run free workshops, and position myself as an expert.
And the more I followed the rules, the less I enjoyed my work. The more I resented having to show up. The more exhausted I became.
And everywhere I turned online, I was reminded that I should be grateful for the business I had created. That I had “made it.”
Even trusted mentors didn’t understand when I told them business shouldn’t FEEL this hard.
They told me to hire more staff to take over tasks I didn’t want to do. Or to create evergreen funnels, so I didn’t have to do live launches so much.
I followed their advice because they were further ahead in their journey, and more importantly, they were happy, so I figured they knew best. But I grew more restless and disheartened.
And like many of my clients and community do, I internalised my struggles. I told myself that I was the problem.
And that’s how I ended up looking for marketing manager positions on Seek.
I felt like a fraud. If I couldn’t make this whole business thing work, I questioned if I was the right person to be coaching my clients on building their businesses.
As I hugged my partner, covering his poor t-shirt in tears and snot, I said, “I don’t know what to do.”
My partner is a man of view words, so he simply replied, “Yes, you do. You always know what’s best for you and what needs to be done.”
And he was right.
I call it the KNOWING.
Others call it intuition, your inner voice or spirit guide. We all have that voice or feeling deep within us that lets us know what the right choice or action is.
But to connect with our Knowing, we need to shut out all the noise – societal pressure, family expectations, logical and safe choices and fear that we will end up in a worse place than we are right now.
Our brain and body are designed to keep us safe; we know this, so we must be willing to wade through the Chaos before we can find Clarity.
Every time I started to tune into my Knowing, I’d think things like if you change your business model, you won’t be able to reach your income goals. You’ll have to let your team go. What will your peers think?
Everything you’ve created this far will be wasted. Keep going, and don’t look back.
And when I narrowed in on the one thing all these questions were asking, I realised I wanted security.
I wanted to know I could CARE for myself – put a roof over my head, put food on the table, and see a doctor when I was sick.
This was a valid fear as someone who grew up in poverty and has experienced homelessness.
So I gave myself the reassurance I needed at that moment by recounting all the times I had supported myself in the past: renting my first apartment after being homeless for 3 months, getting a second job after my shifts had been cut back at my first job, getting accepted into a double undergrad degree university, making a healthy meal using my last $10 a the grocery store.
And in each of these moments, I trusted myself to know what was best for me and to find a way to make it work.
Because Knowing and putting a plan in place to make it happen are two separate things.
And my fear of how I would make it work stopped me from finding the answer to the question I should have been asking myself.
If I could create the business I wanted, what would it LOOK and FEEL like?
The answer to this simple question came to me so clearly.
I wasn’t afraid after I sent that email. In fact, I felt elated.
And it became so jarring to see people’s fears over my decision projected onto me.
But I didn’t care if they couldn’t see what was possible for me because, in the end, I knew I would prove them wrong.
Since that Friday years ago, I’ve increased my business profit, reduced my hours, become a sought-out leader in my niche, created content that connects deeply, streamlined my services and supported my clients to get even longer-lasting results.
I’ve never found the rags to riches, instant success stories INSPIRING.
They often make me feel like a failure, if I’m honest, because I’ve never had that wake-up and the world looks different experience.
Most true success stories are like the ones I shared today. Ugly, messy, incomplete and rather boring.
And this is exactly why I decided to share my story.
Because it isn’t the wild ideas, grand gestures and public declarations that lead to fame, wealth and happiness.
It’s the little changes and daily actions that transform our lives and the lives of those around us.
I hate to think where I’d be right now if I hadn’t listened to that inner voice that said, just change your goddamn business model.
Too many people value other business owners’ opinions and experiences over their self-belief.
You have the power to change this narrative.
This is your permission to become the main character in your own story.
Let go of Shoulds
We will create a content marketing plan that works with your time constraints, responsibilities and capacity so that you can consistently fill your client roster no matter the season you’re in.
Sharp Edges
A dedicated space where you can be curious, experiment, test and tweak your business model, offerings, sales strategies and content until everything clicks, with me in the arena alongside you.
In case you wanted to know how to pronounce my last name
(and other INTERESTING FACTS about me)
I was born in Tasmania but now live on the mainland aka Melbourne, Australia (I have no idea what we talked about before MONA). My last name is Polish, and you pronounce it cush-ip. Kind of like if you put the words cushion and zip together.
My personal writing has been featured in some of my favourite publications both in Australia and internationally. My essay, Other People’s Houses, was published in an anthology titled We Are Here: Stories of Home, Place and Belonging by Affirm Press in 2019.
I regularly speak at events and festivals on all things communication, writing, and running a business. I also teach media and communications at universities across Melbourne.
Travelling is my drug of choice: I’ve travelled to nearly 40 countries and have lived in England and Bangladesh. I’m the mother of 73 plants. I work from my home office in matching tracksuit sets. And I have a Whippet named Pacey (yes, he’s named after the character on Dawson’s Creek).
Let’s CHAT
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I love a good DM conversation about plants, puppies, writing, and the ups and downs of running a business.
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