Taylor Lee, welcome to Behind the Business. I’m so excited to have you here. I’m really keen to unpack your business journey, the success you’ve created, and also dive into the things people don’t usually talk about publicly, but that actually make a huge difference when it comes to growing a business.
To start, for anyone who hasn’t heard of you before, can you share a bit about who you help and what you do?
I work predominantly with service providers who are in the small business phase, usually with one or two team members. I actually started in social media marketing. That’s what I studied at university, and I was freelancing while I was studying. That naturally progressed into training businesses because I realised I didn’t love freelancing for other people. From there, clients started asking me about my systems, onboarding, finances, and how I ran my business. That’s what led me into the space I’m in now.
I’ve been doing this full-time for almost four years now, which is crazy. My focus is really on systems, streamlining, and simplifying businesses. I’m very big on building a simple, small, sustainable business, especially as I’m going into this next chapter of pregnancy and motherhood. I’m all for people scaling to huge numbers and big teams, but for me, that’s not my focus right now. I really value a lean business model.
It sounds like we had a similar starting point because you were quite young when you started your business. How old were you when you started?
I was 21.
That’s amazing. I remember feeling really nervous when I started, like who am I to coach people when I’m so young? Did you ever deal with imposter syndrome around your age?
I wouldn’t necessarily call it imposter syndrome, but I definitely have moments where I question myself, especially now that I work with more established business owners. When I was working in social media, being young was actually an advantage because people assumed I understood social media better. But moving into more comprehensive business strategy, I definitely had moments of thinking, am I qualified to talk about this? Especially in the coaching industry where there are a lot of people doing the wrong thing, I think that’s where more of the questioning came from for me.
One thing I’ve always noticed about you is how structured and systems-focused you are, especially with numbers and finances. Where did that come from?
Definitely my dad. I’m the fourth generation in my family to have a business, so I grew up around business and numbers. Early in my business, I was probably a bit more delusional and would just make things work without thinking everything through. Now I’m much more calculated, especially with things like finances and property investing. For me, understanding the numbers gives me a sense of control and helps regulate my nervous system because nothing feels too surprising. I try to control the controllables because there will always be uncontrollables in business.
You’ve been in business for four years now. What did each year look like in terms of focus and growth?
Year one was very much just going all in. I invested a lot and did a lot of personal development. Those first few years in business feel like personal development on steroids. Things grew really quickly in my first year. I think I surpassed 100k in about eight months, and I was only 21, so I was shocked.
Years two and three were more about finding my feet. I got taken out of my own lane a bit by the coaching industry, where everything was about mindset and energetics. Those things are important, but I moved away from my zone of genius, which is strategy and systems, and I almost became a bit of a copycat. That led to a big dip in my business for about six months, which was very stressful, and I had to rebuild.
At the start of 2024, I really came back into my own lane. I stopped investing in coaches for a while and went back to fundamentals. I realised my dad had built a very successful business, so I started applying more traditional business principles and rebuilt from the ground up. 2024 was a big rebuilding year, and 2025 was the year I started seeing the results from that rebuild, with client results, community growth, and the podcast growing.
I always tell clients that everyone experiences their own version of hard. I grew really quickly, but I also crashed really quickly and had to rebuild.
Now you’re also going through a big life change with pregnancy. How has that been for you, especially running a business at the same time?
It was definitely a shock because we weren’t planning it. My business relies heavily on me, so I had moments of thinking, is my business going to survive? Am I going to be okay? It’s been a big lesson in actually being honest with myself about how I feel and what support I need. You can feel nervous and grateful at the same time. Both can exist.
One of the biggest challenges has been navigating the roles between business and motherhood. As a woman in business, especially when you’re also financially contributing, it can feel like you’re playing two very big roles at once. There’s the business role where you’re providing and leading, and then there’s motherhood where the baby relies heavily on you. That’s required a lot of honest conversations with my partner about roles and responsibilities.
Has your business model changed much since finding out you were pregnant?
Not too much structurally. I still have my one-on-one clients and my group program, but I’ve had to rely more on my team and outsource more. It forced me to let go of some perfectionism and control. I’ve focused more on my group program and making that better rather than trying to do more one-on-one work, because there’s a capacity limit now.
My main goal this year is actually maintenance, not scale. I think we’re constantly told to grow and scale, but for me, scaling right now looks like reducing my hours while maintaining revenue, client experience, and results. Interestingly, revenue has actually increased during this season, which has been a by-product of doing less and focusing on what matters.
