Leading H.E.R. Way Podcast
What if I told you that building a successful business doesn’t have to mean running yourself into the ground?
Welcome to Leading HER Way, the podcast that challenges the outdated belief that success has to come with burnout.
I’m Nikisha, your disruptive coach, and after 15 years of growing multiple businesses, I’ve learned that working harder isn’t the answer—building smarter is.
Every week, I sit down with powerhouse women entrepreneurs and wedding pros who’ve cracked the code to scaling their businesses while reclaiming their time.
You’ll hear raw, unfiltered conversations, client transformations, and behind-the-scenes success stories proving that your business can thrive without you constantly putting out fires.
Here’s what you’ll take away:
✔️ How to build 7-figure systems that scale—so you’re not stuck in the weeds of your business.
✔️ How to stop being the bottleneck and design a business that runs smoothly without you.
✔️ Social proof from industry leaders who have mastered this shift—and are here to show you how.
So, if you’re ready to work less while earning more, hit play, and let’s create a business that ignites your freedom. 🔥
Leading H.E.R. Way Podcast
Ep 55: Growth Series - Blueprints for a Joy-Driven Business
,Is the path to success riddled with pain or paved with joy?
Dive into an inspiring personal and professional growth podcast as we explore this everlasting question. As I build a six-figure brand, I recount my leap into the world of e-commerce, uncovering the invaluable lesson of strategic foresight and the power of joy in fueling substantial growth.
This narrative peels back the layers of development, revealing how deliberate actions and a focus on joy can lead to transformative outcomes without the sting of suffering.
Step into the blueprint of the Nikisha King Collective campus, where dreams are meticulously crafted with precision and purpose. Despite setbacks and rejections, discover how a compass of clear planning and decision-making turned obstacles into mere stepping stones. Immerse yourself in a story that celebrates daily resets and unwavering vision, proving that growth isn't just achievable—it's exhilarating.
As we conclude this impactful discussion, remember that growth needn't push you to the brink of breakdown. Learn how a moderate dance with discomfort can sustain progress while preserving your sanity.
In today's episode, you'll takeaways are:
- Strategic foresight and a focus on joy can fuel substantial growth without the need for suffering.
- Clear planning and decision-making can turn setbacks into stepping stones on the path to success.
- Embrace a moderate level of discomfort as a sustainable approach to personal and professional development.
Remember, we can't do it alone. Share this episode with another business owner and embark on a journey of growth and joy together.
Want to attract aligned clients with less hustle and more heart?
Follow @nkbizguru on Instagram and get access to Nikisha’s 5-Star SCALE™ Framework at her More Profit, Less Chaos masterclass.
Hello, gorgeous Welcome to NK Podcast Leading Her Way, where we see the human, evolving and resilient spirit in you. I am your host, Nikisha, and it's a pleasure to have you join me on the growth series. Now, in today's episode, we're diving into the very known question does growth only come through pain, or can it also be cultivated through pressure? I am going to uncover the nuances of this dynamic. I really want to get into this because there are so many entrepreneurs who have to hit really low in order for a change to happen. And my question is do you rather wait for the low or are you willing to be in the pleasure moment and still have that growth? You let me know, but let's have this conversation because this is a good one.
Nikisha King:So, first and foremost, when we define what this is, I want you to understand growth is confined to a singular pathway. Right, growth helps you move up 1%. I've never seen someone unlearn something they've learned. So it has that forward moving motion. However, the journey for growth is multifaceted. You can grow in different ways. You can have it through challenges, you can have it through triumphs. There's different ways growth is ignited. There's so many different ways and I wonder sometimes if we get to choose that way, which I believe we do. I believe we get to choose the way we want to learn something. When we want to learn something, some moments will come up, some moments we can actually put something in play and we're going to have this really good conversation.
Nikisha King:So, while pain often serves as a catalyst for growth, for change, pleasure can also inspire growth, and the way pleasure can inspire growth is through strategic planning. You can actually have things in place that's planned for your business growth. Proactive decision-making no longer are you forced to make a decision like invest in a CRM because one of your clients' jobs got really screwed up and you missed that email that was living amongst those 10 annoying promotional emails via some server. Do you hear me? So proactive decision-making is a second way and a commitment to continuous improvement. If you're committed to improving, growth doesn't have to come from a catalyst of pain. It's when you stop learning, stop moving and planning that that moment will become painful for you.
Nikisha King:So I am going to share something with you about my pain and how. Now my growth journey is about pleasure and not pain. Sometimes, when I'm growing, I'm like why does this feel so good instead of why doesn't it hurt like it used to. Sometimes I think I have a problem because I don't have pain growth. I have pleasure growth. Sometimes I feel like I'm not part of the world or society because everything feels so good and I go what did I? Did I disconnect? Did I do something wrong? But I didn't do anything wrong. I'm just doing it differently. The way I've chosen to do it brings me more pleasure than pain.
Nikisha King:So let's start with my story about pain. My story with pain started in, let's see, maybe 2012. Actually, no, maybe, yeah, maybe 2012, 2013. The day I chose to invest in a website development company for an e-commerce with no plan in place I laugh because it's hindsight. It's hindsight. I can laugh today, 2012, 2013,. I cried many, many days. So the pain one.
Nikisha King:What happened is when I hired this company with no plan in place to build the e-commerce based on my competitors one. What kahunas did I have to think. My competitors, who's been around for a while doing this more or less, had a plan. I didn't even know how much money they were making. I had no idea about their backend, but I made up a story that they were successful, that they were doing well. So I should follow what they're doing and build an e-commerce store and use their layout for my store Such such an absolute boo-boo.
Nikisha King:So, anyway, as I was in that process, I had to work with them to develop a website in e-commerce and back then there was an e-commerce company called Magento that I used. That served that platform, and I had someone who worked with me and I worked with them for a year or two and every time they would send me an invoice I would cry about it but I would pay it, to the point where I invested over $25,000 with this company. I helped them stay afloat while I was losing money, and that is not on them. That is on me, because I was not mature to create an actual strategic plan to build this e-commerce, launch the e-commerce market, the e-commerce, and measure the success of this e-commerce. It was on me. Nothing about them was the issue. They did what they were supposed to do. Invoice me for the value and time that they took to build something that I had no plan for. Get it Hindsight, people hindsight, and this is what I'm hoping I can give you so you can do better in your decision-making process.
Nikisha King:So in that time I invested this much money that I got from my school loan, my education loan, not my money money I had borrowed and I used it in that way, not having a plan. It resulted in me having to make a decision after I had this website for two or three years. That did nothing, nada, never. Public, shut down, took it off, the server stopped paying the hosting website, mind you, I had to get my own dedicated hosting website because it was so big. Oh my God, the money.
Nikisha King:And when I say that, please know it really wasn't about the money, it was really about the fact that I didn't have a plan in place. Sounds like I was blaming money. Right, I wasn't. It was my decision to do something without a plan that cost me $25,000, which is not a money issue. Money wasn't the evil one. Money didn't do anything. I just had the money and I paid it out. And I really didn't have it because, like I said, I borrowed it for my business but it never was recouped from that website, the product that it produced, because there was never a plan for that.
Nikisha King:So after I made the decision to shut it down and it hurt as hell there's some pain that came up for me. There was some fear, anxiety that came up for me. If I ever build a website again one I'm nervous because I don't think it will do well. But it never had a chance to do well because I never marketed it. So I didn't know that at that moment, but I had a fear that it wouldn't do well. I created stories it wouldn't do well, people won't like it, they won't use it, it will be ugly, all of the things. So the other thing too knowing I spent $25,000 in that first site, I never wanted to invest money in a website company again because of the pain I created. So that meant I kept doing things on my own and when I had to do it on my own I realized paying $25,000,.
Nikisha King:I got an education in building a website, wireframing it, the images, the content, understanding the language and I feel like it's still basic language, but I knew more than the average person. I knew more before I started building websites, so I had really good information to build. So I did a square website which is really easy to plug and play, but it does. Square is very little bit, since it's a closed space, meaning it doesn't have apps and add-ons. It's a place that can be a little bit challenging when you start it.
Nikisha King:But I was able to do that on my own and every time I would start building a website there would be some anxiety, there will be a heavy chip on my shoulder, there will be so many feelings, but once again, build a website with no plan, no metrics, nothing, constantly doing the same repetitive thing and thinking it's going to be different. So after that I closed that and I went back to e-commerce and I went to a Shopify store and I remember doing that and all the things, and always doing all the things with no plan in place, and it was good, it wasn't as painful, knew how to do it because I did it before, but it didn't have any success, so I closed it. And then I found ShowIt, which my current website lives on now. But when I got to ShowIt, something happened. I was excited to actually create a website.
Nikisha King:That pain, that anxiety, melted away because over time I had to forgive myself for spending so much money and closing something down and not recuperating. Not recovering from it and having the consequence of having to pay that back to pay that back. And that is something where I had grown right. I've kept developing websites, building them, understanding the wireframe to the point I could build them for my clients now, which I love. I love building my websites for my clients and helping my couples and people. It's just so good because I can do it in a second, it doesn't take too long and it gets easier. So I've grown substantially, but I had to grow through pain. I had to have a catalyst where it was so painful and if I didn't have a website, no one can land and get to know my story and learn about me. Therefore, this was required of me. So that's my pain story of growth.
Nikisha King:Now let's talk about pleasure, pleasure, pleasure, pleasure. Yes, indeed, when I would say 21, 22, there was this moment where I had a snippet of me wearing a suit. I had a snippet of me wearing a suit. This suit was a light color suit, I don't remember, and I had a snippet of me holding books in my hand in an elevator. The elevator door opened and that was it. It was a small snippet and when it opened, it opened to an office space that felt like it was a brick wall somewhere, and this snippet was because I was reading a book Happy Pocket, full of Money and I was going through a transformation. It was like that book started to help me dream, but that dream was so small, it was just a snippet. So the first time I read the book I got the snippet. But the second, third, fourth time I read the book, the snippet became a full-blown vision and the vision for me is spectacular.
Nikisha King:The vision is I do have a campus. It is part of the Nikisha King Collective. It houses all of our business companies. So, in other words, Nikisha King Design House, Nikisha King Focus Formula, Nikisha King Productions. I also have some other works in play King Productions, I also have some other works in play. They are all housed on this campus.
Nikisha King:The campus has these two large buildings. There are six to 10 stories each building. One building has all of the companies in it, our offices, our places, we meet. The second building is where I do all of my at home or location workshops, speaking gigs. It is the auditorium that I've built for people to come in, gain value and go into the world and give their purpose skills to the world. This campus is so built out that I can visually see it because I have my security gate. I know how my parking lot looked like. It has one of those hubs on it where we have solar panels. So I see it designed and created every day and I build on it.
Nikisha King:And after I build the infrastructure, I build the community. I know who works there. I see the different people who works there. I see all of my beautiful, amazing team members who are so driven, who are always willing to do more. And I have to go. Remember, today is Friday, tomorrow's Saturday. I'm not seeing you. Don't log into this system unless you need to, because there's a project that we need to get done, but I try not to encourage that. So I know the vision, this 10-year vision, written up. It's a plan that I have in place and it allows me to make decisions in ways I cannot explain Easier. I know when to say no, I know when to say yes. It's a pleasure.
Nikisha King:Growth, the actual growth, is there in front of me, where I'm going. It's like a GPS. I don't know if that makes it easier for you to understand. I know where I'm going. I put the address in and the destination and the journey is what I am going through now, and the journey is make the right, make the left. Which way do you want to go? Do you want to go the short way or the long way. So when I say yes is a short way, when I say no is I might go the long way. It's up to me and how I keep moving forward. When I speak to creative partners, when I speak to so many amazing people who are my team members, new team members, it's coming from this place of knowing where I'm going. Therefore, my growth is a pleasure growth. I am not struggling. Does that make sense? I'm not in pain. Make sense? I'm not in pain.
Nikisha King:Here's the thing In having a plan. I still have moments. We all will have moments. Moments are guaranteed. It's what you make the moment to be the thing.
Nikisha King:When I have my moments sometime, I have job opportunities and I do not present well in those job opportunities because there's something else on top of my mind and I do not present well in those job opportunities because there's something else on top of my mind and I get a no. And when I get a no, do it make me feel insufficient, incapable? Yes, those old feelings do pop up. However, the fact that I have a plan, I'm not able to sit in those moments for a long period of time. I don't have the opportunity to, because what I'm growing requires my energy and time the people who have invested in me energy and time requires my energy and time. Therefore, that no may last that feeling of oh my goodness, the incapable. I don't believe I'm not incapable. I couldn't have done that job easily and made it a great experience. They missed out on that. So I don't believe in incapable.
Nikisha King:The no that makes me feel bad is I didn't show up, and I get upset at myself because I didn't show up the best way to serve them. I was thinking about me. Therefore, I didn't do well, and that's where I sit in my discomfort. I should have done better. I could have done this, I could have done that.
Nikisha King:So my could haves last for maybe a day, because when I go to sleep, I get to reset. When I wake up, I get to do something great that day. So I don't allow my yesterdays to come into my tomorrows. I just don't desire that. So when I wake up, it's a reset and I get to show up differently. I get to come here and do what I need to do present, do my podcast, do my client meetings, do my action plans for my clients, work on things that progress towards the vision I have, and to me that is pleasure, because when you have a vision and you're knowing all the decisions you're making is leading to that vision, then you know. You know it's going to happen. There is no doubt in me, there is none, because I know in my heart it's going to happen. I can't explain it Well I can. It comes through my reading, my development, my personal development, my understanding of how things work is why I understand it's going to happen. I easily have made it happen because of how I see it and think about it. A lot of people don't recognize that, and some of you will, some of you won't. But stay with me for a while and you'll see. Overall, I created a plan One years, a one-year plan, five-year plan, 10-year plan. That plan allows me to show up and that is where my growth pleasure come from.
Nikisha King:Now, understand your growth experience will differ, but you get to choose. You definitely get to choose if you want it to be from a catalyst of pain, meaning you are hurting so much right now because something in your business is broken and you have said no to investing a certain amount of money in getting the necessary help because your pain might be at a six Tomorrow when it's at a 10. Tomorrow, when it costs you a one-star review publicly seen Tomorrow, when it causes you to lose money, you will then invest that set amount into the solution, but after it costs you, which sucks, because after it costs you, that's when you're going to feel that incapable could have moment. And it depends. If you don't have a plan, you might sit in it for four weeks or more, and if you do have a plan, you might not sit in it, but just a day or an hour or two. Totally up to you. How long do you want to sit in that pain? You will grow, but you are putting yourself through something you don't have to experience. You're choosing to experience and no matter how much you tell me, you're not choosing to experience it. No matter how much you cut me off which I love you are choosing that crappy experience. I don't care what you're saying If you don't realize it. I hope you recognize it the next time it shows up, because it will. It's part of life. And for the people who love planning, I hope you plan with intentional planning and not just to plan to say you have a goal, but you actually are doing the steps to get to that goal. So let's talk about your action plan. Let's talk about three things you can do to have pleasurable growth. I love the word pleasure. Yes, you can take it however you want, but I just love it.
Nikisha King:Mindful reflection you ever heard of a SWOT analysis, s-w-o-t strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Usually when we hear this as entrepreneurs, we apply it to our competitors external our business. But how about if you run a SWOT analysis on you? What is your strength, what is your weakness? What are the opportunities you can develop your plan? What are the threats to yourself? I wait till I get to a 10 in pain deal with the could have situation and for a whole month I lose out. That is your threat to yourself. How are you when you get anxious? Do you mess up a lot? Do you mess up a little? What is your threat? I want to know.
Nikisha King:My threat to me is not believing I give value to others. There's a moment where I question me showing up, and then there's a moment when I question me. Someone comes and say thank you. And then I have to realize Nikisha, you give so much value, so just keep giving. You are so good at what you do. And when I say that my ego can be saying that I'm so good at what I'm doing, but I know it's not. It's my spiritual being. The reason I know the difference is because there is no satisfaction in knowing when I say that. When I say that I know it comes from a place of. I know I'm helping someone in their life to be an impact in the world and that is everything. It's not about me. So I always have to remove me from the equation. So what are your threats? What are the things that keeps you back from moving forward or growing on your journey?
Nikisha King:Strategic planning Hello, listen if you don't know how to plan, so listen. If you don't know how to plan, dm me on nkfocusformula, email me at focus at nakishakingcom. I will literally have a session with you and help you create your one-year plan in a second. I just did it for my client. We worked in six months. We had our first call. We went through her one year where she wants to be. She literally told me I put that in the action plan and now we have all our objectives, our key results in place and now we have a plan in place that we're working towards. And I'm so excited because we already have the plan, the first session, so now the next 23 calls the next 23 sessions. We know what we're working towards because there's a plan in place.
Nikisha King:Are you strategically planning your business growth? You just started a cookie company. What's the purpose In one year? What do you want to see this cookie company become? What do you want to do? Who do you want to be selling to? Are you in a brick and mortar? Are you at venues that sell it because they need desserts? Strategic there's so many people who need that.
Nikisha King:And if you're sitting at home thinking I'm doing this just for my neighbor, that's not the case. That's not growth. That's waiting for pain to happen. When you realize you're just wasting time because you're not, what are you doing? Who is it helping? Where's the value? How are you being supported? Strategic planning is everything.
Nikisha King:So if you are struggling with that, I am a master at that. I freaking love it. I love it because it's a vision at that. I freaking love it. I love it because it's a vision. I'm good at it. I can create it in a second. I can build a plan. I don't only create visions. There has to be a plan in place. That's your direction. That's your GPS system. Is it going to go as planned? Always, hell, no. But when you make a mistake, you know the plan, you know the destination, you can easily pivot. That's the joy, that's the excitement. That's where everything for me gets exciting, because that's a growth opportunity. Love it.
Nikisha King:And third, continuous optimization. Now I want you to embrace a culture where you are continuously improving your business and yourself. Don't forget about you. You are important to your business, but you are regularly evaluating your processes, your workflows. Listen, if you don't check on how a lead comes into your business and what the experience is once in a while, twice in a while, you are failing the people who want to work with you. So, continuous optimization, checking on your customers, checking in your processes this is my other zone of genius. I love a process, I love a workflow and then I can create it and have people who even flush it out.
Nikisha King:More Sensational Pleasure, people Pleasure. I get so much pleasure from vision, strategic planning, putting them in play and continuous optimization of my systems. I want everyone to have a great time and, trust me, I don't get it perfect, because there is no such thing as perfect. There will always be a glitch and someone will say Nikisha, there's a glitch and I'll go. Thank you, I don't feel offended. I don't feel like, oh my God, you called me out. Call me out so I can make it better for you the next time you come through and the next person following you Listen. You help me to be better and I'm here to help you be better on your journey. Thank you so much for joining me today in the growth series.
Nikisha King:Growth can come through pain, but isn't it better if it's through pleasure? Come on, let's be serious with that. So, while pain serves as a powerful catalyst for transformation, pleasure can also inspire growth through strategic planning, mindful reflection and continuous ops optimization. You are in control of this. You get to make the decision. Join me in making that decision and if you ever feel like you can't do it alone, duh, sorry, I couldn't help it, you can't. If you could have, you wouldn't be here after five or 10 years still struggling with the same problem you had two years into your business. So whatever you choose to do doesn't even have to be me. Get a mentor, a coach not a cheerleader, because cheerleaders cheer but they don't have action plans A mentor or a coach to help you on your growth journey, your pleasured growth journey.
Nikisha King:Skip out on the pain. The pain will be there, but it depends on how intense you want it. A lot of people go for a 10. By that point, you screwed up a lot of different things. I like a pain of five or six and I like it to be just maybe one day. Even then, I try to cut it back, but I have to process it. Thank you for joining me. I will see you next week and have an amazing day.
Nikisha King:Hey, before you go, I got a golden opportunity for you. Yes, you. It's a chance that's too good to pass up. A chance to work with me one-on-one, practically for free. Imagine waving a magic wand and saying goodbye to feeling completely overwhelmed, anxious and all those feelings that keep you stuck from selling your services.
Nikisha King:You know that feeling where you can't make decisions. You're on the hamster wheel. I know I was there, but what if I told you I can help you get rid of that feeling forever? Not only five minutes, 10 minutes, but forever. Yes, to the point where working on your newsletter website, creating content, feels like a breeze. This week, I only have four exclusive spots for a one-to-one opportunity with me. It's not a webinar, it's not a workshop. It's only you and me for 60 minutes where I'll teach you my aha method to get rid of that overwhelmed feeling forever. Listen, don't walk, but run over to focusnakishakingcom it's in the show notes and grab one of my limited spots. It's limited and so many people keep asking for it, so it's going to be gone in a second. And remember, don't tell anyone about this great opportunity. It's just between you and me.
