e192 Things You'll Never Hear Me Apologise For In Business
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[00:00:00] Welcome, welcome to Rewild Your Business. Happy New Year. We made it into 2026. We did it. I dunno about you. I feel like this year is gonna be freaking amazing. I've just got this feeling that something's happening, something's going on, and I feel like a lot of the stuff we've been talking about throughout 2025 almost just felt like a preparation for what's gonna happen this year.
I think this is gonna be our year. This is gonna be a goodie. So what am I gonna talk to you about in this first episode of 2026? By the way, if you are new here. You are so welcome. I'm so glad you found me, and if you are a loyal listener of Rewild Your Business, thank you so much. We are on almost 200 episodes now.
Yeah, I love doing this podcast as much as I did when I first started it. I [00:01:00] absolutely bloody love it, and I'm excited to be bringing a whole nother 52 episodes to you this year. So this week I wanna talk to you about the things that you are never, ever gonna hear me apologise for in my business. This isn't just like my quirks and and my preferences, right?
These are deliberate choices that I make that are probably counter to what the business coaching industry anyway tells us that we should be doing or who we should be or the things we should probably be apologizing for. Right? And I think this is gonna be useful for you. Because every single thing that you are apologizing for in your business right now is probably the exact things that would make you stand out and [00:02:00] become known for what you want to become known for.
If you would just own them. Owning it own them is one of those things that is much more American, a phrase than I should really be using. But again, not something I'm gonna apologize for because you all know a lot of my clients are American and I'm now officially bilingual. So let's get into the episode.
Welcome to Rewild Your Business, the podcast for women doing the work, their soul intended. I'm Gill Moakes. I'm an international business coach, and I'm a guide for women doing the work that matters. Rewilding your business means cutting away what doesn't belong to allow, what does to thrive. Finding simplicity in your work, and it's about bringing the whole of who you are to the table.
Whether you are building something new or finding your way back to what really matters to you. I'm so glad [00:03:00] you're here. Okay. First thing that you will never hear me apologizing for is not being everywhere on social media. I am never gonna be doing the dance. I'm never gonna be doing the like seven posts a day Instagram strategy.
I am not showing up every single morning with my morning coffee and my stories and my authentic bed hair. That is just not me, and I'm not apologizing for that. Right. I post content. When I feel like it, when I have something to say and on the platforms that I am feeling drawn to in the moment, sometimes that might be LinkedIn, it might be Instagram.
Those are the two platforms where I tend to be, it might be Substack. I'm always gonna write emails because I feel like that is where I can say what I actually mean without the algorithm. Interfering with me, and I do this podcast because I can have [00:04:00] like a proper conversation with you in this podcast without feeling.
I've gotta like cut it into 15 second chunks to be TikTok friendly or something. Right? And there are still people in the industry that are gonna tell you you need to be. All the place that you are leaving money on the table. If you're not on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter threads, whatever fresh hell launches next week.
But honestly, what actually leaves money on the table is spreading yourself so thin across all the different platforms that you never actually say anything worth remembering on any of them. That's what leaves money on the table. It's a waste of time. I built my business on relationships, not on algorithms.
You've heard me talk about that a lot, and if that means that I am missing out on whatever like viral [00:05:00] moment is happening on a platform I don't use, I'm absolutely at peace with that. I am not gonna apologize for not being everywhere. Second thing you are never gonna hear me apologize for is my prices, my legacy partnership clients, my coaching clients, the deep transformational work I do with ambitious women who are really doing the work that matters to them.
It's not cheap. I'm not a cheap coach and I'm not gonna try and perform some kind of justification dance about why I charge what I charge. Right? When you apologize for your prices, you are not making yourself more accessible, right? Your prices are a statement about the value of your work. And they're a filter.
They tell people who you are for and [00:06:00] who you are not for. And I'm for women who are ready to invest in building something that means something to them. I'm for the women who are building businesses that will outlast them, potentially the women that are writing books, women that are speaking on stages, women who are building coaching practices that are changing lives.
Right. I'm not for the women who are just shopping around constantly for the cheapest option, or who think that real transformation happens in a 97 pound course. Right? And that's not elitism. To me, that's just complete clarity around who I am and who I serve. So if someone needs to be convinced of your value through crazy discount codes and all the sort of payment plan gymnastics, then they're not your [00:07:00] person.
Let them go and work with someone else. There's no scarcity around here, right? So I will never apologize for my prices. Third thing you'll never hear me apologizing for is saying no. I'm never gonna apologize for saying no to quick coffee chats, for example, that aren't quick and are never about coffee, right?
I'm not gonna apologize for saying no to collaborations that are clearly benefiting the other person so much more significantly than they benefit me. I'm not gonna apologize for saying no to opportunities that sound impressive, but don't actually move my business forward or have an impact. Right. I honestly used to think that I had to say yes to everything because that was how you built a business, that you had to be available and accommodating and [00:08:00] overly generous with your time and your energy, right?
But I believe now that when you operate like that, what you are really building inside yourself is resentment. So now I say no to anything that doesn't serve my mission, my clients, or my own wellbeing, right? And I don't feel the need to wrap that up in apologies or like long explanations. I find short ways to say no to things that aren't in alignment for me.
So it can be as simple as that's just not something I can commit to right now. You don't need to explain everything or that doesn't align with my current priorities, right? It can be really, really simple. I use this all the time. It's a no at the moment, I'm afraid, but thank you for thinking of me. Right?
Or not even, it's a no at the moment. If it's never going [00:09:00] to be a yes, then it would be, I'm afraid it's a no, but thank you for thinking of me, right? You don't have to be rude when you say no, but you can be firm, you can be clear. Your business isn't a democracy, right? You don't owe everyone access to you.
Now, that doesn't mean that you are not gonna be strategically generous with your time to people who you would love to work with, because that is a key part for me of enrolling coaching clients is being strategically generous with my time. But the key word there is strategically generous. You can be strategically generous with the right people and protect your energy.
Like it's a really valuable asset, which it is, right? Fourth thing you'll never hear me apologizing for, and [00:10:00] this one might sound a little bit controversial. This isn't something I'm cooking up for shock value. It's because I think this is really true. I'm not gonna apologize for not having a personal brand that is relatable for everyone, right?
I think that the coaching world is obsessed with relatability at the moment. So share your messy kitchen. Talk about all of your struggles. Let people see that you are just like them. But here's what I think. If you are exactly like your clients, why the hell are they going to hire you? Not everything about you has to be relatable.
There are things about me that are not relatable. Right. I'm a widow who rebuilt her entire life after cancer took my husband when I was 42. [00:11:00] I walked away from a secure insurance career to become a VA with not a single client in sight. I then built a six figure coaching business by completely ignoring most of the industry's advice.
I'm way too sweary most of the time. I'm not afraid to tell women the truth about what is holding them back from having the business they want. I don't worry about telling them that it's probably their identity. That's the problem, not their strategy. I don't do vision boards. I don't believe in manifestation, in the sense of close your eyes and wish something into being right.
Not everything about me. Is relatable and that is fine. I am really specific about the kind of people that I help. [00:12:00] I'm really specific about who the real me is, what I believe in, what I don't believe in. I'm honest about what I can do for my clients and what I can't do for my clients. When I work with coaches, for example, I'll often say to them, you know, I'm not gonna teach you anything about being a better coach.
If you are not already a great coach, I can't help you build a great business. Being a great coach is an absolute prerequisite to build a great coaching practice, right. Being specific around those things is what sells. Your clients don't need you to just be relatable. They need you to be capable of taking them somewhere they can't get to on their own.
They need you to have done the work, survive the transformation, come out the other side different. They need you to [00:13:00] walk the walk and if you are too busy. Making sure you are incredibly relatable. You are not necessarily being transformational for them. So I really want you to have a think about that one.
I get that this is nuanced because your clients want to. Be able to believe in what you are saying. They want to see themselves in the transformation that you talk about being able to help with, right? So yes, that needs to be relatable for them. What they don't need necessarily is for you and your personal brand to be completely and utterly relatable.
Right? So have a think about this one. And think about what this might mean for you. Where in your business are you so [00:14:00] focused on being relatable? That you are actually diluting the power of what you can do for your clients. So you don't have to apologize for not being relatable, but you do have to deliver on what you say you can do for your clients.
The last thing that I am never gonna apologize for is. And this one actually pisses a lot of people off. But I am not gonna apologize for working long hours. I bloody love what I do. I work evenings. I sometimes work weekends. I think about my business constantly because my business really matters to me.
And honestly, the wellness police really hate this one. I'm often told that if I'm not careful, I'm gonna head for burnout. Or that I don't have a good work life balance or that I am not [00:15:00] setting enough boundaries. But here's what. I think people miss with me is that I'm not burning out. I'm not neglecting anyone.
I don't have young children at home waiting for me. I'm not sacrificing my health for my work or my relationships. I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing. And there's this assumption in the business world at the moment that working hard means you are doing it wrong. If you actually enjoy putting in the hours, you must be compensating for something or maybe haven't learned how to work smarter, not harder, and all that kind of bullshit.
I work long hours because I'm building something that I. I'm really, really passionate about. I'm writing a book that matters to me. I'm coaching women through transformations that change the entire trajectory of their lives and their businesses, right? That's not [00:16:00] toxic productivity, right? That is just me being fully alive, doing the stuff that I absolutely bloody love.
Honestly, if that makes me a bit of a outsider in an industry that is utterly obsessed with four hour work weeks and passive income and all that, then so be it. Right? My business matches my life. And my life is being deeply, passionately committed to my work, and I don't have to apologize for that. I don't have to perform some version of balance that placates someone else, you know?
This is all about choice, isn't it? This is all about personal choice, and my choice is to really work hard at something that I love to do. So those are my five things that I wanted to share with you. Five things that I will never apologize for. Not being on every social media platform. My [00:17:00] prices saying no, not always being relatable and working long hours.
Because I bloom and love what I do. So here's what I want you to think about. 'cause you know I love to give you a little journaling prompt, or I like to give you something to kind of think about when you finish listening to one of these episodes. What are you apologizing for in your business right now?
What are you softening or explaining away or feeling guilty about? Right, because I'd be willing to bet that whatever it is, it's probably one of the most honest, most distinctive things about you. And if you stopped apologizing for it and started absolutely embracing it and owning it, you would find your right people, your right clients, so much faster.
Your business should be an exact match for the woman you are. The true, authentic woman you [00:18:00] are. So think about that. Stop apologizing, start owning it, and I would love to hear from you. If this has resonated, I'd love to hear. Email me [email protected] of course, or send me a message on LinkedIn. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
Follow me on Instagram, wherever you like. I don't care. I don't mind where you reach out to me. I just love to hear from you. So I'd love to hear what is it you're apologizing for and whatcha gonna do about it? How are you gonna own it and show up differently? Okay. I hope you've enjoyed this episode and I will see you back here again next week.
Same time.
