Helping You Move Your World!

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ruth Pearce, Chief Inspiration Officer of ALLE LLC, located in Southport, NC, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

ALLE LLC is a collaboration between four coaches - myself, Allison Jarrett, Beckie Davies, and Irene Poku. We work with individuals, groups, and organizations to foster personal and professional growth through coaching and well-being.

Coaching is "professional deep listening," and it is amazing (a) how rarely most of us feel truly heard and listened to and (b) the transformative effect that being listened to completely has on us as individuals, groups, and teams.

Our customers are individuals who want to feel more connected to life, more authentic as leaders, and who want to foster a sense of bravery, health, and curiosity. We also serve organizations looking to build resources for their workforce to feel personally and professionally balanced.

Tell us about yourself

I have followed a weird and winding path to get where I am. I started out as an Economist, then became a (not very good) computer programmer, then a project manager. I also have a law degree and am trained as a mediator. I was a project and program manager for more than 20 years in finance, non-profits, and state government before experiencing complete burnout around 2016.

At that point, I knew I wanted to help others have a similar experience to me to protect themselves and recover from overwhelm and exhaustion, which led me to coaching. As I dug deeper into the wonders of coaching, I realized that there are many groups of people who start on their back foot when it comes to the workplace. They are exhausted from confronting bias even before they come to their jobs and then have the added challenge of coping with code-switching and fitting in in the workplace. As a passionate coach, I am able to listen closely to what you need to share, explore new perspectives and possibilities with you and help you to create unexpected pathways forward.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Coaching, training, and speaking to as many people as I have! As a LinkedIn Learning Instructor, more than 50,000 people have taken at least one of the three courses I created. As a speaker, I have addressed audiences totaling more than 60,000 people from all over the world, and as a coach, I have coached more than 250 people from all walks of life.

The biggest accomplishment, though, has been the extraordinary partnerships I have enjoyed - from teaching positive psychology at a law school in partnership with a professor there to coming together with 12 other extraordinary coaches and trainers to create the In It Together Coaching program in the height of the pandemic, to working with my partners at ALLE LLC, we are made better by the insights, help, support and creativity of others!

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

Asking people to pay adequately for what we provide. As coaches, we are "helpers," and it is hard to say "no" when potential clients don't attach value to what we are able to provide. The same challenge arises with speaking engagements. There are many fantastic organizations and causes that I would LOVE to be able to support as a speaker. But in order to be able to sustain the business (and ourselves), we have to maintain a quota of pro - bono and low-priced work.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Do some research into the people you believe are your target market. Find out about them - what do they want? What do they spend money on? Where do they go (in person and online) that might help you connect to them?
Take into account the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to your business niche. Yes, we all know examples of wildly successful businesses - some of them quite surprising ones - but there are MANY examples of businesses that don't make it. Be realistic about how likely you are to be in the winning group. At the same time, be brave! But stay informed!
Be realistic about how long it will take to establish a business and make it self-sustaining. I often hear two years; in my experience, it is often longer, especially if you need to experiment and build your network along the way!

Our team of collaborators strongly supports the concept of abundance. There is plenty for all of us! For us to win does not mean someone has to lose. Life and business are not a zero-sum game!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.allellc.org/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruth-pearce-projectmotivator/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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