Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Chris Hanson, Owner of Life Skills Advocate, LLC., located in Kent, WA, USA.

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

Life Skills Advocate is a client-centric, and evidence-based executive functioning and life skills coaching company that empowers neurodivergent teens, adults, and families to become their own best advocates and teaches them how to maximize their autonomy and independence. We provide in-home and virtual support across daily living, academic, vocational, and community-based domains.

Our mission is to provide neurodivergent individuals and families with the life skills training, executive functioning support, mentorship & coaching they need to build and sustain autonomy & independence.

Our clients have a wide range of abilities and interests. Clients who may benefit from our support often need help with organization, planning, time management, decision-making, sustaining friendships, building confidence, transitioning to the next phase in their life, acquiring new skills, or assessing risks.

There are many factors that may contribute to this, with diagnosis being one of them. While a formal medical diagnosis is not a prerequisite to receiving coaching support from us, some of our clients have a diagnosis of autism, ADHD, NVLD, OCD, intellectual disability, anxiety, and others. While we recognize diagnosis as a factor, our focus is on the whole person.

Tell us about yourself

I'm Chris Hanson, and I was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. I moved to the Seattle area in September of 2008, and soon after, I met my wife, Lisa. In May 2020, we welcomed our son, Benjamin, into the world. I earned my special education teaching certification while working as a paraeducator in the Kent School District. Overall, I have over ten years of classroom experience and 30 years and counting of personal experience with neurodivergency. I started Life Skills Advocate, LLC in 2019 because I wanted to create the type of support I wish I had when I was a teenager struggling to find my path in life. Alongside our team of dedicated coaches, I feel very grateful to be able to support some amazing people.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Touching the lives of over 170 clients and creating a supportive work culture for our team of 12 in just over three years.

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

Allowing myself to focus solely on what I'm good at and delegating everything else. In theory, this is a no-brainer. In reality, this is very hard. Often it's not financially or practically feasible to delegate certain tasks (e.g., billing), or the steps to doing so aren't clear. Once ready to delegate, there's a lot of mental gymnastics that often take place to justify the frontloading time and money involved in training. Maintaining the status quo is SOOOOO much easier, but unfortunately, that approach tends to lead to slower growth. This entire dynamic can be extremely challenging.

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

  1. Talk to people who are not local competitors who are doing the thing you want to do. However, take their feedback with a grain of salt.
  2. Prepare yourself emotionally for the inevitable ups and downs of owning a business. Being intentional about your self-care is huge.
  3. Accept that there will be things that you'll have to learn that won't be fun or exciting. Also, accept that there will be things asked of you that you won't know the answer to or how to find it. This happens all the freaking time and is really annoying. Lean on your professional contacts, join social media groups, hire a coach, Google it, etc.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://lifeskillsadvocate.com/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifeskillsadvocate
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/life_skills_advocate/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/LifeSkillsAdvocate/

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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