Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Erin Rocchio, Founder & Executive Coach of Wholeness At Work and Partner at Evolution, located in San Diego, CA, USA.

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

I am an executive coach and Partner with Evolution, a coaching, consulting, and investment firm. My passion is to help executives and organizations find the sweet spot between business results and personal meaning. My clients are curious, values-driven, emotionally intelligent leaders who are looking to make a difference in their fields. I work with a variety of clients, including C-level executives at billion-dollar companies and founders of proven start-ups. My goal is to support leaders in finding a lifelong path to sustainable well-being in their work and to help them cultivate high-performing leadership teams based on metrics that drive engagement and results. I bring a philosophical orientation to my work rooted in Appreciative Inquiry, the Enneagram personality system, Integral theory, and neuroscience-based organizational and leadership development. My self-guided coaching program, Wholeness At Work, Free Yourself from Burnout for Good, addresses the science behind workplace burnout. The workbook introduces a "Roadmap to Wholeness" that provides leaders with a lifelong path to sustainable well-being in their work.

Tell us about yourself

I fell in love with the world of executive coaching and organizational leadership development early in my career. I joined my family's consulting business in 2008, and since then, I've launched my own coaching practice devoted to providing resources that solve workplace burnout. I'm a Partner with Evolution, an inspiring coaching and investing firm dedicated to advising high-growth businesses to be a force for social progress. As a working mom to two young daughters, I understand the challenges that my clients face in managing their time and energy. I often find myself taking my own medicine as it relates to rest, renewal, value-based boundaries, and creating meaningful support structures. Walking the Wholeness at Work path along with everyone else gives me a deep appreciation for the importance of well-being in all aspects of life and inspires my work to provide accessible and authentic tools for sustained well-being in the workplace.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

It's difficult for me to pinpoint a single "biggest" accomplishment, as my work is ongoing, and each day presents new opportunities and challenges. I'm incredibly proud of the impact that my coaching and consulting work has had on the leaders and organizations I work with. I am particularly proud of my executive and team coaching work within various healthcare systems, which are leading the charge around anti-racism. Providing insight, perspective, and emotional fuel to those on the front lines creating massive positive change is deeply meaningful.

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

Founding and running a business is incredibly fulfilling, and it never turns off. Especially as you grow and build an ecosystem of people, partners, clients, and other stakeholders, it can be easy to feel like everyone depends on you (and you alone) to generate and solve everything. One of my biggest lessons has been to examine this myth of self-sufficiency. I ask myself daily about where and how I can personally create value for our partners/clients/ecosystem and where I can lean on my ecosystem and team in kind. This reciprocity and community-based way of leading a business makes it feel much more sustainable and generative.

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

  1. Cultivate your team. Surround yourself with a great coach, mentors, partners, and, eventually, talented leaders that can co-create growth with you. A capable team inside and outside the business is everything.
  2. Listen to your customers and iterate like crazy. Find your unique service or product offering(s) and be flexible to customer feedback. If you're too attached to things looking a certain way, you'll miss opportunities to adapt to your customers' needs. They will let you know!
  3. Prioritize reflection. Most founders are highly action-oriented, which is necessary and important. At the same time, it's vital we block off real-time each week, month, quarter, and year for solo and team reflection. It's the only way to stay above the fray, see strategic opportunities, and attune to what you really need and want. Growth requires constant learning and learning demands reflection.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://ourwholenessatwork.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wholeatwork/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wholenessatwork/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wholeatwork
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erintrocchio/

Website: https://evolution.team/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/evolutionsvc/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EvolutionSvc
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/evolution-service-corporation/

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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