The Freedom Formula: How Systems and Support Create Space for Growth

• Overcoming the “Doer” Mindset: Skye talks about the limiting beliefs that hold many of us back, like “I’m the only one who can do it right” and “Hiring help will only create more work.”
• The Power of Systems: Why systems don’t have to be complicated or boring, and how they can free you up to focus on what matters most—your talent zone.
• Delegation Without the Guilt: How to shift your mindset around bringing on help and the real reason delegation becomes seamless with the right systems in place.
• Identifying Your Talent Zone: How identifying what you excel at and love doing is the key to unlocking more time and space in your business.
• The Importance of Planning Ahead: How Skye planned for her maternity leave in a way that allowed her business to thrive in her absence.

“You can create freedom and space in your business even when it’s just you, even when you are everything to the business.”

“The key things to allow this to happen have been structure, systemization, and support.”

“When you do the high-value tasks, when you do the stuff that lights you up, when you do the things that bring in the profits, that is where the money is.”

“As a one-woman band, we don’t necessarily recognize that what we’re doing is a system, and it’s all in our head.”

“It’s not about not being involved. It’s about being involved in a way that works for you.”

ANNE RAJOO

If you ever felt like you’re the only one who can do it right, like creating systems is not your thing, or that hiring help will only create more work for you. This episode is for you, whether it’s preparing for something big, like maternity leave or simply wanting more freedom in your daily life, stepping away from being the doer in your business can sometimes feel impossible. You might wonder, how will my business survive if I’m not running everything myself? And that’s why I brought in Skye Barbour, an expert at helping business owners free themselves from the overwhelm of trying to do it all. Skye shares her personal journey of preparing for maternity leave while running a thriving business, and reveals the key strategies that allow her to step back confidently.

Welcome to the Peaceful Productivity Pod. I’m your host, Anne Rajoo, and together we redefine productivity and find your sweet spot where performance meets happiness.

I started my journey in the virtual assistant space around the time COVID hit. I hadn’t even heard of a virtual assistant. I had to pivot completely, learn a lot in a short amount of time and figure out what was next. Fortunately, I had the chance to work with a very smart and very systems-focused client for several years. Through that experience, I witnessed first-hand how the systems helped her create in her business, allow her to grow and scale her business while she was working less and less, and she was able to focus on what she did incredibly well and what she truly loved. And that was a light bulb moment for me, and I started applying those same systems to my own work, and over time, I grew from a solo, freelance VA into a boutique VA agency, and bringing on a team was only possible because I had made those systems a priority, not because I love spreadsheets or processes, but because I realized that without them, I would stay stuck in the doer phase forever, and I always would be limited by my own capacity, which, let’s face it, I was already completely maxed out. 

And as I’m recording this episode, it’s early January, and I was just wrapping up my quarterly planning workshop, and if you would like to join my next planning workshop, it’s in April, and I will add the link in the show notes. And in that workshop, I shared one of my favorite quotes. It’s by James Clear, the author, from the Atomic Habits, “you do not rise to the level of your goals, but fall to the level of your systems.” So when we want to achieve big goals, whether it’s scaling our business or carving out time for passion projects or creating true time freedom, we need systems. And I know systems aren’t exactly sexy, but they are the foundation that allows you to step away from your business without worrying that everything will fall apart. They grow your capacity so that you can scale and create a life that aligns with your values and priorities. 

I suspect that if you’re here listening to this podcast, you’re looking for ways to create more time freedom and explore what peaceful productivity can mean for you. Maybe you want to spend more time on the work that you really love and that you’re passionate about, or perhaps you’re dreaming of stepping back from your day-to-day without actually losing momentum in your business, and that’s why I’m so excited to share today’s conversation with Skye Barbour, a business and team consultant who helps six-figure female business owners scale strategically. When we recorded this episode, Skye was pregnant and prepared for her maternity leave. Fast forward to today. Her little boy is a toddler already, and she has continued to grow her business with flexibility. She’s built her dream team, stepped back from the daily grind and done all of that without any guilt. And in our conversation, Skye shares the surprising beliefs that keep so many of us stuck in the doer phase, why hiring often feels harder than it should, and how to make it easier, and how identifying your talent zone and implementing simple systems can give you the freedom to focus on what truly matters. If you ever dreamed of creating more space in your life and business without sacrificing your success, this episode is for you.

So let’s dive into the conversation with Skye Barber.

SKYE BARBOUR

So I am having maternity leave. Absolutely. And one of the reasons I’m having maternity leave is obviously, having a baby is quite a potentially stressful time. But I also feel really passionate about role modeling what I teach others to do, and that is about freeing yourself up from the front line of your business. And I felt like the maternity leave gave me a really good example of of how I setting my business up to be able to do that. And you know, I’m going to be completely transparent with you in this interview, because I think it’s really helpful. You know, you listen to my bio, and it’s like, whoa. This gall works with really big businesses. This might not be for me, but, you know, we have all started as a one woman or one-person band like that was me too, not that long ago. And also, you know, I don’t have huge teams behind me. I don’t have, like, massive business, but yet I still can free myself up for a month and things can run without me. So what I would say to anyone is that you can create freedom and space in your business even when it’s just you, even when you are everything to the business. And the reason why I’m doing this for my maternity leave is to prove that. 

And I think you know, one of the short-term examples of how we’re doing that is when COVID hit, my business really changed. I had a lot of offline businesses that I worked with, as well as online businesses, but my offline businesses were kind of like my bread and butter income and in hospitality industries, in service based industries that, funnily enough, shut the doors. So it was almost like I was starting again only five months ago, and within five months, we’ve managed to build a multi five bigger months, we’ve managed to again, have to make sure that I have my maternity leave and a degree of like working 50% less in August. But I have to admit, I’m hugely driven, so it’s hard. I’m sure a lot of you can relate. It’s hard to have all those ideas shut down. The more time you have, the more ideas things you think of. So I think in maternity leave I’m going to be like journaling everything that I want to do. 

But the key things to allow this to happen has been structure. It’s been systemization, and it’s been the right support. And if you can get those three things in place, you too, can step back a little bit from the business, and it’s not about not being involved. It’s about being involved in a way that works for you, and it’s something I’m so passionate about. And I came into starting my own business, and I actually fell into that track where, by I was spinning all these plates, thinking, I need to do everything myself. And I thought, No, this is not how I needed to do it. I needed to progress my business so that I did the bits that I was brilliant at, and I found other ways to get the other things off my plate because I was being pulled down doing stuff that, oh gosh, I stopped invoicing people because I didn’t want to deal with the financial side of things. I stopped doing marketing because I didn’t want to take any more people on, because I was already fully booked, you know, stuff like that that actually limits the business when it’s just you. 

And I imagine that’s where a lot of people watching this are also in that do a space where you’re either starting to spin or you’re thinking maybe, maybe one of the reasons why you’re like bit on the fence with business is because you are worried about having to do everything. Reality is you can progress to what I call the second phase, which is the manager phase, whereby we are identifying where you’re spending your time. What are the things you are brilliant at? What’s in your talent zone, outside your talent zone, and then how do we stop? How do we streamline and how do we get, how do we share and delegate some of those other things? 

Now, that is what I’m so passionate about, because when you do the high-value tasks, when you do the stuff that lights you up, when you do the things that bring in the profits like ultimately, that is where the money is. It’s not in the low-value task, the day-to-day stuff that you’re doing because you feel maybe you should, or there is no other choice, or you’re the only person that’s able to do X, Y and Z, because everyone else gets it wrong. Trust me, I’ve been there. I’ve worked with loads of people in that situation and know that as long as it’s just you in your business, in this place, being the doer, there is a capacity, and you have a job, because when you are not working, nothing happens without you. 

So I started seeing people dip into like, particularly online business space. If you’re overwhelmed, you need a VA. That’s what you need, the VA. I know I have nothing against VAs, but they’re like a silver bullet that apparently comes in and makes everything better. But more often than not, this is a myth.

Communication, expectations, mismanagement, and the person’s not set up for success, and it goes wrong, and then all of a sudden, you’re in the place where you thought you had a solution to free time up with getting a VA and knowing what you know that that was just they come in and they tell you what to do, don’t they? Not necessarily, and the people doing that and then being like, this isn’t working. It’s costing too much. I’m not getting the results I wanted. It’s just it’s easier to do it myself, and they go back to being that doer, and again, as that Doer you as a job, what we realize is that we have if we do stuff in business, we have systems. We have the way of doing our way of doing things. But as a one-woman band, we don’t necessarily recognize that that is a system, and it’s all in our head, and what we have to do, because when you want to delegate anything, or when you want things to happen in your absence, is you either need a mind reader.

It’s you either need someone in your business who’s going to be a really good mind reader, who lets that’s, that’s a skill no one’s got, or you need it in a way that people can interpret and be able to reproduce your work, your way of doing things, which is ultimately your system. So what I would suggest, or what I would say to anyone who’s thinking, I don’t have any systems in my business; systems don’t just mean automation. Systems don’t mean tech. You need to raise above and look at all the things you do in your business. And I look at it from a different department perspective. You know, we’re a small business. We don’t have departments. Let’s just think of it like departments. What do I do in marketing department? What do I do in sales? What do I do in the delivery? What do I do in the creation? And it’s almost like listing out, what are all the activities you do within those different areas and the way in which you market your business. So, you may have a specific platform you use. You may have a couple. Saleswise, you might have calls, or you might have a sales page you make it on, or whatever it is right for your business, noting that down. And from that, you can build out a whole picture of what is your your your manual, what is your standard operating procedures? SOP, what is the ways in which you do business? And it’s something I’m really passionate about, not because I like it, because I know how it can give us freedom, how it can help us delegate what we want, exactly what you want in the right way. 

So anyone who’s thinking like, I don’t know, I don’t have any systems. I’m rubbish at this. I would actually challenge and say, you probably do have systems, whether they’re as efficient as possible, that I don’t know, because you may need to streamline them, but you do have systems. You need to take it out of your head, think of it as departments and put it down on paper, because without doing that, it’s going to be very difficult for someone to read what’s going on in your mind. And it’s one of the key things my clients say that take them from feeling like they’re winging it, and it’s just like a bit of a fraud in business, and they’re just like trying to get through each day to feeling like a proper business owner or a professional business owner, or whatever the title they want to give themselves. It’s because it’s out of our heads, and it’s in a way that allows us to see how we run our business. 

Now, on the flip side of it, again, I’ll be completely transparent. I say yes to every bit of help I can get when it comes to childcare. Yes, I’m taking a month out of the business, but I’ve still got, I’ve got a housekeeper and a childminder and a mother-in-law who’s very helpful. And I’m getting a nanny, which all sounds very, to some people, probably shocking, like, do I not want to look after my children? But I know when I’m at my best what I need, because I am really clear on my talent zone. I’m really clear on the things I want to be doing in the business, and I’m really clear about how I want to have things at home, and that’s going to be different for everyone. Once I’ve got that clarity, I look at the cost, what I need to do to bring in a positive like, where am I time, the value of my time is best spent. And I then get the right help in. And I’m really open about saying that I do not do this alone, because we super women doesn’t exist. That’s because managing people, finding the right person, knowing what to delegate, knowing how to help them succeed. All of these things is a learned skill. You know, I had 15 years of training in it, managing people of like, 100 teams of hundreds of hundreds of people. It is a learned skill, and too often we think that just by handing something over, that it’s going to be fine. Sometimes it will be fine, but that’s abdicating, not delegating isn’t going to help you build a long-term successful relationship or business with the right foundations. 

So there are people that come to me who are there’s two types of people. One, they know what that they want to make most of their time, and they know they’re going to need to, at some point, outsource something. And they want to be prepared. They want to be proactive about it. They’re amazing people to work with, because we can have milestones. We can attract numbers. You can know when the right time is because you can make that positive decision, a proactive decision that’s going to help you not fall off the edge of burnout cliff or and make quite the right decisions. And then I have other people who have, like, Ah, it’s too late. I’m frazzled. I can’t do this anymore. I want to give up. I’m failing. And then we’ve got to work a little bit harder, because you’re in that reactive space still perfectly possible, but they’ve they’ve already felt some of the like negative impact on doing too much.

ANNE RAJOO

I hope that if you feel stuck in the doer face, you can take some of the things shared by Skye to the heart and actively look into creating systems for your business. I know you might be facing some resistance, or might need to work through some fears. 

There are a couple of beliefs that come up all the time in conversations I have with potential virtual assistant clients, and even in my productivity mentoring clients, and one big one is “I’m the only one who can do this right.” Sounds familiar? Of course, you are. You have poured your heart and soul into building your business, and it feels risky to hand tasks over to someone else. Someone that you might not even know at all. But this mindset keeps you stuck in the weeds, instead of stepping into the bigger vision you have for your business and life. 

Another belief I hear is something like “systems and processes just aren’t my thing”, and I get it, spreadsheets and workflows might not be the most exciting part of running your business, but here’s the truth: systems don’t have to be complicated or boring. They are simply tools that support you to focus on what matters most and what you feel most passionate about. Think of them as the behind-the-scenes scaffolding that holds everything up, freeing you to shine in your zone of genius or talent zone, like Skye calls it. 

And finally, another belief is “hiring help will just create more work for me”. At first, bringing on a team member or outsourcing a task can feel like more things to manage, but with the right systems in place, delegation becomes a lot more seamless. You not only lighten your workload, but you also free yourself to focus on high-impact tasks that truly drive your business forward. 

Even a simple accountability system is powerful. One of my clients recently messaged me after setting big, inspiring goals for her business that she was really excited about, but also worried. Her goals had slipped through the cracks in the past, and she didn’t want that to happen again, so I suggested a simple accountability system: monthly calls with her operations person to review, evaluate and adjust her goals. And this not only gives her the clarity, momentum and confidence that she needs to achieve her goals, but also gives her team a clear roadmap to follow. 

So here’s something actionable for you as we’re wrapping up this episode: Take a moment to identify your high-impact tasks. What are the activities that truly move the needle in your business, and then think about how you can create systems to support those tasks and potentially delegate everything else. And as Skye shared, look at your talent zone. What do you excel at and what do you love doing? That’s where your focus should be. So when you prioritize your talent zone and systems, the rest not only makes your business more efficient, but also aligns it with your personal well-being and growth. And that’s the essence of Peaceful Productivity, building a business that works for you. 

If you’re thinking about delegating or you want help creating your systems. Let’s chat. You can always book a free consultation with me. The link is in the show notes. You are invited to check out my virtual assistants agency. It’s called Virtufully, and the website is www.virtufully.com,

I spell it V I R TU F U L L Y.com, and we can start building the systems and support that helps you scale or step back. Or finally, create the time freedom that you’ve been dreaming up of and that you likely came into business for. So let’s make it happen. 

And as always, please share the episode with anyone who could use a little bit more Peaceful Productivity in their lives and leave a review. I would love to hear from you, what your thoughts are, what you like about the podcast, and of course, it will help other entrepreneurs like you to find the Peaceful Productivity Pod. 

And next week, come back. It’s going to be a solo episode. I’m going to dive deeper into what sets a CEO mindset apart from a doer mindset. I’ll talk about the habits that drive intentional leadership, why they matter, and how you can start building them from today. So, if you’re ready to leave that Doer mindset behind and be more of the visionary of your business. Next week’s episode is packed with practical tips. You really don’t want to miss this one, and until then, stay peacefully productive and catch you next time.