Let me tell you about Emma. From the outside, her agency looked like a dream. Revenue was flowing, projects were getting done, and she had a full team. But something felt off.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Sometimes success on paper feels like failure in your gut. Emma was making money, but she was losing sleep. Her team was getting the work done, but something was missing. The soul of her business had flatlined.

“I felt like I was running on a hamster wheel,” she told me in our first meeting. “We were making money, but we were hemorrhaging clients just as fast as we were bringing them in. Team members were treating this like just another job, and honestly? I was starting to hate my own business.”

The Numbers That Lie

Emma's agency had:

• Healthy revenue (without matching expenses)
• A team of 20
• 7-8 different roles
• Steady project flow

But here's what those numbers weren't showing:

• High client turnover
• Constant team reshuffling
• Zero emotional investment from the team
• A CEO and founder who found herself doing work she'd already delegated because her team wasn't properly owning their roles

The Painful Reality Check

During our work together, we had to face some hard truths:

• Not everyone who can do the work should do the work
• A paycheck doesn't create loyalty
• Values alignment matters more than skill set
• Sometimes you have to break things to fix them

The Transformation (Warning: It Got Messy)

Over six months, we:

1. Stripped everything back to core values
2. Redefined what “good work” actually meant
3. Watched team members self-select out when standards rose
4. Simplified 8 roles into 3 clear positions
5. Built everything back up – but this time with purpose

Here's the part that's hard to hear: With every alignment check, another team member would leave. It wasn't because they were bad at their jobs. They just weren't right for where the business needed to go.

The Results (Because Sometimes Hard Choices Pay Off)

After six months:

• Profit margins up 70%
• Team turnover nearly zero
• Client retention skyrocketing
• Three clear roles instead of eight confused ones
• A team that actually cares about the work

But the biggest win? Emma finally felt peace in her business.

The Lessons Worth Learning

• Fast Growth Can Hide Big Problems – when money's coming in fast, it's easy to ignore the cracks in your foundation. But eventually, those cracks become canyons.
• Revenue Isn't Everything – you can make money with a broken business, but you can't find peace there.
• Alignment Before Assignment – skills can be taught, values have to be there from the start.

Should You Fire Half Your Team?

Maybe. But that's not really the question you should be asking. Instead, ask:

• Does your team truly understand and care about your mission?
• Are they invested in more than just a paycheck?
• Do they share your values, not just your skill requirements?
• Could fewer, more aligned people actually achieve more?

What To Do Next

If this story hits a little too close to home, here are your next steps:

• Get Honest With Yourself
  • What's the gap between your vision and your reality?
  • Are you keeping people because it's easier than changing?
  • What would your business look like with only people who truly care?
• Check Your Alignment
  • Write down your core values
  • Look at each role in your business
  • Ask if each person in each role truly fits
  • Consider if some roles could be combined or simplified
• Make a Plan
  • Don't blow everything up tomorrow. Strategic downsizing requires, well, strategy.

The Hard Truth

Building a business is playing the long game. Sometimes that means making hard choices now for peace later.

Want to talk through your specific situation? I offer private strategy sessions where we can:

• Map out your current team structure
• Identify alignment gaps
• Create a plan for moving forward (whether that means rebuilding or refining)

Remember: The biggest business flex isn't your revenue – it's having peace in your business while making that revenue.