Meet Rebecca Page-Chapman

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rebecca Page-Chapman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rebecca below.

Rebecca, so great to have you with us today. There are so many topics we want to ask you about, but perhaps the one we can start with is burnout. How have you overcome or avoided burnout?

The only way to overcome burnout is taking the time to rest and heal. The only way to avoid burnout is to set strong boundaries and limits.

I speak from experience, since I hit burnout more than once when running my last company. I was raising young daughters and growing a franchise system. I’d put the girls to bed and then be back on my laptop until the early hours. I spent many Sundays in the office to get caught up on admin and get ahead on operational improvements. I was very caught up by the pressure of hitting certain deadlines and targets, and I didn’t factor in any time to rest. I didn’t think I could rest or take a break! But that comes at a price. Which is burnout. For me, the stress showed up as an issue which required surgery and involved many months of pain.

And the fact is that it was all my doing. Because I was the one who chose to work, instead of resting. Which is why I’m so passionate about helping entrepreneurs with systems and structure. When these are set up, and clear boundaries are established, they can focus on strategic thinking, and revenue-building tasks – like building relationships, developing new offers, or closing sales. And more importantly, it means they can step away from their business to switch off. To spend time enjoying fun, family, and friends. By nature, entrepreneurs are very driven. So it can be a process to understand that taking time away from business is NOT lost time. Actually, it’s an important investment which allows for more perspective, clarity, and creativity.

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a business coach, working with entrepreneurs all over the world to build and improve strategy and systems so they can be more efficient and profitable. I’m also an award-winning entrepreneur and franchisor with 20 years experience running a service business.

Once upon a time, I was in a cushy corporate job with all the opportunities and benefits that come with it. But I was very unhappy in my cubicle, and decided I didn’t want to spend my life being miserable just to get a bonus and stock options. For many years, I had thought about having my own business. So I developed a brand, and launched my company from a corner of my basement, with my young daughter at my feet. At first I was doing ALL the things. Then I built a strong operational structure, learned to delegate, and grew my team. My concept grew into 7-figure franchise system, operating in 3 cities.

By that point, my focus was on marketing, and franchisee support. All the day to day was managed by my team. And I’d been wondering what I would do next. Since I enjoyed mentoring my franchisees, I took a couple of coaching courses to improve those skills, and thought that could be a next chapter.

Then, Covid happened! Lockdowns closed the business. Suddenly, that next chapter was starting. It was time to move on to something else.

For me, that meant transforming my whole life. I went back to school to earn my MBA, moved to the UK, and pivoted into using my lived experience and education to help others. I’m passionate about entrepreneurship and love being able to help people make their dreams come true. The process of guiding owners to get clarity, focus, and a strategic plan is very rewarding.

Now, I get to work with business owners all over the world. And perhaps the best thing is that I can do that from anywhere! Now that my children are grown, I have the freedom to travel. Since 2023, I’ve lived and worked from 16 countries in 4 continents. Which has been some incredible experiences! Like living in a bamboo hut on a beach in Thailand, a little villa in Bali, and a few months in Rajasthan. Of course, life is life, so there were problems and challenges also. For example, food poisoning has sent me to hospital a few times. But it’s all served to improve my ability to communicate, to adapt, and to find solutions.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

One important skill is the ability to accept and manage risk. First, to understand that everything in life and in business involves an element of risk. After all, just getting into a car to go somewhere runs the risk of being hit by another driver. There are always things which are outside of your control. What you can do is mitigate risk as best you can, and manage what is in your sphere of influence.

Going back to the example of driving a car, risk is managed by wearing seatbelts, keeping the vehicle in good working order, and eliminating distractions. And in business, there are processes to minimize the risk of decisions and actions. Launching a new offering is a risk, because what if it fails? Hiring staff is a risk, because what if they make costly mistakes?

But in business, risk is necessary. Just as driving or other forms of transportation are necessary in life. Entrepreneurs can manage risk by doing research and preparation to mitigate the damage of things not turning out as planned. So, budget carefully for that launch, so if it doesn’t land, the financial health of the company isn’t ruined. And validate information for that new hire, then set up strong systems, SOPs, and KPIs to manage their performance.

For anyone starting out, I recommend that they understand that by nature, entrepreneurship is a lonely experience. Especially for people leaving a job where they had the support and direction of a boss and a team. When you run your own business, the support of friends and family is really important. And also, having support from an outsider – someone outside your circle. Because when you are IN your business all day and every day, it’s easy to miss things which will be glaringly obvious to someone looking at it for the first time. Looking back at the early days of building my franchise system, I know that coaches and mentors fast-tracked my growth, and saved me from many mistakes. And honestly, I can see now when I stopped working with a coach, I walked blindly into all sorts of problems! Without that expert advice and guidance pointing out little red flags, situations escalated.

Therefore, I know firsthand the huge value and impact the right business coach has for an entrepreneur. Having a safe space to brainstorm, vent, and analyze is important. When someone challenges your assumptions, biases, and pushes for better data-based decisions, it builds a stronger business.

I honestly believe that change is always possible. Whatever dreams or goals you’ve been secretly nurturing, it’s not too late to make it happen. Transformation doesn’t happen overnight. Each day is an opportunity to start making the small shifts which, with consistency, will create the change you want to make in your life, health, career, or business.

Tell us what your ideal client would be like?

My ideal client is someone who is starting or running a service-based business. Selling services, not stuff! This can be online or in person. This is my area of expertise because I ran a service business for over 20 years, and have studied the psychology of the consumer decision making process. Aligning brand, pricing strategy, and the customer experience journey to an efficient operational system is effective for growing revenue and profits.

I love to work with people who are passionate about what they do, and eager to participate in the creative process of building a business. Whether it’s mapping out a better customer experience journey, developing growth strategies, or aligning pricing and branding messages, my approach is to blend data-driven decisions with what resonates with each individual entrepreneur. Something may look good on paper, but if the business owner hates the idea of doing it, then let’s find another way! I really believe that the whole point of having your own business is to create the lifestyle and income that makes you happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rebeccapagechapman.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccapagechapman/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccapagechapman/