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Q&A with Business Coach Jenni Gritters

👋 Tell me a little about your experience coaching solopreneurs. What patterns do you see that led you to write this book?

I’ve been coaching freelancers and self-employed creatives since 2020, and over time I started to see a clear pattern: People would show up in my coaching room around the three year mark in their business (I call it the “three year itch”). They’d been in survival mode for that whole time and now they were worried that it wouldn’t work long-term. By survival mode, I mean accepting low rates, saying yes to work that wasn’t aligned at all, not having any systems or strategies in place, suffering from either over or under work, not having a clear sense of their goals, and generally just barely keeping their heads above water.

I slowly realized that the toolkit for early solopreneurship was different from what would be helpful during that second phase of self employment. The solution? Sustainability. Making decisions with intention. Using creativity and flexibility to build a business structure that works for you. I call it being at the cause of your life instead of the effect. Over time, I started to build this massive reservoir of teachings on the topic, which is what you’ll get to read about in The Sustainable Solopreneur.

🔍 Tell me more about your new book, The Sustainable Solopreneur.

In the book, I share five key principles of sustainable solopreneurship. These are principles that I noticed were present for every single business owner that I coached who was actually satisfied with their work: Flexibility, creativity, intention, self-awareness and reciprocity.

These sustainable solopreneurs felt stable and clear, and their businesses were built in alignment with their desires and skillsets. I started to adjust my own business to run this way as I coached all these people on setting up their’s, too, so you’ll find both a taste of my experiences in the book, as well as case studies and examples of sustainable solopreneurship in action.

What’s important to say, though, is that this isn’t a “silver bullet” book. I don’t believe that there’s one way (or even five ways) to set up a successful business in this wild time we’re in. Sustainability, in my mind, is all about building something that lasts and doesn’t extract from your well being. That means that your business should be built based on your own needs during the current season, and it should also be able to shift and change as you do. This book is a field guide, using principles from nature to help you understand that you’re not separate from everything else on this planet, all to help you build a business model that works for you.

💡 So many solopreneurs are living in feast and famine modes. How can they break these cycles?

First, I want to say that you’re not doing anything wrong if you’re in this mode. It’s pretty normal in the self-employment world. But if you want out, the answer to feast and famine involves a few things:

Step 1: Having a clear plan. When I started working for myself, I wrote out a business plan. It sounded so silly, but I started to realize that no one around me had any kind of plan. Like many people, I was thrust into self employment because of a layoff. But it was that game plan – the clarity on where I was going and how I would get there – that made all the difference during those first few years. When I felt confused or overwhelmed, I always had an anchor to come back to.

Step 2: The other important thing to say is that your nervous system is probably used to barely making it work, or needing to suffer to earn money. Those beliefs are deeply ingrained in us as kids and when we show up to work for ourselves, it’s almost like the chaos is so familiar that we don’t know how to choose differently. (A lot of traumatized people end up in the self-employment world because we’ve never fit the mold and we’re used to surviving a lot of pressure.) This is why, as a coach, I’m incredibly focused on helping people do more than just design a really incredible business strategy. I also want to look at the patterns that are keeping you stuck in survival mode. Because even the best strategy in the world won’t work if you keep going back to those old patterns!

💻 Many solopreneurs struggle with ambition versus sustainability. How do they pursue big ideas without burning out?

I actually don’t think they’re opposites. I think you can have both. Ambition is defined as a strong desire to achieve something through hard work. Sustainability is an approach that requires a lot of ambition, hard work and perseverance because it’s counter to everything capitalism has told us we need to be.

I identify as very ambitious. I have huge dreams. I love to build businesses. I want to make a lot of money. I want to help a lot of people. Seriously: I want to change the world, person by person.

But when those desires come at the expense of my well-being, I’m forced to ask the question: Is there a different way to go about this? Because the truth is, if I’m not well, I can’t show up for that big vision at all.

A lot of people will express surprise when I tell them that I work part-time, have small children, run a $300,000+ year coaching business with one contractor, and coach 20+ 1-1 clients, in addition to running my community space and other intensive programs. The truth is that I’ve had to learn how to embrace sustainability in order to make this ambitious life vision work:

• I’m really flexible, within the structure I’ve set out, which gives me space to care for my own needs and desires on a daily basis.

• I’m creative, so I try to come up with new ways of doing business when the traditional models don’t serve me.

• I spend a lot of time developing self-awareness, so I can catch myself in old patterns of over-work (which ultimately burn me out so hard I can’t even execute on my big dreams). 

• I give as much as I receive, both in terms of money but also emotional support.

• And I’m ridiculously intentional about how I spend my time and energy. 

All of this has allowed me to be ambitious in a sustainable way! The truth is that our big ideas require a lot more devotion, focus and steady pacing to bring into the world. So I think this whole body of work was born out of knowing more was possible. I wanted to be an involved parent AND a badass business owner. I wanted to make a big impact AND be well rested. But the old, standard hustle toolkit couldn’t get me there.

⛰️ You speak often about honoring your energy cycles and the seasons your business is in. How can ambitious business owners be mindful of their capacity and not fall into hustle culture?

Progress isn’t linear. It’s a spiral. It’s like the seasons: Dark, depressive, quiet winters turn into hopeful springs. A playful and fiery summer eventually leads to a grief-filled autumn. Nature shows us a perfect model of the cycles we go through in every part of life; our businesses are no different. This has always been a life raft for me because I know, when I’m in a winter season, that spring will inevitably come.

I ask my clients constantly to think about what kind of season they’re in, so they can adjust expectations accordingly. Having summer expectations for a winter season is a recipe for shame and self-criticism. But showing up in winter knowing it’s winter adds a bit less resistance to the whole process. The “how” for this is usually asking, every morning, “What kind of season am I in, and how do I feel today? What’s a reasonable expectation for today based on that understanding?”

We’re not robots. We’re not the same every day. It’s time to drop that expectation and start centering your own humanity. (The wildest part is that when my clients stop forcing themselves to function at 1000% every day, they’re actually more productive overall!)

✨ Your book talks about moving beyond purely linear thinking into using your intuition. Why do you see it as essential for sustainable solopreneurship, and how can solopreneurs learn to trust their gut?

Intuition is about non-cerebral knowing. Most of us have been taught to only use our linear thinking minds. But honestly, that can get you into a bit of a mess, especially if you’re operating based on what your nervous system finds comfortable. You’ll stay pretty reactive if you’re relying 100% on your mind.

My invitation lately has been to add your intuition and your emotional knowing into the cerebral picture. Intuition shows up in many ways for many people – some of us get a body feeling, some of us see images or hear words, some of us find signs in nature. No matter how it shows up, it’s a powerful tool that most of us aren’t using as often as we could.

I love intuition because its information often comes through in a clear and calm way. If you’re someone who ruminates, polls the room about every decision and finds yourself in mental spirals: Intuition work will be a game changer. It slows you down, provides space to be intentional rather than reactive, sparks creativity and builds self trust. That’s powerful!

✨ How should solopreneurs approach developing offers and services to attract new clients in a way that’s sustainable for them?

Kaitlyn, you know from my CREATE program that I believe offers are art. If you’re building them based on your unique magic, in a way that matches this season of your life and speaks directly to the problems your clients are having, you’re set up for success. 

There are so many loud models about what kinds of offers we “should” be building – passive revenue via digital products is one I hear often. But that’s only going to be a match for some of us. And following the recipe that worked for someone else doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you.

I ask people to tune into their own sense of self and to talk to their audiences before setting up a new offer, or announcing a new service, because the most sustainable option is usually the one that feels easeful (meaning, you don’t have to perform or overwork) and delightful for your audience. In my mind, the weirder the better! Standing out in the crowd can only help at this point. 

But also: Make sure you’re solving a real problem. So many people miss this part! When you’re solving a problem that needs fixing in a fun way, referrals and word-of-mouth will give the offer a life of its own.

✨ Pricing is so often an emotional hangup for solopreneurs. How can solopreneurs have more financial clarity in their businesses?

Pricing is hard for everyone. Why? Because it’s not just math. It’s about intuition, client fit, your lifestyle and your nervous system. AI might tell you to price at a certain rate but if that number is too high for your audience or it leaves you shaking in your boots because your nervous system hasn’t yet acclimated to that level of earning? It’s going to fall flat.

I teach pricing with two focus areas:

• Money loves clarity. It’s really helpful to know what numbers you’re aiming for. And I use a life-first approach to this, rather than a market-first approach. I ask you to look at your own personal budget, then build your pricing off that (integrating your capacity as well). It’s how we can make sure you’re taken care of in the amount of time you have.

• Money as an energetic exercise. Money is really just a symbol of value. It marks an agreement of value exchange between two parties. But every single one of us has money trauma (because the way we deal with money in our world is very broken and extractive). If we ignore that inner work, the money strategy won’t land.

A little bit of math and a little bit of magic!

✨ How can people work with you?

I primarily offer 1-1 coaching. (I’ll be taking new clients again in January!) I also run SUSTAIN, a foundational coaching community for solopreneurs moving differently. CREATE is my quarterly intensive that will help you build a business model that’s all yours – it’s like a house remodel, but for your work! And I offer fun, spontaneous intensives and workshops on focused topics, like money, visibility, branding and beyond. Following my newsletter and social media will give you updates on all of the above.

And you can buy my book, The Sustainable Solopreneur, here. (I also have an amazing companion masterclass, all free, that will help you implement the concepts from the book in your own business!)