One-to-one

Sydney Business Coach

Online Business Coaching for small business owners (with big dreams)

As a small business owner, you’ve got a lot on your plate. There are so many skills, so much responsibility, so many things pulling your attention. It can be really easy to let five or ten years go by, without prioritising yourself and your long-term vision for your life and your business.

Hi! I’m Brook McCarthy. I’m a Sydney business coach, facilitator and marketing and sales trainer, with more than 18 years’ experience in digital communications and 12+ years’ experience in business coaching business owners and leaders.

I work closely with CEOs, small business owners and leaders, to help you grow your business, your way. What does that mean, exactly? It means that your unique strengths, experience, goals and lifestyle aspirations guide everything we do together.

As a business coach, I work alongside my small business client in an equal partnership, supporting them to give shape to their desires and aspirations, turn these into concrete, measurable goals, and then co-create an action plan to get them where they want to go.

With a background in Public Relations, I specialise in helping leaders and experts to grow their professional reputation, so they can attract publicity, partners, opportunities, and (far) more ideal clients. If you’re looking for a business coach with extensive, real-world experience, then welcome!

Is this you?

You get word-of-mouth referrals, but inquires are neither steady nor predictable

You know the value of coaching and love trying new approaches and ways of thinking

You don’t just want more profit, you want to grow a sustainable, meaningful business that does good

You’ve been told your business is different but you struggle to explain this in your marketing communications in a simple and compelling way

You’re not going to hide from difficult conversations or blindly follow someone else’s advice

You’re energetic and action-focused, but you also don’t want to waste time and effort

Making working for yourself actually work.

Self-employment ain’t easy. I salute you.

As a business owner for 14 years now, believe me when I say I know how you feel.

I’ve met countless extremely talented people who are truly gifted at what they do, with clients who adore them, but still, they struggle to earn good money and feel tired, worn down and perhaps a little over it.

They often believe that they need to figure everything out by themselves.

That is simply not true.

Business coaches are only good for two things

There are just two things that business coaches are good for – blind spots and short-cuts.

Our blind spots can cost us lots of money and peace-of-mind. And the worst part? We’re oblivious. We don’t know what you don’t know. And our assumptions, beliefs, and socialisation can oftentimes end up costing us. Business coaching with me will introduce a new approach, attitude, self-belief or perspective that can give you a massive step up.

Short-cuts save you time, money and heartache. You can waste a lot of time and money pursuing the wrong tactic or strategy.

Now I’m playing the long game in business and I suspect you are too. I’d far rather treat people well and trust that it’s coming back to me than make a fast buck.

But that doesn’t mean we’ll refuse a smart short-cut, right?

I’ve been told that I’m not a typical online business coach

I’ve been working in small businesses my entire career. The steepest learning curve of my life was working in south-east Asia for two years as a small group tour leader. In this crazy busy job, I honed my interpersonal skills, quickly gaining people’s trust, bonding a group of diverse, intercultural individuals in a variety of unpredictable and sometimes stressful situations, and learned to make quick, and sometimes difficult, decisions without missing a beat.

Prior to starting my business in 2008, I worked in Public Relations, which is where I first started in online communications. When managing the website of a large multinational corporation, we consistently blew our best-ever month-on-month results so much so that the Head of Communications in Sweden flew me over to find out exactly what I was doing. It was easily explained – I was simply writing more interesting, newsworthy articles in a respectful, intelligent tone-of-voice that people actually wanted to read.

In 2008, I struck out on my own and, within three months of commencing, had six retainer clients and was earning the same as in my former PR agency role. Since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of sole traders, business owners and entrepreneurs from a variety of industries, on how to sharpen their strategy, tighten their focus, magnify their reach and grow their business.

I’ve been told I’m not a typical online business coach. I’ve been told I’m more like a marketing consultant, business advisor, or reputation strategist than a “normal” business coach.

I’m highly practical, with real-world, up-to-date digital marketing experience. I’m also opinionated. That means you won’t get the same-old out-of-the-box solutions that every book/blog/webinar regurgitates and I won’t waste your time with broad recommendations that you’d find in any business book.

I want to help you build something that will endure – which means sustainable marketing and a solid business model that works to your strengths.

Brook is a phenomenal coach – the kind of person who takes her time to *really* understand your business and offer targeted and thoughtful advice (not tell you what to do).

I’ve had numerous other mentors and coaches who say what they want to tell you, rather than saying what they believe is worth your while. My experience with Brook, over 6 months, was completely different.
As a business owner, I now feel more confident in the decisions I’m making, the systems I have set up and the possible actions I can take to reach my (ambitious) goals.

Thank you many times over, Brook.

Michaela Epstein, Maths Teachers Circles

Brook is AMAZING. She took the time to deeply understand our business, our vision, and what makes us tick in order to help us take our budding business to a whole new level.

She has helped us with vision, strategy, and tactics – but also with incredibly important and hard-won lessons in building a successful business (eg: understanding how to value a product, the psychology of what and why people buy, ‘repelent marketing’ – communicating who you don’t want to work with in order to attract your ideal clients more effectively).

She’s a brilliant storyteller, a seasoned wordsmith, a savvy strategist, and has been incredibly important to have in our corner. With Brook’s guidance we have already pre-sold clients into our premium flagship program before sales have even opened. I honestly would never have had the confidence, strategy, or understanding how to make that happen without her help.

Keppie Coutts, How to Write Songs

I have been working with Brook for the past 12 months, and since working with her my company revenue has over doubled! She has not only helped me grow my Digital Agency, Brook has worked with me on developing my business and leadership skills which have allowed me to have the work-life balance I needed! Thank you so much Brook for everything!

Josh Fritz, Patch Agency

Brook is a no-nonsense, very practical, effective coach. She set me up with systems for managing outreach, helped refine my pitches, got me moving on various marketing projects. Her style is straightforward and honest, and she really knows her stuff. I definitely recommend Brook for small business coaching!

Samantha Sutherland, Diversity and Inclusion expert

Working with Brook was amazing and inspiring. Brook easily helped me identify my mental blocks and nudge me comfortably into action. She kept me accountable and focused, and helped unpack ideas and offers from my head into meaningful solutions for my clients. I loved my time with Brook and not only would I recommend her, I’m hoping to re-engage our coaching in the near future.

Toni Kibbey Business – Marketing and Mindset Coach, ElementCo

I decided to engage Brook as my business coach because I wanted someone ‘in the know’ to support me during my first online course launch. Brook was, variously, my teacher, trainer, cheer squad, confidant, accountability coach, and business manager and it made the whole experience that much easier. Brook is a great combination of supportive, plain speaking, encouraging, and firm when required.

Lauren Tober – Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher

Brook has the holy grail combo of no-nonsense business first, with a marketing lens.

Coaching with Brook has renewed my faith in my own decision-making compass. The launch of three unique product lines has been far more scalable and less reliant on my personal contacts and my personal hours. I’d happily recommend Brook’s business coaching.

Cath Nolan – Managing Director, Gender Gap Gone

Together, we can cover:

Business by design

Businesses often grows organically in a direction that doesn’t really work for the business owner. We’ll dig into your strengths, challenges, lifestyle and bigger vision, to help craft a perfect-for-you business by design.

Uncover your ideal client

Knowing exactly who is perfect for your business makes it all so much easier! Your ideal client is ready for what you offer, gains the most out of it, and is the most enthusiastic, making them a joy to work with.

Know your strengths

We’ll dive deep into your particular stories, talents, experiences and expertise in order to play to your strengths, better define your point of difference and know how to work in a way which works with your innate strengths, not against them.

Define your difference

Crafting your business story not only helps differentiate you from your competitors, it will attract your ideal client, and it’s FUN!

Profits and pricing

Clarity around profit means you make empowered decisions and can price your offerings accordingly.

Designing and refining your seductive offerings

Transform your offerings so they speak directly to the wants and desires of your ideal clients while serving their specific needs.

Compelling communications

Writing is one of the essential skills of any business owner. We’ll carefully comb through every word on your website and key communications to ensure that they connect with your people in an authentic and effective manner.

Authentic marketing

Effective marketing communications and strategy that resonates with you and your business, not copies what everyone else is doing.

List growth

Most everybody wants to know how to build their list! Regardless of where your list is at, we’ll work through effective strategies to build your list and keep them engaged and enthused about your offerings so that marketing becomes so much easier.

Devilish digital details

Together, we’ll go through your digital footprint, from your website, to your email onboarding process, social media channels, e-commerce flow, advertising and internal communications, to ensure that every little detail reflects your business value while cultivating relationships and converting strangers into clients.

Who this IS for:

You’re energetic and ambitious.
You’re ready to change (for the better!).
You’re ready to move beyond old patterns and habits and bring a clear-eyed plan to your growth.
You’re willing to be open and honest.

This ISN’T for you if:

You haven’t yet launched (check out my courses instead).
You’re looking for a secret formula or quick fix, without any additional effort on your part.
You don’t want to do any follow-through actions or homework after our sessions, you just want to talk.
You’re unwilling to look at any problematic thinking and beliefs, self-sabotaging tendencies, or old, unhelpful stories that you might have.
Please no whiners, complainers, projectors, blamers, nit-pickers, perfectionists, and those looking for a mother figure (I’m not your gal).

How one-to-one business coaching works:
....

All good things take time. Business coaching is a minimum four-month commitment, with sessions on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly cadence.
Our first session together is 90-120 minutes as we attempt to empty your head into mine. We review where you're at and where you want to be, and uncover key goals you have for your business coaching. Following sessions are 60 minutes.
Together, we develop your Action Plan which includes the key short-term and long-term goals we've set together. This is a collaborative, online document that ensures you'll always know what you're doing, what to prioritise, and (most importantly) what you don't have to worry about.
You have access to me in between sessions via email and WhatsApp for any freak-outs and epiphanies, clarifying questions, or "help please!" requests for further information.
You'll have access to my little black book of trusted industry experts (invaluable!). If you need a copywriter, website designer, SEO nerd, photographer, videographer, PR person or extraordinary organising-type person, I can help you find the right person and work with them (and no, I didn't find them on Fiverr or through a quick Google search, and I don't recommend you do this either!).
Supporting information, templates and exercises, as relevant, which I've developed and tested in large and small training groups.

Ready to make your move?

If you know the value of coaching and you're ready to invest, then let's meet. This is an opportunity for a 'vibe check', and for both of us to mutually decide whether or not we wish to proceed. I am not auditioning for you on this call; and I will not be pitching you. We are two adults and I don't play power games. If you're keen to talk, then click the button below, and book yourself in.

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