Running a naturally growing business as a one-woman-show comes with more ups and downs than most people imagine. When you’re the CEO, creative lead, strategist, and bookkeeper all at once, it’s easy to fall into a cycle of reactive work.
That’s where Jordan Tait—Founder and Business Coach at The Intentional Business—came in. Working with him as my business coach over the past year has transformed not only the way I run EmailBoutique, but also how I see myself as a founder.
When I first started working with Jordan, I was overwhelmed and often felt like I was sprinting to keep up with my own success. Projects were coming in steadily, but I didn’t have clear systems to track, reflect, or scale my work. The chaos was manageable—but barely.
With Jordan’s guidance, I’ve created a more structured, intelligent, and sustainable way to operate.
We started small: organizing my processes, planning my quarters, and tracking project workflows. From there, we tackled pricing, client onboarding, automation, and eventually, project retrospectives. Jordan never imposed a formula—he helped me shape systems around how I work best.
Together, we laid the foundation for EmailBoutique to grow intentionally, not just reactively.
One of the most impactful shifts was refining the way I deliver complex client projects. By investing in a modular design system and internal process improvements, I was able to streamline delivery while maintaining a high level of customization and quality. This has elevated the value of my services—and allowed me to focus on the kind of work I truly want to do.
Another breakthrough came when I implemented Read.ai into my workflow. It tracks meetings with full transcripts, chapters, summaries, key questions, and action items—automatically sending everything to my project management tool, Asana.
With the help of Zapier, I can now break that content into structured fields inside Asana, quickly create subtasks, assign them, and schedule next steps. The intentional questions I ask during meetings even help me shape project proposals on the spot. What used to take me up to five hours at the start of a project now takes less than 30 minutes.
This wasn’t implemented overnight. I can’t just hit pause on client work to rebuild everything. But I’ve made it a habit to block out time each week to refine my systems and improve onboarding and project delivery. Measuring that progress over time has been incredibly rewarding.
Jordan’s feedback has always been thoughtful and encouraging. He’s consistently recognized the structure and clarity I’ve brought into my workflows, and that encouragement helped validate the direction I was taking. Especially on days when things felt messy or overwhelming, it grounded me to know that real progress was happening under the surface.
As I embraced location independence and began working from Europe, I brought those systems with me. Co-living and co-working abroad opened up new inspiration and unexpected business connections. I learned how to structure my days around both productivity and joy. I met founders, tech coaches, and creatives from around the world. My business didn’t just survive that change—it thrived.
The biggest personal takeaway? I finally feel in control. Not of everything—but enough. Enough to enjoy the freedom I’ve worked hard for. Enough to set boundaries. Enough to reflect, learn, and evolve.
Not every project flows perfectly—yet. But now I have systems in place to catch the bumps early and recover with clarity. I’m not aiming for flawless—because that’s not realistic. This business is evolving, and so am I. I’m not here to present a polished version of someone who has it all figured out. What I’m building is shaped by consistent effort, thoughtful iteration, and a quiet determination that helps me move forward—even when things go sideways.
I do have a bookkeeper and an accounting company, but I also want to make more space to understand the financial direction of my business myself. That includes reviewing past performance and planning the next quarters ahead with intention—not just for budgeting, but for strategic growth.
Jordan helped me tune into what matters most: building a business that supports my life, not the other way around. He pushed me to take the time to reflect on each project, measure what worked, and identify what to improve. That clarity has fueled new offerings, better proposals, and a stronger sense of self-worth in what I bring to the table.
From the outside, it might still look like a one-woman show. But inside, EmailBoutique now runs with the strength of a thoughtful system, a strategic brain, and a creative heart.
And yes, I still wear all the hats. But now I do it with purpose.
If you’ve ever felt the pull to reshape your work so it actually supports the life you want—start. There’s no ideal time, no flawless system waiting. Just a decision to begin, and the willingness to build from there.
📩 Connect with me on LinkedIn or send a message.
With love from Valencia,
Annett
Founder, EmailBoutique.io
