In this episode of One Small Change, Yvonne McCoy sits down with certified business coach Debra Russell to dive into the powerful impact of small, intentional changes on both health and entrepreneurship. Debra Russell shares her journey from a high-powered film and TV career to building a business that helps passionate individuals turn their craft into thriving, sustainable ventures. Through her personal story of overcoming illness, Debra Russell introduces the concept of “pacing” as a key to both healing and business growth, breaking the myth that more hustle always leads to success. Together, they unpack the importance of self-leadership, smart delegation, and developing systems that honor creativity without sacrificing profitability. Tune in for actionable insights—and a refreshing reminder that slow, steady, and strategic steps can create monumental transformation.

Guest Bio:

Debra Russell is a certified business coach, MBA, and expert in NLP and hypnosis. With a background in film and television production, Debra Russell transitioned into coaching after a serious illness, discovering her calling in helping creators, athletes, and passion-driven entrepreneurs build sustainable, profitable businesses. Raised with business savvy by a CPA parent and a lifelong entrepreneur herself, she brings a blend of practical business structure and heart-centered guidance to her clients.

Chapters:

00:00 "Surrendering to Heal"

04:52 "Pilates and Self-Acceptance"

09:41 Creativity Through Structure

12:35 Delegation and Workflow Simplified

16:47 "Join, Share, Grow, Transform"

17:37 "One Small Change Strategy"

Quote from the Guest:

“One small change at a time…if you try to change too much too fast, you will rebel against it or things will happen that throw you off and you will revert to your default. So one small change.”

Link:

Click here to get your free “Overwhelm into Action” workbook: https://tinyurl.com/TheOneSmallChange

Connect with Debra at: debra@debrarussellcoaching.com or https://www.debrarussellcoaching.com/

Welcome to the One Small Change. I can't believe it's another week. And I am

thrilled to embark on this journey of exploration and

transformation with you. I'm your host, Yvonne McCoy, and I bring almost

30 years of entrepreneurial experience. And I have a passion

for discovering growth through the power of seemingly small change.

So I'm glad you came. With me this week we have another wonderful guest

who's going to share how a small, unexpected or significant,

insignificant decision sparked a

transformation in either their personal or their professional

or both. So today I am happy to

share with you, introduce you to Debra Russell. Debra,

thank you for being here. Thank you for having me, Yvonne. I'm

thrilled to be here. So tell us what you do

and what was it that made you start to do it and makes

you really good at what you do? Okay, so I

am a certified business coach. I'm an mba,

and I also am certified in

NLP and hypnosis. What

got me into coaching was a very long,

winding road, so I won't bore you with that. But I

was very, very sick and knew I could not go back to

my previous life, which was in film and television

production. And I just kept saying, well, what am I supposed

to do next? And coaching sort of found

me. So I decided to investigate it. I

hired a coach, and then I went ahead and

did my coach training and opened my coaching business because it

was the most perfect match

for who I am, for my core competencies.

Like, I never even. Like, coaching didn't exist back

then. That was, you know, the early aughts. No one had ever heard of

coaching. When I told people I was a coach, they would say Lamaze

and I'd say, no.

Right? No. So

that, you know, just kind of following, just kept asking what

was supposed to be next and then following wherever that led

me took me to coaching through a lot of

very interesting serendipities, which of course, you don't see

while they're happening, but in hindsight become

very clear. But I will say that when I was

very ill, the one small change

that changed everything for me, that I got a lot of

pushback, frankly, for my family about. So I was very

ill. I was bedridden. I was working with a

therapist because I had lost everything.

And something she said to me, which was, you chose

an illness that you could not

fight against, that the more you fight it, the

sicker you get. You chose an illness

that you have to surrender to.

And she was right. And I'm a fighter,

Yvonne. I am. I'm an a Type. Go get them.

Hustle and grind fighter. That's my personality.

And I couldn't fight this. The more I fought, the sicker

I got. So I surrendered

and I learned a key skill. Skill

called pacing.

Pacing. I know, I know.

Pacing basically means you stop before you get

tired. You don't do more than.

Than you can. And if you. You're tired, it's

already too late. You've done too much. Yeah, right.

And so I kept having to do less and then do less

until I found my baseline for what

I could do on any given day and not get sicker.

And that's where I started, and I built from there.

I'm laughing because this sounds so

familiar. I mean, you know, I can think about different points

in my life when I just was like,

I'm pushing, I'm pushing. And they're like, you know,

this doesn't work. You know, you. You know, I. There was a time when

my daughter was very sick, and I was like a

maniac. And the therapist said

to me, the child that you knew is no longer

there. And I was. I was ready to physically assault her.

I was like, how dare you say that to me? Right?

You know, and. And I was not willing to accept her the way

that she was. I mean, it was like, this is, you know, and, you

know, and I. And I think back also, I just started Pilates,

and the first session went really well. And the second session I was like, I

can do more, right? And she was like. She was

like, no. And the next day,

I said to my husband, even my lips hurt. I. I mean, I.

I almost couldn't get out of bed. I was like, so, yes, I

absolutely do understand what you're talking about. And, And

I think that one of the things that.

That you said that, That I found

interesting is you said you bring business savvy,

you know, so tell me about that a little bit. Tell me about,

you know, what it is that you actually do and, And. And where

the pacing comes in. Right. So I

specialize in working with people who are pursuing their

passion as a business. So that started

with working in the arts and entertainment industry. That's my

background, working with artists, with musicians.

I also work with athletes who are

absolutely pursuing their passion, and it's a business.

And I also work with people like you and me that. On. Who are

doing what we do because we love it. The

common through line is that we spend all this time, energy

and money learning our craft, our skill, our game.

But for most people, and yeah, there are exceptions to

this Rule. But for most people, no time learning

business. And so I

was raised by a cpa. I've been in business

for myself since I was a kid. I've always run my

own business. Business is kind of a core part of who

I am. And so. And I love

the arts and I love hanging out with artists, I love hanging out with

athletes. I love hanging out with people who are passionate

because I should not be more passionate about your goals than

you are. Right. That's boring to me.

I could get you successful, but I'm not having fun. So.

So I help you who

love what you do, who know about what you do.

I help you create the foundation of a business

to support it. I help you create the systems, the

strategies, build the team, understand,

like what experts do you need on your team, what

assistance do you need, how to hire and fire, how to

describe the job, and how to

delegate and give away the things you're doing

yourself that you should not be doing yourself.

And so that's how I bring the business savvy.

So that you don't just have a passion, you have a business

that is sustainable, that is profitable, that you

can take a vacation from, and that at

some point you might even be able to sell.

So one of the things that I love about what you say is

most people start their business from their passion. And

so one of the things that I find is interesting is.

In terms of the levels of leadership, it's kind of like

self leadership, Leadership of a project,

leadership of a team, the leadership of an organization.

Many people are very good at leadership of the

project, but they are not good at self leadership.

And so it makes it really difficult for them to scale their business.

And you know, one of the things that I say all the time is the

two things. The first one is.

Entrepreneurs are really good at spotting talent. And then they

micromanage them to mediocrity because.

Because they won't do it their way. It's so true.

You know, but the thing is, you hired them because you saw something

in them that was like exciting and now you totally

squelched it. Right? Well, people

micromanage because they don't know how to delegate. Right.

Delegation is a skill. But also because they have not

built out their system. Right. It's very hard to delegate

something that lives inside your head. Yes. That is

not documented and does not have an operations

manual. And I would think that for the people that you work that are in

the creative thing, it's like, you know, it just, it comes to

me. It just, you Know, it just oozes from my course

and they think that it will make them less creative. But actually

it's very freeing. I mean, I have a thing called, you know,

I have lots of acronyms and systems. But one is, you

know, when you're in a situation, first you want to look at the

procedural. Is there, you know, if somebody's not doing something right,

is there, you know, did they follow the procedure or is

there not a procedure or does the procedure need to be updated?

Then you look at the personal. Because where we start is, oh, Susie never does

this right. Or Bob is always, you know, whatever. But if

you haven't told them what it is you want them to do

in a way that they can duplicate, how can they get it right most of

the time? So, you know, and then the issue is, have you

actually trained them to do what it is that you want them to do?

And probably even before that is, did you

hire them for the role that you really needed them for? I mean, I had,

I had, I used to coach women executives of non profits.

And I cannot tell you how many times I heard this, this statement,

the universe brought me this person.

Oh dear. Yes. I would say, you know, how about

we try you ask the universe for what you need so

that when you, it brings you this person, it's the right person

instead of you being affixed to this person and now trying to

find a job for them. People find people

are attracted to other people because of their energetic

connection. That does not necessarily mean they have the skill

set that they need. And I love what you were saying

about understanding what you know, what is

the job? Have you documented the job? Have you

trained them on that documentation? But also

have you then let them use their core

genius to make your system

so much better? Yes, but. And here's the most important

piece. And then documented those changes. Yes. Because

if they don't document those changes, they're going to move on to

another job because people do. Right. And then

you're screwed and because all the things that they're doing,

gone. Yes, Right. And I have to say one other thing

about delegation, because this is like a hot button with me. You

know, typically people say you delegate, you automate, you eliminate. Right,

Right. And I would say that you do it just in reverse.

First of all, you have to have. My system is called Productivity

ahead. So first of all, not everything works in every situation.

So you have to be aware of what situation you're in and what it is

that you're trying to accomplish. Then you put things on hold,

then you eliminate stuff, then you automate, which is

not necessarily a system. It doesn't have to be a technology

thing. You know, it can just be, you know, you're the last person that drank

the last cup of coffee, you make the next pot, right? Or, you know, you

order the copy paper or whatever, right? And then

you delegate the stuff that's important that's going to grow your

business. Delegation is actually training. You are

actually training people to do important parts of your business.

If you start with delegation first, you are giving them the junk that's

on the top of your pile, right? And there is a place for that.

But what I. I have to leap on what you just said because

it's so important. Especially with small business

owners or solopreneurs, what happens is

that they market, they market, they market, they market. They get busy, they get busy,

they get busy. They're no longer busy because they stopped

marketing. And then they. Because they're too busy to market. So then they market, they

market to market. That is a roller coaster. That's the

feast. That is not growth. The growth line for

that business is flat, right? That.

That is not growth. So what you've got to do

is before you're too busy, you need to build out

the marketing system and have someone

else trained to do it because you're

doing the thing that is your core genius,

right? And you're too busy to market because you're doing

your core genius. So you need someone else doing that.

I. I hate to cut you off because I would love to keep

talking, but we. I say this on every podcast,

but we are running out of time. So tell me if, if you

have a gift for us, tell me what it is and you know

how people can get the most out of it. So let's start with that before

we run out of time. You bet. You bet. So I have an

ebook. I already sent you the short link for it.

It's called Move from Overwhelm into Action. A Guide

to Shift from Procrastination into Productivity.

Productivity is one of my core areas of focus

with clients. The first couple of chapters

are absolutely the foundation from where you should

start to deal with the basic

mindset issues around productivity. And there

are exercises in every chapter, so there's stuff for you to

do to really start to shift that for yourself. If

you. If you grab that, you are going to be in my

circle of influence. And

you can also reach me my email. If you can spell my name,

you can email me. My email is

deborah@deborahrussellcoaching.com

and so, Debra, no extra letters. Russell, two

S's, two L's. Okay, so, so here's the

trick question. You bet. When was the last time you did something new for the

first time? Gosh.

Well, actually I. I am

embarking on something new as we speak, which is

really using Instagram to

market my business. I am Insta stupid and

I really don't understand Instagram. I don't know how it

works. So I am delving into

how to use, like, how Instagram really works. Like, I don't even

know how to comment on people. Like, I'm so lost when it comes

to Instagram. So I'm learning Instagram, I'm learning how to use

it for my business and I'm a little terrified,

but I'm doing it anyway, so. So stay tuned. I am

@bizcoachdebra on Instagram, so you'll

get to watch my growth. And my

screw ups. Well, you know, that just makes you more

relatable. So. So here's the commercial, guys.

I hope you'll take the time to subscribe and share

and engage on social media. And the reason I did this is so

I wanted to be able to expose other people to some of the fabulous people

that I'm meeting and help grow this vibrant community

and fuel your quest for growth and impact. And so I hope you will continue

to join me for the one small change and find things that you

can sm, the smallest shifts that can, you know, yield really

monumental transformations for you. And you may want to take a minute and

listen to the first episode, why I where I explain why I'm

doing what I'm doing. And also I do a quarterly clarity

check in so that at the beginning of each quarter you can take a look.

So, Debra, what are your last words of wisdom for people?

What do you want them to remember? The one small change

is a critical concept for everything you

do in your business, what you do with your time management and

productivity. One small change at a time.

You know, slow and steady wins the race, as we all learned

as kids. And if you try to change too much

too fast, you will rebel against it or things will happen

that throw you off and you will revert to your default.

So one small change. All right then.

All right. So what I want to say is, remember, change

can be simple, but it's not always easy. And it requires

courage, resilience, and a willingness to step out of your comfort zone. If

you are comfortable, you are not growing. And in

fact, you're probably stagnating, because if you

think you're standing still, the world is moving past you. So I

want to make sure that you. Have a mindset

where you're curious and you want to embark on these changes to grow your

business and have the impact and the profit that you really deserve.

So if you will join me again for the one small change,

we can together build bold visions and innovative

possibilities. And so I'm going to say to you,

until we meet again, stay very curious. And, Debra, thank

you so much for being here today. Absolutely. Thank you for having

me. This was great.