Meet Stephanie Ward
Meet Stephanie Ward
Founder of Fire Fly Coaching, speaker, and host of Meaningpreneur Podcast
Hustle Global (HG): Where are you originally from? Where are you currently located and running your business from?
Stephanie Ward (SW): Hi Y’all! I’m Stephanie Ward, my pronouns are she/her. I was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I’ve lived in Apeldoorn since I moved to NL in 1999 for love.
HG: Tell me about your business. What’s your mission? Who’s your ideal customer?
SW: My intention is to support business owners so they can make a living doing the work they love. My ideal client is a globally minded service-based business owner who wants more ease, fulfillment, and profit from their business. As a business and marketing mentor, I help my clients get clarity in three areas:
Their offers (Business Model)
How they talk about their business (Marketing Messages)
How they connect with their ideal clients (Marketing Strategies)
My approach is human-centered and non-creepy.
HG: What’s your day-to-day like as a business owner?
SW: The day-to-day varies which I thrive on. And, I do create structure so I can focus on certain areas of my business during specific periods. I try to schedule client calls on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I like to have one week per month with no client calls so I can focus ON my business and do creative work. I connect with people daily, from people I already know to making new connections. I love LinkedIn, it’s an amazing platform for connecting. If you’re reading this, send me an invitation, and let’s connect.
HG: What do you wish you had known before starting your business?
SW: I actually think it’s better that there were a lot of things I didn’t know before I started my business. Because maybe if I had, I wouldn’t have begun. Sometimes being naive is a good thing because you’re more open and willing to experiment.
HG: What has been your biggest obstacle so far? And what did it teach you?
SW: As a business owner there are so many obstacles and they aren’t always big. The bigness can come from the cumulative effect of many small obstacles. The most important lesson to learn from obstacles is to be sure you have a plan for dealing with them. Having a plan doesn’t mean it won’t be hard but it does give you the confidence to know that you will get through it. And to know that obstacles will continue and that is part of being a business owner.
HG: What challenge(s) are you facing right now?
SW: I’m wondering about where the best place is to be in a community with the people in my network. I have a newsletter and I’m on LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube but it feels like something is missing. I’ve been considering creating a Substack account. I’m open to ideas.
HG: What has been your biggest win so far? And how did you celebrate?
SW: There hasn’t been one specific thing that has happened that felt like the biggest win. I suppose a collective win is that I’m still in business after 22 years. I did have a virtual celebration at the 20-year mark in 2022 where I highlighted my clients and their businesses.
HG: What has been your most successful marketing strategy? What were the results?
SW: Connecting with people in a human way. I always say if you don’t like the word marketing you can simply replace it with the word connecting. Building a business is all about building relationships with people and that takes time. When you have relationships with people they may become clients or partners. Here’s a blog post I wrote on the topic. I connect with people through referrals, partnerships, writing, and speaking.
HG: Name one book or resource that helped you the most with building your business. How did it help you?
SW: The E-Myth by Michael Gerber was helpful for me at the beginning of my business to understand the difference between working IN your business and ON your business. The book I recommend the most now to other business owners related to marketing is, This Is Marketing by Seth Godin. It’s not prescriptive in nature, it’s more of a way of thinking. It’s a book you can read again and again and get something new every time.
HG: How do you incorporate wellness and self-care into your daily routine to avoid burning out?
SW: This is such a meaningful question. I love nature and apply it in many ways in my business. Taking breaks is essential for wellness so I go for a walk in the woods each day. This gives me many things: a break, connects me with nature, and the space for my mind to clear and let ideas and answers flow in. More on that here.
I also utilize the principles of nature in my business and marketing which create positive boundaries that support me as well as my business. Ideas like not forcing things and taking your time like nature does. Not expecting seeds you plant to grow overnight. To tend to your business garden and nurture it so it will grow.
Q: What tools or technology do you use daily to improve workflows, operations, communication, etc. in your business?
SW: Almost my entire brain is on Evernote. I really don’t know what I would do without it. I use Asana for organizing and planning. I use ConvertKit to send my newsletter. I use a CRM system daily, one of the first and most important decisions I made when I started my business in 2002. I don’t recommend the one I use because there are better options available now. The most important thing is to use one that works for you. Because as I’ve said, your relationships are the most essential parts of your business.
HG: Are you currently using any AI tools in your business or personally? If so, which ones? What do you use them for? And how have they benefited you/your business?
SW: I use Chat GPT and Pi AI mainly for research. They provide far better results than Google.
HG: What’s one thing you do every day to keep your business on track?
SW: Connect with people, support people, and be helpful.
HG: How would you describe your working style in 3 words (or less)?
SW: Trustworthy, caring, and enthusiastic.
HG: What 3 tips would you give to aspiring and fellow entrepreneurs?
SW:
Know what is most important and focus on that, simplify.
Make building relationships a priority.
Be and share who you are, all of you because everything you’ve been through has brought you to where you are now.
HG: Lastly, what do you love most about being an entrepreneur? And what would you change?
SW: I love the freedom to continually create my business and to contribute to the evolution of my clients’ businesses.
About Stephanie
I'm a Business & Marketing Mentor for Business Owners who want to Simplify Their Business for More Ease, Fulfillment & Profit.
I started Firefly Coaching in 2002 and serve clients all over the world. I have an undergraduate degree in Business Management and a Master’s degree in Communication in addition to years in non-profit and corporate jobs before starting my business.
I'm a speaker and the creator and host of the Meaningpreneur Podcast and I've published over 350 blog posts. As an American who has lived in the Netherlands since 1999, I do speak Dutch (but not perfectly).
🛜 Where to find Stephanie & Fire Fly online: website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.