A Rebel's Roadmap
š¤business philosophies with Rebel Automations founder Kelly Cabana!
The Come Up highlights successful business ownersā & operators ācome-upā stories in an easy-to-read, written interview format.
All content is transcribed from live interviews.
Know someone who would make a great interview? Nominate them here!
For this issue - an interview with Rebel Automations founder Kelly Cabana!
Rebel Automations Quick Stats:
š¤Business Type: Marketing Automation (Client Services)
š§¾Avg. Deal Size: $1500-$15k USD
š„Headcount: 1
ā³Time In Business: 11 years
šHours Per Week: 20-30
ā©Best Growth Channel:
Client Referrals
Upwork
Before Rebel Automationsā¦
Okay, so here's the short versionā¦
I grew up in Southern California - was a good student and competitive softball player and ended up getting a scholarship to Miami University in Ohio where I aimed to get into medical school.Ā
I would say I was living a perfectionistic, āType-Aā life as a D1 athlete - it was an easy step to just go into med school. I was so used to this grind and I was good at it, but it wasnāt until my third year, when I started seeing patients that I realized, āOh shit, being a doctor's not for me.ā
It was a really scary point in my life - everything I worked towards, wasnāt going to work for me.Ā Ā
My body also had something to say about it - I've had health issues throughout my 20s and when my illness got worse, it was like my body telling me, 'You're not supposed to be a doctor.āĀ
Ā My life in college and going into med school, it was super planned out - I could see what I was going to be doing for the next 10 yearsā¦and suddenly, I was totally lost. So, what do you do when you fall off the mountain and you don't know what to do next?
Well, I went on a road trip, lived out of my car for over a month, and traveled up the California coast, into Oregon and Washington. I started meeting people in Portland, Oregon, and eventually a few of them let me stay for free at their place until I got my feet on the ground. It was very uncomfortable at first - really out of my usual self, especially traveling alone.Ā
But that's how I ended up in Portland.
I got a job working for an entrepreneur who used Infusionsoft, which is now called Keep - it's a marketing automation platform. One of my jobs was to talk to the contractor who managed this program. The problem was, this contractor was always slow in responding, so I just jumped in and realized I had an incredible ease working with the platform.
So I thought, why don't I just do what this contractor is doing and put myself on Upwork?Ā
That was at the beginning of 2013 - and within two months, I had someone offering me almost full-time work. I could work from home and work off of Upwork. It was really as simple as that.
On stabilizingā¦(and when you finally felt things WERE stable)
I mean, it wasn't easyā¦
It was a struggle to survive for a number of years and to figure out exactly what I was doing. The thing I found, and still find to be true, is that once people realize you're good, smart, and capable of taking on stuff, they will throw anything and everything at you.Ā
And when I was younger and trying to figure out my business it was great. I took on so many thingsā¦social media, Facebook ads, creating websites, whatever they needed.
It was a learning experience knowing a funnel from bringing in leads, to writing emails, to content, to payment processors, and all the above. Then, over time, the process of building my own business and where I am now is about niching down, seeing what I'm really good at, and empowering myself with it.
But really, it was always about survival. I admit, I had to rely on credit cards for a bitā¦ notĀ because my business wasn't profitable ā it always has been, mainly because I have such low overhead, but because I was making just enough money to survive. And, obviously, that's always hard.
After reaching that five-year mark, thatās when things finally started to feel stable for me.
On becoming an āentrepreneurā and being ahead of the remote work trendā¦
I donāt necessarily want to say Iāve always been 'entrepreneurial' because that word is so overused, but I've always tried stuff. In college, I had a cookie business - I sold cookies in front of a nightclub. They were made in the back of the nightclub, which was a restaurant by day, and Iād sell them out front to drunk people from midnight to 2 AM.Ā
I've always wanted to do something different.
So, once becoming a doctor was out of the question, it felt natural for me to think, 'Okay, I can do this. I can be my own boss. Yeah, I don't see any downsides, can make it work.'
I probably have to give credit to my dad - he's a private investigator and works independently now, so maybe seeing my father running his own business and working from home normalized it for me.Ā
On pricingā¦
I will tell you, meeting my husband and seeing how he works with money on a daily basis has changed my viewpoint. I'm an empathetic person, sometimes to a fault, and in the past, I've been overly giving to clients and nonprofits by not charging enough. I was underpaying myself and trying to be fair. But 'fair' in business is totally different for each person, and navigating this has always been hard for me. Seeing how my husband, who works in logistics, approaches it ā it's just numbers, it's business. To him, it's not personal, like I make it. Unfortunately, that's just who I am.
For example, after initial meetings, I talk to my husband to check that I'm pricing myself correctly -Ā he's just good at it. I wish I had someone like that before, but finding trustworthy people to compare numbers with has been really difficult - they donāt exactly teach you business fundamentals while pre-med.Ā
And in my business, it's all on me, and because of that, my strengths and weaknesses are a part of my business.That is something thatās really hard to face, especially when I know pricing is not my strength.
On marketingā¦
I get referrals, and I'm super thankful and appreciative for that. I've always been proud that I've had some of the same clients for a long time. They either come back with new projects or refer me to other people, and that's really how I get new clients now.
Iāve tried in the past to do specific marketing channels, but I didnāt get any good leads.Ā Thatās why I am currently only on LinkedIn, but besides that, I donāt do any social media.
On not growing into an agencyā¦
I'm at a point where I'm maxed out on hours, but I'd like to help more people. For a long time, I've been trying to figure out how to do that for people who can't hire me. So, I've been working on that slowly in the background.
To be honest, managing people is not my strength and growing into an agency isnāt on my radar. Iām a big āflowā person - I dive in, work hard, and I love it - it's just not in my nature to manage others.
I'd actually love to teachā¦Ā
I mean that is kind of what I end up doing anyway, teaching my clients what's possible. But I'd love to share that knowledge with a wider audienceā¦I care about people - itās why I wanted to be a doctor - I want to help them.Ā
That's one of the reasons why I love working with small business owners, because I can really help them.
On present day challengesā¦ (and health issues limiting the business)
This is the part where I really don't know how much to share, because currently, my health is a major factor. How many hours can I work and still heal and be healthy? It's a battle, a daily battle and itās my biggest challenge. That's also why I'm maxed out on hours.
Another thing is - I don't tell my clients about my health issues.Ā because I don't want people thinking, 'Oh, she's the sick girl,' or 'She's not getting back to me because she's sick.ā
It's like there's a weird stigma.
And I want to present myself as a strong business owner, very capable - not as someone who needs to lay down for a second.
Outside of that, a big issue is really just productizing my servicesā¦
It's really hard because everything is so tailored to each specific business. This is the part where I've struggled to create fixed-rate projects that don't end up being detrimental to me, while still being explanatory enough for a client to understand.
They know they need this āautomation thingā when they come to me, and they know they needĀ more flow between their software tools, but they don't know how to get there, and they don't know what's possible.Ā
On setting revenue targetsā¦
I don't know if this is something I should admit when running a business, but money has never been my main driverā¦Ā
I'm just not motivated by money.Ā
I do understand that I need to live a certain healthy lifestyle, and that requires a certain amount of money, so I know how much I need to make. But my motivation comes from helping people. It sounds so corny, but I love it when my clients give me words of affirmation, like saying, 'Thank you. You are making my business better.'
On finding business principles/leaders, thought leadersā¦
Is it weird to think I look at other people and do the opposite?
Especially at the time when I was coming into business, a lot of the content and information was very 'bro-centered' - very male, very hard sellingā¦and that is still the case in a lot of what's big out there.
But that's not what I've seen work time and time againā¦business is personal, itās human.
So, it's hard to look at who's really big out there in terms of thought leadership - I've still tried to take some of their principles, I've downloaded their information, but I've really had to sift through and ask, 'Okay, what's real? What's going to work for real businesses?'
And not like, āthis is how to build a $100 million dollar company bullshitā or how some billion-dollar business operates that can afford to do things totally differentlyThose businesses are the type who wouldnāt care about losing two leads, but those two leads are so important for a small business - you can't afford to lose them or let them get lost in a system.
So, over the years, I've gone through a deep removal of social media and looking outwards.
I don't want to be an ostrich, and I don't think I am, but there's so much misleading information out there, and Iāve found it is still the time-tested human things that still work.
On Automation in your own businessā¦
Most of my automation is in my billing, my invoices, and my contracts, which are all hosted in one place. That's because those are the tasks that can take up large amounts of time that you don't get paid for.Ā
Interestingly, programs have caught up with the world of freelancing and independent contractors, which has made my life a lot easier. I use Bonsai, which hosts all my contracts, and it has a work timer I can literally press on and off. That then goes directly into a timesheet, and then into the invoice. It's so much better now. This kind of stuff didn't used to exist unless you were willing to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars. Now, it's $10 a month.
On building a business to optimize for lifestyleā¦
I would say a lot of how things have unfolded is based on who I prefer to work with - typically I'm working either directly with the CEO or with the marketing person. I'm not working with big companies because I like working with the owner - I donāt want to have to go through the corporate rigamarole.
It eliminates the need for all those extra pointless meetings, and it also means I can set my schedule.
It's about getting into the groove of things and making great automations.
And to be honest, with my health issues, if I worked a nine-to-five job, I'd likely be on disability. I wouldn't be able to manage and show up consistently. But with my current arrangement, I can do things on my own schedule and terms. It weirdly saved me.Ā
My life has unfolded so that I'm still a very productive human, even with my health challenges.
Thatās it for issue this issue!
To learn more about Kelly, check her out on LinkedIn or on her website!
Read past issues here:
If you, or someone you know would like to be featured, or just want to connect, feel free toĀ message me on LinkedIn!