We had the good fortune of connecting with Coralee Beatty and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Coralee, any advice for those thinking about whether to keep going or to give up?
Oh how I have gone through this cycle many times in my entrepreneurial journey! When I had my previous business, with my husband in the construction industry, it would be often that one of us was would want to quit and the other would pick up the energy, to keep us going. That went on for years. After already exploring the idea of selling our business, one day we were both ready to be done and within a week, our business was sold.
I also experienced this in my current business that is completely different than the last one, although in the same industry. This one I am doing on my own and being in business on your own is incredibly difficult. There have been so many days when I just didn’t want to do it anymore and then I think of the people I have helped, the people that need the service and the passion I have around helping my people. I know there is a lot of potential in this business and I know how hard it is to be an entrepreneur. This is part of the journey.
I think it is important to understand that you will reach this ceiling again. If you want to continue being an entrepreneur you will eventually get to this point again that will either stop you again or you will grow through. If you keep going now, you will get through it sooner.
If you want to stop because it’s hard, I would say to keep going. If you want to stop because you have lost the passion for what it is you are doing, then you will know inside you, that it is time.
What should our readers know about your business?
ThriveHQ offers several services to the construction industry. We offer fractional COO services, one-on-one coaching / consulting, and leadership and people development training. We also have a community for women business owners in the construction industry where we support them in their growth in life and business. Our mission is to help make construction an industry of first choice, rather than an industry of last resort and we see that solution lying in the development of good business practices and development of people.
This story starts more than 40 years ago as a young child wandering construction sites after hours and on weekends. A seed was planted – the smells, the sounds the imagination of who and what and how for the space. I loved it and felt so incredibly at home on a construction site. Fast forward to high school graduation and my future, the thought of pursuing construction as a career, was never a consideration. After four years of university I realized what I was doing was not something I could do as a career and had second thoughts about what I wanted to do. That’s when I asked myself “Why not construction?”. I quit university, quit my job and started at our local technical school full time. That all transpired over a four-day period.
I worked for a multi-national engineering firm to start my career and in that time I started a trades business with my husband. After 10 years with the firm I retired to work full time with my husband on the business we were building. We had that business for 15 years and sold it just over six years ago. My journey through business ownership was difficult, it was hard and I had no idea what I was doing on most days. It was flying by the seat of my pants, go-go-go, emergency after emergency. Priorities dictated by the biggest ball about to drop.
Navigating business ownership in the early 2000’s when business coaches were not parked on every corner, having to figure it out on my own, was challenging. There were a lot of sleepless nights, a lot of days of wanting to throw in the towel, a lot of days (years) not being present with my kids – my attention always split between home and work. It was through finally learning about and hiring a business coach that helped me get on track, be focused and put my business in a position to be sold.
This is also the reason I decided to pursue this line of work after selling my business. I wanted to work with other women business owners in the construction industry because I was one of them and I understood their journey. I also knew that we needed a space where women business owners in the construction industry could be surrounded with other like-minded women doing the same thing. To address the business without addressing the life of a businesswoman I think does a disservice. We can’t separate the two and learning to effectively integrate them, is the hardest part.
The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband, Graham Beatty. My greatest cheerleader, supporter and the person who always got me through on the hard days.
Website: www.thrivehq.ca
Instagram: @coraleebeatty
Linkedin: @coraleebeatty