Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Klein.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Brandcake is actually my fourth business.
When I was in high school, I started a local travel blog about my hometown, Los Angeles, back when blogging was still the Hot New Thing. That became Business #1.
Then, a few years later, I started a vegan hot chocolate brand. I started that business selling something that pretty much nobody needed — jars of gourmet sugar. But then, people started asking me, “Hey, I don’t want this chai sugar hot chocolate mix in a glass jar, but can you make 300 of them in little packets for my wedding?” That became Business #2 — vegan hot chocolate mixes in semi-custom packaging for weddings, parties, and subscription boxes.
That business weighed on me because I had no idea how to manage inventory and clean up my backend delivery.
So, I left entrepreneurship for a while and went into tech…to “learn how to become a real entrepreneur”.
Take it from me — jobs do not teach you how to become a better entrepreneur. Running a business does.
So, I then started Business #3 — a branding agency, which was how Brandcake was born.
From the very beginning of Brandcake, I’ve always been dedicated to that entrepreneurs still in the early stages of their business. Not making money or not making the money they want yet.
And I realized that, as I delivered branding and design assets, that…the people I wanted to help just did not need branding.
They wanted branding because they wanted to look perfect, and they thought that perfect looks would draw customers in.
In reality, nothing is further from the truth. To get your business off the ground, you MUST show up imperfect.
I knew that was the real “medicine” my people needed, and so I decided to become a coach.
Nearly two years later, here we are.
I work with small business owners all over the world and help them make the money they want.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
For me, one of the toughest things about Brandcake was deciding to go full-time with it.
A few months into Brandcake, I told myself that I would quit my full-time job in tech once I had earned my emergency fund.
That came and went.
$30,000 later…I was still working in tech while running Brandcake and while also managing a real estate investment.
I had been socialized my whole life that A Job is the most secure way to make money. That a “Good Job” signifies social status and means something about you.
And aaaalllll the Quit My Job metrics and plans I came up with did not actually help me quit my job UNTIL I faced those subconscious beliefs about Having a Job.
People ask me all the time, “When is the right time to quit my job?” And the answer is…there really is no right answer.
You just have to have your own back to carry through with your own decision.
Now, here I am, running Brandcake full-time, working with a full load of clients. I’m going to out-earn my W2 tech salary this year.
But more important than the actual income I make is the way I get to live my life because I had the courage to become my own boss.
That makes me feel richer than I ever have before.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I’m a business coach for creative small business owners who are either (a) not making money or (b) not making the money they WANT to be making…yet.
Money is not “dirty” or “bad.” And to make more of it, you don’t have to “sell out”, “grind harder”, or convince people.
Instead, through working 1:1 with me, I help my clients tune up their businesses in these areas:
+ Business Model
+ Marketing
+ Selling
+ Delivery
+ Time Management
+ Money Management
It’s the holistic equation that creates the income you want while having more fun and peace of mind.
What my clients learn doesn’t just work for their first couple of years in business.
It’s the foundation for how you will make money and how making that money will feel for the rest of your entrepreneurial career.
I’m most proud of helping people achieve money goals they once thought were impossible.
For example, one of my clients went from $40k months to $100k months through working with me.
Another made $1,100 in three weeks after his first 60-minute call…as an artist.
I have folks quit their jobs, heal their relationship with social media, tune into their creative visions, become profitable, manage their contractors with more peace of mind…
And of course, I have MANY clients see an uptick in their sales after just their first session with me.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
You are always 100% responsible for your results.
It’s never “luck”. It’s never an outside circumstance.
Whether you are happy with the results in your life and business or not, you can connect the dots to see what your part was in creating that outcome.
This is great news — because if you can find the equation that created X, that means you can reconfigure the equation to create Y.
I’ve found that working with coaches myself helps me tune into my “results equations” more easily than trying to do it on my own.
Oh yeah and — worrying about social media algorithms and how-to’s is a complete waste of time!
Seriously. I had my first $25k month when I had like 300 followers.
What matters most is actually meeting the people you serve, whether that’s online or offline, and helping them before they even pay you.
Contact Info:
- Email: sarah@brandcake.biz
- Website: https://www.sarahkleincoaching.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandcake.biz/
- Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4EnhnAa5ePJ60anK2A9dcZ?si=525892e9f38648fa
Image Credits
The portrait photo of me was taken by Woke Beauty.
