In this intimate episode, Susie sits down with her mentor, Dawn McGruer, to talk about the real work behind growth, the messy parts, the mindset shifts, the identity changes, and the breakthroughs that don’t show up on Instagram. Together, they unpack the behind-the-scenes journey of building confidence, scaling businesses, embracing discomfort, and navigating the challenges that shape entrepreneurs. If you’ve ever wondered what working with a mentor actually looks like, this conversation takes you inside it.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 01:13 – What working with a coach really looks like

• 03:07 – Trust, energy, and choosing the right mentor

• 05:07 – Dawn’s role as a scaling strategist & serial entrepreneur

• 07:47 – Dawn’s childhood, early career, and unconventional path

• 12:21 – The risk-taking era, loss, writing a book at 21

• 14:26 – Building networking events, communities & global platforms

• 16:49 – Creating accredited training and launching multiple businesses

• 18:12 – Scaling clients, burnout, and stepping back from the operational grind

• 19:27 – Rebuilding a business model that supports health, wealth & impact

 

CONNECT WITH DAWN:

Website → dawnmcgruer.com

Instagram → instagram.com/dawnmcgruer

LinkedIn → linkedin.com/in/dawnmcgruer

 

CONNECT WITH SUSIE:

Follow on Instagram: @_susiebatista

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TRANSCRIPTION:

Susie Batista (00:00)
Welcome to the Just Build It podcast. I am your host, Susie Batista. And before being a full-time property developer, I built and sold a luxury interior design firm. That chapter taught me far more than how to run a business. It taught me about standards, pressure, and confidence. This podcast is a space to talk honestly about money, mindset, and all the small decisions that shape our lives over time. If you’re building something in business, in property, or in yourself, you’re in the right place. This is Just Build It. Today’s episode is a really special one for me because it’s not just about showcasing somebody I admire, it’s about letting you in on the behind the scenes of my own journey. Every step I’ve taken so far in building my personal brand has been shaped by the conversations I’ve had with today’s guest. Dawn isn’t just a mentor and coach. She’s been my sounding board, my challenger, my biggest pusher when I wanted to play small, and the calm voice when I wanted to throw it all in. We’re going to talk honestly about what it really takes to grow, the blocks I’ve had to work through, and the lessons that aren’t in the textbooks.

Susie Batista (01:13)
So if you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to work with a coach, or if you’re curious about the shifts that actually change someone’s life and business, this one’s for you. Let’s dive into the conversation with Dawn McGroer. Dawn.

Dawn McGruer (01:28)
Susie.

Susie Batista (01:30)
Thank you, first of all, for coming on one of my very first podcasts. I would just like everybody to know how we initially met. That was through a mutual friend who gave me a call and said, A good friend of mine, Dawn, have you heard of her? I was like, Yes. Already followed her. She wants somebody to come on her podcast. She wants somebody that’s maybe into property. I recommended you. We had a chat, came to your retreat, came onto the podcast. From that very retreat, everything changed for me. Everything became very clear on you, the people that you work with. A couple of days after that retreat, I said to Romeo, I feel like I really want to work with this woman. He said, Well, message her. We had a couple of glasses of wine. Message you. We had a lunch, and this was only What? About eight weeks ago, something like that.

Dawn McGruer (02:32)
Yeah, literally. Yeah, two months.

Susie Batista (02:33)
And within those two months, I have started my personal Instagram brand. I have been on a panel I have my first big speaking gig, and I have now started a podcast. So for anybody who’s ever on the fence about a mentor or a coach, that’s just proving that That with the right coach and the right mentor, big things can happen, right?

Dawn McGruer (03:07)
Yeah, and I think it’s about trust on both parts. I think one of the things that people forget is the working relationship and the mentoring is about the energy that you get, because if it doesn’t feel right, then it’s not going to flow. I think this is one of the things I always say, that never go into something unless you have that gut feel, that absolute feeling like this is going to be the thing. Every time I’ve done that myself, it’s been the best investment I’ve done. So I totally agree.

Susie Batista (03:43)
Tell us in a Nutshell, what you actually do now as a mentor.

Dawn McGruer (03:50)
I think this is the thing because obviously on LinkedIn and Instagram, and I’m fairly new to Instagram, only been on it for a few years, everything is very much around your key content pillars and what you want to be seen and heard for. I think the difficulty is, is trying to explain without confusing exactly what I do because everybody sees me forward front as a mentor. I would say my key specialist area is as a scaling strategist. So I knew from a very young age that I could look at a business, I could look at the model, and I would know whether it worked or not. And And that only came from having so many epic fails myself when I started my business. And it was almost like a formula that I had to go through to test, to test, to test, to see these critical areas. These five critical areas that I always look for in a business. And if someone said to me, what do I do? I’m a speaker, I’m an author, I’m a podcaster, I’m a strategist, I’m an investor, I have multiple other businesses. But I I think, really, if you were to put it under one term, it’s an entrepreneur because there’s always something new every single day.

Dawn McGruer (05:07)
I don’t know if I’ll ever be done. I’m on my third book now, I’m on my fourth business. Do I see anything stopping? No, I’m 46. I still feel like I’m at the beginning. Everything is fresh, everything is exciting. And I just know that there is still more magic to come, more excitement. And every single day, I’m tested. I think what people think is Being in business, you know what you’re doing. Like 25 years on, I must know exactly what’s happening. No, I don’t. I still have the same challenges, but it’s all relative. It’s different challenges. So in the beginning of a business, you have challenges maybe around cash flow. So you only switch those up for maybe having more team challenges. I think the thing is that people say, Oh, I’m having a really tough time in business. We all do, and it will never change. But half of that is the fun of being able to create and direct. Because when I think about my most epic fails, I’m like, honestly, the tears, the sleepless nights and everything, the resilience that’s given me is huge. I am fearless, I am unshakable, I’m unapologetic, I know what I’m going to do, and I do it.

Dawn McGruer (06:18)
So it just goes in cycles. And I think sometimes we go full circle. And some days I remember that same feeling of starting my business because I’m tapping into that again, because I’m starting something something new. I think the thing here is that whatever you see online, it’s just a small snapshot of what we’re doing. But behind the scenes, I didn’t create what I’ve got now overnight. It’s taken 25 years. And when we When we think about the issues and the challenges, I would urge someone to actually go and embrace them because as much as you feel the feel, and it feels that you’re never going to get past it, everything will be okay. It is. This is what I always tell people, there is nothing outside of your health that can’t be changed. I’d always say that if you are feeling in business that it is tough, just speak to someone because it just changes it. It’s almost like your epiphany moment is sharing that problem and just getting someone’s perspective. Also, you’re running it through in your own head all the time. We can’t outthink ourselves in a problem. We have to get it outside of our body.

Dawn McGruer (07:31)
So what do I do? I just think serial entrepreneur, and I think fundamentally, I just want to do unto others, have done to myself. And I think that is my ethos in life and business.

Susie Batista (07:47)
I briefly know your background only because I’m very inquisitive and we had a lovely lunch and I was asking you, how did it all start? Where did it all begin? And I think there’ll be so many people who will want to know the same thing. So take me back. Take me way back. Talk to me about your base, your childhood, where you grew up, and then how you transitioned into what you’re doing these days.

Dawn McGruer (08:15)
I think even as a child, I always felt really different. And different, I never just fitted in. I never wanted to do the same things as other kids did, but I was really contented. And I would just go off and do my own thing. And My mum and dad always say the best and worst gift they ever gave me was my first computer because I’d be up at five o’clock in the morning doing all the games, and then it’d be like,. They were like, My God, Dawn, get off the computer. But I was just always really hungry to learn, and I just always wanted to go and try things. Anything that I just wanted to go and explore, I just always felt like, Well, if someone else can do it, why can’t I? That was the basis of how my parents brought me up because my dad’s an entrepreneur. He has worked in finance. He was travelled all the time. I only saw him at weekends and not necessarily all the weekends because he was travelling in Europe and globally. They always said to me, everything’s possible. I just always had this inner sense that, well, if they’re doing it, I can do it.

Dawn McGruer (09:19)
I remember doing ice skating. My dad was like, Are you sure you want to do this? Then I started semi-pro ice skating, and then I joined a swim team. I just always felt fairly invincible. I didn’t do the traditional route with school. I got expelled, which is ironic because I’m actually a qualified teacher now. What did you get expelled for, Dawn? I don’t know. I think it was just… There was no one thing. It was just a general not being able to adhere to authority. I think that is something that has definitely played out in my later life. Because even when I got my first job, I just seemed to Excel in the corporate world. I never really fitted, I don’t think, into anything until I found the business tribe. Everyone else went off to university. I did a year in college, fast-tracked my qualifications, and then I was like, I just want to work. My dad literally did not know I’d left college. I had to break the news to him once I’d got a job because my mum was like, Whatever you do, find a job, then break it to your dad. And got a job.

Dawn McGruer (10:23)
I just landed on my feet. My first job was like 30 grand. And back then, I remember just getting an unlimited Amex and travelling. It was just crazy because I was still 18, 19. And then I started my business at 21 after I did my Chartered Institute of Marketing Qualifications. I knew I liked business. I knew I liked psychology. I knew that I was just hungry in the marketing world. I got a scholarship with New Castle University, and I was just doing diplomas, diplomas, diplomas, qualifications, ended up with 12 of them. And then when I started my business, I had all of the absolute arrogance, I think, that I was like, everything’s just going to be fine. It’s just going to be the same as working in a corporate brand. So it wasn’t. Got my first offices in Wilmslow, above the Rex cinema, where I used to go as a kid, which I loved, painted them bright yellow, metallic bright yellow from Bennington. It was this really funky agency building. I just went through this feast and famine, and it was tough. I remember ringing my dad going, I I just don’t even know if I can do this.

Dawn McGruer (11:31)
This is hard because I moved out at 19 and bought a house. So I had offices, a house, all my bills, everything. And I was just like, This is crazy. So I remember just feeling that money worry. Everyone’s had it, right? But it can make you sick. And I just kept saying to my dad, Oh, my God. And he’s like, Dawn, just keep moving. You’ve got your health. And he used to say it was character building. So because I didn’t have enough to do, obviously, at the same time, I decided I decided to then do my first book, invited 37 authors onto it, raised money for cancer research. Then it was endorsed by Sir Nigel Hawthorn. Then it had, well, it is the only publication in history that I know of that was allowed to publish and feature Woodrow Kipling’s poem, If. So did that. I was like, 21.

Susie Batista (12:21)
So did that book come from a point of pain then? A point of- Yeah, totally.

Dawn McGruer (12:25)
My risk-taking was all to do with the fact that around about 19, 20. I lost six people in quick succession. So I just literally had an attitude of like, well, whatever. Like, what’s the worst thing that can happen? You’re going to die, and you’re going to die at some point. So I may as well just do it anyway. So every Everything that came with that, it was literally, I was living it in my life and business. I mean, probably quite destructive to a degree, but it just changed my whole landscape. So I was like, I have no fear. I’ll go and do this. I’ll write a book. Why not? I’m 21. And everyone was like, What are you doing, Dawn? This is crazy. You’ll never get it published. And I was like, Well, it’s in every bookstore now. And I just rang the bookstores. And everyone was like, Well, how did you do it? Well, I had no script. No one had told me what to do. And it was just gumption. It was like, Do you know what? If I don’t ask, I don’t get. So I rang Waterstones. They started taking it. Blackwells.

Dawn McGruer (13:21)
And I just started ringing all of the wholesalers and stocking it. And then it was on Amazon. And then I had a book that people were walking into bookstores and buying. My agency, I think, was the biggest education because as I kept going through this feast and famine, I eventually broke the cycle because I realised the model and the messaging wouldn’t work. But it didn’t take a short period of time. And honestly, I think 18 months of going through that and push, push, pushing, my message wasn’t clear. People didn’t really get it. And then when I was like, Right, I am like a virtual business partner to people, people were like, Oh, I get this. Okay. So I was like, Well, this is the beginning of the Internet. I can get you online. I can get you more visibility. And then I started getting clearer and clearer on what I did. And people were like, Okay, I need a dawn in my life. So I started a community, and basically all of these business started coming to networking events.

Susie Batista (14:26)
You started the networking events? Yeah.

Dawn McGruer (14:28)
And that’s where a business consult, one of my first embraces of my second business came from because I was like, I need to bring businesses together because they need to understand that actually online and face-to-face go hand-to-hand. I did them in car showrooms, Aston Martin. I did them in Park Lane, London, Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Bentley. I just went to all the showrooms and said, Can I invite 150 people for a cocktail party with driving simulators, chocolate fountas, all of these things? I got sponsors, Cooots, HSBC, and I had this panel of experts as well that anyone who came to me, I was like, Look, I know the best person who can get you a mortgage or get you this. So business consorts It was like an online directory. And one of the business exhibitions in the Northwest said, Dawn, can you build us a networking platform? Because there was no social network there. Built the platform, 50,000 people later, I was like, Christ, what I’m doing with this? And then that’s just how these global events started. So I started in the UK, and then I started doing some in Europe. The crazy thing was, is I was doing maybe two or three events a week.

Dawn McGruer (15:42)
I mean, I don’t even know how I got through that with 150 people coming to these events. Is this you and a team? Yeah, I did hire a team, so I’d moved officers, but there was still only me and three. Me and three. So we were running a marketing agency. We were running… So that was Aurora Marketing. Then we were running the networking. And then everyone was like, Oh, my goodness, Dawn, this is amazing. You should be able to teach us. I was like, Yeah, I can do training courses. So everything I did was organically fueled by the customers. Built these courses, and they were like, Do you know what would be really magical, Dawn? If we could get some marketing training. Because I was doing all the strategy for BT, Microsoft, tech data, all of their marketing. And then they were like, But how do our team implement this? How do they actually utilise it? So at that time, there was so much that was unaccredited, uncertified. So because I didn’t have enough to do, again, started a private university, business Consult Academy, so that I was now training the teams But it took me two years to get accredited.

Dawn McGruer (16:49)
I had to train as a teacher whilst working full-time. And yeah, I got my accreditation. And it is crazy because I was one of the youngest. I I don’t think they embraced me particularly well because I think I was an unknown, and I definitely wasn’t someone who conformed to authority. Anyway, I launched the qualifications, still doing them now, 30,000 students trained, and they graduate in Westminster. So two businesses down. Then in 2017, I decided that my passion was to go full circle and do what I had done myself for other people. Because it’s like I saw people online, and as much as I was working in corporate, I was like, my passion is the people that lived my life, that walked my walk, that I’m seeing have the pain and the challenges, the money and the mindset. I can I want these people and I can get them to scale faster because literally I have done everything wrong in business at some point. So I know what to do and how to mitigate all the challenges. So started Dawn McGroer, my personal brand, back then. And yeah, it started to flow and more and more founders were coming to me and they were like, what’s fascinating is you’ve actually done this four times, but then you’ve done it with all your clients.

Dawn McGruer (18:12)
And I generated about 45 million for clients. And I was like, yeah. But I knew that that was my superpower. I knew scaling and mindset were the two things that I’ve literally lived for 25 years. And that was just when the magic happened for me because I was just doing so much and I was fully booked. I’d one best speaker in 2018. I did a second book, got published with Wiley for Dynamic Digital Marketing. And by the time I was 2018, 2019, I was training all the time, running all the businesses. And I was like, something’s got to give. And I remember counting down the steps to get on a train. And I just thought, what the hell am I doing? I’m just literally booked. I was going train, travelling to my flight, and then I’ll maybe do two flights in a day. I was speaking everywhere, training everywhere. So it was in demand. But the thing is, was what What you don’t look at is like, yes, you’ve got the bank balance. Everyone’s looking at you like, You’re super successful. But I felt horrific. I wasn’t at home. I wasn’t even sleeping in my own bed most of the time.

Dawn McGruer (19:27)
I was probably away two-thirds of it. I didn’t really have a life because it was very transient because I wasn’t at home. I didn’t know what people did in the week because I was never there. Then when I came home on weekends, it was like crazy to see everybody do everything. Then off I went again and I just thought, this is doing nothing for my nervous system. I was in constant fight or flight and I was like, there must be better ways to make money. I stepped out my businesses operationally. Took me a long time to eventually do. My academy, my agency, they were run, still are. Then I just fully embraced my new business where I was working with founders. I was working one to one. Then I started my mastermind and then my retreats. I just said I told you before, those are the magic that I adore working with people. I love meeting people face to face. I just love being part of that journey. I can feel that person exact state because it’s like, I see in their eyes that they’re where I was. I love being able to shift that person through much quicker, much less chaotic, and with much less pain.

Susie Batista (20:43)
Just flowing from that, when you look at your clients, what makes you think, yes, this person is really going to do the work versus, I really don’t think this person is going to do the work?

Dawn McGruer (20:58)
It’s definitely the hungriness. There has to be a compelling event. It’s the same in sales. A client is not going to buy something unless there’s a desire and a compelling event, and someone has to really want it. When people come to me, and I turn down plenty of clients, I know whether I can work with that person because I know the way the person is speaking, how much they want the goal. Because the thing is, is that it’s like when you were a kid, if you wanted to go somewhere, you made it happen. If you wanted a new bike, a new outfit, whatever, you would pull out every stop and it would happen. The thing is here is that if people have payroll to hit, I know they’re hungry because they have other people depending on it. I know that if someone has real desire over something, you can tell because they are already running everything in their mind. And honestly, if you are not some part of fear, then it’s not going to work because fear is the catalyst to everything that we do, and we’re just moving away from it. Sometimes business owners who are brand new, because everything feels new, there’s a tendency to do what everyone else did.

Dawn McGruer (22:25)
If I say to somebody, We’re not going to do that, and they embrace that, then I know that it’s the right person. If someone’s got a very firm idea of what they want to do, I’ll empower them to go and do it themselves. Because the thing is, I’ve walked that walk so many times that I could literally tell them to the minute at what point they’ll have an issue. What we’re trying to do is create something that 80% of business owners don’t do, something that is so different, so powerful, that creates automatic desire rather than just It’s another vanilla business. It’s about impact, it’s about legacy, it’s about transformation. There is a higher purpose than money. I think the thing is if someone has that and I can see that they have maybe the ethics but not the belief, then they’re the right client. I don’t want to work with people who just want money because that’s not strong enough. I had all the money but didn’t feel successful. It’s more than that. It’s the mindset. It’s what do you want your life to look like? Not in a year, not in a month, but every single day.

Dawn McGruer (23:35)
How do you lead an enriched life? For me, it’s about equal balance of health, wealth, happiness. That is what a good mentor should be focusing on because if your nervous system is shot, if your internal systems are broken, I can build all the external systems, all the strategy. But if the two aren’t aligned, it won’t work.

Susie Batista (23:57)
You have a really good way of doing that Dawn. So when you give little check-ins to me, it gently nudges me, but in a strong way, if that makes sense. And even just the tone of your voice on your voice notes and you say, Listen, I’m not pushing you here, but just a little checking, how are you doing? Where are we with this? And it’s a really good way to do it, actually, because otherwise it can feel a bit overwhelming and a bit stressy, and you’ve got a very good way of doing that.

Dawn McGruer (24:33)
It’s about empowering someone. The thing is, is with coaching and mentoring, coaching is obviously getting someone to really think about what they want. Mentoring is not just leaving someone hanging, but like, Look, I’ve done this. This is how we do it. Then there’s a blend there because accountability is a big part, but also having a cheerleader. I know that when I started my business, everyone just kept saying to me, Oh, that’ll never work. I I want to be the support that I didn’t have. And just knowing that someone is thinking about what you’re doing and consciously cares, I think is a big difference. And that is enough sometimes to shift a mindset, spur you on, make you take one more step It’s like, we’re going to get towards a goal. It doesn’t happen overnight. This is the thing, we can’t push too hard, but microactions, microcheck-ins, these are the things that just start to make the changes, and then the power comes.

Susie Batista (25:28)
How do you deal with the ever-changing technology that’s out there and just how fast things are moving, the different algorithms on Instagram, how TikTok is good one day, maybe not the other. Linkedin is good one day, maybe not the other. Ai, because you’ve got such a broad range of clients, don’t you? Your youngest is… She’s 23?

Dawn McGruer (25:54)
Yeah.

Susie Batista (25:55)
Crazy. And she’s incredibly successful. And I’m sure she’d relate a lot of that to you and her working with each other. And her big thing is the TikTok and it’s the Gen Zs. And then you’ve got somebody like me who’s a lot more old school. How do you deal with that and guide your mentees on that?

Dawn McGruer (26:17)
I think because I’m in it all of the time, because I think because of my diverse businesses, one of the things that I did is as I was finding my feet in my early career, I actually was a computer programmer. So I trained in all languages. I’m a techie, so I know things automatically through tech. And because I’ve always worked with tech clients and seen their technologies, I’m living and breathing it. And also in the marketing academy, we are working with all of the digital marketing tools, tips, trends every single day. My podcast, Digital Marketing Made Easy talks about it. So I’ve always got my finger on the pulse. So it just makes it really easy across the… Dipping into the agency, dipping to the academy, although I’m not operationally there, I still show up in the capacity. I’m still working, doing little bits here and there. So it doesn’t matter who the client is. I have, at some part or time in my life, worked with that client in the industry or something similar. So algorithms and things like that don’t faz me because it’s just a tech thing. And tech has always been a weird little passion for me, which most people wouldn’t think because I was the only female in my entire tech class.

Susie Batista (27:31)
Wow.

Dawn McGruer (27:32)
Yeah. There was a hundred of us who were studying at the time. And I remember going in for my classes because I was doing a day release from work and I was just the only woman.

Susie Batista (27:41)
I think that will surprise a lot of people. So I think that’s incredible. I have now rebirthed in terms of me mentoring. So when I had my design firm, I used to get so many voice notes messages through Instagram, through emails, and I was just leaving loads of voice notes. And then I started to actually mentor people. Then once I’d sold the business, I had to stop. So now we’re reintroducing that. Sometimes I would doubt my own advice, and it would get to the point where I’d be on a call with somebody and they say, But what about this? What about this? And I’d give an answer, But what if that doesn’t happen? And I’d give an answer, What if that… And then sometimes we get to the question 10 of all of the scenarios, and I’d almost be thinking, I feel like I’ve run out of answers here. But it was always… If none of those 10 were, but it did start, I’d come off the call and think, Could I have given a better answer? So my question for you is, in your years of mentorship, have you ever had a bit of a wobble or a thought, and could I have done better in that, or ever doubted yourself as a mentor?

Dawn McGruer (29:01)
I think that every single person on the planet has had doubt at some point, and we would be unfair to think we hadn’t. I think with the mentoring, I never really have the doubt because I feel so immersed in every scenario. I literally lived it. If I’m still here standing, I just can tell that person that, Well, these are the worst case scenarios, and I’ll tell you what I did because these happened to me. At the end of the day, the worst thing that can happen is your health. So as long as we’ve got that as a stable, there’s not a lot else that can happen. Money is probably the second biggest thing that people panic over. So every time I work with someone, it’s about getting certainty around cash. And once you’ve got that, you do feel unshapeful. Everyone has a pot of money that they always have in their mind. I don’t know why, but it’s always around about 10 grand. But if they just have that, they’re okay. So It’s about not what could happen. It’s about what do you need to feel certain. I think here it’s part of rewiring the brain.

Dawn McGruer (30:08)
If people run patterns, my job is to break that pattern and go, let’s embrace That scenario. Let’s imagine we launched it and no one bought. Who knows about that other than you? Has anyone else done it? Yes, we have. We’ve all been there. It’s not independent to you. I guarantee, whatever you experience, someone’s been through it. I guarantee I’ve probably been through it. Have I had points where I’m like, Oh, my goodness, I’m not going to hit the wage bill? Yes, I have. Have I had to do things like take working capital to do that? Yes, I have. Am I even bothered about that? No, I’m not. Because at the end of the day, I learn, right, okay, go back to here. That’s where it all went wrong. And as long as you were prepared to understand that 80% of the issues that happen are on you. Then you start to go, okay. You drop the ego and you just embrace that actually that launch didn’t go well because I could have probably done this differently. Then you start to get into the nitty-gritty of business and we just accept it and we go, Now I see that, I now know that that won’t happen again.

Dawn McGruer (31:23)
You almost have to hit the challenge to then tweak the system or the process to get better, and then it does. Then those are the times that, honestly, I’ve had the biggest growth and trajectory. They’ve been the epic points of my business.

Susie Batista (31:37)
I’m the same. I think a lot of people don’t look within themselves as to the problems that are going on around them. Everybody around me is doing this and that’s happening and everything fails and I woke up, roll out of bed the wrong way. You want to say, Have you actually… I have to say that to my kids, too. Well, think about all of the steps that you took, everything you did today. Could that not be what this tornado was around you? Nine times out of 10, it actually is.

Dawn McGruer (32:10)
When we look at team, and one of the things that people always say to me is like, Oh, my team is not I’m working, and I go, Okay, can we just remember that your team mirror your behaviour? If you walk in and you’re doing this, they’re like, Oh, so this is the culture, so I’ll just mirror that. We have to be very clear in our leadership that we’re just setting the tone for how our clients treat us because if you don’t have boundaries, well, how did they know? So they’re like, My client’s done this. Did you tell them not to? No. Well, there you go. Who’s that on? Not the client. It’s on you. So as long as you’re prepared to take on 80 % of the issue, then you’re all good. 20 %, if there is a life event or COVID, we can’t be responsible for that, but we’ll mitigate it. And what was magical in that time is how many business owners turned it around and just so inspired to see people who were bricks and mortar businesses just thrive. It was incredible. I mean, not everybody did that. But this is what I love about entrepreneurs.

Dawn McGruer (33:09)
The brain can think differently, but you can’t think yourself out of problems. You always have to take it external. By that, there’s an issue today, write it down on a piece of paper, look at it. You’ve just taken the emotion out and you’re looking at it, logically going, Will I die if this happens? No. Okay, so what is the worst case scenario? Let’s write It’s suddenly tangible, isn’t it?

Susie Batista (33:32)
When you write it down, it’s a thing that you can look at. It’s not so much a feeling anymore.

Dawn McGruer (33:37)
I call it anchoring because we’re now taking it out and we’re looking at it from a distance, the bigger piece, and we’re breaking it down into micro things. Is there one thing today that you could do to improve that situation or remove yourself out of that feeling? There always is. It might not be the solution, but did it change something something. Yes, it did. So there’s always something you can do. And this is what I say. It’s not like that will happen and then that’s it. It’s not. That’s just the beginning of the journey to, oh, my goodness, then we fix this and then we scaled, and we We scaled and we scaled and we scaled and it was better. And I think back to then and what a feeling it is to have gone through that and come out of it. And that’s where confidence comes from. You can’t have confidence doing something until you do it and it becomes your norm. If you fail and people go, Oh, you seem really confident about it. Well, yeah, because I just know that regardless, it will be fine.

Susie Batista (34:39)
Yeah, it will be fine. Something that I’d like you to answer because you I’m very good at this. And it’s something that I try to answer to a lot of people, this particular question. When anybody asks me about paying for a mentor, so I’ve had a business coach, we’ve I’ve got a property mentor, and now obviously working with you in regards to personal brand and everything like that, the scaling. It’s an investment, and I’ve always looked at it as an investment. When people ask me, Oh, you’re doing all these things, and I say, I swear it’s down to mentorship and coaching. Oh, but I could never afford that. I always go back to my first business coach. I couldn’t afford him. I did not have a spare one and a half grand a month. I didn’t have it in the business. I did not have a spare one and a half thousand, but I just said, Okay, let’s go for it, and just figured out. I try and explain that to people. And I feel like nine times out of 10, it just falls on deaf ears. Can you try and give a better piece of advice as to the investment of mentorship?

Dawn McGruer (35:52)
Yeah. I mean, everybody responds to… They just want to know, will what we do work for me? The only answer I can say is, well, look, I’ve never worked with anybody that hasn’t earned more money and had more freedom. I can’t guarantee it because you are part of the party as well and you have to implement it. But I am certain with somebody, and I will give very quantifiable timelines of, look, if cash is king, and this is what we want to do, this is what I think is achievable in a timeline, how does that feel? If It feels just like to the point where you’re going to resent the whole thing. Just don’t do it. There is an element of risk. There is an element of fear. When I got my first mentor, I paid for mentors that are 10 grand a month, even more. I go into it thinking, what is it that I want out of it? And you have to be very clear yourself. You can’t just rock up to a mentor and go, I want to scale. If you give me three things, I’m going to tell you whether I can do them and how quickly.

Dawn McGruer (36:57)
And then it’s like, well, that’s the ROI and that’s how quickly you can get your money back. I mean, generally, the majority of people will be doubling their income within 60 days or tripling the recurring in 90. It depends what the model is of the person. But what we’re here to do as mentors is build a model that’s achievable, scalable, successful, profitable, even sellable. If you get those things right, I guarantee you it’s impossible to fail because the business model is like the heartbeat of everything. Then when you build in the marketing and the mindset and the money, and you’ve mapped your customer journey and you’re so clear on your messaging, you’ve got the strongest foundations. I don’t know anyone who nails those five critical factors to scale that goes backwards. It’s impossible. You’ve got to put the work in. It’s not easy, but you’ve got to put the faith in that this is one month, and then in the next month, I’ll be moving to the next phase. But if you haven’t done it already and you look at the future, nine times out of 10, you’re just still going to be in the same place.

Dawn McGruer (38:07)
You won’t have shifted. Sometimes it takes the compelling event of the investment to do the thing. If you know that you’re going to be spending two grand a month, I’m pretty sure you’ll be doing everything to make sure that you… So it’s one of those things. It’s chicken and egg scenario. You invest, you find the money because you are laser-focused on cash is king, this is where I’m going, getting my clients. Once you cover that, you’re like, I’m on to the next thing. So you always have to be in it for it to boost you to the next level. What happens in business when people don’t get mentors is there is no compelling event. Everything stays the same. They don’t push out the comfort zone. As we know, when you stay comfy, nothing scales. That’s the truth.

Susie Batista (38:54)
I think that you’ve hit the nail on the head. Everything stays the same. It stays the same until They hope that somebody gives them a chance or they hope that they get a promotion or they hope- They win the lottery.

Dawn McGruer (39:06)
Exactly. You’ve actually got a greater chance of being struck by lightning.

Susie Batista (39:10)
Yeah, or kicked by a donkey or something like that. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. You’ve touched on this, but if you were to just really be laser-focused on what I’m going to ask you here. What are the habits that you’ve seen in every client who goes on to really succeed?

Dawn McGruer (39:30)
Cool. Well, one of the principles I teach is the 70, 20, 10. And this is like the life-changing principle. It’s so simple, but because it takes things down to a daily level, what it’s actually looking at is where you’re time should be spent. So the problem with entrepreneurs, 80 % of the issue when someone’s not scaling is down to where they’re spending their time, effort, and money. So 70 % has to be on growth activities. 20 % is learning and mindset, and only 10% admin and operational stuff. The flip is always true. Most people are in 70% admin, and then 20% learning a mindset, and if you’re lucky, 10% Growth activities. I just say to people, look, if you’re someone who likes a to-do list, just look at it and let’s be honest here. Is that going to move your business forward? Looking at objectives and vanity metrics like, I just need more followers. I just need more people in a database. That’ll get you nowhere fast. It will get you burnt out. You need to choose your do or die activities. So when you are doing daily tasks that are focused on growth, it is absolutely impossible not to be moving forward.

Dawn McGruer (40:45)
Look at it like this. If you sent 10 WhatsApps today to people that you think might like your service, I guarantee you’d have at least two replies. If you hadn’t, what’s happened? What you’ve done is educated 10 people of what you do, and then those eight people might come back in the future. Two are now in discussion and one might go forward. So it’s choosing to put your energy in and not just being a busy fool.

Susie Batista (41:12)
Yeah, we can on the business. Yeah. Not What is it in it? You say you feel like you’re still just at the beginning and just getting going. So what excites you about your future?

Dawn McGruer (41:28)
Yeah. I mean, always in In March, around my birthday, is one of my times where I go into my deep, cathartic thinking. And in March, I was like, these are the things I’m going to do. And I just know I’m going to do them. So I set myself three really big, chunky aspirational goals and I rewrite everything. The thing is there is that I want to move forward all of the time because I’ll get bored. So it’s just thinking every year we’re in an evolution in terms of what we want. I’m I’m not the same person at 46 as I was at 45. And it’s what makes me happy, healthy, enriched, loving my life. I just redesigned my whole life again for that year. And then I align my business to it. Where people go wrong is they go, I’m going to build a business because people want this. Then they’re like, This is horrible. I’ve built a monster. It’s because it doesn’t satisfy you. For me, I’d built a monster walking to that train. It wasn’t Until I was like, Oh, actually, I don’t want to do the same thing every day. I don’t want to work on a Friday.

Dawn McGruer (42:38)
I don’t want to do these things. So I want to be able to look at my calendar on a Sunday evening and be like, Oh, my goodness, I am so excited. And I even put exciting things like activities and experiences in my diary because they’re as essential as the other. So I just do time blocking and I get the things I want to do. And I always think of I want the thing just like the bike or whatever I wanted as a kid, I’m going to have the thing. And then I just lean into those three things and I will have the thing. So it’s saying it, claim it so it is. And this is the thing. If you put it out into the universe, that this is what you’re doing. You’re conscious to your goal, which we’re not… 95% of the time we’re not even with it. We’re just in our subconscious. So I’m consciously aligning to it. So all I’m saying to myself in March is, reticular activating system, know this. I’m going to have these three things, and these are the three things that you need to know that when you’re absorbing information, you’re going, That’s great.

Dawn McGruer (43:38)
We’ll philtre that one in. That one doesn’t count because it’s not going to these three goals. So I’m just cancelling the white noise out and going into my own mission and vision. And yeah, it’s just all about life. And waking up every day and just thinking, Does this feel right? Yes, it does. If it doesn’t, change it. And people think, Oh, I can’t change it. But you built the business You can rewrite that canvas.

Susie Batista (44:02)
I get emotional listening to you, Dawn. I think that’s why I- I can tell. Yeah. I knew you were the right person to work with because everything that you say resonates with me so much. And not many people think like this. And when I was on the panel the other day and everyone was talking about your five-year goals, your 10-year goals, your goals, goals. And I was saying, and I’ve been thinking about this for a long, long time, why can’t just today just be an amazing day? And this I’ve never had a five year goal or a 10 year goal. No. Unpopular opinion. I don’t really believe in them because all you’re doing then, you’re just focused on that five years and that focused on that 10 years. You’re not- You’re not living your life. Yeah. You’re not focused on having an incredible week, incredible weekend, an incredible moment. You’re just thinking ahead.

Dawn McGruer (44:49)
I do things now that can change my future. Every Friday, I’ve always bought gold. Don’t know why, just became a thing. Just buy gold every Friday.

Susie Batista (44:57)
Just love you.

Dawn McGruer (44:58)
Just love But I just think about it. Gold is between seven and nine % growth. If you put a thousand pounds into gold every week, and if that was what you could afford or 10 pounds or 100, you’re getting nine % on that. That’s like a little magic pot that you’re going to have in the future. And I’m excited about that. And I go in and look at my pot and I’m like, yay, thousand pounds a week, 10 years time. That’s near a mill. I didn’t have to do anything for that apart from make the money now to then build some more then. I’m like, This sounds like my thing. I like a bit of me being involved in things, but I definitely like passive revenue and property and things like that.

Susie Batista (45:43)
That is going to be my goal, actually. Every Friday, I’m going to buy some gold.

Dawn McGruer (45:47)
Even if it’s a pound, start today.

Susie Batista (45:50)
I’m going to do it.

Dawn McGruer (45:51)
Just do it. Buy the gold. It’s such a cathartic feeling. It also changes my state because it marks the end of my working week and I sit and reflect on my week. I always have a glass of wine, and that’s just my thing. I buy the gold. I’m like, What went well? What didn’t? I listened to the voice notes that I left myself in the week. I’m like, I can hear a little bit of not right there. Do I feel different me now, and then I leave myself another voice note to listen to on Monday. Then I just work in little cycles like that because you can tell when your energy is off. On a Friday morning is my delegating declutter, gifting things that have been on my to-do list that I don’t love.

Susie Batista (46:33)
What do you do your voice notes on?

Dawn McGruer (46:35)
Memo.

Susie Batista (46:35)
Memo.

Dawn McGruer (46:36)
I just leave myself a lot of memos, and then I listen to them.

Susie Batista (46:39)
That’s actually really interesting. And like you said, to listen back. I know, for example, That, again, I think would be quite emotional and powerful to listen back and hear on some days you’re just not right.

Dawn McGruer (46:52)
I’ve wept in a restaurant listening to my voice note. I left myself before getting on a plane.

Susie Batista (46:56)
Because it’s almost like listening to a little version of you and you want to say, Don’t be sad.

Dawn McGruer (47:00)
You hear your inner child and you really hear the bits. And honestly, it’s a very… It is an emotional thing, but you have to hear. So even if I’m in a good mood, if I’m in a bad mood, I just leave myself no notes. Often I do it just before I’m getting in the bath because I’m like, What do I feel right now? Don’t know. I’m just going to go with it. And I tell myself, and I’m feeling like I’m a bit heavier. I’ve got something here and I need to work through that. And then I’m like, Okay, that’s the thing. That’s what I need to work on. And it is emotional because what people are so caught up in is the day-to-day. We need to know and check in, how does my mind feel? How does my body feel? Do I feel in tune? Just before I went on I was like, Ah, I’m on a retreat. It was so busy and I felt really out of sorts, really out of sorts. I listened to myself on the Friday and I was like, I’ve got it. When I saw on the plane, I was like, Right, this is what I need to do.

Dawn McGruer (47:58)
When I got there, I had two days before the retreat, focused on little micro actions, totally regulated my nervous system, got myself back down to a point, and then I just got rid of gifting everything that just wasn’t serving me. And then I got rid of one thing in my business that obviously was just niddling. And I just went, No, not having that. Goodbye. And I just felt like, wow. But it is. It’s these little things, and we have to be so aware because our brain will trick us into It will go, No, stay in the comfort zone, Dawn. Don’t do that. There’s no need to do that now. I’m like, No, I have to do that now. I have to do that now because if I’m not pushing forward. So even if there’s something, I’m like, I need to make a decision about this. This is how I feel about it right now. I’m going to check in with myself on Friday, and I listen to it on Friday. I’m like, God, I feel so different about that now. Again, if you could be running for a train or getting on a plane, I feel different energy-wise than I do when I’m just sitting because nothing’s influencing me.

Susie Batista (49:02)
I absolutely love that. I love that. Of all the things you said, which were amazing, I’m going to take that one away. Okay, let’s do a close. Let’s do a fun close. What’s your guilty pleasure TV show?

Dawn McGruer (49:18)
I love watching serial killer programmes. Of course you do. Of course I do. I don’t know why. I love it. Absolutely love it. That’s really quite disturbing, but yeah.

Susie Batista (49:28)
I think you’re one of many, to To be honest, it’s like there’s a lot of psychopaths out there. What’s the most surprising thing on your Spotify list?

Dawn McGruer (49:37)
Oh, well, on my Spotify, I have three playlists. So for conscious conditioning, I have like My favourite one is my activation playlist. So it’s like every song from around 50 years that is just high vibe power. And on a Monday, I always crank it up The dogs are like, what’s going on? Andy’s like, I’m leaving the house.

Susie Batista (50:02)
Dogs are like, it’s Monday again.

Dawn McGruer (50:04)
Yeah. I’ve got my activation playlist on. And it’s like every song, it’s like there’s Beyoncé on it. Oh, will you share it with me? You can absolutely have it. Anyone that’s into this, just send me a playlist on a message and I’ll send you my playlist. I have one which is to do with calming the nervous system again. There’s a lot of piano music and things like that. That’s often what I put on in my bath. They’re all one hour long and you just tune in. There’s always a favourite song that I always just want to with throw to. But yeah, my playlists, they’re my thing. Conscious conditioning, how you feel, changing your state.

Susie Batista (50:41)
I’m going to DM you after this playlist.

Dawn McGruer (50:47)
If you weren’t…

Susie Batista (50:48)
Well, my next question was, if you weren’t a coach, what career would you have picked? But you are more than just a coach. You have so many things going on.

Dawn McGruer (50:58)
I know what it would be. Because my first job was… Initially, I wanted to be a hostess, and I wanted to be part of Emirates, so I don’t know why. But then I was like, Am I tall enough? I’m only 5’4, or 5’5, and I think you had to be 5’6 or something for Emirates. So that wasn’t it. Before then, I went to be in the RAF, but I’ve got one kidney, so I couldn’t do that. Then I finally settled on, right, okay, I’m going to be into art and I want to be a curator. And yes, Salvador Dali was a job I really wanted, and it was to do curation and be part of that journey. I turned it down and moved into this. But art has been a big part of what I do. I still draw, I still paint, not as much as I used to, But writing and drawing, I still draw it in all my books. If you picked up anything on my desk, because I can’t use notebooks, because I just feel like you’ve put information in to die, this is a really disturbing point. Listeners be like, What’s she talking about?

Dawn McGruer (52:00)
With notebooks, when I write something down, I have to tear it out, and the notebook always has to say clean. But the information, I have to go, What am I going to do with this information? Where does it fit in my life? Can I teach it? Can I tell it to somebody? Or can I save it somewhere to utilise that it’s going to flag up. I might put little reminders into my calendar about something, or I’ll be like, I could teach this concept, so I’m going to put this in here, or I’m going to put it in my podcast. I just think information has to be shared. So if you put it in a notebook, you’ve closeted it and it needs to be out in the open. So as soon as I’ve gifted that information, I’ll rip it up and put it in the bin.

Susie Batista (52:38)
It’s a great point. When I did my Tony Robbins seminar and I got a specific notebook for this seminar, and I had it in a drawer for ages. I obviously learned a lot from it. I had it in a drawer for ages. Then I almost felt this notebook talking to me. What’s out? What are you doing? Why are you leaving me in here? So it’s now, although all my notes are still in there, it’s now on my dressing table and it always gets open and it always gets looked through because it’s so much. There’s so many incredible things there. Who on Instagram or TikTok or LinkedIn inspires you and somebody that you want to give a shout out to and to get some follows?

Dawn McGruer (53:16)
It took me so long to come to terms with the fact I had to go on to Instagram. Two years ago, whatever it was, I finally went on. The first person I followed was Jasmine Star. I love her because I really like the energy that wasn’t too curated. She just went into the flow, talked about what she wanted to talk about. She doesn’t take life too seriously. She’s done epic things. I love the fact she’s got diversity in her business, and she is very tuned into having a nice life and business. So I just felt like belief system-wise, I felt quite aligned. And she was like my motivation to like, Yeah, I like the way you’re presenting yourself on Instagram. Go on then. I’ll sign up for an account. That was it. And here I am.

Susie Batista (54:03)
Dawn, thank you so much. That was incredible.

Dawn McGruer (54:06)
Thank you. There we go. Did you enjoy? I love that.