This blog is based on a powerful and heartfelt conversation between Bethany Meadows and Racheal Cook on the Time to Thrive podcast. Racheal is the founder of The CEO Collective and host of the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast. With over 15 years of experience coaching women entrepreneurs, Racheal is known for her life-first approach to business strategy helping business owners break free from burnout and reclaim their lives. Let’s explore some of the game-changing insights she shared in this episode.

Ditching Hustle Culture: The Life-First Approach

Racheal’s mission is clear. End entrepreneurial burnout and redefine what success looks like, especially for women business owners. She challenges the hustle culture narrative that ties success to long hours and constant grind. Instead, Racheal promotes creating a business that aligns with your values, energy and life stage.

Key takeaway: Success isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters most.

Understanding Entrepreneurial Poverty

Racheal coined the term entrepreneurial poverty to describe the trap many small business owners fall into—where they’re generating revenue, but not enough to sustainably support themselves, their business or a team. This often leads to time and energy poverty, leaving entrepreneurs overworked, underpaid and on the edge of burnout.

Key takeaway: A profitable business starts with knowing your numbers, understanding your capacity and pricing accordingly.

Honor the Season You’re In

From raising young children to caring for aging parents, Racheal emphasizes the importance of recognizing the season of life you’re in and building your business around it. Your capacity, availability and goals will shift over time, and your business should adapt right along with you.

Key takeaway: Design your business to support your life not the other way around.

From Feast or Famine to Predictable Revenue

Many entrepreneurs struggle with inconsistent income, what Racheal calls the “feast or famine” cycle. She explains that the root cause often lies in ignoring marketing and sales when client work picks up. To smooth out the rollercoaster, business owners must keep their lead generation consistent and get clear on their true capacity for clients.

Key takeaway: Plan your marketing and manage your time like a CEO, not a technician.

Delegation Without Losing Control

Letting go is hard especially when you’ve built your business from the ground up. But Racheal insists that delegating is essential for growth. Hiring experienced team members (and paying them accordingly) allows you to stay in your zone of genius and focus on high-value activities. Clarity around your business vision and values is crucial to empower your team to make decisions that align with your brand.

Key takeaway: Don’t just hire hands, build a team that shares your vision.

Define Your Own Version of Success

Perhaps the most powerful message from this episode is Racheal’s encouragement to define success on your own terms. Whether it's having afternoons free, working 25 hours a week, or simply maintaining your health, your success should be unique to you. Money is just one part of the equation.

Key takeaway: Success is personal. Clarity and intention are your best business tools.

Build with Margin and Intentionality

Racheal and Bethany also touched on the concept of margin. The idea of creating space in your calendar, business model and energy for the unexpected. Without margin, any life disruption can send your business spiraling. Planning with margin allows for sustainability, sanity and joy.

Key takeaway: Busyness doesn’t equal success. Build breathing room into your business.

Final Thoughts

Racheal Cook is leading a quiet revolution in how women do business by teaching them to choose sustainability over speed, clarity over chaos and life over burnout. If you’re tired of grinding and ready to thrive, this episode will leave you inspired, equipped and ready to take back control of your business and your life.

Listen to the full episode: “The Life-First Business Revolution” now on your favorite podcast platform.