The Kelly Roach Show

Entrepreneurs get into business chasing freedom, and then build the hardest, worst job anyone could imagine. This episode is about getting the freedom back. Kelly sits down with Brian Herriot, author of the brand-new book Time Freedom, for a conversation on the reason most of us started a business in the first place. Brian shares the story that changed everything, his wife's double lung transplant 27 years ago and the vow they made leaving the hospital to stop waiting on some far-off retirement, and how he still drifted right back onto the corporate track before finally designing a life around what actually mattered. He and Kelly unpack why we get stuck (we start optimizing for money out of survival and never change gears), the danger of not knowing your "enough" number, and his core framework, the Time Freedom Formula, that aligns what it costs to live with your investments and flexible work so you can claim freedom years sooner. They get into the levels of freedom, why a 401(k) may not be the move everyone told you it was, what to do if you feel like you're already behind (Brian's promise: many people can reach time freedom in three years), and the reframe that unlocks it for most high achievers: time freedom usually isn't a completely different life, it's a one-step variation on the one you already have. What's inside: Why we optimize for money and forget to change gears Knowing your "enough" number and your definition of freedom The Time Freedom Formula, and the free calculator behind it What to do if you feel like you're already too far behind Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome: why time freedom is the reason we start businesses 00:34 — Brian's story: a lung transplant, and a vow to live differently 02:07 — Building the hardest job imaginable in pursuit of freedom 02:53 — Why we get stuck: optimizing for money and never changing gears 04:26 — The first small experiment: take the first Friday of the month off 05:24 — Knowing your "enough" number and evolving the need you're chasing 06:49 — Money confidence: getting your advisor and your coach in the same room 07:26 — The free Time Freedom Calculator (and mapping your numbers) 09:18 — "Why don't we do that now?" Brian's 2020 turning point 10:51 — When social media turns all your fun into work 11:19 — What freedom actually looks like (and choosing the highest value for your time) 13:23 — Inside the book: taking the conventional path head on 14:26 — The Time Freedom Formula explained 15:59 — The levels of freedom and getting your money working for you 17:20 — The 401(k) rethink 17:40 — "Am I too late?" What to do if you feel behind 19:17 — The promise: time freedom in about three years 20:41 — Time freedom doesn't mean you stop working 22:05 — Stepping out of the business as a catalyst for your next big leap 23:30 — Where to get the book, and closing (Timestamps pulled from the transcript timecodes — verify against your final edit.) Resources & Mentions Time Freedom by Brian Herriot — the guest's new book on optimizing for time over money and designing a business around your life. Available wherever books are sold- Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1774587122?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback  The Time Freedom Calculator:  Brian's free tool at timefreedomcalculator.com  for plugging in your business, personal, and lifestyle numbers to see how time freedom plays out. Free to use, no book purchase required. (Confirm the exact URL.) Concepts referenced: the Time Freedom Formula (cost to live vs. investments plus flexible work), knowing your "enough" number, money confidence, the levels of freedom, the 401(k) rethink, and the "catalyst" idea (stepping out of the business to find the one thing that makes it 10x better)

Three live callers, three different breakthroughs, and lots of practical wisdom on this week's episode of The Kelly Roach Show. On this Business Breakthrough Hotline segment, Kelly breaks down networking and finding collaboration partners in a room stacked with ideal clients, reconciling faith, ambition, and building wealth, and epositioning a project-based business into a recurring model.  Timestamps: 00:45 — Welcome to the Business Breakthrough Hotline 01:20 — Caller 1: How to work a room full of ideal clients 03:00 — Why post-event follow-up is where the magic happens 05:30 — Skip the line: sponsor, speak, or donate to get to the front of the room 07:30 — The secret sauce that wins the follow up  10:00 — How Kelly closes most business deals 12:30 — Caller 2: reconciling faith and ambition 14:00 — Ambition and wealth as God-given gifts  18:30 — Being anointed for business in the secular world 20:30 — Caller 3: repositioning a project business into a recurring model 22:00 — The Business Reinvention Playbook: bringing your audience with you 28:00 — Feedback loops: interviewing your market before you launch 29:30 — How to submit your question to the Hotline Resources & Mentions The Business Reinvention Playbook — Kelly's free guide for reinventing your business while keeping the audience you've already built. Message her REINVENTION on social media to get a copy for free.  The Miracle Hour — Kelly's book and system, referenced for relationship-building and daily sales: https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Hour-Predictable-Sales-Day/dp/B0GXC7KJDX/ref=sxts_b2b_sx_reorder_acb_customer?content-id=amzn1.sym.e5b07a71-3e06-42fa-83c2-1010bebd7ff0%3Aamzn1.sym.e5b07a71-3e06-42fa-83c2-1010bebd7ff0&crid=2DZWBZ4CP8Q0R&cv_ct_cx=the+miracle+hour&keywords=the+miracle+hour&pd_rd_i=B0GXC7KJDX&pd_rd_r=12d2da08-5525-4411-9abc-8d767b2025aa&pd_rd_w=3npJ1&pd_rd_wg=lBtdQ&pf_rd_p=e5b07a71-3e06-42fa-83c2-1010bebd7ff0&pf_rd_r=9941DGGSZNXCC1D4PNF0&qid=1786708922&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=the+miracle+hou%2Caps%2C158&sr=1-1-76dd0896-e18a-4d36-b921-52fc00e57159  Called to Lead — Kelly's movement and event focused on putting faith and family first in the marketplace: https://www.calledtoleadmovement.com/event  The Business Breakthrough Hotline: Ready for your breakthrough? Text your question + name to 916-418-9799 with the hashtag #BusinessBreakthroughHotline for a chance to be featured on the show!   

Kelly pulls back the curtain on one of the biggest decisions of her career: flipping the business from high ticket on the front end to low ticket, and fully productizing. This is the honest debrief, the good, the bad, and the ugly, from someone who ran the high-ticket model successfully at eight figures and chose to build something different anyway. She traces the whole evolution, from knowing the model that took her to eight figures was not the one she wanted to take to nine, through years of exploring other business models, to where the company sits now: 300 to 400 sales a month with email, text, social, and funnels doing the customer acquisition that live launches used to. She's candid about what this transition actually costs. Running both models at once for years. Saying goodbye to great team members who are no longer needed and completely retooling the roles of those who stay. Investing heavily in brand and email-list growth before the funnels carry the load. And she's clear on why it was worth it. A calendar that went from booked solid to nearly open, the freedom to homeschool two days a week and go to church and train before work, and a lighter, frictionless business her whole team feels. She also names the missing piece most people get wrong (low-ticket offers that don't intentionally feed the high ticket), and makes the case that there's a point where more money simply can't stand in for freedom. What's inside: Why she left the model that built her eight-figure company The real cost of running high ticket and low ticket at the same time The team, mindset, and skill shifts productizing demands Why your low ticket has to intentionally feed your high ticket Timestamps (estimated) 00:00 — The decision to flip from high ticket to low ticket 01:30 — Knowing the 8-figure model wasn't the one to take to 9 figures 03:00 — Years of exploring other business models across the portfolio 05:00 — Where the company sits now: 300–400 sales a month 06:30 — From launch-dependent to email, text, social, and funnels 08:00 — The good: productizing as the ultimate freedom lever 09:30 — The bad: running both models at once for years 11:00 — The team overhaul productizing requires 13:00 — The emotional toll of high ticket, even when it's going well 15:00 — When more money can't stand in for freedom 17:00 — The missing piece: low ticket that feeds high ticket 19:00 — The new sales system: a sales email and text every day 21:00 — Who this model is right for (and who it isn't) 23:00 — Zero-friction selling and breaking founder dependence 25:00 — Where each part of the portfolio is headed next 26:30 — Close: come track the build inside VBS RESOURCES Virtual Business School (VBS) — where Kelly teaches the email-and-text sales machine, trust-building offers, and the Miracle Hour, with new modules released ongoing as they build this model: https://www.virtualbusinessschool.com/virtual-business-school  Called to Lead — the women's leadership movement and event, October 1st in Boca Raton: https://www.calledtoleadmovement.com/event   Legacy Leaders — Kelly's high-ticket mastermind and one-to-one consultancy for businesses at $2.5–$37 million: https://join.thebusinessadvisory.com/legacyleaders 

As Kelly steps into year three of homeschooling, she's been thinking hard about what she calls the four levels of creating true freedom.  She's candid about being late to real investing, why she believes the school system is built to create employees rather than free people, and how she's teaching her daughter these foundations now, through real earnings, a real portfolio, and real investments, so she compounds for decades instead of starting at 30. She also challenges the "freedom" being sold online right now, the funnels and make-money-while-you-sleep strategies that, when you unpack them, actually demand more of you, not less. What's inside: The four levels of freedom, explained What "real investing" means (and what it doesn't) Why most online freedom strategies create more dependence How Kelly is teaching her daughter to build beyond her (and learning alongside her in real time) Timestamps 00:00 — Year three of homeschool, and the next generation standing on our shoulders 02:28 — Kelly's homeschool schedule and 7th-grade curriculum 02:47 — Late to the investing game 03:38 — Building her daughter's portfolio side by side as a family 04:05 — Level 1 freedom: becoming an entrepreneur or intrapreneur 04:42 — Level 2: a team that runs and grows without you 05:16 — Why most "freedom" strategies online create more dependence 06:26 — Breaking founder dependence with Legacy Leaders and the Miracle Hour 08:06 — Level 3: making passive income compete with active income 10:57 — Level 4: living off your investments 11:17 — Why the school system was built for employees, not freedom 12:13 — The 20 years of compounding most of us lost to financial illiteracy 12:35 — The 7th-grade investing curriculum (syndications, angel investing, lending) 13:19 — How her daughter earns and invests through the Courage Club 14:44 — A word to intimidated parents: put the ego down and learn alongside 17:28 — Why entrepreneurs need to think past revenue goals too Resources & Mentions Subscribe to Founder Girl: Kelly's Substack publication for raising the next generation to build, bloom, and blossom: https://foundergirl.substack.com/  The Courage Club: Kelly and her daughter's club for girls ages 7–14,  with lessons on public speaking, financial literacy, investing, internet safety, leadership, and more: https://www.courageclubforgirls.com/join-the-club  Learn more about Legacy Leaders: Kelly's mastermind focused on breaking founder dependence and building a team that runs, leads, grows, and profits without you. Our next in-person intensive: February 24–25, 2027, in Boca Raton: https://join.thebusinessadvisory.com/legacy-leader-2027  The Miracle Hour: Kelly's book and the sales fundamentals required to break founder dependence and empower your team to grow with or without you: https://a.co/d/07NPVkhK 

This is a replay from yesterday's LIVE Substack Masterclass. Because it was recorded live, you'll hear audience polling, and chat questions answered in real time.  T This episode answers the question you've been pondering: Substack actually for me? Kelly lays out why she believes it's the future home of thought leadership, what LinkedIn could have been before it filled with bots, and why she has a real sense of urgency about this specific window. Two things are true about Substack in this moment: there are no ads yet, so the entire platform is built to promote the creators who monetize, and 99 of 100 people in your market have never heard of it. That combination, she argues, is the same early-adopter opening the biggest names in online marketing rode 15 years ago. She and Danielle then dismantle the three myths that keep people out, share client wins across niches, and break down the mechanics that make it different: you own your list, the content is the product, and one paywalled article can turn readers into buyers who self-identify before you ever get on a call. They close with the full breakdown of the 30-day challenge built to get you your first or next 100 paid subscribers. What's inside: How to know if Substack fits your business (and if it doesn't) Why now is the window, before ads arrive and everyone floods in The three myths keeping capable people on the sidelines Owning your list, the paywall-article mechanic, and the funnel in one place Timestamps 01:52 — Why Substack is the future home of thought leadership 03:43 — The origin: getting on for a book deal, then monetizing 06:14 — Zero to $111K, and why it works: a trust engine and funnel in one 07:36 — You're already doing the work, you're just not getting paid 08:16 — Brock Johnson's 11 million views and $0 (the broken system) 09:22 — Why NOW: no ads yet, and 99 of 100 have never heard of it 13:07 — Three distinctions: monetize day one, no big audience needed 14:06 — The opposite of Instagram: deep trust vs. 30-second hooks 15:10 — Client wins across every niche (faith, education, culture, career) 18:29 — The data: bots, declining reach, and the human-voice question 21:19 — Own your audience: the asset you keep vs. rented land 24:04 — When you add something, remove something 26:27 — Myth 1: Substack is just a blog or newsletter 27:39 — Myth 2: it only works if you teach people to make money 28:24 — Myth 3: it takes too much time 30:15 — Do you need your paid tiers mapped first? (No) 31:18 — Why success doesn't hinge on audience size 32:16 — Substack vs. the expensive, complicated external funnel 35:03 — Danielle on the paywall-article mechanic 38:07 — Why they built a challenge instead of another 15-hour intensive 39:12 — Inside the 30-day challenge, week by week 44:08 — Who it's for, and where a beginner should start 45:16 — The accountability pods and how they drive discoverability 47:33 — The math: two annual subscribers covers the cost Join the 30-day Paid Subscriber Growth Challenge HERE: https://www.virtualbusinessschool.com/vbs-30-day-paid-substack-subscriber-challenge    Subscribe to Kelly's publication as an annual member to get $180 off your purchase: https://kellyroachofficial.substack.com/subscribe  Subscribe to Danielle's publication as an annual member to get $100 off your purchase: https://worththefollow.substack.com/subscribe