187: $8K for Weight Loss? How Dr. Priyanka Venugopal Charges Premium (Even in a Crowded Market)

Summary

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Courage & Clarity Episode 187

$8K for Weight Loss? How Dr. Priyanka Venugopal Charges Premium (Even in a Crowded Market)

Host: Steph Crowder
Guest: Dr. Priyanka Venugopal
Date: April 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features a rich, honest conversation between business coach Steph Crowder and Dr. Priyanka Venugopal—a former OB/GYN, now a premium weight loss and stress coach for high-achieving women. The episode delves into how Dr. Priyanka made the leap from medicine to group coaching, why and how she confidently charges $8,000 for a group weight loss program, and how she distinguishes herself and creates transformation in a crowded marketplace. They discuss the power of mindset work, the ripple effects of personal growth, the real challenges of entrepreneurship, and the deeper stories we tell ourselves (especially around time and productivity).

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dr. Priyanka’s Journey: Medicine to Coaching

• Pivot to Coaching: Priyanka was the first physician in her family, investing years into her medical career, yet felt a personal gap—she weighed over 200 lbs despite being an expert in women’s health and experienced stress that food seemed to medicate ([04:23]–[05:49]).
• Mindset Breakthrough: Discovering life coaching and the realization that “your thoughts create your feelings” was revolutionary:

  "When I heard it, my brain cracked open in a way that I think it had been needing." – Priyanka [06:54]

• Personal Transformation: Coaching impacted every area of her life—marriage, motherhood, her work—creating a “ripple effect” of positive change ([06:52]–[09:29]).
• Business Origins: Priyanka initially sought coaching certification for personal reasons. But after sharing her story on a popular podcast, she organically attracted clients and transitioned from 1:1 coaching to group programs ([09:29]–[12:16]).

2. The Challenge & Reward of Entrepreneurship

• Harder Than Med School:

  "Entrepreneurship has been harder than medical school and residency, but...it’s challenged me to befriend myself better than I could ever have in medical school." – Priyanka [12:16]

• The Unscripted Path: Medical protocols gave predictability; in business, she had to get comfortable with experimentation and the absence of clear rules ([12:58]–[13:58]).

3. Building and Charging for a Premium Group Program

• Offer Structure: Signature 6-month group program, $8,000 per participant (1:1 offering increased over time to $10K, then $15K) ([15:16]).
• Why $8K?: The price reflects her unique blend of medical expertise, personal transformation, and results; she emphasizes answering the question “Who am I to charge this?” for herself with clarity and conviction ([15:16]–[17:09]).

  "Once I felt solid in that question...the price felt like just a no brainer to me." – Priyanka [17:09]

• Conveying ROI in Non-Business Niches:
  • Steph highlights the challenge: “I don't think people would pay that for...weight loss.”
  • Priyanka emphasizes painting a vivid, specific “point B” future for clients in their own words; sharing the process hand-in-hand, and illustrating the cost (in life and opportunity) of not changing ([21:06]–[23:57]).

  “The cost of not taking action is another big piece.” – Priyanka [22:07]

• Methodology Differentiation:
  • She actively distinguishes her program by integrating mindset, medical, and real-life frameworks; not just weight loss but full life transformation for professional overachievers ([17:09]–[19:23]).

4. Messaging: The “Expert’s Dilemma” & Language Gaps

• Translation Problem: Experts often forget how to speak in the “beginner’s” language, making messaging too technical or high-concept ([26:13]).
• Addressing Real Objections:
  • Clients often assume, “I have a discipline problem”—Priyanka reframes this as an issue of missing skill, not willpower ([26:13]–[28:47]).

  "You’ve simply been missing a skill…when you diagnose something with the wrong diagnosis, your treatment is going to be completely off." – Priyanka [26:35]

• Continuous Refinement: Using AI and feedback to see where her messaging doesn’t yet “land” for the client.

5. The Hidden Expense of Time Stories

• Time as a Mindset Barrier: High-achieving women habitually claim, “I don’t have time”—but Priyanka shares the math of how overthinking/rumination costs 9.3 hours per week (or more) ([29:43]–[30:50]):

  "Even thinking the thought, 'I don’t have time,' is costing you time." – Priyanka [31:36]

• Awareness Exercise: Becoming conscious of the subtle sabotage of “I don’t have time” creates space for massive gains in productivity and presence.
• Practical Freedom: By resolving weight concerns and decision fatigue up front, her clients recover 10-15 hours per week—leading some to the surprising “problem” of boredom ([36:18]–[38:57]).

  “When you make those [Magic Action] decisions in advance, you will save 10–15 hours per week” – Priyanka [37:05]

6. Breaking the Productivity Addiction

• The Restlessness of Stillness: Both speakers candidly share how being busy keeps them from existential questions about identity and true desires ([39:15]–[41:46]).

  “Being addicted to productivity is expensive…you have a very fatigued brain now trying to make high quality decisions.” – Priyanka [41:46]

• Rest as a Skill: They trade tips—forcibly “bricking” phones, taking walks without headphones, setting real non-negotiable down-time—to unhook from constant productivity.

  “I drag myself out for a walk with no headphones... It is the hardest — but it does help you slow the brain down.” – Steph [41:46]

• Coaching as Support: The true relief is in not holding growth and change alone, but investing in and receiving the “hand-holding” support of coaching ([43:13]–[44:28]):

  “The moment that I hit the buy button...I can give this to someone else to help me hold. I’ve been holding this weight...by myself for so long…it feels so nice to know someone’s gonna hold me also.” – Priyanka [44:28]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Self-Worth and Price:
  "Sit down with yourself, take yourself out on a date, and answer the question, why am I an expert on this?" – Priyanka [16:14]
• On Messaging:
  “If your treat is creating regret and it’s undoing wins and it’s making you feel terrible, my argument is it’s not a treat.” – Priyanka [08:54]
• On Systemic Transformation:
  “When one person changes, the system around them is forced to change.” – Priyanka [09:29]
• On Selling Transformation:
  “You can change someone’s entire life trajectory. Do you know what that—that’s—you can’t put a dollar amount on that. 10K? Like what is that? That’s nothing.” – Priyanka [22:07]
• On Rest, Productivity, and Self-Worth:
  “I’m not able to rest because I feel restless.” – Priyanka [40:39]
• On Not Doing it Alone:
  “We have to sell them on relief—and how they deserve that.” – Priyanka [44:28]

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Important Timestamps

• Priyanka’s background & journey: [02:28]–[09:29]
• Why entrepreneurship is harder than medicine: [12:16]–[13:58]
• Offer details and pricing discussion: [15:16]–[19:09]
• On conveying transformation and ROI: [21:06]–[23:57]
• The “Expert’s Dilemma” in messaging: [26:13]–[28:47]
• The math of overthinking and time lost: [29:43]–[31:36]
• How coaching frees time & resolves decision fatigue: [36:18]–[38:57]
• Addiction to productivity and rest as a challenge: [39:15]–[41:46]
• The value of coaching support: [43:13]–[44:28]
• Where to find Dr. Priyanka online: [44:53]–[45:27]

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Where to Find Dr. Priyanka Venugopal

• Podcast: [Burn Stress, Lose Weight]
• Instagram & Website: @burnstressloseweight
• Content Highlight: Podcast episodes deliver the most frameworks, concepts, and stories.

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Summary & Takeaways

This episode is both a tactical masterclass and a deeply validating conversation for entrepreneurs—especially women—striving to charge what they’re worth, serve with integrity, and escape the traps of overthinking and productivity addiction. Dr. Priyanka’s unique blend of medical expertise and coaching allows her to confidently charge, deliver, and articulate premium transformation. Steph and Priyanka model the necessity of both internal work (mindset, being honest about your own value) and external clarity (messaging, process, pricing) for those looking to build bold, sustainable businesses—even in saturated markets.

If you’re wrestling with self-doubt, time scarcity, or the feeling you’re “too smart to be struggling” in entrepreneurship, this episode is a must-listen and a generous pep talk in real time.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to the Courage and Clarity podcast. I'm your host, Steph Crowder. I'm a former sales training director who's helped thousands of entrepreneurs earn a living doing something they love over the past 10 years. On your journey, you'll need the courage to be bold, to take risks, and to do what looks crazy on paper. You'll also need the clarity, the brass tacks, simple strategies that actually work. And on this podcast, we deliver both in equal measure. Oh, and by the way, we've got absolutely no time for bs, gross marketing tactics or get rich quick schemes. Just sustainable business strategies for good humans with big dreams. If that sounds like you, you're in the right place. Let's go. Hi, everyone. Welcome to the show. I am so excited to be here with one of my dear friends. This is Dr. Priyanka. She's going to introduce herself in just a moment.

[A]

We're going to.

[B]

We are. Gosh, how do I even describe our. Our friendship? We are business besties. We are. We talk about life. We met. I actually have an episode on Priyanka's podcast that came out pretty recently about our friendship and community and finding community in general. So if you're interested, you can, you can check that out to hear more of the story of how we met. But Priyanka has become one of my very, very, very, very few inner circle in business. Somebody who I talk to most days about business, also about life, about raising kids, and everything in between. So I am very excited to have you with us. Priyanka, welcome.

[A]

Thank you for having me. And I just want to say I am number one. So excited to have a conversation with you literally anytime, anywhere, Zoom or Vox or wherever you are. But also, I just am so glad to be here. So thank you for having me. And to everyone listening, I'm just so glad that you're here for this episode.

[B]

Yeah, this is going to be a really good one because Priyanka is very smart and mean. She's a doctor. She's a whole doctor. She's a whole obgyn. But on top of that, we always have such, like, deep. She's also a certified life coach. We have that in common. And we have so many deep conversations about just life. And we're going to get into some of that here. We have thoughts about time and she's also a very seasoned coach in her. In her niche, which we. We'll talk about too. So I think you all are in for a real treat and I'm very excited. So, Priyanka, please tell the people about your business and how you earn your living.

[A]

Yes, absolutely. So, hello, everyone. I'm Priyanka. My background, as Steph mentioned, is I'm an ob GYN physician. That is my. I like to think of that as almost the foundation with which I even came into business. I've always cared about women, women's health, empowering women, helping women feel their best. And it was not exactly a natural detour to get into entrepreneurship. I think that's like a whole story in itself. But over the course of the years and again through my own journey, I eventually became a stress and weight loss coach, and that is what I'm doing exclusively now. So I stopped clinical practice in 2022 and now exclusively have a signature program that helps professional women who self identify as overachievers to burn stress and lose weight. That's my business. That's my podcast. And I think a big piece of it for me was coming back to the mission and thinking about how can I take the mission that I have, the idea that I have, and bring it in front of more people and not be scared of selling them? And I've had a lot of thoughts about what selling looks like and the look and feeling. I used to have a lot of thoughts about selling, actually, to be honest. But once I've realized that the mission is so important, it's helped me sell bigger and more boldly. So thank you. That's what I do now.

[B]

Yes. So good. I'm sure we'll have a lot of conversation about the sales side of things, too. Tell us a little bit about. You know, I just think your background is so interesting. So you were a physician, a, you know, clinical, like, working as a physician. And how did you find yourself into the world of. Of coaching? Like, what was that journey like for you? How did you. How did you make that decision? Because I know you obviously went to school for a very long time, worked very, very hard, and I'm under the impression, based on our many conversations, that you really enjoyed your work in a lot of ways. So how did you get here?

[A]

Yeah, so I was the first physician in my family. It was one of those things where a lot of blood, sweat and tears, finances, time went into the journey of becoming a physician, especially medical school. And then we had four years of residency and a lot of sleepless nights and missed moments with my kids and with my husband. And so it was not. It's something that you do only because you love it. And again, there we are now also in a time where physicians are burning out they're getting overworked. That's for a whole separate conversation. But I very much loved what I did. And also at the same time, as just a woman myself, I wasn't feeling my best. So I had this. The way that I like to describe it is I had an A plus life on paper. I had a really supportive partner and these two cute kids most of the time, and a job I loved, patients I adored, and again, I loved taking care of women. And this was back in 2018. I weighed over 200 pounds and I wasn't feeling my best. And this is despite being an expert in women's health. So you what to do. It's one of those, you know what to do, but somehow you're not able to do it sustainably. And I woke up, my daughter was born in 2018. And I remember I was a few months postpartum and I went to re download my fitness, like my Fitness Pal or one of those, like, apps that track calories and points. And I remember, look, I was. I was nursing her and I was feeling terrible physically. Like, at my heaviest, the weight was not melting off with my nursing strategy.

[B]

I never understood. I know some women, that happens. It was never me. Yes.

[A]

No, it wasn't me. I actually, I ate more. I had a lot more hunger, so I. I gained weight, actually. But I went to redownload this app, and I remember thinking, if I'm feeling stress around food, is this really sound like the path to create freedom around food? Like, something is not. Not making sense? And the second thing is, is this a strategy that I want to model to the little people in my life? Do I want my daughter to see me tracking every single morsel food that I eat? So that was when I realized that I was missing something. And there was a mindset or strategy gap. And somehow it's like, you know, when the universe just comes together. I discovered a podcast that week. I was driving to work, and a podcast came into my line of sight. And I didn't even know what coaching was, but I discovered coaching through this podcast. And turns out that your thoughts create your feelings. And who knew? I mean, I know this sounds so wild, especially because your audience probably has heard this lesson, but I did not know this.

[B]

Yeah, no, same.

[A]

It's one of those things. When I heard it for the first time, the way that it was, again, I feel like every podcast has a flavor for how they share this information. But when I heard it, my brain cracked open in a way that I think it had been needing. And that Was when I went on my own personal journey. I invested significantly to join a group coaching experience. I lost a lot of weight, and then that trickled into every other part of my life. So it wasn't just about weight loss, because I was challenging my thoughts about my life. My marriage changed how I felt about my kids, changed how I felt as a physician. Every single part got better.

[B]

Why? Why do you think that is?

[A]

You know, what's interesting is the. The main reason that I would ever eat, really, when I wasn't hungry is because I was trying to escape my life. I had stresses around work and thoughts about being on call every Tuesday, every fourth, Friday, every fourth weekend for 72 hours in a row. I had thoughts about my life. I had thoughts if my son, my older kid, is. Was particularly challenging. So I had lots of thoughts about how he's not like the other kids. I had thoughts if my husband didn't do or behave the way that I wanted him to or to express affection. So I had thoughts about these other parts of my life that created a flavor of stress. And stress is such a broad term, it's like an umbrella term, but it created frustration, resentment, worry, some flavor of a negative feeling. And the fastest, lowest effort way for me to take a break from that was food grab. You know, for me, it was like cool ranch Doritos that I would turn into nachos and then pour a glass or two or three of wine. And it also felt acceptable because that's like the language with moms. It's like, oh, it's like wine night Friday and like mommy juice. Yeah. So I think a part of why it felt invisible for so long is because it's so acceptable as the form to numb out. And I didn't know that it was numbing out. I just thought, this is me treating myself.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But if your treat is creating regret and it's undoing wins and it's making you feel terrible, my argument is it's not a treat. And I had to see that. So when I started to get coached, this is the mindset coaching. This is outside of strategy, on the thoughts I had about my marriage or my kid and my work and my time, all of a sudden I started to, like, see this glimmer. It's a tiny little glimmer. It's like the doorway cracked open that maybe I have a little bit more power than I realize. I'm not. I'm not as disempowered as I thought.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And that door cracking open was all I needed. That's what coaching did for me. Coaching cracked the door open, but I had to walk through. Yeah, I had to grab the handle and push it open and decide that I was going to pick up what the coach was putting down. I had to be willing to challenge a lot of stuff and. And I think that that is why so many parts of my life, it's like a ripple effect started to change and then that creates a positive feedback. So when, you know, when, when I called it, this is systems theory. When one person changes, the system around them is forced to change. That's how it works. And so I would get feedback from my husband being more loving. All of a sudden my son would be behaving a little bit better. And yeah, it's so wild how, how it started to work. And that was when I decided that this is the magic secret sauce to the universe that more people need to know about. And so I just decided to get certified. Really for me, I had no intention of starting a business entrepreneurship again. Nobody in my family is an entrepreneur. And I just got this tickle, this idea for helping professional women like me that are that self identify, they have overachieving tendencies, some perfectionist tendencies that maybe have a harsh or critical voice that I wanted to help them in a way that I couldn't. In my 20 minute GYN visits. People would come to me for their OB GYN annual visits and I want to talk to them about all the things. But we have to do your annual head to toe exam. And I just found that I wasn't able to have the conversation that I wanted to. So I just started my business on the side and it started doing really well. And I was on a podcast that had the podcast. I was on the podcast where I had so much transformation with my coach and she had a huge audience and a lot of people heard about me through that. And then somehow just that one thing, it was like a domino. It's like a golden domino that knocks down lots of dominoes. It people found me that way and I started signing one on one clients initially. So that was back in 2020. And then I did one on one exclusively for a couple of years. And then in 2022 I started bringing my one on one clients together for these like story time calls. And their brains were blown at the power of group coaching. When you hear somebody else get coached, you sometimes think that you're this special unicorn. I know you call it the underwater basket weaver. Like yes, we all really believe that we are. And like yes, and we forever will. And that's okay. It's normal. When you hear another smart person struggling with something, you're like, oh, shoot. So I'm not the only one. There was something that was so magical about that that I couldn't unsee. And that was when I made the hard switch one on one to group immediately. I did not change my price. We should talk about my one on one was my group price. It didn't.

[B]

I didn't know it.

[A]

Oh, yeah. So I did not change my price. Every single one on one client, I think almost all of them, almost all of them renewed into the group at that price. And since 2022, it has been my signature offer. I have not touched it or changed it. And this is where we are now. And it's been the most gratifying experience, I think I've shown. I've shared this with you offline. Entrepreneurship has been harder than medical school and residency, but it's also been, in many ways, it's challenged me to befriend myself better than I could ever have in medical school residency. So it's one of those things. I think it's the best ride ever.

[B]

I don't think I've ever heard you say that. It's harder than medical school. That makes me feel really smart. It is.

[A]

Here's the thing. So, like with medical school and residency, this is for anyone that has, you know, like where you clock in, clock out, you're on the treadmill. What I know as a doctor, I have number one. I had a lot of confidence if I do A and B and C, I'm going to get to D. If I study for three hours, I know that I'm going to get an A or a B. Right. I know I'm going to pass the test if I put in the hours. So there's a level of certainty you get with a job like that that created this, like, free. It's not free confidence, but it's like I had this confidence. I knew that I was very good at what I did. An emergency walks in the door, if somebody's hemorrhaging or there's a surgical complication, there's a protocol.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Very good at handling protocols. Entrepreneurship. There is no protocol. I was about to, like, drop some expletives. There's no protocol. There's no abcd. There's some strategy.

[B]

Yes, Right.

[A]

But you have to be willing to play in the playground where there are no roles and be willing to experiment and test. That's hard for someone that's used to protocols. That's why I say that it's harder because you don't have necessarily a rule book all the time.

[B]

Yeah, well, y'. All, you hear. You heard her. You heard the medical doctor telling y', all, this is harder. Okay? So for those of you I know, I have a lot of listeners who are like, if I were so smart, like, couldn't I figure this out? So I'm. I'm sure that's a bit validating on the topic of your offer. Tell us about it. I want to hear the nuts and bolts of your offer. You just have one way of working with you, which I love the simplicity of that. And I want to hear about your. Your. All the. Yeah, all the nuts and bolts. And then I also want to talk a little bit about your specific methodology and, like, what kind of. What makes you different. I mean, obviously, you have your. Your background is one of the things that sets you apart and is memorable. But that's something I focus on a lot with my clients is, you know, you're a stress and weight loss coach, I'm a business coach. These are two saturated crowded markets. We really have to focus on what makes us different in order to attract clients who can feel that recognition and be like, oh, that's the coach I want to work with. So tell us about your offer. And also, you've been doing a lot of work on. I know this has a friend. You've been doing a lot of work to really, like, set yourself apart and go deeper into some of the pieces of your marketing and messaging that are really relevant to the women, like the problems that you. That they want to solve. So tell us about all of those pieces.

[A]

Yeah. So I think just starting at the nuts and bolts, my signature offer is six months. It's 8K for the group. And that's what my one. No. So I did. I did up my one on one price to 10K for six months, and then it went up to 15K. So there was that jump. But when I moved from one on one to group, I went from 8k right to 8k. So it was one of those, like, parallel moves over. And I, you know, when it comes to the price of a program, I know I'm sure people have heard, like, there is no right price. There's, like the price that you go make right. But I feel like that is a little bit vague, and it's not. So it doesn't land. Maybe for you, for. For someone listening. The way that I decided on the price of this program and what I'm trying to do now is what is it that I can uniquely speak on with either personal experience or my lived expertise that is unique in the market. So being a weight loss coach is not unique. There are so many weight loss coaches out there. But I would be fairly confident that I'm the only one that does what I do the way that I do it. And I think that that is sometimes where a lot of especially if you're new in entrepreneurship or if like you're like earlier on you have might have wobble on. You might have wobble on. Like who am I to sell this program? Like, you have to go do the deeper work of answering that question. Yeah, you have to do the deeper work. And I say that with so much love. Like I wobbled for a while and then I was like, wait a second, I have to answer the question, who am I to charge this price? Like, don't make it rhetorical and don't leave it open ended. Sit down with yourself, take yourself out on a date and answer the question, why am I an expert on this? What has been my personal experience in solving this problem in a way that has created meaningful change? How am I an expert? Like all we have to answer that question.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think that once I felt solid in that question, so I didn't have wobble on it anymore. The price felt like just a no brainer to me. So I don't even think about the price anymore. I think now my work and this is continued work, it's probably going to be a continuation for who knows forever. But it's my job now is I have to be able to share the value to someone that is new to my orbit. When they first discover me, it's like, how can I explain to them what's gonna happen on the inside? It's like, you know when you have a present that's wrapped and like you wanna tell the person that's about to open this present, like your life is about to change. You're going to experience not just weight loss, but you experience this ripple effect that we've been talking about. What is that worth to you? And it's hard for someone that's not unwrapped the present yet to understand the value.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because it's on the inside. And the only way you get it is once you're inside. And I think that that is the playground for entrepreneurship. How can I share and describe? It's like, you know those games where you're blindfolded but you have to describe what. Yeah, what the. It's Almost like that. And I think what's been hard for me is being willing to experiment with different ways and different angles and different, you know, content pillars and core strategies on what sets me apart. How can I share it? My problem is I make things complicated. And you have been, like, such a good friend to tell me, like, how can we find it? Yeah, we need to make this, like, simpler. And I'm like, oh, yeah, okay. So, like, having coaching, having someone that can reflect back to you, your blind spots, and, like, that's. You have a gap there, my friend. Like, we have to fill that. So I think it's just experimentation and trying different things and seeing and then tracking data. I think that's the other one that I. I really have skipped over for a long time, is what parts of my business are working well. My podcast is the place where when consoles come to me, that is where they get the hottest, the fastest.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And yet I was spending hours on Instagram with, like, my, you know, carousels and my reels. Like, Instagram do I love it. I mean, I love being on there, but I don't know that that's where clients have come from. So it's just looking at that. And where do I want to spend my effort and time?

[B]

Yeah. Okay. There's multiple things I have questions about. First of all, I want to call out for people. You heard that right, folks? $8,000, $10,000, $15,000 for weight loss. I told Priyanka this before we hit record, that one of the big reasons, I mean, I've wanted to have her on this podcast for a long time because clearly you're already experiencing. She's so smart and has so much to offer and is very successful and seasoned. But, you know, I talk to people all the time who are like, I don't think people would pay that for. Oh, Steph, you're a business coach. People pay that for business. Well, people, you know, aren't going to pay that for my niche. So can you. And I have. Again, I want to go back to some of the things you shared, but one of the things I'd like to ask you is spend a moment for us on. One thing I talk to my clients about is no matter what your niche is, you have to be able to talk about roi, return on investment. Right. You have to be able to show people. And you hinted at this in what you were just touching on, that it's a transformation. Right. For as long as I've been doing what I do, I've always called it the Point A to point B transformation. It's like, you know, Luke Skywalker starts out here and he ends up saving the world at the end of the movie. Right. Like we watch movies, we read stories because of that hero's journey, because of that transformation. And so when you think about how you've conveyed, obviously it's not, it really trips people up sometimes when it's like I, I'm asking people to spend a car, right. I'm asking people to spend a vacation to an all out vacation to Europe. Right. How do I, how do I show them that what they get back, what they are going to earn through the coaching and working the program is going to be worth what they spent? How have you thought about that and presented that in your sales process?

[A]

Yeah, so I think that there's two pieces to it. Number one is really painting the picture of point B. Yeah. And, and in their words, like really using their language and using like what their vision is for themselves in painting a very clear, not vague picture. And I think that when a potential client can visualize themselves there, they will sell themselves on it. They want it for themselves. Like, this is not about you at all. I think that's another thing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I think selling sometimes as entrepreneurs we forget that it's not about us. I know that it is about us because it's our businesses and of course we want our business to do well. But coming from like the heart of service and really thinking about the person in front of you and how your unique expertise and your process can get them to point B is literally invaluable. It is priceless. Like you can change someone's entire life trajectory. Do you know what that, that's. You can't put a dollar amount on that 10K.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Like what is that? That's nothing. Right. So I'm just saying that because when you can really paint a picture and drop that possibility in someone, they will start to sell themselves. So I think that's the first step. I think the second piece that I have had to practice a lot is how are we specifically getting them from point A to point B. I'm using the word vague a lot because I think that we sometimes brush over these specifics that people that are savvy buyers that have they, you know, they don't necessarily have trust with you yet, they don't know you yet, they don't have a relationship with you yet, they don't know, like how am I supposed to. From A to B. That sounds too good to be true. You have to walk them through granular detail, like you're holding their hand. We're going to first do this, and then we're going to do this. And when you trip up, because you will, this is what we're going to do. I've just found that calling out the actual steps of the process and how somebody gets from point A to point B helps them paint the picture. And then I think the third element that is really important and it can be a tender topic to have. But again, I think this is a real conversation for coaching. What's the cost of you not trying? Yeah. What is the cost of you staying here and never trying? Like, is it true you might try and fail? Sure. But not trying is 100% right. So painting the cost of staying stuck. And I think that this can be harder to do because we're so used to our familiar status quo that we don't see the cost. I have been spending a lot more time in what's the cost of me not doing the brave, courageous thing? And that's expensive when I'm 80 years old. I don't want to be sitting with regrets on, oh, I wish that I had tried more. I wish that I had gone for that thing. I wish that I. I don't want that. You don't have a time machine to go backwards. Right. We just have right now. So I think that the cost of not taking action is another big piece.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. To put you on the spot here a little bit. Can you maybe help us work through an example of. In your. And we can just do your niche, like, what are some real words that people say that you've maybe brought back into your messaging versus how you would describe it? So this is something I wanted to come back to and what you were touching on earlier as well. So this ties in really nicely. I have this. I've talked about this here on the podcast, and I certainly talk about it with my clients. This idea that I call the experts dilemma, which is the more there's like this. This is like a law that I have, an unwritten law. The smarter you are and the more expert you are and the more trained you are and the more academic you are, the harder this is going to be. Okay. Where you know so much. You are such an exper. You are so far from the novice learner, from the person who doesn't know how to do this stuff from the beginner, that it can be really tough for. For this is speaking to my clients to really access that place of, like, where their headspace is and so what ends up happening for a lot of my experts out there is you're like, I just need to show them that I'm smart and they'll buy from me. I just need to show them how much I know. I just need to give, give, give, give, give, and that's going to make them buy. And people even take this to the place of being, like, if I was so smart, if I was good enough at my thing, wouldn't I be booked out? That's something I really hear from people. And it's like, no, no, no, no, no. These are two completely different skill sets. You can be the best coach, the best therapist, the best website designer, the best whatever, underwater basket weaver. But if you don't know how to really contextualize it for somebody to make it actually, like, make them care about what's in it for them and how their life is going to change, I have noticed we're hearing more and more as an objection. Hey, you're great. Like, Priyanka, I think you're super smart. Like, you're awesome. It's me that I'm doubting, right? I'm doubting my ability to get results, which I think that goes back to what you said of, we really need to show people how we're going to hold their hand in the process. But I'm curious if you have any examples of, like, what are some of the. Because I know you've been doing this work, and we all need to be doing this work, and it's never over of refining our messaging. But do you have an example of, like, a vague message that would maybe fall flat versus something that would appeal more to your people?

[A]

Yeah, I think that, like, one of the biggest thoughts that my clients have before they come to work with me is they think they have a discipline problem. They think that they're just, like, not disciplined. And I'm like, you're literally an overachieving professional woman who has discipline in every area.

[B]

Right? You're like a doctor or a lawyer. Like, yeah, yeah. Like.

[A]

Like, discipline has not been the issue. And so the way that I describe this, like, the analogy that I have, is when you diagnose something with the wrong diagnosis, your treatment is going to be completely off. So it's like, you can have menstrual cramps, and you're like, I have menstrual cramps. I have menstrual cramps. And then you go and you buy antifungal foot cream, and it's like, the best antifungal foot cream. Ever. And you're rubbing your foot raw and like, you're noticing your menstrual cramps are not getting better and you get more and more frustrated. You have more disbelief. You start believing that you're just going to be the person that has to live with menstrual cramps forever because you didn't treat the right thing with the right solution. And so I. I think about that when it comes to the language of individual clients. And this is, again, still something I'm working on. I've actually been using AI, AI chat, like, to help me. Help. Show me. Where am I making this too complicated. Where am I?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Not talking the language of my ideal clients. So it's been actually kind of reflective, but it's being able to show them they never had a smarts issue or a discipline issue. They've simply been missing a skill. And the hard thing for, I think my clients who are overachievers is like, if it was so simple, I would have done it already. They have that, like, if it was simple. And so I tried to really help them see that this is not a skill that they have ever learned anywhere else. Where am I ever, like, you know, before entrepreneurship, where did I ever learn to market and sell anything that was a skill I ever learned?

[B]

Yes.

[A]

For a long time I had that thought, oh, my God, I'm just not good at this.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

People seem naturally gifted at selling, and I don't know how to do that. And, like, will I do? Can I do this? I spent so much time and bandwidth on that question that I wasn't doing the work of developing skills. So this comes down to, again, wasting time. So much time. You were there for it, where I'm like, it's not working. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know why it's not working. Do you know how many times I said that sentence? A lot of times. And every time I had that sentence, I was taking myself out of identifying. What skill am I missing? Yeah, what skill am I missing? And then, like, actually going. Solving that problem.

[B]

That's so good. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about time, because this has been one of my. My favorite topics that I think we both like to nerd out about. Um, I have been coaching my clients a lot about this. For podcast listener, all of you podcast listeners, you could probably expect me to be doing some episodes about time and entrepreneur. Entrepreneurial relationships to time and all of our thoughts about time. Um, I experienced this in my work with my clients. So do you like, I don't have time to lose weight. Right. Like, I'm a busy professional. What ways do you. What? Well, I don't know, what are some of your favorite conversations that you're having about time right now with your clients who think I don't have, I don't have time because I know a lot of people out there who are listening to this feel this way. They're wearing so many hats. They are parents with full time jobs with side hustles. Maybe they also want to lose weight. And I think we spend so much time thinking about the time that we don't have. So I'm curious for your thoughts on that.

[A]

I have so many thoughts. This is again, and this is what's so fascinating is this directly ties in with somebody hitting their goal. So the, the way that I've talked about it with weight loss is when you actually solve the weight loss problem, you won't just have lost weight, you're going to get 10 hours of time back per week. And I want to talk about how, how I talk about this with my clients. And for anyone listening, please take this and run with it. Borrow it, use it forever. There's math, okay, So I want to do some math. If you take just five minutes per waking hour, assuming you sleep eight hours per night, that I don't know you are, but let's just assume I'm going to give it to you. Yeah. Spent second guessing yourself, wondering whether you're capable, wondering whether your business is going to succeed. Overthinking a decision, ruminating and perseverating on the past mistake you made or on a future worry you have. That's 9.3 hours per week.

[B]

What? You said five minutes an hour.

[A]

Five minutes per hour. Just spend overthinking through the day. Five minutes per hour. Where you're dwelling on something, where you're like, I don't know if I can do that. Do you know how many. If you looked at your screen time, you will see if you do a

[B]

little time audit, it adds up.

[A]

It adds up.5 minutes per hour. If you sleep 8 hours per night is 9.3 hours per week, likely double that by the way. But let's just give you 9.3. That's 485 hours per year, which is 20 days. 20 days per year. And that is a conservative estimate that professional people are overthinking and second guessing themselves. And that's how much time it takes to launch an offer. Like just. Or to try something new. Yeah, I think whenever someone Says, I don't have enough time. I love it because I'm like, let's just do a little bit of math. How much time do you think you're spending? Even thinking the thought, I don't have time is costing you time. And I say this not to create pressure or stress, because that can be

[B]

like, oh, my gosh, I can never

[A]

think I don't have enough time. We don't want to do that. But it's just think of it as an awareness tool from now moving forward. Once you see it, you can unsee it. Every time you're like, I don't have enough time. Just observe yourself. Like, that's so fascinating that I'm doing that. It's such a. I call this, like, a sneaky. It's like a perfectionist procrastination tactic on making a hard decision, on doing something uncomfortable, on sitting with something that's tender and just, like, going through it. We will procrastinate with telling ourselves the lie that we don't have time.

[B]

It's so interesting because I've been talking to my clients a lot about time and how to stop telling ourselves that we don't have enough time and just do stuff instead. And I think a lot of people automatically assume that what we're saying is, like, just work harder. Just do more. Just, like, just. Yeah, just overwork. Right. But I think it's really important to this, like, math that we're doing here really shows us that it's really not about, like, forcing yourself to work more. It's really about noticing. To your point of the awareness, like, noticing how much time. We really do think about time as our constraint and how. How. How attached we really are to that story. Like, I know I have been so attached to that story in my past. It was my. I've shared. I think I've shared this here on the show. It was, like, my number one thought in my business when. Especially when my kids were really little and I would come back to it all the time. Oh, that person can do it because they don't have kids. Or if only I had more time, or if only that we hadn't been sick with the flu for two weeks and that had it. Like, I didn't even. I was not fully aware of how much these time thoughts were really infiltrating my brain. And at the time, I think, like, this is something that life coaching has taught me that has been so helpful, which is like, every story, just recognizing every story we tell ourselves that we're holding on to like that it does, it's, it's served us at some point. It may even be serving us now. And just I started asking myself the question, like, what am I getting from this? Like, why is this such a big story for me? And when it really got to the bottom was of was, oh, well, I don't have to be disappointed if I don't like my results in my business. If I can just say, well, it's because, well, if I had had the time, I would be successful. And it was very scary to con at first. Then it was so freeing and it continues to be so freeing to just confront like, hey, you're avoiding disappointment by holding onto this story. It was very maladaptive for me. But since being able to let that go, it is incredible what I have been able to create within impossibly small amount of time.

[A]

Yeah. And I think it's, it's so important to recognize because also professionals will. We have a tendency to overwork. We have a tendency to blur the line, like the, to blur the boundaries. Like, I remember for me, I would like my kids will come home and I'll be with them physically. But my brain is thinking about the business.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I'm playing with my daughter, but she will be like, mommy, why are you looking so mad? Cause I apparently, according to her, I furrow my brow when I'm thinking or like I'm working. Yeah. I look like I'm mad and we're playing Candyland. Like that's not the point. Right. So I remember I started to challenge some of. First of all, I had to do time audit and really look at how often was I telling myself the story. It felt like a wubby nubby because then I felt justified in delaying hard calls, hard decisions. But once I saw it, it was again, it was hard to unsee. And then the second thing I have realized, which I had been so freeing is when you actually first put your joy on the calendar. When you actually first put when is your, when is your workday done? Defining enough. When is your workday done? When are you going to close the laptop, close the emails and actually be present in your real life? Which is why most of us are in entrepreneurship. You want to have this like life right outside of work. When is that going to happen? If that was. I described this as a plane ticket to Paris. If you knew you had a plane ticket, it's leaving at five o'clock today. Non refundable, non negotiable. You can't get out of it. You have to be in your seat at 5 o', clock, how would you show up the rest of the day? What would you delegate? What would you just do B minus, work on what would you be focused and get done? You wouldn't procrastinate, you wouldn't dilly dally with random things because you have a plane ticket to Paris waiting for you at five o'. Clock. Right. We'd be so much more focused. So I think about time, really in that way, when we change our relationship with time, we can actually create more fun, more presence, more productivity. But it, it requires letting go of the story and challenging the story to, to begin with.

[B]

I know this is a big question, but I'm really curious and I'm sure others are too. You mentioned that you teach women to lose weight and get 10 hours back when they do it. How are they getting 10 hours back?

[A]

So I love that you're asking this question. This is when you have decisions made in advance, you just make a framework of decisions. I call these magic action decisions. When you make a framework of decisions once that you don't have to keep remaking every single day again, you're not spending time wondering, am I eating this or am I eating that? Am I eating a little? Am I eating a lot? Am I hungry now? Am I not? Like, again, we are spending so many hours of time in decision making that we get to fatigue and then we throw in the towel and then we give up and now we're like in the fast food line eating who knows what.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So my clients have reported to me. This is not even just me plucking a number out of the sky. I have physician clients, entrepreneur clients, like every range, 10 to 15 hours per week that they have gotten back because they have made decisions in advance once. And these can't be just decisions that are strict. I'm going to count 1200 calories. And I'm not talking about decisions like that.

[B]

I'm talking because you don't have your clients count calories, right?

[A]

No, we don't count calories or points. You learn a framework for how to honor your gut's natural hunger and satiety cues while also making food decisions that optimize your hormone pathways, optimize your mood, your, your vitality. But imagine that you made those decisions like you know what your schedule is like for the week, right? So like we can kind of flash forward and take a general look. This is when I have school pickups, I'm mom chauffeur for my kids, swim and soccer takes over my afternoons this is when we have games. This is when I have a zoom meeting. This is when I'm talking to my assistant like, we have a structure for the week. It's not a surprise. We act like it's a surprise, but it's not. Yeah. So if we take 30 minutes at the start of our week and properly plan, make decisions, that will support us. And I'm talking about the joy on the calendar. I'm talking about the exercise on the calendar. If you nourish yourself, you're going to show up better. And also the actual needle movers, the decisions for your business. Or again, I'm talking about for weight loss. You don't have to think about it at 12 o'. Clock. You know what you're having for lunch on Monday. What are you working on in your business? What are your sales activities? What are your marketing activities? What. When is that happening? Some. There's. When you make those decisions in advance, you. You will save 10 to 15 hours per week. So you get that back. And my clients, literally this week, one of my clients was saying, I am so bored, I don't know what to do with myself. We are having a whole different problem now because I'm like, okay, so it turns out we need hobbies.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it's wild again. It's wild. And I'm only saying this because these are the same clients that came to me saying, I don't have time. I feel like I don't know how. It's because they were missing a skill, they were missing a strategy, and then they were missing getting coached on the stresses that would take them off track. Right. So that's why the coaching is such an important piece of the process.

[B]

Man, I love that. I find that to be true for myself, too. It's. It's. And it just would be an interesting exercise for. Not everybody will be open to this, but for those who are open to it, like, I. I have actually been talking about this a lot on the podcast this year because, you know, Priyanka, my word for the year is boring. And I've been talking a lot about boring business and making my life more boring. And when we busy ourselves with whatever, we don't have to think about other stuff. We don't have to think about scarier stuff. We don't have to ask the question, who am I and what do I like and how do I want to actually be spending my time? And I've just noticed the way, like, the newest thing for me is, like, yeah, I do spend time, you know, Meal like, what are we going to eat? What's on the menu? I got to shop for it. Oh my God. Like, that takes time and so does like, oh, the kids, sports. We gotta go here, there and ever. Like, it's, it's so interesting. It's like two things can be true at the same time. I'm not taking away from myself or anybody. Like, yeah, we've got a busy life, right? But it's like by staying in that busyness, I. There are so many questions I don't have to ask myself. Like, I find myself when my daughter does cheer, competitive cheer. The people know this. And I spend a lot of my time chauffeuring or going to places. And when I have to do that, I'm like, oh, I don't need to think about, you know, what I might like to do, right? On nights when I don't have it, I'm like, what am I supposed to be doing? And it's like, it's a bigger question.

[A]

It's actually really what I've. This has been my work as well. I'm not able to rest because I feel restless.

[B]

I'm literally like wearing a line in the floor, pacing around like, sit down, girl. Sit down.

[A]

Yeah, sit. But we don't know how to do that. And it's a lot of it. Especially if you're in entrepreneurship or you're a professional, a lot of your self worth and value has come from being a productive person and a valuable member in your family or in your community. So I just want to validate if you know that it's hard for you to stop and slow down and have the time for yourself. It's. You're not alone in that. It's just such a normal place when you are used to being productive. But I just now, in my own experience, being addicted to productivity is expensive. It's expensive because you have a very fatigued brain now trying to make high quality decisions. And that's why a business will feel like it's an uphill battle because you're trying to make business decisions from a tired brain, which is expensive. We will make it. I have done it. I will make some ludicrous business decisions from a very tired place. And then, you know, now you're stuck cleaning that up.

[B]

Breaking an addiction to productivity is really. It sucks. It does. I just want to validate that for people too. Like, I can feel I'm getting better at recognizing it and I can feel. I think I've told you this, Priyanka. I make myself there's a tip for everybody. If everyone's like, well, how do we break if we think this might be us? What do you have to do? Oh, you. The stuff you have to do sucks so bad. I have to brick my phone. You know, buying that little brick, I just want to have the option to be on the social media. No, it's gotta go right? Or. This is my new thing. I make myself. I drag myself out for a walk with no headphones. Oh, my God, no headphones. 30 minutes. And some people out there are like, that's ridiculous. That my husband thinks it's ridiculous. My husband is like a Zen Buddhist person in disguise. He's like, how is that hard? I'm like, it is the hardest. I want to listen to a podcast. I want to voxer with my friends. I. But I can feel like the more I don't want to do it, the more I have to go out there for 30 minutes, and I might be stomping my feet the whole time, but it. It does, like, help you slow the brain down. So that's my newest tip, and it's. I hate to give advice because it's for some people, if, you know. You know, if you're like me, you're like, oh, don't make me do it. But, yeah, it. It makes a tremendous difference.

[A]

I also think it's like, be willing to. To. To, like, dare yourself to try. Yeah, it's almost like, dare yourself to try. Pick up one of these things, right? Like, dare yourself to. To go on an experiment. Let it be seven days, and then you can change your mind after seven.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You will not take my headphones away from me ever. Because that is my, like, voxing Marco. That is my team, where I'm, like, catching up with people. But, yes, that's never le.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

But I will try all the other experiments. Like, and I think that that's what I also love about you, Steph, which is, like, being able to have the hard conversations to get coached on what your blind spots are. I cannot tell you. There have been so many times you think you know, but you're so deep in your own doo doo.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

Cannot see what somebody else can see. And I think that that is such an invaluable part of the process, and I think we have to sell people on that part. Like, one is selling them on point B, but we also have to sell them on not doing it alone. You know, the moment that I made my first, I had never even heard of coaching before I invested seriously in coaching, and I Just remember the moment that I hit the buy button. I felt this relief. I didn't feel bad. I wasn't, like, scared. I just felt, oh, I can give this to someone else to help me hold. I've been holding this weight physically and, like, literally and and figuratively by myself for so long that it feels so nice to know someone's gonna hold me. Hold me also.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think that we have to remember that part. Like, we have to sell them on relief and, like, how they deserve that. I just think that that's kind of valuable, too.

[B]

Yeah, absolutely. Priyanka, I could talk to you here for the rest of the day. We could have an audiobook, and we will have you back on the show for sure. So for now, tell everybody where they can find you online. You have a podcast. You have lots of cool resources, so tell people where they can come check you out.

[A]

Yeah. First of all, I love this conversation so much, so thank you for having me. I hope you all have been enjoying it and took something away. I'm on Instagram and online everywhere and burn stress, lose weight. So that's my podcast. That's my website. That's my Instagram handle. I'm, like, very active in the DMs. Maybe I shouldn't be.

[B]

You should be.

[A]

No, I should be checking my Instagram. But, like, I. I genuinely love talking with people, so come and say hi. And I think my podcast is probably where I share the most frameworks, concepts, and stories. So I would start with the podcast.

[B]

I love it. Thank you so much for hanging out with us. It's been great.

[A]

Thank you. Bye, everyone.