The Everyday Millionaire Podcast

Episode 228: Kelly Roach – Designing an Exceptional Business and Life That Truly Serves
Host: Patrick Francey
Guest: Kelly Roach
Date: September 16, 2025

Overview

In this inspiring episode, Patrick Francey sits down with Kelly Roach, a celebrated business growth strategist, bestselling author, and one of the few female founders to build an eight-figure business online without outside funding. Their conversation is a deep dive into how to intentionally design a business and a life that aligns with your deepest values—especially faith and family. Through candid stories and actionable insights, Kelly shares her journey from Fortune 500 executive and NFL cheerleader to multimillion-dollar entrepreneur and homeschooling mother.

Main Themes

• Living and Leading by Core Values
• The Power and Responsibility of Self-Design
• Faith, Family, and Business Integration
• Building High-Performance Teams
• Lessons from Failure and Partnership
• Service-Oriented Entrepreneurship
• Self-Leadership Amid Societal Change

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who is Kelly Roach? (03:08)

• Self-Description:

  • “I'm a business growth strategist, and I help entrepreneurs build seven and eight figure companies without sacrificing the most sacred parts of their life. So my goal is to help entrepreneurs achieve their goals and their dreams while putting their faith and their families first.”
    (Kelly Roach, 03:08)

• Recent Life Update:

  • Kelly and her husband started homeschooling their daughter, Madison, applying business and life skills in daily family life.

2. The Choice to Homeschool and Legacy (04:49)

• Legacy as Daily Practice:

  • "I believe legacy is something to be lived, not something to be passed on. And I believe the greatest legacy that you can live is pouring into the people that you love."
    (Kelly Roach, 04:49)

• Empowering Her Daughter:

  • Focused on teaching Madison real-world skills (business, faith, leadership) rather than relying on traditional schooling.

3. Value-Driven Leadership & Entrepreneurship (08:16)

• Values as the Centerpiece:

  • “I find a lot of people come to me and they have built a business based on someone else's values and they don't like that business because that business is not built around their life design.”
    (Kelly Roach, 08:16)

• Entrepreneurial Trap:

  • Many entrepreneurs build a “prison” by unconsciously outsourcing their true power and decision-making.

• Practical Advice:

  • Learn from others’ models, but build your business aligned with your own core values.

4. Operational Alignment and Inner Work (12:46)

• Scale is a Mental Game:

  • “You have to have an alignment between the inner work and the outer work in order to truly build something to that level and beyond... Scale is more mental game than anything else.”
    (Kelly Roach, 12:46)

• Importance of Persistence:

  • Entrepreneurs often sabotage themselves by switching directions too quickly—real results come with consistency over years.

5. Building Exceptional Teams (15:51)

• From Solopreneur to Team Leader:

  • Kelly draws from her Fortune 500 experience, emphasizing delegation and hiring for operational roles.

• Team-Building Resources:

  • Authored "Bigger Than You" to help entrepreneurs create unstoppable teams (17:54).

• Five Core Divisions of Business (19:09):

  • Sales, marketing, service delivery, finance, and HR—most business owners are stuck doing sales and service, preventing scale.

6. Corporate Roots and Entrepreneurial Purpose (21:18)

• From Corporate to Entrepreneur:

  • Inspired by a desire for meaningful, direct impact and fulfillment, not just career advancement.

• Redefining Success:

  • Looked at leaders above her and chose not to follow their path when it didn’t align with her vision.

7. The Deeper Purpose: Faith and Contribution (23:59)

• Faith Integrated with Business:

  • “Nothing is impossible with God, number one. Number two, work is a gift from God. And our businesses are an extension of taking the gifts that we were given from God and honoring those gifts...”
    (Kelly Roach, 23:59)

• Rethinking Wealth:

  • Money is a byproduct of purpose and service, not the central aim.

8. Is Entrepreneurship Nature or Nurture? (26:18)

• Path to Purpose:
  • Kelly was not raised as an entrepreneur; her faith foundation came from family, and entrepreneurship arose from her drive to fulfill a greater purpose.

9. Faith for the Non-Religious & Universal Purpose (28:19)

• Accessible Spiritual Perspective:

  • “Your faith life is really about connecting with your higher purpose and your higher calling and believing that you're here for a reason...”
    (Kelly Roach, 28:19)

• Start Simple:

  • Direct connection to something greater—without requiring institutional religion.

10. The Challenge of Clarity and Attention (30:49)

• Clarity Equals Velocity:

  • “Clarity equals velocity. And as you're speaking, we can sense and hear the clarity...”
    (Patrick Francey, 30:49)

• Finding Purpose Beyond Money:

  • Money alone is insufficient motivation; reconnecting to purpose fuels resilience during adversity.

11. The Culture Shift & Self-Leadership (34:18)

• Impact of Social Change:

  • Entrepreneurs must become self-led, avoiding passive drift with the current of culture.

• Danger of Outsourced Values:

  • Lack of self-awareness or clarity leads to living out someone else’s script—which leads to misalignment and dissatisfaction.

12. Lessons from Failed Partnerships (46:30)

• Caution on Business Partnerships:

  • Kelly lost millions in partnerships; the lesson: only build with those who are proven and share your core work ethic and values.

• Patrick agrees:

  • Unaligned values, even with smart, accomplished partners, become costly and corrosive over time.

• Key Takeaway:

  • “No failure is ever fatal unless you let it be the reason you quit.”
    (Kelly Roach, 46:30)

13. Family as Foundation

• Role of Spousal Support (53:43):

  • Kelly’s husband has been the primary support at home, allowing her to build and lead. Their arrangement—though non-traditional—fulfills their shared vision.

• Home and Work Team:

  • “Nothing is possible without the right team, right at home and at work.”
    (Kelly Roach, 53:43)

14. NFL Cheerleading Background (56:41)

• Impact of High Standards:
  • Early experience set the tone for high standards and prepared her for performance, leadership, and public life.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Living Your Values:

  • "Be very careful that you're building based on your core values and your own unique life design.” (08:16)

• On the Realities of Entrepreneurship:

  • “It's you against you every single day. So it's just putting one foot in front of the other and saying, okay, I'm going to try again tomorrow.” (46:30)

• On Faith and Business:

  • "Our businesses are an extension of taking the gifts that we were given from God and honoring those gifts by utilizing those talents… to be of service in the highest capacity." (23:59)

• On Partnership:

  • "I will never go into a partnership again... now if I want to start a new project, I promote someone from within." (46:30)

• On Team Building & Home Life:

  • “Nothing is possible without the right team, right at home and at work... He has made it possible and poured everything into Madison...” (53:43)

• On Contribution:

  • “The greatest reward in life is contribution. And so I hope that anyone who interacts with me feels that they leave the situation or left the situation better than when they came.” (58:24)

Important Timestamps

• 03:08 – Kelly’s self-introduction and unique approach to work-life balance.
• 04:49 – Homeschooling as a legacy and values-driven decision.
• 08:16 – The importance of building a business aligned with personal values.
• 12:46 – The necessity of both inner and outer work for true business growth.
• 15:51 – Transitioning from doing everything to building effective teams.
• 19:09 – Five core divisions of successful business structure.
• 23:59 – Kelly’s personal and business purpose rooted in faith and contribution.
• 26:18 – Discussing whether entrepreneurship is inherent or learned.
• 28:19 – Faith and purpose for everyone, regardless of religious background.
• 30:49 – Clarity as a driving force in business and life.
• 34:18 – Navigating societal change and staying self-led.
• 46:30 – Lessons learned from failed business partnerships.
• 53:43 – The foundational role of Kelly’s husband at home.
• 56:41 – How NFL cheerleading influenced her work ethic and standards.
• 58:24 – On who Kelly is at the core: a contributor and empowerer.

Rapid Fire & Fun Moments

• Favorite Music/Band? – Her husband, who plays piano and guitar. (60:02)
• Favorite Movie? – “The Family Man.” (60:29)
• Favorite Swear Word? – Playfully avoids saying it, but references the “duck” autocorrect conundrum. (60:45)
• What would she want God to say at the gates? – “You did good. You did good with what you got.” (61:14)
• What are you grateful for today? – The Internet and the ability to build businesses and serve globally from home. (61:26)

Tone and Language

The conversation is candid, warm, and practical, blending high-level entrepreneurial wisdom with humility and real-life anecdotes. Both Kelly and Patrick emphasize authenticity, the importance of values, and a service-oriented mindset, all delivered in an accessible and inspiring style.

Key Takeaways

• Live and lead from core values; don’t outsource your choices or integrity.
• Successful entrepreneurship is less about technical skill, more about clarity, self-leadership, and persistent alignment with purpose.
• Faith and family can—and perhaps should—be at the center of your entrepreneurial journey.
• Failures and missteps, especially in partnerships, are growth milestones if reflected upon and integrated.
• Contribution, not just achievement, is the true measure of success.

For aspiring and established entrepreneurs alike, this episode offers both motivational fuel and tactical wisdom on designing a business and life that truly serves.