You Don’t Have to Be Great at Business (You Just Have to Be Willing)

Read Time: 4 Minutes 

Someone once told me:

“You don’t have to be great at what you do — you just have to be willing to be great. If you have that, then greatness will follow.”

For a long time, I wasn’t sure if I believed that.

Not because I think perfection is required — I don’t.
And not because I think greatness is some gold standard we all need to reach.

But because willingness alone doesn’t magically make the cards stack in your favour.
The stars don’t suddenly align.
And things don’t just work because you want them to.

The Quiet Pressure to Be “Great”

If you’re a business owner (especially in the wellness world) you might recognize this:

At some point, you believed your business had to be spectacular.

It had to:

• Move mountains

• Be different

• Be a game changer

• Feel peaceful and polished and figured out

And then… real life happens.

You discover the cracks:

• The things you weren’t ready for

• The things no one taught you

• The mistakes that seemed small at the time but grew into bigger problems later

Sometimes it shows up in the rules you bend because you really like that client. Because you don’t want to offend someone. Because it feels easier in the moment.

And sometimes it shows up emotionally:

• Anger

• Frustration

• Resentment

• Guilt

• Shame

Especially when something doesn’t go “right.” Or doesn’t go perfect.

Why I Built Something That Isn’t About Greatness

Recently, I launched a coaching space inside Breakthrough Massage Academy called the Breakthrough Biz Collective.

And here’s the honest truth behind it... I want the opposite of greatness for it. In fact, I don’t even really want to call it a “business group.”

What I wanted (and what I couldn’t find years ago) was normalization.

👉 (Check out what we've been normalizing in the Breakthrough Biz Collective)

A Space for Safety

The Collective is meant to be a space where:

• You can talk about what you’re going through

• You can hear “hey, that's me!” instead of silence and doubt

• You can ask questions without feeling behind

• You don’t need willpower turned on at full blast

A space where greatness doesn’t need to exist.

Instead, it’s a place to understand why things happen in a wellness practice, so you can decide what you want to normalize in your own business.

The Business Model Many of Us Never Chose

This week inside the Collective, I taught a session called “The Business Model You Accidentally Built.”

We talked about the assumption baked into many wellness careers:

You do the work first… and then you get paid later. Or sometimes… not at all.

I often explain it like this:

Imagine going to the grocery store.
You fill your cart.
You get to the cashier.
And then you say, “I’ll come back another time to pay.”

That wouldn’t fly.

So why has it become acceptable in healthcare?

👉 Watch Week 3's training 

Just Because It’s Normal Doesn’t Mean You Have to Like It

I’m not saying this to debunk the system.

I built:

• A solo practice

• Then a clinic

• All within this model

It works. But I never liked it. And I still don’t.

There is so much more to our profession than working on bodies and it can be exhausting constantly educating clients on boundaries, policies, and respect.

I’ve fired a lot of clients over the years.

Over time, your messaging gets better. Patterns become clearer. And those unfavourable clients become fewer and fewer.

But just because something is industry standard doesn’t mean you have to enjoy it.

What does matter is knowing how to deal with it.

An Open Invitation

If you found yourself nodding while reading this…
If something here felt familiar…
Or if you’re simply curious about what else there is to learn about business in this profession…

I’d love to see you inside the Breakthrough Biz Collective.

👉 Join In! 

It’s completely free. You can stay as long or as little as you need.

Inside, you can:

• Join existing conversations

• Request future training topics

• Watch classroom-style videos

• Try out simple exercises between clients

I’ve made a commitment to film 52 videos this year,  one every week on Wednesdays.

And if you’re worried about what comes next in your business, I’ll bring us back to that quote:

You don’t have to be great at what you do.
You just have to be willing to be great.

If you have that, greatness will follow.

Here’s your invitation to join the Collective.

All the best,
Kelly