EP # 191 - From Excel Expert to Entrepreneur: How a Side Hustle Became a Freedom Business

Join Maggie Perotin in this special episode of the Diamond Effect Podcast featuring Stefanie Carroll, a successful member of the Diamond Effect coaching group. Stefanie shares her journey from being a part-time corporate employee to becoming the founder of Excelerates, a specialized spreadsheet solutions business serving clients across North America.

Key Highlights:
• How an accidental project sparked a successful business idea
• The transition from secure employment to full-time entrepreneurship
• Overcoming fears and mindset challenges in business
• The importance of networking for introverted entrepreneurs
• Building confidence and developing essential business skills
• The role of consistency in business growth
• Benefits of group coaching and community support

Guest Bio:
Stefanie Carroll, founder of Excelerates, is a spreadsheet solutions expert who helps businesses streamline their operations through customized Excel solutions. Based in Hamilton, Ontario, she serves clients across North America, including major accounting firms and sales organizations.

Notable Quotes:
"I get to play and get paid." - Stefanie Carroll
"When I don't take the time for strategic planning... my business suffers." - Stefanie Carroll
"The biggest reward is the freedom." - Stefanie Carroll

Key Takeaways:
- The importance of validating your business idea before leaving secure employment
- How to transition from employee to entrepreneur mindset
- Strategies for introverts to succeed in business networking
- The critical role of consistency in business growth
- Why professional guidance and community support matter in entrepreneurship

Resources Mentioned:
• Excelerates website: www.excelerates.ca
• Connect with Stefanie on LinkedIn: Stefanie Carroll -https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefanie-carroll/
• Diamond Effect Group Coaching Program - https://stairwaytoleadership.com/

Transcript

Stefanie and Maggie - Podcast recording

Maggie Perotin: [00:00:00] Hello, everybody. Welcome to the next episode of Diamond Effect podcast. And I'm very excited today because today it's a special episode. I have one of my clients, a member of Diamond Effect coaching group that I'm Here with me and we'll talk about her journey, all things entrepreneurship. So welcome, Stephanie.

I'm so glad to have you here. 

Stefanie Caroll: Thank you, Maggie, for having me. 

Maggie Perotin: All right. So let's get started. Stephanie, introduce yourself to everybody. What you do, where you live, wherever you want to say about yourself. 

Stefanie Caroll: As Stephanie's my name, and I also introduced myself to many people as a freak in the sheets, just to get attention.

The business is really around creating customized spreadsheet solutions for businesses. So that's what I do. I'm in Hamilton, Ontario, but I have. clients all over North America. 

Maggie Perotin: And I love it. You bring a lot of value to your customers, but it's very unique what you do.

You have a [00:01:00] very cool niche, if you could just share a quick story of how you started the business, like where did the idea come from? What prompted it and the why behind it? 

Stefanie Caroll: It was actually quite accidental and it happened years before I actually quit my job and started the business in that my husband was meeting with his mother's financial advisor after his father passed away.

And the fellow he was just telling him about our family and the fellow said, Do you think she would do a project for me, because he had mentioned I love Excel and all things Excel and he's I don't know, I'll ask her so I did. And I had so much fun doing this project and the value I brought for him.

He just treasured what I did. Say it's that I've saved his company hundreds of hours and I realized for the first time, huh, people would pay me for this. I couldn't believe it. So I was doing something I absolutely love and getting to play. I call it, I get to play and get paid. And then that sort of was the [00:02:00] idea.

It got born years before I did it. And then I just had to start a journey of getting to where I am today. 

Maggie Perotin: So before we get to that journey, I do want to say, because sometimes people think Oh, Excel, but if you're a, just a basic user, or you think you're a good user of Excel, like Stephanie's knowledge is like hundred miles away.

Because, I've interviewed a lot of people. Asking them about Excel and I remember like of course everybody sees themselves differently and somebody would tell me like oh I'm pretty good and then they weren't even as good as I am and I'm not so good. Like I can do basic stuff and I dealt with financial analysts and they were really good in Excel and still they were nowhere near to where you are.

And Excel is very powerful so if you could give just a couple of examples of things you helped clients with and How does it really look like you helping somebody? Give us a couple of examples. 

Stefanie Caroll: One of my most surprising clients and my [00:03:00] favorite client currently is a large accounting firm. And I would have never thought that they'd be an ideal client because they're full of Excel experts.

But their challenge is that they have a system that houses their CRM invoicing, customer hours, billable hours, everything. And the problem is getting the data out of that in a format that they can work with to build dashboards, general reports, HR reports, marketing, it doesn't even matter. It comes out in a format that takes them a few hours to massage and manipulate.

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Stefanie Caroll: either their staff doesn't have the knowledge how to do it or they don't have the time to do it. They've hired me to do that, and I've created numerous reports and dashboards for them, and they just find that invaluable. Now they're getting to new levels of dashboards, where they're getting business intelligence out of their raw data, literally at the click of a button, which, previously would have taken hours, or they just didn't even know how to extract that information or data intelligence out of their numbers.

That's just one example [00:04:00] of where I've helped even a company that's full of Excel gurus. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. And I also know that. You're you help a lot for example, firms or companies that have sales teams, right? Yes. Tracking the sales and even sales managers, helping them like understand their team performance, right?

That's also like a common thing that you do for your client. Yes. 

Stefanie Caroll: Yes. So executive level support is great for me. I love working with them because their time is absolutely valuable. They should not be spending hours in Excel at all, aside from whatever information they need. So yeah, I've done a lot of streamlining there, giving them their reports and their team's reports, so they all know what they're doing.

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. 

Stefanie Caroll: Okay. 

Maggie Perotin: So let's move on to your sort of entrepreneur, your journey. And I know you started your business a little bit before. you quit your job, right? So just like me, you started as a side hustle and then you [00:05:00] transitioned from the nine to five to just, running your business.

So talk a little bit about that transition. Tell us maybe like things, what fears came up, we all know that it's not easy to transition this way. What and what helped you to finally make that move? 

Stefanie Caroll: I started by, again, it was not a plan thing. I just got invited to a BNI, started networking.

This is a couple of years or maybe a year and a bit before I quit my job. Just to start building a network, surrounding myself with people who are experts in running businesses, and they were my mentors. And then I met you as well. At some point I thought I'm going to bet on myself and invest in a coach that was you.

And the biggest fear I had was leaving a cushy job. I made, I only worked part time, which is what allowed me to do the side hustle two days a week. At a part time salary, I made really good money for what I was doing. And it was, I know no job is [00:06:00] fully secure, but it was probably as secure as it could come.

I'd spent a lifetime in this business and had quite some seniority so my biggest fear was leaving the income and the comfort of that. 

Maggie Perotin: So how did you deal with it? What helped to make the decision? 

Stefanie Caroll: Just once I started coaching and networking and seeing that there actually is a market out there for me and that there were clients there that I could find, or they would find me, that started to give me the confidence that there is a possibility of a business for me.

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Stefanie Caroll: other factor of that was I wasn't quite happy where I was. So I wanted to not work for somebody else anymore. I wanted to be appreciated because this is the other thing I started to get out of it as I was doing projects for other companies or clients, their appreciation for what I did was just suddenly became my why I got so much joy out of their reactions of [00:07:00] what I did for them.

And I can't even. It's not even proper to say some of the reactions because some of them swore in a kind way, but it filled my heart because I was just like, Oh my goodness these people really appreciate me. And I didn't feel like I had that in my career job, if you will.

So that kind of lit a fire. I wanted to do more of that, be more appreciative. So as I realized there's people out there that value what I do. They love what I do. They fill my tank, if you will, my love tank. That's what they're doing. They're filling that part for me that I wasn't getting before. That motivated me and spurred me on.

It's not easy. It wasn't easy to start. It 

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Stefanie Caroll: really hard for my husband who's retired. But you have to have the faith and you just do all the right things with some help, professional guidance from you and some others. And it just grows. And 

Maggie Perotin: yeah, 

Stefanie Caroll: now I've probably gone off track. 

Maggie Perotin: No, it's all good.

When I think about me, it was the same. Starting a business on the [00:08:00] side, but then treating it seriously enough. To get growing to really see is that a viable business, right? Because just like you, I had a very good salary of a corporate leader benefits, all those things.

So it was scary for me to just leave it on the whim. But once I started seeing Hey, when I treat this business, seriously, yes, it's a side hustle for now, but it's not a hobby anymore. I do want to grow it. Then seeing clients, seeing it and saying, okay, yeah, I can grow it, right? I can go from there.

And then definitely the fulfillment part was the same, right? When we feel like our work makes a difference and we see that difference in our clients, that's so much more fulfilling than I don't know, entering the numbers to spreadsheet and not seeing anywhere it goes. So like with me, just dealing with large institutions where you really don't see where your work is going and there's not much different going on.

So I [00:09:00] definitely, relate to that. So now let's go about, because as you say, entrepreneurship, it's not easy. There could be different, everybody's in a different situation, but just what you mentioned, sometimes When we move into entrepreneurship and people around us have never been entrepreneurs, and whether it's our spouse or our parents or our siblings or friends they don't really understand the journey.

So it can be hard and it can feel lonely. Sometimes, to go on that, because it's very different than a 9 to 5, right? So how did you maybe navigate that challenge? Because I know it was, hard for you at times. How did you navigate it to overcome and not let go or not give up, just keep going no matter what?

People around you were telling you, 

Stefanie Caroll: Honestly, Maggie, it was a lot of your coaching that helped me with the mindset and plowing through and having the belief and the confidence that this will happen and get to the [00:10:00] point that I need it to, like on a personal level, that was just a lot of conversations, hard conversations, and maybe a tough season with my spouse, but we're through the first, hardest part of it. And now he's seeing like my fire and the joy and the clientele coming, like it's been a great start to the year. And now there's, he's full of optimism. I'm full of optimism and, but it was just hard. How I got through it really was just talking with other people who've gone through it, that was you and many others in my circles. You just have to surround yourself with other entrepreneurs who can relate because, my husband was a public sector worker as a teacher, so he does not understand it at all. I have a lot of people in my family that don't understand it. They thought I was crazy. What are you doing? 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah, and in the way we can blame them [00:11:00] like if somebody spend their whole life as an employee or public sector employee on top of that and so on, you can blame them.

They don't know any other reality, right? So it's not, and as you say, our job is just to surround ourselves with people who understand, who might have either gone through that journey and then they are still in it, but at a different level. Or maybe they're going through it at the same time, but they are understanding the process.

They know that even though it's hard now, it's not going to be hard, the same hard forever, and that this is a necessary path, right? So then keep you motivated and help you going. Okay, so as you're talking about that, let's move to Talk a little bit about business owner mindset versus employee mindset and making that transition because it is a process and we talked about it last week, during our coaching call where I've noticed even myself, it's not a Oh, I quit my job and yes, [00:12:00] on paper, I'm like, let's say full time business owner.

But in my mind that takes time to completely switch, right? And you've been at it for a year now where you're on your business. So what changes have you seen in yourself as far as, employee thinking versus a business owner, founder, CEO thinking? 

Stefanie Caroll: Yeah, and I'm still working at that honestly because I think when we do something we love and that's fun and it's passion, we'd rather be in the work.

So for me, I'm still working at the regular CEO time and putting that hat on. But I have realized the value of it because when I don't do it, if I don't take the time for strategic planning, assessing how I'm doing, Like all the things I need to do to grow my business and keep growing it. If I'm not doing that, my business suffers and I get into a slump.

So I think it's just a journey of making mistakes, [00:13:00] like putting the CEO time off to the side and then learning from that go, Oh, that's not working well because now I don't have clients. And then when you start doing all the things you need to do. Oh, wow, I have clients. That's how it works, and then the other thing I've learned is there's things in my business. I absolutely hate doing. They're not my favorite things in the world, but I've been able to make a mindset shift around realizing that every business owner, no matter what the business, whether they're an entrepreneur or even a senior manager in a company.

It doesn't matter. There's always aspects to our jobs that we don't like. 

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Stefanie Caroll: maybe as a business owner, that racial changes. Maybe there's more things we don't like. But I've shifted my mindset to say, okay, those are things I don't really care to do, but they're necessary. Maybe one day there's a few things I will hire out.

I've already started to do that in some areas where I've gotten other help. You just realize that's just part of the deal. And [00:14:00] then if I do those things, then I also get to have that time of. Joy, the things I love to do. It's just that balance that I'm working on finding.

Maggie Perotin: It's always a process, right?

Because in the beginning, you're everything. And sometimes I talk to entrepreneurs, they're like, Oh, I didn't sign up for it. But I'm like, yeah, you did when you started entrepreneurship. I always say it's like having babies, like who likes to change diapers and deal with a crying baby, but that just comes with a package, right?

Yeah. All the time with the babies cute and happy and so on. It's the same with the business, but as we grow We definitely can outsource some of that right and then some of it will just stay just because there will be new things That we need to do that now, we're not necessarily always enjoying. But then I think that the reward of having your own business and doing what you love and helping people that way outgrows that right.

So let's talk about, some skills, because as you said, when you start a business, there's a bunch of things you're going to do that maybe you [00:15:00] didn't realize, but you didn't know oh, those are actually skills that I need to learn, right? In order to get my business off the ground and keep growing it.

What are some skills that you had to grow to be successful in growing a business? 

Stefanie Caroll: The biggest one for me has been the networking skills. People who know me now are surprised to learn that naturally I was actually very shy and quiet and my natural bent is when we would be in social situations to hide behind my husband and let him take the lead because he's the more social one and able to talk to anyone and everyone and have confidence in just being myself.

That's taken time. And, but now. I have this confidence that, I can talk to anybody it's taking also time to learn, what can I tell people about myself in a way that resonates, those are all things you have to learn. So the networking has been my biggest growth and also was my initial challenge because I didn't really like it.

I don't know that I [00:16:00] always like it still. But it is, it's, it is what it is. And I like people. Even if I'm not naturally comfortable in a big room of strangers, it's okay. I find the people that are off to the side or the wall, or maybe I've done some research ahead of time. So now I know that I can do that and find the people I want to talk to strategically, perhaps.

Maggie Perotin: All those 

Stefanie Caroll: things I'm, I've had to learn. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah, and you know what? That's a great point you're bringing because, networking was definitely one of the skill sets I had to acquire. I didn't network that much in my corporate world, and it can be intimidating when you're naturally introverted, myself included, but playing to your strengths really helps, 

so you mentioned oh, I like people, right? And networking is about meeting people. So when you frame it that way, then it helps you. For me, it was Oh, I like to learn about people, about other things, so once I started reframing that being in a group of people I didn't know, it has become much, much [00:17:00] easier for me, you gotta know yourself.

And even for me as an introvert, I need to modulate the amount of meetings with strangers every week and to make sure that I get my rest and recharge, right? Yes, it's 

Stefanie Caroll: exhausting. 

Maggie Perotin: For sure, for us introverts. So Let's talk now a little bit about consistency because I've been thinking about lately, about consistency and the thoughts I have.

In a way, in entrepreneurship, you have to be consistent first before you can learn any other skills. So and what I mean by that is, let's say you're starting a business and you don't know much about marketing and sales and you've gotta learn it, right?

Those are two really important skills for any entrepreneur to learn. But in order to understand marketing and sales for your business and learn it. First have to be consistent doing it so then you can review you [00:18:00] mentioned that in your CEO time. So then you can look at that and say, okay I'm doing this for X amount of time consistently.

What is working? What isn't working? How can I improve, right? So in order to improve and grow any skills, you have to be consistent first. So I want to ask your opinion. And what do you think, like what role consistency plays in even your business growth? 

Stefanie Caroll: I mentioned it earlier too with the networking when I got inconsistent and I stopped doing the things I need to do, my business dropped off.

And so I do have now targets where I want to visit specific like target intentional new networks. A couple times a month stepping outside of what my normal networking is. And if I do those things consistently also have consistent one to ones that again I try to pick as strategic as I can. If I keep doing those things, it doesn't have to be a lot.

It just has [00:19:00] to be maybe a couple of new meetings a month, a couple of one to ones a month with new people or a week, I should say. That just is enough to grow my business. But if I stop it all together. It doesn't work. And now if I flip that, if I go too far the other way, where I'm doing too many, new networking or too many one to ones, my business suffers.

I don't have time then to do the other things I need to do, not just speaking of the work, like I love the work. That always distracts me. Then I don't do the other things. That's what I got to learn to still focus on. But it's other things like making sure I've done my bookkeeping and logging. Like all those things you need to do for the CRA, for example, or my website, or the reviews, or my social media posts, like all that stuff has to be done regularly.

And if I don't, I do feel I can see my business suffer when I don't do it. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah, for 

Stefanie Caroll: sure. 

Maggie Perotin: So finding that balance and the tasks that or [00:20:00] activities that you need to complete, especially as a service provider, right? Because we have when you deliver service, there's also time that you take to, fulfill the commitments, right?

So the client buys whatever you offer, and then you've got to fulfill it. So being consistent in, marketing your business, however, it looks like for Stephanie, it's predominantly networking, but marketing your business. And then while delivering your service, while also doing maybe other things like that balance, it's very important.

And of course, it will look different for every business. So let's quickly talk about what is currently like the hardest part of being an entrepreneur and also the best part about being an entrepreneur.

Stefanie Caroll: The best part is the freedom. So we finally this past January had our first go at me working in Florida. Now it was cold, but whatever it was the point of, we were able to travel [00:21:00] and I could be anywhere in the world now and do what I want. That to me is huge. And I want that freedom. Or if my children need me for whatever, I have adult children, and two of them, they don't live anywhere near me, but if they need me, I have the freedom to go.

And I don't have, I'm not responsible to anyone else. I'm responsible to me and my clients. That's it. So that is the biggest reward. And then the hardest part it's just right now it's mindset is the confidence that I can continue and constantly find the work and constantly get paid for what I do like that.

The income, that's the trust. I'm still working on trusting the process and trusting, the longevity of this. 

Maggie Perotin: And it's definitely a work in progress like we have to have, I think, with that you have to have enough roof for our brain to click in. And that proof is created by [00:22:00] you a first of course trusting yourself and then.

consistently doing the activities, right? Doing marketing your business, selling the business, spreading the word, because ultimately, the more people know about you and remember you, the more of the opportunities come your way. Yeah. And then, you've been part of. Diamond Effect Group, coaching specifically so coaching with me for, I don't remember, a year, over a year now.

Talk a little bit about maybe how being in the group and that setting and coaching helped you on your journey. 

Stefanie Caroll: The big thing is, you're not alone, and I'm in the group one, so even if I'm just listening and it may not be applicable to me in the moment, I'm always learning from other people's struggles.

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Stefanie Caroll: other thing I love is if I can help contribute to somebody else's. Like we're working. I feel that we're not alone. We're in a team. We've got some amazing guidance. If it's not coming from you, it's coming from somebody else. [00:23:00] That to me has been so rewarding. But the best is just not being alone in our journey and knowing that we're all in it together.

Everybody shares the same or similar struggles, and we can overcome them. And seeing some success, like some huge successes from other entrepreneurs. And as we're growing and learning, it's so fun, so much fun to see, us women, us mostly women, power. We got it. 

Maggie Perotin: And I think it also reinforces that belief because you're seeing, Hey, like they're entrepreneurs like me, right?

Their challenges are the same. And yet with help and, putting your mind to it, growing the skillset and consistency, they're succeeding. Meaning if they can, I can. And then you get to cheer them on, they cheer you on, you contribute, then there is this sense of community that also, I think, as you say, makes you not feel alone and be more motivated and keep going.

Stefanie Caroll: Also good to have a weekly check in that is part of that consistency. And I don't know, you have this amazing [00:24:00] ability to, even if I don't know what I need, you know what I need. I don't know how you do that, but you do. 

Maggie Perotin: That's my genius. Not knowing what my clients needs even if they don't know.

Stefanie Caroll: It's magic to me. It's like my spreadsheet magic to other people. You have this other magic. 

Maggie Perotin: That's right. So anything else that maybe you want to add that we haven't covered or, we've forgotten to talk about? 

Stefanie Caroll: I can't think of anything except that anybody listening who has not got a business coach, whether it's you or somebody else, I think I would strongly encourage anyone considering starting a business.

I started with you before I ever quit my job. Don't wait just as soon. It's actually easier to hire a coach when you still have a job because then you can feel you can afford it. Get a coach, resonates with you, fits with your style and jump on board. I would not have done this without you or the others in the group or even in some of my networks.

[00:25:00] Just you need other entrepreneurs, but I would highly, highly recommend a business coach. And I know you didn't mean to interview me for a pitch, but that is. I have learned and I've encouraged so many people that's an it's a must have any entrepreneur and 

Maggie Perotin: It's much helpful. It feels you, it lets, I think it allows you to feel more confident. You go faster too, right? That can be further and it's all because of that. Like you were really building skills much more faster, whatever gaps you have, right. In order to grow your business, you feel more motivated. You have that support where the journey again can be alone.

So it's so much harder if you don't, right. Yeah. 

Stefanie Caroll: And we have blind spots. Like we don't know what we don't know. And that's where that gap gets filled to guide us. 

Maggie Perotin: So before we finish, tell people where they can find you, where they can connect with you. 

Stefanie Caroll: So I am on LinkedIn and that's under Stephanie Carroll.

My website, which also has LinkedIn, [00:26:00] links, if you wanna go there, it is, accelerates.ca. So it's spelled www.excelerates.ca. That's where you can find me. I would say that's the best place to find me. 

Maggie Perotin: That's beautiful. And we'll put it in the show notes. So we'll link that up for everybody who's watching.

Thank you very much, Stephanie. I really appreciate you doing this and thank you everybody for listening. 

Stefanie Caroll: Thank you.