EP 222 - From $95K to Nearly $1M: How Glory Scaled Her Therapy Practice While Being Present for Her Kids

What does it really take to scale a service business to nearly seven figures without burning out or missing your kids' adolescence?

In this episode, I'm sitting down with my client Glory Lichon, an Air Force veteran turned entrepreneur who grew GlowBright Therapy from a solo practice to serving over 2,000 families across three states with a team of 30 - all while being present when her kids come home from school every day.

Glory's back on the podcast (her first appearance was a couple of years ago

(EP # 70 - From overwhelmed therapist to confident CEO) to share how much she's grown since then and what it actually took to get there.

What we cover:

On Leadership Transformation:

• Why Glory was terrified to become a leader (and the mindset shift that changed everything)
• How military leadership experiences created limiting beliefs she had to overcome
• The quote that transformed how she sees leadership: "Leadership is about the growth and development of others"
• Why stepping into the CEO role was the key to serving more families

On Aligned Leadership:

• What "aligned leadership" really means
• How to make decisions when you're getting conflicting advice from every direction
• Why your team should be your partners, not people you micromanage
• The importance of revisiting your vision and values during hard times

On Sustainable Growth:

• How Glory created time freedom with 30 team members (without working 24/7)
• The power of theme days, time blocking, and energy awareness
• Why her non-negotiables (meditation and gratitude) come before checking email
• The truth about "hustle culture" and why slowing down isn't failure
• How she's building her second business (Elevate Beyond Boundaries) focused on empowering women entrepreneurs

Key Takeaways:

• Business growth isn't linear - and that's okay
• You don't have to sacrifice your family to scale your business
• Self-awareness around mindset blocks is the first step to moving through them
• Leadership isn't about being bossy - it's about empowering others to join your mission
• Slowing down and grounding yourself actually helps you speed up and be more effective

Glory's Journey at a Glance:

• Started GlowBright Therapy in 2019 as a solo speech language pathologist
• Now serves 2,000+ families across three states
• Grew from $95K to nearly $1M in revenue
• Built a team of 30 (therapists + admin team)
• Created time freedom to be present with her kids throughout their adolescence
• Launched Elevate Beyond Boundaries to empower other women entrepreneurs through speaking and leadership development

This conversation is for every woman who's been told she has to choose between business success and being present for what matters most. Glory is living proof that you can have both.

Connect with Glory:

• Instagram/Facebook: @gloryllichon
• Website: Https://elevatebeyondboundaries.com

Ready to scale your business sustainably without the burnout? Book a complimentary consultation with Maggie here - https://www.stairwaytoleadership.com/

Transcript

Maggie Perotin: [00:00:00] Hello everybody. Welcome to the next episode of Diamond Effect Podcast and today's super special episode. I have one of my clients, Glory, with us. Glory has been a guest on Diamond Effect episode a couple years ago, but she's grown so much since then that I wanted to bring her to the podcast again, to share with us the growth and expansion that she's done and what it took to get there.

So welcome, Glory. I'm so happy you are here with us today. 

Glory Lichon: Thank you so much Maggie. I always hold a special place in my heart for everything that you've supported me through and my growth. So thank you for letting me be a guest again on the podcast to share my story.

Maggie Perotin: I'm very excited. I love watching you grow. I love watching your journey, so I'm happy that you'll be able to share it with the listeners of the podcast. So if you could start by introducing yourself and then sharing your story again so we [00:01:00] don't have to go back and search for it in the, past podcast episodes.

Glory Lichon: Yeah, sure. And thank you again for the opportunity. I. I have, so I'm an Air Force veteran, turned entrepreneur. I started Globe Therapy back in 2019. Really my training was as a speech language pathologist after I left the Air Force. So in the meantime, as I transitioned out of working in the schools, my husband encouraged me to start our practice together.

And just to make a long story short, we've grown into serving over 2000 families in six years, and we serve three states with early intervention, developmental support for families with, needs for speech, language therapy, occupational therapy, and physical therapy. So really our goal with therapy is to empower parents and really give them the tools and confidence to.

Know that they are their child's greatest teacher. And we've been able to do that through the online [00:02:00] delivery model, and that's where our connection came in. You're the one that really supported me through our growth and helped us grow to our multiple six figures, through the help of your, coaching and mentorship.

So I'm always grateful for you being part of my journey. And now throughout that process, I started another business called, elevate Beyond Boundaries. And really the mission behind that is to support and empower other women entrepreneurs in helping them understand that they don't have to lose themselves in the process of building and scaling their businesses.

And just sharing what I've learned along the way. But really wanting to step into, empowerment speaking and leadership speaking is my goal right now with that. So you're also supporting me with that now too. So we connected again and you've been a part of my journey this whole time.

But really just always appreciate your support. 

Maggie Perotin: And you know what? I love how you're building legacy into different [00:03:00] areas, right? It's one with the speech pathology and helping family and kind of carrying on the method that sort of you develop in the beginning through other therapists and expanding there, and now is seeing your own growth, right?

As a leader, as a business owner, wanting to teach that to others. I love it. It makes me feel super proud for you, just seeing you expand that. So let's talk more about that. And you know that I believe really that. In order for our businesses to grow and us creating the results and the goals that we have, we need to grow first, right?

So the business cannot outgrow you. You are the leader. You have to grow first in order to then create the results you want. So that inner work, the personal growth you had to go through to get to where you are, if you can talk about that and maybe some key transformations that [00:04:00] were important to you.

Glory Lichon: Yeah, definitely. And I think the. Really the first piece of stepping into leadership was moving past the fear of becoming a leader. And you really helped me through that because I was so afraid to build a bigger team. And even when I first started as being the only therapist, I told my husband that I just wanted to always be the therapist and that we, maybe we would hire VA and I would just provide the services, but in our expansion and.

The need for the families to receive support. Really, I was holding us back in our growth and really providing accessible services to more families because I was stuck and being afraid to step into leadership. So I would say that was the biggest mindset block I had, initially as we were scaling, is really understanding that I didn't need to be afraid to become a leader, that even though I didn't know all the steps, that I would figure [00:05:00] it out.

And that I would be. Come a great leader to the team. And moving past that block of that I thought being a leader meant, that I'm trying to say I'm someone's boss or I'm above someone. 'cause I never wanna come from that place. But I think from my experience in the military, unfortunately, we do come across some of that.

Leadership mindset where, even the, you're lower ranking, you're not supposed to question anybody and things like that. So I never wanted anyone to look at me as like I was trying to be bossy or trying to tell people what to do. Really coming at it from a place of leadership is really the growth and development of others.

So after I learned, and I heard that quote somewhere when I was reading a leadership book, but understanding that is what a leader is you're helping others grow and develop and really, building that leadership mindset is what has helped us grow and expand to. Now we've, been able to serve over 2000 families.

If I didn't move past that, then we wouldn't have been able to reach so many families. And our goal and mission is to provide accessible [00:06:00] services. So I'm grateful that I was able to move past that and that I had your mentorship to help me through that. 

Maggie Perotin: Okay. And you know what? You're right. I see that in many.

Let's say emerging leaders or people who are business owners who are at that brink of either they don't have a team or they have a few people helping them, but not really big, where they have fears of, I don't wanna be this type of leader that just talks to people, or, I don't wanna be this corporate suit. Because we have certain images of leadership ingrained in us and through our experience or whatever, and it's usually something negative and we're thinking I don't wanna be that right. Whereas the leadership is really, as you say, is supporting other people to succeed. And of course in them succeeding, we succeed. But also we can

develop our own version of leadership, right? There isn't like a leadership bible anywhere that tells you, okay, [00:07:00] these things are only the things that make you a leader.

Was there other inner work that you went through and maybe afterwards as your business you're scaling that helped you move from one stage to the other?

Glory Lichon: Yeah. I think always being mindful and bringing awareness just to the mindset blocks that happen in business and in life. But I think business really is the greatest growth journey that we go on. I feel, I've been to war when I was in the Air Force. I've been to two war zones, I've been divorced.

I've been through burnout when I was a speech language pathologist in the schools. But building a business really brings so many different. Aspects that you have to learn through and grow through. So I think just always bringing self-awareness to when there is a mindset block and being able to say, okay, this is what's happening.

This is where my mindset is right now. How can I move past this and not letting it keep me [00:08:00] in the same place? Keep me stuck and understanding even when there is fear. That does allow us to expand a lot of times move, not letting the fear keep me from moving forward in one area or even starting another business.

So I think just always bringing awareness to that piece of, there are always going to possibly be some mindset blogs, some limiting beliefs, but bringing that awareness piece, I think is what really has helped me move through it and continue to grow and expand to the point where I am today. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. I love that because it's very true.

It starts with self-awareness and then challenging yourself to whatever thoughts or beliefs your mind tells you that, oh, this is impossible and I can't go this or This is too scary and maybe I should stay right. So being able to recognize that, as I say, and then just challenging yourself into what if it was possible?

What if I could do it even though I'm scared? That's. So [00:09:00] powerful. But now let's move on or let's expand a little bit on leadership. You talk in your, other business where you empower other business owners to grow and scale, and in your speaking career, you wanna talk about aligned leadership.

So I remember. That moment before you were scaling that you did not see yourself as a CO and you mentioned that, right? So now that you've grown and you see yourself as a leader, what does aligned leadership mean to you? 

Glory Lichon: I think aligned leadership, to me personally, means aligning. How you want to lead your, not only your business, but also your life in a way that is aligned with your values.

And how can we share that with others that are joining us in the business or when I'm speaking to others, I think always coming back to what's most important to us and our values and just in our inner being as [00:10:00] women or as entrepreneurs, as people really understanding that you.

Have to put that first in order to help others believe in what you're starting, believe in your mission and joining you make such a difference. And you being the one that is sharing that so they can, be excited about it and want to be a part of it is really an important part of that leadership journey.

Just always coming back to who you are as a person. And the values that are most important to you. And not letting. Everything else that's coming at you steer you away from that because then you're not truly building a business that is aligned with what's most important to you, what your values are, or you're not possibly going to bring on the right people that can really align with that.

A 

Maggie Perotin: hundred percent. And it's funny because I was just, last week leading an event and in there we talked about building a business that's aligned with you and you're so right when you're trying to build a business. Without [00:11:00] that clarity on what's important to you, what are the values? Then sometimes it's so hard to make decisions 'cause you have so much advice out there.

You should be doing this and you should be doing it that way. And no, no, no, this strategy is the best. People sometimes feel overwhelmed and not really. Mature anymore. Like, how should I grow my business, right? What should I do? What shouldn't I do? And what feels good? When you have that alignment, the first step is you can make better decisions.

And as you say, then attract the right people who align with the same thing, rather than hiring or attracting the wrong people because you're projecting, some things that. Really we're just taking on from growers because you believe them, but you didn't really check. Is that the thing that works for me?

Yeah. Is that, that aligns with me. So yeah, 

Glory Lichon: not letting other people's values, take from what you're truly trying to build and what your values are. I think also going back to that [00:12:00] is aligning your leadership not only with your values, but also your vision.

There's so many things going on, and then we always start taking in other people's visions or we're not really clear with what we're trying to create. So always having that clarity around your big vision. And then being able to come back to that every time, even, especially when things are hard, what is your vision?

What is your why? What are your values? Why did you start doing this? So I think always coming back to those things really helps you move further into your leadership in a way that is always in alignment. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah, and I will actually say that because sometimes we think, okay, if I have clarity on my vision and my mission or my values; then this is like once and done thing and I forget about it. But very often in those hard times, going back to it resets you, right? Realigns you, because you're right. Like it's easy to kinda veer away from like just day to day trying to work your business and then having [00:13:00] all this

input coming your way from many different directions. 

Glory Lichon: Yeah, and I think it's also important to remember that leadership is not telling people what to do. Yes. It really is about the growth and development of others. And if you can really see your team that's joining you as your partners in

helping you expand your mission and really, bring your vision to life, that makes such a difference. Because if we're looking at it from micromanaging or. Telling people what to do or people aren't doing things the way we want them to. You're not really building a team that you can trust and that trusts you and that really believes in your vision.

'cause then you're just going back into that micromanagement mode and that's not what we wanna do as leaders. We wanna inspire others and empower others to join us. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. And with the micromanagement, what happens is you get yourself involved in every aspect of your business. So maybe now you're not doing it, but then you're so busy [00:14:00] micromanaging that you'll never.

Create maybe the harmony or work life integration that you wanna create. Which brings me to the third topic I wanna talk about, is that a sustainable growth? I think we're both aligned on this idea, right? That we can grow and scale our businesses in a way that feels sustainable, that doesn't feel hu and overwhelming.

And just talking about, there are a lot of people, a lot of guru out there who say that, Hey, if you wanna be successful, you need to work nonstop. You need to hustle. And yeah, maybe for a young man who doesn't have a family and doesn't plant a family, that's the way that works for them. But if we think about, especially women business owners, right?

When we hear things like that, then. We might feel like success in business is [00:15:00] not for us, right? Because many of us want family, want some sort of harmony between the personal life and business and then we think if scaling my business or being successful with my business means I have to work 24 7, never stopping, then I'm out.

Then I don't want that. So talk a little bit more about that. Would you think about that, but also share your own journey and how you were able to create it in your own business as it was scaling? 

Glory Lichon: Yeah, and I think that's definitely an important topic for us, especially as women to share with other women, especially us as mothers.

And we both started our businesses later in life, whereas we're similar in age, but I think that hustle culture still. Is shared so often and then a lot of times what's happening is people are building businesses and they're burning themselves out. They left corporate or their other careers trying to create freedom, but then they go back into [00:16:00] working 24 7 essentially.

Now that everything's relying on them. So I do appreciate that message that you also share that we both align with is that you don't have to hustle. To create something that is aligned with your vision and your values. You don't have to lose yourself in the process, and you don't have to sacrifice your family.

Yeah, I love that. Work life integration. And sometimes I like to call it work life harmony because it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Or it's not. I always try to be honest and say that things aren't ever in true balance. But we want that integration into our lives of our business, our family, self-care.

We're able to integrate that without losing one of, those pieces. But I've been able to, thankfully, through also some of your mentorship things that I learned early on in 2022. With planning and the theme days and the time studies. And I try to share that with others too. 'cause I don't think people realize that if you [00:17:00] aren't aware of your time, where your time is going, you're not going to really create time freedom.

So I've been able to create time freedom through building a team. We have 30 team members now and. It doesn't all rely on me. So stepping into the leadership role and moving past that fear is really what helped me create the time freedom because I have been able to build a team that I can trust.

And the day-to-day doesn't rely on me. We have an amazing admin team, that 3% admin team that does all of the operations. We have a therapist team, and I'm able to really step into the CEO role as the visionary and. Building relationships and continuing the growth and impact of the business without having to be stuck in the service.

Providing all the, and that's stuck. Like I don't love what we do, obviously, you don't wanna be stuck in that doing mode because then that affects your growth. But really creating. Sustainable growth through bringing awareness to your time and how you can create time [00:18:00] freedom through the time blocks and the theme days, and understanding how to make your time work best for you, and also thinking out of just your task, but also the energy that it brings you and when you work best.

So I think that has really helped me create sustainable growth. And one thing that I am always aware of is my non-negotiables of meditation and my gratitude practice in the morning. So I'm not just stepping into opening my laptop and checking emails or trying to put out fires. I always start my day with grounding myself, being grateful for the day, and just meditating to bring stillness in my day, not just the hustle piece of just, starting your day right away

really taking care of you first. I do believe that how we show up for ourselves helps us show up for everyone else in the way that we truly want to. Remembering those things that the non-negotiables are just as important as me showing up for a meeting with, a partnership or a meeting with the team member or a [00:19:00] client that we have to bring that into our day, and it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

So I think a lot of times we have that mindset of. We have to have this hour long routine, or hour long workout. But if we can really just look at it from that standpoint of it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Even if I just have five minutes to breathe. Yeah. To do breath work to ground myself, how can I bring that into my day?

Yeah. To, because that really makes a difference in your growth. It's, we don't wanna create businesses that are burning us out and causing, physical symptoms and that we're not able to fully be. Yeah. With our family. And so that makes me, think of the fact that I've been able to be present with my kids, since they were, my daughter started ninth grade when I started Globe Right Therapy.

And before then, I always had to leave them, even when I was in the Air Force, I left them when they were nine weeks and eight weeks to go to daycare. And I, totally understand that's what we have to do a lot of times as women. But finally when I built my [00:20:00] business I was able, I've been able to be present with them.

Yeah, I'm always here when they come home. Since we, built the business in our home, we don't necessarily have to have an office. I think that has made such a difference in their adolescents and that we're always present with them. Being able to be fully present with them, even as I'm scaling a multi-six, almost seven figure business has been one of the greatest gifts that I've been able to create through sustainable growth and time freedom.

Maggie Perotin: Yeah, and I love that because when we're at a certain time of our lives, if we just focus on one aspect of our life. We're missing the living. As human beings, I believe there is more to us than our professional career.

Maybe some people don't agree with that, and that's for them, that's enough. But I think about me, or I think about many other people, many other business owners, there is more to us. If we focus just on that one area and give [00:21:00] it all our attention and energy. We're missing out. The other parts of the life, and especially once you're a parent and you have time with your kids, that you will never get back if you don't. Yeah. It's not once you have kids, it's not oh, I would just focus on this business for five, 10 years because, really to scale it, it's not a year long journey.

Then you have five, 10 years in the year of your children and your family. That you'll never get back, right? Because yes, you might have it after, but those are different years, right? Yeah. So it's so powerful, and as you say, even, and it starts with daily habits, right? Daily routine.

So being able to slow down and ground yourself to then speed up and be more effective in your days and in your weeks. That's a secret. 

Glory Lichon: Yeah. Yeah. And I think being okay with that, like it does, I feel there's still that conversation that we need to, change the narrative that slowing down is [00:22:00] okay.

And I like shared with you during our coaching, just that I had to slow down recently with creating a coaching program and power to scale and then realizing that's not fully what I wanted to do. It wasn't fully aligned with what I wanted to do, which is speaking and empowering others through sharing my story and my message.

I could have looked at that as failure. Because I decided to slow down for a month to really go back to my values, my vision, and how, aligning that again. But I think so often we're. We feel like we just need to keep pushing through you reminded me just because I created it doesn't mean I need to keep, launching it.

Yeah. But even though you told me that, I was like maybe I should launch it. And I did launch it and it didn't, it wasn't the right thing I should have done. So I learned my lesson, but I don't see it as failure. It was just. Part of the learning process. And part of my growth journey. But I think that slowing down and bringing stillness [00:23:00] to your day and being okay with resting and just giving yourself space, I think that makes such a difference in your growth, even though we are always.

Made to feel like we just need to keep pushing or should keep pushing. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. And you're right, like we, we have this idea often that growth is linear, right? That if we're not moving up in a leaner way, then there's somehow that we're failing. But there is so many, and everybody's seeing those.

Cool graphics. Yeah. Or videos on the internet, that growth is not linear. It is very often convoluted and it goes up and down, but like when you zoom out over a period of time you are still growing, right? Some of that, the challenges that came among across there could be real challenges.

Some of it is just us, changing our mind and changing our. What do we wanna do in direction, which is normal every so often. I have a client who is expanding her family, right? So she's a better younger than [00:24:00] us and she's still growing her family, and as her family grows, there will be couple years in her business where it would be not a growth mode for the business, but more of the maintaining, maintaining the level of the business because she's focused on growing her family, right?

So for me that's that sustainable growth that it doesn't mean every year, every month you're going up, sometimes you step back, sometimes you deviate, sometimes you just maintain. But in a grander scheme of things, over several years, you'll see that growth

Glory Lichon: yeah, and I love that, like you sharing about your other client 'cause that just reminds me of how we get to choose. We have the choice. We don't have to follow how someone else created their private practice or their coaching business. We really get to create a in the way that is aligned with our vision, with our values, with our current season in life.

Yeah. So I love that you [00:25:00] shared that too. 'cause it just reminds me of that we really do get to choose and we. Often forget that we have that choice, but just remembering to come back to that is really important. 

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. Love it. So before we finish and you share your contact information with everybody who would like to maybe, connect with you, is there anything else that maybe we didn't talk about or we didn't dive deeper, that he wanted to dive deeper?

Glory Lichon: I think just always remembering that you have the power in life and business. You have the power to create it the way that you love, that feels good to you, that is aligned with what's most important to you. I think that's always important to remember. Even through our circumstances, we're able to come back to staying in our power and figuring things out, even though it, might not be easy initially, but just continuing to believe in yourself that you can do that for yourself.

And also that business is hard. Like it's not always [00:26:00] going to be easy, but I think as we're going through these lessons, we do really build our capacity to move through them easier. So just trying not to let those moments, keep you stuck. But just understanding that it's part of the process, part of your growth journey, and that it does help you build your capacity to keep moving into your full vision of what you have for your life and business.

Maggie Perotin: Yeah. I love that hardness or I guess, or those challenges makes us stronger. That's how we grow and become more resilient and stronger as leaders, business owners, is through those challenges. And hard moments when it feels like, crawling up the mountain

Glory Lichon: yeah. Oh, should I give up? No, keep going. 

Maggie Perotin: That's right. I think we all have those thoughts at some point. Wouldn't it be easier to do something else? 

Glory Lichon: Like via barista at Starbucks or something, for example. 

Maggie Perotin: Or Walmart greeters, right? 

Glory Lichon: Yeah. But I think just always coming back to your vision and your why.[00:27:00] 

I think that really helps you move past through those moments.

Love it. Love it. 

Maggie Perotin: Okay. So how people can connect with you and find you. 

Glory Lichon: So I have an Instagram page or Facebook. Actually I just recently changed them, so they're glory. Glory LaShon. So just my first name and my last name.

LaShon, L-I-C-H-O-N. And then also I recently, had someone help me build my website and that's at elevate beyond boundaries.com. So those are the easiest ways to connect with me. And I'd love to hear from anybody that has any questions or if I can support you in any new way or if you have any speaking opportunities.

I'd love to connect. And Maggie, thank you so much. You really have been, so impactful in my journey as a business woman and leader. So I'm always grateful for you and I'm glad that we have this connection and you're always have a special place in my [00:28:00] heart for what you do, for not only me, but all the, other clients that you get to support in their business journey.

Maggie Perotin: Thank you so much Glory. And we will share all those links in the show notes and wherever we post this, definitely reach out to Glory. She is a great speaker, has a wonderful story to message that we just touched on here. Thank you Glory, and talk to you next time. 

Glory Lichon: Thank you so much Maggie.

Maggie Perotin: Thanks.