Hakkola Horizons LLC

After 34 years in corporate, Adyna K. Pressley got laid off and felt relief.

Not panic. Not grief. A weight off her chest.

What she did next is the part most founders miss.

She didn't look for another job. She didn't soft-launch a side hustle. She booked a solo trip to Niagara Falls with a laptop, a notebook, and a single question:

What do I actually want to build?

The book came first. Then the company. Then Oprah called.

On this week's FoundHer Rising, Adyna shares the moment her greatest professional strength quietly became the ceiling on her business, and the mindset shift that finally moved her past it.

If you're in a season of reinvention, this one's for you.

🎧 Listen now wherever you access your podcasts!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/lfCdvZH-c0M

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-corporate-layoff-to-ceo-after-34-years-with-adyna/id1854103475?i=1000771857299

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/24711284-69b9-4a7d-80d4-4efb558daa73/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-from-corporate-layoff-to-ceo-after-34-years-with-adyna-k-pressley-foundher-rising-s01-e30

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7iO34Vq1vdXA2q6Gs0ddvt?si=wNKQBzxHRea7YsYWut0WfA

You do not need to be more disciplined.

You need one better rule.

If your marketing block keeps disappearing every time client work pops up, stop deleting it.

Move it instead.

That one shift keeps business development from quietly falling off your calendar.

Deleted = gone.

Moved = still happening.

That’s the difference between “I should post more” and actually being consistent.

Save this and try it for one week.

"Your career is a process of elimination. You have to try some stuff before you're going to figure out what works and what doesn't."

That's Jess Britt's answer to the question every founder is secretly asking.

Most of us treat failed experiments like wasted time. The founders who actually build something lasting treat them like data.

Every contract that didn't fit. Every offer that didn't land. Every relationship that quietly wound down.

That's not noise. That's the signal getting clearer.

In Episode 029 of FoundHer Rising, Jess and I get into how she built her consulting business by getting good at elimination, not just acquisition.

🎧 Listen now wherever you access your podcasts!

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-calendar-rule-costing-founders-their-best-clients/id1854103475?i=1000770771768

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/b52a0f29-f08d-4207-b459-041edb4677ad/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-hidden-calendar-rule-costing-founders-their-best-clients-with-jess-britt-foundher-rising-s01-e29

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cUhugK0kieTAyV7elEsQf?si=x2BDfseySsi2kqz1I2pN8g&nd=1&dlsi=e7ea573e3c904529

You built the wait list. You hired your first contractor. And then you realized your clients weren’t automatically ready to work with someone else.

This is the shift most service founders don’t see coming.

Your audience didn’t sign up for “a therapist” or “a coach” or “a consultant.” They signed up for you.

The trust that built your solo practice was personal. It doesn’t automatically transfer to your team, no matter how skilled or qualified they are.

That doesn’t mean you’ve done something wrong. It means the business has entered a new phase, and the marketing has to evolve with it.

You’re no longer only marketing yourself. You’re building trust in a brand, a team, and a broader client experience.

This week on FoundHer Rising, Sara Coyle of Connected Roots Therapy shares what she’s learning in real time as she grows beyond a solo practice and navigates the realities of building a group practice intentionally.

🎧 Listen now wherever you access your podcasts!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/tBVHU1uCAWw?si=kVJgXN4Fnl1tQCYx

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/why-your-business-needs-boundaries-to-scale-with-sara/id1854103475?i=1000769637236

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/7332b51c-8b45-4c8a-8731-206ce753f9f0/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-why-your-business-needs-boundaries-to-scale-with-sara-coyle-foundher-rising-s01-e28

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2351WJd4XP9WJTT7fw4L2m?si=6231f95d17d94a81

Scaling your business isn’t just about doing more of what’s already working.

And it’s definitely not about pushing yourself harder.

What most people won’t say clearly is this:

At some point, your current way of operating stops working.

The way you make decisions.
The way your time is structured.
The way your business relies on you.

If you keep trying to scale on top of that… it gets heavier, not better.

I see this all the time.

Brilliant, capable founders…
Running businesses that have outgrown their foundation.

And instead of changing the structure, they try to compensate with effort.

More hours.
More pressure.
More pushing.

That’s not the move.

Scaling well requires a different approach.

One that actually supports you, instead of draining you.

You don’t need to abandon your values to grow.
But you do need to evolve how your business operates.

That’s the work.

If you’ve been feeling this but couldn’t quite name it, pay attention.

Follow for more grounded strategy.
Or comment GROWTH if you’re ready to start building differently.

"I don't have time" is rarely about hours.

Most of the time, it's a priority problem dressed up as a time problem.

If you're not making sales calls, building case studies, or showing up where your next clients are, the calendar isn't the issue. The business is structured around things that feel more urgent than growth.

That's a different fix.

You don't solve a priority problem with better time blocking. You solve it by changing what gets your time first.

🎧 Listen now wherever you access your podcasts!

YouTube: https://youtu.be/vN-SX9JydMo?si=aDMVvhRZvNNGa42I

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-to-get-clients-after-your-warm-network-runs-out/id1854103475?i=1000768565717

Amazon: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/dbbe398c-36f9-4eee-b33d-2a39b9038c12/episodes/932790f8-1dc9-4c1e-94c2-9d18911b4f7d/foundher-rising-with-christine-hakkola-how-to-get-clients-after-your-warm-network-runs-out-with-shenelle-b-foundher-rising-s01-e27

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29uS436EY4MBIB7eP4Bae9?si=8bd1fe54edc245b9

Two years ago, I was in a very different season of business.

Our second child was on the way.
Life had slowed down in the way that only something that big can force it to.

And from that vantage point, I started seeing things more clearly.

So many of the founders around me were growing…
But their businesses couldn’t actually hold that growth.

More clients meant more pressure.
More revenue meant more complexity.
More demand meant less space.

I had lived that version of business too. The one where everything depends on you. Where you’re the engine, the decision-maker, the safety net.

And it works… until it doesn’t.

That season forced me to ask better questions.

What actually makes a business sustainable?
What allows it to grow without costing you everything?
What needs to be in place before you add more?

That’s the work I do now.

Not just helping you grow…
But helping you build something that can hold what you’re asking for.

If this feels familiar, follow along.
Or comment GROWTH and we’ll set up a clarity call with my team.