“Where will my next clients come from?” “Can I make enough money to support myself and my family?” These questions haunt many people who want to start a business. They’re the same ones that Gabs Hayes heard repeatedly—both from herself and others throughout her 15 years in operations and product management.
Hayes didn’t set out to become an entrepreneurship coach. She was running Product x Agile, teaching skills for product management, when people in her network started asking specific questions. How do I price my services? Where do I find clients? How do I handle taxes as a freelancer? The questions multiplied, and Hayes realized she had practical answers from her own experience.
This shift in demand led to The Brave Start, a company that turns “47 research tabs” into clear action steps for building a service business. Hayes’s path shows that sometimes the strongest business ideas come from listening to what people already ask you for. You don’t need to reinvent anything—just pay attention, start small with conversations, and build based on real feedback. Her story offers a practical blueprint for your own business start.
Building on Corporate Experience While Finding Freedom
Hayes spent years solving problems and leading teams across the business spectrum. “I have worked with day 1 tech startups still designing their idea on the back of a napkin and fortune 100 digital experience overhauls,” she explains. This diverse experience gave her unique insights into what makes businesses succeed with limited resources.
“What I didn’t know then, that I am so thankful for now – is this was the perfect preparation to be the best entrepreneurship coach. I specialize in turning big ideas into focused execution, especially when resources are limited.”
As a self-described “slow, digital nomad,” Hayes took an uncommon approach to business development. Rather than settling in one location, she built relationships in coworking communities across the country. This lifestyle choice became central to her business strategy.
“Finding rooms where people are showing up for a common purpose seems to be a big win in both not feeling alone in the process, but also being able to use my business as a way to support the local entrepreneurial community too,” Hayes shares.
This nomadic approach helped her build a geographically diverse network while experiencing different business ecosystems firsthand – knowledge she now uses to help clients navigate their own business landscapes.
The Unexpected Business Pivot
The Brave Start began as something entirely different – Product x Agile, a platform teaching skills for product management and agile practices. But Hayes noticed a pattern emerging in conversations with her network.
People weren’t just asking about product management skills – they were asking how to go out on their own and turn their corporate career experience into a business. As Hayes notes, “As fractional work has continued to grow as a business model, the questions continued to grow” until she decided a pivot and rebrand was the right move.
Hayes recognized this pattern as a market signal and made the bold decision to pivot her business entirely.
She started with simple coffee chats, gathering questions from people in her network who wanted to start businesses. These conversations revealed common patterns of uncertainty that became the foundation for her first program.
Hayes built a beta cohort to test her approach, taking participants through foundational business concepts. The results were revealing – participants experienced wins, but the structure needed refinement. This led to her most important discovery process.
“We did exit interviews with every cohort member and asked for brutally honest feedback to learn what helped, what was a distraction, and where did we need to double down our support,” Hayes recalls.
These interviews revealed a surprising insight: the most valuable thing she offered wasn’t a specific curriculum but her lived experience and willingness to answer questions when participants felt stuck.
“This was the specific moment we realized this was going to be successful. Because the thing that made the biggest impact was the thing that was the most readily available, our lived experience and our ability to vulnerably answer their questions when they felt stuck in what move to make next in their business.”
Learning New Skills Outside Corporate Comfort Zones
Hayes discovered that becoming a business owner meant developing skills she never needed in her corporate roles.
“I had no exposure to sales or marketing before becoming an entrepreneur,” Hayes explains. “I was used to being ‘rewarded’ for being good at my job, but suddenly as a business owner it took a lot more than that to bring customers in the door.”
She had to dig deep to find her creative side and even discovered an unexpected love for copywriting – skills that weren’t part of her previous work experience but became vital to her business growth.
Her most surprising client acquisition channel? LinkedIn. “I was a marketing and personal brand complete newbie just a few years ago,” Hayes admits. “So the fact that I have been able to find my rhythm and it is almost 100% responsible for my top of funnel at this point has been a fun journey.”
Like many new business owners, Hayes found the administrative aspects overwhelming. She notes that the “sheer volume of options and decisions to be made” in the legal and administrative categories often leaves entrepreneurs stuck in endless research cycles.
Practical Business Lessons
The fears Hayes heard most often mirror those of many aspiring entrepreneurs: “Where will I find clients?” and “Can I make enough money to support myself and my family?”
Hayes admits these worries still appear occasionally in her own business. She worked with different types of mentors – some focused on mindset and overcoming fear, others on tactical business strategies. This taught her a crucial lesson about entrepreneurship.
“Entrepreneurship is a very lonely path where most people in our lives don’t understand it. The worst we can do is choose to do it alone and in isolation.”
Hayes earned her first $1,000 through a practical approach – taking consulting contracts related to her corporate background while building her business. This experience led her to challenge a pervasive belief in entrepreneurial circles.
“There is a lot of shame in the entrepreneur community if you aren’t all in on your entrepreneur dream. But you need to be able to eat and feel safe while building your business. And if that comes from side projects, part time jobs, or using your full time role to fund your entrepreneur dreams, that’s beautiful!”
Hayes found all her customers through organic conversations – social media, networking events, emails, and even kids’ birthday parties. She discovered that business growth often followed an unexpected pattern.
“The biggest surprise is that many of the conversions did not come right away. They came long after we planted seeds, stayed in touch, and someone converted when they were finally ready to take a chance on themselves.”
Hayes’s biggest misstep was rushing to scale before fully understanding her business. “I spent a lot of money in the beginning outsourcing the things (marketing, sales, etc.) and many of those things that others created I never used (I see you $5,000 website copy that never got published) because I didn’t know myself as an entrepreneur, my customer, or my business well enough to outsource effectively.”
This experience shaped her core philosophy about entrepreneurship – the importance of intention and personal definition of success.
“My goal wouldn’t be to grow so fast, it would be to show up with intention. To be clear on what success looked like for me instead of what I saw everyone else saying was the definition of success, so I could focus on building a business that supported the life I want to live.”
For Hayes, “showing up with intention” means being “clear on what success looked like for me instead of what I saw everyone else saying was the definition of success, so I could focus on building a business that supported the life I want to live.”
Hayes values the personal growth that comes with entrepreneurship. As she puts it, “The greatest gift it gives us is the mirror of self-awareness.”
“Entrepreneurship is incredibly challenging—possibly the hardest thing I’ve ever done—but it’s also transformative. The person I’ve become through this process makes every sleepless night and moment of self-doubt worthwhile. The greatest gift it gives us is the mirror of self-awareness.”
Overcoming Doubt and Finding Balance
Like all entrepreneurs, Hayes has faced moments of doubt. One turning point came when she had an opportunity to showcase her business at Collision, North America’s largest tech conference.
“Asking for help has never been a strong quality of mine,” Hayes admits. “But in our early days, we got a chance to showcase our business at Collision, and I knew I really wanted to be there. It was the first time I asked for investment in my business from family to help make it happen.”
Though the conference audience wasn’t the right fit for her business long-term, it marked her debut as an international public speaker. “It gave me more confidence in myself as a business owner than any client could have at the time,” she reflects.
Finding the right balance between personalized coaching and scalable offerings took time. Hayes mentions studying Human Design to better understand how she shows up best in her business. “For me that is in a one to many capacity. So it helped me change my offering from 1:1 to a 1:many setting,” she explains.
Her research with customers revealed that “live sessions are where the true transformation happens,” leading her to build her core program around live implementation support.
On pricing – a common challenge for new business owners – Hayes offers practical advice:
- Don’t base your rates on your previous salary hourly equivalent
- Ask clients about their budget (many will tell you)
- Give clients multiple options to choose from
Hayes also takes a thoughtful approach to balancing free and paid content. “I don’t sell a secret sauce. I sell personalized support for your unique business and your own definition of success,” she explains. By sharing her experiences openly, she supports her mission of helping entrepreneurs while making it clear when paid services offer additional value.
“The value exchange in my paid services is when you need someone in your corner giving you accountability, moving blockers out of your way, and helping you make decisions faster.”
Startup Stories
Start Small, Build with Purpose
If you’re thinking about starting a business, remember that Hayes’s path wasn’t planned. It started with noticing a need and taking small steps to address it.
Her advice:
- Start with conversations to understand what potential customers need
- Don’t be afraid to test ideas and gather honest feedback
- Find mentors and community to avoid isolation
- It’s okay to keep your job or take side projects while building your business
- Define success on your own terms, not someone else’s
Recent economic changes have affected Hayes’s business, with longer sales cycles and more hesitation from both business and individual clients. But through it all, she’s stayed true to her mission.
Hayes’s story shows us that sometimes the best business ideas come from listening to what people are already asking for. By starting with simple conversations and focusing on what truly matters to you, you can build a business that aligns with your own definition of success.
You can find Hayes’s work at thebravestart.com.
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