The Sharon Francisco Show

Sharon Francisco
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  • Entrepreneurship
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 I’ve been thinking about starting a podcast for years. To share the good, the bad, and the ugly that I’ve experienced in business. I feel like it's time to share some of the lessons, and I hope that it will resonate with you, and that you actually take action so that you and your business keeps growing. I’m Sharon Francisco, a business coach for bookkeepers, but what I talk about here on the podcast will help all sorts of businesses and business owners. I hope you enjoy it!

  1. 1d ago

    The Breakdown Before the Breakthrough

    What if the chapter you never wanted becomes the beginning of a life you hadn’t imagined? A relationship ends. A major client leaves. Your business struggles. In those moments, it’s natural to want everything to go back to normal. But what if the old normal isn’t where you’re meant to return? In this episode of The Sharon Francisco Show, Sharon reflects on how difficult experiences can change what we believe, what we tolerate and what we want next. She shares the fear of starting again after her separation, the journal that helped her imagine a new future, and the devastating accident involving her brother that eventually changed her family’s direction. This isn’t about pretending hard things are good. It’s about recognising the choices we can make as we rebuild. In this episode we cover: • Why we cling to familiar situations that no longer serve us • The difference between getting back to normal and creating a new normal • How Sharon rediscovered herself after separation • What losing a major client might reveal about your business • How her brother’s accident changed her family’s future • Why setbacks can bring stronger boundaries and greater self-trust • Why you don’t have to hit rock bottom to choose change Key insights: • Your next chapter doesn’t have to look like your last • You can value who you’ve become without being grateful for what happened • Rebuilding can reveal strengths and possibilities you hadn’t seen • Small decisions today can change your direction Sharon’s question for you: What can you see now that you couldn’t see before? And what’s one choice you can make with that understanding? 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? sharon@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  2. Nov 5

    What If Kindness Is How We Win?

    What if the most powerful response to a world full of negativity isn't to fight harder… but to choose kindness? Not because you're weak. Not because you're letting people get away with bad behaviour. But because you get to decide what you carry with you. In this episode, Sharon explores how easily one rude comment, difficult email or unpleasant interaction can hijack our mood, affect our relationships and follow us around for hours. And why sometimes, the greatest gift we can give ourselves is simply refusing to carry that negativity any further. Sharon shares the story behind a little sticker she recently put on her car: "I hope something nice happens to you today." A simple message that sparked a much bigger reflection on kindness, boundaries, resentment and the way we choose to show up in the world. In this episode we cover: • Why negativity spreads so easily • How one unpleasant interaction can affect your entire day • Why replaying hurtful moments keeps us stuck • The surprising story behind Sharon's kindness sticker • Why being kind doesn't mean tolerating bad behaviour • How to set boundaries without becoming harsh • Why difficult conversations can still be respectful • How to respond instead of react when emotions run high • Why recognising kindness in others matters • How small acts of kindness create meaningful connections • Why kindness must also include yourself Key insights: • You don't have to carry someone else's negativity • Kindness and firm boundaries can exist together • Staying calm gives you greater control over your response • You can hold people accountable without being unkind • Small gestures can make a bigger difference than we realise • Kindness isn't just something we give others — it changes how we feel, too Sharon's challenge this week: Choose one deliberate act of kindness. Thank someone. Recognise great service. Respond gently when you could react harshly. And notice how it makes you feel. Because we might not change everyone around us… But we can choose what we bring into the world. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? sharon@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  3. Oct 29

    Everyone Gets Paid First — But What About You?

    How much did you pay yourself last month? And here's the bigger question… are you happy with that amount? You've paid your team. Covered the bills. Looked after your clients. Put in the hours. But when it comes to paying yourself, suddenly there's a reason to wait. In this episode, Sharon explores a pattern she has seen in business owners for over 30 years — working incredibly hard, keeping everyone else happy, yet accepting whatever money happens to be left. Through the fictional story of Rebecca, Sharon reveals how easily a busy, growing business can leave its owner financially shortchanged. Because being busy and being profitable are two very different things. In this episode we cover: • Why business owners often pay themselves last • The difference between being busy and earning enough • Sharon's dinner table analogy and what it reveals about owner pay • How scope creep quietly eats into your income • Why loyal clients may still be costing you money • The three stages of paying yourself • Why consistent wages aren't always appropriate wages • How to calculate what you're really earning per hour • Why hiring more people doesn't automatically create more profit • How financial pressure affects your thinking and decisions • Why your own business deserves a Director's Appointment Key insights: • Your pay should be planned, not whatever is left over • Being needed doesn't mean you're being properly rewarded • More clients won't fix an unprofitable business model • Your time, responsibility and leadership have value • You can care deeply about clients without sacrificing your own financial wellbeing Here's Sharon's challenge: Look back at the last three months. What did you actually pay yourself? How many hours did you work? And what needs to change? Because building a business that loves you back means building one that pays you properly, too. 🎧 Listen now wherever you get your podcasts https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? sharon@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  4. Oct 22

    Hillary McVeigh — The Courage to Be Fully You

    What if the next level of your business isn’t asking you to work harder? What if it’s asking you to trust yourself more? In this episode, Sharon sits down with Hilary McVeigh, founder of Designed As You, former lawyer turned human design teacher, entrepreneur and practitioner. Hilary shares how a successful career that looked right from the outside eventually became impossible to sustain — leading her through burnout, panic attacks and a complete rethinking of how she wanted to live and work.   What followed was a journey into human design, Gene Keys, somatics, parts work and ancient wisdom — but underneath all of it is a beautifully simple idea: Can you feel safe enough to be fully yourself? In this episode we cover: • Why Hilary walked away from law without having the next chapter mapped out • Human design, Gene Keys, somatics and parts work in simple terms • Why self-acceptance can be more powerful than chasing confidence • How constantly worrying about how you’re perceived keeps you stuck • Why procrastination is often fear wearing a practical disguise • What may really be underneath your resistance to hiring, delegating and setting boundaries • Why women can become so identified with being helpful and available • How your internal beliefs can influence the clients and situations you keep experiencing • Why confidence doesn’t mean doubt and fear disappear • How to create enough space to hear your own answers • Why discomfort can be a sign that you’re moving into your next level  One of the strongest ideas in this conversation is that constantly saying yes to avoid disappointing other people can mean repeatedly disappointing yourself.   You don’t need to eliminate fear before you move. Sometimes the fear, resistance and uncertainty are simply showing you where you’re being invited to grow.   🎧 Listen now https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? hello@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  5. Oct 15

    What a Date Night Taught Me

    Have you ever said yes to something you really didn’t want to do… and walked away completely changed by it? That’s exactly what happened when Sharon agreed to a bike film night with Pierre. She expected an evening about cycling. Instead, she found stories about courage, resilience, creativity and finding another way forward when life doesn’t go to plan. One woman became quadriplegic after an accident — but refused to give up the forest and the family bike rides she loved. She found an adaptive bike she could steer with movements of her head. Then there was Eros Poli — a cyclist considered far too big to be a mountain climber, who broke away from the pack and won a Tour de France stage over Mont Ventoux by playing to his strengths rather than trying to become somebody else. His word? Grinta. Grit. Determination. Courage. Keep going.   In this episode we cover: • Why inspiration often comes from places you don’t expect • What to do when the original plan no longer works • Why changing direction doesn’t mean you’ve failed • How to stop assuming other people are naturally better suited to success • Why perceived disadvantages don’t have to define your outcome • How to build a strategy around your actual strengths • Why you don’t need perfect circumstances to move forward • What business owners can learn from adaptive thinking • Why advisory, leadership and growth are skills you can develop • How to stop counting yourself out before you’ve even begun  Key insights: • A closed path doesn’t mean every path is closed • You don’t need somebody else’s strengths to succeed • What feels like a disadvantage may simply require a different strategy • Stay open — your next big idea might come from somewhere completely unexpected • The unlikely hero wins by refusing to count themselves out  So where have you already decided, “That’s not for me”? Maybe it’s time to ask a better question: What is still possible? 🎧 Listen now https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? hello@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  6. Oct 8

    LIFE Is a Mirror

    What if the things frustrating you most in your business aren’t just problems… but reflections? Your pricing. Your clients. Your team. Your workload. Even your inability to take a proper holiday without opening the laptop. In this episode, Sharon explores the idea that life — and business — is a mirror. Instead of asking, “Why does this keep happening to me?” the more useful question may be: What is this showing me? Because your business can reveal what you believe about your value, what you’re willing to tolerate, where you avoid difficult conversations, and where your confidence hasn’t yet caught up with your capability. In this episode we cover: • How pricing reflects what you believe about your value • Why discounting and overdelivering may be about more than strategy • What difficult clients can reveal about your boundaries • How we unintentionally teach clients what behaviour we’ll accept • Why avoiding team conversations can become a leadership issue • What working through every holiday says about the business you’ve built • Why staying safely inside compliance can stop you developing new skills • How fear can hold bookkeepers back from stepping into advisory • Why you don’t need every answer to have valuable client conversations • How to stop blaming the mirror and start using what it shows you  Key insights: • Your business isn’t judging you — it’s giving you information • What you tolerate often continues • Clear expectations are not unkind; they’re leadership • Your belief may simply need time to catch up with your capability • When you change what’s happening within you, what happens around you can begin to change too So take a look at your business. What keeps showing up? And what might it be trying to show you? 🎧 Listen now https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? hello@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  7. Oct 1

    Will Fulton — Confidence Comes After Action, Not Before

    What if the confidence you’re waiting for only arrives after you do the thing? In this episode, Sharon sits down with Will Fulton, founder of the Trusted Advisor Network and a business advisor with more than 20 years of experience helping business owners grow stronger, more profitable businesses. This conversation goes well beyond strategy. Will and Sharon unpack the psychology behind pricing, growth, confrontation, momentum and the uncomfortable decisions that actually move a business forward. Because often, you already know what needs to be done. The real challenge is doing it before you feel ready. In this episode we cover: • Why pricing is one of the most psychological decisions in business • How self-worth quietly affects what you charge • Why confidence usually comes after action, not before • The importance of becoming “bulletproof” about the value you deliver • Why the first 30–90 days with a client are so powerful • How to navigate the highs and lows of business ownership • Why the non-urgent work often creates the biggest business shifts • How fear of confrontation keeps problems sitting under the carpet • Why momentum is hard to build — and easy to lose • Will’s $100K software gamble and what it taught him about backing yourself • The four levers behind profit: sales, marketing, margins and productivity • Why you may already have the clients and opportunities you need Will’s message on confidence is simple: you don’t need to feel fearless first. You build belief by doing the uncomfortable thing, getting through it, and proving to yourself that you can.  Key insights: • Confidence is an outcome, not a prerequisite • The things you avoid are often the things that create momentum • Strategic progress lives in the non-urgent work  • More clients are not always the answer — know what you actually want the money for • Successful businesses are built by people willing to do what others keep avoiding What are you waiting to feel confident enough to do? Maybe it’s time to do it first. 🎧 Listen now https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? sharon@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

  8. Sep 24

    Your Secret Sauce

    What if your secret sauce isn’t your qualifications, your experience, or even how much you care about your clients? What if it’s the relationship you have with yourself? In this episode, Sharon explores how hundreds of small choices quietly build — or weaken — self-trust. The food you eat.  The promises you keep.  The people you spend time with.  The way you speak to yourself.  And whether you’re willing to act before you feel completely ready.  Because confidence isn’t believing you’ll always get it right. It’s knowing that if things go badly, you won’t turn against yourself. In this episode we cover: • Why your relationship with yourself affects how you lead your business • The everyday choices that strengthen self-trust • Why keeping promises to yourself matters • How sleep, movement, food, water and relationships support confidence • The warning signs that you may not be putting yourself first • Why confidence comes from action, not waiting until you feel ready • Sharon’s Aldi story and the moment she had to find her voice • How difficult seasons can uncover a stronger version of you • Why real stories and lived experience become even more valuable in an AI world • What your next level might look like when business already feels comfortable Key insights: • Confidence is built by collecting evidence that you can cope • Self-trust grows through action • You don’t need to wait until life backs you into a corner to become brave • Your next level may require you to become someone new • Mastering one level may simply be an invitation into a bigger arena Mentioned in this episode: Self-Compassion — Kristin Neff The Gifts of Imperfection — Brené Brown The Good Life — Robert Waldinger & Marc Schulz Mindset — Dr Carol Dweck 🎧 Listen now https://www.sharonfrancisco.com/podcast Questions? sharon@sharonfrancisco.com --- 👉  Also: The Entrepreneurial Bookkeeper — grow your business without sacrificing your health: sharonfrancisco.com/program Connect with me on LinkedIn, Facebook. Have a question for the podcast? Email hello@sharonfrancisco.com

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About

 I’ve been thinking about starting a podcast for years. To share the good, the bad, and the ugly that I’ve experienced in business. I feel like it's time to share some of the lessons, and I hope that it will resonate with you, and that you actually take action so that you and your business keeps growing. I’m Sharon Francisco, a business coach for bookkeepers, but what I talk about here on the podcast will help all sorts of businesses and business owners. I hope you enjoy it!

Information

  • Creator
    Sharon Francisco
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    68
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Sharon Francisco Show
  • Show Website
    The Sharon Francisco Show