Justine McDonald
Business Coach
Justine McDonald is business coach for women and author of the Goal Chasers planning system. After a decade working in corporate marketing, she decided to take her knowledge of building small business brands to help woman create freedom based businesses.
Connect with Justine...
Instagram: www.instagram.com/thegoalchasers
Website: www.teamgoalchasers.com
Full Transcript - Episode 7
Chantelle: Today my conversation is with Justine McDonald, a business coach for women and author of the Goal Chasers Planning System.
After a decade working in corporate marketing, she decided to take her knowledge of building small business brands to help women create freedom based businesses. Have a listen while today's guest Justine, a 4 1, shares her story while you read between the lines. So Justine, tell me, how did your discovery [00:01:00] of human design happen?
Justine: I was working with my very first business coach in a group format, and it was a part of her program. I had no idea, I had never heard of human design before, and she's from South Africa, and I remember sitting on a call with this woman who was included in the package, just sobbing. Sobbing, sobbing, sobbing as she goes through my human design profile and it was like she knew me better than I knew myself.
It was the activation of a permission slip to live as I was living and to stop feeling like I needed to fit myself in the 5 a. m. morning or all the productivity hacks of business. I was allowed to live within my own lines.
Chantelle: That's wonderful. And so lucky that it came about that way and you discovered it when you did.
Justine: Yeah. And so early on in my business, like I was. Within the first year, I would say, [00:02:00] so yeah, it was nice to have that foundational piece to really allow myself to figure out who I really wanted to be within my own design versus again, going into so many external. books and podcasts , and courses, right?
Just go back to myself.
Chantelle: I also discovered human design right around the start of my business. Probably around the same time as you. And it's true. It was like a happy accident that had happened right around that time because it helps set you on like the right path for you versus whatever the right path is that someone is selling.
Justine: Yeah, absolutely. And I think we've all, as women as a mother for myself, too, and a business owner, I went through so much self doubt and worrying about whether I was making the right decisions. And human design just allowed me to go back to the basics of myself and let myself be enough, right? Imposter syndrome on Instagram and online businesses is [00:03:00] never ending.
And it allowed me to say, no, no. Come back to your lane. That seems cool and all, but back to your lane, big ideas person, stick to who you are and stay true to that. And it allowed me to really believe that the more I became myself and allowed the world to see who I actually am, the more successful I was going to be.
Chantelle: And so as a 4/1, what does that feel like for you in business?
Justine: For me, it feels like I'm a community connector, which I love. I love, love bringing people together. And I love when, you know, I'm that obsessive energy when I learn something new, whether it's human design and more recently Gene Keys any facet of business body work.
I really love, I want to know everything. So that I can bring it to my community and I can teach on it. What it has meant for me in a positive sense is I love to gather information. And in a negative sense, sometimes I feel like I'm never done. Yes. Like never [00:04:00] done investigating that information. So I learn, learn, learn, learn, learn.
And then my own self doubt and shadows will stop me from sharing it. Cause I'm like, no, no, no, I need to learn more before I can share. Or because people see me as someone who has a resource and has information. Sometimes I feel that pressure as a coach to know everything and to know it all perfectly.
It comes up in really amazing ways as a business owner, but it also can, can show some of the insecurities you have as well.
Chantelle: I can see that. As a fellow one line, I relate to that. Absolutely. Like there's something about knowing that knowledge is infinite, that is deeply troubling to a line one, deeply exciting, but also just a challenge.
Justine: Yeah, I can only imagine what people did before Google. Yeah, right. Maybe they were happier. Maybe one things were happier because they're like, no, no, no, there's only so many books on this and I read them all. I'm done. Right, right. We're like, no, no, no, [00:05:00] no. There's got to be another word in a blog post somewhere. I haven't found yet.
Chantelle: That's right. Must keep reading.
Justine: Must keep reading, but it's also so I love feeling like I can be a person that with my Manifestor and my defined throat, a person that can speak with a lot of conviction on something that I've learned, because especially if it's a new idea, new concept, it allows people to feel that confidence in my voice.
So it can touch more people, right? When I speak about something that I really believe in and I've done my research and I'm all jazzed up about it. Then people buy into it and they're like, okay, I, I'm going to try this tapping or I'm going to try this system and it helps people. It can, it can help people so it's great. Yeah.
Chantelle: We've met each other in real life, we have crossed paths years ago to now. I can see that there's been this, evolution of confidence in you and it's really cool [00:06:00] and it seems like a lot of that was, informed a by human design, maybe but you're really leaning into those strengths now. I can see that through line of growth.
Justine: Yeah. Thank you for that reflection. I would say the same thing about myself. She was always there. She was always under the surface, but you know, life's rejection of, Oh, Justine, you're so dramatic. Oh, Justine, you're so obnoxious or, you know, using my voice, which is the part of me that is defined and believes in itself, when that gets rejected over and over again through the seasons of your life, sometimes you kind of cower away from using it and the power of Instagram stories, which, funny part about my business is I planned on selling planners behind a computer screen, and now I don't really sell planners and all I do is talk to a computer screen, so life has a funny way of changing you, but it really allowed me to continue to build that confidence and go and learn and teach and learn and teach.[00:07:00]
And yeah, it's an evolution for sure. Yeah.
Chantelle: That's very one line of us. Once I know something, I feel the joy of learning it and it is also knowing that I'll use it in a way later and I'll like, I'll share it later too, right? That's definitely part of that deep dive for me.
Justine: Yes, and one thing I love learning about one line and myself, were, again, like traditional nine to five jobs, which I went to school for business, worked in corporate marketing for 10 years. And it was always like, you need to do things in the systematic way, right? It's got to go to this person's got to be done by this deadline.
And I always felt a lot of shame around wanting to start projects and stop them or learning some information and then never utilizing it. And one thing I learned from being that one line is that not all information is actually there for me to use in the depth that I learn it number one. And number two, it's okay to [00:08:00] start and stop and know that maybe even on the surface, the lesson isn't what I use in my day to day, but it's helping me in some way. That's right. Some other way in your life and it's weaving together like this really cool tapestry, like you have behind you.
It makes a lot of sense for our life story.
Chantelle: Yeah, and I think that's the manifesting generator aspect of us as well. And maybe there's something about that, MG line one combination that we both share. Yeah, I'm curious as an MG, what are some things that you've tried and left behind in your business?
Justine: Oh, my gosh, like this year or
Chantelle: you decide the scope
Justine: So many things. So my planners is probably the biggest one because it's something that was a huge, huge passion project for me, it also opened a lot of doors for me being a service based business, but having something tangible that I could give away as swag, or I could [00:09:00] recreate was a really big thing, but I just lost the zest for to be totally transparent.
The same amount of effort to make 20 on a planner, I could go sell a coaching package for 3000. And from an energetic perspective and knowing that about myself, that I have highs and lows, I'm always on a roller coaster. I've really learned to conserve that energy and to put it into the things that fill me back up.
And when in a product based business, you're selling to someone, you may not get to see the results. And the, and the 20 isn't really lighting me up, but when I work with a human. We get to exchange energy and I get to use the knowledge and build that community that I really feel like I'm meant to build.
Then it's like a win win and it pays 10 times as much. So it's like a no brainer.
Chantelle: Yeah, that totally makes sense. So you just talked about your wave and so you're an emotional MG then I'm guessing. How does that all feel these days in business?[00:10:00]
Justine: Well, I have been sharing this recently that I learned as a goal setting person that men and women have very different hormone cycles, which we all knew that, but as it relates to goal setting and being productive in your business, it has a really big impact.
So again, the nine to five world that we are all conditioned for, whether we've been an entrepreneur for a long time, right? We have some conditioning inside of us that started in school up to the jobs we had throughout high school. Conditioned to stay much more consistent in our energy type. And when you're an MG, that is absolutely not the case.
And when you are a woman who is an MG you go through a 28 day wave of energy and a man goes through 24 hours. So every morning, his testosterone is high, fades throughout the day, and when he wakes up the next day, he has the same level of energy every 24 hours. Whereas women, we have it every 28 days.[00:11:00]
So combination of this information with being a Manifesting Generator has really allowed me to have a lot of self permission in the emotions. Detaching the emotions that I have from like who I am as a person, almost seeing it as like an external person, you know, when I have a week where I'm feeling really low, it's not a depiction of the possibility for me and what I can create in this world. It's like an external, person, like, Oh, you're back. Okay, here we go again. How long are you going to stay for this time? And I know that next high is coming. It's going to come back because it's just a cycle so knowing that I'm going to be on that roller coaster has been really so powerful for me because it's not something bad.
It's just something that exists, right, and I can use the high times to be more productive and I can use the low times to respect myself and give myself deep rest and find even [00:12:00] space in the inquisitive big ideas that we have right like that's my time to put them on paper and then I go on a high and then I execute them.
So, yeah, I think that there was a time when I felt like I couldn't fit into the box because I'm all over the place, you know, MGs we're so creative and we can do things really fast when we do them and then we crash so hard that it feels like maybe we can't catch up, but we're actually like 10 years ahead of everybody else when we have a really clear plan.
So I don't mind the rollercoaster anymore.
Chantelle: Yeah. Planning and goal setting obviously is a huge part of what you do. Is there anything that you feel is like super 4 1 or super M. G. about your personal planning process?
Justine: I think, I don't know if it's for one as much as it is just M. G. about the process and that is I don't goal set from current [00:13:00] circumstances.
I always goal set from a big vision out and being a visionary person allows me to see the possibility of really, really big things happening in my life, even if they don't make logical sense on paper. And from there, that's where I craft my goals. That's where I sketch out what I'm going to do per day.
It's from that big vision.
And I think that creates a lot of power in collapsing timelines to our results. When we're not attaching it to what we think is maybe possible in the next year or so, we're attaching it to this like big energy that we feel in this big person that we know we can be. Because if you're an MG, you can't really describe why you feel like there's something big for you.
But when you let yourself be that person and you just admit it, it's like, it's just there. I can't really describe it. So I might as well just keep finding a way to walk towards it because it keeps calling you, right? It's always in.
Chantelle: Yeah. What are some of the big ideas that are feeling really [00:14:00] exciting and satisfying for you right now?
Justine: Oh, my gosh. Essentially, up until now, my business has been sales and marketing strategy. But I'm moving more towards specifically sales strategy. And some big, fun, exciting ideas are having my own sales conference. I was watching Million Dollar Listing the other day.
I'm like, I'm just going to email Ryan Serhant's team and see what it costs to fly him in to do a conference. Haven't even done anything. It happened in my brain five minutes earlier. I'll just start with Ryan Serhant, who, by the way, is 75, 000 USD to come and speak. So that's something that feels really exciting and, and lighting me up.
As well, building my plan to a million dollars. So my business is at just over 100k per year and my goal is to hit seven figures. So I've hired an agency that's helping me build a funnel and Facebook ads. Primarily 95 percent of that revenue has come from Manitoba. Winnipeg and I want to expand outside of the [00:15:00] province and into the United States.
So yeah, the thought of touching people in other places and being able to do fun retreats and VIP days with them feels like super, super exciting to me.
Chantelle: That's awesome. You've talked a few times during this conversation about one on one work. How do you use your human design gifts in your coaching?
Justine: Hmm. So I will meet you. I will immediately have this giant vision in my brain like I can see all mapped out like as if there was a whiteboard here. I'm like, okay, we've got to fill in this gap here. Okay, I got to do a little bit of this more here. And I can immediately see the holes in someone's business to the result that they're looking for. That's the Manifestor side. And then the Generator side of me knows the tactical steps. Like I know this, do this, do this, do this, do this. And so that works really, really well. As far as people coming to me who have a big vision and they're like, I don't know what to do next. I feel overwhelmed. I feel lost and confused.
[00:16:00] And then from after that process, from a weekly daily coaching perspective, my energy. I have a big transference of belief, so my clients say all the time that I'm not like soft place to land or that, that kick in the butt when you need it. But when I believe in them, they believe in themselves, so this MG energy really helps to activate them into this vision that maybe they didn't think was possible before, and now they're like, okay, okay, maybe I can do this, and I'm like, yes, you can!
Chantelle: I've never heard the phrase transfer of belief before. Is that is that a thing that I'm missing that you've learned about? Or is this a thing you say that I need to learn more about?
Justine: It's a thing that I say, to be honest, I don't know. I haven't really heard anyone else say it, but I can't say for 100 percent sure I didn't hear it somewhere else.
Yeah, it's a real thing, right? We know this, and the more that we dive into human design, and we walk into a room and we can feel people's energy, we have that presence, we don't know why we're [00:17:00] attracted to certain people when we've never spoken to them before and why other people we have a natural tendency to not be. I find some of the clients I work best with are Projectors because they just don't have an energy source and they come to me and they feel super jazzed up.
But yeah, it's interesting. The more we learn about ourselves, the older we get, the more inquisitive we are. It's so interesting to watch people. And instead of maybe the judgment that we used to have towards people, we're like, Oh, that's just, that's interesting. That's, that's who you are. And I get it.
And I understand it versus wondering why they are that way. And it just makes the whole human experience so much better.
Chantelle: Yeah. Especially I think one lines turn that inquisitiveness both inwards and outwards, you know. At least for me that's how I feel, like that desire for information is a bit of a lever where I'm like looking out but also looking in.
And it sounds like that's a theme in your work as well.
Justine: I like that reflection. I had someone say to me once, she's [00:18:00] like, I went to a new crowd of people and I was asking everybody what they did and about their families. And my friend, my friend reflected back and she's like, it's so nice that you ask everybody and you actually genuinely care what they say, you genuinely care about them which is nice also in business because it doesn't seem fake to me, right? Like this, wanting to be really authentic is a really big part of us too in using our voice and being naturally inquisitive. It just lends itself as being really authentic when you're, when you're asking people questions versus trying to get something out of it, right?
Especially networking events.
Chantelle: Yeah. Mm hmm. I would agree with that too. Now hearing you say it, people have said that to me as well. Like, I am very engaged and interested in whoever it is that I'm coming across. I don't need to , unless I'm very tired that day, I don't need to turn that switch on.
Yeah, exactly. I think it's really satisfying to us as MGs.
Justine: Absolutely.
Chantelle: Mm hmm. I'm so glad [00:19:00] that we got to hear about how 4/1 feels for you. We like to close the show with this ritual of drawing an affirmation card from a custom 4/1 deck created by Christina of Glow Glow Juice HD.
She makes these sets specific to people's charts and then you have a whole deck that speaks to your unique design. So we will, if you're ready, take a deep breath in together
and let that go.
The card that's coming up today is, I trust myself to know who is right for me and who is not. Do I feel nourished by the people in my life?
Justine: Hmm. Ooh, that one's stingy. Yeah. Because I'm really up leveling my business, which means I'm changing my prices, which means some clients will likely [00:20:00] fall away.
And that's really hard for wanting that community to bring people together and never wanting people to feel like price is a reason that they can't be a part of my community and work together, but I'm changing, my business is evolving and the people that I love to work with is also evolving. So that's a very real sticky feeling right now for sure.
Chantelle: Yeah, there's always lots to work through as an MG when you're changing and how other people respond and reflect back to that change.
Justine: Yes. Yes. That does remind me, though, to make sure I inform my current customers of the changes and that my prices will be increasing so that it isn't a surprise.
But yeah, that's a that's a great card pull for right now.
Chantelle: I know you'll find that self trust, that confidence, and you'll figure it out.
Justine: Thank you. Thank you.
Chantelle: Speaking of calling in all of these new clients with all these new shifts happening in your [00:21:00] business, where can folks get in touch with you?
Justine: You can find me @thegoalchasers on Instagram, as well as thegoalchasers.com .
Chantelle: Excellent. Thanks so much for sharing your 4/1 magic.
Justine: Thank you so much for having me.
