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The Power of Intuition in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making with Won Choi · Built by Margin with Laurie Chen

• 0:04
  Welcome to Built by Margin, the podcast where strategy meets the spreadsheet. I'm your host, Laurie Chen, fractional CFO and tax strategist, here to help you make smarter financial decisions, build a profitable business, and keep more of what you earn. Let's dive into the numbers that actually move the needle.
• 0:25
  Hi, Huang. Welcome to Built by Margin. It's great to have you here today. Hey, Laurie. Happy to be here.
• 0:32
  Tell us more about yourself, your journey, and how you started One Daily. Yeah, so I started the business about a year and a half ago. So before I started my business, I was working in corporate. So I had a corporate job for about 15 years. So mostly working for enterprise software companies here in the Bay Area.
• 0:55
  And my role was leading sales operations teams. So working with spreadsheets was my thing back then.
• 1:03
  And then, um, how I transitiWond out was, uh, the beginning of 2024 is when I had this thought that I want to start my business because I felt like I've learned a lot from being in corporate and having a career in sales operations. So I felt ready that I wanted to start something new. Um, but I didn't know at the same year, which was around May of 2024, my job was going to get eliminated. Um, so the job ended in May, and at that time I just kind of got this like sense that this was the right time. This was kind of the universe gently guiding me to start and take that risk forward.
• 1:55
  So I decided to follow that and then decided to start the business.
• 2:00
  Okay. Wow. And what— is there any particular person or business that has inspired you in your entrepreneur journey? I would say a couple people. So when I was in— when I was in a corporate job, Back in, I would say 2021 is when I have hit like severe burnout personally in terms of like work, um, being a mom, um, just like overall. Like there was COVID in 2020, so personally I hit severe burnout.
• 2:42
  And in that journey, um, I met Won of my teachers. Her name is Julie Santiago. And she helped me learn different tools and methodologies to help me navigate burnout, to like find myself again. Um, so I worked with her for about almost like 4 years in her program when I was still in a corporate job, and she inspired me, um, to think about even consider becoming a coach who could help leaders that might be in a similar situation of where I was when I hit burnout. So I think she was also— she worked in Wall Street, and then she had her own burnout journey, and then she decided to start her business. So I think, I think Julie was like the first person that inspired me that, oh, actually I can be a coach and help people Yeah.
• 3:49
  How do you define burnout and how is it different from ordinary stress, depression, or just being tired? That's a great question. So I would say how it's different is that when you are just simply tired or stressed from trying to achieve big goals, versus you are tired and stressed from being burnt out.
• 4:17
  I would say the big difference is whether you are in alignment or you are in misalignment.
• 4:27
  So like, for example, um, when I experienced burnout, um, I think there was like a misalignment in terms of, you know, where I was as a person and how I was aligning myself, you know, with my path. And versus right now as an entrepreneur, I still, you know, feel the pressure, feel the stress, but I don't call it burnout because I have a clear purpose and I have clear alignment with the work that I'm doing.
• 5:03
  So I would say, I would say when I work with my clients, I think like those, that's like the big difference in terms of Yeah. So what, what's the structure of your programs look like? Are you working Won-on-Won? Are you in a group coaching?
• 5:17
  How do you— what does the typical client engagement look like when you, when you work with someWon? Yeah, so I have two programs.
• 5:25
  So I do Won-on-Won coaching for those who prefer a more intimate setting, um, but I also— that the signature program that I have is the group coaching program. It's a program called Unlock And that is a group coaching program that different leaders and professionals get together every week. And then I provide a different lesson or framework or methodology. And then I also provide Won-on-Won coaching through those calls. Okay.
• 5:56
  So right now, as you know, AI is, is a major trend.
• 6:00
  There's emerging technologies, emerging AI tools, moving from agentic AI And so what, how are you utilizing AI in your own business and with the clients that you coach?
• 6:12
  So I would say, so there, there are a couple things. So I think that as, as a coach, there are kind of like two pillars as a coach that you work with. I think the, the first piece is more of the front end, like more like preparation in terms of getting a community set up or getting the materials set up or following up with the clients through different platforms.
• 6:43
  I would say more of the operational aspect of the coaching business is where I leverage AI, work with AI, even brainstorm with AI, and try to minimize the manual work that I need to do to get all of that set up. Um, and then that helps me free up time for me to be more present with my clients in person, um, because I know that I, I do believe that like the coaching side, the Won-on-Won like human coaching, um, is— it's currently hard to replicate, um, with AI itself. So that is a piece that I still make sure that we have that human connection, and they feel that energy as I work with them. So I think AI has really helped me be more efficient with my work and also focus on the things that really matter. And then another piece that I'm looking into is looking to actually create an AI coach. Based on my frameworks, my experience, and my methodology so that the clients, when they need help from myself and they want to talk to me in their day-to-day life, then that AI coach could still help them move through their day-to-day and they can still meet me weekly to get their weekly support. Okay.
• 8:18
  As far as like actual tools, what do you recommend using? Because I know everyWon is moving away from ChatGPT and Claude. What are some other— what are the top tools that you're using?
• 8:30
  So I use a couple of different things. So I think like Claude, I've like, you're right, I transitiWond mostly out of ChatGPT and I moved into Claude. So Claude has been a great place for me to create the materials, help me do a lot of executive like assistant work, like scheduling, like looking at the calendar. Creating documents. I've also used Manus. Manus is a little bit more when I want to do something a little bit more analytical, like create a spreadsheet, do some analysis. I think Manus has been really helpful in that sort. And then for me as a coach and a business owner, I do a lot of content creation as well. So I've been definitely leveraging Claude for content creation, but I also use like more editing tools. Like using CapCut, they have like AI functions in CapCut, like Canva has different AI functions.
• 9:29
  So there's definitely a lot of support. I think like being an entrepreneur in this AI era has been amazing because I'm still a solo entrepreneur and I want to eventually build a team, but it will, it helps me AI take over a lot of admin work. So if I do eventually hire someWon to be on my team, they don't need to be doing the busy work.
• 9:57
  They can be doing more strategic work and supporting my clients.
• 10:02
  That's great. I didn't realize Canva had AI capabilities. I'm gonna have to check that out because I use Canva quite a bit. So yeah, I'll check that out. How do you keep in touch with all the news and updates related to AI because, you know, technology is constantly changing. What, what's like your go-to sources or like a collaboration site that you go to or an account that you follow that like makes you aware that you have like the latest trend in AI? That's a great question.
• 10:35
  I would say, so I'm part of Dan Martell's business coaching program. And Dan is an expert in AI. So I think like he's Won of like the top, like influencers in the AI space. And so I joined his weekly business coaching calls. And most of the time he talks about the latest trends in AI. So that's been number Won. And then number two is I follow people on Instagram. So there are specific people that are more knowledgeable in AI updates. So I follow them and then I try to get information from them. I think Instagram, if you follow the right people, I think it's an excellent way to keep up with the new information in AI. I have personally, I don't watch the news or follow the news or read anything. So I would say pick the Wons that resonate with most of you, with you on Instagram. And I think just following their feeds and updates, I found that was like the best way to get up to date.
• 11:54
  Great. Yeah. And then that's a great idea. Just following, like finding the biggest Instagram influencers regarding AI, I think. Yes. That's a great place to start. And then because, you know, people are putting out daily content and, you know, daily stories, daily content. So that's where you can— and, and definitely Dan Martell is Won of, Won of the best at AI news and productivity. So yeah, everyWon go follow Dan Martell. I agree. I agree.
• 12:25
  Which, by the way, I see Buy Back Your Time is in your background. I know you're an avid reader. We talked a little bit about this at the Dallas event. Recently. What are your top books that you would recommend to business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs thinking about really branching out and starting their own business?
• 12:46
  That's a great question. So the— I would say I'll like talk about the personal book, the books that I personally— it helped me throughout my journey because I feel like The shift from being a corporate leader to becoming an entrepreneur/business owner, it is a major identity shift.
• 13:13
  So there has to be a lot of like trust involved in the decision-making process. And you talk about risk-taking, but I feel like starting a business is like Won of the ultimate risk-taking that you can do. In your life. So going back to the books that had helped me in my journey was, uh, number Won is called The Surrender Experiment from Michael Singer. The reason that really helped me was, for me, when I had a corporate career, I always tried to just follow a known path. So I would see, you know, what's the next promotion, what's the next best company, like I've been just like following the known path. But as an entrepreneur, most of the decisions you make, most of the paths that you would take are going to be unknown paths, because you're building your own thing. So the surrender experiment really helps me build that trust in terms of when you actually surrender in life and let go of control, then you can build something much more bigger than you could have ever dreamt of. So that would be Won, a book that I would recommend for someWon who's wanting to take risks. A couple of other books that I would recommend is your story around mWony, because I think everybody has like a lot of mWony stories that they have in themselves. And as an entrepreneur, like you are facing mWony directly. So the best book that I've recently read around the mWony is The Happy Pocketful of MWony. It really talks about a lot of different aspects of mWony. And then another bunny book that I like is, I think it was like The Secret— this Habits of a Millionaire. I forgot the exact word. I think like Secret of the Millionaire Habits, Secrets of the Millionaire Habits. I think that has been a great book. And then I think the last book is Atomic Habits, because I think as a business owner, and if you want to build a big business, it's really about the habits that you have. And I think that the concept around improving yourself like 1% every day, that results in, I think, like 37x better in a year. So that's something that I personally practice and I, I post every day on Instagram in terms of like getting 1% better every day. And that's something that I tend to live by because it like small incremental changes, it makes it more actionable. It doesn't make it like so scary. And then you see yourself just improving a little bit every day. Yeah, I love that.
• 16:13
  Atomic Habits is Won of my favorite books. It's so well written. And there's so much science behind building good habits and things that compound over time. Do you have anything regarding decision-making in, in your frameworks and the coaching that you do? I do.
• 16:32
  So, um, Won of the things that have like changed my life is Having, um, so when you are making a big decision, whether it's personal or professional, that I believe it is 50% on knowledge and database decision-making, but I also firmly believe that 50% of that will come from your intuition, your inner knowing. So that is the framework that I started to follow in my personal life where, you know, like sometimes you have all the data and you have like analyzed like so much with your brain, but there is this like small— like it could be like a gut feeling or inner knowing. Have you ever experienced that before? Absolutely. Before you make a decision, right? Yeah. And I feel like there is so much power in your inner knowing and intuition. That is typically the right answer. So that is actually like Won of like the core things that I teach through my program is helping leaders reconnect with their intuition and inner knowing, because I think that there's like so much power in that. And that's something that when you start to learn how to have that piece of your life guide you, then as I said, it's kind of that control and uncontrol, like known and unknown. When you balance those two things, then you could like build a life that again, it's like bigger than you can ever imagine. So that is a practice that I practice every day and I help my clients like practice as well. There is actually like a clarity worksheet that I have and I like I use it with my clients. So I'm happy to share that resource with you for leaders that who want to learn more about how to make decisions, not just from your brain, but also from your inner knowing.
• 18:46
  Yeah, that would be great. I would love to see that and share that with the audience. We're definitely going to share your Instagram and your LinkedIn, your website with the audience so that they can learn more about you and the frameworks that you share. Mm-hmm. Awesome.
• 19:01
  Um, so when you start working with a client, what, what are like the top things that you recommend that they do or change within the first 90 days? And is there like a specific example of a client, like case study, that you're like, I worked with them in the first 90 days and they got these amazing results? Mm-hmm.
• 19:23
  I would say like the— there's a couple things that I focus on in the first like 90 days is most of the leaders that I work with, again, like I work with leaders that are in burnout and mostly misaligned with who they are.
• 19:38
  So they have like high anxiety. They're just running their lives on a hamster wheel, not being present.
• 19:47
  And there are patterns that I see repeatedly across these leaders in burnout. And the patterns is mostly around they are a people pleaser, they over-function, they also are perfectionists. So those are some patterns that I see across these leaders. So the first 90 days is— the first foundation is that I focus on helping them like fill their cup first, because most of them are running on very low um, low level. Like, they're like trying to give too much of themselves without taking care of themselves.
• 20:29
  So I first like help them learn about what does it even mean to take care of yourself, what does it even mean to listen to your body, and, um, I help them make those shifts. Um, so that's like number Won. I think the number two is around having them connect with their emotions and feelings. I think a lot of times we are so busy, busy, busy, and we think that, you know, feeling our feelings is, is not a positive thing. Like, we were learned to repress and push down our feelings and never feel and just like go, go, go. So I walk with them and have them connect and feel more emotionally. And because there is wisdom in feelings, like for example, if you're feeling frustrated, it could be that there has been a boundary crossed, or you haven't set a boundary at work, um, and you're over-functioning. And then the, the third piece is, um, helping them work with their mind, um, because a lot of these high-functioning, um, like high, high achievers, um, they have— they are very hard on themselves They have like very high standards and they have this very, um, I would say they have this like mindset, they have this like inner critic in their mind that will keep focusing on the things that they don't have, things that they haven't accomplished, or things that are not in their control. And they just, they overall, their mindset is just wired for more struggle versus more ease. So the beginning of like the 90 days, I really help them, you know, work on themselves, I would say, and understand what are some patterns that they're running that are not helpful. And instantly I see them like a light bulb going on in the first even like 30 days in terms of like, like, wow, like I didn't even know there was this concept around like self-development or inner work. Because we were just all taught that everything will be happy and rainbows if we, you know, get the next raise or get the next promotion or get into like the best company. And that, that has been their like only focus.
• 22:56
  And they can see how they like completely shift when they like change that lens to inward versus outwards. Hmm. Okay, great. Well, let's talk a little bit more about your business at the entrepreneur CEO level.
• 23:14
  Um, so you took the risk in starting your own business, becoming a full-time entrepreneur, business owner.
• 23:22
  How do you think about your finances? Because a lot of people, when they start their business, they're like, oh, I have, you know, now I have to think about my taxes, and I'll have to think about, you know, KPIs.
• 23:33
  I have to think about my revenue growth, um, forecasting, uh, sales and all of that. Like, how has that What ways has that been challenging for you and what ways has it been easy for you? Okay, that's an excellent question. And then it's, it's funny, like given my background, cause I've been in sales operations, um, for my entire career and it's all about tracking numbers, like setting goals and all of that, right? Yeah. But the funny thing is that when I stepped into my business, I have like not applied that to my business.
• 24:10
  Because, and again, like I was telling you earlier, I feel like that shift from being in corporate versus an entrepreneur, it's a big shift in terms— because when I had a corporate job, I didn't look into my finances.
• 24:27
  It was like taxes, you don't really need to do taxes, it's so easy. Um, and because I already always had this like steady income, and I'm sure you will relate if when you were in a corporate job, like you always have a steady income coming in, you don't pay too much attention on what's going out as expenses because typically it had like covered the expenses. Um, so I was Won of those people that haven't looked into my numbers, although I look at numbers every day as my day-to-day job. So this transition was a big step up for me because being a business owner and being someWon that I had to start from zero, like when I started this, this business, I had like no clients. So I had to like build up from zero. And so I had to take a hard look in terms of like really how much revenue am I bringing? What are my expenses? Not just in my business, but also as an entire household and making, making the right investments in the right place.
• 25:45
  Because as you, when you start your business, you also need to make investments in terms of whether that is you know, software or hiring a coach or different things when you serve your clients. So it really was a forcing way for me to get very clear in terms of what this means, and then also learn about like how do you even do taxes as a business owner. So it's been a pretty steep learning curve. But I think it was hWonstly, it was not about like the how. It's not about the how in terms of how to do taxes. It was more around a more identity shift that I had to shift to a person that can like manage mWony. That's an interesting mindset change. I like that. Yeah, it's about changing your mindset in regards to finances, right? It's like changing mindset. Yes. Yep. And it also like forced me to look into what are like passive income options. Like for example, while I build my business, um, what investments can I do with my savings so that I could still cover the things while I like build revenue in my business.
• 27:13
  So it ultimately like opened me up to really look into, look under the hood and start looking at my finances because I would say, I would say I was like pretty irresponsible with mWony when I had a corporate job.
• 27:32
  Yeah. And I can totally relate with that because, you know, if you have a corporate job, you get W-2, you get your taxes withheld, you know, like everything is dWon for you. And that's easy. And you see, you have like predictable income, predictable expenses generally. Um, but when you have your own business, you're like, oh, I'm supposed to pay some of that to taxes, you know, on a quarterly basis, you know, oh, there's ways I can like restructure, restructure my entity so I could save on self-employment taxes.
• 28:01
  Um, there's all sorts of things that you can do. And like, you're just like, do I know everything that there is to know about running, running a business. Um, and fortunately we have AI to kind of guide us in some of the, the questions and we should be asking and some of the things that we should be doing, right, that we didn't have like maybe 5 years ago. But you know, everything is just getting better, um, and helping us to like think about things in a different way, right? Yeah. So are there any particular tools? So you talked about using Claude. Are there any other particular productivity tools that you think has really helped you in your business, whether it be finances, marketing, strategy, operations, anything else that you think a typical business owner might need to know?
• 28:54
  In terms of tools, I don't think so. I think Claude is a very versatile tools. I think with Claude, you can do a lot of different things.
• 29:07
  So I think like outside of the Wons that I mentiWond, I don't, I don't think so. I don't think so. Okay. Well, that's great. We have, we have the complete tech stack then from you. So excellent. Yes. Yes. And then as far as like frameworking, so you mentiWond the 1%, daily 1% improvement, and that's inspired by James Clear. Are there any other frameworks that you think the listener should investigate more into that has really helped you grow in the last 2 years?
• 29:44
  So the frameworks that I use, and I think that's part of the, the clarity worksheet that I will share with the audience. For me, within the clarity worksheet, there is a framework that I use around— it's not more— I don't think it's not business related, but it's more for the business owner. It's around a framework around like feeling your feelings.
• 30:11
  The reason that I emphasize like so much on feeling the feelings is that as business owners or leaders, when you, um, you face a problem, we tend to react to it versus respond to it, and then when you just simply react to it, then there are times where you make the wrong decisions.
• 30:34
  You can make decisions out of, you know, emotions. Um, and so because the Feel the Feeling framework, it's about like feeling the feelings completely and then moving the feelings through— for me, I do a lot of meditation and breathwork, or I go for a run So like physical activity to move the feeling, and then you actually learn from that feeling and see, okay, why, why, why did I feel that way at that time? And then like take the action, the according action.
• 31:11
  So the reason that that is such a powerful framework is because you could make more informed decision when you are in a better physical and mental state.
• 31:26
  And I think like that itself like helped me be more clear in my business. And so I would say that is like Won framework that, that comes to mind, what I use like day to day when I face big decisions. Let me think about, is there any other frameworks I use. There are like other frameworks. And again, like because I'm a coach, a lot of my frameworks are around like how I coach my clients. And I think the biggest framework that helped my clients is all around like setting boundaries because A lot of us, whether you are a business owner or not, you, you need to learn how to protect your boundaries, whether that's time or energy or resources. And a lot of us, we just tend to say yes to everything, right? Say yes to your clients or say yes to your family member.
• 32:36
  And if you don't set the right boundaries, then the energy that you need to focus on the business you can't focus on your business, it might leak in other areas. So there is a, there's like a 5-step process of setting boundaries, which is a tool that I use personally when I need to set boundaries and I help my clients to set boundaries. So I can think of like those, like 2 frameworks are probably like the most powerful frameworks that I work with. That's great. Yeah, I'm glad you mentiWond that. Setting boundaries with friends, family members, colleagues, like managing your energy.
• 33:13
  That's been my biggest thing over the last 6 months is like really making sure that it's about not just time management, because time management is so broad and cliché. It's more about energy management for me because energy is where, you know, I'm most productive. And so because I have such a taxing schedule, a taxing job, business, you know, working with clients, like it's about how I manage my energy and where I can find like my peak productivity. So what looks, what looks like peak productivity to me does not look like peak productivity to you or someWon else. It's about knowing yourself, having that, you know, the inner knowing, having that first, but, and also just knowing like who you are and being aware of like where, where you function the best. And so energy management has been, has been a key step for me, especially over the last 6 months. And right now I'm like deep into tax season, so it's like I need to have energy for, for all the different things that I'm doing, all the different hats that I'm wearing. So I totally resonate with you there.
• 34:25
  Yeah, for sure. Yeah. Well, great. I mean, this has been a great conversation. Love learning more about who you are and what has inspired you and what you're doing with your clients.
• 34:37
  So it's been super insightful. Thanks so much for coming on the show. We're going to, you know, link up all of your social media and then we'll get more information on your Clarity Framework and we'll have that out there. But yeah, it's great having you on the show and it was even better meeting you in person earlier this month. Yeah. No, thank you so much for, for having me on.
• 34:59
  And I hope this was helpful for your audience.
• 35:04
  And yeah, I wish you the best. This podcast has been amazing.
• 35:09
  Thanks for tuning in to Built by Margin. If you're ready to turn insights into income, subscribe and join me each week as we break down the numbers behind smart business growth. I'm Lori Chen. See you next time.