On today’s episode, Cat talks with Show Up Real client, Nicole Santos, Business Authenticity Coach. They celebrate Nicole’s lastest milestone of hitting $17k in less than a month. They discuss the importance of self-trust, the impact of environment on productivity, and the significance of community and connection in business. Nicole shares how she created this result and how Show Up Real has helped her reframe her thinking and strategies. They talk through how your coach identity, authentic content creation plays apart of her success — and how being open to learning, testing strategies, and staying connected with one’s audience is the key to hitting new milestones.

Follow Nicole on Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/nicoletgsantos/?hl=en

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Summary Transcript:

Hello, hello, hello. I am so excited. Nicole Santos. How you doing? Welcome to the show—oh my God. Hold on. I’m like nervous. Why am I nervous? Let’s start over.

Welcome, Nicole. Do you like Santos or Santos?

Santos is fine.

I feel so rusty. You know why? Because I batch recorded like a month ago and now I feel like I haven’t had a guest in forever. All right, let’s see.

All right, y’all, I am so excited. Nicole Santos, how are you? I’m so excited to have you on the show. How you doing?

Hi, I’m so excited to be here. Like, I’m doing great. I’m just so excited to be here.

I’m pumped because I feel like you are literally in a shift right now. Like, I don’t know if you’re in the shift or you’re on the other side, but I feel like I’m so honored because I’ve gotten to see your growth for a really long time. And you’ve had a lot of shit go down in your life throughout the time that you’ve been growing your business. And it brings me so much joy to see all of your hard work come into fruition little by little, one step at a time. You’ve been so patient with yourself. We’ll talk all about that during the episode, but let’s just give the people a little intro. Tell us a little bit about you—who you are, who you help, all of that. But also, I would love to give a little bit of perspective of your background on how you even got into coaching, how you got into business, etc. Give us a little intro of how this all started.

Yeah, well, what’s good, everybody? Like Cat said, my name is Nicole Santos. I am a business authenticity coach, and I primarily work with Black, Indigenous, women of color to really discover, uncover, and grow their business or passion projects—anything within their purpose and passion in this lifetime.

I got into business in 2021. It’s funny because I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. My parents are entrepreneurs. I’m a first-gen Filipina, and both my parents came from the Philippines. We owned a karaoke video store on East 14th in San Leandro. All my baby pictures are at the store—from the hospital to the store. So I was always around my parents at the business. I saw a lot of their hardship. We had a lot of ups and downs as a family, but I always knew I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t know how. I thought I had to go to college and get a business degree.

I ended up changing to psychology because I was really bad at math. But yeah, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I tried a lot of different things—microblading, braiding, different crafts—but I was never in love with any of them. I was looking for a business to make money. But when I discovered coaching, it actually clicked. I didn’t even want to do it for the money. Because let’s be clear, in the beginning for me, it was not the money—I would have been quit.

It was something that truly spoke to me—that I could support women and help my community in a way that really helped me through my coaches. I hired my first coach in 2021 and that changed my life. Since then, I’ve continued investing in coaches and I’ve been with Cat for many years now. Experiencing having a coach who believes in me more than I believed in myself is ultimately why I wanted to be a coach for other women.

Yeah, same.

I remember looking into every way I could grow a business. I probably would’ve done well with Amazon FBA back in the day, but I so relate to that. I did have a business major and still felt like I wasn’t good enough. I love that you were trying all these different things to get to where you are now—and there’s a lot ahead, just to be clear.

Yeah, and I feel like it’s all that just playing around and trying things out—even with business.

Yeah, for sure. If anybody’s listening to this and business feels very far away, like they want to do this or something similar, but they’re not exactly sure how—just FYI, the testing and learning is vital. That is the beginning.

Okay, so you found coaching. One, I want to be clear here—we’re here to celebrate an incredible milestone and one of many that are ahead.

You recently created your first—well, it wasn’t your first 10K month, but then it turned into a 17K month of sales.

Yeah, the universe said “F the 10K, we’re gonna give you 17.” That’s essentially what happened. I’d never even had a 10K month before. For the first few years, I hardly tracked my sales and I think it was always hovering a little under 5K—nowhere close to 17.

So fun. That’s what we’re celebrating today. Let’s lead up to that. Actually, let’s just get into it. I want to start there and then maybe go out from there.

All this year, you’ve been very involved in Show Up Real—asking for coaching, asking specific questions. One thing I know and love about you is that, especially this year, I’ve seen a level of self-trust in the way you receive coaching and ask questions. I think it has so much to do with the results you’re creating. What shifted this year? What mindset shift helped you create this result?

Yeah. There might be a few things, but the first thing—might not be what people expect—is my environment.

So, I moved houses in January this year. Before this, I was living in a house for two years where my desk was in my bedroom. My mom and grandpa live with me and my grandma (who recently passed) was there too. I was in my room with my desk and it was constricting. Before that, I always had a semi-separate office space. But when I moved in January, I got this big sunroom that I’m in now. It’s huge—I host events here. I invested in making it feel beautiful—curtains, thrifting, décor.

And from day one, waking up and stepping into this space felt like an energetic up-level. I felt like, “Nicole, we have a literal in-home office. Let’s fucking do this.” It created good pressure—space to create, space to lead, space to expand. And it helped up-level my self-concept and self-belief. It might sound simple, but being in that new environment shifted everything.

I love that. Your environment is so important. And not enough people talk about this. Even my business popped off when I left the Bay Area. It didn’t happen immediately, but creating a space and being intentional—from working anywhere on your laptop to having a space you build something in—that changes things.

Yeah. And also, let me be clear. I’m not saying you have to have a big space. For me, I’d been in business a few years already, and the last two years I felt constricted. Once I was able to expand and enter this new space, it up-leveled me in my story.

Yeah, yeah. I’d love to talk about how you’ve grown since 2021. You were in the first round of my mastermind. What have you learned about getting coached and being coachable?

I love this question. I talk about this with friends and clients a lot. It’s about using discernment when making decisions in your business. There’s no one right answer.

Yes! There’s no one right answer. I’m asking you this because I see it—you come and get coaching, but you’re not asking for permission. You ask for coaching. That’s so powerful.

100%. For me, I’m super open-minded. I’ve always wanted to hear other perspectives. That’s part of what makes me a great coach—I know I don’t know everything. And I don’t ask everyone for advice. I trust my coaches. Especially Kat—we’ve worked together for years, so she knows me.

When I get coaching, I take it with a grateful heart, then reflect. Like, “Okay, Kat told me this because I said X, Y, and Z. But she doesn’t know everything I know about my business.” Sometimes I take the coaching. Sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I end up right. Sometimes I don’t. But I’ve learned to trust myself. I’m the boss. I make the decisions.

Yes! I love that. What is your business model right now? What offers are you selling, and where do most of your leads come from?

My main offer is 1:1 coaching—five months, three sessions a month plus one group call with all my clients. I added the group element earlier this year because I loved the community I had in Kat’s mastermind.

I also run a group coaching program called Emergence. It’s for women of color building businesses or passion projects. Some are just starting, some have been in business for years. Then I host in-person events like Boss Up and Brunch, day retreats for women of color entrepreneurs and creatives in the Bay Area.

I do nighttime networking events too—Women in Business link-ups. I also used to do smaller circles with cacao ceremonies, Reiki, sound baths, pole dancing, somatic movement. I haven’t done those as often lately, but I want to bring them back.

Most of my clients come from referrals and my events. I love being in person. I started my business during the pandemic, so everything was online. But once people feel my energy in person, it’s different. They feel connected.

I love that. Okay, so with all that—coaching, content, events—how do you manage it all? Like, how do you hold it in your brain? Where’s the strategy, where’s the intuition, and where do you give yourself permission to just be human?

Gosh, such great questions.

To be honest, I don’t have a straight-up plan. I’m figuring it out. People might think, “Nicole has 17K months, she must have it all together.” No. I’m literally doing my best.

But my best is enough. One thing I’ve learned is to trust how I work. For content, I trust my intuition. I’ll post whenever I want. I tell people: “You might not see me for a week. Or I might post four times in one day.” I learned that from the Cringe Challenge.

Before, I’d be scared to post more than once a day. I’d think I was being annoying. That helped break that.

I remember that! You helped inspire that challenge. Everyone wanted to market with rules. Like, “I can only post once,” or “I have to post at the right time.”

Yep. And now, I just trust that when I post, it will land for whoever needs it. I’ve also been leaning more into my email list. I’m not super consistent, but people read them. Clients will say, “I’ve been opening your emails for months.”

I use my Google Calendar like crazy. Everything goes in there—work stuff, tasks, reminders. I treat it like a to-do list. I also keep a running to-do list in my Notes app with checkboxes.

Other than that, I wake up and figure it out. Every day is different. There’s no set plan.

I love that. Honestly, that’s how my first 100–200K happened. I didn’t have a strict daily strategy. I wasn’t emailing much. I was just focused on serving clients and getting content out.

Exactly. And I focus on what’s actually going to bring money in. Canva takes too long sometimes? Skip it. I’ll type something in Notes, screenshot it, post it. Or I’ll write a long email, then repurpose parts of it for Instagram and Stories.

It’s about doing what works for me. I’ve also worked out little systems, like writing a long-form email, then pulling out a quote or key lesson to post on Instagram, then summarizing it again for Stories. And if I want, I’ll turn that into a Reel. So that one piece of content ends up feeding several platforms without starting from scratch.

I’ve gotten really in tune with my own energy and workflow. Like, I can tell immediately now when something doesn’t feel good. And I don’t push through it anymore. I stop, reassess, and ask, “Is this worth it? Is this helping my business and my people?”

If it’s not aligned, I either adjust it or drop it. I’m not scared to change directions in real time if something’s not working. I’ve just become really attuned to what feels right. Because ultimately, if I’m not feeling good, that’s going to bleed into my content and my client experience—and it’ll affect my results too.

And that’s what I love coaching my clients on as well. Like, just because something works for someone else doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Your path has to be rooted in what feels good and aligned for you. That’s what will make it sustainable.

Exactly. And for people wondering how to get to that level of self-trust—how to really understand yourself in your business—it comes down to testing and learning. You have to go out and try things.

Like you said earlier, you had two launches that brought in zero dollars. They were more “planned,” more polished, and still didn’t land. But now you’ve created a $17K month with a more intuitive, connected approach. You can’t learn what works for you without going through those lessons.

Yes, and that’s so important. You have to be willing to focus on the things that actually generate revenue, not just keep you busy. I’ve simplified so much. Sometimes I skip Canva altogether and just screenshot a note. Sometimes I repurpose a client email into a post. Sometimes I skip planning and just talk straight to camera.

That’s also tied to being in tune with your own energy. I’m a projector in Human Design, so I know my energy isn’t limitless. I can go hard for a window of time, but after that, I’m done for the day.

Same. I feel like a lot of people assume we’re going hard 24/7, but it’s really about managing energy wisely. I know that when I’ve hit major milestones in my business, it didn’t come from hustle. It came from ease. From doing things that felt aligned and flowed naturally.

Exactly. And when I’m in that energy, I just trust that what I’m doing will work. I trust that the people who are meant to work with me will feel it and respond to it. That belief alone changes everything.

And that’s what people mean when they talk about manifesting. It’s not magic—it’s about living and acting as if the result is inevitable. That belief creates aligned action, and aligned action creates results.

Yes. It’s like, when you already believe it’s happening, you’re not waiting for validation. You’re just doing what needs to be done, and the results follow.

I want to ask you one simple question about creating $17K in 30 days. Is there anything that we haven’t talked about? I mean, we’ve been talking about how you did it the whole time—but if I were to ask you for just three things someone should consider or do to create this type of result, what would they be?

Yeah. So I think number one is: don’t be afraid to just do things. Don’t be afraid to hear no. Ask yourself, “How would I show up if I wasn’t scared?” That changes everything.

I remember thinking, what if I just let go of all the fear around whether this works or not? I detached from the outcome and just showed up as myself. I shared parts of my story I hadn’t shared in a while. I was more visible than I’d ever been. I didn’t have a full plan, and that was okay.

The second thing: I was super tapped in to my community, my current clients, and my ideal clients. I wasn’t focusing on proving I was a great coach. I already knew I was. I didn’t need to list my qualifications or over-explain my value. I focused on what they needed to hear—what they were struggling with and how I could help.

When people feel seen by you, they feel safe with you. And that builds the trust that makes them want to work with you. I had someone DM me at 1:30 in the morning to ask if I’d consider letting one more person in. She wasn’t on my email list. We’d never DMed before. That happened because she felt seen by my content.

Same with another client—she’d been to my event and saw me post that I had one spot left. That was the nudge she needed. If I hadn’t posted that, she wouldn’t have messaged me. You have to let people in. Share the journey. Share the behind-the-scenes. Let people know what’s happening.

So the third thing: keep people updated. Even when I had just three people in the group, I was sharing about it. I celebrated every sign-up. I shared case studies of past and current clients. I shared about the people already inside. That kind of momentum and visibility made the group feel alive—and people wanted to be part of it.

Yes. And I think right now, with the way the online space is, it’s so important to let people in. They want insight. They want to know what’s happening in your business and your life. They want to see how you do things and how you think. That’s how you build trust—by being real and consistent in a way that works for you.

Exactly. Transparency, connection, energy. That’s what creates results. Not just a perfect launch plan or fancy graphics. It’s about being present and being you.

Let’s end it here. This was amazing. I just want to celebrate you. You’re a badass. You’re a leader. I’m so proud of you and I hope you’re proud of yourself.

Thank you. This is such a full-circle moment. I used to binge this podcast before ever investing in myself. You were my first big investment, and I remember thinking, “I want to be the person who tells my story one day.” And now I’m here, sharing my story. And I hope someone listens to this and thinks, “I can do it too.” Because they absolutely can.

You’re amazing. I can’t wait to see what you create next.

If anyone wants to connect with me, come find me on Instagram: @nicoletgsantos. That’s the best place to connect. And if you’re in the Bay Area, hit me up! I host a lot of in-person events and would love to meet more women in person.

Thank you again. This was so good.

Thank you. I’m so grateful.