Sarah Williams is a Business Strategist and the Founder & President of Rebel Office Inc. She and her team work with founders running online, service-based businesses who are looking to scale their growth through strategies that simplify and streamline their operations, impact, and income.
Can you tell us more about yourself and what you do?
I am a business strategist and the founder and president of Rebel Office Inc. I work with female founders who are looking for a fresh perspective on their business. They may feel stuck, like they’ve plateaued, or their business is no longer giving them what they want in life.
I am a giant advocate for finding freedom through entrepreneurship and really redefining the definition of “business as usual.” This whole idea that there is only one way to do business and it’s this way is totally absurd to me. Instead, I help women break through all of the noise and comparison to build their businesses so that they work for them.
How did you create your brand? What inspired you?
In 2015, I began Rebel Office from a volunteer house in Peru. I’d just quit my marketing job at a consulting firm straight out of university, and decided to travel around South America for two months. While there, I kept being called to launch this idea I had.
Looking back now, I realize I was strongly motivated to create a company that was unlike the past employment I’d had. I kept thinking “there has to be a better way of doing business, a more collaborative and ethical way.”
To this day, one of Rebel Office’s values is “dare to redefine the definition of business as usual.” And even though Rebel Office has evolved and grown into what it is today, from graphic design freelancing to Integrator and Business Management services to Business Strategy & Systems, we have kept our values strong and focused.
How does your brand work?
Rebel Office’s values are:
- Dare to defy business as usual
- Dare to connect and show up with compassion
- Dare to prioritize profit, planet and people equally
- …and dare to find freedom through entrepreneurship
All of our products and services reflect these values in some way. Our membership, The Founders Collective, gives founders access to our 3 resource libraries (training, templates and brand assets) as well as a 24/7 virtual coworking room and monthly connection events.
Our libraries contain resources that promote customization and adaptation so that they can work with our members businesses. We will never tell our members or clients that they HAVE to do one thing to reach success.
Our connection opportunities and coworking rooms fosters a safe space to always have somewhere to connect and collaborate.
Our hybrid program, The Abundance Accelerator, works with founders to find freedom through their businesses by giving them the community of group coaching, guidance of workshops and individual sessions, hands-on support with the asset development of lead magnets, brand refresh services and more. And of course, the mindset support which helps build the mental tools and skills to grow with them as their income scales.
We are also preparing for the launch of the Good Business Grant, aligning with our value of “dare to prioritize profit, planet and people equally.” We believe that businesses prioritizing ethical business practices and community-based impact are the real champions redefining the definition of “business as usual.” With that, we are working with other businesses and partners to build a fund to support and give back to business doing good things.
Do you have a giveaway thought or idea to help our readers?
If you find yourself waking up in the morning dreading working on your business — because yes, it does happen and no, you’re not alone — and you want to love running your business again, I recommend the following steps:
- Go back to the drawing board. Literally. Grab a pen and paper, and write out ALL of the moving parts of your business.
- Simplify it. Now that you’ve braindumped ALL of the things you’re doing, go over it all and highlight what still feels good. Highlight what still feels ALIGNED. Everything else needs to go.
If you’re still feeling lost and disconnected, try:
- Writing out your values statements. First, brainstorm your personal values. Then, thinking of your business as its own, separate identity. What are its values? What does your business stand for?
- Refine them. Bring your values down to 3-5 strong statements. Expand on them if you can. It’s okay to take a step back and come back to it a few times to make sure they feel right.
- Journal your Why. If you’re not into journaling, you’re probably rolling your eyes at me right now, but trust me. I’ve been here and this ALWAYS realigns me with a stronger vision and stronger connection to my business. Ask yourself:
- Why did I start my business in the first place?
- Why does this matter to me?
- Why am I doing this?
And when you’re feeling refreshed, realigned, back on track and ready to take things up a notch, it’s time to elevate. If you don’t know where to start, but you’re ready to take ACTION for building your business better, grab Rebel Office’s free Guide: 5 Ways to Elevate your Business To Attract High Ticket Clients (and Hit Those Dreamy Income Goals): https://rebeloffice.ca/guide-elevate
What challenges did you face when creating your brand? What daily challenges do you face?
It is so easy to compare yourself to others. Unfortunately, while I may be at Square 10, I may be looking at someone on their Square 50. And someone may be looking at me while on their Square 1.
Since starting Rebel Office in 2015, the biggest challenge I’ve overcome is learning how to stay aligned with my vision. I’ve learned how to keep my blinders on. In the online space, it is SO easy to get distracted and look at what someone else is doing and say, “Oh wow, that looks cool! And it works for them so it can totally work for me!” For me, it’s taken YEARS of learning how to check back in with our values FIRST and use them as a guiding compass for us to move forward stronger, more clearly and more quickly.
A daily struggle is definitely conquering mindset. With Rebel Office growing so quickly over the past year, having to check in with myself daily and reset any sort of limiting or fear-based beliefs (and leaving them at the door when I start my work day) is a real thing. But the more you do it, the better you get. I’ve slowly learned to lean into the fear and make the big moves anyway.
How do you manage your business finances?
Rebel Office’s primary income comes from our membership, The Founders Collective, and our group business strategy program The Abundance Accelerator.
For our Good Business Grant, we are in the process of launching a fundraising campaign to crowdfund and gain sponsorships for the grant fund to support women building ethical, impactful businesses.
What’s your future vision for your brand? What’s your next level dream or goal?
While we are well on our way with members from all over the world, I envision our membership, The Founders Collective, to be a strong, global network of female founders coworking and collaborating together while leveraging the incredible and growing collection of video training, templates, and assets inside our resource libraries.
I envision Rebel Office running The Abundance Accelerator multiple times per year to meet demand and to support our Abundance Attractors (what we call our clients in the Accelerator!) as they scale their businesses, currently only make between $20,000 and $100,000 per year to $250,000 + per year.
Our Good Business Grant is a fund of over $100,000 to support various levels and stages of ethical business. While our grant currently has four categories: Community Impact, Diversity & Inclusion, Environmental Impact, and Ethical Supply Chain, the larger our fund and the more partners we have, the more businesses we can support at varying levels of financial requirement.
What message would you like to give to those who have a plan of creating something of their own and making a living through it?
Do it. Make it happen. Get outrageously clear on what your life will look like when it works out for you (and is working well), and don’t quit until you’ve made it your new reality. Whatever your idea is, it’s not too crazy, it’s not too big, and it’s not too “out there”. You are in the driver’s seat of your life, not anyone else, so you get to choose what matters, what’s possible for you, and what impact you can have in this world.
Rebel Office Inc
Website : rebeloffice.ca
Instagram URL : instagram.com/rebeloffice