How Julie Tripled Her Income in 60 Days by Finally Getting Strategic Support [Ep 229]

Today’s episode is a little different.

Instead of a teaching episode, I’m sharing a real, honest conversation with one of my clients - Julie C. Butler, a virtual summit coach who helps women grow their audience without relying on social media.

Julie opens up about what it really felt like to be “doing everything right” but still feeling stuck and what changed once she stopped trying to figure it all out alone and got strategic support that actually matched where she was in business.

If you’ve been feeling capable-but-stuck, this episode will land.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why having all the pieces doesn’t always equal momentum
• The danger of trying to self-coach your way through a plateau
• What shifted after Julie attended the Empire Expansion Event
• How strategy + support led to fast, sustainable growth
• What it really feels like to have a coach in your corner

Guest Spotlight: Julie C. Butler
Julie C. Butler is a virtual summit coach based in Ottawa, Canada. She helps women grow their audience, build relationships, and create momentum through virtual summits, without relying on social media or constant content creation.

Julie's website: https://juliecbutler.com

Register for the next Empire Expansion Event here:
https://kyliekelly.com/event

Ready to grow your business without social media or burnout?

NEED CLARITY FAST?
Grab a Business Breakthrough - a personalised diagnostic to uncover your biggest growth opportunity right now.
⚡️ $44 - Book here

p.s - Loving the show? Hit follow or subscribe so you never miss a new episode. And if you want to support the podcast, sharing it with a biz friend is the best way to spread the love!

Transcript

Kylie Kelly [00:00:00]:
Now, if you've ever felt like you're doing all the right things in your business, the funnels, the offers, the planning, and yet nothing quite feels like it's clicking, this episode is for you. Today you're going to hear directly from one of my clients about what it actually looked like to move from feeling stuck and second guessing everything to taking clear action and seeing real momentum fast. No highlight reel, just an honest conversation. You're going to love it. Are you a female business owner frustrated with battling the algorithm and looking for growth strategies that don't involve awkwardly pointing or dancing online or throwing cash at paid ads? Welcome to the Email Growth Show. I'm your host, Kylie Kelly, visibility and email marketing strategist. I grew my email list from zero to almost 10,000 subscribers in less than two years, and the same is possible for you too. Are you ready to build your email list and start making more money in your online business? Let's head into today's episode.

Julie C. Butler [00:00:59]:
Hey hey.

Kylie Kelly [00:01:00]:
Welcome back to the Email Growth Show. Today's episode is a little bit different. Instead of a teaching episode or a guest interview, I wanted to share a real conversation with someone inside of my world. Because I know that sometimes hearing it from someone who's actually living it can land in a very different way. You're about to hear a conversation that I had with Julie C. Butler. Julie is a virtual summit coach based in Ottawa, Canada. She helps women host their own virtual summits as a way to grow their audience, build real relationships, and create momentum in their business with without relying on social media or constant content creation.

Kylie Kelly [00:01:32]:
Our type of woman right? When Julie and I first crossed paths, she already had so much in place. She had experience, she had incredible offers, she had systems. But she was also feeling stuck, caught in that frustrating place where you know you're capable of more, yet can't quite see what needs to shift to get things moving again. In this conversation, Julie shares honestly about that season, what wasn't working, what was missing, and what changed once she stopped trying to figure everything out on her own, it was and started getting the kind of strategic support she actually needed. Now, I want to say this upfront. This isn't meant to convince you of anything. It's simply here to give you a window into what it can feel like to be supported, challenged, and guided in a way that respects who you are and how you work. So if you are in a moment of reassessing your business, your pace, or what kind of support would actually help, listen to this with that in mind.

Kylie Kelly [00:02:21]:
And of course if you want to join the next Empire expansion event, it's happening in a couple of weeks. Julie talks about it briefly and the link to join is in the show notes below. Or you can just go to kylie kelly.com event all right, here's Julie.

Julie C. Butler [00:02:34]:
I was feeling a little bit defeated, not gonna lie. It was like I was in a hamster wheel and it was going in circles and I wasn't moving forward in terms of like business growth, income growth. I was stuck also in that cycle and I didn't really know what to do and I wasn't sure I knew what the gap was from being there to getting to a place where sales are coming in consistent, consistently. I have a plan for the next quarter, the next year to move forward and be confident that the success that I've been dreaming of for months and months and having the income follow that. Right.

Kylie Kelly [00:03:20]:
It was frustrating, right, because when we first started chatting, you had all the pieces, like you had the funnels, you had the office, like you had all the pieces there, but it just wasn't working yet.

Julie C. Butler [00:03:29]:
Yes, I know. The whole working, it's not working piece. Right. Like also like it gets in your head, right. And it, it, it, it's a bit of a mind, I'm sorry, use the F word. But it is a little bit because you get stuck in that place of like, it's not working. Like what, everything. Doesn't matter what I try or how many hours I try to work on these funnels.

Julie C. Butler [00:03:50]:
And are, do funnels even work anymore? Or like I don't know what to do to get this train going and moving forward. Right. I was kind of stuck in that place of not knowing, like I was missing the strategy piece. I felt like.

Kylie Kelly [00:04:05]:
Yeah, yeah. And it's so hard. I mean, you know, I think we've, we've all been in those places and it's like it's so isolating being self employed when you only have you, yourself and I and now ChatGPT. But like, you know, that's all we have. And if we in that place where it's those stories or that's what we're kind of feeding ourselves, then how do we get out of that by ourselves? Like, it's really hard. So, yeah, I think that's the point. A lot of people give up, right?

Julie C. Butler [00:04:30]:
Absolutely. But there's no way I'm giving up. I've been my own business, I've been my own boss for 20 years almost, and there's no way, there's no way I'm giving Up. That's not even, like. It's not even part of my vocabulary. But I will say I thought, months ago, I thought that I didn't need a coach or a mastermind because I thought, me and Chad GPT are going to figure this shit out. And we did. We made an amazing plan, but there was nobody to bounce ideas off of.

Julie C. Butler [00:05:03]:
There was nobody to say, like, to me, like, well, how about we try this, Julie? Or, you know what I mean? Like, it was definitely missing the personal touch of someone who's paved the way, who's had the success that you want to have and to kind of, like, also kind of go down that road with you. And so I wanted, like, I thought, I'm like, oh, I'm like, chad, GPT is my new coach, you know? But I say that because you can let that get in the way of you perhaps joining a mastermind where you get, like, so much, so much more out of than just whatever you and Chatgpt come up with. And, I mean, don't get me wrong, like, it's. It's been, like, he's been a great friend and it's helped me so much with so many things, but you still need that voice of reason, that, that, that expertise that, the strategy that you bring to the table.

Kylie Kelly [00:05:59]:
Yeah. And I think it's. It's good to get you so far.

Julie C. Butler [00:06:02]:
Right.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:02]:
Like, I think you can get to a certain point Absolutely. With AI these days. Like, but you're right. Like, then there's. Then it's like, how do I get actually out to the next level? And, you know, we're both big fans of community and relationships, so again, there's that piece as well. Right. Like, when you're in a mastermind or a group or we start doing business together, you get to build those relationships that also serve us as well.

Julie C. Butler [00:06:24]:
Yeah. And, you know, the one thing I love about you, Kylie, is that, like, just because you're kind of the coach, but you treat us like we're the coaches too. Like, you. You're not. You don't treat us like we're, like, below you. You know what I mean? And sometimes. And not. It's.

Julie C. Butler [00:06:41]:
I don't think it can be. It's. It's. I don't think it's intentional, but sometimes we can feel like that when we're working with a coach. Oops, sorry for the dog barking. But I. I love how you treat us like an equal.

Kylie Kelly [00:06:54]:
Yeah. I mean, I believe we are. We are equals. Tell me a little bit, a little bit about the event. So you came to the Empire Expansion Event. How did you feel about the event?

Julie C. Butler [00:07:02]:
The event was, to be honest, what I didn't know I needed because I actually, I came to the Event because it was you. I was like, I love Kylie. She's awesome. I'm going to come to her event. But I had no idea that I needed the Event until I was there, if that makes any sense. You know, and sometimes I think we feel resistance to joining different events or things or Masterpasses, whatever. The resistance is there for whatever reason, but sometimes when we resist something, it's because we need it. And so it was so valuable.

Julie C. Butler [00:07:38]:
It was filled with so many actionable things that I could take after the event and just apply into my business right away. It was awesome.

Kylie Kelly [00:07:49]:
I love that. Okay, and then you joined Empress. You joined the Mastermind. What feels different about Empress from day one?

Julie C. Butler [00:07:57]:
Well, I've told you from the beginning, like, the level of support kind of exceeded my expectations. And you're in the trenches with us, like, like 1,000%. You're there for us whenever we need a mindset, reset or, you know, if there's something that we've kind of, like, were needing in terms of training or whatever, you'll go and you'll make a training. You'll give us a training. Also, the feedback on our different, like, my goodness, like, I've only been an Empress for two months, and I'm like, I don't want this to end, ever. You're so good at, like. Well, first of all, you've been giving me great, amazing feedback on my messaging and my sales copy for my different offers and that good stuff. I mean, you like, I have a love for this Mastermind so much.

Julie C. Butler [00:08:51]:
I could talk about it all day.

Kylie Kelly [00:08:52]:
I love that so much. I love it, I love it, I love it. And I mean, like, we've talked about already, like, that's one of my values is real support. Like, we've all joined those things that say it's real support. And then you get in and it's like crickets. Just feel like a number, like a transaction. Right? We all have that, like, mastermind or coaching trauma. And I think that something that I want anybody that watches this to know is that we do things differently in my world, that you are safe with me.

Kylie Kelly [00:09:17]:
So I love that you shared that as well.

Julie C. Butler [00:09:18]:
But I, you know that, like, the thing that I love is I'm actually like, just tell me what to do and I'll go do it. Right? Like, and it's one thing Like, I paying money to be in this mastermind because I am obviously missing something in my business that I need help with. And I've had coaches before and like, God love them, but they were kind of letting me make decisions and like, and not that you're not make. Letting me make the decisions, but it was always like, well, what do you think? Well, what do you think? Like, do you know what I mean? And where, where I am the kind of person and maybe that's my human design or I don't know what, but I'm like, just tell me what to do and I'll go do it. You know what I mean? Like, you see all of this, all of my business, all my offer suite, all of my good stuff, my offers, they're all amazing. Like, what is missing? What should I go do with this stuff? Right? And that's what I appreciated so much from learning from you, but also being in your world is that piece that was missing from so many coaches that I've had was the real true strategy.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:22]:
And you know what? I think that's the difference between like a strategist and just a coach. Coach.

Julie C. Butler [00:10:27]:
Right.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:27]:
Like, I, I have trouble calling myself a coach because I'm. I haven't studied like, NLP or like, I'm not, I'm not a coach. Like, I'm more of a strategist of like, hey, this is what I think you should do from a strategy perspective. Does that feel good for you?

Julie C. Butler [00:10:39]:
Yes.

Kylie Kelly [00:10:39]:
Okay, let's go and do it together. And I think that's the difference between strategy or consulting and coaching. Right? Like, I think that that's why a lot of people see great results quite quickly because it's like we, we are missing the strategy piece of actually not just what will work, but, like, what will work right now with the especially online landscape. Like, it's changed so much over the last few years that we need somebody to go like, this is. This is the leave of the pole now. Yeah, if that feels good, go and do it. Something that's good.

Julie C. Butler [00:11:06]:
And then. And. And the thing I love also about the Mastermind and you is that you truly, really, honestly, genuinely care about us as individuals and as. And for our businesses. Like, you invest. You're like, invested in our businesses too. You spend the time to get to know us. You get to know our businesses, our funnels.

Julie C. Butler [00:11:29]:
Like, my goodness, like, you've been in my inside of my email. Like, I feel like you're inside my head all the time. Not all the time, but you've been there to visit and, you know, you know what my business looks like, as if it was me. And you truly care about the people, the women who are in Empress. Like they were your, your best, best, best, best friend. And you genuinely want success for us. Like, it just shows up in everything that, in all of our calls and in our messages that you share with us or the feedback that you give us. And it is always, always positive.

Julie C. Butler [00:12:05]:
And I love that because you're always encouraging whenever you're giving us feedback or anything like that. I could keep going.

Kylie Kelly [00:12:12]:
Oh, I love that. Jules, thank you for sharing that. I love that so much. Should we share some results? Like what, what kind of results? Yeah, you've only been in two months, like, probably just two months. What kind of results have you seen over the last kind of eight weeks?

Julie C. Butler [00:12:27]:
Well, right away I started like, you know me, I don't mess around. So I was like, let's do this. I'm in. Let's do this. We worked on first the growth piece, which was email list growth, which I hadn't been doing consistently since the spring when I hosted my own event. But because as a result of having you behind me to help me, kind of guide me through what kind of, like, what to do next, I hosted a bundle, I created a whole new program and two other offers along with that, and I launched them with success. Like, I had great feedback for my event, which you gave me incredible feedback for. You know, you helped me kind of shape my sales paging, my messaging also, you know, just the strategy behind the whole, like, you know, because sometimes we're like, well, how do I launch this thing? Like, how many emails should I send? Or, you know, all of that stuff.

Julie C. Butler [00:13:27]:
And then just helping me throughout the way I was able to do that with confidence and November, I tripled my month in my income from October. And so only having been doing the things that you share with us, the methods and the strategies right away, I'm already seeing results in my business, consistent results moving forward. And I know that it's going to take consistency and we're moving into now 2026. But I'm very, very excited about the flow, the promo and marketing rhythm that we're adopting based on what feels in alignment with me and the way that I like to do things and the way that I work and how things feel. And I'm just very excited about the, the new year to come, the income level, income levels I want to reach, and just the confidence that I have in stepping into my big deal identity. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, my goodness.

Kylie Kelly [00:14:33]:
So I just love that, firstly, you were such an action taker, like, all credit goes to you. It's been an absolute joy to support you doing that. And because of the action that you've taken, you've had these results. Right. Like when you joined Empress, you hosted that bundle, that first bundle where I kind of helped with the strategy behind it, but you did the work. Like, you hosted that within a few weeks of joining, I want to say.

Julie C. Butler [00:14:55]:
The beginning of November. So, yeah, start the first of October.

Kylie Kelly [00:14:59]:
First of October, Yeah. So four weeks later, yeah, you hosted the bundle, adding. I can't even remember how many you added to your email list, but it was significant. Right? So over a thousand people to your email list, then launched the program, tripled your income for them. Like, amazing. So amazing. Because you, you took the action because you were like, okay, I'm. I'm not messing around.

Kylie Kelly [00:15:21]:
Like, let's go. And now we get to take that momentum into, into the new year. I'm so excited. I'm so bloody excited. So good.

Julie C. Butler [00:15:31]:
So good.

Kylie Kelly [00:15:31]:
Okay, so let's suggest for anyone that's watching this that might be on the fence or like thinking about joining either an event or Empress itself, Like, what would you say to them?

Julie C. Butler [00:15:39]:
Well, so the event, first of all, it's just such a great opportunity to get to know Kylie and to get to know the way you work and the way. But it's your energy, it's the energy that you bring to the table. You really get a taste of who you are, how you work, how you treat students or, you know, people in your world, how you care about their business. You take the time to get to know them, to get to know their business, to learn about them and all that stuff. And, and that happens a little bit on the calls too. Like the call before and then what do you call the call after? Like a feedback call?

Kylie Kelly [00:16:12]:
Yeah, the feedback call after the.

Julie C. Butler [00:16:14]:
After the. The event. Just at least do that because it's such. It can open up the door to what you need next in your business without you even knowing. Um, so definitely join that. And honestly, for Empress, I've been in diff in other masterminds and I've been in. I've had coaches, you know, along the years, and I bought all the programs, but there was nothing, like I said to my friend the other day, I'm like, you were the, you were what I was looking for back when I hired the first coach, right? Like, like, what you give us an Empress was exactly what I needed, like, years ago. So I say, like, don't wait because waiting is a disservice that you can actually do to yourself and your business because you're just gonna.

Julie C. Butler [00:17:04]:
You. You may just stay stuck in that place, right? Without the strategy, without the support, without the. The amazing feedback and the. You've got our backs, like, throughout the whole time. Like, you have our backs. And that's just such an incredible feeling to be in a community. Not to mention the other ladies there, they're so amazing as well, because that's who you bring together, is amazing people. So I say, like, listen to your inner.

Julie C. Butler [00:17:33]:
Your inner. And just go for it because it can honestly change your business and change your life too, right? Because that's what a lot of us, our business does. It helps shape our life in different ways based on your income level that you want to achieve.

Kylie Kelly [00:17:50]:
Oh, I love that. Jules, thank you so much for sharing. And I just. Do you know what? I'm so excited. I think we need to circle back at the end of your six months, like, your first six months. And like, I can't wait to see where you are, what goals you hit. I think it's going to be a wild ride and I am so excited for it. I'm so here for it.

Kylie Kelly [00:18:07]:
And I just really appreciate you sharing so openly. Just. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Julie C. Butler [00:18:11]:
You're welcome. You're welcome.

Kylie Kelly [00:18:13]:
Thank you so much for tuning into this episode of the Email Growth Show. I hope you found valuable insights into the next steps you can take to grow your email list and boost your business without relying on social media or paid ads. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to rate and review the show and share it with others. Your feedback helps me reach more female entrepreneurs just like you who are ready to say goodbye to social media and leverage email marketing to grow their business and make a bigger impact. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you in the next episode.