Episode 211: Creating a Business That Supports Your Life with Debra Russell
Release Date: 04/20/2026
Business by Referral Podcast
Todd Krause's BIO: Todd A. Krause is the owner of The Cleaning Authority – Fishers, where he grew the business from $1.8 million in revenue to more than $4 million while building a diverse team and a thriving workplace culture that prioritizes people, performance, and long-term success. His leadership approach has earned multiple industry recognitions, including Franchisee of the Year honors. Todd holds an MBA and is a Certified Public Accountant, with more than three decades of experience leading and growing businesses across multiple industries. Over the course of his career, he founded...
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Joel Salomon's BIO: Joel is a Finance, Mindful Money Expert and Prosperity Coach who helps others overcome obstacles standing in the way of their financial freedom. He’s an award winning TEDx speaker, workshop facilitator and frequent television and podcast guest. As a former manager of a $700 million portfolio, the creator of his own successful hedge fund and the author of three best-selling books, he has learned that the true foundation of wealth is a mindset of gratitude, love and service. In this episode, Virginia and Joel talked about How Joel became a professional money manager...
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Carla Wainwright's BIO: Carla Wainwright is a Holistic Wellness Coach and Midlife Alchemist who supports women 40+, including entrepreneurs and leaders, to sustain vitality, clarity, and resilience through midlife transitions. Her work weaves metabolic and hormonal health, nervous system regulation, and embodied self-awareness to help women feel strong, connected, and at home in their bodies while navigating full, demanding lives. With a background in biology, homeopathy, and over two decades in the healing arts, Carla bridges evidence-informed science with lived, somatic experience. She...
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Dr. Denice R. Hinden's BIO: Denice R. Hinden, PhD, MCC, is a leadership coach, mentor coach, and organizational advisor who has built a 25+ year consulting and coaching practice largely through trusted professional relationships and referrals. She is co-founder of Managance Coaching, where she partners with mission-driven leaders and organizations to strengthen leadership capacity, navigate complex transitions, and build healthy organizational cultures. Her work integrates brain capacity frameworks, neuroscience-informed practices, and a neurodiversity-informed lens grounded in inclusive...
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Debra Russell's BIO: Debra Russell is 5’ of Heat!” exclaimed one participant after seeing her speak. An MBA and business coach with over 2 decades of experience, she has helped hundreds of passion-based entrepreneurs create profitable businesses doing what they love. Working with arts and entertainment industry professionals, professional athletes and entrepreneurs doing what they love as a business, she helps them systemize their business and improve their productivity so they are running their business and their business isn’t running them! As a speaker, she’s appeared at...
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Melissa Bishop's BIO: Live RAW with Melissa Bishop a trauma-informed coaching space built on my RAW Methodology—inspired by my own trauma journey and the wisdom I earned through lived experience—focused on Real Talk, Authentic Growth, and Lasting Wellness. I help you cut through the fluff, get honest about what’s really going on, and release what’s been keeping you stuck—mind, body, and spirit. You’ll get practical tools you can use in real life, plus tailored support so your growth is sustainable and actually sticks. In this episode, Virginia and Melissa talked about ...
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Fabienne Marneau's BIO: Fabienne Marneau is an intuitive business strategist, transformational mentor, and Healing Soul Alchemist with over four decades of experience helping entrepreneurs and leaders uncover the hidden patterns that silently sabotage success. Known as the “Ghostbuster of Hidden Patterns,” she helps clients release unconscious blocks, reclaim clarity and confidence, and align their business with their authentic purpose. Fabienne blends deep healing practices with practical strategy to support sustainable growth and meaningful impact. Through her Emotional Self-Care...
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Zen Benfiel's BIO: Zen Benefiel is a transformational leadership coach and organizational strategist who helps leaders turn purpose into measurable performance. A former aerospace operations lead managing $7M in monthly shipments by age 26, he specializes in simplifying complex systems into practical leadership habits that build trust, improve decisions, and drive results. Zen is the host of the One World in a New World interview series and author of 40+ books. Through his work with Be The Dream and Team Partnering, he equips leaders with frameworks that align strategy, culture, and...
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Mitch Axelrod's BIO: A 47 year entrepreneur, speaker, trainer, advisor and 5 time #1 Wall St. Journal, Barnes & Noble and Amazon best-selling author of The NEW Game of Business™, The NEW Game of Selling™ and the forthcoming book, The NEW Game of Service™. Mitch has delivered 4,000 seminars, workshops, keynotes, executive briefings, webinars and coaching clinics to a million people on business, entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, values, life skills and intellectual property. His clients include IBM, AT&T, Citibank, Prudential, MetLife and thousands of small, medium and...
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Leah Kuhlmann's BIO: Leah Kuhlmann, RDN, is redefining what it means to thrive—365 days a year. As the founder of YouThrive365, Leah brings over two decades of clinical expertise and entrepreneurial drive to the forefront of health and wellness. She’s not here to promote fad diets or temporary fixes. Her mission is clear: to help individuals take back control of their health through practical, personalized nutrition rooted in real food, functional science, and long-term results. Leah’s approach is deeply personal. After witnessing loved ones battle cancer, she made it her life’s...
info_outlineDebra Russell's BIO:
Debra Russell is 5’ of Heat!” exclaimed one participant after seeing her speak. An MBA and business coach with over 2 decades of experience, she has helped hundreds of passion-based entrepreneurs create profitable businesses doing what they love.
Working with arts and entertainment industry professionals, professional athletes and entrepreneurs doing what they love as a business, she helps them systemize their business and improve their productivity so they are running their business and their business isn’t running them!
As a speaker, she’s appeared at conferences like SXSW, Professional Organizations and Universities across the US, Europe and Australia
In this episode, Virginia and Debra talked about
- Debra’s journey into business coaching
- The importance of planning
- The 5 roles of a business owner
- Planning vs. doing in business
- Systems and productivity in business
Takeaways:
- Hire a coach. Stop doing it alone.
- Celebrate every small step.
- Planning makes all the doing possible.
- Know your why.
- Systems make everything possible.
Connect with Debra Russell on her social media accounts to learn more about her work and insights into networking effectively:
| LinkedIn URL | https://www.linkedin.com/in/debrarussell |
| Facebook URL | https://www.facebook.com/CoachDebraRussell |
| Instagram URL | https://www.instagram.com/bizcoachdebra/ |
Connect with Virginia: