237. Running a $5M Business with a Lean Team with Denise Duffield-Thomas
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
Release Date: 06/04/2025
237. Running a $5M Business with a Lean Team with Denise Duffield-Thomas
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In this episode, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle sit down with best-selling author Denise Duffield-Thomas to explore how she and her husband built a $5M business with a small, part-time team — and how they’ve structured their lives to work less without sacrificing income or success. Denise opened up about the strategies and mindset shifts that allowed her to create a thriving business while maintaining balance and freedom. If you’ve ever wondered how to grow your business without overloading your schedule, this one’s for you! Here’s what we cover: ✅ How Denise built a $5M...
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236. How to Stop Doing Everything in Your Business
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In this episode, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle reflect on their r with Beth Carter, Beth shared how she struggles to step out of the doing in her business — even with a team of 10 and a seven-figure business. Adrienne and Emily dive deeper into the root of this challenge, unpacking the Four D’s (Doing, Deciding, Delegating, and Designing) and how understanding them can help business owners break free from the day-to-day grind. Here’s what we cover: ✅ The Four D’s – Why knowing the difference between Doing, Deciding, Delegating, and Designing is key to business growth ✅ Why...
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235. Breaking Free from Doing It All with Beth Carter
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In this coaching episode, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle sit down with Beth Carter, the "Badass Bookkeeper" and owner of , to tackle a challenge many business owners face — getting stuck in the doing. Beth shares how, even with a team of 10 and a seven-figure business, she still finds herself pulled back into production work, limiting her ability to grow and scale. Here’s what we cover: ✅ Why business owners struggle to stop doing the work themselves ✅ How to identify inefficiencies in your team and processes ✅ When to hire versus when to improve internal capacity ✅ Balancing...
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234. More On How To Fix Business Bottlenecks
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In this episode, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle reflect on a recent coaching session with Leslie Liondas, breaking down how to identify and fix the four core business bottlenecks — Attract, Convert, Delivery, and Cash Flow. If you’ve been struggling to figure out why your business isn’t growing the way you want, this episode will help you diagnose the problem and create a plan to solve it. Here’s what we cover: ✅ How to identify which bottleneck is holding your business back ✅ The four core business bottlenecks and how they work together ✅ Why cash flow issues can block other...
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233. Cracking the Attract Code with Leslie Liondas
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In this coaching session, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle dive deep with Leslie Liondas to tackle a major challenge in her coaching business — the attract bottleneck. If you’ve ever struggled to bring in the right leads, this one’s for you! Here’s what we cover: ✅ How to generate consistent, high-quality leads ✅ Refining your messaging so it actually converts ✅ The power of effective opt-ins (and why your freebie might not be working) We also get into the nitty-gritty of webinars — how to make them engaging, convert more attendees, and even use AI to streamline your content...
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232. Welcome to the CEO Help Desk!
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
In the very first episode of CEO Help Desk, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle introduce the fresh new format designed to serve overwhelmed small business owners—just like you. Here’s the deal: Each week, you'll hear a real business owner walk through a specific operational or leadership challenge on air with Adrienne and Emily. Then in the following episode, your co-hosts debrief and go even deeper with ideas, context, and strategies to help you apply the same lessons to your own business. Whether you're looking to delegate more, streamline operations, or step out of the day-to-day, CEO...
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231. The Power of Play with Shannon Claire
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
Play is transformative. And it's essential for our personal and professional growth that we take regular breaks to play. I know from personal experience that when I incorporated more play and whitespace into my life, my business increased exponentially. I had more “million dollar” ideas, bigger business growth, came up with better strategies, strengthened my relationships, and found a deeper connection with myself. On today's episode of the Run Like Clockwork podcast, I'm joined by Shannon Claire, an international branding photographer who has worked with entrepreneurs all...
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"Create Your Clockwork Blueprint to Freedom" with Alexis Kingsbury
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
Are you struggling to free up time, increase efficiency, and reduce key person dependency in your business? In this episode, Adrienne Dorison interviews Alexis Kingsbury, the founder of , about his journey to creating his solution to those issues. Alexis discusses the challenges he faced with traditional process documentation methods and how Air Manual was born out of the need for a tool that makes it easy for teams to create and follow processes. This conversation explores: The challenges of organizing digital workspaces and the benefits of using AirManual. Setting realistic...
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230. Clockwork Book Club: Interview with Mike Michalowicz
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
This is our final episode in the Clockwork Book Club, and today we are talking to the Author of “Clockwork, Revised and Expanded: Design Your Business to Run Itself”… Mike Michalowicz! In this episode, we discuss: What Mike wishes everyone knew about Clockwork The biggest updates to the system since the first edition of the book Why people resist the Four-Week vacation, and how to combat that! Every time we talk to Mike we always glean some new insights, and this episode is no different! You can share your reflections with us over on Instagram --> If you don't have...
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229. Chapter 13: Pushback (And What To Do About It)
The CEO Help Desk from Run Like Clockwork
Welcome to our breakdown of Chapter 13 of Clockwork, Revised and Expanded: Design Your Business to Run Itself. In this episode, we discuss: Why we encounter pushback How Design can be just as taxing as Doing work Why you need to show up more when building trust We suggest that you read the chapter and then come listen to this episode covering pages 237-250. If you would like access to our FREE Study and Discussion Guides, and the ability to binge the podcast instead of waiting for weekly episode drops, you can opt into a private feed here → You can share your reflections with...
info_outlineIn this episode, Adrienne Dorison and Emily Doyle sit down with best-selling author Denise Duffield-Thomas to explore how she and her husband built a $5M business with a small, part-time team — and how they’ve structured their lives to work less without sacrificing income or success.
Denise opened up about the strategies and mindset shifts that allowed her to create a thriving business while maintaining balance and freedom. If you’ve ever wondered how to grow your business without overloading your schedule, this one’s for you!
Here’s what we cover:
✅ How Denise built a $5M business with a part-time team
✅ Why focusing on one core offer creates more growth (not less)
✅ The mindset shift around seasons of business and life
✅ Why building assets outside the business creates freedom
✅ How to avoid the trap of constantly launching new offers
Adrienne and Emily also dig into:
👉 The power of simplifying your business model
👉 How Denise maintained revenue while stepping back from the business
👉 Why saying "no" is crucial for sustainable success
👉 The importance of having personal goals and wins outside of work
👉 Why perfectionism and identity shifts are holding you back
If you’re ready to scale your business without working more, this episode will give you the inspiration and tactical advice you need. Hit play and get ready to simplify and grow! 🔥
🔑 Top 5 Takeaways:
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Lean Growth is Possible – Denise built a multimillion-dollar business with a small team by staying focused on her core offer.
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Focus on One Offer – Scaling happens more easily when you focus on improving and selling what’s already working.
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Seasons Matter – Your business (and life) will have different seasons — understanding and respecting them creates longevity.
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Build Outside the Business – Investing in assets and real estate created more financial freedom for Denise's family.
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Set Personal Goals – Achievements like winning a ballet trophy or succeeding at cross-stitch can give you fulfillment beyond business success.
📚 Check Out Denise’s Book:
Denise is the author of Get Rich, Lucky Bitch!, and Chillpreneur — must-reads for entrepreneurs and business owners looking to break through money blocks and grow their wealth.
👉 Grab your copy here: https://www.denisedt.com/books
⏰ Chapters:
01:24 – How Denise built a $5M business with a lean team
04:50 – The decision to keep the team small and efficient
06:46 – Why staying focused on one core offer creates more growth
10:42 – Understanding seasons of business and life
14:44 – Personal wins and why hobbies matter
18:31 – The freedom that comes from building assets outside the business
22:34 – Overcoming identity shifts and perfectionism
29:44 – How Denise simplified her business model
34:38 – Saying "no" to protect personal time and energy
39:30 – Lessons from taking a sabbatical
📲 Links & Resources:
👉 Connect with Denise: denisedt.com
👉 Follow Denise on Instagram: @denisedt