Michelle Miller
The 2020 Leap: Building a B2B Firm From Scratch During a Pandemic | Michelle Miller
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Key Takeaways
- ◆Michelle started Creativate Aid in 2020 during the pandemic after years of fear held her back — she made a bare-minimum budget (mortgage, food, gas) and launched with just herself and a laptop, knowing she could always return to corporate if it failed.
- ◆Good sales and marketing actually takes time — companies severely underestimate what it takes to do it correctly, and patience is required to let strategy unfold through data-gathering, testing, and iteration.
- ◆Michelle worked with coach Christine Hockman on a 12-week mindset program to rewire limiting beliefs — she learned to ask 'what if it's better than I imagined?' instead of only fearing failure, comparing entrepreneurship to kayaking around a river corner toward the unknown.
- ◆One of the first hires Michelle made was an accounting firm, not a marketing person — she recognized immediately that doing her own taxes and payroll would waste hours and risk costly mistakes, so she outsourced it to focus on her core work.
- ◆Creativate Aid now has eight team members, all women, most of them working moms with young kids — the remote model allows them to get kids on and off the bus and attend school events, though Michelle never set out to build an all-female company.
- ◆Michelle tells clients they can't automate what isn't already documented — entrepreneurs often want AI or automation to solve everything at once, but you must first identify one specific area in your process to automate and then scale from there.
- ◆The biggest client misalignment Michelle sees is when the owner has a vision but brings in a hire and gives them tasks without aligning on the heart and passion behind the company — two different belief systems trying to create something rarely works without shared core values.
Frequently asked questions
What is a certified woman-owned business, and why did Michelle pursue that certification?
A certified woman-owned business is an official designation that recognizes companies owned and controlled by women, often opening doors to specific contracts and partnerships. Michelle didn't start with the intention of building a women-only firm, but when her team naturally evolved that way—all women, many working moms—she decided to lean into it. The certification formalized what had already become the company's identity and helped position Creativate Aid for opportunities that value diversity in their vendor relationships.
What exactly does Michelle mean by 'corporate therapy'?
Michelle uses 'corporate therapy' to describe the discovery process her team goes through with clients. They ask questions, listen deeply, and uncover problems the business owner often doesn't realize exist—like 25 different workarounds holding operations together or 10 team members each tracking the sales pipeline differently. It's about creating a safe space where clients feel heard and can acknowledge what's actually broken, not just what they think is working fine. The therapy metaphor captures both the listening component and the uncomfortable truth-telling that comes with it.
What is Super, and how does Michelle's team use it?
Super is a platform that allows consultants to deploy pre-built processes, systems, and objects into platforms like HubSpot. Michelle's team uses it specifically for industries like auctions, where they can install ready-made workflows instead of building everything from scratch. This is particularly useful when starting fresh with a client, as opposed to trying to retrofit or optimize a badly configured system that's already in place. It speeds up implementation and ensures the foundation is clean and intentional from day one.
How does Michelle's coaching-based model differ from traditional consulting?
Instead of parachuting in, delivering a strategy deck, and leaving, Michelle's team walks alongside clients through implementation and trains internal teams to sustain the work after they're gone. The goal is empowerment, not dependency—she wants clients to eventually outgrow her. This includes thorough documentation and knowledge transfer, so the systems don't fall apart when her team steps away. It's the opposite of consultants who build systems only they understand, leaving clients stuck when the engagement ends.
What mindset shift did Michelle make with her coach Christine Hockman that helped her start the business?
Working with Christine, Michelle learned to distinguish between real roadblocks and the ones her brain manufactured out of fear. Christine used a kayaking analogy: when you round a bend in the river, you don't know what's ahead—rapids, wildlife, drunk tubers—but that uncertainty is the thrill, not the threat. Michelle started asking 'What if this is better than I ever imagined?' instead of catastrophizing. That simple reframe, combined with practical steps like calculating bare-minimum expenses and consulting on the side first, gave her the confidence to make the leap in 2020.
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