The System for Becoming the CEO of Your Business with Dennah Renee

Julie: Welcome back to the System For Everything podcast, today’s system tip, just put on a blazer. That’s it. Instant, CEO. Bonus points if you wear it with PJ Pants. Today’s guest is De Renee, a brand photographer and business coach for solopreneurs who pursue purpose in and out of their work. She is the host of the Quarter co a coaching community that helps entrepreneurs build rhythm, clarity, and accountable.

Ability into their business when she’s not coaching or behind the camera, you’ll find her sewing, gardening, running, spending time with her husband and best friend Chad, or doing life with her community. Deanna has built a business and a life around intention, clarity, and community, and today she is walking us through what it really means to stop winging it.

And start leading with purpose. But first, we are gonna start, as we always do with the system, reboot A quick reset to start our episode with some humor and humanity. Welcome de

Dennah: Hi Julie. I’m so glad to be here today.

Julie: All right. I wanna know what is your go-to outfit when you wanna feel like the best version of yourself?

Dennah: Ooh, I love to put on like a white button. And then if I can, I love to wear one of my grandmother’s like silk scarfs with a blazer.

Julie: Oh my God. I love that.

Dennah: Very fitting and, but we have to keep it relatable, so we have to put on a pair of jeans.

Julie: Perfect.

Dennah: Yes.

Julie: What is something you always intend to do but you never actually get around to?

Dennah: Oh, that is an amazing question. I always intend. Oh, this is, you’re actually stumping me here for just a little bit. I think I, I always intend to say no on different things, but then I just get so excited in the moment with people and I love them so, so much that it can be really hard to me and I find myself saying yes when sometimes it would probably be wise for me to say no.

Julie: Oh, okay. Do you just send them to me? I love saying no, it’s my favorite sentence.

Dennah: She said it ends with a period.

Julie: Yep. What is your most irrational pet peeve?

Dennah: Oh, um, it may not be irrational to some, but for me it can feel like it. But my dog, she likes to lick the air, so she’ll just be sitting there like licking the air, making lots of noise, licking the air.

It’s very distracting when you’re trying to work and I’ll just be Nova, you must stop. And she just keeps going licking there.

Julie: Is that, will it bother you during the podcast if I lick air?

Alright everyone. Oh, Julie, you’ve met the personality. Now meet the powerhouse. Here’s my conversation with Dennah on the system for becoming the CEO of your business. All right, so let’s start with early days. Like when did it hit you that you weren’t just a photographer or just a creative anymore? I mean, you were the CEO.

Dennah: Well, I think it first starts with realizing that I was not the CEO, my business was completely running me, and I fooled myself into believing that this was normal or that it was just a season that was going to pass because at the time I was dating my soon to be husband, we were getting engaged, getting ready to get married, and I.

It’s fine. We’re working all the jobs, we’re starting the business, we’re doing the things, and eventually at some point this switch is just gonna flip and everything’s gonna be great. It’s kind of like in frozen when like Olaf is singing. Like it’ll all make sense when I’m older. Like I always figured, I was like, at some point I’m gonna grow up in my business and this is just going to make sense.

And yeah, I got married and I went full time in my business and things were going well and my business was still running me. My sweet little husband was going to bed and as he was going to bed, I was going into my office. Julie, this is embarrassing to admit, but I was going into my office and then I was working for several more hours.

And then there get up when he girl and then you get up when he got up. And um, apparently sleep is necessary to function well as a human. And that was not something that I was doing.

Julie: Well, I have actually heard that before. I don’t know if that is confirmed by scientists. We’ll have to look into that.

Let’s put that in the show notes, everyone.

Dennah: Yes, yes. Very important thing.

Julie: So was there like a specific moment then when you realized that flying by the seat of your pants just was not gonna cut it anymore?

Dennah: I’m really grateful for the people who call. Back and they say, be creative. Learn from my like, make your own mistakes.

Learn from mine. Don’t make the same ones. Be creative, make new ones. And I’m extra thankful for those who have gone ahead of us, who are doing things well and say, here’s something that I’ve done well that works. You should do this. And my dear friend and mentor, Abby Grace, um, was running a beautiful business and she was working hard and very successful, and yet she was clocking out at two 3:00 PM every day to spend time with her boys.

Her business was working for her clients and for her family. Yes, she worked in her business, but her business didn’t run her. And I was surrounded by people who I dearly loved and adored, but they were like me. We were staying up really late working, and then we were getting back up early again in the morning just to get right after it.

And it felt like my business owned me and I didn’t own it. And so I was looking at Abby and I was like, what makes her different? And I know she wasn’t the only one. There were other people out there. She was just the one that I had like a front row seat to. And I was like, what makes. Her different. I want that.

And having a, a conversation with her about transitioning from being that starving artist that sometimes I Can you wear that like a badge of honor? Yeah. And transitioning to, no, this isn’t gonna happen by accident. It’s gonna take me putting on my big girl pants and saying, we’re going to take control of this situation or else it is going to control me.

Julie: So then what does the title. What does being a CEO actually mean? Because we know it’s not just about making more money or just about having that title of CEO, right. How do you personally define that shift from that creative starving artist place to CEO?

Dennah: I think it comes with freedom and intentionality and so A CEO can take a vacation and they can actually leave their laptop at home.

They might even take two weeks. I mean, crazy talk right here. They might even take two weeks off and when they come back. Their business is still there. It’s not gonna have burnt down, and they’re gonna have the freedom to do it. ’cause they won’t not only be able to physically step away, they can actually mentally step away too, and their business is going to continue to thrive.

Now we understand as solopreneurs that there are things that need to be in place and it might not be exactly the same, but I’m not gonna come back from a vacation and there’ll just be ashes and remains there when I come back.

Julie: What are some ways that you show up differently now than you did previously?

Dennah: Now in my social life, I have a hard time saying no, because again, I just really, really love people. But in business

Julie: it’s having, that’s so human. Sunshine.

Dennah: You’re really kind, Julie.

Julie: Well, you are. Like I, we, so we met, I mean, we were in the same room previously, but didn’t really ever. Interact that much at, uh, at Lays day conference, uh, creative educator conference.

And then we really got like to be friendly when we both were in a CUAs beta course.

Dennah: Love

Julie: it for her storytelling. And so you, you know. Were on a zoom with me when I was just, you know, crying about when am I gonna get a baby? And, and then I got one and I told all of you and you guys were like, and it was the best.

And then I got to like see you again in person this year. And it was amazing.

Dennah: Girl, it is such a gift to actually know you. As I told you right before our call, like you are literally the funniest person I’ve met in my entire life. And I mean that, and it’s so true. And what I love about you, Julie. Is that you, you are genuinely funniest person I’ve ever met, but you are also so real and so genuine and so kind and like I feel like I could go to you and we could laugh and giggle about all the things, but I could also walk up to you and I could say, I’m having a hard day or whatever.

These things are going on in my life, and you would pause and you would do such a good job of being present that you make. Every person that is. Ever in front of you, feel seen and loved. And I just wanna tell you, this is a side note, but I just wanna tell you that I really appreciate that about you, like you love people so well, whether it’s bringing joy and light to the room with laughter, or by making them feel seen.

So thank you.

Julie: What is your Venmo handle again, so I can pay you for that compliment? No, no. Seriously though, that was unbelievably kind. That was, that was overwhelmingly kind. That was so nice. And yes, I, I very much, I, I find my people and I love them hard if you. Are one of my people and you’re in my life like I got my claws in you forever.

I’m never letting go that that ain’t ever happening,

Dennah: girl. We appreciate that and I know I’ll jump back. I know that you were asking the question of how I show up differently than I did before, and when it comes to relationships, I love saying yes, I love being in room, but when it comes to business, it was setting good work life.

Boundaries. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to find good work life balance, but I have been able to find good work life boundaries. And so for me, um, I have a separate workspace than my personal living area. Now it’s still within my home, like I don’t have to go out to some place that I’ve rented, but I can close my actual office door.

And I can leave work behind me. It means having a good startup routine, including things like lighting my candle, doing different things like that to trigger my brain. It is time to work. And then having a strong shutdown routine that tells my brain, all right, it’s time to turn it off. I’m not perfect at this, but these are rhythms that have helped me be able to keep work at work and keep.

The personal things that personal. Now, as solopreneurs, we know that there’s some level of crossover that happens at all times. Sure. But the big heavy lifting, I’m able to keep those boundaries. Side note, if you wanna learn about a good startup and shutdown down routine, Cal Newport’s book Deep Work, phenomenal.

Julie: Yeah, we will link that in the show

Dennah: notes. I have not read that.

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All your logins, contacts, workflows, and need to knows in one tidy place because peace of mind is the ultimate productivity tool. Grab yours today@dallasgirlfriday.com before life throws a plot twist. All right. So I wanna talk then about your membership. Uh mm-hmm. The Quarter Co. You created it to help other business owners step into that CEO role with intention.

Mm-hmm. So why do you think that quarterly planning works so well for people like us creative entrepreneurs?

Dennah: So they often talk about the person that you are most qualified to serve is the person that you were just a few steps ago. And so when it comes, Ooh, that

Julie: is good.

Dennah: So when it comes to the cortico, it was actually founded out of a need and a struggle.

Of my own, I needed to put on my own CEO hat and I needed to find a system that worked for me. And when I found quarterly planning, it gave me a lot of freedom. So as entrepreneurs, I do believe that we are on some level, wired a bit differently and we love doing new things. Chasing after new goals. We’re pretty scrappy bunch, you know, um, but we also can get distracted.

A little bit of that. Shiny object syndrome can get the best of at least me. And I think many of us as well. We’re

Julie: a little bit squirrely.

Dennah: And so what I love about quarterly planning specifically is that. Comes back to those, those boundaries. It’s not balance, it’s those boundaries. It allows me to say yes to something and go hard after it for 90 days.

And when that new shiny thing pops up, I can still say yes, but next quarter. In the next season. So it’s yes, with a boundary. And now by the time I get to the next quarter, it may not be shiny anymore, which is great. I can just leave it there where it was. It can be on some kind of list just waiting for a someday plan.

Um, or if it’s still shiny and something that I’m wanting to chase after, great. I’m ready to pick it up and run.

Julie: I love that. What does your own quarterly process kind of look like?

Dennah: My own quarterly process first starts with getting some solid information. I can be a little bit emotional and a big dreamer, and so I can have all these fun ideas, but we’ve gotta bring reality into this on some level.

So we’re gonna start with some facts and data. So the first thing that I like to personally do is go back and review the previous quarter, what worked well. What didn’t work well, what did I love about it? What were the challenges? Did I hit the goals that I was going after? And if I did, why was it that I was able to hit them?

And if I didn’t, why not? Are they no longer goals for me? Like, did something change? Did I get distracted because a new like Netflix show came out? I don’t know. We need to figure out why we didn’t reach those goals and use that information to form wise decisions moving forward.

Julie: I know a lot of people.

Especially in the creative space like us tend to worry that having that structure can stifle their creativity. So can you tell us how you approach systems so they actually support your creative work rather than restrict it?

Dennah: That is such a great question, and I think for me it’s remembering that it’s a personal thing for each individual, and so what works really well for me, Julie, may not work well for you, and what works perfectly for you may not work well for me now.

We have to keep in mind that there are good principles in place, and there are those things that we can set up those systems. Like when we are onboarding clients, no matter who you are, we want to love and serve them well by giving them the same treatment. We have that consistency, which builds trust. But then there’s other areas like how I do a startup routine.

May be different, you may not. You may be living in a studio apartment and you’re saying, oh, I can’t have a separate place to work and have my business, so your systems are going to look different than me being able to open and close an actual physical office door. Yours may be opening and closing a physical laptop and then putting it into your backpack.

And so when we’re trying to set those systems, giving ourself freedom. To do a little bit of trial and error. Now that doesn’t mean you can try it for three days, and if it doesn’t work, we’re gonna cut it. You gotta at least give it 21 days. It takes 21 days to make a habit. So we’re gonna give it 21 days to see if that rhythm works for you.

And if it does, excellent, roll with it. If it doesn’t, my friend, you have the freedom to reset and try something new.

Julie: Ugh, I love that. I bet. I, I think it’s so easy to think of our business systems as you know, spreadsheets and schedules, but like honestly, the real magic, something that has really shaped me this year that I finally let shaped me.

Rather, the real magic happens in community. And I know that in your corco you have built that in beautifully. Why do you think that so many. Solopreneurs feel so alone in their decision making. I mean, besides the obvious that they literally are alone,

Dennah: there’s the obvious that they are literally alone.

Yeah. But I think there’s this, this fear that we’re not on time. There’s this lie that we can get caught up believing that we’re, we don’t have it together enough, or we should be at a certain point, but we have to first define, what does success mean for you in this season? Not, what does it mean for your friend down the street or that influencer on Instagram?

What does it mean for you in the season? For me, getting out of the office and being able to go play in my garden, that’s success. I love that. Not having to work till 6:00 PM every night. That is a gift. Um, but I think. We can get first, get stuck believing the lie that we should be at a certain point. And when we believe that lie, we don’t want other people to know, oh, I failed.

I’m behind. I haven’t arrived. And so it can be scary being vulnerable because vulnerability at some level is giving someone enough information that it feels like they could hurt you. And so it takes a level of trust to say, this is the right person that if I share this, they’re not gonna, they’re not gonna tell me that I’m too far behind or they’re not gonna throw me away or tell me to close the doors or blast me on the internet, that I’m safe to share this.

And so that’s why we need. Trusted safe community where confidentiality is important and we get to champion one for one another. We were never meant to do life or business alone. We need people.

Julie: How has having a business community really changed things for you and and what kind of support do you see people really needing?

Dennah: So I’m gonna share some facts and then we’re gonna talk about. This relationally. So first, the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education have these numbers that I love, and you follow me. We’ve talked about them before, but they talk about if you first just have a dream or a goal idea and it’s simply floating around in your head, there’s a 10% chance that you’re going to reach that.

Then they talk about if you take it a step further and you actually write it down, it increases to 40 to 42%. So the likelihood of you doing something simply by writing it down, like that’s why I write down my quarterly goals. It increases 42% if I write it down. But if you have accountability with some form of scheduled regular meeting to meet and actually be accountable on that.

The chance of you reaching that goal increases to 95%. That means there’s only a 5% chance that you’re not going to reach those numbers. And if that doesn’t make you want to run and find your people and create some accountability, I don’t know what will

Julie: a a hundred percent. And this was, this was truly the year where I learned and allowed myself to embrace that, and I really have.

Put more out there and really changed more things in my business than I have since I started it in 2009. Like, wow. I mean, it really, it was absolutely the biggest game changer for me, for sure. But I wanna switch to talking a little bit about like delegation and, and trusting others because that’s, I mean, that’s a big CEO move.

It’s what was the, what was the first thing that you outsourced?

Dennah: The first thing that I outsourced was my bookkeeping. My

Julie: nice.

Dennah: I. I can’t do numbers. It takes me way too long to do them. And I love the people who can do them for me ’cause they’re faster. And it allows me to put attention on the things that only I can do.

And as a CEO, our job is to focus on the things that only we can do. Now, I understand there’s a scrappy startup seasons where we gotta do it all, but at some point the goal is to transition. That your attention is going to the things that you are an expert in and trusting. Other experts in the areas that aren’t your favorite things to do or aren’t your biggest strengths to come in and do their part and help support your business in that way.

Julie: What would you say to someone listening right now who is holding on too tightly out of fear that no one else will do it? Right?

Dennah: If you believe that no one else can do it, right, it is gonna be really hard to release control, but I wanna encourage you that someone doing it 40. 50, 70% as well as you can do it, is going to give you margin, magic, and mission happens in the margin, which means we need to have that space for you to be the expert that you are.

And so the colors may not just be just so, and a line may be a little bit crooked and the, the tape that went on the package may not be just the way that you would want it to go to your client. But it’s gonna get beat up in the mail anyways. And so what we want is that’s gonna get delivered and you’re gonna be doing things that only you can do.

And as a business owner, our job is to take ownership of our business. We are the CEO, and so we are going to need to delegate the things that we. Are able to delegate and do the things that only we can do. It does take a level of trust and courage and vulnerability to step out and allow others to come in.

And I wanna encourage you, it takes 21 days to make a habit. It’s gonna feel a little bit scrappy at in the beginning, you were not an expert. When you first started, you didn’t do it perfectly. And so we need to have great set for others. There’s gonna be a slight learning curve. Now if it’s taking a long time, my honey, we hire quick, we hire fast, and we fire fast.

Um, but if they’re coming in and they are showing that they are willing and they are teachable and they’re ready to do their part and take ownership over this area that you’ve given them, we need to operate with a small level of grace.

Julie: Ugh. Thank you so much for this conversation. Jenna. Please tell everyone where they can find you online.

Tell us about your latest offerings. Promote and brag girl.

Dennah: Well, you can find me just about anywhere as Dennah Renee. It’s D-E-N-N-A-H-R-E-N-E-E, and the thing that I am most passionate about is the cortico. This is where I do a lot of life with my girls, so we do. We do a lot of business on a lot of life because as solopreneurs, there is a lot of crossover.

And the members within the cortico, they serve as your unofficial board of advisors. And so they’re gonna champion for you. They’re gonna challenge for you, you, and they’re gonna be in your corner every step of the way. And so I would love for you to come over and see what life is like in the cortico.

Julie: Ah, I love that.

All right, everyone. We have clarified our calendars and embraced our inner CEO. Now let’s shut it down with something a little less productive. This week’s system shut down is a movie review. You hurt my feelings. I love. Julia Louie Dreyfus. I would watch her read a grocery list, but this one just felt a little too middle of the road.

The movie follows a novelist who accidentally overhears her husband, giving his honest opinion about her latest manuscript, and it’s not glowing. What unfolds is a quiet unraveling of trust, validation, and how much our creative work ties into our identity. The premise had. So much potential, but I never fully connected with the characters, so I found myself watching without really caring what happened next.

If you’re in the mood for something low key and dialogue heavy, it’s a fine background watch, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression. Three out of five stars. That’s it for today’s episode of the System for Everything. If you loved this. Conversation, hit subscribe. Leave a review or share it with a friend who is still in that seat of your pants era.

And don’t forget to follow me on Instagram at Dallas Girl Friday for more systems, stories and CEO moments. See you next week.