What if your slow season could become your most profitable one? In this episode, guest host Rachel Lee take the mic to share her journey from booked-out creative to strategically building a business that runs beyond her physical presence. We talk about the mindset shift from service provider to systems creator, and how motherhood pushed her to rethink her work and time.
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How Rachel Lee Turned Her Off-Season into a Scalable Business Strategy
When Rachel Lee became a mom in 2022, her relationship with work fundamentally shifted. A career dancer, wedding videographer, and now full-time mom, Rachel suddenly found herself juggling three demanding roles. The pressure was intense, and something had to give.
Rather than stepping back entirely, Rachel decided to approach her off-season differently. Instead of treating the slower summer months in Florida as downtime, she saw them as an opportunity—a season to build rather than just wait.
From Always Booked to Strategic Builder
Rachel’s background as a professional dancer had ingrained in her the mindset of “always be auditioning.” It was a culture of constant hustle and diversifying revenue streams. But when she started to feel the strain of doing too much—especially as a new mom—she realized that being booked wasn’t the same as being sustainable.
She began exploring how to build a business that could generate income even when she wasn’t actively trading time for money. The off-season became the perfect space to experiment.
Step 1: Buying Back Her Time
One of the biggest breakthroughs came when Rachel outsourced her biggest time drain—video editing. Despite having efficient workflows, post-production still consumed her. During her postpartum period, Rachel had neither the time nor mental capacity to edit consistently, and something had to change.
By hiring freelance editors and documenting her editing SOPs in Notion, Rachel bought herself the breathing room to focus on big-picture strategy. That same Notion system eventually became the foundation of her digital product line.
Lesson: Identify your biggest bottleneck and reclaim your time. Even freeing up a few hours can help you move from tasking to leading.
Step 2: Packaging What She Already Used
Rachel’s first digital product wasn’t a grand invention—it was a Final Cut Pro library template she used every day. After cleaning it up and creating a simple Canva mockup, she listed it on Etsy. It sold. Then sold again. And again.
From there, she created more offerings: her Notion Business Hub and cycle-syncing calendar templates. These were all systems she had built for herself out of necessity, repackaged to serve others.
Lesson: The tools and templates you already use are often the most valuable products you can offer.
Step 3: Teaching Something Tiny
With time and systems in place, Rachel began exploring educational content. But instead of building a massive course, she focused on teaching one small transformation—how to streamline wedding video editing.
She built a one-hour mini course that’s currently in beta, with plans to market it through evergreen YouTube content, her email list, and short-form video. She also integrated affiliate links into her materials, creating additional passive income opportunities on the backend.
Lesson: You don’t need a full curriculum to start teaching. A single, clear transformation is often more powerful.
A Note for Creatives in Transition
Rachel knows that not everyone can jump into content creation or product launches overnight—especially new moms or those transitioning into new seasons of life. Her encouragement? Start with what you can control.
Her first step wasn’t launching a course. It was building a Notion system that gave her clarity, structure, and support. From there, every next step became more intentional.
If nothing else, Rachel believes the off-season should be used to evaluate how your time is spent and where your energy creates the most return. For her, that meant shifting from constant client work to building assets that could support her long-term.
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