EP 71: Achieving Work-Life Balance as a CEO with Holly Haynes: Tips for Success and Sanity

2025-06-10

Holly Haynes built a thriving business by treating her schedule like strategy and success like a lifestyle decision. After 22 years in corporate strategy, Holly knew something had to shift. She wanted mornings that weren’t rushed, afternoons that included the bus stop, and a career that didn’t require sacrificing her health or time with her family. So she made a plan, a very specific one, and stuck to it. In this episode, Holly joins Corinne Morahan and walks through how she launched Crush the Rush, built...

Holly Haynes built a thriving business by treating her schedule like strategy and success like a lifestyle decision.

After 22 years in corporate strategy, Holly knew something had to shift. She wanted mornings that weren’t rushed, afternoons that included the bus stop, and a career that didn’t require sacrificing her health or time with her family. So she made a plan, a very specific one, and stuck to it.

In this episode, Holly joins Corinne Morahan and walks through how she launched Crush the Rush, built her business in ten hours a week, and created real momentum while still working full-time and raising twins. She shares how setting theme days and defining her best working hours helped her move faster, not harder, and why consistency beats hustle every time.

What does it look like to grow a brand when you’re still in a 9-to-5? How do you know when to take the leap? And how do you make sure you’re not doing it from a place of panic? Holly answers these questions and more, with honesty. She also shares her take on visibility, why she doesn’t rely on social media, how she uses podcasting and SEO instead, and what’s changed in her business since she started focusing on real-life priorities.

If you’re building something big and want to do it without burning out, Holly’s story offers a grounded, strategic path forward.

Episode Breakdown:

00:00 Holly’s Journey from Corporate to Entrepreneurship

05:01 Trusting Intuition and Creating a Transition Plan

09:07 The Crush the Rush Method: Working 8–10 Hours a Week

12:56 Theme Days and Strategic Scheduling

15:01 Avoiding Burnout While Building

18:18 Growing Without Social Media

21:21 Building a Personal Brand in Corporate

23:52 Organic Visibility and Podcasting Strategy

29:03 Lessons and Vision for the Future

Links

Connect With Holly Haynes:

Holly Haynes empowers female entrepreneurs to build thriving, scalable businesses without getting lost in the ever-changing social media algorithms. With over two decades of experience, supporting Fortune 500 companies she built her own business while juggling a career, raising twins, and retired herself and her husband in just 2 years.

A recognized industry expert and speaker featured by Entrepreneur.com, Thrive, ConvertKit, Honeybook, and Hello Audio to name a few, Holly supports women in achieving their entrepreneurial dreams through her strategic coaching, the Crush the Rush Quarterly Planner, and the global top-ranked Crush the Rush Podcast.

Her focus on life-priorities-focused businesses ensures that women can scale their ventures without sacrificing their personal well-being.

Holly hosts the top 100 Crush the Rush podcast and runs her strategic coaching business while raising her twin daughters with her husband in Columbus, Ohio.

To get visible and convert leads to clients without social media by following Holly's framework, click here: https://www.hollymariehaynes.com/social

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

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