The systematic approach that transformed Tiffany Tate from solopreneur to CEO
When HoneyBook Awards winner Tiffany Tate launched Career Maven Consulting in 2018, she didn’t mean to become an entrepreneur. A simple side hustle writing executive resumes and LinkedIn profiles quickly evolved into a thriving career consulting business. Tiffany’s client base exploded through referrals and word-of-mouth, but by 2020, she hit the classic entrepreneur’s wall: she was drowning in administrative chaos.
By 2020, Tiffany faced a familiar entrepreneur’s challenge: she was drowning in administrative chaos. Prospective clients weren’t hearing back fast enough, and handling everything on her own was become rapidly unsustainable.
And not only was the situation incredibly difficult to manage, it kept Tiffany from doing what she wanted most—to grow and scale her business.
Here’s her story.
From side-hustle to career
Career Maven Consulting was born in 2018 out of constant requests from Tiffany’s network for executive resume writing, LinkedIn profile creation, and speaking requests. At the time, Tiffany was working as a career and professional development advisor at a college.
By day, she coached college students and alumni, but she soon began taking on personal clients and leading workshops. Then, an executive client gave Tiffany the perfect descriptor: “You’re basically the career maven.” The name stuck, and from there, her business was born.
As her reputation grew, so did her client roster—and with it, the operational complexity. At the time Tiffany was using Excel to track her clients, Microsoft Word to create contracts, and PayPal to send invoices, among other things. Tiffany soon found herself drowning in administrative chaos, juggling client tracking, invoicing, and scheduling across multiple files, platforms, and services.
“It made sense when there were five clients, but over time, when it became 15 to 20 people reaching out to me — I wasn’t getting back to them fast enough,” Tiffany said. “It all felt discombobulated.”
The situation wasn’t sustainable. As a solopreneur with work piling up and clients depending on her, Tiffany knew she needed a solution—and fast.
Moving from Excel, Word, and PayPal to one easy-to-use business platform
By happenstance, Tiffany was venting to a fellow entrepreneur in the wedding industry about her business chaos when they recommended HoneyBook. “They were like, ‘I think this platform could really work for you,'” said Tiffany.
So Tiffany checked it out—and it felt immediately easy to use.
“It felt like something I could figure out and set up myself,” said Tiffany. “Immediately after opening an account, I got my first contact form together and put it on my website to start streamlining my leads.”
“After HoneyBook, I just had one platform to worry about.”
The difference was immediate, with HoneyBook handling all of her administrative tasks like contracts, invoices, payments and client management with ease.
“When it comes to my business journey, HoneyBook feels like my first employee because I didn’t have an assistant,” said Tiffany.
“After HoneyBook, I just had one platform to worry about,” she continued. “It’s the first platform I’ve invested in besides my website that truly saved my sanity.”
Over the years, as Tiffany’s business has grown from a team of one to now include an assistant, social media support, and a bench of coaches and facilitators, HoneyBook and its suite of features have become central to scaling smoothly with no added chaos.
Qualifying leads and booking fast with HoneyBook Automations
Beyond managing clients, invoicing, and administrative tasks, Tiffany and her team leverage HoneyBook to automate their entire sales pipeline. This strategic approach has transformed how they handle inquiries and qualify potential clients by creating a seamless and automatic process.
Career Maven’s two highest revenue services are speaking opportunities and career and leadership coching. To help Tiffany figure out which leads are worth her time, she’s got HoneyBook automations set up for each service that automatically respond to inquiries, send out detailed brochures, and handle scheduling.
“Automations have been a big part of how I’ve use HoneyBook”
“Automations have been a big part of how I’ve used HoneyBook, and they help me remove myself from the process of qualifying a lead,” Tiffany explained. “By the time I’m on the phone with someone, they’ve already seen 99% of our methodology and service offerings.”
Here’s how her automation works: Speaking opportunity leads receive Tiffany’s Speaking Services Guide, which details her keynotes, workshops, and moderation services. If leads don’t respond within two days, they’ll automatically receive a follow-up with a scheduling link.
Similarly, coaching inquiries trigger the Coaching & Career Branding Brochure. When prospects don’t engage with the brochure or schedule a discovery call, the system sends two strategic follow-up emails—all without any manual intervention from her team.
“If someone views the brochure and doesn’t move forward, they’re likely not a good fit for the business,” Tiffany noted. “By the time someone does schedule a call, I’m only talking to people who are likely to book.”
Build custom workflows that nurture leads, book clients, and keep projects moving—all without lifting a finger.
Building systems that scale
Additionally, the integrated nature of HoneyBook—combining inquiry forms, brochures, automations, and scheduling tools all in one platform—was critical in Tiffany’s transition from solopreneur to CEO of a growing team and also in enabling the sustainable growth of Career Maven year over year.
“Every year, we audit our pricing and operational costs,” Tiffany shared. “I love that I can go into HoneyBook, update my brochures and packages, and just move on. I don’t have to worry about changing all these things on my website.”
“I set up the system, but I don’t need to handle it all on my own anymore.”
On a larger scale, HoneyBook’s all-in-one platform has empowered Tiffany to be more confident in including other team members in back-end operations. Before HoneyBook, she was burning out from just trying to do everything under the sun. “I was in my own way,” said Tiffany. But now?
“I feel more comfortable delegating now,” she explained. “I set up the system, but I don’t need to handle it all on my own anymore.”
For other small business owners looking to grow their business—she has this piece of advice to give: ‘Take time to evaluate your systems and consider outsourcing support tasks. This creates space for you to focus on what you do exceptionally well, rather than being bogged down by less important activities that become counterproductive.'”
The HoneyBook difference
- 777% increase in revenue
- 8 out of 10 proposals result in signed clients
- No more administrative chaos
- A seamless client experience from end to end
What started as a solution to her back-end chaos became something much more powerful. With HoneyBook’s automations, Tiffany transformed time-consuming processes—qualifying leads, sending detailed service brochures, and scheduling discovery calls—into seamless workflows.
Tiffany has evolved from a solo freelancer to the CEO of a growing consultancy with contractors and team members. With HoneyBook handling the operational foundation, she can focus on what she does best: empowering professionals, delivering impactful keynotes, and scaling a business that’s built to last.
“The feedback I’ve gotten over the years is, ‘Wow, you really have your stuff together,’” she said. “As an entrepreneur, I feel good knowing that our tech is tight.” Now, can Tiffany focus on strategic growth while her operations team handles the day-to-day execution seamlessly.
What’s next for Career Maven Consulting
What started as Tiffany’s search for a solution to administrative chaos became the foundation for remarkable growth. Through HoneyBook’s automated systems, Tiffany made the leap from doing everything herself to leading with confidence. Today, she only takes calls with pre-qualified leads who are ready to book. With her growing team and plans for a COO, she’s freed herself up to focus on her vision and company.
“HoneyBook [has]…evolved with me as a business owner”
“I started a business to solve a problem and to use the skills that I’m good at.” said Tiffany “With HoneyBook, I don’t need to master a million tools, and it’s evolved with me as a business owner.”
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