How they manifested their dream house, successful business and a jetski with Roger & Michelle Gordon

I love to bring guests on and share their inspiring stories of the things that they have created in their business, because it shows you what can be possible for you too. Today’s guests on the podcast are Roger and Michelle from Gordon Flooring. And in today’s episode, they share how they have scaled their business through money mindset. And they also share a lot about the manifestation processes they have used to create some really cool things in their business and their life. This episode is full of practical advice and inspiration so make sure you stick around.

Hello and welcome to The Clare Wood Podcast, where myself and incredible guests share about money mindset, financial successes, and how to manage your money in a fun and practical way to create wealth and abundance in both your business and your life. I’m your host, Clare Wood. I’m a business coach and a money mentor. I strongly believe that money has the power to positively change the world. I can’t wait to help you transform your mindset around money, create a love of numbers, and build the business of your dreams so you can live a life of financial freedom, giving, and global impact.

CLARE:

Welcome to the show. I would love for you guys to share your journey of when you started your business.

Roger and Michelle’s business journey

MICHELLE:

We started back in 2015. Roger went out on his own in the flooring industry and he was on his own out there trying to figure out business. And what ended up happening was we just didn’t know what we were doing, basically. And we struggled our way through. Roger was out there installing floors, doing a great job, and yet on the business front, we just weren’t really sure what we were doing.

CLARE:

Yeah. Going right back, you actually originally worked for your dad, right?

ROGER:

Yes. I worked for Michelle’s father, did my apprenticeship with him. I met Michelle before I started working for him.

CLARE:

Was that then weird working with your wife’s dad?

ROGER:

No, he was really good about it. He’s a pretty kickback guy, so it made it a pretty easy process. We had our times where we didn’t see eye to eye on things, but it a very good working relationship, which helped.

CLARE:

How was it when you were first getting started running your own business as compared to working for someone else?

ROGER:

Scary.

CLARE:

What was so scary about it?

ROGER:

Just not knowing. It was week to week not knowing, “Okay, what have we got coming in next week?” We weren’t prepared for looking into the future too much. It was more about finding what was available now and jumping straight on it and just doing job to job.

CLARE:

Yeah. And so Roger, you obviously were on the tools, and what was your role in the organisation, Michelle?

MICHELLE:

I was working as a nurse myself, full time, and then sort of trying to navigate business, I guess, the back end of the business and invoicing and tax and profit and loss. And I just, yeah, we both have no idea when it came to that.

CLARE:

Let’s not forget to mention that you guys have three children, one of whom would have been quite young at the time. Wow, that’s a lot to have on your plate.

MICHELLE:

Yeah, our little girl was born the year that you went out on your own.

ROGER:

Yeah.

CLARE:

Isn’t it crazy? My husband started his business when I was eight months pregnant, so I can totally relate to taking the leap at an unusual time. So you guys are working in the business as husband and wife. And the business started ticking along quite well, right?

ROGER:

Yeah. Well, where we live it hit a bit of a quiet patch, but I ended up traveling away quite far for work week to week and left Michelle at home with the kids just to keep money, cashflow ticking over, but we kept working through the slum of it, I guess. And then more people got to know what we’re about and who we were. And we just started from word of mouth, just started picking up more and more jobs and got through it all.

MICHELLE:

I remember sitting at home posting all these photos, starting up an Instagram account and a Facebook page and just posting. I’m like, “Roger, send me some photos of the work you’ve done today,” while he was away or wherever he was. And I’m like, “Let’s get this on there to show people what we’re doing.”

CLARE:

Wow. Can we go back and I’d love to know like what was going on for you guys in these early days of business. You had these young kids, Michelle you’re working full time as a nurse doing shift work. You’re saying cashflow was a bit of a struggle?

ROGER:

Initially it was. If it wasn’t for Michelle nursing at the same time, we probably would have been in a nastier position, but with Michelle’s cashflow from nursing, it helped keep the business stay afloat in the early years when I was struggling to find work. But yeah, we persevered and got through it, but it was a bit of a dark spot.

CLARE:

Well, people rarely talk about this. Do they? And I guess whenever anyone I know is starting a business, I’m like, “You have no idea the highs and the lows that you will go through until you get in there.” Would you guys agree with that?

ROGER:

Absolutely.

MICHELLE:

Yeah, definitely. Like Roger said, it was week to week for us. Well, I got paid fortnightly from the hospital. And so we really heavily relied on my nursing wage because some weeks were just pretty dry on the business front for us. So, yeah.

CLARE:

Yeah. That’s a very big reality for, I would say most business owners, and a lot of people can’t get through that. So good on you guys for having the faith, keep on going and not giving up to those challenging times.

Let’s fast forward a few years. Your business started to grow through word of mouth and at some point in time, Michelle, you reached out to me through Instagram. Do you want to have a chat to me about what was going on there?

The impact investing with business coach has had on their success

MICHELLE:

Yes. I think I heard you on a podcast and I thought, “Right, I need to contact this woman.” She’s amazing. She knows numbers, business, and all of the things that we didn’t. And I reached out to you. I found you on Instagram, reached out to you and you said, “We need to have a chat.” I think we initially spoke several months before we actually began working with you, because at that point we still weren’t a hundred percent in, I guess. We were just still winging it in our business. And I think Roger and I just both got our heads together and said, “What are we doing? We’re just ticking along here with kind of wondering and wading our way through business. We really should look at getting a coach.” And that’s when we spoke to you.

CLARE:

Yeah. I still remember that conversation. And it’s a bit like any time… I remember the first time that I invested in a coach, it’s terrifying, right? It’s a big commitment and the truth is like there’s no guarantees when you make any investment in your business. So I can imagine it was pretty scary, but then I do remember a message that you sent me a few months later and you were celebrating a milestone in your business. Do you want to share what that was and how you were feeling at the time?

MICHELLE:

Yes. I think it was like our first 50k month. And that was such a massive achievement. I’d been actually like listening to all of your podcasts by this stage. I was stalking you full on Clare, and we were talking about profit and loss and this and that. And so I really started to take notice of all of the numbers in our business and actually sitting down with Roger and working through the numbers ourselves and trying to sort of get our head around it. And this one particular month, we hit a 50k month and it was just such an incredible achievement. That’s when I reached out to you and I was like, “Just so you know, you’ve inspired me and Roger to really get into the numbers and really look what’s going on in the nitty gritty of it all.” And yeah, I shared that with you.

CLARE:

That is one of my favorite things. When people message me and say, “Hey, I’ve been listening to the podcast.” Or, “I implemented this change and this is what happened.” That’s one of my big things in this business. Obviously, I love to work with paying clients, but even being able to help people that are just listening to the podcast or following through on your content… And we can dive a little bit more into the impact that you’re having in your space too Michelle a bit later on, but yeah, I remember that. It was such a beautiful message. And it wasn’t long after that, that you guys reached out and said, “Now we’re doing it, let’s get started.” So the first meeting, Roger, you didn’t actually come to that first meeting?

ROGER:

No, I would have been on the tools. I’ve always been a bit reserved with certain things and always had the belief from my parents that’s been passed on and that you’d get there on your own. You got to hustle and bustle and struggle and everything like that. And Michelle was talking to me about let’s work with a coach, let’s try this and do this. And I always had a vision of where we want to go and where we want to be and believe that we’ll get there, but I didn’t have any of the tools or the structure to do it. And that’s where obviously working with yourself has just helped open up how to get there. But that first meeting… I was avoiding it.

How Michelle removed herself from her partner’s business to focus on her own

CLARE:

Michelle, since Roger wasn’t there, do you want to tell me what some of the things were that you said that you guys… Because in the first meeting I said, “What are the things that you want to achieve working together?” The one big one that jumps out is you said, “I don’t want to be working with flooring anymore.” So I think you had started your own business at that stage. Actually, maybe we might talk a little bit about that. So do you mind sharing a little bit about your business?

MICHELLE:

I’d been nursing for 23 years. I went through burnout, obviously, trying to juggle it all and kids and shift work. It’s a crazy world out there and I fell into this dark world of burnout. But after a couple years, I eventually found my way out of it and went on this real healing journey, which brought about my business, helping nurses as well, women and nurses who were feeling overwhelmed and burnt out who needed help too, and didn’t know where to turn. So I wrote a program based on my journey through overwhelm and burnout to help other women and nurses. So this has been all ticking along since, I guess 2018 for me.

I do remember our first call because it kind of made me realise that I actually didn’t want to be working in our flooring business so much because that’s where my passion wasn’t at. I was passionate about helping women and nurses and that’s where I wanted to be. And so I’d kind of gone on this journey and was doing all of the backend of the business stuff for Roger, but I actually didn’t really want to be there so much

CLARE:

Yeah. I remember that that was a big, scary thing to admit to because you guys have been building this amazing business together, obviously business partners. And the fact that you even acknowledged that, I remember sitting there thinking, “Oh my gosh, well, you’re working, you are running two businesses, you’re a mom to three kids.” I was like, “How on earth are you doing it all?” You’re also really into your health and fitness and going to the gym all the time. I was in total awe of you, and I remember just thinking, of course, you need to take something off your plate. That was one of our initial conversations. And then I think we eventually got Roger to come on to one of the calls. And yeah, maybe we could start to talk about some of the work that we did together, I guess, particularly in the early days if you can remember back then. So what were some of the big shifts that we started to unpick together?

MICHELLE:

You definitely helped me figure out where I wanted to be and what my role was going to be. And I guess it was really sort of understanding what roles we were taking in the business. And yes, I was there in the background fully supporting Roger and helping through Xero and stuff like that and whatnot. But it was more than really handing over the reins to Roger because you were like, “You’re the CEO now, Roger. Off you go, you’ve got this.”

CLARE:

And I think that was a bit of an a-ha moment when we were first working together because you’re like, “Oh, I’m helping Roger.” And I’m like, “Well, it sounds like you’re kind of running the show really.” So this is actually a major, major shift in your role. I remember that we went through and did a bit of an exercise, like defining what would sit with who in the business. And Roger, how were you feeling about this whole thing when Michelle said she wanted to step out of the business? Were you a bit resistant to it or what was coming up for?

ROGER:

No, I was pretty open for it because I know what Michelle has going with her business. I fully understand it obviously been with Michelle for a long, long while. So I’ve seen when she was at a low and burnt out and can completely understand what others are going through. So I love the fact that she’s out there helping other people and doing what she loves. And yeah, as far as a stepping away from the business, it’s probably been a really good thing because we don’t tend to have as much conflict now regarding the business and she still has her input into everything.

CLARE:

I was really cool actually being part of that journey for both of you, because I’d actually been through a very similar thing with my husband because when he started his business, I was embedded in his business. He’ll probably deny that, but I was doing, I guess, a similar kind of thing. Like I was making sure that the back end of the business was ticking along. I was thinking about marketing. I was making sure that invoices were getting paid and things were coming together. And it was actually really challenging to remove myself from the business. Because when you build something together, you kind of become quite… I’m like, “He can’t do this without me.” I do remember that there was at times a bit of a similar thing and I kept saying to you, “If my husband can learn Xero, anyone can.” It’s a work in progress. So let’s talk about where you’re at now, then. Michelle, are you still in the business?

MICHELLE:

Definitely not so much. Every time I try and pop my head in Clare, you tell me to back down in the nicest possible way. You’re like, “Michelle, Roger and I have got this. It’s all good.” I remember when you left me out of Voxer messages, because we had the three-way Voxer going on, you was our coach. And I was like, “Huh, it’s been really quiet on Voxer lately,” but you guys were having your own conversations.

CLARE:

Voxer is a voice messaging app. Like you said earlier, it started with all three of us. And then as Michelle started to step out of the business, we just started a two-way chat because Michelle kept getting involved back in it. Because I understand, but the funny thing is, is I was like, “I’m not pushing you to do anything that you don’t want to do. This is what you told me the dream was, the vision was.” And it’s been wonderful watching Roger step into the leadership role and starting to lead the team.

CLARE:

So speaking of leading the team, there’s been some pretty big growth in Gordon Flooring. What would you say have been some of the biggest things that have shifted behind that to help you scale both the sales and the profit of the business?

How Roger scaled his business through hiring staff

ROGER:

Just having all the processes in place. Like obviously we spoke about hiring more staff because I was sort of at the point where I was getting more jobs coming to me, but I couldn’t do the jobs because it was just me and another guy on tools. So we were knocking work back. And I remember you saying, “What are you doing knocking work back? You just hire more people and do more work.” And at the time I was like, “Yeah, but then we’re going to pay wages and we’re going to do this and that.” And I was panicking a fair bit about it. And then I just believed in the journey and we hired more staff and got more work done. It’s been a lot more profitable obviously and it’s working out really well. We’re still growing to this point. So I can see that we still got our ways to go, but the best thing is, it’s just increased every month. Every time we follow the steps, we’re moving further and further ahead and getting to that destination that we want to be at.

CLARE:

And it sounds so simple when we talk about it on a podcast, right? It’s like, “Oh, I hired more staff.” I am going through this journey myself and it’s still really challenging to actually commit to bringing people into the team. I totally understand. And this is what this mindset work is really, isn’t it? It’s starting to go… Instead of it going, well, what if the worst… Because our brains are programmed to keep us safe. They’re programmed to say, keep doing what you’ve always done because it’s safe, it’s known. And doing something different is scary. And that’s why this mindset work is so hard because it’s like, well, rather than thinking about the worst possible scenario, what if we think about the best possible scenario? What if in a good way.

It’s been honestly, just wonderful to witness your journey and your growth in your business. Do you guys mind sharing what your plans are for this year in terms of your business growth?

MICHELLE:

I think it’s just a bigger team. I know Roger has wanted to step into more commercial work now. And I think the time we started working with you, we were heavily doing garage floors and all of these tiny little jobs. And you sort of helped Roger with that vision of, “Where do you want to go? But you’ve now seen that it’s all possible and definitely mindset work. It was like, yes, but growing the teams I think, and having teams so that you can oversee everything.

ROGER:

Yeah, basically for me off the tools, a lot more to focus on gathering the commercial jobs because there’s obviously more money in the commercial side of things. So it’s just creating that team to take care of it. It’s one thing to find the work, but it’s another thing to have the team to actually be able to do the work and do it to the satisfactory that we want.

CLARE:

You have a very high standard of work by the sounds of it. I think Roger’s a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his work. And that’s probably, I think a reason why your business has grown so well because you are known for having such a high standard of work and you really hold to that.

There’s something else that I really want to chat to you guys about, which is the concept of manifestation. You two as a couple are some of like the craziest… Like you can manifest anything. And I’ve witnessed it so many times over the last 18 months. I wanted to share a little bit about some of the cool things that you’ve manifested together. So maybe what we might start with, if someone’s listening and they’re new to the concept of manifestation, Michelle, do you mind sharing… And I know this is some of the work that you do as well in your business. Do you mind sharing a little bit about like what exactly manifestation is?

The craziest things Roger and Michelle had manifested

MICHELLE:

It’s actually putting out there to the universe, what you want, what you desire, what you want to call in and then making it your reality by just taking aligned action, keeping a positive mindset, and also kind of surrendering to letting go of the outcome.

CLARE:

Yeah. Well, I will definitely link to your course. Do you want to tell our listeners what your course is called and I’ll pop it in the show notes for today’s episode?

MICHELLE:

Yeah, so it’s on my platform, I’ve just created a little while ago, Manifestation Masterclass on that. I discovered manifestation in 2000 and I think it was just before we started working with you, Clare, and we’d lost a substantial amount of money through our business, through our flooring business, which set us back. We were in a really, really difficult spot and we hadn’t had any systems in place. Roger was a one-man… Or he had another fellow working for him at the time. We lost a lot of money and it was a really dark time for us, wasn’t it? And I remember thinking, “I’m going to manifest this money back. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’m going to learn how to manifest and manifest this money back to us.” And I set about learning all things manifestation and I… Podcasts and books and courses, and you name it. I did it all. 30 days later, that money landed back into our bank account through an unexpected government payment.

CLARE:

Oh my gosh.

MICHELLE:

To the dollar.

CLARE:

Isn’t it crazy? I just got goosebumps listening to that. I have witnessed some of the things that you’ve manifested even over the past 18 months. So I would love for you guys to share some of the amazing things that you’ve manifested over that period of time.

ROGER:

I wanted to get a jet ski because we had one, years and years ago. Sold it before we had the kids and I kept saying to Michelle, I want to get another one, one day. I want to buy another one. Originally, we were like, we’ll never be able to afford it, but it’d be nice to get one. And then we started… Basically, I think I’ve mentioned to you that I wanted to buy one. And you were like, “Well, why not? Just manifest that.” And so I started Googling jet skis, talking about jet-skis, reading reviews on jet skis, went into a couple shops and looked at jet skis. And then eventually, we were ready and we said, “Let’s buy one.” And it was the right price and everything. And when I rang up, it was sold. I remember being pretty disappointed about it, and then Michelle said, “It’s okay.” She said, “Another one will turn up. It’ll be better, it’ll be cheaper, and it’ll happen.” So I sort of sat down and I thought, “Yeah, she’s right. It will.” And I think it was only two days later, the guy rang me and said, “Are you after a jet ski, because there’s somebody in your actual town that is selling one.” And it ended up being better, cheaper, and it all worked out. So that was one of the ticket items.

CLARE:

That is so crazy.

MICHELLE:

And we manifested our dream house. We found our beautiful forever home, which we’d been looking at for two years. We had two houses come up that we tried to purchase and it all just fell through. And we were like, “What is going on?” We wanted this house, we needed a bigger space. Roger needed a shed for his tools and equipment. And we literally, I put it out there and put out my manifestation and so did Roger. We did this together and literally this beautiful home came up when we least expected it, at the price that we wanted, with everything in that we had envisioned and asked for.

CLARE:

Yeah, it was so exciting that time. I remember being like, “What? Where did this come from?” And it’s like, “Yeah, it’s our dream home. It’s happening.” I was so excited for you two. I mean, I know it was stressful moving house and all that, but it was so exciting to see you find the place that you’d been searching for so long.

And oh gosh, I can think of other things. I’ve noticed like with Roger, he’ll be like, “Oh, I want to do commercial work.” And then a week later he’ll be like, “I’ve got a commercial job.” And I’m like, “How?” And he’s like, “It just came to me.” And I’m like, “What? How does this happen to you so quickly?” I mean, I’m definitely a big believer in manifestation, but I would say that the pair of you do it faster than most people. So is there any other stories that you wanted to share about things that you’ve been able to manifest into your life?

MICHELLE:

I think it was the first commercial job that you did, the bigger commercial job a couple of years ago now. And we were like this was it. This is our foot in the door. And Roger had quoted on it and had been backwards and forwards negotiating with the client and working through everything. And I remember I went away and I bought this beautiful citrine crystal and Roger rang me this particular night saying, “Oh, I’m one step closer. I’m one step closer.” And I said, “Well, I’ve set the intention. I’ve bought this incredible crystal. This is what this crystal is going to bring us, right? All of this abundance.” And sure enough, the next day, the customer rang and said, “Yep. When can you go ahead? When can you start this job?” So that’s the thing now with the work that you’re doing with Clare. Is you’re just putting it out there and it’s coming to reality.

ROGER:

It was only last week when you and I, Clare, were discussing the smaller jobs and opposed to a one commercial job. And then I had a bit of time there just last Friday to just think, “Okay, Roger, you’ve got to start looking into more commercial work. How am I going to get hold of it and how am I going to get it out there that we want more commercial work?” And I was just sort of visualizing what the commercial work was going to be. And I was workshops, factory floors, things like that. And we were on a small island doing a job and there was not a lot of phone service, but when I got home at like nine o’clock Friday night, because we had to wait for a boat to get us back. I had a message on my phone that was actually from a client that wants large workshop floor done. So I was like, wow, that happened pretty quick. So we’ve since quoted the job and it’s a significant job. So I was like, “Okay, well, I’ve got to keep that process going.”

CLARE:

Yeah. It’s just amazing and magic. I love that both of you do it as a couple, because I feel like it adds even more power and speed to the way that you’re able to attract things into your life. It’s just been amazing.

Is there anything that you want to share with the listeners if they’re listening and feeling really excited and inspired about manifesting, about growing their business, maybe about leaving their partner’s business? Is there any tips, words, wisdom that you’d like to share with them?

MICHELLE:

I think it’s definitely work with a coach. If you’re in that sort of place where you are wading your way through business, trying to figure it all out on your own, to get a coach. Because we definitely wouldn’t have done or gotten to where we are now, if it wasn’t for you, Clare. So we’re just so grateful for that. And I think it’s trusting in the process and not being held back by fear, like you talked about, because that’s where our mindset… Our minds want to go into that fear-based thought pattern, that worst-case scenario and it’s learning to overcome that.

ROGER:

Yeah. It’s trust in yourself, believe, and definitely the coaching has helped us enormously with everything because it just puts the right processes in place and gets you there. But definitely the manifesting side of things and also just taking time out is a big one as well. I know you’ve said in the past, Clare, when you turn off from everything, things come to you and you have those light bulb moments, but even learning to do that can be quite difficult to block out all the noise. I know I never would have saw myself sitting on a couch with a Woodwick candle burning and just having a bit of quiet time. If you’d told me I would have been sitting there doing that two years ago, I would have sort of laughed at you, but that’s my turnoff time now and it blocks everything out. Your ideas come to you and it helps you grow.

CLARE:

Yeah. I definitely agree with everything that you say. I know that big up levels for me have always happened when I’m working with a coach or in a program. And I definitely agree with the downtime and the work that you do about the quiet time. You guys already know this, but when I met my husband, he was kind of the woo-woo guy, who had the crystals and the manifestation and the meditation. And I’ve really come on that journey now and I can see the power of it. And that’s why it’s part of the work that I teach. So thank you so, so much for sharing that and thank you both so much for coming on the podcast.

If someone wants to get in touch with Gordon Flooring, do you want to share just a little bit more about the business and how they can get in touch with you?

MICHELLE:

Yes. So we’ve got our Instagram page, Gordon Flooring. Or on Facebook, we’re also under Gordon Flooring. We’re excitingly doing a new website very soon, which will be www.gordonflooring.com.au. So yeah, that’s where we’ll be. We’re just excited to build this incredible new website now and it will have so many incredible photos of the work that Roger has done.

CLARE:

Yeah, amazing. Well, I’ll pop the links in the show notes if you are based in Australia and you want to get your floors done. That way you can reach out to Gordon Flooring. And all of course pop the links for Michelle’s Manifesting Masterclass in the show notes for today’s episode as well. Roger, Michelle, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your inspiring story today and appreciate your time.

MICHELLE:

Thank you.

ROGER:

Thank you.

CLARE:

Thanks so much for listening. If you loved this episode, please share it with your audience and don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @clare_wood_coach. And also, make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Have an abundant week, and I look forward to talking to you again next week.