How Does a “Beyond Ordinary Business” Make an Impact in Our Community?
An interview with Claudia Rucker, founder/owner of Beyond Ordinary Business
Claudia Rucker is an avid ambassador for bringing about change and good in the world. We knew we would be friends for life when we discovered a shared and unusual passion for kindness and entrepreneurship and how the two could be a powerful formula for change. Claudia is one of the kindest, most integrous people I know and the best possible partner I could have ever imagined to re-envision the way we do business in Santa
Barbara. It was from this shared ground of being that we co-created A Kinder World of Commerce in January of 2021. In less than a year after launching our educational campaign, Claudia sold her business, Estetica Mia, and launched an innovative coaching and consulting business that supports women entrepreneurs in a more sustainable and life-affirming way. I am so excited and proud to introduce you to the founder and CEO of Beyond Ordinary Business.
ML: Tell us about your business and the services you offer.
CR: I started Beyond Ordinary Business specifically for founders of service sector businesses who want to leverage their business for good without sacrificing their self-care and their values. Our vision is to inspire the reimagination of the service sector as a vehicle to transform lives and communities. I like to say that we are helping seasoned female entrepreneurs build businesses that create abundance, connection, and empowerment for all the stakeholders of the business, not just their clients. What makes Beyond Ordinary Business special is our ability to marry profit with a kind humanized work environment and out-of-this-world customer service!
Our clients are empowered women seeking to make their greatest contribution, women who know that the old way is unsustainable and are looking for a new way to uplevel their businesses. This is where we come in. We provide a customizable business framework that includes practical financial literacy; planning skills training that includes effective prioritizing, capacity building and time balancing; tools to track and reflect on progress and impact and supportive accountability. This is definitely an alchemical process, one that requires the outside support of trusted advisors, professionals, and coaches who share our values for a kinder world of commerce.
ML: How is your business model different than the traditional model that has governed enterprise in our country since the Industrial Revolution?
CR: The core of our model is moving toward a collaborative approach to business and away from a competitive one. Our business philosophy is grounded in being in right relationship with all the stakeholders of our business through a triple bottom line commitment and a long-term focus on sustainability.
As to the former, we focus on three types of profit. The first is a people profit. We see our business as a laboratory for human flourishing. We also aim to make a financial and planet sustainability profit. This triple bottom line commitment allows us to make a positive impact for all the business’s stakeholders. In fact, according to the 2019 American Express Women In Business Report, of the 6.3 million women-owned businesses in the US 50% of those are in the service sector. To me, that is 3.15 million opportunities to leverage for good!
Another major difference is our approach to growth. Status quo business growth practices focus on growth for growth’s sake and can be quite extractive for the humans working in the business! This is linear growth and the expectation to go straight up day after day, month after month, year after year is exhausting and extractive, not to mention completely unsustainable. Our approach is regenerative and based on cyclical growth because we incorporate rest and reflection into all our operational processes, planning and expectations. The rate of growth is determined by the founder’s metrics of success, not some industry expert telling you that if your business is not growing it is dying and you are a failure. Our approach is very kind and beautiful to the human spirit.
ML: What inspired you to create a business that focuses on balancing time, capacity and money so that women can make their greatest contribution?
CR: When I first started integrating wellness into my last business, Estetica Mia, I recognized the need to create tools, rituals, and accountability practices that focused on balancing time, capacity and money. I felt a great sense of urgency to get my life in order as a response to turning 50. I was beginning to recognize that I had fallen for the societal myth that we’re running out of time and it’s too late to make a difference after 50.
Today, I embrace that I have a lot to share, and I can still make an impact. Just look at Julia Childs. She was 51 when she redefined herself and much success came knocking on her door.
ML: What are your company’s values?
CR: Connection, Empowerment, Self Responsibility, Kindness, Beauty, and Faith.
ML: How do you live those values on a daily basis in your business?
CR: That is a great question! I would say that our values are the foundation for our principles. These principles are guidelines or guardrails for navigating being in right relationship with ourselves, others, our community, the environment and our most valuable personal resources, like time and money. I focus more on principles now because life and business are dynamic and complex. Having sturdy guardrails in place helps me stay in alignment with my values. When I am in alignment with my values there is a magical flow that feels deeply satisfying, even as I navigate the ebbs and flows of life.
ML: Is there anything else you would like our viewers to know about Beyond Ordinary Business?
CR: Yes, I’d like to share that there is magic that happens when you bring together clarity of vision, a lifetime of experience, faith, personal responsibility and a passion for healing the injustices you see in your community. I had a lot of people telling me that my last business endeavor, Estetica Mia, was going to fail. But it didn’t because I had my family and an amazing group of women who believed in me. Monica, you refer to this as my “petri dish of support.” With all that support I was able to overcome my fears and take action to see my wild, audacious, abundant reimagined business and personal life vision come to fruition.
Supporting and empowering our women employees has always been important to me. Many over the years have gone on to use entrepreneurialism as a way out of generational poverty; many have bought their 1st homes in Santa Barbara; others have transcended the beauty industry and entered medicine and some have been the 1st in their families to graduate from college. It has been a privilege to have given them a place to learn and hone new skills and watch them fly. I wish every entrepreneur could feel what doing business beautifully feels like, that deep feeling of satisfaction and joy that comes from leveraging a business for good.
Monica & Claudia
Claudia Rucker is founder and CEO of Beyond Ordinary Business. To learn more, visit her website at www.beyondordinary.business. Claudia can be reached at (805) 698-2358 or [email protected].