The Real Reason You Haven’t Started Building Impact Yet

Episode Shownotes:

A woman DM’d Lisa about her teenage son, who’s already making an impact in his community. No business, no team, no funding. Just an idea and action. Meanwhile, the women Lisa works with have the revenue, the audience, and the experience, and they’re still telling themselves they’re not ready.

This episode is a mirror. Lisa gets into the real reason successful women stall on building impact (it’s not logistics, it’s identity), and walks through what a first step can look like when you stop waiting for someday.

Main Topics Discussed:

Why “someday” is not a strategy and what’s keeping successful women stuck in research mode instead of action
The identity tension: she’s been rewarded for building wealth, not for leading impact
Why the fear isn’t paperwork. It’s putting her name on something and not being able to follow through
What first steps look like when you don’t need (or want) a nonprofit

Resources Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Impact Build Intensive – Build impact into your business without burning out

Ways to Keep Working with Lisa:

JOIN MY FREE TELEGRAM COMMUNITY · Where I drop resources, answer questions, and connect with women building impact into their brands and nonprofits.
IMPACT BUILD INTENSIVE · 90 minutes, one-on-one. We map your next moves and how to incorporate impact into what you’re already building. You walk away with a plan you can start right away.
MOMENTUM · Two days one-on-one with me in California wine country. We build your six month strategic roadmap for the brand or nonprofit.

Connect with Lisa:

Episode Transcript:

Lisa Avila (00:00.298)
I was chatting in the DMs this week with a woman and she was talking about her son. He is in high school and he’s already creating impact in his community. And I don’t know every detail of what he’s building, but I know that he’s a teenager. He does not have a business or a team or revenue or any of that, but he had an idea and he is doing something with it because he already wants to give back.

and I was sitting with this because I talk to women every week who have all of those things, the business, the team, the revenue, the audience, the experience, the connections, but they’re still telling themselves that they aren’t ready to create impact. And I am not here to guilt trip you. I want you to know that. I’m not trying to make you feel bad. I just want to hold up a mirror for all of us because if a high school kid can look around his community,

and say, there’s a problem and I’m going to do something about it with nothing but his time and his conviction really, then what are we doing? know, what are we waiting for? Because we business women, we have the money, the influence, the platforms, the networks, decades of experience. And I’m still hearing someday. Someday I’m going to figure out how to give back because I want to. Someday I’m going to start the nonprofit or the foundation.

Someday I’m going to use my influence for more than selling. Someday when things slow down. A lot of, there are so many some days. I’m guilty of it also. I’ve been doing strategy work for a long time. But what I want you to know is that someday is not a strategy. It’s a place where we can hide out. And the longer we stay there, the harder it is to leave. And I want to talk about why I feel that this happens.

because the women I work with, they’re not lazy. my gosh. No, not at all. They’re so motivated. They are not selfish. They are some of the most generous, capable, and driven women I’ve ever been around, which is why I love my work. And the reason when I talk to women who aren’t ready to start yet, it’s not because they don’t care enough. It’s because they care so much. And they take what they do

Lisa Avila (02:25.378)
so seriously, which is wonderful. They don’t want to build something mediocre and put their name on it. They don’t want to start a program that fizzles out because they get burned out. And they don’t want to commit publicly and then not follow through. And when you care that much, that shows me that you are the right person to do this work. But it can also be what’s keeping you stocked.

And so I want to go deeper on this because I think it is about perfectionism and what’s underneath it, which is identity. So most women, goal-oriented, driven, ambitious women have been rewarded their entire careers for building wealth, right? For hitting those revenue goals and for scaling and being smart with money. And that is where they have been celebrated.

as all of us women have been climbing the ladder, the corporate ladder, the entrepreneur ladder, breaking those glass ceilings, right? So more, more hustle, hustle. And that has gotten all of us the recognition, the respect and the lifestyle. And then I come along and I pull you aside and I say, but you could also be the woman who leads a movement.

You could be the one who puts your name on a foundation and eventually a building, which I talked about in a past episode. You could build something that changes how an entire community experiences healthcare, education, housing. And I know you all know this. And so there’s this quiet tension that you live with. And you might be thinking, but who am I actually? Why am I the one to be doing this?

and maybe it’s running in the background of your business. I know I want to do more. I know I want to help. Who am I to do this? Because starting it would mean claiming maybe a new identity. And I know you’ve been in the trenches building your business, creating this identity. And now it’s probably very terrifying to think, now I have to create this new identity. But that’s not it.

Lisa Avila (04:45.142)
It is building this new, let’s call it an arm of your brand. It’s building this impact into your brand right now and saying, this is who I’ve always been. I’m just being vocal about it. I’m stepping out, being more visible. I’m talking about what matters to me, what breaks my heart, what cause I support. And I want to bring you along in this journey. And that can be scary to think about.

but it’s doable. I help women do this. Cause I know you were not built just to make money. And I believe that you know that as a cause driven woman listening to this podcast, I know you know that and you’ve probably known it for a long time. And the fact that you keep coming back to the idea of impact, it’s not a coincidence here. It’s just that with everything going on in the world, it’s bubbling up. So this model that you’ve been shown,

where impact requires sacrifice or starting a nonprofit means draining your bank account and working twice as many hours. No, we’re not doing that anymore. I don’t want to see any more women running on fumes or apologizing for wanting more or treating burnout like, well, this is just how it is and this is who I am. Nope, that is not how I build with women. When I work with women,

We build their nonprofits that are strategic from day one. I want you to be funded. I want you to be fulfilled. I want you to be happy. I want it structured because I don’t want it depending on just your energy. If we are building impact into your brand, same thing. What is going to work in this season of your life right now with your time, your energy, your bandwidth, your family, your partner, kids?

All of those things come into consideration because otherwise it wouldn’t be realistic. So I want you to know you don’t need to have everything figured out before you start putting impact into your brand. You need to start with the right support so that you can then take the next right step and you can start helping people and that will cause a ripple effect and you will see, my gosh, I’m changing lives. I want to do more.

Lisa Avila (07:09.324)
And as I said in the last episode, your first step might be funding a scholarship with your brand’s name on it. Or it might be working with an existing organization and co-branding an event. I don’t care what your first step is. I just want there to be a first step. Because I know that once you do, say it out loud, take that first action, tell your audience about what you stand for, what causes on your heart.

That is when people are going to listen and you are gonna go deeper with your brand and not as wide. And that is how we are going to move forward in 2026. There’s so much going on in the world. People want the authenticity, which you already know. They want to support brands and businesses who are doing the work and who care. And you can see it come through. They’re not just trying to influence.

They are saying, I’m here, this is a cause I believe in, come along with me. And so think about that. Think about what cause you could support and it could become the impact that help growth your brand. And this is what I help you do in a brand impact strategy session. 90 minutes, we sit down, we go through my 4P framework, which is purpose people.

promise and platform. I know I went through that quickly, but basically, what’s your purpose? Why do you want to do this? Who are the people that you want to serve? What’s the promise that you’re making them? And then what platform are you going to go on to, to become more visible with your impact? You can learn more about this in the show notes. I love doing these sessions with women who are building brands because I know you want to stand for more than something.

And just an offer. Like sure, we all love our offers, right? There are babies. But when you can put impact into those offers, even better. And there is power in that. And there is power in saying, this is what I care about and this is what I’m going to do about it. Even if you don’t have every step mapped out quite yet. Because back to that high schooler, he didn’t have a strategic plan or a framework. Hopefully he had a mentor. He saw that something needed to change and he started changing it.

Lisa Avila (09:30.346)
And I know that you can do that also. And I am so here for it. And I am here to support you. And I will see you next time on The Rich Nonprofit. Thanks for spending time with me today on The Rich Nonprofit. If this episode hit home for you, I bet there’s a woman in your circle who needs to hear it also. Please share it with her. And don’t forget to rate and review. It helps other women find me and I appreciate it more than you know. And if you want to keep the conversation going,

Come on over and join us in Built for Bigger. It’s my free telegram community. We chat about strategy, business, life, mindset, and everything it takes to grow. The link is in the show notes. And I will see you next time.

THE RICH NONPROFIT

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Episode 58: The Real Reason You Haven’t Started Building Impact Yet