Real Life Happens. You Don’t Have to Lose Your Business Because of It.
Helping overwhelmed business owners simplify, reset, and stay in business.
No burnout. No starting over.
Hi, I’m Jodi Laking and for over 12 years, I’ve helped people start, grow, and scale businesses.
I’ve worked with first-time entrepreneurs, corporate professionals transitioning into self-employment, side-hustlers building something on evenings and weekends, and seasoned business owners launching second and third ventures.
But I don’t just work with business owners, I am one.
I started my first business in high school and then my second while achieving my university degree in business and professional writing.
Since then, I’ve:
Started multiple businesses
Closed businesses
Sold businesses
Pivoted businesses
Rebuilt businesses
But credentials alone don’t make someone good at this work.
Experience does.
I know what it feels like to carry payroll.
To question pricing.
To lose motivation.
To rework your business model because life changed.
To make hard decisions about what stays and what goes.
To worry when clients leave and profits drop.
But I also know what it feels like to work with wonderful, ambitious clients.
Hit and surpassing my revenue goals.
Hire my first, second and third team member.
Expand my services strategically.
Leave my full-time job to pursue my entrepreneurial dream.
Start and run two businesses that align with my core values, skills and experience.
My experience spans the full entrepreneurial lifecycle — from idea to execution, growth, reset, and reinvention.
Where Strategy Meets Real Life
Today, my work is focused on something very specific:
Helping overwhelmed business owners simplify what’s no longer working so they can stay in business.
Not hustle harder.
Not burn everything down.
Not start over.
But reset.
This work often includes:
Simplifying offers that have multiplied over time
Clarifying pricing and validating value
Reducing operational complexity
Redesigning workload around real capacity
Identifying what needs to be dropped
Rebuilding sustainable systems
Because when everything feels urgent, the issue usually isn’t motivation.
It’s misalignment.
If You’re Wondering “Is This For Me?”
If you’re:
Doing too much and getting inconsistent results
Navigating burnout, menopause, ADHD diagnosis, caregiving, grief, divorce, or health shifts
Questioning whether you can keep going
Tired of carrying a business that feels heavier than it used to
Yes. I can.
Not because I have a one-size-fits-all formula — but because I understand what it means to rebuild after life transitions and for new seasons of life.
I don’t just understand strategy.
I understand seasons.
Why This Work Became Personal
Over the past several years, my own life has changed in ways I didn’t anticipate.
There was separation. Then divorce. And with that came the quiet grief of the life I thought I would have. There were health challenges, dating in my 40s, and the kind of transitions that ripple outward — affecting home, pets, family, friendships, identity.
In an earlier chapter of my life, I chose not to have children. Today, I’m a bonus mom to four young women. That shift alone changed how I think about time, responsibility, and what matters most.
In December 2024, I lost my dad. Since then, I’ve shared caregiving responsibilities for my mom alongside my brother.
None of these experiences were business decisions.
But they changed how I run a business.
They changed my capacity.
They changed how I define success.
They changed how I make decisions.
And they reinforced something I had already been seeing with clients for years:
Entrepreneurship cannot exist in a vacuum. It has to reflect real life.
That’s why business reset and simplification isn’t a trend for me.
It’s a necessity.
What People Are Saying
"Before I met Jodi, I was skeptical of business coaches, but she is the real deal.
As a fledgling entrepreneur, her direction and advice have been invaluable. Throughout our working relationship, I've realized how critical it is to have a qualified, experienced advisor like her provide guidance and keep me motivated to work on my business, as well as in my business.
She is whip-smart, direct, honest but also diplomatic and compassionate and her business knowledge is unmatched. She's helped me with so many areas I found challenging as a first-time business owner, including pricing, business planning, client management, financial forecasting, marketing, and the list goes on. With every problem I've encountered, Jodi has provided balanced and insightful feedback to help me move forward with confidence. She's also a genuinely lovely human and a lot of fun to work with.
10/10 would hire again!"
— Vanessa G., Greenlight Content“Hi Jodi!,
I don't want our sessions to end...(Insert tears)
You have helped me meet all of my expectations and more. I really enjoy having you in my corner. You are professional, fun, knowledgeable and very good at what you do.”
&
“Jodi @ WorkSmart Canada has been my business coach for the last 3 years. I have had so many positive experiences and growth in business that I can't count. I feel like my success would not be the same without her by my side. 100% recommend!”
— Sara L., Sara Lodge Wellness
“I run a creative studio with my fiancé, and we use Work Smart [Canada]'s coaching services. We absolutely ADORE Jodi -- her personality is incredibly welcoming, receptive, and ready to help you achieve your goals.
I use Jodi's coaching services for myself as an entrepreneur to work on time management issues, general burnout... everything you'd expect a business owner to need guidance on. She's always prepared with answers, assignments which challenge me to explore my own qualities and skills, and insightful tips. Work Smart | Train Smart has so much to offer, and Jodi is such a gem and dream to work alongside -- she is an integral part of our business' success. I would highly recommend these services, and my 5 stars are only limited by Google... I would give Jodi as many stars as I possibly could, as she has made such a difference in my life and business!”
— Allie C., Branding and Web Design Business Owner
Real Outcomes. Not Hype. (Results That Matter)
Over the past 12+ years, I’ve helped entrepreneurs:
Raise their prices and strengthen revenue confidence
Simplify six-offer businesses down to two profitable ones
Reduce 60-hour workweeks to sustainable schedules
Build systems that fit their lifestyle and capacity
Set boundaries with clients and family
Transition from corporate to self-employment
Add consulting or coaching services strategically
Close businesses with clarity and dignity
Launch second and third ventures intentionally
These shifts didn’t just improve revenue. They reduced pressure.
My work is not about hype.
It’s about structure, clarity, and sustainable leadership.
These aren’t surface-level adjustments.
They are structural changes that create sustainability.
The Way I Think About Business
Entrepreneurship isn’t about constant growth.
It’s about sustainability through the different seasons of life.
It’s about building something that supports your life — not consumes it.
Staying in business is often braver than starting.
How We Work Together
You don’t have to commit to everything at once.
You start where you are.
Start with Clarity
→ Download the Business Reset Checklist
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, or stretched thin, this is your first step.
The Checklist helps you:
See what’s actually working in your business
Identify what’s draining your time and energy
Separate urgent from important
Measure your current capacity honestly
Clarify where to focus first — without doing everything
This is for the entrepreneur who needs to step back before making another decision.
→ Attend a ‘Real Life Entrepreneur Series’ Workshop
If you learn best through conversation and structured guidance, one of these workshops may be your starting point.
These focused sessions are designed to help you:
Reduce daily overwhelm and decision fatigue
Stabilize your leadership during unpredictable seasons
Simplify your business model and workload
Align expectations with real-life capacity
Create steadier routines and boundaries
These free, live workshops are created for business owners navigating real-life shifts — and they offer practical tools, structure, and perspective that fit the season you’re in.
The Steady CEO: From Surviving to Steady
For entrepreneurs carrying heavy emotional loads — separation, divorce, grief, major life transitions, or loss — this workshop helps you rebuild momentum, create simple structure, and move forward without shame or pressure.
The Sustainable CEO: A New Way to Work in Peri- & Menopause
If your business used to feel easier and now everything feels harder, this workshop helps you recalibrate your expectations, workflow, and systems around who you are today — so you can keep moving forward without burning out.
The Caregiving CEO: Navigating Business + Caregiving Life
For entrepreneurs balancing business while caregiving — for aging parents, partners, children, or loved ones — this workshop helps you navigate both the emotional and practical complexity of caregiving while keeping your business steady. You’ll learn how to organize your time, communicate your needs, create boundaries, and build systems that support both roles.
To register, visit https://www.worksmartcanada.ca/freetraining
These are not hype-driven events.
They are practical, thoughtful working sessions for real life entrepreneurs.
When You’re Ready to Reset
→ Book a Business Reset Intensive
This is where real change begins.
The Intensive is a personalized, one-on-one working session designed to simplify your business in a focused and practical way.
Before we meet, you complete a structured intake so I understand your business model, revenue structure, workload, life season, and what feels heavy.
During our session, we:
Identify what needs to stay
Decide what needs to go
Simplify your offers and priorities
Clarify pricing and revenue focus
Align your workload with your real capacity
Create a realistic action plan
You leave with:
A simplified business direction
Clear next steps
Reduced mental noise
Confidence in what you are (and are not) doing
This is not a motivational conversation.
It is a structured reset.
This is where scattered becomes structured.
Where urgency becomes priority.
Where overwhelm becomes a plan.
For many clients, this is the moment everything becomes manageable again.
If You Want Ongoing Support
After your Intensive, you may choose continued accountability and guidance.
→ Private Coaching
For business owners ready to do deeper structural work over time. We rebuild, refine, and strengthen your business model with accountability and flexibility.
→ Sustainable Support (Monthly)
For entrepreneurs who want steady, consistent guidance without high-intensity coaching. This is ongoing strategic support for implementation, decision-making, and navigating life while staying in business — with flexibility that reflects real capacity.
You don’t need to push harder.
You don’t need to prove anything.
You need a business that fits who you are now.
Start with clarity.
Choose your next step.
And we’ll build from there — sustainably.
My Commitment
I aim to create an inclusive space and approach my work with openness.
My coaching style and course development is neurodiverse-friendly, as well as open to students and newcomers.
I seek to co-create safer spaces through collaboration and respect of the inherent dignity and diversity of all people.
