The Gap in Business Leadership

In the landscape of business coaching, LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs have long faced a challenging dichotomy: either work with “bro marketers” or adapt to programs marketed primarily to women. This gap isn’t just about marketing – it represents a deeper misunderstanding of how queer business owners navigate the entrepreneurial world, build community, and create sustainable success.

Enter Joris Grey, a leadership coach who recognized this void and decided to fill it with something revolutionary: a coaching practice that understands the unique needs of queer entrepreneurs while focusing on building regenerative, community-centered businesses.

A Journey of Discovery

Joris’s path to leadership coaching began seven years ago in his retail store, where his natural ability to connect with and guide his team caught the attention of other business owners. Their curiosity about his leadership style led to informal coaching conversations, which eventually grew into small group coaching containers. While maintaining his retail business, Joris invested in his development, undertaking intensive leadership training with consultant Jade Duggan.

The turning point came two years ago when Joris ran the numbers and realized his “side hustle” was generating significant revenue. Through conversations with mentors and consultants, a crucial insight emerged: there was no one specifically teaching queer entrepreneurs how to grow regenerative businesses. This wasn’t just a market opportunity – it was a chance to create real change in the business community.

Finding the Right Support: The Catalyst Difference

Despite his success, Joris faced a common challenge in the coaching industry: the pressure to deliver quick results in short-term programs. “I can’t believe that I did six-month programs,” he reflects. “Like, what was I actually doing? These people all want to hire. That doesn’t work over six months. We need to do something else.”

His search led him to the Create the Rules Catalyst. “I looked for a program where I feel supported and there’s really good ideas that actually help me move forward in a pacing that is my own, which is also very important,” Joris explains. What he found was more than just a business program – it was a space that aligned with his vision for regenerative growth.

“Create the Rules and Catalyst – it’s not a rush program,” he emphasizes. “You just do it step by step, and that’s why it is successful, because there’s time. There’s not this one-year life cycle program. There’s an infinite number of years that you can do this.”

The Power of Intentional Growth

The impact of the Catalyst’s approach became clear in how Joris approached building his audience and community presence. When Create the Rules Catalyst launched the Audience Building Podcast, Joris went into it fully knowing audience building was going to be his focus. With young children, a growing business, workshops and 1:1 clients, Joris wanted to create a plan to build his audience in a way that didn’t add extra time to his schedule. “Each building block you can do on your own pacing and implement it,” he explains. “Go back again, listen to the next episode… my whole year has been audience building… I really took the time to go to each meeting, each event. People saw me everywhere… I was at the right kind of places, I talked to the right kind of people and it will snowball because I did all the building blocks.”

This methodical, intentional approach to growth aligns perfectly with his vision for regenerative business practices. “I am of the team of slow and steady wins the race,” he shares, “and I need a slow pacing to really build a regenerative business. It’s not I wake up in the morning and I’m a millionaire. That doesn’t work in my world and in anybody else’s world, to be fair.”

The Power of Community in Queer Business

One of the most striking aspects of Joris’s approach is his understanding of how community functions in queer business spaces. “What queer people cannot do without is community or chosen family,” he explains. “That’s inherited in our needs as queer people. We need each other to survive.”

This isn’t just about survival – it’s about creating thriving micro-economies within the queer community. Joris envisions a world where queer entrepreneurs support each other, buy from each other, and create sustainable business ecosystems. This vision extends beyond individual success to encompass the broader impact of queer-led businesses on their communities.

In the Catalyst, Joris is supported by a community of queer, straight and those in discovery-mode. In the live virtual workrooms, we discuss issues facing marginalized groups and also how learnings from these communities help us do business better.

Revolutionizing Revenue:
From Survival to Community Impact

A profound shift in Joris’s approach to money and business growth emerged during his time in the Catalyst. Initially focused on just securing “the next three clients,” his perspective transformed when he began to see money not just as personal survival, but as a tool for community empowerment.

“All the people that I work with say ‘I don’t want to get rich,'” Joris explains, “and I’m like, that’s great, but what can you do with money? Well, I can support my own community, I can give back, I can hire, I can give people jobs.” This realization sparked a deeper understanding of how financial success could create ripple effects throughout the queer community.

Strategic Growth Through the Catalyst

Using the Catalyst’s framework, Joris is implementing a strategic expansion that doesn’t rely on working more hours. After completing a thorough profit planning session, he identified a $50,000 gap in his projected 2025 revenue. Rather than filling this gap with more one-on-one coaching – which he loves but recognizes has natural limits – he’s developing a new product line that serves his community while creating sustainable income.

What makes this approach unique is how it aligns with his regenerative business philosophy.

The new offering addresses a need his existing clients have already expressed, providing a stepping stone for those not yet ready for one-on-one coaching.

This strategic positioning allows him to serve more members of his community at different price points while maintaining the work-life balance that’s crucial to his regenerative approach.

Transforming Business Practice

Through his time in the Catalyst, Joris has developed a distinctly different approach to business coaching. Rather than pushing for quick wins or rapid growth, he focuses on building sustainable, long-term relationships with his clients. “I’m now selecting clients who want to do that kind of work – a deeper, longevity of work, not a quick fix here and there,” he explains.

This approach has led to remarkable developments in his practice. He’s now working with clients on five- to ten-year plans, helping them think about business sustainability not just in terms of profit, but in terms of legacy and community impact. In one remarkable case, he’s even helping a client plan for their business’s continuity after their death – a level of long-term thinking that sets his practice apart.

Looking Forward: A Vision for the Future

As Joris looks to 2025 and beyond, his vision continues to expand. He’s developing new products that fill identified gaps in the market while maintaining his commitment to regenerative business practices. More importantly, he’s creating a model for how business coaching can be different – more sustainable, more inclusive, and more aligned with the needs of marginalized communities.

His future plans include creating housing projects and safer spaces for queer people, demonstrating how business success can translate into tangible community impact. This long-term vision shows how business growth can serve as a foundation for broader social change.

The Impact of Regenerative Business

Joris’s story isn’t just about individual success – it’s about reimagining what business coaching can be, especially for marginalized communities. His focus on regenerative practices, community building, and long-term sustainability offers a powerful alternative to traditional business models that often exclude or overlook LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs.

Through his work in the Catalyst and his evolving practice, Joris is showing that business success doesn’t have to come at the cost of community values or personal wellbeing. It’s possible to build something sustainable, impactful, and true to one’s identity – it just takes the courage to do things differently and the support to make it happen.

His journey continues to inspire others in the Catalyst community, showing that when we give ourselves permission to build businesses at our own pace and in alignment with our values, we can create something truly transformative – not just for ourselves, but for the communities we serve.