Epic Entrepreneurs

Own Your Energy: Coaching For Hospitality Growth with Christine Smith

• Bill Gilliland

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What if the biggest block to your team’s performance isn’t strategy, but unspoken tension? We sit down with hospitality business coach Christine Smith to unpack how emotional intelligence, honest conversation, and patient self-trust can transform culture and results. Christine works with owners and small teams to clear friction, create safe spaces, and align people around goals without forcing anyone to hide behind a role.

We trace the arc from intuition to execution: how to listen to your body, separate your values from other people’s expectations, and practice discernment until it becomes a reliable tool. Christine challenges common myths—like “you need tons of money to start” or “the owner must be rich”—and shows how resourcefulness, tiny tests, and community support can move a business faster than a big budget. Her insights land especially well for restaurants, hotels, and venues where service quality lives or dies on team dynamics.

Christine also walks through the B EPIC framework: bring the energy you truly have and own it; pursue education as a lifelong habit; plan with intention and pivot without shame; find inspiration rooted in your values; and commit to what’s bigger than you while staying flexible on timing. We talk identity, boundaries, and the courage to be seen—why visibility matters for opportunities, hiring, and trust. If you’re looking to simplify your roadmap, reduce team friction, and grow with integrity, this conversation offers practical steps and a mindset reset.

Enjoy the episode, then share it with a fellow owner who needs a nudge toward clarity. If the ideas resonate, follow the show, leave a review, and tell us: what truth are you holding back in your business?

Thanks for Listening. You may contact me or our team at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!
Bill

Thanks for listening. Please hit the subscribe button, leave us a 5 star review, and share this podcast. You can reach me at williamgilliland@actioncoach.com or at https://billgilliland.biz/

All the best!

Bill

Bill Gilliland:

Hey there. Hey there. Welcome to this week's episode of Epic Entrepreneurs. I am super happy today to have a very special guest. But let me introduce myself. I'm Bill Gillilan. I am the host of the show. I'm also the principal of Action Coach Business Coaching and one of the founders of the Asheville Business Summit. But today, it's not about me. It's not about Action Coach. It's about Christine Smith and spotlighting her business CS Consulting 101. So welcome to the show, Christine. Tell us a little bit about you, your business, your company, how you serve our community.

Christine Smith:

All right. Thank you, Bill, for the introduction. Happy to be here. I am a hospitality business coach. Helping those in the hospitality sector who are either growing their business or in transitions and wanting to grow their business. Maybe there's some change happening within the organization. And I come in and help them on the areas of communication and relationship building, primarily focusing on the human development and emotional intelligence.

Bill Gilliland:

So are you mostly working um with the with the teams within the hospitality sector? Or is it is it more customer service focused or working together? Tell us a little bit more about that.

Christine Smith:

Yeah, so it's primarily honestly, it's one-on-one coaching with uh business owners, hospitality business owners. And it's also working with their teams, primarily teams of 50 or less.

Bill Gilliland:

Right. And the focus of that is getting them to work better as a team, or what's the what's the outcome they can expect?

Christine Smith:

Yes, the outcome. Um, Bill, have you ever worked? You know, let's let's let's go back to prior when you were a coach and you worked for an organization. And maybe you come into work and you're working and there's a lot of friction and tension in between the staff. Maybe you feel like you're walking on eggshells. Maybe you feel like you're overcompensating and not listening to your true self. Maybe you are hesitant to speak your truth to accomplish the goal. A lot of times we hide what actually was what we want to say, what we're feeling behind this facade because we're wearing a hat in a role at a job. And those goals that we're trying to obtain may or may not actually uh get to flourish because there's some things that are we're hiding internally.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah.

Christine Smith:

So that's why I come in and and kind of clear that up and and show each other, you know, whether it be one-on-one or with the team, that basically we're all human and we all have some things that are going on internally and to create a safe space for them to share what's going on, to then over overcome the fear and actually achieve the goal.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I got it. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, there's yeah, there's a lot of stuff going on that we may never see if we don't get it out in the open. Yeah, I get it. I get it. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Well, let me let's shift the gears a little bit and talk a little bit about business in general. So if you had to start over in business, what would you do differently?

Christine Smith:

I ask myself that question a lot, though. I'm not gonna lie. I, you know, I I self-reflect all the time as an solo entrepreneur. I would listen to myself. I would listen to my own knowing, my own gifts, my intuition. And what's what's ironic about that is actually what I teach others how to do.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I get that. Yeah, that's interesting. So yeah, it's a it's a it's a hard one to do sometimes. Sometimes you do need someone outside looking in to sort of like, you know, hang on. You know, you this is what you teach, you know, take your own medicine kind of thing. So um, yeah, do you find that your intuition has gotten better or more sharp over time?

Christine Smith:

Yes, and that's the key word, Bill. Time that learning that about ourselves, as you know, and our listeners know, those skills take time to hone in. A lot of times we question our intuition, right? That's natural, even I do it. It's taken many, many years for me to get to this level where I can discern between what's real and what's not. And it takes a lot of practice. I still practice it every single day. I remind myself every single day. But it did, it did take time, and and in the midst of that taking time, I would battle with self of like, why isn't it happening now? What's going on, right? That internal battle with self. But if if you know, our when our listeners are listening to this, I just want to say one thing. A, it takes time, and b, why are you in a hurry? Is that are you in a hurry because you have are there's expectations of others of what you know that you're supposed to be doing XYZ? I'm living proof of that. I had to slow down my own life of like, oh, that's actually not what I wanted. I had to go within and go, Christine, what do you actually want for your life? Like, is it are you doing it for yourself? Are you doing it for our expectations of others that thought you're going to have to be this thing in your business? And of course, it's really revealing, right? Over time, it's really revealing of what's true and what's not. And I'm glad I'm at that space now as a coach and entrepreneur. That that feels good.

Bill Gilliland:

Cool, good, good. So, what have been uh a couple of your learnings as a business owner?

Christine Smith:

Oh man, so many. I would say that let's bring in the foundations of business. Like, let's talk about finances for a second. I had to learn that just because you think or believe that you don't have enough finances to make something happen does not mean it's the end all be all. There is always a way. There's people like you, there's people like you out in the world, people like myself out in the world. There are so many resources that I would I would hate for someone as an entrepreneur, whether they're scaling or entering the space, to to really consider like there's so many people out in the world to help, and so many resources. Don't let your fear of not having enough money uh allow you to grow.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I love that. That might be a good title. There's always a way. In other words, be resourceful. Yes. Yeah, yeah, I like it. So, what are some of the common misconceptions about running a business?

Christine Smith:

That you're smarter than someone else, that you know something that I don't know, or you must have a lot of money to start a business, or you know, you come from a line of other entrepreneurs. Um I did not, I am the black sheep of the group of the family, you know. So it's there's so many, Bill. What do you think? What are some common misconceptions?

Bill Gilliland:

The ones that I hear most often on this podcast are um that the owner is rich. Mm-hmm. And that, or that it's it, it's easy. And those are those are the two biggest ones I hear. But you're right, they're a lot, they're a lot more. So thanks, thanks for bringing up. But those are the two that I hear the most of that it's that it's easy and which it's not, and that it's um, and that the owner is, and in fact, in a lot of the businesses we work with, when they start out, the owner makes less than their employees when particularly on an hourly basis. Um, yeah, so it's an it's an interesting one. So anyway, so what do you attribute your growth to?

Christine Smith:

That's a great question. Uh I'm gonna say a couple things. Uh a couple things are selfishly for myself, right?

Bill Gilliland:

Sure.

Christine Smith:

Attribute my my growth and my peace and my happiness overall. Also others that have been in my my wheelhouse, my community, my network. There are so many people in my network, even in this moment right now with you, Bill, on this show with you, you are part of the testimony to my journey. Every people, every person that I choose to include in my circle or choose not to include in my circle, even the ones not in my circle, I attribute to them as well, because they I've cleared the space for me to follow my path, right? So it's not just about self, it's it's contributing to everybody that has been on this journey with me.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I have a saying you can't do this stuff by yourself. That's right. Yeah, so that's that's well said. You just said it better than I did. Um I mean, you seem to maybe have figured some of this out, but any how do you deal with like the the conflicts that all often arise between growing a business and your personal life?

Christine Smith:

Yes, they intertwine heavily, as you know. There's um there's a coach in my life at one time who asked me a question that I resisted, and it was pretty much the same concept what you asked me. Who are you apart from your title? Who are you apart from your business, right? You are, we are not our business. And that question, that perspective really kind of at first I rebelled and resisted. I was like, oh, that's not that's not funny. Like I am. That's it's me. I'm the face, I'm the thing. And I'm still a human that enjoys things in life, who likes to eat pineapple on her pizza, right? Like figuring out who Christine really is. And so to answer your question, it goes back to that concept of time, learning those things about yourself. So every day it's a practice, and I go, wait a minute, I'll ask myself questions, like real tangible things that I can do, uh, action steps that I can take for myself of like, is this you or is this a business thing? And in entrepreneurship, as you know and others know in this space, entrepreneurship's journey is more so about self rather than the business.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, that's a good point. Love that. Yeah, I've often you said you resisted. I I have often felt like whenever I resist something, I better take a harder look at it and see why I'm resisting. It might be important to not to not fight it, but it also might be important to fight it. So it's an interesting one to, but you need to take another look. I love that thing. So B Epic is one of our taglines or our tag main tagline, and it's an acronym. So I'm gonna give you the this is kind of a quick fire round. I'll give you the acronym, and then I'll I want a couple of sentences on each or words or what however you want to keep it uh to the point on on each one. So the B stands for bring the energy. Give me a thought or two about energy.

Christine Smith:

Bring the energy. Oh, and I can I could take that so many different ways, right? Uh bring the energy. See, I tend to go tend I tend to go philosophical a lot.

Bill Gilliland:

Go ahead. Go go philosophical, go for it. Go for it. Go for it.

Christine Smith:

I say bring the energy that you have because you're human. If your energy is low, own it. Create space for yourself, maybe disassociate from others for a minute. Own your space, own your energy.

Bill Gilliland:

I love it. Own your energy. I love that.

Christine Smith:

Own your energy. If you're having a bad day, it's okay. Like own your energy.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, you can't have the you can't have the good without the bad. So I mean it's it's a it's a good stuff. All right, the E stands for education.

Christine Smith:

Education. Always educate. I am always learning. I am always researching. I say education is not, it's it's it's first of all, it's not linear and it never ends. So keep educating yourself, keep keep learning, keep growing, keep doing the thing to grow. I love education.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, no, I love that. All right, the P in Epic stands for planning. I can't wait to hear the philosophical side of planning. Yeah.

Christine Smith:

You know, I planned so many different ways. My plan came out of a space of rebellion. That's where my plan grew from. And you can imagine the world wins it took me through that plan. I say plan to what good feels good to you, and don't worry about the attachment of the outcome. Pivot your plan when needed, and know that it's okay to pivot and read the plan.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, yeah. Not yeah, yeah. No, I think that's I mean, a a plan by definition is gonna be wrong, so you have to pivot all the time. I love that. Yeah. So the eye in Epic is inspiration.

Christine Smith:

Inspiration. Oh my gosh. Inspiration is around us everywhere, if you're willing to view it that way, right? Inspiration. We in this space of entrepreneurship wouldn't be here if we weren't inspired by something or someone. Remember that inspiration that was fired up in you when you thought of the entrepreneurship journey or wanting to continue the journey. Always be inspired, find the inspiration. And the inspiration generally stems from something that you truly value in life.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah. Well, that's that's a good that's a that's inspiring. I'll uh I'll I'll think about that for a minute. Yeah. So the last letter is C and Epic and the C stands for commitment.

Christine Smith:

Oh, commitment. Oh my gosh. I commitment, okay. I'm one of those that actually don't believe in when you commit to something that you have to follow through because life changes. Life happens. However, if you are truly inspired, right? If your inspiration is bigger than you, and you find yourself committing through all the pivots, right? I'm bringing it full circle here. If you find yourself committing through all the pivots, your commitment is now bigger than you. Like follow it, follow that commitment that you have made within yourself and your heart, because it is bigger than you, and you are going to succeed. And I hope you don't have attachment to time because we can talk about it all you want. It'll take years, maybe. So commit to something that you really love and value and keep being inspired.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah, I love that. I think it I think it is about something bigger than us. So um it's sort of the only way it's got to be big enough to commit to in the first place. And you know, little things you don't need to commit to, you can just do them. So all right. So, what words of advice would you offer other business owners who are looking to grow?

Christine Smith:

Simplify. Simplify, slow down, listen to what your body and heart is telling you, not necessarily what others are trying to influence on you. You know yourself better than anybody else. Take one's advice or opinions with a grain of salt, and and and that can be inspiring, but it's not the end all be all. Again, going back to yourself, go within. Really find out what works for you and you only be willing to receive receive love, care, and help and guidance. Or choices are not right or wrong, that they just are.

Bill Gilliland:

That's awesome. That's great advice. So, what's the next big thing for Christine Smith?

Christine Smith:

OMG. Okay, I gotta tell a fun story though. I actually went to a next big thing event. It was actually called the next big thing. And I I'll tell you the truth. I wore this sign on my body. I created a billboard for myself and I wore it to this next big thing conference. And it was a message. It was a message not only for myself to overcome my own fears in my business, but it was a message to others to show them that maybe they're going through something of something similar in their own business. And so that was my message wearing this board and said, what fear are you holding back? Or no, what truth are you holding back in your business? Is that was the question. What truth are you holding back in your business? And you can imagine I got a lot of eye rolls, I got a lot of laughs, I got a lot of head turns, I got a lot of people turning their backs to me. They want, they don't want to face that challenging question for self and their business and life. And so my next big thing was to be seen. Bill, I'm overcoming, uh yeah, I've done the thing, I've helped the people grow, etc., etc. But my next phase of my own entrepreneurship journey is getting over the fear of being seen. Like it's time, it's go time, right? So it was a fun experiment to see who would be willing to interact with that question and allow me to hold space for them to answer that question truthfully. So my next big thing is yes, getting getting over the fear of being seen and heard, right? Go be in presence more. And I want to be speaking more in my business. I I you know, even this conversation was a lot of fun. And I felt, you know, I'll ask you, Bill, was it uh inspiring and and um no?

Bill Gilliland:

It's been great. This is this is this is this is this has been really good. I was gonna ask you, was speaking part of your plan to be seen, be seen more? Yeah, it's usually a good way to go.

Christine Smith:

So right.

Bill Gilliland:

Yeah. So that, yeah. So that that's that's that's a way to be there's a lot of ways to be seen. But I, you know, I often find at least regionally uh I walked into a meeting yesterday and there was a bunch of people who knew I was and I didn't know who they were. And it's just because they've seen me speak or uh, you know, know me from another place or something, or saw a LinkedIn post or something that I'd done uh around somewhere. So yeah, it's uh it's uh it's it's fantastic. So last question: how do you get in touch with you? What's the best way?

Christine Smith:

So I do have a website and uh LinkedIn, LinkedIn to my website, and I also write on Substack, but primarily I am on LinkedIn. Um, and my website is csmithphilosophy.com.smithphilosophy.com.

Bill Gilliland:

Got it.

Christine Smith:

Yeah. Yeah.

Bill Gilliland:

And they can find you on, and it's just Christine Smith or Chris. Wow, how's that? There's there's got to be more than one of those.

Christine Smith:

Yeah, on LinkedIn, it's uh I I I believe I come up as Christine Smith or my business CS Consulting 101, either way.

Bill Gilliland:

Perfect. All right, well, get out there and find Christine. She wants to be seen. Uh so get out there and find her. So that's good. This has been fantastic. This has been thank you so much for being part of the community. Uh, we really like all you're doing. Uh there's a lot of people that need what you have, particularly in the hospitality space that you serve. So um, yeah, I I know that you're going to continue to grow and continue to be successful because you're asking all the right questions and being an inspiration to a lot of people.

Christine Smith:

Thank you, Paul.

Bill Gilliland:

Thanks. And until next time, all the best.