This is part of a series called "One Entrepreneur's Journey," where I'm talking with solo entrepreneurs about their successes (and failures) along the path of entrepreneurship.

In this interview, I spoke with Pearl Mattenson, a leadership and relationship coach serving leaders, teams, partnerships, and couples along a path to better communication and positive change in their lives and businesses.

Tell me a little about your business.

I'm a leadership and relationship coach; I primarily work with new heads of non-profits, and/or their leadership team and/or their board.  Usually, for those that are new leaders, it's about getting their leadership legs and figuring out, "What does it mean for me to run this organization in a way that makes sense for me and not feel like it's totally overwhelming my life?"

My  relationship coaching is working with professional partnerships and teams on the non-profit side, although sometimes I work with small business owners and their staff.  I also work with couples, and I really love that work.  It's very different than the professional coaching work, although what is similar is that people are just not able to communicate with others in a way that feels true to them. More often, they feel they have to behave or talk in a way that meets other people's expectations.  When couples or professionals work with me, they're ultimately able to speak in a way that feels really true and to have much more honest relationships.

It seems that you're doing something that you're truly passionate about, which can make all the difference.

I am hesitant to make the point that if you follow your passion, the money will follow, because it's not always true, but I guess my view is that if I'm not doing something that I care about, life can be deadly.  It's too short to wake up every morning and be miserable about what's ahead of me, so I not only want to be excited, I want to really care about what I am doing.  I want both my head and heart engaged.  On the business end of this, what I have learned, and am only now willing to see, is that when I'm truly engaged, that has a positive impact on my client base.  The word-of-mouth for my business will spread faster when people connect with me because they see me as someone who is really passionate about what she does.  You want to work with somebody who brings that kind of commitment to what they're doing.  I do.  I didn’t strategically set out to be passionate about something that would bring me financial success, but I know that it  an equation that works.

What has most helped you develop a vision and plan for your business, to kind of approach it more strategically?

The smartest thing that I did was to find a coach (Laura West of the Center of Joyful Business) who had been a marketer, and her whole coaching business was focused around helping women entrepreneurs market their business.  I was guided by her wisdom to choose what worked for me, and what she helped me to see was that I can be systematic and still do it in a way that's natural and true to me.  For me, marketing was about relationship-building.  That was a huge first step for me in being able to move forward in launching my business.

What have you found to be the most successful ways to market your business?

One is that I stay very connected.  I maintain a very wide network and seek to keep adding value to that network.  With all the various social networking vehicles that we have, it's become so much easier to do that.  The goal is to see how I can be helpful, and that has been huge for me, to offer value where I can.  I'm always looking for the opportunity to add value.

The other thing that's been important for me, and I probably haven't emphasized it as consistently, is my writing.  I have a monthly newsletter, and there was a time when I wrote for another blog site. My subscriber list grows incrementally each month.

Those things, staying in relationships with people and adding value as well as putting my writing out there about the issues I think and care about have been the most helpful in generating business for me.

What's something that you struggle with in your business?

I think my weakness, and this is going to sound really silly, is my struggle with the belief that my success is dependent on the space in which I work.  My home office has no walls, and I have just battled with this home office space, thinking, "If only I had doors and walls, I would function totally differently.  I would take my business to a whole other level."  It even gets reduced down to, "If only I had the right planner, if only I had the right setup on my desk," so really this inane belief that my space and what I'm surrounded with is critical to my business has been a huge distraction.  I'm not going to say it's irrelevant, because it certainly has an impact, but I have elevated it to new heights of importance.

The other thing that I've struggled with on more of a daily-grind level is learning how to say no to the wrong clients.  There are clients who show up at my door who are not right for me, and in my early years, I stayed with clients who I knew were not right for me for far too long, sometimes because I thought I needed the income and sometimes because I didn’t want to feel like a failure if I could not serve these particular clients.  Over time I've gotten better, with turning away clients, but it's still a struggle.  I certainly refer these people to other resources, but too often I struggle with trusting my gut. I think, "Well, maybe I can help this person, and maybe I'm not reading them right," and then end up with a client who costs me more hours than what they're paying for.

What do you consider to be your strengths as an entrepreneur?

I refuse to book myself solid.  I've learned how to manage my energy and my spirit.  I schedule breaks and open-ended time for me.  I'm a person who needs a lot of solitude.  I have two high school kids, and they're gone for quite a significant part of my day, so I make sure that I have open spaces for quiet time.  I also have my own coach, and I take time for other things that I know fill up my spirit.  I spend time outside.  I reconnect with family and friends.  I simply could not run my business if I were not able to manage my energy.  So much of what I do in my work is about being completely present and available for my clients.  If I don't take the time for me, there's no way I could service my clients.

What's your best advice for new entrepreneurs?

Know that you can't do it alone.  You need to reach out and find support in all kinds of ways.  You just can't do it alone.  The idea that you're going to start a business totally on your own, I think, is a complete misnomer.

The other thing is integrity.  Don't sell it if it isn't right for the customer.  You need to be in integrity with what you can really stand behind and feel good about.  You can't be everything to everybody, so don't try to be.  Stay in integrity with what it is you're offering, and that's going to serve you best in the long run.  People really value high-integrity business owners.  You stand out when you're a business owner with integrity.

Finally, right from the get-go, if you have people who appreciate what it is that you have to offer, get testimonials.  Having written testimonials makes an impact.