117 | Christmas Episode: I've Watched 300+ Founders Transform—Here's Exactly What's Coming for You in 2026

What if your biggest breakthrough in 2026 isn't about doing more, but finally letting go?

In this raw and radically uplifting Christmas Day episode, Dawn Andrews pulls back the curtain on your 2026. After coaching 300+ founders, she's seen the transformation pattern, and if you're an overworked, mission-driven woman holding it all together, she's speaking directly to you. 

From the hard choices you’ll finally make to the revenue you'll finally reach (without grinding yourself into dust), this episode is a prophetic pep talk and strategic permission slip rolled into one. Tune in to hear what’s coming for you and how to believe it now.

Ready to lead like the version of you who already exists in 2026? 

Download the free guide: 10 Ways AI Will Make You a Better Leader and start building the systems that will set you free.

Key Takeaways:

• You’re finally going to let go of that team member who’s draining your energy and culture, and everything will run better because of it
• 2026 will be the year you hand things off with real trust, backed by AI-powered systems that create true team ownership
• You’ll hit the revenue number you thought required suffering by focusing on relationships, not reels
• You’ll prioritize what matters most, even when it doesn’t look impressive on paper
• You’ll use your voice boldly, not perfectly, and the right clients will find you because of it

Resources & Links:

• 10 Ways AI Will Make You a Better Leader 
• The Feedback Fix
• Join the AI for Founders Community

Want to increase revenue and impact? Listen to “She's That Founder” for insights on business strategy and female leadership to scale your business. Each episode offers advice on effective communication, team building, and management. Learn to master routines and systems to boost productivity and prevent burnout. Our delegation tips and business consulting will advance your executive leadership skills and presence.

Transcript

She’s That Founder
117 | I've Watched 300+ Founders Transform—Here's Exactly What's Coming for You in 2026

Hey, I'm standing in your future looking back at you right now, and what I see coming for you in 2026 is so much bigger than you think. Let me show you what you can't see yet. 

Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to She's That Founder Christmas Day edition. I'm Dawn Andrews, and today I'm standing in your future looking back at you right now, and I need you to see what I see, because it's so much bigger than you think.

So much closer than you believe, and so much more possible than you're allowing yourself to hope. Let's talk about what's coming. My beautiful human. Can I tell you what I see when I look at you? Not what you see when you look in the mirror. 

The exhaustion, the doubt, the revenue spreadsheets that make your stomach hurt. I mean, what I actually see from where I'm standing. After more than 23 years of watching founders transform after coaching hundreds of women the exact season you're in right now, I see something that maybe you can't see yet. 

On Christmas day, I wanna give you that vision because you need to know what's coming for you.

In 2026, I see you finally letting go. That employee who's been dragging your business down for years, the one you keep giving one more chance because you're kind and you believe in people and you don't wanna be the villain. You're gonna let them go in 2026, and I know that terrifies you. 

I know you think it'll break them. It'll hurt the culture. It'll prove that you're a bad leader. But here's what I see. Three months after you make that decision, you're going to wonder why you waited so long. Your team is going to breathe easier, and the drama is gonna evaporate. And the person that you hire to replace them.

They're gonna be so good that you will actually tear up the first time they solve a problem without asking you. That's coming for you in 2026. I see you trusting your team in a way that you never have before. 

Right now, you're the bottleneck. Most decisions run through you. Most approvals, most questions, and you've built a business that can barely function without you, and it's slowly killing you and the business.

But next year I see you handing things off, really handing them off. Not the performative delegation where you give someone a task and then you redo it yourself. Real delegation. With AI helping you to create the systems and templates and guardrails that let your team actually own their work.

And here's what happens. You get your evenings back, you stop checking slack at your kids' soccer game. You take a full weekend off and nothing catches fire. And the wildest part, your business actually runs better without you in every decision that's coming for you next year.

I see you having the revenue month that makes you believe again, you know the number. It's whatever number you've been chasing this year, the one that feels impossible right now, because this year was hard and slow and nothing went the way you planned. But I see you hitting it next year, and not because you hustled harder, not because you burned yourself out, but because you finally built your business around relationships instead of funnels.

Because you stopped doing cartwheels on social media and started having real conversations with the people who already know and trust you. And because you let AI handle the noise, so you could focus on the humans. And one morning, probably a Tuesday, maybe while you're making some tea, you're gonna check your bank account and just stare.

Because it happened. The thing you thought required sacrifice and suffering and grinding, it happened while you were living your life. That's coming for you.

I see you making the hard choice to prioritize what actually matters. Maybe it's saying no to the opportunity. That sounds impressive, but feels wrong. Maybe it's stepping back from something you built because it's time. Maybe it's choosing your mom, your kids, your own health. Over the launch you should do.

And I know right now that choice may feel impossible like giving up or like failing, but I see you making it anyway. Courage with clarity, with the bone deep, knowing that you can't change the world if you're too exhausted to show up for your own life, and six months later you're gonna look back and realize that wasn't a sacrifice, that was the smartest strategic decision you've ever made.

That's coming for you. I see you using your voice. The thing you've been afraid to say, the perspective that feels too bold, too controversial, too much. You're gonna say it next year. Maybe on a podcast, maybe on a stage, maybe in a meeting where everyone's tiptoeing around the real issue and you're the one who finally names it.

And yes, some people won't like it. Some people will criticize you, even some people will unfollow. But you know what else happens? The right people find you, the clients who've been looking for exactly your flavor of leadership.

The opportunities that were never gonna come from playing small. You're gonna choose visibility over protection, impact over approval, just like the women you admire.

Just like the leaders who changed your life by being brave enough to be seen. That's coming for you. And here's what else I see. I see you catching your reflection one day in a coffee shop window, in your rear view mirror, in a zoom call. And recognizing yourself.

Not the exhausted, doubting white knuckling version who's been surviving. The woman who's actually thriving, who's rebuilt smarter, who's chosen differently, who's leading with generosity and perseverance, and creativity and compassion. The version of you who knows deep in her bones that she can handle whatever comes because she already did.

That's coming for you.

Now, here's what I'm inviting you to do with this vision. Believe it. Believe it not someday. Not when you have proof, not when it feels safer. Right now, on Christmas day, in the middle of whatever mess you're in, believe that the breakdown is making space for this breakthrough. Believe that slow can become sacred.

Believe that you're not behind. You're exactly where you need to be to build what's coming next. Because here's the truth, the future I just described, it doesn't require you to be different. It requires you to be more of who you already are. More generous, more courageous, more willing to trust yourself and your people more willing to use the tools like AI to make the impossible possible, more willing to choose what matters over what looks impressive.

You already have everything you need. You just need to believe you're allowed to build it. So here's my Christmas blessing for you. May you have the courage to let go of what's not working. May you have the wisdom to rebuild differently. May you have the faith to believe that what's coming is better than what you left behind.

May you lead with your whole heart, even when it's scary, and especially when it matters. And may you know deep in your bones that you belong in every room you enter, every decision you make. Every vision you build, the world needs your leadership, not someday, right now and next year. Next year is going to show you what's possible when you finally believe that.

I see you. I believe in you, and I can't wait to watch what you build.

Merry Christmas lovey. I'll see you next time.