Meet Ron & Nicole
Build a Stronger Business and a Clearer You
Clarity is the foundation of strong businesses and the leaders who build them.
Grounded Growth was built on a simple idea:
- Strong businesses are built by strong leaders — and both require clarity.
Too often business advice focuses on one side or the other. Some advisors focus purely on numbers. Others focus purely on mindset.
We believe the strongest results happen when both are addressed.
- Ron works primarily on the structure of the business — financial clarity, profitability, acquisitions, and preparing companies for sale.
- Nicole focuses on the person behind the business — alignment, perspective, leadership clarity, and reconnecting people with the internal compass that often gets buried under responsibility and pressure.
Some clients work with one of us.
Many choose to work with both.
Either way, the goal is the same:
build something that actually works — financially, operationally, and personally.
Disciplined Strategy
Meet Ron Farrell: Master of Business Structure
Ron is a strategist, operator, and business owner with more than 25 years of experience in the insurance and financial services industry. He built his career the same way he approaches business today: through disciplined strategy, meticulous planning, and unwavering execution.
Proven Financial Discipline
Under his leadership, his former company operated with average profit margins of approximately 39%—well above typical industry performance.
Top-Tier Valuations
When he sold his business, the transaction achieved a top-tier valuation of roughly 12x EBITDA. He achieved this by personally leading the development of the company's Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM), creating a clear, credible story for serious buyers.
Unwavering Execution
Ron’s philosophy is simple: Clarity beats complexity. Profit matters. Strategy only works when it is followed by disciplined execution.
Certified Forzani Business Coach
Ron is a certified coach with Forzani Business Education, where he uses practical business systems, financial frameworks, and operational tools in his advisory work.
Before selling his insurance brokerage, Ron used these same tools and frameworks to improve his company's operational visibility, strengthen its systems, and support long-term growth.
Clarity
Profit
Strategy
A Balanced Approach to Leadership
Ron and Nicole bring two very different perspectives to business and leadership, which is exactly what makes their work so effective. Ron brings the structure; Nicole brings the perspective.
Outside of business, they live the exact values they teach. Living on an acreage with horses, exploring back roads on motorcycles, and prioritizing travel, they believe strongly in experiences over things. Grounded Growth was created as an extension of those values—helping people build businesses, and lives, of clarity, freedom, and meaningful work.
REcalibrate & Reconnect
Meet Nicole Toren: Executive Coach, Strategist, & Creative Director
Nicole’s work focuses on the human side of leadership—bringing the clarity, alignment, and internal capacity required to build meaningful, sustainable organizations. Walking the line between structured business strategy and creative intuition, she specializes in helping entrepreneurs and leaders navigate stress, burnout, and the unique pressures of high-level responsibility.
Strategic Leadership
Combines heavy operations experience—including four years in the risk, growth, and long-term planning sectors of the insurance industry—with intentional, nature-based leadership principles.
Creative Direction & Branding
As the founder of Handgallop Studio, she works as a photographer, visual artist, and digital creator, designing logos, visual branding, and social content for entrepreneurs.
Industry Deep Roots
Spent over 15 years with the Canadian Arabian Horse Registry (serving as Editor-in-Chief and Registrar) and is the co-founder and lead designer of the equestrian apparel brand, Tonic Equestrian.
Holistic Alignment
A Certified Community Herbalist trained in the Joy Method™ framework, bringing a practical, mindful approach to personal alignment and intentional execution.
Clarity
alignment
capacity
Work With Ron
Ready for real, rooted progress?
Skip the standard playbook and partner directly with Ron. When you work one-on-one with him, you get his undivided expertise, personalized strategies, and a genuinely grounded approach to achieving your specific goals. You aren't just getting advice; you are gaining a dedicated partner committed to building a lasting foundation for your success.
Work With Nicole
Ready for a change?
When you work one-on-one with Nicole, you'll experience her signature blend of empathy, creativity, and big-picture thinking. She’s a great listener who truly understands your vision and offers insights that go beyond surface-level fixes. Her coaching style focuses on compassion, clarity, and helping you carve out a path that feels right. If you're looking for personalized support that honors your unique journey, let's work together.
This is just a glimpse of the business coaching services we offer. Explore our full range of solutions designed to help you and your team achieve your goals.
Check OUt Some OF OUr Services
Improving Profit & Performance
CIM Development
Brand & Marketing Materials
Our Insights
Details
FAQs about small business coaching
How is Grounded Growth different from other small business coaching?
Most coaching programs focus on quick fixes and standard playbooks. We focus on building a strong, lasting foundation for your business. When you work with Ron and Nicole, we dig deep into what makes your vision unique rather than handing you a generic checklist. We help you grow at a steady, authentic pace so your success feels sustainable, deeply rooted, and true to who you are.
What is the difference between a business coach, a business consultant, and a mentor in Alberta?
It’s common to hear these terms used interchangeably in the local business community, but they serve entirely different functions:
- A Business Coach works alongside you as a collaborative partner. They focus on both the structure of the business (profitability, systems, efficiency) and the growth of the leader (clarity, accountability, preventing burnout). They help you find the answers and build the skills to sustain your own growth.
- A Business Consultant is typically hired to solve a highly specific, isolated problem. They analyze your data, write a report, or build a specific asset (like a formal tax strategy or an IT implementation) and then hand it over to you to execute.
- A Business Mentor (often found through volunteer networks like Business Link or Venture Mentors Association in Alberta) is usually an experienced peer who offers informal, high-level advice based on their own past journey, typically without a structured framework or day-to-day operational accountability.
When is it worth hiring a small business coach?
Investing in a coach is worth it when your business hits an inflection point where hard work alone is no longer enough to grow. Specifically, it is time to hire a coach when:
- You are stuck in the "Owner's Trap": The business is highly dependent on you, and operations grind to a halt the moment you step away. A coach helps you build systems to reduce owner dependence so the company can run smoothly without your daily involvement.
- Revenue is growing, but profits are flat: You are working harder and bringing in more money, but your take-home pay hasn't changed. A coach helps audit your financial structure to improve profit and performance.
- You want to sell in the next 2 to 5 years: Preparing for a transition requires looking at your company through a buyer’s lens. A coach helps clean up your operations and build resources like a Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) to maximize your valuation.
- You are facing burnout: Decision fatigue and operational pressure have left you feeling overwhelmed. A good coaching partnership addresses the human element of leadership, helping you regain personal clarity, alignment, and direction.
The Bottom Line: If you are willing to dedicate a few hours a week to work on your business rather than just in it, and you want objective accountability, the return on investment is substantial.
Ron and Nicole bring a powerful balance to business leadership by combining disciplined execution with human alignment. While
Ron focuses on structure, financial clarity, and strategy, Nicole emphasizes leadership awareness and the mental capacity needed to carry high-level responsibility without burning out. Living on an acreage with their horses, they practice what they preach, using equine insights as a reminder that true leadership is rooted in presence and trust rather than force. Through Grounded Growth, they help entrepreneurs choose experiences over things and build businesses—and lives—that genuinely work.