005 | Setting Boundaries in Your Business As An Entrepreneur
With small business owner, Kaytee Fisher.
Today we have Kaytee Fisher, founder of Moxie and Fourth (email marketing services for travel advisors). She is well-known & respected in the travel industry, not only for her unique offering, but for her stance on boundaries…so without further ado…
Kaytee, thanks for joining us on this one! Can you tell us a little about yourself and your business?
Thanks for having me! I’m Kaytee, a former nurse turned travel advisor turned email marketing strategist for advisors (it’s a long story!). I own Moxie and Fourth, where I help travel advisors grow and nurture their email lists in a way that feels both personable and sustainable.
From being one myself, I know successful travel advisors are juggling a million things at once. I love being able to provide tools, templates, and tough love that make marketing easier (without burning out, sounding like everyone else online, or succumbing to excuses).
What are some of the boundaries you have in place in your business today?
How much room do I have? Ha! I could write a book on boundaries — it’s one of my favorite topics. After running two businesses solo, I’ve learned that without boundaries, burnout is pretty much guaranteed. So over the years (and especially during my time as a travel advisor), I’ve put several non-negotiables in place to protect my energy, time, and capacity:
Inbox Boundaries: I don’t respond to emails after hours, on weekends, or during holidays! I’ve had to train my brain to believe that there’s truly no such thing as an “emergency” especially when it comes to email marketing. My autoresponder is always on to help manage expectations, answer FAQs, and outline response times. I also build in “no inbox” days each week so I can focus on deep work without the temptation to “just answer a few emails”... which as you know, can quickly siphon off a whole afternoon!
Calls & Meetings: I avoid meetings on Mondays and Fridays whenever possible! Those are my focus and reset days, and my calendar reflects that by being blocked off. If a meeting request comes through, it has to have a clear purpose. If it can be an email, it should be an email. I also don’t offer sales or discovery calls to walk through my services or offers. They’re all clearly outlined on my website to support informed, independent decision-making, but I’m always happy to clarify via email as needed.
Social Media: I love connecting with my audience and using social media as a relationship-building tool. But I don’t use DMs for business communication. If it’s something important or offer-related, it goes through email, so that I can stay organized and respond thoughtfully.
Scope Creep & Customization: This one was a big learning curve in my first year — and I sometimes get pushback. But I don’t offer custom tweaks, one-off projects, or hop-on-a-call exceptions for programs or products. My offers are built for clarity, scale, and repeatability, which means everything from pricing to what’s included is carefully designed. This is how I serve hundreds of travel advisors without burning out. These boundaries exist so I can show up consistently, not because I don’t care.
Capacity & Content Creation: This is a boundary I struggle with, but it’s also the one I’ve had to protect the most. I’m often asked to expand my offers or level of support — more programs, more features, more access. But I won’t offer anything I can’t deliver with excellence. No social media add-ons, no Facebook group I’ll eventually resent, no to anything that doesn’t add value or worse — just adds more noise. I’d rather do less and do it exceptionally well than stretch myself into mediocrity. (And trust me… that’s a tough pill for a recovering overachiever!)
Free Advice Limits: I love to teach. But I’m also a big believer in resourcefulness! My newsletters and Instagram are packed with valuable free tips, and I occasionally open up “pick my brain” opportunities in limited ways, like mini prompts on certain IG posts or at the end of my newsletters. But as a solo business owner, I’ve had to draw clear lines between what’s free and what’s paid. I’ve built resources at a range of price points, and I’m intentional about when and where I offer hands-on help.
Personal Boundaries: This one can be tricky, especially as someone who’s both chatty yet introverted, and whose personality is all over her brand. But I protect my private life pretty aggressively (sorry to anyone who’s sent me a friend request!). I limit my personal social media connections to close friends and family, and I don’t share every moment of my life online. It’s a blurry line in the world of parasocial online relationships, but it’s one I have to draw to keep life and work separate, which is already hard enough as a self-employed person.
How do you communicate your boundaries to clients in a way that feels firm but still professional and kind?
I’ve found that the key to communicating boundaries well is to be clear before there’s ever an issue. I’m big on proactive communication and building clarity into every part of my business.
Because of that, most of my boundaries are baked right into my systems — autoresponders, checkout pages, onboarding emails, FAQs — so expectations are set from the start. That way, I’m not scrambling to reset or renegotiate later on.
I also make sure my tone is consistent with how I show up everywhere else: warm, direct, and human. I’m a firm believer that you can be a ‘boundaries queen’ as I call myself, and still be kind, not robotic. If someone reaches out with a custom request or wants to hop on a quick call, I don’t respond with hard “no’s” and policy jargon. I’ll thank them for reaching out, match their enthusiasm, and then clearly point them back to the offer or resource that already exists, or elsewhere, depending on their needs.
When a boundary does need to be reinforced in real time, I keep it short and straightforward. No overexplaining, no apologizing — just a friendly reminder of how I work best and how that ultimately helps me serve everyone better.
Even with clear boundaries in place, I know that life happens. For example, if a student in my program misses a content review deadline because of an emergency, I’ll consider the situation and offer flexibility where I can. Boundaries don’t have to be rigid to be respected, they just have to be clear!
What is your advice for implementing new boundaries after you have already let a client/customer cross them?
Love this question! This is honestly why I’m so passionate about boundaries in the first place, because having to reset one after slipping up can be so uncomfortable.
Step one is to shake the guilt. Especially for female entrepreneurs, there’s often a societal expectation to be agreeable and pleasant at all times, and that gets misinterpreted as needing to be endlessly accommodating. But holding firm boundaries isn’t harsh — it’s necessary if you want to run a thriving, profitable business without sacrificing your sanity!
And we all make mistakes. Sometimes I give someone the benefit of the doubt one too many times and end up paying for it. But every time a boundary gets tested, it’s an opportunity to strengthen my language or tighten a process. This was especially crucial back when I was running my travel business.
Once I realize I’ve allowed something that isn’t sustainable, I try to course-correct as soon as possible. I’ll usually say something like: “I’ve realized I need to adjust how I handle [X] so I can protect my time and energy. Here’s what that will look like moving forward…”
Simple, direct, and future-focused works best. No need for a lengthy justification (which is often the hardest part to resist!).
From there, I make sure the new boundary is clearly communicated and consistently reinforced, whether that means updating a policy on my site, tweaking an autoresponder, or adding a line to my onboarding emails. That way, I’m not relying on memory or mood to uphold it in the future.
How does your learnings about boundaries from your travel advising business impact your boundaries today?
My time as a travel advisor was basically a crash course in what happens when you don’t have strong boundaries, and how fast things can spiral when you say yes to everything.
It was such a service-heavy, high-touch role that I found myself answering messages at all hours, reworking proposals for the same trip again and again, and bending policies just to “be helpful.” I thought I was being accommodating… but really, I was teaching people that respect of my time, energy, and expertise was optional. That realization hit hard after one particularly awful client berated me at 6am on Christmas Day (because he failed to read final documents, and I failed to make sure he had).
Once I implemented boundaries, everything in my travel business changed. My business became easier to run, my clients were easier to support, and I started making more money without the 24/7 schedule.
So when I transitioned into this business, I brought those hard-earned lessons with me, and built structure from the start. My first investments were things like a custom CRM build, solid contracts, and an autoresponder that could set expectations without me having to be “on” all the time.
Now, I’m a lot more intentional about how I communicate expectations, where I give my energy, and how I protect my capacity. And again, boundaries in business are proving to be not only peaceful, but profitable!
Do you have any tools, scripts, or systems in place that help you maintain boundaries automatically?
Absolutely! I could not operate without the systems I’ve slowly built out (and continue to tweak). Systems remove the emotional labor of having to manually re-explain or reinforce things every time.
Here are a few of my go-to favorites:
My autoresponder: It’s always on. It outlines when I’ll reply, answers common questions, and redirects people to the right resources. I tweak it depending on the season or current launches, but it’s been a lifesaver for inbox management.
Checkout pages and FAQs: Every product or service I offer includes clear expectations, policies, and what’s included (and what’s not). That saves me from having to answer the same questions repeatedly or defend my policies later on.
Canned email responses: I keep a bank of kind but firm replies for things like refund requests, boundary nudges, or clarification questions. They’re easy to personalize, and I use Gmail templates so I’m not reinventing the wheel every time.
Onboarding emails: These set the tone from day one. They explain how to communicate with me, where to find support, and what to expect from a program or product (especially important in group settings where I’m not working 1:1).
My CRM: I track project timelines, set reminders for deliverables, and use tags and automations to keep things moving without manual check-ins.
I think a lot of people shy away from systems, templates, and automations because they’re afraid of sounding cold or robotic, but it’s actually the opposite! These tools allow me to show up in a thoughtful, human, and consistent way.
If there was one thing you could tell new business owners about setting boundaries, what would it be?
Boundaries are not a barrier — they are a strategy! Boundaries get a bad rap for a million reasons, and none of them are legitimate in my opinion. People worry they’ll come off as cold or difficult. But if you want to protect your energy, do your best work, and build a business that’s actually sustainable, you need them.
It’s not “boundaries or being nice.” You can be kind and clear. Warm and structured. Boundaries and generosity aren’t opposites — they actually support each other.
In fact, the clearer my boundaries have become, the better my relationships are. Because people appreciate knowing what to expect, and I show up more fully when I’m not running on fumes or secretly resentful.
The earlier you start practicing that, the easier it gets!
What’s the difference between a boundary and a preference, and how do you know which one to enforce?
A preference is “I’d like it if…”
A boundary is “I need this in order to show up well.”
Preferences are flexible. Boundaries are non-negotiable.
For example, I prefer not to check email in the evenings. But my boundary is no client communication after 5PM, and that’s communicated in my autoresponder and terms.
Not everything is a hill to die on, and that’s okay! But business owners need to pause and examine the difference between a boundary and a preference, and act accordingly.
But here’s the kicker: it’s our job to enforce the boundary. It’s not the client’s job to guess or magically uphold something we never clearly communicated.
What boundaries should every business owner set from day one (even if they don’t feel “ready”)?
Here are a few I wish I’d implemented from day one of being a travel advisor:
Office hours + response time expectations
Clear refund and pricing policies
A plan for communication (emails, DMs, etc)
Scope clarity and inclusions
Boundaries aren’t something you earn once you’re established! They’re how you become sustainable.
You can find Kaytee on Instagram and on her website.
—Julia & Bryce | It Girls Collective