BRAND CREATORS: Créde Sheehy-Kelly on What High Performers Know That Most Entrepreneurs Overlook

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, celebrating her book launch in villa by the ocean, Ericeira, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

Very soon after starting my photography brand, I realized that building a business would mean facing some of my deepest fears. What I initially imagined as a purely joyful, creative pursuit became a powerful journey of inner growth and transformation. Photography turned out to be not just an art form, but also a mirror for my own evolution.

Today, I truly believe that you can achieve anything you set your mind and heart to. One of my incredible clients who embodies this philosophy is Créde Sheehy-Kelly. I’m deeply grateful she agreed to share some of her insights and expertise in the following interview.

Créde is a High Performance and Trading Psychologist and consultant to traders and entrepreneurs. Coaching since 2007, Créde has worked extensively with leaders in finance, trading, professional sports and business to help them wire their psychology and energy for elite performance. She is the creator of the Go Deep to Level Up® mental conditioning system, the foundation of her multi-six-figure business. Her approach blends performance psychology, manifestation and energetics to help people dissolve internal barriers to success and reach their most ambitious goals.

The images accompanying this blog post were captured during an immersive two-day personal branding photoshoot. We began at sunrise at one of Lisbon’s most iconic viewpoints, capturing the sense of freedom and joy that her audience aspires to. The second part took place in a luxurious villa in the coastal town of Ericeira, Portugal — a stunning location that allowed us to create high-end, serene imagery with a refined, luxury feel.

Looking back, what was the biggest mindset shift you had to make in order to go from burnout and low wages to running a multi-six-figure business?

The biggest mindset shift for me was finally prioritizing wealth creation and joy. Up until that point I had focused primarily on making an impact and being of service. I had completely underestimated the fact that if you want to be well-resourced and live a comfortable lifestyle —you do actually need to focus on making money — it’s not a guaranteed outcome for having good intentions and being great at what you do. I think there are probably a lot of heart-led coaches and entrepreneurs who also take a while to come around to this realisation. At the deepest level I think that shift was really about giving myself permission to put myself first. Once I decided to prioritize that, it was so clear to me that running my own business was the way forward and I haven’t looked back.  

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, reading a book Think and Grow Rich, Ericeira, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

Traders face high-stakes pressure every day, similar to athletes. How can entrepreneurs learn from elite performers to stay calm and focused under stress?

It’s really about training your mindset, your energy and psychology in a way that leaves nothing to chance. Pressure is inevitable in entrepreneurship, so the better equipped you are to deal with it, the more successful you’ll become. Some traders, athletes and entrepreneurs pay lip service to the idea of “mindset”, and think that a strong mindset is just a nice-to-have asset, they don’t realise that it’s just as critical for success as excellent marketing, products, business-strategy etc. 

I teach high performers how to take a systematic approach to optimizing their mindset and resilience to pressure, so they can integrate this into their daily lives. The way I coach it we turn it into something that can be trained, measured and repeated. It makes your psychology a concrete asset that can be directly linked to bottom-line performance. It’s the difference between an NFL-level athlete engineering a mental edge and a weekend warrior dabbling in self-help.

You’ve worked with athletes, traders, and entrepreneurs at the top of their game. What separates those who succeed consistently from those who burn out or give up?

I think that a lot of highly successful athletes, traders and entrepreneurs do experience burnout somewhere along their journey. So learning how to prevent burnout and/or recover from it is an essential skill for any high performer. But in terms of what separates those who succeed consistently to those who give up - if I had to pinpoint one factor I would say their drive. The people who are motivated by a massive internal drive to succeed — driven by the mastery of the craft, the desire to live life on their own terms for example — tend to be able to stay the course no matter what obstacles or challenges they face. The people that chase success for more ego-based reasons, like recognition, approval or status, often don’t have the same depth of internal grit to draw on when things get tough. I believe that whether you’re a trader, athlete or entrepreneur, knowing your “Why” is critical. This is one of the first exercises that I take traders and entrepreneurs through in my Go Deep to Level Up® program because it’s such an important foundation for success.

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, hosting friends and family, Ericeira, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

What’s a common performance trap you see entrepreneurs fall into — and how can they avoid it?

One trap I see a lot of entrepreneurs fall into (and one I have fallen into myself many times) is focusing on the grand vision to the point it makes the business feel overwhelming. Entrepreneurs by nature have the ability to see the bigger picture and paint a vision that no one else sees and then bring that to life. But to be a successful entrepreneur you need to be able to switch that focus when your business demands it. 

If you’re having a few months of low sales and disrupted cash flow and the panic is setting in, it’s not helpful to try to overhaul the entire business model or strategize as to how you can scale to the next million from where you are at. In those times, the focus needs to be on going back to basics and getting a few small wins under your belt so that you can bring your confidence up and regulate your nervous system. For example, working out the minimum number of sales you need to make each month to comfortably get by and then focusing all your activities on reaching that manageable metric. That cures the feeling of overwhelm and paralysis that can set in when finances are under pressure. Being able to switch between the micro and macro focus on-demand is a skill that can definitely be trained and optimised.

You developed the Go Deep to Level Up™ framework. Could you share one or two practical techniques from it that entrepreneurs could implement immediately in their daily routine?

Absolutely. I developed the Go Deep to Level Up® mental conditioning system from almost two decades of coaching high performers to provide a self-paced framework that could replicate the depth and efficacy of 1:1 coaching. Two of my favourite techniques that I include in the Go Deep to Level Up® system are the “pre-performance mental preparation routine” and affirmations. 

The pre-performance routine is a really simple, personally-tailored way of getting into the best mental, emotional and physical state every day for peak performance. We all operate best at slightly different levels of activation, so once you reflect on what state works best for you (energised, motivated, calm, confident etc.), you can then create a routine that warms you up to this state very deliberately before you start work.

Affirmations are probably my all-time favourite mental training tool, but only when used correctly. These are statements that you create that reflect your goals and that portray them as if they are present for you today. So, for example, “I am a highly successful entrepreneur. My business generates over €1 million every year. I am the category king when it comes to brand photoshoots etc.” I teach a specific method for creating affirmations so they rewire your mind at the deepest subconscious level for success. If any of your audience wants to try out a done-for-you Affirmations for Entrepreneurs resource, I have a free audio that people can listen to every day to train their mind: https://www.credeperformance.com/affirmations-for-entrepreneurs/

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, preparing affirmations for her clients, Ericeira , Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

You’ve worked with top traders, entrepreneurs, and high performers. How important do you think strong personal branding is in positioning yourself as an authority in your industry?

I would argue, in today’s world, if you want to be recognised as an authority in your industry you can’t neglect deliberately building a personal brand. Going back to the idea that talent, hard work or good intentions alone can’t create or sustain success, if you’re an entrepreneur who is amazing at what you do but no one knows about you, you’ll end up with a hobby instead of a business. For traders and athletes, building a personal brand creates longevity for your career. The professional athletes I worked with who built a personal brand had many more career avenues open to them when they retired from playing professionally than those who didn’t focus on brand. Similarly, many top traders are now branching out into education, mentoring and other parallel pursuits, where leveraging brand creates income streams that can hedge against any drawdowns in the market.

You recently did a personal branding photoshoot with me — what impact do you feel high-quality, aligned visuals have had on your business and the way clients perceive you?

Firstly, thank you for an amazing shoot. I love working with you and you’ve delivered exceptional brand photos for me twice now! In my experience the brand photoshoots that I did with you were a huge asset in terms of helping me portray exactly how I wanted to be perceived and the exact brand I wanted to create. I feel like the impact came in two phases - firstly it helped me to internally clarify exactly what I wanted to portray (and what I definitely didn’t) and so the process gave me confidence and clarity in my own business. Then as a result of that clarity, the visuals helped me communicate that to the wider world. I believe that the time and money I invested in designing my brand has paid dividends in terms of increasing my business revenue.

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, enjoing sunrise at Miradouro de Santa Luzia, Lisbon, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová

What is the bigger vision that drives you in your work, and how do you hope to impact the next generation of entrepreneurs and leaders?

I did a good bit of soul searching to refine my own “Why” and the long version is this: “To use my connection with source to lift myself and others up to live the highest expression of our potential and experience empowerment, love, connection and joy.” 

But in more practical terms I think the gift that I bring through my work is that I help people face themselves at the deepest levels so that they can dissolve internal barriers to success. I thrive on helping people who are betting everything on themselves in high pressure arenas; traders, entrepreneurs, athletes, to realise their most ambitious goals and to do so in a way that feels joyful and fluid instead of pressured and stressful.

You help others perform at the highest level — but what keeps you motivated and inspired each day to keep showing up as your best self in business and in life?

Honestly it’s because the goals I have for myself and my business feel like soul-driven goals. Like I couldn’t set them aside even if I wanted to. If I won the Euromillions in the morning I’d probably still find myself drawn back to this type of work in one way or another (granted after a few lengthy tropical vacations!). So there’s no plan B for me. It doesn’t mean it’s easy — it just means I keep getting up and trying again even when it’s painfully hard!

My brand story talks about creativity caused by the proximity of the ocean. Does the ocean affect you? If so, how?

100%. I feel a deep connection to the ocean. For me it’s not as much about creativity as feeling like I’m getting back to the core of who I am when I’m near (or in) the ocean. My original reason for getting into sport psychology way back in the day was because I wanted to create a career where I could work on Maui, Hawaii with the beach as my office lol! My career took a slightly different trajectory, but the ocean is just as important to me today as it was back then. I have a luxury villa by the ocean on my vision board right now…

Connect and learn more.

Did you enjoy Créde’s valuable insights? Connect with her and achieve your most ambitious goals.

WEBSITE: https://www.credeperformance.com

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@CredeSheehy-Kelly

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/credesheehykelly/

Créde Sheehy-Kelly, Personal Branding Photoshoot, Lisbon & Ericeira, Portugal | Photo: Lucie Kirchnerová