Most entrepreneurs start their business chasing freedom — only to find themselves drowning in client demands, late-night emails, last-minute requests, and non-stop availability that leaves them exhausted and resentful.

The real secret to a profitable, sustainable, and joyful business isn’t working harder or saying yes to everything. It’s mastering gentle boundaries — clear, compassionate limits that protect your time, energy, and value without burning bridges or turning you into a robot.

In The Art of Gentle Boundaries, real estate veteran and entrepreneur Kevin Shirley delivers a practical, refreshingly honest blueprint for setting boundaries in business — and sticking to them. This isn’t theory. This is the hard-won playbook of a business owner who learned (the hard way) that boundaries aren’t selfish… they’re strategy.

• Reframe your mindset and give yourself permission to prioritize YOU.

• Train clients how to treat you — kindly, clearly, and consistently.

• Set time, financial, digital, and team boundaries that actually stick.

• Handle pushback and boundary violations without guilt.

• Communicate limits with scripts and strategies for tricky situations.

• Reset expectations in existing client relationships.

• Recover from boundary breaches without burning down your business.

Each chapter ends with reflection prompts, action steps, and powerful truth bombs that challenge you to rethink how you show up for your business — and for yourself.

Whether you’re a solopreneur, service provider, creative, or small business owner, The Art of Gentle Boundaries will help you lead with kindness, clarity, and authority — and finally build a business that loves you back.


About the Author

KEVIN SHIRLEY is a writer, real estate veteran, and unapologetic boundary evangelist. After nearly 30 years in sales and entrepreneurship — and more than a few boundary mistakes — he now helps business owners reclaim their time, energy, and joy without sacrificing their client relationships. He lives in Wisconsin with his husband, vintage cookbooks, and an ever-growing collection of sharp opinions about bad boundaries.