If you know me or have been following me over the last year, you know that I began a journey of starting my own Social Media Management business in 2019. It was an opportunity that fell into my lap and I decided to give it a try. I spent two months putting together a business plan and preparing to launch the business on January 1, 2019. At the same time, I decided that I wanted to start a lifestyle blog because I wanted to figure out a way to also help make a difference in people’s lives. I wasn’t sure what my main goals were for starting the blog, but I felt a desire to start one and see where it would take me.
Towards the middle of the year, I started noticing a major shift in my energy towards my Social Media Management business. I started noticing myself almost having to force myself to get my work done and force myself to be creative when I really couldn’t get myself to think creatively. I was feeling extremely burnt out and I just didn’t know what I was supposed to do next.
After several months of trying to get myself to feel passionate about my business again, I realized that Social Media Management just wasn’t for me. It wasn’t where my true passion was and what I’m ultimately supposed to be doing.
In October 2019, after much contemplation, I decided to close the doors on my Social Media Management business and dip my toes into something else. This was a hard decision for me to make because I had to make a decision to decrease my income tremendously so I have the time and energy to build something that I love. I am very blessed to be able to be my own boss and create a life and a business that truly fulfills me.
I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ve always wanted to pursue a career helping others. In high school, I was always the friend that people went to for advice and I loved it. I loved helping others work through whatever they were going through and I loved that people felt comfort in coming to me for that advice. Helping others has just always been that one thing that came naturally to me.
Over the years, I’ve received my BA in Psychology, conducted research projects, got experience in clinical work, learned ethics & the importance of interpersonal communication, dipped my toes in other industries including childcare & sales, received my MS in Business Psychology, overcame depression, made the mistakes, started my own business, learned the hard way & worked through every obstacle that tried to stop me from continuing to move forward. It’s taken a lot of time, tears, confusion, frustration, feeling defeated and continuing to stand back up when it felt like it would be easier to just throw in the towel & accept that I just didn’t have what it takes.
So, going into 2020, I am going to be focusing my energy on building a Female Empowerment Coaching business.
I hired my own coach and we have been working through the process of getting this new business started and I am SO EXCITED! It’s a scary leap, much scarier than the last time I launched a business because I now know what I didn’t know last year. I’ve had to work through the mental blocks of worrying that I won’t be able to be successful at starting my own business. However, that fear is telling me that this is the direction that I am supposed to be going.
Life is a crazy journey. Sometimes frustrating, but also fulfilling if you choose. I believe we were all placed on earth for a reason and I want to help as many people as I can reach their full potential. I have the degrees, but most importantly, I have the experience.
So, going into 2020, I will be embarking on yet another entrepreneurial journey. I’ve made it through the first year of trial & error of building a business and I know so much more than that I did last time. I’ve made it through all of the mental blocks and I’ve learned what it takes to run a successful business. I know so much more about myself and I can’t wait to teach others how to get the most out of their own lives.
My Social Media Management business will always hold a special place in my heart. It definitely fulfilled a part of my life that I needed to prepare me for where I am supposed to go next. Through that business, I was able to learn from those around me and I will take those learning experiences with me into my next adventure.
I’m excited to take everything that I have learned and really turn it into something amazing. I’m getting to the point where I want to spread my wings and really delve into what makes me truly happy. I’m getting very excited about embarking on a journey to really hone into my true potential.
I am very grateful for the internet to provide me with the ability to make this impact and reach as many people as possible. I truly believe there’s more to life than just living for Friday. I want to live everyday and feel completely fulfilled. I want to be able to go into everyday loving what I do and make the difference that I want to make. Not only that, but I want to help others do the same as well!
The time is now to make the difference. I hope you decide to join me on this adventure to live our lives to the fullest potential! ❤
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Let’s start 2020 off right, with support and positivity. I hope to see you there!
As 2019 comes to a close, it’s natural to dive into some reflection about how the year went. I honestly can’t believe that it’s already been a whole year since I started my business & I have to say, 2019 did not end up being quite like I had expected it to be, but… does it ever?
Towards the end of 2018, I was full of excitement and eagerness to get my business going and to see all of the opportunities that were about to be right in front of me. I was excited and had no idea what to expect. It was a leap that I had no idea where it was going to take me or what the experience was going to be. But, I was so freaking excited for it. I took the leap with little-to-no expectations, just letting the universe guide me to my next adventure. I went into the experience with very little expectations because I had no idea what I did and didn’t know about starting and running a business.
I was full of excitement and eagerness to get started and see what could come from working from home and being my own boss. Honestly, I wasn’t even nervous or hesitant to get started. After years of trying to get my career figured out & months of not knowing what my next steps were going to be, I was just excited.
Looking back, I can’t even begin to explain the amount that I’ve learned & the growth that happened over this year. At times, I felt like I was just crawling to the finish line, on the brink of exhaustion and mental break down(s). But, I’ve made it to the end of the year & it’s time to stop and really take the time to appreciate everything that happened this past year.
I spent 2 months (November & December 2018) preparing for the launch of my new business on January 1, 2019. I was so excited and on January 2, 2019, I started learning what I did not know. For those of you contemplating starting your own business, I am talking about what I’ve learned in my first year starting my own business. However, while I wish I knew some of these things before starting, I’m happy I experienced & went through everything that I did because I have learned SO MUCH!
Here’s what I learned:
1.I DIDN’T HAVE A PLAN
This might seem like a no brainer, but when you are the one trying to put this together, it doesn’t come as easily as it may seem. During my 2 months of preparing for my launch, that’s all that I was preparing for.. Just the launch. I put together my website, packages, announcement video. But when I woke up on January 2, I thought “OK…what’s next”… I didn’t have a PLAN. I had no idea what I was going to post on my social media accounts or how I was going to sell my services. So, I immediately started feeling like I needed to frantically come up with a plan. I started signing up for webinars, downloading guides, joining facebook groups, trying to do research and try to start pulling together a plan. I was trying to work all day long, just doing as much research as possible. Some days I would work for like 12-14 hours. It’s probably no surprise that I quickly started getting burnt out and exhausted.
I very quickly realized how much I did not know. I also very quickly realized that I needed a plan moving forward if I wanted to get anywhere in this business. So, a year of trying to figure out my schedule and a plan that works for me and my business began coming together.
2. YOU CAN’T DO THIS ALONE
The entrepreneurial journey can be a very lonely journey. At home, by yourself, trying to put the pieces together by yourself. I’m in charge of all the job functions because I’m not making enough money to pay someone to help me with various tasks yet. I didn’t have anyone to turn to for entrepreneurial advice because no one I know is also an entrepreneur.
I started joining Facebook groups to see if I could start gaining connections there & eventually started investing in coaches.
We all want to be that one person who figures it all out on their own, without investing in a coach or spending any money at all. We try to google answers, pulling answers from a million different directions. We don’t want to ask for help, because we want to do it all ourselves. I so badly wanted to do be that person.
BUT IT IS SO FRUSTRATING.
I would get some answers and think I started figuring something out then I would hit a wall and get confused. It’s freaking frustrating. At times I just wanted to throw in the towel and say, “Forget it. I have no idea what the heck is going on.”
That’s why we invest in coaches. Nobody wants to do it at first. I know I didn’t. It took me 7 months of floundering until I finally decided that I was done floundering in the abyss of my own confusion, trying to figure it out on my own. It’s seriously impossible.
Plus, being on this journey completely on your own is very lonely and boring. When you connect with people that are in the same journey as you, understanding your frustrations and helping you work through your situation is so.much.better. As someone with a psychology background, I very much value talk therapy. Not that I think it should be seen as talk therapy, but just simply talking and working through the issues on the surface and figuring out how to work through them is VERY important! Whenever I get off a call with any of the coaches I’ve had, I always feel 10x better than before I got on the call.
Trust me, don’t put the pressure on yourself to try to figure this out on your own.
3. I Didn’T KNOW HOW TO PLAN MY OWN SCHEDULE
Lol.. what? But, seriously. I didn’t. I had no idea how to plan my own day.
The hardest part has been figuring out how to adequately schedule my day. I was so pumped to be completely in charge of my own schedule and create a daily plan that works for ME. Being in complete control of my schedule is wonderful and I love it, but figuring out how to actually use my time to my advantage has been a learning experience. For the first time, I had no structure and I didn’t know what to do with all the time in the day.
I remember thinking: “Do I just work all day?” It seems like most entrepreneurs are always working. So, I should be working all day, right? Hint hint: Not true..I quickly worked myself into burnout and exhaustion. I had to learn that I don’t have to sit at my desk, typing away on my laptop to be productive.
Whenever someone would say “what does your ideal day look like”. If I knew, I start trying to implement those things!!!
Coming out of 2019, I have a MUCH better understanding of a schedule for myself. It’s actually shocking the difference that was made over this year to get to where I am now. It has taken so many mental breakdowns, burn outs, endless amount of frustration, business courses, trial & error and never giving up to get here. A whole year later and I think I am starting to scratch the surface of what I am doing.
But, it’s all trial & error. Unfortunately, you learn what doesn’t work before you figure out what does work. It’s very frustrating & discouraging at times, but the experience is very rewarding. It’s actually pretty cool to see everything that I had to go through to finally get to a point of understanding.
4. THE POWER OF MANIFESTATION
I’ve heard of the term manifestation many times but never really gave it much thought. In connecting with other online entrepreneurs and in my research, everyone was talking about the power of manifestation. The thought that you can really achieve anything you put your mind to just by shifting your mindset seemed just about impossible to me. It can’t be that easy, right?
While I am still learning about this concept and experimenting with the power of manifestation, I have turned into a believer. I think it’s interesting that we are conditioned to think negatively about things and think that a level of success just isn’t in our reach.
It comes down to mindset, as I’m learning. If you believe that you are capable of success, you are more likely to be successful. If you stay stuck in your own pity party, constantly thinking and talking about your sad situation, then staying stuck you will be. From what I understand, manifestation is an energy shift. It’s a shift that happens within you & it takes work to actually believe.
Why not give it a try? The resources I have listed in the next section have helped me in understanding & believing in the power of manifestation.
5. the importance of CONTINUING EDUCATION
By continuing education, I don’t mean going back to school necessarily. But, continuing to read, stay up to date on what’s going on in the industry, reading blog posts, watching helpful business YouTube videos, etc.
When you think about it, at a job, you’re usually continuing to learn something. It’s important for entrepreneurs to continue their own education and keep learning. I didn’t start realizing this until very recently. So, I’ve been trying to at least read a helpful book, blog posts or watch a YouTube video.
I absolutely love this book! When I started reading this book, I had such a hard time putting it down. Jen Sincero is such a breath of fresh air and knows how to relate to her readers. She breaks down & explains how you are holding yourself back from getting the most out of life. Using her own experiences, she talks about where she was mentally in her own life, constantly feeling sorry for herself and her situation. She talks about the importance of changing your mindset & shifting your energy to allow yourself to reach your fullest potential.
If you’re anything like me, you’re going to want to get your hands on this book. If you want to be able to reach your fullest potential and start shifting your energy to realizing that you have what it takes to reach that potential and believe in yourself, this book is a great place to start! Go ahead and grab this book & get ready to get massively motivated to start changing your entire outlook on life. >> CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS BOOK NOW!
Raise your hand if you have ever wished you made more money! 🙋🏻♀️ UM, YES! OK, now raise your hand if you don’t believe being rich is possible for you, however you wish you were rolling in the dough… 🙋🏻♀️
If you answered YES to those questions, you also want to get your hands on this book. I am on my second round of reading this book & I have never truly believed that I have what it takes to live my dream life. The thought of making enough money to live your dream life seems completely out of reach and those who are rich, are just lucky.
You see, we get so caught up in lack of money that we don’t even see all of the possibilities in front of us to make that money. Jen Sincero does it again, making me see that I am the one holding me back from reaching my full potential & understanding that I am in control of my financial situation. Yes, it’s hard to figure out, but Jen Sincero really makes you think hard about if you are just holding yourself back. What if the money opportunities are truly right in front of you, but you’re just too busy focusing on your lack of money to see them? The time is now to change that mindset! >> CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS BOOK NOW!
THIS.BOOK.IS.AMAZING. In addition to Jen Sincero, Marie Forleo is really helping me see my true potential as well. This book revolves around the phrase, “Everything Is Figureoutable”. Meaning, no matter where you are in life, what situation you are currently in, no matter how sucky or sad, it is figureoutable.
Like Jen Sincero, Marie Forleo helps you get out of your mental BS to start living your life. To help you get out of that mental funk that you’ve found yourself in and start taking actionable steps to changing your mindset.
In my opinion, Jen Sincero + Marie Forleo = life changingauthors. Seriously. I have read these books and really felt the energy shift happening. There were so many “aha!” moments when reading these books making me realize that opportunities are right in front me. Where I choose to place my energy is what’s holding me back.
6. THE IMPORTANCE OF WORKING WITH YOUR IDEAL CLIENT
This one is hard because when you are just starting out in business, you don’t really have much direction. You are pretty much willing to work with anyone that is willing to work with you. Plus, you need to learn who your ideal client really is.
Working with the wrong client can be extremely frustrating. You learn this all the time in business and I definitely learned first hand the importance of this. I appreciate all of the clients that I worked with and I definitely learned a lot about who I do and don’t want to work with in the future. Both parties have to be on the same page and work well together for the relationship to work. If it doesn’t, that’s OK. It’s OK to not be able to work with everyone. The more you hone in on your niche, the better!
7. EVEN THOUGH I LIKE HAVING A PLAN, I CAN’T FORCE MYSELF TO BE CREATIVE.
I started writing out a content plan for each month. Typically about what I was going to post on my Facebook business page, as well as an idea for a blog post I was going to publish. I quickly started to learn that I can’t force myself to be creative about a topic. I have to let the ideas flow and work from there.
While I’ve learned more about being organized and more prepared, there are just certain things that are hard to plan for. Sometimes I’ve even come up with a blog post idea and put it all together in one sitting. I just have to let myself go with the flow and write as the content and creativity flow to me naturally. Forcing doesn’t help anything.
Lastly and certainly the most boring…
8. KEEP A SPENDING & INCOME LOG FOR TAXES.
When you work from home and work for yourself, it’s important to keep a log of all that you’ve spent & your income. When you work for an employer, they keep all of that organized so that you don’t have to. They pay for computers, office supplies, rent, electric bill, and anything else needed to run the business. Same goes for you if you are working from home. These are things that are important to keep track of to file for taxes when the time comes.
I just made an excel spread sheet and I tried my best to log everything and keep receipts for anything that I spent money on that would help me run my business. Keeping a running list as the year goes will be so much easier by the time tax season rolls around. Super boring, but also super important!
This has been a long post, but it only covers just a small portion of all that I’ve learned this year. I’m going into 2020 with something very important that I didn’t have in 2019: A PLAN. Not just a launch plan, an actual business plan. I have a better idea of how to schedule my time. What times of the day work best for me & understanding that taking breaks is very crucial. I have a business plan and a plan for myself.
As I am writing this, I am truly baffled by the amount that I learned this year. I might not be as energized like I was last year, but I am feeling much more prepared. I am taking every single thing that I learned this year, every tear shed, every mental break down, every hour spent researching and pouring it into my new business and my new approach.
Overall, 2019 was a great year! Even though I didn’t reach some of my own goals and I’m ending on a different foot than I started, it was a great year. There’s so much more to learn and I just know that I am going to come out of this next year even more knowledgeable than I am now. I’m just so excited to have the experience of 2019 in my back pocket. Just thinking about how much I have learned & how much more equipped I am going into 2020, makes everything worth it.
It’s time to say goodbye to 2019 & hello to all the possibilities coming in 2020!Let’s do this.
Sometimes when we put too much pressure on ourselves, it can
be overwhelming. This can also lead to exhaustion, stress, lack of motivation
and decreased creativity. It’s frustrating because all you want to do is be
productive. But, sometimes all you need is to take break from everything. Over
the last couple months, I’ve been experiencing quite a few changes- although
good changes, they’ve been a little overwhelming. While these changes were
happening, I also felt like it was time to make some changes to my business
plan. While it was an exciting thought, it made me even more overwhelmed. I
felt like I always had to be “on” and I didn’t know exactly how to approach these
changes that I wanted to make.
I spent some time completely away from posting on social
media, revisiting my plan and trying new things. But, everything that I tried,
I didn’t see the results I was hoping to see. This ultimately lead me to
feeling even more overwhelmed and pretty discouraged. This feeling of being
discouraged ultimately lead me to feel lack of motivation.
Sound familiar?
So, over the past couple months, I’ve been taking a step back from my own social media accounts- a little unplugging, if you will. I wasn’t expecting it to be as long as it ended up being, but I felt like it was the best thing for me and my business. I didn’t want to just post something on social media, acting like everything was completely fine and I was feeling like everything was “together”. These moments are definitely necessary because it always, always means that an incredible breakthrough is about to happen. It’s very uncomfortable in the moment, but knowing there was something incredible on the other side is what kept me going.
Rather than stressing myself out about needing to constantly
be making posts, I took a step back and began observing. Most people feel like
they need to “unplug” from scrolling and seeing others posts, but that’s what I
felt like I needed. I needed inspiration and I needed to see how others
were handling themselves. Seems a bit odd, I know. Building your own business
is absolutely incredible because you get to use all of your talents and
expertise to build something amazing. But, it’s also challenging because how
exactly are you supposed to do that? There were SO MANY things that I wanted to
do with my business. I knew that my abilities and capabilities were much more
than I knew what to do with at the moment. I was on the brink of something
amazing, but I didn’t know how to get there!
I also had to understand that this is just a part of the
journey.
By the time July came around, I was experiencing mixed emotions from being super proud of where I’ve come over the past year (which you can read about here) to feeling extreme overwhelm. So, I spent A LOT of time on YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and really paying attention to those email subscriptions I have. I observed how other online entrepreneurs handle themselves and their schedules. I absolutely admire those who are able to handle so many things on their plate and do so many amazing things with their business. I wanted to be that person so bad.
We put so much pressure on ourselves, which can actually be a good thing. But, without necessary precautions, it can lead to burnout. Which I started experiencing quite a bit in the first six months of business. There’s so much that I wanted to do and I wanted to be successful so badly I was willing to do anything to get there.
Unplugging from my own accounts for a few months helped me tremendously. I was able to completely focus on my client’s profiles and use the extra time to rest. Watching YouTube videos and reading other blog posts helped slowly make my vision more clear. I took notes and started thinking about how I could possibly make changes and incorporate the various tips into my own business. Doing this also made me feel like I wasn’t alone in this journey.
During this time, I also realized that I wanted and needed to make some (bigger) investments in my business to keep moving forward. I spent A LOT of money on various services that would help me more efficiently show up and run my business.
Then, I started to come up with a game plan to implement those things that I wanted to accomplish in my business. Slowly, I started gaining that clarity that I was longing for. That sense of passion for what I was doing slowly started coming back. In just a couple weeks, I went from feeling completely overwhelmed and unsure if I had what it takes to run this business to gaining the most clarity I’ve experienced yet.
The main turning point?
After weeks of seeking inspiration, I decided to pick up
my camera to gather content.
I started gathering more content for my business, as well as my clients. I felt the sense of passion rush right back to me. In gathering content, I started getting all kinds of ideas for my business, blog posts, videos, etc. I kept gathering content and kept a running list of these ideas.
The passion is back and I am working on even more incredible content than I was before. Slowly, I’m building this business that I never even thought to dream of.
All of this happened just because I decided to unplug for a while. Unplugging will look different for everyone. But, it’s necessary for everyone. For me, it took taking a step back and observing others around me. Letting myself feel the emotions as the came to the surface, especially the ones that were extremely overwhelming, and slowly starting to get myself back into the game.
During this time, I also noticed that a lot of other
entrepreneurs talk about doing the same thing. Often we feel like we are the
only ones going through specific hard times because it looks like everyone has
it completely together. But, we all need it. Our brains need it. Our body needs
it. Our business needs it.
I have a new approach to running this business now. I have a content calendar for blogs, videos and posts and I am ready to crush this journey!
Unplugging can be hard. It can be hard to get yourself to
just stop for some time while you gain some clarity. With it can come
with confusion, frustration in yourself for not being able to keep going. We’re
all learning, we’re all growing. It doesn’t stop. But, unplugging when you need
it just might be exactly what you need to keep moving forward.
I actually wrote this post a month prior and had it scheduled to be posted a month prior. It was a week before I was going on vacation and I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce some things and start my blogging schedule. The day before I planned to launch everything, I realized that I needed to take my unplugging even further. So, I decided to hold off until I got back from vacation. I needed the week to completely turn everything offbefore I got overwhelmed.
So, that’s exactly what I did. I decided to give myself an extra couple weeks to unplug [even more] and get everything planned out so I didn’t get overwhelmed. During my time away on vacation, I learned a lot about the importance of completely taking a break, which I will write a post about very soon!
Make sure you take the time off and unplug when you need to! Do you let yourself unplug and give yourself time away when you need to?
It’s been SIX months since I launched my business! I feel
like so much has happened and I’ve already learned so much along this journey
so far. Starting your own business is hard work & comes with different
struggles that you would never think of. So, I wanted to take the time to recap
what I’ve learned so far and provide some advice to those who are beginning
their journey, or thinking about starting their own business.
There are so many things that you encounter when you are
starting your own business, things that nobody teaches you and you have to
figure out on your own. I definitely ran into some unexpected obstacles on this
journey so far. I am well aware that I’m not done learning (never will be).
It’s a process and you learn something new every single day.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ONLINE CONNECTIONS
There is great importance in making connections with those
who are in your industry/making connections with like-minded people. For me, I
don’t know anyone else who does what I do. So, the connections I’ve made in the
online space has been extremely helpful and important for my continued success.
When I first started my business, I joined several Facebook
Groups & started making connections with other female entrepreneurs through
Instagram. Being able to connect with other, like-minded people who have been
in your shoes before has been super helpful. It’s always reassuring to know
that you’re not the only one experiencing great anxiety and frustration in your
business, especially starting out.
I highly recommend looking up joining any Facebook groups and start making connections!
BEING OKAY WITH TAKING CHANCES
You can’t learn if you don’t make mistakes, right? Starting
out, I had a world full of amazing opportunities waiting for me. I wanted to
test the waters in every way possible and see where it would take me. Maybe I
tried to take on too many things at the start, but I’m honestly very grateful
that I did. I started blogging and a video series on my Facebook business page.
I knew that I wanted to try something different and take chances and I knew I
just had to do it in order to learn.
The series didn’t turn into what I expected it to be, but I think that the experience has opened the door and given me many more ideas of where I want to go next. You can’t expect the very first idea to be a game changer, but it can at least be a learning experience and guide you in the right direction. If anything, it’s given me even more confidence to continue trying new things and do it even better than before.
As an introvert that over-thinks and over-analyzes
everything, this was a hard thing for me to do. But, I had to do it in order to
continue moving forward in my business and give me more ideas.
ORGANIZATION & COMING UP WITH A SYSTEM
This seems like a very known thing, but I had no idea what I
needed to do and what was the best system to put into place to make my day run
smoothly. It was hard figuring out exactly what I needed to be doing. When
you work in the corporate world, there’s already a system in place and you make
changes when needed. Having to start from scratch, figuring out the best system
for me, how to organize my time has been a challenging experience. It’s been an
amazing experience to being fully in charge of my time, but that also comes
with it’s own set of roadblocks that I was unprepared for.
What has helped me is taking on less clients to let me
figure out a schedule and experiment with different things. There was so much I
wanted to do and figure out that I needed some extra time to get it all figured
out. I needed the opportunity to try things out, make mistakes and learn from
them.
Over the last 6 months, I’ve been able to experiment with my
system and my schedule, do some research and adjust where I thought was necessary.
It’s been quite the journey so far, but I’m so happy and proud of the chances I’ve
been able to take to continue learning and moving forward with my plan.
TRYING TO FORCE MYSELF TO BE CREATIVE RATHER THAN DOING
WHAT COMES NATURALLY
As a Social Media Manager, I know the importance of planning
content ahead of time. I’m good at planning content for my clients, but I’ve
found this to be different for myself. I would try to plan out what blog posts
I would write, what I wanted to post on Instagram, videos I wanted to make etc.,
all at the beginning of the month. It sounded like a great plan. I would write down
what everything that I wanted to do at the beginning of the month, but I wouldn’t
have anything to say about the topic when the time came and it didn’t come off
as natural. There always seems to be another topic that came to mind that I
ended up talking/writing about.
Having the set plan in place stalled my creativity and made
the task more of a chore and frustration. What I’m learning to do now is carry
around my planner and writing down topics that come to mind and jotting down
notes in a word document, adding to it as ideas come. Doing this has let me
exercise my creativity and speak from my heart, rather than forcing myself to
be creative.
Planning ahead of time is always great, but I’ve learned
that I need to make sure that I’m doing it right and not forcing myself to be
creative about a topic when I’m not at the time.
RECAP
Overall, these 6 months in my business has been the most incredible experience that I could ask for. I never saw myself starting my own business, so this has been quite the journey. But, sometimes you just have to follow the path and the signs as they come. I’ve learned so much, I’ve been challenged in many ways and I’ve put myself out there in ways that I didn’t even know were possible.
It’s been an amazing start to 2019 and I am so very excited to see what else is in store for the rest of the year! Just remember- take as many chances and go through all the open doors that come your way. They can be the most life changing and amazing experience. 💗
The first month of the year did not go as I expected, but it never does, does it??
In November & December, while I was planning my business, I was super excited & energized to be working on my business. It was a cool feeling and I truly enjoyed working on it. But, the moment I made my announcement, everything shifted. I found myself getting overwhelmed and exhausted. A week in, I was thinking to myself, “what did I just get myself into?” It’s like everything became real. Up until that point, I obviously knew it was happening, but it didn’t really hit me until it became official. I immediately started feeling frantic, like I needed to get everything figured out. I felt like I had so much to do, I would get up early, sit down and have no idea what to do.
I did not decide to start a business because I thought it would be “easy”. But, I did quickly realize that I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was going to be. That’s probably a main reason for why I was feeling so unsure when I would sit down to get work done. My schedule & tasks have changed so much over the last year and all of a sudden everything I do is completely up to me to figure out. I am running a one woman show. I do the planning, creating, developing, analyzing, making phone calls, initiating emails, etc.
A week into January, I felt like I failing at running a business. I got to a point where I had to ask myself,, “what am I even failing at?” I had to give myself a reality check and slowwww downnnnn. I had multiple messages on LinkedIn, a handful of people that were reaching out wanting to collaborate and build a partnership, a handful of people wanted to help me network. I mean, I had to remind myself that opportunities were sitting right in front of me.
I always like being prepared and no matter how long & hard I worked to prepare for the launch and get my business organized, I wasn’t ever going to be completely prepared. The unknown & unpreparedness are two top things that stress me out and overwhelm me. I quickly realized that I had no idea the opportunities and the work that I had to do. I also understand that this happens. I did lots of research afterwards to make sure this was “normal”. I now have those targeted Facebook Ads about being a stressed out business owner & realized that what I was experiencing is normal.
The important thing that I had to understand & remind myself is that you have two important choices: 1. Let yourself continue to be overwhelmed & let the situation control you OR 2. Learn from this situation & continue moving forward. This has been a life motto of mine forever & when you’re in the moment it can be so hard to follow through with the latter option. Especially when you don’t know how to move forward from the situation. It’s like you know that you’re doing something wrong & there’s a major life lesson, but you’re not entirely sure what it is or where to go next.
So, I began overworking myself, stressing myself out… falling asleep between 6pm-7pm because I was so exhausted. I was more exhausted by the feeling that I wasn’t sure what I needed to do to keep moving forward. This goes back to my feeling that I just want to be successful. I was so focused on trying to be successful right away & make enough money that I was getting overwhelmed.
So, I had to take a step back and analyze the situation and figure out what I needed to do to get myself on track and moving forward. Burn out is a very real thing & I knew I was heading in that direction if I continued doing what I was doing. I needed to get my mind & my focus back on track. I decided I needed to stop writing blogs for a little bit (even though I only had written 2 lol), let myself sleep in & start reintroducing a self-care routine! Towards the end of January, I decided to attend webinars, educate myself even more & developed an even better system to keep myself organized. I even came up with even more things that I want to do with my business. I’m continuing to gain more confidence in my abilities and where this business will take me.
This is an adventure. Honestly, working from home, being my own boss, building a business that I love & I am proud of, making a positive impact on people’s lives… that makes all of this worth it. At the end of the day, I am so grateful for this opportunity. I am truly blessed to be able to be building a life & a business that I love & gives me so much energy.
One of the most important lessons I learned in January was: Say “yes” more often. I had a handful of people reach out & want to learn more about what I do and see if there was an opportunity for collaboration. I ended up meeting a handful of people and learned a lot from each person. I’m learning more and more how to get out of my comfort zone & be as successful as I want to be.
I am young. I’m still learning. I’m still growing. But, we all are, right? You never stop.
Ten years ago, I was a struggling high school student. I remember spending all of free time trying to figure out homework assignments & studying hard for tests. I would go into school early and stay late to get extra help. I still failed almost every single test I took. I was constantly worried about being eligible for extracurriculars. I literally passed high school with test corrections and test retakes. It was hard not to feel discouraged because it seemed like everyone around me had no problems & I was on the brink of ineligibility.
I so badly wanted to be successful. But, I often felt like I was just not smart enough or capable of reaching the level of success that I wanted. At the time, I wanted to be a psychologist and get my PhD. But, how could I possibly achieve that if I can barely pass high school? Let alone get into a PhD program.
I have a super smart older brother who was just a year ahead of me in school. He is gifted academically, had artwork displayed in the hallway and has his picture hanging in the athletic wing.
“Don’t compare yourself.”
I have heard that so many times it’s not even funny. But let me tell you, it’s almost impossible. You can’t tell a teenager not to compare themselves to someone. It’s going to happen. You don’t want to be the sibling that was unable to achieve anything. Everyone knew my name before I even got there and had high expectations that I was never able to reach. It was hard. It was frustrating. But, I used it as fire to never give up on myself. I so badly wanted to be successful. I wanted to prove to everyone, especially myself that I am smart & capable of success, just like everyone else.
I wanted to go to college & get my education so I worked hard on my college applications. I flunked the ACT 3 times and barely got into Otterbein University. Otterbein was the only school that I got into & it was on the very bottom of the list of schools that I wanted to go to. They actually accidentally sent me a rejection letter then apologized and sent me my acceptance letter. Talk about BARELY getting in. Even though it was the school I originally didn’t want to go to, it ended up being the biggest blessing. I was taking classes related to my major that I was really good at and had an amazing, supportive faculty helping me along the way.
I failed my first exam.
This is when I knew something was wrong. So, I went to my doctor and ended up getting diagnosed with ADD. Some people might read that and think it was a cop out. But, let me tell you what. That first exam in college was the last test I ever failed. I was so relieved to be able to read a sentence and not have my mind drift into la la land. That’s literally what happened before I got treated. No wonder I could barely pass high school, I couldn’t pay attention long enough to read a sentence. ADD medications don’t make you smart. They help you focus.
Getting my ADD under control, taking classes I was good at and having a supportive faulty, I finally started feeling smart. For the first time in my life, I was actually able to fully embrace that feeling. For some people, that might sound incredibly cheesy. But, you have no idea what it feels like when you feel dumb for a majority of your life.
I remember being so excited. I figured out a study strategy that worked for me and made a schedule to help me be successful. I worked hard and ended up becoming a straight A student. It was amazing. I had so much stress lifted off my shoulders and I finally felt like I was capable of achieving so much.
By my senior year of college, I decided I wanted to take it another step further. I decided to take on an independent research study on top of my regular academic schedule and other obligations I had going on at the time. I ended up not only completing the project, but graduating with honorary distinction, presenting my project 3 times & getting accepted to present my project at the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago. Holy Crap.
Guys. I went from a 2.5 GPA student in High School to graduating college with honorary distinction & presenting at a conference in Chicago.
During my senior year, I also flunked the GRE to get into grad school. I studied so hard for the test and put everything I had into it. I remember getting home and looking at where my scores landed- 20th percentile. I remember crying because I tried so hard & hadn’t had the feeling of failing in a long time. What it proved is that I am not the “smart” measured by general education & society. I’m smart in my own way. That score doesn’t accurately measure the level of my intellectual ability. But, it’s also hard to understand & comprehend when that score is used to determine your eligibility to continue your education. The unfortunate thing is, most schools don’t take applicants who scored below the 50th percentile.
I didn’t get into grad school.
I remember feeling discouraged, frustrated & confused. My plan was to go to grad school right after college. But, I still never gave up and kept trying. Everyone kept telling me “You will end up where you’re supposed to be”, “Everything happens for a reason”, “This will open the door for bigger & better opportunities”.
One of the biggest lessons that I learned is that you have to trust the process. This is something that is much easier said than done & very hard to do when you are going through a similar situation as me. I had it in my mind that everything had to work out a certain way and something was wrong if it didn’t. I was comparing myself to others & seeing others reach the goals that I had set for myself. It’s hard not to compare yourself to others.
When I got let go from my 3rd job of 2018, people kept telling me, “This will open the door for an even better opportunity”. Great! Can I know what this great thing is because I’m about to lose my mind?
Starting my own business never crossed my mind. It was a goal that I never set for myself because I didn’t think I had the personality or what it takes to do so. I was fine with it & didn’t really care. But, it ended up being what was meant to be. Everything that I went through, the process, now makes sense because this is what I’m supposed to be doing & where I’m supposed to be. I was struggling to fit in to the “smarts” of everyone else and keeping up with everyone else because I’m supposed to be building my own path. Just because I failed every standardized test doesn’t mean I’m “dumb”. Just because I’m an introvert, doesn’t mean I don’t have what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur.
Same goes for you.
If you are reading this and questioning how “smart” you are, feeling discouraged and/or don’t feel like you have what it takes to be successful, you do. We were all placed on this earth for a reason, to make a difference in our own way. We often have to go through certain experiences and situations to make things clear. It’s hard not to give up and get discouraged. Sometimes the path that we envision for ourselves isn’t the right path for us, that’s what ended up happening for me. The right path will become clear, after we hit certain obstacles along the way.
I’m extremely stubborn & if you are anything like me, you don’t really want to hear any advice. But, just take it day by day. Let yourself feel the emotions you are feeling with each day. It’s OK to feel angry. Just don’t give up on yourself.
The feeling of holding that LLC document brought on so many emotions. I felt so proud of myself for working through all the obstacles & never giving up. I finally made it!
If you or anyone you know would like to talk to me more about my experiences & journey, please feel free to reach out to me! I would love to help out in any way that I can.
