F#ck It - I'm Out!

People often ask me what makes me different as a business coach.

It's a good question! After all, a quick search on Google for "Business Coach" yields 769,000,000 results!

My shift into becoming a business and entrepreneur coach came from a deep desire to change the narrative of what it looked like to be a woman building a successful business.

When I entered the world of being an entrepreneur, I quickly learned that being a female and building a business presented its own unique set of challenges from our male counterparts.

After 13 years of what often felt like an uphill battle of building my own business, I realized that I had a role to play in helping other women that were following this same path.

I was driven by the question: If I could ease the stressful struggles faced by so many brave female entrepreneurs in their journey toward success—what would that look like?

To satisfy this question that was stirring in me, it required me to go back to the beginning of my own story: I started my first business at the age of 27. That brand agency grew from a team of 2 to 10 and, at the same time, our family grew from 2 to 4. I was young and optimistic and no one was going to tell me I couldn't have it all.

Indeed, I did have it all! But, after 13 years of growing that business, I came to realize that I was paying a hefty price.

I was expected to show up to the breakfast meeting like I didn't have children to care for as well, be likable (but not too likable) and competent (but not too competent), deliver with excellence, and make sure that the kids were to their baseball practice on time.

Being an entrepreneur didn't fit nicely into the "9-5" and my roles outside of my business didn't only exist in the "5-9".

The societal expectations that were projected onto me made me feel like I was a continual failure. It wore on me and in the end, the resentment I felt was too much. I had lost the passion I once had and I was suffering.

Don't get me wrong, I loved building my business. I loved being an entrepreneur. I loved being a mom. I just didn't love the rules of the game that were being forced (or maybe implied) onto me. In late 2019, after years of playing this impossible-to-win game, I said F#ck It, I'm out!

As I'm sure my parents would attest to, I'm not the kind of gal that just waves the white flag and gives up (ah, raising teenagers is fun, isn't it?!).

I was done playing by the rules that didn't work for me but, I certainly wasn't finished playing the game!

I set out on a personal journey to write my own rules for what it would look like for me to do business well - for me.

Here are some of the questions I worked on reconciling for myself during that time:

• What would it look like to live my best life AND have a successful business?

• What beliefs about being an entrepreneur had I absorbed over time? Were they true? Did they serve me?

• How much money would I like to make in order to fuel our best life?

• What was the business model that would set me up for success?

• Who did I want to work with?

• How did I want to show up for my family?

• How did I want our kids to look back on when they thought about these years together?

• How did I want to show up for my clients?

• What needed to change for me to love my work every day?

• What did it look like to take care of myself and be the best version of myself?

I can tell you that my answers to these questions were painting a very different picture than the one I had been creating for the last 13 years.

I used this newly painted picture to create my reality. I walked away from the business that wasn’t fulfilling me anymore and followed my desire to help other women see that there was another way to do business.

Through my coaching practice, I've been able to help women in all stages of their journey to create businesses they love and are proud of. I've been able to offer them the tools, confidence, and courage to make the leap from their current business model into a new one that supports them fully. They're writing their own rules and they're winning!

The resentment I once experienced quickly morphed into happiness. The guilt melted away and the sense of the continual grind shifted into a flow that's natural and energy-giving.

Now, I attract the most amazing clients. I show up with a smile on my face for my kids after a day of work and, my business fuels our best life.

My entrepreneurial journey has had many twists and turns but it's brought me to the most perfect destination! The lesson here is that you can't be afraid to change. You must be willing to shift and pivot in order to grow. If your current business model isn't working, don’t stay stuck in it. Be open to new ways of doing business and know that you get to make your own rules.

If you're feeling stuck or frustrated with your business, I would love to help you create a new path that supports you fully. Let's talk.