A 6-Figure Copywriter's Hard-Learned Lesson In Surrender

Settle in for a little story time. ??

2023 was a pivotal year for my business.

After several years of foot-on-the-gas hustle, my commitment to myself on January 1, 2023, was “Big Chillin’” — which I think I did a pretty dang good job embodying, despite moving twice, traveling a ton, and refreshing all my business offers.?

I took on fewer than 5 clients, had the highest earning year of my business yet, and most importantly, lived more than I worked.?

The secret sauce??

I let work be simple. Boring even.

*womp, womp*

Yeah, I know that’s not what you wanted to hear. But it’s the stone-cold truth.?

Now, those who know me outside of the interwebs know that I am certifiably ?extra.? I love to go big, do things to their fullest potential, and really put my foot in it.?

In other words, I’m not a half-asser.?

I’m a full-asser. Always. (Can we curse on LinkedIn? I’m still new to this game. Lemme know.)?

But this mentality became incredibly overwhelming and hard to keep up with in my business around the end of 2022, and I knew something needed to change, or I was headed nowhere good, fast.?

So I let it be simple.?

I worked with a small handful of clients, doing similar projects (monthly email & SMS copy, sales, launches, and automated flows mostly, with a few full campaigns peppered in to keep my chaos cup full), and mostly kept things pretty mundane, honestly.?

And whaddaya know? It worked!?

At the end of 2023 I was on cloud nine, having closed the books on my best year in business yet, and happier than I had probably ever been.?

So when I sat down to make my 2024 goals list I was on. fire.?

After a full year of ??♀?rest & ease ??♀? I was all better and creatively sparked and happy again, ergo, 100% healed and ready for action.?

Time to hit the gas!!!?

(?? Why do they let us be in charge?)

So back to my overachiever tendencies I went a crawling — nay — sprinting! Flinging the doors to my biggest goals open wide and diving through with all the gumption, productivity, and speed of a jaguar running into the forest.?

Ready for the kill.?

What do you think happened next??

*Alexa, queue Michael Bay-esque crash & burn sequence.*

Oh yeah, I went down hard.?

Funny how a full year of rest and alignment really changes your capacity for bullshit, huh??

Thankfully, it only took me a few weeks to realize I had slipped back into my familiar pattern of overthinking → existential crisis → epiphany → perfecting it until it cannot be perfected anymore → overthinking it to death → negative self-talk → repeat.?

(This is what mindset coaches are for. I shudder to think where I may be without mine.)?

And while I truly was the ?? productivity queen ?? during this time, turns out I actually got like… nothing done?

Because I couldn’t make anything perfect, and I’d be damned if I let ANYONE on the internet know that I was anything but perfect (ha ha ha ha ha), none of my (amazing and truly valuable) projects got finished, shared, or published.?

Timelines were pushed back.?

Messaging got dialed in just a liiittle bit more.?

Tech was tested. And adjusted. And tested again.?

Design went through approximately 30 rounds of revisions (this is not an exaggeration).?

And nothing changed.?

None of the goals I wrote down at the end of 2023 shifted any closer as a result of the overworking and perfectionism I let myself indulge in for the sake of “productivity.”?

So when I realized this, only after I took a mental health (and financial, for the sake of transparency) nose dive, I revisited past me’s January 1 promise to future me.?

Wanna know what I wrote as my commitment to myself on January 1, 2024??

Imperfect action.?

Ha. HA HA HA HA HA HA!?

What?! Ya joking?!?

?? Please take this moment to imagine me demonstrating the most dramatic eye roll since Amanda Seyfried’s iconic performance in the crown jewel of cinematography’s “Mean Girls.” ??

Obviously, it was time to realign my actions to my intentions, yeah??

A phenomenal copywriter in my mentorship program (more on that, later) recently shared a quote with me that I have fully embraced for this season of life:?

“I’m a maximalist in life, but I’m a minimalist in business.”

Challenge effing accepted.?

I’ve been repeating it (out loud!) to myself every. Single. Day. since.?

The result of me easing my foot back off the gas, letting go of (the illusion) of control and perfection, and surrendering to the natural flow and wonder of this pretty rad business that I’ve intentionally cultivated over the past four (!!) years??

More creativity, original ideas, and JOY than I ever could have imagined. Oh, and I’m wizard-level productive.?

Go figure.?

In the past several weeks since waking up and remembering who TF I was and throwing perfection out the windoOoOw (if you don’t know the song I just referred to, TELL ME. I’ll send you the link and make your life better.), this is the kind of magic that’s happened:?

?? I’ve had the opportunity to help not one, not two, but THREE amazing, incredible, wonderful, brilliant female entrepreneurs restructure their business offerings, find more joy and fulfillment in their daily lives, work with delightful clients (that pay!), and fall in love with their businesses and lives again.?

It doesn’t get better than this for me.?

I’m in love with this new offer and it’s truly the only thing that I currently do in my business where 100% of the time, work doesn’t feel like work.?

?????? I’ve tapped into my inherent superpower — creativity — and figured out how to channel that into absolute brilliance in my business.?

Was it my 14-year-old self’s daydream to be able to do art for my job and write off art supplies as a business expense??

YES, it was!?

And now I’ve freakin’ done it! Keep your eyes open for all the watercolor painting things to grace this colorless corporate space, soon…?

?? I wrote, designed, and (soft) launched a really freakin’ rad online course teaching small business owners everything they need to know about automated email marketing and how to turn email into an actual money-making MACHINE for their business.?

The idea for this course has lived rent-free in my head for over TWO YEARS, y’all.

?

And it’s stayed there because it wasn’t “perfect” enough to actually create yet.?

Which is total BS, don’t worry, I called myself out, and now it’s time to PAY UP, baby. (More on all of this, soon, actually.)

I’ve also HAD TIME to do my most treasured and favorite activities with my favorite people, like:

?? Spending the afternoon on the kayaks or at the beach with my husband and dreaming about our next adventure (it’s gonna be an epic one, stay tuned).?

????♀? Helping my bestie plan her dreamy fall wedding (and volunteering myself to make the cake, also stay tuned for THAT, HA).?

?? Tearing into and investigating all things spirituality, mindset, and divine sisterhood with my Cultivate Coven led by the fearless Emily Pennystone (without which, I would surely be in a puddle of myself most days).?

?? Uplifting, sharing space, & showing up imperfectly with my absolute best pals in both business and life in various group chats, co-working calls, 2:1 accountability sessions, and stream-of-consciousness voxer, telegram, text, and snapchat voice notes.?Here's to you, my loves Amanda Bourbonais Ashley Crowe Sarah Turner Marie Hasty RN, BSN Emily Day Kasia Kalinowska Adri Kopp Rebecca Kristene Olivia Hutchison Allegra McMahon Michelle Ehrensaal Dani Paige Emily Batdorf Hillary P. Gale Meehan Kristin Macintyre Katie Boyce Reagan Boerema Krista Reynolds Cassidy Horton, MBA @miish grixti Krista Frahm, OT Emily Baksa Alysia Herbert Laura Shepherd Walker ?????

So what’s the moral of this love letter, you ask??

Slow the hell down, my friend. Take your foot off the gas. Surrender. To life, to imperfection, to letting go of the illusion of control.?

I guarantee you will be jaw-on-the-floor shocked by what happens next.?

I know I promised you some exciting news, but LinkedIn already cut my post off and I had to turn it into an article (and I feel like I’ve already told you a pretty good story?) so you’re just gonna have to come back tomorrow for the goods.?

Until then, take care of yourself.

It’s not a luxury.

It’s a non-negotiable.?

Cheers. ??

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Hey! I’m Baylee ?? writer, artist, marketer, & mentor for creative, premium, and eco-conscious brands.?

In my internet debut, I’m talking about all things #creativity, #experimentalmarketing, #desire, and real-life sh*t we experience as #entrepreneurs and #creatives-turned-business-owners-who-just-wanna-create-but-wait-we-actually-have-to-make-money?.?I think I own that hashtag now.

Yeah, so if you’re interested in that, stick around. It’s about to get weird. And v good.

Check out the website here, slide into my LinkedIn DMs, or shoot me an email at [email protected] if ya wanna talk bizniss.