Doing It Scared

Do it scared.?

That’s (NY Times bestselling author) Ruth Soukup ’s motto, and more so than ever this resonates with me.?This also sums up how I felt about starting my own business.

This week LinkedIn reminded me that of December 2017 I accidentally became an entrepreneur. Oops.

This wasn’t a mistake like I left the milk on the counter.??

?No. This was a big deal.

2017 hit me hard. I had left a job at the end of 2016 that I had been at for 8 years and which I no longer could continue due to toxic executive management. To see my career you would see was a career monogamist, 3, 5 and 8 years but by the end of 2017 I had held over 4 jobs! I worked for a friend (worse mistake I ever made), landed a job with a company that failed to deliver on its promises about the work location and then was hired by what I thought was the most amazing opportunity with a female entrepreneur who had built multiple successful businesses. I failed to do my own due diligence (yes, I knew better) but I learned that not everything is gold and sometimes its gold plated and was laid off the week before Thanksgiving!?

I didn’t set out to start a business, I set out to earn money. I was broke! I had a couple of friends that I helped with their resumes, and then they made a few referrals. At first it was just resumes and I had no set pricing, I just needed any type of income to survive. Then a funny thing happened, someone asked me, “hey can you know help me prepare for an interview”, or can I “book” a call with you to help me with reviewing my offer letter and what should I negotiate for. Book a call? Sure what time! Hmm…. maybe those 20 years as a recruiter I actually learned a few things and could actually help others.?

See back then, I had no systems in place, I had no budget. Have you heard of a shoe-string budget? I didn’t even have a shoe-string.??

I scrambled to figure out how to do this. I took what little money I did have and invested in paying for the premium version of LinkedIn. My daughter said to do it, even if it meant that I could only get her the planner and pens she wanted for the new year was her only Christmas gift from me. It wasn’t just tough but it was rough.?Btw... that little investment paid off and in the first month I had earned that money back plus had enough to pay for a full year.

Fast forward to June of 2018. I had just spent 6 months working as the head of recruiting for a firm in DC overseeing their entire recruitment throughout the U.S. and helped them launch their first virtual work from home call center.

I poured every free moment, every weekend, evenings into my business. I probably have done every thing wrong in the book.? And by June of 2018, I was faced with another layoff but this time I didn’t care and with the support of my ex-husband was encouraged to go for building my business and go for it full-time.

To say it’s been a bumpy ride and 5 years later, I still don’t have it all together but look at far I have overcome. Yes, I will give myself a pat on the back, but I also want you to know whether you are starting your own business, or in the middle of a job search that you will survive, succeed and thrive.?

So, I thought I’d help you out by giving you a list of the 11 lessons I’ve learned on the road of accidental entrepreneurship:

1. Take care of yourself! Eat your veggies & workout :)
2. Friends are either lifting you up or bringing you down. Nurture the former and stop worrying about the latter.
3. Invest in learning. Invest in anything that will help you to develop your skills or teach you how to turn them into a business.
4. The world is not your competition. We’re all in this life thing together.
5. Look outside of your industry for inspiration.
6. Start before you’re ready.
7. People will judge, critique, and advise you. You don’t have to listen.
8. On that note – only take advice from people whom you admire. Don’t take nutrition advice from your obese uncle or happiness advice from your drama-ridden best friend.
9. Be. Confident.
10. People only really care about what’s in it for them. Make someone else feel like gold and you can’t go wrong.
11. Jump! The parachute might not open, but you aren’t going to die. In fact, you’re going to learn more than you ever could have by reading about it.

Don’t forget why you’re doing what you’re doing. Always start with why.

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P.S.... 5 years ago if you said you would be leading a workshop talking about all things LinkedIn I would have told you that you were crazy but look what can happen when you learn from Lesson #3! Questions? Message me and let's talk about how this workshop can benefit you whether you are a CEO, Entrepreneur or Job Seeker... invest in yourself!

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