Let’s start at the beginning… did I always want to be an entrepreneur?
The short answer is no. The long answer is that I was always an explorer. I tried many different things when I was little, I was creative in every thing I did, from drawing to horse riding to climbing trees. In school I struggled to pick favourite subjects and none of them really matched each other. I liked history, economics and languages.
Finally at the age of 18 I knew what I wanted to ‘be’ when I grew up and I chose to study business, international business in particular because I loved languages, cultures and traveling.
My degree took me to the UK and then Australia, a country where I felt at home and so I stayed. After graduating I started working as a marketing officer and after that many more marketing roles.
The entrepreneurial bug first bit me in 2007, but I didn’t even realise it. I started a blog to share my creative endeavours which included pattern design and ultimately printing these patterns on fabric. To cut a long story short, I moved from having a solo printed textiles business to starting one with two friends, to going back to a solo business designing stationery and then back to a full-time marketing job. All by choice.
Now, 7 years after leaving the business I started with friends and going back to full-time work, things have come full circle.
Earlier this year I made the transition from being a part-time entrepreneur with a 9-5 job to becoming a full-time entrepreneur.
Whilst I’m immensely grateful for all of your supportive messages and congratulations, I also want to tell you that it hasn’t been easy and it still isn’t easy. My entrepreneurial friends will know what I’m talking about.
I think that many people see the jump to full-time entrepreneurship as one to be admired, because after all, you’ve made it. Don’t get me wrong, I totally think it’s admirable and immensely brave but I also think there are so many things that are left unspoken.
For me this jump had been on the cards for a while. I have been building my business for 2+ years and I knew that at some point I wanted it to be my full-time gig… my full-time income.
Let’s talk about this, because it’s important.
I used to say that I would take the leap once my business had replaced my income.
It hasn’t… yet.
So why did I take the leap anyway?
Because I realised that I would never jump if I waited.
Because I realised that I would need more time to make more money with my current business model.
Because I realised that if I didn’t go all in, it wouldn’t happen for me.
Because I would always have an excuse not to do it.
To this date I still don’t exactly know where my bravery (or insanity in some people’s minds) came from, but I have a suspicion that it is because I have done the work over the past 2+ years.
What is this ‘the work’ thing that you hear so many entrepreneurs talk about?
It means that I have worked on my mindset. I have busted blocks that I had built over the years in my head that said little things like ‘it’s safer to stay in a job’, ‘how will you get paid if you don’t have a job’? Yadayadayadah.
So, I did the work that prepared me to take the leap.
Then I simply made the leap and surrendered.
I trusted that I could do this, that I could make money from doing what I love, which is something that I’ve been working on ever since joining the Lucky Bitch money bootcamp as well as working 1:1 with my mindset mentor Lorraine.
I have been working on building a profile, by blogging and showing up.
I have been making connections, by joining programs, talking to like-minded people, by helping others.
I have put things in place that help me track my money.
I have learned to be much more positive and practise daily gratitude.
All of these things have prepared me for the moment I was ready to take the leap and I am ever so grateful.
Right now I’m quite a few months into my solopreneur journey and I’m loving every minute of it.
No, it’s not easy. In fact, I feel overwhelmed on a daily basis but I have created a life that I love and for that I’m grateful.
No, I’m not making nearly as much as I did in my day job (yet!) and I will be a little while away before I do, but I love being able to schedule my own days, spend time with my puppies, visit a friend when I want to and work the hours that suit my productivity.
I’m making enough to cover my bills, and that’s enough for me right now. I trust that my business will grow, I trust that my abundance will grow, because I trust and I have the support to be able to grow.
If you’re thinking of making the leap too… start building your foundations now… and let me tell you a secret… it has nothing to do with your actual business and everything to do with your mindset.
Yes, I just revealed the magic pill to a successful business…. mindset.
(even though I don’t believe in magic pills, and there is no such thing).
If you’re standing on that edge of making the leap and you have questions you’d love to have the answers to… I’m happy to answer them so feel free to get in touch and I’ll respond to your questions.
