I inadvertently became an entrepreneur around the time I turned twenty-one. My mother told me that she and my brother were starting a business, and I didn’t want to be left out. I created two other businesses before going through coach training eight years later.
By that time, I knew how to connect with people, attract clients, and deliver the goods. But I still wasn’t a good business owner.
Business was just a way to bring in the dough. Then, when I started to coach, I got paid for doing what I loved.
As I learned more about business, I realized how much I didn’t know. I saw myself as someone who had big dreams, yet it felt like it was going to take forever to make them real. And guess what? It did.
I felt like a little kid dressing up in big kids’ clothes. I was trying to be a big player in my business, but I felt like I wasn’t old enough, smart enough, and didn’t have that something special that would move me to the top. I knew what I wanted to create, yet it wasn’t happening.
And because I viewed myself as missing something…
… I went into implementation overdrive. Nothing I did was ever enough. I always thought I should do more.
If I did more, then good things would happen. But the big thing that happened was stress! And a lot of it!
It got ugly before it got pretty.
That was over two decades ago. The biggest breakthrough came when I finally saw myself as having exactly what my ideal customers needed.
I was enough. I knew what I was doing in many areas of business, and the areas I didn’t know, I could ask for help.
I decided to be the version of me who could figure anything out if I stayed connected to my heart and didn’t worry about my performance. I began to see the value of looking at the big vision, and I took time to be strategic and intentional about how I moved forward. This was huge.
Many entrepreneurs are inspired by one or two things they want to create and never take the time to figure out how to set themselves up to win for long-term gains as they add new offerings to their lineup.
And that was me.
At first, I offered only private coaching. Every year I added something new without much thought about how it would fit into my business model or how I would market it.
Inspiration would hit, I’d create a new product or service, and then I’d drop it because the profits would eventually fizzle out.
I prided myself on creating on the fly without much planning. I was a girl who could wing it. I made money, but I didn’t see large increases with each new thing I offered.
I was still acting like a teenager in my business.
I did what I wanted in the moment and didn’t take the time to think about how my actions would impact the overall vision for my business. Spontaneity will only get you so far.
Currently, I see myself as a business owner who is confident in her skills as a coach and educator in my specific niche. Someone who enjoys the learning process of using well-thought-out strategies to grow my business… and finds joy in it.
My private label is “wealth woman.” When I see myself as that, it causes me to be more thoughtful about the decisions I make. It causes me to shake up paradigms about how I see myself as a business owner.
How about you? How do you see yourself in the role of business owner?
What are the thoughts you think that nobody else hears?
How does the way you see yourself impact your business? Your customers? Your team?
Creating a daily practice to support yourself in transitioning into the best version of yourself is a sure bet for transformation.
I make a decision each day to put my “wealth woman” hat on so I can make more deliberate choices to support myself in the creation of a business that grows joyfully each month.
Wealth woman, hear me roar! Rrrrrrrrrrr!
How do you see yourself in the role of business owner?