It feels weird to write out the amount of time that has passed since I started my hiatus. It doesn’t feel like nearly two years have passed, but with all the events that have gone on around the world lately, it’s not a surprise! The thing is, I became overwhelmed by existence for a while.
At the time of pausing my business, I had been a widow for a little over a year and hadn’t really processed it much. I was too busy focusing on everything else. All of the household duties that were on my plate as I raised a five year old. I was trying to make a house a home. Situating work arounds for marketing my online business because I accidentally moved into a house without internet. I hadn’t realized this was a thing having lived most of my life in the suburbs.
I had to take a look at my mindset around being a small business owner.
Imposter syndrome was in overdrive, and I was worried I wasn’t following my true passions. For most of my life I’ve wanted to help others, it’s why I became a medic in the Army. I feared I wasn’t making a big enough difference in the lives of others because I wasn’t “literally” saving their lives. It didn’t help that branding is something that always came naturally to me, and something I’ve always enjoyed. So I held guilt around receiving money for it, something many small business owners think about at some point in their career process.
I had to take a step back from business and focus on my personal life.
So I retreated. I finalized design projects, referred previous clients elsewhere, and focused on myself. If I was going to be a successful business owner, I had to take care of my inner world. I had to start asking myself what it truly meant to help others. I had to find the definition of what felt like “saving a life” to me.
Over the last two years I sold my small town house, moved back to my home state, wrote a book about my late marriage, and moved again to another state for healing. I knew what I wanted my end goal to look like, but I had spent so many years self-sabotaging that I started to give up.
I had to look at my dream life again.
The beauty of entrepreneurship is that there isn’t one way to the top. Success isn’t linear. As small business owners, we are always on an up and down roller coaster. Sometimes we have to take time to step back because personal life has taken the front seat. Other times we’re on a soloprenuer high and loving all of the steps we’re taking forward.
I had to sit back and ask myself how I could help others. I had to reframe my mindset around how impactful my services are, because helping small businesses with their brands and marketing can literally save their lives. Helping clients have a successful business is so much more impactful than I allowed 2 years ago me to believe.
Having a successful business is a life changer.
I finally came to the realization that I can literally change the lives of my clients. By helping my clients market their businesses, I can help them move out of a soul sucking job. I can help show the person that needs to stay home with their family that they are still able to pursue their dreams. The list of examples could go on. But the conclusion I came to was that my skillset does matter. It does make an impact. I just needed a change in perspective.
If you’re a small business in need of branding help or outsourcing your marketing process, I would love to schedule a complimentary call to see how I can help you reach the success you’re looking for. Let’s get in touch!
