I was sitting at my desk, which just happened to be a table in the cafe that I was working at that day watching a conversation between two of my project managers in a group chat we were all in.
They were discussing stuff.
Work stuff.
Business Jump work stuff.
Together. Making plans, taking action.
Mostly without me as I tend to stay out of the day to day tasks.
Watching the conversation swim past, it dawned on me. I started to get all the feels.
I have a business… I am a Mum, and I have a business.
And, it is growing really fast, it is making money and I am sitting here with time and freedom to spend my days however I want.
I have built a business around doing something my heart is invested in. I get to help other mums start a business and find the same freedom and profit I have found.
I am actually doing it. Like, really doing it.
Then, the nerves set in. It gets scary when the stakes get high. It is hard not to wonder if it could all come crashing down. Things people say tend to matter a lot more, feedback is taken onboard at a higher level and ironing out teething issues are a common task. The height of taxes, accountants, legals and financials get real.
My days are no longer spent on the small ‘must do to keep the business afloat’ I am grateful for my team to handle that for me, instead my days are spent talking to potential new clients, refining systems, helping our e-course members and clients in the Business Jump exclusive Facebook group and growing the business.
Despite having a business for the last six years of some type and having varying levels of success, financial and personal, it was only in this moment where I took a second to be present to what was happening around me to realise, I have a successful business and I am reaching my goals. Some I have ticked off and others are hurdling towards me.
I also realised, I have a team of 12.
12 beautiful other people who have invested their time and hearts into helping my business grow and serving Business Jumps clients to help their dreams come true.
WTAF?
How did that happen?
Of course, I orchestrated the whole thing but one minute I was dreaming of having it all and the next minute it had manifested in front of me.
I thought back to the day that I was fired from my full-time job. I have never felt so small and insignificant, it was embarrassing and uncomfortable. But, it forced me to be true to myself. It presented an opportunity to me that was cloaked in a disguise. It didn’t look how I imagined an amazing opportunity to look, but the universe doesn’t work like that, does it?
My thoughts started to turn into questions, what would have happened to me if I didn’t move past my fear and overwhelm to step into the unknown of starting a business?
What would have happened if I gave up after making a massive eff up, or when something I was so sure would bring in sales would work and it didn’t? Or when someone said that I would never make it?
Would I still be waking up with dread having to pull myself out of bed for a soul destroying 9-5 job that I received no joy from?
Would I still be feeling that burnt out monotony of having to find something office-like to wear, iron it, slap on makeup, get my hair in order and pull myself together, sit in peak hour traffic to do daycare drop off and get to work?
Would I still be working just for all my pay to go into daycare fees?
I had seen other mums create amazing work-from-home businesses and live their life, their way so why couldn’t I?
Every day, I thank the universe for being fired. For my mistakes. For my misfortunes. For my hard times.
Taking those first few steps wasn’t easy and at times the fear literally shook me like a leaf but I focused on taking steps no matter how small into running my own business.
There were times when my faith wavered but I stepped outside, gathered myself and said there was no return.
See the thing I want to tell you is, being able to create a successful business doesn’t come down to who has a business degree, who is the smartest, or who has the most time or money to invest.
I am or had none of that.
If I can do it, anyone can.
In fact, I can identify 3 key areas in my life that are non-business related but have contributed to my business accomplishments.
Travelling around the world when I was 17
In hindsight, I was so young. It didn’t feel like it at the time, but when I met my then boyfriend, he had this world trip booked so I went with him. That is typical me, I just do things. I don’t think too much about it and this has been key to my business advancing at a ridic pace too. I don’t do business plans because I am a ‘gotta do it to see it’ type of person and instead I work off my intuition a lot. If it feels good, I try it.
I test and monitor and If it works I refine, make it better and scale it. Sure, sometimes I get myself into trouble for not thinking it through. Said boyfriend turned out to be a douche and I ended up travelling from the middle of Canada to London by myself with no money to stay with relatives and work for 6 months.
The experience actually taught me to be incredibly independent and laser focused on getting from A-B without getting distracted by all of the what ifs.
The dreaded telemarketing job
Not long after I arrived back home in Sydney, I started studying at one of Sydney’s best visual communication schools. I walked away with a piece of paper and two assets. 1: I learned how to use design software and 2: I made a lovely friendship with someone whom I still chat with several times a day, 10 years later. The end.
Did I learn anything about running a business? No. Did I learn any skills that have helped my business today? Besides the tech stuff, No.
However, here is the interesting thing. At the same time, I was working evenings as a telemarketer making cold calls for a mortgage company. Unbeknown to me at this time, this experience set me up for life.
In making these calls, I got a lot of people hanging up on me, sometimes yelling at me and sometimes taking the piss. It taught me resilience, it taught me how to keep going despite rejection and most importantly for the people who did listen to me, it taught me how to sell a product authentically and genuinely because I really believed it could help these people. Don’t be fooled into thinking you aren’t getting yourself into sales when you start a business. If you can’t sell your product, you don’t have a business.
Being a Mum who had PND
Most people look at me a little strange when I tell them I am grateful for my stint in PND jail. Even though the journey that it lead me on was confronting, soul crushing and numbing and there were causalities, tears and words used as weapons, I don’t for one minute wish anything different.
Because, in hindsight PND and my non-sleeping baby boy were my greatest teachers.
It taught me to be real, to live authenticity, it taught me how to connect and relate with other mums. When a client signs up with us, I am truly invested in helping them make the transformation to a business owner so they too, can live the life they want. I actually lose sleep over wanting to ensure what I offer, really helps transform their lives. I am always improving, measuring and adding ways to serve my clients better than yesterday.
PND also taught me the mindset I needed to be stronger enough for business.
So, don’t worry. You don’t need to have PND, telemarketing experience or have travelled the world to run a business, my point is, in your life you will have your own unique set of circumstances you can use to give you the power you need.
It comes down to who wants it the most and who is willing to invest their heart and soul into looking for the answers.
Ask yourself, WHY do you want to start a business?
And, if your WHY overpowers everything else there is no doubt in my mind you’ll make it work.
The glory is there for who those who have the determination, guts and heart to find it.
