I’ve always known I wanted to own my own business. For so many years though, I never really knew what that meant.
Growing up just north of NYC almost everyone I knew had at least one parent who worked in the city. From an early age, I’d watch my Dad leave the house and walk up the hill to head toward the train station. My Grandfather had a borderline legendary (in my eyes, anyway) career in Manhattan as well, along with many other members of our family so naturally, when it came to start thinking about my own career I knew one thing for certain, I was destined for Manhattan.
Throughout the years I toyed with different ideas. I always loved retail and originally wanted to open a boutique. I read every fashion magazine, landed an internship with Bloomingdales and quickly narrowed down the industry I wanted to be in. When it came time to decide on college it was a toss up between Fashion School and Business School. I ended up going the Business School route because as much as I loved the industry, I wasn’t 100% sure that, at 17, I really new what I wanted. So I decided to play it a little safer. (It also helped I received a scholarship to play field hockey)
Fast forward a decade and I was living my best NYC life as an account manager with a women's accessories company. I loved my company, coworkers, and clients. But when my husband got a job opportunity that would move us 3 hours North I quickly realized that my current career was no longer feasible. I started looking at other options in my soon to be new home and couldn’t find ANYTHING I wanted to do. Fortunately, the company offered me the option to continue working with them from Upstate NY so naturally, I jumped at the opportunity.
Here’s the thing about working from home. It sounds like a total dream come true. (it was pretty sweet!) When you move to a new place though, it seriously inhibits your ability to meet people and make new friends. I spent so much time in my new home office or traveling that I didn’t have a chance to get out very often. It was isolating and starting to drive me bananas. My first real friend was the owner of our local spin studio and she basically told me we were going to be friends. (she was right!) Under her wing, I not only started to meet more people but I quickly learned that Saratoga Springs had this amazing entrepreneurial spirit and community. It seemed like everyone I met was a small business owner and for the first time EVER, I started to realize that I could make something happen, too.
Success, to me, is much more than the financial gains. It means living life on MY terms. Saying goodbye to a corporate salary was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done BUT the freedom and flexibility that came with it was eye opening. No more spending multiple days on planes and trains each month. I could cook AND serve dinner at a reasonable hour! I started working out again. We could take long weekends or mid-week breaks if we wanted to because I could work from anywhere. I was able to continue doing something that I loved and help other business owners along the way. In turn, I was stepping outside of my comfort zone in a really big way. Some days it’s easy, other days I end up in tears, longing for the structure and stability that came with a corporate career.
Throughout this roller coaster ride, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that regardless of how smart we are, we can't tackle entrepreneurship alone. We need tools and resources to help us take the next steps because as business owners, we can’t (and aren’t) experts at everything.
This Monday (9/18) The One Woman Shop is launching their Solopreneur Success bundle. It brings together 18 products, worth over $1,700, to help ambitious female solo business owners start and level up their online business. The ladies behind the One Woman Shop believe in streamlining and automating, conquering your cash flow, mastering SEO, becoming an email marketing expert and above all else, maintaining sanity as a business owner. They understand how important all of these things are to our business’ and recognize that many of us just need a little help to make it all happen which is why this bundle is priced at just $99. The contents of the Bundle not only cater to some of the struggles you might be facing in your biz today but it also sets you up with resources when those future hurdles present themselves. Interested in learning more about why I’m super pumped for their 2017 launch? Head to http://bit.ly/solosuccess2017 on Monday morning to learn more.
Purchasing the Solopreneur Success Bundle through the link here will result in my business receiving compensation. I appreciate you trusting my opinion on the products that will help you better your business!