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Get yourself some perspective

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As I sit here writing this, I am staring out across a large body of water from my campsite in the Manistee National Forest. Seriously…look at this view! Holy shit it is gorgeous.

Refresh

Sometimes you just need to leave the office and work remotely, whether it is a large forest, a coffee house or your house. We often forget how important it is to refresh and rejuvenate and that doesn’t have to mean a vacation it can just be a change of scenery.

As a small business owner we have a 24/7 work schedule and it can be exhausting, exhilarating and incredibly isolating. Not everyone will understand, care or realize the sacrifices you make to provide for your family and employees so it is up to you to keep yourself happy and healthy. Here is my completely unwarranted advice to you:

  1. Don’t take everything so personal.
  2. Build a support system of other small business owners. You aren’t alone, there are others just like you out there and they need a drink just as much as you. There are small business orgs in every state, Michigan has www.sbam.org
  3. Find your happy place. Mine is in the forest by a large body of water. Even though I am not completely isolated (I am blogging), it gives me peace. I am also not likely to run into anyone from home, which is good because I haven’t showered in 2 or 3 days (you lose track of time out here).
  4. Perspective. Get some. One of our clients, Shefit, spent over 10 years getting their product to market. They dealt with manufacturing issues, funding and more. Guess what, Sara didn’t give up. She had 4 girls to raise, a full time job to work and she still kept plugging away at her dream and it eventually paid off.
  5. Perseverance. Keep plugging away. Today isn’t tomorrow and tomorrow things will be better.

In the last 3 or 4 years is when 834 finally found it’s groove, like Stella but much more awkward. This has been my life for the last 10 years and it is starting to fall into place – although it is really fucking hard and scary and lonely and confusing. That is what life is all about, the unknown and doing the shit that scares you.

 

Comments (2)
Liz Wallace
July 4, 2016

xxoo…happy 4th!!

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Kim
July 4, 2016

Happy 4th to you!

Reply

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In @8thirtyfour early days, I didn’t know how to build a support network or find the resources to plan for growth, so I ‘winged’ it.

Then, when I hit our target revenue and employees, was stuck in the business and had no time to work on it.

It’s exhausting, and I was sick of watching other women-owned small businesses go through the same thing.

So, I built what we needed.

The Women’s Owners Network: The program for what comes first.

The Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship: The program for what comes after.

Each program is built, taught, and led by business owners for business owners, because no one understands your journey better than those who have been there.

Apply. Do it for you, because if you don’t build and maintain that foundation, you’re walking away from your business.
https://sbamwef.org/apply/

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Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18445961302123742
In @8thirtyfour early days, I didn’t know how to build a support network or find the resources to plan for growth, so I ‘winged’ it. Then, when I hit our target revenue and employees, was stuck in the business and had no time to work on it. It’s exhausting, and I was sick of watching other women-owned small businesses go through the same thing. So, I built what we needed. The Women’s Owners Network: The program for what comes first. The Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship: The program for what comes after. Each program is built, taught, and led by business owners for business owners, because no one understands your journey better than those who have been there. Apply. Do it for you, because if you don’t build and maintain that foundation, you’re walking away from your business. https://sbamwef.org/apply/

As the poster child of Anti-AI; I’ll be sharing all my insights at my session at the @widnational Women In Defense National Conference this Monday (tomorrow). It may or may not include screenshots of me calling Claude names.

I will give you:
- Resources
- Guides
- Policies to start with (not a lawyer people - this is my disclaimer)

I also promise you the presentation will not be drafted by, influenced by or done by AI.

Cool. See you then. #widnc26

4 0
Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18122942332886995
As the poster child of Anti-AI; I’ll be sharing all my insights at my session at the @widnational Women In Defense National Conference this Monday (tomorrow). It may or may not include screenshots of me calling Claude names. I will give you: - Resources - Guides - Policies to start with (not a lawyer people - this is my disclaimer) I also promise you the presentation will not be drafted by, influenced by or done by AI. Cool. See you then. #widnc26