On this long, blissful holiday weekend,
I am watching small business owners go all out
on their Black Friday / Small Biz Saturday / Cyber Monday deals…
and I LOVE the hustle.
I love seeing small biz owners go all in to back themselves,
to go toe to toe with their competitors
to DEMAND their slice of the “holiday shopping” pie, so to speak.
I love the deals being put together,
and I love the posts all about
WHY this business owner ISN’T offering a deal.
I love it all.
(Also, stay tuned for my Cyber Monday offer.
Only ONE option…
because it’s what people need the most of these days.)
But mainly, I am struck by how much what I am grateful for TODAY… has to do with my decision to go into business for myself 20 years ago.
I knew even when I began this journey that I was a VERY unlikely “success story.”
- WAY under-funded. (Invested $50.)
- Woefully cash strapped, requiring a near IMMEDIATE return to even make it to month TWO of my journey.
- No connections.
- Back then, no social media for free advertising. No willingness to “network.”
- No role models in my industry.
- No website.
- No coach.
- No mastermind group.
Just a woman with a burning passion to work from home…. and a RUTHLESS commitment to be at home with my kids…
no
matter
what.
The risk was huge,
the safety net non-existent,
and my experience, well… also non-existent.
EXCEPT that I had always been a hustler.
So I had SOME experience “cobbling together” money.
Waiting tables, picking up extra shifts,
baby sitting,
cutting grass,
selling doughnuts,
writing papers for other students,
that sort of stuff.
A story for another day, I guess.
But for today I’d like to share why I’m so GRATEFUL to my business… and to the women who make what I do possible.
I am BEYOND grateful that my business allows me to live according to my own priorities. Back then, I wanted to somehow replace my full time income without leaving my kids with a babysitter. Today, I want to work entirely on my own terms, my own schedule, with people I love and without compromising the things I hold most dear: my faith, my family, my health and my simple life.
I am BEYOND grateful that my business has given me freedom. Freedom is my TOP desire, the driving force behind how I live, where I live, how I vote, how I work. Freedom is my spirit animal… =) and being a self-bosser allows me the freedom to live exactly as I wish.
I am BEYOND grateful that my business allows for unlimited potential… I never have to consider my current “salary.” I can always make more. I never have to consider my current reality as a “limit.” I can ALWAYS create whatever I desire or require. I get to stretch and STRAIN my potential, which I quite enjoy.
Finally… I am BEYOND grateful that my business allows me to fully live out my purpose with a community of like minded women that I didn’t even know EXISTED before I began this journey.
So yeah…
shop small.
Your purchase doesn’t JUST pay for ballet lessons or SAT prep or college tuition ….
it doesn’t JUST go to support your local economy…
it also allows people
to live fully into their purpose,
to stretch their potential,
to live FREE,
and according to their own priorities.
Your purchase matters. So, shop small y’all.
