Reflections from my first year full-time
Watch the video below for my reflections on my first year running Badass Unicorn full-time.
Last April I got the news I was dreading…”your role is at risk of redundancy.” 😧
Me: “F&CK – I’m about to lose my job in the midst of a global pandemic!” 🤯 🤬 😰
Staying at my current company wasn’t tenable, so my options were:
1) Get another job.
2) Get the side hustle to start paying the bills.
Seeking advice from family, friends and mentors, the answer I most commonly got was: “now is NOT the time to start a business.” I even interviewed for a dream role, but as the universe would have it, they chose someone else. 🤦🏼♀️
So, simultaneously, I got my teeth into professionalising the side hustle to secure paying work. Every minute of every day I put myself out there. “Fancy a virtual coffee?” became my go-to sentence to as many potential leads as possible whilst self-doubt raged:
“Does my sales deck work? Will anyone buy me? Am I charging too much or too little?”
Every single client was a massive win…it was proof that I could do this, that people would buy me, that my efforts were working. 💪
It pushed me to keep going. Through the bleak moments, like not knowing where my next paying gig was coming from…
Through periods of burnout, when I over-committed myself and had to work late into the night, sacrificing my weekends….
Through points where my anxiety was off the charts due to the insane pressure I was putting on myself.
But 14 months later, I can say with huge pride, that it was all worth it. In my first year, I made more than I ever earnt working for "the man". 👩🏼💼 And this year I’d be on track to double that if I weren’t taking timeout to have a baby. 🤰🏼
Lucky I didn’t listen to the naysayers or get that dream role, huh? 🤨
Promise me something. Don’t ever forget how capable you are…
Sometimes you have to be pushed….Sometimes you have to walk the plank and take the plunge….Sometimes you have to push past the imposter…
…to really find out the incredible potential that lies within you.