Winter of this year marks around the 1 year mark of quitting my 9-5 job and launching Poised & Professional as my FULL-time business. And boy, what a year it’s been! In 2019, I was able to:

• Publish my first book, 35 Days of Confidence
• Launch my first course (which was a BIG learning exercise!)
• Grow my email list by 500%
• Begin a 1:1 life coaching practice
• Launch, grow & refine my career mentorship program, Job Search Jumpstart, which is my most popular program to date
• Serve 68 clients (and counting!)

But I’m not going to lie: when I look back at the goals I set for myself in January 2019, I was a little overeager (even by my standards!) In my first year of business, I set a goal right off the bat to make $130K in income. [Spoiler alert: I did not hit that goal.]

And although I am incredibly proud of the income I did make in 2019, and the other achievements and growth accomplishments I was able to claim, this was truly a year of LEARNING. But I suppose that’s to be expected for every year, let alone your first year in full-time entrepreneurship, right?

However, as the saying goes, “success leaves tracks,” and one of the best ways to expedite your own growth and success is by following the habits (and avoiding the mistakes of others). So today I want to share with you the 7 Biggest Lessons I Learned in My First Year of Full-Time Entrepreneurship & Purposeful Living. 

1. Focus, focus, focus (OR don’t chase money, chase your purpose)

This is hands-down my biggest learning of 2019. Like many entrepreneurially-minded people, I come with my new ideas for projects, businesses, programs – ALL the time. I’m not saying this is a bad thing – it’s a great thing! But the bad thing about this way of thinking is that it can lead to “Shiny Object Syndrome” – A.K.A. chasing the new “shiny” project and neglecting the thing(s) that you are currently working on. This leads to a lack of focus, and ultimately, a lack of traction.

When I quit my 9-5 in late 2018, it was because I wanted to help people – I wanted to be of service and make a difference in the world. And although I had some ideas for how I wanted to do that, I was honestly a little lost. I knew I had an authority point in the arena of confidence and growth… but I wasn’t quite sure how to sell & package it. I created my first course, and when it didn’t take off the way I hoped and expected, I got discouraged and pivoted… multiple times… away from my purpose of serving others. Not to mention, when money is necessary (which it almost ALWAYS is – we all need to pay the bills!), it gets easier and easier to follow the pull of the new and shiny thing. This happened a few times for me in 2019:

• A good friend of mine encouraged me to try out direct sales, which I spent a good 6 months of the year invested in. I learned A LOT about social media promotion and sales tactics during this time, and I don’t regret those learnings (we learn and grow from everything we invest time in). But I do know that I could have seen more growth and success in my own coaching business if I had stayed focused on it during those 6 months.

• I spent a good 4-5 months as a marketing consultant, working with a couple clients to grow THEIR businesses. The money was great, and I built some great relationships, but after just a couple months, I realized I was throwing myself right back into the same situation I so desperately wanted to get away from when I was WORKING 9-5 in marketing agencies. 

So, one of the biggest lessons I’m taking into 2020 is the lesson of FOCUS. Get clear on your “why” and your desire to make an impact and stick to it. Find ONEE thing that works for you (in this case for me, Job Search Jumpstart), and perfect it, and then scale it. Once that project has reached a significant point of success, THEN focus on something else.

In the words of Ron Swanson, “Never half ass two things. Whole ass one thing.”

2. Authenticity & intuition over EVERYTHING

Another skill I’ve developed over the course of this year is developing a deep connection with my gut to better follow my intuition. 

A big part of this is resisting the urge to compare and the inclination to follow what others are doing. As in…

“She’s charging $2,5000 for her coaching programs, so I should probably do that too… right?”

“He’s posting videos on LinkedIn every day, so I should probably do that too… right?”

“She created a business mastermind and is killing it, so I should probably do that too.. Right?”

You’re probably smarter than I am in that right off that bat, you can see what all those statements have in common… They all have to do with what OTHER people are doing. Listen (or read) very closely here:

One of the best things you can do as an entrepreneur is to develop a deep connection with your authentic self and your intuition.

And somewhat unfortunately, this is a tough skill to learn… because you have to learn it from yourself.  Only you can discern what it is that feels “right” to you. Only you can develop an honest connection with your heart, soul, and mind, and let it guide your decision-making on a day-to-day basis. Personal development helps. Doing mindset work and getting crystal clear on your vision for your life, and your greatest dreams and goals also helps. But you have to learn your OWN way of authentically living and making decisions. 

When I started leading with my OWN heart – serving clients in a way that felt authentic to me, being present, resisting comparison and the “follow” mentality… that’s when my business and my client relationships really started to flourish. Authenticity matters, y’all. 

If you can do the work to clarify your values, your goals, your vision, and your purpose… you will be a better person, and you will start to make decisions and develop ideas that are in alignment  with those qualities. And that’s where meaningful, REAL success comes from. 

3. “Ideal client” is a thing… Really, it is.

As someone who worked in marketing for almost 8 years, I can preach to you the importance of knowing your “target market” and your “ideal customer” for days on end.

…But your perspective shifts a little bit when you’re running your OWN marketing strategy.

When I first started pursuing new coaching clients, I had little to no filter on who I wanted to work with. Men? Sure! Recent college graduates? I got you! Moms looking to head back to work after having a child? Yup! 

This hurt two people – me AND my clients.

For me, since I was constantly pitching to and working with multiple client types, I was never able to develop a specialty. I couldn’t find exercise and systems that worked effortlessly because I was constantly trying to create NEW things that worked for each party. And more so, since I was trying to please multiple clients (again, not the best mindset), I constantly had to change my approach. This was a LOT of behind-the-scenes work and stress, and I wasn’t getting a lot of fulfillment out of it, either. Plus, I wasn’t paying attention (being intuitive and listening to my gut) about the clients that I enjoyed working with the most – the ones where I felt like I was really making an impact, listening to their feedback and discoveries, and helping them grow. 

Over 6 months later, I know exactly who my ideal client is and I LOVE working with her (yes, she is a “she!”) This has also helped me streamline and target my marketing messaging, my social media posts, and my sales materials – all of which have helped my business grow significantly in the last 2 quarters of the year.

Remember, when it comes to your ideal client, if you’re speaking to everyone with your marketing messaging, then you’re speaking to no one. Don’t be afraid to get specific, because specificity sells. 

4. “Story” content is the best content

Speaking of marketing messaging, another big lesson I learned in 2019 is that not all social media posts (and email content) are created equal. Again, as a marketer with 8 years of experience you would THINK I knew this already, but your judgement is always a little skewed when your client is yourself 😂

Sharing blog post after blog post after blog post is a strategy. But what people REALLY want to see and hear about, especially on social media, is your story. Your transformation. Your learnings. Your life. 

Your story IS your brand. 

Tell your story, and tell it often. Personal details are great. Personal details help make you memorable and set you apart. And furthermore, by telling YOUR story, you’re able to create a connection with your audience – you never know who might be reading your words and nodding along, thinking, “that sounds like me, too.” 

Even though “story” social media posts and marketing content will take longer to write and more effort to ideate – they are worth it. Don’t be afraid to tell your story, and to tell it often.

5. Systems & support are your friends

A necessary part of growth is being able to systemize, scale, and build. And let me share this with you now (because this was another lesson I learned this year): you can’t do it alone! If you want to grow your business, eventually, at some point, you will need some help.

1. Isolate the things you ENJOY the most
2. Determine the things you are GREAT at & have the biggest impact on your business
3. Outsource and get support with the rest

Because listen up, friends: it’s 100% OKAY to ask for help! As a recovering type A, high-performing perfectionist, this was a tough lesson for me to learn. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak. Asking for help won’t make you any less successful – in fact, it will probably make you MORE successful. And the reality is: the more successful you become, the more help you will need.

I embraced outsourcing and hiring out work in the latter half of 2019, and not only did it help me get MORE done – it made my work more enjoyable. Plus, I was able to support others and “give” to others financially, which is incredibly fulfilling as well.

6. Know your “minimum viable income”

Like I mentioned above, I set CRAZY-high goals and expectations for myself at the beginning of 2019. I’m not saying that being ambitious and setting big goals is a bad thing at ALL, but the step I missed in formulating these goals was being grounded in real numbers and operations in my own life. 

A few months ago, I invested in my own professional development and worked with business mentor Taylor Lee (one of the best decisions I made this year!) in her Unleashed program. She taught me the importance of knowing your “minimum viable income,” which is essentially, the minimum amount you need to make each month (and each year), to cover your bills, major expenses, and maintain a standard quality of living. This sounds like a very simple exercise (and it is!), but it was a game-changer for me. Once I got clarity on how much money I actually needed to be making each month, not just how much money I wanted to be making each month, not only did this create a sense of ease around money and income that I was lacking, but it also opened up opportunities for me to feel PROUD about my monthly income actuals, because I was surpassing my MVI, sometimes by the thousands, instead of focusing on the fact that I hadn’t had a 5-figure month.

In general, adjusting my mindset around money, recognizing my habits, and becoming realistically informed about my requirements, my goals, and the different paths I could follow to get there was a HUGE learning for me in 2019. 

7. Be yourself, be yourself, be yourself

I know I mentioned this already, but it’s so important. And this is what I tell my clients so I’m going to tell it to you, too.

You will never find “success” if you follow someone else’s path to get there.

Define success on your own terms. CREATE what your perfect vision of success looks like, and then come up with your plan to get there. Along the way, do what feels authentic to you. You can model after others but straight up copying won’t produce authenticity – which your clients won’t buy and you won’t feel proud over. 

Don’t try to be what everyone wants.

Be who you are. 

And let your tribe find you. Because I promise you – they will.