A Spring Update by Randalyn

I've been a business owner in some capacity for coming up on three years now. 🤯

Wow, it's been a steady and simultaneous feeling of the longest day of my life and the quickest million years. 😂

I've learned a lot.

I've made a lot of mistakes.

It's been the emotional rollercoaster ride of the century.

But at the end of the day, no matter how hard I want to believe that I'm a badass out here doing the hard things and sowing for a crop that I hope to one day harvest, I'm just a 20-something girl learning how to be an adult.

I've struggled with impostor syndrome, figuring out when to actually take my car in for maintenance, how to maintain a schedule [where I'm working, going to the gym, having time with friends, cooking most of my meals at home, reading books, traveling, and sleeping about 8 hours every night], and in the middle of all that how to sell myself for the work that I can accomplish and work hard at improving every single day.

I've been in a business lull lately (please, don't hesitate to drop into my inbox with a cool and exciting writing project you want my help on!), and while I've been meeting a lot of cool people, it also means that I'm in a season of rejection.

Thanks to the economy, and the subsequently tighter budgets, I've been getting a lot of "not right nows" and "nothing to do with your performance, but..." emails and calls.

During this season, I've prioritized meeting cool people and building authentic relationships with them. I realize that *my* people, the people I work best with, may not be able to afford me this second, but they see my skills, my value, and my passion, and I'll be their first call when they can.

While that thought is encouraging, it also means that this instability gives my brain a lot of wiggle room to play with impostor syndrome and all those other gross insecure feelings.

As the rejections pile up, my enthusiasm, to no one's surprise, has declined.

I've been in need of a wildly optimistic pep talk from the universe, and of course, it came when I was least expecting it.

I had a meeting the other day, and as I left it, I was confident they weren't ready to work with me. They have a fantastic story, and I know I could tell it with poise and intention, but they have yet to open their doors officially, and they don't have any cash coming in. The money they do have, they are funneling into more direct areas of the business to help create cash flow.

Not long after sending their follow-up email, I got a response.

I was terrified to read it.

I wasn't ready for another rejection, and I sure wasn't prepared for it at 8 PM when I checked my email with my fingers crossed, hoping for great news.

After making my roommate screen it for me, I opened it, and the first two lines were one of the best compliments anyone has ever given me.

This prospect said, "I was very impressed today. You know your value and you articulate your process very well."

As someone who has never felt confident or spectacular at selling myself, my services, and most importantly, my skill level, this comment was the deep nourishment my soul needed.

In the seasons of feast, I learn many tactical skills, develop my writing quickly, get better tech tools to support the process, and audit my business for fat that I can trim off to keep it functioning at its best.

However, in seasons like this, when life moves slower and meetings and rejections are daily, I'm reminded about the kinds of humans that change the world.

Tasks won't change the world.

Only people can do that.

When you take time to call out, support, and celebrate the strengths you see in others, you profoundly impact their lives. I went into my next few meetings with a pep in my step that hadn't been there for a while.

So yeah, it's a hard season, but I've been so graciously reminded that it costs nothing to be a really great human who does everything they can to support and uplift the people around them.

I'm not entirely sure what my point is here.

It could be that the best compliments come from the people we least expect or that if you're serious about changing the world, you should be a good person. Maybe I'm saying that being a business owner is hard, but the right clients can make it feel like an island.

Honestly, I don't know.

You can take or leave whatever resonated here with you, and my personal takeaway from this experience is that when you find people who confidently call out your strengths and see your passions, you should hold onto them extra tight. 💜