Ahhh, the start to the new week has been a success and a failure at the same dang time.
The failures; as a business owner myself, the sacrifices have been much greater than I would have ever imagined. I work hard to be the best advisor to my clients I can be but its not been easy. I love what I do and I'm committed to continuing to build my practice but it has come at a cost. The cost has been my lifestyle (I know, its a bit superficial but its how I reward myself), my confidence (sometime I'm not sure I how went from a six figure income to less than $40k a year....yep!) and emotions. I've cried, laughed, prayed and all while still working hard to build my brand. My confidence gets battered when I've had a stellar month but am still trying to figure out how to pay the bills, buy groceries and still have enough left over for marketing costs. (I just need to hit the lottery, if/when I play!) All of these issues impact my confidence, at times and I'm learning to work through that.

And then, the successes. It's only Tuesday and I've made some great headway as the executive director for the newly launched community chamber of commerce. Met with some important individuals and our newest board member who will help me with some of the "ground" initiatives that help to build support and membership for our chamber. Secondly, I've been out getting to know more business owners in my community and letting them know about some of the important opportunities that are available that will help them make some improvements to their business. The conversations I'm having with them have been invaluable and its great to building those relationships. Many have stated that they were so glad to have met me and to learn more about me and what I do and how I can add value to there business strategy. This was great to hear and let's me know I'm on the right path.

I also have the best girlfriends a girl could have. These women have helped me pray, offered emotional support, kept me encouraged and have always been a great sounding board for ideas. For that, I'll be forever grateful.

So I share this to say, to all the other business owners, keep going! It's worth all of the sacrifices to know that you add value to to someone's life, in any way. You are on the right path and you need people who understand your purpose to help you remember that, every time life begins to get the better of you.

That's it for now!
~Fe