The Entrepreneur Experience

What is it REALLY like to live the life of an entrepreneur? What are the pros and cons of becoming your own boss? Are there secrets around the experience that no one is talking about?

Today, we are pulling back the curtain on the entrepreneur experience. We share the very different circumstances that inspired us to take the leap, discussing the personal trauma and corporate downsizing that inspired our respective decisions. We also offer insight on adjusting to entrepreneurial life, from surviving the early days of working without getting paid to making choices around how to spend your time.

We speak to the pros and cons of entrepreneurship, describing the freedom and respect that come with being a business owner as well as the lack of feedback and added stress and worry. Finally, we walk you through our top ten secrets about being your own boss, including the lie of always being ON, the myth around sales, and the key to partnerships. Listen in to understand how to ride the ebbs and flows of being an entrepreneur and learn why self-care is essential to your business success!

Themes explored in this week’s episode:

• The corporate merger that served as the ‘red carpet’ for Katie to pursue coaching
• How Tegan’s personal trauma inspired her to take the leap into entrepreneurship
• Tegan’s insight around what it means to assume all the risk AND all the reward
• The beginner’s mindset that Katie adopted in the early days of entrepreneurship
• The challenge entrepreneurs face in scaling back their offerings
• How to survive the early days of working but not getting paid
• Making choices around how to spend your time as a green entrepreneur
• Tegan’s advice on starting with a safety net
• Katie’s thoughts on looking at how much you need vs. how much you made before
• How to balance creating more of what you know with creating brand new things that are uniquely yours
• How Katie awakened to the world around her when she became an entrepreneur
• The PROS and CONS of entrepreneurship

The top ten myths and secrets around entrepreneurship:

1. Launching programs is not all it’s cracked up to be
2. Always being ON is a lie
3. You have the potential to be more informed and more valuable than ever
4. The mental game IS the game
5. You probably don’t need more experience or education
6. You don’t have to sell anything
7. In the onslaught of unsolicited advice, you decide what works for you
8. Deliver on promises, do well, follow up and you will WIN
9. Find right-sized partners for your business
10. Self-care is non-negotiable

Resources from this episode:

• Learn more about Katie’s book Hidden Brilliance and watch her TED Talk
• Read ‘The Psychological Price of Entrepreneurship’ in 500
• Explore the idea of self-care with Brené Brown in Dare to Lead