Happy. Refreshed. Renewed.... ready to roll and tackle the world!
These are just a few feelings I've been pleasantly and unexpectedly overcome with in the past week. Entrepreneurship aint as grand as many perceive sometimes... it's super tough. It pushes you to limits you never imagined. It beats you down, but ultimately makes you stronger. It involves an extreme amount of risk, trust, and positive thinking, even when you want to crawl under the covers and never come out. To be honest, I was in this place a few weeks ago. After a tough bought of working around the clock for a few months to open another store, hiring an employee who was toxic to our business, going through a rough firing, and having another key employee dramatically resign without any notice, I was totally beaten down. We'd just opened our second store and I did not even have enough staff to keep both up and running!
I had quite a few mornings where I did not want to come out from under the covers. I almost canceled the first "real vacation" I've taken in 2 years because I didn't know how I'd possibly keep my business going and leave California. After a momentary lapse of feeling totally screwed, sorry for myself and in shock, I got out of bed and dealt with it. Some amazing friends and family were my first line of defense; they helped pull me through this tough time by covering shifts at the stores, sending me positive messages, giving advice and lifting my spirits. They reminded me of all I had accomplished and helped push me out of the dark place I was in. Once I was ready to address things, I turned to my entrepreneurial support systems. My advisers had my back; they sympathized with my situation, recounting their own journeys along the way. I even had the fortunate chance to speak with a few in person on this East coast trip. My business coach,
Melody Stevens of Time Millionaire, was on the phone within an hour of sending a
"holy sh*t, what do I do?!" email. She helped me come up with a plan to get on that plane, refine my systems, train and trust my new team so that I could get away and spend time with my family. My
Savor the Success sisters listened on a mastermind call and gave ideas and inspiration. I realized I
could leave The Grapeseed Co., that not everyone was out to screw me, and what I needed more than anything was to
take that vacation! I am truly grateful to have all of these brilliant minds collaborating, because no matter how strong you think you are, you cannot do it alone. One of my sister-in-law's favorite sayings is,
"it takes a village..." These people help make up my village and I am grateful for their support.
Her other favorite saying is,
"we're so blessed" which I truly feel right now. I've spent the past week on my parents catamaran sailing the Maine coast with my husband, mom, dad, their cuddly dog Jorbi, and my dad's old friend from graduate school he recently reconnected with after multiple decades. We've sailed to a different port with a gorgeous, unique lighthouse every night, seen amazing natural beauty, ate delicious meals, laughed and recounted what it was like when Pete and I
lived the simple life aboard a sailboat! On one of our stops along the way, I reconnected with a wonderful friend from grad school I had not seen in over 5 years and met her new husband. Seeing her so happy in such a beautiful place with a great partner brought me joy. There are those people you can go years without speaking to, then when you get together it's like you haven't missed a beat! It's fun that my dad and I both had the chance to experience this in the past week.
Given the situation with Grapeseed, this could not be an "unplugged" vacation, so I've been working remotely a few hours each day while my new and improved team has handled the stores, shipping orders and manufacturing beautifully in my absence. It's been reassuring to see we have developed solid systems, and can find competent help to step in and take over if needed. I even took a bit of time to chat on the phone and advise another entrepreneur friend who is on the cusp of something great, which felt nice to be helpful. I've read books for pleasure (not business) and taken moments to nap, stare at the sea and do nothing at all but smile. These are the important things in life that bring true happiness; not fretting or feeling sorry for the current pickle you happen to be in.
So many times, we don't "live out loud" when times get tough. We don't ask for the support we need or tell people what we are going through. It's easy to share our success stories, our victories, our accomplishments, but difficult to mention the extreme emotional drain and hardships along the way. As we wrap up this trip, my biggest take away is to take time to treasure the simple but important things in life, even when you think you can't or don't have time to. I haven't spent a full week of 24/7 with my parents in a while and have realized it's really fun and I need to do it more often! Crap is going to happen; that's life. There are so many things that are beyond your control, but mindset is something we all have complete control over. I'm heading back to California with the best possible gifts I could receive right now, empowerment, great new ideas, and a renewed sense of spirit. Sometimes it's the tough stuff teaches you the most!
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