My success was built upon one word: NO.

I can tell you with 100% certainty that I would not be where I am today if it weren’t for the doubters, the rejection and one simple word: NO. When I look back at patterns in my life, the real uncomfortable moments made me the strongest and made me the most determined to succeed. I had something to prove and I wasn’t going to let anyone else craft my narrative for me. If life has been easy street thus far…this is not the blog post for you. I can promise you this.

Hearing the word “no” has been my greatest motivation in business, love and life. Dare I say, hearing things like “That idea is silly. No one will buy that” or “They’ll never make it…” or “No one is going to spend that much money” is how I got where I am today. I would be so bold to say that if you’ve never faced doubters in your life…than you aren’t really living.

At the end of 2021, I shared that my agency was hand selected for two massive RFPs that would easily change our business overnight. I opened myself up to being vulnerable on my social media channels. After all, I preach authenticity and I have zero regrets about that. My partner and I subscribe to the Tina Fey philosophy which is to “say yes always and figure out the rest later.” As a business owner, it rarely makes sense to staff up and add more resources if you don’t have the business to fund it. Makes sense, right?

Back to those RFPs. A LOT of my blood, sweat and tears went into those RFP responses. Coaching from my husband, rewrite after rewrite, printing a gajillion copies, (btw, printing is more expensive than you think!) team proofing sessions not to mention team travel, practice and overall jitters that come with two hour pitch sessions. Still, I was pumped! After each pitch, I felt it in my bones. I had won those RFPs. And it wasn’t manufactured either. CEOs were approaching us and complimenting our presentations and enthusiasm. It felt like an emotional win. Heck, we celebrated. And then…crickets. The dreaded crickets.

If you know anything about running your own business, you do not wait to land that big whale. Business must go on. In typical fashion, we signed up new accounts and business was great. But as time wore on, my follow ups were starting to go unanswered. Not at all uncommon in the RFP world. Finally by March, I had grown antsy. I wanted answers. I worked hard. Guess what? The world doesn’t work that way. For a myriad of reasons that I will not get into, we were finally told around March 16th that we had, in fact, lost both RFPs. And all of the burn out from the last two pandemic years coupled with Covid in December came to a head. I wanted to quit. I was exhausted. I had lived like a hamster in a wheel for too long and it wasn’t sustainable. And the worst part? I had failed not once but twice.

This is the part in the movie where the entrepreneur sells their business and moves to Mexico. That did not happen for me BUT I did leave for Mexico the following week and it literally healed my soul. What’s the point of this post you ask? Here it is in a nutshell —

“If you don’t live your life vs working to live; you will burnout as an entrepreneur. You need space to get inspired. You need to recharge. You need to lick your wounds. You need to quiet your mind. Do not forget that a human lives in that body of yours.”

— Jo Grange

I have spent the better part of my life working to please other people. After all, I am in new business development which is a fancy term for sales. We LIVE to please people. It’s how we make our income. But, as we all know, you cannot pour from an empty cup. After nearly a decade in business, my cup was so. very. empty. I won’t pretend that the losses didn’t shatter me because they did for several months. I cried. I was depressed. I was cranky. I lost my interest in writing. The list goes on…

Today is April 5th and I feel a sense of renewal. Maybe RFPs are not for me. Maybe I will get more practice and finally land my big whale. Maybe the best is yet to come. Manifestation? I don’t know. I am listening though.

What I do know is this, whether you are a brand new entrepreneur or a seasoned one like me, your life needs balance. More hours don’t always equate to more money. And when you feel tired, unmotivated, uninterested, moody — that is your body, mind and spirit telling you to take a mandatory break and that is OKAY.

Today I sent 85 pitch emails out. I presented over Zoom. I wrote a blog post. I finished all my admin work. And I will stop working at five because my family deserves it. And that means letting go of the guilt and allowing my life to take center stage so that it can continue to inspire my nine to five. It doesn’t happen overnight but as I approach my 44th birthday, I can’t think of any other way to live my life. And for the companies who didn’t choose Oak Street Social: thank you. Thank you so very much for keeping my humble and driven because I fully intend to land something bigger before the close of 2022.