It has been on sunny year for me sprinkled with many valuable lessons.
Launching Well Rounded has been a lifelong goal of mine. Having worked in an unrelated professional field, starting a home shop felt like a stretch. My initial attempt at entrepreneurship was by diving into Interior Design, but unfortunately, Covid made it `challenging for me to get started. This setback allowed me to realign myself with my initial idea of Well Rounded - a perfect marriage between my appreciation of interior design and my habit of collecting meaningful home objects.
Frankly, I always imagined the logistics of starting a business and my life had to align perfectly. I was under the impression, that I needed to be an expert in all areas of a business, and once mastered, I was deemed worthy to launch. Once I felt ready, I gave it a go. Then life threw a terrible curve ball my way mid-launch. My physical and mental health took a hit. I continued to show up, not because I wanted to, but because things were already in motion. I thought, once I get through this, I can then control every aspect of my life and things will return to work seamlessly. Thinking back on it, it was perhaps the universe testing my resiliency and a wake-up call for my expectations.
Throughout social media, owning a business has been romanticized. Videos show a "day in the life" relaxing trip in the car or a beautiful ocean view while the dollars count up and up on the screen. While this hasn't been my experience, there have been many incredible moments, such as genuine appreciation from customers, and support from other small businesses. I learned a lot of important lessons as well. Most notably, at all experience levels, we are all just trying to figure it out. For anyone out there thinking of embarking on the same career path or struggling on your current one, I hope these give you the boost you need to keep going. Because there is space in this world for more creative and wonderful people like you.
Lesson no. 1: You don't have to have everything figured out. Turns out most of us don't know what we're doing exactly. Running a business (as with everything in life) seems to be of trial and error.
Lesson no. 2: But you should know why you're starting a business. When the going gets tough, - which it will - remember to go back to the reason you started. For me, it's the dream of collecting unique home items that make people happy.
Lesson no. 3: Putting yourself out there can be risky, but also very rewarding.
Lesson no. 4: "No" is not always the final answer. Find a way to "Yes."
Lesson no. 5: Social Media is exhausting.
Lesson no. 6: You're more resilient than you think.
Lesson no. 7: Mistakes happen and will continue to happen. Learn what you can from them.
Lesson no. 8: Give yourself a break.