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The following podcast is a Dear Media Production.
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Welcome to Balance Flat Girl. My name is Les, I'm your host.
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And I appreciate you tapping in.
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Hopefully this episode can keep you company. If you're doing any holiday travels or holiday cooking or you just have a little bit of downtime and you're looking for something to listen to. So if you are new around here or maybe you have been around for a little while and don't remember what's been going on with me. In December of 2023, I left my corporate job to do content and to do balanced Black girl full time. So I wanted to do kind of a year in review to just talk about how that's been my first year of full time entrepreneurship. What's worked, what's didn't, what I've learned, how it's felt and just how it's gone. But to give a little bit of context about my career leading up to this point. And I did go into a more detailed version in an episode I released earlier this year called How I Became a Full Time Podcaster. But I worked in corporate essentially from 2011 when I graduated college up until the end of 2023. Honestly, I would say I worked in corporate a little bit earlier. I started doing corporate internships in like 2009, 2010 through 2023. So about 13 years of corporate experience and the transition from full time corporate to full time creator in some ways was really smooth and in other ways was really bumpy. And I want to just get into all of the nitty gritty details about how that was. I will say I have been creating content in one form or another since 2014. I actually started creating content in 2014 as a wellness and fitness blogger and from day one of me starting my blog, my intention was to do content full time. And a lot of people have a different story where they say, oh, I just started it as a hobby and I fell in love with it and then I eventually, you know, did it full time. No, I was trying to get out of corporate way back when and at the time I really loved reading blogs. And around that season a lot of the blogger girls that I followed were starting to quit their jobs because they were making enough money blogging that they were able to do it full time. So I well let me start a blog then because that seemed to be the only way out of corporate that I could figure out how to do at that time with where I was and with what I had. That eventually led to being more active on social media, which eventually led to Me starting this podcast in 2018. But really the goal for me the entire time was for content to be a segue, to leave corporate America. And that took a really long time. That took about 10 years, as you just heard from that timeline, of me creating content with the intention of no longer working in corporate America. And I did pivot a lot, from starting as a blogger to moving into more of the influencer space, to starting a podcast and doing both. Podcasting and influencing, I would say, is I do kind of a mix of both. These days, I'm not fully in one or the other, but it took a lot of pivots, it took a lot of changes, it took a lot of transitions to get to a point where I was actually generating an income. And then a lot of pivots and a lot of changes and reiterations to the point where I was generating enough income to actually live off of. And so that entire process took me about 10 years. Now, it may not necessarily be as long for everybody. There's a lot of people who have a lot of different instances. You know, if you have a partner who also earns an income and you can have a little bit of stability from their income, then it may not take you as long. Or if you have a family who can financially contribute, it may not take you as long. For me, I didn't have any of those things. It's always been whatever I earn is kind of all I've had so far. Haven't had any outside support or people to share expenses with outside of, you know, prior roommates and stuff like that. And so I kind of had my eye on the prize for the entire 10 years that I was creating. And I definitely made a lot of mistakes and definitely made a lot of hiccups to get there. And now looking back on it, I realize there are definitely ways that I could have gotten there faster. But hindsight is 20 20, and I'm here now. And thankfully, I've made it through a full year without needing to go back to corporate. It's always an option, but for me, I don't think it's necessarily an option I would express unless I outright needed to, to live. And I'm very grateful to say that after a year of doing this full time, that is not the case. I am able to continue sustaining myself from creating content and doing this show, which I am very, very grateful for. So that's a little bit of backstory about how I got here, where my career has been, and kind of my intentions as a creator always been to do it for work. So now I want to talk a little bit more about the good. I'm going to go into the good, I'm going to go into the bad, and I'm going to go into takeaways and what I've learned. So first, I want to start off by talking about the good things, the good parts of working for myself the past year and the good learnings that I've had. First, I will say that I think the way that I work and the way that I operate is well suited for entrepreneurship. I don't think entrepreneurship is for everybody. I don't think that people who are not entrepreneurs don't have as much career opportunity or are less than in any way. I think how you take your career or where you take it is fully up to you and what works for you. There are a lot of people who really love being in corporate environments because they love the structure and they really thrive in those environments. And then there are people who thrive doing their own thing. And I've realized that I just feel like I thrive a little bit more doing my own thing. I'm so much more motivated doing my own thing than I am in corporate spaces. I am somebody who is very internally motivated, which I think has served me in a lot of ways, especially when it comes to, like, fitness and all the stuff. If I set my mind to something, I'm going to do it. And I don't necessarily need somebody outside of me to make sure that I'm doing it right or to hold me accountable. So I'm very good at keeping myself accountable and working with some independence and some autonomy. So. So because I tend to function like that naturally, I do think that that lends itself really well to entrepreneurship. And so I was able to fairly easily create a groove and to create structure for myself around my work. I think sometimes it can be really hard when you go from working for somebody else to working for yourself to create structure in your days to kind of push yourself to do the things that need to be done. But it was pretty easy for me to fall into a rhythm with that. I think, again, part of that is just kind of my personal and how I operate. But I do also think having something like a podcast to anchor me has been really helpful. Like, for my show, we come out with new episodes every Tuesday, and with that, we work backwards to do certain things every single week to make sure that that happens. So because I have something super consistent that happens every week, I was able to build structure for myself around my week to make that possible. And I do think for people who are maybe entrepreneurs in other ways or who may not have that consistency around what it is they create or what it is they do, that it could be a little bit more challenging to find that structure. But I felt really lucky that I did have this show to really anchor me and anchor kind of how I worked and my systems and my routines. And I, for the most part, have a pretty normal work schedule. I normally will work on this podcast and work on content and do things related to work during the day, generally from kind of a 9 to 5ish schedule. I would say most days for me, it probably looks a little bit more like 10 to 6, depending on how much I've got going on and how efficient I am. Because I do like to have a nice morning routine. I like to do my workouts and I like to have that flexibility over when I do what I do. But I definitely feel like I still work full time hours to make all of this happen. I just like having a little bit more control over when I do it. And that control over my schedule is something that I really, really enjoy. Like, I like working with my time and fitting in the different puzzle pieces and seeing what all I can fit in a day or in a week or in a certain time period. It's like fun for me, which is a little, a little weird. But I really enjoyed playing with my time and finding ways to be more efficient with the things that I do and having a little bit more control over my time. And I think when I was in corporate, that was my biggest struggle. Like, I hated having to be on online by a certain time. I hated having to be in meetings that I personally found kind of pointless. I hated having to ask permission to go to an event or to go to an appointment, or to do certain things that I wanted to do. It was just that whole idea of having to ask for permission for things that never really resonated with me. And so I have really, really thrived being able to create that schedule and that structure for myself. And that has probably been the biggest perk of working for myself.
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Let's talk hydration real quick, because staying hydrated is not just a summer thing. Winter can sneakily dehydrate you thanks to the chilly air and heating indoors, or if you're having some cocktails at the holiday party. And when you're dehydrated, you're tired, you're crampy, you're rocking a headache, which none of us have time for. So that is why I always keep Element on deck. It's the zero sugar electrolyte mix that's been a total game changer for me. Element keeps it simple and effective. Each pack is loaded with sodium, magnesium, and potassium, which is what our body needs if we sweat without the sugar fillers or junk that most sports drinks have. So whether you're working out or you're fasting or you're on keto, or you're just trying to keep your energy up, Element delivers. Right now, their chocolate medley is here for a limited time and it's giving cozy winter vibes. We're talking chocolate mint, chocolate chai, and chocolate raspberry. So I love putting half a stick of the chocolate chai in my coffee. It's almost like a dirty chai. It's so good and has the perfect amount of winter spice. And we also cannot sleep on their fruity flavors, which I love putting into my water throughout the day. So I love the citrus salt. I also really love the grapefruit salt and the raspberry cherry salt. But the best part is Element is totally risk free. So if you don't love it, pass it on to a friend and get your money back. Plus, just for balance Black Girl listeners, you can grab a free Element sample pack with any purchase@drink element.com balance less that's D R I n K l m n t.com balanced less all right, let's talk about a little thing called balance. Specifically the balance between style and comfort. Now, how often do we pick shoes that look great only to regret it when our feet are crying for help? But with bionic, that's officially a thing of the past. They've cracked the code on shoes that feel as good as they look. And with winter in full swing, when we're juggling work, holidays, and everything else, that is exactly what we need. My current fave is the 23 walk 2.0. Imagine the dad sneaker if they got a major glow up. So I wore mine for a marathon day of city walking, going to the museum, going to brunch bunch, and my feet were happy the entire time, which is not always the case. I'm actually really sensitive to uncomfortable shoes. And the magic is in their viom motion technology. It's like wearing sneakers that double as your personal foot masseuse. So say hello to support and all day comfort. And here's the kicker. Vionic lets you try their shoes risk free for 30 days. You can wear them, you can put them to the test, and if they're not a match, send Them back for a full refund. No awkward questions and no with strings attached. So if you're pulling your winter looks together, make sure your footwear is as functional as it is fashionable. Head to vionicshoes.com and use the code BBG to get 15% off your order. Heads up. That's a one time deal, so don't hold back on that first haul. Trust me, your feet deserve it. BionicShoes.com with the code BBG.
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I will also say I really appreciate how working for myself there's been no limit to what I could do and also to what I can earn. And I think that's what's really hard working in some environments is it's amazing to have a steady paycheck and I do miss that at times and I'm not knocking it. However, when it comes to how much we actually earn, there is always a ceiling there that is usually determined by somebody above you and what they decide that they want to pay you. And I also get it as somebody who has a team and who has to make those decisions as well, it's a little bit tricky, but when you own the business, technically there's no limit to what you could do or what you could earn. You don't have somebody outside of you determining kind of what your worth to that company is and what your monetary value is for the work that you're doing. And I can't say that I'm like where I want to be financially. I'm certainly not there yet. But knowing that the work that I'm doing now, now is actually going to bring me a lot closer to that point than the work that I was doing in corporate is super motivating. I love knowing that there are different things that I could create and problems that I can solve that can help me reach that goal versus where I was at in corporate, with those little 2% raises that I was getting every year, I was honestly never really going to get to where I wanted to be financially. Ultimately I was going to have a sense of kind of steadiness and I was going to know exactly what was coming in, you know, every two weeks. But for the larger picture of my life, like the corporate jobs that I had, even though I wasn't necessarily paid poorly in some of them, some of them I was paid very poorly. It was just never going to get me there. It was never going to get me to retirement by a certain age or to certain financial goals and milestones that I have for my own life and entrepreneurship and finding ways to Hustle up some money on my own without that constraint has really been the only way that I could reach my goals. Like two years ago, I paid off my student loans, which was a lot of money. And the reason why I was able to do that was from the money I made doing content. So I was living off of the money that I was making in corporate at the time. I still was doing both jobs. Most of the money that I made doing content went back into the business. But I do like legally have to pay myself as an employee of my business. And so the money that I paid myself through the business, which I made my salary pretty low on purpose just so that I could put more money back into the business, all went to my student loan debt. And that is why I have been able to pay that off. If I only had my corporate salary from the job that I previously had, along with the cost of living and everything else, I would still have a lot of that debt and I maybe would have paid it off eventually, but I would not have been able to pay it off as quickly as I actually did. So not having a ceiling to what I can achieve or what I can earn is super, super motivating for me. I will also say I just like business. I have kind of nerded out over having a business and learning how to grow things and how to make strategic decisions and the creative process. Taking something from idea to in real life has also been really, really fun for me. So a lot of my own personal development this year has focused more so on growing as a business leader, understanding how to run a business, having more executive presence, and really learning more of the skills required of a CEO. I wouldn't say that I'm in a CEO position right now as a content creator. It doesn't necessarily feel like it gives CEO for reasons that I'll talk about later in like what the challenges have been. However, I have seen that that role is very appealing to me. I have seen that like overseeing an operation is something that I'm interested in. And I like the idea of growing and scaling and really focusing on a business. And it's interesting because when I was younger, I was not interested in entrepreneurship at all. Like, I grew up from a very financially insecure background. I very much believed that being in corporate was the solution all of my problems. In college, I ended up switching my major to finance because I thought if I got a finance job that that would be really steady and I could make money and I could be safe and secure and I had no interest in entrepreneurship. One, because I'd never seen examples of it, but two, because it sounded really risky. And so it's interesting, as I've gotten older and as I've come into my own, to be more open to something that I actually used to be quite afraid of. And I think a lot of what has changed my perspective there has been, one, being in corporate, not liking it. Two, being in corporate and having things like layoffs happen where you feel safe and secure and, like, the rug still gets pulled out underneath you and realizing that nothing is fully safe and secure. But I can always figure something out. And I thought, okay, well, if I could figure out this situation after, you know, being in a really toxic job or being laid off and I can land on my feet, then I could probably run a business and land on my feet, too. It's kind of the same thing. It's the same skills that help me navigate those situations. And so, really learning more about business has been a really big highlight for me this year and has been something that I've really enjoyed and has just gone really well for me. Now, something else that has gone well, and this is a little bit more on the podcast front, is live events have gone well. So we had our first live event back in October. We did a live show in New York for the podcast. And that whole experience was quite the learning, but it was actually a very positive learning overall. We had, I thought, a really beautiful event. I'm really happy with how the show went, and it seemed like the audience members who came were also happy with it, which, that's always my thing is, like, I want to make sure people have a good experience anytime they interact with the show and hopefully when they interact with me. But I'm also human, and sometimes I'll be having off days, so, you know, sometimes, you know, give me grace. But if you're interacting with the show, I always want it to be a positive experience for you. And so it seems like overall that was a net positive experience. But there was a lot of learning that came with that, too, that I kind of want to dig into a little bit more because we ran into a situation where tickets for our live show sold out extremely quickly, quicker than I or anyone who I was working with to make the show happen anticipated. And what that told me was that I kind of undersold the impact of this show. I don't think I realized how much people were willing to show up for it. And part of that was because sometimes data can be misleading. So the data that we use to decide where we did the show. How big of a show, we did the venue, how many, you know, people the venue could hold was from the downloads. And, you know, downloads this year have been a little shaky. And I can talk more about that in the challenges part of the episode. But based off of the data and our audience, that is not the biggest. It seemed fitting that we would do a really intimate event in an intimate space that, per the data that we have, just is what made sense. And there was an opportunity to do bigger venues that would have required a lot more overhead, that would have been a lot more expensive for me, and, frankly, kind of a financial liability. But when I looked at the numbers of how many people are actually listening to the episodes of the show, I was like, you know, our audience isn't really big enough for that to have this big venue. Let's do something more intimate because we have a small audience, and that's what makes sense. And so then when those tickets sold out really quickly and people were upset that they couldn't get one, I was like, okay, so what is the truth? What is it? Which is it? Is. Is our audience bigger than we think? Our number not calculating correctly? Are people more interested in live events than they are listening to the weekly podcast? Like, which is it? And it's a good problem to have, but it was a little puzzling, and it was just, like, a little bit challenging to kind of map out what was the right thing to do. And we did ultimately decide to keep the show where it was and to have that intimate event, especially because it was the first time that I did something like that. And it ended up being really beautiful and worked out, and, you know, it was lovely for everybody who got to be there and for anybody who didn't, you know, hopefully in the future, we can figure something else out. But it was a good lesson in that I think I kind of underestimated the show. I underestimated who was interested, and that ultimately is a good problem to have. Now, I will say I'm not an events girly, and so events are never going to be the cornerstone of this business, and you're probably not going to get any event that's not a live show out of me, because events are just, like, not my ministry, especially with logistics. It stresses me out, y'all. It stresses me out. So a live show that still centers on podcasting is probably about as much as I have to give. But in the future, now I know that there are maybe other options. Maybe we can have a bigger space. Maybe the. Maybe we do have enough reach to be able to do that. So it really encouraged me to dig back into the data to better understand where people are at and what they really want and how we can serve them better without running out of tickets so quickly. And if you didn't get to go to the live show, we actually did release that show as an episode a few weeks ago. We'll link it in the show notes so that you can check it out if you want a little taste of what Balance Black Girl Live was like. We didn't put the full episode up on YouTube because we weren't able to do video recording of the full episode. We also wanted to keep it special for the people who were there, but there are also some highlights on YouTube as well.
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One of the best things about this time of year is giving gifts to the people we love. It's great when you can get someone a thoughtful gift. They may not treat themselves to that little bit of luxury that they don't know they're missing. And for quality gifts at an affordable price, my go to is Quinn Quince. Quince lets you treat your loved ones and yourself to everyday luxury at an affordable price. Something everyone needs in their closet in my opinion is Quince's iconic Mongolian cashmere sweaters which start at $50. Now I live in my Quince cashmere sweaters all winter long. They are so comfy, stylish and warm and I always get a ton of compliments on them. But if you're looking for more year round gifts, you can check out their 14 karat jewelry, their Italian leather handbags and European linen sheet sets. Whatever you're looking for, all Quince Items are priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands, which is why Quint is usually my first stop when I'm doing shopping. Now they do that by partnering directly with top factories and cutting out the cost of the middleman which passes savings on to you. Quince is on the nice list. They only work with factories that use ethical and responsible manufacturing practices and they use premium fabrics and finishes for that luxury feel in every piece piece. Now I have so many staple items from Quint from my luggage to my winter coats. I'm usually using something that I got from Quint every day and I know it all makes amazing gifts. Gift Luxury this season without the luxury price Tag go to quint.com balance less for 365 day returns plus free shipping on your order. That's Q U I n c e.com balance less to get free shipping and 365 day returns quint.com balanced less so I have been working hard behind the scenes launching a new business and let me tell you, Shopify has been a total game changer. Before I started using Shopify, I was honestly overwhelmed thinking about how to manage everything, especially as I gear up to sell physical products. But now Shopify has made it so much easier to run my business. Now what I love is that Shopify doesn't just make selling easy, they're actually.
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The best at it.
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They've got the number one checkout system in the world and their shop pay feature can be boost conversions by up to 50%. The translation is there's fewer abandoned carts and more sales and they let you sell anywhere your customers are, whether that's online, in store or even on social media. And it's all seamless. I didn't know anything about getting an online shop up and running and I was able to use Shopify as well as the tools and tutorials they have to get it up and running. So if you're serious about growing your business, Shopify is the platform to get you there. It's built to help you scale and take things to the next level, upgrade your business and get the same checkout we use with Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com balance black girl which is all one word and all lowercase. Go to shopify.com balance black girl to upgrade your selling today. Again, that's Shopify. Com Balance Black Girl.
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And then the next thing that I would say in terms of what has gone well over being an entrepreneur over the past year is now that I'm not in corporate, just the amount of spaciousness that I have mentally and just with my time has really, really helped the business for so many years because I was creating both this podcast and all of my social media content. You know, on nights and on weekends after I had already worked 9 to 5, I often felt super, super drained and just depleted by the time I sat down to record content or there were so many times where for this podcast because I used to record it at home and it used to be audio only. You know, I would log off of work, I would swap out my work laptop for my personal laptop and I would immediately jump into a podcast episode. And I just don't think that that was the best representation of how good this show could be or how good of a host I could be. I just didn't have the space and the capacity to really prepare and be focused on what the show was and so I do think that the quality of the podcast itself has gotten a lot better. And I also think that I've been able to just have a little bit more fun and expand my social media content a little bit more when I'm not, you know, only doing it after I'm fully depleted after working 9 to 5. And so because I do content full time, it's a content based business just having the brain space and the time and the capacity to focus on that a little bit more, to connect with the audience a little bit more. Because there would be so many times when I still had a 9 to 5 where I would just close my DMS because I just did not have the capacity to even talk to people. It was too much. Not having to do that because I do have the capacity has been really, really helpful. I think it's just helped me be a better creator. I think it has been helpful for opportunities, I think it's been helpful for connecting with the audience, but I ultimately think it's been helpful for just creating better content. So those are the things that I think have been kind of the wins and the positive aspects of working for myself over the past year as a full time content creator. So now I want to get into what some of my challenges have been after a year of full time content creation. So I put in my two weeks notice in early December 2023 and I actually gave more of like a three weeks notice. I worked at my old company for like the first three weeks of December, sent in my laptop after Christmas and kind of took that week off, the week between Christmas and New Year's. So we're right up on a year right now. And I just knew that come January 1st I was going to hit the ground running. I had just fully moved into my place in New York and I was like, I'm free. You know, I got a new laptop, I was ready for work, I was ready for business. I felt so energized and like my first real working day of the year. I think it was January 2nd. Pretty sure I was at Dumbo House, co working with a friend. And while I was co working there, I started not feeling well. I started getting kind of dizzy and feeling kind of nauseous and I was like, oh no, like, what is going on? Why do I feel like this is something that I ate? I mean, I know I'm not pregnant, so what is going on? Also, earlier that day my oura ring gave me a notification that was like, your body temperature is a little bit elevated. You should get some extra rest. I did not. That morning I woke up, I went to the gym and did a hard workout. I shot a bunch of content and then I made my way to Dumbo house to go meet my friend. And that's where I started feeling sick. And I was like, huh, I wonder if my aura ring was onto something. And so I ended up going home because I just was starting to feel really sick. Got in bed and didn't get out for about a week. I don't know if I had the flu, I don't know if I had Covid. I don't know one or the other. But I got. Got so freaking sick. Could not get out of bed, couldn't talk, couldn't eat, couldn't move, did not leave my apartment, barely left the bed. And that was how my first week of full time entrepreneurship went. I was so excited to hit the ground running and I was in bed sick with a horrible fever and couldn't get out. And so that first week of entrepreneurship was not as fruitful as I'd hoped. I was like, I'm going to be. I'm going to do all this content. I'm going to record a bunch of podcast episodes. Yeah. So that's not what happened. So by the time I recovered, it was about mid January and I had quite a bit of catching up to do. I'd had to cancel a bunch of podcast episodes and reschedule them for later. I had a couple of brand deals that were left over from 2023 that I had to start working on and that I owed some brands content for. And so I started the year a few weeks late because I was super sick. But I was like, okay, I'm ready to go. I'm gonna hit the ground running. This is gonna be great. And it was not great. It was actually really, really rough. January was one of the worst months of my business that I have had in years. When I tell you I had no brand deals, which for some content creators, January is kind of a slow month for more in like the beauty lifestyle space. But in the wellness space, usually January is pretty frickin fruitful. Usually January you have kind of a lot going on because it's like that's when people are very motivated for their new year. New you thing? Yeah, absolutely nothing. Crickets in my inbox. I was doing a ton of pitching. I was getting nowhere. I was realizing like, okay, I think I need new management. Because I'd had management before. I decided to part ways with them at the end of 2023 and thought that finding new management would be relatively simple. And I was meeting with a ton of managers, I was meeting with a ton of agencies, and I was getting rejected by every single agency. I was rejected by every single manager, either getting rejected or just being fully ghosted. Like, multiple meetings with these people, you know, talking through things, and then they just fully ghost me, or they just fully outright reject me because they said that my audience was too small was the number one kind of rejection point. And I was like, like, no. I quit my job because things had been on the up and up for the past several years. And then the second I quit my job, I get super sick. My brand deals dry up, I can't get a manager. Everybody's rejecting me. During that time, podcast downloads were slipping because iOS just did their update. And so it changed how podcast downloads were counted, and we had to readjust for that. So it was like nobody was listening to the podcast. Even though that's not true. That's just what the data looked like. And I was like, oh, okay, did I. Did I make a mistake quitting my job? Because the second I quit, everything went to shit. But, you know, I hung in there, and Q1 was really rough. But as we moved into Q2, things started getting better and just kind of leveling out. Now, what I was very grateful for during this period was I thankfully had a really nice cushion that I had created for myself. And it was one of those moments where I future me, current me, was really thanking past me for the choices that I made. And I realized the choices that I made in 2021 and 2022 set me up really nicely so that when I hit this dry spell in 2024, I was okay and didn't have to make any dress. I was still able to pay my rent, I was still able to pay my team, and I was still totally fine. Because in 2021 and in 2022, those were the years when my income really started increasing. Those were the years when the podcast started growing more. I started earning quite a bit more, significantly more than I had previous years. Also that year, I had gotten promoted and started earning more in my corporate job. And so through both of my income streams at that time, I had experienced a pretty good, you know, money jump. And when I experienced that money jump, I kept my current living exactly the same. I didn't increase my expenses. I didn't do anything drastic at that time. I was still really good with my budgeting, and so I was able to save a lot, and I saved a lot personally and I saved a lot in the business. So I saved enough where I always have have enough expenses to get through the next calendar year in the business, paying myself and the team, even if I earn $0. So thankfully, because I had that reserve from what I had done 2021 through 2023, that first, you know, two to three months of hiccups like, was not detrimental. And I was very, very grateful to my 2021 and 2020 for her restraint and for her discipline because it made continuing to do this in 2024 full time possible. So when I got into Q2, things started getting better. I started getting more steady work again. Things with the podcast kind of leveled out and we were able to get things a bit more consistent and even experience some moderate growth. I would love to experience more growth, but. But that's just not quite how things worked out this year. So that was like a really major hiccup that my first couple of months of entrepreneurship did not go at all as planned. I felt like I was just really, you know, experiencing setback after setback. But thankfully we made our way through it. And it was just a reminder for me, for anybody who's listening, that those moments don't last forever. And they're hard when you're in them and like, let yourself feel what you want to feel, but they never last forever. It's the good stuff is always temporary, but the bad stuff is also always temporary. So take the waves as they come and know that something else is always around the corner that will work in your favor. But man, January and February were very rough, very rough. And I didn't know quite how it was all going to shake out. But thankfully, you know, we're still here and still able to do this and moving into my second year of doing it full time. So I would say that has probably been the most challenging part, was that period of time. The next challenging part is that I have realized now that I'm doing this full time, how much I love being in business and I love being a business woman, even an entrepreneur, or I would love to be a CEO one day, as I mentioned, and I don't.
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Love being the product.
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And that has been a really difficult fact to reconcile for myself this year. Because when you are a content creator, you are the product and you are people are coming to consume you. They want to know everything that you're doing, everything that you're going through, every facet in detail, even when it's not necessarily relevant to what's going on. I would even argue that people want that even in businesses where maybe the founder, the CEO, isn't the product. Right. The best example I can think of is Beyonce and all of her business ventures. And I wouldn't say that I necessarily have a super strong opinion of her business ventures or how she's rolling them out or anything. I know a lot of people do. I wouldn't say that I necessarily have a strong opinion. I think she's just experimenting and trying things. But the number one complaint that people have is like, well, I just don't know her. And it's like, well, what does you knowing her have to do with, like, if it's a good hair product or if you like the whiskey or. People seem to care so much more about what they think of who's behind it than they even do about the quality of the product. Because I think over the past few years, particularly with the pandemic, there is this almost obsession with perceived relatability. Now, I think finding someone like me relatable is easy because I am. I am just like you. Like, we're not that different. Beyonce, no matter what she does, is never going to be relatable. Even if she were to get on Instagram right now and go live and do a get ready with me or even cuss somebody out, whatever that lady, she's not going to be relatable. And so this idea that we all feel this entitlement to relatability when that's so subjective, I think is something that anybody who has a business or is in business needs to think about. It is, the audience needs to feel like they are relating to you and like they have a piece of you. And so you need to think about, okay, what are the pieces of yourself that you are comfortable sharing? And I'm realizing that there's actually less of myself than I am comfortable sharing that I think the audience wants. Like, my mental health this fall has just been in kind of a rough spot. I just have, like, a really full plate. I feel really overwhelmed. And while I have amazing people in my life, I wouldn't say that I have a super strong support system that has the bandwidth or ability to support me in the ways that I feel supported. So I've just been going through a lot and carrying a lot on my own that has been hard and heavy. And there is an expectation from the audience that I should talk about that, that I should do an episode about that. That I should do an episode about how you're getting through this season of being burnt out. And I'm like, y'all, I don't really know, because if I knew, I wouldn't be burnt out, right? But I am here, sitting here burnt out. And I don't necessarily want to turn every single thing that I'm going through into, you know, a piece of content necessarily. Even though, yes, content creation is my job, I am learning that I actually enjoy it a little bit more when there is a sense of separation. And that doesn't mean that I don't want people to know me, because, of course, people can know me and get to know things about me. But it does mean that while I'm in the midst of going through something, I don't want to turn that very thing into to content. Like, I'm probably am not ever going to be that person who pulls out their phone and records an Instagram story when they're crying about something that's just not really, you know, what I'm going to be. Or I've talked about how I really want to have a season of just being a little bit more silly and focusing more on joy. And people are automatically like, well, record a podcast episode about it. And I'm like, well, I would like to actually get there first. I don't really have much to say because I don't know how to get there yet. I want to feel the joy first. And I just kind of. I don't want to get on a podcast and tell people to have fun. I just want to have fun. And so figuring out, okay, how can I continue to support this business while also still savoring something for myself and letting myself be human and not feeling like I am for consumption like I am a product has probably been the biggest challenge in doing this content full time because there is also a part of me that's like, well, you could grow a lot more if you did share more of that or if you did get a little bit messy or if you did share your messy Pisces man stories. But I don't want to connect over mess. You know, if people do relate to me, I want people to relate over good stuff. And it doesn't mean that bad stuff doesn't happen, but it means, like, why are we always so quick to relate over being messy and miserable? Why are we so much more hesitant to find joy and positivity and growth relatable? And I think that that's something that we could all, myself included, do a little bit of reflection on. And so a few weeks ago, I was having brunch with a friend of mine. She's Also an entrepreneur. She's an amazing entrepreneur. I plan to have her on the show in 2025 because I know that y'all will love her and would love hearing more about her business. And we were just talking more about our business and, like, the things that we want to do. And as I was talking to her, she was like, les, I think you really want to be a founder. Like, I know that you're in the creator space, but it sounds like you have a desire to be a founder. And I was like, yeah, girl, you right. And when I thought about the people in business who I really admire, they are people who have a creator element, but their, you know, let's say podcast isn't their entire business. Their content creation isn't their entire business. They have a separate business that their content creation and their podcast supports. And so, for me, as I move into year two of entrepreneurship, that is the direction that I would love to move into. Not that I'm, you know, giving up podcasting or going to stop creating content, but I can't have my whole livelihood be around this. I would love to put more of what I've learned about business into practice with creating separate businesses and with offering products that are not me, because I am a person, not a product. And so when she said that, it was a realization that kind of hit me in that moment where I'm like, you're right, I do want to be a founder. And a lot of that stems from past experiences that I had working in startups and being around a lot of cool women entrepreneurs and founders and watching them go through things like the fundraising process and just how fascinating that was to me. Not to say that I would necessarily want to raise capital, but I would love to give capital, and I would really love to get into angel investing and being the one writing the checks to make these businesses happen. And I've realized that, like, posting my every thought on Instagram isn't necessarily what's going to get me there. So for me, it's been really challenging to navigate my discomfort being the pride product and finding a way to have kind of a best of both worlds. How can I step into more of a founder role while sharing what I'm comfortable sharing and making sure that I have healthy boundaries that feel good and healthy for me. And also some of that is coming with the other business that I'm working on that I've shared more on social media, not yet here as much on the podcast, Spacious rituals, which I'm really, really excited for. Y'all hear Me talk all the time where I use words like space and spaciousness. I know I've used it multiple times in this podcast. It's been in the past when I was into more like word of the year stuff. You know, I've used it as like a word of the year because I'm always looking for ways to create space in my life. And Spacious Rituals has been an idea on my heart for a really long time where I have a brand that is like a sister brand related to Balance Black Girl that has the actual tools that we all use to create more space. And so I recently announced that on social media, also announced our first product which is going to be our 2025 dated planners. So if you don't yet have a planner for 2025, make sure you check us out. I have that linked in the show notes. But I think moving in this direction where I have an offering that is going to be supportive of the things that I talk about on this podcast. That is not literally me coming on here talking about things that are like difficult for me to talk about or feeling judged or overly consumed or overly exposed. I think it's actually going to win, win. Because as much as I know we all love relatability, I actually think you and me need solutions more than we need to feel like we relate to somebody. Like a sense of belonging is important. Yeah, but I don't want to sit in misery with somebody. I don't want to relate over being miserable. I want solutions for all of us so that we're all in a healthier space. And so as I look towards my next season of entrepreneurship, that is a really big, big focus area for me. So I am excited to start bringing some amazing guests kind of back into the fold and balancing that out a little bit more so that I just have a little bit more life and energy breathed into me to be able to do the other things I am really excited to do. So that is what I have for you today. That has been my full reflection of how my first year of full time entrepreneurship has gone. I've had some wins, I've had some losses, but I'm so, so grateful to be here a year later, even being able to have this conversation with you and still able to do this show and create content full time. And I'm also even more excited for the next iteration to be able to rebalance how I do things to make some of my other aspirations and also just my own personal life and well, being possible. So I hope that you enjoyed this episode. I hope that you are having a beautiful, restful holiday with your family if you're listening to this episode when it's released, or that you're getting lots of rest and just goodness in your life anytime that you are listening. If you enjoy this show, please make sure that you check out our show notes. Because in the Show Notes, that's where I have links to everything that I mentioned. If I talk about an episode, if I talk about a product, if I talk about my planners, if I have an ad for something and you want to use the promo code every single time, it's going to be in the Show Notes notes or the YouTube description for this episode. So that's really going to be your guide for following along and make sure that you subscribe so that you don't miss an episode. We have new episodes for you every single Tuesday. You can subscribe on YouTube, you can subscribe on Spotify, you can subscribe on Apple to get your new episodes every single Tuesday. Thank you again for joining me along on this wild ride. I appreciate you tuning in and I will see you next week.
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Week.
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Please note that this episode may contain paid endorsements and advertisements for products and services. Individuals on the show may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to in this episode.