When I first began this particular business journey, I honestly had no idea what I was doing. I quit my full time job to start a neighborhood magazine and did some freelance work on the side. In those days, my freelance work included HR consulting and writing blogs. It was the start of my entrepreneurial journey.
Looking Back
As I look back upon all of that, I realize how little sense any of that made. I wanted to work for myself, and I didn’t care how I did it. I had the drive, and about 3 months of savings to get me to where I wanted to go. Fast forward those 3 months and I had run out of money and failed with the launch of two neighborhood magazines. My company, Grey Fox Business Solutions LLC (at the time), desperately needed a solution of its own.
The one thing I was good at and actually made money with easily was writing, believe it or not. I continued to freelance various writing assignments and grabbed any HR related contracts that I could as well. I had left an HR job in the corporate world and knew that this was not the path for me. I grabbed a part-time job to help me keep my business and my family alive. Around this same time, I started a blog just to motivate people to pursue their dreams.
The Beginning
At first, no one ever read it or commented. After a few months, someone reached out to me and said that they “needed to hear” what I wrote about that day. Shortly after that, this brand of Intentionally Inspirational was born. I didn’t know what it meant or where it would lead, but I knew it would change my life.
In April of 2016, I launched my podcast also called Intentionally Inspirational that was, and still is, focused on motivating the startup entrepreneur through the journeys and stories of my guests. I really enjoy this and blogging, and don’t think I will ever stop doing either one. I am a lifelong entrepreneur and I knew that this was only the beginning, so my parent company was renamed Grey Fox Business Ventures LLC. Writing and podcasting about entrepreneurship is great, but even better when produced by a hungry and active entrepreneur.
Eventually, a few other hungry folks who hadn’t taken the leap contacted me about coaching them and I gladly accepted! Although I enjoy giving back and helping others along this journey, coaching alone wasn’t enough to sustain my business in the way that I had hoped. I started noticing a common complaint among most entrepreneurs in the startup phase, and beyond. Another pivot in my business started to happen, and this time is was to solve the problem of digital marketing for businesses of all kinds.
What’s Next
I quickly dove into digital ads on Facebook and Google for myself and began offering these services to clients as well. From there, I learned about marketing funnels and how to automate the back-end of this whole process too. I now create content for startups and offer real business solutions for entrepreneurs at all levels through coaching, digital marketing and automation. I have published an eBook, and become an affiliate marketer for products that I use and love too.
Here is the cool part about all of this. I know who I am, and what I am trying to do. I also know that I have barely scratched the surface and I’m just getting started. Everything that I put time and effort into now, is designed to add value to a specific audience. Two years ago, I had no idea that I would be doing what I am doing today, and two years from now it is anyone’s guess as to what I will be up to.
My greatest takeaways from this experience so far, include:
- Do meaningful work that makes a positive impact on others
- Be patient and don’t risk more than you are willing to lose
- Be willing and ready to pivot in your business, when you see the greater opportunity at hand
- If you want more value from others, give more value to others
- Surround yourself with people who are going to support and challenge you
This has been an interesting experience for my family and me to this point. I hope that this inspires some of you to keep moving forward with your own journeys. Nothing may make sense to you now, but in hindsight you will be able to connect some dots and make more sense out of your experience in the future. If you are heading in a direction yourself that you never intended to go into, let’s hear about it in the comments.