Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. This is part three in a series where I'm sharing what it's really like to be a small business owner and if that path is right for you. So many of you want to start your own business someday and it's important that you have a realistic picture of what that entails. Today we're talking a little about money and what you need to think about before you quit your day job and start your business. 

First and foremost, I think a lot of people believe they have a viable business the minute they set up a business Instagram account and create a free website. You know the whole "if you build it they will come" idea from the movie Field of Dreams. They plan on quitting their job on a Monday and starting their business on Tuesday with cash starting to flow by Friday. But that couldn't be further from the truth. It takes time to build a legitimate, profitable business. No one can buy from you if they don't know about you - this is why we engage in marketing, which is building awareness of your brand - and unfortunately marketing doesn't work instantly. It takes time. Some people say that no one will buy from you until you've built the know, like, and trust factor. They know you and your business exist, they grow to like you and what you sell through various interactions with you and your business, and then they grow to trust you enough to buy what you sell. If you're selling something that costs $5, the know, like, and trust factor can be established quite quickly. But if you're selling something that's $100, it's going to take more time. You feel me? Before they shell out $100, they're going to need a little more from you in order to feel confident about their purchase. In short, this is why you shouldn't believe anyone who tells you that a business can be built overnight. Sure, there are "overnight successes" but they are usually fast and fleeting. A one hit wonder. They don't make it for the long haul. 

So, what does this mean for you? Well, you need to get realistic about money. You need to accept that you aren't going to quit your job on Monday and start your new business on Tuesday with cash flowing on Friday. Instead, it's going to be more of a process. And you're going to need to have an alternate source of income or a large savings account for the meantime. Preferably, you'll stay at your current day job and work on your business at night and on weekends. So many people grumble at this idea, but listen - if you aren't willing to do this, you probably aren't cut out to be an entrepreneur anyways. Building a business takes a lot of hard work and dedication and it's going to require long hours at times. If you aren't willing to do that in the beginning - when your excitement about your new business is arguably at its highest - then you probably aren't going to be willing to do that 2 years in, when excitement is waning and you're wondering if it's all worth it. 

Ugh...so when can I quit my job, you ask? The answer is different for everyone. It varies from living situation to living situation and from business to business. Perhaps you have a husband and you can go on his health insurance and rely on him to pay the mortgage. Or perhaps you're single and all of your living expenses are your responsibility. Perhaps your business is a service-based business like career coaching that doesn't require a lot of monetary investment in products and inventory, compared to the woman who wants to start a high-end clothing boutique which requires a lot of costly inventory to start. You see what I mean? There isn't a one-size-fits-all answer. As your business grows, you'll know exactly when you have enough business revenue to support the business and pay your bills, and only then should you quit your day job. Remember you can always go part-time too when your business starts to earn revenue but not quite enough to support 100% of your expenses.

I always get this question too, so I'll answer it here: "What if my current job is too stressful and too demanding? I don't even have time to wash my hair let alone start working on my business website." Well then, perhaps you can get another full-time job with less pressure so that you do have time and energy to work on your business during nights and weekends. Listen, if you want what you've never had, you need to do things you've never done. I know all of this can be scary, but it's not rocket science. The answers to these questions are quite plain and simple. We make it complicated. We make up excuses as to why it's not feasible, when in reality that's our fear talking. So get real with yourself - do you really, really, really want to start your own business? If the answer is a whole-hearted yes, then look at your situation creatively and make the decisions and the moves that need to be made. It's temporary. If all goes well, you'll be quitting your day job and working full-time on your dream in about 2 years. 2 years! That's nothing. (side note: where did I get 2 years from? The average business takes about 2 years to start seeing consistent profit.) 

I hope this real talk is helpful. I'll be back next week with more ways to think realistically and practically about potential business ownership. It's so important to get clear on that stuff before you invest a lot of time and money into your business idea. If there's a topic or subject you want me to address in this series, leave a note in the comments!

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. This is part two in a series where I'm sharing what it's really like to be a small business owner. So many of you want to start your own business someday and it's important that you have a realistic picture of what that entails. Today we're talking a little about state of mind. Are you an anxious person by nature? Or are you calm and steady most of the time? This is an important factor to consider when evaluating whether or not you are cut out for small business ownership. Here's why.

If you know anything about small business ownership, you know it can be unpredictable and a little risky, especially in the beginning stages. It is vastly different from collecting a regular paycheck every two weeks from an employer. Giving up a steady paycheck is probably the thing that holds most people back from making the big leap. And rightly so! This is especially true if no one has taught you how to manage money and handle your personal finances with wisdom and care. Even after your business has taken off, there can be unpredictable times. For example, if you sell toys you are most definitely going to experience a slow sales period in January each year. Everyone just bought toys for Christmas and January is going to be a slower sales month so you need to plan for that. You see what I mean? If you currently collect a regular paycheck, chances are you never worry about it. You never doubt that the money is going to show up in your account every other Friday. If, on the other hand, you own a business, you DO have to worry about whether the funds will be there to pay you and your employees. If the money is not there, then YOU need to do something to generate it. Sound stressful? It can be, especially in the first few years.

There are many things about small business ownership that can cause anxiety, but money is definitely number one on the list. And if you're an anxious person by nature, the highs and lows and unpredictability of small business ownership can be all too much to handle. Most likely, that anxiety will outweigh the joy that business ownership brings. That's just the truth. And the potential for anxiety never goes away... in fact, some might say it increases as your business becomes more successful because now you have employees, and those employees depend on YOU for their paycheck, and what if something happens and there's not enough? Or what if there's a global pandemic in the 12th year of your business when you're rolling along thinking everything's great? It does get easier over time, yes, but you're never going to feel 100% "safe" and "comfortable" and some people just need those things to thrive.

On the other side of the spectrum is the person who is calm and steady by nature and has a "can do" attitude about virtually anything. Instead of thinking, "I have employees who depend on me and what if I can't pay them because something unexpected happens?", the calm and steady person thinks, "I can navigate whatever happens in my business. If something unexpected happens, that's when my personality really kicks in. I actually really love solving problems. It makes me feel useful and powerful." When the storm is raging outside, he or she is the one calming the troops. In fact, some might say this person actually thrives under pressure. You see the difference between the two personality types? 

So, which one are you? Get honest with yourself. The key is being honest about where you fall on the spectrum so that you're making an educated decision about your future. Who wants to own a business if it means being strung out on anxiety all the time? That's not going to be fun. It's going to be painful and the anxiety might even wreck your health over time. Understand yourself and be willing to acknowledge that you thrive best under well-known, predictable circumstances. You'll find more peace and joy staying employed with a regular paycheck. And that's 100% completely fine. It doesn't make you "weak" or a bad person if you don't think you can handle it and - more importantly - enjoy it. If, on the other hand, you tend to be a calm and steady leader who thrives most when presented with a problem, small business ownership will likely be very enjoyable for you. You'll likely grow a lot under the challenging circumstances that small ownership presents to you. In other words, if you're feeling stifled at your current regular job, you might finally feel the freedom to realize your full potential through the experience of small business ownership.

If you noticed the title of this week's journal entry, this is part two. Part three is coming next week! So look forward to more ways to think realistically and practically about potential business ownership. It's so important to get clear on that stuff before you invest a lot of time and money into your business idea. If there's a topic or subject you want me to address in this series, leave a note in the comments!

If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I want you to get a better idea of what it means to be a small business owner. So many of you want to start your own business someday and it's important that you have a realistic picture of what that entails. Show of hands... how many of you think I spend 8 hours per day in my shop in Charleston making jewelry next to my sweet dog, Cooper? You might be surprised at how little of my schedule is actually devoted to jewelry making. Read on to see what I mean.

I think one of the problems aspiring small business owners encounter is that they don't know what the actual day-to-day entails. You can actually say this about any career, right? Take my former career as a lawyer for example. So many people think I spent most of my days in court. That's not the case at all - most lawyers spend most of their days alone, researching and writing the documents that need to be submitted to the court. And, many times, the court doesn't even ask you to show up! Instead, they make a decision from the documents you spent so many hours writing and researching alone in your office until the wee hours of the morning. Well, the same can be said of small business ownership. Take my business for instance. I bet some of you think I spend most of my time making jewelry. That couldn't be further from the truth. In an average week, perhaps 30% of my time is spent making jewelry. The rest of the time is spent on business activities, such as marketing and advertising, inventory, planning, and so on. For me, I personally love that. Again, I used to be a lawyer and so that part of me loves to strategize marketing ideas, plan about inventory numbers, and nerd out behind my computer categorizing business expenses. If my job entailed making jewelry 8 hours per day, I would have quit a long time ago. I need that mental, intellectual stimulation every day and I'm so glad about 70% of my time is spent doing things that give me that. The creative side of me is very happy spending 30% of my week making jewelry and doesn't want or need more than that.

If you go into business ownership not knowing these things, you might hate it! You've got to be honest with yourself. If you love to make beautiful handmade soaps at home, for example, and you're thinking of starting your own business but you hate the idea of marketing and advertising, managing higher levels of inventory, maintaining a website, hiring and managing a team, processing payroll, and all the countless things that business ownership entails, don't do it! Start an Etsy shop and leave it at that. I call that a glorified hobby. That's not meant to be derogatory, it's just calling a spade, a spade and getting clear on what you're doing. And by glorified hobby I mean this: you love to make soap so much that you have run out of friends and co-workers and family members to give your creations to. So you start a little shop and sell a bit of it to strangers on Etsy with no real pressure to run and scale a business. That's totally fine! You can make a little extra cash from your talent and never worry about whether you'll have enough money to pay your employees, or whether you'll hit this month's revenue goals, or whether you should hire a marketing coach to help you run a successful advertising campaign on social media.

Now, for others of you, you are lit up by the business side of things. You want to learn how to scale a profitable business, you love taking online courses on business (such as a social media advertising course), you might even like the idea of business tax planning and inventory/supply chain management. Once you get clear on which side of the aisle you fall on, you can either pursue that business with gumption or you can pursue that small Etsy shop with gratitude. You get out of this zone of uncertainty, where you are continuously debating whether or not you want to start that e-commerce website. You feel me? There is no shame in having a little side hustle that remains a side hustle. There is no shame in saying, you know, I love clothes, but I'm not good at business and so I'm going to be honest with myself and not start that online clothing boutique. That is being mature. And you know what else being honest with yourself does? It stops wasting your time and energy! You can free up that space in your brain that was constantly hemming and hawing over whether you want to start an online boutique. You know what I mean? Being unclear about what you want to do takes up a LOT of brain space, time, and energy. Once you get clear, you can either push full steam ahead or admit it's not the right fit and focus your energy elsewhere.

This week, take some time to get clear. Realistically, do you think you'll love running a business? Or would you rather keep your love of soaps, or jewelry, or art, or clothes a fun, happy hobby? Because I'll leave you with this food for thought - I've known people who've tried to turn their passion into a business and it entirely killed their love for that thing. For example, I knew a yoga teacher who opened a yoga studio and it basically killed her love of yoga. All the business things (such as annoying and troublesome clients) really ruined yoga for her and that's a sad thing. You see what I'm saying? You owe it to yourself (and you owe it to your passion!) to be realistic about business ownership. Otherwise, you might find yourself hating the very thing that used to bring you so much joy.

If you noticed the title of this week's journal entry, this is part one. Part two is coming next week! So look forward to more ways to think realistically and practically about potential business ownership. It's so important to get clear on that stuff before you invest a lot of time and money into your business idea.

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own journey and experiences. My wish is for everyone to know the feeling of doing work that brings them joy. It truly is an unbelievable gift to not dread Mondays and hope for Friday's fast arrival. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm talking about this big, amazing shift I see in people who want to start their own business and consciously embrace the idea that their current job and career are temporary. Let's dive in because this is a good one and might really serve you in your day-to-day life moving forward.

Let's face it, most people (not all) want to start their own business because they don't like something about their current job situation. So they complain and complain about their current job, and while they might have a really well thought out business idea, they are scared to take the leap. Does that sound like you? It was me for a while. But there can be this big, huge shift that happens when you embrace the idea that your current job is merely temporary. That it's a means to an end. That it can actually "fund" your business idea. This shift is so powerful because it takes you from this place of complaining and moves you into this place of gratitude. All of a sudden, you can appreciate your job because you can use some of your paycheck to fund your new business expenses. And you know what else happens? You will probably stop taking your job so seriously because you realize it's temporary. Sure, you'll still show up every day and do your best, but you realize you won't be there forever and that provides a wonderful sense of freedom. You don't get so hung up on all the office politics. You almost emotionally disassociate from all the office drama.

Doing this frees up so much mental and emotional energy and space. I often hear a certain complaint from aspiring entrepreneurs and it's this: "I work a lot so I have no time to work on my business idea or make it a side hustle." Believe me, I can identify. When I was a lawyer, I barely had the energy to walk my dog after work let alone work on a business idea in front of my computer. But when you embrace the idea that it's all temporary, a lot of mental and emotional energy frees up. It's amazing! And you might find you have enough energy to work on your business plan for an hour after work.

So if you're stuck in a job or career you don't like and you want to start your own business, try embracing the idea that your current situation is temporary. At first, you might have to repeat that phrase to yourself under your breath all day long - "This is only temporary. This is only temporary. This is only temporary." But after a few weeks, you might notice that you really begin to believe it. You might notice that you don't feel as drained. You might notice that you do have the energy to work on a business idea after work, even if it's only for 30 minutes in the beginning. You may notice that you have more mental space to think about your business idea because that space is no longer occupied by office politics and office drama. Give it a try! I bet you'll notice some, or all, of these things.  

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own journey and experiences. My wish is for everyone to know the feeling of doing work that brings them joy. It truly is an unbelievable gift to not dread Mondays and hope for Friday's fast arrival. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. 

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm reflecting on an important question: are you striving for material things or are you striving for happiness and peace? When evaluating this question, it's important to look at your actions. They speak much, much louder than your words and thoughts. What are your goals? What do you spend your days working towards? Be honest. Do they reflect a person who is trying to achieve happiness and peace in her life, or do they reflect a person who is more concerned with buying a designer handbag, a nicer car, a condo, etc? Let me be clear - none of these things are bad or wrong - it's perfectly fine to desire them and they have an appropriate place in a well-rounded life. But what is your driving force? The chief motivator for getting up each day? What are you working so hard for? Is it stuff or is it happiness?

I'll go first. Back when I was a lawyer, I was 100%, without a doubt, absolutely not striving for happiness or peace. I mean, the idea never even crossed my mind. I worked in a law firm and the people there strived for the job title of "partner", a Lexus or Mercedes, a home in the nicest part of town, a Louis Vuitton bag to carry to work, a big diamond ring, a husband, 2.5 kids, and so forth. "I guess that's what I'm supposed to strive for too?," I thought. I was 26 years old, easily influenced, and eager to please my managers in my very first legal job. "Happiness" never really crossed my radar. I bet a lot of you can relate to this. Looking back, it's quite amazing that the corporate world still works this way. In eleven years of working as an attorney no boss or superior ever asked me, "Are you happy? Does your work make you happy? If not, how can we make you happy?" Those questions are almost laughable if you've worked in corporate America, aren't they? They are not even a consideration. 

What about you - has the idea of working towards happiness, instead of job titles or things, ever crossed your mind? Have you even stopped to think about it?  

It seems so obvious, but perhaps this is one of the reasons many people are unhappy at work. If you're old enough to know anything about life, you know that you've got to get intentional about the things you want to achieve. If you want X, you have to determine what will get you to X and actually try those things. So if you want happiness, you have to determine what will get you personal happiness and actually try to make those things happen. Happiness does not fall out of the sky. We have to be intentional about it, just like anything else. And humans are designed to want more than nice cars and fancy homes - we're designed to want connection and meaning and purpose through our work. So it's no surprise that a large portion of America is unhappy in their careers when the focus so clearly remains on external things like job titles and the accumulation of stuff. 

If you're feeling empty at work, this might be why. Have you ever considered what would actually make you happy and what it might take to get there? Don't be embarrassed to say no. To be honest, in my 20's and early 30's, I had a hard time identifying feelings in general. I saw a therapist after my dad passed away and I distinctly remember her showing me a big long list of emotions because I rarely responded with more than the basics. You know, happy, sad, lonely, that sorta thing. Through my work with her, I realized how disconnected I was with a lot of emotions, not just happiness, and she really helped me evolve in that way. I don't think this is an uncommon problem, especially in high-achieving professions. Those professions often attract a certain type of people-pleasing person, where your own emotions or feelings about a thing don't necessarily matter per se. If you've lived with that people pleasing habit for a long time, you might be really disconnected from feelings in general. I mention this to say, you might need to take a couple baby steps back before you truly are able to identify what will make you happy. You might first need to get in tune with your feelings overall before you are really able to hone in on what will make you really, truly happy. I can tell you it's work worth doing - it leads to a more vibrant experience of life in general. 

So this week I challenge you to get honest with yourself. What are your actions revealing about your priorities? Are you working hard to reward yourself with a designer bag, or are you working hard to achieve a level of happiness and peace in your life? When you reflect on this question, what you find out might help you make some important changes or shifts in your career and in your life.

I hope you've found this week's journal entry enlightening. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. I have a few weekly journal entries on the board right now, and I'm adding more on a weekly basis. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm taking it way back and talking about the hard time in my life that preceded my career change from lawyer to jewelry business owner. I wasn't always a joyful, peaceful, grounded person - that has come in time and with age. Back when I was a lawyer, I was quite the opposite. I had little joy (I worked so much it was hard to find time for the things and people important to me, let alone time for fun). I definitely had no peace. I wasn't anxious per se, but frantic. I was always being given unrealistic demands by the law firms I worked for, which meant I was always short on time, and that leads to a sort of frantic anxiety. I never felt grounded and at home in my life or my body. Again, a sort of frantic disconnect from myself and the world around me. My life didn't feel like my own - I felt like the law firms I worked for owned me. This wasn't just another case of "I don't like my job" - this was actually a toxic career to me. Things really came to a head when my father was diagnosed with cancer and died ten months later. I reached my breaking point with life, I guess you can say. I was really suffering inside. I share this because we all have a "dark night" like this in our life and perhaps you can identify right now. I remember so distinctly that feeling of hopelessness. 

When I hit rock bottom, which was about 9 months after my father died, I decided to see a therapist. I had been before - this wasn't my first time. I had struggled with job dissatisfaction for a long, long time and I had sought the help of therapy on multiple occasions. This time was different though. Something had to change. This was not sustainable. It was no longer acceptable to me to live this way. Looking back, it's easy to understand why there are so many stories like mine: person hits rock bottom, person transforms life. Change is hard, and the pain of changing often needs to be less than the pain of staying the same in order for significant, big change to take place. At that point, I was willing to do anything, even if it was uncomfortable or painful, to change the course I was on. Deep down, I knew that life was so much more than the one I was living and you can say that losing my dad at a relatively young age (I was 33) impressed upon me the urgency of life. We are not here forever. It was time to change.

So, through therapy, I began to unearth the root causes underneath my hopelessness, disconnection, and downright depression. I remember this period of time - it was probably a good 6 months - where I kind of shut out the world and devoured my therapy lessons, books on related topics, and journaled the heck out of my thoughts and feelings. It was a sad time, but a really important time. I got really real with myself. I had to identify the thoughts and behaviors I needed to change. The fact of the matter is - we create our reality. Many of us take a "poor me" mentality (some refer to this as victim mentality) and blame other people and circumstances for why we're not where we want to be in life. Some blame parents, some blame a bad twist of fate, some blame some fact or circumstance of their life. It can be hard to admit that we've played the victim. But when we're stuck in this mentality, we don't get very far in life. Why? Because we've given up all of our internal power (some call this our divine power) to something external - to that person or fact we blame. That person or fact holds all the power over us. We're kind of helpless, and we're certainly not in a good place. This is why we seem to attract one bad thing after another. It's in giving up this victim mentality that I found my power. When you stop blaming other people or things and come to a place of forgiveness and acceptance, you stop giving up your power. And you start to realize just how powerful you are to decide differently for yourself. To choose a different life path. To tell a different story about your life. This was the crux of it for me, and I think a lot of people can relate. To a large extent, our society has taught us to think and act like a victim, not to claim our internal power. 

So, looking back, here's what I'd say to the person at rock bottom. The person who's taking that very first baby step on the way out. This is before (WAY before) you make any big changes (like quit your career and start a jewelry business - that happened much later in the process!). Here it is: you have got to get really, really honest with yourself about your stories. What stories are running your life? Is your story "Life sucks and then you die?" I'm from New Jersey so pardon my bluntness, but I know quite a few people who believe in this story. Is your story "Everyone hates their job, it's normal?" Is your story, "My parents really messed me up and I'm never going to get very far in life?" Is your story, "My dad left when I was young so I must not be worth very much?" Is your story, "I have to please everyone else and what I want doesn't really matter?" On and on the stories go. Most of us have a few and, chances are, you don't have to think hard to identify yours. After you identify your stories, take a good hard look at your life. How have those stories shown up for you? Again, you probably don't have to think that hard (if you're being honest with yourself). Chances are, your life has turned out in line with your stories. See? You HAVE created your life intentionally - you have just done it with negative stories! The exact opposite is possible - you can create a life from positive storylines. Change the stories, and watch what shows up for you. Of course, it's not as easy as a snap of a finger. There are issues and root causes that need to be unearthed and replaced. But - in the grand scheme of things - it's a small blip on the timeline of your life. For me, this process lasted about 3 years. That's 3 years from rock bottom (my dad's death) to significant change (when I quit my lawyer job and started g+h). And I mean, that's some significant change right there! Almost everything about my life is different - my work, where I live, how I show up everyday (my energy and general demeanor), and even the people in my life to some extent. 3 years is nothing! So if you're stuck today, know it's temporary and know you can do a complete 180 if you're willing to get honest and put in some work. It is hard but it is worth it, one thousand times over.  

I hope you've found this week's journal entry enlightening. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe. I hope you're able to learn something from my experience and also my mistakes!

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I'm in the process of creating a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate all of my journal entries. I have a few weekly journal entries on the board right now, and I'm adding more on a weekly basis. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past couple years and I want to make it easier for you to read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I wanted to talk about the common reasons new businesses fail. It is hard to start a new business and become successful with it. If it weren't difficult, almost everyone would do it! If you know the common reasons why businesses fail, you are more likely to avoid those pitfalls and build a business that lasts. These reasons are from my own observation and own experience, and the list is by no means exhaustive! Here we go:

1. No marketing or not enough marketing

This is probably the most common reason a new business fails. If no one knows about your business, no one can purchase your product or service. "Marketing" is getting the word out. It's the act of making people aware of your business. It can be anything from running advertisements on Facebook to participating in a local market and handing out postcards about your business. When you start a new business, educate yourself on marketing. It is crucial to your success. You simply cannot build a business and wait for people to come find you. You'll be waiting a very long time. You have to get the word out.

If you are uncomfortable with marketing, you need to outsource it. But be careful though - outsourcing marketing is very expensive and often not very effective. There are a lot of people and agencies touting themselves as marketing experts these days when, in all honesty, they aren't. Marketing in the digital space changes almost every day (that's no exaggeration) so unless you're hiring a person or agency that is on the cutting edge of digital marketing, I don't think it's worth a dime. Instead, I suggest you educate yourself well on marketing and then delegate it (if you really have to) so that you know whether or not the person or agency doing your marketing is doing a good job. If you aren't educated about it, you'll have no idea. And, chances are, you'll waste a ton of money.

2. Investing in the wrong things

Speaking of money, a lot of businesses fail because they spend money on the wrong things. For example, they use super fancy, expensive packaging that is going to get thrown in the garbage anyways. Or they spend thousands of dollars on a web designer, when they really could've hired someone for a few hundred dollars to set up a website for them on a reliable and well-established e-commerce platform like Shopify. Listen, I'm not telling you to have cheap packaging or an ugly website. But you can have pretty packaging and a pretty website at a much lower cost if you're smart about it. Do your research before investing in things. What are the alternatives? What do you need now... and what can wait for an upgrade later once you know your business is generating enough revenue to be profitable?

In my opinion, far too many businesses spend money on things that don't matter when they should really be directing those dollars towards marketing. From my personal experience, you want that marketing budget to be as high as you can possibly make it (because you are a new brand and NO ONE knows about you but your friends and family!). So spend that money on advertising and not the gold-foil tissue paper branded with your logo that's going to get thrown in the trash anyways. Later on, when you are booming with success, you can afford that custom tissue paper.

3. They quit when they don't get instant gratification

For some reason, people start a business thinking it's going to be easy. I have no idea where they get this idea from. It takes years to build a successful business, not months or weeks. And it's tough. You are going to have super, super highs and super, super lows. Weeks when you'll want to quit. Days where you start searching for a "real" job online. Months when you feel it's really over this time and finally time to throw in the towel. But if you want to ultimately succeed, you'll keep going and you'll figure it out. No matter what. A lot of people do not have this kind of grit and tenacity. They don't have the patience. They set up a business, run it for a few months or a year, and they abandon ship. That's not fair to you or to your business idea. That's like boiling 10 minute rice and throwing it out at minute 2 because it's not done yet. You feel me? If you go into business ownership, have the right expectations and give your business some time to get off the ground. Otherwise, you might jump ship on a business that could have been a million dollar business if you had only given it some time. There is no instant gratification in business.

4. Not enough money

Ok, ok, I know... more about money. But a business ultimately is supposed to generate money. And not having enough money is a problem. If you go into business ownership without much money, you're going to have a tough time. You have to be able to invest in your business. Think of it like a house. You have to put a down payment on a house, right? And, after you purchase it, maybe you'll need to inject a little money into a kitchen and bathroom renovation. The same with your business. And the idea is, that initial investment will ultimately pay off down the road and you can sell it for much more than you initially invested in it. So please, please, please don't expect to start a business with little to no cash. That is very unrealistic. And, on the same note, don't expect to draw a paycheck from your business right away. That might be news to some of you! But most new business owners don't get paid anything for some time. Any profit the business is generating needs to be put back into the business, so make sure you have enough savings or a part-time or full-time gig that can cover your personal expenses for at least a few months.

Sometimes people ask me, how much do I need to start a business? It depends! There is no one answer. Every business is different. You have to figure it out. For example, a service business (like a wedding photography business) probably needs a lot less money than a product business (like a shoe company). A wedding photographer needs a camera, a nice website, and a system for invoicing and contracting with her clients, etc. A shoe company, on the other hand, needs a lot of inventory. They need shoes in every size and color. Therefore, the up-front investment is going to be much higher. Word to the wise here: if you can't figure this part out, you probably don't want to start a business. Business ownership is hard and if you can't even get past the first hurdle of "how much money do I need?" there is absolutely no way you are going to successfully make it through the first few difficult months and years. I hate to be so blunt, but it is true and I want you to be realistic about business ownership before you waste a whole lot of money and energy on something that fails quickly.

There are lots of reasons why a new business might fail, so this is by no means a comprehensive list. But if you go into business ownership with your eyes open to these 4 common mistakes people make, you'll be more likely to avoid them!

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experience. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe.

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past few years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I'm talking about mindset. Mindset is, hands down, the most critical ingredient to following a passion. Whenever someone asks me for advice on how to start their own business or quit their current job to pursue one that's more in line with their passions, my first piece of advice is always this -- work on your mindset the most. Even more than you work on your website or your resume! If your mindset isn't right, absolutely no amount of work is going to connect all the dots on the path to a successful business or career. If you've been trying to make changes in your career but you feel like nothing changes no matter what you do, mindset is likely the reason why.

By "mindset" I mean, quite simply, knocking out all the fears that are keeping you in your current job and preventing you from following your passions. These may include the following: fear that others (such as your family) will judge you for quitting a stable job; fear of uncertainty; fear of giving up a steady paycheck; fear that you can't make enough money doing what you love; fear that it will take too many years to build a business that can support you financially. If you believe you can't earn a living being a writer or personal stylist or baker, you won't. Similarly, if you believe you can make more money pursuing a dream than in your current job, you will. It really is that simple, but it does take a lot of work to get to that place of true understanding and belief in these simple principles. One of my favorite quotes to sum up this learning process is from the Wizard of Oz, "You always had the power my dear, you just had to learn it for yourself." We are our own worst enemies -- but the beauty in that is that we hold the power to change. You don't need to convince anyone else but yourself. 

The biggest difference for me between my first business (a brick and mortar jewelry store which ultimately failed in 2011) and my current business (grace + hudson) is my mindset. Back in 2011, I didn't truly believe I deserved a better life than working 80+ hours per week as an attorney, constantly arguing with others for a living (if you've come to know me, you know that doesn't fit my personality).  Now, I believe I deserve to earn a living doing something I love. I believe that I don't need to "sell my soul" to afford my living expenses. I believe that I can create a business that reflects my ideals and my authentic self, and therefore brings me joy on a daily basis. I believe that I can blaze new trails that lead to a super successful business, and that I don't have to be like every other jewelry artist on the planet, struggling to make sales any which way they can. When you truly have these beliefs, you receive out-of-the-box inspiration, you wind up in the right place at the right time, you come up with ideas that seem divinely inspired, you blaze new trails. For example, if you believe you can only make $20k per year as a baker, begging to sell cupcakes to passersby, you are completely foreclosing other possibilities. What if Oprah Winfrey stumbled upon your cupcakes, posted about them on Instagram, and you sold your entire daily inventory and received 1,000 online orders in 3 minutes flat? Your negative mindset is completely foreclosing that option, and other less radical ones that have just as much power to lead to a "sold out" sign. The mental momentum of out-of-the-box possibilities is a powerful thing, let me tell you!   

If mindset is holding you back, I would highly recommend meditating. Meditating helps stop negative, fearful thoughts and helps you get in touch with the amazing, powerful possibilities that come to us in stillness. I would also recommend reading a few books by some of my favorite thought leaders (listed below). This is the exact path that worked for me, and I continue to reinforce it everyday. It's the first thing I do in the morning. It doesn't need to take hours. Even a few minutes per day of meditating and reading a short passage will lead to gains. Or, on a really busy day, just set an alarm in your phone that goes off every hour and says something like "I welcome new possibilities for success" or "I choose positive thoughts over fear-based thoughts."  

Here are some of my favorite books to get you started. Financial fear is probably a big one for you, as it was for me -- and, if so, I'd recommend reading "You are a Badass at Making Money" by Jen Sincero (get it here). If you already meditate and/or believe in the law of attraction, I'd recommend reading "Life Visioning" by Michael Bernard Beckwith (available here). It'll help you get in touch with the vision you have for your life, and it'll help you understand only you have the power to make it come true. And, similarly, only you have the power to make it not come true. If you've never meditated before and need help with the constant stream of negative thoughts that hold you back from following your passions, I would recommend a 40-day practice called "May Cause Miracles" by Gabby Bernstein (find it here). It's a great place to start to end those negative, fear-based thoughts that are keeping you stuck. It only takes about 5 minutes per day -- get it on Audible and play it while you brush your teeth in the morning. Giving up these fears is a daily practice. A daily choice. But it does get easier the more you do it. 

If I know one thing for certain, it's that a fulfilling, successful business first starts in your mind.  Changing your mindset is the greatest gift you will ever give to yourself, and your future business or career!

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experience. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe.

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past few years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry, I want to challenge you to think differently about retirement. When you stop to think about it - our American culture almost teaches us that life begins in retirement. It's when you can "finally start living" and doing what you want to do. We are encouraged from a very young age to stuff as much money as we can into our 401(k)'s and "plan early for retirement." Blah, blah, blah. You've heard it all, I'm sure. I have a real problem with this for multiple reasons which I'll share below. Why am I bringing this up? Well, when you start to look at retirement from a different angle - from a more practical, realistic point of view - it can greatly impact the decisions you make today about your career and your life path.

I started to question the way our culture thinks about retirement when I lost my father to cancer in 2014. He was such a planner. The 401(k) saver. Spreadsheets and trajectories about future finances. Plans to move and retire to the beaches in North Carolina. He did everything "right" by society standards when it comes to retirement. But you know what? He died one month after he turned 65 years old. He never got to retire. It really made me question the value we place on retirement because... what if I don't make it there either? Let's face it - not all of us will make it to the ripe old age of 65. Shouldn't we be enjoying life now? 

Back when I was a lawyer I heard so many people say, "Yeah I don't like my job but I'm just going to suck it up, work really hard now, and retire early." But there's several problems with that. First, you might never get there, like my dad. I think about how hard my father worked and planned for retirement, and he never got to retire. What a cruel joke. If I had remained a lawyer, I can think of nothing worse. With this mindset of "work really hard and retire early," you are giving up so much during the prime years of your life with the goal of "start living" at some older age that you might not even reach. 

Now let's say you do make it to age 65 and retire, or that you are lucky enough to retire much earlier. What are you going to do with your time? Sure, you may have grand plans to travel and such, but unless you plan on visiting every country on the map and have the funds to do so, travel isn't going to take up 365 days of the year. What will you do on the other days? The thrill of retirement might last a year or two, but what will you do in year three? Have you thought this through? If you don't have purpose and a plan, boredom can be a dangerous thing. 

Humans need purpose. They need a reason to wake up in the morning. Sure, it's fun to sleep in, travel, do what you want, but it gets old after a while. You need purpose on top of those things. This is another problem for people who "work really hard so they can enjoy an early retirement" -- when they don't have to "work really hard" anymore and suddenly have a lot of free time, they don't even know who they are. Work has comprised so much of their identity that when it is stripped away, they don't even know themselves. They've spent so many years building a bank account, they haven't built themselves and their identity. And they're lost when work is all of a sudden out of the picture. That's why I see a lot of people in retirement picking up part-time jobs. They were sold a lie in my opinion. Just work really, really hard for 65 years and save a lot of money, and then you can start to live and will be so happy. Wrong. Talk to a few people in retirement and you'll know exactly what I mean. This is also a big problem for people who are able to successful retire at an early age - say 45 years old. If you've worked hard enough to retire at 45, that means you've spent little to no time working on yourself. You barely know yourself. You've been distracted by work for years on end. Do you think you're just going to feel happy, comfortable, and safe when you give up the thing (work) you've been addicted to for so many years? The answer is no. You'll go through an identity crisis first.

And what will be the state of your health? I think back to the eleven years I spent as a lawyer in my 20's and 30's. I was sick all the time - nothing serious thank goodness, but I constantly had a cold, or a stomach problem, or this or that. Stress wreaks havoc on your body. I think about the condition my body would be in, at age 50 or 60, if I had remained a lawyer. When you are miserable, and stressed out, your body takes a beating and I can only imagine I'd be more likely to battle something like cancer or high blood pressure. I even look back at pictures of myself when I was 30 years old and still a lawyer - and I look older back then than I do today at age 42. Now let's assume that your health doesn't take a beating and you make it to retirement in excellent health. And, like everyone else, your plan is to move to the beach and travel a lot. Um, have you noticed that older people don't generally love to sit in the sun on the beach and would rather be indoors when it's hot outside? And travel requires a lot of stamina - do you think you're going to have that kind of energy - to explore and adventure outdoors the way you might now, in your 20's, 30's or 40's? Probably not.

And let's talk about one more thing - the celebrities we all know and love who worked until old age doing what they love. Betty White is the best example that comes to mind. She loved what she did and she did it until she died at the old age of 99. Tony Bennett is another person that comes to mind - he's still living at the age of 96 and he just performed his last concerts in 2021. I've always been inspired by the both of them. There are many more examples I'm sure, but the people who love what they do and keep doing it until the day they die are happier and more fulfilled and, arguably, live longer lives. Sure, as they age, they take on much less demanding schedules and work less (and they should!) but what a gift - to love what you do, to have found your purpose on this earth, and to keep doing it (on your terms and on your schedule) until you're in your 90s. Now THAT sounds like a good plan. And that's MY plan for retirement. I would love to get to the point when I'm about 60 years old that everything in my business is delegated to someone else, and I can work at my leisure, on my schedule, on my terms as much or as little as I'd like until the day I die. To have purpose and meaning, but also to have freedom and the leisure of doing whatever I please, whenever I please. That sounds like a healthy retirement to me. And that's what I'm working towards.

If you were to change your ideas about retirement, how would that impact the decisions you make today? Would you take that high paying job and run yourself into the ground for 25 years so you can retire early? Or would you spend more time now building a career (and a life) you love? If you don't want to give up the "traditional" ideas about retirement, that's totally fine! I just want to bring up this topic because retirement isn't all flowers and hearts. It can be a tough time psychologically when, all of a sudden, you feel you lack daily purpose. Do a lot of research on what retirement actually looks like and feels like, and don't go into it with this false sense of "oh my life is finally beginning!" because you will be sorely disappointed. Talk to people who are in retirement, find out the psychological impacts retirement can have, and be ready for those. It's not the dream your 401(k) company tries to sell you, believe me. I've seen it first hand. 

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experience. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe.

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past few years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy

Welcome to another edition of my Weekly Journal! I use this space to share about my journey from lawyer to jewelry business owner. In this week's journal entry I am writing about getting out of your comfort zone. The fact of the matter is, if you want something different - whether that be a different career or something else - you have to be willing to get out of your comfort zone. The unwillingness to do so holds a LOT of people back. If you want to see something different show up in your life but you've seen no progress, maybe this is the little thing that's been holding you back.

What do they say the definition of "insanity" is again? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result? Well that's kind of what it's like when you want to stay in your comfort zone, yet you want to see real change show up in your life. If you want to make a drastic change like I did - going from lawyer to jewelry business owner - you have to be willing to get a little uncomfortable. You have to be willing to strip yourself of your routine and try something new. I find that most people aren't willing to do this. And that's why they'll talk and talk and talk about switching careers or starting their own business, but they never make one inch of progress towards that goal. 

Listen, I hear you - a comfort zone is a comfortable, safe place to be. Especially these past few years when the world has felt strange and out of control. Having a routine keeps us feeling safe and sheltered from all the outside fears and worries and challenges. But it also robs you of potential, of joy, and of growth. We get one life on this earth, and do you want to be that person who spends more time watching Netflix than living life? I hate to be so blunt, but sometimes we need to hear it that way. Because, believe me, I hear from a lot of lawyers and other people who hate their career and want to do something really different like I did, but they complain that they can't find the time. I get really honest with them when I hear this and I say, if you can find two hours a night to watch Netflix, can you find 2 hours per week to research other career options or work on your new business idea? It's true, right? Unless you get really intentional about your time and how you spend it, you'll "feel" like you have no time, but what is really going on in the background is your unwillingness to get out of your routine and comfort zone. I remember seeing a meme a while ago that said something like, "You and Beyonce both have 24 hours in a day." Isn't that the truth! If you decide to spend 8 hours on Saturday watching Netflix, that's your choice, but please don't whine about how you feel stuck and don't have the time to make a career change or start a business. If you want to have something different, you have to be willing to do something different.

And it doesn't last forever! You don't have to live outside your comfort zone forever - just for a little time, while you make the change you desire. Soon enough after that, you'll find yourself in a new comfort zone. And chances are, that new comfort zone is going to be a lot more fun than watching Netflix. This brings me to my last point. When you hate your job (or whatever life circumstance you desperately want to change), we often find ourselves in a depressive state where all we can muster is the energy to watch Netflix. I get it. I've been there. Trust me I've been there. I was incredibly miserable back when I was a lawyer and I had zero energy in the evenings. If that's you too, you're going to have to be willing to also work on your mental health. Seeing a therapist (like I did) would be great and the most effective means, but you can start small with other things if you're not ready for that. Instead of turning on the TV at night, go for a short walk around the block or do yoga with a free video available on YouTube for 15 minutes. See how good that feels (trust me, you won't regret it). Pick up a new book you've heard has good reviews and promise yourself you're going to read for 15 minutes per night before you turn on the TV and zone out. It's these little efforts, these little changes that can really jolt you out of a routine. You might find yourself in love with a new book, or loving the way you feel more at peace when you go to bed if you do 15 minutes of yoga or go for a short walk after dinner, etc. It's these small choices - these adult choices (because sometimes we don't want to do what's good for us, but being an adult sometimes demands that) - that can set you on a new path forward. 

If you want to make a big change in your life but you've been feeling stuck, I wish you the courage to break out of your comfort zone and your routine! 

I hope you're able to learn something valuable from my own experiences. My wish is for everyone to know the feeling of doing work that brings them joy. It truly is an unbelievable gift to not dread Mondays and hope for Friday's fast arrival. If you'd like my Weekly Journal sent straight to your inbox every week, click here to subscribe.

P.S. Are you on Pinterest? I have a Weekly Journal board on Pinterest so you can easily navigate my journal entries. You can view and follow the board by clicking here. I've written so much about quitting my lawyer job to start g+h over the past few years and I want to make it easier for you to access and read the entries that resonate most!

xoxo,
Stacy