Your business is the biggest personal growth project you’ll ever take on
Hey there, I’m Sarah
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | STRATEGIST | BRAND MENTOR | MINDSET COACH
I spent years working on brands like Target, Best Buy, Betty Crocker, MillerCoors, Wrigley, Cascadian Farms, & Muir Glen to name a few.
It was thrilling. I felt important and successful when I talked to friends and family about the projects I was working on.
But I was also miserable. Too-long hours, plus putting my talents and expertise towards (some) brands that I didn’t believe in or support was sucking my soul. I felt there had to be more. That I was BORN for more. But what?
I made a bet on myself and decided to trust whatever would unfold. No matter how scary or uncertain.
I quickly realized that creating a brand around "me" was a heck of a lot different than doing it for the big companies.
I had to navigate what it looked like to become a solopreneur and build a business online.
I jumped from strategy to strategy. Purchased a dizzying number of courses. And yep- I even changed and tweaked my website, logo, and graphics more times than I'd like to admit.
None of that made a difference until I got real with myself and admitted these weren't the things holding me back. It was me holding myself back.
I was smart, scrappy, & gutsy, but I needed to learn to let go of trying to control outcomes, & trust the joy & learning that came from embracing the process.
Because that uncertainty and surrender are where the magic happens. Where everything alchemizes, and we start to get really damn creative. Where things feel just scary enough to be challenging in the very best ways. And where the life-changing ideas spring from.
Just about every good thing that’s occurred in my life was the result of jumping into an unknown void.
And then, as a result, surrendering to the next course of action that often didn’t make sense to anyone but me.
Trusting that things would unfold exactly as they needed to. Even if it was hard. Even if it challenged me beyond what I thought my limits were. Even if I wished things were different at the time.
And any time I abandoned that self-knowing or tried to control outcomes- usually by latching onto perfectionism- things inevitably fell flat or blew up in my face.
As soon as I could hold a pencil in my hand, or pluck a tune out on the piano, I was creating.
And I’ve learned that the creative process serves every business owner.
And every business owner is a creative- WHETHER THEY REALIZE IT OR NOT.
I’ve made a 2-decades long career out of being creative, and here’s the thing: to get to the good stuff, you’ve gotta make a mess. Actually, a lot of them. Over and over again.
Most of the stuff you create is gonna suck.
And not only do you have to be ok with sucking, but you also have to get comfy with it. Because it’s going to take a lot of practice and trial and error to get out of the “this all sucks” stage. Doing things over and over. Tinkering. Refining. Reassessing.
This is where most people give up.
Because they’ve forgotten- or maybe never knew- that being an entrepreneur is a bit like being a mad scientist experimenting in the lab. Building things that you love and then sometimes throwing them away- with love- because now you can see a better, different way of doing things.
WITH EVERY NEW BUSINESS ENDEAVOR OR CREATIVE PROJECT, THERE’S A POINT WHERE YOU’LL THINK:
“OMG, what have I gotten myself into??”
But at that point, the best way through is forward. To boldly march on. To learn how to throw yourself into, and then make sense of, the mess.
WE EXPLORE THIS MESSY & WONDERFUL PROCESS ON THE BRAND SPANKING YOU PODCAST.
There is no such thing as a straight line to success.
Picking the right strategy or tactic doesn’t mean you’ll automatically shortcut the hard parts or the disappointments.
In fact, embracing the twists and turns is what leads to true breakthroughs and innovation, and creates deep fulfillment from the work we do.
And there’s not only one right way to do things.
That’s not what being a creative visionary is all about. And you… are a visionary.
On this show, we explore what it looks like to embrace the process and find solutions that work for YOU.
Are we about to become besties?
READ THE GUIDING PRINCIPLES- YOU MIGHT AGREE WITH A THING OR TWO AND DISCOVER YOU FIT RIGHT IN.
