Tough Love? Sign me up!
After that whirlwind of a move out from my commercial space, I was exhausted. And honestly, scared.
Because now, there was just one big step left to reach the finish line of my plan. And I think it’s the one that scared me the most: outsourcing the making of the lip balm.
The timing was good though because in just two weeks, I was heading to Atlanta, GA in the US to meet with the ladies from my mastermind group.
I remember the first time I heard someone talk about a mastermind group, and the word just sounded so weird. A little pretentious? Yes, like a little pretentious secret society of people who take themselves way too seriously.
Turns out that masterminds just have an unfortunate name - it’s more like a group of peers that gets together to discuss, brainstorm, learn and share their knowledge and experience.
And being part of a group like this has been such a game changer for me. Because honestly, if you are a woman running a business where you make lip balm yourself and then sell it online all across Canada and the US while maintaining a consistent marketing presence and making sure your bookkeeper gets all your missing receipts before month-end, well, it can sometimes feel like you are the only person in the world with that career. And having a group of people who truly get it makes you feel so much less alone.
Although we are scattered in different places around the world, and the products we sell vary, we do have some very cool things in common: each of us has built a business doing something we love from the ground up, want to learn from others and are happy to share our knowledge to help another member out anytime. We cheer for each other when things go well. We give pep talks when things suck. And sometimes, we give and/or receive a much needed dose of straight-talk that inspires us to keep our chins up and deal with the scary things we are trying so hard to avoid dealing with.
And so, I knew that I could safely avoid the topic of outsourcing production for another two weeks, after which point, I knew the group would not let me off the hook!
I was looking forward to seeing everyone again. Maybe even looking forward to getting started on figuring out my production situation. Little did I know what doors would be opening up that weekend.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you. Here are the other parts I've shared so far:
