Making the investment in myself. Betting on me.
Anne Liebman | Founder & CEO of SheStylesCo
Making a real investment in yourself can absolutely feel scary. There are so many amazing things that would come from the decision to move forward, which you are so excited about! But… there are also so many unknowns, doubt, questions.
How can you be certain you’re making the right decision? How can you be sure of your ROI? Will this actually work for you?
I know all of these thoughts and feelings very well. Because I experienced them, in a big way.
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When I first created & started SheStylesCo, it was a ‘side hustle’. I remained in my ‘real job’, the job that was paying me consistent salaried paychecks, and I worked with styling clients ‘on the side.’ This was the perfect way to gain experience and begin growing my beloved business into something substantial.
Fast forward a few years and we were faced with the surreal reality of the pandemic.
In the meantime, I had made the decision to leave my corporate marketing job. I had gotten to a point in my career/my life, where I was just done. Over that last decade I worked hard, did everything I could to try and keep clients happy (which on some days seemed impossible), tirelessly worked to please and impress my managers, putting so much effort toward getting that next promotion in order to keep moving ‘up the ladder’. I gave it everything I had. And after a while, I started to get burnt out and even began to feel resentment toward it all. I finally got to a point where I had to ask myself, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I am tired of showing up to the same place every day, with the same people, doing the same thing. And for what? I didn’t want to work for someone else anymore. I wanted to take the control back in my life. I knew I was supposed to be playing bigger, using my creative talents, gifts for understanding people in a different way, and making a real impact in this world. I was ready for that next thing in my life and career.
I left that corporate marketing job and joined a startup venture. It felt a little less ‘risky’ making the leap into entrepreneurship with other people, vs completely solo. Turned out, this startup wasn’t going anywhere good. I didn’t know that then, of course… Long story short, I learned a LOT through this experience, and for that, I’m grateful.
So much unfolded during the early stages of the pandemic. It was a crazy time all around, and I feel deeply for those who suffered and/or lost. Quite the chapter humankind was faced with.
For me, it actually provided some incredible opportunities regarding my career, and the path I would choose to take going forward. I was able to exit the startup that was weighing me down immensely. What a relief to be able to detach from that and focus on what I knew I was truly meant to be focusing on—SheStylesCo. As a small business owner, I had been given some grace (in the form of financial help from the government) in order to stay afloat. But that time would run out eventually. And it most certainly did.
I was at a crossroads, and I had a big decision to make. My two options were these:
Option 1: I need to figure out a way to make SheStylesCo grow and thrive to be successful enough to afford me the way of life I desired.
OR
Option 2: I would need to go back to my previous world and work a ‘job’ again.
I knew that Option 2 simply wasn’t the choice for me. How could I go back?! I couldn’t, and I wouldn’t. Living that unfulfilling monotony in my career, feeling burnout and resentment. This was what would happen if I DIDN’T move forward with investing in my business, in myself. I knew how important it was for me to instead remain focused on all of the things that would happen if I DID make that investment in me.
So, I decided to double down on my styling business. I decided to bet on myself. And it was the best decision I could have ever made for me. I knew I would need to make this significant investment in order to get the expertise and resources needed to evolve my business into the beautiful thing it would become. And I am SO so happy I did. Because it changed everything.
It’s been a roller coaster of an adventure, so many ups, several downs. I’ve learned to appreciate the contrast, and embrace the unknown. And now my business is in this really wonderful place — happy, growing, evolving in all the right ways in order to serve the amazing clients we do. These clients–people that are also ready to make an investment in themselves…
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The thing is, when we know deep down so clearly what we truly want to be, what we want to create, what we want to become, the only path to bringing that into existence / making that a reality is forward. The investment is that path forward. Betting on yourself is that path forward. It’s how we continue to grow. Because if we DON’T make that choice to invest in ourselves in order to move forward… What happens then? We stay in the same place, and nothing changes. That is something to be certain of. And isn’t that the greater risk? Staying stagnant, and not evolving, not growing?
That thought of, ‘What if it doesn’t work?’ can so easily come in and prevent us from doing what we know we need to do. Instead, let’s flip it around to this: ‘What if it DOES work?’. The possibilities are endless, and the outcomes can be life-changing…
I’d bet on you.
