Hi, I am Kathryn and I’ve recently become an entrepreneur. I’ve dreamt most my adult life of becoming one. It’s only now that I’ve felt brave enough to dive in and give it a go. We’ve also added a new addition to our family, Zazu, a sweet-natured 3 year old street dog from Romania (so not sure what breed she is but she’s brown, small and loves kisses).
One of the challenges I've found so far on my short entrepreneurial journey is trying to set up a bit of a routine, so I can at least feel that I’ve achieved something in a day. And one of those activities is to take Zazu out for a long walk. It is great as it gets me out of the house and also gives me a chance to listen to an audio book (always looking for ways to work smarter - another potential blog theme to write about!). Now my family laughs at me because I haven’t read a fiction book in years - my passion is self development. ‘Every day is a learning day’, right?! There are oodles of books out there (to be honest it has become a bit of an addiction) to devour, digest and implement. Although being a completer/finisher isn’t one of my strong points.
During one of these walks in nature, some inspiration came over me and I thought perhaps I can start writing a blog where I share with you my ‘splashes of inspiration’ (well I do co-own a swimming business!) and that way you get to look in on what it’s like to become an entrepreneur. I can also save you from having to adopt an addiction to reading self-help business books too. So here it is my ‘Splashes of Inspiration’.
5th July 2021
Until my business, Mini Water Adventurers (more about that later) really gets off the ground. It's just me and my sister in it together - and I’m very lucky to have her. She’s the one with all the technical swimming expertise and has such amazing creative ideas - who would have known! It’s been fantastic getting to know a different side of her.
Getting feedback
As an entrepreneur feedback is not as readily available, so I am having to work on getting comfortable with proactively going out to look for it. Whether that’s with customers I’m building a relationship with or cold calling potential customers. This brings up another challenge because I can’t hide behind a big corporate brand anymore. This is me with my soft mushy under belly exposed and feeling a tad vulnerable. As Brené Brown, author of Braving the Wilderness offers, you can only find true belonging through authenticity, bravery, trust, and vulnerability. I am on my way to finding the real me by showing up and putting my big girl pants on!
The benefits of social media
As an extrovert I recognise that I often get my inspiration and energy from others. Fortunately we are living in the social media age where there is a plethora of community groups that you can easily link up with and join. And as we emerge from the pandemic I’m sure I’ll start to discover face to face networking soon too. What’s freeing for me is having the opportunity to take time during the day to invest in watching Facebook Lives with my new found communities of like-minded people. However, whilst they keep me motivated and inspired, accountability isn’t so easy. I’ve had to be a bit more inventive here. I am really pleased to have found someone local who’s also an entrepreneur too (and becoming a great friend). We’ve joined forces and agreed to be each other's accountability buddies, meeting every other week - nothing like setting a deadline and someone holding you to it, to get you revved up to achieve it!. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
Splashes of Inspiration
1. You can’t do it alone and it’s important to find cheerleaders, mentors and accountability buddies to surround yourself with otherwise it’s going to become very lonely.
2. Feedback is important so finding ways to get it from your customers and audiences will be key and beneficial to what content you choose to put out into the world.
3. You can find great, like-minded communities on Facebook to support you in your entrepreneurial journey.
4. Book recommendation: Braving the Wilderness, Brené Brown