THE BREAKDOWN THAT BROUGHT MY BUSINESS BREAKTHROUGH
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If you ask 100 entrepreneurs why they launched their businesses, you would get 100 different answers.
Our ‘WHY’ has to be strong and impassioned. We need our reason for starting a business to motivate us, inspire us, encourage us, and guide us. Even more importantly, we need it to fuel us and keep us going – especially in those moments when we feel like we’ve got nothing left to give and are feeling beat up. The ‘WHY’ behind our business has to be strong enough to carry us through every one of the stages of launching and growing our business.
In late 2010, I had just accepted another executive finance position, and I had everything that I thought I had ever wanted.
A multi-six-figure executive finance position with a great team
The shortest commute of my career
An office with a beautiful view
A beautiful home with a supportive partner and our cute puppy, Coco
But… the truth was I was deeply unhappy and not-at-all the woman my grandmother had raised me to be.
My boss and I argued daily, and I felt like I had no freedom or influence. The home that I shared with my love, Erik (and our dog, Coco), had once been playful, loving and full of laughter. Since accepting my position, my family was getting the worst version of me, quick to anger and overwhelmed with stress.
Everything that I truly held dear, my family at home – my love, Erik, our dog, Coco, and my beautiful grandmother – was seriously hurting.
My relationship at home was suffering at the mercy of a stress-fueled and freedom-sucking J-O-B, and my grandmother, the beautiful woman who raised me, was recovering from a broken ankle. I didn’t have nearly enough time to spend with her as she recovered, and I didn’t have nearly enough emotional energy to be able to love my honey in the way he deserved. No one was happy. Everyone felt stuck, alone and frustrated.
I HIT A BREAKING POINT.
I realized that, if I were to continue in my new position, it would spell the end of my home life as I knew it, and every relationship in my life would suffer. The last thing I wanted was regret in my personal life because of the job I accepted.
I vividly remember one evening. As I drove up the driveway, I could see Erik in the kitchen preparing dinner. I knew exactly where Coco would be – on the floor in the kitchen watching Erik cooking, just waiting for him to drop a little something on the floor so she could pounce on it. I sat in my car, watching my love through the window as he cooked dinner for us, and I began to cry. There he stood with our dog, eagerly waiting to see me, and I was about to walk in angry… again. The man who loved me was going to get the brunt of all that ranting anger, frustration, and unhappiness.
I realized – I am going to lose my love and have some serious regrets in my life if I don’t make a change… quickly.
It was right then and there that I made a decision. Sitting in my car in the middle of an epic meltdown, I gained a calming clarity. I decided I’d do for myself what I’d done for so many of my previous employers. I went from asking, “Why can’t I do for myself what I’ve done for others?” to “Of course I can do it for myself, especially since I’ve helped so many others.”
I would set out to launch my Business Consulting Practice. By this point in my career, I had gained enough skills, experience, and knowledge and made enough contacts that I knew I would be able to promote my services as a CFO business consultant.
That night, instead of walking through the door angry, I walked in hopeful. I couldn’t wait to share my idea with Erik. He was behind me all the way, just as we have been through our entire relationship. That Christmas break, I decided that I would submit my resignation in just a couple of short months. I launched my business without a lot of planning but with a lot of confidence and determination.
Side note: I turned my last employer into my first consulting client!
When I finally left my 9-to-5 (less than six months from the time I made the decision!), I was already earning 5 figures and was free to live the life that I had always dreamed of, with my love and Coco by my side. (By the way, I quickly grew my consulting practice to a multiple six-figure annual income.)
No longer did I have to ask permission to spend time with the most important person in my life, my grandmother. No longer did I have to make excuses or beg for time off when she needed me. I could spend mornings with her over Starbucks tea, be by her side at doctor’s appointments, and make sure that they didn’t cut her hair too short on “haircut” day.
The time I was able to spend with my grandmother during those last 6 years were truly priceless. It would’ve never been possible had I stayed at a job that kept me from having the freedom and flexibility to spend time with the most important person in my life.
Seeing my grandmother as often as I wanted to was the greatest gift I could’ve given her and myself.
THERE HAVE BEEN ZERO REGRETS!
No longer was I bringing the stress, anger and frustration home with me. Erik and Coco finally got their playful, loving Veronica back, and I was finally happy again. I had found my passion, my purpose, my life.
It took fierceness, determination and a lot of support, but I did it. Now, I’m using two decades of working with start-ups and small businesses as their Chief Financial Officer to bring all of that hard-earned experience to you.
MY WHY, MY REASON FOR LAUNCHING MY BUSINESS?
That’s easy:
To be the best version of myself for my family,
To have flexibility in my schedule to be available to be a wonderful granddaughter,
To be truly of service and to empower other ENTREPRENEURS so that they don’t have to choose between spending time with their loved ones and spending their days at a job that makes them unhappy.
You don’t have to be like me, trying to fit in time for loved ones. That’s what I’m here for. I want to do for you what I’ve done for myself and so many others. I know where you’ve been and where you’re going. I know the fear and anxiety that trickles in, and I know the fierceness that you have in going after your goals. Because that was me, too. I work with ambitious professional ready to monetize their experience by starting a consulting business and finally quit their 9-to-5.
Are you ready to take this journey? You won’t be alone – I’ve got your back!
FOLLOW VERONICA HERE:
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