Hopeless Introvert
Sadly, we all have moments of self-doubt and hopelessness, which can be especially prevalent as entrepreneurs. Starting a business is not for the faint of heart. We often tend to become “yes” people and throw self-care out the window for the greater good of our success. For me, saying “no” meant I wasn’t giving it 100%, missed opportunities, and failure.
Needing to get the word out about coworkHERS, I attended all the women-centric events, every networking event…all the mingling and mixing, and putting myself out there to find members. It worked, but it also brought burnout and guilt as a wife and mother since many of these events are in the evening.
My anxiety was through the roof constantly. Not only was I starting a business, but layer that with being an introvert and add a dash of insecurity from not graduating college. Oh, I dabbled in college but never got a degree. I never knew my calling and needed to know what I was meant to do. I tried many things and started and restarted my life many times. The insecurity about not having a degree made me feel “less than.” I feared getting into conversations with people who intimidated me. I know that we ALL have those feelings from time to time, and we ALL feel insecure at times, and we ALL have feelings of self-doubt (whether we want to admit it or not), and if you disagree, then you have the special sauce that we all seek…and please do share your secret recipe.
I also know that I am smart, even if I don’t have that all-important degree. Instead of college life (and college debt), I traveled and experienced life and “dabbled.” My parents never pushed college on me. My mother groomed me for a life of housewifery, and my dad told me to “be a ski bum,” so low expectations were in my favor.
After all the dabbling and life experience, I had this one good idea: create a coworking space for women. My friend said, “This is your endgame.” All that I have done in my life led to this; it all makes sense. So I put my all into this because “endgame” sounds so final, and if not this, I’m done.
Fast forward to a few years into coworkHERS when the pandemic hit. I was shattered. All the hard work, networking, and efforts put into building my business suddenly felt like a devastating blow that threatened to erase everything I had worked for. The grim reality of potentially having to close shop or rebuild from scratch loomed before me. And I doubt I have another big idea left if this fails. In the face of uncertainty, I was at a crossroads - unsure of what steps to take next. (Talk about self-doubt and hopelessness.)
Refusing to throw in the towel, I did a “pivot.” I shifted from open coworking to small private offices. I created a sense of openness with half-glass walls rather than full floor-to-ceiling walls. With more privacy than open coworking, safety, security, personal air purifiers…and you still get to see other people…it was the 2nd great idea I’d had. The pivot was a success. Within just two weeks, I managed to fully occupy 22 offices. Encouraged by this achievement, I expanded my business further by developing additional offices on another available floor and adding several more meeting rooms and a bigger kitchen.
With each step I take, I strive to provide innovative solutions that address the challenges at hand and position my business as a valuable resource within the community. I guess the school of hard knocks has taught me something after all…tenacity.
