8 Lessons I’ve Learned in 8 Years of Business

Mar 19

About the episode:

This is a special episode because I’m celebrating 8 years in business! And I’m sharing 8 lessons I’ve learned along the way. I discuss the importance of overcoming perfectionism, asking for help, and taking action. I highlight the need to celebrate wins, stay focused on your why, and schedule time off as doing these things lead to greater joy in the day-to-day of your business. I also encourage entrepreneurs to stay in their own lane and focus on what brings YOU joy instead of looking to other people’s versions of success. Keeping your own version of success close and remembering your why will help keep you going in the tough times and encourages you when you get discouraged. I really hope you find this episode encouraging! And to celebrate my 8th year in business I’m giving away a free Brand + Website Assessment! Join by going to the Resources below.

Takeaways:

Overcoming perfectionism is essential for progress in business
Asking for help is a strength and can lead to greater success
Taking action and starting sooner rather than later is key to achieving goals
Making decisions and picking a direction, even if it's not perfect, is better than staying stuck in indecision
Celebrating wins and staying focused on your why can provide motivation and clarity
Scheduling time off is important for maintaining balance and preventing burnout
Staying in your own lane and focusing on what brings you joy is crucial for success
Join the giveaway below!

Resources

Join the giveaway - Sign up for the newsletter OR sharing the podcast to social media and tagging @r_artspace

Episode 16 Year in Review - Biggest Wins, Tough Lessons, Finding MY Success and What's Next

Hey friends, welcome back to Rebrand with Ruthann. I am so excited that you're here and so grateful that you're here. Today's episode is special because we are commemorating my eighth year in business. As I'm recording this, it is March of 2024 and this month marks my business anniversary. I cannot believe it has been eight years.
It's been eight years and it's just been such a wild ride. I have grown so much in this entrepreneurial journey and I'm excited to share a few things I've learned along the way. And hopefully this will encourage you wherever you're at in your business, however long you've been in business. I just want to be an encouragement to you and just let you know that everything that you desire is possible with your business. Everything that you desire in life is possible and it's all attainable when you just have that mindset of like, this could be a reality for me and then taking steps in that direction. And one of the main things I've learned, this is not, I have eight things written down, so this is not one of those eight things, but one of the main things is like personal development. I have grown so much in personal development, which is something I never thought I would grow in, but it has been a huge hallmark of becoming an entrepreneur. I think, I don't if you can go through being an entrepreneur without growing in personal development. But it's just been a crazy journey of growth and development. And I feel like I'm a totally different person than I was eight years ago. And even four years ago, I feel like I'm totally different. And I'm just grateful for all of my clients who have worked with me in the last eight years, all of the people who trusted me with their designs and just the community I've built, you, I'm just so grateful for just the people who have made this journey really enjoyable. And I'm just so grateful for the people who have made this journey really enjoyable for me and making me feel less alone for sure.
So as many of you know, I began my journey in 2016 and it was a side hustle and to my day job. So I worked my business on the side and for those first few years, it was definitely, I treated it like a hobby and I went full time in 2019. That was when I really started trusting that like I could do this. I started like believing in myself and really, you know, kind of taking those first baby steps in mindset work. And it's been,
such an exponential growth since then with mindset and all that kind of thing. But yeah, I've had my son, my daughter, and now I'm about to have another baby in this coming June. So yeah, it's been incredible to be able to grow my business on the side of growing my family and keeping my family like my priority and having something that I truly, truly love doing just kind of ebb and flow with the different seasons of my life. So.
I'm just so grateful that I started entrepreneurship those years ago and grateful for where it's taken me and where it will take me in the future. So yeah, let's dive into the eight things I've learned in eight years of business.
Number one, perfectionism is the enemy. I feel like in the beginning, I remember wasting so much time because I was trying to get things to look a certain way and to be at the level that I wanted them to be at, which I don't think is a bad thing to have high expectations when you are starting your business. But I think it can really, there can be a fine line between perfectionism and procrastination. It can be kind of like an excuse of like, I really am trying to get this perfect, so I'm not gonna launch just yet. Or I'm waiting and I'm tweaking and I need brand photos and you know, just kind of like waiting to get visible and stuff.
And I think it can really sabotage you in a lot of ways because the sooner you can move forward, the sooner you can, you know, start growing your business, helping people with your craft. And I just think perfectionism is one of those things that can keep you stuck without even realizing you are being perfectionistic.
It's just kind of a subtle way that can just keep you where you are. And I know when I had my first iteration of my website, it left so much to be desired. But I worked on it for so long. I mean, months, months. And I finally launched it. And since then, there have been a million iterations of my website. And it's been a really good experience.
is nowhere near the level it is now. And I just think it's one of those things where I worried so much about it in the beginning. So I think in the beginning stages, it's the best thing you can do is get it out there. Start teaching what you want to teach, start getting visible, grow your community, and then.
And then from there, you can really perfect and really craft your visual brand. But I think, you know, trying to look a certain way when you first get started. But I think definitely perfectionism can be the enemy if you let it be. Number two, asking for help is a strength. This is something that I've struggled with since the beginning. And I'm sure so many of you out there can relate. asking for help is just not something you love to do. But in entrepreneurship, it's absolutely essential. I will actually say in motherhood also, it is so essential to ask for help. And this is something I've just really grown in the last couple years of having my daughter and just kind of my capacity and just the things I have to do. Let's see.
And I think I've really grown in this area, especially in the last, you know, couple of years as I was pregnant with my daughter and had her and just the amount of things I have to do has expanded. And, you know, it really required me to ask for help from, you know, my family, my husband, and, and that can, it just felt so, I felt so uncomfortable asking for help just because I'm like, oh, I'm capable. I can handle this. Like.
Yes, you are capable. Yes, you can handle it. But asking for help makes the journey so much easier and more enjoyable. And I'm referring to motherhood specifically. But in business, for sure, I mean, I just don't think you can get very far without leaning on support in one way or another in business, whether that be with a coach or in a mastermind or with someone who you've hired on to help you with a specific part of your business. I think asking for help is just such a strength that we should really celebrate rather than, you know, looking down upon. And I know I used to look down upon it when, and I know I feel like I had judgment for people when they would say that they had a nanny or they would have like a housekeeper or house cleaner or something like that. I was just like, oh wow, like, you know, you can't handle it yourself. And I'm just being honest, but like that is kind of what I thought back then. And now I'm like, oh my gosh, I would totally have a housekeeper. I would totally like, you know, get the help I need from different places. And I think it's just one of those things that, you know, a place that I've really grown in my, you know, how I view things especially becoming a mom to two and now soon becoming a mom to three, I think it's just kind of essential asking for help. So I think, yeah, number two in the eight lessons I've learned in business is asking for help as a strength and see it as that and celebrate yourself for asking for help.
Number three, the sooner you start, the further you'll be. And this ties into number one about perfectionism is the enemy.
Um, you know, if you're kind of procrastinating on something, it can just, for, um, it can just move your goals out further than you want them to be. Like, I know that we all want to have, like, we all want to see that success as soon as possible. And so the soonest way you can see success is if you just start the thing, whatever that is now, and whether that's starting your Instagram platform or starting your website or launching your course. Like the sooner you can start, even if you feel like you're unqualified or you just don't have enough experience, the sooner you can get started, the further you'll be because then you have that experience you can refer back to. And you can really build upon that. Like if you launch a mastermind group, for example, like, you know, the sooner you can launch it, the sooner you can get feedback from the members like this is what we like, this is what we don't like. And the same with any service you come out with or any product you come out with. The sooner you can put it out there, the further along you'll be. And I think it's just one of those things that I've learned over the years is I would kind of wait on something because I wouldn't feel ready or something. I would wait because I wouldn't feel ready but feeling ready I think is an illusion. And so the sooner you can get the thing out there, get started, the further along you'll be and you will look back and thank yourself later for sure. Number four, if you're feeling stuck in indecision, just pick something. So these thoughts are not in any particular order, but these are things. This is something that definitely came to mind because I feel like I'm the type of person
I like to be sure about something and I'm sure we all do but I really take my time on Like different things like for example like investments when I whenever I make an investment in my business I I take a lot of time to think about it or Like this podcast for example, I was thinking about starting a podcast for years literally and It was just one of those things where I was like, oh, I think I want to but you know, I'm not sure and I don't feel like I know what to talk about and that kind of thing. So it wasn't that I was in indecision, but it was kind of one of those things where I was like, oh, that would be cool. But, you know, maybe not yet. And I think, you know, if you are feeling like you are in a place of indecision, I think it's different when you're feeling like it's not the right time versus. Versus like, I'm not sure if I should or not.
In that instance, I think the best thing you can do to clear your mind of feeling overwhelmed is just to pick something. Like either you say, yes, I'm moving forward with this. No, I'm not moving forward with this at this time. Or I'm putting them on the shelf and I will return to this decision in two months. And so I think for me, this has really helped me like...
For me, this has really helped save me a lot of mental time and energy, especially recently, is like making decisions and making them quickly is really helping me move forward faster. It's like, oh, this is what I need to do. Okay, what do I think about this? I'm going to do this. And just, you know, choosing something and moving forward. So I think, you know, if you're feeling stuck in indecision or just not sure, you really need to pick a direction.
in one way or the other and that will really free up so much mental space and give you a lot of clarity for moving forward. Number five and the eight things I've learned in eight years of business, celebrate your wins. I need to credit my coach Anna who really has encouraged me to celebrate my wins and
Every time I would join her mastermind, that was just such a huge part of the mastermind was celebrating your wins, celebrating our mastermind sisters wins. And this is something that I definitely do not do enough. And I'm sure that so many of you listening are in the same boat where it's like, you just don't take time to, you know, be grateful and like really encourage yourself like wow, that was awesome. Like way to go on reaching that goal or you know, you got really close to that goal and celebrating how far you've come. I think it's easy. I know it's easy for me to kind of beat myself up if I don't reach a goal and be like, oh man, you know, that could have, I could have done better on that. I could have made more progress. I could have done this or done that. But I think, you know, the more we can celebrate our wins and really encourage ourselves.
the better we'll feel about ourselves and then we can go out and feel like more empowered to do bigger and better things in our business.
And this is something I did on the podcast was in episode 16. It was my year in review episode and that was in December that episode came out. I'll link it to the show notes, but I, you know, listed out some of my biggest wins over the year and talked about some lessons I learned and what success looks like to me and that kind of thing. And so I thought that was a cool.
That was a cool place for me to share my wins and to really own them as well. And I think if you have a community or someplace that you can share your wins, I think it just encourages the entrepreneurs around us, like, yes, you can do this. Yes, you can reach your goals. Yes, there's so much to be grateful for and thankful for that you've accomplished. And...
It's just such a beautiful practice and I cannot thank Anna enough for helping me really embrace this part of entrepreneurship because it really does help you keep going and feel like you've got this.
Number six, return to your why often. I'm sure you've heard in the entrepreneurial space about knowing your why, but your why is basically the reason why you're in business, the reason why you're doing all of this. And it's so important to get back to this often because sometimes we're just in the trenches in our business. We're in maybe a difficult spot. And you know, when it's, when things aren't going the way we hope them to go, it can really be discouraging. And I think.
It's so important to have a North Star to look to whenever you're feeling that discouragement or you're feeling like, why even do this? What is the point? When you have a really solid why, like to contribute to your family, to invest in your dream home, those are some of my whys, to. you know, whatever the case may be to invest in your kids education, to fulfill yourself creatively, whatever it is that's important to you, it's so important to know where you're headed, why you're going there and why it's so important. And so it just really helps fuel you and get you through those tough times when sometimes you just feel like you want to throw in the towel. And I think it's it's easy to get to those places sometimes if you're not in a It's easy sometimes to get in those mindset loops of like negativity. I know I get in them. And so it's really important to have that why, you know, there where you can see it, where you know where you're headed, you know your goals. Something I like to do is there's two things that help me stay focused and just remind me of my why is, let's see.
Something that I love that I use on a daily basis is whenever I sit down at my computer. I have a I Guess you can call it an inspiration board It is a physical I framed it so it's it's a physical like magazine clippings some text collage basically a collage of beautiful things beautiful spaces and places and interior design and travel and stuff like that. It's just kind of like my inspiration board of like what I hope to materialize in my lifetime. And it's really cool because it's just that visual of this is like where I hope to go and this is what I hope to do. And it's just that visual reminder. It's really nice to kind of have that visual reminder and maybe it could be like a word or a phrase and it could be like a sticky note on your computer or it could be your
Desktop background, just something to remind you of where you're going and the importance of that is really helpful to just stay on track and stay encouraged in those tough times. Number seven in the eight things I've learned in eight years of business is schedule time off.
This was a struggle for me, I have to say. In the beginning, I feel like in the first five years, six years even, of business, I would just kind of go through my year, like not really like planning things ahead. And I would say probably this is more of like the first half of my business journey. But yeah, I would just go through the year like this is, you know, the next week in the calendar and like this is.
what I have to do next and I would never like plan in advance and this is something that again, my coaches taught me to do and we do like an annual planning day where we like plan out our year and it's such a good time to kind of mark in that white space on your calendar. But that was something that Anna told me is like, if you don't mark it in, it's gonna get filled up with work and other stuff. Like you have to take intentional time and schedule it off in your calendar. And so this is a practice I've been doing the last few years and it's been incredibly beautiful and beneficial. And it's just kind of making that space for yourself. Like, you know, when you have that time to recoup and take time off in your business, it just gives you so many more ideas and you just come back so much more refreshed and you don't feel burned out. And so I think...
Scheduling in time off is an essential part of keeping your business fresh and keeping ideas fresh and and really feeling that excited energy to work and even for me this last Was it last I think it was last week my kids were sick and Well, Zia was sick from preschool and thankfully Sophia didn't get sick but um, you know, he was home with us all week with me all week and so I had to you know, take care of him. And I really did not get a lot of work time in like barely anything at all. And it was one of those things where I was like, you know, I just have to be there for Zia, be there for Sophia and that's okay. And that's what I'm going to do. And I just, you know, strip my schedule down to the bare minimum and I didn't do much besides take care of Zia. And thankfully he recovered and everything and you know, he's off to preschool this week, but
It was just one of those things where I came back to work this week, like so excited and like full of energy. And I was just, yeah, like blowing through my to -do lists and I was excited to do everything. And it was just one of those things that reminded me like, it's good to take that time off. Like even if you want to be working, you know, sometimes family obligations call us away or whatever the case may be, but it's so good to take some time off and you know,
Better yet is intentional time off where it's more like, you know restful and you know vacation time ish Even if it's like a staycation but it's just a beautiful thing and it really helps you stay motivated and encouraging your business and give you better ideas for when you come back because You never know what you know your mind can think of when you have that space to think and that freedom to think so so yeah, that is something I've definitely learned to do in my business that I cannot recommend enough. And the final lesson I've learned in eight years of business is stay in your lane. This is something that has always been a struggle for me. And it's just, I feel like it's so easy to be on social media, to see what everyone's doing and to see someone else's success and be like, oh, I should do it their way or, and this is something I really struggled with a few years ago of like just, seeing what other people were doing and being like, maybe I should do it that way or maybe I should go in this direction or maybe I should, you know, whatever, you know, fill in the blank basically. And I think something that has really, really helped me is to really think about like, what are my strengths? What do I love to do? And how do I like to show up? And then really taking intentional action from there rather than saying like, oh, because I'm on, because I like am signed on in the social media platform, I should be on here. As some of you know, I really took some time off Instagram starting, I think it was around the end of 2023, I decided to kind of not get off Instagram, because I am still on there every now and again, and I post things every little bit.
But I'm definitely not on like I used to be. I was on like 24 7 not 24 7 but I was on daily for sure and I was just consuming a lot of content and It would just leave me feeling like oh I should be doing more or I should be doing it this way or Look at like how many followers they have I should be doing this or you know it can You know if you're seeing everyone else's content, and you're just consuming it can really deter you and or you make you think you're doing something wrong if you are not getting those same results and you never know what they're doing for one. But for two, if someone is loving how they're showing up, they're gonna be successful wherever they show up. I truly believe that. And so for me, something I decided to focus more time on was the podcast. So I really am putting a lot of time and effort into this podcast. I love showing up here.
So something I decided was like, I don't want to be on a platform that I feel like it's soul sucking basically. Like it's not the platform it used to be. It's not as enjoyable. And whenever I get off, I feel like I should be doing so much more or I should be doing better or all that kind of thing. So taking a break from Instagram has been life -giving, I will say. And it's nice to not feel like I have to be on there.
And you know, I really enjoy showing up on this podcast. I love doing this show and I love.
I love doing the podcast. I love showing up for my newsletter. I love writing newsletters. Right now I'm on LinkedIn and I really am enjoying it actually. So it's kind of one of those things where it's like, you know, you want to put in your best energy wherever you are really feeling it. And I think, you know, everyone has their own opinions about like,
You should be on this platform because this worked for me. But I think it has to do with where do you love to show up? What do you love to do? And really make an effort in that direction, whatever that may be. If you love writing, maybe you can be writing a weekly newsletter or blogging or something. If you love speaking, you know, trying to be guests on podcasts or have your own podcasts.
If you love connecting with others, maybe it's like hosting retreat or doing in -person networking events or virtual networking events for that matter. So I think it's just really knowing yourself better and knowing what lights you up and really moving in that direction and kind of putting blinders on to like, okay, this isn't giving me joy. This isn't serving me. So I'm just gonna cut this out for now and see how it serves me. And then, you know, get the data and go from there. And so that's something that I've really been working on in the last few years that has been really, really great is just knowing myself more and more and knowing what helps me, what doesn't help me and doing the things that are more life -giving has been a total game changer.
And that wraps it up. And obviously I didn't even mention like how important community is, how important having a coach is, I think. And you know, so there's so many other things I could say. But I'm just going to leave it at that. And I really hope that because I was I was trying to think I was like, what could be like the most helpful beneficial? But these are the things that came to mind to me. And these are the things that really have made an impact in my own business and in my entrepreneurship journey. So I really hope these things encourage you. I hope that I.
I hope you're hearing these at exactly the right time that you need to hear them and just know that it just gets easier and easier the longer you're in business. I truly believe that. It just gets so much easier and things, you know, the roadblocks and difficulties you're facing now will pass and great things are to come. So I think it's just one of those things where you just need to stick with it and it's all going to work out. And I just wish you the best success in your business. And I just thank you so much for joining me on the ride in my own. I really appreciate you being here. And I just, yeah, I'm so, so grateful. And in honor of my business birthday, I am doing a little giveaway from March, hold on, when did I write it down?
And in honor of my business birthday, I am doing a giveaway March 19th through March 26th. So starting today until next week, I am giving away a free brand and website assessment. This is a $200 value that I'm so excited to give away to someone. And the way you can sign up for the giveaway is to join my newsletter list. And you can do that by going to the link in the show notes or you can go to rartspace.com slash subscribe and you can join my newsletter list and that will automatically enter you. And if you're already a part of my newsletter list, you can share about this podcast on your social media platform and make sure to tag me and that's a way to enter as well. So you can enter and if you wanted to have more entries, you would just share about the show on multiple days and then you would get that many entries.
And if you wanted to get multiple entries in this giveaway, you would just share multiple days basically and tag me, make sure to tag me so I can add it in the, so I can add you in. And that is a way where you can get a free branded website assessment. I love doing these.
These are a deep dive where I look into your website, I review your branding, I give you really practical tips and strategies for how you can make improvements. I provide copy tips, design tips, and this is something, and this is a loom video you can watch on your own time, and this is something you can implement yourself. You can go through and make all the changes I recommend, which a lot of people have done, or you can hire me for help. Either way, I am so happy to do this and to provide this as a celebration of my business turning eight. So I really encourage you to sign up for the giveaway and share about it if you know of anyone who needs a brand and website assessment or if you know of someone who would love the podcast, I really encourage you to share it. So thank you so, so much. I'm so grateful for you and I will talk to you next week.
Hey guys, I am so excited to be here with you today because we are celebrating my business birthday this month, March of 2024. I'm so excited to, yeah, it's kind of crazy that I've been in business for eight years, but it's true. And I am doing a little giveaway and I wanted to share about it before I dive into the episode. This is a giveaway going from March 19th through March 26th, so it is one week from today, starting today going for one week, and I am giving away a brand and website assessment. So my brand and website assessment is, I just love doing this so much, is where I review your brand and website and give you practical tips and feedback of how you can make improvements and how you can make it more effective so people can come on your website, learn about you, and sign up for a discovery call.
And I provide a loom video and I do not hold back. I've given away website assessments that have been 25 minutes long and it's me really combing through your homepage about page and services and really giving you my best tips and strategies for how you can make your site more effective and improvement, how you can make your site more effective in getting new clients. And this is,
Like I mentioned, this is something...
This is something I'm so excited to offer for the giveaway. So if you want to sign up for the giveaway, I encourage you to go to ourartspace .com slash subscribe and you can join my newsletter list and that will enter you in. And you can also do that by clicking the link in the show notes. And if you already are a part of my newsletter list, you can join by sharing the podcast on your social media platform of choice and make sure you tag me so we can see it and add you in to the drawing. And so if you wanted multiple entries, you would just share about it on multiple days of the week and that'll sign you up for multiple drawings for this giveaway.
So I hope you sign up. I'm so grateful just you're here in the community that just the encouraging community I have, I'm just so, so grateful. And hopefully the person who wins this is exactly my word.
So thank you so much for being on this entrepreneurial journey with me and I wish you the best of luck in the giveaway. And now onto the show.