Boss Project's Story - Part 2: The Year That Changed Everything for Us
Episode 564: Show Notes
We are here for part 2 of our story. First of all, if you haven’t listened to part 1, it’s one of our recent episodes right before this one. We went back–to–back with our voices and no guests. This is a two-parter, so if you haven’t listened to the first one, we highly recommend that you pause and go back to that one before carrying on with this episode. So, you are here and ready for part 2. We want to start this episode with a little preface, some boundaries, and we want to share the weirdness of being vulnerable online and in the internet space. These are deeply personal parts of our stories, and we are going to dive in and share a lot with you today. There is a good chunk of you who have been around for a really long time, and you will have heard bits and pieces of our story. But there is an even bigger chunk of you who have no idea what happened for us in 2016, a really big year for us in terms of pivoting personally and within our business. It literally changed every aspect of our lives and shaped the way we do business, and that’s what we will talk about today.
Listen on your favorite podcast player
Opening Up and Setting Boundaries
We accidentally opened the floodgates online when we were vulnerable, and we did not anticipate the resultant outpouring that came from what we shared. While this was amazing, and we are so grateful that everyone opened up to us, this started to become very draining because we became too emotionally invested in everyone’s lives. Another reason that we are setting these boundaries is also for your safety. We are not licensed medical or mental health professionals, and although we want to be there for you, we cannot offer professional help. Of course, we are there for you, but are only capable of what we are capable of. We are sharing what happened in our personal lives because it is attached to strategies in our business as well.
The Events that Changed It All for Us
So, to go all the way back to the beginning, we started working together in 2015, and in the same year, Emylee started her adoption process. When it comes to adoption, there are no concrete timelines, so you have to be flexible. Emylee and her husband got placed with Penny in July, and she was due the following January. What was crazy about all of this was that we were re-building a business from the ground up. There was no outright panic, but there were definitely moments when we actually could not believe what was happening. So, from August 2016, we started making more concrete plans. The benefit of adopting was that Emylee could work right up until the day Penny was delivered. We knew we needed ways to make money, and all of our energy went into creating systems and setting the foundations for ways to make money while Emylee was working part-time or was off completely. Fast forward to 3 November 2016; when Abagail ran out for a quick lunch, her life changed forever when she got into a car accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury and a range of other medical issues. Abagail was so scared that they would lose their business and that Emylee would not be able to take off, which led her to work through the most difficult season in her life. She left the hospital in a wheelchair without a proper diagnosis, and because of this, she ended up doing more damage to herself than if she had taken time to recover. After pushing through, Abagail crashed and was finally diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury which meant that she and Emylee had to take off at the same time.
What We Learned from Being Forced to Say No
Even though Abagail did not communicate to Emylee just how sick she was, when she came back, she saw just how much Abagail was struggling. At the same time, Emylee was raising a literal infant, and Abagail went from using her brain all the time to not being able to know which order to wash her hair in. Yes, all of these events have shaped our lives, and while we don’t want to spend a whole show diving into the details of all of the hardships, we want to highlight just how important it is to identify your priorities. It is not that our priorities weren’t there before, but there were so many things that were not sustainable in our business. You do not have to go through what we went through to learn these lessons. It is possible to look after your wellbeing, spend time doing what you love with who you love, and have a successful business! Now we know that our lives are too important to us to sacrifice, and we realize that we can have a business that aligns with who we are. 2016 was the year we found out how many things we can say no to and still grow.
Things We Stopped Doing to Grow
There have been some pivots in our business that have been minor and others that have essentially meant that we have had to rebuild. Yes, we had our email list, but our offerings have changed so much that we may as well have started from scratch. Whichever way you choose to grow your business, results are waiting for you on the other side! If that is the only lesson you take away from the episode, then that’s fine. The majority of the strategies you hear about online are teaching you how to grow quickly, but this does not mean the growth is sustainable. We are all about slow and steady. In fact, we want to be boring. We are reclaiming that word! So, even when Abagail miraculously came back from her brain injury and Emylee got all the childcare, we still looked at what we could say no to. Before everything, we were launching every two weeks. Yes, you read that right. Every two weeks. This was absolutely not sustainable, so we revisited this. Another thing we did was to go back to the foundational aspects of our business to see what we wanted to ramp up. For us, this meant rich content and strategic keywords that would help us gain an organic following which we did through our podcast and blog. This will not work for everyone, but it was what our business needed to grow the way we wanted. We also stopped making new stuff all the time. It is not that we have not had any new things, but we have certainly slowed down. Another thing we stopped chasing is the high highs, and we decided to go for monthly recurring revenue. Again, this aligns with us and our personalities. Maybe you are fine with having a few big-hitting launches a year. Do what works for you.
Establishing True Priorities
Probably the biggest change was that we made the things we said were priorities into actual priorities. There have been seasons where we have been better with this than other times, but we have always said that our business is never going to be number one. We want to spend time on our health, with our families, doing what we love, just whatever we want! It is also important for us to be able to do the work we need at the time that feels most productive to us and the way our brains work. Abagail had to reclaim time to work on her health and because she had a full year to work on this in 2019, it ultimately helped her get to a place where she can lead a growing company. We don’t often take stock of what we have achieved, but when we actually look at it, we are making a massive difference in people’s lives. None of it would be possible if our business was our number one priority. Yes, there are times when we break our own rules and work harder than we ordinarily do, but we know that we can set boundaries going forward. We are not saying that things will be easy breezy all the time. There will be seasons of growth, but you have to set boundaries. Your work life should not spill over into your personal life. For Emylee, she made sure she was not that burnt-out entrepreneur who complained about work all the time. This is not easy, especially because we have been conditioned into a certain picture of success. But we want you to know that your business is there to serve you and not the other way around. You do not have to wait for a life-altering event to change the way things work. You are here to live your life and not to live up to other people’s ideas. If this sounds appealing to you, then come to our Dream Job workshop. We want to help you build a business that aligns with your life.
Quote This
You are here to live your life and not to live up to other people’s ideas.
Highlights
Opening Up and Setting Boundaries. [0:04:06.1]
The Events that Changed It All for Us. [0:08:42.1]
What We Learned from Being Forced to Say No. [0:20:50.1]
Things We Stopped Doing to Grow. [0:31:36.1]
Establishing True Priorities. [0:42:15.1]
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
We help overwhelmed and creative entrepreneurs break down their Oprah-sized dreams to create a functioning command center to tame the chaos of their business. Basically, we think you’re totally bomb diggity, we’re about to uplevel the shiz out of your business.
KEY TOPICS
Boundaries, Vulnerability, Sustainable Growth, Priorities, Change, Flexibility, Choices, Alignment, Goals, Pivot
