the beginning, middle, & end of entrepreneurship

or.. entrepreneurshit?

If you find yourself on this page, I wonder where you are in your journey, young grasshopper.

Are you in the beginning—where you have those warm, fuzzy, can't sleep, can't stop thinking about IT phase?

Are you in the middle where things are beginning to get a little “busy,” but still exciting enough?

Maybe you’re finally treading that part where things are getting a little dark, your friends are asking why you keep cancelling plans (let’s be real—they probably wanted to cancel too), paperwork is piling up, your bank keeps sending you alerts that your “balance is below the threshold” (honestly, who but moms need this feature?), and you’re EXHAUSTED. DAY IN. DAY OUT.

Are you where you’ve proven or validated yourself, your idea, where opportunity is on the horizon, where people are encouraging you—oh, this is such a great idea, Nadia!—and then your sweet friend named Self-Doubt begins to whisper in your ear. Oh, if you thought Imposter Syndrome was bad, wait till you meet Self-Doubt. You *think* you beat that just to find out there’s LAYERS of it waiting for you at the next phase of success.

Maybe you’re FINALLY living the glory—wow, you’re making money, you’re getting published, noticed, your followers begin increasing and people begin to make you feel important by asking eyeliner you use or the color of your lipstick, and your inbox is filling up with inquiries, requests for interviews, and orders. But, something still feels amiss. Is it those sleepless nights that you’ve now gotten used to when you can finally get rest? Is it your ego going into shock whenever someone asks you a question about how you built this; is it you? are you the problem? It’s you.

And finally—MAYBE you crashed and burned. Maybe you fell into the percentage of the businesses that fail in the first 3-5 years. Are you there? Have you thrown in the towel? Are you OK? Or are you going through it? Is this similar to a breakup, divorce, where you realize there are parts of you that you don’t like, or love, or wish you could change, or wish you simply just had *more money*?

Have you been turned into ashes, and then you realize—wait, there’s something called a phoenix; could I actually become one?

Wherever you are in this entrepreneurship journey, I’m here with you. No, I’m not going to provide you with “practical tips” on how to get through this excruciating, once-in-a-lifetime journey, but just here to talk shit about the absolute dumpster fire that entrepreneurship is. Whether you realize it or not—you’re in the thick of it, friend. You’re in the shit. You chose this life.

If you’re a small business owner or self-proclaimed entrepreneur, then stick around. and you might find out.