#14: Success.
Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.
Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. Said another way, success is loving something enough to fail at it repeatedly. I believe that failure and success go hand in hand, you simply cannot have one without the other.
I spent the past five years supporting women and specifically mothers in pursuing personal success independent of their kids, all the while fighting like hell to find my own. I have tried and failed at many iterations while tackling this ever nagging issue.
Despite the ups and many downs, I have never questioned my desire to support mothers as they navigate life, work, and motherhood. I want nothing more than to see women step into their purpose and pursue their dreams, not in spite of but because of their kids.
I started by hosting mother centered events designed to bring women together over a shared experience navigating work in the midst of motherhood, to learn from one another and support each other in each of their individual endeavors. I then expanded this concept to open a brick and mortar co-working space with on-site childcare designed to support women in pursing work, building businesses, and chasing dreams while their kids played nearby.
(This image was taken at my first in-person event at my co-working space in March of 2020, one week before the world shut down).
When the pandemic hit I quickly pivoted to host digital events that included a speaker series and office hours and accountability groups designed to share stories and connect women and brainstorm together during a particularly isolating time. I then went on to host a series of retail pop-ups designed to raise awareness and create opportunities for local female owned businesses. This was the time in which I felt the least successful and the most insecure, pivoting to keep my dream afloat almost brought me down with it.
When I eventually closed my business after over a year of forced closures, I continued to share my story in hopes that someone somewhere would feel less alone in their own experience navigating life and work and motherhood. I then quietly began consulting and supporting many of the same women in adjusting their careers to fit their life and the ever changing demands of motherhood while remaining true to themselves and their own wants and needs.
Every single step and pivot and pursuit has been solely based on my desire to support other mothers, to make the process of navigating life and work and motherhood a bit easier, to help women feel supported and encouraged while pushing themselves and their ideas forward, to support them in stepping outside of their comfort zones to build more meaningful, fulfilling, and financially free lives.
Despite a lot of setbacks and a handful of failures, my enthusiasm for supporting mothers has only grown. I have never been more sure that my place in this world is somewhere between work and motherhood, I am incredibly passionate about supporting women in pursuing their dreams and making an impact in the midst of motherhood. I want women to know and truly understand themselves and their deepest desires so that they can become who they were always meant to be, passing that enthusiasm and dedication and drive on to their kids.
Maya Angelou once said, “Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” And I honestly couldn’t imagine a more accurate description. There were times when I liked what I was doing but quietly loathed how I was doing (bringing women together via zoom was not my thing). There were other times when I liked what I was doing (aka writing and storytelling), but hated how I was doing it (aka instagram). If I am being completely honest, Instagram began to deteriorate my relationship with myself and this is one of many reasons I chose to quit.
For me, success is staying true to myself while bringing my ideas and dreams and goals to life in a way that works for me, no matter how many times I stumble or fail. And perhaps more importantly success is supporting other women in achieving the same.
Lessons Learned:
Success and failure go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other. How can your failures guide you forward toward success?
Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm. What are you enthusiastic enough about to risk failure?
Success is an inside job. You must like who you are, you must like what you are doing, and you must like how you are doing it. What does success mean to you?