how to reinvent yourself into a business owner

Once upon a time, you used to be someone different.

That is, until you had to reinvent yourself as a business owner.

If you’re like me, you may have gone through this process more than once before you came to this point.

Sometimes you may even reinvent yourself depending on the roles you’re playing at a particular time – wife, brother, daughter, pastor, boyfriend, friend, colleague, lover.

you may reinvent yourself, but all of those people are still YOU!

I help a lot of entrepreneurs work out who they are in business for, what they are offering, and why it all matters.

But often people get a bit stuck when I ask…

“What makes you the best person to offer this product or service?”.

And it’s something I struggled to answer when I was first getting going 6 years ago.

My little voice of self-doubt would creep in and say s**t like:

• “you don’t know about this”
• “you’re starting something new at 32…some people have been doing this their whole lives”
• “look at all these other people out there already doing what you want to do”
• …etc.

sound familiar?

It’s easy to think that when you reinvent yourself from whatever you were doing before to what you want to do NOW, that none of your past experience is relevant anymore.  You should be paid less. Or work harder to prove yourself.

You tell yourself that no one is going to care what you have to say.

but that’s all bulls**t

Because when you reinvent yourself from *that* person to the person now sitting in front of this screen, that doesn’t just wipe away every single thing that you’ve done in the past x years of your life!!

Sure, some of it may not be as applicable anymore.  Some of it you may never want to do again.  But that doesn’t mean it never existed before.  And it doesn’t mean that you have to leave it out of your new story if you want it to be there.

here’s how I piece together my story…

I’ve always been curious.  I live in different places.  Travel to a bunch more.  Try new things and new experiences.  Talk to strangers.  Look people in the eye.  Ask questions.  Take an interest.

I am fascinated by these experiences.

And I’m also fascinated by business.

I spent more than 10 years in the world of investment banking.  I streamlined operations, managed projects, launched new products, improved customer service, and supported tons of great ideas into reality.

In 2013, I reinvented myself into a business owner and startup coach…a merger of my years of experience in business and my passion for helping people who make it their business to give a damn.  I was able to take the skills from my ‘old life’ that I LOVED and reapply them to something new that I also love.

In 2016, I reinvented myself again into a digital nomad.  I ran parts of my business remotely from wherever there was wifi and I ran other parts of my business in person anywhere where there were a lot of great people starting business.

And let me tell you…entrepreneurship is EVERYWHERE.  I got to meet people, connect people with each other, and learn something new everyday if I chose to.

I was able to combine my innate curiosity and desire to explore with my passion for business and startups.

And finally, in 2017, my path led me to Kenya, where I rebuilt Step & Stone.

My story has a new chapter to it.  A chapter which is still being written!

here’s how to make your story relevant

Wherever you’ve lived in the past. Whatever you’ve experienced. The parts about past jobs that you loved. That parts that you hated.  The life lessons.  The dreams.

All of it matters!

Because it has either inspired you to give up your 9-5 and start your business. Or fuelled your passion.  Bonded you with your target market.  Or something else.

In SOME way…it is already relevant.

You just need to find the missing pieces.

your pieces will be different

And that’s exactly how it should be.

Certain parts of your story will resonate with different audiences.

For example, with some entrepreneurs I may focus on my own experience in starting or running a business.

With others I may focus on some of the work I do with my clients.  I may want them to understand that I have experience in supporting other people in similar circumstances.

If someone is a bit further along, I may highlight some of my investment banking experience where I helped to streamline operations and implement new business processes.

It’s my job to figure out what part they’d most be interested in.

And that’s your job, too!

own your story, grow your business

Owning your story is a critical component of your business success.   You need to be able to talk about yourself and your business with confidence and ease if you’re ever going to convince ANYONE to take a chance with your business.

You’ll need to talk to potential customers, partners, future employees and maybe even investors.

And that’s why “Owning Your Story” is one of the module we cover in Simplicity, the 10-week business accelerator program that takes you from feeling overwhelmed and uncertain, to getting focused, getting confident and getting customers.

To learn more about Simplicity and get on the waitlist for our next cohort, click here.