Stop running someone else's race
and what to remember if you're going through this now
Quit your job. Have a pipeline before you quit your job. You won’t be able to go all in if your focus is split. Niche down. Don’t go too niche. Do one thing at a time. Make sure you execute all these things before you start.
From starting a freelancing career to launching a business, everyone wants to tell you exactly how you should do it. In your early days, you listen. You chase everyone else’s idea of what success is and embody it yourself. In this mindset, success can only look like one thing and it’s very binary. You’re not empowered, you’re chasing.
I don’t think people mean to do this to you. They’re just more comfortable when you’re working within terms they understand. When they can’t see another path, they assume there isn’t one.
For example, if you run a start-up, you can only be successful if you quit your job immediately, raise millions in VC, and have a clear path to $1M revenue. That isn’t an inherently wrong path. It’s just not the only one.
Learning your own pace
Part of me wishes someone had told us this sooner, but another part thinks you have to learn it through doing. Through running someone else’s race.
For us, this started crystallising in early January when we reflected on our past six months. But it really clicked during one coffee meeting with a mentor.
He said: You can’t go the distance if you don’t fuel up your own tank. Look after yourselves and it will help you stop operating from a lack.
So from that lens, Bell and I decided we’d open Elsewhere by Ponnd. A studio focusing on our key skills: strategy, design, and storytelling.
It’s the area people naturally come to us for, so it made a lot of sense. But it wasn’t without going through our own ego death.
Our main concern was how people would perceive us opening a studio in the middle of building our start-up. A thing someone who loves the performance of start-up life would tell you is a big no-no.
But we think it makes us stronger.
Having more cashflow gives us the ability to choose when and how we take on capital, which puts the power back in our hands. It gives us space to creatively dive into different projects that can only strengthen our thinking. It gives us back our autonomy and allows us to build Ponnd exactly the way we want to.
A few things to remember if you’re going through this now:
Success looks different for you than it does for me. Work out what your success looks like and run at that.
If someone tells you there’s only one way to do this, take note. Their certainty usually says more about their limits than yours.
Building sustainably and intentionally gives your business longevity. The fast path isn’t always the long path. Sometimes slowing down to fuel up is what lets you go the distance.
If you’re running your business or career in a way that makes sense to you, you’re going to outlast everyone else building to appease outside voices. Longevity comes from feeling alive by what you do everyday. So what’s going to get you there?
So that’s our story and if you’re looking for strategy, design or storytelling, you can hit us up!
Lots of love,
Bella & Remi
Big love to you both! 🫶🏻