Before Spire Business grew to be a team, it was just me running things. For years I was a solo-preneur and for years it was fulfilling. Until I began to notice that I wasn’t excited anymore and I couldn’t wrap my head around why.
I felt like I was in a slump and it didn’t make any sense. My clients were great, I was making money, I had built the business I envisioned…so where was the eagerness I used to feel? It began to dawn on me that connection was missing, that I was feeling isolated – I likened it to finding myself on a deserted island.
I had gotten so caught up in the “doingness” – building my business, volunteering at my kid’s school, sitting in meetings, driving to after school activities – that I sacrificed “beingness” somewhere along the way. I wasnt being fulfilled or inspired anymore. From the outside in, my life was perfect. But something felt so off to me, and I was not going to back off until I figured out what it was.
Over the next several weeks, I began to restructure my business. I believed that if I moved my business to the next level, these feelings would dissipate. I signed up for a business conference hoping it would support me in reclaiming my excitement and vision.
My first night at the conference, I was walking to dinner along a pier when a woman asked if I was attending the conference. “Yes, are you?” I replied. This fateful exchange became a powerful conversation that would shift everything for me. We agreed to have dinner together and we spent over two hours connecting over our lives and businesses. We discovered that we had so much in common, it was like she was feeling everything that I was.
Over the next several days, I kept running into Dina in between workshops and breaks. We’d excitedly pick back up where we’d left off and share what we’d learned and what we’d gained. I was gaining so much from this friendship and the excitement and understanding that we were creating together.
I finally realized that while I may work alone in my office every day, that was no reason to be on a deserted island. I get that many of the people I work with are solo-preneurs doing, enjoying, and struggling with the same things that I did. It is not the education we have, or the size of our business, it is about our willingness to put ourselves out there to share thoughts and ideas and connect.
As you journey through your life and business, I invite you to lean into community and connection, especially if you’re feeling like you’re in a rut. Community can be with folks in your town or halfway around the world (Dina lived 1,800 miles away from my hometown and yet – we remain connected even now, years after that conference). There is no “one way” to make connections – it can happen over coffee, at conferences or through Internet groups. If you take the time to connect and step outside of your comfort bubble, you too may find that you receive inspiring ideas, share your knowledge with others, receive assistance when you need it, and your energy level may go up. All of these were true for me and it completely revolutionized my business. Now I have designed my business to include connection and community and it keeps me fulfilled and recharged.
If you’re looking to connect with like-minded visionaries and entrepreneurs, I invite you to join our Facebook group @SpireBusinessInc! Wishing you success as you continue your path as entrepreneurs and conscious business owners.
With love,
Linda Brown
