Why I cried during my strategy session

As entrepreneurs we are so often working solo, making decisions on our own, and let’s be real: barely finishing tasks on our to-do list before rushing to be present with our family. It can feel like we are reacting instead of being proactive in being intentional in building our business. Lots of people share the flexibility of lunch with friends but let’s also share the late nights editing, tears when we didn’t reach a goal, or epic failures that have allowed us to learn new things. You have heard “fake it til you make it.” I disagree because this saying forces us to think we are arrived before we have the courage to begin. We need to “show up messy and grow as we go.” One of the ways I am currently embracing growth is working with mentors and investing in leaders who can help me strategize about my personal and business growth.

I knew a Strategy Session with the talented Sherita Harkness of Trading Fourz would be good because she is amazing at everything she does but I did not expect the rollercoaster of emotions that I felt through the process. I did not expect to be in tears on the way home, and for the BEST reasons! You can book a discovery call with her here and trust me you want to. We started the Strategy Session with a prayer and Sherita prayed, “allow us to co-create with you Father and we ask that you would infuse our stories with your presence and guide us.” This was a deep time of reflection and dreaming for me and I am thankful. I will try to share the story of something hard to see but impossible to deny how it felt.

The few hours we spent working on strategy for Hawa LLC took me through hard questions I want to avoid, like thinking of systems I have neglected and need to embrace if I want to continue to grow (stay tuned), to celebrations of wins and reflecting and being grateful for just how far my business and myself as an entrepreneur has grown over the last 10 years since I started messy.

She took me through an exercise to create a visual representation of who I want to serve and instead of just visualizing and explaining an “ideal client” it was a deeper exercise of thinking what the client I want to partner with has on their heart. Not just “what will they pay for?” “what problem do they have I can help with?” Those ARE important questions but it was a more vulnerable, tender question. Being an entrepreneur sort of just happened to me and I struggled to even embrace calling myself that for a few years into my business; maybe that is you right now too? It was and is not because I want to make money at the expense of the first things in my life. It is because I truly believe the needs of world and the gifts and skills God has given me can be utilized to make an impact. I desire to have an impact on others and on my family to earn on my terms. Through engaging and being open in this process I realized I want to encourage and challenge those who are excited and terrified by their own potential, those who have a passion project idea or something they want to launch into the world, but they are scared of the failure AND scared of success (trust me that is an absolute thing especially for women entrepreneurs I have met, more on that later!). I want to co-create with people- entrepreneurs and my photography clients. I want then to feel encouraged and challenged to take risks to pursue their passions and dreams. And I want to serve them so they feel confident stepping into all of their potential.

This process helped me refine more of my vision in this season of business and I am so grateful. Watch me take messy action steps forward in what I am learning- let’s do it together! I want to be a mentor and cheerleader for multifaceted people who want to start or are starting their passion project or business. If that is YOU! join my email list or let’s co-create a visual storytelling branding session together!