In the first year of running my business, I did everything right. And still almost lost it all.🤢 I had left my 7 figure C-Suite role with lots of energy, an idea, and advice from every founder podcast I could find. I started nervously like a misfit every single day because I did not look like the 20 something turtleneck wearing founder I was reading about every where. But, I was 39... a working mom with a mortgage... Still trying to lose all the pregnancy weight I had gained 5 years ago. I kept thinking, looking for a co-founder and figuring out about fundraising or sending applications to startup accelerators because that’s what every startup advice told me. And the more I did those... I kept believing that I was working on my business because I was so busy. But I made zero progress, and I had zero customers but lots of ideas people liked. So I just stayed stuck and confused.💔 The advice I was following was designed for someone with millions in VC funding and a board willing to wait two years for the first paying customer. I didn't have millions. I had my savings and a deadline I'd set for myself. That's when I stopped waiting to feel ready and started focusing on who actually needed what I was building. Both my companies have been profitable from day one, without any investors, term sheets, or anyone to answer but me. I'm not saying raising is wrong. For some businesses, it's the right call at the right stage. But the belief that you need VC funding to build something real kept me stuck for longer than I'd like to admit. A lot of women I speak to are holding that same belief right now. The barrier to start your own business has become so low today with all the tools and technologies today, but so has a lot of conflicting advice that is costing you your first customer. Every month you don’t start building your own business, it’s costing you that second income stream, that security for yourself and your family because the current reality of corporate security simply isn’t there… And you’re losing out on things more that you can ever understand, until you find your first paying customer. What's the one thing you've been waiting to have before you begin?

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