The Thing No One's Talking About

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Today I’m going to talk about the thing a lot of creators and founders aren’t talking about – being vulnerable. We don’t talk about it often because we’re afraid that being vulnerable is a sign of weakness, and that, others might not see us as strong. I am not talking about the forced kind of vulnerability and healing circles we see across our feed; no, I’m talking about the kind of vulnerability that comes with stepping out on your own and committing to a solo venture.

I’m talking about the kind of vulnerability that has you openly admitting to others that things aren’t going exactly your way and that you need help.

This is the type of vulnerability that precedes your greatest successes, and we aren’t talking about it enough.

I failed miserably in my first year of the studio.

I had zero clients for 6-months, blew through my savings, and was at my wit’s end. That was a tough moment for me because it was the first time, I had to admit to myself that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. It was also the best thing that ever happened to me. Failing miserably freed me from the fear of failing. It was already there, so what else did I have to lose? Nothing. I had zero dollars, zero clients, and lofty AF goals. I needed help. The kind of help that only comes from asking for it – so, I did.

I scoured LinkedIn to find people in my area who were successful. I asked them for 15-minutes of their time and came prepared with five questions I wanted them to answer for me:

• How did you get started

• How did you scale this?

• How did you know which idea to let go of?

• How did you find your first customers?

• How can I help you now?

These conversations often led the way to them asking me how they could help me, and when they asked, I had a ready reply: “I build websites and need clients. Can you introduce me to 5 people you think could use my services?”

My offer was simple: $1,500 for a high-converting Wix website that would 5x their revenue in 30 days or their money back. By the end of month 8, I’d scaled to 10 clients and had a $15,000 cushion; that was all I needed to validate my idea and from that day to this one – I haven’t looked back.

The people I met did not see me as weak; they saw me as a new business owner who needed help. What I did not know at the time, but have since been clued in on, is that many of them admired the fact that I didn’t hold back because my transparency was a sign of the integrity, I would bring to business dealings. In the years since, they’ve gladly introduced me to potential clients, vouched for me, bought me on to do work for their companies, and we continue to enjoy partnerships many years later.

Being willing to show my vulnerability has been a good thing for me, so when I encounter founders steeped in the ‘fake it, until you make it’ brigade, I often wonder if they have anyone in their group of advisors who will encourage them to drop the façade, acknowledge the areas of the business they’re struggling in, and ask for the help they need. The answer to this musing is that they probably don’t otherwise many of us would not feel the need to continue keeping up the guise. My advice to you, creator, as you start out on this path and stare down the road of many unknowns, is to get comfortable with accessing the part of you that doesn’t know as much as you think you do; then surround yourself with people who will make it safe for you to not have it all figured out.

It’s okay to not know how you’re going to scale to six figures, grow an audience, make a living, show up for yourself, and build a schedule to create content consistently, while still doing life. And it is okay to acknowledge that you’re still trying to figure it all out because we all are. That’s part of why I started The Creative Brink – to build safe spaces where we can talk about it and figure it out together.

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​​​​​​Love + Light,

​​​​​​LaTecia

​​​​Want more? Follow @lateciarising and let me know how I can help you scale as a creator. Want to support this newsletter and get featured? Drop me a line & I’ll be happy to collaborate.