Changes at E-Spark

It’s 8.17am on a Tuesday morning. I’m back in the hatchery after the bank holiday weekend. It’s hard to believe that today is the start of week 4 at Entrepreneurial Spark!

I am already starting to see a massive difference in both myself and my business. A large part of that has been because of working in the hatchery. Anyone who works from home knows how difficult it can be. It’s not just about self-discipline and motivation to get going, but also being able to switch off at the end of the day. Unfortunately my home office is also my bedroom. No matter how much I tried to unwind and watch a bit of Netflix, my computer was always there, watching me!

When I started at E-Spark I had a general plan of where I wanted to take my business, but was kind of floating in a no-business land of what exactly to do next. I had 100 ideas, endless enthusiam and about 5 variations of my business. I think the stress of not knowing which bit to tackle first was starting to take its toll on me. That term ‘like a headless chicken’ very much applied to me. But already by the start of week 4 I know EXACTLY what my plan is and where I’m going. It’s like I’ve found a new business mindset and already the results are starting to show. Just a couple of days ago I secured my biggest deal so far for Brave & The Bold.

Personally I feel like I’m starting to settle in. This is the first time I’ve been in an office environment since my one and only terrible experience with employment (story to follow). There is a real sense of community and comradery in the hatchery. Everyone is so willing to help each other out and to spend time getting to know you and your business. I know it has helped me immensely to be in an environment where you can almost reach out and touch the energy in the room. So far I haven’t had that ‘Monday morning feeling’. I’ve been genuinely excited to come into work and get cracking with the day.

Tomorrow we have our second compulsary workshop. I’m trying to talk myself in to volunteering for the one minute pitch event we do before we get started. Speaking in front of a lot of people comes with an extra set of problems for me. I tend to get a lot of sensory overload which more often than not triggers a stammer. Then there is that whole thing with eye contact. It’s not that I don’t try to look someone in the eye, its more like the rest of my mind shuts down whilst I try to process what I’m seeing. Someone I know who works with people on the spectrum says my brain is trying to read the faces of all those I’m looking at at once; ending up with a little implosion of data. Mix that with general nerves of pitching and trying to remember what it is you want to say!

On Thursday I have my first temp check with my enabler Clare. During our ideation session a few weeks ago I revealed to her that I was Autistic. I was a little worried that she’d give me that familiar look of ‘bugger, what do we do with you’. But I really should not have been worried at all. In fact she asked how they could help make things better for me. It really helped settle my anxiety about fitting in. Sometimes you only need someone to say ‘it’s ok’ to feel 1000 times better! I know mentally I’m still recovering from past experiences where others haven’t been as open. But I really feel like E-Spark is geared to the Entrepreneur in everyone; no matter what kind of person you are or any difficulties you have. Even though my Autism is a life-long condition, I really feel like I’m making headway in developing coping strategies. I’m sure with practice and a few tricks I can get even better and something like pitching will become a lot easier.