A birthday worth celebrating

Go shawty, it’s our birthday (this is a millennial reference, please chill). Well, four years and a pandemic later, here we are. This milestone feels particularly celebratory as so many businesses have navigated a lot of uncertainty in the last two years.

It’s hard to put into words how we’ve evolved since the beginning. We raised $350K in a crowdfunding campaign, opened two locations, raised $1.2M in venture capital, launched a digital community within 24 hours of a temporary closure due to COVID, produced hundreds of live events and hundreds of hours of on demand videos, and we are about to go national with a digital platform that is doing the most good for our communities. We are weathered, but we are smarter. We are tired, but we are resilient.

The work of four entrepreneurs is restless. We get up everyday with a never ending to do list and the audacity to reimagine the future of work. One major benefit of this business is we get to see the results. We see members signing contracts, hiring talent, prioritizing themselves, and finding joy in the hardest of times. This is what keeps us going.

We’re celebrating our birthday the best way we know how: sharing insights from our journey to help the next generation of leaders.

What we’ve learned:

1. Stay flexible. What you started will not always finish where you think it will. Just like a runner stretches before and after a run, an entrepreneur must practice stretching their minds beyond the barriers you can see. The more you think expansively about what’s ahead of you, the smaller the challenges will appear because you’ll have built enough stamina to meet them head on and leapfrog them. You can read more on our major pivots in 2020.
2. Control what you can control. There will be 1 million things you didn’t anticipate when you start a business. Rent will go up, sales will go down, things will break, and relationships will be tested. One of my favorite quotes from my co-founder Bethany Iverson is, “All I can do is keep my side of the street clean.” When shit hits the fan, sometimes all you can do is have a good attitude. But you have to make that conscious choice.
3. Listen, act, hold yourself accountable. This applies to everything. Whether you’re trying to launch a new product or building a culture of inclusion in your workplace, the work starts with deeply understanding the nuances and needs of your stakeholders. Once you have your blueprint, take bold action. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, just stay curious! No one gets it right all the time. Those missteps are just opportunities to hold yourself accountable, learn, and grow. Our Community Pulse Study proves the power of accountability in organizations big and small.
4. Trust your gut. When you’re connected to your community, your gut won’t let you down. Your intuition is that pull to leap, to try something new, or to pick yourself up. But do the listening thing beforehand, so your ego doesn’t lead you in a direction that might feel good but doesn’t serve a purpose.

Despite the uncontrollable, we still remain hopeful. Our members are doing amazing things and inspire us to be better, do better, and celebrate everything. Each day of the last four years has been like experiencing every emoji all at once. I promise there are more 😂 than 😭.