Why creating your sister*hood doubles your pleasure and profits.
Since 2012, I’ve built my business through Sisterhood … a few brothers are here too.
I was one of the first entrepreneurs in my circle to do a Facebook group challenge (Enchant Challenge) and a free (Enchanted) entrepreneurs circle Facebook group back in 2013 through 2015.
The idea for Higher Ground was birthed in the Summer of 2016, but with my divorce and the death of my beautiful Mama, I put all plans on ice so I could grieve and restore. The idea for my next tribal venture waited patiently for me.
Fast forward to 2018 …
This year I launched my dream day job, Higher Ground: Practical Magic for Women Entrepreneurs. It hasn’t been easy getting this sweet baby off the ground, but so worth it. It was a way I could give back to other women entrepreneurs after 20+ years in my marketing, copywriting and teaching careers.
There have been moments when I wondered if it would ever take off.
I doubted myself. I felt depressed, like a failure or a fraud. I cried.
This was one of the hardest birthings I had ever done; never have I wanted something to work so badly.
I didn’t give up.
I worked my arse off for the past year listening to what my women, my sisterhood, needed the most. In the moments when I was losing faith, I received LOVE letters from these women. I will share some of these in the coming weeks.
These letters gave me the strength to keep on, keeping on. I’m glad I did too.
Here are 4 reasons to create a strong sister*brother*hood, or to join an established one:
👑 You need a network to expand your business. Need more clients? Client referrals are great, but I’ve found that my business grows faster when my sisters and I refer clients to each other.
My sisterhood stepped in more than once to refer me new clients. In fact, 35% of my business came in through my women, my sisters, who believed in me. Even at the times I didn’t believe in myself.
👑 You can’t do your marketing all alone. Besides hiring a VA and other professional help, my sisters and I brainstorm ways we can help promote each other. We’ve held group giveaways and masterminds together so we can help each other get new leads and build our newsletters.
👑 There will be moments when you fall, or worse yet, want to give up on your dreams. To be an entrepreneur means to take great risks. There are times when those risks don’t pay off.
Your launch crashes and burns with smaller sales than what you were hoping for. A client decides to leave you high and dry. You can’t make a deadline (due to death in the family, illness, accident) and have to eat crow.
This can be debilitating. It can shake you to the bones, totally strip you of your confidence.
Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve failed many times over (at least in my own eyes). Sisters came to my rescue to encourage and love me up. I’m grateful. So, so grateful.
👑 There will be moments when you soar and succeed beyond your wildest dreams! Guess what? You’ll need your sisters at that time too, maybe even more. Why, you ask? What happens to me and what can happen to you is what I call “The Big Leap” syndrome. I’ve seen this time and time again.
You launch your biggest thing EVER. You get what you want, meeting or exceeding your sales goals. You are on cloud nine, soooo high and overjoyed. And then …
Crash.
Very few people will admit how sad, exhausted and depressed they may feel after a successful business launch. It’s a story that they think no one wants to hear, or worse yet that people would judge them as spoiled or ungrateful for having those feelings.
Post-launch depression is real my friends. I’ve had it and have seen others go through it too.
The sisters in my world have been loving and non-judgmental at times when even my beloved or family members didn’t have the same kind of compassion. Other women entrepreneurs, my tribe to be exact, do not judge me.
They patiently listen. They hold me through the painful times. They witness.
Make time in your busy schedule to create a tribe of your own, or join one that feels luscious, warm and inviting. You won’t regret it.
