It’s 10am, Friday November 17th, 2017 and I’m starting this post of How I quit my job and built two businesses becoming a full time entrepreneur and blogger as a way to record how I really finally quit my job and how you can too. Within these first couple paragraphs, I have actually not yet quit my job. You’re thinking why am I reading this then? But bare with me. I currently still work over 65 hours a week. I wake up around 6am to work on Teluna and OBJ, go to work from 8am-6-7pm, then come home and work again until around midnight and usually on Sundays. I’m giving my notice January 15th and I’m terrified.
I’ve planned my finances, my business plans, my goals and how to accomplish them. A plan, a daily panic attack and a shit ton of praying to God please don’t let this crash and burn. Reading this post you’ll actually be trekking along with me through my journey over the next months of the steps I took to I finally quit my job.
Let’s first jump back to 2 years ago, October 6th, 2015, when I launched my online home goods shop, Teluna on Shopify. I’d quit my graphic design job and spent a year and almost my entire savings building my company. Just months after my launch I got a job at a boutique shop in DC to learn the ins and outs of business and wholesale and moved to the city. I assumed this was just a little side job and that I’d have ample time to work on Teluna, make amazing city connections and learn so much about business. I was wrong. I was busy all the time and when I had time off I put my businesses second and social plans first. And on top of that, I made the biggest mistake anyone can make, in any aspect of their life, and that was letting a couple fails completely sabotage my entrepreneur mindset and confidence. OBJ lost almost all it’s readers (all of you wonderful people who I love!) due to a website catastrophe and Teluna’s sales and social media growth decreased exponentially. I’d felt defeated and I let those feelings win. Disappointment in my life and where I was with my businesses was a constant inner battle.
I remember in June 2016, after a break up with my boyfriend of 4years, I came home from family vacation sitting alone in my room and just began to cry. Like really ugly gross sobbing cry. What was I doing with my life? Certainly not accomplishing or working towards anything I was proud of. I pulled it together and took a long, very painful look at my businesses and decided right then and there to pull my shit together and start to build the life I wanted. That’s where you have to start. Maybe not after a full mental breakdown, but start where you are, with what you have.
[Tweet “Decide the life you want to live and start creating that life. -Diana, One Broads Journey”]
If you’ve ever been at work having the inner battle of… “I’m at work to make money to survive, then I go home and work on what I really want to be my career. But if I didn’t work here and only worked on my thing then I could be making enough money to survive and living the life I want.” Then its time to start making your plan. While no blogger or business owner can tell you exactly how to get where you want to go, I do believe your mindset and willingness to work separate successful entrepreneurs from the not so successful. Here is my journey of how I finally did it.
March 2017: Began the plan
For a week straight I sat at my desk at night and wrote specifically what I wanted to accomplish and the ways I could accomplish them. This would be my plan for how to leave my job and build my businesses. For example:
GOAL: By February 2018 I want to be a full-time business owner and lifestyle blogger
HOW?
- Find a job that I can work on my computer part of the time
- Start saving money using sites like Ebates (see how here) and Honey
- Write daily for OBJ
- Write a marketing plan for Teluna
- Start building business relationships by reaching out on social media and attending events
- Start taking business courses
June 2017: Started building momentum
“What you put in is what you’ll get out” is one of the truest statements I’ve ever heard. The more I worked on my companies, the more I saw a change and in turn, a profit. These are just a couple things I did with each company to start building serious momentum.
Teluna:
- Hired a sewer for art festival production
- Updated my Shopify settings and products – Shopify is an absolute must for building your online store. Read my tutorial on how to create your own shop in under an hour.
- Purchased a real archival ink artist printer
- Built a wholesale catalog
- Started reaching out to influencers and bloggers to promote Teluna products (if you want to work together please email me! info@telunalife.com)
- Implemented a social media marketing plan
OBJ:
- Took blogging courses and implemented their tips
- Took Michelle Schroeder-Gardner’s Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing course – if you ever want to learn how to make money from your blog through affiliate marketing this is an absolute must!
- Signed up for over 18 influencer accounts and applied to their programs
- Implemented a social media marketing plan
August 2017: Started building my social media accounts
I’m honestly one of those people who does not fully enjoy social media. I love Instagram but the time it takes to post and keep up with Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook I found exhausting and taking up a huge chunk of time. I decided to work smarter not harder and bought the next level of Buffer so I could plan pins for the entire month. I also invested in Board Booster, which has grown my Pinterest account and brought a huge increase in traffic to my blog. I posted at least 3 times a week on Instagram and started connecting with other writers and entrepreneur accounts on Twitter and Facebook. This allowed me to reach out to the people I really wanted to connect with without just hoping they would see my page.
November 2017: Committed to the pursuit of independence
In November, just after my birthday, I chose my quitting date and committed to the pursuit of independence. I would do whatever it takes to make my dream life a reality. I had been working for months writing, taking courses, emailing, applying to programs, marketing, and spending many sleepless nights sewing.
And then finally, my hard work began to pay off. Sponsorship and press trip opportunities landed in my inbox, high paying jobs began to surface, and Teluna started gaining sales. I couldn’t believe it. I was doing it.
A moment I’ll never forget was leaving my family after Thanksgiving; my sister in law, a fellow blogger and amazing photographer, giving me a farewell hug said: “You’re going to do it.” Not good luck, not hope it works out, but you are and you will. That gave me such a feeling of confidence I truly needed. Be sure to surround yourself with people who support and believe in you, it makes an unbelievable difference. They had faith in me that I, at times, didn’t have in myself. They were my first customers and are still my biggest cheerleaders. You have to believe you can do it, you have to see something bigger in yourself than anyone else will and you have to allow yourself to take the plunge. You can do this and you’re going to do it.
January 2018: Quit my 8-6 job
I wanted to stay as long as possible at a good paying job to build up my savings. I would work on OBJ until leaving at 7:30am, work from 8am to 6pm then stay up until around 2am working on Teluna. I did this for a full year until I finally felt comfortable about leaving my reliable income. I knew around October of 2017 that I could no longer balance a 65hour work week and two full businesses. When I had to work instead of taking a business meeting or not being able to work an art festival because I knew I wouldn’t have time to prepare I knew it was time to leave. I could never again let my two companies suffer or fail because of my current job. The balance had gone out the window.
I was so nervous to put in my notice but it was honestly one of the best moments of my life. Absolutely terrifying and exhilarating but the best. I’d describe it like riding a rollercoaster, when you’re at the very top, no ground in site, and in suspended open possibility you’re thinking “why the fuck did I put myself in this position” until you free fall into complete freedom and exhilaration and happiness take over and you arrive safely at the end. Today my balcony feels like my calming roller coaster exit wooded platform.
What Am I Doing Now?
Its Friday, February 16th, 2018 and I’m sitting on my balcony, overlooking the cityscape, writing this post as a full-time business owner and lifestyle blogger. I have two trips planned so far for the year and I’m making enough to sustain my day to day life. I’m nowhere near where I hope to be as far as income but I’m determined to get there. I’m happy.
I’m not happy all day every day. I’m not surrounded by perfect Instagram days filled with time snuggled on the couch with wine and relaxing like most people picture working from home to be. I wake up early and go to bed late. I often forget to eat. I hustle every day. I think my eyes are starting to deteriorate from staring at a computer screen all day. I cry roughly once a month from total anxiety and stress. But guess what?
I am the happiest I’ve ever been because I finally, for the first time in my life, feel most fulfilled and like I’m having an impact on other people.
All I ever wanted to do, and still want to do, is learn more, see the world, help others and create daily. I wanted to be my own boss, run my own companies and help build others in any way possible. And I now get to do that every single day. I sometimes pick up random jobs like babysitting when I have big expenses coming up, but that’s life and it’s all a part of the balance. You do what you need to do to make it work.
The courses I took and other business owners and bloggers I’ve learned from were a huge inspiration and great tools along the way. I’m very grateful that so many individuals are willing to share their knowledge and experiences to help others grow and that’s exactly what I want to do for all of you. I hope this post helps light a fire under your meant to be an entrepreneur ass and if you ever have any questions please feel free to email me anytime at onebroadsjourney@gmail.com or info@telunalife.com. Now GO BE A BOSS.
Related Articles:
- How to start a blog on WordPress and make money
- Earn extra money each month with Ebates plus a bonus
- How to build your online shop in minutes with Shopify
- How I Started A Company On My Own In 11months
- 8 Things You Should Know Before Starting A Handmade Business
- 12 Best Online Survey Sites To Join For Extra Money
- Must Read Books For The Aspiring Entrepreneur And Girl Boss
- How I Earned My First $562.83 From Blogging
This is such an incredible and inspiring story, way to go girl! Thanks for sharing your journey. ❤️
Thank you for sharing your story. It meant more than you know to hear those words. It can be done and you did it! Cheers! 😁❤
Hi Casey! That means so much to me, thank you! Anything you’re willing to work for you can accomplish too.