I rarely discuss the business side of my life And I think that's for two reasons.
Number one, because I fear it's boring. Number two, because I feel like it doesn't, align with how people see me.
People don't look at me and think, now that's a businesswoman.
People look at me and think, that's a silly, goofy girl.
And understandably so, okay? Listen, when I think of the stereotypical business person, I don't think of someone who... burps on camera and farts on camera and is so silly.
I don't think of that either. So whatever, I get it.
But there definitely is... a business-minded section of my brain.
I do feel a little uncomfortable that it exists. because I've always felt uncomfortable by my various contradicting personality traits. but undeniably it's there.
Well, let me split off on a little tangent here.
It does make me uncomfortable that I have contradicting personality traits.
And I know that that's not healthy because we're all very complex as human beings.
And No one perfectly fits into a stereotype, okay?
We're all so different. You know, I'm really into fashion and music and art But I'm also kind of a gym rat who occasionally...
Drinks protein powder after I lift weights.
You know what I'm saying? Stereotypically, those two things they don't go together.
But in the being that is me, those two things go together.
Similar to how I am business minded, but yet I'm also very casual.
And some might even consider me to be unprofessional.
Depends on what you consider unprofessional.
I just don't take... myself very seriously.
So I don't feel the need to be all proper.
And that's usually how we imagine a business person, right?
That's a whole topic in itself. Maybe I'll make an episode about that at some point, but that's not what we're talking about today.
Today we're talking about business. An interest of mine that rarely gets any airtime because of the reasons that I previously mentioned.
But I'm done hiding this side of myself.
Thank you. Okay, I'm done. I'm finally going to let the business-minded side of myself Speak.
This is an ad by BetterHelp. The internet is a big place, and the info you find isn't always the most accurate.
Every time I look up wellness or mental health tips, I met with so much information, I don't even know how to sort through it.
And not all the information you're gonna find online is from people who really know what they're talking about.
There's so much advice online, it can be overwhelming.
And knowing what works for you isn't easy.
That's why it's important to use trusted sources or even better, talk to a living, breathing person who can help like a therapist.
They're trained to help you gain confidence, improve relationships. to share positive coping skills tailored to you specifically.
And I'll see you next time. As the largest online therapy provider in the world...
BetterHelp can provide access to mental health professionals with a diverse variety of expertise.
Talk it out with BetterHelp. Our listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com. slash anything.
That's betterhelp.com slash anything. This episode is brought to you by Squarespace.
Have you ever been shopping online and the Gave you the ick.
Let me tell you, that wouldn't happen if they used Squarespace.
Squarespace Design Intelligence empowers anyone to build beautiful, more personalized websites tailored to your unique needs.
And with Squarespace payments, it's super easy to manage payments with just a few clicks.
Plus, with Squarespace's integrated and optimized SEO tools.
There's all the help you need to get people to your site.
Head to squarespace.com slash Emma for a free trial and use code Emma to save 10% on your first purchase.
This episode is brought to you by eBay. We all have that piece That one that's so you.
You've basically become known for it. And if you don't yet, you'll find it on eBay.
That Miu Miu off the runway, red leather bomber.
The Cusco Barcelona cowboy top or that fleece in the 2017 colorway All of these finds are on eBay, along with millions more main character pieces, backed by Authenticity Guarantee. eBay is the place for pre-loved and vintage fashion. eBay.
Things people love. I'm no genius, okay?
But a few years ago, I started my coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee.
And I started this business with a strong idea of what I wanted to do. but little to no entrepreneurial experience.
And I've really had to learn as I go through this process.
And there has been so many challenges. throughout this journey.
And through every challenge, I've learned probably more than I ever could have in school.
I had this sort of rare opportunity to start a business with little to no experience because...
I had a career on the internet prior to starting this business, which gave me the resources to reach out to people who knew a little bit more about how to make a business vision come to life than I ever could.
And I was sort of thrown into the whole thing, completely naive. completely a teenager.
And through the process, I've... not only learned a lot, but also grown in appreciation for the process itself.
And today what I'm going to do is list 10 of the challenges that I've faced running a business.
And I'm going to talk about what those 10 challenges taught me now.
Entrepreneurship is a hot topic right now.
I looked up the statistics. over the last three or so years, it's become... much more popular to start your own business.
And I think in light of that statistic...
I might as well put in my two cents that no one asked for.
I might as well share a few of the things I've learned.
Why not? I think it's important to discuss the challenges that come with starting your own business.
Because a lot of times we romanticize the idea in our heads.
I know I did. Before I started my own business, I was like, this is going to be so fun.
It can be, but it's challenging enough and scary, and risky, and heartbreaking. and terrifying.
And I feel like talking about that side of entrepreneurship, is important because it's the reality of it.
And it's not all sunshine and rainbows like I anticipated it to be.
So I present to you 10 challenges I've faced running a business. and lessons I've learned from each one.
The first challenge I faced is... how long everything takes.
Everything takes a very, very long time. when it comes to starting a business.
It takes a really long time to build a vision that feels complete.
And not only does that take a long time, it takes... even more time to actually execute that vision.
When I started Chamberlain Coffee, I had this whole idea of what I wanted the brand to be. what I wanted it to look like, what products I wanted to sell, et cetera, et cetera.
When Chamberlain Coffee initially launched, it was one. one 100th of what I wanted it to be.
We started out with one product in very simple branding.
And the reason for that was because we didn't have the money to do anything else.
It costs a lot of money to have multiple products available on your website.
It costs a lot of money to... hire designers to execute your aesthetic vision.
And when you're first starting a business, a lot of times you don't have the money to do those things.
And so you have to start a lot smaller than you want.
And you have to wait a really long time to actually fully execute your vision.
Now, that addresses the timeline, the long, long timeline. of executing the overall vision.
But there are much... smaller things that require a lot of waiting as well.
When it comes to producing new products...
It takes such a long time for everything to be made. whether that's because you're testing samples or... you're waiting for certain manufacturers to have time to manufacture your product or... you have to test your product.
And sometimes that testing process takes a long time.
Sometimes you have to get your products certified.
Certain products... have to go through this intense process. to create the nutritional labels, etc., etc., right?
It takes a long time to get from idea to product in your hand.
Right? And that's okay because that's how it works.
You know, if you... Check every box and you... take your time to do every step properly, you have the best chance of putting out a great product. right, that has all the certifications, is safe, is... high quality, et cetera, but it can be frustrating, right?
I personally have a tendency to want to do things fast.
Right. I, I want to come up with an idea and have it be ready to sell in the a month.
That's not realistic at all. Not remotely realistic.
Because there are so many steps that have to be properly... addressed for a product to be created.
And It just takes a lot of time. And the thing is this is not a real issue.
This is not a real issue. This is not a real challenge.
But I felt the need to mention it because it can really lower morale at times.
When you're running a business and you have this vision, and you want to execute it, but it's taking so long, it can really... ruin your spirits.
And for a long time, I felt this way about Chamberlain Coffee because I had all of these big ideas. and it was taking so long to execute everything.
And I was so frustrated. But all that did was just make me feel uninspired.
And so what I learned from that experience was You have to be patient and you have to just be grateful for the pace that you're going at.
It's similar to like growing up. we tend to just want to be adults.
We want to just grow up and be adults and have independence and be able to do whatever we want.
But when you're so focused on the future, you don't get to appreciate the present.
In retrospect, when I look back at the past few years of Chamberlain Coffee, I realize how...
Beautiful it was when we were such a teeny tiny company.
When our team was... tiny, like five people tiny. there was something really beautiful about that time.
And yeah, it was frustrating because we couldn't execute all the things we wanted to execute.
But that was a part of our journey. And that was really fucking cool.
And like... There's nothing wrong with that phase of a company.
It's crucial. It's crucial to... Start there.
Challenge number two, you will fuck up along the way.
This has been probably one of the hardest times things to deal with for me.
Because I, like many of you, I'm a perfectionist.
I want everything to be perfect. I never want to fuck up.
I never want to make a mistake. This is something that goes beyond. the business side of my brain.
This applies in... every corner of my life.
I'm obsessed with being... perfect, but not it's weird because I guess it's not across the board in my life.
I'm not obsessed with looking perfect. necessarily.
I guess I'm obsessed with what I do being perfect.
You know, my actions being perfect. I definitely struggle with perfectionism. in my morality, I want to handle everything as morally right as I possibly can.
And that can be hard because it's like, okay, well, where's the room to fuck up?
Like you need room to fuck up. but I don't like to give myself that room.
Same thing with the business side of my brain.
I want to only put out products that are perfect.
But what I've realized is that's completely unrealistic.
It's completely unrealistic. As much as I'm a business-minded person, I'm also... a customer myself of many products, right?
I am a customer myself. Before I started a business, I had... no room in my heart to forgive businesses.
Because in my head, I was like, Companies have no excuse, okay?
Their massive... corporate machines. They should never, ever fuck up.
Now, when it comes to certain fuck-ups... that can harm somebody's safety.
That's another story, okay? That's different because there's much less room for forgiveness there.
And I don't know if there should be room for forgiveness there.
Okay. When somebody's, Safety is in jeopardy.
That's a whole other story. But when a product arrives in your hand and it's not completely perfect, That's still not cool.
And that still shouldn't happen. But I realize now why it happens.
You know what I'm saying? It's impossible to...
Never fuck up. Right? I remember the first fuck up. we had with Chamberlain Coffee was our mugs were not packaged as well as they probably should have been for shipping in the mail.
And so some of them came broken. It wasn't a lot.
It was maybe... 10 of them. But I'll tell you, I was a fucking mess over this.
I was heartbroken because I Someone out there was excited about that mug and they opened up the box and And it was broken.
And they had a terrible experience. Now they have to go and take time out of their day to message customer service and say, my mug came broken.
Can you send me another one? And it's the worst fucking feeling in the world.
It's the worst feeling in the world. And I felt a little...
Blip of that. More recently, Chamberlain Coffee launched canned lattes.
Now, these lattes have a very specific recipe.
They are made with almond and coconut milk.
So they're dairy-free. They have a very coffee forward flavor because that's personally what I prefer.
So we launched this product and we had a batch of, of these lattes that had an issue with the coconut milk sort of coagulating and separating creating this sort of like congealed coconut milk So it sort of had an unfortunate appearance.
And obviously, the product was still totally safe to consume. but it had a consistency issue and, and people were really upset by it.
And I, understandably so, because obviously we're used to drinking a latte and we're used to thinking of milk, like normal milk, and what that consistency is like.
And obviously, when milk starts separating and congealing, that means it's gone bad, right?
With coconut milk, it's the complete opposite.
It's just a natural thing that happens. We tried to formulate the product so that it would never happen.
But we had one small batch that went out into stores. into Walmart stores that did have that issue.
And... I really... This was so heartbreaking for me because...
We just launched this product. I'm so stoked on it.
I'm still so stoked on it. But we had an issue in production.
And luckily, it was... Totally safe to drink.
It was just not an ideal customer experience.
You can feel like when you're running a business that you checked every box and you did everything right and you did everything that you could have done and you can think, oh, I've thought of everything, right?
But these things happen these things happen.
And as long as everyone's safe and nothing was dangerous and everything was gets fixed.
You go back in and you rework things and you fix it so that it doesn't happen again.
That's all you can do. And I've learned... a lot from fucking up along the way.
I've learned, number one, the importance of getting back up and fixing the problem.
Number two, I've learned the importance of customer service, taking care of the people who took a chance on your product and being like, what can we do to make this experience better for you?
You know, how can we take care of you. It's so important to take care of your customers and to make sure that they feel heard when they're not satisfied with your product because either you fucked up or just they don't like it, right?
So I've learned a lot about that and how important that is.
I've learned forgiveness. Forgiveness...
Across the board, right? With myself, with my team, with whoever.
Forgiveness. Because we can look at businesses as these huge, like, you know, corporate machines that have no feelings.
But when it comes to a smaller business, It's all humans in there.
You know what I mean? Like... It's still bizarrely human.
And in the case of Chamberlain Coffee, like every product is sort of touched and loved by a person on its way to the customer's hand.
It's not like it's all just a bunch of robots doing everything and whatever.
It's shockingly human in a weird way. So when you're running a business, you have to learn to forgive yourself. yourself and the other humans involved in keeping the business running because things might go wrong and they will go wrong. this episode is brought to you by cozy getting your home to not just look right but also feel right is so important.
I think what I love most about my home is how There are so many little details around the house that bring me so much joy.
We'll be right back. naps on there. I get a bunch of work done on there.
When I'm shopping for a I'm looking for something that's comfortable, but also fun to look at.
That's why you've gotta love Cozy. Their furniture is modern, practical, and designed to make your day-to-day feel a little more, well, cozy They're modular and customizable, so if you wake up one day with the urge for a new look, Cozy makes it so easy. easily switch up the layout, switch up the style, switch up the color.
With cozy sofas, you don't just get a new nap spot, but the freedom to change your mind.
Transform your living space today with Cozy.
Visit Cozy.com. That's C-O-Z-E-Y.com. The home of possibilities made easy.
This episode is brought to you by IKEA. Classes check.
Textbooks? Check. Backpack? Packed. A dream study space doesn't have to break the bank.
With IKEA's College Essentials, it's easy to create a space that sets students up for success.
They've got affordable solutions and designs that help students customize their space the way they want it.
No time to shop in store? Choose pickup from thousands of locations or...
Find affordable delivery options that take the stress out of getting set up for college.
Check every box on your checklist while starting the year in style.
Shop now at ikea-usa.com slash readyforcollege.
The third challenge I've faced is the fact that not everyone's going to like your business.
You will never be able to please everyone, okay?
Everyone has different preferences. Everyone has different tastes.
And there's no such thing as a business that's loved by 100% of customers.
Okay. you could have an incredible product out there that is high quality and thoughtfully done, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
There's always gonna be somebody out there who doesn't like it, okay?
But here's the thing. If you believe in your brand and you believe in yourself, The fact that not everyone likes your brand should be neither good nor bad.
It should be neutral in a way, right? I'm talking about when people don't like your brand because they just simply don't like it.
Not because... there was a production issue or... something came broken and the customer service was terrible.
I'm talking about when somebody just doesn't like the core of your brand.
They don't like the aesthetic. They don't like The product itself, it's just not for them.
It's not their style. It's not... their flavor preference, if it's a food or beverage, et cetera, et cetera.
They just don't like your brand. They just don't like it Because they don't like the core of what it is.
They simply do not like it, right? That's what I'm referring to here.
I don't think that Thank you. the critics should ever be ignored.
But I also don't think that they should be taken to heart, right?
There's sort of this healthy middle ground that you must find when you have a business. where you're listening enough to take notes and be like, huh, maybe these are great ideas that I could integrate down the line.
Like maybe... the critics do have a point.
Maybe the brand could shift in this direction or shift in that direction and improve.
But... I'm not taking them so seriously to the point where every time a critic says something, I immediately make that change to my brand, right?
You have to listen, digest it, you know, give it the time of day and then Decide what you want to do.
Ask the people you work with what you all want to do for the brand.
You should definitely keep an ear open. But final decisions should be made by you in, in the core team of the business, like what are we doing next?
Right. You can't, listen to what critics say to a point where it's like they might as well be hired as your CEO.
At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourself and in the business enough to...
Pick and choose what pieces of... I guess you could say you want to take from the critics, right?
I'll give an example. So again, going back to the canned... lattes that I referred to earlier that had the issue with the coconut milk.
This was the first product that Chamberlain Coffee had ever put out that was... sort of pre-made, right?
It was a pre-made latte. that is to be consumed out of the can, ready to drink as is, The recipe is the recipe.
That's it, right? Prior to that, we'd always come out with raw ingredients, if you will, right?
Coffee beans, cold brew bags to make cold brew, you know, matcha powder, right?
Like, we've mainly come out with products like that that are sort of a raw ingredient, something that you use to make your beverages at home, where you have all of your other ingredients that you can add in, whatever.
This was the first product that we had ever put out that you couldn't necessarily personalize super easily, right?
And I wanted to make something that was as close to my own personal recipe as possible.
Because that was sort of fulfilling a dream for me.
But I'm somebody who likes non-dairy milk. particularly almond coconut milk.
That's my go-to. And I'm somebody who likes... coffee that's strong.
I've always really liked strong coffee. And So that's what I made, right?
Now, everyone's taste is so different. Like to me, Our canned lattes are delicious.
Like I love them. You know, like I'm drinking one right now.
They're coffee forward. They're not super sweet.
They have this sort of nice nut milk consistency, but not everyone liked the flavor. of the canned lattes.
Like some people really didn't like them.
A lot of people wanted it to be sweeter.
A lot of people don't like almond milk. A lot of people don't like coconut milk.
We all have such different preferences, blah, blah, blah.
So what I decided to do was... think about what we could develop next that would satisfy the people who didn't like this original recipe.
It's a little bit more coffee forward and uses almond coconut milk, what could we do to... sort of satisfy that customer as well.
And so that's coming out at some point, but you'll see. but something a little sweeter something you know something with a different type of milk, not almond coconut, you know, not to say too much, but You get what I'm saying.
So we've been working on formulating that, obviously going back to challenge number one. takes so long.
So it's so frustrating to me. I'm like, I see that there's a desire for, you know, a canned latte that's more like this.
Some people like the one that came out. Some people like it as is.
Some people want this other thing. Ooh, I just want to come out with the other thing right now.
Gotta wait. That's fine. That's a part of it.
But, you know... Personally, I still really love this original recipe.
That's always going to be the recipe that I probably go for.
But I agree that it would be great if we diversified our product range in that category.
So I was super excited to go and develop this new product that aligned more with what a lot of the critics were saying about They wished were different about this original recipe.
I sort of made the decision, well, this original recipe is something that I like, right?
I'm not gonna listen to the critics and say, oh, I'm just going to take away this original recipe because there were people that criticized it.
No, instead I'm going to go and make something that satisfies them as well.
So now I just get to appeal to even more people.
So it's about sort of using the criticism as... inspiration and not taking it too personally, just being like, great, thank you for the insight.
If this feels right for me, I'm going to listen, you know?
Okay. Challenge. Number four. It is very, very expensive to run a business.
Just to keep a business afloat, You're spending money on so many different things, whether that's materials, employees. production, it's endless.
You know, like it feels like, oh my God, like it costs a lot of money.
And a lot of times when you're initially growing a business, all the money that you make kind of has to go back into the business. in order to keep it afloat, right?
With Chamberlain Coffee, for example, I have never made a penny from it.
I've only ever invested money back in. Now that's something that I'm very fortunate to be able to do, you know, but in a lot of ways, you know, Chamberlain coffee for me at this point right now, it's not a paying job for me. right?
It's something that I'm building and I have been building for the last few years.
Because I really want to build this brand and I don't really care about the money is, right now.
Obviously, I would love to be able to profit from it at some point because obviously, I'm putting work into it and time into it and it would be nice to have it be a part of my income, right?
Naturally, obviously. But that's not my number one priority. with it.
And I'm more focused on growing the business than I am profiting from the business, which is why I've never...
I've never personally profited from the business, right?
I've never... received an income from the business.
It can take a lot of time to get to a point where an entrepreneurial endeavor is... your mainstream of income.
It can take a lot of time because you're building something from the ground up.
And to grow the business, a lot of times you have to spend a lot of money.
And I think the money element of it all is it's very...
It's very overwhelming at times. I think anyone who... have started a business has found themselves in a place where they're like, oh my God, What are we going to do?
Are we running out of money? Like that, I think that's a very common experience to be like, oh my God, how are we going to, business afloat.
We need more money. And that's heavy. That shit can get really heavy.
And I think that's why it's so important to balance... your desire to make money with your genuine desire, passionate about what you're doing, it's unrealistic to say, well, you shouldn't care about money at all. we all need money to survive.
So it's not, that's completely ridiculous.
But I think it's important to balance your... focus on money with your focus on creating a brand that excites you for whatever reason that it excites you.
Next challenging thing, you can't do everything yourself.
I'm a control freak in every way shape or form I like to do everything myself and I would actually be a lot more successful if I was not this way.
Because listen, you can only do so much by yourself. right?
One person building a house will take 50 years.
20 people building a house could take a year.
You get the idea. That's basic, simple eighth grade math.
Now, some people don't struggle with this.
Some people don't mind hiring people to do things for them, right? like to do a lot of things by myself.
I have a hard time trusting people to execute what I want them to execute. for me.
And this is something that I'm trying to get over because When you're running a business, you have to delegate tasks.
You have to give tasks away. You have to bring in other people who can do things for you.
You can't do everything yourself. but it can be challenging at times because people can't read your mind, right?
So if you want things done a certain way, you have to make sure that that's understood.
Right. You have to explain that you have to give. the people that you hire time and space to do that, right?
To execute that. And you have to put trust in them and that can be scary.
You know, I think a lot of people feel like, oh, it'd just be easier if I could just do everything myself But that's also stifling how evolved things can become through teamwork.
Teamwork truly does work. change the game when it comes to brainstorming, et cetera.
Like, Teamwork really helps a business grow and evolve, right?
That's how rapid growth happens, right? Rapid growth rarely happens when you do everything yourself.
You can't do everything yourself. That's the main point here.
With that can come frustrations. Things are not always gonna be done exactly how you wanted them to be done.
You have to put trust into others, which can be scary and uncomfortable at times. but not being able to do everything yourself. is so great.
It's one of the most beautiful parts of running a business is that you have to work with other people.
You have to rely on other people. And not only does that inspire great conversations, but it also helps to develop new ideas that you never could have come up with on your own.
So for me personally, not being able to do everything myself is a challenge.
But what I've learned over time is that it's such a beautiful challenge.
Like it's truly... a great challenge if that makes sense.
Challenge number six, social media makes running a business a little bit more complicated.
For the last hundred years, marketing has been much more cut and dry, right?
Billboards, commercials... newspaper ads, magazine ads. word of mouth, et cetera, et cetera.
I feel like marketing trends moved much slower back in the day, right?
There was sort of a predictable marketing structure.
Whereas now... Social media has completely taken over marketing.
It's kind of become this game of like, which brand can go viral this week, right?
Virality has become the most effective form of marketing Yet, in my opinion, it's the most challenging thing form of marketing there is it's the least predictable you know trends and algorithms are constantly changing. on social media, like at a rapid pace.
It's very hard to keep up. And when you're trying to scale a business, you have to be sort of tuned in to what's going on on social media so that you can utilize it for marketing because it's become such a, powerful marketing tool using social media.
But it's so much more challenging to figure out how to do it.
You know, traditional marketing isn't as powerful anymore. because social media marketing has become the main way that people... find out about products.
And in a lot of ways, it's great because it's a lot cheaper.
In a lot of ways. it can be produced and posted much faster.
There are some benefits to it, but it's much more challenging to predict how successful it's going to be.
It just, it feels like a free for all. And it's, I don't know.
I've just personally found it to be very overwhelming.
Because you can't force something to go viral.
Yet virality is the peak of marketing right now.
So it's like every brand's goal is to go viral, right? because that is the most effective form of marketing today.
But yet you can't force something to go viral.
Whereas you can pay X amount of money for a TV commercial to air once on a certain network and guarantee that X amount of people are going to see it if they, you know, are whatever. virality is so much less controlled.
You know, there are so many variables. And it's just unpredictable.
So... I don't know. There are pros and cons to social media marketing.
Pros would be that it's you can be a little bit more creative and, you know, as a brand, you have more control, right?
Cons, it's much less predictable. Like you don't know what's gonna work and what's not gonna work.
And it's kind of a game of luck in a weird way.
Like it's much harder to strategize. But I think what I've learned from this challenge is like, Bloom where you're planted.
You know what I mean? We're living in this time when social media marketing is... the most effective form of marketing.
And so lean into it, you know? and do your best this episode is brought to you by Mentos gum I think we can all agree that keeping things fresh is a must.
Of course, you've got to keep your breath fresh, but don't stop there.
You can also freshen up the So pop some Mentos gum and maybe put a little extra effort into your outfit today. or try a new workout class, or order something different at your local coffee shop today.
Refresh the everyday with Mentos gum. Available in a range of fresh flavors like spearmint, fresh mint, and strawberry.
Mentos gum. Yes to fresh. Hey there, you're here because you know that in life, anything goes.
And whatever comes your way, you want to have options.
Plan B emergency contraception is one of those options.
It's backup birth control you take after unprotected sex to help prevent pregnancy before it starts.
It's legal and available in all 50 US states.
And there's no age restriction, so anyone can buy it.
Together, we've got this. Follow Plan B on Insta at PlanBOneStop.
Use as directed. the statistics are against you.
You know, like, Anytime you decide to go on an entrepreneurial journey, you're going to have a lot of people saying, Well, the statistics are against you because almost everyone fails.
And that's true. That is absolutely true.
You might fail and the statistics are not on your side, okay?
But what I've learned is... I can't control if I fail or not necessarily.
I can control... what I'm working on today, trying to make the brand as great as it can possibly be, try to do so in the most thoughtful, genuine way I can and the rest will happen as it does, you know?
I've learned to not fear failure too. Because not only does it distract me from... focusing on the moment on the present moment and what I can control in the present moment.
But it also prevents me from wanting to take risks when I'm too afraid of failure.
I don't want to take risks. And I would say 99 out of 100 times, when you're doing something entrepreneurial, you have to take risks or else, You're not gonna stand out.
You're not gonna do something differently. in a way that sets you apart so that in a row full of brands, you're the one that gets chosen. because you're different.
Being afraid of failing because the statistics are against me has only just made my chances of succeeding lower.
Because I'm too wrapped up in shit I can't control.
And I'm too afraid of taking risks. Challenge number eight, people will try to steal your ideas.
When you're a smaller brand and you start picking up a little bit, there's a chance that your ideas will get stolen.
Now, this is scary because if a larger brand goes and steals your ideas...
That's traumatic. That's traumatic because that might, there's a chance that that could ruin everything, you know?
If you don't have things properly trademarked, et cetera, et cetera, or patented or whatever it may be, And I don't really know if there's a lesson in this one.
I think it's just one of the challenges that comes with building a business from the ground up.
As you're building up, there's a chance that your ideas might get stolen.
And there are ways that you can protect yourself against that, but it's definitely a challenge that comes with it.
And, you know, with Chamberlain Coffee, we've had an instance or two where there was an issue like that.
But- It was luckily resolved very quickly through communication, simply just communication.
And thank God for that. So I've been very fortunate thus far.
But... It's definitely possible. And it's just a challenge that comes with it.
Challenge number nine, the pressure is huge.
Number one, because your family, your friends, your peers, your enemies, everybody is Might be doubting you a little bit because again, the statistics are against you when you're doing something entrepreneurial.
The statistics are very much against you.
If you Google how many businesses succeed, it's a very small percentage, right?
With that comes people who doubt you. There are obviously going to be people who believe in you to the core, but, there are gonna be a lot of people who doubt you.
And at times you might doubt you and that's okay.
It's okay for people to doubt you. And it's okay for you to doubt you at times because that's reality.
The reality is that it might not work. You know, but we all have an ego in one way or another.
And with that ego comes the pressure to prove people wrong. that creates a lot of pressure to succeed.
The pressure also comes from the sacrifice that goes into doing something entrepreneurial, you know?
You sacrifice a lot of money and time to start something like this, you know?
And when you sacrifice anything, there's pressure because you're like, I want this sacrifice to be worth it.
Or else what a loss this is. You know, not only did I lose my dream, but I also lost this time and money.
Fuck. there's a lot of pressure. And last but not least, a lot of us put pressure on ourselves Because we sort of plan our lives around an entrepreneurial endeavor working out. we might shape our lives around this idea.
Like, okay, this has to work because this is my end game plan. career move or whatever, you know?
And, All of those three things combined create a lot of pressure.
There's just a lot of pressure for things to work.
And that pressure can be distracting at times and exhausting at times because you You want to focus on grinding and getting shit done, but you can crumble under this pressure.
Because we can only take so much pressure before we crumble, right?
And... I think there are ways to alleviate the pressure. but you're always gonna deal with a little bit of pressure, right?
There's always gonna be at least a little bit.
There's actually always going to be a lot, but there's a way to make it a little less. the first way is to sort of remove your ego from this situation.
And it's so hard to do that. And it's a lot easier said than done.
But I think instead to have your ego be fed by whether or not the company succeeds, I think it's even more beneficial to Boost your ego through your work ethic, working hard and doing your best.
That's a much better place to put your ego.
Ideally, you can remove your ego from the situation completely and let the experience humble you because it will, but that's a hard thing to do, right?
And I mean, now that I'm even thinking about it, having your ego be attached to your work ethic can also be toxic, right?
Because If your ego gets boosted every time you're working hard, then you'll never want to give yourself a break.
And that's not healthy either. I don't know.
Ideally, again, you can just remove your ego from the situation and let it humble you instead.
I think there's also something to be said for being really, really smart about when we make an entrepreneurial move, weighing out the risks. being realistic about if it's the right time to do something like that. so that we have the room to fail.
And our lives won't be completely flipped upside down. setting yourself up to succeed but also fail is... a really great place to be because you're able to relieve such an immense amount of pressure, which will just... make the experience more enjoyable, but also give you the freedom to think outside the box and you're not afraid, you know?
You're not afraid to think outside the box and do things a little bit differently because... you don't feel this pressure for things to work out perfectly, you know?
And challenge number 10, starting a business and running a business is consumes your life in a way that's Incredible, by the way.
This is not a challenge challenge. It is and it isn't.
It's a challenge because... It can be emotional.
It can really consume you. It can feel like an extension of you in a way.
And you can become very emotionally... involved to a point where It just consumes your life in a way.
Obviously, I just said it can consume you completely on an emotional level. because it feels like an extension of you and it feels like your baby almost, right?
But then... on top of that, the work never runs out, especially when you're in the first few years of developing a business, The work never ends.
It's not like, oh, I'm just clocking out now for the day. there's always more to be done.
There's always more to be working on, but you have to be strict with yourself. so that you don't overwork yourself to a point where you're just burnt out and you can't even do anything anymore, you know?
It can be hard to find balance when doing something entrepreneurial because Every part of the experience... ties to your personal life.
You know, it's emotional, but it's also time consuming. and the work never runs out, and it's very hard to separate yourself from it at times.
So anyway, that's all I have for today. Okay.
I have to pee so bad. I really have to pee.
But that is... That's a little chunk of my wisdom, okay?
Listen, do I know what I'm talking about?
Sure. You know, sure. I have some experience, uh, but I don't have everything all figured out.
And to be honest, no one does. when it comes to anything entrepreneurial at all, Actually, when it comes to anything in life, period, no one really has it all figured out.
Nobody really... knows what they're doing because things are constantly changing.
And it's impossible to keep up 100% of the time.
And so nobody really has it all figured out.
And that should be somewhat comforting to you.
But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this episode. enjoyed hanging out.
As always, I really enjoyed hanging out and talking today.
To you, it's always such a pleasure. And if you enjoyed it, Come and tune in every Thursday and Sunday.
New episodes every Thursday and Sunday. Watch video exclusively on Spotify, but listen anywhere you stream podcasts.
Follow Anything Goes on Instagram at Anything Goes.
Follow me on Instagram. at Emma Chamberlain.
Follow my coffee company that we talked about a lot today at Chamberlain Coffee on Instagram.
Go check out Chamberlain Coffee in stores.
Target, Walmart, Sprouts. Air One, ChamberlainCoffee.com.
Go try our canned drinks at Walmart. They're at Walmart exclusively right now.
Try everything else on the website. Let me know what you think.
That's all I have for today. I really appreciate you all listening and hanging out.
And it's always such a pleasure. It really is.
And I can't wait to talk to you soon. All right.
I love and appreciate you all. Bye.
