I’ve shared pieces of this before,  you may have seen my TikTok about my top 3 business mistakes that blew up back when I was more consistent on that platform (we can’t do it all all the time, amiright?!). But today I’m going deeper, because honestly? 

These lessons are at the core of EVERYTHING in my business.

The reality is, I could pretend I’ve always had it together. I could show you the highlight reel:

• being sold out for years (yes, YEARS), 
• having a waitlist, 
• picking my kids up from the bus stop every day. 

But that’s not the whole story, and you know what? The messy middle is where the most impactful transformation happens.

Too many business coaches only show you the wins. But me? I’d rather pull back the curtain and share REAL stuff too, because if my struggles can help even one creative entrepreneur avoid the same pitfalls, then sharing my journey is worth it.

So grab your coffee, and let’s dive into the 5 biggest lessons that transformed my creative business from a stress-inducing hustle to a sustainable, fulfilling business that genuinely and consistently supports the life I want to live.

1. Waiting Too Long to Treat My Business Like a REAL Business

In the early days, I treated my graphic design business like an expensive hobby that occasionally paid me. I was playing business like a game of make-believe instead of running a REAL business. 

What did that look like?

Wishy washy contracts, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pant processes, no boundaries with clients, and definitely no CEO mindset. I thought being “professional” meant being stuffy and corporate (from my creative agency days). AKA everything I was trying to escape from.

The Reality Check: When a client ghosted me after I’d delivered final files (without getting final payment first… rookie move), I realized playing small wasn’t protecting me from anything. It was actually making everything harder.

The Transformation: I invested in proper contracts, set up legitimate business systems, created standard operating procedures (and realized I was really good at it), and most importantly, started showing up as the CEO of my business, not just a graphic designer who occasionally got paid. This shift didn’t make me corporate, it made me credible.  Soon, client relationships were smoother and they even started referring high-quality projects! 

If you’re still operating from a personal email instead of a professional account, accepting Venmo payments, or delivering work before getting paid, it’s time to level up. Your creative work deserves to be treated like the legitimate business it is. It starts with YOU, then everyone else will follow.

2. Trying to Do ALL THE THINGS Myself

I wore my ability to “do it all” like a badge of honor. Designer, accountant, social media manager, copywriter, VA, customer service rep – I was a one-woman show and exhausted to prove it. I told myself I couldn’t afford help, but the truth was I couldn’t afford NOT to get help.

The Breaking Point: I was spending hours every week on tasks that weren’t in my zone of genius and frankly, that I hated. But the thing that really got me? I knew delivering free educational content consistently was one of my core values. It’s how I serve my community, fill gaps in the creative business industry, and build trust. But I was either burning myself out trying to write every blog post myself, or dropping the ball entirely when client work got busy.

The Shift: My first hire was my copywriter to help with the blog writing process. This was huge for me because it meant I could stay aligned to my values (delivering free, high-quality educational content consistently) without burning myself out or abandoning those tasks when things got hectic. That one decision freed up hours every week and let me focus on what I do best.

Today, I have a lean but mighty 2-woman team behind me. They help with various aspects of my business, allowing me to stay in my zone of genius while still delivering on all the promises I make to my audience, while I manage all client-facing tasks.

Here’s what I know now: trying to do everything yourself isn’t noble. It’s a fast track to burnout and a ceiling on your growth. Start small if you need to, but whatever you do get started. 

3. Being Reactive Instead of Proactive

For years, I lived in constant firefighting mode. Client needs a revision? Drop everything. Inbox full? Clear it now. Someone wants a proposal? Work till midnight to send it. I was so busy reacting to everyone else’s priorities that I never had time for my own.

The Cost: While I was working IN my business plenty, this reactive approach meant I never worked ON my business. I had no long-term strategy, no consistent marketing, and no predictable pipeline. I was essentially building the plane while flying it, and let me tell you, that’s terrifying at 30,000 feet.

The Breakthrough: I implemented something I call “CEO Fridays.”  This is one protected day every week where I don’t take client calls, don’t check email until noon, and focus entirely on strategic business development. This includes content creation, pipeline development, system improvements, and planning.

This single change transformed everything. Having dedicated proactive time meant I could finally create the systems and strategies that moved my business forward instead of just keeping it afloat. Now, my business runs on intention, not desperation.

4. Thinking the Feast-or-Famine Cycle Was Just “How Business Works”

This one. THIS ONE nearly broke me. And I mean that literally. It drained my confidence as a business owner and made me feel like I wasn’t cut out for this.

I’d sell my heart out to land a project. Then, as soon as I made a sale, I’d put my head down and deliver (and over-deliver) getting so wrapped up in it that I didn’t have any time, energy, or attention to keep selling or marketing myself. I was so worried about delivering on that thing I sold that everything else disappeared.

When I’d finally surface after finishing a project, I’d realize I had nothing. Nothing lined up. No idea where the next paycheck was coming from. Starting from scratch every. single. time.

The Toll It Took: This led to major anxiety (and yes, I mean the kind that keeps you up at night wondering how you’re going to pay your bills). It completely tanked my confidence. I started thinking maybe I just wasn’t skilled enough at making sales quickly, or maybe I wasn’t cut out for business at all!

And here’s where it got really toxic: that desperation would lead me to discount my prices. Some nibble of a lead would come in and I’d be like “I’ll make you a deal!” or “I can do it for less!” when I should have been standing my ground. But discounting only made it worse because then I needed that next paycheck even sooner.

The Game-Changer: Now I have marketing and sales systems and rhythms in place that keep growing my audience and filling my pipeline even when I’m busy with client work. This includes:

• Regular content that showcases my expertise
• An email nurture sequence that builds trust with potential clients
• A referral system that incentivizes past clients to send new business my way
• Strategic partnerships with complementary businesses

The Result: I’ve been sold out for YEARS. With a waitlist for when openings pop up. And you know what? Being sold out is a good problem to have. It means people want more of you than there is to go around.

This continues to give me peace of mind, stability, confidence, and predictable income. I always know that when one client wraps up, there is someone waiting to step into that spot. And obviously that has also improved my pricing and allowed me to really make it what it needs to be for my time, energy, and for my business to be sustainable.

The feast-or-famine cycle isn’t inevitable… it’s optional.

5. Letting Everyone Else Define What Success Should Look Like

This is near and dear to me, which is why you’ve probably heard me talk about it before. But here’s the full story.

It started innocently enough. First, I just needed to make my first sale. Then it was hitting my first six-figure year. But when I hit that milestone? Suddenly it was “you need to make a six-figure MONTH.” The goalposts just kept moving. I was never happy with the level of success I had achieved because there was always somebody (peers, my parents, clients, the community as a whole) who defined success differently.

And you know what? You’re never gonna fulfill every single one. You just aren’t. And if you’re chasing that, it’s gonna be a nightmare, and you are going to fail.

The Breaking Point: Chasing those higher sales meant I was compromising on my own values and why I started the business to begin with. Instead of actually being WITH my family, I was distracted by work. I was missing time with them to respond to clients when I shouldn’t have been. Late-night calls, weekend interruptions… it was mentally draining. I was a ball of stress.

And then I hit full-blown burnout. 

My Wake-Up Call: I had to go back and really figure out: What does success mean to ME? What are my values? My non-negotiables? What am I willing to do? What am I NOT willing to do?

For me, success is deeply personal. It’s being there when my kids step off the school bus. It’s not having my time with them interrupted on weekends by client calls. It’s not doing late-night calls that steal from family dinner conversations.

The Transformation: I created my personal definition of success, and now it is my North Star and my measuring stick for ALL of my business decisions. It’s how I decide what opportunities to take, what to pursue, what to say no to, how many clients to have, what my prices should be, what my offers include and what they don’t.

Today, my business might not look impressive by traditional metrics. I’m not hitting seven figures, I don’t have a huge team, and I’m definitely not working from a different tropical location every week. But I’m profitable, fulfilled, and present for my life. I work with dream clients on projects I love. I have predictable revenue and true work-life balance.

Look, I’m not content with everything 100% of the time, and I’m not successful 100% of the time. But I always know what I’m working towards. I know when I’m headed in the right direction, and I know WHY I’m doing it. And that makes all the difference in the world. This clarity allows me to keep showing up and feel good about it, knowing that at the end of the day, I’m doing my best and I am successful on my own terms.

The Truth About These 5 Lessons

If you’re wondering whether we can really have it all (a thriving business AND be there for what matters most in your life) the answer is yes. But not the way everyone else tells you to do it.

These ah-ha moments didn’t come from someone else’s playbook. Every single one of these lessons came from friction and fumbles. From doing it “wrong” first. And that’s okay. In fact, it’s more than okay, those “failures” were necessary.

We all learn by doing, by experimenting, by messing up, by dusting ourselves off and trying again with new information. 

If you’re in the messy middle right now, know that it doesn’t have to stay this way. Every struggle is teaching you something that will make you stronger, smarter, and more resilient.

These five lessons? They’re at the core of everything I teach, everything I do, everything I believe about running a creative business. Because at the end of the day, what’s the point of being your own boss if you’re more stressed, more overwhelmed, and less present than you were in your 9-5?

Your version of success might look different than mine. Maybe it’s not about school pickup. Instead, maybe it’s about traveling, or having creative freedom, or building generational wealth. Whatever it is, define it for yourself. Make it your North Star. Because I promise you, chasing someone else’s definition of success is exhausting, and you’re never gonna fulfill everyone else’s expectations anyway.

COO Tip: If you’re ready to get clear on what success actually means to you, I created a free resource to help you define it. Grab your copy of my Define Your Success exercise here. It’s the same process I used to create my own definition that now guides every business decision I make, and it’s what I use with every single coaching client.

If any of these lessons resonated with you, here’s what I want you to do: Pick ONE thing to focus on. Don’t try to overhaul everything at once. Maybe it’s finally hiring that VA, or blocking out CEO time, or sitting down to define what success means to you.

And no matter what action you take, be sure to give yourself grace. Building a sustainable creative business is a marathon, not a sprint. Every speed bump along the way is a lesson, every struggle is strengthening you for what’s next.At the end of the day, you and I both know, you didn’t start your creative business to build another prison for yourself. You started it for freedom, fulfillment, and the ability to do work you love while living a life you love. That’s still possible. Actually, it’s waiting for you on the other side of these lessons.