Vicki 0:00
Do you consider yourself resilient? And what does that even mean to you? In this podcast Resilient Entrepreneurs with Two Four One, we chat with business owners about what resilience means to them. And we go deep!
Laura 0:20
What we've learned from running our own businesses, you're never alone even when it feels like it. So tune in anytime to this podcast. We're always here for you celebrating resilient entrepreneurs just like you. Were Laura and Vicki from Two Four One, a marketing company for early stage business owners who want to launch, grow and be resilient.
Vicki 0:38
Most kids mow the neighbour's lawn for an extra buck but our girl Laura, now an industry leading graphic designer and brand strategist, when she was a kid Laura repaired lawn mowers for the neighbourhood. She has been taking it to the next level since she was a child! No wonder I love working with you! And what do you do when you're five months pregnant and you unexpectedly lose your job in a redundancy? Tune in to hear what Laura did next.
Now celebrating 10 years as an entrepreneur, Laura describes what freedom really feels like. And if you're getting ready to launch a new business or a new product, she's most passionate about this topic, so this episode is for you. Partner, let's do this! Hello, and welcome to Laura Ann Bell. It is my absolute privilege and pleasure to introduce you to the Resilient Entrepreneurs podcast today and it is my privilege and pleasure to have you as my esteemed business partner.
Laura 1:33
Oh, thank you. Same time, same.
Vicki 1:37
So it's our turn to dig deep and learn a little bit more about you. We're going to be asking entrepreneurs all about them and their journeys through this Resilient Entrepreneurs podcast series, and why not start with you? So we have a bit of an icebreaker for you. Tell us what was your first ever job? And how old were you?
Laura 2:02
Oh, always a favourite question. I mean, I won't include like the lemonade stands that I think me and my friends used to have on the side of the road when we were very little, but my first job that I recall really actually making money was fixing lawn mowers believe it or not? Yeah, I was really good at it. Yeah, I didn't like cutting the grass, per se but I can actually fix a lawnmower. My grandmother's friend, we lived with her back in the day, used to have a lawnmower repair business. It was just his hustle and he taught me how to fix the lawn mowers. So I could fix the pulley and kinds of things, and the engine and change plugs and all this good stuff. Yeah, that's what I learned how to do. And it was really cool. And I got $20 a lawn mower and I was very proud of that.
Vicki 2:47
How old were you?
Laura 2:49
I think I was about 11 or 12.
Vicki 2:51
Wow. $20 a pop. That's a pretty lucrative business right from the get go.
Laura 2:57
It was good money. It bought a lot of candy at Jack & Jills back in the day. It was, I think all I spent my money on. So yeah, and then the next job I really remember was working at a nursery school when I was 13. Coz what happened was the summer before I was 12 and my mom you know as moms do, need to find a way to keep their children busy during the summer so she put me in sailing camp and no offence to my sailing friends out there, I hated it. I hated it, I didn't like it, I was terrified of it. I didn't like the deep water, I didn't like the thought of animals I couldn't see swimming below me, I didn't like any of it. I tried every which way I could not to ever have to do that again. So the next summer I was like, I'll get a job, I'll find a job Mom, don't worry, something to keep me busy. And I got a job working at a nursery school for the summer as like like a counsellor and it was amazing. And then after that I always worked and hustled and made money every holiday I possibly could.
Vicki 3:52
I love it. And I'm sure all those skills have come forward in your current business. You know, many of our members and clients, and people who listen to this podcast, they're in their early stages of business. So tell us a story, take us back to the very beginning when you became an entrepreneur, how did that happen? And what was it like in the first few months?
Laura 4:16
Yeah, it's a good question. I did not plan it, it kind of all happened for me. Although I will say I think I've always been an entrepreneur at heart because I've always had a hustle. Even when I had a full-time job I always had a side job. I was a graphic designer by trade, that's what I went to school to learn and I was always able to pick up, you know, side jobs, doing graphic design for all kinds of different businesses and clients along the way. So you know, I would do that on evenings and weekends and whatnot.
So anyway, it goes back to 2012, I was five months pregnant with my daughter, my second child, and I was made redundant from my job and it was terrifying at the time, being in that position. My son was already in school and he was at a private school. So there was bills there, I had mortgage, I had all the reasons why, you know, all of a sudden becoming an entrepreneur was absolutely terrifying. But because I was pregnant, I kind of had the mindset of like, am I gonna go look for a job at this point, it didn't seem to really make sense to look for a job, knowing that I'd be going on maternity leave in a couple of months. And what does any of that look like? So because I'd have that side hustle going, I was like, well, let's give this a try and see if that works. So I kind of just jumped in like two feet, you know, just started talking to more clients picked up more clients, as people knew I had more availability, it kind of started to build and it really just grew and built sort of organically that way. And after a few years I had a little moment of wobble and I thought, well, maybe I'll go back into the corporate nine-to-five world because you know, all the worries that you have and security and you know, not having health insurance paid for you and all these things started to get to me. And so yeah, I went on a little wobble, and I applied for all these jobs and thankfully, none of that worked out and I kept going on the entrepreneur path.
Vicki: It sounds like the Universe had other plans for you.
Laura 6:03
Yes. And I'm really glad it did. But doing that exercise of applying for jobs, I think it helped to clarify a lot for me, because I started to think about, you know, what would loss of freedom look like? And, you know, what would I be trading, going back into the nine-to-five world? And yeah, the trade off just really wasn't worth it and I kind of did look at everything from my finances to my freedom and I was like, you know what, the entrepreneurship thing is working, it just takes a little more perseverance, and I kept pressing on, and there you go, now I would never go back. But back then yeah, it was, there was a moment, there was definitely a moment of weighing it all up.
Vicki 6:42
It feels like the safer option doesn't it sometimes? It feels like an easier option, because entrepreneurship isn't all glam, you know, there's a lot of waking up in the morning just not feeling like it or feeling exhausted, or just like you've been trying so hard at one thing and it doesn't seem to be resulting in what you dreamed of, or what you'd wanted. And sometimes it's just easier to think I'm gonna do something else. But then those moments, I find that to take one more step, and it all comes up, and it all works out.
Laura 7:16
It's so true. And especially in those early years, you know, when you haven't quite met the salary you used to have or, you know, maybe it's really hard to pay bills this month, because clients haven't paid you and, and all those things. And yeah, there's definitely in the early years is a lot harder. I think now I'm just in a totally different space but back then in the beginning, it was very stressful and very worrying. When you have kids and responsibilities, it's a lot harder to take the leap into entrepreneurship, but I certainly wouldn't give it up now.
Vicki 7:47
Yeah, and it's been 10 years now Laura?
Laura 7:49
It has been 10 years. I'm very excited to celebrate my 10-year anniversary this year, which I like to tell people, only 30% of entrepreneurs make it to their 10 year mark in one business and I have and I'm really really proud of that.
Vicki 8:02
You should be, definitely, congratulations!
Laura 8:05
Yeah, thank you.
Vicki 8:06
So you've talked a bit about the freedom of being an entrepreneur? Is that what you would consider to be the best thing about it? Or what else would you say is the reason for being an entrepreneur?
Laura 8:17
Yeah, definitely the freedom is a huge part of it, especially as a mom, as a single mom, having the ability to be there for my kids to go to sports day without having to ask for time off, you know, it's really small stuff like that, that makes a big difference. Or if my kids are, you know, home sick, I don't have to worry about juggling, they can come lay on the couch, and I can pull up the laptop and keep working. You know, being able to just roll through the pandemic too is a big part of it, I was able to just kind of keep going, I was already used to working from home, it was very normal for me to have this type of situation, where a lot of people had to majorly adjust to work from home. That has been my norm for the last decade. So the freedom is definitely the biggest part, but also the ability to really control my own destiny. You know, I'm not having to wait for a boss to give me a raise or look for another job when one falls through. Like it's really all on me to build whatever type of career, life I want and that's amazing.
Vicki 9:15
Yeah, I've heard you share the expression before. When you're an entrepreneur, it's all on you - and it's all on you!
Laura 9:24
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm a person that I will admit, I like control. I like to be in control of my life. The hardest thing I find in anything is when I'm out of control or I can't manage my own situation. So having that control over my life is where I like that it's all on me. I like that part, that feels good to me because it's like whether I win or lose, whether I fail or succeed, it's on me so it drives me. I find that very empowering and it very much makes me want to get up in the morning and want to work hard, want to do well for my clients, want to create beautiful things, because it's just all on me. and I don't have to rely on anyone else. And I don't really have people relying on me other than kids, of course, but I mean, within my career, it's all on me. So it's a good thing. It's really just a matter of perspective. But it's also stressful too, because at the end of the day, those bills are all on you as well, right?
Vicki 10:21
Yeah, yeah. And I guess what you charge clients, how you package your products, all of that is within your control too, or as a business partnership, it's within our control. So I think, you know, being an entrepreneur allows you to play with some of that and really stretch your offerings and see what you're truly worth. You know the whole conversation about what are you worth? And are you paid what you're worth in an employment situation? Not to say that this whole episode is about employment bashing because it isn't, jobs are very useful things and even as entrepreneurs, we are hiring people and they are employed so you know, it's a two way street.
Laura 11:03
Exactly and the thing I love to say, when people are kind of on the fence about entrepreneurship is, well you're either an entrepreneur or you work for one. So that's kind of great because if you think about it, every business in the world is started by an entrepreneur, at some point, it was created by someone, or a partnership with people like Two Four One has been, but still, it's created by entrepreneurs. So we're creators, that's the beautiful thing about entrepreneurship. And when you are a creative, whether it's fine art creative like I come from, or in lots of other ways you're recreating stuff, we find needs, we fill needs, we create things that people need. And it's so exciting to be that to be builders, you know, we're building the next, you know, going forward. And I actually, I think, another one of my favourite parts of entrepreneurship is the build, you know, being able to build and create and we've talked about that plenty of times how much we just love development.
Vicki 12:02
We were laughing, just for the sake of our listeners, we were laughing the other day and saying 'what if we just did a business where we just built products, we could just be in product development'. And that's what we do, because we're just so addicted to doing it and we're good at it.
Laura 12:17
We're good at it and it's so fun! And honestly we've gotta tell people, when you work with Two Four One, you've got to be careful what you ask for, because we will be ready to build something for you, you come to us with an idea and we're like, Yeah, let's go, let's run with it. Because we just get really excited in that space, it is so awesome to work in that start-up space, and to work with people who just have that idea. You know, and they're kind of figuring out how to make it a tangible reality, it's the best time because you can just brainstorm and come up with every which way it could work, and then narrow it down to what's actually going to work and move forward with that and that's such an exciting space to be in.
Vicki 12:58
It really is, and I love it when someone will come to us with an idea because that's their baby, that's their idea and they already have a vision for it. But then when they come to us, we just blow it up so much bigger because I think, you know, as a person with an idea we don't really give ourselves permission to dream that big, but because we're coming from the outside we can just take that and say, Oh, I can see it being applied here, and you could do that, and you could do this and what if you collaborated with this kind of a group, and people's head starts spinning. I love it, they'll leave with gratitude and with the bigger thinking.
Laura 13:40
I think that's something that especially those of us that come from a small community, wherever you come from you know, a small town or small country like Bermuda, you know, it's easy to stay in that small minded thinking and think your market is only you know, 60,000 or half of that, or a quarter of that, or a 10th of that whatever your target is, and you start thinking you've got to, you know, stay within these borders and within this mindset. We believe so much bigger than that right? We believe this is a great place to start, I tell people all the time for me, this is the best place to beta test anything because we have such great infrastructure and you know, intelligent people and well educated people and diverse backgrounds and all that, like test anything here and then go global. Like we've got to think big. No matter where you come from, you just got to think bigger than that and then the world is your oyster, you know, because often the needs we have here, the same needs people have elsewhere, you know, and now we're so interconnected, right? We've got the ability of the internet and social media and all of that to to reach people anywhere so why do we think so small? Why do we limit ourselves so much?
Vicki 14:48
It's all about limiting beliefs isn't it? Yeah, we can talk about that.
Laura 14:55
Yeah we could talk about limiting beliefs for days I mean, I know I've definitely dealt with that and suffered through a lot of imposter syndrome over the years, raising my prices, which you mentioned a bit earlier about prices, is one of the hardest things I've had to figure out. The thing I think I like the least is the billing and the pricing and all of that. I just want to do the work, I want to be creative, I just want to create beautiful things for people. But having to bill for it, I find really, really hard and then what is your worth? You know, how can I charge this much? Am I worth this much? Will they pay this much? Will I lose a client because I raised my prices? I think all that's something you learn, right?
Vicki 15:34
And does it matter? Absolutely, knowing your own worth is probably one of the hardest things to grapple with as an entrepreneur and I was going to ask you, what's the downside of it? And also, have you ever been in a place, you mentioned before, that you had a kind of a topple where you thought you'd go back into full-time employment and you started applying for some jobs, etc. Was there ever a time when you just thought, I've had enough? I'm gonna quit this, I'm just not doing this anymore? Did that day ever come?
Laura 16:05
Oh, yeah. I mean, I was very close there. Well, what happened was in 2015 I was becoming a single mom, right? So I was making a choice to leave my relationship and take it on all by myself, you know, with two kids both in school and you know, all of a sudden it was was literally all on me, you know, I didn't even have a partner to lean on to help. And that was really probably the scariest time you know, the part I questioned the most, could I do it? I mean, I had matched the salary I was making when I was working full-time so I was proud of that, like, I'd come up to my salary but now, it was the pressures of doing it all on my own. So I got really scared and that's why I started applying for jobs. And one worked out amazingly because once I found out the salary was less than I was already making with none of the freedom and I was like, OK, that's an easy, forget that right. And then the other one was, was really juicy and something I would have loved to have done and I got really like excited, I got down to a second interview it was so close and then they just decided not to fill the position they changed what they were doing internally and it was heartbreaking, because I kind of got ready to go back with that right? Because it was going to be more money, it was going to be the type of job where I would have been in a managerial position and I would have, it was a good step up. And then I thank God, I didn't get it because honestly, I think it would have changed the trajectory of my life so much. And definitely I had some divine intervention I think, helping with that. It did turn into projects with the business, and it turned into - a lot of great things came out of that. So glad I went through that process but all of that taught me 1) that I was actually doing better than I thought I was, so that was really helpful and 2) I had to really examine Do I move forward? Do I give up? Do I quit the entrepreneurship? How much did I like the entrepreneurship thing, and then it gave me I think the real push to go further and faster and that helped. And then I will say when we started Two Four One I wasn't ready to quit at all, but I was definitely ready for next steps because I kind of knew doing this on my own forever wasn't going to be good. You know, I kind of was, I just I didn't see it going much further by myself, I really was looking for a partner and that's why Two Four One came along at the exact perfect time. And when we started building together it's just been exponential since then. So I would actually recommend anyone out there who is a solo entrepreneur, if you can find the perfect partner, the right partner that really, not matches your skills but rather complements them and build something together. It's not like two plus two equals, you know, it's just goes so much bigger than that, it's just, it's it's massive, it's a big difference. I think what it has given me is the confidence to take bigger risks and that was the hardest part about being a solo entrepreneur was taking risks. You know, I definitely played in the safe zone for most of that time.
Vicki 19:09
I would have to agree with you there partner. It also helps me think bigger, because I'm thinking bigger for someone else. It's always when you're doing something for someone else, that somehow you're willing to stretch a little further.
So what about failures? Talk to me about failures in your entrepreneurial journey.
Laura 19:31
I don't know if I have any really big failures but I think that's partly because I've haven't taken really big risks. No, so that might not be a good thing right? That may not be a good thing. I think failure is really important to learn and grow from but I think because of the level of responsibility I was managing by the time I was an entrepreneur, it was very hard to take risks. I stayed very safe, you know, kept clients happy, kept going and kept my prices as low as I could, you know, that was my mindset, it was just keep them happy, keep them good, you know, stay safe. I think if I had been in my 20s when I became an entrepreneur or even just before kids, I think I would have probably taken bigger risks and had greater failures. I definitely made mistakes. I can talk about mistakes that I've made. You know, in graphic design mistakes kind of come with a territory, there's spelling issues, and yeah, kind of made a big spelling mistake on the front cover of a commemorative magazine, I spelt commemorative wrong! 5000 you know, printed! Pretty painful, I only found out, you know, after it was published. A lovely friend pointed it out.
Vicki: Oh dear, distributed? No pulling it back and doing a reprint?
Laura 20:54
No, it was good and done I mean, you know I learned a lot from that. I've been quite a particular person my whole career anyway, but boy am I particular now!
Vicki 21:04
And in fairness Laura, I'm certain that you weren't the only one looking at that front cover before it went to print so we'll give you a break on that one.
Vicki 21:21
Alright, so let's jump in a time capsule, you're going back 20 years knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self?
Laura 21:30
I love that question. You know what I would take risks, definitely don't be afraid to take risks, learn your value earlier, charge more, increase your prices. But really, the biggest one is get a mentor. I think that would have made a big difference in my life. I think having a mentor would have helped me be braver, take those risks, but also just I don't know, I'm a really big believer in getting help when you need it. I've always been a super hyper independent person, I think it's my coping mechanism, but yeah, being hyper independent is definitely something I've had to work on. And with a business partner I've been more aware of it than ever, which is a good thing but certainly, that I think would have helped. So get a mentor, I'd advise that for anyone even if you're not an entrepreneur, just get a mentor, you know, talk to people and they really help you I think progress in your career faster. Find someone who is where you want to be, really, and just get in there and talk to them, meet with them, make it a regular thing, they will help give you that confidence you need, that advice you need to just progress further faster.
Vicki 22:36
Who would you consider to have been your best mentor in life.
Laura 22:39
I'm very lucky in that I came from a family of entrepreneurs, I definitely think that helped my journey be a little easier. Like my mom's an entrepreneur, my sister's an entrepreneur and lots of other friends and people in my life are entrepreneurs. So I would say my mom has been a huge mentor in my life. She's a very grounded person, she gives amazing advice, she listens extremely well, but she was not really a risk taking person either. So she's still looks at me like I've got three heads when I tell her some of the things I'm doing. She's like, Are you sure that's a good idea? Yep Mom it probably isn't but I'm doing it anyway. YI'm taking the risk, going for it. Yeah, I've had a couple of mentors in the arts worlds, you know, as a fine artist, Bruce Stewart some locals probably know, Bruce Stewart he really helped me when I was looking for university and helped me with my portfolio and just kind of encouraged me to go after being an artist. Because you know, again that was kind of a risky thing, I guess back then. Yeah, because everyone was like, I was very good at school, I was easy A student, I love school. I you know, it all came quite easy to me. But I wanted to be an artist, right? I loved art. So it was kinda like, Well, how do I be an artist and have a career because I also knew I wanted to be independent and not you know, live at home forever. So I went with the graphic design route which was very smart I think, I look back and it was a very smart decision to do. Very practical, yes, I am a bit of a practical person but even that, when plenty of people were saying, Well, why don't you be a doctor or lawyer or an accountant, you've got the grades for it, you can go to any university, you can get a scholarship. You couldn't get art scholarships back then. There was like one available I think, if that. So that was a pretty big decision to make. Yeah, I'm very glad I had a great art teacher in high school that really, really helped just encouraged me to keep going with it.
Vicki 24:29
Teachers can make such a difference in the path of a person's life. Incredible! So we call this Resilient Entrepreneurs, what does resilience mean to you?
Laura 24:40
I think it's perseverance. You know, it's really just keep going through the hard times. I will admit I've had a couple of years ago, a whole month where I had $0 in my bank account like nothing, clients owed me money, couldn't get them to pay and I still had to buy groceries and you know, all the things. It got really scary, the cupboards were bare and the bills were piling and I was getting really stressed up and scary, but it was just keep going through it, you know, just keeps pushing through it. And then the next month was better and the next month was better and then I was determined to never see that again, right? That does kind of help. You kind of learn, because entrepreneurship is a roller coaster it really is. There's going to be months when you're swimming in it and fantastic and everything is ticking along and it's easy and it's flowing and everybody's, clients are all paying their bills, and there's nothing going on. And then things like pandemics happen and you know, everything shuts down and life turns upside down. And it's just about pushing through because there's always something better the next month, is just a whole other month, the next year is a whole other year and every year has grown and built and gotten better. So you have just got to keep pushing through.
Vicki 25:56
I love that advice one day at a time eh? Look it has been a joy getting to know you better and we hope that our listeners have taken some nuggets of wisdom and inspiration from this. So let us know what you thought of it, and I look forward to seeing you on the next podcast Miss Laura.
Laura 26:19
Thanks, Vicki.
Vicki 26:21
So thanks for joining us on Resilient Entrepreneurs, we are Laura and Vicki from Two Four One. We love supporting entrepreneurs, especially with mindset, marketing and motivation, which is why we've built an incredible community of business founders who meet weekly in the Level-Up League. If you'd like to know more about it, look us up at www.twofouronebranding.com
