This isn’t Sustainable (Second Pivot Ahead)

I don’t know where to start, so I am just going to say it --- I’ve lost my way. I’ve veered off the original path and I am attempting to take another trail.  It seems an easy enough decision, but I've never taken this road before. I don’t know if it will propel me forward, stagnate me, or thrust me backward.  All I know is that my current route, my day-to-day work, has become unsustainable and I’ve had to take a step back to see more clearly.

This is my sixth year in business, and to me, having a business has been like creating a living, breathing work of art. There are always moving parts, but during my first couple of years, I didn’t believe it was anything I couldn’t handle myself. Naïve I know, but sure I was! Yet these past two years (you know the ones) have been anything but typical, and now more than half of my business has shifted away from its original “in-person” roots.

Like everyone in 2020, I pivoted to the “digital scene.” I created Zoom classes, monthly subscriptions and a Spanish digital curriculum for schools. I have loved witnessing my ideas blossom into activities for kids around the world. I couldn’t have done this without my digital platform.

It has been invigorating in a lot of ways. But something didn’t feel right.

Recently I took a look within and I realized that although my business remains rewarding to me, there are too many things that a digital presence requires that I can’t do myself. This seems easy to acknowledge now, but it took me a year to fully grasp.  Looking back, I see myself blindly diving into digital marketing content and while I strained to stay afloat, my passion sank unfinished work and worry. Worse still, it wasn’t materializing into something greater. I felt like I wasn’t giving enough of myself. The only thing was I couldn’t give anymore.

I started my business because I love working with kids and because I believe that my program can change the world. And for the first time in a while I actually feel sure of my destiny again. The only area in my business where I know I can easily succeed and be happy is to continue in-person programming and to create fresh content. I accepted that I can’t and I SHOULDN’T do it all myself. And now that I’ve let that go, I see another path laid before me. Second pivot dead ahead.

Stay tuned for next month’s blog for my pivot release! I’ll give you a hint — it’s in-person but it includes a screen!

What do shaker shakers, bubbles, Britney headset, projector and mega screen have to do with my newest pivot?! Find out next month! Write your guesses below!