My Top 14 Lessons in 14 Years of Business

With every new business year, I like to sit with what it’s taken to get here. 

Fourteen years later, here’s what I’ve learned. I’m walking you through 14 of the most important lessons I’ve learned that not only shaped my path, but the ones I believe every entrepreneur (especially moms) needs to hear.

TL;DR? Listen to the podcast episode instead!

1. Customer service comes first.

At the end of the day, if we don’t have customers, we have no business. 

So if you’re experiencing high turnover, struggling with retention, or always chasing sales, then something has to adjust. 

My question is always this: Why aren’t people staying?

Today’s customers have endless options. They can choose from a million different businesses that all do the same things.

What sets you apart is your story, your presence, and the personal touches that make people feel like more than a number. 

Whether you’re a team of five or 500, thoughtful connection and real results matter. Ask for feedback. Follow through on your promises. Make people feel seen and they’ll stick around.

2. There’s always going to be another opportunity.

There’s a huge difference between saying yes because you're truly excited... and saying yes because you're afraid to say no.

So many of us make decisions from a place of fear—especially the fear of missing out. 

I once had a client get a major opportunity (like Gates Foundation-level major). 

But, the dates she was needed conflicted with a long-awaited family vacation. We talked it through, and I asked her, What would happen if you asked for a different date? She hesitated, assuming it was a one-shot deal. But guess what? They actually had other options and it worked out.

Just remember there will always be another opportunity and to just say yes to the things that feel truly aligned.

3. Everything falls apart if you don’t have a solid foundation and your foundation is you.

Oftentimes we use our businesses as a distraction from the things that are right in your home., but the reality is, they're going to keep popping up. 

Think about what is occurring when you are alone. 

And then think about what is occurring when you are in your home. 

If you feel anxious and stressed and emotionally heightened the majority of the time, if your home and your relationships feel reactive and chaotic, that is not a solid foundation to build from. 

So if your marriage is crumbling, if your relationships with your kids are stretched thin or non-existent, if your relationship with yourself is suffering, that's gonna show up in your business eventually, and you can only ignore it for so long. 

4. You need relationships that you feel safe in.

When you feel safe in your relationships, you are going to get a better transformation in your business. 

This is why it’s so important for you to establish relationships – be that in your home, your partner, with your children and your friendships, or with a coach or a mentor –  that you actually feel safe in.

This is one of the reasons why I prioritize creating safe spaces, whether that's in group calls or at my retreats.

When you feel safe, you open up.  

And when you’re open, you become vulnerable.  

And when you're vulnerable, you can see real change because you’ll uncover what exactly is going on behind your emotions and your energy that is then rippling into your business. 

5. Always believe in what you do.

When sales slow down…

When momentum stalls…

When you feel like you're falling behind…

It's easy to let doubt take the wheel.

Your business is a physical representation of you, yes. But it is not a measure of your value.

You have to constantly remind yourself of the importance of your voice, the importance of your mission and the importance of what you have created. 

Give yourself some time to really celebrate and sink into the results that you have created. And remember that you have to believe in yourself. 

6. Personal development is business development.

What pulls us off course in business isn’t usually a lack of information. It’s when the internal doubt collides with the external pressure.

When you first start off, you're very excited because it’s mostly strategy based. It's just taking messy action and continuing to show up because as long as you're taking action, you're moving the ball forward. But then as we continue, we start having thoughts pop in…

Thoughts of inadequacy and imposter syndrome: Is this working? Is it enough? 

Now think about how much time you’ve spent sitting in that space. Not moving forward. Second-guessing yourself. Losing momentum.

When you’re consistently learning how to better navigate your thoughts, your habits, and your emotional responses, you’re filling your tool belt. 

So when life inevitably throws something your way (or when those internal doubts start to creep back in) you’re not derailed. You know what to do.

That’s the whole reason I’ve structured my programs the way I have. 

Yes, we create strategies. Yes, we build out aligned, tactical plans. But if I hand a client the best strategy in the world and she’s frozen in self-doubt or impostor syndrome, it won’t matter. She won’t take action.

This is why, inside the Life-First Business Method, we work on both. We get clear on mindset. We address the patterns and behaviors that are getting in your way. 

That’s what actually gets results. And that’s how growth becomes sustainable.

7. Health habits keep you sane.

Moving your body is something that should be non-negotiable for every single human being – not just business owners, not just entrepreneurs, not just moms.

The reason being is that there is so much created from it.

It's not just about the physical effect.

It's about the relationship with yourself.

It's about showing yourself you are worth showing up for. 

It's about the confidence that it builds. 

And it's about what you do with that confidence because you're showing up for yourself and so 

 your health habits need to be prioritized. 

“I think one of the biggest bangs for your buck, if you will, in terms of ROI, is exercise.”

8. Don’t be afraid to experiment or fail.

You are probably going to lose more than you win. But, every single loss has a lesson. 

When that happens, you have two options here:

1. You can either beat yourself up for losing

Or

2. You can ask why it failed.

A lot of people cap their potential because they're so afraid of failing that they don't try. And if you don't try, you'll never know. And then you're going to be full of regret. 

Experimentation and failure is part of the plan and it honestly can be where some of the biggest revelations in success are found.'

9. Nobody cares as much as you do.

I used to really want everyone to care as deeply as I do…About my mission, about what I’ve built, about the work itself. 

But over time, I’ve realized it’s okay that they don’t. At the same time, we have to be willing to ask why. 

You have to ask yourself: Are you giving them reason to care? Do they have a reason? Do they have a clear connection to what their part is in what you are doing and what you are creating?

If you’re not painting a clear vision. if your team doesn’t understand how their role ties directly into the mission or why their contribution matters, they won’t feel connected. They won’t feel part of something bigger than themselves.

10. Leaders look at themselves first.

What I mean by this is practicing honest, personal accountability. 

As leaders, we need to truly take a clear, honest look at ourselves in every situation and ask one key question: What can I do better?

It's purely from the place of understanding your role. 

If I'm having a client who is struggling with somebody on their team member not meeting expectations or performing, I first look at the expectations they’ve given them. 

Not only does this cover your own ass first, you're also being a great example for your team, for your family, and you're showing up by saying, “I know how to look at myself first”. 

11. Success extends beyond money.

If we don't have a definition, then we are operating from what we previously were shown.

Starting with our definition of what success is. 

This is something that I have every single client do. I tell them, put pen to paper and think about  what you were shown success is.

What did your caregivers and parents show you? 

What did success mean to you growing up? Was it houses, cars? Was it all monetary and external?

Then I want you to rewrite that I want you to rewrite what success is to you now. 

Is it being able to take a Friday off and spend it with my family? Is it being able to stop working at three o'clock to pick up my kids? Is it having a marriage where I feel safe and heard and understood? Having enough people who are buying my services so that it pays for vacations?

12. Prioritize profit.

Don't shy away from looking at your numbers.

It’s something that we have to pay attention to. We need financial awareness. We need financial clarity. We need financial education. 

If we look at something and we're honest about it, then we can create solutions for it. But we need profit to be able to sustain. If we have no profit, we can't sustain our business. We can't keep our doors open.

13. Build a business that works for your life.

None of us like to be called out. None of us like to be pushed. 

But in the same sense, those are the same things that actually make us better. 

No, we should not be chasing the hard all the time, but we need to be challenged and we need people that can reflect the ways we may be holding ourselves back. We need accountability. 

As a thought-partner, I always call you out to call you up.

Because in order for us to rise to a new potential for us to secure new opportunities for us to become, you know, the women that we are supposed to be, there has to be change in

how we are operating and how we are communicating and what we believe we can do. 

In those first stages of developing who we are becoming, there's a lot of fear. 

When you have that accountability, yes, it might fluster you at first, but when it's from people who love and care for you, they're just inviting you into something bigger and better.

14. You’re worth it.

Be certain in yourself.

Certain that when you make a choice, something's gonna happen. Even if that thing that happens isn't necessarily what you expected, there's still something there for you.

At the end of the day, the worst thing that you can do is sit in indecision. The worst thing that you could do is sit in uncertainty.

Cheers to 14 More Years

I hope there was at least one or more of these lessons that you needed to light a fire under you. 

And if you want to finish 2025 differently than how you started it—to have the life you want and the business that actually supports it, join me for the Redesigning Success Webinar on Wednesday, June 11 at 10AM ET.

This is your space to pause, reflect, and reimagine how you lead so you can move into the second half of the year with more clarity, more confidence, and a business that finally fits the life you’re building.