Ring That Bell
Anyone who’s built anything big (a business, a child, a book, a building, a life) from scratch will know, sometimes you need to celebrate the building.
About seven years ago, I was putting a bow on a big piece of work for folks at a great gig that never should have been a job. It was a fairly big company, but that day I was alone in the space physically, metaphysically and professionally. Wanting to celebrate, but seeing no other humans, I rang a nearby desk bell. It’s great to get feedback, but waiting for other peoples’ validation was really never my destiny, or my desire.
And that day I realized that my next professional page-turn would be on my own. So I spoke it out loud, named my company, ordered cards, and started out on the adventure I celebrate seven years of today. And I made sure always to have a bell close at hand, and to encourage others to as well.
I’ve been fortunate to have so many guides and advisors, including:
- the person who helped me get finances in order, and still looks over my shoulder
- SCORE mentors and teachers
- the boss team of people who can be counted on as resources for the things I don’t know or do, who deeply understand the work
- daughters and sisters who remind me to fly right and stay true every single day
- an accountability buddy who is a perfect cheerleader and partner for strategic planning
- colleagues in entrepreneurship who trust me with their clients
You might also know that for a few wonderful years in there I also ran a prison-based Cook School. That was the best work of my life, part of what’s yet to come, and those former students still inspire me daily.
In the past seven years I’ve worked with hundreds of people dreaming, building, or laying their businesses down. Each one is a unique privilege. The other day someone who was folding their tent after a grand effort said, “If I didn't work with you, it would have never felt like a real business I was running.” Sometimes deciding how and when to stop the thing IS the work, and I’m honored to be alongside for that, too. Not everyone is cut out to work on their own. It’s hard, lonely, frustrating and scary. It’s also the very best thing in the world every day, if it’s what you’re meant to do. And if it’s not, it’s good to find that out, too.
For me it is, and I’m so grateful to be able to do it. One of the little “birthday” gifts I got myself is this new bell. Handcrafted, pretty, very satisfying to ring when there’s something to celebrate.
Figure out your thing to celebrate, and “DING” loudly, even if nobody else hears.
Ding!