Reclaiming Solopreneurship
Here’s a hard truth that I’ve never really talked about.
As a sales coach, I offer an incredible program called SellingU. It has a community level that’s got a pretty low-cost point of entry, and it’s FULL of valuable content, practical application, and tactical support for both mindset and skill set. It has an in-depth mastermind level that’s a higher price point with a hell of a lot more guidance and hands-on work.
And when I first started my entrepreneurial journey, I wouldn’t have joined something like SellingU.
When I shifted my career into coaching, I wouldn’t have joined something like SellingU.
It would have been exactly what I needed:
✨Someone with over a decade of experience offering actual leadership along a really scary path.
✨Someone to show me the ropes and teach me the basics while allowing me to create my own spin on it all so it honors my truth, stands firm in my values, and elevates my voice.
✨A safe place to land when things aren’t going how I want them to, and I can’t quite figure out why.
✨A group of other people in similar places in their businesses, so I know I’m not alone. Because the solopreneur path is often extremely isolating.
✨Somewhere to practice the scary stuff, so I’m not a jittery mess when I’m doing it all for real.
✨Accountability for all the shit I want to do but get in my own way about.
✨Someone to hold a mirror up to me to show me where my own bullshit is all I need to overcome and that it isn’t REALLY outside of my control while holding space for the entire emotional rollercoaster that is business ownership.
In some ways, I had that available to me back then. And I avoided the shit out of it. If you’re anything like me, I’m betting you’re doing the same thing.
Here’s why I would abso-fucking-lutely NOT have joined SellingU when I first started my entrepreneurial journey:
I was always the person who felt like I needed to learn everything on my own before seeking support. I’d read all the books and take all the self study courses and try all the things. But I’d receive the info through my own inexperienced lens. So a lot of it wouldn’t make sense. (Or, I’d think it made sense, but I wouldn’t actually understand it fully.) I’d take in so much information that I wouldn’t know where to begin. So I’d just try anything without knowing how to troubleshoot or even what metrics to consider about how well the thing I was trying actually worked. And, of course, I’d be doing it alone. So without any guidance or support, I’d inevitably crash and burn.
Spending money?! Are you fucking kidding me?! I was in business to MAKE money! The thing is, I didn’t yet know how to do that! We’re not born intrinsically knowing how to build an audience, sell a product or service, institute an effective follow-up system, or even how to make offers. It would have felt irrational to spend money on a sales and business coaching program when I first started my entrepreneurial journey. But had I done so earlier, I know my trajectory would have been quicker, easier, and way less painful. I built my career by figuring out what doesn’t work from first-hand experience. And it wasn’t until I was standing atop a mountain of fuck-ups that I actually hired my first coach. You don’t have to be like me. You can make it easier on yourself. In fact, I want you to do exactly that. Because the world needs what you have to offer. And the quicker you learn how to sell that offer, the quicker your business will bring in revenue.
I don’t trust salespeople. That one is a bit of a hard pill to swallow. BECAUSE I’M A FUCKING SALESPEOPLE! But, seriously. If I’m in a store and a salesperson comes up to me, I’m far more likely to turn them away than I am to ask them a question. They come up to me a second time; I’m gonna remind them that I said no. And a third time? We’re probably gonna fight. And here’s what I didn’t know back then: Sales doesn’t have to be “like that.” What exactly is “that”? Whatever comes to YOUR mind when you think of the dreaded S word. In order to learn how to sell well, though, and to do so authentically, it takes intentional effort. It takes guided understanding of your own sales voice. It takes redefining sales. And it takes hands-on practice. All of which is built-in at both levels of SellingU.
Here’s why I would have avoided a program like SellingU when I was transitioning my career from direct sales and massage therapy into coaching:
I had SO MUCH sales experience! I thought it was my responsibility to just apply what I knew and figure it out on my own. (Noticing a pattern yet?) I mean, it’s in the name. SOLO-preneur. You gotta do it all yourself! And if you have to PAY for support? 🙄 Clearly, you don’t know what the fuck you’re doing. And since I DO have so much experience, I totally DO know what the fuck I’m doing. So I’m absolutely NOT going to be one of those people who PAYS for support. Ugh. 🙄 Obviously. That’s like admitting defeat before you even step on the field. (Listen! Past Keli was a judgy bitch, okay! 🤣 But let’s be real. Present Keli sometimes is, too.)
I thought I SHOULD be able to figure out any struggles I had on my own. I mean, by now, don’t I know everything there is to know about business? This one’s a doozie. We think that when we have a certain amount of experience, it absolves us of needing support. Or that because we have a certain amount of experience, we no longer deserve support. But that is bullshit. The world of solopreneurship is changing all the time. Marketing today does NOT mean what it did when I was taking marketing classes in grad school. And beyond that, experience doesn’t grant any of us the ability to fly truly solo. Solopreneurship can be really lonely. And we often think we deserve that loneliness. Or that when we feel it, it means something is wrong with us. But as humans, we’re a relational species. Of course, that varies from person to person, but we feed off of one another’s ideas, energy, and wisdom. And we actually do deserve support when we’re struggling. All of us. Even those of us who self-selected into solopreneurship. Even the experienced ones.
I thought that because I knew how to run THAT business, and that OTHER business, oh and THAT other business, that meant I would inherently know how to run THIS business. And to a certain extent, that was true. But there are certain differences from one industry to the next that just don’t translate directly. For example, when I ran my direct sales business, I designed a system for and trained hundreds of other consultants on how to utilize email efficiently and effectively. But it was within a platform that was handed to me, integrated into a CRM provided by the company I partnered with. So when I launched my coaching business, I pieced things together that I knew how to use, and it was A FUCKING MESS. My assistant and I were doing so many things manually just because it made sense to me according to how I had done things with my direct sales business. But it absolutely did not make sense according to how any system works outside of that specific CRM. It took about a year to notice THIS SHIT IS NOT WORKING, and then another few months to select a CRM, learn its operations, migrate everything, and get the pieces all functioning cohesively with regard to how we handled things inside our company. But now, thankfully, it’s all working pretty efficiently and effectively. (Which is a cornerstone of business operations for me. Efficiency + effectiveness.) Had I actually put myself into a program like SellingU when I transitioned my career, the transition would have gone a hell of a lot more smoothly. Because having experience running one kind of business (or three completely different kinds of businesses) does not mean that experience directly translates and you automatically know how to run another one well.
Here’s why, after nearly two decades as a solopreneur, with various types of business experience under my belt, I abso-fucking-lutely pay for business support now.
I know I can do every piece on my own, and it has taken a lot of work to overcome the “if you can do it on your own, you should” Midwestern work-ethic mentality. Because having the capability to do something does not mean you can do it well. And certainly does not mean you can do it AND everything else well. At some point, you’re spread so thin that everything is done kinda half-assed. If it was even done well, to begin with. I mean, listen. I took graphic design and web design classes. Like, formally. At a private college as an undergrad and in grad school at a public university. Have I technically learned how to code? Yes. Have I used systems that don’t require coding to create basic websites? Also yes. But when I started my business, I had a basic landing page, and that’s it. Hiring someone else to design a whole-ass website allowed me to have a place to house all of my offers without my perfectionist brain that LOVES to design things kicking into overdrive and sending me into a hyper-focus mode that would have led to disregarding other aspects of my business. And though I know how to utilize my CRM and could figure out the email components if I needed to, I have my assistant handle those things so I don’t have to try to fit them into the tiny spaces between clients in my workday. Just because you CAN do all the things doesn’t mean you should. Promise.
Humans are a communal species. We thrive in community. The size of that community varies. For some people, they prefer to work 1:1. For others, they like a giant group. For me, a small group is where it’s at. That’s why the Community level of SellingU is capped at a relatively low number each year, and the Mastermind level is capped at a super low number. We’re not having you get lost in the crowd. And you’re not paying me to just be in my presence. I get to know your business. And I get to know YOU. So I can help you ensure your business is built in ways that honor you, that serve you, and that come across as authentically you.
We all need someone else’s eyes and ears on our shit. Just because it sounds good to me doesn’t mean it makes any fucking sense to anyone else. I hire people to help me with strategy, ideation, creation, and implementation. And you deserve that kind of support, too. Even if you’re new to your business. And even — especially — if you’re not. “It takes a village.” They say that of child-rearing. But it takes a fucking village to build a business. SellingU provides that village. Inside SellingU, you get strategy, you get sales training, you get structured curriculum, you get hands-on practice, you get community support, you get a built-in referral network, and you get actual guidance for both the practical how-to AND the mindset. If you’re just starting your entrepreneurial journey, or you’ve been spinning your wheels without much progress, I built this for you.
Whether you want a lifetime community membership or an in-depth year-long mastermind, we’ve got you covered. Doors only open once a year, and the 2024 cohort starts in March. And spots are extremely limited.
Get on the interest list now so we can get you scheduled for a complimentary consultation with me (not a member of my team) if you want to ask questions or get your payment plan started to reserve your spot.
