Nicole Darsney

I really think finding the confidence to step out on my own was key - realizing that no one really knows what they're doing, so throwing spaghetti at the wall is really not a bad business plan, as long as you have the appetite for risk. I'm extremely proud of really believing in myself, and now at a stage where I've been doing my own consultancy for a couple of years, I've finally invested in different ways. I have a website, and I was getting by on word-of-mouth marketing alone. I felt like maybe the validation and legitimacy that comes with having a bit more of a presence online would be helpful. It's really been a fun journey, and one that I'm extremely proud of for myself, and the fact that the business keeps coming through. I also believe it really comes back to ignoring the imposter syndrome and being able to internalize your strengths and show up in a way that you feel is in alignment with the person you aspire to be every day. Growing with community has been huge - my husband and I used to joke that he would make money and I'd build equity, and when I finally got to the point to put it to the test, it really demonstrated that you can be building equity through relationships, community, and connections that will end up paying your bills later on.

Trust your instincts and build with community. Don't hesitate to ask others to fill in the gaps that you might have in terms of what you know you're not good at. Really invest in that self-awareness, so know where your strengths are, and then be able to outsource where someone else will fly quicker, faster, better than you would. But I really think it comes back to ignoring the imposter syndrome and being able to internalize your strengths and show up in a way that you feel is in alignment with the person you aspire to be every day. I also think growing with community is huge - being able to pick your own personal board of directors is a very valuable component of that for me. I just had my annual retreat with them last month, and it just changes the trajectory. These are dear college friends who see me and know me in all my parts, warts and everything, and really help not only motivate and encourage and inspire, but punch holes in what I could be doing, the ways I should be thinking about it.

I've realized that the key to life is to do work that you love, so it never feels like you're working a day in your life. I'm really focused on creating boundaries so that I am being consistently mindful that maybe the most important thing is not what you do, but who you raise. I want to carve out time to integrate my family into the work that I'm doing, so it doesn't feel quite so bucketed or in silos - like with the Planet Pals podcast where I get to work with my daughter. I also see my job as to amplify others' work, so getting more eyeballs on myself helps me support the work of brilliant people doing brilliant things. When I had young children, I realized that the travel demands and being in the office full-time plus traveling on top of it was not the way I wanted to show up in the early part of my children's lives. Now that I get to choose and direct my own travel, it's much more manageable and in alignment with how I want to live.