Rebecca Pogonitz

I attribute my success to the incredible individuals who have shaped my journey and been milestones along the way. I really believe we each have a divine path, and mine has led me to meet people who believed in me and saw me for who I was, even when I didn't see my own light. My personal trainer and Krav Maga instructor talked to me about things like what you feed your mind and positive mindset, which sounds obvious but was life-saving when I was very lost. My first business coach helped me discover the power of vulnerability and Brene Brown's work, giving me the courage to embrace my own uniqueness and get into the arena. My second business coach took me under her wing and taught me the fundamentals I never learned in school, like needing a pipeline, a contract, and a marketing campaign. I'm so grateful for my network and the Chicago design-build industry, which is an incredible place to be learning and doing design. I had people who saw my light when I didn't see my own light, and I don't take any of that for granted. It's all about your community and who you surround yourself with, the people who are supporting you even when you feel very alone. I also believe in always following my heart and my intuition, and just constantly growing and learning and deepening my value. Even though I've been doing this for 30 years, I'm looking at where I need to be right now rather than wishing I was farther along.

To trust your instincts and not wait for external validation to move forward. Mentors and coaches throughout her journey reinforced the idea that growth comes from action, even when the path isn’t perfectly clear, and that patience is just as important as ambition.

Be who you are, and if you don't know who you are, ask people what they see in you. When I was in design school, I almost quit. I was sitting on the steps during sketching class in downtown Chicago, and I thought I was gonna quit. I had no self-confidence, nothing. I said to my instructor, do you think I really have what it takes? And she said, you have strengths that other students don't have, Rebecca, so don't quit. That very simple explanation kept me going. If you don't believe in yourself yet, receive the love and belief from others until you do. Always seek your light and always see who you are and what makes you special. Don't discredit anything. I'm so grateful to everyone who believed in me when I couldn't believe in myself. If you don't believe in yourself, reach out to someone and ask them what they love about you. I know it sounds kind of basic, but I wish I had known this 30 years ago. That's what got me through, that's what kept me going, and that's why after 30 years I'm still in this industry and still running my own business and still dreaming of scaling it.

The biggest challenge for me is financial. It's challenging to set yourself apart from everyone else, and it takes courage to be seen. I've done a lot of financial healing after finding myself in a lot of debt and making bad business decisions, though I look at all those failures as learning opportunities. The biggest challenge is having that desire to live your best life and live your dreams, but having the patience while those opportunities come in so you have the means to live those dreams. I'm working with a mindset coach on growing my business from a heart-centered, energetic perspective, where you embody the person you want to be in order to receive those opportunities. That takes a lot of time and patience with yourself. In the past year, I've really started to value myself as a professional and as a designer, raised my rates, and stepped into my queen energy. I'm dealing with getting rid of limiting beliefs about how we're programmed, and once you step into who you're really meant to be, you have to deal with the discomfort of that. At 56, I'm a little impatient because I've been doing this for 30 years, and I just wish I knew this 30 years ago. Even though I want it so bad and can taste it and feel it, I have to be patient. On the opportunities side, I'm generating all these synchronicities and meeting really cool, like-minded people who are excited by my vision and want to support it. I'm working with clients who value my expertise. I have my first concept wellness home happening in Newport Coast, California, which is a small project but something I can really use as a case study. There are more educational opportunities, and I'm going to meet with the woman who started the neurodesign program. Opportunities are just flooding in, but I think that's the way it is with life. If we just open up our minds and change our expectations of what opportunities look like, all of a sudden they're all over the place. There's opportunities everywhere, it's just whether we're going to seize them and what we're gonna do with them.

Work and personal values are intertwined for me. The Four Agreements come to mind. Be accountable and be a person of your word. Integrity is paramount, and that's part of accountability. Integrity is who you are when no one else is watching. It's doing the right thing, being true to yourself, and respecting others' opinions and perceptions. Self-awareness is very, very important to get through this life, because I'm always doing a lot of introspective and personal development in addition to business development. Just doing what you say you're gonna do when you do it. Never make assumptions about anything, always ask. You are only as strong as your weakest link. Lead with spirit, not ego. I'm a work in progress, so I'm going to make mistakes, but I'm going to own those mistakes. Living with grace and compassion for both myself and other human beings, including my clients. Working together is not necessarily a money transaction, it's a human transaction. If we're always worrying about money, then the essence of what we're really here to do in this world isn't gonna shine through. There's no such thing as perfection. We're spiritual beings living in a human world. I am not perfect by any means, and I try hard not to beat myself up. I just try to have a lot of self-compassion, and I think it's so important to have compassion for everyone around us. Humility is important, but humility without sacrificing who you are and without not having your back. Humility without being that pleaser. I'm working on that. Humility with self-respect.