Between 2017 and 2022, I split my time between RAW Made and my passion project, RAW Storytelling. If I’m being honest, RAW Storytelling took over my life—in a good way—during those 5 years. What started as an experiment meant to last a few months turned into a monthly live event with hundreds of attendees, a companion podcast, and me teaching storytelling workshops.

Many times you’ll hear me say, “Put yourself out there.” Which, I know, is intentionally vague. Each one of us has different levels of comfort when it comes to what we share about ourselves and our business. And that’s perfectly normal. However, I encourage you to put in the work to find out what your boundaries are and how you can maximize your self-marketing skills.

This September 4th will mark RAW Made’s 8th year in business. Actually, September 4th is an honorary date I chose to mark the brandversary because this wild person didn't think to write down the official date when I launched. And, so, this marks my first lesson learned since becoming a small business owner:

One of the most common causes of business death is resistance to change. Think about how much technology has changed in the past 10 years. Like technology, your customers, ambitions, passions, and capabilities have changed and grown over time.

Hustle. Such a complicated little word. The first thing I did when I sat down to write this blog post was google the definition of hustle. I've always had an adverse reaction to the word, even though I use it all the time. 🤪