What I've Learned Since Starting ROSE & IVY Part II

Last September, I wrote a piece about what I have learned since I started ROSE & IVY.  While you might not be starting a magazine like I did, you might want to start a business and here is somethings that I learned and I thought I would share.

Dream Big, Like Really, Really Big and Say Those Dreams Out Loud

Pretty soon, I am going to have a HUGE announcement, like a major game changer. The craziest part about my announcement is that about a year ago, I said it outloud and by some divine intervention it happened!  The biggest lesson here is that you must say what you want out loud, write it down and live as if it has already happened (Wayne Dyer's book The Power of Intention is all about this, it's my favorite book, I've read it three times).  

Sometimes You Have to Be a Boss

Confrontation isn't fun, espcially when you want to be nice to treat everyone with kindness.  However, what I am learning is that there is a line between being assertive and being mean.  In my corporate jobs, I met a ton of people who were vicious and were out to get you, so I have made a concerted effort to never be like that, plus it really isn't in my character to act that way. Recently I was in a situation that wasn't working at all with someone.  I knew that I wanted to end the working relationship because it was giving me so much more stress than it should, not to mention work to do. I ended up doing it, and I felt pretty bad about it for a while, but I knew that it was going to be a learning experience and it has. There is so much that goes into finding a good fit for your company and I have had it many times in the past so this was just a glitch and I wasn't going to beat myself up. 

Also, I am very big on the working environment of ROSE & IVY. Never will I have a hostile or mean working enviroment and I have had to speak up many times to say that isn't how we work.  Ensuring that any environment, whether it be a photoshoot or email coorespondence, I have to ensure that a certain level is maintained. 

Be Malleable and Flexible and Always Be Prepared to Change Your Plans 

Running a business is a wild ride. Things can be unpredictable and a plan can change or things can fall through at the last minute. When this happens, I try to stay incredibly calm, plan back-ups and use every inch of my problem solving skills to make something happen.  When you have to depend on others, it can be tricky, but I like to have an architecture in my mind of a back-up plan in case something doesn't work. This has saved me a lot of headache and stress.  

Exercise judgement when it comes to Working or collaborating With Someone Just because they are 'Nice'. 

Personally, this has been a hard lesson to learn. I've had interns, photographers that I have worked with just because they seemed nice and I would think, why not? But what I have had to learn the hard way is that someone being nice doesn't match up with someone's talents, abilities and if they will ultimately jive with you and your company.  For a job that you need filled, I have to take more precautions when it comes to this, whether it be an extensive writing examples or maybe test shoots with photographers. 

TRUST YOUR GUT

Finally, the last bit of advice I can offer is to trust your gut at all times, it never leads you astray. There have been multiples times when I should have trusted my gut because something told me not to proceed but I did anyways. What I have learned is to listen to the feelings that your body is telling you because if something feels wrong, it probably is.