The Experiential Entrepreneur

I recently had the honor of speaking on a panel with two amazing women who both suffer from a life-changing illness. One of the questions the moderator asked us was around how our missions and business models changed after we were diagnosed.

I'd been thinking about this answer all day. When I started my business last October, my objective was simple. I wanted to help women like me, who are feeling stuck in their careers get out of that mindset to help them achieve fulfillment in a new career. I built the business around how I felt at that moment going to a job that was unhealthy for me every single day.

Seven months in, and a few mission statement revisions later, my mission hasn't changed — it has evolved.

After I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in March, I knew immediately that if this disease was going to be apart of my life, then helping other women with their diagnosis would also be apart of my life.

This is how I operate: You want to f**k with me, cancer? I am gonna f**k with you right back.

I recently described a dream I had to my therapist (I won't bore you with those details.) Afterward, she looked at me and said, "You believe fully you are here to be apart of something big."

I always have believed that I have been put here to do something big and make a big impact. And since Beyonce's career path has been taken already, then cancer awareness AND career fulfillment it shall be for me.

Do I have a point? Yes. 

It's OK to evolve your passions.

I felt a little guilty at first to think about evolving my business to incorporate cancer awareness too. Is that too much? Is what I have been doing, not THE thing?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. The common thread is helping women who are feeling stuck. Feeling isolated. Feeling lost. Whether it is with a career, or with their current cancer diagnosis, these women need support. I realize what drives me are my life experiences. If I can be the person that I needed, but for someone else; then that is what I was meant to do.

The same is true for anyone. It's OK to keep evolving your craft. As entrepreneurs, we often feel pretty set in something when we launch it. Even if we make one little tweak, sometimes that can mean questioning your entire business model.

I am an experiential entrepreneur. I am someone who will use my personal experiences to help others (did I just make that up?)

I believe I will be able to better serve my clients because I have been exactly where they have been in many different aspects, whether it is health or career.

I don’t know where my passion for bringing Breast Cancer awareness to women under 40 will land me, and maybe it just the blog that I publish. But if I know myself, this will turn into something meaningful — even if it is only for a few people.

That’s how we Experiential Entrepreneurs roll.