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In today’s post, I am so excited to be joined by special guest Brianca Johnson! Brianca is a launch and marketing strategist. Brianca helps coaches and service providers leverage proven launch and marketing strategies to position their expertise and grow their business.
In July 2020, Brianca quit her full time job as a Digital Director for a nonprofit to go full-time in her business. Her mission is to help one million entrepreneurs in her lifetime position their expertise so they can profitably plan five-figure launches.
In this post, Brianca will walk us through her journey to entrepreneurship and lessons she learned along the way.
Brianca grew up around family members who had success in marketing careers. When it was time for her to go to college she got a full ride scholarship and went on to get her bachelor’s degree in marketing and a masters in advertising and communications.
While she was still in school, she took a job as a compliance specialist. She quickly realized that there weren’t many opportunities where she lived for her to pursue her desired career path. From there she started doing freelance work to help build her resume.
During her freelance work, she ended up working in politics on a senator’s campaign. Brianca wanted to move out of Saint Louis to find a better job when someone reached out about a digital director role that was in Atlanta. Brianca applied, interviewed, received an offer for the role and moved to Atlanta all within 11 days.
When she got to Atlanta she worked on the campaign for Stacey Abrams. This was a huge opportunity for her, but it was also mentally exhausting. Just as COVID was impacting the world she was ready to quit. After some reflection she decided to try and stick it out but things got worse and she left the role to focus on her own side business.
Brianca learned so much in her first year of entrepreneurship. It wasn’t until she quit her full time job to pursue her own business that she realized how much more she had to give. Once her business became her livelihood she brought so much more to the table. It became a part of her identity and purpose.
During this time she learned so much about her flaws and insecurities which helped her see the areas that need to be worked on so that she could show up and be the best version of herself for her business.
One giant misconception a lot of people have when they are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur is that you have to wait for the right timing. Something Brianca learned firsthand was that there was never a “perfect time” to start her business full-time.
Something she knew about herself was that she wouldn’t allow herself to fail. It’s important to believe in yourself and truly feel like you can succeed. If you’re seeking validation from others you may not be ready to start the entrepreneurial journey. When you are building your business it is all on you, and you have to be one hundred percent all in and certain that you won’t be lazy or not follow through on your goals. A way Brianca did this was she didn’t allow herself to have a plan B.
By not having a plan B she was able to push through all of her doubts or insecurities because she knew she had no other option. She believed in herself because she knew she had a good track record of following through on her commitments. If she hadn’t taken this leap, she would’ve missed out on helping so many people.
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So often we are fed this narrative that success will come quickly and that is not the case. There is a ton of work that goes into it and you have to have a lot of resilience and passion for your business.
Something Brianca did that helped her prepare for her entrepreneurial journey was starting therapy to work through childhood trauma. She knew it would potentially show up in her business and she understood that therapy was an important part of the process. In order for her to help others she needed to help herself.
Once she was able to work through her own personal struggles, she was then able to build her business on a solid foundation which helped her to build a strong business. Even with her business having success, she also realized that it won’t always be profitable.
The way you respond to not reaching your goals is what will set the tone for the future of your business. Understanding that you’ll have wins and losses is all a part of entrepreneurship don’t allow it to deter you from pushing on. Don’t allow failures to define your business journey.
One of the reasons Brianca is so good at her job now, is because she has had a ton of experience in the field. This has allowed her to truly lean into her expertise even if her opinions are polarizing. She knows that her opinions can help her audience and she’s not afraid to speak up.
Just like anyone in the online space comparison is something Brianca has struggled with. Something she learned is to stop undervaluing her skills just because she does things differently than others. Instead, people should focus on the best ways they serve and show up for their audience. If it’s not your genius or the thing that brings you the most joy and excitement don’t do it! You cannot sustain a successful business if you hate what you’re doing.
1. To be mindful of the amount of communities you’re enrolled in. All of these communities give different steps and advice and before you know it you can start to build your business in a way that’s not aligned with the things you truly value. Sometimes there is such a thing as too much feedback. Brianca started to listen more to her gut on what steps she should take and it helped her make decisions that were in sync with what she really wanted for her business.
2. When you look at Fortune 500 companies we should remember that they saw their businesses as these successful companies before it actually became one. So stop introducing your business as a small business or a side hustle. If you play small you will stay small, instead invest big into your business and see it for what you want it to become.
Special guest Brianca Johnson has had such an amazing entrepreneurial journey. She is proof that anything is possible if you are willing to put in the work and push through your insecurities and doubts. She was able to quit her full-time job as a Digital Director to go full-time in her own business during a pandemic. She learned so much from her first year of being an entrepreneur, and she has created a business that she loves!
Learning about her journey can be extremely helpful to anyone who is in a similar situation or just wanting to see the possibilities that are available to them! You are capable of creating a successful business for yourself even in difficult times or circumstances. Be sure to connect more with Brianca over on her website and her Instagram.
And finally, as always, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay #PrettyAwkward!
I hope this post helped you see that it is completely normal to feel stuck in your business but you don’t have to stay stuck!
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Because I’ve been there too. I went from wanting to be a health and fitness coach...trying to take awkward booty pooping selfies, to embracing my #prettyawkward style and scaling my coaching business past six figures.