73 - Balancing a Multifaceted Life w/ Jade Start

Hello and welcome to another episode of the Marina Perry podcast. Joining Marina today is Jade Spear, founder of Jade Start, mother, and lawyer, to discuss balancing a multifaceted life. So many people go into entrepreneurship thinking it will be all about freedom and getting to call the shots. But what they end up doing is working longer, harder, and being paid less than they expected. It's all about aligning with your business and not doing it purely for the money. It's a lot harder than being an employee, so you need to make sure you have a purpose there. 

 

When you're looking for your purpose or your "why," it's often right underneath your nose, and you don't even know it. It's the things you're naturally drawn to, good at, love doing, or have familiarity with. It's often so obvious to you because they're part of who you are. A great place to start is asking others in your life what impression they have of you or what things about you stand out to them. As you realize those things about yourself, you can connect the dots in different ways and try strategies until you get to where you want to be. We need to eliminate the fear of failure and lean into trying new ideas. 

 

The second biggest mistake Jade sees in fledgling entrepreneurs is not putting the right structure in place, to begin with. Maybe they didn't get the right advice on what business to set up and company structure, and they grew too fast. No one thinks their business will be successful the first time around, but if you don't prepare for success, you'll end up causing yourself a lot of issues on the back end. 

 

Lastly, many newbie entrepreneurs don't take the time to learn about their ideal client, which leaves their messaging and marketing too broad. So they end up frustrated and frazzled. Many people are resistant to niche-ing their business because they feel like they might be missing out on a lot of business in other places, but there's an art to knowing when to niche things down and keep things broad.  

 

When it comes to being a parent and an entrepreneur, the key is to set very clear boundaries with yourself and know where the limit is at all times. Being a business owner allows you the opportunity to design your life with flexibility, so you don't have to make sacrifices you don't want to in either world. Integrating time management and delegation, communication, and respect into your business and family models will help you achieve that flexibility.  

 

Often we find ourselves resistant to locking ourselves in because we're not sure that's the final path. However, that's something that evolves with us, and in business, you can be years down the line and decide to take things in a new direction. If you want to achieve something, the first step is being audacious, setting yourself in the right environment, and surrounding yourself with people who support you the whole way through. 

 

Whenever you feel a little bit of self-doubt, remind yourself of all the things you've already accomplished you never thought you'd do and give yourself a little pep talk. Belief is key. No one will make your life work for you, create the change you want, or execute the ideas in your heads. You can only achieve the things you believe you can achieve. And if someone doesn't believe in you, find someone who does. 

 

What You Will Learn:

1. Background on Jade Spear and her work as a business owner and entrepreneur.
2. The top 3 mistakes she sees new entrepreneurs make. 
3. Advice on how to better balance business and family life.