Not Everyone Has to Be the Boss

First off, Happy New Year and thank you all for sticking with me all of these years! I truly appreciate all of you that have read, commented, liked, and shared my posts since this blog’s inception. I am extremely grateful for all of the support! I’ve been in a bit of a slump these past few months, but I told myself I was committed to putting in more work this year. I believe this will be the year of no excuses, and I have to stick with that sentiment, or I won’t succeed. So, with that being said, cheers to this first post of the year!

A few days ago, I attended a BeautyCon Pop event in LA with speakers actress Tracee Ellis Ross, the editor-in-chief of InStyle, Laura Brown, and celebrity stylist Karla Welch. Talk about a women’s empowerment celebration! The women talked about beauty and how you can mix that in with empowerment and strength, but most importantly, they discussed the importance of collaboration with other women. This panel gave me that last little push and motivation I needed to make sure I’m really focused on achieving my goals this year. One phrase that stuck out the most to me came from Karla, who said, “Not everyone has to be the boss”. I know this was a revelation for some in the room, but for me, it has been my own personal mantra over the last few years.

Society and social media tend to push us into believing that the only way we’ll succeed in life is if we’re entrepreneurs and building a business for ourselves. This may work for many or some, but it doesn’t work for everyone. If everyone’s a boss, who’s going to work and support those businesses? What about those people who just aren’t comfortable running a company or brand all by themselves? Does that make them less successful or somehow weaker? For me, the thought of running a business all by lonesome is terrifying. I have friends that are entrepreneurs, and they work 24/7 building their brand and companies. They are great at what they do, and understand the ins and outs of what is required to put into those businesses. They’re good at being good at the many hats an entrepreneur wears, and I’m so proud of them. Me? Doing all of that would put me in a constant state of anxiety, and I’m just not here for that.

We have to start empowering people and letting them know that it’s OKAY to not want to start their own businesses. It’s fine to be a collaborator, a consultant, a service person, a sounding board. I’ve found that I’m strongest and do my best work when I can be of service to another person. I get deep satisfaction from knowing that I’ve helped a friend in building their dreams. I guess in some way, one of my dreams is to help others realize and achieve their goals. My other big dream? To create a living for myself through my writing, which may eventually require some level of entrepreneurship. Perhaps in the future I’ll feel a little differently, but for now, I’m perfectly content in being successful as someone who’s not the boss. And guess what? It’s okay for you to feel that way too.