Last night Scott posted this image on my Facebook wall:
It's something I've come to appreciate, yet also lose sight of, as Happy Herbivore has grown.
Anytime I'm interviewed, the interviewer is quick to ask me for tips, or secrets -- how can someone else replicate what I've done. How they can create their own Happy Herbivore and I always fumble because I really don't know what I did or what I didn't do.
I never had a marketing plan. I never even had a plan. It's always just been a labor of love. Maybe that was my plan all along.
I feel good about what I've accomplished -- proud. I feel successful but I also sometimes feel like a failure. Or like I'm holding my breath.
Running off to Europe was good for me in so many ways. I allowed myself to finally exhale and in doing so I realized I've come a long, long way -- both personally and professionally,and if I never walk another step, I can be happy and proud with the journey I've already taken.
My path to success has not always been easy and like the picture, it didn't involve any sort of straight line from A to B. I feel incredibly lucky. I am very humbled by my good fortune and I have never lost sight of where I came from or why I do what I do.
It wasn't until about 6 months ago that I'd start thinking of myself as an entrepreneur. or a business woman. I don't know what it is about either of those terms but I had this image -- that I put on a pedestal -- and because I didn't look that way or do the things I thought those kind of people did, I felt like a poser. or maybe a wannabe. I just never saw myself in that light. I was something else, not that.
But then my sister made friends with someone who recently moved to the United States, and upon hearing my story, he lit up and said "so she's living the American dream! She's built something out of nothing" and in that momentthe way I saw my world changed.
Maybe I wasn't some silly little girl peddling recipes. Maybe I had good ideas. Maybe I could make a difference. Maybe I could do things I've always dreamed to do.
I am only one person but I can make a difference!
Who I am matters. Who you are matters. We all matter. We are all capable of great things. Success is not given, it is earned. We don't fall down a rabbit hole, we crawl through a maze. Despite all the stumbles and falls, which ultimately make us better (and stronger!), we find our way to the other side.
The road to success is long and complex -- but follow your passion. It will lead the way. It's how I found my light.
