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The best entrepreneurial stories rarely start with a grand vision. They start with a rug being pulled out.

That's Ashley's story. A layoff. A pandemic that destroyed her in-person business overnight. So she did what many of us do in crisis—she picked up watercolors and created. A hundred days worth. Except it took two years to finish.

When Ashley came to me, I saw what she couldn't see herself: a hundred pieces of unique, marketable content in a space flooded with generic coaches. She resisted. Hard. Tears and all.

But here's what changed everything: clarity isn't something you force. It's something you create conditions for. Once Ashley stopped waiting for perfection and started building in public, the momentum came fast. Seven months from a wine bar idea to four finished books.

If you've got something incomplete sitting in your files, or you're wondering if your "weird" skill could be your real differentiator—listen in.

On this episode of Promote Yourself to CEO:

• The accidental entrepreneur — Ashley's family had three generations of business owners. She wanted nothing to do with it until a layoff left her no choice.
• When crisis creates clarity — A pandemic wiped out her revenue overnight. She started painting. Two years later, she had 100 finished watercolors and no plan.
• What I saw that she couldn't — A hundred pieces of unique, ready-made content. Ashley saw uncertainty. I saw her competitive advantage.
• The two-year gap between finishing and knowing — Completed the paintings in 2022, knew her path in 2024. Here's what she learned about waiting for clarity.
• Building in public before you're ready — Ashley announced her journal plan on LinkedIn, tagged 200 people, took pre-orders before writing a word.
• Why smaller commitments actually work — Instead of writing all four at once, she took pre-orders for volume one, wrote it, then repeated. The structure got it done.
• Your market is telling you something — People kept asking about her art, not her coaching. She listened to that signal instead of resisting it.

Connect with Me:

• Instagram: @racheal.cook
• TikTok: @rachealcookmba
• LinkedIn: @rachealcook
• YouTube: @the_ceo_collective
• Website: The CEO Collective

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🎤 Thanks for listening! I'll see you next week!