Hey friends,It’s Heather — welcome back to Now What, Y’all? — the space where we get real about building a business that actually fits your life.
Today we’re talking about something that sounds simple but will completely change the way you run your business once it clicks.
Ready?Your business is its own living and breathing entity.
Say it with me.Your business is its own living and breathing entity.
Now say it again.
Because once that sinks in, you’ll start making decisions very differently.
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When I owned E by Design, my design team came to me one day and said, “Heather, we should NOT create solid color pillows. It’s already been done. Nobody’s going to buy that.”
They had a gut feeling. A confident one.
I listened — because that’s what good leaders do — but I also did my own homework.I pulled the numbers, looked at what was trending, and did a little market research.
And you know what I found? There was a gap — a big one — right in that “boring” solid color pillow category.
Fast forward three months, and our 16x16 Navy Blue Solid Pillow became our best seller for 18 months straight.
Eighteen months.
The team wanted to make design decisions based on feelings.I made them based on data.
And that single difference — emotion versus information — is what separates a hobbyist from a business owner.
Most small business owners say they know their business is separate from them.But in practice?They treat it like an extension of their identity.
They take every critique of their work personally.They make decisions based on how they feel instead of what the numbers say.
And that’s what’s killing their businesses.
You are not your business.You run your business.
Your business has its own heartbeat, its own needs, and its own data.It’s your job to listen to it — not just your gut.
Let’s talk about where this really shows up.
Maybe you’ve got a team member who’s no longer the right fit.You know it. Your books know it.But you’re hanging on because letting them go feels mean. It feels personal.
Or maybe you’ve got a product or service that you love, but it’s draining your resources.You can’t let it go because it feels like failure.
That’s not business logic — that’s emotion.
When you’re emotionally entangled with your business, you can’t see what it actually needs to survive.
It’s like being too close to a relationship that’s clearly not working — everyone else can see it, but you can’t because your heart’s in the way.
Let’s go back to those solid pillows.My team’s gut feeling was wrong.The data was right.
Numbers don’t lie. Gut feelings do.
And listen — I’m not saying you should ignore your instincts.Instincts can be powerful. But instincts without information? That’s just guessing.
Your gut says, “I think people want this.”The business says, “Well, here’s what they’re actually buying.”
If you really want to lead well, you have to let the business speak — and that language is numbers.
So how do you start separating you from your business?
Go pull up your P&L — your profit and loss statement.Look at what’s actually selling.What’s profitable.What’s draining cash or time or energy.
And here’s the hard part: ask yourself why you’re still holding on to the things that don’t make sense.
Is it because you love them?Because they were your idea?Because you feel guilty letting them go?
That’s not a strategic reason — that’s emotion.
And the minute you can separate that, you start making CEO-level decisions.
Now I know some of y’all are thinking, “But Heather, I’m not a numbers person.”
Stop it.
If you know your mortgage, your grocery bill, your car payment — you can read a P&L.It’s the same skill set.
The resistance to numbers is really just fear of what they might tell you.Because when you know what’s true, you have to do something about it.
But trust me — it’s a lot easier to make peace with reality than to keep pretending.
When you treat your business like its own entity, here’s what happens:
You evaluate your offers objectively.You make strategic pivots without guilt.You receive feedback without taking it personally.And you let the data tell you what’s next instead of your mood that day.
Your business stops being a mirror for your self-worth.It becomes a vehicle for your freedom.
This is the part no one tells you — when you stop taking everything so personally, you gain freedom.
Freedom to make hard calls.Freedom to pivot.Freedom to experiment without feeling like your identity is on the line.
Your business is not your baby.It’s not your identity.It’s an entity — and your job is to keep it healthy.
That’s where the real peace comes from.
So here’s your challenge this week:Pull up your P&L and look at it with fresh eyes.
Ask yourself:What is my business actually telling me?What decisions have I been avoiding because of how I feel about them?Where am I letting emotion override financial reality?
Then make one decision — just one — based purely on what the numbers say.
It might feel uncomfortable, but that discomfort?That’s growth.
And your business — that living, breathing entity — will thank you.
Thanks for listening, friends.If this episode hit home, share it with another entrepreneur who could use a little tough love and truth today.
And if you haven’t yet, hit subscribe — it’s free and actually worth listening to. 😉
xx, Heather
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