069: The Weight of Entrepreneurship WITH BRENDA THOMPSON

On the podcast today is Brenda Thompson, owner and lead designer at HouseLift Design. She is a designer in the Metro Atlanta area and started it as a second career after 20 years working in corporate. Brenda and I are going to talk about three main topics today: transitioning from corporate to being an entrepreneur, how she scaled her business and realized she could not do everything, and creating a work/life balance.  

Brenda is open and transparent about her journey and that makes it such a great discussion. My bet is that each person listening will find some area of the conversation that resonates with their own journey. I know I saw many parallels with my story.

Topics Mentioned:

• Weight
• Support
• Balance
• Transition

Thoughts from Brenda:

• I’ve always cared about profitability.
• I didn’t expect the “weight” of running your own business.
• I am always thinking about the business.
• I just wanted to have the freedom to do my own thing. Happiness matters.
• A support system is so needed when you venture out to start a business.
• I knew there was going to be a time period that I was going to work a lot.
• Anytime someone called me, I wanted to say yes….But it started to drive me crazy.
• I was letting the business run me instead of me running my business.
• My sanity and the flow was worth more than having that extra consult.
• When I didn’t have an outlet, I felt lonely.

Socials:

• Website: https://www.houseliftdesign.com
• Facebook: House Lift Design
• Instagram: @houseliftdesign

References and Resources:

• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
• The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur by Mike Michalowicz
• EP. 058 with Jennifer Smith - Listen Today
• Actionable Tips for Time Management - Listen Today
• The Designers' Inner Circle - Become a Member Today