Because sometimes the confidence comes after the first step.
I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to start something new. Not just thinking about it, planning for it, or talking about it with friends over coffee. I mean actually doing it. Putting something out into the world and saying, "Hey, I made this. What do you think?"
It's a strange combination of excitement, pride, vulnerability, and the occasional what on earth am I doing?
If you've been following along, you may know that I recently left a job I'd held for over a decade to start two businesses of my own: Rooted Creative Design and New Ground Therapy. After years of working in a place where I knew the people, the systems, and my role (even when that role changed about a hundred times), I decided to trade some of that familiarity for something completely new.
And while I'd love to tell you that I had a perfectly mapped-out plan and felt completely confident in my decision, that wouldn't exactly be true.
I had ideas. Lots of them. I had experience, skills, and a pretty good sense of what I wanted to create. But I also had questions, doubts, and a growing list of things I needed to figure out along the way.
Honestly, I still do.
Waiting for the Right Time
I think a lot of us fall into the trap of waiting until we feel ready. We want the plan to be solid, the timing to make sense, the website to be perfect, and the confidence to magically appear before we take the next step.
And I get it. There's comfort in preparation. There's safety in staying where things are familiar.
But one thing I've learned, both through my work as a therapist and through this experience of starting my own businesses, is that confidence doesn't always come before action. Sometimes it comes from doing the thing we're afraid to do and realizing we can figure it out as we go.
When I launched Rooted Creative Design, I knew how to build websites. I knew how to think creatively, communicate ideas, and help people bring a vision to life. What I didn't know was everything that came with running a business. Pricing, proposals, finding clients, putting my own face and name out there... that part has been a whole different learning experience.
And if I had waited until I felt completely comfortable with all of it, I'm not sure I ever would have started.
The Vulnerable Part
Earlier this week, I shared a post on my personal social media pages introducing both of my businesses. It wasn't the first time I'd talked about them, but there was something different about putting it out there for people I've known for years to see.
It's one thing to quietly work on something behind the scenes. It's another to invite people into it.
There's a vulnerability in saying, "This is what I'm doing now." Especially when you're still figuring out exactly what that looks like.
I think this is something so many small business owners can relate to. Whether you're launching your first website, sharing your work on social media, announcing a new service, or finally telling people about an idea you've been sitting on for years, there's always that little voice wondering if you're ready.
Or if anyone will care.
Or if you're doing it right.
But the more I think about it, the more I realize that being ready might not be the point.
There's Room to Grow
One of the things I love most about working with small businesses is getting to see people in that beginning stage. They have an idea, a passion, or something they genuinely believe in, but they don't always know how to translate it into a brand or website that feels like them.
And I understand that feeling a whole lot more now.
Starting something new doesn't mean you have to know exactly what it will look like five years from now. Your business can evolve. Your ideas can shift. Your website can change. You can learn what works, let go of what doesn't, and make adjustments along the way.
In fact, I think that's part of what makes building something of your own so meaningful. You get to grow alongside it.
Rooted Creative Design is still growing, and so am I. I'm learning what kind of work I love most, how I want to serve my clients, and what it looks like to build a business that fits the life I want to live.
Some days I feel like I've got a pretty good handle on things. Other days, I'm Googling something I probably should have figured out weeks ago.
Both can be true.
So, Here's Your Reminder (and Mine)
If there's something you've been wanting to start, change, share, or put out into the world, maybe you don't need to wait until you feel completely ready.
Maybe you just need to take the next step.
It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't have to look like anyone else's version of success. And it certainly doesn't have to be all figured out before you begin.
Sometimes starting is what helps you find your footing.
And if you're building a business of your own and need a little help bringing your ideas to life, that's exactly why I created Rooted Creative Design. To help people create something thoughtful, intentional, and true to who they are, wherever they happen to be in the process.
Because we all have to start somewhere.
And there's plenty of room to grow from there.
