Erin Thomas Wong (00:00)
Hello and welcome back to the Life-Friendly Business podcast. I'm Erin Thomas Wong, the Life-Friendly Business mentor. And I'm on a mission to help women realise that they are not failing at business. They're simply following a model that doesn't fit their real lives.
I help female solopeners take a capacity first approach so they can grow their business without sacrificing the very life they're building it for.
And in this season, I'm sharing a different way to think about your entire business.
Over the last few episodes, we've talked about capacity before strategy, redefining success for yourself, stepping into your CEO role, focusing on your 5%, simplifying your business. And today I want to talk to you about something else that makes a huge difference to how we feel in our businesses. And that's support.
I think there's this unspoken belief in entrepreneurship that we should somehow be able to figure out everything for ourselves. That being a good business owner means being independent, having all the answers and doing everything alone.
And really, I think that mindset keeps so many women stuck.
The reality of solopreneurship is that you're carrying so much.
You are the marketer, the admin team, customer service, finance department, content creator, strategist, all while juggling real life alongside it. And sometimes, because we're so used to coping, we don't even realise how heavy it's become.
One of the biggest shifts that I've seen both in myself and with the women I work with is what happens when you stop trying to hold everything on your own.
Because business is never just business, especially when you've built something from scratch, especially when it's your baby. And for so many of us, that's what business feels like. It's personal. It holds our ideas, our hopes, our creativity, our identity, which also means that we can feel incredibly protective of it, defensive even.
And it can feel really uncomfortable to receive feedback or criticism or hear a different perspective.
But if we never allow space for feedback, we miss opportunities to grow. Sometimes the breakthrough comes from someone helping you to see what you can't see yourself, what's overcomplicated, where you're stuck and what actually needs your attention. And that's why support matters so much.
Support might look like strategy help, practical help, accountability, upskilling and training, emotional support, being part of a community, because yes, your business needs support, but so do you as the business owner.
And that is a huge part of my role, supporting the woman behind the business, helping her hold everything that she is carrying and supporting her while she's supporting everyone else, both in her business and in her life.
I was reflecting recently on one of my mentoring clients, Jenny.
When we first started working together, she felt so incredibly overwhelmed. She was carrying a lot in life, not just in business.
Like so many women, she was trying to hold everything together and keep moving forward at the same time.
And one of the things she later shared was how valuable it was simply having a space where she didn't have to carry all of that on her own. A space to think, to talk things through, to make decisions, to have a sounding board and to step out of the day to day and look at the bigger picture.
Over the time that we worked together, she created more clarity, built confidence and a much stronger sense of direction in her business. But what struck me most was that it wasn't about somebody handing her all of the answers. It was about having the support, accountability, consistency and perspective that she needed to find her own answers.
And I think that's something so many business owners underestimate.
Sometimes the breakthrough isn't another strategy. Sometimes it's having the right support around you while you navigate the season that you're in.
Because that emotional load is real. And when you're carrying it alone, everything feels heavier. Every decision feels bigger. Every setback feels more personal. And every challenge feels harder to navigate.
I think sometimes we take the word solopreneur too far. Being a solopreneur does not mean you are supposed to carry the burden of everything alone. It means being intentional about your strengths, your weaknesses, where your energy is best spent, where you need support.
Because just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. And one of the biggest shifts you can make is freeing yourself up to spend more time in your zone of genius, doing the work that lights you up, the work that you are brilliant at, the work that creates the biggest impact.
Because when you try to do absolutely everything by yourself, you often end up exhausted, overstretched and spending too much time on things that are actually draining your energy.
And sometimes having support helps you identify what those things even are, what you should keep, what you should simplify and what you need to let go of.
In fact, that's one of the reasons I've recently introduced something new.
Because not everyone is ready for an ongoing three-month mentoring package, sometimes what you need is an objective pair of eyes on your business.
Someone to help you untangle what's in your head, help you to make the decisions that you've been avoiding and create a clear path for what happens next. That's exactly why I created the Life-Friendly Business Clarity Session. It's a focused one-hour mentoring session where we zoom out, look at what's really going on, identify what's keeping you stuck and create a practical plan that works in real life.
because sometimes the most valuable thing isn't more information, it's clarity.
This is one of the reasons that The Cocoon is so valuable. I wanted women to have a space where they didn't have to carry everything alone. A space that feels supportive, honest, collaborative, encouraging, not competitive or overwhelming. And alongside that Cocoon+ gives women the opportunity to have deeper conversations with a smaller group of peers who truly understand the reality.
of building a business alongside real life.
because there's something incredibly powerful about hearing the other challenges women are facing and hearing how they're navigating them, what they're struggling with and what's working for them.
Some of the biggest lightbulb moments come from those peer-to-peer conversations, realising, â it's not just me, or, â I hadn't thought of it that way, or, that's exactly what I needed to hear today.
And often, one honest conversation can save you weeks of overthinking.
And for some women, that one conversation is enough to create a breakthrough, to finally make the decision that they've been avoiding, to identify the real issue underneath all of the overwhelm and to stop going round in circles.
That's exactly what the Life-Friendly Business Clarity Session is designed to do.
But for other women, they know they want deeper support over a longer period of time, more personalised, bespoke support, a space to really zoom out, look at the bigger picture and make intentional decisions about their business and life.
And that's where my one-to-one mentoring comes in, helping women to simplify things, reconnect with what matters and create a business that genuinely works with their real life.
because sometimes the fastest way forward is not pushing harder on your own, it's being supported differently.
And I actually think that asking for support is a form of self leadership, recognising I don't have to carry all of this alone. I don't need to have every answer myself. I'm allowed to be supported too. So I want you to think about this. Where are you trying to do everything alone right now?
and what kind of support would actually make the biggest difference.
You were never supposed to build your business in isolation and often the moment things start to feel lighter is the moment you stop trying to carry everything on your own.
And if you're listening to this and thinking, I know I need support, but I'm not sure what that support looks like, please send me a message.
Whether you need a one-off clarity session, support inside the Cocoon or Cocoon+, or longer term mentoring, I'd be happy to have a chat through the options and help you find the best fit.
You'll find the details in the show notes. And remember, you get to do this your way. See you next week.
