Business isn’t always success and it isn’t always the manicured beautiful posts you see on social media.

It can also be messy, turbulent, overwhelming.

And last quarter, I overestimated my capacity.

Read on to find out how I’m moving forward and my advice for you.

Time can fly by in a blur. It feels so hectic, and I’m never really sure if I’ve got the things done that I planned.

But when I sit down to reflect, I find that even though it felt hectic and unclear, I still made progress on my goals.

There is inevitably a “Wait, What?” moment. How did that happen? Here I was feeling uncertain about my progress, and now I find that I’m right on track.

The thing is– the structure that I have in place is there to ensure that I get to that next best step and also to care for myself as a human. Which means, if I just keep picking away at the next step, eventually it all comes together.

Image Source: Instagram @lizandmollie

Boundaries are the guardrails that we put up for ourselves and our business that help define what we will and will not do. When we can stretch and when we’ve gone too far. What we will accept and what we will not.

In this episode of Small Business Stories, I speak with Skye Paul from Running Fox Beads about boundaries in her business.

Don’t let ideas freeze you with indecision. See them as the powerful advantage they are. Practice discerning which ones are most important.

Sometimes it’s not just the work that gets in the way of finishing projects, it can also be affected by how we feel. One of the hardest parts of being a small business owner is also managing all the emotions that come with running a business.

Here are three of the common feelings that I come across that prevent us from getting projects done.

There is a difference between learning how to use a tool and understanding how to use that tool in a way that will benefit you & your small business. Just because a tool fills a gap, doesn’t mean that you are in a place to use that tool effectively. Here is how I evaluate tools for my business.

In this first episode of Small Business Stories, I talk with Emily Oriold, Co-Founder & Artistic Producer of The Norm Foster Theatre Festival, about taking risks in business. Emily shares her entrepreneur journey. We talked about trusting your gut, the power of the community you surround yourself with, and not letting fear dictate your momentum. This conversation was a joy for me.