"How to Cultivate Grit and Resilience as a Female Business Owner"
Dr. Ariel Blackburn
Being a female business owner requires a certain amount of grit and resilience. This is going to be your push to get out of bed every day, no matter what obstacle you face, and just do the damn thing. You will do the damn thing because your goal is more significant than you. Your desire to be the best version of yourself is more significant than you. It is a true calling. Grit is beautiful, exhausting, and rewarding all of the same. When we are in the thick of it, grit doesn't feel attractive, but that's okay.
I feel as women, we don't have to cultivate grit. It is already there. But our grit determines how much we truly want something to work out. As women, we don't give up. If we do, it is only for a short period, then we pivot. This is what makes us great leaders and business owners. SO cultivating our grit into a more vital force means we are pivoting like no other.
Grit and resilience are usually intertwined. Grit is perseverance and passion for long-term goals. It's about sticking with something even when it's tough, maintaining effort and interest over the years despite setbacks, failures, and plateaus. Resilience doesn't necessarily require a long-term goal or passion but focuses on how we will cope and rebound from difficult situations.
Even from the early stages of starting a female-owned business, the odds are stacked against us. Women lack access to crucial federal programs, including contracting and procurement programs. According to the most recent data from the Small Business Administration (SBA), women-owned businesses netted only 4.63% of all federal contracting dollars in fiscal year 2022, just shy of the government's long-term 5% goal.
But remember, women are damn resilient and more gritty than ever. Taken from a Forbes article in 2023, "Despite barriers to business growth and creation, women business owners are a driving force of the economy, and they’re doing so with smaller teams. “The vast majority of women-owned businesses are ‘micro-businesses,’ businesses with fewer than 50 employees,” National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) President and CEO Jen Earle said." Hell yeah to you, female business owner!
This proves that grit and resilience are ingrained in us, but this doesn't take away how challenging every day can be. When I first opened my business, I spent more days crying than I did not. I spent more days struggling to get out of bed than not and thinking, what is this all for? Then my now husband said, "You have so much grit. More than I think I have ever seen anyone have before." Of course, I did what I did best and cried a little, but then I could sit with that. I have written a business plan, secured a business loan, found a location, and did everything in between to get my brick-and-mortar business operational.
If you are struggling to know if you have cultivated grit and resilience as a small business owner, ask yourself, "Am I still pursuing my dream as a business owner? Girlfriend, you have it. Remember where you came from, what you have accomplished, and what you can do today. It doesn't have to be much. It literally can be getting out of bed. Try writing down your milestones for the day. I got out of bed, made my bed, brushed my teeth, and made myself breakfast; all of these count as grit because you have the passion and perseverance to overcome!
You are doing it. You have it. If you need help or guidance, I am also here for you!
Dr. Ariel Blackburn
Chiropractor
Business mentor/consultant for introverted female holistic health providers
Momma bear
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