Messy in the Middle: Episode 1- The Breakdown: The Financial (And Emotional!) Ups and Downs of My First Six Figure Year
I’ve done it- I started a podcast! Starting a podcast has been something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. Now, I am so happy to share the first season of Messy in the Middle with you! Let’s get right to it with a breakdown of Episode 1!
In episode 1, I broke down my messy middle! I went through my business’s income, expenses and lessons learned of our first six-figure year. 2021 was a roller coaster. My company had the most sales we’ve ever had, I completely reinvented my business model, and I faced a lot of challenges that I wasn’t necessarily expecting to face. But in my messy middle, I have learned and grown a lot and that’s really what this is all about!
Fun Fact
When I started recording this episode, we were $1,200 from reaching our goal of becoming a 6-figure business in 2021. By the time 2022 rolled around, we had made it to our 6-figure goal!
The Breakdown
My evolution into full-time entrepreneurship and the launch of Propegy was quite a journey. Here’s a little background for you:
In 2018, I graduated with a degree in sociology after changing my major about a dozen times. After two years of part time jobs, freelancing, experimenting with full time employment, and deciding to get my Masters I decided to take on entrepreneurship full time. I made the bold move to officially declare myself a marketing strategist and started taking on clients. Over the course of the next year, I took on enough clients to entertain bringing on another team member…and then the pandemic hit.
The pandemic allowed me to pile on a ton of virtual clients. By the time Q1 of 2021 rolled around, the Propegy team was made up of myself, my virtual assistant, and my part-time content marketing assistant. In that first quarter, I realized the bulk of strategy creation was still falling on me. We had made a lot of strides in terms of content creation, but I needed to figure out how to download my brain into an SOP of my team. At the time, most of our revenue was coming from one off projects rather than retainer clients, and we finished the quarter off strong.
Q2 was a different story. We took on 3 new clients in addition to our existing clients, and I did a lot of hiring in Q2. I was convinced that every quarter would go as Q1 did and that Propegy was about to blow up! I brought on 3 new team members in a super limited capacity. This led me to reach out to my now great friend, Kira La Forgia, for some much needed HR advice. Kira’s expertise was a huge investment but I wouldn’t have made it through this portion of the year without the ground work she laid and her support.
I wish I could say things got better, but it felt like I was in a bit of a downward spiral. My one existing team member quit unexpectedly. One of my new hires didn’t work out. And at the end of June, all but one of our clients decided not to pay us. I had more payroll because I had brought on new team members, I had this newfound pressure to take on the role of guide and mentor for my new employees after my existing team member left, and I felt this looming sense of failure and shame for not hiring well or being the best leader. Looking back, I think I did the best I could have done under the circumstances!
Q3 was probably the worst quarter of the year. Sometime in Q2, QuickBooks decided to start double counting all our expenses. This made it look like we were majorly in the red. We pulled back expenses, I didn’t pay my salary for a month, and we were still in negative and I couldn’t figure out why. Once I switched our accounting and got things squared away, things started to move in the right direction. I set new boundaries with clients, said goodbye to clients that couldn’t adhere to my new boundaries, and launched the beta version of our signature Level Up program. It was a huge period of growth for both myself and Propegy.
After the rollercoaster that was Q2 & Q3, Q4 was boring in the best way. My team and I started really planning for 2022, and I started to wonder if the dream of a 6-figure year was all it’s cracked up to be…and if I was going to have to wait to find out until 2022. Even if I wouldn’t have reached my 6-figure goal, I told myself that 98k in revenue…is A LOT of money and definitely something to be proud of!
Hiring, firing, and leading a team is hard but it’s extremely rewarding at the end of the day. This journey will never be easy, but I find strength in being open and seeking guidance from others who know more than me. As long as I do that I can talk about the hard stuff, knowing I’m growing along the way.
What business dreams have you had that haven’t worked out? Leave a comment below on our post, or reach out any time via Instagram or LinkedIn. We can’t wait to hear from you!
