This week's solo episode follows a heart to heart with the ladies inside my Print Over Pixels community about what it really takes to face disappointment in business and the resilience muscle every solo trader, freelancer and founder has to build along the way.
So I decided to share my own catalogue of business fails. The Etsy shop that sold precisely two travel prints in two years. The maternity photography charity fundraiser that raised £199 for WWACA, which was far less than I'd hoped for. The free weekend of toddler party photography that grew my email list but didn't bring in a single booking. The Facebook group that never quite got time poor parents to pick up their camera. The 500 hand delivered booklets that didn't bring in any new clients.
This episode is about all of it, the sink of disappointment when something you had real hope for falls flat and the advice from my mum that led me to treat every one of these moments like a contraction. These fails are painful in the moment, but just like contractions, once you come out the other side you never have to go through it again and you are one step closer to your goal.
In this episode, I reflect on:
✨ The Big Wide World Prints Etsy shop, born out of a craving for creative outlet during the fog of matrescence and the two orders it generated across two years despite two hundred hours of YouTube tutorials
✨ The maternity photography fundraiser for a local women's charity that raised far less than hoped, and the honest disappointment of pitching to magazines that never took the story up
✨ The countless nos faced whilst fundraising for the D-Day 75 garden and why that story, covered fully in episode 65, remains one of the biggest lessons in perseverance
✨ The free weekend spent photographing toddler and preschool parties in exchange for email addresses, and the sobering reality of thirty unsubscribes and zero bookings from the whole exercise
✨ The Facebook group built around weekly photo recipes and why fourteen weeks and twenty members later it quietly came to an end
✨ The 500 hand delivered booklets showcasing family portraits and the deflating silence that followed a full week of door to door delivery
✨ Why the real danger is not the disappointment itself but the fixed stories we tell ourselves afterwards, that the market is too saturated, that nobody wants what we are offering, that we simply do not have what it takes
✨ The importance of separating a setback from your own self-worth and why turning disappointment inward is often the thing that actually stops people from trying again
✨ Why patience with yourself matters just as much as resilience, particularly in the early, hustling years of motherhood when it is tempting to push yourself into the ground
✨ The idea that every business fail can be treated like a labour contraction, painful in the moment, but each one brings you closer to your goal and one you will never have to face in quite that same way again
Takeaway for Mums in Business:
"If you can feel the disappointment, sit in it for a while and then detach yourself from the stories your mind wants to tell you, you can pick yourself up and go again. Treat every fail like a contraction. It's painful in the moment, but each one brings you closer to your goal."
About The Host:
I’m Victoria Phipps – a Mum of two, analogue family photographer, personal brand photographer, educator, charity co-founder, marketer and now podcaster! 🎙️
I was raised by a nurturing Mother and an entrepreneurial Father and have inherited traits from both, so the tension between ambition and motherhood is one I grapple with on a daily basis!
I’m fascinated to hear the stories of other women on a similar path, who are striving to build thriving businesses whilst being present for their children. It's a tough juggle, but I hope the conversations shared on this podcast help Mums in business feel less alone and inspired to keep going in pursuit of their dreams.
Head to the Mum Means Business Podcast website for full show notes.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the topics discussed in this conversation, so please do let me know on Instagram where I'm @victoriaphippsmbe or @mummeansbusinesspodcast.
If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5* rating and review!
