Deciding to work for yourself is often cited as the best decision folks in our community have made. Hearing the same response over and over led us to ask them about the next best decision folks have made and we’ve shared their responses with you below.

Josiah & Meg Mothershed | Brand Experts, Graphic & Web Designers

What happens when you feel the pressure to grow before you’re ready, or what if you don’t want to grow your team at all? Startup culture tells us we need to grow big and grow fast. However, the number one decision that contributed to our success is choosing to stay small. Small-scale businesses can be more adaptable, preserve their autonomy, maintain a lower overhead, and have greater potential for profit. We believe that the pressure to grow is a struggle many small business owners face, and one that is not talked about enough. There are countless seminars, articles, videos, and podcasts about scaling your team, and achieving and maintaining rapid growth. However, there’s often very little discussed about it being acceptable, or even encouraged to stay at a small size. With so much pressure to become a large-sized business or hire an extensive team to be considered successful, business owners can often feel like they’re not good enough. Read more>>

Andrew Sams | Founder, Owner & Master Inspector

Committing to the success of the business and taking action on a daily basis to advance personal and professional growth. It’s a simple concept, but actually putting it into practice is the part that requires discipline. Some days you are stronger and more driven than others, but the key is to keep moving forward. Whether you are sprinting, running, or walking just keep moving forward towards your goal. Don’t stop. A good early goal is to do at least one thing every day that moves you closer to your goal. Sometimes that thing is self-care or a personal day, but you have to look at even personal care as a part of the big picture of what you are trying to accomplish. When you are a small business, the health of the business is a direct reflection of your health and that of your team. Read more>>

Amy Davis | Owner & Creative Director

I was raised in a very structured, conservative, and religious environment. It largely shaped the decisions I made and who I felt I could be growing up. After getting married and having kids, I left this space. It was extremely hard. I lost lots of friends and I was completely outside of my comfort zone. That being said, I knew that I didn’t belong there any longer. Leaving this community was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. After leaving, almost everything else felt “easy”. That might sound strange, but once I made the decision to leave almost everything else felt like an adventure! I finally felt like I was being my true self and living the life I had always dreamed of. Read more>>