My worst boss was me

I've had three rock bottom moments.

The first was as a teenager. I told you about that already. Not knowing who I was, people pleasing and making questionable decisions. Hitting the floor, hearing a voice and deciding to make a change.

The second wasn't quite so dramatic.

It was 2014. I was three years into running my social media agency, and I had a team of six people.

But I was on a different path to the one I'd imagined.

I started my business at age 22 so I could travel. I pictured complete freedom. Working from my laptop, exploring the world and living in the sunshine. Passport, glorious beaches, living the dream.

In reality, I was stuck in Birmingham, United Kingdom. I'd just won Birmingham Young Professional of the Year, partly because I hadn't left the city in a long time.

My business needed me too much.

And it was getting worse.

Every client reported to me. Every team member needed me. No decisions happened without me.

I didn't know how to change it. So I didn't change it.

I just worked more.

(I know you know this feeling)

My friends had all moved to London, got jobs at consultancy firms, and were complaining about their bosses.

But my boss was worse. And she had higher standards.

Using my laptop one day in 2014, a screenshot popped up. It was from an interview I gave three years before, for the Female Entrepreneur Association.

They had featured me as their Woman of the Week for my big travel plans.

Here's what I'd said:

Another wake-up call.

What the hell Jodie. You start a business so you can travel, and then you don't leave Birmingham. Sort your life out.

I sorted my life out.

That day I booked a five-week trip to Sydney, Australia, three months in the future. Gave myself a deadline to create a business that didn't need me to be in the same city.

That three months was messy. Team members needed training. Processes needed making. My own boundaries needed establishing.

But I got on the flight. Had the trip. Came back, and nothing had burned down.

No one's work should cost them their life.

No one's life should cost them their freedom.

Lesson learned. 5-week trips, repeated.

For 12 years.

I've now lived in 35 cities, running a business the whole time. Figured out how to make it work. How to not be on call. How to not create dependency in team members or clients.

And how to run a business without it running you.

Trapped inside your business? I got you.

I made you a free workshop on how to systemize your business and live your dream life.

If you want to take the leap, this is the best place to start. It's everything I'd have wanted to know when I felt stuck.

Get the workshop

You could be one flight away. One hire away. One decision away.

Don't wait for a screenshot to wake you up.