“It was never my lifelong desire to become an entrepreneur, I just ended up here. Being an entrepreneur gives you a sense of unlimited options. I have always been an independent and hopeful character, asking ‘what if’ and wanting to test myself to see if it works out.”
After a few years working in radio, Fina still wasn't sure if she was where she was meant to be so she decided to travel to free her mind and make some decisions on where she was headed in life. Upon her return, what she was more certain of was that she wanted to feel free with her time and how she wanted to spend it. It became clear that this meant working for herself rather than for someone else. Along with her partner, they decided that the life of a digital nomad was for them, bringing their work with them as they set out to explore the world both personally and professionally.
Fina knew and loved the world of audio and storytelling, and with nothing to lose she began promoting her services. With podcasting beginning to emerge, she realised how perfectly placed she was to apply her skills to help in this growing arena. Her partner was equipped with the much needed sales expertise required to turn her idea into an actual business - a juncture many Founders can relate to, without the sales, our ideas can never really materialise commercially.
“It went against my instinct but I took the advice and sent off emails and to my surprise I had a good response rate. But this wasn't sales in the traditional sense, I reached out as a listener to podcasters with something to offer that could help them. I knew I was onto something and that this could actually work.”
Today they are on a mission to make podcasting as simple as possible and help people get back to creating awesome content. Fina explains that eventually this new way of entrepreneurial life becomes like anything in life, a habit, a new normal. After learning how to sell her services, delegation became her next hurdle to overcome. Delegating is a big growth area for many entrepreneurs as we almost always start the journey alone and as we mature we realise we simply cannot do it all alone if we want to grow. Delegating is essential in order to avoid burnout and a means to realistically grow a business. Fina has learnt how to let go and bring in expertise to meet client demand, and open up the scope of her business. Upon reflection, she realises that herself, the business, and her clients are better off because of her newfound ability to delegate. She believes without this we end up working more and more inefficiently, never really being able to enjoy the fruits of our labour.
“There are some really ugly days where you ask yourself ‘what am I doing?!’. Other days you’re ill, but you can't take a day off work. These bad days are a guarantee but you have to know it isn't always like this. I’d say 20% of your time can be quite shitty but you will get there eventually, having grit and being able to stick with it is essential.”
Fina goes on to talk about a common challenge faced by many Founders: cashflow. We need to be conscious of our decision making and how that is influenced by where we are at in terms of runway. Of course when we build up that runway, we can turn bad business away, but when cashflow is an issue, we are more influenced to make poor decisions in a moment of desperation. We need to keep ourselves in check with the trade offs we are willing to make and what remains non negotiable and against our business goals and values. Not to mention the need to explore root causes for cash flow issues and creative ways to resolve those.
“As an entrepreneur, you shouldn't be drawing the highest salaries. We need to keep that in the business to help our runway and protect our business decision making down the line. This is the price we pay as Founders who put the business first, adopting a long term view instead of short term gain.”
From practical advice to emotional advice, Fina has come to terms with Imposter Syndrome as a reality in the entrepreneurial journey. It may always be present, but the quicker we can acknowledge it, address it, and move on, the greater the strides we can make in the journey. We are often our greatest limitation, and as the buck stops with us, the Founder behind the business, we need to tackle this head on, or our business growth is stunted. Furthermore, Fina highlights the importance of intuition in business. When something doesn't feel right, she advises us to amplify that inner voice instead of pushing it away because this is where our best decisions are derived. If your business is feeling stagnant, listen to that feeling and do something about it. This is how we evolve, grow and pivot our businesses in the most profound ways, when we develop the ability to really hear what our business needs.
Fina finds inspiration in living the lifestyle that she has chosen, one with nature and adventure on her doorstep. We admire how she has found a way to weave her personal and professional life together to work with and alongside one another. A prime example of how we can achieve balance as successful entrepreneurs if we make this central to our vision.
“You want to be intrinsically happy with what you are doing, and on the bad days that extrinsic side can really lift you and remind you what life is all about and bring you back to your why.”
“Solving niche challenges Founders face”.
Illustrator: Lisa Williams (Instagram: @artist_llw)