Hello and happy Monday! This is Susan Hyatt and it’s GO time.
This is the 94th episode in a series of GO mp3s to wake you up on your Monday morning and get you going.
In this episode we’re talking about sweat, tears, and frustration… we’re talking about the behind-the-scenes of running your own business.
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Wanna read the full transcript? Here ya go:
This is a video of me sipping Rosé at a swanky spot in NYC with a couple of amazing lady-bosses. “Cheers! To life! Yaaaaasss queen!” We clinked our glasses. We toasted to our businesses, to our successes, and to our big, audacious goals.
After posting that video, I thought to myself…
I love this video and the “champagne moment” it captures. That was a beautiful moment. But it’s important for me to tell the rest of the story, too.
Because there’s so much more to the story. It’s not all champagne and brunch and photo shoots and giggling with your girlfriends—and sometimes, I think people forget that.
When you see someone like me posting about champagne, fun dinner parties, speaking gigs, hair and makeup styling sessions, sold-out programs and retreats, and trips to Barcelona and Paris, all of that is real. All of that is true. And also, behind-the-scenes, there’s a whole lot that people don’t always know about.
Yes, there’s champagne. Yes, there’s joy, beauty, and excitement. And also, there’s the hustle… the effort… the unglamorous, never-ending work that goes into running a business, and that goes into producing products, programs, and events.
There’s the part where you haul ass to the airport the night before a speaking gig, only to discover that your flight has been canceled.
There’s the part where you drive across state lines at midnight to catch another flight, only to discover that’s been canceled too.
There’s the part where you get 4 hours of sleep but you still have to wake up, smile, show up for your event, and give everyone the $397 experience that they paid for.
There’s the part where you drag 3 suitcases filled with workbooks and party favors for your clients up 5 flights of stairs.
There’s the part where you sit all day in your sweaty workout clothes banging out blog posts, podcast scripts, webinar notes, and emails to your clients.
There’s the part where you’re doing a video shoot and the microphones malfunction and the lighting is all wrong and after 8 hours of filming, you realize you probably have to do it all over again.
There’s the part where a client backs out at the last possible second, leaving you with an empty bedroom at your next retreat, and you have to scramble to figure out how to fill that spot within the next 48 hours, and meanwhile your cat is throwing up (again), your son’s in trouble at school (again), your daughter (who just got her drivers license) got rear-ended, and to make things even more fun, someone on Facebook thinks your photos are “inappropriate” and just wrote a lengthy rant about how you’re a “terrible role model” and a “fake feminist” and they want the entire world to know. Gee thanks!
If you want to run your own business, hell yes, you should. 
But you should also know what you’re signing up for, with no delusions. You’re signing up for self-expression, freedom, and deep joy. You’re also signing up for… everything else. The boring parts. The repetitive parts. The stressful parts. The heavy lifting. The hustle. The work. The parts that nobody sees.
You’ve got to be willing to embrace it all. The Rosé champagne moments, and everything that comes before (and after) those moments, too.
Sometime this week, send an email to a hardworking business owner that you admire. The owner of your favorite local restaurant. The owner of your local yoga studio. Your favorite blogger, podcaster, consultant, or coach. A colleague. Or your best friend. Someone whose work makes a difference in your life. Tell that person…
I just wanted to say “Thank you” for everything you do. I know there’s a huge amount of effort, time, courage, risk, and hard work that goes into running a business like yours. And I know most of that work happens behind-the-scenes, and nobody sees it, and it never gets acknowledged. So today I want to say: thank you. Please know that you are appreciated, and you are making a difference in my life.
If you send an email like that, I can promise you… she’ll be incredibly touched. And she’ll probably cry. And she’ll feel even more motivated to keep going.
And whether you’re having a champagne day or a cranking-out-work-in-sweatpants day, I want you to keep going, too. Hustle like you mean it. And remember…
“Those at the top of the mountain didn’t fall there.”
—Marcus Washling
Nope. They didn’t fall there. They worked their way up to the top, and they’re still working hard to reach the next peak, and 95% of the work… is the part you never see.
