Oh my goshhh don’t even get me started on how many fears I had before leaving corporate America and starting a business! I honestly think getting up the nerve to take the leap was one of the hardest parts of the whole process. In case you have dreams of starting a business, becoming your own boss, or one-day leaving corporate America… you’re so not alone!

Below are a few of my biggest fears (that you may share as well)… 

5 Real Fears I Had Before Starting a Business

FEAR #1: I Would Have to Go Back to Corporate

To be honest, it took me YEARS of being out of my corporate gig before I relaxed about this one. Once I realized how easy it was to find work through freelance copywriting whenever I wanted to, it hit me: I would never have to go back. I was finally free, for good.

FEAR #2: People Would Judge Me

Annnd spoiler alert: they probably did. One of the best things I did to counteract this fear was to find communities of like-minded entrepreneurs who were also stretching, growing, and creating new lives for themselves. As Brene Brown says:

“If you are not in the arena getting your ass kicked on occasion, I am not interested in or open to your feedback. There are a million cheap seats in the world today filled with people who will never be brave with their own lives, but will spend every ounce of energy they have hurling advice and judgment at those of us trying to dare greatly. Their only contributions are criticism, cynicism, and fear-mongering. If you’re criticizing from a place where you’re not also putting yourself on the line, I’m not interested in your feedback.”

FEAR #3: I Would Go Broke

Before I left corporate America, this felt like such an on-off switch. Either I would be wildly successful OR I would go broke. I didn’t see that there were a million ways to make money in the in-between stage through copywriting. I could pick up a few hundred dollars per day whenever I needed to. Fear absolved.

FEAR #4: I Would Fail

Honestly, I might have. I guess it depends on your definition of failure. When I left corporate America, I thought I had to start a brand new business to do so, so I launched a health coaching business. And I DID have a hard time getting clients and covering business expenses enough to make a profit for the first few years.

But content writing kept me afloat as I built that business. Eventually, I realized that the copywriting WAS the work I loved doing—and it also gave me the time and location freedom I valued so much—so I pivoted to that, and made $15K my first month. I was just as shocked as you!

FEAR #5: I would use up all my savings

This one actually came true, too! Like, tens of thousands of dollars into debt. But again, copywriting to the rescue. Once I turned up the notch on my copywriting business, I was able to get out of tens of thousands in debt in only a few months.

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Here’s the thing I realized: even when so many of my worst fears materialized, I noticed that I was still OK. I was still standing. Still surviving. Still happy. Still finding a way. The fears coming true was actually one of the best things to happen to me because it showed me that I could handle them—that I really had nothing to fear.

These days, the thing I fear most is REGRET. I would much rather regret doing something than NOT doing something. Wondering what if. Seeing someone else live the life I could’ve lived. Being stuck in the same place years later, wondering what would’ve happened if I had gone for it.

For me, and for you, this is my wish: that your hopes will be stronger than your fears. 💛

Ready for Your Biggest, Brightest Life?

Listen to the episode here! Would seriously fall out of my chair over a review!

Sign up for a free training: 5 steps to earn $100/hour writing for businesses online (the same steps I used to go from burned out in corporate to running my own multi 6-figure business as my own boss, working from anywhere). This is for you even if you don’t have writing experience or an online following!