By: Jennifer Borba von Stauffenberg
There has been a buzz around Olive lately. It’s like I have re-fallen in love with it. I have the skip back in my step, the optimism in my tone, and a silly grin on my face just about always. Here’s the truth: Olive grew and grew, and then one day I woke up and it really had become something I didn’t sign up for. As for myself, I had become a glorified admin professional.
I’m a big believer in surrounding yourself with direct and honest people to ensure you are quickly returned to center when you are off track, and thanks to my husband, I had a HUGE epiphany.
After a couple glasses of wine he said, “So Jenn, do you really love what you do? Do you want to be known as a great business owner or a great PR person?” My heart pounded out of my chest, the blood flushed to my head, and I knew in that moment what needed to happen. I had to pump the breaks and reignite my vision.
Here’s what I did. I hired a business coach for a one day intensive to get to the bottom of it. After 12 hours of grueling coaching I was able to uncover my vision. Guess what? It was actually the same vision I had eight years ago – I had just forgotten what that looked like. I walked away with an action plan and that included letting the team shrink and allowing projects to wrap up without quickly hustling to replace them.
Here’s what it felt like: total crap. I didn’t realize how much this would impact my ego. The air felt thin, I saw glimpses of failure, I felt panicked, all of it. I had never experienced this in my business. My husband kept reminding me that this is what I wanted.
So, to distract myself, I dove into hunting for a new office space and a rebrand to redefine what this all means to us, which really meant revisiting our roots.
Like we always say internally, you have to let the plan work and you must see it through. It was painful and then one day, it was magical. The excess cleared and I was finally doing what I love again. My inspiration and passion for Olive and the work we do was reignited and I haven’t been happier. I’ve redefined our path to include growth with purpose. It’s subtle, but it changes everything.
So, the moral of the story is this: Don’t EVER lose sight of your original vision. That moment when you got the chills and gasped because of how brilliant your idea was, that was the moment you were clear – write it down, store it safely, and refer to it often no matter how busy you are.
The outcome: Olive is not ever going to be the biggest agency, but we will always be the best. We will always be committed to quality and a team that supports each other to ensure we can accomplish things that even shock us.
Cheers to your vision! May it always be clear and within reach.