It's Okay to Be a Beginner Again.

After 11 years of building brands alongside Founders, I was afraid of what someone would think if they learned I was going back to school.

No, I’m not quitting my business.

Yes, I’m still working with Founders.

But after 11 years of helping other founders solve problems that they are passionate about through creative products and brands, I decided I wanted to solve my own.

And in order to do that, I needed to be okay with starting over — okay with going from being the most qualified person in the room when it comes to building and scaling brands, to being the least qualified person in the room when it comes to the particular problem I wanted to solve.

For me, that meant going back to school, so that I could have the educational foundation I would need to build my own brand.

It felt incredibly humbling to sit in a classroom after spending years being the person people come to for answers.

But then, I thought about my own clients, and how so many of them have boldly stepped out of the boardrooms and positions of leadership that they spent years climbing to in order to solve problems that they are passionate about.

And it made me realize starting over when you already had expertise in another room might be the exact thing that grows your brand..

A lot of founders think credibility comes from always looking certain.

But some of the strongest brands I’ve worked with are built by people willing to become beginners again.

Especially women leaving the corporate world.

Pivoting industries.

Launching something they’ve never done before.

Building a brand after years of building someone else’s vision.

There’s a grief that comes with it.

Going from being “the expert” to asking questions again.

From knowing exactly what you’re doing to learning manufacturing, marketing, positioning, content, launches, inventory, customer experience, and leadership, all at once.

But this is what I’m learning:

Being a beginner again forces you to build with intention.

Not relying on your reputation in your previous industry.

Not because you’ve done it before, because you haven’t.


Not “because that’s how it’s always been done,” but because you’re learning something new every day.


It teaches you how to stay curious.

How to adapt.

How to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

How to listen to your customers, and allow your customers to see themselves in you.

How to build something that actually fits the life you want now.

Honestly, some of the best founders I know are the ones willing to sit in rooms where they don’t know everything yet.


They’re willing to admit their shortcomings and lean on others with more experience than they have. And they’re willing to become a student of life & business again, taking in new lessons every day.


I’ll always admire the woman brave enough to start over.

To leave the stable job.

To launch the idea.

To build the thing before she feels fully ready.

Because I’m learning, beginning again doesn’t make you less qualified.

Sometimes it’s the exact thing that makes you capable of building something better this time around.