Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and professional development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Juliet Barrett, Founder of Juliet Barrett Coach, located in Chicago, IL, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
I’m a Creative Coach working at the intersection of personal and professional development for people who value creativity in their lives and are seeking opportunities to be in a deeper relationship with it in both their short and long-term development. I help clients build fulfilling lives that don't ask them to compartmentalize themselves into many versions but unite their collage of experience within a balanced sense of purpose.
Tell us about yourself
At the core of my work, I help people embody their stories. My own dynamic career as a lifelong creative with roots across industries including Television/Broadcasting, Film, Theatre, Public Art, Art Education, and most recently, User Experience has given me both experiential training and a high-level understanding of how the stories we tell ourselves shape our lives.
I entered the coaching field over five years ago as an experienced freelancer, ready to apply the lessons I learned to help others identify the path of least resistance at the intersection of their values and goals. I care about supporting my clients in identifying their unique skills and interests as relative to one another, which builds the bridge for personal development that prevents burnout and deepens the sustainable connection to self and community.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Currently, my measure of success is when a client is able to step into something that previously filled them with fear, and rather than trying to diminish the fear, they step into a relationship with it knowing that vulnerability is the companion feeling that will keep them aligned with their personal power.
I see this evidence through clients taking action on ideas they have long considered inaccessible. Whether that's pursuing a new career path, moving to a location that better supports their passions, beginning a business that showcases their skills, or becoming more public about their passions within their professional world to begin attracting opportunities more in alignment with their authentic self.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
Running a business on your own is like being in any other relationship: it calls you into deep accountability to confront destructive narratives about your self-worth, perfection standards, and failure frameworks. This is why I chose it; my growth with my clients is interdependent. To show up for my clients means I am also learning how to show up for myself. This means I'm accountable for investing in myself with time, energy, and finances the way I ask my clients to invest in our work together. I prioritize up-skilling my methodologies, growing under mentorship, and building community with peer coaches who hold me accountable along the way.
When I find myself spiraling in self-doubt about a product that didn’t sell or an idea that I can’t quite turn into content, I have learned that intuition needs spaciousness in order to be heard, and that can be very scary. Recognizing when it is time to rest and walk away from an idea or an opportunity that will tip me into potential burnout is how I am able to stay present and available for my own growth within the work.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Start with what you know. You don’t have to know all the answers to the future before you begin! There aren’t enough courses or workbooks in the world that can teach you the nuance of what pure experience will provide. But be patient with yourself! The first year is all about small steps, learning how to embrace failure as growth opportunities and understanding which ideas will be most sustainable for your long-term success.
- Your vulnerability is your superpower. People don’t want to be fed a marketing strategy; they want to be in a relationship with your process. Transparency is the greatest key to developing an audience that not only connects to your product but wants to support its evolution long into the future!
- Embrace the idea of growing slowly. You don’t need to prove you’re “all in” and quit your full-time job, challenge your financial security or seek out a bunch of investors in order to be legitimate. Find the path of least resistance, and start there. The more you give yourself time and space to pay attention to what feels good, the easier it will be to scale at a rate that doesn’t compromise other important parts of your life balance. The best part of being a solopreneur is that you get to set your pace! No one knows what’s best for you than you. Create the time and space to listen to yourself, and act on your intuition when it’s time to make a move. The rest will follow!
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
With creativity as my framework, I approach all things with curiosity and value for personal expression, with reverence for a process as a guide over an outcome-driven approach. I use my work to excavate the wisdom in paradox with the intent to help others imagine the greater possibility for their lives that welcomes impermanence as the key to transformation. In the acceptance of change as the only constant, my clients befriend their fears as objective information rather than dictators of their limitless potential.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://www.julietbarrettcoach.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/julietbarrettcoach/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julietbarrett/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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