Becoming Bold Without Apology

By Paige Arnof-Fenn

I started a global branding and digital marketing firm 24 years ago. Being bold as an entrepreneur means showing up every day with renewed energy and enthusiasm to find new customers and continue to delight the ones you already have with your smarts, humor and attitude. It takes persistence, humility and guts to show up every day with a smile, strategy and a plan so I think entrepreneurs are bold by definition. It means making decisions with uncertainty and knowing you can course correct as you go and learn more about your customers. Bold is a way of life for entrepreneurs. It is not about being risky it is about being brave, confident and smart. It takes courage to trust your gut and face your fear so you can find the right path and lead with authority. The best leaders live it on the inside which is the most effective way to show it on the outside.

I learned to stop asking for permission in the first few years before things had really taken off when I did not know how much is too much for follow up, being persistent vs a stalker. I had pitched a CEO about a month before I ran into her at a networking event where she was the keynote speaker and her topic was about being a woman leader in a traditionally male-dominated business. I had followed up after sending my proposal several times via e-mail and voice mail but the CEO never returned any of my messages or even acknowledged receipt of the proposal requested so I assumed we were out of consideration. I thought I was being pleasantly persistent but I was nervous to see her at the event because I thought she might think I was stalking her. You can imagine my shock when she announced at this event as part of her speech that she believes it’s important to put your money where your mouth is and for women CEOs to support other respected/well-run women's businesses and that is why she has hired my firm to handle all her company's marketing/PR! Everyone congratulated me after, it was a better endorsement than the New York Times because she was very well known and had the reputation of being very tough with high standards so I got a LOT of business from people in the room that night because they thought if I was able to impress her I must be very good 😉 I felt unstoppable! I have also made it a priority to help women in business succeed. To think I almost did not even show up maybe seeing me there is what prompted her to pull the trigger and hire us? I sold more business in the month that followed than l ever had since starting my company so we really began to scale quickly at that point and got a lot of referrals as a result! It was a big day in our history for sure. Wasn’t it Woody Allen who said 80% of success is just showing up. It’s a strategy that has worked for me and has been fun way to build my marketing business.

For the first 5 years of my business I was scared to go on vacation for fear all my hard work would unravel. Then my in-laws, father, mom and stepdad all started to get sick and I wanted to be there for them. They all lived thousands of miles away so I started to work less. After years of decline they each died about 8 months apart (7 people in 6 years) and I became executrix which is like having another job at times. So I had to take very good care of myself or I wouldn’t have been helpful to anyone else. I reclaimed my confidence and started working out every day and planning me time on my calendar. I became more comfortable with white space in my day and stopped over-scheduling myself.

And guess what? My business did not suffer, in fact it became stronger and I was even more unstoppable. We moved up the food chain and have better clients. I don’t think I could ever go back. Downtime and vacations are not optional, you need to take breaks to be productive, creative and energized. I am so much happier and more productive as an entrepreneur than I ever was working for others. It’s all about controlling your calendar. I no longer try to squeeze in more meetings or hit multiple events at night. As an entrepreneur, I can be selective. Less really is more. I’ve chosen quality over quantity. It sounds trivial but it’s true. I created a platform to do work I enjoy and feel energized by. I feel I have found my purpose because I used to work all the time and life was passing me by. I got raises and promotions but I was all work and no play and I didn’t feel fulfilled. Since starting my business I have joined boards and volunteered at several organizations. I am a mentor to the next generation of leaders and have helped build a very successful anti-bullying program that >300,000 middle school aged kids have gone through. As an entrepreneur I’m able to write articles, contribute to books and speak at events to share my experience and lessons learned.

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