If I Started My Business Over Tomorrow

The advice I'd drop, the advice I'd keep, and what I wish I'd trusted sooner

This June or July marks eight years in business for me, and lately I've been sitting with a question: if I could start over tomorrow, knowing everything I know now, what would I actually do differently?

So that's what this episode is. No guest this time — just me, unpacking the advice I followed that didn't serve me, the advice that did, and the one belief I wish someone had handed me back in year one.

If you've ever felt like you're the only one still figuring it out — even years into running your business — keep reading, then go listen to the full thing.

"Build It and They Will Come" Is a Myth

When I officially launched in 2018, I came in believing that if I showed up on social media consistently enough and made things look good, clients would just find me.

That's basically the promise a lot of online business education was selling at the time.

Here's what I've learned instead: building the thing is only half the job. You also have to tell people about it — actively, repeatedly, out loud.

No one stumbles onto your business by accident. And the harder truth underneath that is: becoming a business owner doesn't change your customers' behavior.

People are still picky about how they spend their time and money, the same way you are when you're the one buying.

Why I'd Stop Chasing the Algorithm

For the first two years of my business, I agonized over social media — how to post, how often, how to look polished enough to "count." Looking back, that was time I'll never get back.

If I started tomorrow, I'd treat social media more like an experiment than a scoreboard.

One genuinely compelling piece of content a week is plenty for a local, relationship-based business. Social presence signals that you're legitimate and professional, but it's rarely where the actual trust-building happens.

That happens in one-to-one conversations, in your community, in person.

If you're someone who didn't come into business already loving content creation, you don't have to force yourself into that mold to succeed.

Detach From the Number, Look at the Data Instead

One of the biggest mindset shifts I've made is learning to stop taking my numbers personally.

A lot of the "success" stories we see online come from businesses with massive audiences — a 2% conversion rate on 500 people in a funnel looks incredible. That same 2% on 68 story views can feel like proof you're failing.

It's not. It's math, not a signal on your worth.

Once I started looking at data instead of feelings, I stopped spiraling every time something underperformed and started treating it like information I could actually use.

What I'd Keep Doing: SEO, Website, and Operating With Integrity

Some things I'd absolutely repeat. Investing early in Google SEO is hands-down one of the best decisions I made — especially moving to Pittsburgh without an existing network.

And even with AI reshaping how people search, I don't think SEO is going away; it's evolving into optimizing for how AI tools recommend businesses, not disappearing.

I'd also keep treating my website like a storefront.

My approach: Walmart prices attract Walmart shoppers, Target prices attract Target shoppers, Prada prices attract Prada shoppers — it's not about which tier is "better," it's about whether your presentation actually matches what you're charging.

And underneath all of it, I'd keep operating from integrity — delivering on what I say I'll deliver, not assuming clients owe me anything, and constantly checking whether I'm actually serving people well.

Listen to the Full Episode

In the full episode I go deeper into the mindset work around the "starving artist" trap, why I intentionally didn't market my business at all in the year before I launched, and the one thing I wish someone had told me when I was still convinced I was a fraud.