One of the things I realized this summer is that no matter how eager I am to fit in, the truth is that I was brought here to create a funky, maverick business. Every time I try to follow the straight and narrow path of convention, life shows up and says “I don’t think so.”

And every time I step out and let my freak flag fly, good things seem to happen.

The nice thing about admitting that you have a funky, maverick business is that you get to breathe again. You take back the power to say “that doesn’t work for me,” or “I wonder how I can adapt that advice to fit MY business” or “Are you freakin’ kidding me?”

So what does it mean to be a funky, maverick business owner?

It means:

1. You believe the only business worth creating is the one that feeds your soul – that allows you to express your soul’s calling through your work.

2. Your funky, maverick business is the expression of your unique access to universal wisdom meeting your understanding of and compassion for your audience.

3. Your funky, maverick business only comes to life if you’re willing to stay in “what if” long enough to let your vision come into full form.

4. Designing your funky, maverick business requires drawing on both your expressive and strategic energies.

5. Claiming your funky, maverick business means healing everything that keeps you from reaching for your ideal work or from speaking anything less than your most personal, radical, spiritual message. Healing things like your relationship to money, your willingness to take up space in the world, and your need to please.

6. Nurturing your funky, maverick business requires finding the courage to move out into the world, making your voice heard, inviting people to experience what you have to offer, and allowing whatever transpires, good or bad, to move you forward.

So, all of this starts with knowing why you’re here, and what you have to share.

To be able to name and describe that clearly enough that you can hold onto it when things get turbulent. So you can come back to it when you wander off track.

I recently re-listened to some informational interviews I did early this year.

In my imagination, what I’d heard was that people weren’t really looking for help with their message.

What I actually heard was people saying that being able to put words to why they were here, and what they had to offer, was foundational.

That without it, they couldn’t move forward as easily, make strategic decisions, draw on the advice or guidance from other experts, launch new programs, rebrand, or bring on the team to expand their vision.

That with the True Spirit in focus, they were giving better interviews, writing more powerful blog posts, touching people more deeply, connecting more strongly and more quickly with their ideal clients. That they were energized and excited and more focused as a result.

That knowing their True Spirit changed the game, and their vision of what they were here to create.

Oh.

Read more about my journey coming back to the work I love most here.