The honest post I might regret.

Last September I left my corporate job.  (We can talk Great Resignation on another day)

I learned some amazing facilitation skills that I was ready to take out on my own and help teams improve their communication, connection and collaboration. But if you’ve spent any time on my website, you already know this, so what am I getting at here?

The point I am trying to make is that I knew exactly what I wanted my business to be. 

Flash forward to a few months later after I did all the stuff - named and registered my business, designed a logo, built a website, got on the socials. All the things.

And then I realized I have no idea how to actually run a business. Or bring in new clients.

Naturally, I googled. 

I started listening to business podcasts.  Found a few people I liked and followed. Picked out some books that seemed promising.  And next thing I know, I am up to my eyeballs in resources - all giving conflicting advice, of course.

So many mixed messages about social media and how often to post and what to post and how to post and the algorithm. My god the ALGORITHM. I didn’t even know this was a thing. Nevermind getting over the nerves of starting something new and putting yourself out there online, but you are also supposed to crack some uncrackable code? And then all the “must dos” like start a podcast, develop content, create Facebook communities, post every day, ten times a day, get more followers, develop courses, create streams of passive income, and on and on and on!

No wonder my head has been spinning.

I am not knocking any of those things.  I may do some of them in the future.  But trying to do it ALL RIGHT NOW and not even being entirely clear on WHY I’m doing it has sent me into a tailspin. And rocked my confidence.

And if I am being completely transparent here, this has not done much to grow my business, has resulted in some very random messages on Instagram (seriously 👇🏻, I can’t make this stuff up!), people offering unsolicited advice on LinkedIn, and has me feeling more confused than ever.

This isn’t the attention I’m trying to get.  I started this business to help people, not be the chief of Angels 🧐🤦🏻‍♀️.

Since starting Deanne Gagnon Dynamics, the most fun I have is when I’m preparing and running workshops. So why in the hell am I spending so much time doing things that actually don’t bring me joy? OR business for that matter.

Helllloooooooo.  My.  Own.  Business.  I’m the boss. I can run this how I want but my insecurities have me looking to every person selling their stuff online for answers. And of course they want me to buy what they are selling - that’s how they make their dollar bills.

I’m going back to the drawing board.  Eternal Sunshining (anyone else remember this movie?) my brain about all things business and going back to the reason WHY I started in the first place.

I started this to help teams thrive. 

To create a safe space for open conversations within organizations and committees.

Help bring communities together. 

Help teams find their connection.

Help organizations become more collaborative.

Help make communication healthy and not scary among teams.

Help corporations break down silos.

To make a genuine difference.

But instead of taking the necessary steps to do THOSE things, I buried my head in the internet world seeking more and more validation and clarity that I was never going to find when I was looking in the wrong place.

I wrote last week about teams paddling frantically in circles.

Looks like I have been doing the same.

So here I am, reintroducing myself - hi, I’m Deanne of Deanne Gagnon Dynamics, and I would love to help YOUR team thrive by creating a safe space, asking the right questions, and guiding your team to their own solutions using their wisdom and creativity that are just waiting to be shared!