Losing Molly has taught me many life lessons, and resilience is one I return to again and again.
But for me resilience isn’t just about my personal life and how I show up for my friends and family. It’s also been a key part of my journey to founding businesses and growing as a business owner.
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that we have permission to show up as our full selves in the business world, and to bring all of life’s learnings to work. And that we should always expect the unexpected.
For me, resilience in business isn’t about keeping on, no matter the costs. It’s about recognising challenges that can be overcome, and being smart about changing direction when you’re hitting a road bump or obstacle.
Having the agility and flexibility to change course when needed, and to try new solutions when faced with new problems.
Often an unexpected turn can provide the perfect opportunity to embrace innovation and pivot. To get us rethinking about a new way forward that we may never have considered before.
Just like life, business is rarely a linear journey from A to B. We veer off course, we get distracted by new possibilities, and we learn as we go.
One of the ways I healed after losing Molly was through addressing my own health, and gut health was a priority for me. I learned about the importance of the gut in helping us think clearly and regulate our emotions, and I changed my approach to food and gut health, to help with my recovery.
This gut health lesson ended up being the foundation for my businesses.
Poseidon Equine is a gut health supplement business aimed at improving the overall health of horses, and Poseidon Canine does the same for dogs. Saint + Sinner is our alcoholic kombucha business, which came about in response to a need I spotted for gut-friendly alcohol options which weren’t laden with sugar.
In creating each of these businesses, we’ve focused on our resilience, and we’ve been open to creative and new ways of doing things.
We’ve built relationships with our networks and our customers, and we’ve been generous in our approach to education, as we truly do want to empower horse and dog owners to help their animals live the best possible lives.
But there have been challenges.
Some strategies have worked really well for a time, but that doesn’t mean they’ll continue to work. At times we’ve had to rethink our approach to marketing, to distribution, to education.
Because if you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you have always got.
And just because it worked in the past, doesn’t mean it will still work now.
So we’ll continue to focus on learning, and bringing resilience to our businesses, because who knows what tomorrow will bring?