when there is no other option

I was talking with someone this week about their brand origin story - what was the moment they knew they needed to jump and build something of their own?

I was talking with someone this week about their brand origin story - what was the moment they knew they needed to jump and build something of their own? It was tied into a feeling that a lot of self-employed people seem to carry deep down - “there is no plan B.”

That sense that building your own thing isn’t just something you’re giving a go before moving on to a steadier, more secure career - it’s really the only option.

Maybe it came after too many years in a ‘safe’ job that chipped away at your principles or happiness. Maybe it was after a health scare, needing to come to terms with a different version of life and the accommodations you’d have to make to work in a way that truly worked for you. Or maybe - like me - it’s just always sort of been there; a quiet itch, an instinct since you were little that you’d do things a bit differently, no matter what that looked like.

I have a very vivid, core memory of my seven-year-old self proudly announcing to anyone who would listen that I would “never sit in an office in my life!!”. I think this was when I wanted to be a marine biologist? Or wanted to be in S Club 7? Probably both.

Dramatic? Of course. Foreshadowing? Yes and no because I’ve technically sat in three: one for my first ‘real’ job as a learning resources designer, another for a tech company, and then… the coworking space I created (which was much cooler than the carpeted, polystyrene-tile ceiling offices I would have been talking about).

look at that pointed toe of course she didn’t want to sit in an office!!

That kind of knowing becomes your spark - your why. The thing that keeps you showing up through the sticky seasons, the quiet months, the days when a ~normal job~ sounds like a sensible option. It can be scary and isolating, of course. Maybe even trapping, on the really hard days. But what if we looked at it as a freeing decision? The reason why it will all work out.

Here’s the thing: there’s a certain magic in knowing there’s no other option. It forces you to get creative, to adapt, to keep moving. The how and the who will change over time, but the why will always remain the same.

This, of course, doesn’t have to be the only reason why you do what you do - it can look like a variety of feelings, instincts, or explorations, which I’ll talk more about uncovering later.

What about you? Have you ever felt that ‘no plan B’ pull - the deep-down certainty that this is where you’re meant to be? I’d love to hear the story behind your why.

Always cheering you on,

Lola