Today is a rare, raw, and ridiculously powerful episode on a topic you don’t often hear about in the entrepreneurial space… leaving a successful business to go back to the 9-5 world. WHAT. 

Clearly, this woman is a marketing guru, but today we stepped away from the strategy conversation and went deep for the heart. Anna-Marie shares her journey of building a successful multi-6-figure business and after 6 years choosing to step away from it and back into the corporate 9-5 world. 

If you’re feeling a slight nudge that maybe you should consider stepping away from your business and stepping back into a corporate job OR if you’re an entrepreneur wanting to learn some tips from Anna-Marie on building a successful business, this is THE episode for you. 

 

Anna-Marie’s Story 

Anna-Marie, also known as The Marketing Mermaid, is a creative and results-driven marketing strategist with a passion for helping businesses grow. With over 14 years of experience in the industry, she has a proven track record of developing and executing successful marketing campaigns that drive engagement, increase brand awareness, and generate revenue. Anna-Marie’s unique blend of creativity, strategic thinking, and analytical skills allows her to craft innovative solutions tailored to each client’s unique needs. 

 

Her heart behind that decision 

Anna-Marie got a little lost along the way. Taking on business, taking on employees, and scaling her business. Six years later she found out that she was pregnant and then she was like “Did I do it, did I build this business with financial and time freedom?”. She had the time freedom but in the back of her mind, she kept being in business mode. She felt like she was missing out on magical moments and connecting with her daughter. She wasn’t giving her 100% with everything else she had on her brain with work. If you can’t turn your brain off, you have no boundaries. 

Anna-Marie felt like she wasn’t being the mom and wife she wanted to be. In that last year of her business she changed her offers to less management and more consulting. The financial piece was up and down and added another stress and was not giving the financial or time freedom. 

 

Stepping away from your business

It was a very slow turndown. You don’t know how quickly you are going to get hired. Anna-Marie stopped taking on new clients and then her consulting client capacity went down as well. She did end a couple of contracts and sold a couple of contracts that she had been mentoring. She did try to support her team as much as she could in that transition, she did feel responsible for them. The clients that wanted to continue services went to her mentees. 

 

Biggest adjustment 

She had to relearn how to be a corporate professional again. Creatives can be off-the-wall people sometimes, not people that fit into a professional corporate category. One of the employees that reported to Anna-Marie was being super disrespectful but in corporate America, you’re supposed to just let people be people. 

It’s been really great to shut her laptop at the end of the day and go be a human being after work. 

 

Emotional & Mental Journey 

By the time Anna-Marie was interviewing she was ready. What she did not expect was wrestling with her identity if she was not an entrepreneur. Regardless of the position or company that you’re at doesn’t change the experience or success that you have achieved. 

 

Word of encouragement?

Identify what success looks like for you and keep the main thing the main thing. Everything else can fall by the wayside. Treat your business like a big business from the start. 

 

What is your favorite book you’ve read recently?

Untamed by Glennon Doyle 

Made Honey by Jodi Picoult

 

What is the biggest lesson you have learned in business?

Not treating my business like a big business from the start. 

 

Show notes 

Ghosting Freebie: www.theheartuniversity.com/ghosting

 

The Heart Shop: www.theheartuniversity.com/shop

 

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Untamed by Glennon Doyle: https://amzn.to/3On4OxG

Made Honey by Jodi Picoult: https://amzn.to/3qrA4DH

 

Follow along with Anna-Marie: 

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