A Sustainable and Direct Approach - It's Just Liz

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with L Brinks, founder of It's Just Liz, located in Green Bay, WI, USA.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

I'm an independent contractor, writer, and business coach! I wear a lot of different hats because I've found each of my clients to have diverse needs. Coaching covers a lot of that, from understanding social media best practices to navigating those first few years of business. Coaching LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs is my absolute passion, and working with other transgender and nonbinary business owners and entrepreneurs - coaching them through growing their business, that's what I'm all about.

Tell us about yourself

I'm L, my pronouns are they/them/theirs, and my business started as teaching people how to use Instagram for free or traded services. I was really uncomfortable charging for my experience and expertise, even when I was telling my clients to raise their rates! I began to realize there's a huge gap of knowledge for transgender and nonbinary entrepreneurs compared to cisgender folks - and at the core of my business, that's something I'm very passionate about. I'm an introvert, so I'm deeply familiar with creative burnout. I have used a lot of my innate communication styles from my educational background to teach people how to create a business operations style that works for them and makes sense to them.

What gets me out of bed these days is the excitement of doing something different. There are so many ways I interact with incredible LGBTQ+ folks on a daily. It not only inspires me to grow my own skills as an entrepreneur but allows me to network with people and bring them into a community and find support. I didn't have that initially when I was starting out, and it made a huge difference in my business development.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I think I technically have a big accomplishment every three months. Really. I believe in the rule of 3's that you see the biggest change after three days, three weeks, and three months. Whether it's building habits, saying no, sleeping in, getting up early, reading professional development books, etc. As a business owner, I'm highly motivated, but choosing when to hold back or re-focus takes a lot of restraint. Some ideas need to simmer, they're not meant to be dropped into the mix right away, and I'm still learning that balance. That self-restraint, especially as a young professional, is a huge accomplishment to me.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

In my work, the hardest part of being a business owner is telling other people they're a business owners. There's so much resistance, in my experience, to claiming that autonomy in one's work. I struggled with it for a while and realized my internal narrative was impacting my own views of my work. It wasn't serious; it wasn't believable to me. When I started to call out those thoughts, I really invested time and energy into thought work professionally. I began to see a huge difference in my confidence and success as a business owner. When I fully believed I was a business owner, many more things fell into place that had been in limbo for a long time.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

Hmm. There's a lot of valuable advice out there, but you're not going to be ready for it all at once. Some wise advice I got from a mentor was to take what works and leave the rest. You might come back to a book, or an idea, or a podcast and be ready for it in a few months. It can be easy to discredit ideas that don't seem relevant to your situation - but I strongly recommend shelving them instead of tossing them aside. And that you don't know what you don't know, so in many ways, you'll have to start before you feel completely ready. That's a lesson I've really been encountering the last eight months. I've been dragging my feet on some big changes because I didn't feel like I had the entire plan laid out - and so I postponed taking a few leaps. It exhausted me and led to burnout and a lot of frustration. It's okay to take a leap before you've got the entire plan figured out.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

I'm really into astrology and realized the other day I know people of every sign placement (or personality type) who have a business. And they all run their business differently, and they're all successful. Folks of all ages, different backgrounds, and life experiences. And that really inspired me, that not only am I fortunate to be in the same network as these powerful individuals but that each entrepreneur comes to the table with a different personality and absolutely rocks it. That being said, a lot of people have really cool ideas but lack the inspiration or support to really do it. I think a lot of people could be entrepreneurs, but not many folks actually do the thing. If you're doing the thing, that's really rad and exciting to me - because you've already started!

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.itsjustliz.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsjuustliz/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/itsjuustliz
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/itsjuustliz/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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