I Quit
Yes, this is absolutely a click-baity title. But it’s also true.
The last 6 months of Avenue Equestrian have been some of the most transformative in the almost-four years of this business. Through many, many, many iterations of this business, I decided it was time to take a different approach. Whenever I feel like things are getting harder, my first inclination is to lean in and simply work harder. I took on more projects, woke up earlier, took on extra jobs and tried my hardest to make more hours in the day. And I was super good at it.
Until I wasn’t.
I was running from place to place. Not sleeping. Not taking care of myself or my business. I got really sick multiple times in the last 6 months. That is not me. I was so focused on trying to get it all done that I wasn’t doing any of it particularly well. So at the end of the day, exhausted from trying to merely survive, I was left feeling not only depleted in a lot of ways, but disappointed that I wasn’t showing up as my best self for ANYONE.
So I quit.
It started with actually quitting one of my jobs. I had been excited to be a coach at the local F45 in Long Island where I go down to ride. But it was a job that I signed up for fun and a couple extra bucks. And when I did inventory to see how this job fit into my life… I found it didn’t. I felt like I was letting people down and not upholding my commitments, but in all honesty, this was the one thing I needed to walk away from in order to uphold my commitments in the area of my life that are attached to my longer term goals and visions. And in that quitting, it led me down a path of identifying what else I could quit.
So here is what I quit:
Doing it All Alone: Hiring someone can feel really scary sometimes. Investing money that could easily go towards bills or profit can feel like a hard choice. But I also know that having someone on my side can help me go farther faster. I have hired an Executive Assistant for the last 4 months and I will not be stopping anytime soon. She has helped me create a brand I am excited about, get my site back up and running, set up my email flows, create social media content and organize my ideas/projects. And the best part? All of these things get done while I am doing other things in my business like helping clients and riding horses. Doing it all alone, especially as you scale, only gets in your way. This world and industry is full of talented people who are better at certain things than you. Quit thinking you need to do it all.
Waiting for Perfection/Procrastinating: I am a perfectionist in many ways. I want to wait for when the timing is right, the conditions are excellent and I can be THE BEST. But this is wildly unrealistic, especially for someone as multi-passionate as I am. When I was waiting for things to be perfect, I found that too much time was passing and I was using my perfectionist approach as a form of procrastination. So I quit taking my time. I took care of things right away (often with the help of my executive assistant) and addressed the imperfections after I took action.
Adding in More: I say yes more often than I should. My people-pleasing tendency is something I am working on because in an effort to please everyone, I often over-extend and then disappoint people more than if I had simply said no or managed expectations better. So I worked hard to not take on more, which applied to my business as well. You’ll see this reflection updated in the new Avenue Equestrian. I have 3 offers - that’s it, and that is how it is going to stay. I quit adding things and making it complicated and went back to basics.
Being Hyper-Visible: Social media and brand visibility are very important. At many times I thought that I simply needed to be MORE visible on social media and all my challenges would be resolved. But frankly, that felt exhausting and like a really wandering plan. So I stepped away. Instead of forcing myself to find things to say, I waited until I was very clear about what I want to say. And now, I feel like I have a much more solid plan. I quit showing up just to show up. I now have a plan and a clear vision of how I show up for Avenue Equestrian going forward.
In the backdrop of these intentional "quits," Avenue Equestrian is poised for a new direction. It's a return to the essentials, an embrace of collaboration, a celebration of imperfection, and a deliberate stride towards a clearer, more focused future. This journey isn't about quitting per se; it's about recalibration and strategic redirection towards a more sustainable and fulfilling path ahead.
