What If Your Why Outgrows Your Plan

I share how my reason for becoming an entrepreneur starts with the need for freedom as a single mum and shifts over time into creativity, legacy and impact. Along the way I talk honestly about COVID, loss, rebuilding slowly and the moment I realise I have already built a brand before. 

• my original why rooted in being present for my son and choosing my own hours 
• the reality of juggling work and parenting even with support 
• my background as a performer and what self-employment teaches you 
• how COVID forces a pivot away from events 
• unexpected skills gained through years in my dad’s company 
• stepping back after losing my dad and returning at my own pace 
• my why evolving into creativity, legacy and client impact 
• remembering past wins when confidence dips 
Ask yourself what is my why and see if it’s changed, see if it’s evolved. 

Transcript

From Performer To Entrepreneur

COVID Pivot And New Direction

Loss Changes The Why

Remembering Past Wins

Questions To Ask Yourself

SPEAKER_00 0:15

Hello everyone, it's Victoria here, and welcome back to another episode of a business built with strategy. So today I'm going to be talking about my why and your why. Everyone has a why of why did you go into business? Why did you choose not to go and work for someone else? Why did you choose to become an entrepreneur? And I ask myself this all of the time. And I've been asking myself a lot recently because my why was the same for many, many, many, many years. And my why was I want to be able to be there for my son. He was very young when I went into business. He was around five years old and he's now 21. And I wanted to be there for school drop-off and school pickup. I wanted to be there for sports days. And I think for me personally, it was really important because my son didn't have the other parent in his life. And so therefore, there was just me. Even though we had an amazing support network with, you know, my mum and dad, my son's grandparents. Um, you know, ultimately, if you are listening to this and you are a single parent, you will know that you can have the best support network. But when you close that door at night, it is just you and your child or your children, and myself, you know, and my son in my case. So my why was very, very, very, very rooted in just being able to be there for him so that I could create that freedom so I could earn, but actually work my own hours. Now, was it difficult? Yes, it was. It was it was still difficult because it would you you know you're still juggling just because you work for yourself or or for me anyway, I was still doing that juggle because whether you work for someone or you work for yourself, you still probably have the summer holidays, you know, and you still, you know, you still got to work, you still you're still juggling. But it did make it that bit more easier. Also, before I went into business, I was an entrepreneur, well, no, I wasn't an entrepreneur. Well, I guess I kind of was actually. I I guess I was in a in a in a bit more of a weirder way. I was a singer, I was a performer, so I did work for myself. So I guess I was an entrepreneur, but in a in a in a different type of way. And you know, I'd done that for many, many, many years and had tried to get the record deal. It didn't work, you know. It was such a, well, it is such a precarious game that I just thought, oh, you know what, it's just not gonna work. Um, so therefore, I still performed and I still don't I still done what I loved. And then it did get to a point where I thought, oh, you know what, this is really difficult and it is taking me away from my son, and I didn't want that to happen. So I had to look for an alternative. And so my why definitely was rooted in freedom, in bringing up my son, in working for my own hours, you know, and my why was the same for a very, very long time. Now, like a lot of stories, COVID hit after many years of being in business, and I was just pivoting as well into bigger events, and yeah, the the business obviously went overnight. Of course, it did like many businesses because, well, we weren't allowed to do anything, were we? So then I made the decision of you know what, I'm not going to go back to events. And I worked in my dad's company, and I've got to be honest, I I thought it was kind of like a means to an end. And it scooting just forward a little bit, it's not um, it's not until now, and I've been doing Lisa Johnson's strategy course, and I'm doing that for confidence for myself, and I've realized, wow, actually, all of the work that I did on and off throughout the years in my dad's company benefited me more than I actually did realize, which is incredible because I never ever ever thought that until now. And I was eight years old when I started working in my dad's company, making the tea, cleaning the little kitchen, which was you couldn't even, oh gosh, you just couldn't move in this kitchen. And um, yeah, you you just couldn't move in it, and cleaning the toilet, and that's what I was doing at eight years old to earn, I think I earned£10 a day. No, actually, no, it was eight pounds a day, and then my dad blessed me to put it up to£10. Oh, and obviously back then that would have been 1988. So that for me, that was wow, it's all of this money, I couldn't believe it. And um, I'd kind of spent it in my head, you know, before I'd um before I'd even earned it. But I learned actually on a very, very early on the value of a penny and a pound, and that has definitely served me well. So my why, as I was saying, was was the same for many, many years. And I stepped out of my business last year in 2025 after I lost my dad. It was very, very sudden that I lost him, and yeah, it's he he was he was only 66. So, in all honesty, I think I'm still in complete shock. Like I can't get my head around it. Now I'm I've been stepping back into my business as a strategist for a couple of months now. But you know what? I'm doing it slow. I'm doing it at my own pace, I'm not rushing, I'm doing it just the way that I want to do it. And I've figured out what's changed. A lot's changed, of course. But personally, for me, my why has changed. All of those years that I had the why of freedom, school drop-offs, um, parents' evenings, sports days, but it's it's changed. I'm always going to be a single mum to Harry because that's all I've ever known. But my why has now changed to creativity. I'm probably one of the most creative persons or people that I know, but it's changed to creativity, to legacy, to passing what I know and what I've learned on to my clients and being able to have that effect, being able to have that impact, the way that I've experienced impact as I've been going along through the years being in business. And I know this sounds crazy, but the other day, I and I know this this does sound ridiculous. The other day I was thinking, right, I need to start building my brand. And then I thought, how the hell am I gonna do that? I've never built a brand. Goodness knows what was going through my head. I don't know if I'd just stepped into another stratosphere, I can't even say that word. But then all of a sudden it just hit me like a light bulb or a flash of lightning or something like that. And I thought, what the hell? I've I built a brand. I've real I built a really successful event brand. And I think sometimes you forget what you have done. And so I was like, okay, yes, of course I know what I'm doing. I've built a brand already, but this time I get to do it differently. Maybe it was a little rushed before because I had this urgency. You know, I kept thinking, I need to be there for Harry, I've got to be there for Harry, my son. So I had this matter of urgency about it. But now I get to build a brand on my terms, get to build my legacy, I get to create impact, I get to create freedom for my clients, just as I have. And I get to do it my way instead of rushing it because my why was a lot different back then. So ask yourself your why. If you're listening to this today or whenever, ask yourself what is my why and see if it's changed, see if it's evolved. So I'm going to be talking about this over the next coming weeks because it is amazing what you can learn from your why evolving. It really, really is. I've learned already. And I've I've only just realized, wow, my why is different from back then. It really, really is. Okay, I hope you've enjoyed today's app. I've loved recording it, and I will speak to you all very, very soon. Have a fantastic, fantastic week.