Three Biggest Lessons Learned As A Delta Awesome Primary Advisor
In early 2019, Hannah and Brad from Delta Awesome invited me to be a Primary Advisor. My initial answer was, of course, “YES! 1,000 times YES!” as I think Brad and Hannah are two of the brightest brains in business who I know. And then I took a breath and realized I had no clue what a Primary Advisor is or does.
So, here’s the jam: a Delta Awesome Primary Advisor is former or current entrepreneur — the common denominator here being that they are someone who has started and run a company and knows the good, the bad, and the ugly of what it’s like — who gets paired up with a Delta Awesome client for weekly business, executive, and strategic coaching. Think of it like a CEO buddy who you get to talk to every single week and do quarterly strategy sessions with who can speak as your peer. The Primary Advisor intimately gets to know your business, helps you avoid common pitfalls, acts as a strategic soundboard, and, in many cases, is a friend you can lean on to talk about anything that you need to when it comes to your business. Sounds pretty incredible, right?!
After Hannah and Brad described to me what a PA actually does, I was even more excited about the opportunity. I was about to be in transition from my role as CEO of the company that I co-founded and ran for six years. I started with my first client, a fellow female founder with a fast-growing, innovative company, and knew right away that I was in my sweet spot. The three biggest lessons that I have learned so far include:
First-time founders make very similar, common mistakes
It doesn’t matter what school you went to or what previous experience you have — almost every single founder I know bounces from common mistake to common mistake as they get started. This would include things like hiring the wrong people for the wrong roles, hiring friends, not getting your HR department set up in time, not knowing when to begin outsourcing tasks as a founder, losing sight of key strategic priorities that actually move the business forward while you’re mired in the day-to-day minutia, and so much more. Having people around you who can help you navigate this stuff is not only critical to your business’ success, but also to your own mental health and well being.
Surrounding yourself with other founders is mission critical
I’m a relatively new mom. When I was pregnant, every single parent I talked to would try to warn me about all the things I needed to know about before having my son. And despite everything that everyone told me, nothing can prepare you for what it’s actually like to become a parent. The same holds true for business. You can read as many books as you like or hire as many consultants as possible, but there is no way to prepare someone for what it’s like to become a founder. As many parents surrounded themselves with other parents to help them through, I also recommend that founders surround themselves with as many other founders as possible to help them through. You can compare notes on what is working, talk shop, or just commiserate on the challenging journey with others who actually understand what you’re going through.
The entrepreneur journey always takes longer and seems harder than you expect
On my journey, I have spoken to hundreds of founders. I have yet to meet anyone who doesn’t express the sentiment that being an entrepreneur is harder and that everything is taking longer than they ever imagined. We get bombarded with stories of overnight success stories, which has warped our societal narrative of what it’s actually like to be an entrepreneur. What I can tell you is that you’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed. You’re not alone in feeling exhausted. You’re not alone in questioning your journey. I can also tell you that the journey is often one of the greatest adventures of a founder's life and, regardless of the ultimate outcome of the venture, the fact that you took the leap and went for it is something that adds a richness and texture to your life that few other things can match.