06/14/2026
A few days ago, I was up at 3am while my brain was working its strategy magic in the quiet hours of the morning, I realized that without any trumpets playing in the background, without any fanfare, or pomp and circumstance, I reached a business level that seemed very impossible to accomplish especially in the aftermath of a global pandemic.
I’m not saying this to brag, every day I mark and save posts from other businesses, some in my industry as well as others announcing their unfortunate closing. It’s not loss on me that the struggle is real for many small business owners like myself, which makes it more surreal for me to keep pushing forward.
It would have been easier to get discouraged and throw in the towel, and God knows I felt like it so many times since the pandemic; however, a mantra I learned in life in general, one that was seared in my mind after 20+ years in the military to include 10 years supporting the operators at the tip of the spear in special operations. Their saying that kept me going: “if you don’t quit, you win!”
After completing my work, I sat in the dark, in silence just thinking to myself, “you are almost there and to think you doubted your abilities” especially hearing the well-meaning naysayers and of course the social media commandos that hide behind their keyboards to insult people and their businesses without even an once of thoughtfulness and compassion for what it takes to run a business without corporate backing. We are not Amazon or a huge department store, we are a small business doing what big stores do with more money and staff. I’m grateful that I learned to bypass that part, and to remain strong in what I knew was true for me.
As I reach this invisible milestone to the general public, I’m singing, I Celebrate “ME” from Inga Rose because I know what it took to get me here.
I’ll leave you with these 3 things: 1) If God put a dream, a purpose in your life, keep going. 2) Surround yourself with people that celebrate you more than you celebrate yourself because they know you. 3) If you don’t quit, you win! Rest if you must. Cry if you must! Pray until your miracle happens, and believe me, it will happen! 🙏
