THE IMPORTANCE OF EMOTIONAL WELLNESS AND SELF KNOWLEDGE AS ASOLOPRENEUR

Kimberly Layne^*

In July of 2018, I was let go from my Corporate Executive Healthcare Leadership Role. Now what, I thought? I decided, instead of creating "something from literally nothing" for other companies, I decided to do it for myself. I decided to start my own business.

Thinking back, I was prepared for hard work and grit, but I was unprepared (and unaware for that matter) of the three emotional challenges that exist for myself as a solopreneur. Had I been more aware, I would have built a support system around and for myself, "a wellness for work," to build my business.

I have always been a very driven, focused, and successful individual. I was shocked at the range of emotions that I now was experiencing, and that I had not really accounted for in deciding to start my own business. There were many, yet there were three that stood out the strongest for me: (1) loneliness, (2) accountability, and (3) self -confidence. I bring these up as so often in our working world, we are quick to assess the upcoming strategies and business challenges we might encounter, and very often fail to anticipate the important emotional challenges we may face.