Business Tip: Grin and Bare It

As my loyal Twitter followers know, I spent this past weekend in the UK - London and Cambridge, to be exact. The hubby and I lived in London for two and a half years, and he flies back once a month for an executive MBA program. I tag along as often as I can (thank you, honeymoon frequent flier miles!). It is such a treat to be able to catch up with fantastic friends and hit up some favorite haunts.

This trip was particularly mayjah for me, as it was my first time since becoming a budding business owner of AnyWay Weddings that I've seen friends from my MBA program as well as former colleagues from my London Olympics gig. I was nervous to divulge my new vocation. I mean, I got this fancy (and pricey!) business degree, worked at a high-profile company tasked with the insanely critical job of ensuring a legacy for the London 2012 Olympics... and now I am a bride adviser? WTF?

At least I thought that would be the common reaction. But instead of WTF, what I received from my friends and colleagues in return for baring my budding business was excitement, encouragement, business tips, and even a few leads!

I am a perfectionist. While I am so proud to be starting my own business, and eager to get the word out there so my clients come a-flockin'... it was nerve-wracking to debut my company to my friends and colleagues. Ideally, I would have wanted to have a nicer-looking website up and running. A deeper blog archive. More Twitter followers. More testimonials and photos from clients' weddings. Basically: I wanted to be able to demonstrate proven success, instead of a nascent business.

But a nascent business is what I have. And now that I have bared it all to my friends and colleagues, I don't feel the embarrassment that I was afraid I'd feel. Instead, I feel reinvigorated by their support, enthusiasm, constructive criticism, and ideas.

The cat is out of the bag: I am a wedding planner specializing in advising time-crunched brides.

Keep calm and carry on. (More on that tomorrow!)

Cheers,