FR#1: From Corporate Assistant to Budding Event Planner - Year 1 with Dorotheea Dragomir
Dorotheea "Doro" Dragomir is the owner of Kamea Events, a full-service event planning and styling company based in Portland, OR.
If you've got a small business or are thinking about launching one, you'll love Doro's transparency as she shares about her first year being a business owner after leaving her comfortable corporate job at a hospital, fears and insecurities she encountered, and lessons she's learned along the way.
Biggest Takeaways You Don’t Want to Miss:
3:42 - Making the scary decision to leave a 9-5 and launch a small business
4:45 - What specific fears Doro encountered when taking the plunge. Overcoming “The American Dream” and Personal Guilt - Feeling like you have to overwork to prove yourself as an entrepreneur..
7:15 - Why defining your WHY gives you the strength to take “risky” decisions and overcome your insecurities.
8:58 - Challenging your default way of functioning in order to grow and not using our comfort zone as an excuse as to why you can’t have success.
10:19 - Overcoming comparison - Why you might have to unfollow an inspiring person for a season until you overcome your own self-doubt and/or jealousy.
12:18 - How building relationships with people you admire will erode away comparison.
13:38 - Why bringing transparency and honesty in social media is essential to overcoming perfectionism.
16:10 - The importance of collaboration and community in your industry, and how it will challenge your creativity and capacity.
18:20 - Reaching out to collaborate when you don’t have a portfolio of work, and how building relationships can lead to long-term partnerships.
20:13 - Why it’s OK to take baby steps by reaching out to the community directly around you, including family and close friends.
22:20 - Why DECIDING to become a professional is what makes you one. And how do you solidify this to yourself and with others?
22:16 - Treating your business with respect, discipline and commitment. Shifting your side hustle from the “hobby” category into the “Job/Business” category.
26:25 - Doro shares about a specific “Epic-Fail” she’s experienced when collaborating and what she learned from it. Adapting and adjusting when everything falls apart.
29:16 - Why you should never be more motivated by insecurity than by passion.
29:50 - How starting a business and taking risks changes your relationship with Failure. Why failure is one of the most educational things we encounter as an entrepreneur.
32:27 - Why is it important to ANSWER the question “What if I fail?”
34:30 - Why evaluating Risk vs Reward can tip you over the edge into taking action.
36:12 - How being highly adaptable is an excellent skill to nurture, and why keeping the end goal in mind can keep you centered when things go awry.
38:22 - What core beliefs and lessons Doro anchors herself on to keep going and keep growing
Links mentioned in this episode:
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This Episode is brought to you by:
STEP 0: The Creative Entrepreneur’s Guide to Overcoming Internal Obstacles
