This is what "starting anyway" looks like.
“I swear I sent it!”
Sara Blakely kept saying this to customers. Over and over.
She was shipping Spanx orders in regular envelopes. From her apartment. No tracking numbers. No fancy packaging. No clue what she was doing.
She was the packer. The shipper. The salesperson. The “before and after butt model.” (Her words, not mine.)
24/7 for five years.
Here’s what gets me about that photo of Sara surrounded by packages in her apartment: She had already started. She was already in it. Making mistakes in real time.
Cut the feet out of pantyhose. Made her first prototype. Started anyway.
Your idea doesn’t need to be Spanx.
It doesn’t need billions. Or magazine covers. Or to disrupt an entire industry.
Maybe it’s a podcast for 47 people who desperately need what you know.
A consulting practice that gives you Fridays off.
A book that helps one person avoid your mistakes.
The size doesn’t matter.
What matters is whether you believe enough to start badly. To ship in wrong envelopes. To sound amateur on your first client call. To need do-overs.
That’s where it begins.
In apartments. With duct tape and hope. With “I swear I sent it!” moments that become stories you tell later.
You don’t need the billion-dollar vision first.
You just need to start.
Try this:
Write down one thing you’ve been overthinking. The idea you keep polishing instead of launching. The offer you’re perfecting instead of testing. The message you’re refining instead of sending.
Now ask yourself: What would “starting anyway” look like?
What’s the Sara-in-her-apartment version of this idea? The version that ships in regular envelopes? The version that’s imperfect but real?
Start there.
If you’re willing, send me your answers. I read every response.
Your coach,
Chris
P.S. Ready to write your own “start anyway” story? I’m hosting a 10-week mastermind for people going from 0 to 1. You bring the idea. We’ll build it together. The Unignorable Business Studio starts in January. Learn more here.
P.P.S. ♻️ Sharing is caring. If this resonated with you, please forward it to someone who needs permission to start messy. Your kindness could change someone’s trajectory.
