I QUIT MY JOB…

So… yea.

I quit my job.

I willingly stepped off the corporate ladder.

I gave it a try, I gave it half of my all, I learnt, I expanded my knowledge, I adapted and guess what I learnt?

I love my business too fucking much.

This likely won’t make sense to most people, especially the ones that have heard me bitch about the endless tail chasing I’ve done over the last 5+ years of business ownership. But I’m currently flying through a high in the realisation that actually, I love every little shitty part of my seriously imperfect business and I 150% intend to continue because I believe in the impact of my community and courage to chase passion over perfection.

So why did I ‘walk’ from it in the first place?

To put it simply, I never wanted to leave, but the reality is that hospitality doesn’t make you much money unless you go into it with money. I made it a limited company at 20 and opened the doors just after my 21st birthday, so I certainly DID NOT have money. I was also naive enough to start it in the first place and let’s just say if I knew what the journey would look like I’d probably have sprinted a million miles down the road in the OTHER direction. Luckily for all the HS fans, I didn’t. Fast track to post covid, pre-recession… I get offered a role in a technology start-up that had the wind in its sail and an opportunity I would’ve never in a million years thought I could do! Keep in mind I’ve never studied let alone even have a cv in the first place.

So after some hesitation, I said yes. I’d always wanted to work toward making Holy Shot self-sustainable, as the business was built off our names as the brand and that wasn’t sustainable or franchisable or fucking realistic for any future plans. So I thought, fuck, why don’t I go get some financial security for the first time in my goddamn life (note, the security I so desperately needed) and see if this corporate shit is something that can offer me a leg up!

Now here I sit, 9 months later and I feel like I’ve literally dreamt my way through every month of 2023. Not in the ‘I have no control’ kind of way, but more in the ‘I’m so fucking busy that I’m hardly looking up’ kind of way. Yea yea I know, I keep telling you guys how ‘busy’ I am and it’s getting old, so I’m not gonna go there! But this is different, this feels like driving through the dark of night, headlights on full beam, fog in the distance and you just gotta keep your eyeballs peeled on the road and get to the fucking destination. That’s what I mean. I’m completely identified with my goals to the point where all other components of my life are just happening around me like a fish in a tiny fucking fish bowl experiencing the repercussions of an acid-topped apricot bite! Slightly foggy, slightly squinted but still alive with a bigger picture in mind. Weeks upon days of feeling so empty as I watched the numbers in my business drop, the vibes become so damn dependable and people constantly asking me “What the fuck are you doing Tess?!” I finally gave in and holy fucking goddamn Christ (excuse the French) it honestly feels like the best thing next to an orgasm.

I started putting all the pieces of my puzzle back together again. I called my family who, may we note, have never supported me in my crazy business endeavours… “Tessa, money speaks, if you don’t have money, why the fuck are you doing it?” Yea I know, money is important and the reality is, if your numbers don’t add up then you are SERIOUSLY FUCKED and NO there isn’t a more delicate way I can say that. But hey let’s save that one for an upcoming podcast because it’s not worth my brainpower right now. Episode 3 - ‘The reality of business ownership’ - Coming to After Hours soon (watch this space).

Moving right along. One morning I woke up from this terrible dream and decided to resign and on the same day completely re-configured my purpose. In conclusion, I decided to go back into my business full-time, so I can… for the first time ever… work ON my business instead of IN my business. I’ll still be there every day. I’ll still do the 5am wake-ups, solo days and late closes, yet I’ll do it all with the pure intention of increasing my revenue and turning into the Holy Shot I’ve always envisioned.

In the whirlwind of emotions that have accompanied this decision, the most prevalent one I feel is this instinctive knowing that I’m doing the right thing. It’s as if all the noise in my mind has finally stopped as the universe recognises the courage it’s taken to make this little leap of faith. Yet it makes so much sense to me, as little it might look to others. I step away from what’s the opposite of ME, as I step toward my better self that believes in a better tomorrow. I’m making an active change toward the future I want for myself, I’m believing whole fucking heartedly in my passions and chasing those opposed to the next best this or that. Financially, this is dumb! There is no denying that elephant in the room, yet we all have different stories and hey this is mine and let’s see where the fuck it goes, hey?