We were walking down the streets of New York when she said to me, “I’m just not clear on what my ‘thing’ should be… I’m not like you and so focused on one thing.” I laughed and shrugged it off but later that day after telling her my millionth dream and plan for my business, I realized I had figured something out that so many people were struggling with: how to balance being a multi-passionate person.

Let’s preface this whole thing with the fact that we are ALL multi-passionate. Being a human being means pursuing many things we love and that’s the beauty of it, but when it comes to being an entrepreneur, it’s important to know how this can play a role in your ability to succeed and how to juggle all the things that can pull at your attention.

One of the BEST things about being multi-passionate and having a multifaceted business means that if one branch of my business isn’t performing well or I need a break from it, my business won’t fail. I am not tied to just one piece of my business but have many angles contributing, taking the pressure off of focusing on ONE thing.

What do I mean when I say Multi-passionate? 

When people ask me what I do, I always pause and ask myself: “Do they really want to know or are they just asking to be kind.” I’m a: wedding photographer, a podcaster, and online marketing educator, I am a public speaker, I have an island rental unit on Maui, I’m a marketing consultant, I sell watercolor prints, I have an online digital template shop, I do brand collaborations on social media… should I continue? The truth is, if that list hasn’t made it clear: I am passionate about more than one thing and I’ve been lucky enough to pursue each passion while also driving profits into my business because of how I’ve managed those passions.

Where to begin?!

Where do you start when you have a bunch of good ideas and you want to do them all? Let’s address this because starting is usually the hardest thing. My BEST advice would be to start with something that will either: help you make money to fund your other passion projects OR help you fulfill your biggest dream. The strategic person in me says to pick the one that you know can be profitable because having funds can make all of your other projects more feasible and less risky. I started out as ONE thing: a wedding photographer and I got really, really good at it. I knew that if I wanted to pursue anything else, I had to create margin in my life and the only for me to do that was through systems and templates.

Reason #738329 Why you need a brand and not a business

In episode #59 I explain why you need to build a brand and not a business. If you missed that ep, lordy, go back.. It’s filled with wisdom on the subject but in brief, I have a serious question for you: can you see yourself doing exactly what you’re doing today five years from now? Ten years? Probably not. That’s why it’s critical that you commit to building a brand.

So why do you have to build a brand? People have to care about YOU if you want to pursue many different avenues. The only reason I’ve been able to successfully branch out so many times over the years is because people cared about ME, they knew my heart, I felt like a trusted friend and I had been taking them on this journey for years and so they continued to follow regardless if I was deciding to launch a podcast or buy a condo in Hawaii, they were there.

Create Systems You Can Be Removed From

One of the biggest reasons people fail when they try to expand their brand and their business is because THEY are required in every step of the process. Their expansion means they are working more… meaning they are pulled into too many directions and are unable to do any one thing well. I’ve watched so many entrepreneurs burn out because if they stop moving, their business stops growing. The best way to diversify and grow is through creating repeatable systems that can be taught to others so that you aren’t the one making everything happen.

Take Things One at a time

The best advice I can offer is to create a brand and do things one at a time. When you create a brand and build that trust, you can move forward knowing you can continue to branch out over time. It’s best to be known as ONE thing and an expert in one area and gain trust through serving and then as you get it down, systemized, and provide results, then you can start to expand. Expand, rinse and repeat. That’s what has worked for me as I continue to expand my business into new avenues and it’s been the reason I’ve been successful.

Who else is seeking balance?