On my 27th birthday, I celebrated six-figures in sales while twenty-six years old.

Just a few months before my 26th birthday, I went through a traumatic experience. I suddenly lost my dad, who was very close to me. To say this was shocking and devastating is an understatement.

When my 26th birthday came just a few months after suddenly losing him, I was determined to make something of myself after his passing.

I wanted to continue on in honor of him. It was through that determination that I was able to use my grief as a superpower. Then, I set a goal to generate six-figures in sales from my business before my 27th birthday.

I didn’t know how I was going to make that happen at the time because I was still working at a 9-5 job. I was also a bit hesitant to make such a rigid income goal because I wanted to be careful to stay in integrity with my business.

But I knew that it was possible to do it the RIGHT way, and that’s what I set out to do! 

Lessons from Six-Figures

Here are six lessons I’ve learned from building a six-figure business at 26:

1. Planning > Doing

In the beginning days of Urban 20 Something, it felt like a constant wheel of churning out content.

I was always doing more, doing more and doing more. That may have been necessary when starting from scratch. But, after you’ve built a platform, it’s important to start shifting into a CEO role, which means planning, strategizing, and analyzing… less doing.

This also means stepping into the role of visionary. When I first started making around $1,000/month, I read the book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. Soon after, I began making more from my side hustle than my 9-5! This book continues to provide me with many important takeaways, including how big picture actions and frameworks will make you rich. This includes how to ultimately step into the role of brand visionary and to see your business through a greater lens. 

If you’re interested in hearing more on how The Science of Getting Rich has helped me to grow my business, check out my podcast episode “How The Science of Getting Rich Brings Me to My Vision”. 

(Opt-In for Your Biggest Vision’s Daily Checklist for Visionaries; Free Download!)

2. Make Decisions Quickly

I’m not shy about how essential I believe it is to make quick decisions to build success.

Decision was my word of the year in 2018. This was the same year that I first hit six figures. It was also the year that I lost my father and in an attempt to escape the debilitating  pain of grief, a fire was lit within me to start living the way I desired to live now.

Did you know that the word decision actually comes from the Lation word cis- to cut? So the word decision quite literally means to cut off any other possibilities of anything else happening other than what you decide on. 

Indecision is a waste of time, money, and a drain of energy. Staying unsure and untrusting of yourself will not get you any closer to where you want to be. 

If you need something to start your business, decide you’ll get it and move on. If you want to even start a business, decide you will and make it happen. Those who build quickly don’t have time for indecision.

3. Understand Selling

I did not find selling to come terribly naturally to me in the beginning. Understanding what sales means, how it actually can feel natural, and what will actually make the difference around big sales was completely crucial.

Becoming good at sales first begins with mindset. To continue to expand, even after achieving “success”, you must continue to cultivate a growth mindset. 

One of my favorite examples of this is David Neagle, a New York Times Best-Selling Author, Success and Mindset Coach, and the host of The Successful Mind podcast. After a near-death accident in 1980, he began a huge internal transformation. In under a year, he had tripled his salary. Examining how he did this without getting a raise or changing careers is what led him to study personal development, mindset, and gratitude. 

You can hear my one-on-one discussion with David Neagle on my Podcast, Your Biggest Vision Ep.16.

4. Charge What You’re Worth

Women especially tend to undervalue themselves.

They also tend to shy away from talking about the money they really do want to earn or have. Even writing this email, sharing my income, isn’t the most natural thing in the world!

If you ever struggled to raise your prices, if you ever fear that you’re going to get on the phone and no one’s going to buy from you. If you ever think that you can’t charge a certain amount because it would be too expensive. If you ever feel like you should be discounting things for people that might be in a financially more difficult situation than you are treating them like children. It’s kind of a harsh way to put it but it’s the honest truth. There is nothing helpful or beneficial to the advancement of society by someone giving someone a handout or giving someone something for free for a discounted price. Because if that thing is worth more, that person is not going to take it at the value that it’s worth. And then you aren’t going to be properly supported either because you just sold yourself short. So really, both parties lose and really realizing this was hugely.

It’s important to own what you want and where you’re at, especially if you have big dreams! You do no one any favors by staying quiet.

Want more of my key takeaways? Check out this episode of my podcast, Your Biggest Vision.

5. Focus on Your Goal NOW

One of the biggest reasons my clients stay stagnant is because of Shiny Object Syndrome.

They get so excited about other offerings, people, potential, ideas… and it’s not always a bad thing! Thinking outside of the box is good. But being spread too thin is NOT. 

Let’s say you’re going on this road, you’re on your way. You know what you need to do, you’re super focused, you have this goal, you’re doing whatever it takes to get you there. All of a sudden along the road, you see this billboard for something that says that Pinterest is going to get you more traffic than anything in the world, and you’ll never have to market your website again because you’ll have so much traffic from Pinterest, you have to learn Pinterest. 

So you make a pit stop and then you go and you learn everything about Pinterest and you start implementing it and like, yeah, it’s good, it’s getting your traffic going, but as you stopped to do this, you kind of forgot about the other things that make the vehicle actually move forward. You forgot about actually making products, growing your audience, maybe connecting with your audience, maybe continuing your communications, taking care of yourself, all the other really crucial things that are actually gonna make you move forward on this road.

See what happens here? While it is important to try new strategies and learn new things, it is even more important to keep your eye on your goal and not to lose sight if it. 

Want to learn more about Shiny Object Syndrome? Listen to this episode of my podcast, Your Biggest Vision. 

6. Dream Bigger

It may seem cliche, but it’s the most important one on this list! Whatever income goal you have right now, add a zero to the end. Whatever city you want to live, try googling luxury homes there. Whatever trip you want to take, buy tickets this week. Need inspiration? Check out my Instagram travel highlights for tons of hotel and destination reviews, plus an inside look at my latest trip to Italy!

This life is your one shot. 

Don’t settle and keep pushing yourself!

For more lessons like these, be sure to check out my podcast Your Biggest Vision!

I believe in you!

Best,

Leah