I have two words to describe the last quarter: crazy and rough.

Crazy:

• I went to Israel THREE times (two happy visits, one sad visit)
• My Instagram account exploded from 15k to 63k
• I launched my first MVP for Workweek Lunch
• I found a place to live in Colorado (not easy)

Rough:

• I had a death in my family (dad’s dad, age 80, amazing man, lived in Israel)
• My marketing business kinda tanked in July because of all the travel and from me focusing too much on Workweek Lunch
• I had weekly mental meltdowns about having enough money to move across the country

I’m happy Q3 went by quickly.

Now I have one week until I move across the country to Summit County, CO.

You know, the move I’ve been working toward for the last year? That one.

I can’t believe it’s actually happening.

But before I jump ahead to what’s next, let me get you up to speed with why this quarter was my least profitable but MOST pivotal.

This whole year has been laying the foundation for the life I want to live which involves remotely working in the location of my dreams so I can snowboard more often.

Last year, when I first committed to doing this, I reverse engineered my goal so I knew exactly what to do.

• Making my freelance business profitable so I can afford my life
• Getting Workweek Lunch off the ground so I had more than one source of Income
• Saving money to move because moving is expensive AF

You can learn more about that process and my goal crushing techniques in Georgie Morely’s podcast where I talked about life after college. Click here to listen. 

This last quarter was really about the first two.

1. After feeling the pain of not making enough money, I re-focused my business… again.

Out of the entire year, July was my worst month financially. Having to go to Israel in the middle of the month for a funeral didn’t help, but even without that last-minute trip, it wouldn’t have been a solid month.

In July, I was focusing on copywriting. I felt lost. I didn’t really believe in my abilities and I felt a little stuck with finding the right clients.

I also knew that I had to start taking Workweek Lunch more seriously, so I spent more time doing that, and not enough on actual client work. It really, really hurt my business.

Frankly, I just wasn’t feeling copywriting. I was stuck on a few projects and I realized I had to make a BIG change in order to be able to work on Workweek Lunch AND offer more profitable, scalable services.

So taking inspiration from Pia Silva’s Badass Your Brand and the famous entrepreneurship book The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber, I stopped offering copywriting services and switched to Instagram consulting.

I know. Instagram consulting?

Really?

Yes. I’m an expert in Instagram. I didn’t grow my account from 1k in January to 60k in September by accident (or by buying engagement or followers). So that’s what I’m doing now when I’m not food blogging (more on that later).

Some AMAZING things happened when I switched from copywriting to Instagram.

• Playing the expert card has boosted my confidence exponentially. I’m no longer afraid to say the prices of my packages because I know how legit my services are.
• Using strategies from Pia’s book, I was able to design packages that made sense for me, my time, the bottom line and of course, my clients. I no longer have to sweat over the revision process and push through feeling uninspired to write like I used to.
• I am now able to better qualify my clients! This is huge. I have a set of standards that my clients need to meet before we even start working together, and for this reason, I’ve LOVED every client I’ve gotten to work with so far on Instagram stuff.

Part of me is like, “Okay Talia, Instagram consulting… Really?”

Sometimes the craziest ideas work. At least, for now.

I love being an Instagram growth specialist and helping my clients get the most out of the platform to build their brands. But at the end of the day, I want Workweek Lunch to be my full-time gig and I want the Instagram consulting to be a side hustle.

Which brings me to the second thing that happened this quarter that was amazing.

2. Workweek Lunch is no longer a hobby, but an actual business.

Wooo! This feels so good to say.

I finally launched my first product (vegan, vegetarian and regular meal plans) to my email list, which now has over 5,000 people on it.

Workweek Lunch is a one-woman shop right now. I did EVERYTHING. Setting up the cart (with help from my amazing boyfriend who is more tech-knowledgable), building a sales page, making sure the funnel actually works, writing all the sales and marketing copy, executing my social campaigns… I have some serious online business chops now!

Related: here’s the 8-week course I took last year that taught me how to do all of it from creating an idea to selling an info product. 

What’s crazy is that I actually put it all together while traveling too! That added an extra challenging layer to the whole thing.

I was so stressed out during my first of two launches, I couldn’t sleep… until I started seeing the sales come in. Then I relaxed. It was all the proof I needed that the hard work I put in this year was worth it.

You guys. If you don’t have a passive income, I just want to say that the sweat and tears become worth it as soon as you start seeing sales come through while you’re just going about your day.

The first launch was solid. But the revenue from my second launch more than covered my initial investment in the online business course I took!

Making money from something I worked on daily for 15 months felt great. But what felt the best was being able to serve my audience and be there for them.

This is JUST the beginning. I now have over 150 customers for Workweek Lunch… and it only took me 15 months to build.

I still can’t wrap my head around it!

So what’s next?

I’m starting my voyage out west on next Saturday, 10/7. My boyfriend, Curt, leaves for training and the pre-deployment stuff the day before me.

I found a place in Dillon, CO. It’s about 20 minutes away from Breckenridge and Frisco (where I really wanted to live). But it’s the perfect setup and right next to a mountain I adore called Keystone.

Curt and I are both kinda sad, but mostly excited. I’m lucky to be in a trusting relationship where we confidently can part ways, experience new things and write new chapters of our lives, but still be very much together in spirit. I have a feeling the year will go by so fast.

The past few weeks I’ve been saying goodbye to friends and family. But it’s not really goodbye. I’m coming back to New York in a year.

Next week I’m packing up my Subaru and hitting the road, making stops in Chicago, Milwaukee, Rapid City, SD and finally make it to Dillon.

Then, I just wait for the snowboarding season to start!

Oh, and about that world tour I wrote about a few months ago— that’s not going to happen in 2018. Maybe another year.

But I AM going to France in March to visit Val D’Isere with my Miramar Ski Club buddies!

What YOU can take away from my crazy, rough Q3:

There were so many moments this summer when I thought I was a fool to believe I could do this because things were going so badly.

But after imagining every alternative, I knew in my bones that there was only one direction I could go: West. To Colorado. Where I’m supposed to be.

I hustled my ass off through the shitty parts because every time I imagined myself giving up, it was clear that I had no other option but to keep going.

If you have a big goal, like starting a business or making a big move, here’s what I want you to know. 

Know that it’s doable. Not easy or glamorous! I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s all sunshine and roses.

It’s a slow burn. And for these big goals, if you make it your top priority and change your life to accommodate the work involved you can do it. But if you expect to keep your life exactly the way it is and accomplish this goal, then it’s not going to happen.

Expect it to be really hard. Anticipate wanting to give up.

This painful summer I had reminded me of the type burn you feel during a workout. It hurts, but you know you have to keep going and pushing through the pain to see results.

Next time we talk, I’ll be in Colorado and I’ll share my Q4 goals.

Thanks for reading!

Have comments or questions for me? Hit me up: taliasarakoren@gmail.com.