1. You’re never ready for it. You’ll never BE ready for it. Start before you’re ready.
2. It’s a learn-on-the-job situation. You can read all the how-to books you want, but you’ll never be prepared for the problems that arise no one ever dreamed of. For example, your husband is out of town on business, it’s pouring out and creek water is rising in your backyard inching closer and closer to your house. You have one child home sick and the school nurse calls to tell you the other kid isn’t feeling well (True story.) What do you do?
3. Taking a minute to yourself to go cry is a legitimate response to many, seemingly insurmountable, problems. (This tip also worked during my years of practicing law.)
4. You’ll always be convinced that someone else is doing it better and that you’re utterly failing.
5. Friends and family members will give you advice, some of which is outdated and completely insane.
6. It’s really F’ing expensive.
7. Sometimes, it takes years to launch. For me, it was 3 years to get pregnant (with the eventual help of experts) and 2 years to start a business (with the eventual help of sustainable fashion accelerator, Factory45).
8. You’ll never have enough time in the day to accomplish everything on your to-do list.
9. It helps to find a mentor who’s done it before, preferably successfully.
10. When you start, it’s like everyone around you is speaking a different language (MMR? Baby led weaning? Grading and marking? MOQs?)
11. You’ll feel very, very alone even if you have a partner.
12. There are no days off.
13. Some days, just a successful trip to the post office feels like victory!
14. In the end, it makes you stronger in ways you never could have imagined and more vulnerable than you ever expected.