TRANSCRIPT:

“As an entrepreneur, I don’t like to stagnate. I always want to build.”

My name is Genevieve Roja. I’m an event planner here in San Francisco. I own Lily Spruce.

My clients, they like my eye which tends to skew towards nostalgia but in a modern sensibility. A little bit of edge, some offbeat, some unique, clean, simple, and enough so that my clients can feel like they can inject their own personality or their own brand.

I think I bring a sense of ease and calm. They recognize the confidence because I have eleven years of special event planning experience. I have a pretty extensive history in planning events, not just for weddings, but also huge social events for non-profits, sit-down galas, silent auctions, street festivals for San Francisco neighborhoods. So, you’re really getting someone who has a pretty big portfolio that’s deep. Whether you have a small event or a big event, you have someone super capable.

“I get it. I can push as hard as I want to and he’ll be there too, right alongside me, and push me.”

Me as an entrepreneur, I don’t like to stagnate. I always want to build. There was something that was just like, “I want to catch some fire and really just take off.” I didn’t know what it was, but my gut was saying, “We could do better. We could be better.”

You learn some things on your own, but I had a feeling that I was doing some things incorrectly and I, in the interest of building my business, I knew I needed to be efficient. That was key for me.

I thought at the time, “I think I’m coachable,” and I saw it truly as an investment. Then when I met Anthem, I felt really good. I said, “This is … He’s at my speed. He’s talking my language and I get it. I can push as hard as I want to and he’ll be there too, right alongside me, and push me.”

“I’m going to be battle-tested … but I think I’m more well equipped.”

The game-changing thing for me is just having someone help me be accountable and help me think through all the wild ideas that are running through my head all the time and taming those ideas and looking at the possibilities of those ideas, whether they’re viable or not.

I feel like the old Genevieve was very flustered and just a little rudderless, so to speak, and the new Genevieve is more energized. Granted, I’m going to be tested. I’m going to be battle-tested with all these new skills that I’ve acquired and recent wins, but I think I’m more well equipped. I’m catching myself at points where I need to restore or I need to dial it back or even if I need to push harder.

“Take courage to take that leap.”

If you think about it the way you think about a coach from your younger selves when you were being coached, it’s someone who just pushes you further and sees the potential in you so you can be your highest self. That’s the incredible value.

But it does take courage to take that leap, and I would say, if you’re hungry for it and if you’re going to put in the work, because he’s not going to stand there and just watch you halfheartedly do things. You have to put in the work. That’s so important.

“I really wish that I had thought about a coach earlier.”

You got to want it for yourself. No one’s going to push you harder than you will, so do it. Do it. To any of you who are in that place where you are maybe still hustling to build your business, as I was a couple of years ago and wondering, “Can I do it? Can I make it?” I really wish that I had thought about a coach earlier.

I stand for other small business entrepreneurs. We’re hustling together. I think it’s important to hustle and not run riot. A little self-preservation when you’re coached is great.

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