Written by In 2020, EntryPoint had great conversations with thought leaders from across the country on The Cackle and we all want more! So in 2021, we are continuing the conversation with those guests to dig a little deeper into topics that matter. Like the entrepreneurship!
Keep Cackling with Ashley M. Williams from RIZZARR.
Entrepreneurship is an interesting, yet beautiful beast. Why do I say this? Because in my six years as an entrepreneur, I have found that embarking on an entrepreneurial endeavor reveals everything about who we are within.
Anything left unsaid, will be said. Anything left unraveled, will have to be straightened. Anything left not dealt with, will need to be faced. Basically, anything inside of you that is preventing you from living out your purpose and your life’s mission will only rise to the surface once you step into entrepreneurship. It does this so that you can deal with it, and then truly live out your purpose and your greatest potential.
Trust me, I know this firsthand.
In 2020, I talked about pursuing your purpose in entrepreneurship with Emily on an episode of The Cackle, but let’s dig deeper the world of entrepreneurship.
As much as this journey of facing all facets of yourself and then healing yourself when needed can be disheartening, eye-opening, exhausting, and uncomfortable (sometimes all at the same time), it can also be one of the most profound and beautiful journeys you could ever have.
For me, the last 18 months have been very cathartic. I have been working with coaches on my spirituality and my personal development. I had to heal from limiting beliefs, negative experiences, and more. I had to face or acknowledge things that I didn’t know I needed to deal with or that I have not dealt with in years. In fact, one negative experience I had not dealt with in nearly 10 years. I simply shoved it under the rug, hoping it would just disappear and leave my memory.
However, at a certain point, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I wanted to step back into my personal power, my self-love, and my self-belief. I wanted to heal from a lot of old limiting beliefs and negative experiences.
Thankfully, in doing so, I have now been able to let go of many things, people, and situations that are no longer serving me so that I can fully step into the person who I am becoming and ultimately, my purpose. I have never felt freer and happier in my entire life. I finally feel like I am in full of alignment with my purpose, my mission, and the calling that was placed on my life.
But again, this journey of getting here was not easy, which is why I get why so many people fail to fully live out their purpose – particularly entrepreneurs.
Unfortunately, most of us don’t want to deal with the things that we have shoved under the rug or to heal from the things that prevent us from shining our light. For example, we don’t want to deal with reasons why we have the limiting beliefs that we do; we don’t want to acknowledge why we continue to make the same bad choices that we do; we don’t want to accept that we have somehow surrounded ourselves with people who don’t bring out the best in us; we don’t want to admit that we allow others to discourage us from living our truth; and the list goes on.
Many of us have found “purpose” in being an entrepreneur but fail to actually “live out” our purpose through entrepreneurship. We’re more interested in the “doing” and not the “being”. We’re more interested in the execution of our companies, instead of truly living out our purpose through our companies.
I think what makes entrepreneurship tricky for many of us, is that we crave to “find” our purpose, but the reality is, our purpose is already within us. We just need to make the decision to live our truths, our gifts, our talents, our passions, and more. We also need to find the humility, the courage, and the patience within ourselves to peel back the outdated layers of ourselves so that can live out our purpose – wholeheartedly.
As the legendary and late actor Chadwick Boseman once stated, “[People] would rather find purpose than a job or career. Purpose crosses disciplines. Purpose is an essential element of you. It is the reason that you’re on the planet at this particular time in history. Your very existence is wrapped up in the things you are here to fulfill. Whatever you choose for a career path, remember the struggles along the way are only meant to shape you for your purpose.”
I have found that it is only when we are willing to look at the “mirror” of who we are, that we can truly begin to step into the person of who we are supposed to become… the person who we’ve always known we could be, who we have always wanted to be. As Boseman also once stated, “What [people] don’t realize is the greatest conflict you will ever face will be the conflict with yourself.” Indeed, we must be willing to and have the courage to face as well as to heal from our internal baggage. Then, once we do, we can live out our purpose.
Isn’t beautiful to know that we are literally “walking diamonds” and that once we face our struggles head-on and their pressure, we can overshine them? I think so. Because when we do, we will feel far more aligned with our purpose and with who we are becoming.
I dare you to take this road of healing and to reconnect with your purpose.
Trust me, you will not be disappointed.
As with entrepreneurship, in the end, it will be well worth the journey.
About Ashley M. Williams & RIZZARR
Ashley M. Williams is founder and CEO of RIZZARR, a tech-enabled content marketplace that helps brands work with and create digital media alongside Millennial and Gen Z content creators for their marketing needs. Ashley and her team have gathered the largest collection of young content creators from around the world to empower them and to positively transform their lives.