Back in March, I experienced a zero dollar launch that taught me so much about my business, myself, and my newest offering, The Residency. After a successful Cohort One, I feared the negative result that ended up being the unfortunate reality for The Residency: Cohort Two. I discuss this $0 launch in this episode to normalize failure, reveal what can be learned from an unprofitable launch, and give myself a moment to return to one year from now as a reminder of just how far Hailey and The Residency have come.
Timecode guide:
- [2:43] Normalizing the experience of failure
- [5:36] Taking responsibility for creating all of our results
- [16:41] Uncovering new depths of resilience
- [23:01] Evaluating to discover our learnings
- [27:28] Redefining “whatever it takes” after this experience
Radical responsibility, no matter the outcome
A defining result of this zero dollar launch has been my realization that responsibility is an integral part of all successes and failures— really, an integral part of all results in entrepreneurship. By taking responsibility for every moment and every action, you no longer have to be a victim of things “happening to you” and can instead take charge of where things are going, for yourself, your business, and your success.
“When you really believe that you create all of your results…and you have the tools to be able to comb through those results and figure out how you created them…you have the building blocks to every entrepreneurial venture you ever want to create, ever.”
“Whatever it takes”
We think we would do “whatever it takes” to make something work for our business, but this launch gave me a better idea of just how far I’m willing to define “whatever it takes.” When I took a step back to evaluate why I didn’t achieve the result I set out for, I didn’t feel an urge to pivot away from The Residency and instead chose to embrace it. Moving forward to the next cohort is the next step, because I’m willing to do whatever it takes.
“And I asked myself: Is this what you want to be selling? Is this the offer? Is this what needs to be alive in the world? And my answer for The Residency was yes.”
A new approach thanks to evaluation
You either win, or you learn. For the launch of Cohort Two, I learned a lot, so much that I decided to change my approach for Cohort Three. Cohort Three is about finding the right people on their time, not trying to squeeze people into my own deadlines. Participants in this cohort will have one-on-one coaching with me until those right entrepreneurs are found, which I think will deliver even stronger results for each individual Resident.
“This is very different from rounds one and two, where we had a very set start date… This is on a rolling basis, there’s a level of trust and back and forth I’m doing with clients.”
Resilience, failure, and learning
I’ve never let my clients shy away from failure, and I wasn’t going to let myself do the same. Recording this episode and continuing on with The Residency is an exercise in resilience, for myself and for my business, and is a reassurance for me that success can still come from my next launch. Failure accelerates the learning process and is a constant element of entrepreneurship, and I’m happy to represent the healthy aftermath of failure in this episode.
“Very often we make decisions trying to avoid things like $0 launches, trying to avoid failure. But failure is how you learn what needs to happen. The fastest way through is to accumulate as much failure as you can.”
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The Residency is a 12-month, cohort-based program specifically built to help first-generation entrepreneurs gain the business acuity and mental-emotional maturity to build their next high-impact, high-profit asset…and whatever else they want for the rest of their lives. Join the email list HERE to get application details for the next cohort.
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