I hope that sharing my tips and insights resonates with you as you navigate transitions in your life. Remember to be curious and embrace this new chapter, as there are many opportunities awaiting you. As always, I'm here to help you navigate this journey.

Embarking on the journey of entrepreneurship without a clear intention is akin to setting sail on uncharted waters with an incomplete map. Amidst the excitement of charting new territories and realizing dreams, it's easy to get swept away by the waves of opportunity without a clear compass guiding your course. This is where the crucial process of clarifying your business intention comes into play.

Don’t let your dream be influenced by the messaging that you receive from the world that makes you doubt your choices – your heart knows! This is your next stage - paint it with your own unique pallet.

I write this journal entry both from experiences I’ve witnessed and shared with the collective, and the action I have personally taken in structuring my businesses from a place that feels deeply well. I have had events in my life motivating me to make a change as I became aware of what was not working when external challenges were present.

As a business coach my journey often intertwines with the personal aspirations and challenges of the entrepreneurs I guide. In this journal I offer my reflections on the theme "Beyond A Business Plan," recognizing that success requires more than a meticulously crafted strategy. It's about implementation, system refinement, partnerships, personal leadership, and celebrating the milestones along the way.

Welcome to our December journal! This season has been marked by many conversations in the Costron + Co community about fears around money and finances. Our nervous systems are almost constantly recovering, flexing, healing as we navigate challenges in life and/or business and world events.

Inner leadership is the commitment to developing an open and resilient mindset. It is about expanding self-awareness and the ability to navigate life with emotional well-being and decision making skills that are in alignment with your authentic self.

Another year around the sun and Costron + Co reaches its 3rd birthday. This year in review we have been called to reflect on aspects of gratitude and generosity as small business owners.

I have had a lot of conversations with many entrepreneurs of late.  Conversations that were about tough choices; continuing to strive forward or getting a ‘day job’ to ease the financial pressures or closing their businesses.  They have made, or are working through the process of making tough decisions. 

As a coach and mentor, I witness clients travelling through it all.  I see growth, contraction, and plateaus. I see difficult periods and periods with relative ease.  Through it all I see dedication, wisdom, and difficult choices. 

If the Summer Solstice were your business mentor…

The spiritual meaning of Summer Solstice is - renewal, hope and optimism.

How do these things apply to our business?

How can we lean into the wisdom of Nature and Summer Solstice to bring this energy to our business?

At Costron + Co there are many blessings and one for me is that I have the opportunity to work with an inspiring group of humans - the creative, health and wellness entrepreneurs.

Thank you for being of loving service in making the world a more bright and healthy place. Thank you for your vision of putting the people and planet before profit.

Thank you for listening (as much as you’re able) to your heart’s messages of honouring rest and gentleness over striving and pushing.

Sometimes it is ok to just pause, reflect and revise the to-do-list. Maybe even stop for a rest…

As you may already be aware, I am just returning from my maternity leave where we welcomed my daughter Ajla Julienne Li into the world October 28th, 2022. If you haven’t already, I invite you to read my previous journal entry “An Entrepreneur’s Journey into Motherhood” prior to reading this one. It details the processes, systems and operations I had in place to have the opportunity as a business owner to take a maternity leave.

However, there is an invaluable ROI that individuals and businesses need to consider and monitor - Happiness. While most business consultants focus on the strategies to support business initiatives that may indirectly impact happiness, there is a more direct approach to monitoring this invaluable ROI.

As I got older, I also came to fully understand what the comments meant - but I wondered, how could the value of respect for each other and genuine generosity cohabitate with gender inequity that was and continues to be part of my culture’s DNA.

When we considered our goal of supporting social enterprise and heart-centered entrepreneurs we knew that a body of work in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion was a perfect fit to our existing offerings. Our clients, small business owners, did not have easy access to DEI support that was focused on the needs of small business and small teams. It is Msenwa’s goal to support the raising of all of humanity and this pairs well with the intention of our clients.

But hey – what about those of us left behind? What do we do when we are short a set of hands? I feel it is my turn to have a couple of tips on how to manage the absence of a business partner.

In this month’s journal entry I am called to write about my experience being pregnant as a business owner and all the steps I have taken to ensure that both my businesses are prepared for my absence.

As we reflect on the last two years, we are drawn to focus on why we were called to begin this journey: The seed that started it all. There are many ideals that sit behind the “Co” of our company.