The moment everything changed in my business
The quiet cost of doing it all alone and the surprising shift that changed everything for me
Hi impact maker,
There’s a story I keep seeing unfold.
Two people, same path.
Both building something new.
Both wanting more meaning, autonomy, and flow.
But their approach?
Completely different.
One says:
“I need to earn more before I can get support.”
The other says:
“I need support so I can earn more.”
One waits.
The other moves.
One plays safe.
The other takes a risk.
And I understand both, because I’ve been both.
Especially when money feels tight, investing in support can feel almost irresponsible.
You hit “pay,” and ten seconds later think:
What have I done?
But here’s what surprised me:
The support itself is rarely the scary part.
It’s who you become because of it.
A small shift that changed everything
A person I worked with recently hit that exact edge.
The investment felt like a stretch.
Each session, they wanted to get the absolute most out of it, and rightly so.
One day, we reviewed their pricing.
They’d been charging €3,500.
We explored what it might feel like to charge €5,000.
Not in theory, but in tone, language, and confidence.
The next proposal they sent used the new price.
The client said yes.
Two weeks later, they submitted their biggest proposal ever. A five figure project.
And it wasn’t about the number.
It was about the shift in identity.
Backing their value
Showing up with clarity
Letting support change how they see themselves
Transformation rarely arrives with fireworks.
Most often, it sneaks in quietly, through one sentence or one moment where something clicks.
And in my own business? The same story.
This year, I joined a year-long accelerator.
€25,000.
It felt terrifying.
The investment seemed outsized compared to what I was making at the time.
My whole body contracted when I paid.
But within the first two months, I could feel the difference:
in my confidence
in how I made decisions
in how I showed up
in the way my work was expanding
And last month, for the first time, I hit the revenue goal I had set for myself.
Not because the accelerator magically fixed anything.
But because I stopped trying to figure everything out alone.
Honestly, I wish I understood this sooner.
I’ve spent years looping:
building IMMA Collective by trial and error
learning community design by myself
navigating relational marketing alone
exhausting myself before finally hiring support
Every time I eventually invested, whether in the community audit, the website work with Stefanie, the marketing work with Branden, the data and systems support with Ariel, or now the accelerator, I had the same thought:
Why didn’t I do this earlier?
It’s always obvious in hindsight.
Rarely in the moment.
The cost we rarely talk about
If you were opening a bar or ceramics studio, investing in tools would be unquestioned.
But in service businesses, we’re taught:
“Just figure it out yourself.”
And when we can’t, or when it feels slow, we think we’re the problem.
But here’s the quiet truth:
Not getting support is also a cost.
You pay it in time.
In stuckness.
In underpricing.
In clients who weren’t the right fit.
In the years spent procrastinating or circling.
Sometimes the right support isn’t about speed.
It’s about direction.
The shift from trying to growing.
A reflection for you
Which path are you on today?
→ earn first, then get support?
→ or get support so you can earn?
There’s no right answer.
Just different outcomes.
And sometimes, the shift begins long before the money arrives.
Often, it begins in the moment you stop trying to do everything alone.
PS: If you don’t want to do everything on your own you can apply to join us.
Behind the scenes at IMMA
This week inside IMMA, we’ve been:
Noel a web developer launched his new website (yeah). Feels like a theme lately, so many of you are finally letting yourselves be seen. It’s one of my favourite shifts to witness.
We’ve paused onboarding for the Nurture membership and will open one intentional round on 7 January. If you want more support and structure heading into 2026, this is the moment to apply
Opportunity corner
A few openings we shared in our community this week:
Researcher Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders (WHRDs)
Invitation to tender: Delivery partner - maternal and mental health services - Impact on Urban Health
If you want to share where you’re at
If this brought something up for you, a question, a shift, a quiet yes, that’s me, you’re always welcome to reply or to leave a comment.
I love hearing where you are in your journey.
With care,
Lilli