Not everyone is cut out to be a successful entrepreneur — and in this episode, I’m explaining exactly why.

It’s not about luck, tactics, or having the perfect strategy.

It’s about four core traits that I believe are absolutely essential for success.

I’m breaking down what they are, why they matter, and how to know if you have them (or need to develop them).

This episode is a dose of truth and a call to rise for anyone serious about making it in business.

Tune in now!

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More ways Embodied Marketing can support you:

Join Emily in Austin, TX for 3 days at this epic marketing event, Embodied Marketing LIVE. Grab your ticket and we’ll see you January 16-18th: https://go.embodiedmarketing.com/live

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READ THE EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Emily Hirsh: 

Hello my friends and welcome back to the podcast. I hope you guys are having a great week and staying grounded in the chaos that is this end of year holiday season or can be. I taught a workshop yesterday. I teach a monthly workshop for just our paying clients. Any of our paying clients can come to it and it’s like half workshop and half opportunity for hot seat Q&A for me. And I went into it and I was like, I cannot just teach more content to them. Like everybody is so overwhelmed, overstimulated at max capacity. So we actually went through this exercise of like, let’s get everything out of your brain, massive brain dump list of all the things that are circling around the thoughts, the to-dos, the people you need to contact and all of that.

And let’s set get a plan in place for you to get some support, for you to prioritize and everybody left feeling so much more grounded, so much more clear, so much more confident that they you know could get done what they needed to. It was awesome. So I’m like, I need to actually do that exercise. I’m going to do that exercise too, because I am feeling very focused and very intentional with my time and also at max capacity for things I need to do and Christmas just keeps getting closer and I still have gifts to buy and shopping to do. I’ve i’ve tried this year to be really intentional with my shopping and not do a lot of it on Amazon. I’m wondering if other people are feeling the same and are are we going to have this like transition for people wanting to buy gifts not on Amazon because it’s funny a couple of people have also said this to me

And I was like, this year I’m going to actually go to actual cute stores in Austin and shop for my mom, for my husband, for my friends. And I did that because I just was like, I don’t want to go search on Amazon, you know, and scroll through everything. I don’t know. I don’t know if other people feel that way or if it was just me.

All right, so today’s podcast episode was is inspired by something I was thinking about Between a lot of things, one of them being the workshop I hosted and I have the opportunity to speak with some of our most successful clients and people in my expand program and just watch them go from where they were to where they are now and and see their success. And it made me think about something, which is I don’t actually think that anybody can be a successful entrepreneur until let me explain what I mean. Because I do have a belief that marketing always works. It’s just a matter of when. I do believe that if you implement the correct process and foundational principles into your marketing and you stay committed to that process and you hone in all those core components from your offer to your messaging, to your visibility, to your lead gen, to your sales, that you will always be successful. 

But I don’t actually think that anybody can be a successful entrepreneur because I think there are core, not personality traits, core values and core principles that a successful entrepreneur must have. And I was thinking about this as I was driving. I was thinking about how, like I was thinking about, okay, you know, what allowed me to be successful and What was the mix of my own skill set, my own strength with opportunities, with things that happened and all of that combined? And it made me realize that there are pieces of me that i that come very naturally that I am very fortunate to have to basically be born with that have created that success for me. and that Without it, I don’t think I would be successful. and I do think a lot about like how to break down how to be successful right because there’s a lot of people who want to have a successful business and learn how to have a successful business. and I think the reality is You could try to implement all the tactics in the world and buy all the programs and hire the coaches and go through the master classes and all the things that a lot of people do. A lot of entrepreneurs do this, right? Or or entrepreneurs trying to grow their business and not find success because you’re missing these things.

And I was thinking about how really it is only a percentage of entrepreneurs that are successful, right? I forget this stat. I pulled it recently. I think it’s 6% of entrepreneurs are people who start a business, make it to six figures and like 2% make it to seven. And I don’t say that to be like, well, it’s impossible to be successful because here’s the thing. I don’t think it’s luck. I do think It is a lot about how you show up and who you are. And so if you are somebody who doesn’t have these traits, I think you can develop them, but you have to do a lot of personal work in order to do that. And you have to have the capacity to be self-aware. And I think that’s a challenging thing that a lot of people don’t have. So I feel like this is gonna be a good one.

I have four things that I think are absolutely non-negotiable, required to be a successful entrepreneur. The first one is you have an unwavering commitment to success. You are resilient. You are going to show up no matter what every single day until you are successful. In the beginning of your journey, that’s going to look like a hustle. That’s going to look like a grind and. sometimes it’s gonna look like a time where you can’t see the payoff yet, but you still show up. And I think that drive, that commitment of like, I will not stop until I am successful, no matter what someone says, no matter what happens, no matter if I fail, all of those things, that is one of the most powerful traits you can have.

A lot of people do not have this. A lot of people hit a roadblock or something gets hard or they get discouraged or they get overwhelmed or somebody tells them it’s not possible and they doubt themselves and they stop. And if you are somebody who when you hit a roadblock or something doesn’t work you’re gonna stop and stop taking action and give up and throw your hands up in there, you might as well not try to be an entrepreneur. Like that is someone who needs a job, who needs who needs the security of a job in that a company can make sure they have that security. That when something goes wrong, it doesn’t fall on them. That’s the first one. Committed to success no matter what. Resiliency. When I look at every single successful client of mine, every single one, every single successful entrepreneur, friend of mine, people with way bigger businesses than mine, part of their story is the struggle. The struggle, the challenge, not even just in the beginning.

The struggle and challenge that they will continually face and continually get back up and continually appreciate that that is part of the journey. That is the sacrifice you make for the payoff of the freedom of entrepreneurship. Second trait is not having a victim mindset, radical accountability, being able to figure things out on your own without relying on or counting on other people to do it for you. I cannot tell you how many people want the entire blueprint, the entire plan of how to be successful laid out for them step by step and don’t even want to waver for that or think for themselves on that. And then when it doesn’t work, they blame somebody else. No one’s going to save you. No one’s going to create your successful business for you.

Why would they, right? This is your life, your business, your success, and you are 100% accountable to it. There is a lot in our society today that likes to blame outside circumstances, other people, even trauma, how you grew up, all of those things. And I say, yes, they’re valid let it fuel you and take that accountability because there is nothing more powerful than someone who says, my success is in my own hands. It’s not somebody else’s responsibility. It’s not somebody else’s fault that I’m not successful. I take radical accountability and I will do whatever it takes. Coming back to the first thing, I will do whatever it takes to create that success no matter what.

Sure, you can lean on other people for guidance, for support, for shortcutting your path because you learn from somebody, you hire the coach, you hire the agency, you join the program, right? That’s a shortcut because you’re using their expertise to jump ahead and gain expertise, but it’s not their responsibility to create your success. That is your responsibility. And I can promise you this, any entrepreneur who operates with a victim mindset, who blames other people and doesn’t take accountability for their success will not be successful. Like show me one, unless it was handed to them because they had a connection or something, you’re not going to create success out of a victim mindset. And I’m going to tell you something, the victim mindset can be very sneaky. And I’ve even had experience with this where I’m like, there’s no way that I’m operating from a victim mindset. And I’ve had coaches pointed out to me of like, Emily, the way that you’re saying that of like this is happening to me and I can’t control this and it’s it’s because of that that this is happening is a victim mindset.

And so even somebody who like, I cannot stand this. This is like a number one value for me. I’ve caught myself in it because it’s easier, right? It’s easier for our ego and for our minds to blame somebody else. Because if it’s not our responsibility, then we don’t have to take accountability and then we can’t, we don’t have to look in the mirror and say, what do I need to change? And I definitely don’t mean doing this from the standpoint of shame. Like that’s very different. If you look at yourself and say like, I suck and that’s why I’m not successful. No, it’s like, I’m so grateful for the journey and so grateful for how I’ve shown up and what I’ve done with the tools that I had available to me at that time. And now I get to take different action. Now I get to grow. Now I get to come from a different place. So that’s number two.

Number three is the ability and willingness to leverage your strengths. This is what I was thinking about as I was driving. I was thinking about how I have built a business around my strengths. I’ve built a business around things that come naturally to me and I’ve really leveraged them. So first first thing that I was thinking about is I’m really good at communicating with people. I’m really good at I don’t want to say copywriting because it’s not necessarily that I’m a good writer, but I’m really good at messaging. I’m really good at connecting to somebody’s emotions and speaking to them and making what I’m saying or what I’m writing really relevant and make sense to them. This is why I’m really good at webinars and breaking things down and explaining things.

this podcast, all those things. And so I’ve built my business and my marketing a lot around my ability to do that and actually teaching team members who work for me and write copy for me how I do that. I’ve also leveraged you know my ability to take a big picture thing and break it down into small parts. And so I teach this of what are your natural strengths? What comes easy to you?

Who is the authentic you? What makes you different than other people? And how can you take that and leverage it in your business because that’s your superpower. Nobody else has your superpower. And so if you can leverage that you’re already miles ahead. If you go on a path trying to be somebody else or build a business like somebody else, you are up for an experience of facing constant resistance and wondering why it’s not working. And I think a lot of entrepreneurs get stuck in doing this because they see somebody else or they have a mentor or they buy a program and they try to replicate it exactly versus making it work for them. And this is really important to me in marketing is like, I never will teach blanket one size fits all strategies because I don’t believe them because I know that they don’t work. Instead, I want to amplify your magic.

So understanding what are your strengths? Like when you think back to you as a kid, what did you love doing? What were you so good at? What did people say like, you know, you you do that so amazing or in school, like you excelled at that over the other kids. Like what are those traits? What are those skills? And what do you love doing? Because if we love doing it, it doesn’t feel like work. And I think we should build a business around that. Not to say it’s always going to be fun, But build a business that allows you to amplify that part of you. And so answering that and then understanding how to leverage that in your business. I’m going to re-say that because of my kids.

So being able to answer those questions and then leveraging that in your business and in your marketing. Okay. The fourth trait is a dedication to growth. And this I said at the beginning of, of the episode of the, the ability to look in the mirror. I think this is something that I naturally was gifted and is a big part of who I am. I also think it came a little bit from my childhood and and like. It’s like our our traumas also give us a strength, right? But I am constantly wanting to grow. I think it’s my number one core value is growth and being able to look at a situation or hear from somebody feedback and not have an attachment to it not being true. And and there are people that cannot handle feedback because it threatens their entire identity.

And they can’t look in the mirror and they can’t say, Oh, that’s true. I did this. I messed this up or I didn’t show up. Well here, or I messed up here and do it. Not from again, not from a place of shame, but of awareness. And as an entrepreneur, a business owner, it is the biggest personal development journey you will ever go on. And you constantly have to literally become a new version of yourself. You have to.

Become the version of your future company because the person who starts your business cannot be the same person with a six figure cannot be the same person with a seven figure business. It’s actually impossible. And so if you’re not willing to grow, which means you have to look in the mirror, you have to detach your ego from the mistakes you make or who you are and how you can evolve and you’re not committed to that growth, it’s going to be really hard to be successful. Because if you say stay so stuck in exactly how you’re doing it and your exact ways and you’re unwilling to look at them and question them and become aware to them,

It’s going to be very challenging to become that new version of yourself. And all of my successful clients and friends and and myself, when I look at it, I’m like, they are all very committed to growth. I think that is one of the most important components of being an entrepreneur because you’ve got to separate the ego and the attachment to who you are with who you want to become. All right, you guys, those are my four thoughts on what you must have to be a successful entrepreneur outside of the tactics, outside of the strategies, outside of all the things that so many people teach. I think without this, you won’t be as successful. I hope it got you thinking and I’ll talk to you next week.