When I told my dad I was making the jump, he told me “Be prepared to become an entrepreneur for the rest of your life.”

Was he trying to warn me of the never-fucking-ending hardships and tribulations of the entrepreneurial hell-ride that eventually consumes your life until you burn out and sell everything, maybe move to Mexico for a while until you forget all about the pain and hear your next business venture call you like a drug you’d been off of for too long?

Or maybe he meant that it would be a failure (to him!) to go from being your own boss back to being bossed around?

Half a year later, I still don’t know what he really meant by that. One thing I know for sure: it has been a fucking rollercoaster that goes in a loop where you’re constantly fighting the urge to throw up and maybe you want to get off but you can’t because you’ll fall 20 feet and break your neck — haha!

So, to celebrate the six-month mark, I thought I’d share with you six true-ish things I learned while on the rollercoaster of being a young business owner. Take this not as a universal truth or means to dissuade you from jumping ship, but as me trying to be transparent and demystify the journey as a young creative victim of imposter syndrome.

You Work Twice as Hard and Make Half the Money.

This one might sound obvious because everyone knows you don’t make any money the first year and we knew we were going to have to work our asses off — BUT DAMN! No one tells you about the sleepless nights spent making mental lists of everything you have to get done the next day or about the maaaaaany times you find yourself pushing back time off because the to-do’s never seem to end.

9-hour days, 5 times a week, and paying ourselves just enough to survive. As I am writing this, I feel nauseous and my eyes hurt from staring at a screen, and it’s only Wednesday.

The thing about having your own business is that your brain is constantly on and working. You go home and you’re on. You’re watching a movie and you’re on. You’re having drinks with friends and you’re on. You’re off and you’re on. ON ON ON ON ON!!!!!

Even working full-time for under minimum wage, I’m still so happy to have a reason to get out of bed. I am passionate about my work and savour every single penny that I make doing it. I am not worried money will come someday, and maybe when we’re working twice as less and making all the money it won’t be fun anymore.

You’ve Got to Learn to Detach Yourself From the Work.

As easy as that sounds, not getting too emotionally invested in the work is a battle we fight every week. Sometimes we win those battles and sometimes we lose and have to accept that not everyone has good taste — sorry — not everyone has the same taste as us.

Part of me wants to accept that I’ll never be fully satisfied and that as long as the client is happy, I’m happy. But another part wants to say “Fuck being satisfied! Don’t you dare deliver work you’re not 100% proud of! Put out the work you wanna see in the world!”

As idealistic as that sounds, you lose so much energy trying to sell an idea or image that will never stick and sometimes it’s better to bite your tongue, smile and nod. Maybe we ought to pick our battles carefully so that we don’t get sick of creating. You’ll realize that creative energy is limited and a divine gift not worth spent on tasteless projects.

One Week Up, One Week Down.

Do I have to draw you a picture of a rollercoaster? Do we all get the concept? Good.

This is pretty much how running your own business, managing an employee, keeping track of invoices and finding time to have a life feel. Because Camille and I are so close and rely so much on each other’s encouragement, our emotional cycle is usually pretty synced up. When we’re high we’re really high, like the world belongs to us (Millionaire by Kelis and Andre 3000 blasting in our heads), and when we’re down — oh boy! — the self-doubt and lack of motivation come rolling in.

Having been on this mood manège for a couple of months now, we have learned some tricks so that we can apprehend and embrace those down moments. Rest is key and actively making time for celebration and rewards is vital to a healthy routine. Also realizing that downtimes are CENTRAL to the work-life balance is a big part of it.

Our ninth commandment “Keep human — go places, see people, drink and eat” prompts you to make time for basic human needs that fuel not only our body but our creative spirit. Our tenth commandment “When you can't create, you can work” argues that productivity does not equate to being active and on your feet, and that a brain that is allumé is a brain that is subconsciously working and expanding.

There’s No Cure for Imposter Syndrome — Sorry?

I’ll let you in on a deep dark secret: I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. From the outside, it may look like we’ve got our shit figured out: we have couple clients on retainer, we developed a system to manage a roaster of a few freelancers, we work from a physical studio that isn’t where we live (and you know that’s a big win if you’re a freelancer!) and we’ve been invited to talk in front of an audience — not bad for a business that is only 6 months old!

I like to think 16-year-old me would have been proud to see me do what I love and get paid for it, even if that isn’t the reason why we started this whole thing. So when we do win, big or small, we force ourselves to take a moment to congratulate each other and ourselves out loud because we have forgotten to do so many times. Perhaps because of that voice in our heads telling us “Get onto the next thing!” or “No time to rest, keep that momentum going or you’ll miss the train!”

Maybe there isn’t any cure to the imposter syndrome because self-doubt simply is human nature, but finding ways to shut that nasty voice inside is a good start. So I urge you to take moments to celebrate all the wins — call a friend and brag for a full minute, take yourself out for a drink, treat yourself to takeout, I don’t know!

Your Creative Skills Are Only as Good as Your Social Skills.

I’m probably not the best person to make a case for this. I get paralyzed with social anxiety when I find myself in a room full of strangers and I feel even more debilitated if I have to go up to them and introduce myself.

Instead of doing the thing where you swallow all your negative thoughts and confront your fears until you’re cured, I did the next best thing: find someone who isn’t afraid to go up to strangers and go into business with them. I can worry about my social anxiety later.

Going up to people and selling yourself is one thing I’m still having trouble with, but investing in the professional relationships you already have is something I’ve quickly understood as essential. I could not argue this enough: if you have the guts to do it, go up to people and do not be afraid to sell yourself. Learn to carry a conversation, and remember faces, names and details. Follow up on encounters. Be a good friend and collaborator to your clients, because the relationships you can nurture and invest in are the ones that will bring you the most to your business.

Note: I feel like a hypocrite writing this. Last week at a networking event I ran into one of our first clients and I had the I-know-you-but-I-don't-remember-where-I-know-you-from look on my face. Needless to say, he totally caught that and after I clumsily tried to fix the unfixable, he said to me half-joking "I put in 6K into your business, I hope you remember me" — sorry JF, love ya!

The Harder the Work, the Sweeter the Fruit.

I wouldn’t trade the bad bits for anything. Every day I get to wake up privileged to be doing the things that I love with my best friend — and I feel even more privileged that the days I don’t feel like doing these things I can simply decide not to! Even with the headaches, self-doubt and downtimes I still manage to muster a little courage to go through the week because I know at the end of the road the fruit is sweet as hell.

6 True-Ish Things I’ve Learned in the Last 6 Months.