When I started my first business, I was excited, motivated, and convinced I knew what I was doing. I had just started business school, so I had enough knowledge to feel confident, but not enough experience to realize how much I still had to learn. Looking back, I smile because I remember thinking, “I’ve got this.” The truth is, I didn’t.
Don’t get me wrong—I wasn’t completely lost. I had always loved marketing. I enjoyed creating campaigns, talking about my products, and finding ways to attract customers. Marketing came naturally to me. What I didn’t understand at the time was everything that happens behind the scenes of running a business. I wasn’t thinking strategically about operations, long-term planning, financial management, or building systems that would allow the business to grow. I was focused on selling.
As the years passed and I continued through business school, my perspective completely changed. Especially during my MBA, I stopped thinking like someone trying to sell a product and started thinking like someone building a business. I realized I wasn’t simply selling swimwear—I was creating a brand. That shift changed everything. Instead of asking myself how to make the next sale, I started asking how I wanted people to remember my company.
The more I invested in my brand, the more opportunities began to appear. I was invited to speak on television twice. The first time, I talked about the business. The second time, one of San Antonio’s personal stylists selected my swimwear brand to be featured during a live summer fashion segment. Those moments weren’t the result of luck alone. They happened because I had started telling my story instead of simply advertising a product.
Networking also became one of the greatest investments I ever made. I met incredible people simply by showing up, introducing myself, and sharing what I was building. One conversation led me to meet a local magazine editor who loved my story and invited my company to be featured. That experience taught me something I still believe today: people connect with people before they connect with businesses.
Something else changed as my business matured. I realized my customers weren’t just buying a swimsuit. They were buying confidence. They were buying comfort. They were also buying into something they believed in. My products were made with biodegradable materials, designed to begin decomposing after about three years, while many traditional swimsuits remain in the environment for decades. Customers appreciated that they could own something beautiful while making a more environmentally conscious choice. They weren’t only supporting a small business—they were supporting values they identified with.
Eventually, I chose to close that chapter of my life for personal and religious reasons. Although the business came to an end, the lessons certainly didn’t. In many ways, that business gave me something far more valuable. It gave me experience. It taught me what no textbook ever could. It showed me what works, what doesn’t, and how expensive learning everything on your own can be.
About four years after starting my business, I came across a business coach who offered me free a business advice. I often think about how different things might have been if I had done that from the beginning. Interestingly, much of his advice confirmed ideas I had already started developing, but having someone with experience validate my thinking gave me confidence and helped me make decisions faster. It also made me realize how valuable it is to have someone who can see your business objectively.
To be fair, my business faced challenges beyond strategy. At the time, I was a full-time college student and a full-time mom. Our financial resources were limited, and I couldn’t dedicate all of my time to growing the business the way I wanted. Even so, I believe having the right professionals around me from the beginning would have helped me make much better use of the time and resources I did have.
People sometimes ask me why I decided to become a business consultant. The answer is simple: because I’ve been in my clients’ shoes. I know what it feels like to start with more passion than experience. I know what it feels like to make mistakes that could have been avoided. I know what it feels like to question every decision while trying to build something meaningful.
But I didn’t want my experience to stop there. I wanted to become better equipped to help other entrepreneurs succeed. That’s why I continued investing in my education. I earned certifications in Business Consulting and Digital Marketing, and later completed my MBA. Those experiences didn’t replace the lessons I learned from running my own business—they strengthened them. Today, when I work with entrepreneurs, I’m not speaking only from theory or only from experience. I’m combining both.
If there’s one thing I wish someone had told me before I started my business, it’s this: asking for professional help isn’t an expense—it’s an investment. It can save you months of uncertainty, costly mistakes, and countless hours trying to figure everything out on your own. You don’t have to learn every lesson the hard way. If my journey can help another entrepreneur start with more clarity than I had, then every mistake I made was worth it.
Xo,
Vanessa
