Nowhere on mainstream media do I see successful entrepreneurs who look like me.

All I see is… The Wolf of Wall Street, the Silicon Valley founders, the folks on Shark Tank.

I am not a shark.

If anything, I’m a manta ray - or a sea turtle: quiet, peaceful, going at my own pace.

I’m introverted, I’m emotional, and I have a highly sensitive nervous system (Hello, HSP!).

The ideal party for me is having four of my closest humans, reading books, painting together, meditating, taking a silent walk in the woods, and if there’s talking, we talk quietly.

My favorite childhood game was - I kid you not - reading.

In preschool, I often finished my meal last and would sit in a corner crying into a bowl of half-eaten beansprout soup as my classmates took their naps.

Finally, my first-grade teacher described me on my first report card in 3 words: “Obedient, but shy.”

I never ever felt like one of those unabashed entrepreneurs who can wiggle themselves into any social situation to hunt down an opportunity and make a spot-on “elevator pitch” in front of a big-time investor.

That’s why even though I’ve never worked for a corporation a single day in my life and I’ve started multiple businesses since I was 24,...

I’ve only truly felt comfortable calling myself an “entrepreneur” these last 3 years.

So when people come to me and ask:

“I’m an introvert. Can I really start a successful coaching business?” I get it.

I had that doubt myself.

But after 6 years of building a global business well beyond six figures, I can tell you this:

You can.

1.

No one is born an entrepreneur.

I used to tell myself this sad story: “I wasn’t born an entrepreneur.”

The minute I dropped that story, I instantly made more money and more impact.

Extroverts or introverts, no one is born with a dollar sign on their forehead. (Though that would be kinda cool.)

Entrepreneurship is something you learn.

And like any other skill, the speed at which you master entrepreneurship is in proportion to your willingness to fail.

When a child first learns to walk, the child doesn’t think: “Omg. I must not fall. If I fall, it must mean I wasn’t born a ‘walker’ and I’m destined to crawl for the rest of my life.”

If you can learn to walk, you can learn to build a business regardless of your personality.

2.

There’s no one way to be an entrepreneur.

Firstly, locate your unique strength and use it.

What lights you up?

What comes easy for you?

If you don’t love to talk but love to write, start a blog.

If you don’t love a big crowd but like intimate events, organize small gatherings and promote them as exclusive and limited. (People love that!)

If you like the intimacy of one-on-one coaching, do one-on-one coaching.

Here’s the caveat: You’ll never know for sure if something isn’t right for you if you don’t give it an honest try.

Many of my introverted clients told me that the idea of being on video made them want to run away screaming into the night, only to discover later that being on video “actually wasn’t that hard.”

The second thing you need to do is know your authentic desires. When I say “desires,” people think of traveling to a paradise island, buying a big house, and wearing designer outfits.

That’s not what I mean.

Our deepest desires are not things but feelings.

What do you desire to feel?

Is it freedom, aliveness, peace, creativity, or connection?

You have complete power to create a business that inspires those desired feelings in you every day.

Want to experience connection? Pair up with a like-minded entrepreneur to be your accountability partner. Choose a channel to connect authentically with your audience.

Want to experience freedom? Create clear boundaries in your calendar to make space for travel and Me Time. Be clear about who you want to work with and who you don’t. Have a small team, you don’t need a corporate structure to make your business wildly impactful and profitable.

Possibilities are endless once you own what makes you, YOU.

3.

Your introversion is an asset.

According to research, introverts typically have thicker gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, which is the area of the brain where abstract thinking and decision-making happen.

Many studies have pointed out how introverts make good leaders by making better decisions, developing deeper connections, being less easily distracted, and giving space for members to shine.

I know that being an introvert makes me a better listener. And thus, a better coach.

My sensitivity gives me the capacity to hold a safe space for my clients to dive deep into the vulnerable terrains of their psyches.

Introversion makes me think deeply, observe keenly, and therefore be able to come up with more resonant insights.

Because I’m perfectly happy under my blanket, I don’t seek the spotlight just for the sake of it. Every time I show up for my people, I choose to be there because I know my message can change their lives.

And as someone who has suffered anxiety attacks in the past, when it comes to fears, I can never follow Taylor Swift's advice to just “shake it off.” So I do everything afraid.

Thus, there’s conviction and courage in the way I show up. And my people know it. They trust me, and they invest big time in themselves with my offer.

My first coaching offer six years ago was 2,000 dollars, which I sold out after two weeks. Now my clients invest up to 20,000 dollars to get private coaching with me.

The same is possible for you.

***You’ll never know for sure if something isn’t right for you if you don’t give it an honest try.***

No one is born an entrepreneur. But anyone, including you, can learn to become one.

There’s no one way to be an entrepreneur. Find out what makes you YOU and build a thriving business around that.

Your introversion - and anything about you that you might see as a weakness - is an asset. Trust it, leverage it, and make lots of happy money from it.

I believe the world needs entrepreneurs like us more than ever before.

The manta rays. The sea turtles.

The quiet ones. The gentle ones.

The ones who do it for love. The ones who do it afraid.

And hopefully, soon, another human, perhaps our daughters, can look around and immediately know that, in their own skin, they are enough to succeed.