Starting Before You’re Ready

Starting something new is scary.

Starting something new when you’ve already spent decades becoming really good at something else? That’s a different kind of scary.

As I approached 50, I found myself thinking differently about my life. I had experienced loss. A close friend lost her husband, someone I knew well, and it was one of those moments that makes you stop and recognize just how short life really is.

I started asking myself a question: What are the things I still want to do that I haven’t done yet?

That question changed my trajectory.

I started exploring. I wrote books. I spoke on stages. I coached and mentored. I continued doing work I deeply believe in within public education. I tried things, learned things, changed directions, and kept listening for what might be next.

And then came UNCOMMON Jewelry.

This wasn’t a quiet little idea.

It was a wildfire.

Suddenly, I was thinking about it when I woke up, when I went to sleep and seemingly every moment in between. I was designing, dreaming, learning, and imagining what this little idea could someday become.

I knew I needed to follow it.

The problem?

I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

Becoming a Beginner Again

For nearly 30 years, I built a career in education. I knew that world. I had experience, credibility, and a reputation that had taken decades to build.

Then I stepped into jewelry and entrepreneurship and went from being a big fish in a little pond to being a very small guppy in an enormous ocean.

Six months into building UNCOMMON, most of the world doesn’t know me as a jewelry designer. They don’t know this brand. They don’t know the stories behind these pieces or the vision I have for what UNCOMMON can become.

And I’m learning to be okay with that.

Because I had to remind myself that there was once a time when nobody knew me as a successful school leader either.

I had to learn that work, too.

So, I’m learning again.

I’m learning about jewelry and materials. I’m learning how to build a brand that I hope will someday be considered luxury. I’m learning business, marketing, design and what it means to put something I’ve created into the world and allow other people to decide whether it speaks to them.

That’s vulnerable.

But vulnerability is part of beginning.

You Don’t Have to Know Everything

Sometimes excitement makes us believe we need to do everything immediately. I’ve learned that lesson, too.

When you’re passionate, you can move quickly. Sometimes too quickly. You make mistakes because you simply don’t know what you don’t know yet.

That’s okay.

Starting before you’re ready doesn’t mean starting recklessly. It means being willing to begin before you know everything.

It means learning.

It means making a mistake and adjusting.

It means listening to mentors and people who have walked the road before you without assuming their road has to become yours.

I’ve realized I built my career in education the same way. I listened. I studied. I learned from great people. But eventually, I took those lessons and figured out what worked for my campuses, my people, and my leadership style.

I’m doing the same thing now.

We Are Never Too Old to Grow

You’ve probably heard the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

I don’t believe that for a second.

At 55, I’m learning an entirely new industry. And yes, there are moments when it’s uncomfortable. There are moments when I wonder whether the next design will come, whether people will connect with what I’m creating or whether this dream will become what I can already see in my mind.

Then another idea comes.

Another lesson comes.

Another opportunity comes.

And I keep going.

Because I believe we are meant to keep learning and growing throughout our lives. Sometimes the biggest thing standing between us and what comes next isn’t our age, our circumstances or even our ability.

Sometimes it’s simply the story we’ve told ourselves about what we’re capable of doing.

So whatever you’ve been thinking about beginning, give yourself permission to be new at it.

You don’t need to have every answer.

You don’t need to get everything right.

And you definitely don’t need to wait until you’re fearless.

Take what you know. Learn what you don’t. Give yourself grace when you get it wrong.

And start.

Because becoming the woman you’re meant to be might require being willing to become a beginner again.

Be UNCOMMON. Wear Your Story.

Cheri