How to Keep Your Business Thriving During Disruptive Life Changes

As an entrepreneur, navigating your business through life's curveballs can feel overwhelming. From personal crises to family emergencies, these disruptive events can leave you feeling stretched thin and struggling to maintain balance.

Over the past year, I've faced a barrage of transformative changes - supporting young adult children through major milestones, caring for aging parents, and weathering divorce, all while running a business.

While each person's challenges are unique, we all face seasons where life throws us for a loop. The key is learning to prioritize balance and well-being so your business doesn't just survive but emerges stronger. Here's how:

Acknowledge That Change is Natural

First, recognize that change and upheaval are a normal part of the human experience. Give yourself grace as you adjust to new normals. What does prioritizing rest and self-care look like for you right now? Even small acts of recharging are essential for staying resilient.

Be Realistic About What You Can Commit To

During turbulent times, it's critical to scale back and focus on only the most essential tasks in your business. Identify your top priorities and channel your limited energy there.

This may mean having honest conversations with clients and collaborators about changes in your availability or timelines. Don't be afraid to communicate your current capacity. Most people will appreciate the transparency.

Lean on Your Support System

No one can weather upheaval alone! Surround yourself with positive, empathetic individuals who offer both moral support and practical help when needed.

Consider joining a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who can relate to the unique challenges of running a business during disruptive times. Their wisdom and camaraderie can be a lifeline.

Remember seasons of change are just that - temporary. Trust that you have the inner resources to adapt and allow your business to evolve through this time. Often, our greatest growth comes from the most challenging chapters.

What's one small action step you can take today to support yourself and your business as you move through change? Trust your instincts and let that guide your next move forward.

No matter what curveballs come your way, prioritizing balance and well-being is non-negotiable for entrepreneurial success. By caring for yourself first, you create the resilience to lead your business from a place of strength.

Ready for more support navigating business and life changes with grace?

Let’s chat 👇🏽

Podcast Transcript:

Kiva Slade 0:02

Welcome to Collab with Kiva, leveling up your life one episode at a time. I'm your host, Kiva, Slade, your personal guide to unlocking your potential and reaching your biggest goals. Through coaching, insights and mindset shifts, you'll gain insights to transform how you think, feel and approach challenges, so you can live more purposefully and reach your biggest visions. I'll bring a splash of sassy, real talk. Expect inspiring conversations and practical takeaways, you can apply to be more purposeful, empowered, and resilient in your daily life. So let's dive in and start expanding what's possible.

Kiva Slade 0:47

Hello, and welcome to another episode of ollab with Kiva. Life - it sometimes is lifing, isn't it? And when we are entrepreneurs, business people, things of that sort. It's challenging to navigate your business, when life is possibly undergoing significant changes. And that's the space I've found myself in recently for the last probably a year and a half. And I want to dive into that today. And explore what it's like to still have, and or be empowered in your business, as you see, to have balance in your life. And depending on where you find yourself, you might be juggling multiple responsibilities. For me, running my business, taking care of family, young adults graduating from college and next steps in life, and also being part of that sandwich generation, in terms of parents who are aging, and then myself going through menopause and a life change in terms of divorce, life throws curveballs at us, and it can be so challenging to maintain balance, and keep our businesses thriving.

Kiva Slade 2:38

So today, I want to share some, some insights and strategies to help navigate those challenging times, with the understanding that challenging times will look different for each and every one of us. Yet, each and every one of us will have challenging times. So first and foremost, let's just acknowledge change is a natural part of life. personal crisis, family emergencies, significant life transition, these events can disrupt our routines and leave us feeling overwhelmed. During these times, it's crucial to prioritize self-care and to be gentle with ourselves. And I'm going to pause for a moment because I know some of us have a love hate relationship with the term self care. For the purposes of today's podcast, you can define it as you so like, what does it look like for you to prioritize yourself. And that's where I'm going to leave that up. So one of the most important things I have found helpful for myself is to give myself permission to rest. And you if you've listened to this podcast for any length of time, you will have noticed this has not been consistent every two weeks since the launch of season three. Prior to that, it was in a long hiatus between season two and season three. And as of recently my newsletter, which had been weekly was not weekly. But I just chose to rest I chose not to feed into that pressure to keep pushing forward. Because often I was running on empty and when running on empty, what I did generate or put forth was not always the best. And I'm not looking for perfection when I say the best. It just wasn't even something that I wanted to put out. And in some instances, there was nothing there in which to draw from - the well was empty. So taking time to recharge is not a luxury, it was a necessity. And I have found that when I'm well rested, I am better equipped to handle challenges, and make sound decisions for my business. And I want to encourage you, if you find yourself when you find yourself with challenging circumstances, what does it look like? To give yourself that permission to rest? And have you? So that was not my powerful coaching question. But my... the question is, what would it look like to prioritize rest and self care in your life right now? What would it look like to prioritize rest and self care in your life right now? Take a moment to reflect on this question. And consider what small steps you can take to incorporate more rest into your daily routine. Your daily routine, because in many instances, we are building new habits. And those take time, and also incremental steps along the way.

Kiva Slade 7:05

So another strategy for me was being realistic about what I could and could not commit to you during this time of change. It is okay to scale back focus on the essentials. Rather than trying to maintain the same level of productivity, ask yourself, what are the most critical tasks that need my attention right now? What are the most critical tasks that need my attention right now. By identifying these top priorities, we can allocate energy and resources more effectively. As I share this podcast, it has not been consistent, it was not an essential. It wasn't a top priority. And I had to be okay with that. And I was, and I hope you weren't you. And in many instances, remembering how our businesses are an extension of ourselves. It's important that we're honest with ourselves and others about our current capacity. In January of this year, I went part time with one of my long term clients. Granted, it doesn't always feel part time. But I also still have clients in my business. And again, that scaling back to the essentials, that's where my focus has been. And I've been honest about what that current capacity looks like. I've scaled back marketing scaled back a lot of things because I did not have capacity. And I don't just mean physical capacity, like mental, emotional capacity as well. So really understanding what that looks like for you. And not being afraid to communicate with clients, team members, collaborators of any sort about changes in your availability in your timelines. Most people do understand and appreciate transparency. And y'all know me well enough to know that I will also say that for those that don't reevaluate are those people you should be working with collaborating with, or have on your team. I also want to say that during times of change, it's so essential to lean on your support system. Surround yourself with positive understanding individuals who not only can I offer encouragement and practical help.

Kiva Slade 10:05

But also are so have a level of self awareness that allows them to have empathy. And also, because I'm that type of person, you also I feel I like to also have friends who are like, Okay, girl, you've been in it enough, let's go ahead and shake those, you know, ducky tail feathers and keep it moving. So finding that combination of a person or support system that works for you is critically important. Also, I think understanding that sometimes we might need a community of like minded business folks, you know, what would that look like to be in community with owners who can relate to your experiences, and where possible provide, like valuable insights. And finally, I want to remind you that seasons of change are temporary. They feel so overwhelming in the moment. But it is important that we trust that we have the resilience and adaptability to weather the storm. Embracing the opportunity to learn grow from those experiences, and know that our businesses will emerge stronger. On the other side, they will emerge stronger on the other side. So as I wrap up today's episode, I of course, want to ask you one more coaching question, what is one small action I can take today to support myself and my business during this time of change. What is one small action I can take today to support myself and my business during this time of change? Trust your instincts and take that first step forward. Thank you for joining me today. Remember, you are not alone on this journey. And next time, keep prioritizing yourself in your well being and know that your business will thrive as a result. See you next time. We just took another dose of vitamin Kiva. Thanks for joining me on this journey of self growth and potential. I appreciate all of you who listen, share your wins and give me feedback. If you want to continue the conversation. You can find me on my website, the 516 collaborative.com or you can reach me on LinkedIn and until next time, keep taking steps in the right direction and believe in yourself. You've got this!

Meet Kiva Slade—founder and CEO of The 516 Collaborative. With a unique background spanning high-powered politics on Capitol Hill and homeschooling, Kiva found her true calling lies in guiding business owners and leaders.

Originally, her work focused on orchestrating operations and data behind the scenes. But after realizing that mindset was the missing link holding business owners back, Kiva became a coach. Now she blends data savvy with research-backed psychology to help clients transcend barriers and build the business of their dreams.