110: {Solo} Giving Yourself Grace

Today we are talking about all things grace! And specifically the importance of giving yourself grace. 


In today's episode I share my personal journey as I navigate significant life transitions in the 2025 New Year. I discuss my decision to pivot her career towards launching a digital marketing agency for female entrepreneurs on LinkedIn, while also managing the complexities of personal and family life. I concludes with my commitment to my community this year to ramp up the solo episodes and continue to do my best in helping support you.

takeaways

• BTS on launching a digital marketing agency for female entrepreneurs.
• The decision to cancel a planned event was a significant financial choice.
• Giving oneself grace is crucial during life transitions.
• Comparison with others can hinder personal joy and growth.
• Starting something new is better than not starting at all.
• Self-care and prioritizing health are essential during busy times.
• Quality relationships are more important than quantity.

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Transcript

Caroline Pennington (00:01.55)
Today, I wanted to come on here and do a solo episode of something that has been on my heart. And so I wanted to come on here and record a solo episode to kind of talk through everything that has been going on for me personally. And maybe it will resonate with you as someone who's listening to podcast too. So we're into a new year. already over past halfway in January of new year, 2025, all the things.

I know as we look around us on the internet and in person, you know, everyone's doing all these new year's thing. New year, new me, I'm going to get fit, gym is full, whatever fill in the blank that looks like. And if you're like me, maybe you didn't enter into 2025 with all your ducks in a row. For those of you that didn't know, we are in a current transition. We are currently in the process of moving and finding some place.

different to live. I'm going stay here in South Carolina, in Beaufort, but that has been a process with showings and everything and finding some other, so a new house. So we've got that going on. That's a big life transition. For those of you that didn't know too, I decided to make a pivot in 2025. I'm no longer taking any one-on-one coaching clients anymore. I have started my own LinkedIn digital marketing agency.

called the feminine founder marketing and I'm just specializing in digital marketing for female entrepreneurs specifically on LinkedIn. So if you want to start grow and scale on LinkedIn and you'll listen to this podcast, send me a message, send me a DM, send me an email to see if that's something that would be a good resource for you. I set it up as a done for you model rather than me teaching it.

So when you hire our agency, you have everything done for you, white glove service, all the content creation, all of the engagement strategies, all the strategies, all of it bundled up in one box for you. I'm basically going to do for my clients exactly what I did for myself in 2023 and 2024. So that's something you're interested in. Definitely send me an email or a direct message and let's chat.

Caroline Pennington (02:11.758)
All right, back to the giving yourself grace. So I want to talk about one thing that I actually went through that happened to me this year. So for those of you that didn't know, I had the digital marketing agency that I launched this month. I also had on the books, I was going to host a live event in Savannah. This was going to be a personal development event, a full day. Um, just like the ones that I've spoken at recently, I was going to host my own in Savannah.

I had entered into a contract with a hotel that I love had the venue set up, had the food, had speakers lined up, all the things. And the event was supposed to take place in the beginning of March. Well, I knew entering into 2025 with things not all aligned perfectly on top of launching a new company, the digital marketing agency, and on top of the commitments to speaking engagements I've already committed to in 2025, that that was not going to be possible.

and by the way, I am a wife. have a husband named Gary. I am a bonus mom to three. have two wine reiners, Zena and Zara Pennington that are my podcast managers. I, probably see them frequently in my post. I post on Instagram. I call them my podcast managers. What really happens is they sit there and lay in their beds behind me while I work every single day, but they are the cutest for babies are truly the best. So

Anyways, I had life going on. I had my work commitments. I wanted to make sure that I was going to be able to service my clients the right way, especially right out of the gate. I wanted everyone to have a great experience working with me. And so I made the decision not to host the event and I sent the cancellation to the sales manager at the hotel, which meant I was breaking the contract. And what that also meant was that was a $10,000 decision.

because I had guaranteed the rooms to be sold. I had guaranteed the event space, the food and beverage, all the things. So yes, I felt terrible doing that, but I knew it was the right decision for me. I knew that I couldn't come into a new year with these life transitions that we have going on with launching a new agency. I want to make sure I was serving my clients with my fully booked speaking calendars.

Caroline Pennington (04:37.056)
And so I really had to focus on and hone in on giving myself grace. And that's something I think that's hard to do for most people, including myself, because you want to sit there and look online or you hear about these things in, you know, social settings and people doing all these cool things or whatnot. And maybe you're not in that state right now, or maybe you are in a season of life of chaos and that's okay too. So this month of January, I really had to buckle down.

and focus on giving myself grace. had to myself first. I knew that I wouldn't be able to execute fully on the event the way I would have wanted to. And if you know me, you know I do not do things half ass. And so if I'm gonna do something, it's gonna be awesome and all out. So the decision to cancel the event was an expensive one, but I think it was the right decision for me, for my family, for my health.

I don't have the energy to do all that. So I've really had to give myself grace this month, which has been hard because. You know, you look online, you compare yourself to these people don't like things and comparison is truly the thief of joy. So there's any takeaway from this podcast. I want you to know that if you're going through a season of life and you need to give yourself grace, I'm here with you. I'm going through that right now and don't compare yourself to anyone else at any time.

I always say it's better to start something and fail than not start something at all. And that doesn't have to be this big business idea or this podcast or anything. It can be simple as maybe you're going on a spiritual journey or you want to work on your marriage or you want to work on your friendships, maybe having more quality friends than quantity. So those are some things that I'm really focused on this year in 2025 and giving myself grace has been a blessing and a

Such a good thing for me. So I hope that you have some takeaways from this podcast and this has been helpful. I've decided in 2025, I'm going to do two solo episodes a month and then two episodes with guests for interviews. So stay tuned for that. And thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening. Thank you for support. If there's anything I can do to help you, please let me know.