What you will learn from this episode:   Know the importance of recognizing and normalizing the difficulties that come with owning a business.   Find out why sitting with negative emotions and not trying to push them away is valid.   Learn why building a business when life gets tough requires resilience and how to get through it.   If you're like most entrepreneurs, you have faced personal and professional difficulties while building your business.   I believe that normalizing these challenges can help beauty business owners feel less alone and isolated, which in turn will improve your mental well-being. It is also wise to seek support and resources to overcome challenges and make informed decisions.   Moreover, acknowledging that negative emotions are okay can help you cope with stress, setbacks, and failures in a healthy way.    Here is an episode about building a business when life gets tough. It is indeed challenging, but not impossible. It requires prioritizing your well-being, developing a strong support system, and remaining focused on your goals. With perseverance and determination, you can learn from difficult situations and use them as opportunities for improvement in building a successful business.   Topics Covered:   1:59 - April's backstory 6:05 - Trying to numb the feeling is not the first solution 7:52 - Negative and positive thinking 9:30 - Acknowledging challenges 11:08 - Do this practice 13:59 - A growing business has each level of challenges 14:55 - Forecasting the future   Key takeaways:   "It's not healthy to deny the feelings or try to numb the feelings. Some people will numb it with drugs or alcohol. Some people will numb it with eating. Numb it with shopping, numb it with whatever, like distractions. Instead of just saying this is real. This is part of the experience and I should expect it." - April Meese   "I'm human. I'm gonna feel disappointed, I'm gonna feel sad. And then I'm gonna try to work through it. And so, I know that life is full of changes and all of the cliches, like the lows, help you appreciate the highs." - April Meese   "I could have gone to a negative space where I could have been like, life is never working out for me, things never work out. It should be different. I could do that, right? Or I could just say, this is all part of the experience. No one gets out of this life without some suffering and some challenges, especially when you are growing a business. Because if it was easy, everyone would do it right?" - April Meese   "Walk yourself through those emotions, and feel it and release it and sit with it and do all of the things that you need to do. But also let's just in general, let's just normalize the highs and lows of running a beauty business. It's challenging, even when it's going well. Growing each level has new challenges, right? Life doesn't stay the same." - April Meese   "Life is hard. Business is hard. You can do hard things, you are strong and we're all human. Don't have the thoughts that there's something wrong with you or you need to change in any way. And just know that you are on the right path and give yourself grace and space." - April Meese