Kibbe on Entrepreneurship: Fearing Fear Itself

Is fear holding you back in your business?

It’s a simple question. Before you say, “No,” take a moment and really think about it.

I’ll be honest, I’ve had a lot of fear in my career life lately. I would jump at applying for jobs because I thought they were what I wanted, when they weren’t what I wanted at all. Fear caused me to even look at jobs in fields I haven’t worked in for years. Even though I’ve been a journalist for more than 10 years, I still wouldn’t let myself believe – really believe – that I could write for a living.

I don’t have a journalism or English degree. I have a degree in laboratory medicine. But what I did have was analytical skills, rapport-building skills, a knack for spotting a story and some natural writing talent. Combining that with a good editor, creativity and business experience, I became a successful business reporter and editor.

Still, I held fear in my heart. Because I didn’t go to J-School, I wasn’t really a reporter. I started trying to move my career in directions it really shouldn’t have gone. And it caused me undue agony.

The minute I admitted to myself writing truly was where my passion, talent and strengths lied, the floodgates opened and work was actually coming to me! I knew, deep down, this was what I really needed to be doing, but because it didn’t fit my definition of what true work should be, I didn’t continue to pursue it as a career. Writing for me isn’t work – it’s fun!

It seems silly to read this – I’d been an award-winning journalist for 10 years – yet I wouldn’t let myself believe writing could be my career. Once I accepted that writing not only could be, but should be my career, I started to receive more work than I could handle.

I have a lot to learn as a newbie business owner. The world of freelance writing has a lot of pitfalls, and my emotional constitution makes entrepreneurship a struggle, but I am actually making money with my own two hands. I feel like a farmer, but instead of planting seeds and growing crops, I plant words and grow articles. It’s daunting, exhilarating, freeing and terrifying all at once. But none of this would have happened if I didn’t finally admit to myself that I needed to be writing, just writing. Not marketing or designing ads or public relations campaigns or other word-related jobs. Writing.

Self-ignoring isn’t a newbie business owner thing, either. All of my clients have been in business much longer than I have, but nearly all of them have that little mustard seed of faith inside themselves that gives them pause.




Of course I still have fears -- What happens when the work slows? Or stops?! How much is too much? Whose contract supercedes who's? Can I afford a second phone line? The list goes on. But I don't doubt that writing is what I should be doing anymore. Well, most of the time, anyway.

What’s holding you back? Is there a little kernel of truth buried somewhere in your heart telling you what you should or should not be doing? I can’t wait to hear about the leaps of faith you make when you let go of your fear.

Cindy Kibbe is owner of Cindy Kibbe Creative Communications, a writing services firm based in New England. She was an editor for a regional business publication for nearly a decade. She can be reached at cindy@kibbecreative.com.