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I have been writing this column now for almost two years. I’ve put it all out there, rarely holding anything back, detailing my life as a business owner running my company. Documenting when I was diagnosed with clinical depression and could barely get out of bed, let alone run a business. I’m an open book, that is for sure. The first time I talked with WBJ Editor Brad Kane about starting my own column, I was really going through it and I felt that the struggle was real for me. That’s where the original name for this column came from.
Struggle is just a part of the life of an entrepreneur. But owning a business is like getting on a rollercoaster. You wait in line to get on, playing it cool, thinking you know what it is going to be like. Then, you get on the ride, and you start feeling nervous because you are not prepared like you thought you were. The ride starts, and you are overcome with emotions. You start to like it, and then your stomach gets turned upside down, so you want to get off the ride, but you’re too far in. This happens a few more times while you’re strapped in, and then finally you get off the ride and you are elated for a moment. That is, until you wait in line to get on the next ride. I haven’t needed to go to an amusement park in eight years because I’ve been living it every day.
More recently, with everything the coronavirus has put us all through, I realized I am in a different phase of business. When life changed, so did my business. I realized a strength about myself I didn’t realize I had: problem solving. I immediately thought on my feet, thinking what we could do to have different streams of revenue and get through this pandemic safely while still serving our amazing community around us. Each week since, I have thought about how I can make things better and better; whether that means different packaging ideas, how to fix mistakes and prevent them, how to be more organized with the orders, how to communicate with our customers, and most of all; how to continue to have a strong morale with my team.
It’s during this time, I have become the most grateful for the eight-year rollercoaster. All of the times of struggle have brought me to a place of growth I never thought I was capable of. It’s made me reflect on the times when I wanted to quit and give up on what I had been working on. It has shown me the grit behind the scenes at The Queen’s Cups, and the strong individuals who work for me who have shown up every day when they could have stayed home, making more money collecting unemployment. When I am at work now, I take in each day, because I have no idea what is going to come our way. Five years ago, or even two years ago, if this pandemic happened, The Queen’s Cups doors would have closed eight weeks ago and I would be a mess. Instead, now we are open.
Don’t get me wrong, this pandemic has taken its toll on me. We’ve had to teach ourselves an entire new way of business. Everything I have worked toward has had to shift into a new way of doing things. My patience has been tested, having to answer the same questions over and over, even when I've tried to make things as easy as possible for customers. I’ve been hung up on and gawked at when I explain we have an eight-to-10 day waiting period for online order pick-ups. Dealing with this and watching other businesses struggle has been tough. Will life ever be the same?
There are people that look to me for strength as a friend and as a businesswoman; and I want to show them it will be hard, but we are stronger than we know. So, I left the theme park and got off the struggle bus. The new bus I am on now is much more fitting for me and has room for all my other strong business friends. Our hustle is real, and it is not going anywhere.
Renee Diaz is the owner of The Queen's Cups bakery in Worcester, whose business is facing new challenges in the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2017, Renee Diaz moved her upstart cupcake business The Queen's Cups from Millbury into a larger space in Worcester's Canal District. With a year of lessons learned, she now writes the monthly advice column The Struggle is Real to help entrepreneurs and business owners navigate their own trials and tribulations. In 2020 she rebranded the column as The Hustle is Real to reflect that her business had moved out of the startup stage.
Read the other The Struggle is Real columns:
Entrepreneurship isn't wonderful all the time
A beauty queen and a BBQ king saved my soul
Being a baker is not my dream job
Guacamole, pink cookies and why I provide extra paid maternity leave
Why I know all of my staff's birthdays
The Christmas party I always wanted
Want vegan cupcakes or fondant wedding cake? Check out my competition
The man who gave me hives doesn't get enough credit
Your hurtful reviews have human consequences
Stop micromanaging your life. I mean it.
What comes after success? I don't know.
Construction, WooSox & regulation are killing Canal District dreams
I put the world on my shoulders, and it broke me
Being the good guy & bad guy to employees
I lost my entrepreneurial drive. Therapy helps me get it back.
Speaking my mind & standing my ground: My evolution as a boss
You create your company's culture, so make it a good one
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Worcester Business Journal provides the top coverage of news, trends, data, politics and personalities of the Central Mass business community. Get the news and information you need from the award-winning writers at WBJ. Don’t miss out - subscribe today.
Worcester Business Journal presents a special commemorative edition celebrating the 300th anniversary of the city of Worcester. This landmark publication covers the city and region’s rich history of growth and innovation.
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