The official launch of Inspirus was supposed to be today. The books were written, illustrated, and formatted. The curricula were diverse and inclusive and made up for the financial literacy and African American history holes left by the school system. My team was working hard to get everything ready. The event planners were bringing my vision to life. Then, we had to pivot.
June 23rd, 2022 was the official launch date… until it wasn’t.
Last February, we ran a Kickstarter campaign to raise $30k in 30 days. This funding would go toward the enormous cost of printing a full curriculum set with workbooks, flashcards, posters, journals, and lesson plans. Our launch was set to include so much more but printing was the largest cost.
Well, we didn’t hit our goal.
I went into our Kickstarter knowing God gave me that number and also knowing if I didn’t hit it, God had a reason. I was discouraged, to say the least, but I trusted that God had a plan and took time to reflect on what I took away from those 30 days.
Not hitting that goal meant I couldn’t launch today. What I soon realized is that I shouldn’t be launching – not today, not this year, and not right now. I needed to pivot. That seems to be the word around here – pivot.
At first, I felt confident in the decision not to launch. I could truly exhale for the first time in months, that deep exhale you didn’t realize you had been holding in until you feel the relief in the bottom of your lungs. My team felt the relief, too. They were going to hustle and make it happen, but not to the excellence we strive for. I knew it was best for me and my team and the products that will one day be in the hands of kids across the country.
Fast forward to summer. As the original launch day has been getting closer, the anxiety in my chest has been rising. I thought this would be the summer my books shift and the start of money coming in and not just going out. I committed to this dream, this vision from God, and that has to include the finances, but that comes with the strain, too.
This has been three years in the making. And this is the third major setback – the third time I thought I would be launching and the third time it’s delayed.
As I continue to pour more money into my brand, I have become more unsure, feeling more exhausted from not launching, not creating additional streams of income from this dream, and wondering if this will succeed. The longer you pour your heart into something, the more success plays a role and becomes more important.
When I started Inspirus, it wasn’t about making a profit. It was a passion project. Over the last three years, it’s grown to be more than a passion project. It’s something I need to be successful. When you put your all into something, the process becomes incredibly nerve-racking. You don’t know if it will be successful. You don’t know if you’ll get a return on your investment. You don’t know if you’ll make any of the impact you desire to see.
So, over the next year, as I’m working toward my new launch date, I must learn how to reach more people, learn how to sell more books, and learn how to tell the people who want to support me exactly how to do that.
This is another delay in the timeline I put on God’s vision, but I’m choosing to trust that He knows exactly why and will give me the steps to take to ensure our actual launch date is exceedingly and abundantly more than I could have ever hoped or imagined.
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