The Best Advice I Got from a 7-Figure Founder

And How It Changed the Way I Run My Business

There’s a lot of advice out there. Some of it is good, some of it is forgettable, and some of it shakes you to your core. For me, it was a single sentence from a seven-figure founder that completely shifted the way I approached business. We were sitting in a small group at a business retreat, and after I explained everything I was juggling, products, logistics, managing people, handling client fires, all while trying to keep things “on brand”, she looked me straight in the eye and said, “Don’t build a business you’ll grow to resent.”

At first, I laughed it off. I thought resentment came from failure or stagnation, not from being too successful. But over the next few days, that sentence sat heavy with me. I realized I had been building something I didn’t want to run forever. I was saying yes to every opportunity, every request, every load, every wholesale inquiry, thinking that was the definition of hustle. I was growing, but I was growing a business that felt more like a burden than a dream. I didn’t have a clear boundary between my work and my life. I was exhausted. And worse, I was starting to fall out of love with the thing I built from scratch.

That moment forced me to take a long, honest look at what I was doing and who I was doing it for. I had been taking on orders that didn’t excite me, accepting clients who didn’t align with my values, and constantly staying busy just to prove I was serious about my goals. But if the business blew up overnight and I got ten times the orders or contracts, I wouldn’t have been excited, I would’ve been overwhelmed. That realization was sobering.

So I went back to the drawing board and asked myself a simple but powerful question: If I could design my ideal business from scratch, what would it look like? What would my days feel like? How would I want to engage with customers or clients? What kinds of projects would energize me instead of deplete me? From there, I started to rebuild. I adjusted my pricing to reflect not just market rates, but the real value of my time and energy. I removed offers that no longer made sense for the life I wanted. I let go of the pressure to say yes to every opportunity. I restructured parts of the business to create space, for rest, for vision, and for better decision-making.

Most importantly, I learned that success isn't just about hitting revenue goals or building a brand people recognize. It's about building something that sustains you. Something you can grow into without burning out or feeling trapped. That advice, “Don’t build a business you’ll grow to resent”, saved me from building a prison disguised as a paycheck.

If you’re reading this and feeling pulled in too many directions, let this be your invitation to pause and reflect. Ask yourself if the business you’re building actually feels good to run. And if not, give yourself permission to make the necessary changes, before the resentment creeps in and robs you of the joy you were chasing in the first place.

You didn’t come this far just to be overwhelmed. You came to build a life and business you love, and that starts with building it on your own terms.