Steven Bartlett, famously known as the host of DOAC and the youngest ever Dragon on BBC’s Dragons’ Den plays an indirect part in my decision to ultimately end the Bloom chapter last year.
My last company
Bloom was my award-winning marketing consultancy. Profitable, turning over six figures, working with some great clients, and with a perfectly-formed team.
In July 2023 I publicly announced I'd be moving on, and many in my network have been understandably curious as to why, and what I'm doing now.
In this blog post I recount the full story, including lessons learnt as - hopefully - something useful for you to take away from my experience.
But what did Steven Bartlett have to do with it?
Well, fittingly for the host of a show called 'Diary of a CEO,' Steven created “the first diary that coaches you back” - right after my cold & depressing visit to Helsinki for Slush in November 202, and just in time for Christmas gift-buying season ahead of the new year. Clever.
Combining the traditional medium of putting pen to paper with the sophistication of tech, this "diary that coaches you back" claimed to give you the best of both worlds. And honestly it did a very decent job of it!
At the end of every week, you give different areas of your life a self-assessment score, scan a QR code, and receive a personalised video by a subject matter expert, depending on where you need help the most. (Yep, very clever. Steven’s annoying like that, isn’t he?)
My deathly allergy to stagnation
Now, the professional area has always been high up in my life.
I’ve always put my career first, I’ve always had a strong work ethic, and I’ve always been very ambitious. (Heck, I'm a Capricorn, what can I say?)
For the first time EVER, my “wheel of life” was turned upside down. Great news for my family, my partner, and for my physical health* - not so great for my business, my career, or - without going too deep - my self-identity.
No matter what I tried, I felt utterly STAGNANT for weeks and weeks, then months and months.
(By the way, having ‘a word of the year’ has become a new trend in recent years now, have you noticed? Words like ‘balance’ and ‘freedom’ appeared in people’s LinkedIn posts of January 2022 and 2023. (Or at least this is when I noticed it, anyway). The word ‘stagnant’ undoubtedly became the word of my first half of 2023. I felt like I was stagnating. That’s just the best word for it).
Over this period, I was doing my weekly check-ins with Steven Bartlett's diary that coaches you back. The 'professional' area of my life was consistently low-scoring. The personalised videos getting served up to me went from "try this" to "...maybe quit your job?"
This was a crucial moment that led to my ultimate decision to wind down Bloom.
I can still see the video title on the screen of my phone while I was taking the overground train in London, heading west to meet my partner for brunch on a Sunday afternoon. The exact words were:
"Is it time to quit your job?"
Hm.
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The truth is Bloom was doing well. (Or doing ok, anyway). We were turning a profit, billing five figures a month, repeatable turnover, I had my “perfectly-formed” team, and we went out with a bang with the best campaign ever produced. (Watch it here).
But we weren’t growing.
And any exit options on the horizon just seemed unfathomable to me.
What no longer serves you?
As much as I tried to grow the agency, the bootstrapped business had hit a ceiling. And whilst I couldn’t seem to get a handle on doubling our revenue for another year, one thing I could control was shutting it down and walking away.
So I did.
And how liberating is it to walk away from the things that no longer serve you?
I know we know this, but it’s one of those things that’s so much easier said than done. We already have enough of our own self-identity wrapped up in our work or our businesses, let alone the social pressure around us. Throw social media into the mix and the pressure is dialled way up!
They say dance like no-one’s watching; honestly, my advice to anyone is live your life like no-one’s watching.
Because other people’s reactions or opinions pale in comparison to how you want to live your life. How do YOU want to spend your finite time on this planet? What impact do you want to late, how do you want to be remembered? What fulfils your waking hours?
Read the full story of closing the Bloom chapter, including lessons learnt, and what I'm up to now.
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Named Top 20 Female Founder, Stephanie Melodia is a public speaker on the fields of entrepreneurship, marketing, and gender equality.
As ex-CEO of the award-winning marketing consultancy, Bloom, Stephanie now hosts the Strategy & Tragedy podcast, advises MBA students in Entrepreneurship with Oneday, builds brands with BOMBA, and continues to serve as VC scout for early-stage venture capital firm, Ada Ventures.
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