What Entrepreneurship Has Taught Me About Self-Worth, Failure, and Authenticity
A personal reflection on creative entrepreneurship, brand-building, reinvention, and learning to root success in authenticity rather than external validation.
Entrepreneurship has woven itself through my life in unexpected ways. Looking back, I can see an energetic thread connecting the many seasons of my path, each one adding to the unique tapestry of who I am and how I have chosen to create, work, and serve.
Throughout all my years of leaning into my passions, I have followed that thread. It has guided me through industries, identities, successes, failures, reinventions, and deeper returns to myself.
The First Signs of My Entrepreneurial Spirit
I was only twelve years old when I began working as an independent contractor as a model. Some may not consider the modeling industry entrepreneurial, but I always did.
My mom guided me with values and principles that kept me grounded. She taught me to approach my modeling career like a business and never to take aligned opportunities for granted. At a young age, she held me accountable to show up professionally, punctually, and independently.
Did I make mistakes? Absolutely. But that is where I learned.
My mom always said, “Failing is succeeding; it means you tried, versus never trying at all.” That line, one of many nuggets from her and the mentors who helped shape my foundation, has stayed with me throughout my life.
It reframed failure for me. Not as an ending, but as evidence of courage, curiosity, and movement. It reminded me that effort itself is meaningful. It teaches, redirects, and opens doors that staying still never will.
What Modeling Taught Me About Rejection, Discipline, and Creativity
In modeling, you are rejected far more often than you are booked.
Looking back, I now see what a gift it was to learn how to handle rejection so early. I could have five, ten, even twenty castings in a day, five days a week, all in the hope of booking one job that month.
From the age of twelve to eighteen, I worked in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami, and even traveled to Milan. I experienced the nuances of a fashion industry that could feel cold and external, yet I also found abundant creativity through runway shows, editorials, catalogues, and commercials.
I was a sponge. I was drawn to the creatives, the makeup artists, the stylists, and the photographers. I loved learning about their own entrepreneurial paths and creative skill sets. This was where I felt most connected: watching people build something out of their gifts.
The guidance I received from mentors I met as a teenager, like Diane Aiello and Paul Markow, still offers me wisdom today: remain true to who you are, know your craft, follow through on your dreams, and create frameworks that hold you accountable.
Building a Brand and small business With My Mom
I retired from modeling at twenty-seven and chose to invest in my mom’s business, a small toffee company that had grown organically through local farmers markets in Arizona.
I had already been helping her during the holiday rush with production, packaging, and market days, and I had seen firsthand the magnetism of the toffee. People would sample it and immediately buy it. My mom had also built a corporate gifting program with clients like American Express, shipping her hand-crated toffee outside of Arizona.
I began to envision something bigger. I saw the possibility for the brand to grow in recognition, reach, and impact. I imagined a retail shop. I imagined expansion. I imagined the brand being shared well beyond what we could then see.
I had no experience running a company, let alone scaling one or managing employees. But the passion was there. The belief was there. And my mom said yes to us becoming co-owners and creators together.
Because of a trademark issue, ‘blessing in disguise’ we rebranded, and Goodytwos Toffee Company was born.
Why Authentic Branding Matters
We had the privilege of working with an incredible branding expert, Cindy Gombert of Luna Brands. We loved her work with companies like Nothing Bundt Cakes, Fairytale Brownies & Pie in the Sky. These were not just beautiful brands, they told a story. You could feel the warmth, the connection, and the authenticity behind them.
That is what we felt our toffee was worthy of as well.
Our tagline, Doubly inspired toffees, hand-crafted with “vitamin L-O-V-E” was inspired by loyal customer’s daughter who said our toffee tasted like vitamin love. Cindy captured our heart and our story beautifully, branding our juxtaposed mother-daughter duo essence of Goodytwos: one part traditional, one part contemporary.
That entrepreneurial chapter taught me so much about the power of integral branding.
Sharing your truth, your why, and your deeper story is where brand integrity is honed. I still remember Cindy telling me, “When you brand your truth and choose not to stay on the surface, follow trends, you will always be able to speak your truth. You will never have to ‘learn’ your brand, because you know your brand. It is full of your authentic story and your why.”
That wisdom has stayed with me.
A Creative Marketing Risk That Worked
One night, I had a marketing idea: what if we co-marketed with our beloved dentist, Dr. Rod Gore?
At first, it seemed like an odd pairing, a dentist and a toffee company. But that contrast was exactly the point! Together we could create a pause for someone flipping through a magazine. A moment of curiosity. A “wait, is this real?” kind of response.
And it worked.
We used my image and smile, as Dr. Gore had been my dentist since I was seventeen, and layered in our Goodytwos branded sweetness. The ad ran for a year, and it was a success.
That experience taught me something important: never discount your creativity. Some of the most aligned ideas arrive from thinking outside the box and trusting the nudge enough to bring it to life.
What Fifteen Years as a small Business co-owner Taught Me
For fifteen years, my mom and I experienced the full range of business life: successes, failures, risks, expansion, and setbacks.
During the 2007 recession, our sales not only remained steady but actually grew. We discovered that there is something about the sweets industry that provides comfort and reassurance during uncertain, uncomfortable times.
Eventually, we sold Goodytwos to longtime corporate clients who kept the name and branding intact. To me, that proved we had built more than a business. We had built integrity, emotional resonance, and true brand equity.
Goodytwos taught me so much about perseverance, vision, partnership, and what it means to create something people genuinely connect with.
When Success Pulled Me Away From Myself
And yet, in my early thirties, I realized I had become disconnected from my own authenticity.
I had overworked myself. I had begun to believe that my worth was wrapped up in the success of my careers. Somewhere along the way, achievement had become entangled with my identity.
That realization led me to a surrendered place inward.
I began working with therapists and energetic guides to find my way back home to myself. I had to reorient to my innate truth: my worth is sourced within. It is not validated by external success.
Returning Home to My Authenticity
Through that healing journey, I encountered both old and new parts of myself.
I cultivated self-acceptance, compassion, and a sense of worth rooted in heart and soul knowing. I also gave myself permission to create a healthier work-life balance, one that supports homeostasis within and sustained my business.
This may be one of the most important lessons entrepreneurship has taught me:
success means very little if it asks you to abandon yourself and sacrifice your inner peace.
The Birth of OnWord Journeys
OnWord Journeys
Guiding you inward, so you can move onward.
Helping you become the author of your life’s story.
OnWord Journeys was born in 2022, when I was forty-two.
After selling Goodytwos, I invested in my integrative wellness education and built a brand rooted in my authentic passion, purpose, and service. I hired Emily at Wildling Studios to help bring my online coaching container to life.
I am a certified women’s life coach devoted to emotional integrity, self-worth, and the embodied remembering of who you truly are.
My work offers a safe, reflective space, one that invites you to slow down, soften inward, and reconnect with your inner knowing. Together, we cultivate deeper self-understanding, emotional attunement, and an authentic relationship with yourself.
This path is personal. My "why" lives in my own journey of reclaiming self-worth and learning to lead with an open heart.
What I offer is not just a curriculum; it is a lived practice of emotional attunement and authentic relationship with self.
My Mom Who Saw My Light
It was my mom, Donna, who knew I never fit neatly into society’s typical boxes or traditional education.
School stifled my creativity. She saw my light dimming as I struggled academically and tried to force myself into environments that did not honor how I was inately embodied to learn and express.
I cannot imagine the courage it took for her to go against the grain and say, “Stacey, there are other ways to learn and blossom. We just need to find the environment where your passion can shine.”
Thank you, Mom, for always believing in me!
From my heart to yours…
My hope is that if you are reading these words, you might close your eyes and feel what is asking to be accepted within you.
What hidden gift is waiting to be illuminated?
What dream is quietly asking for your trust?
What part of you is ready to stop fitting in and start becoming more fully expressed?
Entrepreneurship is not easy. You will fail. You will take detours. You will wonder if it is worth it.
All I can say is this: if you do not try, you may never know your truest potential.
This journey will teach you more than you can imagine. It will deepen your relationship with yourself, stretch your courage, refine your voice, and shape the way you relate to others.
Welcome to this community. If you have read this far, you are right where you are supposed to be.
Follow your heart.
You are fully deserving.
With love and light,
Stacey
Reflection questions
What is authentic entrepreneurship?
Authentic entrepreneurship is building a business that reflects your values, story, gifts, and purpose rather than chasing success through trends or external validation alone.What does entrepreneurship teach you about self-worth?
Entrepreneurship can reveal where your worth has become tied to achievement, while also inviting you to build a healthier foundation rooted in self-trust and authenticity.Can failure help you grow in business?
Yes. Failure often brings clarity, resilience, creativity, and wisdom. It can redirect you toward a more aligned path.Is it possible to reinvent yourself later in life?
Absolutely. Reinvention is often a return to what has always been true within you, expressed with greater clarity, maturity, and self-trust.