Let Your Business Tell Your Story

By William Manzanares | January 11, 2023 |

Too often people come up with ideas not realizing the entrepreneur opportunity it brings. Sierra Hartman is the editor-in-chief of Grit City Magazine, despite initially giving the idea of the publication to Will. Through his photography and writing he saw that there were many stories to tell within Tacoma, Washington. After encouragement to take the ideas and run with it, he moved from freelancing into business ownership.

Key Takeaways:

{4:15} Many people say, “find a job you love and you never work a day in your life.” Yet you also never take a day off.

{5:58} My personality goes into everything we do within my business. My sarcasm and humor. If I am having a bad day, I don’t try to hide that fact. If I need to take time off, I do.

{9:37} Entrepreneurs in the creative space who have to juggle the business side along with the creative side can find themselves drained with less energy to create and give our brains more space to create.

{10:57} A big part of maintaining my creative side is to put myself into uncomfortable situations and creating regular routines.

{14:36} Even if someone else tried to duplicate this business in the same city, I am not worried about it because there are plenty of stories to tell.

{19:23} We offer the magazine as a way for people to tell their stories without trying to paint a specific picture or try to brand certain people or communities in a specific way.

{22:43} Everyone feels like they have to be all over social media to tell people about their business, but business owners are tired of it. So many are shifting to fostering genuine human connection. We are all about telling stories and stories are always better in person.

“Maintaining balance {with my family and personal life} is more important to me than meeting a deadline and making a sale.”

“As business owners you have to make priorities because you can’t do everything, but maintaining creativity is something I need to prioritize.”