At 21, Lucy Bedewi started her own copy writing and content strategy business called My Write Hand Woman straight out of college and made 6-figures in her first full year. She’s worked with 100s of business owners on their messaging, including notable companies such as a product collaboration between Disney and Halo, Aden + Anais, Remote, Hunker, and Midori Bikinis. Since then she has experienced ups and downs of entrepreneurial life, and has learned not to put too much weight in getting told “no.”
She is now sharing her startup advice and earned wisdom with others who want to launch their own businesses, including lessons she would teach her younger self: “Rejection is tiny compared to what I am doing,” she says. Here is her advice to founders on how to keep it fun.
Her inspirational grandmother, her understanding that everyone starts somewhere and her willingness to parlay rejection into a positive redirection all have contributed to her success as an entrepreneur.
What advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell her to never attach her worth to other people’s ‘Yes’s or ‘No’s. As a business owner, it’s so easy to get wrapped up in what you’re trying to build. When I started my business at 21, getting a rejection felt like a major blow. And unfortunately, I gave so much of my power to these ‘No’s and people who were underestimating me.
Rejection hurts everyone and it always stings– no matter how seasoned you are, but I would want her to know that these BIG rejections are actually tiny compared to where she’s going.
Once I learned to see rejection as redirection, getting told ‘not today’ became a teaching moment more than anything and allowed me to get closer to things that were more aligned. In fact, most if not all of my rejections ended up being the best things that ever happened to me.
You inspire women through your leadership and fearlessness. Who was your inspiration and why?
I’m so inspired by my teta (grandma in Arabic). The details of her stories are murky, but she’s told me tales of fleeing war– where she had to fluently speak languages to get out of sticky situations and traverse the desert.
Ultimately, she got to the US. I’m not even going to try to pretend that creating a copywriting business comes anywhere close to this– but she would always tell me ‘do it, it’s your time’ when I would tell her a goal or place I wanted to travel to. Growing up in a culture that doesn’t always value independent women, I feel like her spirit still lives on in me today.
What advice do you give to someone who says, “I could never do that”? Or to help others get started on their journey?
I think I would retort back with ‘Why?’ if they said that. Because it’s too hard. Too risky. My friends wouldn’t … I’m not qualified. I don’t have the energy. Then keep asking ‘Why?’ Usually if you ask why enough, things start boiling down to– oh wait, so many obstacles are my belief system and not actual barriers. And yes, of course, there are exceptions.
But once you realize you actually can do it, no one realllyyyyy knows what they’re doing all of the time, and everyone sucked at something at one point in time– starting the thing gets so much easier.
How do you stay motivated to keep going once you’ve met your goals?
I love celebrating. It can be so easy to keep moving the goal post, especially if you’re used to being a high-achiever. But if you set out to make an extra $2K one month in your business and you DO IT, I better see your favorite coffee shop pastry in your hand.
It’s only after I celebrate, I start asking myself, ‘What next?’ I think that acknowledgment piece, no matter how you want to do it, makes the journey so much sweeter and can catapult you into your biggest goals because you’re constantly saying, ‘Look what I’m capable of?’ to yourself. And those repeat practices stick.
Do you have a mantra or words you live by that have helped you through tough times?
I can do hard things.
The truth is founder life is harrd. You’re up until 2 am because something has to get done. Something comes up that’s a blow to your morale or wallet. You sometimes have to say ‘no’ to other aspects of your life. In a world that says ‘you can do anything’ or praises ‘the superwoman’ it can be tough to admit that ‘this is really hard.’ When something is hard, admit it, but also know you have done and can do hard things. Then remind yourself what you’ve been able to do.
Anything else we haven’t already asked—your secret to success or advice/tips you love to share with others?
My secret is I have fun. Don’t get me wrong, I work wild hours sometimes, get into super intense seasons, and definitely do the ‘boring’ work on the reg– but I make joy and fun a key part of my process. Nothing is a means to an end.
I always ask myself, how can I fall in love with my daily calendar? Do I need to bring someone on to do the things I find dreadful? Can I turn my music up? Maybe this can wait until tomorrow and I can meet that funny friend for a mocktail. Because when you do something rebellious, aka love your job to pieces, you’re almost always on the path to success in multiple areas of your career and life.
Follow Lucy on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/mywritehandwoman/
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