My name is Catherine, I am 32 years old, I own my own business and I am about to become a millionaire.
I am writing this article in conjunction to my husbands. We thought it would be interesting for people to not only learn through our mistakes, strengths and weaknesses, but to be able to read the dichotomy of two people sharing one experience, traveling The Last Mile.

A little about me. I was a miners daughter, learned to work young and learned about hard work through the life of my parents. I was disciplined in my actions and lack of, I was rewarded with love and an allowance for my deeds, I learned about struggle in my early years and I also learned about the accomplishments that one can achieve, when one
puts their mind to it. I had an amazing life, much stability, and I experienced family dynamics that are rare for most. My parents never fought, they spent their spare time with us kids, we owned a boat and did family outings, had movie night, and neighborhood gatherings at our house, because we had the pool. I was blessed. But not blessed by a silver spoon.
My parents worked hard for all we had and all we were able to do, and my sister and I witness the fruits of their labor. I have always been stubborn, always been determined, competitive, and I have always longed for a life that only a few in this great land get to experience. To be financially free, to travel, to have no stress, to live by a beach, eat in restaurants that my family could never afford to go to. In fact one of my first words was money, and money had a strange affect on me at the earliest age that I can remember, I craved it and would do things even at the age of 3 ( that is the earliest that I can remember) to obtain it. And I continued to work through my life, with one goal, money and all the things it allowed me to do. So there is a glimpse of my personality and conditioning.

Now on with the story.

I hope you gather alot of validation of your own struggles, see reflections of yourself in this article and the daily posts that will follow and hopefully learn something to help you along the way.

I had written a long description about lead us to the idea of the business, but I am now deciding against adding it. A quick summary is that when I met my husband, I saw something in him that I held in me. Wanting to live and not just work to stay alive. We both had a desire to have more then what others settle for or want.

I will be honest, it has been hard to just stay together, there are alot of personal struggles that I go through, many that surround the business. It has been a rough road to get as far as we have. Some of the things that have happened, some of the things that we have endured, some of the things that we have made each other and our family endure would have been deal breakers for many. And that in it’s self is why IT IS NOT CROWDED ON THE LAST MILE.

As I write this and reflect on the things that have happened, the intervention, the manifestation of it all. I get excited. Because when certain things were happening I knew they were happening for a reason, yet no matter how strong that knowing was I seemed to lose it’s mystery in the thoughts of doubt, fear and the stress that  invade over and over.

I think one of the main things I have learned about the business and myself is to trust in the process and allow the outcome. Because no matter how crazy thing seemed to get, no matter how many times it looked like we would fail, no matter how many times I wanted to give in, for what ever reason, it worked itself out, infact it always ended up better then what I had imagine. So, for me to not hold restrictions on things, in a key issue.  I have now realized that the journey should be enjoyed, and for alot of the beginning of this journey, I fought it, self created misery, stress, emotional battles. If I would have just trusted and allowed, stayed in the mind set that it would be exactly what it was meant to be, then my experience of it would have been much easier.

But in that same thought, I know I would not be who I am now if I did not go through what I did, and react exactly how I did. In this adventure it is not only the business that seemed to grow and become better with each obstacle. I have as well.

All those “bad” moments, well, they no longer have meaning to me except for the fact that in the process of it, I have become stronger, more knowledgeable, I have found myself in books, CD’s and DVD’s, that I might have never came across if it wasn’t for the invisible steps that kept leading me until now.

Because all of it, the fighting with my husband, the solitude I felt, the second job I had to get, the sleepless nights, and the days that I was restless with it all, have been perfect in their relations to what has all shaped this moment. All those moments………. they have PAVED the way to the LAST MILE!

Trust me, starting a business, and having as high expectations as we do is not something that is easily taken emotionally. Each set back was soul crushing at times. The long nights awake working took it’s toll on my sanity, the working in close corridors with my new husband, the different views, the lack of knowledge, the programmer in the Ukraine that at times we could not reach for days when we needed him NOW, the tweaking of the platform, the dealing with the customers, the having new ideas that changed something we just did, computers crashing, living in a small town, not being able to have free time for our kids, being stuck the house, dropping all our money into programs and products……….. It was tiresome and I almost broke. I almost caved!

But I didn’t, we didn’t, as a unit we all dealt with what we needed to. Our kids, (ages 14 and 10)  have been very understanding, very selfless in the process, and they have been very supportive. My husband and I, though at times it seems we won’t make it,  now have a very strong respect for what the other is able to endure in the name of our dream. Our programmer Nazar has also showed the same determination, and he has worked countless hours in the pursuit of the same desire that we have. To have what many don’t have.
Together we have inter locked our arms, stood strong against the storms that arise, walking side by side, relying on the other and silently trusting that if we were about to fall, the rest would not let go of us and leave us behind. And we, as a team, as individuals, have learned forgiveness, patience, loyalty, flexibility and understanding. Determined we continue, determined we travel, at times slowly up hills, and at other times we run down the hill laughing like children, only to come to another hill. We hold on tightly to each other, no matter the weather. Because the last mile is not straight and surrounded by flower covered fields. No, it is has many curves, many terrains, and has very unpredictable weather patterns of emotions.

So, if you are to venture down the last mile, get prepared, even if the preparation is to be prepared for the unexpected, to be prepared for weakness, to be prepared for sweat, to be prepared to almost lose yourself, to be prepared to endure some of the hardest conditions emotionally and mentally that you can imagine for yourself, to prepare yourself for a fight. Because it is a fight…….. a fight with yourself.

My advice to you, is

**Surround yourself with a team that you trust to carry you when you can no longer walk, and make that pack to them as well, and know you will need them and they will need you for just that reason.

** Trust in yourself, trust in the fact that anything you can believe you can achieve.

** ALLOW the process, and know that just because something seems unbearable at the moment does not intentionally mean that that is what it really is….bad, because chances are if it wasn’t for those moments, you would never experience, create, and find something much better.

** Try to change the way you look at things, think about things. Take things with a grain of salt. Try not to over react, Try to find the solutions and not the problems!!

**Find a release that isn’t going to cause harm to you or your business. Like exercising, breathing, meditating, reading, going for a ride, writing……….

** Communicate openly to your team about how you feel at a given moment, let them help you get out of the dark places of the grey matter, and return the favor when needed.

** Be open to change in your project and yourself

** And the most important…………NEVER GIVE UP…… no matter what you are trying to do………..NEVER GIVE UP…….always move forward, even if you can only do small things, keep accomplishing things, for when it seems you are stuck, your not, you can always improve and grow…. Your business, your relationships and yourself

Catherine
Vice President
SiteSires.com

More of Her Last Mile