Social anxiety and home business: you CAN do it!
People have different reasons for starting their own biz. Some get sick of working to line someone else's pockets. Some want to be home with their kids. Others may have health or family issues that require them to be available at a moment's notice.
Why did I start my own business? Because I have social anxiety, and if I want to work, I don't have a choice.
Let me give you a bit of back story.
I grew up in the United States. I had various jobs there, in various places. Never had trouble getting hired for a job, even though I suffered from social anxiety and selective mutism.
Then I moved to Australia, and it was totally different.
Nobody wanted to hire me. Nobody. They thought my not speaking was just too hard to deal with - even if I could do the job!
I put my resume in at every employment agency I could find. And I can count on one hand the number that contacted me after. But as soon as they found out I couldn't speak, they just didn't contact me again.
I tell you, it was a serious blow to my confidence. I couldn't understand why nobody would hire me - even for menial jobs like washing dishes or cleaning offices. It's not like I was applying for jobs where I'd have to answer phones.
Eventually, one of the employment agencies offered me a job. But after a week, they told me the work had 'dried up' and passed on my case to a different office.
So I gave up on sending out resumes and applying for jobs through the paper. I resigned myself to never having a job in Australia.
I was able to get a couple of cleaning jobs through people I knew. The work was dull, but at least I was doing something, and earning some money, even if it wasn't much. And I was never going to get promoted to anything else in either job.
Then, after my son was born, I started my nappy business. I realised that if I sold my products online, social anxiety didn't matter. And so I started building my biz, and grew more and more confident.
Every sale gave me a boost. Even the little ones.
It means I get to decide when - or if - I meet with people in person or ring them on the phone. And I can prepare mentally for it.
So tell me this. Are you, like me, frustrated at the lack of results in finding traditional employment? You don't have to take it lying down.
Do you know you do good work, but every rejection and every time you only hear silence from employers, feels like a punch in the gut?
You're not alone. And you don't have to keep doing it.
If I can start my own business - an introvert, with social anxiety, and selective mutism - then so can you.
Why did I start my own business? Because I have social anxiety, and if I want to work, I don't have a choice.
Let me give you a bit of back story.
I grew up in the United States. I had various jobs there, in various places. Never had trouble getting hired for a job, even though I suffered from social anxiety and selective mutism.
Then I moved to Australia, and it was totally different.
Nobody wanted to hire me. Nobody. They thought my not speaking was just too hard to deal with - even if I could do the job!
I put my resume in at every employment agency I could find. And I can count on one hand the number that contacted me after. But as soon as they found out I couldn't speak, they just didn't contact me again.
I tell you, it was a serious blow to my confidence. I couldn't understand why nobody would hire me - even for menial jobs like washing dishes or cleaning offices. It's not like I was applying for jobs where I'd have to answer phones.
Eventually, one of the employment agencies offered me a job. But after a week, they told me the work had 'dried up' and passed on my case to a different office.
So I gave up on sending out resumes and applying for jobs through the paper. I resigned myself to never having a job in Australia.
I was able to get a couple of cleaning jobs through people I knew. The work was dull, but at least I was doing something, and earning some money, even if it wasn't much. And I was never going to get promoted to anything else in either job.
Then, after my son was born, I started my nappy business. I realised that if I sold my products online, social anxiety didn't matter. And so I started building my biz, and grew more and more confident.
Every sale gave me a boost. Even the little ones.
I realised that a home biz is perfect for someone with social anxiety.
It means I get to decide when - or if - I meet with people in person or ring them on the phone. And I can prepare mentally for it.
So tell me this. Are you, like me, frustrated at the lack of results in finding traditional employment? You don't have to take it lying down.
Do you know you do good work, but every rejection and every time you only hear silence from employers, feels like a punch in the gut?
You're not alone. And you don't have to keep doing it.
If I can start my own business - an introvert, with social anxiety, and selective mutism - then so can you.