This week I did something that thrilled and challenged me in equal measure.
I sat in front of a venture capital firm and asked them for a million dollars.
Let me back up.
For the past few months I've been searching for an investor. Not because the business is failing — but because I have a vision that's bigger than what I can carry alone. I've always been someone who figures things out by herself. A true solo player. But I've come to understand that sometimes, external support isn't a weakness. It's the next step.
And honestly? The weight of financing this business alone, year after year — the financial risk, the decisions, the responsibility that lands entirely on my shoulders — it's exhausting. I want to move forward without that heaviness.
So three months ago I started preparing. I worked with someone who helped me build a full investor presentation and a five-year business plan — covering upcoming collections, milestones, financials, growth projections. Everything.
Three months ago, if you had asked me about my business, I would have answered small. Yes, it's successful — but I would have focused on what hasn't worked. The gaps. The struggles.
Now, after three months of swimming in data, learning the language of the startup world (yes, it's its own language), and doing financial calculations that would make an economist proud — I can say something I didn't expect: I've built a new muscle. A courage muscle. A very different kind of courage from anything I've developed before.
Learning to explain my business to strangers — in numbers, in projections, in a language that's not my native creative one — I genuinely didn't think I had it in me.
Last week I presented to several different investors. I wasn't ashamed. I spoke in my own voice, with confidence, about both the wins and the gaps. And they were genuinely impressed.
Is there something about women and money? About women asking for large sums and owning it? I don't know. For me, it was absolutely a thing. Something I had to work through. But I worked through it.
I don't have answers yet. I'm still deep in the process, and I genuinely don't know how it ends. But I walked in with fear — and I walked out stronger. More confident. Whatever the outcome.
And that, I think, is already a win.