How I Took 5 Weeks Off in My First Year of Business
Not that easily by the way...
I didn’t want to go on holiday.
I know what you’re thinking:What sort of brat gets the chance to visit their family and prance around Europe but then complains about it?
The sort of perfectionist brat who’s obsessed with their new business. That’s who.
The Freak-Out
This trip took me two years to plan. It was supposed to be built around my younger brother’s wedding. That wedding… never happened. But the holiday? Locked in.
In the two years between booking the flights and boarding the plane, everything changed.
Two years ago, I could hand over my podcast production job, take paid annual leave, and not think twice. I didn’t have a business that lived and breathed inside my head at 2 a.m. I also didn’t need 40 documents to get a visa to Europe (getting my Aussie citizenship soon, by the way! yay!).
But now, I’m a founder. My business,Bedou,is a Talent Management Agency and Consulting Service I’ve built from scratch. And instead of being excited about the trip, I spent the weeks leading up to it spiralling:
Who’s going to handle everything while I’m away?
Can I actually afford to disappear for five weeks?
Will the momentum I built just evaporate?
The Setup
Instead of letting my anxiety run the show, I channelled it into action. Here’s exactly how I made the trip possible:
Standardised everything.I built clear SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) so nothing lived only in my head.
Hired and trained a part-time EA teamto handle inbound emails and basic admin tasks.
Brought on a Campaigns Managerto run live campaigns and manage talent communication. Thank you,Karly Nimmo, you SAINT!
Connected everyone to everyone.My talent met the Campaigns Manager, and my EAs were looped in with her too.
Stayed semi-online for the first 10 daysto make sure the system held.
And then… I left.
The Shift
We started in Jordan, then Prague, Bad Schandau, Berlin, and Amsterdam. It was beautiful. I wassupposedto be thrilled.
But it wasn’t until week three that I actually started to exhale. I’d been carrying this quiet guilt:
Why should I be the one to take this trip when I’ve only been a full-time founder since April? Do I even deserve this?
The more I disconnected, the less guilty I felt. My brain slowly swapped business dashboards for historical audio tours. (Turns out, Europeans spent the 1600s killing each other and building cathedrals at the same time lol.)
The Lesson
Here’s the thing: I didn’t lose momentum. In fact, stepping away gave meclarity.
I came back with a sharper sense of how I want to split the business betweenBedou for TalentandBedou for Brands. I noticed my wins more clearly, which built my confidence. And most importantly, I realised this entire panic was abouttrust.
I’ve always known what Mindset Coach Ben Crowe says, but this trip made it click:
“Confidence is evidence-based. Belief is existential-based. The glue between confidence and belief is trust.”
I built evidence by successfully handing over my business to someone else. I tapped into belief by letting myself exist outside the founder role for a while. And trust, in myself, in my systems, in my team, was what held it together.
My anxiety had always been about a lack of trust in myself. And now I know: if I trust my vision, my plans, and the people I’ve chosen to build with, I can step backwithout everything burning down.
What I Loved This Week
🎧Ben Crowe’s episode with Trent Cotchin— a bit broey, but Trent asks great questions, and Ben’s answers are sharp. It’s where I got that quote above from.
Final Thought
Next time I take a trip, I hope my nervous system remembers this. No more guilt. No more panic.
From now on, I’m taking five weeks off every year. Do it if you can afford it. It might just give you back more than time and it might give you back trust.
