7 Years of The Social Bolt: 7 Lessons from 7 Years in Business
Seven years ago I put on my wizard cloak and stepped into The Social Bolt for Day 1 of running my own business.
On that day, I fulfilled my dream of becoming a stay-at-home dog mum. And over the last seven years I’ve experienced some epic highs and equally epic lows – but I’m still here 7 years later. And that needs to be fucking celebrated.
So in today’s episode of the How I Do Content Podcast, I’m going back through every single year of this business and sharing some of the lessons that defined it – the things I learned, lived, loved and loathed.
Let’s do this.
Lesson 1: Go all in from Day 1. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time.
I started The Social Bolt on the 10th of June 2019.
I was a VA and social media manager. I had 10+ years of admin experience, a marketing degree, and a dream to stay home every single day with my dog Ned. That was it. That was the whole vision.
And from day one – I went all in.
I signed my first client within a couple of weeks. I was fully booked after 4 months. I got my website live, created my first lead magnet, launched my first digital product, AND joined a high-level mastermind – all in year one.
The thing I’m most proud of about Year 1 Tahryn is that she didn’t wait.
She didn’t wait until she had more clients. She didn’t wait until it felt less scary. She didn’t wait for the perfect time.
Because here’s what I know to be true – the perfect time doesn’t exist. It never arrives.
And what looks like “luck” from the outside is almost always just someone who decided to start before they felt ready.
So if you’re sitting on something right now (an offer, an idea, a decision) I’m going to ask you the same thing I ask myself: what exactly are you waiting for?
Lesson 2: When things go to shit, you get to pivot. Staying stuck is a choice.
Nine months into my business, 2020 happened.
Literally overnight I went from fully booked to losing every single client. Zero. Gone. I had no idea where my money was going to come from.
There were tears. But as the sole breadwinner in my household, I didn’t have the luxury of waiting it out.
So I pivoted.
I pivoted my business model to meet the market where it was at. I focused on my messaging and my content. I kept consistently showing up for the community I’d spent 9 months building.
And then eventually, I had more enquiries than I could poke a broomstick at.
Over the next 12 months, I:
- Launched my first online program
- Signed my first coaching client
- Launched the How I Do Content Podcast, and hit number one in Australia and number two in New Zealand on the Apple Podcast Charts (above Jenna Kutcher and Amy Porterfield).
- I claimed my title as a biz wizard who specialises in content and launching.
From losing all my clients to creating all of that in 12 months.
The lesson is this: if things aren’t working in your business (or they completely go to shit) you get to change them. Staying stuck is a choice.
So if your business isn’t working the way you hoped – that’s not a sign to give up. That’s a sign to get creative. The pivot is available to you right now.
Lesson 3: Own what makes you magic.
Year 3 was a pivotal year for me. It was the year I really started to anchor into my unique blend of magic and truly own it.
One of my biggest highlights was being selected as a speaker at the Social Club Spotlight Event. Which, for a self-proclaimed introvert who is perfectly happy working from home with a dog for company – is a big deal. (I had a 3-day people hangover afterwards. Just so you know.)
But here’s why I did it.
Ever since I started my business, I’d been told (both directly and indirectly) that the way to be “successful” was to basically suck it up and be more extroverted. And I watched fellow introverts trying to fit into a super noisy online space by being someone they’re not.
So it became my mission to show other introverts what’s possible when you embrace who you are and share your unique magic – not someone else’s version of it.
The other milestone that year was being asked to become a support coach inside the mastermind I’d joined back in Year 1. This was incredibly humbling, and gave me behind-the-scenes access to what running a successful 7-figure business actually looks like.
Since then, I’ve been behind the scenes as support coach in multiple high-level masterminds and memberships. So I know what’s required to build, scale and sustain a successful business.
Just like The Prisoner of Azkaban is my favourite Harry Potter book, Year 3 of The Social Bolt was the year I fully came into my own.
The lesson: You don’t need to be someone you’re not to build a successful business. Year 3 Tahryn stopped trying to fit into a mould that was never built for her – and that’s when everything changed. Stop trying to out-extrovert the extroverts. The magic is in leaning into what makes you you.
Lesson 4: Build the boring foundations. They’ll carry you through everything.
Year 4 was a tale of two stories.
The first half was incredible – riding the momentum and magic of Year 3. And then the second half, well, the universe very much delivered on my “Expansion” word of the year. Just not in the way I’d imagined.
I started to compare myself to other coaches. I tumbled down the slippery slope of wondering who I was to call myself a business coach when I didn’t have $100k months. Mindset wobbles are part and parcel of running a business – you never get to a point where they disappear completely.
And I also started to feel burnout brewing.
In spite of those Year 4 wobbles, I still created some incredible magic.
- I hit 100 episodes of the podcast.
- I launched new offers, including the Introverted Biz Wizard Mastermind.
- I continued to make sales from every single offer I launched.
- I finally got a website I was actually proud of.
- And I got to see Harry Styles in concert – which is frankly its own category of win.
So how did I still manage to do all of that, even when things felt challenging?
Because I had the boring foundations in place.
- A repeatable content process that kept me consistent and top-of-mind even when I was running on empty.
- Clarity in my messaging so I knew how to show up and talk about my offers without overthinking it every single time.
- And a support squad to help me make decisions and implement strategy when I wasn’t on my A game.
When things go sideways in your business (and they will, because they always do) you’ll be so grateful you built those foundations before you needed them.
The lesson: Build your damn foundations. Your content process, your messaging, your support systems.
Year 4 Tahryn was battling dementors and still making sales, still launching, still showing up — because she’d done the work before she needed it. The foundations you build are what will hold you up when things get hard. Do not avoid them. Yes, they’re boring – but that’s kind of the point.
Lesson 5: Your messaging is making or costing you money. Right now.
In Year 5 I tweaked the messaging on my premium 1:1 offer.
Same offer – I just changed how I was talking about it.
And the revenue from that offer increased by 455%.
Sit with that for a second. Because I know how easy it is to assume that when something isn’t selling, the offer is the problem. So you create a new one. Or you drop the price. Or you post more. Or you convince yourself the market is dead.
But what if it’s none of that? What if it’s just how you’re talking about it?
This is one of the most important lessons from 7 years in business – and the reason I built an entire program around messaging. Because I’ve seen it happen too many times. An incredible offer, an incredible human behind it, and crickets. Not because the offer isn’t good enough. But because the messaging isn’t connecting with the people it’s intended for.
Your messaging is either making you money or costing you money.
The lesson: Before you scrap the offer, change the messaging. I didn’t launch anything new – I just made sure my messaging was speaking to the right person. And a 455% increase in revenue from that one tweak proves the point. Your messaging is the most important thing in your business, so stop focusing on the wrong things.
Lesson 6: Grief will take you to the depths of your soul. Let it. It’ll show you what actually matters.
Year 6 will forever be the worst year of my life.
In October 2024, I had to make the decision to put my 11-year-old soul dog Ned to sleep. I walked into the vet with him and walked out without him.
Ned was the reason I started this business. He is all over everything I have ever created. Six years of content, six years of stories, six years of him. And just like that, he was gone.
Running a business through grief is something that very few people talk about honestly.
Your business doesn’t pause. The bills don’t pause. And some days the simple act of being in your business feels impossible.
In this time, it really became clear to me that a lot of the things I was obsessing over and stressing about, really didn’t fucking matter.
And I think this is a great reminder for you, that if your latest Instagram post bombed or people judge you for being cringe or you didn’t sell out your launch – ultimately it’s not that big of a deal. I see people stress about their content and their marketing like they’re creating a life-saving elixir.
Yes, content and marketing is important for your business but it’s not the be all and end all.
After losing Ned, I became very reflective about how I was running my business and my life. I had given so much to my business and my clients, that when I lost a big part of my identity in Ned, I didn’t really know who I was anymore or what I wanted from life and business.
So I had to get really honest with myself and then start the journey of finding myself again. I feel like I got lost over the previous couple of years and got caught up in what others were doing or saying.
Which is a big no no if you want to build a successful and sustainable business. You know yourself best
So I was on a mission to rebuild and do it my way.
I will never be the same person I was before I lost Ned. And I’ve stopped trying to be.
The lesson: don’t wait for the worst moment of your life to figure out who you are and how you want to do this. Know yourself. Do it your way.
Lesson 7: The rebuild might be slow so enjoy the journey
So this brings us to the last 12 months – rebuilding my life + business slowly.
And that’s the most unsexy thing for me to share because it has been slow and it has been challenging.
It’s not the sexy quantum leap or the fast bounce back better than ever that the online space will sell you.
But I’m not going to lie to you either.
So my motto for the last 12 months has been if the rebuild is going to be slow, I may as well enjoy the journey.
For me this has looked like having more fun and taking time to do the shit I love without worrying about shit that doesn’t really matter. The work will always be there so stop and smell the roses sometimes.
Go and have lunch with your friend on a Friday even if there’s stuff on your to-do list (spoiler alert there will always be things on your to do list).
If you’re ready to throw your laptop across the room because of some tech issue – get up and go and walk your dog instead.
And if you want to go have a nap in the middle of the day, DO IT.
With the rise of AI and apps for everything, it often feels like you have to optimise every second of your time (even when you’re fucking sleeping) and do every single task efficiently.
I mean look at fucking Steven Bartlett proudly proclaiming that drinking 3 glasses of wine ruined the next 3 days of his life. Come on.
Not everything needs to be about optimisation and efficiency – enjoy your fucking life please.
And for the love of dogs enjoy the magic of creating in your business. AI has sucked the fun out of this because everyone is worried about getting left behind or spending too much time doing shit.
A successful and sustainable business TAKE SOME FUCKING TIME. Don’t be in a rush or expect the robots to bypass the work you need to do.
The lesson: Let’s make business magic again. Bring back simplicity, authenticity and fun. Business and life can be hard so let’s enjoy the journey.
Oh and Fuck AI and fuck anyone who tells you you’ll get left behind if you don’t drink their koolaid.
Because let me tell you it’s really not worth it.
So there you have it – 7 Years of The Social Bolt and 7 Lessons from 7 Years in Business.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and thank you for being part of my business journey so far.
Honestly, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t still be here.
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