What 3 Years in Business Has Really Taught Me (Spoiler: It’s Not About the Money)

Three years ago, Career Pursuit officially launched, with a laptop, a strong espresso martini habit, and a very vague plan to help small businesses hire better.

We were done with the fluff.

Done with the corporate HR BS.

Done with watching business owners burn themselves out trying to figure it all out alone.

We wanted to do hiring differently - values-first, people-focused, and actually useful.

So, what’s changed in three years? A lot.

What have we learnt? More than we ever expected.

What are we reflecting on this week? Everything - the wins, the mistakes, the breakdowns, the breakthroughs.

This newsletter is our no-BS look at what it really takes to run a service-based business, grow a team, and stay sane in the process.

Now, before we go any further, I do need to confess - we are a work in progress. Only a couple of months ago, I nearly burnt out, I was right there on the verge. I was working all hours, only getting 4-6 hours sleep a night, pushing hard for both this business and my events business, plus just normal life. 

Something had to change, and it’s that change I’m bringing with me into a new year of business. 

💥Lesson #1: You’ll Hire the Wrong Person (At Least Once)

Here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud:

Even with the best intentions, you will probably get a hire wrong.

As a Hiring Partner, recruitment nerd, all of that - even I got it wrong. 

We hired someone who looked great onpaper, interviewed well, and said all the right things… but something felt off, and we went ahead with it anyway because we wanted someone quickly.

Cue: 

❌Missed deadlines and lack of availability and communication

❌Team tension

❌A whole lot of awkward conversations

And here’s the kicker - we’d skipped parts of our own hiring process because we were “too busy”. Yes, really.

The lesson?

Even when you know how to hire properly, cutting corners will always come back to bite you.

We’re still growing, but moving forward, we aim to walk our talk:

✔No more quick fixes

✔Structured interviews

✔Clear position descriptions and expectations

✔Consistent and thorough onboarding

Because good people can’t save a bad process - and hiring isn’t something you wing when you’re desperate.

🔁Lesson #2: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

In year one, we said yes to everything: 

✔Any client

✔Any scope

✔Any budget

We hustled. We figured things out on the fly. We did it messy - and it worked… for a while.

But by year two, we were tired. Stretched. Irritable.

We worked 80 hours a week at times in third trimester of a second baby. 

And honestly? By the time that brief stint (12 weeks) of maternity leave came around, we were a little resentful of the work we’d once been so excited about.

The lesson?

Your business needs to evolve with you. And sometimes that means letting go of things that used to work.

Now, we’re:

✔More selective with clients

✔Clearer with boundaries - we can take it or leave it 

✔Focused on our zone of genius (hiring + HR admin - and that’s it)

You can’t serve your clients well if you’re constantly over-delivering and under-resting.

🧠Lesson #3: You Need People (But Not Just Any People)

Solo business is cute until it’s 11pm and you’re rewriting a job ad, answering emails, onboarding a new client, and realising you forgot to send an invoice.

At some point, you need support - but hiring just anyone to “help” will backfire faster than you can say “micromanage.”

We built our team slowly, intentionally, based on values first and skills second.

We delegated the stuff that drained us.

We held space for team members to grow, mess up, and get better.

And it changed everything.

The lesson?

Build a team based on trust, not control. Hire people who get your business - and give them the tools to thrive.

💸Lesson #4: Money Matters - But It’s Not the Point

We won’t sugar-coat it. There were tight months. There were “can we afford this?” moments. There were launches that flopped, or launches that weren’t really launches, just stuff put out there.

But chasing numbers alone never worked for us.

What worked was:

✔Serving people well

✔Being really damn good at what we do

✔Building relationships with clients who wanted to treat their teams well

✔Building community relationships as well, both locally and Australia-wide

The lesson?

Sustainable businesses are built on consistency, not chaos.

And profit doesn’t mean much if you’re too burnt out to enjoy it.

🤯Lesson #5: You Will Want to Quit (More Than Once)

Let’s normalise this: most small business owners have had at least one “burn it all down” moment.

We’ve had several.

But every time it got hard - too hard - we came back to our values.

We exist to: 

✔Empower values-led hiring

✔Simplify HR admin

✔Support women-led service businesses

✔Remove the stress from growing a team

And that mission? It’s bigger than the bad days.

So we kept going. One aligned hire at a time. One system cleanup at a time. One espresso martini at a time (ok I try not to have more than 2 in any one day). 

💬A Note to You (Yes, You)

If you’re reading this, you’re probably:

✔Running a small business

✔Wearing every hat

✔Juggling hiring, admin, and actually delivering your services

✔Wondering if it’s supposed to feel this hard

Here’s your reminder:

It doesn’t have to.

That’s what we’re here for. Not to add more fluff to your plate - but to take the pressure off with support that’s practical, flexible, and values-led.

🎁This Week’s Giveaway (You Knew It Was Coming)

To celebrate our business birthday, over on Instagram, we’re giving away a 1-hour strategy/soundboarding call every day this week.

What you can use it for:

✔Fixing your next hire

✔Untangling your HR admin chaos

✔Mapping your onboarding process

✔Venting about hiring trauma (we get it)

Want in?

💬Reply to this email or comment “Giveaway” on our socials - and we’ll send you the Insta link to get involved. 

Final Thought: We’re Not Going Anywhere

Career Pursuit was built on grit, sarcasm, values, and a deep hatred for bandaid hiring advice.

Three years later, we’re more committed than ever to helping you build the business - and team - you actually want.

Thanks for being part of it.

Ash ✨