Lesson 7 - Growth Is Messy
TEN Years, 10 Lessons: What We Wish We Knew When We Started
In October 2025, Eleven Eleven Talent will turn 10. To celebrate, we’re sharing 10 lessons, one each month about what we’ve learned in a decade of building a business. From community-building to resilience, from hiring to firing, these are the insights we wish we knew when we started.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a recruiter, or navigating your own career path, we hope these lessons support you in building something meaningful and lasting.
Lesson 7:
One step forward, two steps back - and why we keep showing up anyway.
Our business growth has never been a straight line.
It’s been pandemics, recessions, and industry-wide hiring freezes.
It’s been seasons where we felt unstoppable, followed by ones where we questioned everything.
The reality?
Sometimes it’s been one step forward and two steps back.
We’ve celebrated big wins in the morning and deals going sideways by lunch.
We’ve had years where revenue soared, then plummeted, then soared again seemingly overnight.
We’ve lived through long stretches with no signs of things going well, where the only thing we could control was our ability to keep showing up.
Through all of it, we’ve learned that growth isn’t just about strategy - it’s about stamina.
It’s about protecting your mental health like it’s your most valuable asset, because it is.
It’s about finding ways to keep going when the numbers, the market, and even your own inner critic say, What’s the point?
It’s about showing up anyway. Relentlessly.
It’s why now even when our business is steady, thriving and in growth mode – we’re trembling inside, trying to figure out how to ensure the longevity and resilience of the business.
It’s what no body ever says out loud, it's about stamina, it’s about dusting yourself off time and time again, it’s about patience.
Here’s What We’ve Learned (So You Don’t Have To)
Mental health is part of the business plan.
You can’t build a sustainable business if you’re burning yourself out in the process.Mess isn’t a sign you’re failing.
It’s a sign you’re still in the game. And that’s something.Patience is just as important as ambition.
Some seasons are about planting. Some are about harvesting. And some are about waiting.Prepare for the storms before they hit.
The more stable your systems, your client base, and your revenue streams, the better you can weather what’s coming, because something is always coming.Anchor yourself in people who believe in you.
On the hard days, their belief might be the thing that carries you until yours comes back.
If you’re in a season right now where the wins are slow and the setbacks are loud, we see you.
We’ve been there.
We’re still here.
Growth is messy.
And some of the most important growth doesn’t show up on a graph, it shows up in who you become along the way.
Tess Collard & Alisha Adams
Next up: Lesson 8 – Numbers Tell a Story, Listen Closely
How tracking the right metrics gave us clarity, confidence, and the ability to make better decisions, even when things felt uncertain.
