Shea is a two-time founder and CEO. Right now, she’s leading Buderflys — the world’s most comfortable earbud.
And in today’s podcast, we go back to the first launch of the Buderflys product.
After 4 years in the making, Shea was confident she had the most comfortable earbud on the market.
But in the midst of production, the pandemic hit. This was a huge crisis for the supply chain — who was going to make her product?
It took a lot to get her product off the line. But she made it happen.
Then, at the last minute… the boxing manufacturer bumped her company for a bigger client, causing a 3-week delay.
It was painful.
She’d worked hard to get over all of these hurdles… only for another to come.
Shea had to inform her investors and consumers who had pre-ordered the product about the delay.
The business pressure rested heavily on her shoulders. It was intense.
To add to it, Shea was in contact with an investor who was eagerly following the company. They’d met at an agriculture tech event and she had a feeling he wouldn’t invest.
But he was asking for a product.
Boxless — Shea told him the full experience wasn’t quite ready. But he insisted so she sent him the earbuds.
And after all of this engagement… he was silent. Zero feedback.
Shea’s husband, her go-to for support was out of town. And the kids were out.
At the end of the day, the father came to drop them off who was also a founder.
She cried.
The pressure had become too much.
He’d never met her.
Days later, the investor responded and wanted to set up a meeting. He was also part of a major VC firm — and he wanted to invest.
For Shea, this story is representative of the ups and downs of a high-pressure environment.
Her company is a startup, which requires her to be everything and do everything — fast.
But she’s also a wife, and a mother.
It was COVID — she wasn’t in the office. Her husband was out of town.
As the CEO and founder — Shea doesn’t want the team to feel the pressure that she does. She’s worried it will impact their performance.
But she doesn’t want to be affected either.
How do you cope with this level of business pressure?
Shea expressed high levels of anxiety, shortness of breath, and almost a choking sensation under this pressure.
Emotions were running high, and she wants to be able to remove the emotional part of her business.
But as a founder, it can be hard to do that.
When you work hard on your product…. You become the business. So how you can separate yourself?
Her parents were Buddhist. Although she didn’t take on the religion herself — the principles have stayed with her.
Particularly the idea of being in the environment — but not being consumed by it.
In this situation, she was stuck in the pressure of it all. And had a hard time getting out.
In hopes of being able to remove herself from future moments of intense pressure — she started meditating to quiet her mind.
Although, Shea doesn’t feel that she’s seeing the results yet…she is implementing more habits and boundaries that allow scheduled time away from the business.
In this episode, we talk about,
- The importance of having time for your children
- Growing a business and doing things for the first time
- How you can alleviate the pressure when you’re surrounded by it
Shea has achieved so much already — both as a female founder and as the CEO of her business. But when you have so much pressure on you, it can be hard to see it.
Tune in to hear how she is learning how to handle it!