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It takes courage to build your own business or start your own brand.

Whether you decide to start a company, create a podcast, start a YouTube channel, open a small business, or write online, someone somewhere will laugh in some way.

- Oh really? She's starting a channel about yoga and mindfulness? Yikes her videos are cringey. I'm not sure who's going to follow that.

- He's really going to start a podcast about sales? I mean there's hundreds of them already..

- You're going to start a podcast Dave? Ha. OK.

They might not say it to your face but someone someone is thinking it.

And if you can't accept that and get over that hurdle, you're going to rob yourself from potentially building something awesome.

I know for a fact people thought I was a big dork when I started my first podcast. But that podcast later ended up being the thing that led to my big break. It was through my podcast (Tech in Boston) that I interviewed Drift founder David Cancel. We connected, they were hiring a marketing manager, and I ended up getting the job -- which four years later to be the job that changed the course of my life and career.

So, pardon me if say this: F*CK EM.

You can not care what people think if you want to build your own thing.

It is so much easier to talk shit about someone else's idea (because you're afraid of sticking your neck out there and opening yourself up for feedback) vs. actually going out to try and build something of your own.

I'm writing this because I hope you get over that hurdle and go do the thing you've been wanting to do.

***

I have a friend that runs a golf coaching and golf simulator business in Vermont.

He was a teaching professional years ago, and when he decided to make his own brand, get a logo, a website, and start to build a brand around what he was doing, his peers in the industry laughed at him. They made him seem like he was doing something wrong. Hey, no one does that man, relax.

But today, he's changed his career from golf instructor to entrepreneur - and instead of spending 12 hour days at someone else's golf course grinding out 1 hour lessons to make his paycheck, he now owns a business that he's scaling and he's producing 2-3x the income he was making before. He has control of his time and schedule. He has built a brand.

And you know that somewhere the guy who was poo-pooing his idea is still talking about how it's not going to work, or it's dumb for whatever reason. Because that's how those people will always be.

Go and create.

Ignore them.