What can this entrepreneur’s $1M dollar loss teach you?
Entrepreneur Candace Holyfield Parker may be the "Six Figure Spa Chick," but a $1M revenue loss taught her to stay ready for the inevitable.
Social media is where we all share our highlight reels, and it’s no different for entrepreneurs. We often hear their success stories about their first five-figure month, but we rarely hear about that six-month stretch when no money was coming in. They just go silent.
Not Candace Holyfield Parker. Widely known as Six Figure Spa Chick, the spa owner and serial entrepreneur is ready to share her losses. And she’s lost — big.
Parker says she lost a million dollars in revenue after an injury slowed her down, and a lawsuit that she ended up winning dragged on for months.
“All of it caused me to lose $1 million in revenue, which I would have made. The situation was just pretty much too toxic, and it was unknown territory. And I just handled all of it the wrong way. I’m taking full responsibility for it now,” Parker shared.
Parker said the financial loss took a toll on her entire life. She leaned on mental health professionals to pull her out of a dark place.
“It was a lot emotionally. It was hard on my marriage, household, and mental. I went to therapy; I got two therapists to come help me. I was that messed up. They really just saved my life,” she said.
Parker credits her street smarts and good advice from her mentors for the systems she set in place when the money was flowing. Her stocks, credit cards, digital products, and even her short-term rental property helped ensure she could maintain her lifestyle through the struggle. Although she had a nice safety net, she quickly realized she had a weak spot with her money: family and friends.
“I was taking care of so many people because I thought I was financially secure, but I shouldn’t have been. And I could still take care of people and help them, but not in the magnitude that I was. Like, I was buying Rolex watches for everybody’s birthday. I was buying Airbnbs for everybody’s birthday,” said Parker. “I’m paying all the grandmama bills, I’m paying all my momma bills, I’m giving my momma an allowance. I was doing the most, and I shouldn’t have done any of those things. Not yet.”
Her advice to those who may be on a financial high? Get ready now for the lows.
“I want you to know that it’s not when it’s going to rain; it’s going to rain. Don’t worry about, ‘Oh, I’m saving it for a rainy day.’ It’s going to rain. Life is going to life somewhere,” said Parker. “Just put a little bit of money away every month so you can take care of you when it rains.”
To see the full conversation with Candace Holyfield Parker, watch this week’s episode of “The Reset,” above.
Letisha Bereola is a life coach who helps ambitious women overcome burnout and reach their career goals, so they feel great at work and happy at home. She’s a former Emmy-nominated TV news anchor, Podcast host of AUDACITY, and a speaker. Learn more at www.coachtish.co.
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