It has been an epic journey running my business Maia Dreams. From starting, growing and expanding it. Running any business is a continuous and ongoing learning process. There are core principles in running a business; from having a strong business plan, understanding your vision, knowing your business structures, having strong infrastructures & systems in place, Marketing, understanding and finding your niche, building strong stakeholder relationships, knowing what your customers want, focusing on satisfactory customer experience, having the right team, knowing your KPI, good planning, knowing your finances, creating consistent revenue, leading your team, hiring the right people and so much more.
Many people will have an opinion about how you should run things, about the best plan of action and about the do's and don'ts in business. There are also bound to be a ton of unsolicited advice coming at you from all angles and sometimes, you just get so inundated that it can be overwhelming. Ultimately, it is at your discretion how you'd like to filter these things according to what you think will serve you best. Starting up and running a business is no easy feat but I have learnt to always be willing to learn, know your business more than anyone else, know who your customers are, seek the right advice and be willing to pivot when necessary.
As a small emerging business, we are always trying to improve what we do - from our infrastructures, systems, processes, connections, delivery, services & more. Transitioning into a company just over a year ago has been a huge journey and we have had a lot of things happen.
A few small wins: We have 5 full time staff. Have 5 contractors/facilitators. Launched our first 30 Day 'Self Growth' journals. Launched our Confident Me out of Schools program.
Launched our Confident Me Performing Arts out of Schools program. Launched our Confident Me Performing Arts in Schools program. Deliver yearlong Confident Me Programs in all Schools we work in. Have amazing collaboration with local organizations & schools.
Launched Maia Dreams apparel.
Currently working on: Setting up our Charitable Trust. This has been 3 years in the making. This will finally be done in a few days. Rebranding Maia Dreams & our logo Soon to launch our Confident online program (been an epic endeavor trying to launch) Partnering with the other organizations to do the Aumangea Project Finally doing our first School Tours Launching our Rangatahi Festival in November Holding the Indigenous Arts & Hauora Festival April 2024 Officially Launching our online 'Next Steps Program'. Working on our Maia Dreams Documentary
Moving into our new Premises in 2 months.
We are only at the beginning of our journey & growth, and we still have a lot to learn. With the successes come the struggles. From judgement, misunderstanding, lack of empathy, having the wrong people around us, lack of support from the community we serve, lack of funding, too much work, not enough people & so much more. It took 4 years of me being in business before people started to actually acknowledge that I was running a business. People used to call it "my little initiative" or "my little project." I had more people not support me than believe in me and now I use it as my ammunition to keep going and to forge ahead even stronger.
The one thing we truly know to be true is that everyone in the company believes in and loves what we do. So, we will continue to improve and work on achieving our Mission 'To empower & unite children, youth, adults, families & communities to believe in themselves. To grow in confidence, skills to know themselves more than anyone else & become the person they are born to be'.
After nearly 5 years of running Maia Dreams, I have learned a lot and we have grown so much as individuals, as a team and an organization during that time. My key take away in all these is that you must keep dreaming and never allow other people's views of you or beliefs in what you are doing dictate your journey. I am now working on dreaming bigger for myself, my team, for Maia Dreams & for the communities I am privileged to be a part of. It means being resilient and willing to keep going, keep learning, keep striving, keep trying, keep executing and never giving up! So, if there is something you want to do in your life then do it! Never allow someone to tell you what you can and cannot do. I believe in you.
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