Six Years Later: Why She Closed the Business She Loved

In this episode of Tea Time with Erin, Erin sits down with entrepreneurial strategist Erika Biddix for an honest conversation about entrepreneurship, financial reality, and what it looks like to pivot a business as life changes.Erika shares her journey from corporate meeting and event planning into entrepreneurship, where she launched her own agency and later created Aught, a coworking and community space for women entrepreneurs. What began as a simple workspace quickly became a community helping women build businesses and navigate entrepreneurship.But entrepreneurship rarely follows a straight line.Six years after opening Aught, Erika makes the difficult decision to close the coworking space and the Aught brand to simplify her life, support her family, and enter a new season of entrepreneurship. In this conversation, Erin and Erika talk openly about the emotional and financial realities of that decision—including grief, pride, relief, and the challenge of letting go.They also discuss the financial side of entrepreneurship that rarely gets talked about publicly: cash flow struggles, bootstrapping a business, recovering from financial loss after COVID, and making hard decisions for long-term sustainability.This episode is a reminder that business success doesn’t always mean scaling forever. Sometimes success means pivoting, simplifying, and building a business that supports your life.In This Episode, You’ll Hear:• The story behind Erika’s transition from corporate event planning to entrepreneurship • How the Aught coworking community for women entrepreneurs was created • Why entrepreneurship often feels harder than people expect • The emotional reality of closing a business you’ve built and loved • What COVID did to small businesses and cash flow • The financial realities of bootstrapping a business with personal resources • Why simplifying your business model can be the smartest financial decision • The importance of community and honest conversations for women entrepreneurs • Erika’s advice for entrepreneurs facing a hard season: say the hard thing out loudKey Takeaways• Entrepreneurship often requires constant pivoting as life changes. • Closing a business or shifting direction doesn’t mean failure—it can be strategic and healthy. • Financial transparency matters. Many entrepreneurs struggle with cash flow, debt, and uncertainty. • A supportive community can make the difference during a hard season. • Sometimes the most powerful step forward is simply telling someone the truth about what’s happening.Learn more about Erika Biddix: https://erikabiddix.com/ or @erikabiddixConnect with ErinLearn more about Erin’s work around money mindset, financial therapy, and building businesses that support your life.Erin’s WebsiteIG: @‌erinthemoneytherapistBook a free financial clarity call with ErinErin’s Tea for This EpisodeErin is sipping Pinky Up Tea – Golden Spice Tea during this episode.Keep the Conversation GoingIf this episode resonated with you, be sure to subscribe and share it with another entrepreneur who might need to hear it.New episodes of Tea Time with Erin drop every other Tuesday, honest conversations about money, mental health, and entrepreneurship.Grab your drink of choice, take a breath, and join us for the next Tea Time.<