Hellooo, I’m back and recovered!! In case you missed it on my IG stories, I was down for the count last week with the worst flu 🤒 

It was brutal, but I took the time I needed to rest and recharge! While I was resting (and bingeing comfort shows), I spent a lot of time reflecting on the idea of building a fulfilling business. It’s a concept I’ve been unpacking lately (and one we’re diving into in this email!) I’ve also been scouring the interwebs for the best business advice, insights, and knowledge, and I can’t wait for you to dig in 🤍

Real Talk…

In an online world full of highlight reels, let’s get real and dive into the authentic, unfiltered realities of entrepreneurship and being a founder. Here are some behind-the-scenes musings and reflections from my past week… ⬇️

The Importance of Building a Fulfilling Business

It’s been six months since I pivoted and expanded my business, and wow… looking back, it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. At the time though, it felt monumental (read: terrifying).

Before the pivot, I was the ultimate business martyr. I sacrificed everything—my time, energy, finances—to build a company that wasn’t sustaining me. I genuinely believed the only way to succeed was to hustle 24/7, live off scraps, and reinvest every penny into the business. Spoiler: that’s not sustainable.

Eventually, I hit a wall. Burnout? Check. Bank account? Sad. Patience? Gone. And here’s the truth: to build a lasting business, you need to be in it for the long haul. You can’t run a thriving company when you’re running on fumes.

That’s why I now firmly believe a successful business must also fulfill you. Yes, you’ll pour time, energy, and resources into your business—but it needs to pour back into you too. Otherwise, it’s like a toxic, one-sided relationship that sucks the life out of you 😂

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Okay, Selina, I get it—fulfillment is the goal—but how do I actually build a business like that?” Don’t worry, I’ve got you.

This exact topic is what I’ve been unpacking during my IG Live series! IMHO, building a truly fulfilling and sustainable business boils down to three key steps:

1. Identifying what fulfills you and defining your version of success

2. Creating a strategy and roadmap to achieve it

3. Implementing that roadmap with systems and processes that support long-term success

Last week on IG Live, I broke down Step 1: How to identify what fulfills you and define your version of success (you can catch the replay here). I recommend you have a journal and pen handy as you watch it so you can complete the exercises!

This Thursday at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BT, I’ll dive into Step 2: How to create a strategy and roadmap to make it happen. Because let’s be real, dreaming about your ideal business only gets you so far. You need a plan to actually bring it to life ✨

And the following week (Feb 27 at 8am PT / 11am ET / 4pm BT), we’ll wrap it all up with Step 3: How to execute your strategy and set yourself up for success.

If you have any questions or topic requests, reply to this email or DM me on IG @selinajho. I’m so excited for these conversations and can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

Real Business Updates

Let’s skip the fluff and get straight to actionable business insights that spark inspiration, ignite creativity, and solve problems. Check out some interesting trends and insights I found this week... ⬇️

Deconstructing A New Product Launch

My good friends recently launched Superboba, a better-for-you milk tea brand, and hit 100+ orders on launch day. Major milestone! Having seen their journey, I’m not surprised—they absolutely nailed their launch strategy. Here are a few things they did brilliantly:

1. Repeatedly Shared Their “Why” for Starting Superboba: One of the things I often recommend to my clients is to share the story behind why they started their business—and not just once or twice. Most people talk about it a handful of times and then move on, but that’s such a missed opportunity! People need to hear something repeatedly for it to stick, and new people are constantly discovering your business, so sharing your story consistently is key. Superboba nailed this. At the start of many of their videos, they talked about how they used to drink a lot of bubble tea (and trust me, I can confirm—every hangout with them involved boba 😂), but they realized it wasn’t very healthy for you. That’s what led them to create a better-for-you version. By repeating this story across their content, they made it memorable and relatable to their audience.

2. Showed the BTS Journey and Brought Their Audience Along for the Ride: I also loved how they brought their audience behind the scenes and authentically shared their business journey. They were open about their reasoning for decisions, their challenges, and even their mistakes. Some standout moments include their trip to Taiwan to source the best tea, deciding to ditch monk fruit in their formula, and sharing their branding missteps. These moments weren’t just entertaining—they helped their audience feel like part of the process and strengthened the connection.

3. Built a Community to Foster Feedback and Conversations: Finally, they created a space to engage directly with their audience through their Facebook group. This allowed them to capture feedback, spark conversations, and build a true two-way relationship with their community. It wasn’t just about selling—it was about creating a sense of belonging, which is so powerful when building a brand.

I hope their approach inspires you! Launching takes strategy and effort, but when done well, it’s so worth it.

P.S. If you want to support Superboba (or just love milk tea like me), their pre-sales are live here🧋(Not sponsored, just obsessed 🤍)

Real Growth…

To be the best founder possible, continuous learning and growth are essential. Don’t let yourself become the bottleneck in your business! Here are some self-development resources I found valuable this past week... ⬇️

YouTube Video: I know a lot of you have some big sale goals for 2025 so I wanted to share this YouTube video I put out this week on how to create a sales funnel that works for you in the background so you can continuously bring in new people into your community and warm them up

Podcast Episodes: One of my (toxic?) traits is that when I discover a business owner or founder who really inspires me, I have to binge all their podcast interviews 😂. A female founder I deeply admire is Emma Grede—she’s the powerhouse behind brands like Good American, Skims, and more. Of course, I’ve listened to every interview she’s ever done, and I’m not even sorry about it lol. Her recent interview on Ladies Who Launch was packed with valuable insights, but what stood out most to me was when she talked about not experiencing imposter syndrome. That, among other gems she shared, was so inspiring!

Book: Every so often, I pick up a business book to refresh my understanding of key principles and see what successful entrepreneurs recommend. One of my all-time favourites is Good to Great by Jim Collins. Recently, he released a 2.0 version of one of his earlier books called Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0. Honestly, I skimmed it and jumped straight to the chapters that caught my interest, but the forward stood out to me the most. In it, Jim Collins shares priceless life lessons he learned from his mentor, Bill Lazier, and they really stuck with me. I won’t spoil anything, but if you’re looking for meaningful advice and a refresh on business fundamentals, this one’s worth a read (or a skim!)

Real Self-Care…

Sustainable success can only happen if you take care of yourself. Self-care is not selfish — it’s necessary. Here are some self-care tools to recharge and stay balanced this week... ⬇️

Self-Care Challenge: Reconnect with yourself either through an extra-long meditation, journalling session, yoga stretching, or all of the above!

Take an IG story completing this self-care challenge and tag me @selinajho to keep each other accountable!

Journal Prompt: What lights me up? What fulfills me? What do I want to be known for?

Andd that’s it for this week! I can’t wait to create the strategy and roadmap required to build a fulfilling business during my IG Live this Thursday and I’ll be back in your inbox next Sunday. Have a great week!! 🤍