This is part of a series called "One Entrepreneur's Journey," where I'm talking with solo entrepreneurs about their successes (and failures) along the path of entrepreneurship.

In this interview, I caught up with Pema Teeter of Ink Street.  Pema is a writer and playwright who helps others get in touch with their passion and then articulate that so that they are more successful in life, truly inspiring work that helps her clients be the best versions of themselves.

On top of her freelance writing, Pema is currently co-writing and directing the one-man show, SexyNurd.

Tell me a bit about your work and what it is that you do.

Ink Street started out as a sample page of my work and has turned into my freelance writing business.  As a copywriter and ghostwriter, I get into people's work and the way they think about the work that they do and then find the best way to reach their audience.  That conversation always turns into a story.  That story is what ends up selling themselves or their product, so I've become sort of like a story coach or story charmer, kind of like a snake charmer.

When did you realize you were becoming an entrepreneur and that this was turning into a business?

I never thought that being a writer would turn into being an entrepreneur.  I had a day job as an admin assistant, and on the side, I started to do some freelance business newsletters for people that I knew, and I loved it.  Over the course of the years that followed, I kept my day job, but my client load increased very slightly, and I realized that if I wanted to quit my day job, I could be a writer by ghostwriting.  I made the leap.  I left my day job and gathered my clients and started to meet with a strategy coach who helped me set up my business and anchor into what is necessary to run that business.

What have been the biggest obstacles for you so far?

The biggest obstacle to doing it was money.  I needed a day job in order to live and survive, so money was the first obstacle.  Then in the past year that Ink Street has been in business, the biggest obstacle is my own consciousness.  I would say that Ink Street has had no other obstacle but myself.  Every time I assert myself out into the marketplace, I draw business.  Before I ever started doing that, I didn't have any idea where the business was going to come from, and I was really worried and was like, "I only have so much in savings.  How long am I going to last?  How am I going to get new clients?"  At that time, I was the obstacle in terms of being afraid.

Then I was the obstacle in thinking, "I don't have the savvy to set up this business.  I don't have the entrepreneurial savvy to be fast and furious and wheeling and dealing."  Then I realized, "Well, I'm kind of a slow mover.  I've been moving slowly into the work that I do my whole life, and that works for me."  I find that I'm really successful and that my clients come back to me and refer me to other people when I take my time and build a relationship.  This business will build itself, and I don't have to drive myself crazy thinking that I'm not doing it right or that I'm not doing it fast enough.

Right, there's no one way to success, and you will fail at times.

There was a point in time when I was so broke that my friends were buying me groceries.  I was sad and depressed and couldn't get a job.  It was ugly.  I remember thinking, "All right, I've gotta start remembering things that I'm passionate about."  The more I started to recognize that and live in the recognition of what I was passionate about, the more the clouds cleared away.  I got a fantastic job.  I got my freelance clients.  My life was great, and it took me remembering what I was passionate about in the middle of all of my failure to get me out of the failure.

What are you doing now to live from that place of passion, but also approach this as a business?

I meet once a week with my friend Regina Perata, a business consultant, and I also meet with Jillian Taylor, a business strategist.  It's uncovered my core competencies and the things I really love to do, and it's removed some frustrations so that I can focus on what I do best, and then I can make my business out of what I do best, so the most important thing is to talk with other entrepreneurs and with a business strategist.

The next important thing is a daily practice.  In my life, I wasn't always the best at keeping a calendar.  I just kind of moved with the flow, but I'm starting to plug into a daily calendar that includes whatever daily writing I'm going to be doing for my clients, whatever reaching out I'm going to be doing in the community, whether it's volunteering or going to a networking event.  It's been really helpful to me to stay true to my calendar.

How about getting new business?  What are you doing there?

I haven't really been active at getting new business.  I've been active at creating new relationships, and that occurs just from going out and meeting people, whether I go see shows or get invited to a networking circle or go to a luncheon for business.  I'm so attracted to people and entrepreneurs, and that usually gets me finding out about someone's business and what it is they want to express in their work, and then I have a business connection.  For me, when I realized that my lead generator was just being authentic and curious at an event, it took a lot of pressure off.

What's the biggest lesson you've learned so far?

I thought that I had to do everything, even the stuff I don't like to do, but I found out through talking with my strategy people that I could focus on the things I do well and the things I love and then make my business out of that, not just make my business a catch-all writing clearinghouse.  When I learned that I could discern what I love and make that a business, that made all kinds of possibilities open up for me.

So, your sounding board is one of your biggest assets?

The business I would be doing without Jillian and Regina is completely different than the business I do with their input.  I can't believe it never occurred to me before that a mentor or sounding board or collaborator in idea generation would be so crucial to my success in the world.

What do you wish you would have known earlier on?

I wish I would have believed earlier on that a business is a growing process, and it doesn't have to be perfect when you first get started.  It seems like the thing you learn when you're six-years-old and practicing piano.  You're not going to know it immediately.  You have to practice, practice, practice, but for some reason, I had it in my head that if you're going to do it, you've got to do it well.  Well, if you don't know how to do it, then you can't do it well, so how do you start a business, when you don't know how to do it?  Failing is a part of succeeding.  Doing is enough to get you started.

I've also learned that once you've hung your shingle, people will come.  Of course, you want to give a quality offering.  You want to do good work, but I thought I needed to know how to run a business in order to give my offering.  I didn't realize that I could learn how to run a business while I was giving my services.  I didn't realize I could learn along the way.