For every product or service we can’t live without now, I’ll show you there was a time when it didn’t exist. Someone made it up when it was uncommon and “crazy” to imagine it.
In the early days of every startup that grew up, there was always a crazy believer-in-chief who envisioned, evangelized, and catalyzed the movement to change the world.
Successful startup founders are Chief Believer Officers.
These founders transferred their passionate belief to others when they sold their first customers, recruited employees, and enlisted partners to believe it.
Crazy entrepreneurs who embrace their role as Chief Believer Officers create most of the world that we live in.
Like Rob Farrow and Christina Farrow, the married co-founders of Aisle Planner Inc. , the popular software platform for wedding and event planning professionals.
Rob Farrow was an experienced marketing executive, and Christina was a successful professional wedding planner.
They invested their savings, built a loyal team, and started Aisle Planner to serve other wedding planner pros with a complete solution to power their businesses.
Aisle Planner grew slowly as they overcame huge obstacles, listened to their customers, and built world-class software that changed how these events are managed.
Aisle Planner is now the leading all-in-one software for wedding planners and event professionals, with over 4,000 customers.
After struggling through the COVID-19 shutdown several times, Rob and Christina decided to sell Aisle Planner to Fullsteam, a software holding company. They stayed for several years to meet their earn-out commitments. Now, they still run the company with the same team.
As Rob describes it, their belief in their vision and their commitment to wedding planner pros helped them overcome countless major obstacles:
”There’s a very fine line between arrogance and ignorance. And somewhere in there is where I was living in this. When we started, I was so sure we would succeed that I ignored obvious signs of failure. I just believed wholeheartedly. I believe in myself, I believe in my wife, and I believe in our team.
“If you have that belief, you can achieve things. And I know that sounds very cliche, but you have to have that belief. If you’re doing it for the right reasons, you’ll have that belief. If you’re doing it to get rich quick, you won’t.
“There’s a bunch of obstacles that you don’t even know are coming our way. With that mindset of belief and just forging ahead, you’re ready for any obstacle. They’re not obstacles; they’re just things you deal with.”
Rob Farrow, Aisle Planner
Founders like Rob and Christina Farrow were the Chief Believer Officers for their growing company when they faced existential business challenges, scary shifts in strategy, and the normal doubts and dives of any business.
Their practical founder story is an inspiration. Listen to this interview with Rob Farrow on the Practical Founders Podcast.
