My Website Says “Coming Soon”...Am Still a CEO?

Can I tell you something that feels mildly embarrassing to admit as someone who runs a business community?

My real estate website currently says “coming soon.”

Not in a clever, mysterious, we’re-building-anticipation way.

In a very real, “Erika and her business partner looked at it, sighed deeply, and decided we needed a full overhaul but now we’re mid-transition and it’s a little chaotic” kind of way.

If you landed on it today, you wouldn’t see a polished brand empire. You’d see potential. You’d see a placeholder. You’d see progress in motion.

And last week, I worked for an hour and a half at a homeschool art class.

Not at a chic coworking table. Not at a styled content day. I was sitting in a chair in the corner while my kid painted watercolor landscapes and had very serious debates about which shade of blue felt more “ocean-y.” I answered emails. I outlined event plans. I voice-noted my business partner. Then I packed up my laptop because someone needed help rinsing a paintbrush.

That is what my business life looks like right now.

And yet… on a good day, I run multiple businesses. I host a podcast. I lead events. I help other women grow. I make decisions that affect real revenue and real families.

So tell me.

At what point do I become serious enough?

Because if the definition of serious is flawless branding, uninterrupted eight-hour workdays, and never having your productivity depend on whether someone packed the right snack… then I think we’re all disqualified.

And that’s exactly why I want to talk about this.

The Lie So Many of Us Quietly Believe

I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with women who look at women business networking groups and immediately talk themselves out of joining.

They’ll say things like, “I just need to get more established first,” or “I think I’ll wait until I’m further along.”

Further along where?

More profitable? More polished? More confident? More free time? (What even IS free time, you guys?)

There’s this invisible benchmark we think we have to hit before we deserve to sit in the room. As if community is a reward you earn after you’ve already succeeded.

I have felt this myself. Even after over a decade in real estate. Even after building a 7,500-plus mom community. Even after speaking in front of large groups of women about business and confidence.

There are still moments when I look around and think, “Do I look legitimate enough to be here?”

While my website says coming soon.
While I answer emails from the parking lot at volleyball practice.
While I reschedule meetings because someone wakes up with a fever.

If you’re waiting to feel fully polished before joining women business networking groups, you may be waiting forever.

Because growth does not happen after polish.

It happens inside community.

What “Serious” Actually Looks Like

Somewhere along the way, we absorbed this image of what a serious businesswoman looks like. She’s calm. She’s organized. She probably owns multiple blazers. She does not Google basic tech questions at 10:47 pm. She certainly does not build her business from a folding chair at art class.

But I’ve been in enough rooms now to know that serious looks very different in real life.

Serious is logging in for 45 minutes while your kids are distracted, because that’s the window you have.

Serious is deciding your website needs to be better and actually taking the time to redo it, even if that means it temporarily looks worse.

Serious is investing time in connection when your schedule is already tight, because you understand that relationships are how businesses grow.

Serious is saying yes to visibility even when it makes you feel a little exposed.

It is not about aesthetics. It is about commitment.

If your business currently lives in the margins of your motherhood, that does not make it less real. It makes it deeply rooted in your actual life.

That’s not unserious.

That’s intentional!

The Room Matters More Than the Resume

Here’s something I learned the hard way.

Not all women business networking groups feel the same.

I’ve walked into rooms that felt stiff and performative. Rooms where everyone seemed to be measuring themselves against everyone else. Rooms where the language was corporate and the energy felt competitive.

In those spaces, it’s very easy to start questioning yourself. If you're like me you might notice what you don’t have. You notice how your schedule looks different. You notice that you can’t stay late because someone needs to be picked up.

And you start thinking, maybe I’m not serious enough for this.

But the right room feels completely different.

The right room feels like exhaling.

The right room does not care if your website is mid-rebrand. It does not care if you worked from a homeschool art class yesterday. It does not require you to hide your motherhood in order to be taken seriously.

It cares that you’re building. It cares that you show up. It cares that you support others.

That’s it.

Growth Happens Before You Feel Ready

What I’ve seen, over and over, is that the women who grow the most are not the ones who waited until they felt confident.

They’re the ones who showed up slightly nervous.

They introduced themselves even when their voice shook a little.

They said, “Hey, I’m still figuring this out,” and allowed someone else to respond with, “Me too!”

That kind of honesty accelerates growth in a way that no course or download ever will.

Because when someone refers you by name, when someone tags you in a post, when someone says, “You need to meet her,” that does not happen because you looked the most polished in the room.

It happens because you were present. It happens because you were real.

If You’re Building, You’re Serious

If you are rebranding, relaunching, working between school hours, figuring out your pricing, trying to get visible, or building something in the margins of your very full life…

You are serious.

Even if your website says coming soon.

Even if your office is a corner chair at art class.

Even if your business is still very much in progress.

Honestly, especially then!

You do not have to earn your seat at the table. Working moms deserve a seat at the table and a coffee in hand. Not after they hit a certain revenue goal. Not after their kids are older. Not after everything feels easy.

Now.

If you’ve been holding back from joining women business networking groups because you think you’re not serious enough, I want you to gently question that thought.

What if you’re not behind? What if you’re just building?

And what IF the room you’ve been waiting to feel worthy of is actually the very place that will help you grow?

About the Author

Erika Radis is a San Antonio-based realtor, entrepreneur, and mom of three. She’s the founder of the Working Moms of San Antonio community—a 7,000+ strong network of women balancing motherhood and career—and co-host of the Working Moms of San Antonio podcast. With a background in design and a love for marketing, Erika helps moms grow confident, connected businesses rooted in authenticity, strategy, and a little bit of humor.