When The Deal Falls Through: Leading With Courage And Resilience

Forbes

28-07-2025

Paige Williams is a founder, filmmaker & creator of The Creative Keys and AudPop. Learn more at www.paigewilliams.co.
It all happened fast.
I received an offer to buy my company. After a few weeks of intense negotiation, drafting terms and reviewing paperwork, we had a final call that was intended to wrap things up. Instead, everything unraveled. There would be no sale, no closing and no check.
What followed was something I wasn't prepared for: not just the loss of the deal, but the weight of having to tell everyone it was over, including my team, my creditors, my investors and my family. There's no script for that moment. I was left only with the quiet, aching question: 'Now what?'
In the aftermath, I found myself returning to a 12-part framework I developed from more than a decade of coaching, entrepreneurship and personal growth work. I typically use it to help women leaders unlock clarity, courage and aligned action, but this experience reminded me that my framework is for me, too. And along the way, I've learned valuable lessons I believe other entrepreneurs can use who are working through the painful loss of a deal.
The Long Climb
Before that call, I was finally catching my breath after a decade of bootstrapping a startup from scratch. In 2013, I founded my business to democratize storytelling and connect diverse filmmakers with opportunity. We built a platform for branded video contests and authentic storytelling. We found success, and we did it without venture capital. I poured everything into it. There was a lien on my home at one point.
The first time through, founding the business felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain, but I'd survived. Founders know how to endure. We stretch every dollar. We hold the risk. And when someone says, 'We want to buy what you've built,' it can feel like oxygen.
That's what happened. The buyer was enthusiastic. The offer was clean. I negotiated work for myself and my team. We were ready to transition and keep serving storytellers. I thought this deal was divine timing. I saw it as a reward for the grind, the sacrifice and the years of pushing. But when they walked away, I felt shame, I felt embarrassed, and I felt small, not just as a businesswoman but as a human.
Why 'Surrender' Isn't A Soft Word
In my framework, key four is 'surrender.' It's not passive. It's not quitting. It's what comes when you've given everything and the outcome still collapses.
Surrender asks: Who are you when you no longer get what you want? What do you trust when your plans fall apart? In my case, the collapse of the deal didn't just hit my business. It cracked my identity. There was no headline or comforting post. It was just me, at my kitchen table, writing the hardest email I've ever sent: 'The sale didn't go through.' 'There will be no payout.' 'I'm sorry.'
This was a story I didn't want to tell. But through breathwork, journaling and honesty, I found my footing again. Surrender created space. And in that space, truth returned.
The Keys Of Honesty And Aligned Action
Another key I often discuss with clients is honesty. I had to ask myself:
• What part of me needed this deal to validate my worth?
• What was I avoiding by trying to wrap it up neatly?
• What is the real truth underneath?
Here it is: I wanted to be saved from the financial pressure, the relentless hustle and the weight of holding it all together. But in entrepreneurship, there are no saviors. There are just choices and chapters. I also realized that this wasn't rejection. It was redirection. There were no red flags or signs I ignored. But that's what makes situations like this so hard: When things fall apart with no warning, what do you trust?
Here's what I've come to know: Sometimes, the lesson isn't in what you missed. It's in what you're asked to hold when there's nothing left to fix. This wasn't the end. It was a threshold, and it was time for me to reclaim the story.
After the sale fell through, I returned to what I knew: coaching women through transitions; holding honest, grounded spaces inside the council I founded; and writing and speaking with transparency. I'm not here to perform leadership. I'm here to live it. Another key of my framework—taking aligned action—isn't about perfection. It's about courageous movement, especially after a fall.
What Entrepreneurs Can Learn
If you've ever had to say, 'It's not happening,' 'I was wrong,' or 'I don't know what comes next,' let me tell you this: You are not the failed deal. You are the leader still standing. And that matters more than you know.
When a business deal falls through—especially one that feels like a lifeline—the emotional fallout can be intense: shame, self-doubt and the fear of being seen as a failure. I've been there. One of the first steps I recommend is creating space to process before reacting. Don't rush into explanations or fixes. Instead, pause. Breathe. This gives your nervous system time to regulate and your intuition time to rise.
From there, name the shame. I believe shame thrives in silence, but it loses power when spoken aloud. Talk to a trusted advisor, coach or friend. When I finally said, 'I feel like I let everyone down,' I could hear the deeper truth underneath: I was still worthy, even when things didn't go as planned.
For myself, I'm now no longer chasing clean lines. I'm building from something deeper—a space where truth, clarity and courage guide the way. I believe clarity often arrives through the fall, courage is quiet and surrender is sacred. And that's what I'm walking toward now.
Reclaim your own story. What happened to you is real—but it's not the whole story. You have to surrender control over outcomes and take aligned action even when the path is uncertain. For any leader in a storm, ask yourself: What old story do you need to shed—and what truer story are you ready to move into?
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