Kate's take, in a sentence or two

Kate says her decision to use ads had nothing to do with hitting a certain revenue milestone—in fact, it was the opposite: she started running ads because she *wasn't* making the money she wanted and hoped ads would get her there. She's invested heavily in her own business (courses, coaching, masterminds, software) without waiting for business income to fund it, believing "it takes money to make money." Her ad journey has been a rollercoaster—losing $12,000 with an agency at first, then learning it herself and having her first six-figure launch—but she now believes she should have started sooner and stuck with it longer, since ads are the fastest way to grow an email list.