If you've ever rebuilt your business from nothing after a diagnosis, a flare, or a crash you didn't see coming, you already know that "just push through" stops working at some point. The harder question is what you do instead.
In this episode, Laura Reeves shares how she answered that question for herself, twice. After Crohn's disease cost her nearly every client she had in 1997, she built a 30-year career as a professional dog handler, one designed around her body instead of around what her industry expected. And when she knew that career couldn't last forever either, she didn't wait for a crisis to force the next move. She planned it.
What you'll take from this conversation isn't really about dog shows. It's about what it looks like to build and rebuild a business that can actually hold the life you're living, instead of the one you wish you had the capacity for.
In this episode, you'll learn:
• How to think about rebuilding a client base from scratch after a diagnosis takes everything you had
• A real-world framework for capping your workload to protect your health, without capping your income to zero
• Why planning your business's next chapter years in advance beats waiting for your body to make the decision for you
• How to tell the difference between the stress that's actually triggering your flares and the stress you've just learned to live with
• What it looks like to move from "acceptance" to "giving up", and how to tell which side of that line you're actually on
This episode is for you if:
• You've had to rebuild your business after a diagnosis or a major flare, and you're tired of pretending that wasn't a big deal
• You're scared that slowing down will make everything you've built collapse
• You're managing chronic illness while caregiving for family members, and you're stretched in directions nobody talks about
• You feel stuck in a business model that requires you to be "on" every single day, with no version of you that gets to rest
• You want to plan for a transition before your body forces the decision, but you don't know where to start
🎧 Want to learn more about today’s guest?
Connect with Laura Reeves
Visit our show, Business With Chronic Illness (https://businesswithchronicillness.com/) , for guest details, key takeaways, and extra links mentioned in this episode.
🌿 If you’re navigating entrepreneurship and chronic illness, or simply craving a more sustainable way to grow your business without sacrificing your health, energy, or self-care priorities. Join our community designed for women entrepreneurs, creatives, and women with chronic illness who want sustainable growth and burnout support while keeping life and wellness first. Join Our Free Community, The Gathering Room (https://app.heartbeat.chat/rootedandprofitable/invitation?code=F78D5B) of The Rooted & Profitable Collective.
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Mentioned in this episode:
Laura Reeves Intro
