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Why Leaving Corporate with Chronic Illness Feels So Scary (and What Helps) | Liz Carmines
Why Leaving Corporate with Chronic Illness Feels So Scary (and What Helps) | Liz Carmines
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Thinking about leaving your 9–5, but chronic illness makes it feel impossible?

In this honest and empowering episode, I sit down with Liz Carmines—business owner and social media strategist—who shares her personal journey of navigating pain, brain fog, and burnout while working in corporate…and how she knew it was time to leap into full-time entrepreneurship.

We talk about the guilt of “not doing enough,” the emotional cost of looking fine when you're not, and the surprising things that made the transition feel safer and more doable.

If you’ve ever asked yourself, “What happens if my health flares up and I can’t keep going?” or “Can I really run a business with this body?” — this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we explore:

  • Why corporate flexibility isn’t always enough when you’re in pain
  • How chronic illness shapes our fears around financial and emotional stability
  • What to do before quitting to transition smoother
  • A way to structure your business for peace of mind, not just profit
  • The healing power of agency, boundaries, and building a team early
  • Mindset shifts that help when fear or impostor syndrome creeps in
  • What to consider now if you want to leave your job later

Whether you’re side hustling with limited energy, stuck in guilt loops at work, or just craving more freedom on your terms, this episode will make you feel seen and supported.

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To Start and Grow A Coaching or Service-Based Business with Chronic Illness, Book A Free Sales Call With Nikita Here.

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Subscribe HERE to Chronically Profitable, A free exclusive weekly email series designed for creatives and women with chronic illnesses. You'll learn how to make a liveable income with your hobbies, professional skills, and innate talents by building a successful online coaching business with simple strategies that work for you, even on flare days, and feel better living with chronic illness.


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Subscribe to the Chronically Profitable: The Flare-Proof Path to $100K, A free exclusive weekly email series designed for creatives and women with chronic illnesses. You'll learn how to make a liveable income with your hobbies, professional skills, and innate talents by building a successful online coaching business with simple strategies that work for you, even on flare days and feel better living with chronic illness.

WEBVTT

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This episode is for the woman who's listening while sitting in her car after work or scrolling job boards on LinkedIn while managing pain flares.

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Wondering, is this really it?

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Is this what I have to settle for just because my body is unpredictable?

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If you have ever wanted to leave your nine to five but felt like it was too risky, especially with your health, you're not alone.

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This episode is for you.

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I'm talking with Liz Carmines, a business owner and a chronic illness warrior who made the leap from corporate to running her own business while navigating pain, brain fog, and all the emotional weight that comes with trying to stay fine at work when you're anything, but we're actually talking about what that might look like for you, but also what it looked like for her.

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We talk honestly about the fear of leaving a job with benefits, how guilt shows up when you're trying to keep it together, and what it actually looks like to build a business that supports you, not drains you.

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So if you've been asking, what if I can't keep this up, or what if I finally choose myself and it still doesn't work?

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This is the reason why you need to keep listening, take a breath, and know that you're not crazy, you're courageous, you're hopeful, and you're allowed to want more.

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So let's dig in.

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Welcome to Business with Chronic Illness, the Globally Ranked podcast for women living with chronic illness who want to start and grow a business online.

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I'm your host, Nikita Williams and I went from living a normal life to all of a sudden being in constant pain with no answers to being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses.

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And trying to make a livable income.

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I faced the challenge of adapting traditional business advice to fit my unique circumstances with chronic illness, feeling frustrated and more burned out than I already was while managing my chronic illness to becoming an award-winning coach with a flexible, sustainable online coaching business.

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I found the surprisingly simple steps to starting growing a profitable business without compromising my health or my peace.

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Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same.

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If you're ready to create a thriving business that aligns with your lifestyle and wellbeing, you're in the right place.

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Together, we're shifting the narrative of what's possible for women with chronic illness and how we make a living.

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This is business with chronic illness.

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Well, I am really excited about this episode because we're gonna be talking about.

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Rain fog and pain and doing that when you're trying to start a business or transition from your bus, like from your full-time life of your job into a business.

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And I haven't really had a, a guest on the show talking about this.

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I've talked about my own journey.

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I've talked about just how I've seen it happen with my clients, but I thought would be nice to have this chat with our, our Liz Welcome.

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Liz, welcome.

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Hi.

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Thank you for having me.

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And she is an amazing business owner.

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But before we get into a little bit about her introduction, I'd love to chat with you to hear about how did, like being in a full-time job or in a, in a, like a, in a corporate environment or whatever type of environment affect living with pain and when was the, the choice of being like, I need to start my own business.

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Like when did that happen for you?

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I.

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Yeah, so I had a full-time job working at a large nonprofit, so it was kind of like corporate nonprofit, so to say.

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I was super fortunate because I had a pretty flexible work life and work schedule in that they were the type of organization that were like, we were supposed to be online, right?

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Like we, we had our hours and things, but they weren't like, oh, you were gone for an hour.

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Where were you?

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You know, it wasn't that type of environment, so.

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In a way, I felt like I had a lot of flexibility, but I also had a lot of guilt.

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And so during this, I worked at this job for a year.

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And I was also working, starting to build my business on the side.

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I had a few freelance clients on the side, and at the time I was really going through this journey of trying to like get some answers about my health.

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Spoiler alert.

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I never really got them, but I was going, I was going to different doctors.

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That would take me a while, right?

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So like I would be gone for like.

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Half of the day, sometimes.

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I remember there's this, I was living outside of Washington DC There was this one doctor I wanted to go to and I took a bus, I took the train, I took another bus to get there.

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So it was like an hour to get there.

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You know, this hour and a half long appointment, an hour back.

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And of course these doctors are like, you have to go during the daytime, Monday through Friday, and.

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I just remember feeling a lot of guilt about it and also the emotional burden of all of that was really, really challenging at the time.

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The nonprofit also, I felt like I had this big emotional burden because we were a disaster emergency response organization.

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It was the war in Ukraine was just starting.

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I was the social media manager, so I was working weekends, I was working evenings.

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If new information came out about.

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This war going on.

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Like I needed to be one of the people that was online.

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And so I'm kind of dealing both with both of these emotional things at once of my job.

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And it's like this emotional burden of these stories and telling these stories and the other side of it, of giving all this, getting all this information, spending the time, spending the money, yeah.

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Trying to figure things out.

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It was a lot.

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I would say I'm grateful that I had this flexible environment where no one made me feel bad, but I felt, I felt the corporate guilt.

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Right?

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Like even if no one put it on me,

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I have been there.

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Yes.

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Mm-hmm.

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Yeah.

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And ultimately there were a lot of reasons I decided I.

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To shift from working the full-time job forever to doing my, my business.

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Honestly, I wanted the full-time job to be my path.

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Mm.

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It felt easier.

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Like I really, really wanted that to be for me.

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Mm.

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You know, the benefits, the healthcare, yeah.

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All of those things like I wanted it to be for me, but I just realized that like there was this part of me that would never be settled in that environment.

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I wanted to kind of like spread my wings.

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I wanted to lead my own life, and I did find it really appealing that.

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I could, once I went working on my own, that like if there's a day where I'm just struggling, I don't have to force myself to sit at that computer all day and get work done.

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I can decide this is just gonna be, I'm gonna take the L on this morning and I'm not gonna work.

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Mm-hmm.

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That was attractive to me too.

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Mm-hmm.

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So that was, there were a lot of reasons, but that was one of the reasons I was like, if I work for myself, if I'm not feeling good one day, I don't have to apologize to anyone.

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I don't have to explain myself to anyone.

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I can just take that time and no one will know the difference.

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So that was part of it for sure.

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Yeah, I mean there's so much part, so, so many parts of those that I can relate to and also that I know lots of the folks listening have experienced or are currently experiencing, right?

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Especially if they are working for environments.

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They might be working for a really great company that does, you know, give them that flexibility even though judgment even, you know, I do think those are fewer than many of those, but some of us have those, you know, some of those folks have those jobs and I'm like.

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Bless you.

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Bless that.

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You have that.

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But I felt the same way.

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Like when I worked in corporate, it was one of those things where it was the guilt, but it was also like, what are you guys thinking about me?

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Like that was part of my thought.

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Like, what are you thinking about me?

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If you see that I'm not here or that I can't do something or.

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I'm gone for so many hours because I went to a doctor's appointment.

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It's like, what are you thinking?

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I was very concerned at the time before.

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I know a lot about my mindset work that I did with entrepreneurship, but I was really concerned about that and I didn't want my reputation to be tainted by like I.

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She's lazy, she just doesn't do anything.

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I had a lot of those thoughts that were a part of my experience in corporate.

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And then also I literally, in my corporate job, literally there was like twice that people had to literally take me to the hospital.

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And that was also like embarrassment and shame and all of these things.

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Like, I don't know if I can live my life like this.

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Yeah.

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So I can relate to like even though, and the company, my company too was pretty decent.

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It was pretty decent, but it was also like, man, I.

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I just want more freedom and autonomy of my own time, my own agency, and like you said, if I wanna stay in bed and don't wanna get out, I don't, I, I don't wanna be thinking what are they thinking?

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Yeah, for sure.

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For me, there was also some of those times where like we would have big team retreats where, you know, we were mostly a remote team and so everyone would fly in and you'd have these like two or three long days in a row in the office where it's kind of like.

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We are all here for this retreat.

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You kind of have to be there and we're gonna stay late for dinner.

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And those were some of my hardest days where I'm just like taking painkillers all day to try to get through it, right?

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Like I have this headache and I'm like.

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I just need to lay down right now, but I just have to smile and be so happy to be here.

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Mm.

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And that was hard too, and it wasn't that often, but it is.

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Those things that were like, those were some of my worst times because I just had to push through.

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Yeah.

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For days and days and days.

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And so I never have to do that anymore.

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Yeah.

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And I love that, like that I, I don't have to do that anymore.

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Yeah, it's a hint.

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Do you think it's the anticipation too, like knowing that those, that time is coming where you do have to quote unquote be on and you don't know if you'll be able to be on without being on like

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Yeah, well, yeah.

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Especially when you, like I was working hybrid so I would have days in the office, but I could kind of leave whenever I felt like it, you know, I would usually, I would usually stay'cause I would, I would try to be there and like socialize and stuff, but like I knew that if I could leave.

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Or if I had wanted to leave, I could.

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And I think it's also just that, like not being used to that, like not being used to having to push through like I was used to being able to like go home and take a nap if I really needed to.

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Right.

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Or, or whatever.

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So yeah, partially, I, I think that was part of it.

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Yeah.

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So you were saying that you kind of, you kind of transitioned into, were kind of working freelance at the time.

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Was it within the social with purpose, like mm-hmm.

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So tell us a little bit about that.

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So give us a little bit more of like an introduction of like your business where you are now and how did, let's just do that first.

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Okay.

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I'm asking too many questions.

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No, you're not asking too many questions.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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So social purpose came to be.

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I sort of had like a false

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start

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before I had this full-time job.

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I, I wanted to start social with purpose, but a co and I started it.

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I started working with clients.

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I started taking on some freelance gigs, and about six months in, I just was like, I am not prepared for this responsibility.

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I wasn't charging enough to live.

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Mm-hmm.

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You know, like I was, I wasn't go, I didn't know how to run a business and I was in my early twenties, and so that just felt like.

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I was like, I just don't have to rush this.

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So I ended up applying and getting this full-time job and it felt great and I was really excited.

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Like I said, I was like, well, maybe I don't even need to do social with purpose.

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Maybe I will just love working in this environment and have a full-time job and that would be my life.

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And so I actually kind of took a small break from social with purpose.

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When I started this job, I continued my commitments with some of my clients.

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But in, in terms of like marketing the business and building the business, I really took a break so I could give the job a fair shake and see is this gonna make me happy?

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But ultimately, you know, like that desire creeped back in of wanting to do it.

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So I was super blessed then that I had this runway, like I had this full-time job.

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I would work on the evenings and weekends, continuing working with clients, and then I also used that time to build my website, do some of those backend business things so that when it came time that I got the itch to just.

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Go all in.

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I felt pretty prepared.

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Mm.

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Like it was a scary leap, like any leap.

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Mm-hmm.

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But it wasn't as scary as the first time around when I literally was just, I had no idea what I was doing.

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Mm-hmm.

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So I'm super, super grateful that I gave myself that time and built some things beforehand.

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Obviously there's still a lot to figure out as you go, but that made the transition a lot easier.

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And that was.

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Last March that I left the full-time job.

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So I've been full-time in my business a little over a year now, and now I'm at this point where I'm kind of like figuring out what's the next level.

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Mm-hmm.

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Which is really exciting.

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I have myself, I have a couple freelancers working with me, which is really fun, and I'm kind of just figuring out how to grow and how to maintain the vision that I've always had and maintain the quality and you know, the relationships with clients and things while continuing to grow.

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Yeah, I love that.

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Like it's a leap you can have every, this is the thing I think we all think, I think we all think we can have like perfect situation all the way through to make this leap.

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Like we have everything dialed in and I do think we can do a really good job of preparation.

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Like so I know like you were just sharing like you kind of had a runway, you kind of prepare some things on the back end.

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I've even had clients like, you can have a savings account and like you can have all of these things, but like I.

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Still, it's gonna be scary.

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Mm-hmm.

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It still is gonna be scary.

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Like you will have thoughts about it.

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I think one of the biggest things that I find for those of living with chronic illness, though, one of the bigger fears is, or pain like and fatigue is like, am I capable of maintaining this?

00:13:58.934 --> 00:13:58.995
Hmm.

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Like, am I capable of like, at least with A JOB, right?

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Like there are some.

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How do I say this without how, what am I trying to say?

00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:12.980
Obviously with a job, there are the perks of having a job, especially if you're W nine.

00:14:13.009 --> 00:14:15.860
There's health insurance, there's FMLA, there's.

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All this stuff that you can plan for that, that's part of your benefits packages.

00:14:21.455 --> 00:14:28.955
But when you're like, I wanna start my own business, you get into your business, you're making money, and you're like, it feels like there's no safety net.

00:14:28.955 --> 00:14:29.044
Mm-hmm.

00:14:29.644 --> 00:14:32.404
And so the other thoughts come up, right?

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Am I capable of maintaining this?

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What did that look like for you when it came to like managing your symptoms or the pain like.

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What things did you kind of like have to plan for, or did some things come up that you weren't expecting?

00:14:48.559 --> 00:14:49.100
Yeah.

00:14:49.399 --> 00:14:49.700
Okay.

00:14:49.700 --> 00:14:53.059
I feel like this is a big question, so I might take this in a lot of different directions.

00:14:53.090 --> 00:14:53.509
No, go ahead.

00:14:53.659 --> 00:14:59.450
First of all, I would say that I definitely had the mentality of wanting to be as ready as possible.

00:14:59.870 --> 00:14:59.960
Mm-hmm.

00:15:00.200 --> 00:15:00.745
Before I quit my job, right?

00:15:00.745 --> 00:15:01.024
Mm-hmm.

00:15:01.105 --> 00:15:07.970
Like I wanted to have the savings and all the things, but it did get to a point where I was burning myself out trying to do both things.

00:15:07.970 --> 00:15:12.259
So that was my signal that it was time, because I wanted to do both.

00:15:12.950 --> 00:15:15.379
And do both well, and you just can't do that.

00:15:15.379 --> 00:15:15.740
Right.

00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:17.059
So, Ooh, such a good point.

00:15:17.059 --> 00:15:22.730
I, that was my signal that like, okay, I need to have faith in myself and jump.

00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.129
That doesn't mean it's not terrifying.

00:15:25.129 --> 00:15:29.149
It's, it was, it has been terrifying and it continues to be terrifying.

00:15:29.245 --> 00:15:34.669
I have, I have days where I'm like, wow, I feel so good about this.

00:15:34.669 --> 00:15:37.159
And then I have days where panic.

00:15:37.985 --> 00:15:40.504
Induces and I'm like, can I do this?

00:15:40.565 --> 00:15:43.115
And I do think that my health is one of those things.

00:15:43.115 --> 00:15:49.985
I often have the thought of like, well, what happens if one day I'm just not okay?

00:15:49.985 --> 00:15:52.445
And that's part of the reason I'm wanting to grow a team.

00:15:52.684 --> 00:15:52.774
Mm-hmm.

00:15:52.774 --> 00:16:01.924
Because I myself, if I'm not okay, I want my clients in the business to continue and I wanted, I wanna be able to continue doing great work.

00:16:02.164 --> 00:16:02.315
Mm-hmm.

00:16:02.705 --> 00:16:03.514
That's part of it.

00:16:03.514 --> 00:16:05.794
It's like my health.

00:16:06.394 --> 00:16:12.875
Is pretty stable, but like you just never know what's gonna happen, especially when you're living with a chronic condition.

00:16:13.085 --> 00:16:18.575
I think, I'm trying to think of like all the, the pieces of your question that I wanted to answer my bad for so

00:16:18.575 --> 00:16:19.205
many parts of it.

00:16:19.504 --> 00:16:21.274
No, no, no, no, you're fine.

00:16:21.274 --> 00:16:23.105
I, I, I like the question.

00:16:23.465 --> 00:16:24.904
So in terms of managing it.

00:16:25.909 --> 00:16:27.409
I think that a couple things.

00:16:27.409 --> 00:16:38.210
One, the health insurance thing, I've sort of just accepted that it, it sucks and like, yes, no matter what, like I've been on so many different types of health insurance.

00:16:38.210 --> 00:16:40.580
I've been on alternative cost sharing plans.

00:16:40.580 --> 00:16:46.460
I've been on these different things and the thing that I've just realized is like, I'm gonna have to budget extra for that.

00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:46.730
Yes.

00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:48.679
For paying for things out of pocket.

00:16:48.684 --> 00:16:48.835
Mm-hmm.

00:16:49.970 --> 00:16:50.059
And.

00:16:50.059 --> 00:16:55.070
For me, I really try to prioritize budgeting for care, so

00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:55.399
mm-hmm.

00:16:56.210 --> 00:17:02.509
Massages, chiropractor, going to those like at least once a month I've started doing acupuncture.

00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:07.940
Those are all things that I've just realized I have to make sure I budget for and I prioritize.

00:17:07.940 --> 00:17:08.029
Mm-hmm.

00:17:08.269 --> 00:17:14.119
Because if I go more than like two weeks without any one of those things, I feel it and I feel it a lot.

00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:19.400
The other thing, this has been something that's like kind of come up recently is.

00:17:20.045 --> 00:17:31.204
I've tried to manage pain through more holistic things like acupuncture, massage, and someone recently just said to me like, maybe you should go to a chronic or to a pain pain.

00:17:31.204 --> 00:17:35.255
Manage a pain management clinic and like see if they can prescribe you something.

00:17:35.255 --> 00:17:41.974
And I was always hesitant to do that because when I first started my experience with pain when I was in high school, I did get some.

00:17:42.039 --> 00:17:46.809
Medications given to me that my body didn't respond very well to, and it was not a fun experience.

00:17:46.809 --> 00:17:53.170
So I've kind of had this thing in my head that like, I don't wanna go down that route because I don't want it to make me feel worse in other ways.

00:17:53.259 --> 00:17:53.349
Mm-hmm.

00:17:53.920 --> 00:18:04.630
But the thing that I've realized is like the flare ups will never stop The, the pain will never stop no matter how much wellness and self care and all those things that I do.

00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:08.980
Like I haven't crashed the code on how to be perfectly fine all of the time.

00:18:08.984 --> 00:18:09.025
Mm-hmm.

00:18:09.105 --> 00:18:10.664
And so I'm also trying to open my mind.

00:18:11.555 --> 00:18:13.894
To, to doing some of those other things.

00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:14.019
Yeah.

00:18:14.025 --> 00:18:26.704
And, and just exploring what's options are out there for me, because I also realize that if I'm in pain, if I'm fatigued, if I have brain fog, I can't perform well in my business and like I want to perform well in my business.

00:18:26.704 --> 00:18:28.625
I want to show up consistently.

00:18:28.625 --> 00:18:29.765
I want to do all those things.

00:18:29.795 --> 00:18:35.464
And so I just have to say like, let me put the time and energy into this, even though it's exhausting.

00:18:35.825 --> 00:18:37.204
Yeah, yeah.

00:18:37.204 --> 00:18:39.454
You know, this is so interesting.

00:18:39.535 --> 00:18:41.664
It's an interesting thought around like the.

00:18:42.535 --> 00:18:50.785
Pain management specifically with, I talk about this too, and I think there's, there's mindset, and I'm working on this too with my therapist.

00:18:50.785 --> 00:19:00.295
Just this thought of, there's almost been this kind of like era of health wellness, of doing it the holistic way.

00:19:00.295 --> 00:19:03.444
And then if you wanna add like doing it not.

00:19:03.849 --> 00:19:11.289
Like as a this and versus a this or scenario of like western medicine meets, you know, holistic medicine.

00:19:11.289 --> 00:19:18.039
Like there's like this weird tribe that's happening and we're gonna get beat up in the corner if we do one or the other, whatever.

00:19:18.039 --> 00:19:18.279
Right?

00:19:18.279 --> 00:19:20.740
Like, it just feels like there's a lot of thoughts around this.

00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:27.970
And when you're running a business and you deal with pain, like yes, the holistic meth methods work.

00:19:28.464 --> 00:19:38.515
For the most part, they, they do help, but then there are sometimes where there's no amount of breath work, oils, tapping, acupuncture, dry kneeling, that's gonna cut it.

00:19:38.575 --> 00:19:47.184
Like one of my, my, my functional medicine doctor says like, yeah, sometimes it's like bringing a gun to a a, a ni a bring a knife to a gunfight.

00:19:47.214 --> 00:19:50.664
Like literally there's not much you can do at that point.

00:19:50.670 --> 00:19:50.970
And so.

00:19:51.775 --> 00:20:08.785
We, I think we've all kind of been conditioned depending on how long you've been in this game of entrepreneurship online, and you've seen the world of holistic, taking care of yourself and like eating better and doing all these things, and there's this mind drama around, should I take the medicine?

00:20:08.815 --> 00:20:08.904
Mm-hmm.

00:20:09.144 --> 00:20:11.305
Should I go to a pain management specialist?

00:20:11.335 --> 00:20:12.775
What does that mean about me?

00:20:12.775 --> 00:20:19.974
I'm not committed to being whole and well, so there's, it's a whole nother side of this journey, right?

00:20:20.305 --> 00:20:20.634
For sure.

00:20:21.490 --> 00:20:25.990
Yeah, and for me it's like just wanting to explore options and know it's available.

00:20:26.079 --> 00:20:29.170
And I got pretty burnt out on doing that for a while.

00:20:29.170 --> 00:20:37.960
So I took a break, like for a while I was going to all the doctors and, and my wallet couldn't do it anymore, and my, my brain couldn't handle it anymore.

00:20:37.960 --> 00:20:39.220
Yeah, it was too much information.

00:20:39.220 --> 00:20:45.250
It was too much having to explain my situation again and again and again, and get different responses and it was just.

00:20:45.730 --> 00:20:46.750
So frustrating.

00:20:46.750 --> 00:20:46.809
Yeah.

00:20:46.809 --> 00:20:50.289
Like I had just got to this point where I was like, I cannot go to any doctors right now.

00:20:50.410 --> 00:20:50.500
Mm-hmm.

00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:58.809
But it, it's kind of like wanting to go back into that process, but maybe not as, as much as I was like mm-hmm.

00:20:59.049 --> 00:21:10.720
You know, trying to find that balance between like, exploring the options and getting answers while also just accepting that like, I cannot go to every single doctor till I find the answer I'm looking for.

00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:13.960
Like, I just can't, like they're not gonna have it and I can't.

00:21:14.335 --> 00:21:16.740
My, my brain can't handle that, so yeah.

00:21:17.095 --> 00:21:17.454
Yeah.

00:21:17.454 --> 00:21:20.244
Just trying to like explore without burning myself out again.

00:21:20.244 --> 00:21:20.305
Yeah.

00:21:20.305 --> 00:21:24.535
Because I do think a lot of chronic patients get very burnt out on healthcare.

00:21:25.105 --> 00:21:25.375
Absolutely.

00:21:25.375 --> 00:21:26.365
Um, just in general.

00:21:26.365 --> 00:21:26.424
Yeah.

00:21:26.890 --> 00:21:30.400
Yeah, this makes me think of episode 1 63.

00:21:30.400 --> 00:21:35.380
I think when I talk about like the chronic illness phases, like there are different phases.

00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:46.269
I feel like identities that we have, I have been there as well around like that burnout, feeling that like just overwhelm, especially when you're first diagnosed.

00:21:46.269 --> 00:21:49.299
And I would also offer this list just from the context.

00:21:49.299 --> 00:21:52.509
I don't know if that feeling of burnout and stuff happened like.

00:21:52.720 --> 00:22:10.569
In the beginning of whatever was going on and you were trying to figure everything out and it just felt like, let me figure everything out or, and now you're kind of past that phase of like figuring everything out, if you will, but knowing like it's kind of there and it just like, I think when we're in that newbie stage of chronic illness, it's.

00:22:10.944 --> 00:22:14.365
It, it is extremely overwhelming times like 200.

00:22:14.664 --> 00:22:15.055
Yeah.

00:22:15.265 --> 00:22:24.055
But I will offer, going back into like trying to figure it out is actually a lot easier once you've had space in that time.

00:22:24.055 --> 00:22:24.144
Mm-hmm.

00:22:24.384 --> 00:22:25.285
To know, like.

00:22:25.869 --> 00:22:38.200
I'm gonna cap going to three different rheumatologists instead of trying to go to six, like, you know, like I'm gonna cap, like having all of these labs done, I'm gonna figure out a way to like do'em all in one place and like y'all figure it out.

00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:45.069
Like there's different things we kind of have to like kind of parse out, if you will, sometimes that I have found.

00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:48.940
Because when we wanna go back into like, how do we manage the pain?

00:22:49.305 --> 00:22:54.615
Our brains and our body likes to go back to that initial experience and we're like, oh heck no.

00:22:56.625 --> 00:22:58.785
Like we are never doing that again.

00:22:58.785 --> 00:23:03.884
And so I have found for myself personally and just also with clients, like they're like, I don't ever wanna go that through again.

00:23:03.884 --> 00:23:07.845
I'm like, well, let's just use the parts of it that can empower you now.

00:23:07.845 --> 00:23:09.315
Yeah, for sure.

00:23:09.375 --> 00:23:12.944
And that's definitely something I've had to learn too, is just like setting boundaries like.

00:23:13.325 --> 00:23:16.984
Around what information and advice I'm willing to accept from people.

00:23:16.984 --> 00:23:26.525
Yeah, like sometimes the thing that makes me so mad is when I go, especially chiropractors, I go to a chiropractor and they're like, oh, you just have bad posture.

00:23:26.795 --> 00:23:32.795
I'm like, I'm sure I have bad posture and it doesn't help that I sit at a desk most of the day, but like.

00:23:33.444 --> 00:23:37.525
Can you not erase over a decade of pain?

00:23:37.825 --> 00:23:42.894
That's not like I can say that it's a part of it, but it is not the whole thing.

00:23:42.894 --> 00:23:48.714
And for you to reduce my experience down to this one thing, I will not accept that and I will not come back and see you again.

00:23:48.924 --> 00:23:49.015
Mm-hmm.

00:23:49.075 --> 00:23:50.875
And I've just had to learn to like.

00:23:51.490 --> 00:23:55.630
Really set boundaries and like, not take it personally and just be like, you know what?

00:23:55.720 --> 00:23:56.710
They don't get it.

00:23:56.710 --> 00:24:00.069
They're not listening to me and I'm just gonna move on and find someone else who will.

00:24:00.430 --> 00:24:00.519
Yes.

00:24:00.519 --> 00:24:05.650
And that's, that's all I want is like what you were saying before is like the two things can be true at once.

00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:06.099
Situation.

00:24:06.099 --> 00:24:06.190
Mm-hmm.

00:24:06.430 --> 00:24:11.230
Where it's like you can do holistic healing and you can also do pharmaceuticals or whatever.

00:24:11.470 --> 00:24:15.160
This too, like I can say, okay, I can work on my posture, but like.

00:24:15.410 --> 00:24:18.289
I know that's not gonna solve everything going on.

00:24:18.289 --> 00:24:18.380
Mm-hmm.

00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:27.529
And so, yeah, just really, really like setting boundaries and, and with people in my life too, you know, like when you have a headache and their first thing they say is, oh, just drink some water.

00:24:27.529 --> 00:24:30.319
I'm like, you know that, that's not what's going on here.

00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:30.410
Right.

00:24:30.410 --> 00:24:32.599
I'm sure drinking water couldn't hurt, but like.

00:24:33.115 --> 00:24:35.065
It's not gonna make this whole situation go away.

00:24:35.515 --> 00:24:36.744
Yeah, exactly.

00:24:36.775 --> 00:24:37.164
Yeah.

00:24:37.255 --> 00:24:37.555
Yeah.

00:24:38.154 --> 00:24:39.265
Totally love that.

00:24:39.295 --> 00:24:50.994
Okay, so we kind of went off there, but that's important because I feel like we all, I don't think we hear enough about those kind of conversations about that paradigm of that tug of war.

00:24:51.460 --> 00:24:57.789
And I love that you said like you just accept that the function, like figuring out the health insurance piece is just gonna be difficult.

00:24:58.240 --> 00:25:02.259
Something that I've started incorporating this year is something I call the heal me Fun.

00:25:02.259 --> 00:25:07.750
And that can look like, obviously the things you do to take care of yourself physically, that.

00:25:08.095 --> 00:25:16.884
Holistic things, but also like the financial skill of saving for these things that even if you had insurance, it's not gonna cover it all.

00:25:16.884 --> 00:25:19.075
Like getting into that mindset.

00:25:19.075 --> 00:25:19.734
So I love that.

00:25:19.734 --> 00:25:26.005
That's kind of like what you were sha sharing about the business aspect of things, of moving into like, I just have to budget for it.

00:25:26.005 --> 00:25:27.234
This is just what I have to do.

00:25:27.234 --> 00:25:27.325
Mm-hmm.

00:25:28.045 --> 00:25:31.105
Instead of, but we can only do that if we like accept it.

00:25:31.105 --> 00:25:34.765
Like we have to, like, we can't just hope that it doesn't happen.

00:25:35.184 --> 00:25:35.515
You

00:25:35.515 --> 00:25:36.265
gotta plan for it.

00:25:36.265 --> 00:25:38.184
You gotta plan it to the best of your ability.

00:25:38.454 --> 00:25:40.525
And so that's one way that you can do that.

00:25:40.525 --> 00:25:43.734
So I love that to hear that, like that was kind of your focus.

00:25:44.125 --> 00:25:53.605
When it comes to something else you said about like building a team, because there are gonna be times that you can't do the work.

00:25:54.115 --> 00:25:57.025
How have you managed that for yourself?

00:25:57.025 --> 00:25:58.914
Like do you have systems?

00:25:58.914 --> 00:26:00.414
How did you build this team?

00:26:00.414 --> 00:26:02.424
How did you train this team?

00:26:02.424 --> 00:26:03.954
Like what did that look like for you?

00:26:03.954 --> 00:26:04.015
I.

00:26:04.585 --> 00:26:06.894
Yeah, this is like, it's not really a.

00:26:07.539 --> 00:26:08.500
What did it look like?

00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:09.849
It's like, what is it looking like?

00:26:10.089 --> 00:26:11.559
Because I'm really in the middle of this.

00:26:11.559 --> 00:26:11.650
Mm-hmm.

00:26:11.890 --> 00:26:15.819
But, so I've, I've actually always had another freelancer working with me.

00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:16.720
She's my sister.

00:26:16.720 --> 00:26:24.009
And so that's been really helpful because we have this relationship where like, I kind of can be like, Hey, can you jump in and work on this?

00:26:24.009 --> 00:26:24.099
Mm-hmm.

00:26:24.339 --> 00:26:26.500
And she, we have this understanding, right.

00:26:26.500 --> 00:26:33.309
And she's been such a blessing and help to me, the one thing that the, the ne, the very next hire that I need was a virtual assistant.

00:26:33.694 --> 00:26:39.065
And I think that that is going to, has already helped and will continue to help.

00:26:39.095 --> 00:26:47.855
She's really helped me set up a project management system so that everything is clear, like the due dates and the files, and where to find things.

00:26:47.855 --> 00:26:52.444
And I think that's gonna be one of the biggest pieces so that I can say to anyone on my team.

00:26:52.805 --> 00:26:54.934
Hey, this is what I want you to work on.

00:26:54.934 --> 00:26:56.164
Everything is right here.

00:26:56.164 --> 00:26:56.855
It's documented.

00:26:56.855 --> 00:27:00.484
I don't need to like pull links from this place and that folder and all of those things.

00:27:00.484 --> 00:27:01.444
It's already there.

00:27:01.805 --> 00:27:06.815
The other thing I think is gonna be really helpful is when I get her to take over my email because sometimes.

00:27:07.329 --> 00:27:11.410
Email can be, especially when I'm in the middle of like a brain fog mm-hmm.

00:27:11.440 --> 00:27:12.670
Responding to emails.

00:27:12.700 --> 00:27:16.390
I don't know why it takes me three seconds, but it's one of the most draining things.

00:27:16.690 --> 00:27:17.079
No, it, it's

00:27:17.619 --> 00:27:19.089
totally the most draining thing ever.

00:27:19.089 --> 00:27:19.150
It

00:27:19.150 --> 00:27:19.930
really is.

00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:23.799
And so for me it's like identifying what are those things that drain me.

00:27:24.285 --> 00:27:29.505
And you know, if I'm having kind of an off day, what I wanna be working on are the things that fuel me.

00:27:29.595 --> 00:27:29.684
Mm-hmm.

00:27:29.954 --> 00:27:37.430
Making videos or editing camera graphics, so things that are just fun and creative and enjoyable and I can just put on a movie in the background and mm-hmm.

00:27:37.509 --> 00:27:45.855
You know, trying to figure out what are those things that I can give to somebody else to take off my plate that really I can't do when I'm not feeling well.

00:27:46.125 --> 00:27:53.775
Versus what are the things that light me up that like I want to hold for myself, like I want to create the time and space to do them.

00:27:53.775 --> 00:27:57.315
So that's kind of how I'm trying to think about planning and structuring a team.

00:27:57.315 --> 00:27:57.404
Mm-hmm.

00:27:58.035 --> 00:28:00.704
It kind of like to support me in a way.

00:28:00.704 --> 00:28:08.325
And, and also, you know, there will be evolutions of that where like people have different responsibilities, but right now what I'm focusing on are, are those things.

00:28:08.490 --> 00:28:08.779
Yeah.

00:28:09.494 --> 00:28:09.825
Yeah.

00:28:09.825 --> 00:28:10.815
I, I love that.

00:28:10.815 --> 00:28:11.924
And absolutely.

00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:13.240
Having support.

00:28:13.240 --> 00:28:31.359
I just, first of all, I don't understand how anybody does it without like, and I get especially, and I think for those of folks that are listening who are like, they are in a corporate job and they are about to transition, I actually think if there's anything that I would've done differently, I would've probably did that.

00:28:31.359 --> 00:28:41.289
I would've hired a VA from the get go from that standpoint before I was like folded into my business because man, the amount of.

00:28:41.680 --> 00:28:42.609
Peace of mind.

00:28:42.609 --> 00:29:02.950
I feel like just from, as a chronic illness warrior, it helps you so much to have a peace of mind that even if you can't, client delivery, client communication, client, whatever, that you literally all have to do is like text or email this other person and they go into like fix it mode and you don't have to.

00:29:03.190 --> 00:29:03.279
Mm-hmm.

00:29:03.579 --> 00:29:05.380
Alone, to me is just like.

00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:08.859
Peace of mind that I will pay for.

00:29:08.950 --> 00:29:11.154
Yeah, 100%.

00:29:11.380 --> 00:29:11.740
Yeah.

00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:12.430
Right.

00:29:12.430 --> 00:29:27.275
And so I think a lot of times we think about having a VA or having support our business as something that you need when you're making KU money and like you're making like the seven and six figures and everything's jazzy and money's just rolling in.

00:29:27.335 --> 00:29:30.835
But I feel like for chronic illness warriors, we have to almost.

00:29:31.644 --> 00:29:36.115
Not almost, we have to like consider that as a cost of business.

00:29:36.115 --> 00:29:36.654
Mm-hmm.

00:29:37.345 --> 00:29:44.904
And also as an ROI, and also what I like to call an ROE into our business, our return of investment and a return of energy.

00:29:45.085 --> 00:29:45.325
Mm-hmm.

00:29:45.325 --> 00:29:46.375
When you have a va.

00:29:46.825 --> 00:29:47.035
Mm-hmm.

00:29:47.664 --> 00:29:55.914
Because I just, I can't, I mean, even when I was broke, like, broke, broke in my business, I found somebody on fiber, like you can find somebody.

00:29:55.914 --> 00:29:55.974
Yeah.

00:29:56.500 --> 00:29:57.190
You know what I'm saying?

00:29:57.190 --> 00:29:57.279
Yeah.

00:29:57.279 --> 00:30:07.000
Like, so I think the idea of like you can't have help until you're at a certain amount of income level is usually why I think businesses fail within the first one or two, three years.

00:30:07.000 --> 00:30:10.599
And if you're living with chronic illness, that's even, I think that's the other reason why it happens.

00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:10.660
I.

00:30:11.095 --> 00:30:12.115
Yeah, for sure.

00:30:12.115 --> 00:30:14.845
I mean, it, it's definitely scary hiring.

00:30:14.845 --> 00:30:14.934
Mm-hmm.

00:30:15.174 --> 00:30:18.115
Because you feel like you're taking on this big responsibility.

00:30:18.444 --> 00:30:25.944
You know, if I can't pay myself one month in my business or pay myself the full amount I wanted to or whatever, it's like I can handle that, right?

00:30:25.974 --> 00:30:26.125
Mm-hmm.

00:30:26.365 --> 00:30:29.005
But if I can't pay somebody else, that's just not okay.

00:30:29.005 --> 00:30:29.095
Mm-hmm.

00:30:29.099 --> 00:30:29.380
And so.

00:30:30.295 --> 00:30:31.285
It felt scary.

00:30:31.285 --> 00:30:42.565
It felt overwhelming, but it is one of those things that like once I just did it, she took so much off my plate and, and this applies I think, to any entrepreneur, but like you said, especially people with chronic illness that.

00:30:43.404 --> 00:30:48.984
That has just taken so much off of my plate and freed me up to focus so much on the things that I wanna be doing.

00:30:48.984 --> 00:30:52.255
And, you know, I've been able to kind of start taking every other Friday off.

00:30:52.255 --> 00:30:57.984
And it's just those little things that like, have felt so good and, and now I'm not scared anymore.

00:30:57.984 --> 00:30:58.015
Mm.

00:30:58.045 --> 00:31:00.325
I'm like, oh, I can sustain this.

00:31:00.325 --> 00:31:04.404
Like, I believe in my ability to create the revenue I need to create.

00:31:04.734 --> 00:31:07.315
To sustain this employment for this person.

00:31:07.315 --> 00:31:07.375
Yeah.

00:31:07.674 --> 00:31:17.035
And, and now like, I've kind of started hiring a few more freelancers because once I've just hired the first one, I don't really count my sister because she's been with me since the very beginning.

00:31:17.035 --> 00:31:23.214
And like we just, I, it's just funny how she got involved, but this was like the first real hire for me.

00:31:23.244 --> 00:31:28.224
And once I got past that and worked with her for like a month, I was like, okay, what's my next one?

00:31:28.224 --> 00:31:29.154
Because it's just mm-hmm.

00:31:29.500 --> 00:31:33.654
It, it does really free me up to just, and the other thing is like.

00:31:34.250 --> 00:31:37.670
I need to create more time to be CEO of my business, right?

00:31:37.670 --> 00:31:37.759
Mm-hmm.

00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:40.069
Like, no, those are the things no one is doing for me.

00:31:40.130 --> 00:31:40.250
Mm-hmm.

00:31:40.250 --> 00:31:52.970
And, and I really need to create that time to build the business and strategize and, you know, plan and do all the implementation then, and, and that's how it's gonna have to happen at this point.

00:31:53.660 --> 00:31:54.079
Yeah.

00:31:54.619 --> 00:31:55.490
I love that.

00:31:55.490 --> 00:32:00.680
And I also, I wonder, do you, are you guys working on, like, putting some systems in place so that.

00:32:01.704 --> 00:32:08.575
Like even if you can't deliver on the things that you enjoy doing, that there is a process that they can kind of follow.

00:32:08.575 --> 00:32:21.025
Because I also think that's the other thing that happens for most of us living with, I think entrepreneurs starting out in general, but I specifically think this is more tailored to those living with chronic illnesses that we think some of these things can wait.

00:32:21.565 --> 00:32:23.904
And in reality, our flareups don't wait.

00:32:24.265 --> 00:32:25.404
The pain doesn't wait.

00:32:25.809 --> 00:32:28.599
The doctor's appointments and all these things don't wait.

00:32:28.599 --> 00:32:33.430
So having these things in place, like a VA in systems now is what literally is our safety net.

00:32:33.460 --> 00:32:33.519
Yeah.

00:32:33.849 --> 00:32:36.490
So like how has that looked like for you?

00:32:36.490 --> 00:32:36.549
I.

00:32:37.029 --> 00:32:41.890
Yeah, we're, we're working on getting SOPs created, so that'll be helpful.

00:32:42.130 --> 00:32:52.119
And the other thing is, it just, I mean, it feels good knowing that between my sister and my va, that two people know everything that's going on in the business.

00:32:52.119 --> 00:32:52.210
Mm-hmm.

00:32:52.450 --> 00:32:58.240
Like, even if it's not relevant to them, like they're, they're not needing to work on it necessarily right now.

00:32:58.849 --> 00:33:03.109
I like to inform them like, okay, I have this new client, we're working on this.

00:33:03.140 --> 00:33:09.259
It's just kind of me and the client, but like, you know, maybe it's coaching or consulting, but I still want other people to kind of know.

00:33:09.259 --> 00:33:16.579
And again, we're kind of like working to figure out what are those systems, but it just helps for me to know that they're clued in.

00:33:16.609 --> 00:33:21.500
There's, I have created a client contacts document that my VA has access to.

00:33:21.769 --> 00:33:23.569
So if I were to send her the like.

00:33:24.039 --> 00:33:25.569
SOS message of whatever kind.

00:33:25.569 --> 00:33:25.690
Mm-hmm.

00:33:26.109 --> 00:33:31.329
She has contact with all of my clients that she could communicate with them on my behalf.

00:33:31.630 --> 00:33:33.430
That I think is really helpful.

00:33:33.549 --> 00:33:33.670
Yeah.

00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:37.809
And, and knowing my sister on like the, the deliverable side mm-hmm.

00:33:38.079 --> 00:33:42.190
She knows the systems and processes and she knows all the new freelancers I'm hiring.

00:33:42.220 --> 00:33:42.309
Mm-hmm.

00:33:42.549 --> 00:33:44.380
So if, again, same thing on her side.

00:33:44.380 --> 00:33:45.579
If, if I.

00:33:46.134 --> 00:33:52.285
Had the SOS message to her, I could say, okay, you know, all the freelancers, these are the deliverables that need to get done with clients.

00:33:52.644 --> 00:33:53.575
Please manage that.

00:33:53.575 --> 00:33:56.454
And she, she just knows because she's been doing it with me.

00:33:56.484 --> 00:33:56.575
Mm-hmm.

00:33:56.815 --> 00:33:58.944
So those are kind of how we're, we're managing it right now.

00:33:58.944 --> 00:33:59.005
Yeah.

00:33:59.005 --> 00:34:10.525
And I actually have reached out to a, a system strategist from the Chronic West Collective that I'm hoping to kind of chat with her more about like high level systems, because I do think with growth, that's gotta be top priority.

00:34:10.675 --> 00:34:12.144
Yeah, yeah.

00:34:12.144 --> 00:34:14.454
Automations and all of that.

00:34:14.454 --> 00:34:15.474
Jazz is.

00:34:15.510 --> 00:34:19.860
The way to go, especially if you just need to click a button and you need to go to sleep.

00:34:19.864 --> 00:34:19.954
Yeah.

00:34:19.954 --> 00:34:21.875
Like that's how I feel about it.

00:34:22.230 --> 00:34:24.869
Like, can I click a button and then go NN I'm happy.

00:34:27.449 --> 00:34:32.909
So let me tell you about one of the tools that has quietly become the heartbeat of my business over the years.

00:34:33.239 --> 00:34:33.960
It's HoneyBook.

00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:35.849
I use it for everything.

00:34:36.090 --> 00:34:37.139
No, seriously everything.

00:34:37.139 --> 00:34:49.650
It's how I book my podcast guests, bring on new one-on-one clients, even manage group coaching calls when my other platforms decide that they wanna have a meltdown from contracts and payments to contact forms, to task reminders.

00:34:49.949 --> 00:34:54.659
HoneyBook keeps all of the moving parts in one place, and it is all automated.

00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:56.340
And here's the real kicker.

00:34:56.340 --> 00:34:58.050
It works with my capacity.

00:34:58.349 --> 00:35:12.719
Whether I'm having a low energy week or need to automate a bunch of stuff in one go, or just create a system that makes it easy for me to run a flexible business, HoneyBook gives me that freedom to still move my business forward if you are looking for a central hub to help you work smarter.

00:35:12.815 --> 00:35:13.715
Not harder.

00:35:14.014 --> 00:35:15.635
I highly recommend you checking it out.

00:35:15.635 --> 00:35:19.985
So if you head on over to the show notes, you'll get 50% off your first year.

00:35:19.985 --> 00:35:23.554
And yes, that's my affiliate link, but I only share what I actually use in love.

00:35:23.855 --> 00:35:27.005
HoneyBook is my jam and I hope you check it out.

00:35:27.659 --> 00:35:44.039
So just a, a thing for you, what does like being like when pain happens for you in your business now versus like when you were working in your, like the nine to five, what is different?

00:35:44.550 --> 00:35:44.969
Hmm.

00:35:45.489 --> 00:35:49.690
I would say the first thing, like I said before, is like a lot less guilt and a lot less pushing through.

00:35:49.840 --> 00:36:00.969
Like last week I had a day, I mean last week I had a week, but, but I had one day where I just woke up in the morning and I was like, my body doesn't feel right.

00:36:01.000 --> 00:36:03.039
My brain doesn not feel right.

00:36:03.039 --> 00:36:05.230
And I just did, I didn't do anything.

00:36:05.230 --> 00:36:05.320
Mm-hmm.

00:36:05.500 --> 00:36:10.599
I opened up my email to make sure that there wasn't anything immediate that I needed to get back to anyone on.

00:36:10.815 --> 00:36:17.295
I looked through the email, I thought, okay, nothing's urgent, and I shut the laptop and I just laid down for like the first half of the day.

00:36:18.014 --> 00:36:26.565
And the fact that I didn't have to feel any guilt about that, I didn't feel like I had to message anyone and check in or you know, whatever felt so good.

00:36:26.684 --> 00:36:38.775
Sometimes there are consequences to that where maybe then, okay, I have to say I'm gonna work late another night to make up for it because let's be real, like we're business owners and like we have work to get done and I can't just take off all the time, but.

00:36:39.114 --> 00:36:40.405
But I'm okay with that.

00:36:40.405 --> 00:36:47.934
Like that's a, that's a trade off I'm happy to make because it means that when my body's not feeling good, like I think I ended up napping.

00:36:48.025 --> 00:36:57.114
And then I said, I called one of my friends from home and we, I walked for an hour on the phone with a friend and that just filled my cup on that day when I was not feeling good.

00:36:57.114 --> 00:36:59.184
And I moved my body a little bit and.

00:36:59.545 --> 00:37:05.425
And then I was able to like, sit down at my computer after dinner and just get some of those things done that I was supposed to do that day.

00:37:05.425 --> 00:37:05.485
Yeah.

00:37:05.545 --> 00:37:06.534
That's what's different.

00:37:06.594 --> 00:37:06.655
Yeah.

00:37:06.655 --> 00:37:07.585
And, and it's a trade off.

00:37:07.585 --> 00:37:08.844
I'm happy to, to have.

00:37:09.114 --> 00:37:09.414
Yeah.

00:37:09.954 --> 00:37:11.094
And that's the thing, right?

00:37:11.094 --> 00:37:13.255
I don't even like to call those trade-offs.

00:37:13.284 --> 00:37:14.514
I called them perks.

00:37:14.784 --> 00:37:15.715
Yeah, for sure.

00:37:15.894 --> 00:37:19.824
Because like, I can't, I couldn't do that in a nine to five, like.

00:37:21.054 --> 00:37:25.014
Like, I couldn't be like, Hey guys, I'm just gonna nap for today.

00:37:25.014 --> 00:37:27.385
And then like, I'll see you guys at six.

00:37:27.414 --> 00:37:29.364
Oh, I'm sorry you guys won't be there.

00:37:29.364 --> 00:37:32.724
I guess I'll still come into the office and still work at this desk.

00:37:32.724 --> 00:37:34.735
Like I couldn't do that.

00:37:34.735 --> 00:37:39.894
And so to me like that's the privilege, that's the perks of, that's the benefits.

00:37:39.894 --> 00:37:43.255
Like to me, those are the benefits of being an entrepreneur and being like.

00:37:43.675 --> 00:37:47.275
Yeah, I got to sleep in today and I didn't do anything, but you know what?

00:37:47.364 --> 00:37:51.085
I woke up and I had time at nine o'clock and I did it like mm-hmm.

00:37:51.625 --> 00:37:52.494
That's awesome.

00:37:52.585 --> 00:38:03.775
Yeah, and I, I definitely think it comes from just being able to not make it mean that we are not enough, it's just that we did it different.

00:38:04.164 --> 00:38:05.635
Yeah, absolutely.

00:38:05.635 --> 00:38:06.625
I, I mean.

00:38:07.074 --> 00:38:11.034
I think people who don't live with chronic conditions probably don't really get it.

00:38:11.065 --> 00:38:11.155
Mm-hmm.

00:38:11.514 --> 00:38:14.210
But it's just one of those things like I, I can't.

00:38:15.159 --> 00:38:18.730
I don't want to feel bad about feeling bad, right?

00:38:18.730 --> 00:38:18.820
Mm-hmm.

00:38:19.059 --> 00:38:21.400
Like it, it's just, this is what it is.

00:38:21.400 --> 00:38:22.510
This is the reality.

00:38:22.510 --> 00:38:30.969
And if I tried to sit there at my computer right now and do this work, I would probably end up staring at a screen for three hours and getting nothing done, right?

00:38:30.974 --> 00:38:30.985
Mm-hmm.

00:38:31.054 --> 00:38:33.849
Yeah, because like my, my mind and my body are not there.

00:38:33.849 --> 00:38:34.150
They're not.

00:38:34.905 --> 00:38:37.215
Capable in that moment to, to do it.

00:38:37.215 --> 00:38:45.045
And so for me, it's like, I, I can't, I'm, I'm not gonna feel bad about that because it's just not productive, right?

00:38:45.045 --> 00:38:45.135
Mm-hmm.

00:38:45.135 --> 00:38:51.885
Like, it's just not a good use of time in when I could have just been doing the things to get me to feel better.

00:38:51.885 --> 00:38:51.945
Yeah.

00:38:52.184 --> 00:38:57.224
Instead, I just forced, tried to force myself and then it's like a lose lose situation.

00:38:57.434 --> 00:38:57.764
Yeah.

00:38:58.244 --> 00:39:02.985
So what are some things that, like if someone is like listening right now who's like, okay, I.

00:39:03.670 --> 00:39:09.010
All right, Liz, and y'all talking about me transitioning from full-time job to my own business.

00:39:09.429 --> 00:39:17.170
What are some of the things that you did that helped you make that as, as uns scary but still scary enough?

00:39:17.170 --> 00:39:18.554
Like what was some of the things that you did?

00:39:18.554 --> 00:39:18.835
Mm-hmm.

00:39:19.284 --> 00:39:22.974
Well, the, the one that everyone says is like, have savings.

00:39:23.005 --> 00:39:23.094
Mm-hmm.

00:39:23.335 --> 00:39:27.175
I think that that obviously really, really helps for me.

00:39:27.175 --> 00:39:36.385
Also, the fact that I already had clients when I quit my full-time job and knew I wasn't going from like a full-time salary to$0.

00:39:36.445 --> 00:39:36.534
Mm-hmm.

00:39:36.775 --> 00:39:41.965
Like knowing that even though the, the amount of clients wasn't what I wanted in terms of a business.

00:39:42.324 --> 00:39:45.474
It was something to start with that was super helpful.

00:39:45.474 --> 00:39:55.614
So I would say like if there's any way you can start doing it on the side at a small scale, just it'll give you that con, that confidence too of like, okay, I have proof of con concept.

00:39:55.614 --> 00:39:59.155
I know I can get clients, or I know I can sell this product or whatever.

00:39:59.454 --> 00:40:03.925
So you don't jump feeling like, can I even make this work?

00:40:04.014 --> 00:40:04.135
Mm-hmm.

00:40:04.434 --> 00:40:05.635
That would be one.

00:40:06.235 --> 00:40:11.695
I would also say that really figuring out your offer.

00:40:12.505 --> 00:40:29.454
Really, really helps because for me, I used the time while I was in my full-time job to like do all of the market research, to do the pro the pricing research and come up with my pricing, come up with like those, you know, my portfolio that I send to future potential clients and things.

00:40:29.724 --> 00:40:38.394
This way, when I quit my full-time job, I was able to just go and start trying to get new clients instead of spending a month doing all of those things.

00:40:38.735 --> 00:40:46.894
To me that was just, you know, I could sit down one evening after work and spend three hours on this, on this portfolio and just check it off the list.

00:40:47.045 --> 00:40:56.525
That was the other thing I did, was made a, a, a checklist of things that needed to get done in order for me to feel ready to leave the, the job and then things that I wanted to get done.

00:40:56.824 --> 00:40:56.885
Yeah.

00:40:56.885 --> 00:41:01.625
So this way, when I reached that point of burnout, I looked at my list and I said.

00:41:01.824 --> 00:41:02.275
Okay.

00:41:02.275 --> 00:41:04.045
I'm in like a pretty good spot.

00:41:04.074 --> 00:41:10.074
Maybe I didn't get all the things I wanted to get done, but I needed, I, I got everything on the need to-do list done.

00:41:10.284 --> 00:41:10.405
Mm-hmm.

00:41:10.675 --> 00:41:22.824
And, and that just felt, felt good knowing that like, I had kind of had a plan and I didn't get the full way through the plan, but I had laid enough groundwork to feel ready.

00:41:23.184 --> 00:41:23.574
Yeah.

00:41:24.010 --> 00:41:32.949
And the other thing that did really help me in the transition, and this is not an option to everyone, but when I quit my full-time job, they actually asked me, I put in my two weeks notice and they actually asked me to stay.

00:41:33.190 --> 00:41:35.199
So I ended up having six weeks.

00:41:35.349 --> 00:41:39.190
I transitioned to part-time at a a certain point.

00:41:39.489 --> 00:41:42.610
That was just a huge, huge help and.

00:41:43.179 --> 00:41:47.829
I went into that process thinking that they were not like, I thought they were gonna be like, we're done with you.

00:41:47.829 --> 00:41:54.579
But really they loved that I was able to offer them that time because my last day was the new social media manager's first day.

00:41:54.579 --> 00:42:00.550
So I got to sit down with the new social media manager and onboard her a little bit and say, this is where I keep things and.

00:42:00.914 --> 00:42:02.954
Instead of them having this gap.

00:42:02.954 --> 00:42:06.375
So if you have a full-time job, you can always just offer that.

00:42:06.375 --> 00:42:09.375
Like, I'm willing to stay on and help with the transition.

00:42:09.375 --> 00:42:11.324
I even interviewed my replacements.

00:42:11.355 --> 00:42:11.385
Mm.

00:42:11.414 --> 00:42:16.605
Like I was fully immersed in that process because I stayed on and I think they really enjoyed that.

00:42:16.605 --> 00:42:22.184
So if you can ask your job, Hey, I would love to have like a slow off board.

00:42:22.364 --> 00:42:22.545
Mm-hmm.

00:42:22.844 --> 00:42:25.244
Then that can be a huge help financially too.

00:42:25.454 --> 00:42:25.994
Yeah.

00:42:26.409 --> 00:42:27.130
Love that.

00:42:27.190 --> 00:42:27.610
Yeah.

00:42:27.880 --> 00:42:29.920
You know, we, I love that you said that.

00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:38.650
'cause sometimes we're, we're like just operating in the fear of what's gonna happen when we leave versus in the, like to me that's more like I.

00:42:39.474 --> 00:42:44.514
What's possible if you did leave in the way that felt the greatest to you?

00:42:44.724 --> 00:42:49.855
I mean now if you're trying to leave the job'cause you absolutely hate the place and they're crazy, then that's different.

00:42:50.155 --> 00:42:59.664
But if it's like a, a, a, a environment that you may have have been with for a while or that you do enjoy or you wanna keep that bridge unburned like Yeah.

00:42:59.664 --> 00:43:02.364
Then I love that, that you shared that as well.

00:43:02.425 --> 00:43:02.815
Yeah.

00:43:02.934 --> 00:43:05.514
For me, part of it too was once I had told them.

00:43:05.965 --> 00:43:07.315
It felt so much better.

00:43:07.344 --> 00:43:08.364
Like it released me.

00:43:08.394 --> 00:43:11.485
'cause I kind of felt like my brain was in two different places.

00:43:11.485 --> 00:43:16.644
I felt a little like scared at work because I was like, I have this other thing, and I was like scared.

00:43:16.644 --> 00:43:18.085
I didn't wanna talk to anyone about it.

00:43:18.324 --> 00:43:22.014
But once they knew and they were also excited for me, like I was fortunate.

00:43:22.014 --> 00:43:24.445
Like I said, I had a really good work environment that like.

00:43:25.065 --> 00:43:28.244
It just felt good then that I could actually talk to them about it too.

00:43:28.244 --> 00:43:32.264
And it again, like you said, it's not right in every scenario, right?

00:43:32.264 --> 00:43:39.554
But it was a win-win on both sides that I got more time of getting paid and they got more time for the transition.

00:43:39.554 --> 00:43:40.215
And so, yeah.

00:43:40.594 --> 00:43:45.844
I went into that fully, like imagining in my head the, the thing where they're like, just go empty out your desk.

00:43:45.844 --> 00:43:46.324
You're done.

00:43:46.324 --> 00:43:46.684
You know?

00:43:46.684 --> 00:43:49.474
I don't know why like you, we go to the worst case scenario.

00:43:49.480 --> 00:43:49.510
Yeah.

00:43:49.510 --> 00:43:53.585
But like, yeah, thinking about what's the best case scenario and just like, why not?

00:43:53.585 --> 00:43:55.264
Why not ask, why not put it out there?

00:43:55.594 --> 00:43:55.954
Yeah.

00:43:56.014 --> 00:43:56.644
I love that.

00:43:56.764 --> 00:43:56.974
Yeah.

00:43:56.974 --> 00:43:57.934
I love that so much.

00:43:58.534 --> 00:43:59.735
How did you prepare?

00:43:59.735 --> 00:44:06.844
What were some things you prepared as far as like living with the chronic pain and the fatigue and the brain fog to prep for that as well?

00:44:07.300 --> 00:44:08.469
That's a good question.

00:44:08.469 --> 00:44:15.309
So it actually was really kind of unexpected because I had actually gotten to a really good place with my care routine.

00:44:15.309 --> 00:44:19.179
I had found an amazing chiropractor who was more than a chiropractor.

00:44:19.179 --> 00:44:27.250
He did like soft tissue work and all those things, and so I was, I was in a really, really good place actually with this regimen that I had with him.

00:44:27.775 --> 00:44:35.635
Then a month after I quit my job, my long-term boyfriend got a new job in a different state.

00:44:35.635 --> 00:44:40.074
So we ended up moving out of state like a couple months later and uh, wow.

00:44:40.375 --> 00:44:43.255
It actually made it a lot, a little bit harder.

00:44:43.905 --> 00:44:45.105
The stress, right?

00:44:45.105 --> 00:44:47.715
Because stress is one of my huge pain triggers.

00:44:47.925 --> 00:44:57.344
So the stress of this kind of quick move that we were kind of planning for, but we were not planning for it to happen as soon as it did, that was a huge trigger.

00:44:57.344 --> 00:45:00.164
And also just losing this chiropractor, I.

00:45:00.405 --> 00:45:05.534
That was helping me so much and got me to like such a great place was really, really hard for me.

00:45:05.534 --> 00:45:07.034
I was so devastated.

00:45:07.244 --> 00:45:07.364
Mm-hmm.

00:45:07.364 --> 00:45:12.375
And so that actually was really hard because when you move to a new place, it's hard to find those people again.

00:45:12.644 --> 00:45:12.735
Yeah.

00:45:12.795 --> 00:45:19.364
So the way I prepared was by like getting myself to a good baseline where I was having less pain days.

00:45:19.364 --> 00:45:19.545
Right.

00:45:19.545 --> 00:45:23.594
I was having less flareups that didn't stay that way because of life.

00:45:23.594 --> 00:45:26.505
But that's the best thing I would recommend is just like.

00:45:27.324 --> 00:45:31.375
This is gonna be leaving and starting a business is gonna be so stressful.

00:45:31.375 --> 00:45:33.264
Like, it was so stressful for me.

00:45:33.264 --> 00:45:48.385
And so the best thing I could do for myself was just get myself to the best place possible so that when that stress ramped up, I already had, my care provider I knew was really helping me, that I could book an appointment or like I had this routine and I, I was already in a good place.

00:45:48.474 --> 00:45:49.320
So that's what I would do.

00:45:49.969 --> 00:45:50.900
It didn't work out.

00:45:51.860 --> 00:45:52.610
That's what I attend to.

00:45:52.610 --> 00:45:53.420
Well, you prepare.

00:45:53.420 --> 00:45:55.250
Well, you can prepare for it.

00:45:55.250 --> 00:45:58.969
I mean, you can prepare for a lot of things and things, you know, shift.

00:45:59.539 --> 00:46:01.159
I think one of the things I.

00:46:01.585 --> 00:46:02.485
I love that you did.

00:46:02.485 --> 00:46:11.545
It was just like, okay, I know I'm going, you anticipated that this is gonna be a little bit more stressful of a time, and so you anticipated like, I need to ramp up this, I need to do that.

00:46:11.545 --> 00:46:23.664
And I definitely think everyone, that's just something to keep in mind too is like maybe it's not like you may not, maybe you are gonna wanna ramp up some more self care, some more.

00:46:24.425 --> 00:46:25.684
Mindset work as well.

00:46:25.684 --> 00:46:28.775
So more physical activity, movement and things like that.

00:46:28.775 --> 00:46:38.105
And getting your body to a place that's almost like when it's in that state, if you're gonna go through something like that, that it's not pulling from nothing.

00:46:38.494 --> 00:46:38.585
Mm-hmm.

00:46:38.824 --> 00:46:42.875
It's a storehouse of things you have there that it can pull from.

00:46:42.875 --> 00:46:42.934
Yeah.

00:46:43.295 --> 00:46:46.985
And that you can, you can kind of relax into at the same time.

00:46:46.985 --> 00:46:49.175
So, such good points there.

00:46:49.655 --> 00:46:51.965
So tell us a little bit about your business.

00:46:52.539 --> 00:47:00.250
You as a social media manager, what does that look like for you operating in that living with chronic illness?

00:47:00.880 --> 00:47:04.030
Yeah, so I, my business is social with purpose.

00:47:04.090 --> 00:47:10.210
We do social media management, we do social media content creation, and we do like training and consulting.

00:47:10.300 --> 00:47:13.179
And so it's kind of interesting.

00:47:13.239 --> 00:47:21.489
One of the things is like my business is very built around social media management, and I prioritize working with nonprofit organizations and purpose-driven businesses.

00:47:21.699 --> 00:47:28.090
And it's like I have this proven model where like the majority of my clients are in this space, but it's also trying to figure out like.

00:47:28.394 --> 00:47:36.945
How to diversify a little bit and how to get clients in different ways, like in more of a consulting capacity or in more of like the content creation capacity.

00:47:37.244 --> 00:47:44.985
Because I think everyone wants a social media manager to like just jump in and do it for them and, and, and that's just, it works really well.

00:47:44.985 --> 00:47:54.855
But definitely I'm, in terms of business, just wanting to like, think a little bit further in terms of like, how do we diversify in terms of like, you know, just my experience.

00:47:54.914 --> 00:47:56.235
It, I think it's just kind of.

00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:00.670
The reason it works really well for me is I don't have to be always on for my clients.

00:48:01.269 --> 00:48:02.889
It's based on deliverables.

00:48:02.889 --> 00:48:07.269
It's based on once a month I deliver content for them to review.

00:48:07.269 --> 00:48:12.699
We have these meetings and check-ins and things, but the vast majority I can do whenever I want.

00:48:13.150 --> 00:48:17.500
And that's one thing that really helps me because it doesn't require me to be always on.

00:48:17.500 --> 00:48:22.329
I'm not logging hours for clients, you know, I'm not online at certain time, I'm just.

00:48:22.614 --> 00:48:28.224
I know each month what I have to get done for these clients and when I get them done and how I get them done is kind of up to me.

00:48:28.224 --> 00:48:35.005
So that's one of the reasons I think it works really well for me and with my health because like I said, you know, I have that flexibility.

00:48:35.005 --> 00:48:37.855
If, if I'm not feeling good one day, I don't have to push through.

00:48:37.855 --> 00:48:38.244
I, I.

00:48:38.769 --> 00:48:44.679
Try to plan it so that I'm working on things a little before when they're due, which, let's be real, we're business owners.

00:48:44.679 --> 00:48:46.059
It doesn't always happen.

00:48:46.539 --> 00:48:57.969
'cause we get, you know, when you're building a business, there's a lot of components and it can be a, it can be a hustle sometimes, honestly, like to, to, I don't want it to be that way and I'm actively working against that.

00:48:57.969 --> 00:49:02.469
But there are some sometimes where you just find yourself with more work than you anticipated on your plate.

00:49:02.469 --> 00:49:02.559
Mm-hmm.

00:49:02.800 --> 00:49:04.570
Or you didn't plan things right or whatever.

00:49:05.110 --> 00:49:06.460
But for the most part.

00:49:06.849 --> 00:49:12.460
It means I can work ahead and get things done and not have to stress.

00:49:12.579 --> 00:49:12.940
Mm.

00:49:13.300 --> 00:49:16.269
Because I don't have to be on for them at any particular time.

00:49:16.344 --> 00:49:16.635
Yeah.

00:49:17.349 --> 00:49:17.619
Yeah.

00:49:18.010 --> 00:49:18.550
Love that.

00:49:18.699 --> 00:49:19.179
Love that.

00:49:19.179 --> 00:49:19.420
Yeah.

00:49:19.420 --> 00:49:21.159
Build a business that works around your life.

00:49:21.219 --> 00:49:22.000
That's what I say.

00:49:22.005 --> 00:49:22.074
Mm-hmm.

00:49:22.449 --> 00:49:30.369
I personally think from a standpoint of like the type of business that works the best is where you are in the most control.

00:49:30.369 --> 00:49:31.300
The driver's seat of.

00:49:32.139 --> 00:49:47.800
What and when you need to do something and you not always rely on other people for that to happen, and so because then you give yourself that flexibility and freedom, this is why I will probably die saying coaching and consulting are the best ways to do that, but I.

00:49:48.730 --> 00:50:02.139
If you are going to have a service-based business, like be sure you are designing it so that it gives you more flexibility and freedom in that way, and you're not like being handicapped or chained to these clients in a certain way.

00:50:02.139 --> 00:50:02.230
Mm-hmm.

00:50:02.800 --> 00:50:03.909
Uh, I think sometimes I.

00:50:04.235 --> 00:50:09.905
When I see service providers with chronic illness, I feel like they overcomplicate the delivery.

00:50:09.905 --> 00:50:09.994
Mm-hmm.

00:50:10.170 --> 00:50:17.644
And because when they overcomplicate the delivery, they put themselves in this space of having to be more on than they need to be.

00:50:17.974 --> 00:50:18.425
Right.

00:50:18.425 --> 00:50:27.994
And so that creates that same kind of experience that you had in a nine to five where you're like, oh no, I feel guilty, and like, let's not recreate the thing we tried to get away from.

00:50:27.994 --> 00:50:28.054
Yeah.

00:50:28.054 --> 00:50:32.675
So it sounds like you have been really designing your business in that way as well.

00:50:33.230 --> 00:50:37.670
Yeah, I've tried because I think it just works for me personality wise too, you know?

00:50:37.670 --> 00:50:37.760
Mm-hmm.

00:50:37.766 --> 00:50:41.329
Um, and I want to be available to my clients, right?

00:50:41.329 --> 00:50:47.780
If they have questions or like, you know, if they have something quick that like comes up, you know, I wanna be available to them.

00:50:47.780 --> 00:50:51.440
But I also have structured it in a way where it's like.

00:50:51.880 --> 00:50:54.010
It's around my preferences.

00:50:54.039 --> 00:50:54.130
Mm-hmm.

00:50:54.369 --> 00:50:56.590
Of when and how and where it gets done.

00:50:56.860 --> 00:51:04.599
And that I don't need to be like waiting for them to like text me on a Tuesday morning so we can get this post out.

00:51:04.599 --> 00:51:06.940
Like that's not really the way I've built it.

00:51:07.059 --> 00:51:10.599
There are once in a while, exceptions that we make, but for the most part it's like.

00:51:10.985 --> 00:51:13.565
Oh, you send us something late that you want posted.

00:51:13.565 --> 00:51:20.014
Okay, it's gonna go out when we get it to go out and we try to prioritize it and get it done, but it's like, I can't guarantee this is gonna happen today.

00:51:20.045 --> 00:51:20.315
Right.

00:51:20.525 --> 00:51:20.764
Yeah.

00:51:20.764 --> 00:51:23.405
Boundaries like trying to set those boundaries for sure.

00:51:23.494 --> 00:51:24.094
It's hard.

00:51:24.094 --> 00:51:26.554
It can be really hard, especially when you're newer in business.

00:51:26.554 --> 00:51:31.715
And this is something that from the business owner mindset perspective, I struggled with a little bit was.

00:51:32.155 --> 00:51:37.105
I think when you work a full-time job and you get hired, you have that feeling of being like, oh, they trust me.

00:51:37.105 --> 00:51:44.635
Like they've, they've placed this title on me that they believe in me, and so I can be good at what I do and you know, I can believe in myself.

00:51:44.875 --> 00:51:51.954
And when you start your own business, you're basically placing that title on yourself and saying, Hey guys, I do this thing and I'm pretty good at it.

00:51:51.954 --> 00:51:53.844
And that was kind of hard for me at first.

00:51:53.844 --> 00:51:54.775
I was very, mm.

00:51:55.074 --> 00:51:55.795
Intimidated.

00:51:55.795 --> 00:52:02.965
And I've really struggled with that concept of like under promise and overdeliver where I put so much pressure on myself to always overdeliver.

00:52:02.994 --> 00:52:06.715
So there was a time where I did feel like I had to like respond immediately.

00:52:06.715 --> 00:52:08.875
I had to like be so on top of things.

00:52:08.875 --> 00:52:12.175
I had to be going above and beyond in every single way.

00:52:12.804 --> 00:52:12.864
Yeah.

00:52:12.864 --> 00:52:17.155
But I am sort of shifting that mindset and saying like, you know what?

00:52:17.155 --> 00:52:22.405
Like I can't operate that way'cause that is another road to burnout that I don't wanna be on And mm-hmm.

00:52:23.050 --> 00:52:24.550
It's part of it is confidence.

00:52:24.550 --> 00:52:27.130
Part of it is just lessons learned about boundaries.

00:52:27.369 --> 00:52:39.159
But I definitely made some mistakes in saying yes to too many things at first, or being too available to the point where they, you kind of like get taken advantage of or just, you know, you didn't set the right boundaries.

00:52:39.159 --> 00:52:40.750
And that's something I've had to learn.

00:52:40.960 --> 00:52:45.489
But fortunately I've, I've not had any challenges with, like, pushback from clients either.

00:52:45.489 --> 00:52:45.550
Yeah.

00:52:45.550 --> 00:52:52.360
I think I've, I've found clients that really respect my boundaries and, and when I set them, so I am super happy with that.

00:52:52.929 --> 00:52:53.199
Yeah.

00:52:53.199 --> 00:52:55.480
And you work in a niche that you wanna work in.

00:52:55.480 --> 00:52:57.670
Like you work with people that you really like.

00:52:57.684 --> 00:52:58.105
Mm-hmm.

00:52:58.184 --> 00:53:02.980
And you really are like down for their mission and, and their values.

00:53:02.980 --> 00:53:04.360
Like you align in that way.

00:53:04.360 --> 00:53:05.744
And I think I.

00:53:05.784 --> 00:53:12.385
Again, this is something else I will always say is like, if you're living with chronic illness, we don't have time to be dealing with people who are not in alignment with

00:53:12.835 --> 00:53:13.105
Yeah.

00:53:13.164 --> 00:53:16.045
What we want or how we wanna help the people in the world.

00:53:16.045 --> 00:53:18.054
So like why waste our time with that?

00:53:18.309 --> 00:53:18.590
Mm-hmm.

00:53:19.170 --> 00:53:20.664
And that can be a double-edged sword.

00:53:20.664 --> 00:53:26.485
'cause I think, especially when I work with nonprofits, I would always feel the need to like really over deliver.

00:53:26.695 --> 00:53:26.875
Yeah.

00:53:26.875 --> 00:53:29.664
And really give a lot because they're nonprofit organizations.

00:53:29.664 --> 00:53:29.875
Mm-hmm.

00:53:30.264 --> 00:53:39.894
And I still do, like, I think for every client, you know, I think I still try to be giving and like do those things to surprise and delight that as they say.

00:53:40.255 --> 00:53:55.195
But I, I think I've also had to release that, like feeling that because they're a nonprofit, I have to make sure that I'm doing so much more for them because now I just try to think about it of like, they're all my clients, whether they're a for-profit business or they're a nonprofit organization.

00:53:55.559 --> 00:54:04.320
And I shouldn't be treating anyone any differently, and I've just had to kind of like release that, that like, I don't know what it is, like the volunteerism, guilt or something like that.

00:54:04.920 --> 00:54:04.920
Yeah.

00:54:05.460 --> 00:54:05.699
Yeah.

00:54:05.699 --> 00:54:06.480
I think it's funny.

00:54:06.780 --> 00:54:06.989
Yeah.

00:54:06.989 --> 00:54:11.400
I mean in and in reality, nonprofit versus profit, I.

00:54:11.755 --> 00:54:14.369
It's a tax difference and for the most part.

00:54:14.809 --> 00:54:15.130
Mm-hmm.

00:54:15.269 --> 00:54:16.585
Um, and it is still a business.

00:54:16.585 --> 00:54:22.824
Like I always joke with some of my friends who are nonprofits and they're like, y'all big nonprofits, is that we don't make money.

00:54:22.855 --> 00:54:24.144
Like we're not trying to make money.

00:54:24.144 --> 00:54:25.824
It's like, no, we have to make money.

00:54:26.184 --> 00:54:27.025
For sure.

00:54:27.025 --> 00:54:33.565
And I think that this is just something that I hear like a lot, not just in the social media space, like, you know, I feel bad.

00:54:33.565 --> 00:54:35.965
Like, oh, if the client says that this is like.

00:54:36.414 --> 00:54:38.875
A little bit outside of their budget, like, oh, I feel bad.

00:54:38.875 --> 00:54:40.135
I wanna make sure they're getting the most.

00:54:40.135 --> 00:54:44.125
But the thing that I've also had to remember is like that is, that has nothing to do with me.

00:54:44.184 --> 00:54:45.594
Like, I don't need to feel bad.

00:54:45.594 --> 00:54:46.525
This is business.

00:54:46.525 --> 00:54:50.335
And like, if they can't afford it, then they, they can't afford it.

00:54:50.335 --> 00:54:51.474
But I don't need to like.

00:54:51.849 --> 00:54:54.190
Give discounts because they're a brand new business.

00:54:54.190 --> 00:54:54.250
Yeah.

00:54:54.250 --> 00:54:56.110
Or, you know, do all of those things.

00:54:56.110 --> 00:55:00.369
Like, this is what I offer and if I'm sorry, I feel like I, I almost said it.

00:55:00.519 --> 00:55:01.210
You know, I'm sorry.

00:55:01.210 --> 00:55:04.119
If you can't afford it, we can find other ways to work together.

00:55:04.150 --> 00:55:04.239
Right.

00:55:04.269 --> 00:55:14.619
Or I can refer you to someone that maybe has like a different price point, but like, I can't feel bad because I've built my business this way and this is what works for me and this is how I value my work and all of those things.

00:55:14.800 --> 00:55:15.159
Yeah.

00:55:15.250 --> 00:55:15.730
So much.

00:55:15.730 --> 00:55:18.190
That's a whole nother, a whole nother episode, right.

00:55:18.340 --> 00:55:18.909
Just on.

00:55:19.855 --> 00:55:22.704
Not feeling bad about people not affording our prices.

00:55:22.795 --> 00:55:26.005
One of the things that have helped me in this thought is.

00:55:27.025 --> 00:55:30.144
Like, I create content that's free.

00:55:30.144 --> 00:55:34.344
I, I do things like this, like the podcast I enter, you know, I'm in networking groups.

00:55:34.344 --> 00:55:43.224
I'm like, I go do speaking engagements and things like that, that are relatively usually free to the audience or very low accessible for people to do.

00:55:43.224 --> 00:55:45.804
And then like, my services are my services, right?

00:55:45.804 --> 00:55:50.394
So I'm not doing everything at this high and whatever, and nobody can.

00:55:50.625 --> 00:55:52.664
You know, learn or be helped.

00:55:53.054 --> 00:55:59.025
And so that's helped me a lot and around like my prices and my prices and why I'm not sorry that that's my prices.

00:55:59.030 --> 00:55:59.250
Yeah.

00:55:59.474 --> 00:56:06.250
And, and it definitely helps me to think about it when I think about, well, my Heal Me fund that I have is like, I.

00:56:06.250 --> 00:56:08.789
Literally, I can't help anyone if I can't heal myself.

00:56:08.789 --> 00:56:09.494
So yeah.

00:56:09.735 --> 00:56:11.429
I gotta, I gotta make money too.

00:56:11.820 --> 00:56:13.260
Yeah, for sure.

00:56:13.260 --> 00:56:20.849
I, that's a really good, I love that you talk about that, like offering things for, for free that are more like accessible and things, because it is like, I.

00:56:21.405 --> 00:56:26.835
You can feel good knowing that like you're contributing and, and you have that like servant heart kind of Yeah.

00:56:26.864 --> 00:56:33.195
But you also on the business side of things are like, this is what it is and I have to be able to earn this much and I'll, you know Yeah.

00:56:33.195 --> 00:56:34.394
Value it appropriately.

00:56:34.574 --> 00:56:34.905
Yeah.

00:56:35.534 --> 00:56:47.594
So tell us how we can connect with you if anyone who is in those niches and maybe looking for a, not a social media manager or consultant for social media, how can they find you?

00:56:48.110 --> 00:56:52.849
Yeah, so my website is www.socialwithpurpose.co.

00:56:52.880 --> 00:56:55.460
There's no M at the end, it's just.co.

00:56:56.090 --> 00:56:58.429
I'm on Instagram at Social with Purpose.

00:56:58.460 --> 00:57:00.949
You can find me on LinkedIn, Liz Carmines.

00:57:01.280 --> 00:57:02.510
Those are probably the best places.

00:57:03.159 --> 00:57:03.699
That's awesome.

00:57:03.699 --> 00:57:05.380
Can I just say something real funny real quick?

00:57:05.710 --> 00:57:05.829
Yeah.

00:57:05.829 --> 00:57:18.250
So in my out, out like outro, I say ww.pro to thrive.com and I, I got so much flack from my husband and some of my friends, they're like, why do you say www dot?

00:57:18.280 --> 00:57:22.510
Like, why don't you just say the name and then.com or.co or whatever.

00:57:22.510 --> 00:57:26.860
I'm like, I don't know, but I feel like that's what I'm supposed to say.

00:57:26.860 --> 00:57:28.179
It's not the full website.

00:57:28.329 --> 00:57:29.739
And they're like, nobody says that.

00:57:29.739 --> 00:57:30.250
And I'm like.

00:57:30.480 --> 00:57:31.230
Aha.

00:57:31.260 --> 00:57:32.639
Listen, it, I'm well known.

00:57:33.599 --> 00:57:40.050
I, I'm thinking about like the, the wide demographic of potential audiences that are listening and they say never assume anything.

00:57:40.050 --> 00:57:42.090
I don't wanna assume anyone knows, so.

00:57:42.269 --> 00:57:42.510
Exactly.

00:57:42.510 --> 00:57:43.289
I'm with you, girl.

00:57:43.289 --> 00:57:49.559
I don't think it hurt it as I was saying, I was like, this is a little long, but like, you know, it, I, I just think you don't wanna.

00:57:49.675 --> 00:57:51.324
Assume anyone knows what you're talking about.

00:57:51.324 --> 00:57:51.534
I

00:57:51.534 --> 00:57:51.925
love it.

00:57:51.925 --> 00:57:53.125
I feel the same way.

00:57:53.275 --> 00:57:54.144
So there you go.

00:57:54.144 --> 00:57:56.125
Anyway, this was so much fun.

00:57:56.155 --> 00:58:06.204
Thank you so much for being on and sharing your story, and I hope that this really serves someone who might be in the same little boat transitioning or thinking about doing this as well.

00:58:06.204 --> 00:58:10.525
Anything you want to leave before we hop off?

00:58:10.824 --> 00:58:12.355
I guess I would just say like.

00:58:12.760 --> 00:58:19.269
I'm really passionate about people who really think that this is their path, just going for it.

00:58:19.269 --> 00:58:21.519
And there's gonna be a lot of fear.

00:58:21.519 --> 00:58:27.219
There's gonna be a lot of uncertainty, potentially imposter syndrome, comparison, whatever it is.

00:58:27.579 --> 00:58:33.369
And those are all things that you can and will overcome with practice and.

00:58:33.815 --> 00:58:41.284
Just, those are the things that can stop us in our tracks sometimes and make us quit or just like panic and get a, a new job or whatever.

00:58:41.284 --> 00:58:48.605
But, you know, if this is like in your heart and you really wanna do it and you believe it, then those are the things you can work through.

00:58:48.664 --> 00:58:56.375
Like, you can always be working through your fear and overcoming mindset and all of those things, but just don't let that stop you from, from doing the thing, because you know.

00:58:56.994 --> 00:58:57.744
Seize the day.

00:58:58.074 --> 00:58:58.764
Yes.

00:58:58.764 --> 00:58:59.364
I love that.

00:58:59.364 --> 00:59:00.414
Well, thank you so much.

00:59:00.445 --> 00:59:00.744
Thank you.

00:59:00.744 --> 00:59:00.804
Yeah,

00:59:00.985 --> 00:59:02.244
thank you so much for having me.

00:59:02.244 --> 00:59:05.275
It was such a great conversation and I love listening to your podcast, so,

00:59:05.724 --> 00:59:07.014
Aw, thanks for being on.

00:59:07.014 --> 00:59:07.735
I appreciate you.

00:59:07.764 --> 00:59:08.574
Thank you.

00:59:11.425 --> 00:59:14.215
That's a wrap for this episode of Business with Chronic Illness.

00:59:14.425 --> 00:59:17.454
If you would like to start and grow an online coaching business with me.

00:59:17.670 --> 00:59:22.260
Head to the show notes to click a link to book a sales call and learn how to make money with chronic illness.

00:59:22.739 --> 00:59:27.269
You can also check out our website at ww dot crafted to thrive.com.

00:59:27.449 --> 00:59:36.809
For this episode's, show notes and join our email list to get exclusive content where I coach you on how to chronically grow a profitable business while living with chronic illness.

00:59:36.960 --> 00:59:41.159
Until next time, remember, yes, you are crafted to thrive.