:: what the hell i’ve been up to these past few years (and 3 hot tickets for you or the entrepreneur in your life) ::
my condolences to anyone who’s had the mild misfortune of asking me what i do for a living since i left teaching back in 2018
i promise — i haven’t been TRYING to be vague or long-winded, it just hasn’t been a simple-answer sort of situation
honestly? it got bleak for a while (no one really tells you how that space after leaps sometimes does)
i’d love to fill you in on the journey of it — from leap to what came next
as it becomes a tale of magic in motion that ends with a trifecta of biz leader greatness (and some biz-minded gifts for you — scroll to the end if you must lol)
ready? let’s leap, love…
since the fall of 2018, i’ve held the following jobs:
▪️ course resource creator and consultant
▪️ educational consultant for student biliteracy
▪️ transcriptionist
▪️ ghost writer and content repurposer
▪️ swipe copy creator
▪️ affiliate support assistant
▪️ workshop presentation creator and consultant
▪️ webinar and virtual event call admin support
▪️ affiliate partner program coach and consultant
▪️ unemployed (twice, and also intermittently)
often i’ve been several of these at once, for multiple clients — while also coaching and creating content for my intuition-driven living business, thriveandbloom
these aren’t jobs most of us grew up with, and whatever they entailed — they weren’t the coaching business i left my job for in the first place
so when friends would ask how work was going, it was a far more loaded question than they knew. and when folks i just met would ask me what i did for a living, i had no idea how to answer in a way that was both true to who i was and accurate to what i was doing
i had taken a leap but didn’t seem to be flying. how freaking AWKWARD
i had left my stable, secure job as a middle school french teacher (twice, if you can believe that)
with no safety net. no savings. no more baller health insurance (that i still kick myself for not using to its full advantage when i had it)
i had leapt, but where was my fly?
there tends to be this unspoken expectation that when one leaps, the fly comes fast
that if you don’t immediately spread your wings and soar at first leap, you must be destined to crash
as if wobbles don’t happen while you find your stride in the sky
i’ll admit it, i avoided that miserable moment when i could — when folks either would or would not wear all over their faces how afraid they were that they were watching you fail and fall in real time
i was too mid-wobble for it, i needed all my energy to stay aloft
now, you might be wondering… of COURSE i didn’t think this was the “right” way to do it. i was under no false illusion that this was, in fact, a “smart” move
there’d been all sorts of situations and forces and circumstances that had brought me there (other stories, other times)
but let’s suspend the disbelief that can’t fathom how someone could leap so impractically, and take it instead from the point at which the leap had already been leapt
for several months after i resigned (or rather, after my summer payout was all paid out), i was achingly unemployed
the goal had been to build and grow my coaching business, which over the previous 3 years had been relegated to what i could fit in when
but that summertime pay spent faster than anything i could build, and i was soon on the hunt for work to bridge the gap
days and nights blurred — combing through endless screens of job listings, customizing resumes and cover letters and job site profiles (oh my!)
i applied for every job i saw that had at least two of the following words in its title: student, academic, instructional, success, coach, advisor, remote (and plenty that had none)
i got passed over for them all, responded to by few
as i broadened my scope, i continued to get passed over, most notably for one of several part-time stocker positions that were still open after a local job fair
and then there was the interview i did get, for a grant writing job i worked up the audacity to apply for despite only being partially qualified for — the consequence of which was, of course, having to detail alllll my qualifications to a panel of three ?♀️ i learned a lot about kindness and grace that day
at some point, self-care turned from avoiding exhaustion to avoiding eviction
it was an exercise in daring to stay in self-love while all the conventional markers of self-worth drifted ever more distantly away
times got DARK, friend
and then, finally, came glimmers (this is where the magic starts to take shape)
i did a short stint as a transcriptionist — getting paid pennies, but getting PAID
i got a great gig doing freelance content repurposing and ghostwriting that, although i loved it, took so long for me to do well that it wasn’t viable long-term
buuuuut… i had gotten that gig from someone i knew on facebook — a friend of a couple friends i had also made online
and then someone i had previously done course auditing work for (also met online) came back around with a project for her online course
she started to refer me to other course creators she knew, and i occasionally did similar projects for them
and then, in the final days of december 2018, a message from ANOTHER online-made friend popped into my email inbox
subject line: i’m hiring!
and things have been moving along like pop rocks ever since :)
i first met laura sprinkle back in 2014 — we were both enrolled in the same online movement program (wild soul movement, baby!)
we met IRL in early august of that year, on a whim-fueled field trip from CT to NH to do summertime hip circles and wild soul stretches in the park
i had just left teaching (for the first time), though would soon return as an instructional coach for language teachers
laura was a holistic gut health coach, had just published a book, and was leading a beta version of her online program
i did her pre-enrollment challenge. i joined her program. it was fantastic
she invited me to be a guest on her podcast and a guest expert in her FB group. i happily did both
at some point we lost touch for a bit, as folks do
her late-2018 email filled in some of her blanks (the sweetest of which had been giving birth to a beautiful bean of a baby named cadlee)
laura had transitioned to affiliate partnerships management for high profile online entrepreneurs, and she was rocking that world so hard she was already booked out for the entire following year
she was searching for a client support assistant to start stat, and a perk of my tenuous situation was that such a quick turnaround suited me FINE ?
2 intense rounds of written questioning and a video interview later, i got the job: a 3-month stint that grew and evolved over the next couple of years
i got to work with laura on some of her amazing superstar client’s partner programs — including amy porterfield, todd herman, and of course… the ever-brilliant selena soo
since then, i’ve gone from behind-the-scenes support for selena’s impacting millions partner program to partner coach and then, last year, to senior partner coach
we’ll soon be coming up on the fourth of her launches i’ve been a part of (two of them under laura’s expert guidance)
i’ve gotten to work intimately with selena and her team on next-level affiliate support and strategy as well as support and presentations for other team offerings, and i just love getting to know and work with so many of the brilliant online biz owners and leaders who work and partner with her
last year, one of the partners i was supporting for selena’s launch was an amazing brand strategist named tiffany neuman
tiffany is brand strategist to both laura AND selena, and before we ever officially met i totally admired the super vibrant and aligned visual and conceptual branding she’d done with both of them
so i was thrilled to be her partner coach last year and get to know her and her business even better. we hit it off so well that we both felt called to continue working together after the launch ?
i completed her brand foundations program this summer and am super excited to continue to work with her on my brand visuals for thriveandbloom over the coming months (stay tuned for big uplevels to my website, logos and offerings!)
i’ll also be supporting tiffany in further personalizing and implementing her affiliate program for the next several months, which i’m absolutely thrilled to do…
annnnd after a month-long “boundaries-as-self-care” coaching series, she just signed on for 6 more months of work together! we’ll be going deep on how to have and hold meaningful boundaries that support her values and priorities in all aspects of her life and biz, and it’s gonna be amazing :)
so yeah, there are takeaways upon takeaways for the, uh, taking here
i’m so very grateful to these three women for the roles they’ve played (and still play) in my story, and for all the ways intuition-driven living has helped me find my way and live into that story
there’ve been big things happening over the past 6 months for thriveandbloom — including the boundary work coaching series i mentioned earlier and the rollout of my signature method for working with people that’s part coaching session, part card reading, and part straight magic!
i hope you’ll join me in celebrating that and every next new stop along the way
but first, let’s bring it back once more to selena, tiffany and laura (and those hot tickets i promised you!)
all three of these ladies are passion-powered professionals who operate at the highest levels of integrity and excellence
they’re visionaries in their fields, committed to bringing the very best education, experience, and OUTCOMES to the people they serve
they’re leaders and bright lights you can feel good about doing business with
and they’re each, as it turns out, offering some hot tickets for you right now!
in the next week or two, both laura AND tiffany are opening enrollment in the next cohort of their respective programs
which means they each have a free online event happening THIS WEEK
it gives you the opportunity to, first and foremost, learn from them (for free!)
i’ve been in workshops and webinars with both of them, and i can promise you that their events will be bursting with wisdom, insight, and calls to meaningful application
(you know it’s a rare day when the p-word comes out of my textual mouth, right?)
and if you come to realize that their program is just what you’ve been looking for lately, these events are a great opportunity to experience the deep expertise and inspiring energy they each bring to the table, and determine if you’d like to continue the work in a deeper way
PLUS… as a member of selena’s team i have a few free tickets to her upcoming 3-day paid live event called impacting millions live!
i’ve gotten sneak peeks of what’s on the slate, and i’m seriously blown away. i’d looooooooooove to gift you a free ticket!!
SO…
if you or someone you know is in the online entrepreneurial space, chances are high that one (or more!) of these freebies might be just what you or they have been looking for:
? DO YOU HAVE A SUCCESSFUL COURSE, PROGRAM, PRODUCT OR OFFER THAT YOU’RE READY TO SCALE WITH LESS STRESS AND MORE FUN? ?
➡️ laura’s got a 3-workshop series that will school you in the power of partner programs to scale your business and bring in more profit with less stress. (she’s also got a pop-up FB group for next-level engagement and support)
⏰ group opens september 8, workshop #1 is september 9
? ARE YOU A MISSION-DRIVEN ENTREPRENEUR WHO’S READY TO BOOST YOUR BIZ VISIBILITY AND ITS ABILITY TO ATTRACT MORE OF THE “RIGHT” CLIENTS? ?
➡️ tiffany’s got a special workshop that will let you in on the 3 biggest mistakes you might be making in your brand, plus how to get the clarity you need on your brand and offers that positions you at the top of the pack (so you can make that big legacy impact you yearn for AND make bank now!)
⏰ workshop is september 10
? ARE YOU AN ENTREPRENEUR WHO WANTS TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT STAGE OF BIZ WHILE STAYING TRUE TO YOUR VALUES AND SELF? ?
➡️ in her 3-day live event, selena will take you behind the scenes of her business and bring in some out-of-this-world guest experts. you’ll learn boatloads, get to connect with other values-driven biz owners, and have the best time doing it
⏰ event is september 24-26, ticket must be claimed asap (first 10 — no later than september 13)
you know i only share when i’m a wholehearted, wholesouled YES to a person or a program
(and i’ll be attending all three events!)
? if you’re interested in any or all of these, register or email me now ?
as you can see from my story above, there’s so much power in following the nudges that call to you, and connecting with others doing the same
if you feel at all drawn to any of these experiences (or someone pops into your mind who might), please practice saying yes to that wisdom and yes to this goodness! there’s no limit to what might happen next :)
ANNNND it’ll distract me from the hopefully evitable brené brown vulnerability hangover heading my way rightabout now from this epic and personal share, so tyia, lol but srsly ?
xxoo, cc