Five years ago, in 2020, I was teaching sixth grade in the middle of COVID at a low-income school. I was living in my parents' basement and experiencing so much daily anxiety I once had a full-blown panic attack in the school parking lot at 7am.
That's me in the middle with the jean jacket.
I had no social life, my diet was a mess, and I was making roughly $35,000 a year (not to mention all the extra cash that went into funding my classroom). All I knew was that this lifestyle wasn’t sustainable.
So at the end of the school year, I did something that I didn't even realize at the time: I bet on myself.
Fast-forward to today, and I'm writing this as a full-time entrepreneur with a growing business, a home I love, and a life I co-designed with my now-husband (who doubles as my business partner).
In my freshly decorated loft that doubles as my office
Since those days in the classroom, my life looks a little different. I'm:
Running a one-year-old business projected to hit $80k this year
Living in a townhome we own (after years of renting and bouncing around)
Five-months married with a partner who is also my business mentor
Sure, I still work long days, but those hours are now for something I genuinely LOVE and believe in, which naturally translates to the quality of experience my clients' have come to expect.
But here's the thing, I still catch myself thinking I'm not doing enough—that I should be growing faster, doing more, being more...
So why am I writing this? Well, for you.
Because chances are, you mostly likely catch yourself feeling that way every once in a while too. If you're building something right now (an audience, a business, a brand, a book...), please hear this:
Whenever you arrive, it will be on time.
The thing you want wants you back.
Make it unreasonable for yourself not to get where you want to go.
They say the days are long but the years are short, and the power oftentimes is in steady, sustainable, self-led growth.
Your journey might feel slow in the moment, but one day you'll zoom out and realize you've become the CEO of your own life, that you didn't wait to be chosen to cross the gap between survival and sovereignty—you chose yourself.
So keep showing up even if you're the only one in the room.
Keep growing even if no one else rewards it.
Keep going even if it feels like you're getting outpaced.
