Today I’m celebrating my first full day of self-employment!

(insert dance party here)

This day feels like a BIG giant party, and I couldn’t wait to celebrate and share it with my tribe (that’s you)!

My friend, soul-sister, and fellow coach, Jaclyn Wallach, once called this “retirement,” which I absolutely loved. It’s so true when you think about it!

The idea of “retirement” feels like total ease, freedom, expansion, openness, and opportunity to do whatever it is that you’ve been wanting to do your entire life but haven’t been able to do while working your “job” everyday. So, I’m celebrating my “retirement” at the ripe age of 22 today!

This day is where my story has the blank pages to unfold, and my dream has the space to come alive. My mission to support soul-centered women to create clarity, action, and bright faith around their greatest life dreams now has permission to unfold, and the universe knows my intention well enough to be able to support me in the most magnificent of ways.

Today, I want to share with you a bit about what my journey looked like leaving my full-time job and stepping into full-time entrepreneurship. It was a doozey, and brought up so many things for me personally that I had to deal with before I was ready to take the leap.

My intention in sharing my journey with you is that you are able to extract ideas, inspiration, resources, and light from my story to create a brilliant dream of your own.

The Barriers

There were a few things, for which I was completely responsible, that got in my way of taking this step. The first was my financial beliefs and lack mentality. I believe we all experience this to some extent, and that it’s a product of our society. As you can imagine, branching out on your own and assuming all financial responsibility for yourself can be terrifying when you believe that you’ll never have enough, there’s not enough, or you already don’t make enough money. Self-imposed limitations we place on our money and on ourselves about our money situation do not lead to abundance.

You know what does lead to abundance? An abundant mindset – that means being grateful for what you have and feeling abundant now instead of doing that whole “when I have X amount of money, then I’ll be happy.” We’ve got it SO backwards! The correction: “When I follow my passion and do more of what I love, the money will follow.” And so it is…

The second thing that got in my way was the guilt I felt around leaving my job and breaking a commitment to the team I was a part of. Working for a hip, trendy magazine with a flexible schedule was not easily justifiable for me as “wrong.” I got awesome job perks. I got to attend lots of events and meet incredible people. I worked one on one with entrepreneurs that inspired me. I got to plan fun events that I truly enjoyed with lots of great food, or lots of great yoga! Where’s the harm? What this taught me was that no matter what, if something doesn’t truly light you up, you’re the wrong person for the job.

According to Tony Robbins, there are two types of motivation: a push and a pull. When you’re feeling pulled toward something, the energy that comes out of that mission is unimaginable by most people. In contrast, you can only push yourself to do something so much until you burn out and become exhausted. Everyday was a “push” for me, and I’d sit in the office and try not to be distracted by my thoughts about my passion project (“Only 3 hours until I get to go home and meet with a client! Yippee!”). The pull feels amazing – surrender to the pull!

I also hate breaking commitments and feeling like I’ve let others down in the process. I had to learn to say “no” to the “no’s” in my life so that I could say a huge “yes” to my dream. It’s not easy to do, but it’s an ongoing process.

One of my coaches, Jennifer Grace, once said “If it’s not a HELL YES, then it’s a FUCK NO.” I couldn’t agree more, and I always come back to this idea now when I’m making decisions. I had to learn to be decisive. That skill has never come naturally for me. When we feel “busy” and like we don’t have enough time to do whatever it is that we want to do, it’s helpful to remember that every single thing that’s in your schedule is there because you put it there. You decided to give it that space to occupy. Alternatively, you have the power to remove it if you choose to do so!

I had so much fear surrounding my reaction of my bosses to my decision to leave. I had built it up in my head so much that it became frightening and intimidating. I’m happy to say that when I finally did, I don’t think they could’ve taken it better or been more supportive! So, what did I tell them? I told them that it didn’t feel right for me to stay and that I was being so called to do this work in the world and things were really lining up for me. No one can argue with how you feel. Your feelings are always 100% justified. Be okay with “it doesn’t feel right” being your sole reason for saying “no” to something.

What Worked

What truly worked for me was setting a date and a clear intention around leaving. Before doing this, nothing seemed to be working. I couldn’t see the full picture of how things would line up so that I would be financially, mentally, and any other kind of prepared to leave. Once I got clear, magic started to happen (more about that later).

Another effective strategy for me was sharing my vision with everyone I spoke to. I would tell them what I was up to in the world, opening the opportunity for communication, connections, and opportunities. You never know what could happen if you don’t tell others and speak your truth.

Finding a part-time job that felt easy, fun, flexible, and light really helped me feel secure financially. Now when I say “easy” that doesn’t mean “mindless” – it just means that it felt like ease to me, and we all experience ease differently based on our own unique skill sets and zones of genius. I also loved that the person I chose to work under was a shining light and a wonderful mentor, oozing positive energy and like-mindedness. “Oh yeah… I need more of her in my life!” was my reaction when we had first met. I invite you to create, strengthen, and maintain connections with those who feel like an instant “hell yes” when you first meet them!

The most important part of this process for me was having a truly supportive group of women around me. The women in Mentor Masterclass, and in my personal circle helped to reflect back to me what was actually happening, where I could think differently, what actions felt aligned, and supported and encouraged me unconditionally throughout the entire process! Sisterhood is a secret weapon. That’s why I attended an all-women’s college, joined Mentor Masterclass, and started Hippies In Heels! I strongly believe that when women come together and learn to support each other and be vulnerable, beautiful things emerge.

What didn’t work for me was being wishy-washy about leaving my job and feeling totally conflicted, searching for other “jobs” when I knew that I wanted to work for myself (time waster!), trying to do everything and once, trying to force/push myself to do things that didn’t feel aligned, and being intimidated by things that hadn’t even happened yet.

What Actually Happened

I mentally decided that my success in coaching was a DONE DEAL. I set a date to leave my job.  In the following 24 hours, I…

–       Received a strategic partnership offer with Rutz Skincare to be their lifestyle guru & business coach

–       Was selected as one of 5 on the Sophisticated Board of CEOs for a HUGE promotional opportunity with Success Society (launching December 5th!)

–       A PT job offer that was flexible, fun, well-paying, and not mentally draining

–       Two babysitting gigs for the weekend (extra cash under the table, woohoo!)

–       An offer from a friend of mine who is a health coach to do some promotional event work for her brand here and there for extra cash

That is the power of intention. Intention breeds synchronicity because it opens up the space for the universe to become your “knight in shining armor” and support you, even when it seems impossible. Synchronicity feels like driving down a city street, and all the many traffic lights in front of you are green.

I ended up deciding to leave my FT job 2 weeks early, with the option to start my PT job at any time.  The day I decided to leave, I set up about 6 new client consultation calls, which is more than I’ve ever set in one day, AND an received an invitation to attend a promotional event with Rutz Skincare on my first full day of self-employment!

And as for my employers, I don’t think it could have gone more smoothly or better! It was so clean, so supportive, and so much easier than I could have ever imagined.

I tell you this not to brag, but to give you living proof that this kind of magic happens everyday if we have faith in it and allow it to.

All we need is clarity around our intention, self-assuredness that our dream is already unfolding in front of us, positive support from our sisterhoods and communities, contagious enthusiasm, and bright faith. Click To Tweet!

Be inspired. Whatever that big dream of yours is, I’m here to support you in that. In fact, it’s my purpose and my responsibility to support you and help you get there!

Have a magical week!

Love & Light,

Emily