I read somewhere once that the true definition of entrepreneur is to live a few years of your life like most won’t so you can live the rest of your life like most can’t.

After 4 years of creative entrepreneurship, I’d say that’s pretty accurate.

What a lot of people don’t like to talk about are the challenges that entrepreneurs face daily. There’s this glittery perfect lifestyle that gets put on display because no one wants to admit that they’re struggling. And it was that cotton candy false reality that caused me to have an epic breakdown. Expectations did not match reality. Reality looked like a lot like drowning. In work. In hustle. In my inbox. In it all. And finally, I just couldn’t do it anymore.

I thought there was something wrong with me; like I was an epic failure. Every which way I looked, entrepreneurs were boasting that everything was omg so dreamy: the hustle glorified. But what I was experiencing 2 years into business ownership was anything but dreamy.

My client-serving business was booming. My personal life was entering chaotic territory. And I felt like I just needed a minute. A breath. A beat. A freaking vacation. A single solitary moment where someone didn’t need something from me. But that wasn’t possible. I’d single-handedly designed a miserable life and business for myself.

Spoiler alert: I did finally get to take that breath…after I sold the company to my partner and walked away. (AKA: the hardest decision of my life.) But after a lot of rest & prayer, I re-entered the entrepreneurial world. But this time, I was cautious: terrified to end up back in burnout city—that place is the pits. So I developed customized systems & processes and protected them with boundaries. And wouldn’t you know, my business operated like a dream.

It wasn’t long before my clients started to obsess over the way I worked. They all wanted to know my “secret” to structure. (Spoiler alert #2: 🤷🏻‍♀️boundaries are pretty magical.) Those clients inspired me to get my life coaching certification and help entrepreneurs just like you avoid that same burnout experience.