Eleven years ago today was my last day in Corporate America.  It was the day I became a full-time financial coach.

I remember thinking, “I’ll give it a year…and if I can’t cut it, if I’m crazy and this ‘coaching thing’ doesn’t work out, I’ll just go back into Corporate America.” In other words, I totally didn’t expect it to become what it has. 

My business was my first baby. 

Michael was soooo supportive!! He was my biggest cheerleader at this time – in other words, not much has changed!

I was clueless at how to communicate my value and what I could do for people. In fact, I don’t think I believed in myself at this point, which was why I didn’t understand the value I could offer.

I never considered myself an entrepreneur. I felt like it was a necessity in order to do financial coaching so I just dove in and hoped for the best. Now I trust myself completely as a mom, wife and business owner who has a family, clients who look up to me and a team who depend on me.  

I thought I could and would help everyone. It was a painful realization for me when I came to the conclusion that wasn’t possible. But it was also a turning point in my business so I’m grateful.

I almost closed up shop twice. Two times I was so frustrated and thought I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m so glad I overcame those hurdles. There were a ton of mistakes along the way but also a number of things I did well and surprised even myself. 

I think I was charging $50/session 11 years ago. My goal was to hit $2,000/month in revenue. I still remember my first $2k/month. 

I remember my first $5k/month. I remember my first $10k/month and $15k/month and $20k/month and $30k/month. I even remember my first $50k/month and shared all about that in a live video with all of you.

After Carmen (my daughter) was born, I remember feeling really torn between balancing my first baby (my business) and my second baby (Carmen).

Michael said something to me that forever changed my perspective. He said, “I am so glad Carmen gets to grow up with a mom who is so passionate about what she does, with a mom who gets to work at something she loves every day. I am so glad Carmen has a strong, female role model to show her you can love your job, work hard and be an awesome woman all at the same time.”

On the hard days (yes, they exist), I remind myself of this conversation and try to show up as the woman who fits that description.

Financial coaching is a huge part of my identity today… all because 11 years ago I took that leap of faith. It’s been such an amazing journey, I can’t imagine my life any different.