The Female Solopreneur Life: One Challenging Year

The year was 2019 and A LOT happened in my life, the life of a female solopreneur.

 

And because I believe in transparency in business is important, I’mparting the curtains and taking you behind the scenes into my life. Buckle in because, it’s going to be raw, real, and not so “rose-colored glasses.”

 

I’m sharing the good, the bad, and everything in between.

 

Maybe you’re a female solopreneur who is inspired or motivated by what I share. Or maybe you’ll realize you aren’t the only woman and solopreneur experiencing challenges and successes in your life and business.

 

But whatever the case may be, I’m putting this out there in integrity to share what life has been like for THIS female solopreneur, business coach, wife, and stepmom.

 

We had so many medical expenses.

 

2019 started out with me having the flu in January. In February, I got a foot infection that had me in a wheelchair for 3 weeks and not walking for 4 weeks.

 

By March, my husband’s diabetes was out of whack, and he ended up in the ER in diabetic ketosis.

 

When April rolled around, I tried rescuing a dog on the side of the street and ended up with a nasty bite on my finger.

 

In May, my husband’s arm mysteriously went numb in one section. After specialized MRIs and other tests, they still have no idea why but have assured us it’s not life-threatening.

 

Then in September, I had the first of two dental implants put in.

It was kind of a lot, ya know?!?!

 

My PCOS reared its ugly head.

From the section above, you might think I had a “break” in the summer of 2019, but not so. Those months get their own dedicated section.

 

While I’ve made huge progress with my polycystic ovarian syndrome in the past few years thanks to my amazing doctor, it ALL fell apart beginning in the summer of 2019. I had no cycle in July or August, and then in September, I ended up having a 16-day cycle.

 

Let’s just say that that was no fun at all.

 

My hormones were whacked, and I felt whacked too. I had low energy and high mood swings (sorry, Hunny!). I needed way more sleep than normal to function, and an increase in my iron tablets brought on a whole other slew of challenges (I’ll spare you THOSE details.)

 

Finally, I felt like I was getting back to normal in early November, just as we moved to Washington. (Tacoma area)

 

Yes, we moved to a new state, 1,500 miles across the country

 

The move was quick--as in 90 days quick. Here’s how it happened.

 

My husband and I had a discussion on a Sunday afternoon about his job satisfaction and whether we were living in Arizona because we LOVED it or because it’s where we happened to be raised.

 

Monday, he went to work and sent out his resume to his current employer’s locations in the Pacific Northwest and Canada. We had vacationed in Canada twice and knew that we LOVED it there, so we decided to take a chance and see what happened.

 

By Monday afternoon, my hubby had an interview scheduled for that Wednesday, and by that Friday, they were going to fly him to Seattle, Washington for a second interview. Within days of the second interview, we were notified that he got the position and they wanted him there ASAP.

 

I found a potential house on the internet, and we took our first trip to Seattle to make an offer. The offer was accepted, and we sold our home in Arizona and started packing our boxes.

 

In late November just before Thanksgiving and after lots of decluttering, packing, and unpacking, our move was final. We are now officially Pacific NorthWesterners! And we LOVE it -- rain and all.

 

I failed. Immensely.

In late September of 2019, I decided to launch a beta coaching program where I took my Build.Your.Own.Business program and transformed it into a self-paced, self-study program.

 

I had 1 female solopreneur beta testing the entire new program and 2 other betas testing the first module. The initial weeks were awesome!

 

The clients were liking the program, and I could see they were making faster progress with this new self-study learning model than through completing everything in individual coaching sessions with me.

 

Then the wheels fell off. Some of it was due to the move, some to my PCOS, and some to the pure stress of it all. It was the WORST. I had never experienced something unraveling in this way before.

 

I kept trying to pick up the pieces, find my motivation, and get the new modules prepped for my clients...but I just couldn’t. And so it happened: I admitted failure. I had to contact the client who had already paid me for the entire program and tell her, “I can’t do it.”

 

I was sucking as a coach, I was sucking as a business owner, and I just couldn’t get my **** together.

 

Lucky for me, my client’s response was beyond my wildest dreams. I offered to refund her money, but she didn’t want a refund. She told me that she was very pleased with how much progress she had made already, that she didn’t want to find another coach, and that she wanted to stick with me. We made a plan for me to start back up with coaching after my move was completed and we’re back on track for her to continue to build her business.

 

We rekindled a broken relationship with my step-daughter.

8 years ago, my husband’s and my relationship with our daughter hit a block wall head-on. While we have had some contact with her over the 8 years, it has been minimal--probably 12 or fewer hours in all that time. Needless to say, this has been really hard.

 

But in 2019, we were thrilled when our daughter contacted us saying that she wants a relationship again. Since then, we’ve talked many times on the phone and exchanged multiple texts. We even saw her prior to our move and sent her a Christmas present.

 

We’re taking it day by day and conversation by conversation. We are grateful that all 3 of our hearts were able to mend and are looking toward the future with eagerness.

 

There you have it:

You're now privy to the behind-the-scenes of my ups, downs, struggles, and successes during my toughest year in 14 years of business. It was an intense year, but I made it through. Yes, I have some scratches, bumps, and a few bruises. No, it was not my highest financial income year.

 

No, it was not a year of monumental outcomes. But, I learned a ton and sometimes we just have to chalk it up as a learning year and move on.

If you are a female solopreneur and your year feels challenging, give yourself as much grace as you possibly can. And then -- give yourself a few ounces more. Do what you can to allow yourself to be where you are and not compare yourself of today to yourself of yesterday or of tomorrow.

 

And remember: You, Oh yeah YOU -- YOU GOT THIS!!! (Even when you don’t think you do.) 😉