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I knew I wanted to build something from nothing. My first DJ board was a Numark. I felt alive on stage, and that feeling of creating something of my own stuck with me..

A reminder that you already made a big decision by starting a business. 

After a packed sorority event with people jumping on stage, I walked away from DJing. People were having fun, but deep down I knew it wasn’t my long game. Sometimes you have to leave while it still looks like it’s working.

A reminder that you can still make a change even if on the outside it looks like things are working.

I entered what I call the spaghetti phase, college discount cards, blogging platforms, random ideas. None of it stuck. But I’m grateful I kept trying. That phase helped me get clearer by showing me what wasn’t it.

A reminder that if you keep moving forward, you’ll eventually figure it out.

Right before launching the social media conference, SMADCon, I quit drinking. I was scared of wasting days to hangovers. Shame, fear, and pressure were all there. But I haven’t had alcohol since January 2018.

A reminder that you can ignore the peer pressure and do you.

From the outside, that 500-person social media conference looked like a success. But internally, I lied about signups early on, about how I felt, about how bad things were. I sent an email with the subject line “I Fucked Up” to unpaid vendors. Took full ownership. Took on the business debt personally. It hurt. It also changed me.

A reminder that there’s still time to make a change. You don’t have to keep holding onto the pressure.

My first in-person workshop was in 2019 at the College of Charleston. Since then, I’ve recorded thousands of videos. Those reps built a deep foundation of belief in myself.

A reminder that you can speed up the progress of your goals when you talk to many instead of just one at a time.

During the pandemic, I moved out of Charleston, where I was for 10 years, and back in with my parents. I was burnt out, broke, stuck, and angry. From that low point, I sent one cold email, and it opened up a new chapter.

A reminder that just because something is familiar doesn’t mean it’s right for you anymore.

I told my parents I wasn’t okay. That moment was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. Telling them the truth of what had been going on in my life led to somatic work, emotional processing, and understanding more about my body instead of being scared of it.

A reminder that your body is constantly trying to communicate with you. You’re teammates, not enemies.

Until my late 20s, I’d never been in a long-term relationship. Asking Adrianna to travel with me changed my world. She’s not just my partner, she’s a builder too. And one of my biggest supporters.

A reminder that it’s way better to have a healthy relationship than go at it alone.

There were moments of doubt, but I didn’t want to settle. I built my capacity to hold the pressure, and focused on creating something meaningful for others and for me.

A reminder that you can believe in yourself even when others don’t.

There were many moments where I really struggled with my commitment to the Make Burnout Extinct podcast. Episodes I struggled to record. But I kept showing up—through the fear of judgment, through the fear of being seen. I stayed in the game because it matters to me.

A reminder that resistance, discomfort, or pressure doesn’t have to be stop signs.

There can be a lot of pretending as an entrepreneur, feeling like you have to have everything figured out and be perfect all the time. Being real while building your business, I believe, is absolutely worth it.

A reminder that you can decide if something is right for you.