With the existential crisis of leaving Shopify out of the way in last week’s newsletter, I’m excited to start talking about the rosier side of the coin: the new adventure that awaits me.

When I started my side hustle, it was never with the intent of leaving my 9-5. Not that I was ever against leaving, but what I’m saying is I juggled them both very happily for years. It gave me an extra income stream, an outlet for my energy, control over my career direction, and independence from relying on one job to take care of me.

What I didn’t expect was how much more fulfilling that side hustle had become for me. Simultaneously, I had also gotten more serious about my writing. As I’ve shared before, writing has always been something so precious to me. Something I never wanted to taint with financial obligations, which also meant, unfortunately, I never prioritized it.

To prioritize writing would require creating dedicated space for it instead of cramming it into the corners of my day. After all, it takes a lot longer to ease into creative flow. We can’t just schedule it between meetings in the same way we can an admin task.

It was this trifecta that I’ve been living in for the past few months: knowing I needed to let go of something, discovering how fulfilled I was by my side hustle, and noticing that my dream job was losing its dream qualities.

(By the way, I can only articulate this so clearly in hindsight. In the moment? It was a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts and internal dialogues that were all over the place.)

Maybe it was divine timing, but as I was building my new website in December, I had to manually copy and paste all of my blog posts from my old site to the new site. Posts I had written years ago. When I finished, I sat back and noticed that I would be a hypocrite if I didn’t pivot and embrace my deep calling for change. I would be a hypocrite if I let my golden handcuffs stop me from doing things that made me come alive. As someone who considers herself a “professional” and a “business woman” and an “intellectual”, it feels flimsy—even irresponsible—to prioritize something like writing. My god, it’s just a hobby at this point!

But I meant what I said in one of my December newsletters: I have finally given myself permission to be as dedicated to my art as I am to my income-generating activities.

So yes, I don’t have my exact next title yet.

I do, however, have many passions I want to pursue. After all, what kind of multi-passionate would I be without multiple passions?!

Two of these passions are:

Writing.

Building online businesses.

They intertwine quite fluidly. My writing revolves around freedom and abundance in the online world, and my side hustle (or rather, my main hustle now) is helping online entrepreneurs refresh their online brands and launch new revenue streams.

So that’s where I’m at!

The day I resigned, I reached out to my network and signed with my third client (something I never had capacity to take on with a full plate) and we started working together this week.

Somehow, I’ve managed to replace my full salary. It’s almost comical how easy it feels. My months of agonizing feel pointless now. I had planned for all the worst case scenarios—even joking with Miguel that I might have to be his suburban housewife for a few months while he supports my transition.

But so much more important than money is the fact that I feel alive again. The conversations I have with my clients are about all my favourite topics: personal branding, success habits, spirituality, and everything else that comes with living an intentional life. I get paid to geek out over topics I love, while working exclusively in my genius zone—strategy AND execution.

For those curious what exactly that entails, I would explain myself as a strategist and project manager for spiritually-inclined service providers. At the moment, I’m helping two clients build group membership programs for their 1-on-1 service businesses, and the third with launching a new podcast.

The cherry on top is that I have a part-time schedule that allows me to dedicate my Fridays to personal passions. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ll see that I’ve ordained Friday as my “Creativity Day”. It’s reserved for things like writing this newsletter or reading fiction all day or working on my website.

As for today? I’ll be putting together my vision board. I ordered this gorgeous cork board wrapped in a beige linen (because #aesthetic) and two types of push pins—one with a gold finish and the other with a pearl top.

I want a visual reminder in my office, for days that get overwhelming—which I’m sure there will be many of—that life is to be lived and that beauty always exists on the other side of bittersweet moments.