You know you're thinking about it…

This is certainly the time of year for reflection and soul searching. Like so many of you reading this, I’ve always been determined to juggle it all. Whether it’s juggling the household, work, laundry, groceries, pets, or working tirelessly through the night to craft the Fort Nite Bush (a DIY Halloween costume) we’re exhausted but we just keep going.

That’s the life of a mom.

But what about…gasp…our passions?

We go to college, start our career, realize the need for flexibility when we finally have a family, and we try to do it all.

All.The.Things.

If your husband has a good job and you’re fortunate enough to be able to stay home for a while, that can be a game changer. Whether it’s an extended maternity leave, even for a year or two (or three) when the kids are little…but then they go to school and you realize that in order to continue living the lifestyle to which you are accustomed, you need to go back to work.

But you need a flexible job. One that allows you to get the kids off to school and then pick them up after school, right, so you don’t have to pay for childcare. Because who wants to work to pay for childcare? That’s ridiculous.

Here we sit, ladies. Bachelor’s degree. Master’s degree. Work Experience. The motivation and drive to do good, and do well. To make an impact. To be fulfilled by helping others.

We just need to do it between the hours of 9 and 3 damn it!

That’s not a “might be nice to have” that’s our reality. If the job doesn’t fit into that window, we just won’t do it.

Or worse, we settle.

We make things work. But then something suffers. The healthy dinner gets replaced with something quick. We miss a game or two. We don’t get to tuck our kids in at night.

Things are different now. Back when I started my first blog and freelancing on the side, the year was 2006.

Companies weren’t hiring for remote positions back then. At the time, I had just left a posh corporate job. At the time I was making twice what the hubs was making. I worked my way up the corporate ladder that decade, and ended up traveling around the US training corporate marketing teams. But then it happened. I got pregnant. My mom was sick. I needed flexibility. It was a significant crossroads.

You just couldn’t find a good paying job with flexible hours back then, so for me, freelancing was my only choice.

Fast forward to today and I think everybody recognizes that the dream of a corner office has been replaced with a need for flexibility. Especially among parents.

People often ask what I do for a living, because I have the coveted luxury of flexibility. To work from home. To drop the kids off at school, go to their sporting events, and even volunteer. When I tell people that I run an online business, they are always intrigued.

What exactly do I do all day?

How do I make money with my blog?

Do I have clients?

This blog post comes at a time of reflection and new beginnings. I want to show you just how easy it is to monetize your passion…whatever that passion may be.

So just to test the waters to see if it was truly possible to start over from scratch and create a new business with little up-front investment, I started something that is seemingly unrelated to my work, but actually, it’s not unrelated at all.

So…well, I created an online quotes boutique. Oh yeah…that sounds random, but I love motivational quotes!

Why?

Who would have thought that anybody, literally anyone, could create a stream of income working from home…selling motivational quotes? I have my freelance biz, and my clients, why would I need to do this?

Because I wanted to show a class of students how incredibly easy it is to monetize your passion.

But then I realized that I can make a huge impact if I teach other women to do this. This can be a game changer for them. For YOU.

Confidence Girl. You Got This!

This.is.it. This is why I get out of bed in the morning. Because I know that I have what it takes to help other women realize their dream of creating income the way I do. Are you ready to create a life you love? Your dream business?

If so, you might be interested in my new Pinterest Marketing Course. (Want to get a preview of my videos? If you haven't seen my YouTube channel, you can go there and preview some of my favorite videos about running an online business) but I'm reserving the good stuff!

That's right…no fluff for the public YouTube channel, just step-by-step directions for my most loyal friends and fans. Actionable videos that will help you get your online business started, whether you're just in the idea stage, or you're ready to move ahead full throttle.

I decided to package it all up and call it: The Pinterest Business Plan

I always feel confident when I have a stream of income coming in, so why not find a way to help other women feel that same feeling?

So there are actually various different ways to start an online business without much up-front capital. Starting a business today is not like starting a business 10 years ago. You don’t need to go to the bank and borrow $20,000 or more…unless you’re actually setting up a physical store.

Online business is different. You can get started for very little. In fact, you can start a blog for less than $100. You can start an online store for less than $100. You just need to know where to begin.

Want to know how to do it? Well you’re in the right place! Keep reading!

Working while raising a family is so much harder than I ever imagined.

Who are these women that make it look easy?

One of my dear friends commented that she thought I made it look easy.

But what she doesn’t see is when I’m laying in the fetal position on my bathroom floor with a migraine while my kids are packing their lunch and calling their aunt for a ride to school. It’s okay. I took some heavy duty medication, so I’ll be back to normal in an hour. But that’s my normal. It has been for 25 years.

When my kids went to school, I tried going back to work.

I wanted predictable.

A predictable income, every 2 weeks.

I tried to be a hard worker, a dedicated employee that never complained. For years, I consistently showed up an hour before I was scheduled to be there, I worked through lunch, and many days, meeting ran over so I just stayed another hour after my workday was supposed to be over. Just in case I had to come in late because I had a migraine.

I had an unfortunate encounter when the digital marketing agency that I worked for decided they were going to discontinue offering digital marketing services and instead focus on mobile app development. That sounds a little techy, but it really just meant that I was out of my “full time income” and back to freelancing.

Okay, well I’m the eternal optimist, so no big deal.

It just means that my income was a little less predictable. But wait, it actually meant so much more than that. You know the cliché, when one door closes, another opens.

You don't need any special skills to start an online business. You just need the drive to create your own opportunity.

I’m going to show you how. How to monetize your passion…whatever your passion may be. Because in order to be successful, you need to be willing to pivot.

When I had a full-time job, it always felt so linear. Like that’s what you’re supposed to do. My ego felt important because the work I was doing for clients was important, but my soul was completely misaligned. It paid the salary, but it didn’t make me feel fulfilled. Plus I was missing out on my kids, I was gaining weight because I couldn’t find the time to work out, and I was serving scrambled eggs for dinner because I didn’t have time to get to the grocery store.

So lets create some opportunity out of nothing, shall we?

For the boutique, I simply curated a selection of adorable blouses and fabulous clothing and set up a very simple online storefront. Which I run from the comfort of my computer. And I invested nothing but my time.

Now granted I’ve been creating websites for 14 years, but I’m telling you right now….setting up your website is not the hard part. All you have to do is follow my instructions, step-by-step. I’m about to make it very easy for you!

Whether it’s starting a blog, starting an online boutique, selling your knowledge expertise as an online coach, whatever you’re passionate about doing, my Pinterest Marketing course will help you turn your passion into a thriving online business!