opening up space

When I found out my Grandpa was dying I was living and working in LA.

Dad said, “He’s not going to get better, little girl.”

I quit my job, left everything I owned in my LA apartment, and drove out to Michigan with Perry for the unforeseeable future. We hadn’t started Rhodes Wedding Co. and now that I’d quit my job, I needed to figure out a way to make money. With no savings, I went to Michigan on faith alone. I landed a freelance gig doing social media for a high-level business coach part-time and that led to me stepping into the world of women entrepreneurs. And from there I’ve been lucky to work with some of the most inspiring women leaders. It all started as social media but that turned into content/blog writing, producing multiple podcasts, and flying around the country for events. That was eight years ago now. Something that was birthed out of sorrow and desperation has given me so much freedom and stability.

And that brings me to now. I am stripping away my social clients because I’ve spent the last eight years building up other women’s brands and getting their vision out into the world while I struggled to work on my own dreams. I am so grateful for the last eight years, but it’s time for me to put my faith in my own dreams wholeheartedly. In order to write my memoir, I had to get up at 5 am and write before the day’s work started and I had to stay up late after all the work ended. It was grueling but worth it because now it taught me that I’m worth investing in. So, I’m stepping into a new chapter. One where my dreams—not someone else’s—are at the center of my life. Financially, it’s terrifying as it’s over half our income, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds. I’m opening up space for an agent to sign me and sell my memoir, for Rhodes to get all the attention it deserves, for the second edition of From the Dust to sell out, to finish the first draft of my second book, and whatever else is next for me. I’m not entirely sure what living out my dream looks like yet, but that’s where faith comes in.