If you’re expecting a perfectly mapped-out business and brand journey where every step logically led to the next, this isn’t that story. My business path hasn’t followed a neat upward trajectory. It’s been layered, messy, emotional, practical, brave and, at times, exhausting. But every twist and recalibration has shaped the way I work now and, more importantly, who I am as a business owner. 🌸🦄

There have been pivots. There has been burnout. There have been bold decisions that didn’t always make sense to other people. And yet, when I look back, I can see that none of it was wasted. It all built the foundation for the business I run today. It’s that old well known saying, where we turned our mistakes and failures into lessons that we’ve learned from. There’s been plenty of those.

The Three Careers That Built Me

Before I ever started my own business, I built my career across three very different roles: PA/EA and Office Management, Wedding and Event Planning, and Regional Manager for a national children’s charity. On paper, they may look unrelated, but in reality, they were deeply connected. Each role demanded organisation at a high level, creative thinking under pressure, the ability to pivot quickly, strong marketing instincts and exceptional communication and people skills. I was the person who made things happen. The one who could juggle multiple priorities, solve problems on the spot, the person people could count on to get shit done, and the one to keep everything moving.

I learned how to manage chaos calmly. I learned how to read people. I learned how to lead, support, solve and deliver, often all at once. But I also learned something harder…

I worked 60 – 70 hours a week as standard. I went above and beyond because that’s what I believed good employees did. I absorbed pressure. I pushed through exhaustion. I became the reliable one, the dependable one, the one who would always make it work. And of course, slowly and quietly I burned out. I developed multiple chronic health conditions during those years (fibromyalgia, IBS, migraine, and chronic fatigue, to name a few), and I didn’t know what they were at the time, so suffered in silence. My body was waving red flags at me, while I kept waving back with ‘I’m fine.’ I wasn’t taking care of myself. I was performing at a high level, but at the expense of my well-being.

That chapter gave me skills, but it also gave me a huge wake-up call.

2019 – Cornerstone Business Support (The Corporate Version of Me)

In 2019, I launched my first business as a Virtual Assistant. It felt terrifying, but necessary. No more was I going to work for poor people managers, abide by other peoples polictics, no more dulling my sparkle and ignoring my health red flags. It was my time! I named it Cornerstone Business Support, a name that reflected the corporate world I came from: structured, solid, professional and safe. At that stage, I didn’t know any other way to position myself.

Unsurprisingly, I attracted a lot corporate clients. I leaned heavily into structure, productivity and delivery. I operated predominantly in my masculine energy: efficiency, output, performance. I am comfortable with both my masculine and femine energy, but in the workplace has leaned more into the masculine.

What I didn’t build in? Boundaries.

Although I was technically self-employed, I had rebuilt the same exhausting pattern under a different label. I wasn’t enjoying what I did, and I wasn’t aligned with some of the people I worked for. I really wasn’t proud of the energy I was operating in. I had left employment, but I hadn’t left the mindset that was making me ill.

It was a freedom of sorts, but one without boundaries, and it turned out to be just another form of burnout.

2020 – The Pivot That Changed Everything

Then 2020 arrived, and with it, Covid. Within two weeks of the first lock down, I lost 75% of my clients. Financially, it was terrifying and almost broke me. People were scared and needed to protect what was theirs, and that included their finances. It took 6 months for work to stabilise and for people to become comfortable investing in small businesses again. But those 6 months forced me to pause and create space for honesty. Instead of scrambling to rebuild the same structure, I asked myself better questions:

🌸 Did I like the work I was doing?

🌸 Was I building something sustainable?

🌸 Who did I want to support?

That was the year Cherry Blossom Management was born. The rebrand wasn’t just aesthetic; it represented a shift in identity. I began incorporating more creative services, leaning into marketing and design (because they are the areas I truly love and thive in), and consciously building boundaries into my work and home life to create the life I really wanted, but had been so afraid to live, until now!

It was intentional transformation and for the first time, I wasn’t just building income, I was building alignment and creating the impact I’d always dreamed of. 🦄

2021 – Letting Go of What No Longer Fit

In 2021, I made one of the boldest decisions in my business journey: I stopped offering Virtual Assistant services entirely. That meant saying goodbye to some long-term clients and walking away from stable income streams. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was necessary.

I chose to lean fully into my creative and marketing skills. I strengthened my boundaries, became clearer about what I would and wouldn’t offer (otherwise known as niching), and made a conscious decision to stop working Fridays. That boundary symbolised something bigger than a day off, it represented choosing sustainability over constant availability. My Friday’s are now known as Self Care Friday and all my clients are always interested in what I’m getting up to. Sometimes it’s rest, sometimes it’s pampering, maybe seeing friends, or getting arty, but the gorgeous reality is, it’s my day, to with whatever I want and need at the time, guilt free and unapologetic.

For the first time, I was designing my business around my life and health, rather than squeezing my life around my workload.

2022–2026 – Building a Business That Feels Like Me

From 2022 onwards, everything began to settle into something more authentic. I now exclusively offer marketing services: Canva design and training, content creation and social media marketing and training. I primarily support women in business, but not exclusively, and it feels so delicious and aligned.

Here’s what I love about this chapter:

🌸 Being part of my clients’ growth and confidence.
🌸 Giving small businesses a voice to create impact.
🌸 Creating safe spaces for women to show up unapologetically.
🌸 Helping others build boundaries alongside strategy.

I work with women who don’t just want visibility,  they want alignment. Women who want strong, healthy boundaries. Women who are done building businesses that exhaust them and I get to show up fully as myself too. I’m not afraid to say no. I’m not afraid to take risks. And I’m no longer interested in shrinking to fit expectations.

The Honest Reality

Running a business hasn’t been linear or predictable. Some months are incredibly busy and energising. Other months bring financial anxiety and questions about what’s next. The unpredictability can be challenging, and I won’t pretend it’s always comfortable.

But one thing is certain: I am unemployable. Not because I couldn’t do the job, but because I no longer want to build someone else’s vision at the expense of my wellbeing. I love running my own business. I love the autonomy, the creativity and the responsibility that comes with it.

There are no straight lines here: just growth, recalibration, courage and continuous learning. And for the first time in my career, the work I do feels aligned with who I actually am. 🌸🦄

If your journey doesn’t look linear, you’re not doing it wrong. If you’ve pivoted, rebranded, burned out or started again, that doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re evolving. And if that’s where you are right now, questioning, recalibrating, redefining, I see you. Your path doesn’t have to be straight to be successful.

If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear your story. Send me a message and share where you are in your journey. 🌸

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