When I quit my job as a software manger in 2014 – people told me I was crazy.
When I said I was starting an online business – they told me I was crazier.
But I knew I need to create a biz that allowed me to work from HOME
Because after age 6 – there really weren’t good day care options for my son – at least none that were good enough for me.
Because I knew my marriage was crumbling. Though I refused to accept it – I knew deep down that I’d be a single mom sooner or later.
I HAD to be there for my son.
I knew regular 8am-8pm jobs wont work for me. Yeah, let’s face it – well paying jobs are rarely 9 to 5, esp the higher up the ladder you go.
And for the same reason, traditional business models won’t work for me either – I didn’t have money lying around to open a brick and mortar store.
Or deep enough pockets to open a typical tech startup. Nor the time to.
In case you don’t know – the typical tech start up requires 12-16 hrs of work a day (on average), for years, before you get any kind of return on your time or money.
An online business was the ONLY way I could possibly have the freedom and flexibility I needed – WHILE still being able to pay the bills and support my son and myself!
Only problem was – working “online” wasn’t a thing in India. Freelancing or part-time work wasn’t also a thing back then!
BUT I stuck to my guns.
I signed up for a few online biz programs.
And went about exploring WHAT i could do online.
In 2014 my very first client was Udemy.
I woke up at 4am to take the interview call with them
Because hey, I’m in India.
I ended up writing over 400 SEO+Marketing blog posts for Udemy – on all kinds of topics from coding, to career advice, to human psychology.
All those years of reading everything under teh sun – and running a mommy blog paid off since 2007!😂😂
Back when I started blogging – and following Ramit Sethi and Darren Rowse and Patt Flynn – they were just start starting to get famous as “bloggers”.
Blogging wasn’t quite yet a thing.
Professional bloggers weren’t yet thing.
Internet Marketing wasn’t yet a thing.
And I never thought I’d be paid to “WRITE”!!
BUT my very first online business was – copywriting! And sitting here in India, I got clients from all over the world to PAY me thousands of $$ to create their marketing content – articles and blog posts and what not!
Over time I grew my business to include web design – yep, another thing sparked from my blogging days! Who thought the humble mommy blog I started would lead to not one, but two online business!
And then I grew to include business consultations and strategy – once I finally got the courage to step up and own my “super powers” and carry over the things that made me so successful in my TECH career – to my own business!
It’s been a long winding journey
More times than not, even I thought was crazy
Leaving behind a high flying career in tech and all the trappings that come with it
For working away from my laptop, from home
With women half way across the world whom I’ve never met.
But when you believe.. magic happens.
At the heart of it all
Is my ability to connect with people
To see the best in them,
To see their highest potential,
even when they can’t see it themselves.
To bring out the best in them
And to help them get things done
In the simplest way possible
That’s what’s enabled me to build an international business, working from my laptop, often in my garden, from the outskirts of a tier 2 town in India. 60% of my clients live in America, 30% in Australia and 10% in Europe.
And if I can do that
working from home, from my laptop, no fancy gear
in the snippets of time when #mommyDuty permits
in between crazy court dates and trips to the police station and all the craziness of #parentingSolo
Then you can too.
No matter how crazy it feels right now
No matter how uphill
No matter how twisted and convoluted
You’ll find your path
You’ll find your joy
You’ll find YOU.