52: What's Happening Is Too Big to Ignore: Speaking Out & Still Launching Amid a Crisis

💔 When Business as Usual Feels Anything But Usual

Have you ever had to show up for your business when the world feels like it's falling apart?

I'm sitting here in my house listening to sleet hit the windows. We've had 15 inches of snow in less than 24 hours, and now it's sleeting on top of it. I don't know how long I'll have power. This podcast episode is unedited, unscripted, and completely off the cuff because I can't not say something about what's happening in Minneapolis right now.

And also? The Visual Edit launches today.

The timing feels weird. It feels off. It feels wrong to talk about scroll-stopping visuals and content confidence when people are literally fearing for their lives. But here's the uncomfortable truth: I'm the main provider for my family. I support us. And I can't just stop working because the world feels broken.

If you've ever felt this tension between being heartbroken and needing to show up for your business, this post is for you. It's messy. It's real. And it's me figuring out how to be human and run a business at the same time.

🤐 Why I've Always Stayed Quiet (Until Now)

I don't talk about politics on my Instagram. I don't even acknowledge holidays. I literally joke about that sometimes, but honestly, it's the truth. I know someone will come at me in a negative way, and I'm not combative.

I am literally an Enneagram Nine. If you don't know what that is, it's the peacemaker. I avoid conflict at all costs. It's how I have always kept myself safe.

My parents got divorced when I was very little, and I was surrounded by a lot of chaos and uncertainty. Being quiet kept me safe. Flying under the radar, being perfect, being good. I've just continued that my whole life.

I'm also an empath. I physically cannot take in all the pain and suffering and heartbreak that I see online. I don't watch the news. I truly cannot tell you the last time I watched the news. Not because I want to be ignorant. Not because I don't care. Furthest thing from the truth. It's because if I did, I don't know if I'd be able to function day in and day out.

And if you're like that too? I want you to know you're not alone. I know many women and friends and family who feel the same way.

But this weekend, with the murder of another US citizen by ICE in Minneapolis, I just can't be quiet anymore. It's actually gotten completely out of control.

📱 The DM That Almost Stopped Me

I shared a reel in my Stories. The first time I've even acknowledged what is happening. It was someone else's reel about Minneapolis.

Somebody immediately replied. I'm not even kidding. First person: "Please don't do this. Don't turn your business account into this kind of commentary."

I sat there on the couch and I was like, oh my God, this is why I don't do this. You know? This is why I don't do this.

My husband was like, "Em, why are you doing that right now? Right before a launch?"

And I was like, you know what? That used to scare me. But this time I thought: If it upsets this woman, she can leave. I don't even know her. I've never even had a conversation with her in my DMs.

That's what I immediately checked. Is this someone I know? Is this someone I go back and forth with? Because you guys, I go back and forth in my DMs with thousands of people. Thousands. And never had I ever talked to her.

So that made me feel immediately better because I'm like, okay, this is not someone I respect and I have a friendship with.

What's happening is not normal. And pretending it's not happening feels completely wrong.

💼 The Impossible Reality of Being a Solopreneur During Crisis

I follow so many female creatives and solopreneurs who live in Minneapolis. The fear that they're expressing everywhere (Stories, feed, emails) is palpable. They don't feel safe taking their kids to school. They're scared they're gonna get pulled over. They're afraid ICE is gonna show up at their job or at their kids' school or at sporting events.

And this is the United States. That's what I keep feeling. Like I'm living in an alternative world. This is the United States. We're supposed to be the land of the free and the home of the brave, right?

At the same time that all of this is happening, I have to work. I have to work.

I think maybe because I'm a solopreneur and I work from home, people think that I can just stop working. That I can just not launch and not do what I've planned out to do for the last year.

But I'm the main provider for my family. I support us.

Everyone is listening to this news and consuming this, and they still have to go to work. And that sucks. It really does. But that's our reality. That really is my reality.

🚀 Launching When It Doesn't Feel Right

I am continuing to go forward with the launch of The Visual Edit today. The doors are open today.

I've talked about it so much leading up to this day. I hope that I'm not gonna lose signups because I'm not talking about it in depth today. I really hope that's not the case. I hope that I've done my job well and breadcrumbed it and talked about it in all these weeks since early December, to be honest.

Because it just doesn't feel right to sit here and talk about scroll-stopping visuals and coming up with a posting plan that gets you results when people are fearing for their lives.

But I also know that I can be heartbroken and scared and empathetic, and I can still go to work and do my job and do it well.

You can speak out for what you feel is right, and you can still sell your offers. You can care and you can keep finding a way to show up. If you want to. If you want to.

Anyone who's just feeling like "I have to step back, I have to pause"? You have that option, and if that feels right for you, you do that.

🗣️ What I Would Say to My Coworkers (So I'm Saying It in Stories)

The truth is that I teach people how to show up in their Stories like they're talking to coworkers when they get in first thing in the morning. 9:00 AM. Best time of day. That was my favorite time of day with my coworkers when I had a nine-to-five. Sit around with my girls, we had our coffee, and we would be like, "Oh my God, what is happening?" And we would talk about it and let it out.

I don't have that anymore. So I go to my Stories and I talk about it. That's where I'm gonna talk about it.

This is what I would've talked about in my nine-to-five. That's how I teach women to show up in Stories. That's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna sit here and say, "WTF is going on?" Because if it were 2016 and I still had my interior design job and worked in an office, I would absolutely be talking about this.

So why am I not talking about it in my Stories now? Well, I mean, I guess the answer is now I am. I've opened the floodgates.

👥 Finding Your People When You Say the Hard Stuff

I'm not an activist. That's never been my role. A position that I feel comfortable with.

This is going to lose me followers. I mean, it is. I'm gonna get messages that tell me to stay in my lane.

But the people who are hearting my Stories and the people who are replying to my Stories with DMs and saying, "We know you. We know this is uncomfortable and we're proud of you" and saying, "Thank you. You have a larger platform. Thank you for talking about this and sharing it"? Those are my people. And that's the community that I've built. I freaking love them.

Anyone who feels differently can truly leave and find someone else who is spreading the message of hate. That is not me.

We find our people when we say the hard stuff and when we risk being misunderstood or being combative, when we speak even if our voice shakes a little bit.

Maybe silence doesn't always have to be the way we stay safe. You know? Maybe sometimes we say something, even if it's messy and too late. And that's actually how I feel. I feel like I'm a little too late, and I apologize for that.

Again, it's not a place I feel comfortable being. A role I feel comfortable taking on. And so I've stayed quiet. But you know what? This is me saying something.

🛠️ Resources & Links

Programs mentioned in this episode:

• The Visual Edit DOORS ARE OPEN—my 6-week high-touch experience for creating a cohesive visual identity (doors open now with $300 off for the first 48 hours ONLY - soooo until Wednesday, Jan 28th @ 6 am EST). Only 30 spots available!

• Episode 49: Interview with The Visual Edit alumni, Emily—hear exactly how hands-on support transformed her business and confidence

💛 If You're Still Here, Thank You

Before I go, I want to say as tenderly as I can (because yeah, this is really complicated): Today does kick off the launch of The Visual Edit.

The really great news (and clearly I did not plan this) is that we don't start for three weeks. The doors are open for two solid weeks, and then I go on vacation with my family, and then I come back and it's go time.

Yeah, that's a happy blessing. I think if I had to start tomorrow or the next day or even next week, I think that might be hard. But today the doors are open.

This is my signature program, and so I need to talk about it. It literally supports my family and it makes up about a quarter of my income every year. So for me to just sit back and say, "Because of what's happening, I can't"? It's just not an option.

I need to talk about it, but I'm not gonna talk about it long. I'm not gonna talk about it aggressively. I'm just gonna be honest.

If you're a service-based female solopreneur and you're ready to feel really proud of how your brand shows up, or if you've been piecing together your content and hating the way it looks, or it's not landing with people the way that you want it to, or if you just want more confidence in your visuals and how you actually show up on social media? This program is truly built for you. And it's open right now, but only for a short window.

Here's what you need to know, and this is it: You can get up to $300 off if you sign up in the first 48 hours. That means this Wednesday at 6:00 AM, the 28th, that ends. There are 30 spots available.

And while I don't expect for them to sell out in 48 hours, stranger things have happened. My last Messaging Edit in the fall sold out in 26 hours.

So if this is something you've been thinking about, you know it is the time. The timing sucks, and I apologize for that. And I so wish that this were a different episode that I could put out right now, but it's not.

And if it's not the time for you? That's okay. You're being here, you're listening, you're showing up, and that means everything to me.

🙏 Holding Space for Messy, Imperfect Humanity

Thank you for holding this messy, emotional, completely imperfect, unscripted, unedited episode for me. I'm so grateful for you all.

Sometimes the most important thing we can do as business owners is acknowledge that we're human first. That we can hold multiple truths at once. That we can be heartbroken AND still show up for our families. That we can speak out even when our voice shakes.

And that finding your people means being willing to lose the ones who were never really yours to begin with.

If this resonated with you, I'd love to hear from you. Comment below or share this with someone who needs to hear that it's okay to be messy and real and human while running a business.