May. What a month!

It continues to feel bizarre to share business and personal wins publicly in the face of so much tragedy and heartbreak. Several times a week, we as a team discuss what, how and if we should still share our planned content. What we always try to come back to is how we can actually impact people at all right now.

So, though it feels uncomfortable to share how you can grow your online business, something seemingly trivial in comparison to the chaos and tragedy, I know that this is a way that I can help those who want to do that- grow their platforms (to share what matters to them) and help their income grow (to donate to those that matter to them and buy from companies that matter to them). Staying silent does nothing. Pausing our businesses also does nothing. I know it’s not a perfect answer, but please know I’m trying and I’m willing to fail if it means learning.

Overall May reflections:

• COVID caught up with me. For the first two months of the pandemic, I now believe I did some spiritual bypassing where I felt like I had to only focus on how lucky I was (my business was still thriving and I was virus-free) in comparison to those that lost their jobs or worse- were COVID-19 positive. But this month the reality set it in that though it could be worse, life as we New Yorkers know it is not coming back anytime soon. Certainly not this year. And it was hard to swallow.

• I nearly self-sabotaged my goals. The first half of the month was right on track with my monthly goals. It felt good. Too good. Then my sneaky inner self-sabotager came out STRONG. The third week of the month was nuts, everyday my subconscious found a reason for me to take my foot off the gas. I share how I handled that in my new podcast episode (below).

Personal May reflections:

• My birthday! Thank you all for the birthday love.

• I felt very healthy this month. When May started, I was finishing @LittleAdaptsbyJax 12 day reboot and I carried a lot of the habits with me throughout the month. For the most part, I kept meat, gluten, alcohol and sugar out of my diet and kept vegetables as the focus for nearly every meal.

• We are leaving NYC. It was an emotional decision but we’re so fortunate to have the luxury of being able to leave when it’s so hard to be here, thanks to location-independent business. More on this soon!

Business May wins:

• May was an $80,000 month for me. I’m beyond grateful for this during such times of economic uncertainty and chaos. I shared on my podcast (below) how I was able to do this. The short version is that if you have an online business, do NOT slow down right now. Keep going for those that can’t.

• Our community came through. Through our business, our clients, and community, we were able to donate to: Food Bank NYC, Feeding America, Incarnation Children’s Center, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. We are so thankful to be able to donate knowing that it’s not an option for many who have lost their jobs due to COVID-19. We shared more in this Instagram post.

• We launched SYSH. Pivoting our business model in considering COVID-19 in April, we relaunched my signature program, Scale Your Side Hustle. Only two weeks in and we’re seeing our clients form a strong community, get their first customers, and shift the entire trajectory of their lives. Dramatic, yes, but true!