selfcare

As I’ve been doing the never-complete work of #decolonization, I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with my economic conditions.

Having both social value and profit have been heretofore unattainable for me. For over 20 years I leveraged my tangible coding skills to be of service, in deeply #heartcentered way, for the betterment of my family, community and the environment in which I live. And it placed me in deep debt.

During that time I grew a modest #solopreneurship that allowed me the time to earn the privilege of a seat at the public table.

The coding income was enough to donate my time to a calling in public service. Excellent at crafting social and environmental policy, I imagined I would get elected to a paid policy gig (a state or federal seat). That didn’t happen. Instead I turned 40 and was shown the door out of public and professional life. Years later I discovered I wasn’t alone. I am part of a #generationx of women that increasingly became undesirable after 40.

The definition of women’s value was a shifting landscape, and #womenintech were not valued.

After years of debilitating confusion and depression about my lack of inherent value, I recalibrated and reinvented myself as a #wellness coach.

I hustled.

And hustled.

And hustled some more.

Through this struggle, I’ve curiously watched other incredible women coaches and entrepreneurs #hustle too. The consensus is that the online space of #entrepreneurshiplifestyle is exhausting.

The expectation, as heart-centered #selfcare businesses, is that we should give away our content in service to our online community building efforts and eventually people will pay for our services.

And the social media hustle of providing valuable, free content eventually means the platforms I’m giving my content to will require me to pay for visibility to people that have the ability to pay for services. All while basically owning my efforts and data. We’re #pwned

The #feminist tug of being a wellness solopreneur in #latestagecapitalism has been to collaborate. As a local #permaculturist politician, I lauded cooperatives to protect our community from globalism. Now I’ll be exploring how I can do this with others.