How I dealt with chronic pain by starting my own business
properly introducing myself
Hi. You may or may not already know this, but my name’s Emily. 😛
Up till now, I’ve kept the focus of my blog on helping small biz owners create better websites and in turn, increase the perceived value of their businesses. But I think it’s time I give a little background on who I am and what drives me.
I want you to know why this blog and this business means so incredibly much to me. And perhaps, just maybe, there’s a chance it’ll inspire someone in some cool way.
In early 2019 I started doing website design and development inside of Squarespace. But let’s back up a bit. Like a LOT bit. I want to share what led me to this point.
Because I didn’t go to school for design, or anything computers-related for that matter. In fact, I never even thought I could or would want to get into this industry until 2018. But that just goes to show how bad we are at predicting our futures, and how quick we are to falsely label the limits of our abilities.
growing up with my own personal limitations
Really everything that sort of defines my life today stems from my middle school years. I come from one of those lower-middle class Dallas suburban families that doesn’t throw money around a whole lot. I never had a plug-in air freshener until age 26 and even then, it felt like a rebellion, because those were always reserved for the fancy rich families. LOL.
But that was okay, because I had a (very vague & loose) plan to become rich. You see, Myspace was really getting popular at this point (ha ha) and everyone started taking these really artistic (aka emo) selfies - before they were called selfies. I discovered I REALLY enjoyed the whole process from envisioning an idea, setting up the photo, spending hours getting the perfect shot, and then playing with the photo editor until it was something “amazing”. And I had a knack for it.
Around the same time I started watching loads of America’s Next Top Model, and that’s when it clicked. I want to be a photographer! And I held onto that dream all through my life.
Anddd here’s where it got tricky. I was also in choir in middle school, where we had to stand up a lot to sing. And I started constantly getting worn out with back pain. I felt like the only one. I really think it had something to do with those dang heavy books we always had to lug around on our shoulders. Criminal…
This would increase slowly until the end of high school when I had to start actually missing school because of the pain, and had to really be careful with my activities to avoid it locking up. I became the epitome of the young person in an old person’s body.
In addition, at twelve years old, I got my first migraine. Throughout grade school, they would pop up during extra stressful times, but still fairly uncommonly.
But in college, they started getting very frequent, and since 2014 they’ve been a daily battle. Both my back issues and migraines are things I’ve seen many doctors about and taken many medications for, but sadly, they’ve merely been managed, not yet treated. Health and well being costs a lot of money in this country, and this is a big motivator for me to work hard and be successful. One day I hope to have plenty of money to throw at these problems until a better solution is found, but for now, life is about working with my ailments.
Don’t think I’m saying this for any kind of sympathy, though, because believe me, I would rather no one even know about it. For a long while, I tried to hide what makes me imperfect and “weak”, in hopes to appear more professional, but then I realized I could utilize my weakness as strengths it to fuel my success, so I thought why not share about that.
Here’s what I mean.
moving towards self-employment
I’ve had multiple part-time jobs, but I really struggle with them due to my pain, and I was never able to hold a standard 9-5, like a “normal” person. That can be really hard to come to terms with, and easy to feel lame about. There’s always a voice in the back of your mind trying to convince you you’re just lazy, or a loser who can’t provide anything worthwhile in this world. Especially when you’re married and trying to help out in the household. Part-time jobs just don’t cut it as an adult with bills.
So… time to come up with a more creative solution. Honestly this situation was the exact push I needed to make me take action towards my dream. Perhaps the main reason most people don’t go after their dreams is because they have the luxury of being comfortable. Just food for thought. And that’s why I can allow myself to be thankful for my ailments. I’d probably WOULD be too lazy (i.e. a chicken) to do something bold like start a business, if I could just take any easy, cozy job that sounded decent to me.
So in 2016 I started putting myself out there as a photographer. It went okay, but my migraines took over most of the photoshoots, and I got fed up. Then in 2018, something told me to try again, even though nothing had changed medically, and for some reason I really went for it.
Of course, that meant I would have to figure out how the heck to get myself a website. I did my research, decided Squarespace was my best option (yup, that’s an affiliate link!), and spent a bajillion hours learning all about the platform, sales copy, conversion tactics, and SEO.
Aaaaand then I couldn’t stop. It was so much fun 😜
I mean the FIRST iteration of my photography website was… oof. rough. BUT I kept re-doing it, trying out different Squarespace templates and learning all the design features until I thought it actually looked - whoa, nice!
When once again, photography became much more stressful than enjoyable (because, heh, working through migraines in the TX heat is not so fun), I pretty much broke down. I felt extremely lost, helpless, hopeless. I thought for sure photography was my one golden ticket to opportunity because heck, it was my only real passion for 15 years, and I’m naturally good at it. I always thought it would be a flexible enough career for me and my crappy, needy body. But nope. Not quite. And that felt like a huge letdown.
But, necessity breeds creativity, and somehow I thought I’d start Googling how to find any random creative gigs. At this point I was open to anything that I could do from my couch.
harnessing my skills through freelancing
I might have been the last person on the planet, but that’s when I stumbled across Upwork for the first time. It’s a freelancer platform where you can apply to whatever gigs your heart desires - for a small fee.
I input every. single. skill. that I even remotely had developed in relation to online business operations on my profile, and started applying for anything and everything I thought I could help people with. What QUICKLY became the most common gig type for me? Squarespace work!
I thought it was SO fun. This was an INSTRUMENTAL time of learning the web design business, working with clients, managing projects, and especially: communication.
For a long time I tried working with a wide variety of small businesses and brands - from authors, to musicians, to HVAC companies (super exciting, I know). But eventually I narrowed down what I like and what I want to do more of, as well as what I did not enjoy, and how I want to structure my services. Which was soo awesome!
So finally one day, in the beginning of 2020, my new path became crystal clear. Well actually… it became clear that I didn’t have to have the whole path figured out - just the next couple steps.
All-of-the-sudden, sitting in my car outside Spring Creek Barbecue, I felt the courage to commit to web design, actually make it a profitable venture, and use it to help others improve their lives too. Even if I didn’t know how in the world to do it.
getting serious about my goals
I took an entire month to figure out my brand values, mission, and strategy. Then I started producing free content and that brings us to the blog!
I then took Paige Brunton’s Square Secrets Business course so I could make sure I had all my affairs legally in order and can treat my clients well. This was by far the best decision I made for my business. Thank you, Paige!
I decided I would focus on a two-week design process for small business owners in the wedding industry.
Once I customized my contract from The Creative Law Shop, I was ready to book clients!!!
So that is the road that brought my here today. In case you were wondering. 😉
So you see, I’m not sure where I’d be today if I had never had to deal with chronic pain.
Do you have a similar story? I’d love to hear it in the comments! Or feel free to email or dm me 🙂
