Do you remember the show Punk'd on MTV? 2025 has been a recurring episode for Dave and I where we are expecting Ashton Kutcher to jump out from behind the bushes to let us off the hook for the complete and utter shitshow that has been our 2025. But no Ashton, and to the hub's disappointment, no Mila. We aren't getting Punk'd. This is real life and, until last week, it has been the most challenging, frustrating, devastating year to date.
I said in a recent Facebook post:
Just when you think you’ve got things figured out, all of a sudden you might be facing a harsh truth that you don’t, therefore you pivot. Sometimes you pivot so many times you get dizzy and fall down. Dave and I have had moments of digging deep in order to get right back up and keep going.
Let me take a step back for a second and talk about the pivots of this year.
This was going to be the year of our new and exciting ventures with 2 new businesses in the works.
Well, as my mama used to say, "It went to hell in a handbasket."
Pivot 1: In March of this year, we made a drastic switch with our software venture, Legacy Safe, when we fired our developers that we had been working with since January 2024. They had been dragging things out, weren't forthcoming with information (outright lied), and we were DONE. We took the site offline in March and suffered a major financial blow with losing our initial investment. We were able to pivot after I met a local developer who shared in our vision and enthusiasm for Legacy Safe. We hired his company a few months ago and are excited about the official new and improved Legacy Safe coming in August.
Pivot 2: We signed a lease for a brand-new space in Raleigh to open a take-home steamed pot seafood store. Initially the building was to be ready for us to start our upfit in February, then March, then the end of May, then into June, then July, and now mid-August. As you can imagine, with each slip of the schedule, it cost us our time, our money and our sanity. The non-transparency and delays had gotten way out of hand to the point we backed out in mid-June. It absolutely broke our hearts, because we LOVE the franchisor, her team and the concept. At the end of the day, Dave and I knew it was the right thing for us to do right now. But it still sucked, because this was another dream we'd been working toward since early 2024.
Pivot 3: Due to the financial strain of all of the above-mentioned, I started applying for jobs again. I hadn't worked in over a year. Dave had been carrying the burden "until the store opened". And with that no longer happening, I started to apply for jobs. I sent in over 70 resumes over the course of the next few months. I hit wall after wall. I heard NOTHING back from almost all of the applications I sent in. Yet, in the back of the mind, I *knew* there was a reason I wasn't having luck. I was being led by fear and frustration, applying for jobs that would pay well, completely ignoring the fact that my gut & heart were fighting my brain. I didn't want to go back into corporate...even temporarily. I'd been free from that immense anxiety and stress and I couldn't stomach putting myself right back in the middle of what had once sent me into a medical leave. But I kept applying. Deep down, I knew that wasn't what I wanted. There was a guttural ache with each corporate-type role I applied for. I was still going through the motions of "what I should do" (apply for jobs) while still hearing that inside voice that continued to guide me to follow my heart.
As being a true believer of "everything happens for a reason", I can look back on the pivots I have had to get me to where I am today. I lose count. Each one set me on a path that might have hurt like hell at first but eventually filled my heart with peace and my soul with a knowing. I've always known my purpose in life is to help people. In my meditations, I feel a sense of peace in knowing that is my purpose. Anything outside of that just feels unnatural and wrong. Was this my midlife crisis? If so, I'm good with it.
During this time home I have learned to listen to my intuition and heart. I've kept my people close while pushing away the things that no longer matter. The mindset of taking care of myself first changed my perspective on what I would and would not do. Yet, while I knew what I didn't want, I went through the motions of doing what I was "supposed to do", fighting an internal battle every step of the way.
Pivot 4: My newest path came to light last week in an hour-long meeting that had my heart & soul filled with excitement and intrigue. I GOT A JOB! And best of all, this meeting was not the result of one of the 70+ job applications I submitted. Starting next week, I will be a working with a team driven by meaning and purpose and working for an amazing nonprofit vs. a job where I would be trading my mental health for a paycheck.
I am filled with excitement and gratitude for an opportunity that feels in alignment with my heart. With my new role with Little Pink Houses of Hope, I get to be a small part of an organization that makes such an incredible impact on breast cancer patients and their families.
Those pivots, as painful and frustrating as they have been, are what guided me to where I am meant to be in this next chapter of my life. Who knew that all the 2025 unfortunate events would lead me to my fortune?
Deep down.......
I did. 💗
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