Embracing a Slow-Living Business: My Journey to Finding My “Why”

Sometimes, you start a business because you’re craving change. Other times, it’s because you’re left with no other option. For me, the most recent chapter of my entrepreneurial journey began when my health and lifestyle demanded something different—something slower, more intentional, and aligned with what truly mattered.

This shift toward a slow-living business didn’t just transform how I work—it helped me rediscover my purpose. Through this journey, I’ve gained clarity on my priorities, my values, and what makes me happiest in both my career and my life.

In this post, I’m sharing my story: how I embraced slow living, built a business that supports my well-being, and found the “why” that keeps me moving forward. If you’re ready to uncover your own purpose and design a life you love, keep reading—and let me know how I can support you on your journey.

Discovering My “Why”

When preparing to leave my corporate executive job in 2019, I ran across Simon Sinek's workbook Find Your Why.* To say it was life-changing would be an understatement.

In it, Sinek encourages corporate leaders to build a sense of “why” with their teams, which can help bring drive and purpose to their work. When I read it, though, I thought not just of my team but of my situation. I hated to admit it, but I was miserable in my job. I was completely burned out from working 60+ hours a week, never seeing my family, and berated with abuse from an absolutely toxic work environment.

It was time for a reckoning. It was time to figure out and embrace my "why."

I realized that while I was earning a large salary, buying my dream home, and climbing the corporate ladder (the American dream, right?!), it was at the expense of what mattered most to me: my mental health, my physical health, and time with my family. I originally thought that by bringing in more money and success, I was providing for my family, but the reality was I was missing out on spending time with them, particularly with my son, who was six at the time.

So, I got the courage to quit my corporate job and form my own educational consulting business. I was so proud to do something for me and my family finally. But I was also terrified of what this would mean for us financially and otherwise. I had to take a leap and take a chance on myself. I had to do it for my “why.”

Of course, life always throws us curveballs, and I was hit with a particularly brutal one.

It turns out I was also literally killing myself at that toxic job by burning the candle at both ends and not paying attention to my physical or mental health. Two weeks after my final day on the job (coincidentally, on the very day when I got my first call for a new client), I ended up in the ICU with a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma that nearly ended my life.

Talk about a reckoning.

And that wasn’t all. Who could ever predict that after two weeks in the hospital, while finishing radiation and preparing to undergo chemotherapy treatments, COVID-19 would hit? There I was, fighting for my life while the world went into lockdown.

Suddenly, hospitals restricted access, and patients couldn’t have their loved ones with them for appointments. I went into treatments scared and alone, terrified that even if I could beat cancer, my immune system was shot, and I was at high risk for COVID.

Throughout the initial COVID scare, I wanted to just hole up in my house like the rest of the world, but I didn’t have the luxury of staying in lockdown; I had to leave my house to get my chemo infusions.

I remember another patient during that time yelling across the room to me, through masks and social distancing, while we had poisonous chemicals pumping through our veins, “I’ll be damned if I beat cancer just to have COVID take me out.” I yelled back, “No shit, right?”

Getting to chemo treatments was also a physical challenge I wasn’t fully prepared for. I’ve had a rare form of muscular dystrophy for more than 35 years, which got exacerbated during my time in the hospital, making it hard for me to walk unassisted. Complicating things even further, the lymphoma had collapsed one of my lungs and halfway collapsed the other, so I pulled around an oxygen tank for a while and had lasting lung damage that made COVID a higher risk than usual. It was surreal.

That’s just a long story to say that my big consulting business plans got put on hold.

The good news is that my cancer is now in remission, and I spent my time during post-treatment recovery working on new businesses and ventures that I could do within my limited physical and mental capacity.

Now, if I ever get overwhelmed with my workload, fall into old patterns of over-achieving and over-working, or recognize signs of impending burnout, I remember my “why,” and it gets me back on track.

Creating a Slow-Living Business

During the long months of cancer treatments, I needed something to do and had plenty of time to learn new things. I had brain fog from my treatments, though, so I had to find something that I could do on my own time and in my own way. I started slowly, then began building as I felt more capable of doing new things. And boy, did I do a lot of new things!

I taught myself how to day trade. I wrote and published a book. I started a print-on-demand business. I opened an Etsy shop with digital printables. I made low-content books and sold them on Amazon. I started a website where I could sell my products online. I learned about digital marketing and social media marketing and dCommerce and eCommerce… and all the associated buzzwords. I took classes and watched YouTube videos and joined communities and networked and learned from mentors and read as many books as I could get my hands on.

And I did all that because I knew exactly my “why.”

My "why" is my health. Without it, I can’t spend time with my family or participate in all the activities I love. Everything I do (which includes self-care and healthy living) is all for my family, so I can spend more time with them, provide for them, and travel with them. I want to live a long, happy, and healthy life—and spend it with my family.

I would never get that by working a 60+ hours a week job that left me feeling like a shell of myself. I had to make a change—and I’m so proud I did!

Now, I have a career that lets me earn money, take whatever time I want or need for my body and personal goals, leverage my unique skills and credentials, and (here’s the best part) help other people. One major thing I’ve missed since leaving my corporate leadership job (and, before that, my academic professor position) was mentoring and helping others. My coaching business helps me do that. It’s become another part of my “why.”

Another “why” for me is the freedom I get from being my own boss. I will never ever ever ever (did I say, ever?) again work for someone else. One of my favorite parts about having a slow-living business is I get to set my own goals and strategies however it works for me. I’m an achiever, so I have set up systems that help me be productive and hit my goals while working just a few hours a day. It doesn’t get any better than this.

As a lifelong learner, I get to light myself up from the inside out, learning new things and tackling new challenges every day—but it’s for me, not for anyone else. This is the first time in my life that I’ve done something just for myself, and I can barely put into words how good that feels. I hope you get to feel that, too. Truly.

Are You Ready To Start a Slow-Living Business?

I hope at least one person can learn from my story that it’s important that you value yourself, your health, and your priorities. Life is too short to work in a job that tears you down and destroys your self-worth, mental health, and physical health. A slow-living business can help you put your goals first without working for anyone else or on anyone else’s schedule.

Consider this your permission to say no to toxic workplace environments and do something for yourself for once.

Maybe this is your time for an awakening. Are you ready to make a change?

What is your “why”?

"Why do you do what you do?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?

And why should anyone care?

It is one of life's greatest joys to wake up in the morning

  Every morning

with a clear sense of why the day matters

   Why every day matters.

This is what it means to find your Why.

It's the start of an inspiring journey

    Your inspiring journey."

—Simon Sinek, Find Your Why

*Find Your Why is the companion workbook to Simon Sinek’s book Start With Why, but for whatever reason, I skipped the book and headed straight to the workbook and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Looking to start your slow-living business journey? Download your FREE copy of my guide, 40+ Business Ideas for Slow-Living Entrepreneurs, and get started today!