Entrepreneurship Saved My Life
Before chronic illness reshaped every aspect of my life, I was a veteran educator pursuing my third master’s degree. I was committed, ambitious, and determined to climb the professional ladder—until my body gave out. Paralysis arrived without warning. I went from running 5Ks to using a wheelchair, from leading classrooms to losing my license, from certainty to chaos.
As my health declined, so did my options.
At first, I clung to the hope that traditional employment would still make space for me. I applied for positions in education-adjacent fields. I even got an offer from a major publishing company. But when I disclosed my disability and explained I needed time off for weekly medical infusions and a fully remote schedule, the offer vanished.
It happened again. And again. Until I realized that waiting for someone to accommodate me was a losing game. The working world was not designed for disabled bodies. My reality didn’t fit neatly into anyone’s HR policy.
Trying to work within the traditional system made me sicker. I couldn’t access the treatment I needed while adhering to rigid schedules and productivity expectations. There was no time to rest, no flexibility to manage flare-ups, and no understanding of what it meant to live in a body that sometimes simply said no.
That is when I turned to entrepreneurship.
The Life Traditional Work Wouldn’t Let Me Have
Starting my own business didn’t feel like a bold leap. It felt like survival.
I began freelance writing while still learning how to walk again. At first, I could only manage five hours a week. But those five hours were mine. I worked around my infusions, therapy appointments, and exhaustion. I set my own pace. I didn’t have to explain my body to anyone or negotiate for permission to take care of it.
Eventually, that freelance hustle grew into Connected Ghostwriting, a disability-owned business that employs a team, generates consistent income, and supports my family in ways I never thought possible.
Entrepreneurship gave me back control—not just of my time, but of my health. Today, I average fifteen to twenty-five hours a week. My business pays the bills and leaves room for doctor appointments, field trips with my kids, rest days, and the unpredictable nature of life with chronic illness.
That balance would have been impossible in a traditional job.
A Different Kind of Business Guide
That’s why I wrote The Power of the Pivot. It’s not a book about hustle or ambition for ambition’s sake. It’s a practical, honest roadmap for people like me—for the disabled entrepreneur building a future not in spite of their body, but in partnership with it.
This book is for anyone who has had life throw them off course: the caregiver with limited hours, the person living with chronic pain, the parent navigating a new diagnosis, the individual forced out of the traditional workforce and trying to figure out what comes next.
In the book, I share:
Why entrepreneurship is often the only path forward when traditional jobs are inaccessible
How to build a business around your actual time and energy—not a fantasy schedule
How to embrace rest and flexibility without sacrificing income
How to stop apologizing for your body’s needs and start honoring them
Why your story is your greatest business asset
You won’t find fluff or ableist productivity tips here. You’ll find stories, strategies, and the lived experience of someone who built something in the margins of her life.
Why Entrepreneurship Works When Nothing Else Will
People often ask me, “Why not just go on disability?”
I tried. I was denied. The system agreed I could no longer teach, but said I could “work in some capacity.”
That vague “some capacity” became the seed of my next chapter.
Entrepreneurship allowed me to define that capacity for myself. Some weeks, it’s fifteen hours of creative output. Other weeks, it’s five hours of maintenance and client care. It fluctuates based on my health, my treatment schedule, and the unpredictable realities of chronic illness.
This is why so many people with disabilities are turning to self-employment. Because the workplace hasn’t evolved fast enough to accommodate us—but the world of business can.
When you create a business, you control:
Your schedule
Your clients
Your workload
Your pricing
Your boundaries
You can build around your nonnegotiables—rest, treatment, family, mobility. You can scale up or down as needed. You can build a business that works with your body, not against it.
A Story from The Power of the Pivot
One moment I share in The Power of the Pivot happened in a grocery store parking lot. I had just finished shopping and was using an electric wheelchair. I stood up, leaning on my cane, my legs aching and weak. A stranger nearby watched and then approached me with a smile and said, “You’re too young to need that. You should try exercise.”
That comment gutted me.
I had been a weightlifter. A runner. A healthy eater. I had done everything “right.” My body still collapsed under the weight of a disease that doesn’t care about discipline.
This moment, like so many others, reminded me how little space our society makes for disabled people to be complex, ambitious, and valid. It fueled my decision to create a path where I didn’t need anyone’s approval or understanding to thrive.
You Can Build Something Real, Even Now
Maybe your energy is limited. Maybe your bandwidth is unpredictable. Maybe your belief in yourself is shaky.
I get it. I’ve been there. I still visit that place sometimes.
But here is what I know for sure: you are not lazy. You are not unmotivated. You are not incapable. You are navigating a world that wasn’t built for your body, your energy, or your reality.
You don’t need to wait for the perfect time. There isn’t one. You need the right tools, support, and mindset to build something now, in the margins, with what you have.
The Power of the Pivot is not just a book. It’s a lifeline. It’s a reminder that there is more than one path to success, and that the version designed for the average worker was never meant to fit all of us.
Join Me
If you are a disabled entrepreneur, or if you dream of starting a disability-owned business, I invite you to join me.
Join the waitlist for The Power of the Pivot. You’ll be the first to hear when pre-orders open and get access to exclusive content and resources created just for our community.
Because you deserve a business that works with your life, not one that costs you your health.
