Starting my business was a means of survival for me. I don’t just mean financial and having a steady pay cheque. I had spent all my “career-forming” years as an employee. Bouncing from industry to industry because I wasn’t sure of what I wanted to do. From an incredibly young age, I had always identified with growing up and being a veterinarian as I loved all animals. I was the kind of girl who would bring home wounded animals, nurse them back to health and then release them back to mother nature. I quickly came to realize as I moved through the education system that academics were not my strong suit. After having some difficult conversations with my parents, school advisors and other mentors in my life, I knew this wasn’t going to be the path for me anymore. As a young woman graduating from high school having “lost” a core identifying piece of who I thought I was destined to be, I knew I had my work cut out for me. I ended up taking an online program to get my Animal Sciences Certification while working up to 5 jobs at one time because I wanted to dip my toes in every industry to see where I fit in and where I would get that sense of belonging, I was looking for from a job. From hospitality, retail, non-profit organization to even a doggy daycare! But again, nothing quite fit that missing puzzle piece I had in my life. I hit a point where everything came to a halt when I got fired for the first time. I was a part-time receptionist at a spa, and I was going above and beyond (in my eyes) looking for different ideas to improve the business, improve the overall customer experience and the visibility of the company. I was so ashamed when she sat me down and told me that I wasn’t a “good fit” because I was going outside the scope of the role and she basically wanted someone who would punch in and punch out.
From there I had a small moment of realization that I wanted to find a “big girl” job I called it. A role in that I could grow with a company and learn different things and my motivation and determination would be recognized and appreciated. I beefed up my resume and was on the look again for a job that would give me what I was looking for! That is when I came into the real estate industry. I started out for a New Home Builder at the very bottom of the food chain. When I look back at it the best way, I can describe it is like the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”. For lack of a better word, I was my boss's “b*tch”. I put up with a lot of things that I shouldn’t have but I didn’t know any better. I was learning so much about sales, marketing, construction and how the industry worked that I let all of those other things slide. Meanwhile, in my personal life, I was allowing for more damaging and dangerous behaviour to slide as well. At 20 I had found myself deep in a mentally, financially, and physically abusive relationship.
Without going into all the details, I allowed him to chip away at me piece by piece. My self-worth, my confidence and who I truly was until I was barely even recognizable to my friends, family and myself. I allowed for people to step all over me because I didn’t think I was valuable enough to be treated as an asset in a personal dynamic as well as a professional one. Once I got out of the personal abusive relationship and started rebuilding myself, I could recognize those red flags in the relationships I had at work. I requested for changes to be made and that is where my career began to soar. I found a man who truly accepts me for who I am, cheers me on and supports me with whatever challenge I want to take on. I was FINALLY getting the recognition for the talents I always knew I had! I became a key member of the marketing and sales department. I became the highest paid senior sales associate the company had and they still to this day use the social media strategies I created and piloted. But then I hit another glass ceiling. Instead of allowing this to hold me back I made another shift in my career path. I loved real estate and still do but I decided to move into commercial. I worked with a well-known team in my city as their Team Coordinator and I assisted with all kinds of things which I loved! Then in December 2019, those dreaded words coursed through my ears again “it’s just not a good fit…”
Saying I was devastated was an understatement. At 24 I had been fired from an industry that I was really excelling at. I felt rejected and deflated. I had my “pity party” for a few days and then as my grandfather would say pulled up my bootstraps and put my big girl pants back on and was on the search again but I was going to do it differently this time. I was not going to allow myself to settle and take the first thing that came my way. I wanted the control and the respect I deserved. Going on job interviews with a different mindset opened my eyes to what I wanted and that I could say NO. The interview that forever changed my life was for a role similar to what I had as a Team Coordinator but for a residential realtor and his team, but he wanted me to work for him as a subcontractor. Once I looked into what that meant and what the role was, he was describing it sparked a lightbulb moment for me. I had all these skills that I have learned from all the different industries I had worked in and I could help so many business owners without having to be tied to just one company. This is how Limitless Impact Virtual Management was born! As a virtual business consultant and social media strategist, I provide business owners with impactful services to make their work-life more enjoyable. Assisting them with all aspects of their day-to-day operations as well as building a social media and marketing strategy specifically tailored to your goals. Many business owners who are starting out or are in the middle of a growth period where they are not ready to hire a full-time employee but still need the help with the overwhelming tasks lean on me to continue to push their businesses further! I have been able to grow my business from just me to 5 other subcontractors under me, 40+ clients around North America and earning 5 figure months in just 18 months!
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