A Big Split: Changes In My Business

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Back in 2018, me, my husband, and our two daughters were living happily on our newly purchased 5 acres of land. We had goats, chickens, a swing set, a big garden to grow vegetables, and more wild fruit than we could ever dream of eating. 

I learned how to milk our goats, and make soap and cheese with their milk. 

We even had goat babies and I liked to refer to myself a goat midwife, having witnessed goat babies born into the world (I didn’t help much) ;). 

We were living our dream life. And, from the outside looking in, it was the picture perfect life on a beautiful plot of land. 

The land we purchased was worn down and overgrown. We always dreamed of fixing it up and mending the old barns, tending to the overgrown fields, and pruning the thickets of trees back to a well-kept orchard with the most delicious tasting plums I’ve ever eaten. 

So, clearly, we were busy.

My husband was working a full time engineering job at the time, and I was home with the kids. All day I looked around and saw more ways we could improve the property – more things that needed done.

Since my kids kept me pretty busy, I started making lists so I would remember to tell my husband about my insights when he got home from work. 

My husband is a kind, loving, and gentle person to the core. So when he got home (exhausted) after a long day of work, and I started telling him about ALL the ideas I had for the farm…

“…and we could do X, Y, and Z tonight and it wouldn’t take long at all…..”

“and then tomorrow we could finish and then start this other thing”…

His eyes glazed over a bit, and his excitement for a relaxing evening at home faded quickly.

I could see this pattern, and didn’t like where it was headed, so I decided looking for other pathways to direct my idea generating machine (aka my brain). 

I’ve always loved improving things, and ideas for fixing problems and creating better outcomes just came naturally to me. 

However, I deeply wanted my husband to be able to relax at the end of the day and enjoy time with our kids, so the search began…

Things I was looking for in this pre-occupation:

• A way to let my creative juices out (that didn’t depend on my husband)
• It would be nice to help our family’s finances so my husband could eventually leave his job and pursue his own creative interests.
• Something I could do on my own terms (nap times, a little bit here and there, etc.)
• It had to be something worthwhile, helping people in some way, contributing to the greater good.

My husband was very encouraging about the idea (for many reasons) and I felt 100% supported by him every step of the way.

Business Journey

I didn’t realize then that I was looking to become an entrepreneur and start my own business, but that’s exactly what I did.

After searcing online for a while at all the hundreds of diferent side hustles around, I decided to start a blog.

It checked all the boxes for me. 

The next thing I had to decide on was a topic. 

The question circling in my brain was, “what do I even have to offer?”

• I have a technical degree, but I didn’t necessarily want to focus on that. 
• I worked in a health insurance company for a bit before kids, but that didn’t sound fun.
• I could talk about being a mom, but my kids were babies and I didn’t feel qualified yet.

After some brainstorming and journaling, I realized that I heard people talk about how cooking was complicated, challenging, and overwhelming all the time. 

“You made a salad dressing at home?”, they would ask?

“Ummm…yeah?”

I didn’t understand that it was a big deal.

Which is exactly the type of subject I was looking for. Something that came naturally for me, that I could help others with (who were intimidated by the subject).

I decided to start this blog (Scratch to Basics), picked a domain, and went full steam ahead with the goal of helping people cook simple, delicious, and nutritious food in their own kitchen (without the stress).

I enjoyed every minute of it…for a while.

Now, after over 4 years, I have over 100 recipes, and over 100 more non-recipe posts covering topics from meal planning, to gift guides, where to buy real food, and more.

This blog has served over one million visitors in the last 4 years, and I have helped over 25,000 people get started with meal planning.

I’m so blessed to have this kind of impact in the world.

And it all started from my idea generating machine, on a subject that is deliciously fun (see what I did there)?

In 2020, I decided to make a course on meal planning (you can get it here), and people were grateful for the opportunity to learn new strategies (and how simple meal planning really is).

However, even with the strategies outlined in the course, I kept getting questions about sticking with habits (like meal planning). 

So, I started digging into the mindset piece of meal planning (more on this later)…

Personal Journey

This “digging into the mindset piece of habits” just happened to coincide with my own personal journey of digging into my own mindset around business, health, and the meaning of life (yes, I dig deep).

And, it coincided with our realization that the farm was just getting to be too much for us. 

With my husband’s job, his side-job, the farm (which is a job in and of itself), and our (now THREE) kids. He was spread way too thin.

And me, with watching the kids, discovering that I LOVE entrepreneurship, and doing all things food. I was spread too thin, too. 

We were living in the rainy northwest, and were ready for a significant weather change (aka more sun). 

Some people wait for decades to move away from something they don’t like if it means making a big change.

Some people never do it at all.

We’re not those people.

We moved to East Texas in 2021 in search of:

• More sun
• More time
• More convenience

And we’ve found all those things and more. 

Will we ever have property again? Maybe. 

Will we still support local farmers and care about where our food is coming from? Definitely.

Will we grow our own food again? Yes.

Tying it all together

A metaphor for you to help tie this all together…

When you’re living in a house and things are working well (doors are shutting how they’re supposed to, windows work, etc.) you don’t really question anything. You go about your daily life. 

However, when the doors stop shutting correctly, the windows won’t open, and you start to see cracks in the wall, you likely start to realize there’s a bigger problem.

It’s not the actual house that’s the problem. It’s the foundation. 

And if you’ve got cracks in your foundation, you’re bound to find problems in the house above. 

Once you fix the foundation problems, you can continue to live life in a way that’s going to work better for you, and get the results you are looking for. 

In my business, people were coming to me asking for help with recipes and meal planning. 

Really, the problem was that things didn’t feel right to them. Something wasn’t working. It was like they tried to shut a door in their house, and it wouldn’t close.

Ugh! Frustrating, right?

What they thought they wanted was better strategies, recipes, and tips to make things work.

When really they were looking to get their house back in working order and get them the results they were looking for (like ease, less stress, health, energy, etc.). And in order to do that, they needed to fix the foundation/root cause of the problem).

The root cause of the problem

“So…what IS the root cause?”, you might be asking. Well, let me explain.

Along my mindset journey, I learned about the brain and how powerful it is. 

Your brain stores all your memories (even if you think you don’t remember, they’re there). 

Your brain organizes your memories based on common emotions (so when you get angry today, you’re reminded of times in the past when you also got angry). These memories are linked.

Your subconscious was developed between the ages of 0 and 7, and is like a computer program. When you were a kid, you learned how the world works by observing your parents, teachers, and friends. 

And your brain put together a “program”, or “rules” for how to act in this world. 

Fast forward to today, your brain is still working based off that program (with more memories piled on along the way). 

I’ve been certified as a Master Neuro-Linguistic Programming and Quantum Time Technique Practitioner, along with Hypnosis, and a Transformation Accelerator Coach and have the tools to help you not only uncover what might be causing the problems you’re experiencing in your day-to-day life, but also help you heal them. 

Which brings me to an exciting announcement!!!

It doesn’t have to take years of therapy and talking it out (although therapy can be very useful in certain situations) for you to heal from your past. You can experience change quickly, and easily by using subconscious reprogramming tools. 

When I first learned about these tools, I was angry that they weren’t more widespread. 

I experienced MASSIVE transformation through the use of these tools, and I want the same for you. 

Which is why I’m starting a new life and business coaching company, Redeeming Roots Coaching. 

In my coaching programs I pull from a variety of tools like:

• Understanding yourself better and how God created you (using Human Design and your past experiences as a guide).
• Goal setting strategies, time management, and productivity boosters
• Brain based habit formation
• Business experience (for the business coaching clients)
• Subconscious reprogramming tools (as needed)
• Emotional processing tools and strategies

If you’re ready to explore what might be happening underneath the surface – come hang out over here. I’d love to guide you and help you see massive shifts, crush your goals, and experience more joy than you knew was possible. 

It’s happened for me, and I want that for you.

Join me over here, or book a free discovery call here.

Oh, and moving forward, my Instagram will be focused on helping you connect the dots between all the amazing mindset tools I’ve learned and where you are NOW.

Thanks for being on this journey with me!