Most days I feel like I’m building a new life while still holding together the old one.

I’m a 40 year old single mom of 4. Yes, my kids are older: 20, 17, 16, and 13. I co-own a barbershop. I still work behind the chair as a barber. I still juggle bills, perimenopause (which can kick rocks btw), kids, and spreadsheets. Yet every morning, something in me whispers “keep going”. I still feel like I’m in survival mode, but fuck I’m not willing to stay here forever.

Ever since I can remember, this isn’t the version of freedom I imagined. It’s messier. Louder. Lonely at times. But it’s also real. It’s the kind of freedom that starts small, in choices rather than milestones.

For me, that looks like:

• Choosing to track my numbers even when they scare me
• Choosing to have a slow morning and not rushing around
• Choosing to keep creating systems that make life easier, even if no one sees them yet

I used to think I had to have everything perfect before getting out. Out of debt, out of the barbershop, out of the grind. Now I think it’s something you start designing right where you are.

Freedom isn’t one big leap. It’s a thousand micro-decisions to build peace while everything still feels unfinished.

If you’re here with me, still working, still trying, still building, you’re not behind. You’re just in the middle.

And the middle still counts.

If you want a place to start, download my free Reality Check Calculator. It will show you what your real survival number is. Once you can see the truth, you can start designing your way out of it.

Download the Reality Check Calculator.