This Is Why I Drink Coffee and Swear

You know those entrepreneurs who start their business with color-coded plans, a polished brand, and a five-year roadmap worthy of a TED Talk?

Yeah… no.

I started mine in March 2013 with nothing but grit, chronic pain, and a tech stack that looked like it was sourced from the world’s saddest thrift store.

And honestly? That messy beginning still shapes how I run my online business today – with a lot more confidence, a lot more clarity, and significantly better software choices.

Life threw its little plot twist when I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease. Suddenly, sitting or standing for long periods wasn’t just uncomfortable – it was nearly impossible. W-2 jobs were out. Feeling like a burden wasn’t an option. My daughter was supporting me, and while I was grateful, I also hated it.

So, like any desperate Gen Xer with WiFi, I went to Google and typed:
“How to make money online… fast.”

I found an online training program about websites, SEO, and affiliate marketing. Did I know what any of that meant? Absolutely not. Did that stop me? Absolutely not. I dove in headfirst because when you’re broke, determined, and stubborn, you’ll try almost anything.

My first client didn’t come from a fancy funnel. She came from another newbie I met in that training program. One introduction later, and suddenly I was answering support tickets like I knew what I was doing.

That client – bless her heart – started teaching me the tech tools she used in her business. And here’s where things got interesting:

I realized I was weirdly good at it.

Tech made sense to me. I picked things up fast. I didn’t have the usual panic response most entrepreneurs get when their screen blinks unexpectedly.

It was like discovering a hidden superpower… except my superpower was understanding software nobody else wanted to touch.

Shortly after, I started building websites – for a whopping $500 a pop.

Listen.

In 2013, I truly believed I was rolling in money. I remember thinking,
“People are paying me actual money to do this?!”

In hindsight, yes, I undercharged. Tragically. But at the time, I felt like a badass.

Let me tell you a universal truth in online business:

Just because someone will pay you… does NOT mean you should work with them.

For years, I took on clients who were walking red flags – disrespectful, condescending, needy, draining, entitled… pick a flavor. I worked with them because I “needed the money,” and it made my business feel like a prison.

I dreaded checking my inbox.
I dreaded new assignments.
I dreaded… everything involving those clients.

Eventually I realized:
If the work makes you miserable, the money is never worth it.

You never forget the first time you break a client’s website.

One minute everything looked normal.
The next… white screen.
Silent panic. Heart attack imminent.

I spent hours panic-googling, clicking things, un-clicking things, bargaining with the tech gods, and questioning every life choice that brought me to this moment.

But here’s the funny thing:
I fixed it.

And now?
Breaking a website is just an inconvenience.
Annoying, yes.
Mentally devastating, no.

You learn the patterns. You learn the fixes. You learn that 90 percent of tech meltdowns are just “have you tried turning it off and on again?” but with fancier words.

Confidence didn’t come early.
Or easily.
Or loudly.

It crept in slowly – over years of learning new systems, troubleshooting disasters, and watching clients look at me like I’d just performed wizardry when I explained something I considered “basic.”

That’s when it hit me:
This isn’t luck. This isn’t guessing. This is skill.
A real one.

Turns out, not everyone finds online business operations intuitive.
Not everyone wants to cry tears of joy over clean automations.
Not everyone knows the difference between a system that supports your business… and one held together with duct tape and prayers.

But I do. And now I teach it, build it, fix it, and help entrepreneurs avoid the burnout and tech overwhelm I lived through.

Because your business doesn’t need a perfect beginning.
It doesn’t need polished branding or a 17-step strategy or a unicorn team.

It needs one thing:
A stubborn belief that you can figure it out, even when you’re googling your mistakes at 2 AM.

This blog is where I’ll be sharing the behind-the-scenes of running an online business – the operations, the tech, the real talk, the wins, the meltdowns, and the “this is why I drink coffee and swear” moments every entrepreneur knows too well.