What Joelene had to unlearn to finally go all in.
This week's Page TurnerHello Reader. For the longest time, I believed there had to be a hard line between my business and my family life. I thought if I wanted to be seen as “serious,” I had to show up online as a completely separate version of myself—polished, professional, all business, no mess. I thought if I wanted to be seen as “serious,” I had to show up as a completely separate version of myself—polished, professional, all business, no mess. The kind of person who wears pressed slacks to their home office, answers every call on the first ring, and somehow keeps the house silent like it’s a law firm boardroom. I’d bend myself into whatever shape I thought people expected. And the irony? The more I tried to hide the reality of my life, the harder it became to connect with the kind of people I actually wanted to work with. I had already started blurring that hard line between life and business, slowly letting the two overlap in a way that actually worked for me. But reading All In by Arlene Dickinson recently? It reminded me why that decision mattered so much. That line didn’t spark the change—but it sure validated it. It confirmed what I’d already begun to realize: integrating my real life into my business wasn’t unprofessional—it was essential. Because the truth is, my family is part of my business story. I didn’t start my online business to escape them—I started it to be more with them. To build something that could coexist with my real life, not compete with it. That quote reminded me to stop pretending and start integrating. My content got more honest. My schedule got more flexible. My energy got a heck of a lot clearer. And surprise—it didn’t make me less credible. It made me more human. The great thing is, shift didn’t just help me feel better—it made my business better. Because people don’t connect with a brand. They connect with a person. A real one. So, if you’ve ever caught yourself trying to “act” like a business owner instead of just being one—especially when real life is happening in the background, remember—you are not alone.
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