From Broken to Brave: My Messy, Magical Path to Soul-Led Business
Photo by Elisha May
I Tried 17 Different Paths. Here’s What Finally Set Me Free.
Not All Entrepreneurs Find Their Thing Early And That’s Okay!
My entrepreneurial journey hasn’t been easy, consistent, or reliable.
But it will be, because if others can do it, so can I. 🔥
It’s been a 12-year rollercoaster: stop-start, frantic then flatlined, full of fire and fear. But I’ve never let go, because my number one value is freedom. And I’m nothing if not tenacious. I’ve tried so many ventures that only now, in this current iteration of my work, do I finally feel aligned with my soul, heart, and purpose. So no, I’m not done yet. In many ways, I’ve only just begun.
The First Spark: Charity Sales and Childhood Clues
It started young. I was about 10 or 11 when I organised a Bring and Buy sale at school, inspired by Blue Peter. With my teacher’s help, I raised money for charity and handed it in at Barclays and something lit up inside me. I remember wondering: “What if I could do this for a living? What if I could help the world and earn money doing it?”
That was my first taste of purpose-driven leadership. Of organisation. Of impact. I didn’t know it then, but that day would become the seed of everything I do now.
“Hell No” to 9-5: The Rebel Awakens
Even at 14, I knew I wasn’t cut out for the 9–5 life. When my science teacher said, “One day you’ll have to get a job like me, 40 hours a week,” I remember thinking: Absolutely not. F*ck that!
Why spend your life in a building you don’t own, to pay for a house you barely get to live in?
I saw stress, burnout, and projection and felt deep in my bones: There has to be a better way.
The Hidden Gifts: A Healer Without a Map
By 11 or 12, I knew I had healing abilities. I resonated more with superheroes than popstars (Although, being a rock chick would be cool!). But I had no idea how to nurture these gifts. There were no schools for empaths. No courses on “energy leadership.” No language for what I was experiencing.
Meanwhile, my home life was crumbling. My dad had just slipped into the depths of ME/Chronic Fatigue. Emotional support was non-existent. But somewhere in my heart, I heard: “Your time will come.”
It just wasn’t yet.
From Grief to Grind: The Broken Path to Self-Employment
At 24, after my degree, I started working abroad and everything cracked open. I was on my road to becoming… my appreticeship to life, to my purpose.
I was gaslit in a, Au Pair job in New York. I got sick and burnt out in the French Alps. My mum was sectioned. My brother died by suicide when I was 26. Trauma stacked on trauma. And somehow, in the aftermath, I trained as a beauty therapist, not out of passion (maybe a bit, I liked making people feel better), but survival mainly. I was f*cked inside.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I was a broken woman trying to build a business on broken foundations.
And that rarely works.
The False Hustle: What Conditioning Gets Wrong
I ran my ex’s business for nearly 2 years while juggling beauty clients and spa shifts. I worked 7 days a week because I thought that’s what it took. I swallowed the “grind” narrative like gospel. Force, push, perform. Masculine energy on overdrive.
I was exhausted, underpaid, disconnected from my intuition and completely lost.
I didn’t ask myself why I was doing any of it.
I just kept doing more. Thinking one, it will be different.
The Turning Point: 2020 and the Return to Self
Then came 2020 and the great collapse (although it really began in late 2018/2019)
Covid/Lockdown wiped out my beauty therapy work. My relationship ended - thank goodness. I moved back into my parents’ annex. The life I’d built from my false self crumbled. And in that rubble, something real stirred.
That year, I began reconnecting to my soul, my boundaries, my values. I started healing properly. I began remembering who I really was. But, it wasn’t comfortable or easy. I faced internal chaos. Energetic purges. Expanded awareness. Nights on the bathroom floor.
But I wouldn’t change a second of it.
Healing isn’t clean. It’s holy chaos. And on the other side is truth.
Now: Living in Integrity, Leading with Soul
Today, I don’t live from grind - I live from alignment.
I lead with heart. I know my boundaries. I honour my body and nervous system. I make decisions from integrity, not obligation. I finally feel like me: expressed, connected, and powerful.
And I now help other high-sensory, empathic souls remember that your expression matters.
You matter.
Your journey might be long, messy, non-linear.
But if you keep listening to your soul, you’ll get there.
Final Words for the Late Bloomers
If you’ve taken the scenic route… if your purpose hasn’t dropped in yet… if you’ve tried 17 things and still feel lost… (I’m 3/5 in Human Design - designed for trial and error)
There’s nothing wrong with you.
You’re just not off course, you’re off script.
And that might be your magic.
Ready to step into your own Freedom of Self™?
If this blog spoke to your soul, I want to hear from you.
Whether you’re mid-rebuild, navigating grief, starting from scratch, or feeling like the rebel in the room - I see you. You’re not alone, and you’re not too late.
Book a 1:1 session or apply to work with me here:
Freedom is not just possible. It’s your birthright.
Let’s go claim it - together.
Love,
Elisha ❤️🔥
