How I Built a Multi-7-Figure Business While Grieving (And What I Learned)

How I Built a Multi-7-Figure Business While Grieving (And What I Learned)

I didn’t expect to get gut-punched in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe’s.

But there it was — a rice pudding my dad would have absolutely loved. And just like that, I was sucker-punched between the eyes, standing in the dairy aisle trying to hold it together.

My dad, Norm, loved Trader Joe’s. Ever since he passed away from AML leukemia a few years ago, every new product that comes out that he would have adored hits me the same way. When the imitation Olive Garden breadsticks came out last year, I nearly lost it in the bread aisle.

Grief is funny like that. It doesn’t announce itself. It just shows up.

My Personal Month of Hell

Both of my parents died in May.

Two horrible phone calls. Two panicked four-hour drives from Long Island to Philadelphia. The last text messages. The last “I love you.” Their last sips of air. The last time they told me everything would be okay, and I pretended to believe them so they could believe it too.

My dad died on Mother’s Day. Then my mom died shortly after.

I hate May.

Every year, as soon as April arrives, my grief starts to bloom almost in perfect unison with the buds on the trees. At least no one can tell whether I’m crying from the pollen or the heartbreak.

But Life — and Business — Kept Going

Here’s the thing about grief that no one in the business world really talks about: it doesn’t pause for your launch calendar.

I still had a business to run. Household responsibilities. Friends. Hobbies. My bernedoodle, Huddy, who needed smothering with love. I couldn’t just stop. I never have been able to.

And while my situation looked different from someone with a toddler crawling into bed at 3 a.m. or a family passing around daycare’s virus of the week, the feeling underneath was exactly the same.

Your business feels like the least important thing in the world. But you still need to pay the bills. Still need to plan for the future. Still quietly want to grow, get recognized for your work, build something that matters — while simultaneously feeling like it’s just not your time yet.

Or like you need your business to take off, but you don’t have the bandwidth to build an entire airplane from scratch.

I know that feeling. I’ve lived inside it.

What Was Missing From Every Business Book I Read

When I started building my business, there were plenty of books on funnels, email marketing, and online growth. But they were all missing two critical things.

First, they weren’t written for people like us — coaches, course creators, and digital product sellers. What we do is fundamentally different from starting a construction company or a bakery, and the strategies need to reflect that.

Second, and more importantly, not one of them addressed what I think of as the traumatized elephant in the room: what do you actually do when life is life-ing and you still have to show up and build?

“Just wait until things calm down” is not a strategy. Whether you’re caring for a sick parent, raising small kids, navigating grief, or managing your own health, you may be waiting a very long time. And your business goals don’t have to wait with you.

You Don’t Need a Perfect Life to Build a Successful Business

This is the truth I wish someone had handed me years ago.

You don’t need a three-hour morning routine, an aesthetically perfect home office, or eight uninterrupted working hours a day to make money online. You need a strategy that was designed for real life — for the version of you that’s doing your best on hard days, not just the highlight-reel version.

That’s exactly why I wrote When I Start My Business, I’ll Be Happy. It’s the book I needed when I was building through grief, and it’s the one I wrote for anyone trying to grow something meaningful while life keeps tugging them in a different direction — whether that’s toward a hospital room, a soccer field, or a Trader Joe’s dairy aisle where you’re trying not to cry.

Inside, I share everything I know about building a successful online business: how I grew my email list to over 63,000 subscribers, how to create less content with more impact, and how to sell your digital products and services consistently — without waiting for life to get easier first.

Grab a copy wherever books are sold, and come build something that works for your actual life.

If you purchase my book anywhere books are sold by tomorrow (4/29) you’ll get a free ticket to a 90-minute book club call with me on Thursday.

Bring me your spiciest business questions —

What would you focus on right now if you were in my shoes?

How many emails do you send in a typical launch?

​How do I run my first launch so I can have a 4-day $500k launch one day too?

​It’s your chance to pick my business brain. And luckily for you, I’m a completely open book…

​Because everything I know about business, marketing, and growing a successful online business is in my book.

Links You’ll Love

Rate my book on Amazon, regardless of where you bought it. It takes one second and makes a huge difference for the overall wellness and longevity of my book.

​Rate my book on Goodreads, pretty please.

Subscribe to my (free!) Substack, Beyond Business, where I write about how I’m building a life offline while being chronically online for my business. SUBSCRIBE HERE→​

What should you read first? Here are my top 3 posts:

• ​I’m trying, but everyone’s on their phones​
• ​The last thing my mom said about me made me sick​
• ​Why you still feel illegitimate even when you’ve “made it”

ON YOUR TERMS®

I Went to This Mastermind So You Didn’t Have To

Last week, I got to go to an invite-only 3-day mastermind full of NYT best-selling authors, YouTube and social media stars, and online business experts from all over the world.

Then I sat down and shared every single thing that I’m allowed to share that I learned there, so you could benefit, too.

LISTEN HERE→ I Went to an Invite-Only Mastermind. Here’s Everything I Learned.

Learn how to confidently setup your online business without worrying you’re making legal mistakes in my free legal class, 5 Steps to Legally Protect & Grow Your Online Business.

In my free legal class, you’ll learn:

• if the fear of doing something wrong is blocking your potential
• what your website needs to be legally sound
• which contracts you need that will totally save your (vegan) bacon
• how to form your business the right way to protect YOU
• the only way to keep copycats from stealing your content (it’s not what you think!)

Ready to breathe a gigantic sigh of relief?