Real Time Creator | A Career Break Diary

Is this the end of my career break? I’m back from two creator events in Boise with my brain absolutely BUZZING, and a question I'd been avoiding for almost a year staring me right in the face. This episode is me finally telling you what I've been working on and what it means for what's next. In This Episode: Why I almost skipped the $2,500+ investment that ended up changing everythi...

I’m still REELING over this. Airbnb invited me to fly to San Francisco for an all expenses paid experience at their headquarters for their 2026 Summer Release. This is far from a play-by-play. I’m taking you behind the scenes of the most interesting aspects of this trip, what surprised me the most, the people I met, and why this brand activation meant SO much more than a free flight. In This Episo...

A very unexpected invitation pulled me across the country, so here I am, popping in from my hotel room in San Francisco. This episode will feel like a spontaneous, casual voice note, but we’re also talking about opportunities… and how you can create more of them if you just send the damn email! In This Episode: The email draft I sat on for WEEKS and what happened when I finally hit send Carly Vala...

Did you notice I went quiet? No episodes, no social media, no showing up. Life got heavy in a way I wasn't expecting, and honestly… I needed a minute. This episode is part nostalgia, part grief, and part reminder that the scariest leaps are always the ones worth taking. In This Episode: Why I’ve been grieving the past few days, and the pit in my stomach I felt when I was at TEDx The weird but...

I did NOT expect a 6-week pottery class to turn into a bigger conversation about quitting, intuition, and the things we stay stuck in for way too long. But that’s exactly what happened.  What started as a small creative experiment on my career break ended up showing me how much resistance I was feeling and what kinds of creative experiences actually light me up. In This Episode: What resistance re...

For 8 months, I’ve been avoiding the job market, questioning if I want to “enter the arena.” And it’s because the stories I'm hearing are genuinely jaw-dropping. The rules have changed in 2026. We can no longer reactively apply to hundreds of jobs. Our networks matter more than EVER, and I’m ready to share all of my theories. In This Episode: My “life admin” week, and why I skipped last week’...

Last week, I REALLYYYY stretched myself by saying “yes” and speaking on stage at a local podcaster’s panel.  I'm going to take you into my head for the entirety of it - the anticipation, the "day of" investments I made, what it felt like minutes before walking on stage, and how podcasting has shaped who I am as a person. In This Episode: Live clips from my introduction on stage, alo...

Nobody talks about what happens when a high salary stops feeling like enough. I was making over $200,000 a year and STILL attaching my sense of worth to every paycheck, every commission, every win.  This is a vulnerable episode that goes deep into the complex layers of lifestyle creep, what it was like to earn at a high level and why I was still chasing “more” even when I was already maxed out. In...

What do I actually DO all day?! In this episode, I’m getting real and honest about the resistance I felt around committing to a new creative hobby, why I’m doing the exact opposite when it comes to my usual workout routine, and how I’m trying to avoid acting “retired” 24/7. The messy middle of reinvention doesn’t always look super dramatic from the outside. It’s like a series of tiny experiments t...

Every time someone asks me what’s next for my life, I freeze. And last week, a conversation with my former boss pushed me to explore that tension using AI in a way I didn’t expect. (And I’m sharing the ENTIRE prompt with you so you can try it too!) We’re talking all things AI, internet nostalgia, and what I learned when I used Claude to map out three potential “paths” for my career. In This Episod...

Seven months ago, I was googling “how to make extra money from home.” I had just been laid off, my nervous system was buzzing, and I needed proof that I could still be “valuable” and generate income if I had to.  Over 3 months, I experimented with three different gig-style income streams: market research studies, restaurant mystery shopping, and wedding event support, and made exactly $1,127. Some...

There is a WILD cultural shift happening between AI, massive layoffs, and the boom of portfolio careers, “boring” businesses, and complete identity rewrites are happening EVERYWHERE. One woman left Slack and Asana and built a 6-figure income without a traditional job. Another started a “boring” business and had a four-figure day. People are walking away from a stable corporate path to make a zig-z...

This is a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at my first 30 days of podcasting. I’m spilling the download numbers, the unexpected surprises and freak-outs, and how putting my “journal” out in the world is already opening doors I didn’t even pitch for. In This Episode: The exact mental block that made YouTube feel impossible even though I had ideas ready to go How many downloads I expected to get,...

Two weeks ago, I seriously questioned ending my career break. In this episode, I’m walking you through what actually happened when I was invited to explore two sales roles I would’ve jumped at a year ago. In This Episode: Why being wanted and “in demand” messed with my head more than I expected The bargaining spiral and pros/cons list I went through Where I got starry-eyed about saying “yes”, and...

3 years ago, our podcast editing business scaled beyond our wildest dreams to 22 clients. And then my husband ended up in the ER. Steve is joining me for an honest conversation about how we divide roles, why our dynamic as business partners actually works, and what happened when the overwhelming tension built as our business expanded. We also talk about juicy things like the moments we annoy each...

My energy is giving me WAY more information than my to-do lists ever did. What happens when I stop forcing decisions and start collecting clues? I’m back from a 3-city trip and we’re covering it all: networking, my unexpected obsession at the Tampa RV Show, and a realization about commitment that caught me off guard. There’s a clear thread in this episode: paying attention to what lights me up, wh...

I hate to admit this, but being on my phone is literally a part-time job. And I didn’t realize how much it was costing me until I looked at the data. (And yes, I’m sharing my REAL screen time stats in this episode that make me CRINGE). You'll hear what I’m experimenting with, what I haven’t figured out yet, and why this feels like a pivotal moment in my career break. In This Episode: The unex...

We’re talking MONEY, baby! Today I’m walking you line by line through all the expenses I cut out of my budget to afford my new life on a creative career break, and the moment I realized that wanting to panic-sell my house wasn’t really about the house at all. This solo episode is all about what happens when your sense of safety gets shaken, your identity cracks open, and your nervous system starts...

I thought I had “made it.” Five years into a dream sales career in tech, earning over $200K a year without a college degree, it felt like my life checked all the boxes. But then I got laid off.  And instead of freaking out and applying to 100 jobs, I decided to treat this as an invitation to start a full-blown creative career break.  In this first episode, I’m walking you through the emotional unr...

I spent years chasing success, money, and shelving my creative dreams. I was a lifestyle blogger, a secret weapon inside of a 7-figure creator business, and a high earner in tech. Then I got laid off, and EVERYTHING changed. Real Time Creator is my unfiltered, voice note style diary of what it's like to be in your late 30's, reinventing your entire life and business. Every week, you&apos...