Okay, you guys are in for such a treat with this episode! We’re covering a bunch of topics that I haven’t really had a guest on to talk about before. We’re going all over the place—diving into what it’s like to run a lifestyle business, travel, homeschool, and manage it all. It was such a fun conversation, and I personally learned a lot. I walked away feeling really inspired.
Today, I’m talking with Emily Conley. She’s a friend of mine, and we’ve worked together for many years in my own business. She’s also been a customer of mine, and I’ve been a customer of hers. She’s just such a joy to learn from and talk to. This conversation feels really casual because these are the kinds of things we chat about all the time when we’re on work calls and catching up on life.
It was so much fun to pick her brain about some things at length. We talked about:
- Losing your Instagram account after four years of building a business—and what it’s like to run a business without social media
- Whether it’s possible to start and grow a business from scratch without social media at all
- Taking a year off to travel with your family while still running a business
- Homeschooling as a business owner and being an "unlikely homeschooler"—what that has looked like for Emily
- Her daily life—homeschooling, living somewhere new, and running a business all at the same time
- What their family’s schedule looks like and how they make it work
- Advice for traveling as a family, homeschooling, running a business VIP day-style, and so much more
We cover a lot of different but related topics, getting really detailed on how Emily makes it all work—the challenges, the wins, and everything in between. I think you guys are really going to enjoy this conversation.
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Who is Emily Conley?
Emily is a copywriter and brand messaging strategist. She specializes in writing clear, compelling copy that converts, and she’s obsessed with helping her clients tap into the power of their brand voice and use their words to attract their dream clients and make effortless sales.
The one thing Emily does best? Amplifying your unique brand message, making sure that every word sounds like the best version of you and your brand. She’s meticulous, efficient, and never wastes a word.
When she’s not working her copy magic, you’ll find Emily living her best digital nomad life traveling the world with her family of 3.
Your Instagram Was Hacked in 2023. Can You Talk About What That Was Like?
It was honestly a nightmare. Let me just set the stage because this is a good one. So, I’m flying back from Madrid to Nashville, and we had splurged on business class upgrades—something we never do. I was feeling so cool, sitting in my little pod, thinking, wow, this is legit. So, I decided to do a little “Ask Me Anything” on Instagram from my fancy business class seat, feeling like a real business owner.
And then—boom. White screen. I got logged out. Just like that.
I tried to log back in, and an error message popped up. I don’t even remember exactly what it said now, but it was basically like, you’ve done something wrong, and it’s over. But there was an option to appeal.
So, I appealed. It’s all done through online forms, so I filled one out. Two days later, I got an email from Instagram saying, Oh my gosh, we’re so sorry—that was an accident. You didn’t violate anything. We’ve restored your account. Let us know if you have any issues.
But I still couldn’t log in. Ever.
Every time I tried, I got the same error message. And there’s no real way to contact anyone. You’re just at the mercy of a chatbot, emails, and automated forms. I must have submitted that appeal form at least 60 times—I don’t even know. I kept trying for weeks, but I could never get it back.
And then…it was just gone.
Over 80% of my business came from Instagram—probably more. It wasn’t just my main traffic source; it was almost my only driver. I was doing other things, but that’s where everyone was coming in from. And beyond that, I had built such a strong community there.
I was always on Stories, constantly creating and engaging. There was so much content—things I had poured hours of time, energy, and creativity into. Losing all of that was honestly the saddest part. It was just gone.
It was a huge blow. I had put so much into it, and suddenly, I had no idea what was going to happen. I wasn’t even sure if I’d still have a business.
What was your initial reaction after losing the account and then ultimately what you ended up doing?
At first, I was just horrified. It was a total shock.
But two things really helped me. First, I had built a really strong community on Instagram, and many of those people had other ways of reaching me. We were connected on Voxer, through email, or in other ways. So, when I disappeared, a lot of people reached out, asking what had happened and where I was—which was really nice. I also still had referrals coming in, so I wasn’t completely cut off.
The second thing that saved me was my email list. I had been growing it over time, and it was actually bigger than my Instagram audience, which turned out to be a huge advantage. So, I leaned hard into email marketing. I let everyone know what had happened, reassured them that I was still in business, and just kept going.
A few months later, I decided to create a second Instagram account, Emily Writes Well 2.0. But then…six months later, that account got deleted too.
You have your original handle back now, right?
By the time enough time had passed, my original Instagram handle became available again, so I grabbed it. But honestly, I think I’ve only posted maybe three times—I’m still not sure what I want to do with it.
The main reason I even wanted to have an Instagram again was because I do a lot of collaborations, and without an account, people couldn’t tag me in projects we worked on. I really missed that accessibility. I love being introduced to new audiences through my collaborations, especially when it’s with someone I’ve worked with before, because their audience often includes people I’d love to work with, too. So I was definitely missing out on that.
I still haven’t fully decided what to do. I’ve thought about just setting up one of those nine-grid layouts—where you post a set of static posts and leave it at that—while only showing up in Stories. But I haven’t committed to anything yet.
To be extra cautious, I created the new account using a completely new email—like, a brand-new Gmail that wasn’t tied to any of my business accounts—just in case I was somehow blacklisted. Honestly, I still don’t know.
You’ve been off Instagram for a while but still had your highest revenue year last year—while also traveling and homeschooling. What do you think made that possible without social media?
It really came down to the referral network I’ve built. Last year, over half of my clients were repeat clients—people I had worked with before.
Another 10–20% came from organic search through my website. And the rest? All referrals or people connected to my referral network.
So, I barely marketed my business at all last year—which, to be honest, isn’t a strategy I’d recommend! But even without active marketing, I still had my highest revenue year while doing so many other things.
That said, this year looks very different. I have a more intentional marketing strategy in place (outside of Instagram), so we’ll see how that shifts things. But for one year, at least, I made it work. I just don’t think it’s a long-term strategy.
For a new service-based business, like a copywriter, do you think it’s possible to succeed without social media, or what would you recommend based on your experience?
That’s such a great question. I was able to step away from Instagram after five years of intentional building—but I don’t think I could have started without it.
Almost all of my referral network originally came from Instagram. I built relationships, established authority, and earned trust there. While you can make meaningful connections outside of Instagram (one of my best referral clients came from an in-person networking event), Instagram was key for me in the early days.
If you're just starting out and don’t love Instagram, my advice is to stick with it long enough to build connections. Focus on community over metrics or going viral. And, at the same time, build your email list—because that gives you the freedom to eventually step away from social media if you want to.
Instagram is the best free marketing tool I’ve found for establishing a presence, networking, and finding opportunities. Many of my in-person connections actually started there. So while it is possible to grow without social media, I wouldn’t have been able to do it without laying that foundation first.
For business owners who’ve been at it for a while but feel over Instagram or TikTok—not looking to delete their account, but not wanting to put as much energy into it—what advice would you give them?
Just do it—step away. There’s so much freedom in not relying on social media.
If you're not being forced off the platform, you can be intentional about it. You don’t have to make a big announcement or explain yourself—just take a break. Try stepping away for a week each month and see how it feels.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned this past year is that nothing has to be permanent. You can experiment. If you step away and realize you miss it, you can always come back—no big deal. Sometimes we make these decisions feel bigger than they are, like they’re forever, but they’re not. You’re allowed to change your mind.
What inspired you to take a family gap year?
My husband and I used to live in Australia—our daughter was actually born while we were living in Sydney. But having a newborn 10,000 miles away from family was really tough, so we moved back to Nashville when she was 10 weeks old. We've been here for about six years now.
We actually tried to move back to Sydney through my husband’s job. We got really close—sold my car, started listing our house—but then his company implemented a global hiring freeze, and the whole plan fell apart.
Since a permanent move wasn’t possible, we started thinking: What if we just slow-traveled instead? Instead of settling in one place, we could spend a month or two in different locations and try out new places. Our daughter was six and starting first grade, which felt like the perfect time—she was still young, not tied down by school or friends yet.
The biggest challenge was my husband's job. Even though he was working remotely at the time, his company was shifting toward in-office work again. Plus, there were legal restrictions—he couldn’t just live in another country for months (at his current company).
When he finally decided, Hey, I can walk away from this job and see what else is possible, that changed everything. It opened up all kinds of new options for us.
How long were you gone for?
Yeah, so we started with six months on the road. We traveled for exactly six months, then came back home for the holidays to spend time with family. We've been here for about six weeks, but later this week, we’re heading out again for another six months—we have everything planned through June.
We started in Costa Rica, which was an easy transition since the time zones matched my work schedule. We stayed in a beachside condo with a pool—it was beautiful. But it was also more rustic than we expected. One surprising thing was how expensive it was—groceries actually cost more there than in Nashville! Restaurants were also around the same price or even more, which we hadn’t expected. And then there were the roads—sometimes they just turned into dirt paths or even went straight through a river. Definitely an adventure!
We spent two months there, then flew to Colombia, then on to London, where we met my parents for a road trip through the UK. After that, we spent five or six weeks on the Greek island of Naxos, followed by time in Valencia, Spain—where we experienced a massive flood. Being in a foreign country during a natural disaster was eye-opening, but thankfully, we were safe.
We ended with three weeks in Marrakech, Morocco, before heading back home.
Did you have to make any major shifts, like selling a home or selling cars and things like that in order to do this?
Yes, we kept our house and found a long-term renter.
Our realtor, who also manages properties and is a close friend, handled everything for us. We had about six different families come look at the house before choosing the best fit. So far, everything has gone really smoothly—knock on wood!
Almost completely empty. We sold most of our furniture—some of it I was fine parting with, but I did love our couches! We also sold a few things to the renter, like our washer and dryer, since we didn’t want to deal with repairs or replacements. We also sold some outdoor furniture and bar stools, but most things went on Marketplace. My husband handled that, and honestly, selling everything was like a full-time job!
We also sold both of our cars. So we kept the house but sold the cars and furniture. And the biggest change—my husband quit his job. That was huge because his job provided our health insurance, and he had been with the company for 13 years. It felt really scary at first, but once he did it, we realized—we're fine. It was okay.
We have a small 8x10 storage unit where we kept things like our Christmas ornaments, some of my daughter's toys (including her Barbie Dream House), and my better cookware—just things that would be easy to move when we return.
What would you say was the biggest mindset shift or challenge in making it happen?
So many emotions. It was a long process—we started planning about a year before we actually left. My husband and I knew about it early on, but we didn’t tell anyone until later in the process.
I think the biggest shift was realizing that we didn’t have to commit forever. Choosing to rent our house instead of selling it made everything feel so much less permanent. And we had done something similar before—when we moved to Sydney, we had only been married for 18 months, and we had just built a brand-new house. We actually built a house and planned a wedding at the same time—we closed on the house the week of our wedding, which was wild. It was our perfect little starter home, and then we sold everything and moved.
So, we had already been through the experience of selling, moving, and letting go of a home. But this time, I had to remind myself that home isn’t about the house—it’s about the three of us being together. That was a big mindset shift for me.
On paper, it kind of looked like I was pulling my daughter away from this great situation. She was thriving and had just gotten into a really competitive magnet school that you have to test into. It’s really hard to get in, and we knew that by leaving, she probably wouldn’t be able to go back. But since we weren’t planning on returning to the same community, it felt okay.
The hardest part was worrying about stability—wondering, Am I wrecking my kid? But we’ve been really intentional about checking in, both before we left and throughout our travels. We always ask, How’s everyone doing? How are we feeling? And we’ve kept the mindset that if, at any point, any one of us is unhappy, we can adjust. Nothing is permanent. We can always make changes.
Did you ever see yourself homeschooling before this gap year?
Yes! So, I was a teacher—that was my first job out of college. I didn’t originally go to school for teaching, but I did a non-traditional program to become a teacher and ended up teaching kindergarten and first grade.
So, going into homeschooling, I thought, I got this. I know how to structure a curriculum, set objectives—all of that. To be honest, that part isn’t too hard. Anyone can do it. But…I never actually wanted to homeschool. I have a very strong-willed child, and I liked that she went off to school and someone else handled that part for seven hours a day!
Turns out, homeschooling is so much harder and way more time-consuming than I expected.
The biggest mindset shift I’ve had to make is redefining what “school” looks like. I used to think of it as sitting down, working in a workbook, doing formal lessons. But now, I realize it’s so much broader than that.
For example, when we were in Valencia, we spent an entire day at the aquarium. My daughter is obsessed with sharks, so we explored the massive shark exhibit, and she read every plaque about them. We sat on a bench, identified different species, and she started teaching us facts she had just learned. It was this totally immersive experience.
And then, when we got home, my instinct was, Okay, now we need to sit down and do school. But then I caught myself—wait, no, that was school. That was four hours of real, hands-on learning.
Same thing when we were in Greece. In Naxos, there’s this 2,000-year-old arch from the Temple of Apollo right at the port. One day, we hiked up to it, learned about its history, and that sparked my daughter’s interest in Greek mythology. She started reading mythology books, and then we visited the archaeology museum.
So, I’ve had to shift my thinking—realizing that these immersive, hands-on experiences are school. In many ways, they’re even better than traditional lessons.
How much time do you spend homeschooling every day?
Yes! Homeschooling doesn’t take as much time as a regular school day. Legally, in Tennessee, you’re required to do four hours of instruction per day—but honestly, even in traditional schools, I don’t think kids spend a full four hours actually learning. There are so many transitions and other activities throughout the day.
I chose not to purchase a curriculum, so I do all the planning myself. If I had bought a curriculum and just followed it, it would take a lot less time. But part of the reason I went this route is because my daughter is pretty advanced—she’s in first grade but about to finish third-grade math. She loves math and reading, so I wanted to tailor her education to her level rather than following a set program.
A lot of my time early on went into having her take placement tests so I could figure out exactly where she was academically. That way, I’m not spending time teaching things she already knows. If I had been homeschooling her from kindergarten, I would have already known that, and following a structured curriculum might have been easier.
I also chose not to buy a curriculum because we’re traveling—I didn’t want to carry around a bunch of books. Plus, I wanted the flexibility to customize her learning since she’s at different levels in different subjects. In traditional school, teachers have to teach to the middle, which makes sense in that setting. But since we’re homeschooling, I figured we might as well take full advantage of the flexibility.
As for balancing homeschooling with my business, her dad handles all of her math lessons. We use Khan Academy, which is amazing—and completely free! Since I don’t have four extra hours on top of my work, having him take on that part has been really helpful, especially since I’ve been working quite a bit.
I know every day is different when you're traveling, but can you share what a typical day looks like—balancing homeschooling, exploring, and work while being in different countries?
Yes! One interesting thing is that since we’ve spent a lot of time in Europe, the time zone difference—anywhere from six to eight hours ahead—has actually worked in our favor.
We start our days slowly. We wake up around 9 AM, no alarms—just whenever we naturally wake up. My daughter sleeps in because she doesn’t go to bed until midnight!
In some places, we’d go to the playground in the morning. But in Greece, we quickly realized that no one was at the playground until at least 8 or 9 PM. From 8 to 11 PM, it was packed!
It was really interesting! So in the mornings, we’d start with school—either ELA or math. Then we’d all have lunch together, which became our main meal of the day. Since I wasn’t working yet at that point, I’d cook a full meal around lunchtime.
After lunch, Charlotte would do her second block of school—whichever subject she hadn’t done earlier. Then, she and my husband would usually go out and do something together. In Greece, we were just eight minutes from the beach, so they’d often head there to play.
I’d start work around 3 PM, which was when people in the U.S. were starting to wake up. I’d take calls and work until about 11 PM, with a break for dinner. But dinner was usually something simple—like a salad, soup, or sandwich—basically what we would normally eat for lunch back home. On weekends, we’d go out, but for the most part, we cooked at home.
Since we stay in Airbnbs, we have full kitchens, and we live pretty normally. I think a big misconception is that traveling like this feels like a vacation, but it’s really just everyday life—just in different places.
For example, like I said in Greece, we’d head to the playground in the evenings. In Spain, Charlotte attended a forest school two days a week, which was really fun. My husband would take her in the mornings, and she’d spend the whole day outside, building things, exploring, and just being in nature—no matter the weather, for seven hours a day! That was nice because it gave me a full workday.
So, most days followed a rhythm—family time in the morning, a little outing, then I’d work in the evening while my husband and daughter hung out, played Mario Kart, and did normal things. Then we’d all head to bed around midnight!
What has your husband’s work been like since y'all started traveling?
He’s doing a couple of things. He actually started his own Google Ads/PPC marketing business, so he has a handful of clients there. In the beginning, he kept it pretty small, but as we move forward, he’s planning to put a lot more time into it.
He’s also been working behind the scenes in my business, which has been really helpful. You mentioned earlier about being a service provider without passive income—that’s something I’m trying to change, and he’s been setting up systems to help with that.
On top of that, he handles a lot of the household stuff—all the grocery shopping, daily errands, and most of Charlotte’s care when I’m working. So, in a way, he’s kind of like a stay-at-home dad, which he’s really enjoyed. It’s been fun for them to build a new bond.
I stayed home with Charlotte until she was in pre-K, so we had that time together. Now, it’s special for her and Donnie to have that same kind of connection.
What would you say has been the most rewarding part of taking a family gap year?
The best part is seeing the learning process happen in real time. Young kids are like little sponges, and it’s amazing to watch what Charlotte picks up.
We’ll do an activity together, and later, when we talk about it, I love seeing what stood out to her—what she noticed, what she remembers. We also keep a family travel journal, and hearing her perspective on our experiences is just so special. She’s learned so much, and it’s incredible to actually see that growth happening.
We always joke that we’re making too many core memories—we can’t possibly hold onto them all! But honestly, this whole experience has been unbelievable, and I’m so grateful for it.
And then, of course, there’s her sense of humor—which has really sharpened while we’ve been traveling. My husband and I are both pretty sarcastic, and he’s hilarious. (I think I’m funny, too!) So watching her humor develop has been absolutely hilarious.
For anyone listening who’s thinking, I’d love to travel with my family while running a business, what advice would you give them—maybe something you wish you had known when you first started your family gap year?
I think it’s a lot more accessible than it might seem. You can do both—travel with your family and run a business.
There have been days where I’ve felt like I was on vacation with my family and worked a full day. It’s totally possible. Before, when I went on vacation, I wouldn’t even bring my laptop—I treated it as a full break. But shifting my mindset to see this as just everyday life made a big difference.
Even if you can’t do long-term travel, taking just a month—especially in the summer—can be so special. Being in a new place changes your perspective. We’ve also noticed that we’re a lot nicer to each other while traveling because we rely on each other more!
From a business perspective, it’s absolutely doable. I run a fully service-based business—I make all of my money working directly with clients—and it’s still been way more flexible than I expected. You can have both the travel adventure and your work. We’ve made it work!
Let’s shift to your business and what it’s been like working on the go. For those who don’t know, can you share exactly what you do? I know what you do, but walk us through what a typical work session looks like for you.
So, I’m a writer—I write all kinds of things for my clients.
This past year, while I was in Costa Rica, I actually ghostwrote a book for a client, which was totally new for me. I had never done it before, but it ended up being the most magical project. The book is called Identity Marketing, and it just came out this week—so you can check it out if you want! That process involved sitting on the balcony, writing, while my client and I had calls where she’d download all her thoughts, give me notes, and then I’d shape them into a book. We went back and forth, refining everything—it was very collaborative.
But typically, my work looks more like writing emails, websites, and sales pages. That usually starts with a 45-minute to 90-minute call with a client (especially if they’re new) to go over their project, brand voice, and all the details. Then, once I have that, I dive deep into writing.
I focus on one project at a time, so if I’m writing a website, that might take more than a day. But if it’s a sales page or an email campaign, that’s usually my main focus for the day.
Are you still offering mostly VIP days and half-VIP days?
Yeah, I kept the same pricing model because it worked really well—it’s a flat rate, and it makes sense. But I don’t actually do everything in one day anymore because it’s just not feasible with how my life works now.
Instead, I set a deadline, usually about a week. Realistically, I’m still doing most of the work in a single day, but I need a little more flexibility. When Charlotte was in school for seven hours, I could easily knock everything out in one focused session. Now, my work time is more broken up, so I’ve adjusted.
I still call it the same thing, but now it’s more project deadline-based rather than a strict one-day turnaround.
How does that structurally work for you in traveling and even from a marketing perspective with VIP days?
Yeah, I’d say one of the biggest challenges is scheduling calls.
If I’ve worked with someone before, we try to communicate asynchronously—through Voxer or Loom—because it’s just easier. But when calls are necessary, I work with clients who have some flexibility.
Now, as we move into Australia, Malaysia, and Southeast Asia, I honestly don’t know how scheduling will work with those time zones—I haven’t figured that part out yet!
Another challenge has been setting realistic boundaries. I love a fast turnaround—if you’ve worked with me, you know I usually deliver within a couple of days. But I had to lengthen my timelines because life while traveling is less predictable.
Before, my kid went to school for seven hours a day, and my schedule was more structured. Now, things are more spontaneous, plus we have travel days sprinkled in. I have to factor in things like, Oh, I’m flying on Thursday, so I won’t actually be working that day.
I’ve learned that as long as I set proper expectations with clients, they’re totally fine with it. The issue comes when I overpromise—saying, Oh yeah, I’ll have this to you tomorrow, and then it turns into Friday…then Monday. That starts to feel flaky, which I hate.
So, my advice for anyone doing this: Give yourself time to figure it out and be upfront and clear with clients. When I bring on new clients, I let them know, Hey, here’s my situation. Some people need more structure and stability, and that’s totally fine—it doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. But clear communication from the start makes all the difference!
Do you feel like you are using your calendar a lot?
It’s wild! I use Google Calendar, which lets you set two time zones. So I keep Central Time as one and then change the second time zone to wherever I am. That helps me track my available windows—otherwise, I completely lose track of what time it is for my clients.
I’ve also had to get really strict with my calendar. Before, I was super flexible and would just go with the flow, but now I block out large chunks of time to prevent over-scheduling.
Since I offer one-on-one 90-minute sessions, people book directly using a scheduling link. So I have to make sure I’ve blocked off times where I don’t want calls sneaking in.
Right now, my entire calendar is basically a blackout zone until I get to Sydney and figure out how to make it work in that time zone.
Another thing I’m working on is only taking calls on two days per week instead of spreading them out across all my workdays. I’ve had days where I’m doing a one-on-one session at 10 PM, which runs until 11:30 PM. Even though I sleep in, I’m still not at my best that late at night.
So now, I’m trying to batch all my calls into one or two days. That way, I can plan ahead—maybe have some afternoon coffee and power through—but I’m not draining myself by doing late-night calls every day.
This whole experience has forced me to finally implement so many best practices I knew about but never actually had to follow.
I’ve had to streamline everything—there’s so much time I used to waste on little things that I just can’t afford to waste anymore. It’s made me a much more efficient business owner, which has been a huge benefit.
Honestly, if you took just a month to work while traveling—even if it wasn’t internationally, just somewhere different with your family—you’d probably find yourself becoming a better business owner. When your time is limited, you have no choice but to focus on what actually moves the needle.
You mentioned that there were things you used to waste time on but can’t anymore. Can you share some of those? What were the biggest time-wasters, or what are you doing more efficiently now?
Yeah, a big one was bouncing around between tasks.
I have retainer clients where I do the same work for them every month, and I used to think I was being efficient by squeezing tasks into little breaks. Like, Oh, I have 15 minutes—I'll write one email for this client now and come back to the rest later. But that actually made things take longer because I was constantly stopping and restarting.
Now, I focus on batching my work. If I sit down and write all four emails for that client at once, I can finish in two-thirds of the time it used to take.
Another big time-waster? Social media. I used to try to write blog posts and keep up with online groups, but I’ve cut all of that. I left some networking groups I was in because I just didn’t have the time to show up consistently.
Now, my business is very lean—there’s no extra fluff.
I also barely scroll on social media anymore. And I haven’t done a face-to-camera story on my new Instagram account yet—I went so long without doing them that now it feels weird! But honestly? It’s just not a priority right now, so I don’t touch any of it.
When you were making your business more lean, as you said, did you do journaling or writing out anything to help you figure out what needs to be cut or did it just happen naturally?
I’d love to say I had this really thoughtful, strategic process—but honestly, no.
A lot of these changes happened simply because I had to make them. I put myself in a situation where I didn’t have the luxury of avoiding things I had been meaning to do for years. I’ve been in this space for a while, I love personal and professional development, and I’ve had all these ideas like, Oh, that’d be nice to do. But because I didn’t have to do them, I never actually did.
So, in many ways, I was forced into being more efficient—and it was messy.
Some things I deprioritized at first, and now I’m starting to bring them back. Right now, I’m mapping out what it looks like to put more time into marketing—figuring out how that will shift my schedule.
I used to have dedicated time in my calendar for my own projects, but that completely disappeared while traveling. Now, I’m experimenting with rebuilding that structure, playing around with my calendar, and seeing where I can fit things back in.
Do you have any final advice for listeners feeling inspired by this conversation (whether it’s homeschooling, traveling abroad, or running a business without Instagram)?
The biggest lesson I’ve learned—and I think it’s worth sharing—is that this is your life and your business.
So many of us don’t make the changes we truly want—whether it’s quitting Instagram, shifting how we work, adding passive income, or doing more in-person events. And why? Because it feels hard, it’s a little scary, and we worry about meeting other people’s expectations.
For me, I’ve realized that plenty of people disapprove of my choices, and plenty of people judge me for them. And honestly? I don’t care. As long as I’ve thought things through and know I’m doing what’s best for me, my family, and my business, that’s all that matters.
I know some people assume I shut down my business just because I’m not on Instagram. A friend even told me she kept hearing, Oh, did she close her business? What happened to her? And sure, I don’t love that people think I disappeared. But life goes on, and business goes on.
On paper, traveling full-time might look a little crazy, but it’s actually been really intentional. We have spreadsheets, bank accounts, safety nets—this wasn’t a reckless leap.
So my advice? Do what feels right. And remember—nothing is permanent.
When we started this, we said, If after six months this is terrible, we can come back. We could rent an Airbnb in our same town, stay with family—there were options. And the same applies to your business.
If you want to make a change, just try it—because I’ve found that, on the whole, this has been much easier than I expected.
Connect with Emily Conley of Emily Writes Well
Head to Emily Writes Well to connect with Emily! You can also follow her on Instagram @emilywriteswell and @slowdowntravelmore
You can also hear a previous episode with Emily on the Breakthrough Brand Podcast here: How to Write Emails That *Actually* Get Opens, Clicks, and Replies With Emily Conley
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Thanks to our sponsor, Christian Heathcare Ministries! CHM is a health cost-sharing ministry and is a faith-based alternative to traditional health insurance. My family has been using CHM for our healthcare for 4+ years now, and we couldn’t be more pleased. As a business owner we all know healthcare is outrageously expensive with CHM you can save money on your budget and know if a medical situation ever arises CHM will be there to take care of you and share 100% of your eligible bills. Learn more here!
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