It's been a while since I've started a post or podcast with a quote (and I guess technically I'm not since I'm explaining it before I share it... 🤣), but this feels appropriate for this episode.

Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.- Victor Hugo

Hopefully, you're not tired of hearing this (yet), but I shared last week that I am officially moving to Costa Rica!

Of course, I'm scared... but I'm doing it anyway (and much more excited than I am scared).

This has been something I've been thinking about for probably close to 10 years (not necessarily Costa Rica, but moving out of the country).

It started from a place of curiosity and wonder, pivoted to other reasons over the years (let's face it, the United States has had some serious challenges), and now my reasons have shifted again.

Of course, the curiosity and wonder are still there, but now it's because I have a massive desire to experience something different.

I've never really been someone who wanted to live in a city (I do appreciate visiting a city from time to time), and have spent my entire life in suburbia. I honestly never wanted anything else until 2002.

In 2002 I was a best friend's wedding in Italy (her husband is Italian, my daughter was the flower girl and I was a bridesmaid).

That trip changed everything for me.

I hadn't even been that interested in traveling, to be honest. Once you get outside of your comfort zone and realize how much more there is to experience in the world you see things differently.

Even if you don't want to live out of the country or travel much, having those experiences are invaluable.

Once I went to Italy I craved those experiences and I knew I wanted that for my kids. I took them to Scotland in 2013, then my daughter and I went to the South of France in 2015 (she's since traveled with friends to Paris and London).

They have plenty of time for travel and both have a desire to see and experience things outside of their day-to-day (my job here is done).

Back to Costa Rica...

Costa Rica wasn't really on my radar until my therapist told me she had property there.

Every now and then I would ask her a little bit about her experiences there, why she liked it so much, etc., which then made me look a little deeper into the country itself.

When I first started thinking about it I wasn't sure if I really could do it... but over the years, like anything else in life, you start to realize what you really want.

I started my business because I wanted FREEDOM.

Freedom to be home for my kids, not have to commute, and create the quality of life I wanted.

I have always felt like there was something else I was supposed to do with my life (outside of having a job and work for someone else), I never really knew what that was, I simply kept pursuing it.

And side note: I say this to my son all the time (he's 20). What I do for a living didn't even exist when I was his age!

There is something to be said for having the tenacity and simply continuing to move forward.

I've decided I'm going to do a separate site for my journey to and in Costa Rica. I've got the domain name and will be sharing that soonish. I'll do some updates here as well, but if you want to follow that journey in more depth I'll let you know where to subscribe.

I'm even toying with the idea of doing a podcast so I can interview other entrepreneurs and business owners in the local area... which feels like it would be a great way to connect with people (so yea, it's a little self-serving).

Being scared and doing it anyway

You might be wondering what all this has to do with my business.

Or better yet, YOUR business.

It has everything to do with it.

So often I see people...