pressing pause on social media
& how I’m nurturing my business online instead.
It’s been 94 days since the last time I posted on Instagram and decided to press Pause on the daily ‘busyness’ that was keeping me from my deeper work.
Instagram and I never really had an easeful relationship and even though I had wanted to press pause for a long time and done enough online marketing courses to know that it wasn’t even really helping me to create a sustainable business - I kept persevering, despite that deeper knowing, that there was a more fulfilling path for me to take.
The instant connection with my community - messages in my dms, the likes, the commentS, and feeling like my business was alive, kept me from a true connection to my deeper creative work, and an ultimate truer connection with my community, by building a place for them to feel at home too.
I’ve always dreamed of creating an online sanctuary, supporting other women on their journey towards their own ease, but in being faithful to posting on social media, I was abandoning my dreams of nurturing my own home for my work and cultivating a purposeful life.
I was choosing to water Meta’s garden, over my own.
Since that last time I hit publish on a post - I have been walking ‘my talk’ - walking the path beyond the business of expectation and familiarity of what it is to be an online business owner - back to me.
I've been keeping the promises that I made to myself and looking after present and future me.
And after literally years in the making I can now say that I am well on my way to having a business that will allow me to feel at ease and be present without the pressure of the demands of being on social media, if I go back, it will be with very different intentions - For now I’m enjoying nurturing my own online home and I’m excited tell you more below, so read on.
Working online and for myself, has been such a journey for me. It has at times been really hard to share my work, my story, my voice, in moments when I was feeling unclear and unconfident about who I was and what I was doing.
I've always tried to be really vulnerable in sharing my struggles, in my work and in my life, but after one too many ‘life events’, my life felt chaotic and I knew I had to press Pause.
I not only pressed Paused on social media, I pressed pause on 1:1 client work and on many areas of my personal life. I needed to take a step back and get some clarity around where I really needed to be putting my energy.
I had to be really honest about how I was feeling, what I needed and what I truly had the capacity for.
One of the reasons for pressing pause on social media was that it is so. damn. noisy. I got so fed up of all the experts telling me how, when and what I should be doing with my life and my business, their voices, drowned out my own and their ‘rules’ were ones my truth had no interest in abiding to.
I knew that to recover I needed to rebel!
It wasn't that I was burnt out (this time), I just got sick of feeling whatever I created would never be enough - Social media is a beast that is always hungry, no matter how much you feed it, and that awoke a part of ‘not enoughness' inside me too, that began to sway me from my truth.
So I decided it was time to say “yes” to something I have known all along that I wanted and needed to do - Nourish my own garden - Not someone else's.
I spent the Summer overhauling my website and working on my evergreen marketing system with the help of Josephine Brooks, creating ease within my business was so important for me, so that I could be more present for you and my family.
And since that has been put into place, I have continued to stay quiet and potter in my own corner of the internet - tending to my creations and online home.
So what is happening in my business and what am I saying “yes” to?
In all the years I have worked online and coached I have tried many different ways of being, along the way I've learned so much about myself and how you can work online, and now I feel that I have created a business in which not only I can accompany you along the path towards your truth, I can also stay true to my own.
The mission of my work is to guide you to believing that you already are and that who you are is already enough.
To show you that only you know what is best for you, so that you can overcome the overwhelm and self doubt, and lead a calmer soul driven existence guided by the truth of your emotions.
Live at your own natural pace and intentionally cultivate a more easeful, meaningful life, in which you can feel comfortable enough to be you.
So what have I been creating and what will my business look like?
Well first of all, I'm running a business, in which I want to feel purposeful, so I put my all my energy and focus into turning my foundation course Back To You into a hybrid self directed, yet highly supported course and then got my hands dirty restructuring my offerings, and something new blossomed!
In all the nurturing I also brought new life to an older offering, the Rising Woman's Circle, which will now give you your own chance to Pause monthly and check in with your own truth.
So, there are now three main ways to virtually work with me, each perfect for different needs and stages in your journey of self recovery. Whether you’re a business owner, entrepreneur, coach, artist, maker, or just an all round creative big hearted and ambitious soul, any one of these offers will put you on the path to a life filled with more ease and presence.
Next up, I wanted to tell you that I've been nurturing the blog, I'm excited about cultivating a more consistent writing practice and moreover sharing more of my truths and notes on how to Raise Your Woman.
The podcast is coming back soon, no deadline, no pressure, I'm letting ideas come together organically. If you have not yet subscribed, do that now so you don't miss out on the first episode of the next season.
And of course, I would not be a true Soul Gardener if I had not planted a couple of new seeds, that I'm going to nurture to life and will tell you about when they have started to root and become a bit stronger.
If you have made it this far down the mail - thank you, your support means so much to me and I hope you will continue to enjoy visits to my online garden!
If you are still here I'm guessing you are invested and I'd love to help you dig in more.
Here's some directions you can go in :
Have a read of my sprouting blog posts.
Catch up or re-listen to older episodes of the podcast before season 02 launches.
Take some first steps and download one of my freebies - you can find them here.
If you love it like me, come and follow me over on Pinterest
And here's how you can work with me:
Take the Back To You journey - My foundation course
Join my 1:1 program Living The Path - 6 months of bespoke support and guidance - I know have four spots open for this program.
So friends, that is where I'm at!
Before I sign off, I again want to say a big thank you, to you for sticking around. Whether you've been a 1:1 client, joined a circle, hit reply to one of my newsletters or simply enjoyed the content I've shared - I appreciate you, and I hope we can continue on, on this ever unfolding journey back to ourselves together.
I’ll never say never about going back to social media, but for now I’m keeping promises and nurturing my own online home, before I give my creative energy away to someone else’s.
What about you? Are you ready to hit Pause on social media? Send me an email and let me know : johanna@johannarossi.com