Just sitting there and having to do [a job] for 8 hours a day, it's just not conducive to life with a chronic illness. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
A stroke is a forced opportunity to reevaluate our personal and professional lives. Maybe we don't think we can do our previous jobs as well. Or maybe others make that decision for us. Regardless, is now a good time to go into business yourself?
Maybe.
Of course, being an entrepreneur always has its challenges. Pursuing business ownership with stroke related disabilities or Chronic illness poses some additional challenges. And some opportunities
Nicole Neer is a Spooniepreneur - a business owner and coach living with multiple chronic illnesses. She helps other spoonies - like stroke survivors navigate and thrive in the entrepreneurial world. We talk all about it in this episode.
If you don't see the audio player below, visit https://Strokecast.com/Nicole to hear the conversation.
For many spoonies, it is a challenge to work for long periods of time or to stick to really strict schedules. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
Nicole Neer is the founder and CEO of Bloom Admin Services, a full-service virtual support agency providing online business management, podcast editing, and virtual assistance for online businesses. Because of her experience of being an entrepreneur living with Fibromyalgia, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety, Sleep Apnea, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Nicole is passionate about helping those living with chronic illnesses to build resilient businesses that cope with whatever life throws their way. She's also the host of the Spooniepreneur podcast, a show that highlights what it's like to be an intentional entrepreneur who makes the most of the time and energy you have.
What I eventually realized is that I don't want to work with people who don't accept all the parts of who I am, and so I'm very open about my illness and very open about my experience. Because it weeds people out. - Nicole Neer.
Click To Tweet
What do you want to do with your business? It helps a lot if you are passionate about it, but you also need to consider the market. What role do you want this business to play in your life? Is your focus to get rich or just make a little extra pocket change? Or is it somewhere in between?
I would also add that if you are on disability or Medicaid in the US, or other social support programs around the world, be aware of how working on your business could impact your continued eligibility for those programs.
Instead of focusing on bringing in $500 or $5,000 this month, focus instead on the targets that will support the revenue. Maybe that's a certain number of Instagram followers or widgets made or Etsy store visits. Concrete, behavior oriented goals may be easier to visualize and focus on achieving
If you deal with neurofatigue, plan for it. You're making your own hours and customer commitments. Fatigue planning, nap schedules, medical appointments, and home therapy are just as few things that impact our ability, energy level, and availability. You can and ought to build your business around these things
Sometimes we do not. On a good day, develop a plan for the bad days. Is that reallocating work? Is it getting someone to help you? Is it sub-contracting? Does it mean just delaying stuff? There are lots of ways to prepare for them. The important thing is that you do prepare
Sometimes planning is not enough, and things do slip. Be honest about it. If you're not going to make a deadline, let the key parties know. Don't try to hide it. Managing expectations is the key to happy customers.
This is related to number 5. People don't like negative surprises from their vendors. They like it even less when they find out you knew a week before you told them. Over communicating - and doing so with integrity - helps to set the appropriate expectations and reduce unpleasant surprises.
And so, because we're used to picking ourselves up and we're able to be resilient to cope with what life throws our way, our businesses are able to evolve a lot faster. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
Spoonies take their name from the Spoon Theory, first articulated by Christine Miserandino. You can read her essay here.
Basically, it's a way of explaining energy levels folks living with chronic illness or disabilities have. Christine came up with the analogy while trying to explain to her friend what it was like going through a day with Lupus and how every decision we make affects other decisions later in that day.
You start the day with a certain amount of spoons, and everything from getting out of bed, to cooking breakfast, to getting dressed costs a certain number of spoons. When you're out of spoons, you're done for the day.
I'd encourage you to read Christine's essay.
Many disabled and chronically ill folks have embraced the analogy and call themselves spoonies.
Personally, I find it useful to explain why just because I can do something, it doesn't mean I should. For example, I CAN walk around outside without my cane, but it comes with a 2X spoon penalty. And personally, I'd rather save those spoons for something more important.
Spoonies have a really great ability to manage their time. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
Post-it or Sticky notes are great, but they can clutter up a space. And your important reminders have a way of falling to the floor when you need them.
Trello is a digital alternative. It's a website where you can manage digital sticky notes.
These cards live in columns on a virtual wall and can have all sorts of different information on them. You can move them around from one column to another, change the order and more. It's a great project management system, tool for organizing procedures, or just a way to stay on top of the various things you need to do.
Plus it's a nice way to reduce the chance that something will slip our minds.
I've had to learn that just because the strategy is great doesn't mean it's great for me, and I get to choose what works for myself and for my business. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
Nicole's Business
https://bloomadminservices.com/
Nicole's email
nicole@bloomadminservices.com
Spooniepreneur Podcast
https://spooniepreneur.net/
Nicole on Instagram
https://instagram.com/spooniepreneurpodcast/
Spooniepreneur Facebook Community
https://facebook.com/groups/spooniepreneurcommunity
Nicole on LinkedIn
https://linkedin.com/in/wnicoleneer/
Spoon Theory
https://Strokecast.com/SpoonTheory
Spoonie Sisters on Etsy
https://etsy.com/market/spoonie_sisters
Raquel Hellenga's website
https://raquelhellenga.com/
Raquel Hellanga on Instagram
https://instagram.com/raquelchronicillnesscoach/
Trello
https://Trello.com
But if you are excited and passionate about [your business], that's what's going to make you show up consistently. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
I think I had to step away from this idea that you have to hustle to be successful. - Nicole Neer #Stroke #Spooniepreneur #ChronicIllness
Click To Tweet
Strokecast is the stroke podcast where a Gen X stroke survivor explores rehab, recovery, the frontiers of neuroscience and one-handed banana peeling by helping stroke survivors, caregivers, medical providers and stroke industry affiliates connect and share their stories.
Bill Monroe is not a doctor or medical professional of any sort. He's just a marketing guy who now knows way more about neurology and neuroplasticity than any marketing guy should know.
Bill and Bill's guests provide general information, personal stories, education starting points and entertainment. They do not provide medical advice. Do not make any changes to your treatment plan or the execution of your treatment plan without discussing it with your doctor or personal medical team.
*Affiliate links
Affiliate links link to products and service where Bill may earn some compensation if you place an order. This does not affect the price you pay.
The post The Spooniepreneur Life appeared first on Strokecast.