We recently connected with Erin Jernigan and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Erin thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us about an important lesson you learned while working at a prior job?

Before I ever started my first business, I made a commitment to invest in my own growth. Since 2007, I’ve been intentionally shaping who I want to be—exploring self-help, asking tough questions, and building habits that aligned with the future I envisioned. That journey—eighteen years of intentional personal development—laid the foundation for how I show up as a leader today.

When I launched my first business, I was balancing a lot: managing operations, growing a team, and trying to keep my own head clear. I had a personal life coach at the time, and those sessions helped me stay grounded and focused. Over time, I realized how much I was benefiting—and I thought, Why am I keeping this to myself?

So I asked my coach if he’d be open to developing a framework we could bring into the business—for myself, my business partner, and our whole team. He said yes, and it turned out to be one of the most impactful decisions we ever made.

We didn’t just become a more effective team—we became a more connected one. Those sessions deepened our relationships, built trust, and created space for each person to grow beyond their roles. And what meant the most to me? Seeing how people started taking those insights home. The communication skills, emotional awareness, and personal growth they developed didn’t just support their professional lives—it showed up in how they led their families, supported their communities, and related to themselves.

That experience forever shaped how I lead. Today, as a strategic consultant and clarity coach, I help clients build smart roadmaps—but I also help them build the inner foundation to execute with confidence and purpose. Because when you invest in your own growth, you don’t just become a better business owner—you become someone who lifts others, in every part of life.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m Erin Jernigan—Strategic Business Consultant, Clarity Coach, and the founder of Define Your Light. With over three decades of experience building, leading, and scaling businesses, I’ve walked nearly every path an entrepreneur can walk. But more than the milestones or titles, what’s shaped me most is the journey itself—the challenges, the pivots, and the real-life lessons that now fuel the work I do with others.

At Define Your Light, I help ambitious entrepreneurs and service-based business owners get unstuck, find focus, and move forward with intention. Whether you’re scaling, pivoting, or overwhelmed by too many moving pieces, I create tailored roadmaps that help you focus on what actually matters—so you can build momentum and make meaningful progress.

My signature offering is the 1:1 Roadmapping Session, a deep-dive, full-day experience that transforms your ideas, goals, and challenges into a clear, step-by-step growth plan. We define your vision, align your strengths, prioritize what matters most, and create a strategy you can actually execute—starting immediately. You’ll walk away with more than clarity—you’ll leave with a fully customized action plan delivered within 24 hours.

What sets me apart is my ability to cut through complexity and bring calm to the chaos. My clients often tell me they feel seen, supported, and grounded after working together. And I believe that’s because I lead from lived experience—balancing motherhood, entrepreneurship, and personal growth while creating systems that support both ambition and life.

I’m most proud of the ripple effect this work creates—not just in business, but in daily life. When people feel clear and supported, they tend to make better decisions, communicate more effectively, and lead with more purpose—wherever they are.

Define Your Light isn’t just a business name—it’s a personal philosophy. To me, it means two things: First, putting something into the world that reflects the unique strengths, values, and brilliance your business has to offer. And second, building that business in a way that lights you up too—so the work you do doesn’t just serve others, it fulfills you from the inside out. That’s what I want for every entrepreneur I work with. And that’s what I’ve built my business to stand for.

Can you talk to us about your experience with selling businesses?

Yes, I have sold a business—and while the paperwork and logistics are part of the story, the deeper impact was something far more personal.

At the time, I didn’t realize how much of my identity was tied up in being a business owner. I had built something meaningful, employed people I deeply cared about, and led every day from the front lines. When I sold it, I expected to feel relief or excitement for the next chapter—but instead, I felt this unexpected hit to my ego. I kept wondering: Would people still respect me? Would I still respect myself? Was my worth tied to how much I was doing for others?

What I came to realize over time—through reflection, coaching, and deep internal work—was that my value never came from the business itself. It came from me. From the clarity I bring to chaos. From my ability to connect dots others miss. From the light I shine when I’m in alignment with my purpose. That’s what led me to launch Define Your Light.

Now, I help other business owners avoid that same identity crisis by building systems and strategies that serve both their mission and their lives. Selling my business taught me that success isn’t about constant motion or external validation—it’s about alignment. It’s about knowing who you are when the title changes or the season shifts. That clarity is what I now help others reclaim, too.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

The day I received my son’s autism diagnosis was one of those moments that splits your life into before and after.

I had known in my heart that something was different, but holding the diagnosis in my hands made it real in a new way. I was standing in the pediatrician’s office—one toddler by my side, another baby in my arms, and a business waiting for me at home. In that moment, it felt like the ground shifted beneath me. I didn’t know how I would hold it all.

At the time, I was raising two toddlers under the age of three. My son was non-verbal, struggling with sleep, feeding, and sensory regulation. My youngest had just learned to walk and was a blur of joyful chaos. At the same time, I was in the early stages of building Define Your Light, consulting part-time, and doing my best to stay present for my two adult daughters as well.

Resilience didn’t look glamorous. It looked like crying in the kitchen and still making dinner. It looked like researching AAC devices at midnight after a full day of meetings and meltdowns. It looked like asking for help—something that didn’t come naturally to me—and setting boundaries for the first time in a serious, intentional way.

I rebuilt our family systems from the ground up. I restructured my business around my son’s therapy schedule. I let go of perfection and created rhythms that served our real life—not someone else’s ideal. I redefined success, not as doing it all, but as doing what matters well.

That season taught me that clarity and compassion can coexist. That I’m incredibly resourceful. That I can build even in the chaos.

Today, it’s shaped how I lead. I don’t believe in hustle for hustle’s sake. I help other entrepreneurs grow in ways that honor both their ambition and their capacity. I walk with them through the messy middle, because I’ve been there.

That moment didn’t break me—it clarified me. And that clarity is what I now help others claim through Define Your Light.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.defineyourlight.com/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinjernigan/