Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michaela Miller. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Michaela thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?
In 2019, I was working a corporate marketing job for a major hotel brand in New York City. In July of that year, I gave birth to my first child. To say I loved my job until I had my daughter is an understatement. But once she entered my world, I started to see time in a whole new way. I saw time as the most valuable thing in the world! I couldn’t bare the long commute, the long hours, and the inability to get home quickly if my daughter needed me. I ached for a world where I didn’t have to be away from my baby.
So with no plan, no savings, and no earthly idea what I was going to do – I gave my boss notice just 10 days after returning from maternity leave. I told her how I just needed something where I could work from home part of the time, be closer to my sweet newborn. My boss replied underhandedly, “Oh, working from home… but making how much money?” At the time I heard that, it made me feel an incredible low. I was scared just like they wanted me to be, that in leaving the corporate world I’d also leave any chance I had at making a lot of money and having security for my family.
Soon after though, those words that cut deep instead lit a fire in me that I’d never had before. I started to see that entrepreneurship was possible for me. I could create my own job: Working from home. No boss. No cap on my income potential. No set hours and no limit to how much I got to see my daughter. I dove into podcasts, courses, books, success stories while I worked a part-time job to make ends meet. It took many hours, many lessons, many hardships and many many many amazing moments to get to where I am today… But it is with so much joy that today I can say I am a thriving online business owner that has more than tripled my corporate salary in 3 years. I am a mom of two, living her dream life in the Caribbean where I spend mornings with my children, get to work with amazing people, choose my office hours, feel inspired by my work and be more creative than my wildest dreams.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
When I first stepped into entrepreneurship, there were so many unknowns and I had no idea where to start. But I soon discovered amazing women who had been on a similar journey and learned invaluable lessons from each of them. In 2020, I founded a boutique travel agency in the Virgin Islands, leveraging my corporate career skills to create a flourishing business. It has been an amazing experience to employ creative people and to create dream vacations for clients from all over the world.
In 2023, while my travel business continues to thrive – I am excited to expand my reach into new areas and empower others to take the leap into launching their business. With the knowledge and insights I gained over the past three years, I have created a mentorship program to help ambitious women launch their own online/service based business in 90 days, using the very skills and resources they already have. I am confident that with the right support and guidance, we can all achieve more financial success, more freedom and more creativity than we ever thought possible.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
Yes, absolutely. Books, podcasts and courses have completely catapulted my mindset to be able to manifest the businesses of my dreams. Everything behind what I have done is mindset, which has catapulted the actions I’ve taken to get to where I am now.
I love author Jen Sincero, particularly her book “You Are A Badass At Making Money”, “Untamed” by Glennon Doyle completely changed the way I address things in both business and life. “The Most Important Thing” by Adyashanti.
My podcast favorites are endless but a few of them are “Dream Your Life” with Julia Martin, “Manifestation Babe” with Kathrin Zenkina, “Dear Gabby Podcast” with Gabby Berstein, and “Mindset, Magic, and Manifestation” with Mikayla Jai.
Mindset is everything behind what I do in business. How I interact with clients, how I manage my team, how I make decisions. I am a risk taker and the universe always catches me, but I didn’t know that it would catch me until I took that first leap. The knowledge and grace these women authors and podcast hosts taught me is absolutely invaluable. Being a risk taker is so much a part of being a successful entrepreneur. I love the quote, “I failed my way to success.”
How did you build your audience on social media?
Social Media is an incredible tool I’ve used to grow my business and I am so grateful for that. The best advice I can give is to show up on social media and stop worrying what other people think about you! When I started out, I shared about my business on every Facebook page and group that would allow me to do that. I wasn’t worried if people thought I was desperate for the clients or that I was oversharing. I also have found that consistent messaging and branding on social media is invaluable. You cannot say the same message too many times because no one is watching everything you put out. If you truly stick with consistent messaging and showing up again and again that is the formula for growth. It may take awhile at first, but show up as if you’re already successful before you actually are – if you do that you’ll step into that success quicker than you can imagine.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: instagram.com/themichaelamiller
Image Credits
brooke heikkila photography