We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Randi Pullar a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Randi, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My journey to this point in my business has been long and a little chaotic. It started as a way to accomadate myself (I have ADHD and Generalized Hypermobility Disorder), and bloomed into a mission to serve others like me and fill a gap that I think is incredibly important.

My current mission is to help people with chronic illness and neurodivergence build a cozy life and business that honours their body and needs. Business coaching was never a place I saw myself… but let me back up so that it all makes sense.

I started my first my first business as a virtual personal trainer back in 2018. Another career no one saw me going into since I was not really into “fitness”. I had just graduated the therapists assitant program which I took to learn more about my own health. The available careers didn’t really suit me when I graduated, and I felt the pull to create something new. I noticed there was a real lack of ongoing support for people with chronic conditions, and I wanted to start there.

This decision led me down a rabbit hole, into the world of health and wellness and life with chronic illness. I lived it but I didn’t know that so many of my experiences were so universal, and I found that fitness wasn’t the only services we were lacking.

As I had trained in health and fitness, I didn’t have any idea what I was doing when it came to business. I had to figure all that out on my own, and it was a struggle. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of business resources out there, but they were not created for people like me!

They focused on hustling, constant launches, and inauthentic pitches. They recommended a level of hustle that was never going to fit my energy levels, so again, I had to find my own adaptions.

Flash forward 6 years, I burnt out coaching. I loved what I taught and I loved my clients but I couldnt keep up with the 1:1 sessions and my ADHD was craving something different.

I had learned a lot about business in that time though and I found that my real interests lie in business and marketing… and I promise you, no one is more surprised by this than me!

For a while now I have struggled to find my path, but recently as I have been exploring new options for myself I have found a gap that needs filing. There are thousands of chronically ill and neurodivergent folk out there, struggling to fit in and wanting to build something for themselves, and I hope I can make it easier for some of them.

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?

My name is Randi and I am a Chronically ill and neurodivergent introvert, that loves to write and share my journey creating a cozy life and career. I live in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in BC, Canada with my Husband and our fur baby Satchmo. I am all about cozy and comfort, prefering to spend my time on solo hobbies like crafts, gardening and reading.

I work as a Business Coach and Writer for chronically ill and neurodivergent folk who want to create a cozy life and business that honours their bodies needs. I help my clients create sustainable strategies and content so that they can enjoy thier lives and stress less.

I am a chaotic and multipassionate gremlin who’s never really been able to focus on one thing so I like to write about life, work, health, home and everything in between. I am a voracious advocate for people with chronic illness and I believe that with community we are capable of big things.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

I can think of too many times that I have had to pivot in life and in my career. I think that learning to accept change and pivot gracefully has been one of my biggest challenges and my most useful strength.

Growing up I was never an amazingly active person, but the first major pivot in my life, and the one that is always throwing me for a loop is learning to adapt to my chronic pain and illness. I went from being mostly fine… a few headaches now and then, to daily, often debilitating chronic pain, headaches, fatigue, digestion issues and more. Hypermobility is caused by a lack of collegen, which effects almost every system in your body.

I went from being able to run errands, socialize, clean the house and go clubbing in one day, to maybe being able to do one of those things… but definetly being in bed by 8pm!

And pivoting from healthy to not will effect literally every aspect of your life.

I’ve changed career plans, life goals, and my entire perception of what my life would be more times than I can count.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Social media is something that I have been thinking a lot about lately. I have just recently hit the 2000 follower mark on an instagram account that I have been sharing my life and busines on pretty consistently for about 9 years now. This account is another thing that has pivoted with me, from my personal life, to the start of my coaching business and now to the closing of that and the opening of my business coaching and writing career.

I tried to start different accounts several times, but I had friends and loyal followers that I didn’t want to leave… and it’s a lot of work to rebuild! I think my name/brand has changed 6 times at least.

During all this time I have really studied social media, the trends, the behaviours and I find it incredibly interesting. The most fascinating thing, and I think the one and only thing that will always be true is that it will always be changing.

I’ve been with instagram since the days of artsy photo’s with filters, watched the addition of graphics add new pops of colour, struggled through the introduction of reels and now I am seeing them say that are going back! What works for one person and their audience might not work for another, and just when you get good at something, they will shift the focus of the algorithm.

Since apparently I have no control over this I have started posting however I feel like. I post whatever thoughts and ideas come to me in the moment. I reuse and repurpose content a lot… and I focus less on what the app wants and more what me and my people want. Since caring less I have seen a huge uptick in my enejoyment levels, and the quality of my connections.

Moral of the story – It’s not that serious – try to have fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://chronicallycozylife.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chronicallycozylife/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChronicallyCozyLife
• Other: newsletter – https://chronicallycozylife.kit.com/3b2f5d75c3

Image Credits

Photos taken by me