Laura Conley walked away from a corporate sales career to build coaching work she actually believes in, and gave herself permission to choose a life that fits.

For years, Laura was the breadwinner in a pharmaceutical sales job. This is the story of how she followed a trail of "curiosity crumbs" — a yoga class, a teacher training, a cry on a Santa Monica beach on Easter weekend, out of a career she'd outgrown and into work that's aligned with who she actually is. (A week after she decided to leave, her job laid her off. The decision was already made.)

It's an episode about permission to choose: the moment you stop forcing a path that isn't working and start building one that is.

In this episode, we talk about:
- Why the "big calling that lands in your lap" is a myth — and what curiosity crumbs actually look like
- The teacher-training moment that made her blow up her life — and the layoff that came one week later
- "Deposits before withdrawals" and the business-is-a-baby season nobody posts about
- How she and her husband pass the breadwinner role back and forth as each of them grows
- Untying her self-worth from whether a launch lands — and what "pouring from a full cup" really means
- What life looks like now, and what she'd tell someone still waiting for permission to choose

If today's conversation resonated and you're building (or thinking about building) a virtual assistant business, here's your next step... a free resource on how to actually get clients:
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You'll learn how to find your first (or next) clients with skills you already have, without cold-pitching all day, a big audience, or posting every day.

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Meet Laura & the "Mom Era"
00:46 The Big-Calling Myth & Curiosity Crumbs
01:01 How Yoga Found Her (Brian's Sports-Medicine Doctor)
01:58 The Teacher-Training Moment That Changed Everything
02:13 Easter Weekend in Santa Monica — Deciding to Blow It Up
03:02 The Layoff That Came One Week Later
12:46 Why It's in Her DNA: Sales, Hustle & Girl Scout Cookies
13:32 Deposits Before Withdrawals & the Business Baby
15:08 Passing the Breadwinner Role Back and Forth
16:46 Being Honest When She Couldn't Carry It Alone
36:46 Future-Self Thinking & Intentional Motherhood
37:23 Untying Self-Worth From the Launch
39:35 Pouring From a Full Cup

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LINKS
📺 More episodes: youtube.com/@BuiltOnYourTerms
💌 Work with Laura Conley (Weight Boss coaching): lauraconley.com

ABOUT
Built On Your Terms is the video podcast from Side Income Studios - real people, real stories, and how they built income on their terms. 

Real People. Real Stories. Income on Your Terms.

#SideIncome #LeavingYour9to5 #BuiltOnYourTerms #SideIncomeStudios

Welcome to Episode 1 of Built On Your Terms. After nearly 30 years as a corporate executive assistant, Bonnie Schutz walked away in her late 40s to build her own version of freedom with Tandem Resource Solutions - a US-based remote-support agency with about 35 team members. In this episode, I sit down with Bonnie for the story of co-founding Tandem with her bestie at her last corporate job, finding her tribe of second-act women through her network, and arriving at one of the clearest definitions of freedom anyone has given on the show.

KEY MOMENTS
[01:26] Starting Tandem with her bestie
[05:00] When corporate caught up with her
[10:12] How she met Barbara Brooks (the funny version)
[12:26] "Old network is your net worth"
[24:41] Why owners aren't employees
[30:03] The one-month sabbatical that proved everything
[30:48] What freedom actually means

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ABOUT THE GUEST
Bonnie Schutz, Founder & Owner of Tandem Resource Solutions (tandemresourcesolutions.com). Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/bonnieschutzea. Host of the podcast Delegate to Elevate: Get Shit Done. Founder of the upcoming Professional Service Pros directory. 

ABOUT THE SHOW
Built On Your Terms is a series by Side Income Studios. New episodes every other Wednesday.

Welcome to Built On Your Terms, a podcast about real people who chose to build income, and lives, that actually fit who they are.

I'm Suzanne Dayton, founder of Side Income Studios, and this show is for the people who know deep down there has to be another way to live. Not necessarily easier. Not necessarily perfect. But more intentional. More free. More aligned.

Every episode is a real conversation with someone who decided to stop waiting for permission and start building something different.

This isn't about hustle culture. It's about freedom. Ownership. Flexibility. Purpose. And waking up feeling connected to the life you built.

👉  Click here to get started inside the the free 5-day Build Your First $1,000 Side Income Bootcamp. So glad you are here. 

Built On Your Terms is part of Side Income Studios.
sideincomestudios.com