“Sucess is not final: failure is not fatal it is the courage to continue that counts” — Winston Churchill “I’m scared of how much my body will limit my vision for this.” — Monica Michelle
Two women in business while also dealing with chronic illness have a VERY honest discussion about pitfalls, planning, and vision in business while being a spoonie.

Invisible Not Broken began because I have seen what happens when everyone is too frightened to show their vulnerabilities. It leads to misunderstandings and a serious lack of empathy. I always knew this project would be hard and desperately uncomfortable. You only have to listen to our Gaslighting episode to hear our theory about being the wounded gazelle (nope lions move along I am doing just FINE). This episode was very much pink underbelly vulnerability time for both Eva and I. We both had never really talked openly before of all of the challenges of running a business while being chronically ill with fibromyalgia for Eva who runs Wellacopia and EDS and fibromyalgia for Monica.

Show Notes 

• Up and downsides when you are a spoonie and are your own boss.
• How to define success? Purpose? Busy? Likes? Subscribers?
• Why Monica Michelle had to shut down a successful photography business (hint Ehlers Danlos) and the turning point when Monica decided to come out of the spoon ie closet.
• Eva's inspiration for her tech startup Wellacopia which matches chronic illness patients with doctors.
• The importance of supportive people in your life. Goal setting and planning for your business while figuring in your chronic illness.
• Some tips and frustrations for finding balance
• The Secret Spoonie Society
• Find out how and why Invisible Not Broken began.
• How to plan for brain-body breakdowns as a spoonie business owner
• The painkiller effect of being "on"
• Work life and sickness balance, cue the hilarity
• The myth of superwoman
• Stop the 'killing it' mentality
• Frustrations with a vision that goes beyond physical ability. (Hey interns would be great)
• Rock bottom what it looks like and the upside of everything going to hell.
• Life Hacks to surviving and setting goals 
• "What you do is not who you are or your value."
• The questions to ask to find out your core. (Try Fight Club the movie NOT the book) Guess what? Monica's core is being a storyteller.
• "Anything can be taken away except your imagination."

Spoonie Book Club Reading

make your suggestions in the comments

Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Dr. Who

When Breath Becomes Air

Fight Club

Siddartha

Shameless Plug Time For Kyros and For My Book Snuggle Bunny: A Bedtime Story By Monica Michelle Dreaming of Xeres: The Third War Book 1 (Volume 1) By Kyros Amphiptere, Orion T. Hunter

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