My Journey From Full-Time to Freedom
Your real-life inspo for ditching the boring nine-to-five and committing to your creative side-hustle
Ever dreamed of quitting your job and starting a side-hustle? You’re gonna love this one! Today, we’re handing the mic over to Brea, the bad-ass behind Style & the Storyteller, to share how she swapped a full-time job in NYC for more money, fun and freedom.
Pop quiz: What do you do do when your dreams of a marriage, a baby and a fulfilling career aren’t panning out as planned?
Do you:
Download Tinder, start swiping, and hit your boss up for a promotion.
Move in with your mom, start your own business and cross your toes that it all works out.
Quit your job, pack your bags and travel the world full-time.
Tbh ANY of these answers are totally valid if they’re taking you in the direction of your dreams. But for me, the answer was clear: If I wasn’t where I wanted to be (and, spoiler, I really wasn’t – even if where I was included a cute NYC loft), then why not embrace it?
I wouldn’t try to fill in the missing pieces by searching even harder for them; I’d lean into where I was and see where it took me. And since I wasn’t tied down like I wanted to be, I figured, “Let’s do the opposite since I can.”
So, I left everything behind to travel the world full-time. For 3 years, I lived out of a suitcase and explored as far away as I could get from the US. I got sunburnt in Australia, felt like an extra in a Tolkien movie in New Zealand, discovered Longganisa in the Philippines (it’s a yummy sausage, btw) and walked the rainforests of tropical Thailand (with a whole bunch of other countries and adventures along the way).
Before I’d left NYC, I’d started working as a calligrapher and had begun digitizing my work. I continued doodling and noodling, letting my creativity wander where it wanted while I discovered new places and met new people. Meanwhile, everything I saw and experienced was percolating in my mind behind the scenes, bubbling and boiling and building up and becoming the foundations for Style & the Storyteller (I just didn’t know it yet!)
Then in 2019, I returned to the US for Christmas. My homecoming coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, and it felt like a sign to start thinking about what I wanted to do with my future.
Since I loved guiding others in creating their dream lives, I decided to become a life coach. Naturally, I needed a website so I could confidently sell myself (uh-huh, even back then I was pro online presence!)
But, um … my website sucked. No, like, imagine a REALLY bad website. Then make it even worse. That was my brand and website. I cringed, hard, at the idea of anyone but me seeing it (and ngl, even I avoided looking at it when I could).
I remember wishing I had the skills to do it all myself. I knew what I wanted, and I knew how to make it look good … but I wasn’t a pro brand and website designer (yet!) And while I couldn’t commit to going back to college to study graphic design for 200 years, I could invest my spare time in something else: Teaching myself how to design.
So, babe, I did.
In my quest for quick cash, I started making custom worksheets in Canva. And, from there, everything else tripped into place, like a series of serendipitous ‘meant to be’s’.
Here’s the short and sweet version:
Somebody saw my logo designs, loved them, and asked me to help them with their brand (I did! It was beautiful!
Another person saw my work and asked me to help them with their website (I did! It was beautiful … and did a beautiful job of converting for them!)
I honed in on my true genius zone – supporting solopreneurs and side-hustlers to build the businesses of their dreams.
I took a short trip to Tulum in early 2020 (it was meant to be a pit stop on the way to Prague).
Then the pandemic hit and my plans blew out the window.
I stayed in Mexico and built a location-independent design studio that helped creative renegades and sassy spiritual sisters.
With everyone stuck at home (or, you know, in Mexico), my biz BLEW UP. Everyone wanted to be online, but they needed a stylish and strategic online presence to help them stand out. Which was where I came in!
And then I got veeeery close to burning myself out by booking myself up – and out – with custom-only projects.
It was at that point that I stepped away from the fire and pivoted to DIY brand and website templates (while still offering a limited number of custom bookings).
This pivot became our purpose here at Style & the Storyteller: To support your success with DIY brand and website templates that don’t blow your budget (but DO blow the minds of your F*ck Yes Tribe!)
Because back when I was doing the DIY dance, I HATED how hard everything was. Mastering new design platforms felt uncomfortable and awkward, and the templates never seemed to turn out as well as I needed them to.
I wanted the process to be simple, straightforward and easy. Which is EXACTLY how I’ve designed DIY brand and website template experience to be!
Because building your brand and website shouldn’t be the hardest part of starting, launching and succeeding with your side-hustle. Your brand and website should be there to champion your cause and connect you with your FYT.
And that, my beautiful babe, is why Style & the Storyteller exists (and how I went from a New Yorker with babies on the brain to a location-independent biz owner with total creative freedom!)
Now it’s your turn to write your success story.
Looking for a creative job you can do from home/Mexico/anywhere you want? We’ve got seven of them waiting for you.
