I started my business, Morningstar Media Services, a little over 3 years ago.
At the end of 2016, I was at a pivotal moment in my life. A year prior to that, I had chosen to step back from the network marketing company I had worked with previously to focus on writing. And while I was loving what I was doing, the reality was, I had to bring in some income for our family.
My choice was clear: go find a job, or find a way to make some money from home. I could have gone back to the network marketing company, but that wasn’t where my passions and gifts were fully able to be utilized. So through a series of not-so-coincidental events, I discovered the world of virtual assistance and started my business as an online service provider.
In the beginning, I did just about any job I could take. I was building up my reputation, my skills, and my referral base. I worked for free and for low rates at first until I got my feet wet and knew what I was able to offer.
Fast forward to 3 years later, and I have had an incredible 3 years and have transitioned into being focused primarily on podcasting. My team and I work with clients who have podcasts, helping them produce and manage them on a weekly basis. I’ve also worked with students to help them launch their own podcasts through my Podcast Propel Program.
But for a while now, I’ve known that a shift was coming. There’ve been a variety of factors at play, but it boils down to this: I know I’m not fully in alignment with my gifts, skills, passions, and calling in the way I’m currently operating my business.
Yet, I’ve pushed back and I’ve tried not to make any drastic changes. I’ve never been one to jump into things super quick, and I highly value doing what you say you will do. I don’t like quitting and I get irritated when I see people jumping from thing to thing trying to find the magic bullet.
But it’s time for a shift in my business, and I want to let you know what that shift is. Because you’ve joined my email list at some point, either through some of my free podcasting resources, info about Trello, or perhaps one of the other resources I’ve created over the past few years, I want to make sure you’re aware of the changes.
You may know that in addition to serving clients with podcasts, I also have my own podcast called The Christian Woman Leadership Podcast. This podcast has been such a joy to create and I started it as a passion project. It’s been consistently growing and my co-host and I were blessed to reach over 100K total downloads as of December 2019.
I’m also a pastor’s wife and a writer, and my blog (along with the podcast) serves primarily an audience of Christian women. Faith is a very key part of my life.
And prior to the work I told you about earlier, I was a social worker. I’ve always had a passion to help others and a desire to teach and share what I know. I love seeing others take something that I’ve shared with them, put it into practice, and make a change in their life.
So in order to more effectively live out my values and my purpose, I will be making 2 primary shifts in my business:
- I will be shifting my focus to serve and speak to Christian business owners and podcasters. I believe I will still share a lot of content that will help anyone, regardless of faith. But my goal and focus will be to support Christian content creators and business owners who want to shine online and grow their audience and impact.
- I will be focusing more teaching and consulting, which are both things that I love doing. I will continue to serve my existing clients, but as of right now, I will not be taking on new clients for podcast launch or management services. You’ll see some new things coming your way… more details to come, but there will be some fun new ways to learn from me or with me.
I realize that for many of you, this means you may not want to stick around. If that’s the case, I totally understand if you choose to unfollow me or stop reading my posts.
But if you still want to hear from me, and you’re either a Christian business owner, podcaster or content creator OR you’re totally cool hearing a combination of faith + business moving forward, then I’d love to have you stick around. And I invite you to connect with me on my new business page specifically geared towards you here.
Finally, let me say this:
I truly am thankful for every person who has been a part of my journey.
I have worked with incredible clients and team members, become friends with amazing people, and gotten to know some of the hardest working entrepreneurs out there over the past 3 years. Moving forward, I hope to continue those relationships in addition to building new ones.
Since you’re one of my blog readers, I also want to thank you for trusting me. That’s why I want to be totally honest about where I’m heading in 2020. If this is goodbye, I wish you the best. But if you’re sticking around, I’m excited for what is to come.
