When Life Stops, but Business Keeps Going
A little over a year ago, I launched my second book, In Search of You. It was raw, personal, and deeply intertwined with my own journey of self-love—of facing hard truths about my past, including my relationship with my parents.
What I didn’t know then was how much that journey would prepare me for the months ahead.
Within three months (Mom- the day before Halloween '24 and Dad the first of January '25), I lost both of my parents. And not long before that, my dog of 14 years. It felt like the universe had stripped away the people and things that had always tethered me, and I was left standing in the aftermath, trying to make sense of it all.
As many of you know, my dad had never read a book in his life. But he read mine. And in his own not-so-lovey-dovey way, he told me, “You’re incredible.” My mother, who had never once told me she was proud of me, finally did.
Then, they were gone. And with them, it felt like pieces of me had been lost, too.
I’m still working through it, still processing their absence. Grief is a funny thing—sneaky, unpredictable, impossible to outrun. But through it all, there’s one thing I keep reminding myself: I built something that doesn’t stop when I do.
I created a business that keeps running while I take the time I need to heal.
That, in itself, is a gift. Because as entrepreneurs, we often carry the weight of having to show up, having to push through. But what happens when life knocks the wind out of you? When your heart needs time before your head is ready to move forward?
If you’re in that space—whether from loss, burnout, or just sheer exhaustion—know this: the work you do is important, but it is not you. The business you build should support you, not consume you. And you deserve the time and space to grieve, to heal, and to be human.
I’m still figuring it out. Still learning how to move through each day with the weight of absence. But I’m grateful. Grateful for the systems I put in place. Grateful for the people who keep things running. Grateful that, in this moment, I can just be—without everything falling apart.
And if you’re in that space, I hope you give yourself the same grace.
With love and gratitude,
Kasey
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