Fourteen years ago, I was driving home from my dream job in finance, stuck in traffic and crying, and I couldn’t figure out why. I had done everything I was supposed to do. I’d paid my way through school, landed the big-city job I’d always wanted, and moved my entire life from a small town to Ottawa to take it. And yet one question kept surfacing: is this really it? That question became the starting point for three business pivots that eventually led me to the work I do today, and in the very first episode of my podcast, Not To Call You Out, But…, I’m sharing the whole story.
Before we get into anyone else’s business, I want you to know mine, so you know exactly who’s talking to you.
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How My First Business Pivot Started With Getting Fired
I had watched my parents hate their jobs my entire life. Work was never a good day in our house; it was something you endured. So when I found myself pushing paper, appeasing difficult clients, and feeling like a nobody at 22 years old, a part of me recognized the pattern and refused to accept it.
Meanwhile, I was eating, sleeping, and breathing photography. I had originally gone to school for photojournalism before dropping out, and storytelling through photos had never stopped being my thing. I edited photos on every lunch break and shot every evening and weekend I could. Eventually I was so unhappy that I started sending out resumes from my work computer, and, unbeknownst to me, my boss could see exactly what I was doing. Oops!
“Not Without Mindset, You Can’t”
Naturally, I was called into his office and fired on the spot. He told me I didn’t belong there and that I needed to go be a photographer. I told him, with all the certainty in the world, that you can’t make money being a photographer. He looked at me and said, “Well, not without mindset, you can’t.”
I think about that moment constantly, because it’s such a full circle to be where I am today, teaching mindset to every woman I possibly can.
Building a Business on a $20,000 Salary
With no job and no plan, I took an admin position that paid about $25,000 a year just to make ends meet, and I started building my photography business on the side. If I’m honest, it was “if you had a heartbeat” photography. I shot newborns, portraits, cake smashes, and weddings, anything to build my portfolio and figure out what I actually loved. What I discovered was that I had fallen in love with love, and wedding photography became the business I eventually took full-time.
Rebuilding My Business From Scratch in a Province Where I Knew No One
Three years into my business, I took a trip to Kelowna and met a guy. Long story short, I decided to move from Ontario to Alberta, to a place where I knew no one, and rebuild my entire business from scratch. My business was local, so I had no referrals, no network, and no guaranteed income. Looking back, it was an absolutely wild decision, and it also taught me that I could rebuild from nothing if I had to.
I did free photoshoots, blogged every single one, rebuilt my SEO and raised my rates to land some incredible clients that led me to a six-figure income in the first two years.
How a Cold DM Led to My Second Business Pivot
Three years later, weddings were starting to burn me out, and I’d been quietly drawn to interior photography. So I sent a cold DM to an interior designer in Edmonton and asked if we could do a free shoot together, simply so I could find out whether I loved it and whether I was good at it.
That one message changed everything. Our work was featured in Apartment Therapy, which was a massive deal at the time, and because she was also a blogger, I began shooting all of her blog content. We realized there wasn’t really a name for what we were doing, so we started calling it brand photography. Over time, I built quarterly brand photography subscriptions and grew that business to six figures.
The Gap That Became My Third Pivot
Brand photography turned out to be the catalyst for everything that came next. Just like when you overshare with your hairstylist, the women in my sessions started opening up to me about their confidence, their mindset, their marketing, and what was really going on in their businesses. I’d share what I saw, and when they came back the next quarter, they’d tell me it had worked.
That’s when I noticed a gap. Most coaches at the time offered either strategy or mindset work that leaned heavily into manifestation, and I knew from my own experience that I needed both. I needed strategy, I needed the mindset side grounded in psychology and neuroscience rather than just the woo, and I needed embodiment, the practice of becoming the next version of yourself before your reality catches up.
I texted my best friend right before a trip we were taking to Cuba and told her I thought I was supposed to be a business coach. Her response was, “Yeah, duh.” From there, I got certified in neurolinguistic programming, completed my life coaching certification, and got trained in behavioural psychology, because I’ve always been the kid asking why people do what they do. I’ve now been a business coach for female entrepreneurs for six years.
What Is a Business Pivot?
A business pivot is a deliberate change in direction, whether that means changing your industry, your offer, your audience, or the way your business operates, because the current path no longer fits your goals or the life you want. A pivot isn’t the same as starting over. It’s using everything you’ve already learned to build something that fits who you are now. Think of it more like an expansion because all of the skills you’ve gained until today, will transfer into your next chapter!
Listen to The Art of the Career Pivot: My Interview on Expert Status with Elise Hodge.
How to Know When It’s Time for Your Own Business Pivot
Looking back on all three of my business pivots, there were signs every single time. Here’s what I’d encourage you to pay attention to.
- Take the “is this it?” question seriously. When that question keeps coming back, it’s usually information about what you’ve outgrown rather than a sign that something is wrong with you.
- Notice what you do on your lunch breaks/time off. The work you gravitate toward when no one is asking you to do it often points to your next chapter.
- Test the idea before you take the leap. My free interior shoot let me find out whether I loved brand photography before I committed to it, and a small experiment can do the same for you.
- Pay attention to what people keep coming to you for. My clients were telling me I was a coach long before I said it out loud.
- Get support for the strategy, the mindset, and the embodiment. A pivot asks you to change what you do and who you’re being, and it’s much easier when someone can see your blind spots.
“After just a few weeks in The Evolving Entrepreneur, I left my full-time job to run my business full time!”
– Jacky B., Detoured Creative
Frequently Asked Questions About Business Pivots
How do I know if I should pivot my business?
If you’ve built something successful but feel drained, bored, or disconnected from it, that’s often the first sign. The key is getting honest about whether you need a new direction or simply a new way of running the business you already have. Fulfillment is a very important piece of entrepreneurship that we often underestimate and it’s been the missing link for a lot of my clients, especially those in The F-YES Mastermind.
Is it too late to pivot after building a six-figure business?
Not at all. I pivoted out of a six-figure brand photography business, and every skill I’d built along the way came with me into coaching.
Do I have to start from scratch when I pivot?
Rarely. Even when I rebuilt my business in a new province, I brought my skills, my experience, and my belief that I could do it again, which made each pivot faster than the last.
How long does a business pivot take?
It depends on how big the change is and how much support you have. Testing the idea first, as I did with my interior shoot, can help you move forward with far more confidence and far less guesswork.
Your Path Doesn’t Have to Be Linear
My journey has been anything but linear, with three pivots, a cross-country move, and more than a few moments where I had no idea what came next. What I know now is that every one of those detours was building toward the work I was meant to do.
If you’re quietly wondering whether your next chapter looks different from this one, you don’t have to figure it out alone. The Evolving Entrepreneur is designed for women ready to define their next moves with a personalized plan, the F-YES Mastermind supports established women whose business no longer fits the life they want, and 1:1 coaching offers high-touch guidance through bigger transitions. Explore how we can work together, and let’s figure out what your next chapter could look like.
