February 21, 2025 • 55 mins
What If Your Business Actually Worked With Your Health Instead of Against It? Traditional business advice wasn’t made for those of us managing chronic illness. The hustle, the long hours, the pressure—it’s exhausting and unsustainable. But what if your business could be built around your energy, your health, and your actual life?
In this episode, I sit down with Nitika Chopra, founder of Chronicon, to discuss how she built a thriving business while navigating unpredictable health challenges—and how you can, too.
We’re diving into:
✔️ The #1 mindset shift that makes flexible income possible
✔️ How to create a business model that respects your energy levels
✔️ Charging what you’re worth—even when you doubt yourself
✔️ Making visibility work for you (even when you don’t feel your best)
✔️ The financial reality of running a business with chronic illness
If you’ve ever thought I want to start or grow my business, but I don’t know how to make it work with my health—this episode is for you.
Send Me A Text & Share Your QA's or Thoughts
Loved this episode? Leave a review: https://www.craftedtothrive.com/reviews/new/
Products We Love + Special Guest Gifts → Want to support the show and treat yourself? We’ve created a quick-access list of products I personally use and love, exclusive savings from podcast guests, and other gems that can help you live well and do business with chronic illness. Explore our faves + savings here!
Subscribe HERE to Chronically Profitable, A free exclusive weekly email series designed for creatives and women with chronic illnesses. You'll learn how to make a liveable income with your hobbies, professional skills, and innate talents by building a successful online coaching business with simple strategies that work for you, even on flare days, and feel better living with chronic illness.
To Start and Grow A Coaching or Service-Based Business with Chronic Illness, Book A Free Sales Call With Nikita Here.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You know, I've been thinking alot about why.
(00:03):
I and those that I work withchoose the path of
entrepreneurship, buildingsomething from nothing or from
this place.
We just don't know how it's evengoing to become something,
especially when we're carryingso much.
Because for real, we are alreadycaring so much, right?
(00:26):
We are living with our chronicillnesses full time, and that's
a full time job.
And there's thisunpredictability, there's all of
these appointments, theexhaustion, the sneak ups of new
things that we need to handle.
And yet, here we are, Choosingto take on one more thing,
(00:49):
choosing to create, to build, tobelieve in something bigger or
more possible than how we'recurrently surviving.
And I've been asking myself,why?
Why do we choose this?
Why did I decide to run abusiness?
Something that demands so muchof me and is constantly on the
(01:11):
move.
Was it about the money?
No, obviously.
Was it about stability?
Not really, because we all knowentrepreneurship has its ebbs
and flows.
It's a rollercoaster sometimesof uncertainty.
I think it's just, Somethingdeeper, a feeling, a, a knowing,
(01:38):
a wanting of more flexibilityand freedom and creativity, a
feeling that even on our hardestdays, I wasn't just getting
through life.
I had something to help mecontinue living it.
Beyond my spiritual practice,what else, right?
(01:58):
Something more on my terms.
And I know I'm not alone in thisthought because of the wonderful
women that I serve and connectwith.
And I wanted to have thisconversation for, or with you.
If you've been thinking,especially in the state of the
world that we're living in todayAm I going to stay on this
(02:24):
journey?
What is part of this journeythat I'm being called or being
moved to do?
Right?
And I wanted to have thisconversation with a woman who
has lived such a beautiful, raw,powerful, impactful life as an
entrepreneur and so many otherTitles you could say about her
(02:47):
name.
She has built and rebuilt andshe has navigated visibility and
identity and worth in ways thatso many of us wrestle with and
through it all, she has foundways to create a business and a
life that honors both her driveto create impact.
and her own well being.
(03:07):
So I'm excited to have thisconversation again with a dear
guest that's been on the showbefore with Nitika Chopra.
We actually recorded this lastyear around this time.
So there's been some changesboth in our both of our lives
and both of our businesses.
But this conversation And I justfelt like needed to be shared
because of this very thought,you know, we are building a
(03:28):
business and sometimes we gettired and we wonder, should we
be giving up?
And if you're listening to this,it means that there There's
something probably still insideof you dreaming, still hoping,
still reaching for a version ofyour life that feels good or
version of your business thatfeels more aligned and that
(03:50):
matters and it matters so much.
So I wanted to unpack the fears,the hesitation, the big what ifs
that remind ourselves that evenin the mess, There's so much
possibility.
So I'm excited to invite youinto this conversation.
(04:12):
Welcome to Business with ChronicIllness, the globally ranked
podcast for women living withchronic illness who want to
start and grow a businessonline.
I'm your host Nikita Williams,and I went from living a normal
life to all of a sudden being inconstant pain with no answers to
being diagnosed with multiplechronic illnesses and trying to
make a livable income.
I faced the challenge ofadapting traditional business
(04:35):
advice to fit my uniquecircumstances with chronic
illness, feeling frustrated andmore burnt out than I already
was while managing my chronicillness to becoming an award
winning coach with a flexible,sustainable online coaching
business.
I found the surprisingly simplesteps to starting and growing a
profitable business withoutcompromising my health or my
(04:56):
peace.
Since then, I've helped dozensof women just like you learn how
to do the same.
If you're ready to create athriving business that aligns
with your lifestyle and wellbeing, you're in the right
place.
Together, we're shifting thenarrative of what's possible.
for women with chronic illnessand how we make a living.
This is Business with ChronicIllness.
(05:23):
I am excited again to have theNitika.
The Nitika.
That's literally what I callyou.
The Nitika in my life.
It's so funny.
On the show again.
I'll, I'll share someintroductions and everything a
little bit later, but welcomeNitika.
It's the show again, beingNikita.
(05:44):
Thank you.
I'm so happy to be here.
I feel like this doesn't feellike work because I get to just
hang out with you, which we bothneed right now.
So we were talking about that.
Yes.
I'm really happy to be here withyou.
I am happy you are here.
So before we hopped on torecording, we were talking
about.
(06:04):
the name change of the podcastand you were on the show back
when it was called Crafted toThrive.
I think our episode was aboutlike building community and how
you've been doing that.
And now I want to really diveinto, you have run so many
different types of businesses.
You've, you've done differentthings in your career as a human
(06:26):
being.
living with different variationsof your chronic illness, like in
flares, not in flares, beingvery visible, not being visible.
And that's what this show isreally.
like leaning into is kind ofgiving people permission to see
how they can run businessdifferently living with chronic
(06:48):
illness and give themselves thepermissions to do things
different because other peopleare doing it.
We just don't hear about it.
We just don't hear about it.
Right.
And so I think the firstquestion I want us to lean into
is why a business, like whybusinesses, like why this lane
for your life?
(07:11):
Like, why did I become anentrepreneur, basically?
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember the time in mylife when I became an
entrepreneur.
I was like in my late twentiesand I had been working in real
estate.
I was a real estate agent.
Yeah.
And I actually.
(07:31):
Yeah, I was.
And I really loved it.
There were parts that I didn'tlove, but I mostly, like, really
loved it because I, I learnedduring that time in my life how
to, I guess you could say, like,really embrace the thing that
makes me me.
So I was in an office with allthese other real estate agents
(07:52):
and they're all just like doingtheir thing and like pounding
the pavement and going at it andit's New York City and it's okay
everyone calm down.
Um, you know, and then there wasme and I was actually like so
different than a lot of the realestate agents.
that were in my office or justout there in general because I
would come in with this likevery caring approach to all of
(08:12):
my clients and I would alwaysconnect to them from like a
heart centered place.
If someone just got a divorce,they'd be like, Oh, I've also
been through a divorce.
Here's what I went through.
Or like somebody who's coming toNew York for the first time
would be like, Oh my God, when Ifirst moved to New York, it was
like very emotional, bigsurprise.
But it was actually like a veryimportant time for me to learn
(08:34):
about my skills and also salesand things like that.
But I, I decided to become anentrepreneur because I guess it
kind of like happened.
I don't know that I was like,okay, now I'm going to be an
entrepreneur.
But it was this feeling of, Ijust felt like I couldn't be on
anyone else's timeline.
(08:56):
I know.
It's like the biggest thing.
I just felt like I couldn't beon anyone else's timeline.
And even one step deeper thanthat, I really felt like I
really wanted to like.
Embrace believing in myself,like there was this like deep
thing I had had such I had hadsuch low self esteem growing up
and even like halfway through mytwenties, I was very sick.
(09:19):
I couldn't walk without severepain.
I was completely covered fromhead to toe with psoriasis,
which was very debilitating justfrom the skin level.
But then it also just lookedterrible.
I it was horrible.
So like my self esteem was like.
Negative.
It was not even like a zero.
It was like, well past zero.
And I think I just the thingthat always got me through that
(09:41):
was like, I just believe I'mhere for something greater than
my suffering.
I was like, this just can't beit.
I've always been a veryspiritual person and It's gotten
me through every hard thing inmy life.
And yeah, I just felt like Ihave to believe that God didn't
just say, okay, you suck.
So you have to like sit in thispain.
(10:03):
Well, whatever.
I was young.
So that's, that's what I said tomyself.
Those are like the real types ofthings that you think and that
you say when you're like byyourself and nobody can hear
you.
Yeah.
And I was just like, no, Icannot believe this about
myself.
And so that honestly, Is so muchof why I decided to become an
entrepreneur.
I felt like I had this story toshare.
(10:25):
I didn't have any idea how I wasgoing to share it.
I had no skills when it came toany of this stuff.
My first company, Bella Life, Ihad never done anything like
that before.
But yeah, I just really feltlike I have to believe that
there's something greater.
And then from a practical place,I was like, I don't think I can
be on someone's timeline.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(10:46):
So interesting.
I love, I'm just gonna say, Ilove when we have talked often
enough that I feel like we, I'mlike, Oh, that is so
interesting.
I did not know that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I, I feel that on such a deep.
Level of where you're comingfrom, like being an
(11:07):
entrepreneur.
I had the similar experience oftrying different things.
Real estate was one of mythings.
Like I love real estate agent.
I was a real estate agent too.
This is what I'm like.
I was like, Oh my gosh, andNikita meet again without
realizing it.
Yeah, I really enjoyed it aswell.
(11:27):
It was like, it's a peoplebusiness and I approach it very
similar to you.
It's just to your point of, I, Ifor, I did not grow up with
chronic illness, so for me, ithappened in my adult life, so I
didn't really understand, like,time, freedom and flexibility
(11:50):
and whatever it really stayed tome, felt that way, felt very
flexible until it wasn't.
Yeah.
And so you have to be on, on acall and away, contract, like
all this stuff that was reallydependent on a lot of everybody
else's schedule except your own.
And that became so stressful forme, even though I felt like I
(12:10):
was an entrepreneur, but itwasn't truly entrepreneurship to
me.
It's like the gateway drugbecause I agree it was, it was
like I could have days where Iwas like, Oh, I don't have any
listings or showings today.
Like I'm just going to chilltoday or like kind of have my
own schedule somewhat, but Iremember being so panicked every
time I was waiting for a deal togo through.
(12:30):
And I feel like that to me washonestly a huge part of it too.
I just felt like the level ofstress.
that you are like almostexpected to have, which I think
certain industries are likethat.
I was like, Oh no, no, no, no,we are not going to make it.
I have to be this stressed outin order to make a dollar.
No, this is not, this is not howI want to live.
(12:53):
And sometimes I think even justfrom entrepreneurship, like be
the ups and downs of it.
Sometimes my mom is alwaysreminding me I should have kept
my real estate license, like agood Indian parent, just
reminding you of your backupplan.
14 years into my career, she'sstill reminding me of that.
But I do sometimes think, oh,maybe it would have been nice to
(13:14):
like, have that just to not haveeverything be like the pressure
on my dreams and have it be likespread out a little bit.
But I also know I'm.
I'm very dedicated when I dothings.
And so I just don't think Icould do it like just kind of a
little bit.
So I totally feel that.
Yeah.
So interesting.
So tell us what led to Bellalife because Bella life was a
(13:37):
mate.
Like when I learned about you,it was kind of when Chronicon
was kind of.
It was almost like a new babyout of Bella Life, it felt like
from when I met you initially.
And then I was like, but whatabout, I didn't get to know
Bella Life.
I didn't get to know thatbusiness, but I knew it was
amazing.
And then when I got to know youmore and you were sharing like
(13:58):
how you grew that business, Iwas just like, this chick is
awesome.
I'm like, how does she do thisgoing through?
All of the chronic stuff, youhave personal stuff going on at
that time too.
So, and it was a very visiblebusiness.
And I think for those of usliving with chronic illness,
that's a fear that many of ushave going into being in any
(14:18):
kind of business.
I literally just had a salescall and the person was like,
but how do I do this withoutanybody seeing me?
And I was like, we have tofigure, let's talk about this
more, but.
That's a real fear.
Yeah, it is.
I was afraid, Nikita.
I was afraid.
I was afraid.
Let's just, yeah, let's just bereal.
I was so afraid, but you know,my faith has always been bigger
(14:42):
than my fear.
Sometimes by just the tiniesthair, the tiniest bit, right.
But my faith has always beenbigger than my fear.
And I remember when I.
Was in this real estate worldand I was kind of doing that and
I felt like there was somethingmore.
I'm a very Like also very likesensorial person.
(15:02):
I get messages through my bodyand I just, there was something
in my heart.
I kept saying, I feel likesomething is knocking on my
heart.
It literally felt like somethingwas knocking on my heart and I
would wake up in the middle ofthe night and I felt like
something was knocking on myheart and I would get up in the
morning and felt like somethingwas knocking on my heart and I
was just like, what is it?
What, who are you?
(15:22):
What is taking over my body?
It felt so.
strong and so clear, but Ididn't know what it was and I
would sit and I would pray and Iwould cry and I felt so lost
truly because I had never doneanything like that.
I had just my real estate jobwas my second, maybe my third
(15:44):
job.
My first job was a retail job,which I was terrible at.
And then I was a waitress, whichI was also terrible at.
And then I became a real estateagent.
Okay.
Because I was so sick, Icouldn't work for so many years.
So I had never done anythingeven remotely close to anything
like this.
There was, and I had no likeexperience to say, Oh, I've
(16:07):
built all these things.
And so I'm going to be able todo this.
Absolutely not.
But I just had this really,really strong calling.
And I heard a message from Godthat said, like, you're supposed
to have a talk show.
That was, it was very, veryclear when he's clear, he's real
clear, but you know, most of thetime I'm digging around for
messages, but that was one ofthe clearest messages I ever got
(16:29):
and it guided me and it alsofrustrated me because I was
like, I'm sorry, Oprah and Ellenhave talked to what do you, I
literally, I don't, what do you,what are you saying?
Like, how can this be themessage that you're giving me?
And so when I really knew thatit was the true message and I
was like, okay, I guess I'llfigure out how I'm supposed to
make this happen.
(16:50):
And so I sort of workedbackwards and thought, okay,
well, how can someone with noprior experience, no, no
connections, no people see menow and they're like, Oh,
everybody, or you're out andabout.
And I'm like, okay, but that's14 years in when I didn't know
anyone.
So I decided to build Bella lifebecause I thought Oh, this could
(17:13):
be my talk show in a website.
It's like the content is thestuff we would talk about in
segments.
The, I ended up having over ahundred contributors writing for
me by the end before I closedit.
And I was like, Oh, thecontributors are like the guests
I would have on my show.
And then I'll put myself onYouTube and show people what I
look like on camera so that theycan see it.
(17:35):
And three years into that.
I ended up getting an email fromthe vice president of Asia TV,
which was, it's just South, hugeSouth Asian television network.
And they basically were castingfor a show called Naturally
Beautiful.
And they were like, we feel likeyour website is like the exact
thing that we're casting theshow for.
It's like funny.
You should mention that becausethat was my master plan that I
(17:59):
had no idea if anyone was evergoing to get or ever going to
see.
And then I got my show.
Yeah.
And that was why I started it.
And.
Ending it and everything wasreally because I, I've also gone
through a lot of transitions.
Like I don't, I don't alwaysown, like you were saying that
client or that sales call, theywere saying they don't want to
be seen.
(18:19):
I love being on camera because Iknow it's a skill that I have
and it actually helps me.
connect my heart to more people.
And so I really appreciate andenjoy that.
But it's not because like, Iwant Nitica to be seen, right?
What I mean, it's like a veryfine line.
(18:41):
And so it's been a journey forme to even with building chronic
on, I've been like, Oh, am Isupposed to be at the front?
Like, I don't really want to bein the front, but then when I'm
not in the front, People will belike, Oh, we just want to talk
to you.
I don't know.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I'm sure you know what I'msaying.
So, yeah.
So I don't know if that answersyour question exactly, but
(19:01):
that's sort of like thebeginning of that journey.
So when, when that I love, Iwant to kind of distill a little
bit for anyone listening, like alot of people that I talk to,
especially with chronic illness,they have, they have something
like they normally have this, Iwant to do this, I have this
vision, I have this like ideaand they're like, I've never
(19:22):
done this before and I'm afraidand I have no idea how to do it
and to your point, it's always,okay, let's start here.
From the, from what you visionand work backwards, let's work.
How do we create those layers?
And I think that's the piecethat scares people the most
because they've never done it.
They've, they've seen it.
(19:43):
They believe it to some degree.
It's really deep in the heart,but the ability to actually do
it is one.
Am I well enough to do this?
physically, mentally,energetically.
Am I well enough?
Secondly, who is going to be onthis train with me?
Cause there's no way I can do itby myself.
(20:04):
That's how I felt when I startedmy business.
There's no way I could run abusiness by myself, even though
that's like the general.
Advice when it comes to runninga business is kind of like, Hey,
figure all this stuff out beforeyou hire this or get that or
have that support.
And I was just like, I need asafety net for me.
So how did that look like foryou going into the Bella life
(20:27):
and working it backwards?
What were some of the things youlearned along the way that was a
little bit different frommainstream advice on growing a
business like that?
Yeah.
I think the biggest thing, wellone of the things that you also
said and, and what you justshared was like, how am I gonna
do it when I'm not feeling well?
(20:49):
Right.
And the thing that comes up forme is your body is your greatest
teacher.
Mm.
So much.
Right?
So why would it be any differentin your work life?
So even for me now, I wentthrough a really scary time two
years ago with my health and itchanged everything for me when
(21:11):
it comes to chronic on.
It changed everything on thesurface.
People might not know that mycommunity members all now, but
it changed everything.
It internally rewired how Itreat myself, how I prioritize
my own happiness, how I managegiving cause I'm, I'm a giver.
(21:31):
I love to love.
That is like literally why I'vebeen put on this planet is to
love people.
And I'm very clear about that.
But.
I can't do it at the expense ofmyself, and I've done that a lot
in my life.
And I actually think a lot ofpeople with chronic illness do
that.
I think there's so many reasonswhy, why I believe that.
But so I had to, I had to changeeverything.
(21:53):
Yeah.
But that's such a gift.
Right.
It wasn't like, I mean, at thetime that it was happening, I
did not know how it was going toturn out.
I did not know how changingthings was going to feel and,
and all of that, but it's, it'sthere because I was meant to
change things.
I wasn't meant to keep givingfrom a place like where I was
empty, you know what I mean?
So when I was doing Bella life,I would say, I didn't know this
(22:17):
then, like at the time.
It felt a lot more.
I was just in it.
It's like the naivete ofstarting something new doing
something for the first time.
That's such a precious thingthat I will never get back.
I feel like I do.
I do reminisce about that time,but I've always been somebody
(22:37):
who follows my heart and myintuition.
And it's a very differentbusiness model than the way I
feel like I'm just now learningabout the quote unquote, like
real business way of doingthings.
Because I'm like, I have astartup and I'm like, Oh, okay.
There's like people out therethat like raise money to do
these kinds of things.
Or they like do all this stuffthat I just didn't know anything
(22:59):
about.
Right.
But when I started, I was just,I was just following my heart.
And I also, one of the thingsthat I did, which might be
helpful is.
I, up until this point ofstarting Bella Life, I had had a
lot of ideas, but I hadn't, uh,executed on any of them.
So like I would call my parents,my parents were living in Hong
(23:19):
Kong at the time, and I wouldcall my mom like every week and
be like, Mom, I have this idea.
I, I remember one time I waslike, I'm going to start a
center for people living withpsoriasis and I'm going to make
it like this, like beautifulhaven and like this nurturing
place.
And And I was like, that's aterrible idea.
I don't want to do any manuallabor.
This is like a week later, butlike I was trying so hard to
(23:43):
find the thing.
Right.
And so when I found, when Ithought of the talk show idea
and then I found the idea forBella life in my heart and I was
like, okay, this is it.
I told myself that I was notallowed to be the girl who cried
entrepreneur.
Excuse me, the girl who criedentrepreneur and tell everybody
that I was doing this thing andthen spend money on like
(24:04):
business cards or a web websitedomain or whatever and not
actually do anything.
And I put myself on a plan thatI wasn't allowed to spend a
single cent for an entire yearwhile I was building Bella Life.
This is what I had to do formyself.
Nobody told me I had to do this,but I wanted to prove to myself
(24:24):
that this was real.
And nobody, I don't have to paya dollar to write an article.
I don't have to pay a dollar togo around and get inspiration.
I would go window shopping and Iwould think of ideas.
I would think of colors I wantedto use on my website.
I would think of what are thebrands that I want to be a part,
be connected to.
I wrote so many blogs for BellaLife before it ever existed
(24:47):
because I just loved writing.
And I was like, I just want topractice this and try it and see
what is here.
And then finally, after a year,I Put down a deposit for 1, 500
to build my website.
And I was like, okay, I'm doingit.
And then I published my articlesand went from there.
But it was, it was, it's alwaysbeen a spiritual practice for
(25:11):
me.
It really is.
And I think, I know noteverybody's spiritual,
religious, whatever it might be,but I do believe that everybody
has, whether it's nature or.
It's like your love of cookingand like the meditation that
comes from that or it'sMeditation in general maybe is
your thing or yoga, whatever itmight be There's that place
(25:31):
within you that is so likeprivate and intimate that only
you Really know you and thatother like higher power or that
energy or that loving forcewithin you And I feel like being
in relationship with that whileyou're in relationship with your
business is such A blessed,like, beautiful thing.
What is the point of doing thisif we're not gonna connect to
(25:55):
something greater thanourselves, right?
Yeah.
So that was sort of my, part ofmy journey.
I mean, I love that becausepractice, that weird saying,
practice makes perfect.
I think practice makes lifework, like before it's working,
right?
(26:15):
And people ask me this about thepodcast all the time.
Like, how did you start apodcast?
How did you know?
I was like, dude, for six monthsI was on my phone, like
recording stuff and just talkinglike I did not like nobody
nobody has ever heard those.
But that's how I started, right?
Like that was part of the spaceof giving me like, Oh, can I do
(26:39):
this?
And I think a lot of us are justtrying to like bring into
fruition something like we see.
On social media or like we seein the world, like it's just
all, Oh, you decided and here itis.
And it's literally doesn't worklike that.
And it's actually really goodwhen it doesn't work like that.
(27:00):
I think it gives you the runway.
It gives you the space todiscover.
Are you all in right now?
Not, you don't be for, itdoesn't have to be forever.
Like I love how you're like,yeah, I'm all in now.
It can change.
And I think that's a beautifulthing of you sharing that.
And I do think doing it withpurpose and having a mission
(27:23):
behind why you're doing that andit not being for you.
It just makes it a lot easierwhen you don't want to do it.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
I mean, I know in sitting downin this conversation with you,
I'm like, even if I was tired orI was feeling like out of it
today, always feel better afterI have these conversations, I'm
(27:46):
always reminded.
Like, oh, this is so much biggerthan my, like, PMS, whatever it
might be, you know what I mean?
Right.
And it's such a gift, and I feelthat way in the community all
the time as well, like everytime, that year where I was
really, really sick and I justkept showing up.
There were some weeks where Iliterally did not, I was not
(28:08):
able to show up for a singlething.
And the only thing I showed upfor it was that one hour on zoom
in the Chronicom community.
And yeah, it, it, it matters.
And what you were saying aboutpractice, actually, it made me
think about when I decided thatI wanted to have a talk show, I
used to look at tapes or likerecordings of Ellen and Oprah
(28:31):
all day.
That's literally all I would do.
It was like my cardio.
I was just looking at them andwatching and I learned so much
and I loved it.
Even to this day, I lovewatching talk shows because I'm
like, Oh, that's so interesting.
Like she took a pause there orshe like kind of brushed the
hand of her guests and like, howdo they actually be themselves
(28:51):
on air?
That is such a.
skill.
And when I first, when I firststarted my talk show or first
started my, my website, I shouldsay before I got my talk show, I
was very much like on, I wasvery much like hosty.
And I remember my therapistactually, who like loves me.
And I know she like thinks theworld of me.
She was like, That's not theNitica that I know.
(29:13):
Oh.
She was like, I know a differentNitica.
Now I'm like, I mean, I can'thold back.
I'm just like so transparent.
Yeah, it's just what it is.
Whatever.
It's just what it is.
It's totally just like fully me.
But, oh my gosh.
It took a lot of work to get toa place of not trying to perform
and actually being able to justbe myself in front of other
people.
(29:34):
Yeah.
So for a second, I want to kindof shift gears for a second to
talk a little bit more about thetangible aspects of business in
general for you.
There's obviously investment,there's obviously expenses,
there's obviously Life withchronic illness, like living
(29:54):
your life when you don't, I getthis a lot to a lot of people
like, well, you have, they tellthis to me like, well, you have
a partner, so it's not likethat.
That's a privilege you have.
You share your expenses.
You don't have to deal with allthat.
And that is 100.
I do not discount that at all,because it's very true.
And I do know it looks verydifferent when you're doing
this.
(30:15):
As a single person, how has themechanics of the finances and
all those things, worked for youor how have you just become at
peace at not of the idea of nothaving like consistent months,
consistent weeks, money comingin exactly the same way as if
(30:36):
you were working a nine to five,like how has that worked for you
and your nervous system?
Cause that's a thing.
That is a thing.
That is really a thing.
I mean, where, where I go first,I mean, I always go to the
spiritual in the heart, so I'mgonna try to bring it back down
to Earth for a second, butbefore I bring it back down to
earth, I will say that it, it's,it's actually been a huge
(30:59):
conversation for me, like themoney conversation, and I think
that it comes back to worth onsuch a deep level.
Partly because of my health, butalso growing up as a South Asian
woman.
And there's a lot of culturalthings of the daughter or the
youngest.
And then I got sick when I was10.
(31:20):
And so, and then I got divorcedwhen I was 24.
And so I sort of from culturalplace, we say, left your parents
home and went to your husband'shome.
And then, and then, but then Iwas back at my parents home
energetically, at least at theage of 24, and I was not walking
and I wasn't really able to takecare of myself.
So it's been this thingactually, even just this year
(31:42):
that I have really been likedoubling down on of like the
psychology behind my ability tolike take care of myself on this
like greater level.
I take amazing care of myselfevery moment of every day for
the most part.
(32:03):
But then there's this financialpiece of do I really believe
that I am.
worth and worthy of someonewho's been as sick as I have,
somebody who has been as lost asI have, somebody, all these
things that like deep down in mysubconscious, I've sort of
programmed, right?
I've had to really work on thatand I'm still working on that.
(32:24):
And one of the ways that thatcomes up for me sometimes is I
have a hard time.
Charging individuals.
This is like something I'mreally working on.
I charge brands, like, all themoney.
I do not care.
And she does it so well, y'all.
She does it so well.
I'm just saying.
She has taught us so many thingsabout that.
So if you want to join ChronicOn Community just for learning
(32:45):
that, you should.
But anyway, go on.
I'm sorry.
No, don't be sorry.
That's very sweet.
But yeah, I've always kind ofbeen like, okay, I know you have
all the money.
Give it to me.
I have no, I have no cause Iknow I'm going to do a great
job.
I know I'm going to work reallyhard.
Like I'm not, I'm not insecureabout that at all.
But when I see somebodyPotentially, he was chronically
(33:06):
ill or going through somethingand they, I actually project
onto them, which is what I'mlearning that they can't, that
they're small and they can'tafford it because it's like what
I probably inherently feel aboutmyself.
And I had no idea that I wasdoing that until literally this
year.
(33:26):
I had no idea.
So it's something I'm really,really working through.
And I think that it's such adisservice to other people that
I do that.
And it's not actually even truea lot of the time.
And of course, like there's alot of just like ridiculous
disparity in this country,especially and people being on
disability and like all of thatis very real.
(33:47):
And so.
It's just this fine line oftrying to figure out what do I,
what am I focusing on here?
What, what's actually going toserve people and myself.
So that's a piece of it.
I will say, I, I think theinconsistent money thing.
Has been really real.
I think it's, it's been, it'sbeen a great teacher too,
(34:08):
though, because I've had toreally see, okay, what do I, how
am I going to take care ofmyself in those slower months?
I've also had to be incrediblyinnovative.
And what I mean by that is Iremember the first time I was in
my entrepreneurial journey and Iwas like at the bottom of the
bank account and I was justlike, oh my God, this is bad.
This is not looking good.
Okay.
I was in my twenties.
I I just started Bella life likenot too long before.
(34:32):
And I decided I needed to makemoney.
And so I was like, okay, I'mgoing to invent this thing,
which is, this was like 14,maybe 12 years ago at the, at
the least, and no one was reallydoing this at the time.
And I decided I was going to doevents and charge brands to be a
part of my event.
And nobody was doing that.
Okay, not here in New York City.
(34:53):
I didn't know anyone who's doingthat.
I was just like, I'm just gonnamake this up.
What assets do I have?
That's basically the skill thatI always try to go back to.
What assets do I have?
Okay, I can throw a killer eventand I can fill the room.
So that is the one thing I knowI can do.
Okay, how am I going to chargefor that?
Didn't really want to charge theparticipants a ton, right?
So I charged them, but not thatmuch.
(35:14):
But I charged all these brandsand I made 8, 000 in 24 hours or
something like that.
And I was just like, okay, okay,this is great.
And I had never done anythinglike that before.
So I say all that to say that,like, it pushes you right.
And it pushed me to be veryinnovative.
I've had to.
Come up with programs.
I'm sure you get it too.
It's like, you got to do adifferent sales call.
(35:36):
Okay.
Maybe I got to put out a podcastepisode about this because I
didn't realize it's getting alittle slow, but that's not a
bad thing.
So, yeah.
So that's kind of a little bitabout how I've navigated it up
until this point.
I love that you said that too,because innovation is huge.
And I think that the skill iscreate us chronic illness,
warriors that we've had to havein general.
(35:56):
Right.
And that's a huge foundationthat I feel why most.
Crankiness warriors need to givethemselves more credit, give
themselves more, see their worthin that.
Yes.
Our pain and challenges and allof that is a real thing, but
we've literally had to figureout some really interesting
(36:17):
things just for living everyday.
And as difficult as business is,it has its thing.
I'm like, it's not as hard astrying to survive.
In a world that's not intendedfor this life, right?
You know what I'm saying?
Like, so I love that you share,like, just being open to being
like doing it differently,seeing it differently, using
(36:38):
skills that you just don'tdiscount anything.
Yeah, I, I totally agree withthat.
And I agree that, like, I thinkit comes back to the worth and
the confidence.
So much right if you look at ifyou're really in the thick of
your chronic illness journey andyou look at the stuff you've had
(36:58):
to go through and then I'm sorryyou look at someone in your
family that like I would saylike the boys in my family like
they could never okay none ofthem are probably gonna hear
this out like maybe maybe theywon't but I'm just like they
wouldn't they could never okaythey get a cold and they are
just down.
for the count.
And I am just like, my wholelife is like having the flu and
(37:21):
pneumonia and strep throat andlike whatever, like times a
thousand every single day.
And you get one little sniffleand you're like about to cry.
Are you kidding me?
So I'm just like, yeah.
So I feel like, yeah, we don't,oh my gosh.
Like figuring out how you'regoing to pay your rent and
figuring out how you're going todo all that stuff.
And You need to make sure thatyou understand your basic needs
(37:42):
like health insurance.
I have had to pay for my ownhealth insurance for a very long
time, and I was on a medicine.
I've been on a medicine for 20years.
That's 5, 000 a month withouthealth insurance, and I'm sure
I'm saying things that mostpeople who are listening can
relate to.
And so I knew that I had to payfor the more expensive health
(38:04):
insurance.
I couldn't just get like the runof the mill.
Oh, it doesn't matter healthinsurance.
And that's usually now it's likealmost 800 a month.
And that's not with rent, right?
That's just like 800 a month.
And And that doesn't cover likethe copays for all my doctors,
like the supplements, like the,it's just so many things.
(38:26):
And so, yeah, so I just kind ofknew from the moment I became an
entrepreneur, okay, you've gotto make sure you've got to
figure this part out.
So knowing those kinds of thingsis also how I think.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's, andthat's a skill too, right?
Knowing The health insurancepiece, a lot of, a lot of people
I talked to about this, that isone of the biggest things that
(38:49):
holds them back and starting abusiness is the insurance and
that's legit a real thing.
It is expensive.
Yeah.
And if you have the opportunityto be working full time or part
timer and has insurance, that's,I always, if that's an
opportunity for you to have andit doesn't like jack you up or
anything.
(39:09):
Like.
Go ahead.
Opt into that.
But also in the states here inthe United States, at least we
have some options.
Yeah.
800 a month is not cheap.
It's not.
But if you incorporate it intolike Your expenses of life.
This is no different than a nineto five.
We, we, we, we are still payingfor our insurance in our nine to
(39:31):
five.
I think it's a mindset shift.
A lot of us have to have, evenwith my husband, like we always
joke around when he, when he hassalary and I'm like, yeah, let's
just go ahead and take outwhatever the thought of what
that amount might be, because 25percent of that is going to
insurance, like literally 25percent of it's going to
insurance and you're like, oh,but that's.
(39:52):
We're not paying for that.
Yes, you are.
You just don't see it that waybecause it's coming through.
a job, but your business can dothe same thing.
And I think for those of usliving with chronic illness to
choosing to run a business,that's an aspect of things that
we kind of get stuck on.
We get stuck on these little,they're big, but they kind of
(40:13):
feel like so big.
They make it impossible for usto move forward.
How have you found movingforward?
Even being like, yeah, it sucks.
I have to pay 800 a month forthis.
And that's not even, that's justto have insurance.
It's not even.
Like you said, the other thingsthat happen with that, but it
doesn't mean like, how have youmade it not mean, well, I'm not
(40:35):
enough.
The fact that I have to pay thismuch, I'm not enough that I'm
charging this much.
There's a lot there.
What are your thoughts orfeelings about that?
Yeah, that's so interesting.
I think I understand why it'scomplicated.
I do.
I really do.
I think I have always felt likespecifically around the
(40:57):
insurance part.
I, I don't know.
I think I've always felt likeOh, it's so cool that I get to
do this.
I don't know.
I don't know.
That's kind of in my naturalfeeling around it because I
think there's just been so manyyears of my life where I never
thought I would be able to doany of this.
Yeah.
And I remember when I started myreal estate job, actually, my
(41:20):
boss was like during myinterview and he told me that I
had to.
Like rent, I did rentals and hetold me I had to rent 10, 000 a
month in rentals, which in NewYork is like three, one
bedrooms.
It's not like a lot.
It's like super cheap.
And I started crying.
I started crying because I waslike, I have literally never
even made a thousand dollarsbefore.
(41:41):
And I was like 27 years old, butI had just started walking like
without severe pain, like a fewmonths before, maybe a year
before at the most.
And so I don't know, I think Ihave that feeling about I get to
do this.
Like anytime I make money, Iactually don't feel.
Like negative about paying mybills, I try to figure out
(42:06):
creative ways that I can cutcosts and be smart about things
and all of that, but I don'tfeel negative about paying my
bills because I'm just likethere's Like, how fortunate am I
that I get to figure out how tocreate this life that is like
the exact life that I want tolive and all of that.
So I don't know.
That's, I don't know if that'shelpful.
I love that.
(42:26):
Yeah, it is.
And then it's a challenge, Ithink, for those of us, those of
us still in that healing spaceof getting to that.
Acceptance.
I truly believe that has a lotto do with acceptance around
your body around living withchronic illness.
If you're not, I did an episodeNitica on the phases of chronic
illness that I, I call it.
(42:47):
And I feel like if you're likein the newbie, you're just
discovering and you don't like,you're like, why the heck is
this happening to me?
This is horrible.
Like you're in that space.
You're getting gas lit.
You're getting all this advicein that season.
Yeah.
I was not in.
I get to go wherever I was like,I am so sick of this, but I
(43:09):
think once we get to that kindof like awareness and like
reality of this is where we are,this is where I am.
And so where do I get to live mylife?
Where do I get to make choicesthat make this life easier?
It's a whole different ballgame,right?
It's a whole different ballgame.
I mean, that is what Chroniconis for.
(43:32):
Because I was always like, okay,I want us to, to come together
because we have stuff and we'vegot, we've all got something.
Yeah.
And so great.
So we've all figured that out.
Nice.
That is liberating in and ofitself to just be able to say,
Hey, I got something.
You got something.
I got something cool.
Baseline.
We're in this together, right?
(43:53):
I have no desire for us to staythere.
I have zero desire for us tostay there and it is clear in
everything that we do in thecommunity.
I'm trying to figure out how tomake it clear in our marketing,
but that's a whole other thing.
I'm still working on that, butit is very clear.
We talk about boundaries.
We talk about relationships.
We talk about like owning yourdreams, following your dreams.
(44:15):
We talk about movement.
We talk about all these thingsthat actually have nothing to do
with our chronic illnesses.
And we are all aware that we arehaving we are coming from this
place of being in this communitytogether because we have these
things that are going on withour bodies, but it's not
actually about steeping yourselfin your illness all the time.
(44:35):
My illness.
Is making it very clear when itneeds my attention, I don't need
to give it extra attention when,when I, when I'm feeling okay,
I'm feeling okay.
And that's such a blessing.
So I just feel like that is,that is, I think the future of
this conversation and theseconversations that both of us
are having is okay, cool.
We came together because we knowwe both have these things and
(44:58):
we're, we're dealing with ourbodies in a pretty significant
way, but then, then what?
Are we just gonna just be in ourpain together?
Yeah, I can honor your pain andI can hold you in your pain when
you need that.
Absolutely.
You deserve that.
And we all do.
We all really do.
And I do too.
I don't want you to see me as mypain.
(45:21):
I don't want you to see me as mypain.
No, I am so much more than mypain.
Yeah.
And I think when you get achronic illness and you are in
that newbie phase, like yousaid, It's all you can see.
And then even your doctors, theydon't see you as a person.
They see you as your pain.
They see you as your disease.
Even your family members mightsee sometimes they don't see it
(45:43):
at all.
And that's also infuriating, butwe know what that's like.
We know what that's, but youknow, it's.
It's just, yeah, it's just sucha fine line.
And that's something that wereally work.
I know you work on this too, oflike, how do you honor this?
But then kind of go beyond itand not stay.
What I say is like not stay inthe disease paradigm because my
(46:06):
body, it's already told me thatit's got stuff going on.
I don't mean to like continue toremind myself of it.
So how has entrepreneurshiphelped you heal?
Oh, my gosh.
It's actually that's such abeautiful question.
It's really healed my heart in alot of ways, I think, because I
did not grow up.
(46:26):
Well, as I mentioned, I did nothave good self esteem at all
growing up.
And a lot of that was alsoconnected to my ability.
in school.
I was not good at school at all.
I do not learn in like a linearway at all.
I am a very experientiallearner.
I'm a very visual learner.
(46:48):
I also, I've sang my whole life.
And so I love to, I absorbeverything like with my full
body.
So reading a book, I was like,I'm sorry, what I have to learn
about.
Wars and dates and I have noidea what you're talking about.
I literally don't understandbecause I literally could not
understand, right?
(47:09):
And growing up, I just thoughtthat I was really dumb because
it's not talked about,especially in Indian culture.
It's most Indian kids that Igrew up around.
My brother included.
We're just you 7, 000 pages andthey just read 7, 000 pieces and
they write a book report.
It's not a thing for them.
And I was sitting there tryingto read three pages and I was
like, I don't understand.
(47:30):
And so I really thought that Iwas just not smart, honestly,
until like my mid thirties.
I was really just like convincedthat I was just not smart.
And entrepreneurship showed methat I'm actually very smart.
I'm actually really talented,but it's not the one way that I
was told I was allowed to besmart and talented my whole
(47:50):
life.
That healed my heart so much tobe able to see that and learn
that about myself.
It also helped me be more, ithelped me be a lot more
confident, but also to advocatefor myself in a different way.
Cause now I'm in a meeting andpeople are telling me things and
they're like, saying like allthese different words and I'm
(48:14):
just like, sometimes I'm like,so I'm a, I'm not a linear
learner.
I need you to tell me this in away where I can see it in a
photo or see it in a picture inmy head because I don't
understand what you're saying.
And that level of like selfawareness and confidence is
actually so healing andbeautiful, not just for me, but
for the other person too.
Cause a lot of times you'retalking to somebody who might be
(48:34):
neurodivergent or whatever thekids are calling it these days.
I don't know what it is, but youwho just think differently.
And they didn't even know thatthey had permission to do that
permission.
Yes, so much permission.
So that has that has been sohealing for me.
And I do think although I've gothrough lots of periods where I
feel lost and I'm like, okay,what am I doing?
(48:56):
I don't know what's going onbecause it's not linear.
I do think my confidence hasincreased a lot because I've
seen.
That following my heart hashelped other people and I'm just
like, wow, like what I literallythat is the greatest gift that
(49:17):
anyone could ever give me likethat.
I just created this thing anddecided I'm going to follow my
heart and I'm going to.
Put myself out there, and thenit ended up helping somebody,
especially somebody who's livingand feeling so lost with their
chronic illness, and they feellike at the bottom of the
barrel, and they feel like theydon't have any hope.
(49:38):
And then something from my ownheart helped them.
What is life?
I feel that I feel that, yeah,yeah, I'm sure you do.
You do that every day.
Just it's remarkable.
And I really feel that I feelthat every day.
Yeah.
(49:59):
So yeah, it's been very healing.
I love that.
I love that answer.
And I think that's such a goodspace for us to kind of like
close up with having a businessbeing an entrepreneur.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's got its.
Bumpies, like everything else.
Right.
Yeah.
But the things you learn aboutyourself, the permission, the
(50:21):
worth, the healing to me, I'vehealed the most, like with
myself, viewing myself, the wayI view myself with whatever
chronic illness, trauma,whatever things, right.
Has come from an understandingof doing that growth work that
(50:41):
you do when you have a business.
That's a little different thananything else.
I feel and it's beautiful thatthat's what you've found as
well.
It's beautiful.
Thank you.
Yeah, it, it, it requiressomething of you.
Yeah.
And it's, are you gonna show upfor that?
And sometimes it's not always anegative thing.
If you're like, no, I'm not, I'mnot ready to show up for that.
(51:03):
I'm not.
I don't feel capable.
I don't feel excited to show upfor that.
Whatever it is.
That's also okay.
I, I've had to honor that inmyself too.
Like sometimes people will giveme business advice.
They'll be like, Oh, you shouldjust do this thing.
Or what if you just did it thisway?
And everything in my body is I'mnot ready to do that.
It doesn't feel true for me.
(51:24):
And that's okay.
That's okay too.
But yes, it requires somethingof you that you have to be ready
to, to give over to it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.
So what are you excited aboutcoming up with you and your
business?
I am very excited that Chroniconis going on tour this fall.
I can't even believe it to behonest with you.
It's going to be really special.
(51:46):
It's going to be in October.
And right now we are looking togo to San Francisco and L.
A.
and then do a finale in New Yorkwith a lot more tour spots being
added for the spring and fall of2025.
I'm trying to, this is what Imean, I'm trying to pace myself.
When I first announced the tour,I was like, I'm going to go to
six cities.
(52:06):
It's going to be great.
We're going to have so much fun.
And then I started looking ateverything and I was like, Oh, I
will have like negative athousand spoons by the time I'm
done with this tour.
I was like, okay, girl, you cando three cities.
It'll still be great.
And then you can add more fornext year.
So I'm really, really excitedabout the tour.
I think it's going to be so funand I can't wait to meet people
and just give them hugs.
(52:26):
And it's going to be special.
I think.
Yeah, I was excited.
Is this going to be a littledip?
So this is different than thechronic on event we had last
year, which is crazy that thatwas last year.
It feels like it just happened.
But literally, technically, ithappened a year and a couple
months ago.
Yeah, it's been a minute.
I know it does not feel thatway.
(52:48):
But yes, it's going to bedifferent in the sense that
they're going to be moreintimate.
So instead of having hundreds ofpeople, we'll probably have 50
people and it'll be an eveningmost likely.
So maybe from six to nine orfive to eight or something like
that, almost like The vibe of anetworking event that you would
go to, but one where you loveeveryone and everyone is so
(53:09):
sweet and cool and open and allof that.
And then we'll most likely haveone panel and one keynote
interview per event.
So there will be someprogramming and content.
But the reason why I wanted todo it this way is because one of
the biggest things that peopletold me about the chronic on
last year was like, they reallyfelt like there were so many
amazing people in the audienceand they didn't get a chance to
(53:31):
connect to people as much.
And I think that's such a hugepart of what people want.
Like they want to be able totalk to you and say like, Oh my
God, what are you up to?
And what are you doing?
And how can we collaborate?
And so there's going to be a lotof that going on, which I'm
really excited about.
I think that's going to be soenriching for everyone.
Yeah.
Well, any event that Netika putson y'all is like amazing.
(53:52):
I cannot tell you, like, I stillthink about the Chronicom last
year, and I think I cry about itevery now and then.
I think I cried about it liketwo months ago because I got
the, like, memories on Instagramor something.
That's whatever.
And I was like, Oh my God, Imiss that.
That was so wonderful.
It was so beautiful.
But anyway, it was, it waswonderful.
So you guys all have everything,like how you can connect with
(54:15):
Netika in the show notes.
But thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks for having.
I appreciate you.
Always a pleasure.
That's a wrap for this episodeof Business with Chronic
Illness.
If you would like to start andgrow an online coaching business
with me, head to the show notesto click a link to book a sales
call, and learn how to makemoney with chronic illness.
(54:36):
You can also check out ourwebsite at ww dot crafted to
thrive.com for this episode.
Show notes and join our emaillist to.
Get exclusive content where Icoach you on how to chronically
grow a profitable business whileliving with chronic illness
until next time.
Remember, yes, you are craftedto thrive.
You know, I've been thinking alot about why.
(00:03):
I and those that I work withchoose the path of
entrepreneurship, buildingsomething from nothing or from
this place.
We just don't know how it's evengoing to become something,
especially when we're carryingso much.
Because for real, we are alreadycaring so much, right?
(00:26):
We are living with our chronicillnesses full time, and that's
a full time job.
And there's thisunpredictability, there's all of
these appointments, theexhaustion, the sneak ups of new
things that we need to handle.
And yet, here we are, Choosingto take on one more thing,
(00:49):
choosing to create, to build, tobelieve in something bigger or
more possible than how we'recurrently surviving.
And I've been asking myself,why?
Why do we choose this?
Why did I decide to run abusiness?
Something that demands so muchof me and is constantly on the
(01:11):
move.
Was it about the money?
No, obviously.
Was it about stability?
Not really, because we all knowentrepreneurship has its ebbs
and flows.
It's a rollercoaster sometimesof uncertainty.
I think it's just, Somethingdeeper, a feeling, a, a knowing,
(01:38):
a wanting of more flexibilityand freedom and creativity, a
feeling that even on our hardestdays, I wasn't just getting
through life.
I had something to help mecontinue living it.
Beyond my spiritual practice,what else, right?
(01:58):
Something more on my terms.
And I know I'm not alone in thisthought because of the wonderful
women that I serve and connectwith.
And I wanted to have thisconversation for, or with you.
If you've been thinking,especially in the state of the
world that we're living in todayAm I going to stay on this
(02:24):
journey?
What is part of this journeythat I'm being called or being
moved to do?
Right?
And I wanted to have thisconversation with a woman who
has lived such a beautiful, raw,powerful, impactful life as an
entrepreneur and so many otherTitles you could say about her
(02:47):
name.
She has built and rebuilt andshe has navigated visibility and
identity and worth in ways thatso many of us wrestle with and
through it all, she has foundways to create a business and a
life that honors both her driveto create impact.
and her own well being.
(03:07):
So I'm excited to have thisconversation again with a dear
guest that's been on the showbefore with Nitika Chopra.
We actually recorded this lastyear around this time.
So there's been some changesboth in our both of our lives
and both of our businesses.
But this conversation And I justfelt like needed to be shared
because of this very thought,you know, we are building a
(03:28):
business and sometimes we gettired and we wonder, should we
be giving up?
And if you're listening to this,it means that there There's
something probably still insideof you dreaming, still hoping,
still reaching for a version ofyour life that feels good or
version of your business thatfeels more aligned and that
(03:50):
matters and it matters so much.
So I wanted to unpack the fears,the hesitation, the big what ifs
that remind ourselves that evenin the mess, There's so much
possibility.
So I'm excited to invite youinto this conversation.
(04:12):
Welcome to Business with ChronicIllness, the globally ranked
podcast for women living withchronic illness who want to
start and grow a businessonline.
I'm your host Nikita Williams,and I went from living a normal
life to all of a sudden being inconstant pain with no answers to
being diagnosed with multiplechronic illnesses and trying to
make a livable income.
I faced the challenge ofadapting traditional business
(04:35):
advice to fit my uniquecircumstances with chronic
illness, feeling frustrated andmore burnt out than I already
was while managing my chronicillness to becoming an award
winning coach with a flexible,sustainable online coaching
business.
I found the surprisingly simplesteps to starting and growing a
profitable business withoutcompromising my health or my
(04:56):
peace.
Since then, I've helped dozensof women just like you learn how
to do the same.
If you're ready to create athriving business that aligns
with your lifestyle and wellbeing, you're in the right
place.
Together, we're shifting thenarrative of what's possible.
for women with chronic illnessand how we make a living.
This is Business with ChronicIllness.
(05:23):
I am excited again to have theNitika.
The Nitika.
That's literally what I callyou.
The Nitika in my life.
It's so funny.
On the show again.
I'll, I'll share someintroductions and everything a
little bit later, but welcomeNitika.
It's the show again, beingNikita.
(05:44):
Thank you.
I'm so happy to be here.
I feel like this doesn't feellike work because I get to just
hang out with you, which we bothneed right now.
So we were talking about that.
Yes.
I'm really happy to be here withyou.
I am happy you are here.
So before we hopped on torecording, we were talking
about.
(06:04):
the name change of the podcastand you were on the show back
when it was called Crafted toThrive.
I think our episode was aboutlike building community and how
you've been doing that.
And now I want to really diveinto, you have run so many
different types of businesses.
You've, you've done differentthings in your career as a human
(06:26):
being.
living with different variationsof your chronic illness, like in
flares, not in flares, beingvery visible, not being visible.
And that's what this show isreally.
like leaning into is kind ofgiving people permission to see
how they can run businessdifferently living with chronic
(06:48):
illness and give themselves thepermissions to do things
different because other peopleare doing it.
We just don't hear about it.
We just don't hear about it.
Right.
And so I think the firstquestion I want us to lean into
is why a business, like whybusinesses, like why this lane
for your life?
(07:11):
Like, why did I become anentrepreneur, basically?
Yeah.
Yeah, I remember the time in mylife when I became an
entrepreneur.
I was like in my late twentiesand I had been working in real
estate.
I was a real estate agent.
Yeah.
And I actually.
(07:31):
Yeah, I was.
And I really loved it.
There were parts that I didn'tlove, but I mostly, like, really
loved it because I, I learnedduring that time in my life how
to, I guess you could say, like,really embrace the thing that
makes me me.
So I was in an office with allthese other real estate agents
(07:52):
and they're all just like doingtheir thing and like pounding
the pavement and going at it andit's New York City and it's okay
everyone calm down.
Um, you know, and then there wasme and I was actually like so
different than a lot of the realestate agents.
that were in my office or justout there in general because I
would come in with this likevery caring approach to all of
(08:12):
my clients and I would alwaysconnect to them from like a
heart centered place.
If someone just got a divorce,they'd be like, Oh, I've also
been through a divorce.
Here's what I went through.
Or like somebody who's coming toNew York for the first time
would be like, Oh my God, when Ifirst moved to New York, it was
like very emotional, bigsurprise.
But it was actually like a veryimportant time for me to learn
(08:34):
about my skills and also salesand things like that.
But I, I decided to become anentrepreneur because I guess it
kind of like happened.
I don't know that I was like,okay, now I'm going to be an
entrepreneur.
But it was this feeling of, Ijust felt like I couldn't be on
anyone else's timeline.
(08:56):
I know.
It's like the biggest thing.
I just felt like I couldn't beon anyone else's timeline.
And even one step deeper thanthat, I really felt like I
really wanted to like.
Embrace believing in myself,like there was this like deep
thing I had had such I had hadsuch low self esteem growing up
and even like halfway through mytwenties, I was very sick.
(09:19):
I couldn't walk without severepain.
I was completely covered fromhead to toe with psoriasis,
which was very debilitating justfrom the skin level.
But then it also just lookedterrible.
I it was horrible.
So like my self esteem was like.
Negative.
It was not even like a zero.
It was like, well past zero.
And I think I just the thingthat always got me through that
(09:41):
was like, I just believe I'mhere for something greater than
my suffering.
I was like, this just can't beit.
I've always been a veryspiritual person and It's gotten
me through every hard thing inmy life.
And yeah, I just felt like Ihave to believe that God didn't
just say, okay, you suck.
So you have to like sit in thispain.
(10:03):
Well, whatever.
I was young.
So that's, that's what I said tomyself.
Those are like the real types ofthings that you think and that
you say when you're like byyourself and nobody can hear
you.
Yeah.
And I was just like, no, Icannot believe this about
myself.
And so that honestly, Is so muchof why I decided to become an
entrepreneur.
I felt like I had this story toshare.
(10:25):
I didn't have any idea how I wasgoing to share it.
I had no skills when it came toany of this stuff.
My first company, Bella Life, Ihad never done anything like
that before.
But yeah, I just really feltlike I have to believe that
there's something greater.
And then from a practical place,I was like, I don't think I can
be on someone's timeline.
Yeah.
Yeah.
(10:46):
So interesting.
I love, I'm just gonna say, Ilove when we have talked often
enough that I feel like we, I'mlike, Oh, that is so
interesting.
I did not know that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I, I feel that on such a deep.
Level of where you're comingfrom, like being an
(11:07):
entrepreneur.
I had the similar experience oftrying different things.
Real estate was one of mythings.
Like I love real estate agent.
I was a real estate agent too.
This is what I'm like.
I was like, Oh my gosh, andNikita meet again without
realizing it.
Yeah, I really enjoyed it aswell.
(11:27):
It was like, it's a peoplebusiness and I approach it very
similar to you.
It's just to your point of, I, Ifor, I did not grow up with
chronic illness, so for me, ithappened in my adult life, so I
didn't really understand, like,time, freedom and flexibility
(11:50):
and whatever it really stayed tome, felt that way, felt very
flexible until it wasn't.
Yeah.
And so you have to be on, on acall and away, contract, like
all this stuff that was reallydependent on a lot of everybody
else's schedule except your own.
And that became so stressful forme, even though I felt like I
(12:10):
was an entrepreneur, but itwasn't truly entrepreneurship to
me.
It's like the gateway drugbecause I agree it was, it was
like I could have days where Iwas like, Oh, I don't have any
listings or showings today.
Like I'm just going to chilltoday or like kind of have my
own schedule somewhat, but Iremember being so panicked every
time I was waiting for a deal togo through.
(12:30):
And I feel like that to me washonestly a huge part of it too.
I just felt like the level ofstress.
that you are like almostexpected to have, which I think
certain industries are likethat.
I was like, Oh no, no, no, no,we are not going to make it.
I have to be this stressed outin order to make a dollar.
No, this is not, this is not howI want to live.
(12:53):
And sometimes I think even justfrom entrepreneurship, like be
the ups and downs of it.
Sometimes my mom is alwaysreminding me I should have kept
my real estate license, like agood Indian parent, just
reminding you of your backupplan.
14 years into my career, she'sstill reminding me of that.
But I do sometimes think, oh,maybe it would have been nice to
(13:14):
like, have that just to not haveeverything be like the pressure
on my dreams and have it be likespread out a little bit.
But I also know I'm.
I'm very dedicated when I dothings.
And so I just don't think Icould do it like just kind of a
little bit.
So I totally feel that.
Yeah.
So interesting.
So tell us what led to Bellalife because Bella life was a
(13:37):
mate.
Like when I learned about you,it was kind of when Chronicon
was kind of.
It was almost like a new babyout of Bella Life, it felt like
from when I met you initially.
And then I was like, but whatabout, I didn't get to know
Bella Life.
I didn't get to know thatbusiness, but I knew it was
amazing.
And then when I got to know youmore and you were sharing like
(13:58):
how you grew that business, Iwas just like, this chick is
awesome.
I'm like, how does she do thisgoing through?
All of the chronic stuff, youhave personal stuff going on at
that time too.
So, and it was a very visiblebusiness.
And I think for those of usliving with chronic illness,
that's a fear that many of ushave going into being in any
(14:18):
kind of business.
I literally just had a salescall and the person was like,
but how do I do this withoutanybody seeing me?
And I was like, we have tofigure, let's talk about this
more, but.
That's a real fear.
Yeah, it is.
I was afraid, Nikita.
I was afraid.
I was afraid.
Let's just, yeah, let's just bereal.
I was so afraid, but you know,my faith has always been bigger
(14:42):
than my fear.
Sometimes by just the tiniesthair, the tiniest bit, right.
But my faith has always beenbigger than my fear.
And I remember when I.
Was in this real estate worldand I was kind of doing that and
I felt like there was somethingmore.
I'm a very Like also very likesensorial person.
(15:02):
I get messages through my bodyand I just, there was something
in my heart.
I kept saying, I feel likesomething is knocking on my
heart.
It literally felt like somethingwas knocking on my heart and I
would wake up in the middle ofthe night and I felt like
something was knocking on myheart and I would get up in the
morning and felt like somethingwas knocking on my heart and I
was just like, what is it?
What, who are you?
(15:22):
What is taking over my body?
It felt so.
strong and so clear, but Ididn't know what it was and I
would sit and I would pray and Iwould cry and I felt so lost
truly because I had never doneanything like that.
I had just my real estate jobwas my second, maybe my third
(15:44):
job.
My first job was a retail job,which I was terrible at.
And then I was a waitress, whichI was also terrible at.
And then I became a real estateagent.
Okay.
Because I was so sick, Icouldn't work for so many years.
So I had never done anythingeven remotely close to anything
like this.
There was, and I had no likeexperience to say, Oh, I've
(16:07):
built all these things.
And so I'm going to be able todo this.
Absolutely not.
But I just had this really,really strong calling.
And I heard a message from Godthat said, like, you're supposed
to have a talk show.
That was, it was very, veryclear when he's clear, he's real
clear, but you know, most of thetime I'm digging around for
messages, but that was one ofthe clearest messages I ever got
(16:29):
and it guided me and it alsofrustrated me because I was
like, I'm sorry, Oprah and Ellenhave talked to what do you, I
literally, I don't, what do you,what are you saying?
Like, how can this be themessage that you're giving me?
And so when I really knew thatit was the true message and I
was like, okay, I guess I'llfigure out how I'm supposed to
make this happen.
(16:50):
And so I sort of workedbackwards and thought, okay,
well, how can someone with noprior experience, no, no
connections, no people see menow and they're like, Oh,
everybody, or you're out andabout.
And I'm like, okay, but that's14 years in when I didn't know
anyone.
So I decided to build Bella lifebecause I thought Oh, this could
(17:13):
be my talk show in a website.
It's like the content is thestuff we would talk about in
segments.
The, I ended up having over ahundred contributors writing for
me by the end before I closedit.
And I was like, Oh, thecontributors are like the guests
I would have on my show.
And then I'll put myself onYouTube and show people what I
look like on camera so that theycan see it.
(17:35):
And three years into that.
I ended up getting an email fromthe vice president of Asia TV,
which was, it's just South, hugeSouth Asian television network.
And they basically were castingfor a show called Naturally
Beautiful.
And they were like, we feel likeyour website is like the exact
thing that we're casting theshow for.
It's like funny.
You should mention that becausethat was my master plan that I
(17:59):
had no idea if anyone was evergoing to get or ever going to
see.
And then I got my show.
Yeah.
And that was why I started it.
And.
Ending it and everything wasreally because I, I've also gone
through a lot of transitions.
Like I don't, I don't alwaysown, like you were saying that
client or that sales call, theywere saying they don't want to
be seen.
(18:19):
I love being on camera because Iknow it's a skill that I have
and it actually helps me.
connect my heart to more people.
And so I really appreciate andenjoy that.
But it's not because like, Iwant Nitica to be seen, right?
What I mean, it's like a veryfine line.
(18:41):
And so it's been a journey forme to even with building chronic
on, I've been like, Oh, am Isupposed to be at the front?
Like, I don't really want to bein the front, but then when I'm
not in the front, People will belike, Oh, we just want to talk
to you.
I don't know.
You know what I'm saying?
Like, I'm sure you know what I'msaying.
So, yeah.
So I don't know if that answersyour question exactly, but
(19:01):
that's sort of like thebeginning of that journey.
So when, when that I love, Iwant to kind of distill a little
bit for anyone listening, like alot of people that I talk to,
especially with chronic illness,they have, they have something
like they normally have this, Iwant to do this, I have this
vision, I have this like ideaand they're like, I've never
(19:22):
done this before and I'm afraidand I have no idea how to do it
and to your point, it's always,okay, let's start here.
From the, from what you visionand work backwards, let's work.
How do we create those layers?
And I think that's the piecethat scares people the most
because they've never done it.
They've, they've seen it.
(19:43):
They believe it to some degree.
It's really deep in the heart,but the ability to actually do
it is one.
Am I well enough to do this?
physically, mentally,energetically.
Am I well enough?
Secondly, who is going to be onthis train with me?
Cause there's no way I can do itby myself.
(20:04):
That's how I felt when I startedmy business.
There's no way I could run abusiness by myself, even though
that's like the general.
Advice when it comes to runninga business is kind of like, Hey,
figure all this stuff out beforeyou hire this or get that or
have that support.
And I was just like, I need asafety net for me.
So how did that look like foryou going into the Bella life
(20:27):
and working it backwards?
What were some of the things youlearned along the way that was a
little bit different frommainstream advice on growing a
business like that?
Yeah.
I think the biggest thing, wellone of the things that you also
said and, and what you justshared was like, how am I gonna
do it when I'm not feeling well?
(20:49):
Right.
And the thing that comes up forme is your body is your greatest
teacher.
Mm.
So much.
Right?
So why would it be any differentin your work life?
So even for me now, I wentthrough a really scary time two
years ago with my health and itchanged everything for me when
(21:11):
it comes to chronic on.
It changed everything on thesurface.
People might not know that mycommunity members all now, but
it changed everything.
It internally rewired how Itreat myself, how I prioritize
my own happiness, how I managegiving cause I'm, I'm a giver.
(21:31):
I love to love.
That is like literally why I'vebeen put on this planet is to
love people.
And I'm very clear about that.
But.
I can't do it at the expense ofmyself, and I've done that a lot
in my life.
And I actually think a lot ofpeople with chronic illness do
that.
I think there's so many reasonswhy, why I believe that.
But so I had to, I had to changeeverything.
(21:53):
Yeah.
But that's such a gift.
Right.
It wasn't like, I mean, at thetime that it was happening, I
did not know how it was going toturn out.
I did not know how changingthings was going to feel and,
and all of that, but it's, it'sthere because I was meant to
change things.
I wasn't meant to keep givingfrom a place like where I was
empty, you know what I mean?
So when I was doing Bella life,I would say, I didn't know this
(22:17):
then, like at the time.
It felt a lot more.
I was just in it.
It's like the naivete ofstarting something new doing
something for the first time.
That's such a precious thingthat I will never get back.
I feel like I do.
I do reminisce about that time,but I've always been somebody
(22:37):
who follows my heart and myintuition.
And it's a very differentbusiness model than the way I
feel like I'm just now learningabout the quote unquote, like
real business way of doingthings.
Because I'm like, I have astartup and I'm like, Oh, okay.
There's like people out therethat like raise money to do
these kinds of things.
Or they like do all this stuffthat I just didn't know anything
(22:59):
about.
Right.
But when I started, I was just,I was just following my heart.
And I also, one of the thingsthat I did, which might be
helpful is.
I, up until this point ofstarting Bella Life, I had had a
lot of ideas, but I hadn't, uh,executed on any of them.
So like I would call my parents,my parents were living in Hong
(23:19):
Kong at the time, and I wouldcall my mom like every week and
be like, Mom, I have this idea.
I, I remember one time I waslike, I'm going to start a
center for people living withpsoriasis and I'm going to make
it like this, like beautifulhaven and like this nurturing
place.
And And I was like, that's aterrible idea.
I don't want to do any manuallabor.
This is like a week later, butlike I was trying so hard to
(23:43):
find the thing.
Right.
And so when I found, when Ithought of the talk show idea
and then I found the idea forBella life in my heart and I was
like, okay, this is it.
I told myself that I was notallowed to be the girl who cried
entrepreneur.
Excuse me, the girl who criedentrepreneur and tell everybody
that I was doing this thing andthen spend money on like
(24:04):
business cards or a web websitedomain or whatever and not
actually do anything.
And I put myself on a plan thatI wasn't allowed to spend a
single cent for an entire yearwhile I was building Bella Life.
This is what I had to do formyself.
Nobody told me I had to do this,but I wanted to prove to myself
(24:24):
that this was real.
And nobody, I don't have to paya dollar to write an article.
I don't have to pay a dollar togo around and get inspiration.
I would go window shopping and Iwould think of ideas.
I would think of colors I wantedto use on my website.
I would think of what are thebrands that I want to be a part,
be connected to.
I wrote so many blogs for BellaLife before it ever existed
(24:47):
because I just loved writing.
And I was like, I just want topractice this and try it and see
what is here.
And then finally, after a year,I Put down a deposit for 1, 500
to build my website.
And I was like, okay, I'm doingit.
And then I published my articlesand went from there.
But it was, it was, it's alwaysbeen a spiritual practice for
(25:11):
me.
It really is.
And I think, I know noteverybody's spiritual,
religious, whatever it might be,but I do believe that everybody
has, whether it's nature or.
It's like your love of cookingand like the meditation that
comes from that or it'sMeditation in general maybe is
your thing or yoga, whatever itmight be There's that place
(25:31):
within you that is so likeprivate and intimate that only
you Really know you and thatother like higher power or that
energy or that loving forcewithin you And I feel like being
in relationship with that whileyou're in relationship with your
business is such A blessed,like, beautiful thing.
What is the point of doing thisif we're not gonna connect to
(25:55):
something greater thanourselves, right?
Yeah.
So that was sort of my, part ofmy journey.
I mean, I love that becausepractice, that weird saying,
practice makes perfect.
I think practice makes lifework, like before it's working,
right?
(26:15):
And people ask me this about thepodcast all the time.
Like, how did you start apodcast?
How did you know?
I was like, dude, for six monthsI was on my phone, like
recording stuff and just talkinglike I did not like nobody
nobody has ever heard those.
But that's how I started, right?
Like that was part of the spaceof giving me like, Oh, can I do
(26:39):
this?
And I think a lot of us are justtrying to like bring into
fruition something like we see.
On social media or like we seein the world, like it's just
all, Oh, you decided and here itis.
And it's literally doesn't worklike that.
And it's actually really goodwhen it doesn't work like that.
(27:00):
I think it gives you the runway.
It gives you the space todiscover.
Are you all in right now?
Not, you don't be for, itdoesn't have to be forever.
Like I love how you're like,yeah, I'm all in now.
It can change.
And I think that's a beautifulthing of you sharing that.
And I do think doing it withpurpose and having a mission
(27:23):
behind why you're doing that andit not being for you.
It just makes it a lot easierwhen you don't want to do it.
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
I mean, I know in sitting downin this conversation with you,
I'm like, even if I was tired orI was feeling like out of it
today, always feel better afterI have these conversations, I'm
(27:46):
always reminded.
Like, oh, this is so much biggerthan my, like, PMS, whatever it
might be, you know what I mean?
Right.
And it's such a gift, and I feelthat way in the community all
the time as well, like everytime, that year where I was
really, really sick and I justkept showing up.
There were some weeks where Iliterally did not, I was not
(28:08):
able to show up for a singlething.
And the only thing I showed upfor it was that one hour on zoom
in the Chronicom community.
And yeah, it, it, it matters.
And what you were saying aboutpractice, actually, it made me
think about when I decided thatI wanted to have a talk show, I
used to look at tapes or likerecordings of Ellen and Oprah
(28:31):
all day.
That's literally all I would do.
It was like my cardio.
I was just looking at them andwatching and I learned so much
and I loved it.
Even to this day, I lovewatching talk shows because I'm
like, Oh, that's so interesting.
Like she took a pause there orshe like kind of brushed the
hand of her guests and like, howdo they actually be themselves
(28:51):
on air?
That is such a.
skill.
And when I first, when I firststarted my talk show or first
started my, my website, I shouldsay before I got my talk show, I
was very much like on, I wasvery much like hosty.
And I remember my therapistactually, who like loves me.
And I know she like thinks theworld of me.
She was like, That's not theNitica that I know.
(29:13):
Oh.
She was like, I know a differentNitica.
Now I'm like, I mean, I can'thold back.
I'm just like so transparent.
Yeah, it's just what it is.
Whatever.
It's just what it is.
It's totally just like fully me.
But, oh my gosh.
It took a lot of work to get toa place of not trying to perform
and actually being able to justbe myself in front of other
people.
(29:34):
Yeah.
So for a second, I want to kindof shift gears for a second to
talk a little bit more about thetangible aspects of business in
general for you.
There's obviously investment,there's obviously expenses,
there's obviously Life withchronic illness, like living
(29:54):
your life when you don't, I getthis a lot to a lot of people
like, well, you have, they tellthis to me like, well, you have
a partner, so it's not likethat.
That's a privilege you have.
You share your expenses.
You don't have to deal with allthat.
And that is 100.
I do not discount that at all,because it's very true.
And I do know it looks verydifferent when you're doing
this.
(30:15):
As a single person, how has themechanics of the finances and
all those things, worked for youor how have you just become at
peace at not of the idea of nothaving like consistent months,
consistent weeks, money comingin exactly the same way as if
(30:36):
you were working a nine to five,like how has that worked for you
and your nervous system?
Cause that's a thing.
That is a thing.
That is really a thing.
I mean, where, where I go first,I mean, I always go to the
spiritual in the heart, so I'mgonna try to bring it back down
to Earth for a second, butbefore I bring it back down to
earth, I will say that it, it's,it's actually been a huge
(30:59):
conversation for me, like themoney conversation, and I think
that it comes back to worth onsuch a deep level.
Partly because of my health, butalso growing up as a South Asian
woman.
And there's a lot of culturalthings of the daughter or the
youngest.
And then I got sick when I was10.
(31:20):
And so, and then I got divorcedwhen I was 24.
And so I sort of from culturalplace, we say, left your parents
home and went to your husband'shome.
And then, and then, but then Iwas back at my parents home
energetically, at least at theage of 24, and I was not walking
and I wasn't really able to takecare of myself.
So it's been this thingactually, even just this year
(31:42):
that I have really been likedoubling down on of like the
psychology behind my ability tolike take care of myself on this
like greater level.
I take amazing care of myselfevery moment of every day for
the most part.
(32:03):
But then there's this financialpiece of do I really believe
that I am.
worth and worthy of someonewho's been as sick as I have,
somebody who has been as lost asI have, somebody, all these
things that like deep down in mysubconscious, I've sort of
programmed, right?
I've had to really work on thatand I'm still working on that.
(32:24):
And one of the ways that thatcomes up for me sometimes is I
have a hard time.
Charging individuals.
This is like something I'mreally working on.
I charge brands, like, all themoney.
I do not care.
And she does it so well, y'all.
She does it so well.
I'm just saying.
She has taught us so many thingsabout that.
So if you want to join ChronicOn Community just for learning
(32:45):
that, you should.
But anyway, go on.
I'm sorry.
No, don't be sorry.
That's very sweet.
But yeah, I've always kind ofbeen like, okay, I know you have
all the money.
Give it to me.
I have no, I have no cause Iknow I'm going to do a great
job.
I know I'm going to work reallyhard.
Like I'm not, I'm not insecureabout that at all.
But when I see somebodyPotentially, he was chronically
(33:06):
ill or going through somethingand they, I actually project
onto them, which is what I'mlearning that they can't, that
they're small and they can'tafford it because it's like what
I probably inherently feel aboutmyself.
And I had no idea that I wasdoing that until literally this
year.
(33:26):
I had no idea.
So it's something I'm really,really working through.
And I think that it's such adisservice to other people that
I do that.
And it's not actually even truea lot of the time.
And of course, like there's alot of just like ridiculous
disparity in this country,especially and people being on
disability and like all of thatis very real.
(33:47):
And so.
It's just this fine line oftrying to figure out what do I,
what am I focusing on here?
What, what's actually going toserve people and myself.
So that's a piece of it.
I will say, I, I think theinconsistent money thing.
Has been really real.
I think it's, it's been, it'sbeen a great teacher too,
(34:08):
though, because I've had toreally see, okay, what do I, how
am I going to take care ofmyself in those slower months?
I've also had to be incrediblyinnovative.
And what I mean by that is Iremember the first time I was in
my entrepreneurial journey and Iwas like at the bottom of the
bank account and I was justlike, oh my God, this is bad.
This is not looking good.
Okay.
I was in my twenties.
I I just started Bella life likenot too long before.
(34:32):
And I decided I needed to makemoney.
And so I was like, okay, I'mgoing to invent this thing,
which is, this was like 14,maybe 12 years ago at the, at
the least, and no one was reallydoing this at the time.
And I decided I was going to doevents and charge brands to be a
part of my event.
And nobody was doing that.
Okay, not here in New York City.
(34:53):
I didn't know anyone who's doingthat.
I was just like, I'm just gonnamake this up.
What assets do I have?
That's basically the skill thatI always try to go back to.
What assets do I have?
Okay, I can throw a killer eventand I can fill the room.
So that is the one thing I knowI can do.
Okay, how am I going to chargefor that?
Didn't really want to charge theparticipants a ton, right?
So I charged them, but not thatmuch.
(35:14):
But I charged all these brandsand I made 8, 000 in 24 hours or
something like that.
And I was just like, okay, okay,this is great.
And I had never done anythinglike that before.
So I say all that to say that,like, it pushes you right.
And it pushed me to be veryinnovative.
I've had to.
Come up with programs.
I'm sure you get it too.
It's like, you got to do adifferent sales call.
(35:36):
Okay.
Maybe I got to put out a podcastepisode about this because I
didn't realize it's getting alittle slow, but that's not a
bad thing.
So, yeah.
So that's kind of a little bitabout how I've navigated it up
until this point.
I love that you said that too,because innovation is huge.
And I think that the skill iscreate us chronic illness,
warriors that we've had to havein general.
(35:56):
Right.
And that's a huge foundationthat I feel why most.
Crankiness warriors need to givethemselves more credit, give
themselves more, see their worthin that.
Yes.
Our pain and challenges and allof that is a real thing, but
we've literally had to figureout some really interesting
(36:17):
things just for living everyday.
And as difficult as business is,it has its thing.
I'm like, it's not as hard astrying to survive.
In a world that's not intendedfor this life, right?
You know what I'm saying?
Like, so I love that you share,like, just being open to being
like doing it differently,seeing it differently, using
(36:38):
skills that you just don'tdiscount anything.
Yeah, I, I totally agree withthat.
And I agree that, like, I thinkit comes back to the worth and
the confidence.
So much right if you look at ifyou're really in the thick of
your chronic illness journey andyou look at the stuff you've had
(36:58):
to go through and then I'm sorryyou look at someone in your
family that like I would saylike the boys in my family like
they could never okay none ofthem are probably gonna hear
this out like maybe maybe theywon't but I'm just like they
wouldn't they could never okaythey get a cold and they are
just down.
for the count.
And I am just like, my wholelife is like having the flu and
(37:21):
pneumonia and strep throat andlike whatever, like times a
thousand every single day.
And you get one little sniffleand you're like about to cry.
Are you kidding me?
So I'm just like, yeah.
So I feel like, yeah, we don't,oh my gosh.
Like figuring out how you'regoing to pay your rent and
figuring out how you're going todo all that stuff.
And You need to make sure thatyou understand your basic needs
(37:42):
like health insurance.
I have had to pay for my ownhealth insurance for a very long
time, and I was on a medicine.
I've been on a medicine for 20years.
That's 5, 000 a month withouthealth insurance, and I'm sure
I'm saying things that mostpeople who are listening can
relate to.
And so I knew that I had to payfor the more expensive health
(38:04):
insurance.
I couldn't just get like the runof the mill.
Oh, it doesn't matter healthinsurance.
And that's usually now it's likealmost 800 a month.
And that's not with rent, right?
That's just like 800 a month.
And And that doesn't cover likethe copays for all my doctors,
like the supplements, like the,it's just so many things.
(38:26):
And so, yeah, so I just kind ofknew from the moment I became an
entrepreneur, okay, you've gotto make sure you've got to
figure this part out.
So knowing those kinds of thingsis also how I think.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's, andthat's a skill too, right?
Knowing The health insurancepiece, a lot of, a lot of people
I talked to about this, that isone of the biggest things that
(38:49):
holds them back and starting abusiness is the insurance and
that's legit a real thing.
It is expensive.
Yeah.
And if you have the opportunityto be working full time or part
timer and has insurance, that's,I always, if that's an
opportunity for you to have andit doesn't like jack you up or
anything.
(39:09):
Like.
Go ahead.
Opt into that.
But also in the states here inthe United States, at least we
have some options.
Yeah.
800 a month is not cheap.
It's not.
But if you incorporate it intolike Your expenses of life.
This is no different than a nineto five.
We, we, we, we are still payingfor our insurance in our nine to
(39:31):
five.
I think it's a mindset shift.
A lot of us have to have, evenwith my husband, like we always
joke around when he, when he hassalary and I'm like, yeah, let's
just go ahead and take outwhatever the thought of what
that amount might be, because 25percent of that is going to
insurance, like literally 25percent of it's going to
insurance and you're like, oh,but that's.
(39:52):
We're not paying for that.
Yes, you are.
You just don't see it that waybecause it's coming through.
a job, but your business can dothe same thing.
And I think for those of usliving with chronic illness to
choosing to run a business,that's an aspect of things that
we kind of get stuck on.
We get stuck on these little,they're big, but they kind of
(40:13):
feel like so big.
They make it impossible for usto move forward.
How have you found movingforward?
Even being like, yeah, it sucks.
I have to pay 800 a month forthis.
And that's not even, that's justto have insurance.
It's not even.
Like you said, the other thingsthat happen with that, but it
doesn't mean like, how have youmade it not mean, well, I'm not
(40:35):
enough.
The fact that I have to pay thismuch, I'm not enough that I'm
charging this much.
There's a lot there.
What are your thoughts orfeelings about that?
Yeah, that's so interesting.
I think I understand why it'scomplicated.
I do.
I really do.
I think I have always felt likespecifically around the
(40:57):
insurance part.
I, I don't know.
I think I've always felt likeOh, it's so cool that I get to
do this.
I don't know.
I don't know.
That's kind of in my naturalfeeling around it because I
think there's just been so manyyears of my life where I never
thought I would be able to doany of this.
Yeah.
And I remember when I started myreal estate job, actually, my
(41:20):
boss was like during myinterview and he told me that I
had to.
Like rent, I did rentals and hetold me I had to rent 10, 000 a
month in rentals, which in NewYork is like three, one
bedrooms.
It's not like a lot.
It's like super cheap.
And I started crying.
I started crying because I waslike, I have literally never
even made a thousand dollarsbefore.
(41:41):
And I was like 27 years old, butI had just started walking like
without severe pain, like a fewmonths before, maybe a year
before at the most.
And so I don't know, I think Ihave that feeling about I get to
do this.
Like anytime I make money, Iactually don't feel.
Like negative about paying mybills, I try to figure out
(42:06):
creative ways that I can cutcosts and be smart about things
and all of that, but I don'tfeel negative about paying my
bills because I'm just likethere's Like, how fortunate am I
that I get to figure out how tocreate this life that is like
the exact life that I want tolive and all of that.
So I don't know.
That's, I don't know if that'shelpful.
I love that.
(42:26):
Yeah, it is.
And then it's a challenge, Ithink, for those of us, those of
us still in that healing spaceof getting to that.
Acceptance.
I truly believe that has a lotto do with acceptance around
your body around living withchronic illness.
If you're not, I did an episodeNitica on the phases of chronic
illness that I, I call it.
(42:47):
And I feel like if you're likein the newbie, you're just
discovering and you don't like,you're like, why the heck is
this happening to me?
This is horrible.
Like you're in that space.
You're getting gas lit.
You're getting all this advicein that season.
Yeah.
I was not in.
I get to go wherever I was like,I am so sick of this, but I
(43:09):
think once we get to that kindof like awareness and like
reality of this is where we are,this is where I am.
And so where do I get to live mylife?
Where do I get to make choicesthat make this life easier?
It's a whole different ballgame,right?
It's a whole different ballgame.
I mean, that is what Chroniconis for.
(43:32):
Because I was always like, okay,I want us to, to come together
because we have stuff and we'vegot, we've all got something.
Yeah.
And so great.
So we've all figured that out.
Nice.
That is liberating in and ofitself to just be able to say,
Hey, I got something.
You got something.
I got something cool.
Baseline.
We're in this together, right?
(43:53):
I have no desire for us to staythere.
I have zero desire for us tostay there and it is clear in
everything that we do in thecommunity.
I'm trying to figure out how tomake it clear in our marketing,
but that's a whole other thing.
I'm still working on that, butit is very clear.
We talk about boundaries.
We talk about relationships.
We talk about like owning yourdreams, following your dreams.
(44:15):
We talk about movement.
We talk about all these thingsthat actually have nothing to do
with our chronic illnesses.
And we are all aware that we arehaving we are coming from this
place of being in this communitytogether because we have these
things that are going on withour bodies, but it's not
actually about steeping yourselfin your illness all the time.
(44:35):
My illness.
Is making it very clear when itneeds my attention, I don't need
to give it extra attention when,when I, when I'm feeling okay,
I'm feeling okay.
And that's such a blessing.
So I just feel like that is,that is, I think the future of
this conversation and theseconversations that both of us
are having is okay, cool.
We came together because we knowwe both have these things and
(44:58):
we're, we're dealing with ourbodies in a pretty significant
way, but then, then what?
Are we just gonna just be in ourpain together?
Yeah, I can honor your pain andI can hold you in your pain when
you need that.
Absolutely.
You deserve that.
And we all do.
We all really do.
And I do too.
I don't want you to see me as mypain.
(45:21):
I don't want you to see me as mypain.
No, I am so much more than mypain.
Yeah.
And I think when you get achronic illness and you are in
that newbie phase, like yousaid, It's all you can see.
And then even your doctors, theydon't see you as a person.
They see you as your pain.
They see you as your disease.
Even your family members mightsee sometimes they don't see it
(45:43):
at all.
And that's also infuriating, butwe know what that's like.
We know what that's, but youknow, it's.
It's just, yeah, it's just sucha fine line.
And that's something that wereally work.
I know you work on this too, oflike, how do you honor this?
But then kind of go beyond itand not stay.
What I say is like not stay inthe disease paradigm because my
(46:06):
body, it's already told me thatit's got stuff going on.
I don't mean to like continue toremind myself of it.
So how has entrepreneurshiphelped you heal?
Oh, my gosh.
It's actually that's such abeautiful question.
It's really healed my heart in alot of ways, I think, because I
did not grow up.
(46:26):
Well, as I mentioned, I did nothave good self esteem at all
growing up.
And a lot of that was alsoconnected to my ability.
in school.
I was not good at school at all.
I do not learn in like a linearway at all.
I am a very experientiallearner.
I'm a very visual learner.
(46:48):
I also, I've sang my whole life.
And so I love to, I absorbeverything like with my full
body.
So reading a book, I was like,I'm sorry, what I have to learn
about.
Wars and dates and I have noidea what you're talking about.
I literally don't understandbecause I literally could not
understand, right?
(47:09):
And growing up, I just thoughtthat I was really dumb because
it's not talked about,especially in Indian culture.
It's most Indian kids that Igrew up around.
My brother included.
We're just you 7, 000 pages andthey just read 7, 000 pieces and
they write a book report.
It's not a thing for them.
And I was sitting there tryingto read three pages and I was
like, I don't understand.
(47:30):
And so I really thought that Iwas just not smart, honestly,
until like my mid thirties.
I was really just like convincedthat I was just not smart.
And entrepreneurship showed methat I'm actually very smart.
I'm actually really talented,but it's not the one way that I
was told I was allowed to besmart and talented my whole
(47:50):
life.
That healed my heart so much tobe able to see that and learn
that about myself.
It also helped me be more, ithelped me be a lot more
confident, but also to advocatefor myself in a different way.
Cause now I'm in a meeting andpeople are telling me things and
they're like, saying like allthese different words and I'm
(48:14):
just like, sometimes I'm like,so I'm a, I'm not a linear
learner.
I need you to tell me this in away where I can see it in a
photo or see it in a picture inmy head because I don't
understand what you're saying.
And that level of like selfawareness and confidence is
actually so healing andbeautiful, not just for me, but
for the other person too.
Cause a lot of times you'retalking to somebody who might be
(48:34):
neurodivergent or whatever thekids are calling it these days.
I don't know what it is, but youwho just think differently.
And they didn't even know thatthey had permission to do that
permission.
Yes, so much permission.
So that has that has been sohealing for me.
And I do think although I've gothrough lots of periods where I
feel lost and I'm like, okay,what am I doing?
(48:56):
I don't know what's going onbecause it's not linear.
I do think my confidence hasincreased a lot because I've
seen.
That following my heart hashelped other people and I'm just
like, wow, like what I literallythat is the greatest gift that
(49:17):
anyone could ever give me likethat.
I just created this thing anddecided I'm going to follow my
heart and I'm going to.
Put myself out there, and thenit ended up helping somebody,
especially somebody who's livingand feeling so lost with their
chronic illness, and they feellike at the bottom of the
barrel, and they feel like theydon't have any hope.
(49:38):
And then something from my ownheart helped them.
What is life?
I feel that I feel that, yeah,yeah, I'm sure you do.
You do that every day.
Just it's remarkable.
And I really feel that I feelthat every day.
Yeah.
(49:59):
So yeah, it's been very healing.
I love that.
I love that answer.
And I think that's such a goodspace for us to kind of like
close up with having a businessbeing an entrepreneur.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's got its.
Bumpies, like everything else.
Right.
Yeah.
But the things you learn aboutyourself, the permission, the
(50:21):
worth, the healing to me, I'vehealed the most, like with
myself, viewing myself, the wayI view myself with whatever
chronic illness, trauma,whatever things, right.
Has come from an understandingof doing that growth work that
(50:41):
you do when you have a business.
That's a little different thananything else.
I feel and it's beautiful thatthat's what you've found as
well.
It's beautiful.
Thank you.
Yeah, it, it, it requiressomething of you.
Yeah.
And it's, are you gonna show upfor that?
And sometimes it's not always anegative thing.
If you're like, no, I'm not, I'mnot ready to show up for that.
(51:03):
I'm not.
I don't feel capable.
I don't feel excited to show upfor that.
Whatever it is.
That's also okay.
I, I've had to honor that inmyself too.
Like sometimes people will giveme business advice.
They'll be like, Oh, you shouldjust do this thing.
Or what if you just did it thisway?
And everything in my body is I'mnot ready to do that.
It doesn't feel true for me.
(51:24):
And that's okay.
That's okay too.
But yes, it requires somethingof you that you have to be ready
to, to give over to it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it.
So what are you excited aboutcoming up with you and your
business?
I am very excited that Chroniconis going on tour this fall.
I can't even believe it to behonest with you.
It's going to be really special.
(51:46):
It's going to be in October.
And right now we are looking togo to San Francisco and L.
A.
and then do a finale in New Yorkwith a lot more tour spots being
added for the spring and fall of2025.
I'm trying to, this is what Imean, I'm trying to pace myself.
When I first announced the tour,I was like, I'm going to go to
six cities.
(52:06):
It's going to be great.
We're going to have so much fun.
And then I started looking ateverything and I was like, Oh, I
will have like negative athousand spoons by the time I'm
done with this tour.
I was like, okay, girl, you cando three cities.
It'll still be great.
And then you can add more fornext year.
So I'm really, really excitedabout the tour.
I think it's going to be so funand I can't wait to meet people
and just give them hugs.
(52:26):
And it's going to be special.
I think.
Yeah, I was excited.
Is this going to be a littledip?
So this is different than thechronic on event we had last
year, which is crazy that thatwas last year.
It feels like it just happened.
But literally, technically, ithappened a year and a couple
months ago.
Yeah, it's been a minute.
I know it does not feel thatway.
(52:48):
But yes, it's going to bedifferent in the sense that
they're going to be moreintimate.
So instead of having hundreds ofpeople, we'll probably have 50
people and it'll be an eveningmost likely.
So maybe from six to nine orfive to eight or something like
that, almost like The vibe of anetworking event that you would
go to, but one where you loveeveryone and everyone is so
(53:09):
sweet and cool and open and allof that.
And then we'll most likely haveone panel and one keynote
interview per event.
So there will be someprogramming and content.
But the reason why I wanted todo it this way is because one of
the biggest things that peopletold me about the chronic on
last year was like, they reallyfelt like there were so many
amazing people in the audienceand they didn't get a chance to
(53:31):
connect to people as much.
And I think that's such a hugepart of what people want.
Like they want to be able totalk to you and say like, Oh my
God, what are you up to?
And what are you doing?
And how can we collaborate?
And so there's going to be a lotof that going on, which I'm
really excited about.
I think that's going to be soenriching for everyone.
Yeah.
Well, any event that Netika putson y'all is like amazing.
(53:52):
I cannot tell you, like, I stillthink about the Chronicom last
year, and I think I cry about itevery now and then.
I think I cried about it liketwo months ago because I got
the, like, memories on Instagramor something.
That's whatever.
And I was like, Oh my God, Imiss that.
That was so wonderful.
It was so beautiful.
But anyway, it was, it waswonderful.
So you guys all have everything,like how you can connect with
(54:15):
Netika in the show notes.
But thank you so much for beinghere.
Thanks for having.
I appreciate you.
Always a pleasure.
That's a wrap for this episodeof Business with Chronic
Illness.
If you would like to start andgrow an online coaching business
with me, head to the show notesto click a link to book a sales
call, and learn how to makemoney with chronic illness.
(54:36):
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