5 Years of Unplanned Self-Employment: What I've Learned, What I'd Tell Myself and Why I'm Still Choosing This

Somehow, it's been five years.

Five years since I started Emily Gibson Consulting in what I can only describe as the most unplanned pivot of my life. Self-employment was never a dream of mine. Honestly? I actively didn't want it. My Dad has run his own physio clinic for over 30 years and I watched him carry the weight of that — and I told myself I wanted no part of it. I liked my reliable paycheque. I liked my employer-paid benefits and my paid vacation and my paid sick days. I liked knowing what was coming.

Well. Turns out that wasn't my soul's path.

Am I where I thought I'd be five years in? Absolutely not.

Did I get to do some truly incredible work I never could have predicted? Yes.

Do I love the autonomy and freedom of being my own boss? With my whole heart.

Do I love the financial unpredictability of not having a steady paycheque? Hard no.

But I'm still here. Still choosing this. And that means something.

What Five Years Has Taught Me

The inner work is the work.

Starting a business cracked me open in ways I didn't see coming. I had to unearth and rewire self-limiting beliefs I didn't even fully know I was carrying — about my worthiness, my enoughness, the value of my time, whether I had something real to offer, whether people would actually like me. The personal work isn't a side project that runs alongside building a business. It is the business. Just as important as tracking your expenses or pitching a new client. I work on this each week.

My business is an embodiment of my life's purpose — and I use my intuition to guide it.

I didn't fully understand this at the start. But the more I've grown into this work, the more clearly I can see that everything I do — the well-being offerings, the trauma-informed practice education, the intuitive tarot — is all the same thing. It's all helping people find their spark, move into alignment and show up as their fullest happiest selves. My intuition has been one of my most reliable business tools. Full stop.

Not everyone is going to get it. And that's okay.

This one took me a while. I used to spend energy trying to make my work make sense to people who weren't the right fit for it. Now I trust that the people who are meant to find me will find me — and I save my energy for them.

The ghosting is brutal — and it says nothing about you.

I genuinely don't know when we became a society that can't send a simple "this looks great but it's a no for now" after asking someone to submit a full proposal. It's one of the harder parts of this work. And I’m still trying to navigate it in a good way.

Beware the productivity trap.

For a long time I believed that working harder and longer was the path to making more money. What I actually discovered is that I need to take time to receive. If you're always in output mode, you leave no space for input. Rest, play, spaciousness — these aren't rewards for finishing your to-do list. They're part of the work.

Your people are out there.

For years I kept my intuitive tarot gifts separate from my "professional" offerings in well-being and trauma-informed practice. I was afraid the tarot would cost me credibility. Then I started noticing that everyone I was attracting was already open to living in alignment with their intuition, already curious about guidance and soulful living. My people weren't scared off by the tarot — they were drawn in by it. Turns out when you show up as your whole self, you find your whole people.

There are seasons. Learn yours.

Business has patterns and rhythms. The sooner you can identify what those look like for you — when things flow, when they slow, when to push, when to rest — the easier everything gets. Work with your seasons, not against them.

Your people in the corner are everything.

The people who have believed in me, encouraged me, made introductions, sent opportunities my way, fed me, housed me, and told me to keep going when I wasn't sure — I genuinely could not have built this without them. Community is not optional.

Pivot. Refine. Pivot. Refine.

This is just the job. None of it is failure. All of it is data.

There's going to be some flops. That doesn't mean to stop.

Many times I have launched something and had no sign-ups. And I won't let it discourage me. I know it takes time. And I know that I can't see the full picture. Perhaps that launch led someone to see me and they sought me out for a different better service. Whatever happens, I use it for my greatest good.

Some Highlights I'm Still Proud Of

My very first contract came from what I can only describe as a bold move — I turned down a job offer and somehow had the confidence (or the gall, honestly) to say "if you ever need a consultant, let me know." They called me immediately to design a life skills curriculum for youth aging out of care. I still think about that moment.

My first work trip took me to Nanoose Bay First Nation to deliver trauma-informed practice training to their entire staff. I learned so much from that experience — and it completely reshaped my training model in the best possible way.

Moving to Aotearoa New Zealand while building my business to complete my Masters and writing a thesis — reviewed by leading global experts in trauma-informed educat

ion, which I received an A on — and still getting notifications years later that people are reading it weekly. That one gets me every time.

Getting to expand and refine Te Rito Toi with the Centre for Arts and Social Transformation (CAST) at the University of Auckland. Venturing into the wonderful caring world of early childhood educators and getting to learn from incredibly talented early childhood educators, artists and well-being professionals.

Then there was Maui. Maui, people. I got to visit and learn from the folks at the Maui Arts & Cultural Centre with the team from CAST. My goodness. What incredible arti

sts, teachers and community advocates. We got to attend some of their programming with the people displaced by the Lahaina fires.

There have been moments at events where someone has come up to me to say they follow my work online — and every single time, it stops me in my tracks. I will never take that for granted.

Getting my Decolonized Trauma-Informed Practice Certificate approved for continuing education through the College of Complementary Health Professionals was a milestone I'm deeply proud of.

And being invited by a conference organizer to present and being flown to Toronto to do it. That felt like a real pinch-me moment.

The biggest highlight though – and this is a bit cheesy - is that I go to bed each night excited about going to work the next day. There’s no dread. Just grounded drive and enjoyment.

What I Want You to Know

Reading this back, I realize it might sound like I've got it all figured out. I really, truly don't. This path is still uncertain, still humbling, still full of moments where I question everything. But it's also full of purpose and freedom and work that genuinely lights me up.

And it's still what I'm choosing.

I want people to know that you can have the life you’ve dreamed of. So often it’s just us standing in our own way.

If you've been part of this journey in any way — as a client, a collaborator, a follower, a cheerleader — thank you. It has been one of the greatest honours of my life to do this work.

Here's to whatever the next five years have in store. 🌿