Ways to Make a Living, Living Your Calling
In early Summer of 2023, I had had enough and hastily quit my high-paying (but unfulfilling) salary job to become a spiritual coach.
I did what everyone who’s bored with their job dreams about doing.
Unfortunately, I did it WAY before I was ready, and that’s one of the main reasons I started this blog.
To tell you that yes, you CAN pivot your career and start actually doing wha tyou were meant to be doing, and make a living doing it.
BUT there’s a right way to do it, and babe, I did it the WRONG way.
There’s a right way and a wrong way to pivot your career and start living your purpose – I did it the wrong way.
Lucky for you, I’m detailing my journey so you can learn from my mistakes, skip all the stumbling around that I did, and have a nice, clean pivot (hopefully) into what you’re actually meant to be doing with your life.
The goal with this newsletter is to:
Show people it’s possible to discover your calling and make a living from it
Show people that it’s NEVER too late
Show people that are ways to mitigate risk
Empower people to Answer the Call, because we need more people now than ever to step up and serve humanity in only the way that YOU can!
The first few entries detail realizations from the 3 years I spent stumbling around before actually landing on something that works, and gathering learnings to help you not fall into the traps I did.
I basically fell on the sword for y’all, so it you owe it to me to answer the damn call.
Here’s a quick outline of my messy journey so far to get you up to speed:
2015-2017 – Took an entry-level marketing job after college and climbed the ladder.
2017 - took a new job I HATED, so I quit abruptly and became a marketing freelancer. Worked successfully for myself for 2 years.
2020 - hopped on board full-time with one of my clients – a budding marketing agency.
2022 – worked with them for 2 years before joining another agency.
2023 - worked with that agency for 10 months before having a grand epiphany deciding I wanted to make a bigger impact and become a spiritual coach for women and be this author, speaker, TedX speaker and New York Times Best Selling author with, like, nothing figured out first.
2023-2024 - had no gameplan or strategy, so had to learn on the fly all while launching me and my (very tolerant and patient angel of a husband) basically into financial ruin. Attending a million free webinars, followed those “coach for coaches” fell for a million grifts, got distracted by the unimportant shit, and basically helped NO ONE the entire time, like I set out to. Started this blog, though!
September, 2024 - took a copywriting job at an agency to keep my family afloat.
June, 2026 - the agency got my whole department on a video call and fired us all. Citing that they were “restructuring” {insert fart noise.}
June 2026 – knew that now was the time to step into my calling, The Universe presented an opportunity, I learned from my mistakes the first time, and have actually started to see signs of impending success.
Today – stepped fully into my calling, have generated an income with a winning strategy that I consistently show up for, quit drinking, ACTUALLY help people, and am sharing how to do with people who are feeling stuck, unfulfilling, and like they, too, should be living their calling (but saving them like 3-4 years of my mistakes)
If you haven’t discovered your calling YET….
And are still in the questioning, feeling stuck, not sure what to do or where to start phase, I wrote this ebook for you to get started on the journey:
How to Discover Your Calling - An ebook to help you discover what you’re actually MEANT to be doing.
I offer discounted follow up sessions if you buy the ebook, so give it a shot! It’ll at least give you some groundbreaking insight, and if you feel inclined, we can sync up to start identifying your calling.
One thing that’s super important for you to know, is that you are SO much closer to living your calling than you think.
I spent almost 10 years working in online marketing as a copywriter, basically learning how to reach a ton of the right people, and get them to buy stuff.
The problem was, I was getting them to buy stuff that they really didn’t need, nor helped make the world a better place.
When I discovered my calling was to be a messenger, I realized I already had the gifts, talent, and expertise to make a living. I just needed the time and space to do it.
And getting fired gave me that.
“you are SO much closer to living your calling than you think.”
And that’s what the ebook aims to uncover for you.
Regardless of if you know what your calling is or not, it’s important for you to know that there are a million ways to make a living from it.
In today’s day and age, almost anyone’s calling can be monetized in both ways we can predict, or not.
Sometimes people will just randomly give you money if you step up to serve them. Seriously, it has happened to me!
Money has a weird way of finding you when you step into your calling, serve your fellow earthbound beings in only the way that you can.
Outside of the weird unpredictable ways money will find you, this blog post examines the various ways you can moentize your calling.
I would never push one method of monetizing your calling under the guise of a “get rich quick scheme.”
Why? Because I tried them all when I was trying to become a coach, and what I’ve found is that most of them are a grift.
They get rich telling you that you can get rich. That is literally how they make their money.
A lot of times, there’s almost no substance, and you’ll hear conflicting advice over and over again.
Not to mention, you’ll find that their strategy is “one size fits all.”
High ticket packages or low ticket digital products, and you’ll have to aggressively market them to the right people.
That takes a 10+ year long career in online marketing, truly, to do that effectively and it’s WAY too much for one person.
These people have teams that make their content for them, etc.
Plus it leave out important nuances like:
What if you hate getting on camera?
What if you are a mom and can’t spend 8 hours a day making content?
What if you’re in debt up to your eyeballs from your veterinary degree?
They sell you solutions, and force you to assimilate to their methods. I don’t do that.
Because I’ve seen what all that BS does to people looking for a simple, personalized way to make a living from their calling.
Not everyone wants to be a coach selling 10K packages to people so they can retire their husband and take their kids to Disney world.
Some people just want to open a cute little holistic healing store, or find a way to help people that isn’t soul-sucking.
“Some people want to work with kids and nurture them into kind humans.
Where do those people fit in the “make a million dollars as a high ticket coach” model?”
That’s why I’ll never sell anyone anything just because it’ll make ME rich, but not give people the tools they need to make an ACTUAL living through their calling.
That said, let’s dive into the ways you can make a living monetizing your calling, factoring in all the traditional ways, too, because working for a business is 1000% a viable way to make a living from your calling. Not everyone has to be an entrepeneur.
Ways to Make a Living by Living Your Calling
1) Employement models
Salaried employee — trade your calling for stability inside someone else's organization
Contractor/freelancer — sell your time and skill directly, per project or per hour
Service provider — coaching, consulting, healing work, done-for-you services (this overlaps with freelance but implies an ongoing practice, not gig work)
Listen carefully, because grifters love to hate on traditional salary jobs.
YOU CAN LIVE YOUR CALLING IN A CORPORATE JOB!
I know entrepreneurship or solopreneurship looks glamorous and offers a level freedom, but it’s NOT for everybody and it DOESN’T fit everyone’s calling and that’s okay.
I always think about nurses or doctors when I think about people living their calling in traditional salary jobs.
Not all purpose pivots require a huge career change, and it’s so important for you to know that.
You can be completely fulfilled in a corporate job, and if you know entrepreneurship or solopreneurship isn’t right for you, then all you have to do is identify what’s missing from your current job.
If you love what you do, but hate your job, pay special attention here. You are easily the closest to living your calling.
You just have to get clarity on what you need from your job and start mapping out how to get from where you are, to where you want to be. Is it working for a value-centered business? Working in a better culture? Working in a different role that offers more {insert the aspect of your job you love most here}?
The eBook can actually help you identify what’s missing from your current job, so be sure to check it out!
2) Product models
Merchant/product seller — physical goods (books, merch, courses in a box)
Digital product creator — ebooks, templates, printables, workbooks — low overhead, infinite inventory
Publisher/royalty model — write once, earn on every sale (traditional or self-pub)
Licensor — license your characters, IP, or curriculum to schools, brands, or other creators to use
Of course, this method of monetization definitely offers less stability than the traditional employment model, but your income potential isn’t capped either.
If you already work in an industry where you have close proximity to this, then you’re at a huge advantage than say, someone who studied medicine so take that into consideration when you think about monetizing your calling.
I worked for 10+ years in online marketing, so going this route after I was fired from my traditional employment job just made sense.
If you’re going to take this route, obviously I’m a huge resources, so please make sure you subscribe to this blog for future entries where I break down what’s worked for me!
3) Audience/content models
Content creator/media — ad revenue, platform payouts, brand sponsorships
Affiliate marketer — earn commission recommending others' products
Membership/subscription — Patreon-style recurring access to your work or community
Community builder — paid community, mastermind, or membership site
These are self-explanatory, so I wont spend a lot of time here, but they are superrrr ideal for people who are highly creative.
If you are already in a highly creative role, this could definitely be a great route for you – thinking specifically of artists, writers, producers, designers, comedians, etc.
But like product models, this route is very entrepreneurial so it’s less stable than traditional employment, BUT your earning potential is unlimited which is very attractive to certain folks, as is the time freedom elements.
4) Teaching/knowledge models
Educator/course creator — cohort-based courses, self-paced courses, workshops
Speaker — paid keynotes, panels, retreats
Curriculum developer — sell/license lesson plans to schools or organizations (very relevant to your workbook work)
Also pretty self explanatory. This route is ideal for people whose calling is to teach others, but they are sick of being an actual educator. This method helps you break out of traditional molds of education roles and venture into something more flexible.
Unlike traditional employment, and like the creator method, it requires a high degree of self-promotion.
5) Patronage/mission models
Donation/tip-based — "pay what you want," Ko-fi, Buy Me a Coffee
Grants and fellowships — funding tied to mission rather than transaction
Crowdfunding — Kickstarter-style, funding the calling before the product exists
Nonprofit/sponsorship model — funded by donors or corporate sponsors who believe in the mission
This is a less popular method of monetization, but is still incredibly legit. If your calling is more on the radical humanitarian end of the spectrum, this could be a GREAT route for you.
There are countless people who would donate to a cohort of people bringing supplies to battered women’s shelters in third world countries, or orphanages, or schools. This also requires self promotion, and if your dream life is to be super rich and sip champagne on a yacht, this probably isn’t the method for you.
But if your dream is to travel the world, learn knew cultures, having incredibly fulfilling experience, and serve underserved communities, this is definitely the route for you, babe.
6) Ownership models
Founder/equity builder — build something you eventually sell or that generates passive equity value
Franchiser/licensor of a system — package your method so others can run it under your brand
This is a highly entrepreneurial route and a reallyyyyy good route for anyone who has spent 15-20 years in a certain field and want to do what they do, but for themselves.
Most people partake in more than one of these methods.
If you’re looking to monetize your calling, ideally you’re starting with at least one of the above so that you have at least one income stream to help fund your life before closing it to lean on another.
That’s what’s ideal.
What’s not ideal is that sometimes, that’s not the way life goes, and you get fired and want to use it as an opportunity to step into your calling (🙋🏻♀️) because you were given a second chance to not f*ck it up again.
To recap, if you’re on a journey to “answer the call” and quit your job to pursue your calling like I did, here’s what you NEED to have ironed out first:
KNOW what you’re calling is. This means knowing the:
WHAT you’ll do to serve others, in the way that only you can.
WHO you are going to serve,
WHY they need you, and
HOW you’re going to help them (your monetization method mix)
Your Monetization Method Mix
What methods from above will you use to monetize your calling based on what you know about yourself and what your dream life looks to you
Do you want freedom? Lot of money?
Do you want to work with people? Or work behind the scenes?
Are you okay with massive risk?
How much time can you commit? Do you have a family to provide for?
Are you highly creative? Super technical?
The question isn’t whether or not you’ll make a living by living your calling.
You will. It’s a Universal law.
The question is how.
Getting from where you are now, to living your calling and living the life you want from it requires 3 things:
1) Knowing it’s possible with unwavering certainty, because it is. People are doing it all around you all the time.
2) Knowing that you already have everything you need to make it happen. Seriously, you do. All you lack is a game plan, knowledge, and inspired action.
3) Knowing that you already are A LOT closer than you even realize.
Once you know this, you’re ready to answer the call.
Ready to discover your calling? ↴
I put literally all my learnings in the ebook below to help save you a good 2-3 years and financial ruin (which I’ll tell you all about in the next entry.)
