LifeGrid Magazine April 2017 | Page 34

FEATURED ARTICLE NESHA ZACKERY “Thirty-Five Dollars and a Dream” t HE CHECK WAS $35. NOT EVEN enough to put gas in my truck to get to the job that provided that check. And certainly not enough to buy diapers and formula for the baby that had come into our lives four months earlier. Within a month I had my first client. Then two more. Momentum increased, and work was steady. But there was a problem. This administrative support had me stuck again, with a schedule so structured that I had no freedom, no spontaneity, no joy. I longed to follow my purpose and my passion, but didn't know how. I was always one to tow the line, to Seeing My Own Bigger Picture. I was at a point of sheer desperation - nearly ready to give up and go get a ‘real job’ for the sake of both my family and my sanity - and joined the Holistic Mastermind with Monique Alvarez as a last ditch effort to reclaim my dream. make the grade, to appease and satisfy the people around me. But this practice found me teaching other people's children while mine, in turn, were in the care of others. And it earned me a measly $35. Staring at the paper in my hand, suddenly it was clear: this wasn't working. I needed to find a path that would remove me from the stifling rut I was in. A Leap of Faith. My gift is that I see the whole picture in terms of its details, fascinated by the millions of tiny things that add up to massive visions then brought to life. Every- thing starts with a vision…but they work because of the details. So I decided to combine this natural skill and passion with the need to be home with my children. I decided to become (drum roll, please)… a virtual assistant! As I did the inner work that was required, and connected with the other women in the group, I began to explore what life would be like ‘outside of the box.’ They encouraged me to get creative. What if I didn't do it the way I thought it was supposed to be done? What if I approached everything in my business in the same way I approached school? What if everything was a research project? With this new mentality, I dove in. My first ‘research project’ was an interview series that allowed me to ask ques- tions of women who had already put themselves out there, “ Nesha knows how to take one step and break it up into bite size pieces that make sense...” @ Twyla Clarke, Founder of Project Love Yourself LIFEGRID MAGAZINE | LIFEGRID.COM.AU APRIL 2017