Vanlife taught me adaptability in a way no job, degree, or classroom ever could.
When your home has wheels and your income comes from your creativity, you learn to roll with uncertainty — financially, emotionally, and logistically.
Working for myself on the road meant waking up every day willing to create opportunities, use what I already knew, stretch into what I didn’t, and trust that it would add up.
The skills I leaned into became the foundation of my business AND my motherhood — and these are the same skills I now help women develop inside my soulful business mentorship.
Here are the work skills that helped me build a life on the road…
and now help me build a business from home as a mother.
1. Website Development → Building a Foundation for Freedom
I learned web development while working as a marketing director — WordPress, Joomla, HTML, CSS… all things I thought were “just a job skill.”
But those skills ended up expanding my life.
They allowed me to create my own small web development business, take on a major university contract, and eventually… hit the road.
That one contract gave us the confidence to go.
But I learned something important on the road:
Skills can liberate you, but boundaries keep you free.
I didn’t know how to say no.
I felt guilty not being available 24/7 to my clients.
I was living the dream but burning out behind the scenes.
Now, I teach women:
– Learn the skill
– Own the skill
– Price the skill
– But also protect yourself with boundaries
Otherwise entrepreneurship becomes a trap instead of a liberation.
And yes — you can learn website creation, marketing, or tech basics anywhere in the world.
Your laptop becomes your gateway.
2. Strategic Planning → Turning Ideas Into Movement
Vanlife worked best when Corey and I shared a purpose — a reason to move, a reason to film, a reason to create.
We used a MOST diagram (Mission, Objectives, Strategies, Tactics) for everything from web series to brand partnerships.
It turns out:
Planning isn’t about perfection — it’s about direction.
This is true for:
✔ launching a digital product
✔ starting a coaching practice
✔ creating content
✔ shifting careers as a mother
✔ figuring out how to work 10 hours a week while raising a tiny human
A simple structure gives your creativity a container.
Most women don’t need another productivity hack.
They need clarity.
They need to know where they’re going and what actually matters today.
Strategic planning is the calm inside the chaos.
3. Photography & Videography → Learning to Tell Your Story
When you live on the road, everything is a moment — the sunsets, the breakdowns, the campfire conversations.
Photography became our way of capturing the life we were building, and eventually our way of sharing it.
Self-taught.
Canon 6D.
Lightroom.
Premiere Pro.
A lot of trial and error.
A lot more fun than perfection.
These skills became the heartbeat of our online community — and eventually opened the door to brand partnerships.
What I learned:
Creativity grows where presence and curiosity meet.
You don’t need fancy equipment.
You need willingness.
You need to love what you’re capturing.
You need to notice what others rush past.
That’s what builds a magnetic brand.
4. Writing → Connecting Through Vulnerability
I’ve been journaling since childhood.
Writing has always felt like weaving spells — a way to express, connect, remember, and inspire.
On the road, writing was how I stayed grounded.
In motherhood, writing is how I stay sane.
In business, writing is how I connect and convert.
The magic is not in perfect grammar or flawless sentences.
It’s in feeling what you write.
Every time I risked being vulnerable, my community expanded.
Every time I wrote honestly, people responded.
Every time I shared my story, opportunities arrived.
Writing is a muscle — and a portal.
And it lives inside everyone.
5. Self-Confidence → The Engine Behind It All
Skills help.
Strategy helps.
Creative tools help.
But the real thing that carried me?
Confidence.
Not loud confidence.
Not perfection.
Just the quiet belief: I can figure this out.
I learned it through sports, horseback riding, gymnastics — and it followed me into vanlife, motherhood, and entrepreneurship.
Confidence isn’t a trait.
It’s a practice.
And it’s built by showing up, experimenting, learning, adjusting, and trying again.
Why This Matters for Mothers & Entrepreneurs
These skills weren’t just for the road.
They became the foundation of everything I do now:
✨ running my own business
✨ supporting other women in building theirs
✨ creating offerings that feel true
✨ raising a child with presence
✨ designing a life with rhythm and freedom
The same things that helped me stay grounded in constant movement now help me:
– build a brand
– create content
– run a business on my own terms
– and teach other women to do the same
You don’t need a van to live a creative, self-led life.
You just need the willingness to recognize your skills, develop them intentionally, and trust that you can create something beautiful from them.