How You Can Create a Flexible Business Model That Honors Your Health | Nitika Chopra

You know, I've been thinking a lot about why I and those that I work with choose the path of entrepreneurship, building something from nothing or from this place we just don't know how it's even going to become something, especially when we're carrying so much. Because for real, we are already carrying so much, right? We are living with our chronic illnesses full-time. And that's a full-time job. And there's this unpredictability. There's all of these appointments, the exhaustion, the sneak-ups of new things that we need to handle. And yet here we are choosing to take on one more thing, choosing to create, to build, to believe in something bigger or more possible than how we're currently surviving. And I've been asking myself, why? Why do we choose this? Why did I decide to run a business? Something that demands so much of me and is constantly on the move. Was it about the money? No, obviously. Was it about stability? Not really, because we all know entrepreneurship has its ebbs and flows. It's a rollercoaster sometimes of uncertainty. I think it's just something deeper, a feeling, a knowing, a wanting of more flexibility and freedom and creativity, a feeling that even on our hardest days, I wasn't just getting through life. I had something to help me continue living it beyond my spiritual practice. What else, right? Something more on my terms. And I know I'm not alone in this thought because of the wonderful women that I serve and connect with. And I wanted to have this conversation for, or with you, if you've been thinking, especially in the state of the world that we're living in today of 2025, Am I gonna stay on this journey? What is part of this journey that I'm being called or being moved to do, right? And I wanted to have this conversation with a woman who has lived such a beautiful, raw, powerful, impactful life as an entrepreneur and so many other titles you could say about her name. She has built and rebuilt and she has navigated visibility and identity identity and worth in ways that so many of us wrestle with. And through it all, she has found ways to create a business and a life that honors both her drive to create impact and her own well-being. So I'm excited to have this conversation again with a dear guest that's been on the show before, with Nidhika Chopra. We actually recorded this last year around this time. So there's been some changes both in our, both of our lives and both of our businesses, but this conversation I just felt like needed to be shared because of this very thought. You know, we are building a business and sometimes we get tired and we wonder, should we be giving up? And if you're listening to this, it means that there's something probably still inside of you dreaming, still hoping, still reaching for a version of your life that feels good, or a version of your business that feels more aligned. And that matters, and it matters so much. So I Wanted to unpack the fears, the hesitation, the big what-ifs that remind ourselves that even in the mess, there is so much possibility. So I'm excited to invite you into this conversation.

Welcome to Business with Chronic Illness, the globally ranked podcast for women living with chronic illness who want to start and grow a business online. I'm your host, Nikita Williams, and I went from living a normal life to all of a sudden from being in constant pain with no answers to being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses and trying to make a livable income. I faced the challenge of adapting traditional business advice to fit my unique circumstances with chronic illness, feeling frustrated and more burned out than I already was while managing my chronic illness to becoming an award-winning coach with a flexible, sustainable online coaching business. I found the surprisingly simple steps to starting and growing a profitable business without compromising my health or my peace. Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same. If you're ready to create a thriving business that aligns with your lifestyle and wellbeing, you're in the right place. Together, we're shifting the narrative of what's possible for women with chronic illness and how we make a living. This is Business with Chronic Illness. I am excited again. To have the Nidhika— the Nidhika, that's literally what I call you, the Nidhika in my life. It's so funny. On this, on the show again, I'll, I'll share some introductions and everything a little bit later, but welcome Nidhika to the show.

Thank you. I think you can be Nikita. Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. I feel like this doesn't feel like work because I get to just hang out with you, which we both need right now.

Yeah, we were talking about that. Yes.

I'm really happy to be here with you.

I am happy you are here. So before we hopped on to recording, we were talking about the name change of the podcast and you were on the show back when it was called Crafted to Thrive. I think our episode was about like building community and how you've been doing that. And now I wanna really dive into, you have run so many different types of businesses. You've done different things in your career as a human being living with different variations of your chronic illness, like in flares, not in flares, being very visible, not being visible. And that's what this show is really like leaning into is kind of giving people permission to see how they can run business differently living with chronic illness. And give themselves the permission to do things different because other people are doing it. We just don't hear about it. We just don't hear about it, right? And so I think the first question I want us to lean into is why a business? Like, why businesses? Like, why this lane for your life? Mm-hmm.

Like, why did I become an entrepreneur, basically?

Yeah.

Yeah, I remember the time in my life when I became an entrepreneur. I was like in my late 20s and I had been working in real estate. I was a real estate agent. Yeah. And I actually— yeah, I was. And I really loved it. There were parts that I didn't love, but I mostly like really loved it because I, I learned during 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 all these other real estate agents and they're all just like doing their thing and like pounding the pavement and going at it. And it's New York City and it's okay, everyone calm down, you know? And then there was me and I was actually like so different than a lot of the real estate agents that were in my office or just out there in general. Because I would come in with this like very caring approach to all of my clients and I would always connect to them from like a heart-centered place. If someone just got a divorce, I'd be like, oh, I've also been through a divorce. Here's what I went through. Or like somebody who's coming to New York for the first time would be like, oh my God, when I first moved to New York, it was like very emotional. Big surprise, big surprise. But it was actually like a very important time for me to learn about my skills and also sales and things like that. But I, I decided to become an entrepreneur because I guess it kind of like happened. I, I don't know that I was like, okay, now I'm gonna be an entrepreneur. But it was this feeling of, I just felt like I couldn't be on anyone else's timeline. I know it's like the biggest thing. I just felt like I couldn't be on anyone else's timeline. And even one step deeper than that, 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 had such low self-esteem growing up. And even, like, halfway through my 20s, I was very sick. I couldn't walk without severe pain. I was completely covered from head to toe with psoriasis, which was very debilitating just from the skin level. But then it also just looked terrible. I— it was horrible. So, like, my self-esteem was like negative. It was not even like at zero. It was like well past zero. And I think I just— the thing that always got me through that was like, I just believe I'm here for something greater than my suffering. I was like, this just can't be it. I've always been a very spiritual person and it's gotten me through every hard thing in my life. And Yeah, I just felt, okay, I have to believe that God didn't just say, okay, you suck, so you have to like sit in this pain. Well, whatever, I was young, so that's, that's what I said to myself. Like, those are like the real types of things that you think and that you say when you're like by yourself and nobody can hear you.

Yeah.

And I was just like, no, I cannot believe this about myself. And so that honestly is so much of why I decided to become an entrepreneur. I felt like I had this story to share. I didn't have any idea how I was gonna share it. I had no skills when it came to any of this stuff. My first company, Bella Life, I had never done anything like that before. But yeah, I just really felt like I have to believe that there's something greater. And then from a practical place, I was like, I, I don't think I can be on someone's timeline.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So interesting.

I love, I'm just gonna say, I love when we have talked often enough that I feel like we've— I'm like, oh, that is so interesting. I did not know that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I feel that on such a deep level of where you're coming from, like being an entrepreneur. I had the similar experience of trying different things. Real estate was one of my things. Like, I love real estate. I was a real estate agent too. This is why I'm like—

I was like, oh my gosh. Meditica and Nikita meet again, like, without realizing it.

Yeah, I really enjoyed it as well. It was like, it's a people business, and I approached it very similar to you. Yeah, it's just to your point of, I, I for— I did not grow up with chronic illness, so for me it happened in my adult life, so I didn't really understand like time freedom and flexibility and whatever. Real estate to me felt that way, felt very flexible until it wasn't, right? Until you have to be on, on call in a way, contract, like all this stuff that was really dependent on a lot of everybody else's schedule except your own. And that became so stressful for me, even though I felt like I was an entrepreneur, but it wasn't truly entrepreneurship to me.

It's like the gateway drug because I agree it was like I could have days where I was like, oh, I don't have any listings or showings today. Like, I'm just going to chill today or like kind of have my own schedule somewhat. But I remember being so panicked every time I was waiting for a deal to go through. And I feel like that to me was honestly a huge part of it too. I just felt like the level of stress that you are like almost expected to have, which I think certain industries are like that. I was like, oh no, no, no, no, we are not gonna make it. If I have to be this stressed out in order to make a dollar, no, this is not, this is not how I wanna live. And sometimes I think even just from entrepreneurship, like be the ups and downs of it. Sometimes my mom is always reminding me I should have kept my real estate license.

Oh my goodness.

You know, like the good Indian parent just reminding you of your backup plan. 14 years into my career, she's still, reminding me of that. But I do sometimes think, oh, maybe it would have been nice to like have that just to not have everything be like the pressure on my dreams and have it be like spread out a little bit. But I also know I'm, I'm very dedicated when I do things. And so I just don't think I could do it like just kind of a little bit.

So I totally feel that.

Yeah.

So interesting. So tell us what led to Bella Life, because Bella Life was amazing. Like, when I learned about you, it was kind of when Chronic Con was kind of coming out of— it was almost like a new baby out of Bella Life, it felt like, from when I met you initially. And then I was like, but what about— I didn't get to know Bella Life, I didn't get to know that business, but I knew it was amazing. And then when I got to know you more and you were sharing like how you grew that business, I was just like, this chick is awesome. Like, how did she do this going through all of the chronic stuff. You have personal stuff going on at that time too. So, and it was a very visible business. And I think for those of us living with chronic illness, that's a fear that many of us have going into being in any kind of business. I literally just had a sales call and the person was like, but how do I do this without anybody seeing me? And I was like, we have to figure, 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. I'm like, let's just, yeah, let's just be real. I was so afraid. But you know, my faith has always been bigger than my fear.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes by just the tiniest hair.

The tiniest bit.

Yeah. The tiniest bit. Right. But my faith has always been bigger than my fear. And I remember when I was in this real estate world and I was kind of doing that and I felt like there was something more. I'm a very, like, also very, like, sensorial person. I get messages through my body, and I just— there was something in my heart. I kept saying, I feel like something is knocking on my heart. I literally felt like something was knocking on my heart. And I would wake up in the middle of the night, and I felt like something was knocking on my heart. And I would get up in the morning and felt like something was knocking on my heart. And I was just like, what is it? What— who are you? What is taking over my body? It felt strong and so clear, but I didn't know what it was. And I would sit and I would pray and I would cry. And I felt so lost, truly, because I had never done anything like that. I had just— my real estate job was my second, maybe my third job. My first job was a retail job, which I was terrible at. And then I was a waitress, which I was also terrible at. And then I became a real estate agent. Because I was so sick I couldn't work for so many years. So I had never done anything even remotely close to anything like this. There was, and I had no like experience to say, oh, I've built all these things and so I'm gonna be able to do this. Absolutely not. But I just had this really, really strong calling and I heard a message from God that said like, you're supposed to have a talk show. That was— it was very, very clear. When he's clear, he's real clear. But, you know, most of the time I'm digging around for messages. But that was one of the clearest messages I ever got. And it guided me. And it also frustrated me because I was like, I'm sorry, Oprah and Ellen have talk shows? What do you— what? I literally— I—

what do you—

what are you saying? Like, how can this be the message that you're giving me? And so when I really knew that it was the true message,. And I was like, okay, I guess I'll figure out how I'm supposed to make this happen. And so I sort of worked backwards and thought, okay, well, how can someone with no prior experience and no, no connections— no, people see me now and they're like, oh, everybody, or you're out and about. And I'm like, okay, but that's 14 years in. When I started, I didn't know anyone. So I decided to build Bella Life because I thought Oh, this could be my talk show in a website. It's like the content is the stuff we would talk about in segments. The— I ended up having over 100 contributors writing for me by the end before I closed it. And I was like, oh, the contributors are like the guests I would have on my show. And then I'll put myself on YouTube and show people what I look like on camera so that they can see it. And 3 years into that, I ended up getting an email from the vice president of Asia TV, which was— it's just South— huge South Asian television network. And they basically were casting for a show called Naturally Beautiful, and they were like, we feel like your website is like the exact thing that we're casting the show for. It's like, funny you should mention that because that was my master plan that I had no idea if anyone was ever gonna get or ever gonna see. And then I got my show. Yeah, and that was why I started it, and ending it and everything was really because I, I've also gone through a lot of transitions. Like I don't, I don't always own, like you were saying, that client or that sales call, they were saying they don't wanna be seen. I love being on camera because I know it's a skill that I have and it actually helps me connect my heart to more people. And so I really appreciate and enjoy that, but it's not because like I want Nikita Williams to be seen.

Right.

What I mean, it's like a very fine line. And so it's been a journey for me too, even with building Chronicon. I've been like, oh, am I supposed to be at the front? Like, I don't really want to be in the front, but then when I'm not in the front, people will be like, oh, we just want to talk to you. It's just like, I don't know. You know what I'm saying? Like, it's confusing. I'm sure you know what I'm saying.

Yeah.

So yeah, so I don't know if that answers your question exactly, but that's sort of like the beginning of that journey.

So when, when that— I love— I want to kind of distill a little bit for anyone listening. Like, a lot of people that I talk to, especially with chronic illness, they have, they have something. Like, they normally have this, I want to do this, I have this vision, I have this, like, idea. And they're like, I've never done this before, and I'm afraid, and I have no idea how to do it. And to your point, it's always, okay, let's start from the— from what you vision and work backwards. Let's work— how do we create those layers?

Yeah.

And I think that's the piece that scares people the most because they've never done it. They've seen it, they believe it to some degree. It's really deep in their 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 on this train with me? Because there's no way I can do it by myself. That's how I felt when I started my business. There's no way I could run a business by myself, even though that's like the general advice when it comes to running a business is kind of like, hey, figure all this stuff out before you hire this or get that or have that support. And I was just like, I need a safety net for me.

Mm-hmm.

So how did that look like for you going into the Bella Life and working it backwards? What were some of the things you learned along the way that was a little bit different from mainstream advice on growing a business like that? Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think the biggest thing, well, one of the things that you also said and, and what you just shared was like, how am I gonna do it when I'm not feeling well? Right. And the thing that comes up for me is your body is your greatest teacher.

Mm.

So nice. Right?

So why would it be any different in your work life? So even for me now, I went through a really scary time 2 years ago with my health and it changed everything for me when it comes to Chronicom. It changed everything. On the surface, people might not know that my community members all know. But it changed everything. It internally rewired how I treat myself, how I prioritize my own happiness, how I manage giving, because I'm a giver. I love to love. That is literally why I've been put on this planet, is to love people. And I'm very clear about that. But I can't do it at the expense of myself. And I've done that a lot in my life. And I actually think a lot of people with chronic illness do that. I think there's so many reasons why, why I believe that. But so I had to, I had to change everything. Yeah, but that's such a gift, right? It wasn't like, I mean, at the time that it was happening, I did not know how it was going to turn out. I did not know how changing things was gonna feel and, and all of that. But it's, it's there because I was meant to change things. I wasn't meant to keep giving from 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 then. Like, at the time, it felt a lot more— I was just in it. It's like the naivete of starting something new, doing something for the first time. That's such a precious thing that I will never get back. And I feel like— I feel like I do. I do reminisce about that time, but I've always been somebody who follows my heart and my intuition. And it's a very different business model than the way I feel like I'm just now learning about the quote unquote, like real business way of doing things. Because I'm like, I have a startup and I'm like, oh, okay, there's like people out there that like raise money to do these kinds of things, or they like do all this stuff that I just didn't know anything about.

Right.

But when I started, I was just, I was just following my heart. And I also, one of the things that I did which might be helpful is I, up until this point of starting Bella Life, I had had a lot of ideas, but I hadn't executed on any of them. So like I would call my parents, my parents were living in Hong Kong at the time, and I would call my mom like every week and be like, Mom, I have this idea. I remember one time I was like, I'm gonna start a center for people living with psoriasis and I'm gonna make it like this, like beautiful haven and like this nurturing place of, And then I was like, that's a terrible idea. I don't wanna do any manual labor. This is a horrible idea. Like a week later, you know, but like I was trying so hard.

Yeah.

To find the thing. Right. And so when I found, when I thought of the talk show idea and then I found the idea for Bella Life in my heart and I was like, okay, this is it. I told myself that I was not allowed to be the girl who cried entrepreneur. Excuse me, the girl who cried entrepreneur. And tell everybody that I was doing this thing and then spend money on like business cards or a web website domain or whatever and then not actually do anything. And I put myself on a plan that I wasn't allowed to spend a single cent for an entire year while I was building Bella Life. This is what I had to do for myself. Nobody told me I had to do this, but I wanted to prove to myself that this was real. And nobody, I don't have to pay a dollar to write an article. I don't have to pay a dollar to go around and get inspiration. I would go window shopping and I would think of ideas. I would think of colors I wanted to use on my website. I would think of what are the brands that I wanna be a part, like be connected to. I wrote so many blogs for Bella Life before it ever existed because I just loved writing. And I was like, I just wanna practice 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 doing it. And then I published my articles and went from there. But it was, it was a, it's always been a spiritual practice for me. Mm-hmm. It, it really is. And I think, I know not everybody'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 cooking and like the meditation that comes from that, or it's meditation in general maybe is your thing, or yoga, whatever it might be. There's that place within you that is so like private and intimate that only you really know, you and that other like higher power or that energy or that loving force within you. And I feel like being in relationship with that while you're in relationship with your business is such a blessed, like, beautiful thing. What is the point of doing this if we're not gonna kind of connect to something greater than ourselves, right?

Yeah.

So that was sort of my part of my journey.

I mean, I love that because practice— that weird saying, practice makes perfect. I think practice makes life work. Like, before it's working, right? And people ask me this about the podcast all the time. Like, how did you start a podcast? How did you know? I was like, dude, for 6 months I was on my phone like recording stuff and just talking. Like, I did not— like, nobody, nobody has ever heard those. But that's how I started, right? Like, that was part of the space of giving me like, oh, can I do this? And I think a lot of us are just trying to like bring into fruition something like we see on social media or like we see in the world. Like it's just all, oh, you decided and here it is. And it's like, literally doesn't work like that. And it is actually really good when it doesn't work like that. I think it gives you the runway. It gives you the space to Discover, are you all in right now? Not— you don't be for— it doesn'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 beautiful thing of you sharing that. And I do think doing it with purpose and having a mission behind why you're doing that and it not being for you, it just makes it a lot easier when you don't want to do it.

Yeah, for sure. I mean, I know in sitting down in this conversation with you, I'm like, even if I was tired or I was feeling like out of it today, I always feel better after I have these conversations. I'm always reminded like, oh, this is so much bigger than my, like, PMS right now, or like, whatever it might be.

You know what I mean? Right.

And it's such a gift. And I feel that way in the community all the time as well. Like, every time that year where I was really sick and and I just kept showing up. There were some weeks where I literally did not— I was not able to show up for a single thing. And the only thing I showed up for was that 1 hour on Zoom in the Chronicom Community.

Yeah.

And yeah, it matters. And what you were saying about practice, actually, it made me think about when I decided that I wanted to have a talk show, I used to look at tapes or like recordings of Ellen and Oprah. All day. That's literally all I would do. It was like my cardio. I was just looking at them and watching, and I learned so much, and I loved it. Even to this day, I love watching talk shows because I'm like, oh, that's so interesting. Like, she took a pause there, or she like kind of brushed the hand of their— her guest. And like, how do they actually be themselves on air? That is such a skill. And when I first— when I first started my talk show, or first started my, my website, I should say, before I got my talk show, I was very much like on. I was very much like hosty. And I remember my therapist actually, who like loves me and I know she like thinks the world of me, she was like, that's not the Nidhika that I know. She was like, I know a different Nidhika. Now I'm like, I mean, I can't hold back. I'm just like, so yeah, it's just what it is, whatever. It's totally just like fully me. But oh my gosh, it took a lot of work to get to a place of not trying to perform and actually being able to just be myself in front of other people.

Yeah. So for a second, I want to kind of shift gears for a second to talk a little bit more about the tangible aspects of business in general for you. There's obviously investments, there's obviously expenses, there's obviously life with chronic illness, like living your life when you don't— I get this a lot too. A lot of people like, well, you have— they tell this to me like, well, you have a partner. So it's not like that— that's a privilege you have. You share your expenses, you don't have to deal with all that. And that is 100%— I do not discount that at all because it's very true. And I do know it looks very different when you're doing this as a single person. How has the mechanics of the finances and all those things like worked for you, or how have you just become at peace of the idea of not having, like, consistent months, consistent weeks, money coming in exactly the same way as if you were working a 9 to 5? Like, how has that worked for you and your nervous system? Because that's a thing.

That is a thing. That is really a thing. I mean, where I go first, I mean, I always go to the spiritual and the heart, so I'm going to try to bring it back down to earth for a second. But Before I bring it back down to earth, I will say that it, it's, it's actually been a huge conversation for me, like the money conversation. And I think that it comes back to worth on such a deep level, partly because of my health, but also growing up as a South Asian woman. And there's a lot of cultural things of the daughter or the youngest. And then I got sick when I was 10. And so, and then I got divorced when I was 24. And so I sort of, from cultural place, we say left your parents' home and went to your husband's home. And then, and then, but then I was back at my parents' home energetically, at least at the age of 24. And I was not walking and I wasn't really able to take care of myself. So it's been this thing actually, even just this year that I have really been like doubling down on of like the psychology behind my ability to like take care of myself on this like greater level. I take amazing care of myself every moment of every day for the most part. But then there's this financial piece of do I really believe that I am worth and worthy of someone who's been as sick as I have, somebody who has been as lost as I have, somebody, all these things that like deep down in my subconscious I've sort of programmed, right? I've had to to really work on that. And I'm still working on that. And one of the ways that that comes up for me sometimes is I have a hard time charging individuals. This is like something I'm really working on. I charge brands like all the money. I do not care. And I—

she does it so well, y'all. She does it so well. I'm just saying, she has taught us so many things about that. So if you want to join Chronic On community just for learning that, you should. But anyway, go ahead. I'm sorry.

No, don't be sorry. That's very sweet. But yeah, I've always kind of been like, okay, I know you have all the money, give it to me.

Like, I have no—

I have no— because I know I'm going to do a great job. I know I'm going to work really hard. Like, I'm not insecure about that at all. But when I see somebody potentially who's chronically ill or going through something, and they— I actually project onto them, which is what I'm learning, that they can't that they're small and they can't afford it because it's like what I probably inherently feel about myself. And I had no idea that I was doing that until literally this year. I had no idea. So it's something I'm really, really working through. And I think that it's such a disservice to other people that I do that. And it's not actually even true a lot of the time. And of course, like, there's a lot of just like ridiculous disparity in this country especially, and people being on disability, and like all of that is very real. And so it's just this fine line of trying to figure out like, what do I— what am I focusing on here? What, what's actually going to serve people and myself? So that's a piece of it. I will say I, I think the inconsistent money thing has been really real. I think it's, it's been, it's been a great teacher too though, because I've had to really see, okay, what do I— how am I going to take care of myself in those slower months. I've also had to be incredibly innovative. And what I mean by that is I remember the first time I was in my entrepreneurial journey and I was like at the bottom of the bank account and I was just like, oh my God, this is bad. This is not looking good. Okay. I was in my 20s, I think at the time. I just started Bella Life like not too long before and I decided I needed to make money. And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna invent this thing, which is, this was like 14, maybe 12 years ago at the least. And no one was really doing this at the time. And I decided I was going to do events and charge brands to be a part of my event. And nobody was doing that. Okay, not here in New York City. I didn't know anyone was doing that. I was just like, I'm just gonna make this up. What assets do I have? That's basically the skill that I always try to go back to. What assets do I have? Okay, I can throw a killer event. And I can fill the room. So that is the one thing I know I can do. Okay, how am I going to charge for that? Didn't really want to charge the participants a ton, right? So I charged them, but not that much. But I charged all these brands and 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 anything like that before. So I say all that to say that like, it pushes you, right? And it pushed me to be very innovative. I've had to come up with programs. I'm sure you get it too. It's like you gotta do a different sales call. Okay, maybe I gotta put out a podcast episode about this because I didn't realize it's getting a little slow, but that's not a bad thing. Act. So yeah, so that's kind of a little bit about how I've navigated it up until this point.

I love that you said that too, because innovation is huge, and I think that's a skill as create— as chronic illness warriors that we've had to have in general, right? And that That's a huge foundation that I feel why most chronic illness warriors need to give themselves more credit, give themselves more— see their worth in that. Yes, our pain and challenges and all of that is a real thing, but we've literally had to figure out some really interesting things just for living every day. And as difficult as business is, it has its thing. I'm like, it's not as hard as trying to survive in a world that's not intended for 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 skills that you— just don't discount anything. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I totally agree with that. And I agree that like, I think it comes back to the worth and the confidence so much, right? If you look at, if you're really in the thick of your chronic illness journey and you look at the stuff you've had to go through, And then I'm sorry, you look at someone in your family that like, I would say like the boys in my family, like they could never, okay? None of them are probably hopefully gonna hear this out. Like maybe, maybe they won't, maybe they won't. But I'm just like, they wouldn't, they could never. Okay. They get a cold and they are just down for the count. And I am just like, my whole life is like having the flu and pneumonia and strep throat and like whatever, like times 1,000 every single day. And you get one little sniffle and 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're going to pay your rent and figuring out how you're going to do all that stuff. And you need to make sure that you understand your basic needs, like health insurance. I have had to pay for my own health insurance for a very long time, and I was on a medicine— I've been on a medicine for 20 years that's $5,000 a month without health insurance. And I'm sure saying things that most people who are listening can relate to. And so I knew that I had to pay for the more expensive health insurance. I couldn't just get like the run-of-the-mill, oh, it doesn't matter health insurance. And that's usually now it's like almost $800 a month. And that's not with rent, right? That's just like $800 a month. And, and that doesn't cover like the copays for all my doctors, like the supplements, like the— it's just so many things.. And so, yeah, so I just kind of knew from the moment I became an entrepreneur, okay, you've got to make sure you, you, you got to figure this part out. So knowing those kinds of things is also empowering, I think.

Yeah. It's, it's, it's, and that's a skill too, right? Knowing the health insurance piece. A lot of, a lot of people I talk to about this, that is one of the biggest things that holds them back.

Yeah.

In starting a business is the insurance. And that's legit a real thing. It is expensive.

Yeah.

And if you have the opportunity to be working full-time or part-timer and has insurance, that's— I always— if that's an opportunity for you to have and it doesn't like jack you up or anything, like, go ahead, opt into that. But also, in the States, here in the United States at least, we have some options. Yeah, $800 a month it's not cheap.

It's not.

But if you incorporate it into like your expenses of life, this is no different than a 9-to-5. We, we, we are still paying for our insurance in our 9-to-5. I think it's a mindset shift a lot of us have to have. Even with my husband, like, we always joke around when he, when he has salary and I'm like, yeah, let's just go ahead and take out whatever the thought of what that amount might be because 25% of that is going to insurance. Like, literally 25% of it's going to insurance. And you're like, oh, but that's— we're not paying for that. Yes, you are. You just don't see it that way because it's coming through a job. But your business can do the same thing. And I think for those of us living 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 feel like so big they make it impossible for us to move forward. How have you found moving forward, even being like, yeah, it sucks, I have to pay $800 a month for this. And that's not even— that's just to have insurance. It's not even like you said, the other things that happen with that. But it doesn't mean like, how have you made it not mean, well, I'm not enough. The fact that I have to pay this much, I'm not enough that I'm charging this much. There's a lot. There. What are your thoughts or feelings about that?

Yeah, that's so interesting. I think I understand why it's complicated. I do. I really do. I think I have always felt like specifically around the insurance part, I don't know. I think I've always felt like, oh, it's so cool that I get to do this kind of— I don't know. I don't know. That's kind of been my natural feeling around it because I think there's just been so many years of my life where I never thought I would be able to do any of this.

Yeah.

And I remember when I started my real estate job, actually, my boss was like, during my interview, and he told me that I had to like rent. I did rentals and he told me I had to rent $10,000 a month in rentals, which in New York is like 3 one-bedrooms. It's not like a lot.

It's like super cheap.

And I started crying. I started crying 'cause I was like, I have literally never even made $1,000 before. And I was like 27 years old, but I had just started walking like without severe pain, like a few months before, maybe a year before at the most. And so I don't know, I think I have that feeling about I get to do this. Like anytime I make money, I, I actually don't feel like negative about paying my bills.

Yeah.

I, I try to figure out creative ways that I can cut costs. And be smart about things and all of that. But I don't feel negative about paying my bills because I'm just like, there's like, how fortunate am I that I get to figure out how to create this life that is like the exact life that I wanna live and all of that. So I don't know, that's, I don't know if that's helpful for you, but yeah. I love that.

Yeah, it is. And then it's a challenge, I think for those of us, those of us still in that healing space of getting to that acceptance. I truly believe that has a lot to do with acceptance around your body, around living with chronic illness. If you're not— I did an episode, Nikita Williams Williams, on the phases of chronic illness that I call it. And I feel like if you're like in 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 gaslit, you're getting all this advice in that season, I was not in, I get to go wherever. I was like, I am so sick of this. But I think once we get to that kind of like awareness and like reality of this is where we are, this is where I am. And so where do I get to live my life? Where do I get to make choices that make this life easier? It's a whole different ballgame, right?

It's a whole different ballgame. I mean, that is what Kronikon is for. Because I was always like, okay, I want us to, to come together because we have stuff and we've got, we've all got something.

Yeah.

And so great. So we've all figured that out. Nice. That is liberating in and of itself to just be able to say, hey, I got something. You got something? I got something. Cool. Baseline. We're in this together, right? But I have no desire for us to stay there. I have zero desire for us to stay there. And it is clear in everything that we do in the community. I'm trying to figure out how to make it clear in our marketing, but that's a whole other thing. But I'm still working on that. But it is very clear. We talk about boundaries, we talk about relationships, we talk about like owning your dreams, following your dreams. We talk about movement. We talk about all these things that actually have nothing to do with our chronic illnesses. And we are all aware that we are have— we are coming from this place of being in this community together because we have these things that are going on with our bodies. But it's not actually about steeping yourself in your illness all the time. My illness is making it very clear when it needs my attention. I don't need to give it extra attention when I'm feeling okay. I'm feeling okay. And that's such a blessing. So I just feel like that is, I think, the future of this conversation and these conversations that both of us are having is, okay, cool, we came together because 'cause we know we both have these things and we're, we're dealing with our bodies in a pretty significant way. But then, then what? Are we just gonna just be in our pain together?

Yeah.

I, I can honor your pain and I can hold you in your pain when you need that. Absolutely. You deserve that.

Mm-hmm.

And we all do. We all really do. And I do too. But I don't want you to see me as my pain.

Mm-hmm.

I don't want you to see me as my pain. No, I am so much more than my pain.

Yeah.

And I think when you get a chronic illness and you are in that newbie phase, like you said, it's all you can see. And then even your doctors, they don't see you as a person. They see you as your pain. They see you as your disease. Even your family members might see— sometimes they don't see it at all. And that's also infuriating. But we know what that's like. We know what that's like. It's just such a fine line. And that's something that we really work— I know you work on this too, of How do you honor this but then kind of go beyond it and not stay— what I say is like not stay in the disease paradigm. Yeah. Because my body, it's already told me that it's got stuff going on. I don't need to like continue to remind myself of it. So yeah.

How has entrepreneurship helped you heal?

Oh my gosh. It's actually, that's such a beautiful question. It's really healed my heart in a lot of ways, I think. Because I did not grow up well. As I mentioned, I did not have good self-esteem at all growing up. And a lot of that was also connected to my ability in school. I was not good at school at all. I do not learn in like a linear way at all. I am a very experiential learner. I'm a very visual learner. I also, I've sang my whole life and so I love to, I absorb everything like with my full body. So reading a a book, I was like, I'm sorry, what? I have to learn about wars and dates and that— I have no idea what you're talking about. I literally don't understand because I literally could not understand, right? And growing up, I just thought that I was really dumb because it's not talked about, especially in Indian culture. It's most Indian kids that I grew up around, my brother included, were just— you tell them to read 7,000 pages and they just read 7,000 pages and they write a book report. It's not a thing for them. And I was sitting there trying to read 3 pages and I like, I don't understand. And so I really thought that I was just not smart, honestly, until like my mid-30s. I was really just like convinced that I was just not smart. And entrepreneurship showed me that 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 be smart and talented my whole life, right? That healed my heart so much. Me so much to be able to see that and learn that about myself. It also helped me be more— it helped me be a lot more confident, but also to advocate for myself in a different way. Because now I'm in a meeting and people are telling me things and they're like saying like all these different words and I'm just like, sometimes I'm like, so I'm a, I'm not a linear learner. I need you to tell me this in a way where I can see it in a photo or see it in a picture in my head because I don't understand what you're saying. And that level of like self-awareness and confidence is actually so healing and beautiful, not just for me, but for the other person too. Because a lot of times you're talking to somebody who might be neurodivergent or whatever the kids are calling it these days. I don't know what it is, but you know, who just think differently and they didn't even know that they had permission to do that.

Permission.

Yes. So much permission. So that has, that has been so healing. For me. And I do think, although I go through lots of periods where I feel lost and I'm like, okay, what am I doing? I don't know what's going on because it's not linear. I do think my confidence has increased a lot because I've seen that following my heart has helped other people. And I'm just like, wow. Like, what more? I literally— that is the greatest gift gift that anyone could ever give me. Like, that I just created this thing and decided I'm gonna follow my heart and I'm gonna put myself out there. And then it ended up helping somebody, especially somebody who's living and feeling so lost with their chronic illness, and they feel like at the bottom of the barrel, and they feel like they don't have any hope. And then something from my own heart 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 feel that every day.

Yeah.

So, yeah, it's been very healing.

I love that. I love that answer. And I think that's such a good space for us to kind of like close up with having a business, being an entrepreneur. Yeah, it's, it's, it's got its bumpies, like everything else, right?

Yeah.

But the things you learn about yourself, the permission, the worth, the healing— to me, I've healed the most, like, with myself, viewing myself, the way I view myself with whatever chronic illness, trauma, like, whatever things, right? Has come from an understanding of doing that growth work that you do when you have a business that's a little different than anything else, I feel. And it's beautiful that that's what you've found as well. It's beautiful.

Thank you. Yeah, it, it, it requires something of you.

Yeah.

And it's, are you gonna show up for that? And sometimes it's not always a negative thing if you're like, no, I'm not, I'm not ready to show up for that. I'm I don't feel capable. I don't feel excited to show up for that. Whatever it is, that's also okay. I, yeah, I've had to honor that in myself too. Like sometimes people will give me business advice, they'll be like, oh, you should just do this thing. Or what if you just did it this way? And it, everything in my body is, I'm not ready to do that. It doesn't feel true for me.

Yeah.

And that's okay. That's okay too. But yes, it requires something of you that you have to be ready to, to give over to it.

Yeah. Yeah. I love it. So what are you excited about coming up with you and your business?

I am very excited that ChronicCon is going on tour this fall. I can't even believe it, to be honest with you. It's gonna be really special. It's gonna be in October. And right now we are looking to go to San Francisco and LA and then do a finale in New York with a lot more tour spots. Lots being added for the spring and fall of 2025. I'm trying to— this is what I mean, I'm trying to pace myself. When I first announced the tour, I was like, I'm gonna go to 6 cities, it's gonna be great, we're gonna have so much fun. And then I started looking at everything and I was like, oh, I will have like negative 1,000 spoons by the time. Yeah, I was like, okay girl, you can do 3 cities, it'll still be great, and then you can add more for next year. So I'm really, really excited about the tour. I think it's gonna be so fun and I can't wait to meet people and just give them hugs and it's going to be special, I think.

Yeah, I was excited. Is this going to be a little different? So this is different than the Chronicon event we had last year, which is crazy that that was last year. It feels like it just happened. I know, but literally, technically it happened a year and a couple of months ago.

Yeah, it's been a minute. I know it does not feel that way, but yes, it's going to be different in the sense that they're going to be more intimate. So instead of having hundreds of people, we'll probably have 50 people and it'll be an evening most likely. So maybe from 6 to 9 or 5 to 8 or something like that. Almost like the vibe of a networking event that you would go to, but one where you love everyone and everyone is so sweet and cool and open and all of that. And then we'll most likely have one panel and one keynote interview per event. So there will be some programming and content. But the reason why I wanted to do it this way is because one of the biggest things that people told me about the Chronicon last year was like, they really felt like there were so many amazing people in the audience and they didn't get a chance to connect to people as much. And I think that's such a huge part of what people want. Like, they want to be able to talk 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 lot of that going on, which I'm really excited about. I think that's going to be so enriching for everyone.

Yeah. Well, any event that Nidhika puts on, y'all, is like amazing. I cannot tell you, like, I still think about the ChronicCon last year and I think I cry about it every now and then. I think I cried about it like 2 months ago because I got the like memories on Instagram or something. That's whatever. And I was like, oh my God, I miss that. That was so wonderful. It was so beautiful. But anyway, it was, it was wonderful. So you guys, I'll have everything like how you can connect with Nidhika in the show notes. But thank you so much for being here.

Thanks, I appreciate you. Always a pleasure.

That's a wrap for this episode of Business with Chronic Illness.

If you would like to start and grow an online coaching business with me, head to the show notes to click a link to book a sales call and learn how to make money with chronic illness. You can also check out our website at www.craftedtothrive.com for this episode's show notes and join our email to get exclusive content where I coach you on how to chronically grow a profitable business while living with chronic illness. Until next time, remember, yes, you are crafted to thrive.