Transformation Takes As Long As It Takes

I just got home from my third Females on Fire conference, and I have to be honest—the first two were great, but this one wrecked me in the best possible way.

I cried more this week than I have in a long time. Good tears. The kind that show up when something finally clicks into place after years of quietly working toward it. And two moments from the week are still sitting with me. I’m sharing them with you, and what they taught me about transformation.

Story 1: The Grant I Never Saw Coming

I’m the “OG” of this conference. This isn’t a nickname I gave myself. It’s one lovingly given to me by the host and her husband. I’ve been there since the beginning, and I’ve been watching this room grow right alongside me. This year, Females on Fire gave out its first-ever grant. It was $500, and the recipient could put it toward whatever they needed to grow their business.

As Hayley started talking about who she’d chosen, I was fully present and genuinely happy for whoever was about to be surprised. That’s the kind of room this is. Women supporting women. And then she said, “And she’s our OG.”

It took me a second to land. But I dropped my face into my hands, and I started crying. It’s not really about the $500, though I’m leaning toward putting it toward more education or a certification. For me, it’s about what it means to be chosen. Hayley knows my goal this year is six figures. And even though I’m not there yet, I’m on track to hit it in the next year or two. And somehow, in a room full of incredible women, she looked at where I am right now and decided I was worth investing in before I’d “arrived.”

That’s huge! That’s someone saying: I see where you’re headed, and I want to help you get there faster.

Story 2: The House I Walked Into

The last session of the conference was a breathwork exercise led by Taylor Murphy—a breathwork facilitator and CPA, which is its own kind of perfect combination. She walked us through an exercise where we visualized a house.

Mine showed up clear as day, and it was incredibly specific. White siding, black shutters, a black metal roof. A tan concrete walkway leading up to a step lined in red brick. The black front door had a yellow flower wreath. Inside was dark wood floors, a robin’s-egg-blue living room with a tan couch, a fireplace, and the TV mounted above it. The white entrance hall had the stairs to my right, and straight ahead was a kitchen with white cabinets and a dark charcoal countertop.

Then Taylor asked us to step inside.

When I did, my old self stayed behind on the doorstep. My new self stepped out of her skin and walked into the house. My husband and friends were in the living room watching football, and my golden retriever was running circles around the coffee table like he owns the place.

I lost it. Full tears, no warning.

It felt like I’d been waiting for that exact moment without knowing it. My rebrand is done. The business name change is official. And that visualization was the first time it actually felt real in my body, not just on paper.

The Loop Closes

Here’s the part that gets me: three years ago, at my very first Females on Fire, I sat in a room just like that one—eyes closed, dreaming about the future—and a name came to me out of nowhere. Beachcomber Business Solutions. I didn’t know what to do with it. I just knew it meant something, so I held onto it for three years while I quietly became the person who could actually build it.

This year, in that same kind of room, I watched myself finish becoming her.

The Mindful Virtual Assistant got me here. Beachcomber Business Solutions is where the work lives now. Same person, same values, but even more room to grow into.

I’m crying even now, writing this, because it means that much.

Transformation Doesn’t Care About Your Timeline

I’ve been running my business for almost four years. And trust me, I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. Pricing things wrong, holding onto clients I should’ve let go of, and sticking with old ways of doing things longer than I needed to. But every one of those mistakes was part of the same process: becoming, slowly, instead of all at once.

It’s like I’ve been a butterfly coming out of the cocoon, and it took a while. Longer than I expected. And longer than I wanted on some days.

But if you’re in the middle of your own becoming right now, remember this: you don’t get to rush it, and you don’t owe anyone an apology for how long it’s taking. The cocoon takes as long as it takes. For me, it’s been three years for a name to turn into a brand and four years for a business to start feeling like it actually fits.

You’re not behind. You’re just not done yet—and that’s a different thing entirely.

Has something been quietly transforming in you, even if it hasn’t fully arrived yet? I’d love to hear about it—drop it in the comments.