Who Am I Well-Rested? I Don't Know Her But I'm About To.

A lot of us are walking around wounded and we need to get off the battlefield. But a lot depends on us. So we don’t think we have the option to.

Running a business as a Black woman these last five years has wounded me. Like, truly. I’ve dodged some bullets, but some definitely hit. I’ve been hit by shrapnel. And each time I just put a little bandaid on the wound and kept going because the platoon depended on me.

And now, that leg that has been hit many times is gushing blood and is hanging off and now I’m crawling. That has been the impact of how much I’ve had to deal with in business.

People been playing in my face, and I’ve adapted and kept going. And my wounds have not even been able to turn into scars because I’ve been re-wounded before they’ve healed.

Through it all, my nervous system has suffered for it. And through it all, I’ve still maintained my ME-ness. Which, shout out to me for honoring that.

But I’m tired. I don’t have no more adapting for anybody.

In January, I hit a wall. I then decided to watch a talk I gave at Sarah Jakes Roberts’ Woman Evolve Conference back in September 2024. I do not watch my own talks because I be all uncomfortable watching myself. But something was on my heart to do it. And for the next 45 minutes, 2024 me was ministering to January 2026 me in a way that felt divine (and creepy). At some point, I forgot I was even watching myself. It’s like I went back in time to tell myself to say this so I can hear it when I really needed to. 🤯

I heard myself say:

“Sometimes you need to quit when something is no longer yours to hold. You need to quit when the assignment is expired. Because if you stay in it longer than you were supposed to, it will quit you.”

Not me dragging me. 😩😩😩

So I’m quitting my job. For at least six months. I’m stopping. No launches, no speaking engagements, no press, no email obligations. I’m stepping down. I’m getting off the battlefield. This wounded soldier isn’t going to keep going. She is stopping.

Sooo… what does that mean? I’ve broken my business down to the very minimum and taken myself out of it.

The Book Academy is staying active. I have somebody running it, and our current clients will be served. But as for me and anything else, NOPE. I am removing obligations from my plate.

My assignment for the next six months is to tend to me. To tend to little Luvvie who is exhausted.

I’ve been working since I was 15. This is the first time in my whole life I’m taking six months off working, off earning money. Because survival mode will have us thinking that’s all we can do is go, go, go, go, go.

Why are we building these big things if they’re gonna be prisons and cages for us?

I need to learn who I am when I have nothing to offer.

Who am I when I’m not deep fried? I don’t know. I’m about to find out.

I’ve never met me rested. I’m about to meet her.

The only thing I feel called and compelled to do is write. That is where my energy is. I’m not doing nothing else. And even the writing, it is only what I feel like doing. Nothing on a schedule. Even this newsletter is about to stop being on a schedule. Y’all will hear from me when you hear from me, strictly because it is from a place of energy.

If y'all see me writing A LOT, it's because quitting my job (yes, I know I own the company) has given me space to actually do the thing I'm GIFTED at. The thing I LOVE the most. I'm giving myself the space to write as much or as little as I want to or are being called to during my leave of absence. In fact, I am really excited at the thought that I'd write A LOT because I've really missed that part of the purpose work. I've been too busy running the company to do the thing that I am so uniquely gifted at.

Ultimately, I’m giving myself the freedom to be open for what God has for me. I’m leaving room for God to God. I’m leaving room for me to be blown away in the best way. I’m leaving room for rest and play. I want my creativity to come back to life. 💫 💫 💫

Sooo… consider this my out of office announcement. I’m officially out of office.

Keep me in your prayers that this is a divine rejunevation.

P.S. Have you ever taken a leave of absence like this? Tell me how it was for you. What did you do? How did it feel? How long was it? Tell me the things.

P.P.S. If you want to hear the talk that helped push me over that edge, all of this, the one where 2024 me ministered to January me, it’s below. 💫

P.P.P.S Since I’ll be off work, I might have more time to tell y’all how much folks been playing in my face. I got time to REALLY vent. Cuz IKYFL. 😅😅😅

People are so RAGGEDYYYYY in business. I’m snitching.