Virtual assistant agency owner Stephanie Boyle shares how living with multiple sclerosis reshaped her work, motherhood, and mindset. We dig into boundaries without guilt, pacing work with alarms and self-check questions, co-parenting through flares, and starting a business small (on your body’s timeline). This one’s a masterclass in honoring limits without losing your ambition.

• The schedule that listens: using alarms and self-check prompts to pace work with MS
• Boundaries that stick (and why “no” often becomes a better “yes” later)
• Recovering people-pleasing: serving well without self-abandonment
• Parenting in a flare: resilience, honest language with kids, and asking for help
• Building a values-first business: starting with one client and growing sustainably
• Finding your people: support systems that celebrate your “no”
• Faith as a trust fall—releasing what you can’t control

Highlights & Takeaways

• “If I don’t take care of myself, I can’t please others.”
• Set expectations early: deadlines met, but on a spoon-friendly schedule.
• When guilt creeps in, remember a past boundary you kept—and how light you felt afterward.
• Compare less. Chronic illnesses—and capacities—are different in every body.
• Start small in business. Five hours a week can become forty.
• Choose community that congratulates your boundaries.

• “My faith is a trust fall. I’m trusting God will catch me.” — Stephanie Boyle
• “Hustle culture won’t get you there faster when your body needs slow.” — April Aramanda

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