I approach life with integrity! I treat everyone with honesty, respect and fairness.

As a military brat Michelle Etheridge grew up with structure being the main lesson she learned to be an adult. She worked corporate jobs most of her life. In 2022 quit her corporate job of 9 years to work full-time for Ballyhoo Digital (co-own with her husband) as a Business Development Manager and Marketing Manager. In 2023 she started Ballyhoo Design and Print to complete the marketing circle for their clients.

“As scared as I was the day I quit, literally out of the blue – it has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The freedom and flexibility of being my own boss is amazing! Since I don’t have to account for my time I can attend as many networking meetings I want, lunch with people, take off whenever I feel like it and, in all honesty, I get more work done than when I was tied to a schedule.
Now everything I do directly contributes to my own success and not someone else’s pocketbook. I find it rewarding to see the results of the work I put in knowing it was all me.”

Person Growth

Working for herself has opened up many opportunities of growth both personal and professional. “I have learned a lot of new skills, challenged myself to do things I didn’t think I was capable of, and expanded my community and professional relationships.
Most importantly I make sure the work I do aligns with my own values and passions. I can turn down clients, choose projects that I want to work on and with who I want to collaborate with. It gives me so much joy to have that autonomy”.

Like most escapees from the 9 to 5, the sense of fulfillment, freedom, and personal growth that come with quitting a full-time corporate job to work for herself far outweigh any of those obstacles. Michelle is grateful every day for the opportunity to live life on her own terms. She is pursuing a career that truly lights her up from within.

Getting Off the Hamster Wheel

Like many of us, Michelle’s husband read Tim Ferris’s book ‘The 4 Hour Workweek’ . He has implemented a lot of that into his life. He hasn’t achieved the 4 hour mark (few people have), but he also has moved away from 40 hours. Michelle is working in that direction as well. She is a fan of Nataly Kogan’s ‘The Awesome Human Project’ and has told every woman she knows about it. Understanding that work doesn’t have to control you is so important.

Michelle has been able to help her grown children with so many things they struggled finding time for in their work schedule. She moved her daughter from one apartment to another while she worked. Michelle has also been able to be at every house showing for her son . This includes open the house for appraisers, inspectors and such because he and his wife had to work. “I love that I am able to just go to my mom’s house and visit or help her with things whenever she needs it. Being there for family has been the biggest blessing of leaving the corporate world.”

Escaping the 9 to 5

Michelle thinks before anyone decides to leave a paid job and start something on their own, they should have a good understanding of how disciplined they are. She comes from a military family background so she is organized, structured and disciplined to get work done and ignore distractions. “A lot of people think it is easier than it is to make sure you have the discipline to work without supervision. I think not understanding how much harder you have to work to make sure there is a steady stream of income coming in is my biggest mistake.”

She is still working on getting Ballyhoo Design and Print off the ground. Michelle wants it to work for itself as a steady stream of income. She also has an event business (Elevated Ballyhoo) that she is putting off until she is ready to put everything, she has into it.

See what she is up to at: https://ballyhoodigital.com/