The reality of building a business while working full-time

I started The Pet VA while working full-time as a Buyer.

For over a year, I built my business alongside my 9-5, trying to balance growing a brand, supporting clients, and showing up in my full-time role.

And here’s what nobody really tells you about that journey:

You are going to have moments where you wonder if it is all worth it.

My days looked something like this:

6am - 8am: VA work before my full-time job
8:30am - 5pm: Working as a Buyer
5pm onwards: Back to building my business

It was exhausting.

There were days where I felt like I was constantly running from one thing to the next, with very little time to switch off.

But the goal of running my business full-time gave me the motivation to keep going.

I had a vision for what I wanted to build, and I knew I wasn’t willing to give up on it.

That doesn’t mean I never questioned myself.

There were plenty of moments where I thought:

“Is this actually going to work?”
“What am I doing?”
“Am I crazy for trying to do both?”

Then I reached one of the lowest points of my life.

And honestly, it would have been easy to walk away.

But instead of seeing it as the end of my journey, it became the moment I realised something important.

I had been putting everything into building my business, but I wasn’t putting enough into building myself.

And that shift changed everything.

Because your business is only as strong as the person behind it. You are the foundation.

When you focus on growing your confidence, your mindset, and your ability to show up consistently, everything else starts to follow.

That is what helped me get to where I am today, running my business full-time and supporting brands with the work I genuinely love.

Building a business isn’t always the easy path, but the lessons you learn along the way are often what make you stronger.

And sometimes the thing that feels like it is breaking you is actually the thing that pushes you into your next chapter.