Business coach from Central Florida helping others navigate career goals

SaNFORD, Fla. - I quit! Now what?

A business coach from Central Florida is helping people all over the country to bounce back from career setbacks during the pandemic. With millions of people quitting their jobs during the great resignation, she’s helping some of them take the leap to start their own businesses, including Jo Badger from Sanford.

Badger said her journey to a new path started when she said she hit rock bottom when she got divorced in 2020.

"I still fought just to wake up every day. I didn’t know what my purpose was in the world. If I wasn’t a mom, wife of a missionary, what am I?" Badger said.

Her divorce left her with no job and no income. She got a job working in public relations at a restaurant, where she said she was overqualified and underpaid. It was working for a transition period until she got sick with COVID-19.

"When I started to go back to my job, I physically was unable to do it at that point. So I thought it was time to make the leap, so I leapt," Badger said.

Badger had already been working with business coach Martha Krejci for several months leading up to start a side hustle, and she wanted to grow that even more. Krejci is the author of the book The Home-Based Revolution.

Krejci quit her corporate job in 2016 to start a new path as a business coach. She started working with mainly stay-at-home moms but says that has changed since the pandemic.

"Now I’m starting to bring in like c suite professionals. I’m starting to bring in a lot of nurses. A lot of teachers," she said.

Krejci said she sees people moving away from corporate jobs for a number of reasons. She said people are burnt out, wanting more time at home with more flexible schedules, and wanting to work for themselves rather than a company.

Badger quit her job at the restaurant last August and is now working for herself. She runs an online coaching group for other women going through major life changes, develops courses and curricula for those women to help them also branch off on their own, and runs a support group for online dating.

As far as finances, Badger said, "We’re at the baby stages of that, but I’m self-sufficient. I have an office. I pay for my car. I downsized enough, so I could manage what I have while I scale. But I’m so excited about the next couple of years."

Six months into her job change, Badger said she’s never been happier. Her job change does come with some challenges, like no longer having health insurance through work. That’s something Badger said she’s willing to deal with as it comes, especially because she feels the job change is creating an overall healthier version of herself.

"That ‘what now?’ that you’re asking, that "what now" can be so dark. And to not wake up in darkness is already just a huge win," she said.

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