Ep85 | Ready or Not, You’re the Boss: The Money Shift From Hobbyist to CEO

Download “The 5 Simple Steps to Step Into Your Real Business Owner Era” guide: cosmicb.link/ceo-era

There comes a moment when you realize this isn't just a side hustle or creative project anymore. Your business is real, it's carrying weight, and it needs you to step up as its actual CEO. 

But here's the thing: legitimacy can feel terrifying when you've been hiding in the safety of "just winging it."

What if embracing structure doesn't kill your magic? What if it's actually the shield that protects it?

In this episode...

🪤 Why rebellion against the system can actually trap you in scarcity and keep your business small

💸The sneaky ways money limbo shows up (Venmo payments, commingled accounts, and the "I'll get organized eventually" mindset)

🌱How legitimacy doesn't snuff out your freedom – it creates the container for sustainable growth

🛣️ The rite of passage every soul-led entrepreneur faces on the road to becoming a real CEO

🪄 What shifts when you stop fearing the system and start using it to protect your magic

This episode is your permission slip to step out of the hobbyist limbo and into the CEO identity that's been calling you. You'll discover why avoiding legitimacy keeps your nervous system fried and your business fragile, and how taking those first steps toward structure actually creates the safety and sustainability you've been craving all along. 

Ready or not, you're the boss – and it's time your business reflects that.

🎙️ Brought to you by Lauren Poppins Raye

Find out your Cosmic Money Style: https://cosmicb.link/quiz
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Connect with Lauren on Instagram: @laurenpoppinsraye

Transcript

0:58

The day arrives when you finally see this isn't a trial run, it's your legacy. It's not just a project, a side hustle fling, it's carrying weight, a real living thing. You thought rebellion meant staying outside, but freedom is fragile when rules are denied. Legitimacy feels like exposure and fear, yet it's the shield that keeps our magic clear. Your money can't flow if it hides in the shade. A CEO shift is the moment it's made. Imposter no more, you step into your role, the business you've built is making you whole. Ready or not, the moment is here, claim what you've built, the call is clear. Stepping into real business owner energy is less about paperwork, though that's definitely part of it too, but more about identity. It happens the moment that you stop hiding behind the hobbyist limbo and start holding your work as worthy of protection, of structure, and of legitimacy. And yeah, it can feel terrifying, but what looks like exposure is actually how you build safety, sustainability, and trust. It's a bit of a paradox that feels a little shaky or edgy when you're first moving through it, but is actually the way to the security that you're seeking through your business. In this episode, we will get into why rebellion can sometimes be a trap that keeps your business small, the sneaky ways money limbo shows up. Think just Venmo me, Cash App or just one more year of commingled accounts. I'll get my shit together eventually. How legitimacy doesn't kill your magic, it actually shields it. The rite of passage every soul led entrepreneur faces on the road to legit CEO. And what shifts when you stop fearing the system and start using it as a container to your freedom. This episode was partly inspired by something a client shared with me inside Cosmic Currency as she faced leaning into learning what it actually means to be a real business, how it works in this world, financially, to steward one, and learning what that actually means. What it is going to require of her and how it is actually putting her business out into the world in a real way to do so. Upon being faced with this threshold, this rite of passage, that she is absolutely ready to cross, she actually felt dread because she was realizing that she's actually building something real, and that taking this step is going from what to her felt like a protective bubble and pushing it out into the world, and that she needed to be the one to steward it. Unlike when she was an employee and it was done for her, really seeing and accepting the responsibility that is hers as the CEO, as the boss of her business. This is something that was all too familiar for me to witness as a tax preparer with my clients. Obviously, filing taxes being another version of the steps that we take to legitimate our business and the kind of gut punch reaction, that some people would get, recognizing that the gravity of that they are, were taking that step to not just dabbling anymore, not just charging by donation or kind of making it up reactively as they went along. But actually, intentionally moving toward the structure, the compliance, the responsibilities in their court to actually steward their business as a real deal thing. Honestly, it was an honor to witness and support my clients to go through this, and still is because of the incredible rite of passage that that is. Rites of passage are often in parallel with certain maturation processes, things that we all go through to get to those more evolved versions of us in our development and when it comes to being a self-employed earner there often is this rite of passage, this threshold at some point when you realize/decide that you are actually going to go all in. I don't do taxes anymore, but I still support clients through my signature container Cosmic Currency, to hold and support this very shift where fears like this surface and are guided through to help with that transition. That is the difference between having sporadic, stressful cash flow to foundational, reliable, consistent, sustainable cash flow that can actually support you. First I want to talk about and look at the rebel trap. Which was one that was so common, especially for my tax clients, to be in before making the decision to liberate themselves from it by coming to me and filing their taxes. So I want to look at the mindset behind this. And the idea actually had some feedback recently on a piece of content about Saturn, and how his authority is there to help support us with these very rites of passage of realizing that true freedom through our businesses is only available when we actually embrace the system. But often, and rightfully so, I'm an Aquarius here, so I can 100% relate, we come from a place of not wanting to feed the system because we know what's broken with it and we don't a hundred percent back It. But the thing is, and for many soul led entrepreneurs, this feels and seems like a stance of freedom. To rebel against the system that we don't fully agree with. But the reality is that position often keeps them under-resourced and vulnerable to that very system. Ironically enough, they actually are trapped in the system itself because they don't have the means and the resources to be able to make choices, have agency and freedom in how they live their life. They're much more limited. The reframe that I want to offer around this in this episode is that the true rebellion is bringing your work into the system as it exists here and now on your terms, and finding a way to plug in your gifts, your purpose, the ways that you're here to mitigate that about the system that you don't agree with. Showing up fully, releasing the chains of those limitations. The concrete ceiling that you end up staying crouched under through your unwillingness to embrace it and allow yourself to make the money you need to, to fully focus on the passion work that's going to make a difference in this world for those that are also inside of the system. By legitimating your work in the world through your business, you are able to bring your values to life, not just your resistance. One way, practically speaking that I end up seeing people rebel or, you know, stay small, stay crouched down, is that they're charging by donation, they're selling without much strategy. There's a certain fear of being found out that comes with not being legitimate, that keeps people from using platforms and avenues that would make them more visible and bring more success to their business and make it so that they can have a bigger impact through their work. That often looks like just charging through like Venmo or PayPal or Cash App. Instead of creating an actual merchant gateway that's going to be tracked and taxed, or just moving money around without having a clear strategy or structure. What this does is it creates a kind of energetic limbo. It often keeps people, and maybe you can relate with this, stuck in a chaotic or reactive space with money where you're not able to actually build toward the future or the lifestyle that you want. You're kind of stuck in the right here, right now, making ends meet, again just moving stuff around to make it work. But your business never fully becomes real or sustainable or something that can actually support you. No matter how much revenue flows in, because it's not actually about what's coming in, it's about what you're profiting. What's left over and available for you to invest in other things. If you are not legit with your business, you're probably also not keeping records. You don't have the analytics, the information, the awareness to be able to be strategic in that way where the money that you're making can actually fund what matters to you. Of course the other side effect of being this way with money is what it does to your nervous system. It causes you to always be on guard, always worried that you're going to have to scramble to figure something out. When your business entity itself isn't separate and structured and contained, there's energetic leakiness that comes with that too. Your body can't trust your business, your relationship with money as something that's safe, and ultimately you can't trust yourself as the one person that should be responsible for this for you. Now I want to circle back to my client's story that I shared at the beginning of this episode and her gut punch moment of feeling exposed and moving in the direction of, not even yet making moves toward deeper legitimacy, but just learning what that entails felt confronting and made her feel like she was giving up the safety or protection in that bubble that she had been holding her business in, safe from the world. But in reality, it's actually the legitimacy itself that is the shield and is the protection. If nothing else, then for your nervous system. I can share that as a tax preparer, I saw the clients who actually had systems and structures in place, they slept better. Obviously I didn't see them sleep, but they came at me calmer during tax season. I would see my clients once a year at that time, and it was the people who were stuck in that trap of avoidance, until they came to me each year, that would come just stressed and frazzled, not even sure if they were going to be able to pull it off in time and just nervous system fried. Whereas, the handful of clients that I had at that time, that did have systems in place and that were ready to meet the task of filing their taxes and do that work together, they were more creative, they were more chill, and they had a palpable sense of safety with their relationship to money than those that were just winging it, and that was really clear. When my client shared this story with me, it made me think of almost every kid's movie, right? Where it has this similar plot line of the main character hero that has that pure innocent dream or vision or whatever it is. Then it meets the larger world, and whatever those forces manifest are, whatever the antagonist or in the case of the children's story, the bad guy is that tries to keep them from bringing it to the world or letting it live to see the light of day and grow and evolve and them to be able to become the steward of the hero on the other side of actualizing whatever that dream or vision is. You know, the storyline, right? Because on the other side of that, it's real, it's a real thing and it ends up developing the strength and the endurance to be able to withstand the pressure of the antagonist, the main character is better for it. The vision, whatever it is they brought to the world is better for it and finds its place where it can actually serve its purpose and help the people that it's meant to. The willingness to put yourself out there on the world stage by legitimating your business is the step that actually enables it to grow and evolve, to protect it from collapse, to future-proof it, to make it sustainable and able to stay the course and make the long game possible. If you're listening right now and realizing like, yep, yep, yep, this is totally me that she's talking about right now. Half in, half out, exhausted by the limbo of whatever your version of not quite a real business is. First of all, you are not alone, and this is almost like a prerequisite to get where you want to be with money or to be like those that you look up to that are business owners. But if you have taken nothing else to heart, I hope you're hearing that avoiding legitimacy does not actually protect you. It's keeping you from the place that you want to be, and it's keeping your business fragile. It's keeping your nervous system drained, the financial chaos, and that constant, I mentioned before, fear of being found out. All of that is so much heavier than the act of simply stepping in, that changes everything. Now, I want you to imagine the opposite. Imagine feeling grounded, protected, and actually proud of what you're building, and able to be visible in that version of you, knowing that you, once upon a time and hopefully upon hearing this episode, took those first steps to become a real CEO. That honestly is the identity shift that changes everything, the logistics fall into place. To help you make this tangible, to help you take these first steps, I put together a new free guide, called The Five Simple Steps to Step Into Your Real Business Owner Era. These are quick wins, they're easy, they will cost you nothing. They are small symbolic moves that really anchor this shift that we're talking about and give you the momentum now that you need to get where you want to be with money, you can go grab that free guide at cosmicb.link/ceo-era. The other thing I really hope you take away from this episode is to normalize whatever the not so great feelings you have around this are. If you feel fear when it comes to taking some of these steps that I'm talking about, of leaning in this direction of the identity shift that is calling you as a business owner to support you on the path of actualizing your purpose and be able to make the impact that you are destined to I believe, is every soul led entrepreneur faces this moment. It's the truth and it's real. It's not something that the most successful ones probably still talk about, but it definitely happened. I also want you to know that if you're feeling a similar dread to my client, who by the way is also just as equal parts excited and'tis the case when the time has come, when it is your time to answer the call and take the steps needed to put this rite of passage in motion. You're going to feel both. You're going to feel some fear, some dread, some reservation, but you're also going to feel the excitement, the pull, the call, and that's how you know it's right timing. Honestly, the dread side of it is actually proof that you care and that you are finally seeing your work as something worth protecting and worth making this shift, this transformation for. Also, I want to remind you, it is not about doing everything at once. This choice is not a switch that you flip or something that you just do quickly and it's over. It really is a choice to commit to being in the game for real and going on the quest, walking the path, embracing the journey of all of the different things that that entails along the way. Now I want to return to that paradox that I framed earlier on, that plugging into the system initially seems or feels like a loss of freedom. Often that's what keeps alternative, creative, soul led people from embracing it, but it actually creates the sustainability and the sovereignty that you are craving through the vehicle of your self-employed business. I want to double down on this reframe today, structure does not end your flow. It doesn't snub out your magic. It actually holds it and creates the container to support its growth, its evolution, its emergence into the world and to the people that need it and need you. I hope that this episode feels like something that's wrapping you in the encouragement, the safety, the willingness to pursue legitimacy in your business, in whatever ways you may have been resisting or avoiding that, as an act of devotion to your work, to your magic, and to the people that your work is meant to serve. So if you've been holding back, if you've been half in and half out, let this be a reminder that stepping into legitimacy, besides just getting on Saturn's good side, this is definitely the realm of Saturn that calls you as you near your Saturn return and far into and after it, but that ultimately it is not the end of your freedom. It's actually what makes your freedom sustainable and that your business, the vehicle for your work in the world, deserves to be protected, to be supported, to be recognized as real and to be able to get as big and powerful and impactful as it has the capacity to be. If you're ready to anchor that shift right now with simple, doable actions, don't forget to grab your free guide The Five Simple Steps to Step into Your Real Business Owner Era at cosmicb.link/ceo-era. That link is also in the show notes because ready or not, you are the boss and it's time your business reflects that.