Episode 195

Why You’re Tired Before You Even Start

Published on: 18th April, 2025

In this episode of Business with Chronic Illness, I’m unpacking the unseen, unspoken emotional workload that so many of us carry before we ever open our laptops or talk to a client. From managing symptoms in silence, to performing “fine” for others, to overthinking how we’re perceived — this episode is about the labor that never makes it on our to-do list, but deeply impacts every part of how we run our businesses.

I’ll share personal stories, client moments, and the powerful mindset shifts that have helped my clients reclaim their capacity, set true boundaries, and build businesses that actually honor their health — not compete with it.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Why your emotional labor counts (even if you don't see it, if no one else sees it)
  • How the invisible cost of “being fine” shows up in pricing, planning, and perfectionism
  • The real reason you’re tired — and why it’s not your fault
  • A simple question to help you design your business around your actual capacity
  • How to build in space for recovery, without guilt or shame

🔗 Resources & Next Steps:

  • Research mentioned in this episode - https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6430278/
  • 🎧 Listen to more episodes of Business with Chronic Illness
  • 💬 DM me the word GENTLE or Thrive on Instagram to learn about Chronically You & Profitable — my program for building a sustainable coaching business with chronic illness.

✨ I use HoneyBook to simplify client onboarding, automate my calendar, and keep my business flowing—even on low-energy days. Check it out here to save 50%.

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Subscribe HERE to Chronically Profitable, A free exclusive weekly email series designed for creatives and women with chronic illnesses. You'll learn how to make a liveable income with your hobbies, professional skills, and innate talents by building a successful online coaching business with simple strategies that work for you, even on flare days, and feel better living with chronic illness.

To Start and Grow A Coaching or Service-Based Business with Chronic Illness, Book A Free Sales Call With Nikita Here.

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About the Podcast

Business With Chronic Illness: Women Entrepreneurs Navigating Burnout & Autoimmune Conditions
Conversations with entrepreneurs building businesses while living with chronic illness and autoimmune conditions.
Building a business as a woman entrepreneur with chronic illness comes with realities that most business advice never addresses — burnout, unpredictable energy, and the need to put health first while still wanting meaningful growth.
Business With Chronic Illness is a globally ranked podcast featuring honest conversations with chronic illness entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs navigating business growth while living with chronic illness and autoimmune conditions. Through real stories and practical insight, the show explores how people build businesses that are sustainable, simple, and aligned with their health, not at the expense of it.

Each episode centers on conversations rooted in real experience, covering:
- Health-First Business Growth: growing at a pace that honors your body
- Burnout & Capacity: navigating energy, flare-ups, and rest without guilt
- Simple & Sustainable Business: stripping away unnecessary complexity
- Success Stories: real people redefining what success looks like with chronic illness

This podcast is for entrepreneurs and founders who are:
- Living with chronic illness or autoimmune disease
- Burned out from hustle culture or one-size-fits-all business advice
- Building, growing, or reimagining a business that must work with real life
- Looking for stories and strategies that feel honest, grounding, and possible

Expect thoughtful, grounded conversations, not hype. This is a space for nuance in strategies and execution, for reflection and learning through real stories, not for pressure or performative success.

About the Host
Hosted by Nikita Williams, a globally ranked podcast host, award-winning business coach, and speaker who has built a six-figure business while navigating endometriosis, Hashimoto's, fibromyalgia, and chronic pain. Nikita brings lived experience, deep listening, and a health-first perspective to conversations that are often missing from the business world.
The show has featured respected founders and thought leaders such as Jasmine Star, Danielle Bayard Jackson, Nitika Chopra, Courtney Elmer, Natasha Samuel, and Kinsey Soderberg, alongside entrepreneurs navigating business with chronic illness in real time.

This podcast doesn't offer one-size-fits-all strategies or hustle narratives. Instead, it creates space for lived experience and multiple ways of defining success when the priority is to put your health first now, not later.

- Listen & Connect: Follow Business With Chronic Illness to hear new conversations each month, and join the extended community through reflections and discussions connected to the show, at Built to Breathe on Substack.
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About your host

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Nikita Williams

Welcome to Business with Chronic Illness — the podcast for women who are building big dreams with limited energy.
I’m Nikita Williams, and I know what it’s like to be living in pain, carrying a diagnosis (or several), and still wanting more — more purpose, more income, more alignment, more ease. After leaving behind a traditional path and navigating the emotional rollercoaster of chronic illness, I decided to rewrite the rules of success. And now? I help other women do the same.
Here, we have honest conversations about what it really takes to build a sustainable, profitable business when your health is unpredictable. No hustle culture. No toxic positivity. Just powerful stories, practical strategies, and mindset shifts that work — even on flare days.
You’ll hear from guests who get it, solo episodes from my heart to yours, and insights I’ve learned coaching dozens of women through launching and growing their dream businesses — on their terms.
Because business is personal. And when you build it that way, it not only becomes easier… it becomes life-giving.
💬 Tune in, take what you need, and know this: You Are Crafted To Thrive.