There’s a moment every woman knows too well.
A moment that sits in the chest like a weight and whispers loudly in the mind:
“Oh boy… what do I do?”
I’ve had that moment more times than I can count.
But if I look back, one season in my life captures it perfectly.
It was 2010.
I had just given birth to my youngest son, Gabriel.
My oldest, Tristan, was 15 and battling the terrifying migraines that would send us to the hospital overnight — week after week — for intravenous treatments. My husband was a truck driver, gone from Sunday night to Friday evening. And I was home with a newborn, a teenager, a household to run… and an idea that I couldn’t ignore.
A business.
A dream.
A possibility.
A future I wanted to build for myself and my children.
And every time I took another step, the same question came back:
“Oh boy… what do I do?”
The Dream That Started in a Nursery
It began with a vision:
Designer nurseries — full rooms created with furniture that grew with the child, décor, lighting, linens, art, clothing, toys… a full experience.
I researched.
I wrote a business plan.
I studied the market.
I met suppliers — with a newborn at my breast.
Yes, I took supplier calls while breastfeeding, because I wanted to sound like a “serious entrepreneur,” not a tired mom.
Because women are conditioned to hide motherhood to be perceived as competent.
And that alone is an “Oh boy… what do I do?” moment women understand.
But one supplier wouldn’t give me pricing.
Six months passed.
I couldn’t finish my financial projections without it.
I couldn’t move forward.
I couldn’t validate the viability.
I had to choose.
And choosing, when you’re unsure, tired, and financially responsible for two children?
That’s when the fear speaks loudest.
The Pivot — and the Hustle
So I pivoted.
I split the idea in half and created something new:
Coeur en Fête, a boutique offering gifts and party supplies.
The web developer took six months to deliver nothing more than an empty shell of a website.
So I did what women do when the world falls short:
I figured it out myself.
In one month, I created 10,000 products.
I built a bilingual store.
I learned SEO before SEO was a buzzword.
I marketed on Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Yelp before “social media manager” was a career.
And one week after launching, my first order came from the US.
Then Europe.
My marketing worked.
My writing worked.
My intuition worked.
But financially?
It wasn’t enough.
Shipping costs in Canada crushed margins.
The blog I added in year two got more views than the store.
And in 2013, exhausted and heartbroken, I shut it down.
I cried.
I doubted myself.
I wondered if I had made a mistake.
And again, the question returned:
“Oh boy… what do I do?”
The Moment That Changed Everything
One day, my husband came home early, looked at me — tired, frustrated, full of knowledge I wasn’t being paid for — and said:
“Why in the hell are you not being paid for your knowledge?
Shut the hell up!”
It was blunt.
It was jarring.
It was the truth.
Because while I was struggling financially, my work was MAKING money for others.
Suppliers called me because I was selling more of their products than their own distributors.
My marketing was ahead of its time.
My strategies were working.
I was doing, in 2013, what influencers teach in 2025.
And I wasn’t charging a cent for my genius.
That moment wasn’t gentle.
But it was the truth I needed.
From Chaos to Reinvention
That truth sent me to Québec City for an entrepreneurial event.
I prepared a talk about digital marketing before people believed in social media.
And from that, a new business emerged:
Ordre vs Désordre,
half home-organization,
half business and marketing consulting,
all heart.
I customized everything for each client.
It was long.
It was intense.
It was another reinvention.
Another moment where I stood in front of myself and whispered:
“Oh boy… what do I do?”
Motherhood, Money, and the Myth of Balance
Let’s be honest.
Building a business when you’re a mother is not “balanced.”
It is survival.
It is heart.
It is guilt.
It is power.
It is exhaustion.
It is purpose.
It is love.
It is:
- taking phone calls with a baby on your breast
- writing emails while timing contractions
- running a household alone during long work trips
- managing medical emergencies without sleep
- launching a business at 2am because that’s the only quiet moment
- smiling through fear
- choosing hope
- trying again
- and again
- and again
Women think they need to be millionaires to talk about money.
But that’s not true.
We need women who’ve lived through real financial pressure.
Women who’ve rebuilt themselves.
Women who’ve had to decide between risk and responsibility.
Women who’ve asked:
“Oh boy… what do I do?”
…and then did something anyway.
The Real Lesson in All of This
Financial empowerment isn’t about perfection.
It’s not about becoming rich overnight.
It’s not about retiring your husband, paying off the mortgage, or traveling the world (although yes, that would be lovely).
It’s about:
- courage
- clarity
- self-trust
- resilience
- women making decisions even when afraid
- progress, not perfection
The truth is this:
You don’t need to have everything figured out to move forward.
You only need to take one step.
My businesses didn’t make me a millionaire.
But they made me financially literate, resilient, resourceful, creative, strategic, and brave.
And those skills are worth far more than a perfect success story.
If You’re in Your Own “Oh Boy…” Moment, Listen to Me
You’re not failing.
You’re not behind.
You’re not doing it wrong.
You’re simply standing at the edge of your next transformation.
Money grows.
Courage grows.
Confidence grows.
Women grow.
Quietly.
Slowly.
And always right on time.
Your Turn
Have you had an “Oh boy… what do I do?” financial moment?
What did it teach you?
What small step moved you forward?
Tell me in the comments or share your story —
because women need to see each other’s courage.
