What were the first few months of freelancing like after leaving my career in medicine?

When I left medicine two and a half years ago, I thought I knew exactly what the road ahead would look like.

While I was still working as a doctor, I was helping anyone who would let me (mainly family members and friends with businesses) set up their Notion workspaces based on best practices. I was working with two clients doing Notion builds while balancing work at the hospital, so when I left, I thought: "Great, this is it! I'm going to finally have the time to achieve my dream of being a Notion Consultant!" 

Building Notion workspaces was something I was good at, it was something I enjoyed and there was the potential to make money.

So, I set out to make my dream a reality. 

I was active on social media (mainly Twitter, as that's where everything Notion-related was happening online at the time), I started working with a business coach (who I am close friends with to this day!), created my offers and website, got on discovery calls with potential clients and applied to jobs on Upwork.

These first few months were primarily filled with a lot of experimentation, working through mental blocks with my coach and adjusting to the transition of learning to find work for myself online from scratch. 

After enough personal trial and error, I realised that although Notion consulting had potential, the project-based nature of the work wasn’t sustainable for me. On top of that, I was struggling to find a clear client niche within that space. I found myself trying to force my way into specific niches that never felt fully aligned. Eventually, I had to confront the truth: if I’m constantly forcing something to work, it’s probably not the right direction for me.

I started exploring. I followed my curiosity and tried to find something I genuinely enjoyed but that could also bring in consistent income, which is when I came across Deya on YouTube and her Digital Business Manager Bootcamp!

From the moment I saw the landing page, I intuitively knew that I found what I was searching for. It felt aligned. It sounded fun and there was no resistance within me whatsoever.

I purchased the course, and that decision changed everything for me.

I was able to finally have consistent income while doing fulfilling work that feels like play.

Looking back, the first few months weren’t linear. They were unstable, experimental, and filled with uncertainty. But that instability was feedback. It showed me what wasn’t sustainable, what felt forced, and what wasn’t truly aligned. Those early months forced me to stop chasing what could work and start searching for work that fits.