If you Haven’t Heard Yet… Why Did He Quit His Job?
We have officially pulled the trigger and left corporate America. Zachary worked for a wonderful company for many years, which treated him well and paid most of the bills. However, 6 years ago when we dove into this life, we had the goal of leaving the rat race and retiring/being self-employed. The decision did not come lightly, and we had many sleepless nights over the past year. For about a year total, we prayed, talked, planned, and ran the numbers until we were blue in the face. It got to the point many times where we almost went for it, and then backed out. After backing out about 5 times, we decided it was now or never, and the time would never be more right. That’s the thing about these kinds of decisions, you can prepare all you want, but it’s ultimately about taking the leap of faith and going for it. Once you go for it, it’s time to put the pedal to the metal and make it work, regardless of what happens.
Since we made the announcement, there have been so many questions. I wanted to write this blog to address the most important ones while creating a space in the comments for new questions. This isn’t the kind of success story or secret we want to keep to ourselves. We are doing this in hopes of paving the way for others to make the same decisions.
Why Did He Quit a 6-Figure, Work From Home Job?
That would be the first question I would ask someone in our position, and it’s one we have gotten quite a bit. Zach started at his previous job going into the office 5 days a week. It was extremely inconvenient for the type of life we were living. We were semi-off-grid and had two very young kids. If you didn’t stay on top of the chores, they quickly got out of hand. Thankfully, we were able to move to a hybrid situation a couple of years later. He would go to work most days but have 1 or 2 work-from-home days. Then when COVID hit, he became fully working from home. That became a huge blessing. When we moved here to our new property he carried the work-from-home title with him but we had hoped it wouldn’t be much longer. Being on a farm and raising a family in this home-based life, and trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, takes a lot of time and focus. We were already trying to grow our social media and Etsy business, having faith that it would be able to support us one day.
Once those businesses became bigger and more profitable, we hired employees to help out with the workload. But ultimately, in order for one side to succeed, the other had to give in. We couldn’t keep doing it all, because neither one was getting enough growth. With this being the end goal, we made the choice. Not a light choice. It was very heavy and highly considered. But with the income we have built with social media and Etsy, and now the extra time to focus on it, we believe it can become the sole income for our family. It may sound like a complete risk and illogical to some, but to us, it’s worth going out on a limb for.
Welcome to Our Farm
What is the Income Plan?
This is our most asked question since announcing our journey. What do we do to make money? What’s the plan to pay the bills? Are we debt free? How much can you actually make?
First off, we are not debt free. That would be wonderful. We were debt free before we had to move to this property, but that was an unforeseen circumstance we were propelled into. However, we have paid off quite a bit. We still have a ways to go, but we will get there. Should you be debt free if you decide to take this journey? That is completely a personal decision. We didn’t find it necessary because our income is still far greater than our debt.
Our incomes are here there and everywhere, but our biggest income is from our Etsy shop. Many years ago I decided I would use my herbal knowledge and skills to create products for other families to use. It grew quickly and it has been such a blessing. From our farm, we make salves, tinctures, soaps, teas, spices, candles, skincare, wax melts, etc. We offer a wide variety of products but we started with just salves. Those salves built our business and showed people our products were organic and reliable. From there we slowly expanded and offered new things, that held the quality and promise of each product before it. Our Etsy shop is our third child and we take it very seriously to please every customer. That single-handedly builds a good business.
Next is our social media. We started YouTube about 5 years ago and quickly became monetized. Since then we have enjoyed truly sharing our lives, making friends, and receiving monetary compensation every month for the work we put into it. It isn’t backbreaking, but it IS work, and time is money. About 2 years ago, we decided it was time to try and monetize our Stivers Homestead Facebook page as well. That took a lot of time and effort, but it finally became a reality, and now we have that income as well. The most recent social media we are dabbling in is Instagram. Instagram will pay you for reels if you can get your views up there. The way to gain that is consistency. All social media presence is about consistency. You can’t give up when there isn’t any money coming in. You have to keep going, because eventually, your efforts will pay off. Most people get caught up in the amount of time versus zero income, and they don’t see it through to fruition.
Another income for us is collaborations and brand partnerships. Once brands realize you are reliable and a consistent face to work with, you will have offers to partner and monetize with them. It may not be as much as the other incomes, but every little bit adds up.
We Are Rooting For You
From the beginning, we have shared all of our journeys in hopes that for anyone wanting to follow, we could be your inspiration. We share the good and the bad because it’s not all positive and sometimes you need to see someone else struggle to remind yourself you need some grace. There is room for everyone in this journey and we truly hope you will step out and follow your dream if it’s similar to ours. It takes a lot of time, effort, hard work, and sacrifice, but if you stick with it for years, you can be in the same position. There is the possibility of self-employment and income from this life. We know there are probably more questions, and we are here to answer them.
Leave them below or shoot us an email at stivershomestead@gmail.com
We love to hear from you - And we are rooting for you, too!
With Love,
Jenn and Zach
'Til The Next One!
We have officially pulled the trigger and left corporate America. Zachary worked for a wonderful company for many years, which treated him well and paid most of the bills. However, 6 years ago when we dove into this life, we had the goal of leaving the rat race and retiring/being self-employed. The decision did not come lightly, and we had many sleepless nights over the past year. For about a year total, we prayed, talked, planned, and ran the numbers until we were blue in the face. It got to the point many times where we almost went for it, and then backed out. After backing out about 5 times, we decided it was now or never, and the time would never be more right. That’s the thing about these kinds of decisions, you can prepare all you want, but it’s ultimately about taking the leap of faith and going for it. Once you go for it, it’s time to put the pedal to the metal and make it work, regardless of what happens.
Since we made the announcement, there have been so many questions. I wanted to write this blog to address the most important ones while creating a space in the comments for new questions. This isn’t the kind of success story or secret we want to keep to ourselves. We are doing this in hopes of paving the way for others to make the same decisions.
Why Did He Quit a 6-Figure, Work From Home Job?
That would be the first question I would ask someone in our position, and it’s one we have gotten quite a bit. Zach started at his previous job going into the office 5 days a week. It was extremely inconvenient for the type of life we were living. We were semi-off-grid and had two very young kids. If you didn’t stay on top of the chores, they quickly got out of hand. Thankfully, we were able to move to a hybrid situation a couple of years later. He would go to work most days but have 1 or 2 work-from-home days. Then when COVID hit, he became fully working from home. That became a huge blessing. When we moved here to our new property he carried the work-from-home title with him but we had hoped it wouldn’t be much longer. Being on a farm and raising a family in this home-based life, and trying to be as self-sufficient as possible, takes a lot of time and focus. We were already trying to grow our social media and Etsy business, having faith that it would be able to support us one day.
Once those businesses became bigger and more profitable, we hired employees to help out with the workload. But ultimately, in order for one side to succeed, the other had to give in. We couldn’t keep doing it all, because neither one was getting enough growth. With this being the end goal, we made the choice. Not a light choice. It was very heavy and highly considered. But with the income we have built with social media and Etsy, and now the extra time to focus on it, we believe it can become the sole income for our family. It may sound like a complete risk and illogical to some, but to us, it’s worth going out on a limb for.
What is the Income Plan?
This is our most asked question since announcing our journey. What do we do to make money? What’s the plan to pay the bills? Are we debt free? How much can you actually make?
First off, we are not debt free. That would be wonderful. We were debt free before we had to move to this property, but that was an unforeseen circumstance we were propelled into. However, we have paid off quite a bit. We still have a ways to go, but we will get there. Should you be debt free if you decide to take this journey? That is completely a personal decision. We didn’t find it necessary because our income is still far greater than our debt.
Our incomes are here there and everywhere, but our biggest income is from our Etsy shop. Many years ago I decided I would use my herbal knowledge and skills to create products for other families to use. It grew quickly and it has been such a blessing. From our farm, we make salves, tinctures, soaps, teas, spices, candles, skincare, wax melts, etc. We offer a wide variety of products but we started with just salves. Those salves built our business and showed people our products were organic and reliable. From there we slowly expanded and offered new things, that held the quality and promise of each product before it. Our Etsy shop is our third child and we take it very seriously to please every customer. That single-handedly builds a good business.
Next is our social media. We started YouTube about 5 years ago and quickly became monetized. Since then we have enjoyed truly sharing our lives, making friends, and receiving monetary compensation every month for the work we put into it. It isn’t backbreaking, but it IS work, and time is money. About 2 years ago, we decided it was time to try and monetize our Stivers Homestead Facebook page as well. That took a lot of time and effort, but it finally became a reality, and now we have that income as well. The most recent social media we are dabbling in is Instagram. Instagram will pay you for reels if you can get your views up there. The way to gain that is consistency. All social media presence is about consistency. You can’t give up when there isn’t any money coming in. You have to keep going, because eventually, your efforts will pay off. Most people get caught up in the amount of time versus zero income, and they don’t see it through to fruition.
Another income for us is collaborations and brand partnerships. Once brands realize you are reliable and a consistent face to work with, you will have offers to partner and monetize with them. It may not be as much as the other incomes, but every little bit adds up.
We Are Rooting For You
From the beginning, we have shared all of our journeys in hopes that for anyone wanting to follow, we could be your inspiration. We share the good and the bad because it’s not all positive and sometimes you need to see someone else struggle to remind yourself you need some grace. There is room for everyone in this journey and we truly hope you will step out and follow your dream if it’s similar to ours. It takes a lot of time, effort, hard work, and sacrifice, but if you stick with it for years, you can be in the same position. There is the possibility of self-employment and income from this life. We know there are probably more questions, and we are here to answer them.
Leave them below or shoot us an email at stivershomestead@gmail.com
We love to hear from you - And we are rooting for you, too!
With Love,
Jenn and Zach
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