If you grew up learning to constantly read the room, consider other people’s feelings over your own, and stay humble as a courtesy…visibility and expansion can feel complicated. I hear versions of this often: “What if I share my true, unfiltered self, and they think I’m too much? Or what if they judge me and don't take me seriously? What if I shine bright and take up more space, and people don't like me anymore? What if I raise my prices and people think I’m selfish? What if they can’t afford it?” Under the questions lives a deeper concern: belonging. For daughters of immigrants, community isn’t just nice to have, but how we’ve always stayed safe. 

There’s a particular kind of frustration that comes from sitting on your own ideas too long. You know the ones: The offer you want to launch but keep tinkering wit, the Substack you dreamt up in 2021, the YouTube channel you named in your Notes app, the album you know you're meant to release, the email and IG post sitting in your drafts. Not because you don't care. And not because you aren't capable or serious about it. The pressure to “do it right” just gets in the way of doing it at all. And now, you’re staring down the thing, the thing you know will unlock the next step towards your goals, but so many fears are still lingering:

I remember three years ago in my business, I felt like I was finally catching my stride. Momentum building, ideas flowing, growth on the horizon. And then…my body said no. I had plenty of good ideas to keep growing my business and build upon the wins, but I was so stressed out trying to figure out how I was going to implement them all. My weekly podcast episodes and newsletter slowly turned into biweekly, monthly, then a hiatus. My group coaching program was a transformative experience both for my clients and for me, and while I wanted to relaunch it for the next cohort, I felt resistance. I was on the road to burnout trying to manage it all by myself, and I felt overwhelmed and stuck. The problem wasn't the ideas, but the consistent execution. The sustainable expansion. I felt like I was spinning in circles. This is a familiar place a lot of my clients have found themselves in.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the uncomfortable in-between. The stage where the idea is clearly there, but the action hasn't taken place yet. The space between knowing what to do, and still not doing it. The frustration of having a clear vision, and feeling your body freeze each time you try to move toward it. I hear this often in my sessions: “I know I’m meant for more ease, more visibility, more abundance, but something in me keeps pulling back.” And the truth is: For many daughters of immigrants and women of color, this isn’t resistance, but protection.

Just because your loved ones are in survival mode…doesn’t mean you have to stay there too. Whether it’s your parents, your partner, or your friends, you don’t have to abandon the deep trust you hold in your vision, your creative business, and yourself.  As a first gen Korean American, eldest daughter of immigrants, and entrepreneur, I know how uncomfortable and guilt-inducing it can feel, just thinking about doing anything that goes against what our parents value. 😮‍💨 For me, I’ve always cared deeply about what my parents think. Maybe it's filial piety. Maybe it's just a very normal universal human desire to want our parents to love us and be proud of us.

Do you ever feel like if you could just be more consistent, more disciplined, more focused…then you'd finally see the progress you want in your business? Maybe you’re trying to expand your income or make your business financially viable, and you're quietly wondering if you just haven’t worked hard enough yet. But here's what's most likely happening: 👉🏼 Your nervous system is just doing its job. It’s protecting you from what it perceives as risk. Even when that “risk” is success. So, what if it’s not laziness, poor time management, or lack of willpower at all? What if it’s your body’s way of keeping you safe, just as it was trained to do? For daughters of immigrants, entrepreneurship often means stepping outside the “safe” and “respectable” path we were taught to follow. 

I used to overthink so many business decisions, especially earlier on in my entrepreneurial journey. There was a part of me that needed to make sure it was the “right” step. I needed to know that it would succeed and that I wouldn’t look like a fool. I needed to be legit, overqualified, and have it all together before taking any action. Because otherwise, that would be embarrassing. 🙈 It’s the Noona in me. 

If you’re a daughter of immigrants, creative, or entrepreneur and you know you want to grow your business or visibility, but find yourself hesitating…you’re not alone. 🫶🏼 Maybe a part of you is ready to expand, but a voice inside you is also going down a list of all the things that could go wrong…protecting you from potential failure, danger, or the possibility of being exposed, embarrassed, or judged. Maybe you’re full of amazing ideas, but you're avoiding taking action, feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to focus, and then questioning if this is even the right step. This is where Parts Work comes in.

If you're a high-achieving daughter of immigrants building your creative business, but battling waves of doubt along the way, worried about what people will think, feeling resistance to taking action, it's probably not a mindset issue. It's not a lack of discipline either. And no, it's not that you're lazy. Here's what's actually happening:👉🏼 Your nervous system is doing its job. Protecting you from risk, from visibility, from what feels unfamiliar—even when it's what you want. This is where somatics and nervous system work comes in.

I don’t believe in grinding my way to success. I’ve been there, and it’s not cute. 🙈 I’m all about building a life-first business—one that supports your well-being, priorities, and the life you actually want to live. Because if your business isn’t aligned with your life, it’s easy to slip into overworking, second-guessing, feeling constantly drained, or feeling stuck. And if we ignore the personal when talking about business, it inevitably shows up in our business decisions…through our fears, conditioning, worries, and the stories we tell ourselves.

If your body is in survival mode, your business will be too. You can have the best strategy in the world…but if deep down, you feel like you have to prove your worth, overdeliver, or work twice as hard to deserve your success, your business will feel exhausting. I know this because I’ve lived it. I see this with so many daughters of immigrants, new moms, and creatives who want to share their gifts with the world…with limited time, energy, and capital…wondering if it's actually viable, or worth it.

When I got pregnant, things really shifted inside me, not just in my life but in my business too. I wanted to allow my evolving self to express itself in a new way in my business, but I wasn't sure how it would all unfold and where it was leading me. I felt the urge to update my 1:1 coaching offer, write my newsletter again, maybe restart my podcast? Maybe a workshop? Maybe a retreat? I was creatively INSPIRED and brimming with ideas…but I didn’t know where to start. So I stalled. Each time I mustered up the energy and the discipline to put something out there, something held me back. I moved the calendar reminders from one day to the next, and before I knew it, five months had passed.

I used to be terrified of failure. Like many other high-achieving first-gen eldest daughters, I grew up telling myself it simply was not an option. Not only would it feel horrible, it would be embarrassing. 😳 Not just for me, but for my whole family. I speak in hypotheticals here though, because I didn’t really fail much growing up. ➡️ Because I didn't let myself fail. I was great at school and picked extracurricular activities I knew I wouldn't struggle with. (Except when my high school made us do mandatory sports, and I picked cross country. I sucked, but I was worse at hand-eye coordination sports with balls. Even THEN somehow I ended up on Varsity, mostly because our team wasn't very fast and JV didn't really exist 🤣) I basically only put myself in situations where I wouldn’t fail. Because when I succeeded, I was praised and validated, and I felt loved and valuable.