From Burnout to Breakthrough: 10 transformative lessons from my 2-year Solopreneurship Journey 🚀
The story about building work around life, not life around work.
Two years ago, I made the difficult decision to step away from my Growth position at Miro. After an intense 5.5-year journey, helping to scale the company from a Startup to a Unicorn, I found myself completely burned out. It was a thrilling ride filled with invaluable insights, rapid growth, and constant challenges, and I was surrounded by incredible people (you can check my insights in this article about my lessons at Miro).
In the first months, I received several offers for leadership roles in Growth but the idea of joining any company for a full-time position felt overwhelming and uninspiring. By that time, I had already spent 2 years on my Growth Advising journey, and something inside me knew it was time for a change 🚀
So, I decided to give it a chance and experiment with something different. I stepped fully into the solopreneur life as a Growth Advisor and PM’s Mentor—and that’s when the most exciting chapter of my life began.
The start of the journey was not easy (like catching your first wave when surfing). My income dropped in the first three months, which I expected, but I committed to this experiment for at least 6-8 months. I wanted to know if this path could become my new way of living and working.
During these 6 months, I decided to take a part-time sabbatical and spent a lot of time with my family in the country house and traveled through South America for 2 months. I only worked 5-8 hours a week—advising, mentoring, speaking at conferences and podcasts—and spent the rest of the time reflecting, reading Designing Your Life, and really thinking about what I wanted my next few years to look like
Coming out of that sabbatical, I felt renewed. I jumped back into my work with a sense of joy and purpose that I hadn’t felt in years.
After a year into this solopreneur experiment, it was clear: this was exactly what I was meant to do. I finally felt great in my work and life.
Looking back, I realize how much I’ve grown and learned over these 2 years. Working with 19+ products and teams—like Davinci, Rask.ai, Spreadsimple, Taskade, and more—helping them nail user onboarding, activation, and monetization has been really fulfilling.
I’ve also had the privilege to mentor 20+ Product Leaders, helping them achieve better business outcomes, land new jobs, and earn promotions at companies like Semrush, Tinkoff, Yandex, Toptal, and others. I also Launched User Onboarding course on Maven and Onboard Report , all together with
.I’ve been to 30 countries, learned diving, and freediving, swam with whales, got to Kilimanjaro and Rainbow Mountains in Peru, and this is only the beginning of this story.
This Solopreneur journey has taught me so much, and I want to share some of the most important lessons I’ve learned over these past two years:
1. Making a bigger impact is the most precious part of my job 🌟
Working with several companies and seeing how their products grow is the most aspirational part of the Growth Advisor’s journey. The ability to implement different aspects of your knowledge and see if it is working is also a case here. The same thing works with Mentorship, the results of the sessions can be really fast and inspirational.
2. Balancing Universal and Unique Approaches 📊
Over the past four years of growth advising, I’ve had the chance to work with over 40 companies, mostly in B2B SaaS. This has given me a solid understanding of growth benchmarks, especially around activation and monetization. I’ve learned there are universal growth principles that apply to most companies—especially when it comes to User Onboarding—but there are also unique strategies that are specific to certain industries, business models, and products. This knowledge lets me quickly identify growth levers in any product.
3. Embracing uncertainty and loving the freedom 🤓
When you work for yourself, uncertainty is part of the deal. It can be nerve-wracking, but I’ve found that consistent action gradually turns fear into results and confidence. Honestly, the freedom to manage my time, travel as much as I want, and truly live life on my terms is the perfect balance to the unpredictability. Over the last two years, I’ve traveled to 25+ countries and spent more time with family and friends than I ever could have imagined—it’s been 1000% worth it!
4. Budget planning should work differently for Solopreneurs 💰
Unlike a full-time job where you get a stable monthly paycheck, solopreneurship requires a different approach. When I left my role at Miro, I made three key changes: First, I started calculating my income on a quarterly and yearly basis since monthly can be so unpredictable in advising. Second, I began tracking all my expenses. And finally, I made it a rule to save 30%+ of my income. These habits have kept me in control of my finances and allowed me to feel secure, even when cash flow is uneven.
5. Culture matters a lot and not every client is a fit 👻
One thing I’ve learned is that not every client is the right fit. If someone hesitates too much over pricing or if our values don’t align, I’m always happy to refer them to another professional. I’ve committed to never compromising my values just to land a client, and that decision has paid off in better, more fulfilling partnerships.
6. Creating a system of development and education is a must 📚
In traditional employment, systems are pre-established. As a solopreneur, it’s easy to let discipline slip, so I took full ownership of my growth. Over these past two years, I built a solid development plan (here’s a template for it), completed several Reforge and Maven courses, read tons of books, networked with hundreds of like-minded professionals, and worked closely with a mentor. This system keeps me focused and constantly evolving.
7. Word of mouth is king, and so is your professional brand 👑
One thing I’ve learned is that your professional brand is a powerful asset that pays off over time, so it’s worth investing in consistently. But here’s the real game-changer: word of mouth is hands down the best client acquisition channel. Happy clients are your biggest promoters—they attract like-minded, motivated leads who are already aligned with your culture and values. Nothing beats that kind of organic growth!
8. Feedback is a gift 🎁
Being open to feedback is crucial. I make it a point to discuss this value upfront with clients, and I regularly share surveys every few sessions to ensure our collaboration is effective and comfortable. If something isn’t working, I address it. For example, I encourage clients to prepare 30-40 minutes before sessions to get the most value out of our time together.
9. Cases and recommendations - is something you should collect and present ✍️
Even if you’ve worked with amazing products and delivered results, it means little if you don’t showcase it. Collecting case studies and recommendations is key to building credibility and attracting new opportunities.
10. Efficiency over overwork 💡
My favorite insight: It’s not about how much time you spend working, but what you focus on and what exactly you are doing. Previously, I believed success required constant hustle, but now I know it’s about working smart and prioritizing the right things.
And there are 2 things I want to say at the end:
First, growth is never easy (I wish it were! 🙃). To evolve, you need to face challenges, make mistakes, learn from them, and surround yourself with the right people.
Second, I’m incredibly grateful to everyone who supported me on this journey ❤️
My family for being my sweet and cozy place to think about my next career step;
My boyfriend for believing in me more than I ever could believe in myself;
- for being a great partner and friend;
Eugen for being a great ex-manager and for inspiration;
- for inspiration and for showing that this solopreneur journey exists;
All Founders, Product and Design Leaders we collaborated with, for your trust and great work;
And thank you myself for being brave enough to follow this pathless path:)
That’s all I wanted to share with you. Hope you find it useful, if so please share it with others who are thinking about the Solopreneurship journey or are already at this exciting path🥰
Warm wishes,
Vicki
Vicky it’s ok I’m here you don’t need to go to deserts to look for me I’m right here sweet 🍷😘😘😘