“2025 Cynthia would have been like, ‘Ay, chavala. You said this was a hobby.’ But 2025 Cynthia didn't expect all the plot twists.”
A year ago, I decided Beyond the Horizon Consulting was going to be my hobby. I was happy at my 9-to-5, my cup was full, and stepping away from social media felt like a relief. Then 2026 came in with all kinds of plot twists, and somewhere between winning an award at work, questioning what job security actually means, joining Amor Collective, creating an entirely new product line, and landing my first paid speaking gig, the hobby became a real business. The funny part is, I didn't have some perfectly mapped-out plan to get here. I just kept making the next decision that made sense for the version of me standing there.
I did something the other day, well, unwillingly.
Apple sent me a message that my iCloud storage was full and, of course, their solution was for me to pay more money for more storage.
Or you're frugal like me and upload all your pictures somewhere else and delete them from your phone.
So yes, chavalas, there are maybe 20 pictures on my phone at this very moment.
But this isn't about my phone.
As I was uploading my pictures, I did what I always do and had myself a squirrel moment. Except this time, I started looking at what I was doing exactly one year ago.
Then I went over to Instagram.
And you know what I had done almost exactly one year earlier?
I made a nine-image grid that was going to stay stagnant and decided Beyond the Horizon Consulting was officially my hobby. No more constantly posting on social media. No more trying to feed all the channels. I would write a blog here and there, work on things when I felt like it, and that was enough.
And honestly?
I felt so much relief.
I was happy at my 9-to-5. Like, genuinely happy. My cup was already spilling over, and the decision to stop trying to be a business owner and let Beyond the Horizon simply exist on the side felt perfect for me.
There wasn't some secret part of me screaming, No Cynthia! Chase your dreams!
Nope.
I was good.
That's what makes looking at those pictures now so damn funny.
None of These Versions Knew What Was Coming
A year before that, we were preparing to move into our forever home. A year before that, I was preparing to release my book, Get It Together (Without Losing Your Mind).
Go back even further and my Instagram doesn't have much because I wasn't consistently focused on this business at all.
Shoot, five years ago, Beyond the Horizon Consulting as you see it today didn't even exist. It was a fantastical thought during the pandemic.
While everyone was coping however they could with everything happening in 2020, I was writing. Journaling. Meditating. Working on myself. I went a little coo coo like Hei Hei during my weight-loss journey. I started the blog. Broke my foot. Had surgery. Gained almost all the weight back. Then started focusing on the blog again.
2020 me would not recognize me at all.
Shoot, 1998 me, fresh out of high school, would not recognize me, period.
And I don't mean that in some inspirational look how far I've come way.
I mean none of those women had a damn clue what was coming next.
Neither did 2025 Cynthia.
And Then Came the Plot Twist
January 2026 actually started amazingly.
There I was winning the Founders Award at work, the highest award anyone in the company can receive, and I had achieved it in less than two years.
I know, I know. Chavalita is an overachiever.
Pero, a couple of weeks later, everything started coming down.
Maybe it's the perimenopause hormones. Maybe it's because I said I was going to have the audacity to live life bold, large, and in charge. Maybe it's a little bit of both.
But for so long, I have been told to show my value.
And I've done exactly that.
Shit, I was a private in the Army more than 20 years ago and my colonel was calling me “little colonel.” I was already being recognized as a leader back then. Since then, I've built the experience, developed the skills, earned the degree, collected the certifications, produced the results, and now I had the award to boot.
At some point, how many more times am I supposed to show my value?
Because an award can become a really nice paperweight when you've shown your value and hope that maybe it leads to an opportunity for growth or a significant pay increase, and that isn't what happens.
As I sit here writing this blog, I've been told yet again to show my value.
Here's more work.
Here's more stress.
Here are more clients.
And maybe you'll still have a job in 12 months.
Maybe.
Oh, but you're safe because you won an award this year.
Umm...I think not.
A small layoff already happened. People are leaving. We're on a hiring freeze. My workload has increased, and so has the stress.
That doesn't exactly scream job security to me.
And that's when something started shifting.
What If I Gave Myself the Same Opportunity?
By March, I had relaunched my social media and started focusing seriously on Beyond the Horizon again.
I decided I was going to give myself 12 months to really launch this business.
Not 12 months to become a millionaire.
Not 12 months to quit my job.
Not 12 months to prove that I could become some internet version of a successful entrepreneur who works three hours a week from a beach. 🏝️ 🏖️ (sigh, ok secretly I wish for this all the time)
I was trying to be realistic while planning my takeover. LOL.
Twelve months felt doable.
I wanted to know what would happen if I gave this business an actual year.
And here's the funny part. If I hadn't applied to Amor Collective and been selected, I would probably still just be writing a blog.
I already had my book, a journal, and affirmation cards. Maybe I would have been perfectly happy with that.
But Amor changed what was possible.
A Little Mid-Blog Check-In 🌺
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“DO IT!”
I remember sitting at the Amor Collective orientation and finally understanding what the cohort was really about.
My brain immediately went into creative mode.
Right there in that meeting, I started figuring out my new product line.
I texted my husband with all the details. What the program involved. What it would cost. What I was thinking about doing.
And I think this was the first time ever that he didn't hesitate, think about it, or blink an eye.
“DO IT!”
That was it.
That was all I needed.
I had my husband's support.
Then I got home and told my 13-year-old son.
His response?
“Mama, letsssss go!”
There was my crew.
The people closest to me weren't asking me to prove that I could do it. They were cheering me on to go do the damn thing.
And I did.
It took me about three months to create my generational collection of familia wisdom. My mentorship also started in May, and I have a pretty amazing human working alongside me for 12 months. My year at Amor started in August.
Suddenly, that 12-month timeline I had given myself didn't feel arbitrary anymore.
This really was becoming my first year in business.
Yes, I Know the Business Is Technically Older Than That
Technically, Beyond the Horizon has existed for a few years.
But I'm calling this Year One.
Because there's a difference between having a business and actually deciding you're going to build the damn thing.
For a long time, this was a hobby. I wrote. I created things here and there. I had ideas. I had my book. I had products.
But this year, I started treating it like a business.
When I prepared our personal taxes earlier this year, I told myself I wanted Beyond the Horizon to make more than $1,000 before the end of 2026.
I hit that goal in the first two months at Amor with my products and at an event.
I'm about to do my first paid speaking gig with a pretty large organization. And there are still three months left in the year.
I have more I'm working on. More I've applied for. More that I'm not ready to share until it's actually time to share it. And no, this is not the part where I tell you I quit my job and the business is supporting my family. It isn't.
I'm actively looking for new employment because my small business is not sustainable yet. That's reality.
People say the first year of business is hard and then it gets better. I don't know if it actually gets easier. I think you gain experience. You know more than you did before. You make decisions faster because you've already screwed something up once. You learn what you absolutely do not want to do. You learn who you want to work with and, equally important, who you don't.
You get better at recognizing what makes sense for you.
“Ay, Chavala. You Said This Was a Hobby.”
If October 2025 Cynthia could see me right now, I think that's exactly what she'd say.
“Ay, chavala. You said this was a hobby.”
And I'd have to tell her, “I know! Pero, you didn't know about all the pinche plot twists.” Because she didn't.
She made the decision that was right for her at the time. That's important.
I don't look back at the version of me who stepped away from social media and think she was scared or that she gave up. I don't think she should have hustled harder or believed in herself more.
She was happy. Her life made sense to her. Then the circumstances changed. So she changed with them. And maybe that's what I'm really seeing when I scroll through all those old pictures.
We're so close to our own lives that sometimes we don't notice ourselves changing while it's happening. There isn't always a dramatic before and after. Sometimes it's a bunch of little decisions. Apply for the thing.
Say yes to the opportunity.
Create the product.
Send the email.
Ask the question.
Realize something isn't working anymore.
Change your mind.
Try something else.
And then one random day, Apple tells you that you're out of fucking storage, and while you're moving pictures around so you don't have to give them more money, you look back and realize...
Holy shit.
My life looks completely different.
You Don't Know the Plot Twists Either
Maybe you're in a season right now that feels completely settled. Maybe you're happy exactly where you are.
Good.
You don't need to blow up your life because someone on the internet told you that you should want more. But you also don't know what will happen next.
The version of you sitting here today can make the best decision she can with the information she has right now. And six months from now, she may have completely different information.
That doesn't make today's decision wrong. It means life happened.
2020 Cynthia couldn't have predicted this.
1998 Cynthia sure as hell couldn't have predicted this, we were on track to becoming a medical doctor.
And apparently 2025 Cynthia couldn't either.
The funny thing is, October 2026 Cynthia doesn't know what's coming next either.
I'm still in the middle of my first real year of business. I'm still learning. I'm still working a 9-to-5 while looking for another one. I'm still building. I'm still figuring out which opportunities make sense and which ones get a “no, gracias.”
But if there's one thing I've learned throughout my entire career, it's that the more intentional I am about where I put my time, energy, and skills, the more I recognize the opportunities that actually make sense for me.
So no, the version of me who started this business probably wouldn't recognize everything I'm doing today. But I think she'd recognize me. She'd probably just look around at everything I've gotten us into and say:
“Ay, chavala.”
And honestly?
Same.
Closing Thought
You don't have to know who you're going to be a year from now.
You don't even have to want something different from what you have today.
Make the decision that fits the life you're living now. And when the plot changes, you're allowed to change with it.
Sometimes you won't realize how much you've changed until something makes you look backward.
Even if that something is being too damn cheap to pay Apple for more iCloud storage.
Keep Going 🌵
If you're looking backward and realizing you're not quite the same woman you were a year ago, take a minute before rushing into whatever is next.
What changed?
What doesn't fit anymore?
And what are you doing now that last year's version of you never saw coming?
You might be closer to your next chapter than you realize.
