From the Witch at the Edge of Town to a Business Embodied in Love | Queer MBA Case Study | Nimble Roots Coaching
Cara Β· Body Worker Β· 10 Years in Business Β· North Oakland, CA
Where Cara was when they started:
Cara came to the Queer MBA knowing they needed support β but not quite sure what kind. After 10 years in business, they had built two unique, deeply values-driven practices from scratch. They were good at the craft, good at connecting with people, good at the creative and healing work. But the business side? That had mostly been avoided.
They didn't have a business bank account. They had been coasting on loose financial tracking, sporadic marketing, and unanswered legal questions for years β not out of laziness, but out of a combination of not knowing where to start and strong anticapitalist values.
"I just want to be the witch at the edge of town, stirring my cauldron, having people come to me when they need healing."
They came in for community. What they found was so much more.
What shifted over two cohorts:
Cara is one of a handful of people who has done two full rounds of the Queer MBA β and their arc across both is remarkable.
In the first cohort they were going through intense relational ruptures. They barely made it to some sessions. But they showed up anyway β and what they found was a space that held them exactly as they were. The work became a stable ground when everything else felt like it was shifting.
In the second cohort, having found their footing, they were ready to expand. A third branch of their business emerged during the program. Financial habits that had felt impossible started to feel easeful. And they found something they hadn't expected: self compassion as a business tool.
"Finding self compassion was a really big part of both rounds of the Queer MBA."
They created financial tracking practices that felt sweet and social justice oriented. they started asking for what they wanted β monetarily, energetically, in every way. they stepped fully into the value of their work. And they came out the other end with a business that is embodied in love.
The community piece:
During tax season in the second cohort, the group supported each other to achieve their financial goals by checking in on each other and celebrating wins together.
"It made it so much more sweet and easeful."
They found people who genuinely cared about them and their business. And they discovered that doing the shadow work β the hard financial, legal, and marketing stuff they had been avoiding β was easier. Add in being surrounded by loving, passionate, heart led friends, even the businessy stuff started to feel fun.
What it would have cost them to not join:
"It probably would have cost me double what I spent to not have that support. If I had not made the shifts that I've made, my business would have stayed stagnant and small for a long time."
What's next:
Cara is launching the third branch of their business β something that emerged and took shape during their time in the program. The work, as they say, is still unfolding.
In Caraβs Words:
"I came to the Queer MBA after 10 years in business, knowing I needed support but not sure what kind. What I found was a space that met me in my unconventional work, held me through some of the hardest months of my personal life, and gently helped me turn toward the parts of my business I had been avoiding for years. I found self compassion, financial habits that actually feel good, and a third branch of my business that emerged while I was in the container. The money I spent feels small compared to what I received. If the Queer MBA was an ongoing thing forever, I would still be in."
β Cara, Body Worker & Massage Teacher, North Oakland CA
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