Wealth in the Country, Part Two: Financial Sovereignty for Women

By Holly Hayes | SheIsMe Wealth Co-Founder

This article was first published in SheIsMe Magazine as part of my twice-monthly column, Wealth in the Country. It’s shared here as well for my personal blog community.

👉 Read the magazine version here

I’m sitting on a chair out the front of my caravan/trailer on a warm summer night.

The sun has just set. The birds are winding down for the evening. Everything feels still. Calm. Spacious.

There’s a quiet kind of excitement sitting in my body, too. The kind that whispers, “If this already feels this good… how much better is it going to get in 2026?”

Today was a full day, but not in the way it used to be. It included client meetings, nervous system resets, deep conversations about growth, and what’s possible next. The work I do now feels grounded. I lead with confidence, not because I’m trying to prove anything, but because I finally trust myself.

There was a time when I knew I could teach, I knew I had something to offer, but I didn’t yet have the tangible evidence. I questioned myself all the time. I doubted my authority. Now, there’s a quiet confidence that comes from lived experience. From doing the work. From becoming the woman who can hold the space she once needed.

Sitting here tonight, I find myself reflecting.

My mind drifts back to a very different version of me. Sitting on my parents’ couch, dreading going to sleep. A newborn beside me in a bassinet. Winter outside. Winter inside, too.

It felt like an endless winter back then. Heavy. Hopeless. Cold in a way that went deeper than the season. Nighttime was the hardest. I would hate going to bed, knowing the next wake-up was coming at any time - 12 am, 1 am, maybe 2 am, if I was lucky - knowing I’d have to do it all again tomorrow.

I was afraid this cycle would never end, that I would never be able to rebuild. Afraid I wouldn’t find a way out. Afraid this was just how my life was going to be forever. 

Growth didn’t look like growth then. It didn’t look like progress or momentum. It looked like survival. I felt stuck. So far behind where I thought I should be.

If that version of me could see me now, I know exactly what she’d say. It’s what I still tell my clients to this day.

Just hold on for one more day.

Not the whole year. Not your entire future. Just today. Just what’s right in front of you.

This is a wealth column, and I will always invite you to pause and ask yourself what wealth means to you. But what I’ve learned is that wealth is not linear. It evolves. It shifts as we do. And growth often means allowing your definition of wealth to change without guilt.

Since becoming a solo mom, wealth has become time. Freedom. Not having to rush in the morning. Not racing home from work to start the nighttime routine. It’s the moments in between. The park. The pool. The middle of the day, doing something simple because you can.

Most of those moments don’t cost any money at all.

Somewhere along the way, I outgrew the version of wealth that was tied to material possessions. After moving halfway around the world twice, first to the West Coast and then back to Australia, I realized how much I resented stuff. Having to pack it. Move it. Store it. Carry it with me.

I also stopped chasing approval. Titles. Status. The things that once felt urgent now feel irrelevant. As long as I’m living freely, I don’t care how it looks on paper.

I stopped explaining myself. To anyone. Even to myself.

There’s a deep trust that comes when you stop justifying your choices to your ego. When you stop trying to logic your way into decisions, your intuition already knows are right. I don’t wait for permission anymore. I realized waiting was costing me time.

One of the scariest and cleanest decisions I’ve made was moving my business fully into the decentralized space. It felt like the natural progression, the thing I had been searching for all along. I had known for years it was coming. Still, choosing it required courage. Growth often does.

This life didn’t come from working harder or staying busy. It came from choosing differently.

For me, growth has looked like this:

✅ Freedom

✅ Not watching the clock

✅ A home on wheels

✅ No boss

✅ No childcare

✅ Living outdoors

And letting go of this:

❌ Permission

❌ Commutes

❌ “One day”

❌ Trading hours for dollars

❌ Building someone else’s dream

The most luxurious thing on that list for me is having no boss. I am a free spirit. I was never meant to fit neatly into someone else’s structure.

The thing that drained me the most was trading hours for dollars. I’ve worked three jobs before, and as a sacral generator who can do well in the 9-5 provided they are lit up, I actually enjoyed working hard. But I didn’t realize then how much time I was exchanging, and how little space I was leaving for life.

The truth is, it doesn’t matter if you’re in your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, or beyond. You can start NOW. There is a different way. There is an easier way.

The first different choice I ever made was simple, but it changed everything. I chose to believe. Even in the darkest days. Even in the endless winter. I chose to trust that what I desire most is destined for me. FREEDOM! 

If there’s one thing I hope you feel reading this, especially at this time of year, it’s hope. Growth doesn’t always look obvious. Sometimes it looks like sitting quietly outside your trailer at sunset, realizing how far you’ve come.

Here’s to sovereign women growing at their own pace, in their own way.

The future is exciting.

Holly xo