There are some blog posts that are easy to write.
This isn’t one of them.
For more than a decade, I’ve sat down each week to write to you. Sometimes with practical advice. Sometimes with encouragement. Sometimes with stories from my own life. And always with one hope – that something I shared might help you feel a little less alone.
If you are on my email list, you will know that I have made the very very hard decision to close my business down, for now. And also why.
My podcast just turned 10, which is honestly crazy to me. Ten years of weekly episodes! To be honest, I’m not quite sure how I did it, but I am incredibly proud of what I’ve built, the community we’ve created, and the impact it has had.
Along with these blog posts, I’ve been writing weekly newsletters for years, all with the intention of supporting and guiding you through single mum life, sharing information, creating community and, hopefully, giving you a little inspiration along the way.
Alongside this, I’ve had the privilege of coaching hundreds of women who were preparing for separation, going through it, or rebuilding afterwards, as well as running Thrive Tribe – my global online membership experience.
Over the last decade, supporting women through separation, divorce, single motherhood, healing, and rebuilding has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. I’ve always loved this work deeply, been so passionate about it, and have thrown myself into it wholeheartedly.
But I’ve made the decision to step into a new chapter. One that allows me to be more present with my family, more present in my own life, and show up as the best version of myself. My family needs me, and I need me too. That’s what I need to prioritise right now.
This wasn’t an easy decision AT ALL, but it is the right one for my family and me at this stage of life. While I feel so much sadness about closing this chapter (and, if I’m honest, a little fear of the unknown), I also feel enormous gratitude for everything Single Mother Survival Guide has become and for every woman who has trusted me to be part of her journey.
As I write my final blog post (maybe for a season, maybe forever… the future is open and unknown), I find myself thinking less about endings and more about everything this community has meant.
It has been one of the greatest privileges of my life to walk alongside so many incredible women through some of their hardest days.
Thank you.
Thank you for trusting me with your stories.
Thank you for inviting me into your lives through your headphones, inboxes and screens.
Thank you for the emails that began with, “I thought I was the only one…”
Thank you for celebrating your wins with me, for sharing your heartbreak, for asking the hard questions and for allowing me to be a small part of your journey.
I may have been the one writing the blog posts and recording the podcast, but this community has always been built by you.
Together, we created a space where women could tell the truth.
Where they could admit they were struggling.
Where they could ask for help without shame.
Where they could laugh through tears, celebrate small victories and remind one another that they weren’t alone.
And for that, I will be forever grateful.
What This Journey Has Taught Me
When I first began this work, I thought I was here to teach.
Instead, I learned.
I learned that women are far stronger than they ever give themselves credit for.
I learned that healing doesn’t happen all at once. It happens in tiny moments that almost go unnoticed until one day you realise you’re no longer the same person.
I learned that grief and joy can exist side by side.
That boundaries aren’t about shutting people out; they’re about protecting your peace.
That asking for help is one of the bravest things a person can do.
That children don’t need perfect parents. They need emotionally safe ones.
That life rarely follows the plan we imagined.
And that sometimes the life we build after everything falls apart becomes more authentic, and even better than the one we were desperately trying to hold together, or that we could have ever imagined was possible.
Perhaps the greatest lesson of all is this:
Hope is incredibly resilient.
Even after betrayal.
Even after loss.
Even after heartbreak.
It has an extraordinary way of finding us again.
My Greatest Hope for You
As I close this chapter, there are a few things I hope for every woman who has ever found her way here.
I hope you stop doubting yourself.
I hope you learn to trust your own voice again.
I hope you discover that your worth was never determined by someone else’s ability to love you.
I hope you create a home that feels peaceful.
I hope you laugh without guilt.
I hope you find friendships that feel like family.
I hope you rest when you’re tired instead of believing you have to carry everything alone.
I hope you forgive yourself for the things you didn’t know.
I hope you stop apologising for taking up space.
I hope your children grow up watching a mother who chose courage over fear.
I hope you continue becoming the woman you were always meant to be.
And most of all…
I hope you never stop believing that beautiful things can still happen.
Because they can.
The Legacy I Hope We Leave Behind
While this chapter is ending, I don’t believe the impact ends here.
My greatest hope isn’t that you’ll remember me.
It’s that you’ll remember how you felt.
Supported.
Understood.
Less alone.
And then you’ll offer that same gift to someone else.
Check in on the newly separated mum at school pick-up.
Invite someone over for coffee.
Offer to babysit.
Send the text.
Share the resource.
Listen without trying to fix.
Tell another woman, “You’re going to get through this.”
Because that’s how communities grow.
One act of kindness at a time.
If this community has taught us anything, it’s that healing was never meant to happen in isolation.
We heal together.
And I hope that continues long after this website falls quiet.
One Final Thank You
When I started the Single Mother Survival Guide all those years ago, I never imagined where it would lead.
I certainly never imagined that thousands of women from around the world would invite me into one of the most vulnerable seasons of their lives.
That has been an honour I will never take for granted.
Thank you to every woman who read a blog post.
Listened to a podcast episode.
Sent an email.
Joined Thrive Tribe.
Booked a coaching session.
Attended a workshop.
Shared my work with a friend.
Or simply walked beside me over these past ten years.
You have changed my life just as much as I hope I’ve changed yours.
As this chapter closes, I leave with a full heart.
It’s not easy to say goodbye, but I do know something with absolute certainty.
You are stronger than you think.
You are more capable than you realise.
And your story is far from over.
Take everything you’ve learned.
Keep choosing peace.
Keep backing yourself.
Keep asking for help.
Keep believing in new beginnings.
And whenever you meet another woman standing where you once stood, reach back and remind her of what you’ve learned:
She is going to be okay.
Thank you for letting me walk beside you.
With all my love and gratitude,
Julia ❤️