And why it might be preparing you too
No one tells you this, but entrepreneurship and divorce have something in common:
they both require a version of you that you haven’t met yet.
We often think starting a business is just about products, customers, or making money.
But the truth?
Starting a business is a crash course in trusting yourself, leading without applause, and making impossible choices when no one is coming to save you.
And those skills?
They become lifelines when your marriage ends.
Here’s what I learned — and why entrepreneurship might be preparing you for a storm you don’t even know is coming.
1. Learning to start without validation prepares you to stand alone.
Most women don’t start the business burning in their hearts because they think they need someone else’s approval first.
A husband.
A partner.
A friend.
A parent.
Someone to say, “Yes, that’s a good idea.”
We tell ourselves we need that validation to move forward — the same way we sometimes need it in marriage.
Because marriage often gives a false sense of unity:
“If they agree with it, it must be the right choice.”
“If we’re on the same page, then I’m safe.”
But sometimes the answer was never in the agreement.
Sometimes it was in you all along.
Entrepreneurship teaches you that you don’t need a committee to decide your future.
You learn to step out when God prompts you — even when no one else understands the direction He’s pointing you toward.
And when divorce comes…
that muscle becomes everything.
2. Leading people prepares you for betrayal — even when you’ve done everything right.
No one prepares you for how personal entrepreneurship can feel.
You feed people.
You sacrifice for them.
You build a vision and invite them into it with an open hand and a full heart.
And yet…
some will leave bitter.
Some will rewrite the story.
Some will resent the passion that once inspired them.
You learn quickly that:
- being a good boss doesn’t guarantee loyalty
- being generous doesn’t protect you from betrayal
- doing the right thing doesn’t mean people will see it that way
You learn to hold steady even when people twist the narrative.
And that lesson?
It becomes painfully relevant in divorce too.
Because sometimes the very person you’ve given the most to
will tell the world a very different story than the one you lived.
3. Entrepreneurship teaches you how to make hard decisions without reassurance.
When you run a business, things go wrong — constantly.
You wake up knowing that you’re the one who has to fix it.
There’s no manager.
No safety net.
No one to call for direction.
You learn to walk into chaos with the confidence of someone who says:
“I’ll figure it out.”
That same resilience becomes your anchor in divorce.
You don’t get to fall apart the way you want to.
You don’t get to pause your life.
You have to stand on your own decisions, knowing you are capable even when you feel terrified.
4. “Fake it till you make it” becomes “trust yourself even when it’s lonely.”
Entrepreneurship can be lonely.
The higher you climb, the fewer people understand your decisions.
Marriage can feel the same.
Sometimes you and your spouse are so aligned it feels like you’re reading the same page.
Other times it feels like the book has been torn in half — and you’re each reading separate chapters.
You look around and realize you’re surrounded by people…
yet isolated in a way you can’t even explain.
Business teaches you that loneliness doesn’t mean you’re wrong —
it often means you’re growing.
It teaches you that the decisions God puts on your heart don’t require the approval of even the most solid person in your life.
You learn to trust yourself so deeply that even if someone you love says “don’t go,”
you know you still will.
Because the call was never theirs — it was yours.
5. Finances define both business and marriage — and require strength people don’t see.
A huge percentage of marriages end because of finances.
And business?
It’s the same.
Entrepreneurship teaches you how to:
- plan for the long-term while managing the present
- make sacrifices now for a future no one else can see
- hold your ground when people feel entitled to what you’ve built
- make decisions that are best for the whole, even when they upset the few
Sometimes employees feel slighted.
Sometimes people think you owe them more.
Sometimes they take revenge on the very thing you worked to create.
You learn to do the right thing anyway.
And in divorce, that ability — to protect the future even when others don’t understand the decisions you’re making — becomes essential.
So, does starting a business prepare you for divorce?
Absolutely — in ways you don’t realize until you’re walking through it.
Entrepreneurship teaches you:
- how to trust yourself
- how to stand alone
- how to make decisions without validation
- how to handle betrayal
- how to lead without applause
- how to stay steady when the ground shifts
- how to keep going when it’s hard and no one sees you
It teaches you that you can build a life from scratch.
It teaches you that you can rebuild one too.
And when divorce comes — if it comes — you’ll find yourself standing in the rubble with a strength you didn’t know you had.
Not because the marriage didn’t matter.
But because the business quietly taught you who you are.
And that woman?
She can survive anything.
