The New Underground Railroad
A think piece on creative entrepreneurship by Bianca Wilson“You got this!”
“You’re going to change the world!”
“We’re so proud of you!”
“I can’t believe you’re getting out!”
“You’re so brave!”
It was March 24, 2018, and these were the words I heard over loud applause as I walked out of the advertising agency I had worked at for 5.5 years.
I looked around at the 2 levels of people clapping for me and saw looks of joy, admiration, and some desperation as they wondered when it would be their turn to be released from the golden handcuffs of our prestigious agency.
I was very familiar with that last look because it was the same one I had as I clapped out so many others before me when it was their time to move on.
I knew from the minute I said yes to that job that it wasn’t for me but, at 23 years old with a mountain of student loan debt, I didn’t know what else to do; so, I decided this was the best option for the moment.
…And it was. I met wonderful people, made lifelong friends, and learned important (and often challenging) lessons.
For years, however, I wondered when my own walk to freedom would be; when the clarity I felt I was so desperately searching for would make itself known.
I wondered what kind of liberated future I would set up for myself, beckoning me forth beyond those keycard doorways.
For a while, I thought going to another job was going to fix all of my problems. A voice deep inside me told me that was not the solution, so I chose to stay put until I figured out what I wanted to do.
I was very good at ‘fitting in’ but as I continued to override my nervous system to keep up with the deadlines, the wild stress over things that really didn’t seem important to me, the gossip, and the politics, I knew deep down that this wasn’t the path I wanted to walk. This was not where I wanted my energy to go.
It was during this time I was initiated into my spiritual journey and on my path to understanding my own crippling anxiety. I began to slowly unravel myself and become clearer about who I was outside of this corporate job and what I really wanted.
Without realizing it, I was already beginning my walk toward freedom.
I went into therapy, discovered I was highly sensitive, began working with various healing modalities and practitioners, embraced that I, myself, was an artist and healer, trained as a coach/facilitator, and started my side hustle of writing and working with my own clients.
It was becoming increasingly clear that creative entrepreneurship was calling me and that I wasn’t going to be able to sustain doing both my job and my passions for much longer.
Not only was I physically burning out trying to do both but emotionally as well. My soul didn’t want to continue giving its energy to a place that was utterly draining me and, as terrifying as it felt to leave, it felt more painful to continue to force myself to stay.
It was not only obvious to me, but to the people working with me.
So, I made a deal with one of my friends/co-workers that, no matter what, I would leave by March 24th and she held me to it.
As the date drew closer, I thought things were going to look different. I thought I would have more money saved up. I thought I would have more clients. I thought I would have more of a “plan,” but this was my first lesson in creative entrepreneurship: things don’t always (often) go as planned.
And yet, when March 24, 2018, rolled around there I was with boxes in hand, people hugging me and clapping for me, tears of fear, joy, excitement, and pride streaming down my face as I finally walked out of that keycard doorway and into my new life of entrepreneurship.
Much like any relationship, the first couple of days and weeks were new and exciting but, as the bigness of what lay ahead became more real, I started jumping into "doing" mode: networking, over-scheduling, putting myself out there, reading books, ingesting endless information on "How To Build Your Business Quickly!" and "Manifest Your Dream Life NOW!," taking courses, workshops, and seminars — anything I could do to give myself some semblance of control, make myself feel prepared for this journey, and give me an anchor in what often felt like a bottomless sea of uncertainty.
This ‘rush’ to push past the uncertainty and prove to myself, and to the world, that I was doing something worthwhile with my entrepreneurship resulted in co-founding a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion consultancy at the end of 2018, which I believed to have been part of my passion and purpose.
However, by 2021, I realized I was back in the same cycle I was trying to escape by leaving my corporate job. I was going in and out of trauma responses, burnt out, resentful, and unfulfilled. I had believed I was creating freedom for myself but ultimately had recreated my own prison.
I don’t say this from a place of judgment — I say it from a place of honesty and a lot of compassion because this is the wound and the result of living within the society that we live in (ableist, capitalist, patriarchal, colonial)
There is a certain energy that is required of us to survive/thrive in a 9 to 5 job and outside of it, whether that means turning on a certain part of ourselves or turning it off.
Repeating that energy day in and day out creates literal blueprints and deep patterning in our nervous systems, our bodies, and in our minds which don’t necessarily disappear just because we leave a job.
We must be honest about the impact that our abusive relationship with the corporate world and capitalism has had on us and, at the very least, be curious about how we may need to heal and do things differently, knowing that it will take time and we will not always get it “right,” shown by the example from my life above.
Jumping into the wild unknown of entrepreneurship is scary…believe me, I get it. This is why finding time to slow down and pause during these profound moments of transition (and in general) to reflect and reconsider is so critical.
Society will tell you to jump into action and figure things out as quickly as possible. Create the plan! Get the clients! Set up the systems!
As important as these are,and they will come in time I promise, when we rush and only focus on how we can be successful or how quickly we can build something, we are missing the point and the profound opportunity for transformation that this journey can be a portal for.
We must ask ourselves, “What am I building and why am I building it?”
Yes, there are absolutely systems and structures that must be put in place and actions that must be taken; but what foundation are you building on? Is it one that can actually hold what you are creating and hold it in the way your soul authentically desires?
Or, in the grips of survival mode, rushing to move past the discomfort of uncertainty, do you continue to perpetuate the very harm that you are looking to escape and heal from?
On top of the logistical changes that take place on the path in/to creative entrepreneurship, there are deep identity, relational, energetic, emotional, and spiritual transitions to be honored if we want to actually create something new and sustainable for ourselves, our purpose, and the people we are meant to impact.
As for me? When I began to focus on alignment with myself, the ‘what’ of my business and my life became a lot clearer, easeful, and more joyful.
I now endeavor to impart what I have learned to those who are ready to honor their high sensitivity, creativity, share their gifts with the world through Creative Entrepreneurship, and live a life worth loving.
This isn’t to say that there won’t be challenges because there surely will be; but, I do wonder how the experience on the path and what gets built along the way might differ if we kept the following questions in mind:
Who do you want to be as a creative entrepreneur?
How do you want to feel (in your mind, body, and soul)?
How do you want to do things differently?
What will you have to unlearn?
What does real support look like?
These are things you may not immediately know and may take some time to figure out and that’s just it: this journey and this process takes time.
I sometimes think of the creative entrepreneurship journey as the Underground Railroad to liberation, freeing ourselves from the grips of corporations and capitalism — but that’s only if you want it to be. therwise, it’s more shackles and chains all around.
It can be one of the most profound portals to healing, personal freedom, fulfillment, and a contribution to collective liberation but only if we are intentional in making it so.
So, what will you choose?
About Bianca WilsonI’m Bianca Gabrielle, an EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) practitioner specializing in nervous system healing and creative liberation.
At the height of my "successful" corporate career – working at top talent agency CAA and advertising giant MAL – I was living a life that looked perfect on paper. Achievement came naturally, but at a cost: chronic stress, creative blocks, and constant burnout. I had mastered the external markers of success while losing touch with my authentic creative spirit.
Everything shifted when I discovered EFT Tapping, first as a client seeking relief from trauma and nervous system dysregulation, then as a certified practitioner learning to guide others. Through EFT, I began regulating my nervous system and reconnecting with my buried artistic passions.
The transformation was nothing short of profound. I left the corporate world, not just to change careers, but to completely reimagine my life. Now, I act, paint, write, and perform across Los Angeles while maintaining a thriving EFT practice – not from obligation, but from genuine joy and purpose.
Today, I guide others through their own transformation using EFT Tapping. Together, we release old patterns, regulate the nervous system, and unlock your natural creative power – creating lasting change that goes far beyond temporary stress relief.