Today we’d like to introduce you to Barbara Lynch.
Hi Barbara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
In January 2023, I made what felt like both the scariest and most necessary decision of my career—I left the corporate marketing world to build something on my own terms. I’d spent years developing expertise in marketing and communications, but I wanted more autonomy, more meaning, and frankly, more alignment between my values and my work.
The transition hasn’t been easy. Building multiple income streams as a solopreneur is slow, sometimes financially precarious work. There have been moments where I’ve questioned everything. But I’m doing it—I’m still here, still building, still surviving on a combination of savings, determination, and an unshakable belief that this path is the right one for me.
What changed everything was that for the first time in my adult life, I controlled my own time. So I started volunteering—first weekly at a food pantry, logging over 250 hours. But the real turning point came in July 2023 when I saw that Girls Rock St. Pete needed volunteers for their week-long camp.
I signed up immediately. Not just because I had the time without asking for vacation, but because I never got to go to camp as a kid—my single mom couldn’t afford those luxuries. This was my chance to have that experience, even if it was decades late.
That week was transformative. Fifty girls between ages 8-17 get assigned an instrument and a band on Monday, and by Saturday—just five days later—they perform an original song live in front of hundreds of fans. Watching that process, being part of it, seeing what these girls learn about themselves—it’s truly incredible.
So when Girls Rock announced a Ladies Rock Camp, I signed up for the first one. Even though I don’t play any instruments, can’t sing, and don’t read music. We met on Thursday and performed at a bar on Sunday. It was the most uncomfortable thing I could have put myself through. I went through every emotion, every “why did I do this” moment. But I got up there and played bass—and honestly, I don’t remember a single thing about the actual song. It was really about showing up, looking the part, and moving through the discomfort. This was the first time I started showing up for myself, even though I really wanted to hide under a rock.
After the performance, the Girls Rock founders took us on a field trip to the Museum of Motherhood. The founder, Joy Rose, used to have a band called Housewives on Prozac, and when I met her, I just loved her vision and energy. One thing led to another, and by June 2024—just a few months after that first meeting—I joined the board of directors for the Museum of Motherhood.
Now here we are, a year later. The magical thing is how these threads weave together. Jenee Priebe—who I first met in 2019 when I started volunteering with the SHINE Mural Festival—reached out to me about Marina Capdevila’s Viejas Glorias project. She already had my number from our years of connection through SHINE. Jenee is spearheading the project, but she reached out to me specifically because of my connection to MoM.
Being the bridge that brought this internationally acclaimed documentary series to St. Petersburg—making our city the U.S. launch site—feels like validation that this unconventional path I’m on is exactly where I’m supposed to be. My corporate marketing background, my deep community connections built through showing up and volunteering, and my commitment to amplifying women’s voices have all converged in this moment.
I’m building a career that doesn’t fit neatly into traditional categories, and that’s exactly the point. I’m leveraging decades of professional expertise while creating space to support projects that matter—projects that challenge how we see aging, motherhood, and women’s contributions to our culture.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Smooth? Not even close. Nearly three years in, I still don’t have steady, reliable income. I’m hustling constantly, trying to make multiple income streams come to fruition, and some days the uncertainty is absolutely exhausting.
Here’s the thing about being a solopreneur with a marketing background—I have so many viable business ideas. Mural tours that capitalize on St. Petersburg’s incredible public art scene. A VIP concierge service. Marketing campaigns built around a digital workbook I created that serves as the foundation for any business strategy. These aren’t pipe dreams—they’re legitimate, well-researched opportunities.
But ideas don’t pay bills. Right now, my income comes from writing for Tampa Bay Business & Wealth and helping people rewrite resumes and bios. Combined, that brings in about $1,000 a month. Which is… not great success, to put it mildly.
What keeps me going is that I’ve always been good at budgeting and making strategic decisions. Somehow, I’ve made it through nearly three years without completely depleting my savings. My credit score is 832—I’m proud of that because it means even in uncertainty, I’m managing responsibly. But I’m also realistic: if these income streams don’t start flowing harder and faster, it’s going to become increasingly difficult to sustain this path.
The struggle isn’t just financial—it’s psychological. There are days when I question everything. When I wonder if I should just go back to the safety of a corporate job. When the gap between my potential and my current reality feels impossibly wide.
But then something like the Viejas Glorias project happens. Something that reminds me of the connections I’m building, the ways I’m showing up in my community, the credibility I’m establishing—these things have value that doesn’t show up on a balance sheet yet. I’m playing a long game in a world that demands immediate results, and that’s incredibly hard.
The honest truth? I’m not sure how this story ends. But I know that going back isn’t an option. So I keep showing up, keep building, keep believing that if I can just hold on a little longer, these streams will start to flow.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
This is such a challenging question for me to answer because my identity as a creative professional is still evolving, and I’m learning to give myself permission to claim titles I’ve spent years earning.
When I filled out this form, I listed myself as an artist—and then immediately questioned it. I don’t paint or draw. I take photos with my phone and make reels. I don’t have tangible products to sell. But here’s what I’m learning: I am a creator. I create experiences, connections, narratives, strategies. Even the way I dress is intentional expression. I grew up without access to art or opportunities for creative expression, so claiming that identity as an adult feels both liberating and terrifying.
The same struggle happened with calling myself a writer. I wrote for a year and a half before I even asked to be paid. My breakthrough came when the publisher of Tampa Bay Business & Wealth asked if I wanted to write a food article based on a restaurant spreadsheet I’d created—she’d never even seen my writing, but she took a chance. That first article was published in January 2023, the same month I left corporate. Now I have over 35 articles and a masthead on their website. It took that long to finally tell people, “I’m a writer.”
Here’s what I’m really known for—what I sometimes forget to give myself credit for: I’m a strategic marketing professional who has marketed over $1 billion in real estate, including projects like ONE St. Petersburg, Pendry Tampa, The Laurel Rittenhouse Square, and Minto Communities. I understand how to build narratives that move people and create momentum around big ideas.
What sets me apart is that I combine that high-level corporate expertise with deep, authentic community connections. I don’t just consult from the outside—I’m embedded in St. Petersburg’s cultural fabric through years of showing up and volunteering. I see opportunities others miss because I’m genuinely part of the ecosystem, not just observing it.
Right now, my proudest moment is still unfolding: if we successfully raise $30,000 in less than a month for the Viejas Glorias project, it will be validation that everything I’ve been building—the relationships, the credibility, the bridge between corporate expertise and community impact—actually works. It will prove that my unconventional path has value, that being the connector who brings international attention to St. Petersburg while supporting a women’s museum and celebrating aging women matters.
I specialize in seeing the potential in projects and people, and then mobilizing the resources and relationships to make things happen. I’m not sure what to call that exactly—strategist, connector, cultural translator, creative problem-solver. Maybe I’m still figuring out the language to describe what I do. But I know it works.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Absolutely. I wouldn’t be here without the three coaches who guided me through some of the hardest internal work I’ve ever done—work that was just as critical as any business strategy.
First was Nancy and the Calling in the One program. This was deep shadow work—learning to actually love myself, which has always been my Achilles heel. When you’re building something from nothing while living on savings, that foundation of self-worth isn’t a luxury. It’s survival.
Around the same time, I started working with Luisa through her $100k Accelerator program within HERlocity. This was a six-month intensive that gave me the actual tools to build revenue success scenarios and establish critical business pillars like mission, vision, and values. Luisa truly transformed my life because she helped me realize I could take control of my financial future and achieve freedom. She gave me permission to think bigger than I’d ever allowed myself to think.
Simultaneously, I was in the Creatress Unleashed coaching program with Adency—who actually recommended me for this interview. Adency has been pivotal in helping me get through the negative self-talk and start letting myself shine. She’s been the voice that says “stop hiding” when every instinct tells me to play small.
What’s powerful is that each of them addressed different parts of the same core challenge: I had to learn to believe in myself and love myself before any business strategy could work. Nancy taught me to face my shadows. Luisa taught me to build the framework. Adency taught me to step into the light.
It was hard, uncomfortable work with all three of them. But it all boils down to this: you can have all the expertise, all the connections, all the viable business ideas in the world—but if you don’t fundamentally believe you deserve success, none of it matters. These women helped me do the internal work that made everything else possible.
Beyond the coaches, I have to credit the entire St. Petersburg arts and nonprofit community for embracing me. People like Jenee Priebe from SHINE, Joy Rose from the Museum of Motherhood, the founders of Girls Rock St. Pete—they saw something in me before I could see it in myself. They gave me opportunities to contribute, to connect, to prove my value. That kind of community support is irreplaceable.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tbbwmag.com/category/food-and-drink/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ambassadorbarb/ https://www.instagram.com/posherpalate/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/barbara.lynch.5494
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambassadorbarb-posherpalate/
Image Credits
Barbara Lynch
