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It can be hard to trust your gut, especially when your reason and logic tell you to do the complete opposite. It’s a trait that most natural entrepreneurs have, and it’s a blessing.

We talked about what it means to trust your gut. Kimberly Darr shared how it paid off for her in the latest episode of The Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut.

Have you ever held a goal or dream in your mind that seems crazy or irrational when faced with logic? Kimberly knows how that feels.

She shared her journey of breaking down her barriers of logic to trust her own gut. Read on to discover how she did it and the success and wonderful life it created.

A Future Mapped Out

When Kimberly was in high school, she dreamed about becoming a forester. As a teen, she volunteered to care for the forest area around her hometown of Twain Harte, California. It led to a love of forestry.

For a few years, she worked as a firefighter at Cal Fire. Her job fueled her passion for forestry further. After graduating, she attended Humboldt State College. She earned a degree with a major in Forestry and a minor in Business.

Out of school, she landed her dream job working as a forester in Oregon. Two years later, she got the chance to return to her hometown and the forest she fell in love with as a kid.

Her career was set. She could work in her chosen field until retirement, in her hometown. Her entire future mapped out.

That Nagging Feeling

While she loved her career as a forester, she kept getting this nagging feeling. That same nagging feeling was helping her notice some things about her dream job.

• In a big company, it didn’t matter how hard she worked. Everyone got the same pay.
• It didn’t matter if she had an amazing idea and carried it all the way through. They all got the same acknowledgment.

These two things left a tiny space for feeling fulfilled and challenged by her dream job. That feeling resided in her gut. On a whim, she decided to get her real estate license and do it on the side.

She realized that real estate couldn’t be a side gig and appeared at a crossroads. Should she drop her real estate license and all the work she put in? Should she leave her dream job to pursue a new passion for real estate?

She felt perplexed. All the advice she got told her to stay put, but her gut said something else. She decided to follow her gut.

The Right Choice

As it turned out, her gut was right. She became a top real estate agent in her county in rapid fashion.

A few years after leaving her dream job as a forester, she was pregnant with her first child. As fate would have it, her first child would be born with Down Syndrome.

She realized real estate gave her the flexibility to care for her child in a way forestry never could. She bought a septic service company in town and convinced her husband (a logger) to take it on.

Although he was reluctant at first, it turned out to be the right choice. With two businesses, they could now be home for their new daughter Sinclair.

She rose to become the top agent in her company, which added pressure to become a partner. Within a few years, she became the sole owner of her 21st Century office.

Her gut told her to stop selling real estate. Instead, she focused her energy on making her agents become top sellers. It also proved to be the right decision.

Using Her Gut to Help Others

She remembers when her gut gave her the inclination to help others. It was during Sinclair’s senior homecoming celebration. Her friends helped Sinclair campaign and win homecoming queen. As she watched her daughter’s happiness, she couldn’t shake a few feelings:

• Sinclair’s friends have their futures ahead of them. Sinclair’s future seems limited due to her intellectual disability.
• What if this became her daughter’s happiest moment?

She vowed this would not happen. With a friend who also had a down syndrome child, she bought a local yogurt shop. They designed it for people with intellectual disabilities to work.

Follow Your Gut

Kimberly encourages others who are at a crossroads like she was to follow and trust their gut. Her journey has had some failures. Even so, it helped her learn and become more successful. She’s very grateful.

Looking for more great content about entrepreneurism? Be sure to check out The Inner Edison Podcast with Ed Parcaut.