The Breakdown That Built Me: Sofia Pedroso on How a Crisis Sparked Her Business, Shiffully

A personal journey through collapse, reinvention, and the shift that changed everything.

I’ve always seen myself as independent — stubbornly so, if I’m honest. It was part of my identity, almost a trademark. And then, at 43, everything collapsed so quickly it felt as though someone had pulled the floor out from under me. My husband’s business shut down, the debts came rushing in behind us, and I had just lost my job on top of it. One afternoon, I did the maths and realised I could only survive on my own for a month or two. I had no savings. Nothing to fall back on.

And so, I did one of the hardest things I’ve ever done: I asked my parents for help.

It wasn’t just my independence I was losing. What made it truly painful was knowing I was adding pressure to two people I love who were already stretched. My dad dismantled his office and rebuilt it in the garage — a cold, makeshift space that didn’t feel like his at all. My mum adjusted the grocery budget to feed two extra mouths. Watching them do all that because my life had fallen apart was heartbreaking.

Still, even when things look impossible, something in me refuses to stay down. I accepted a job offer slightly above minimum wage, telling myself it was temporary. Meanwhile, I began attending entrepreneurship events, hoping that being surrounded by like-minded people would help me. I had ideas, creativity, leadership — but I lacked confidence. Every attempt felt shaky, as though it could collapse at the slightest touch.

The breaking point came during yet another failed business attempt. I remember being on the phone with a friend, crying so hard I could barely speak. She paused and said, “But how many attempts were there really?” Something about that question stayed with me. Later that night, I wrote everything down — every idea, every project, every escape plan. Seeing it all on paper, I realised I hadn’t been building anything. I had just been jumping from one lifeboat to another. Despair had taken the wheel without me noticing.

And then life added one more hit:

I lost my job again. By then I had already moved out of my parents’ house, and I was not ready to go back. I had to survive, no matter what.

So I made the hardest choice: I let go of my dream of being an entrepreneur. I accepted that, for the moment, I needed stability — corporate stability. I had always been intimidated by that world — the hierarchy, the scale, the procedures — but I applied anyway. Somehow, I ended up being hired by a large multinational.

I adapted. I learned. I grew. But as I moved up, I felt myself drifting away from who I was. My work didn’t feel like mine. It wasn’t fulfilling. It didn’t carry the meaning I was craving.

One night, after months of that vague ache of “something’s missing,” I prayed for meaning. Just that. Nothing complicated.

About a month later, everything shifted.

I came across the idea that emotional energy from past experiences can get stuck in the body and quietly shape how we feel, think, and react. I didn’t dive into it with faith, but with hope — approaching it with curiosity, almost like an experiment. I started releasing emotional patterns in myself and began feeling the shift. Everything loosened. I felt different — better — in the ways that truly matter.

Word spread quietly. Friends referred other friends. People came to me with anything and everything — stress, relationship issues, emotional heaviness, old hurts. I didn’t plan a side business; it simply grew on its own. Soon, I was making as much — sometimes more — in a few hours of this work as I made in my corporate job. And then that little thought showed up again: Maybe I can do this full time.

But fear appeared with it. The thought of losing a consistent monthly income scared me more than I expected. Yet the desire to build something of my own — that spark — was stronger. So I started slowly, measuring every step.

I reduced my hours. I invested in programmes. I tried to build momentum. And still, I felt blocked. At first, I blamed the programme. Then I bought a second one, followed every step, and nothing changed.

Eventually, the truth hit me with absolute clarity:

The obstacle wasn’t the outside world.
It wasn’t the economy or the market.
It wasn’t the lack of money, the lack of clients, or even the strategy.

The obstacle was me.
More precisely, it was the sandbags I was carrying that stopped my hot air balloon from rising.

That truth could have crushed me if I hadn’t already learned how to drop those sandbags. But instead of breaking me, it opened a door. I realised I didn’t see myself as someone capable of building something solid and growing. My identity was still attached to old failures. I wasn’t blocked in skill — I was blocked by who I believed I was.

When I began shifting those internal patterns — emotionally, mentally, energetically — everything moved quickly. Setbacks stopped feeling like enemies. They became signals. Data. I started acting — and reacting — like someone who expected to rise, not collapse.

That shift became the foundation of the work I do today.

It became Shiffully — where I help entrepreneurs release the inner blocks standing between them and the business they’re trying to build. After years of working with all kinds of emotional issues, I now focus almost entirely on entrepreneurs, because I know what it feels like to want more and feel held back by something invisible. And I know the freedom on the other side of that.

After everything I’ve lived, rebuilt, and witnessed, there is one truth I believe completely:

There are no dead ends.
There is always a way through.
There is no obstacle we cannot overcome.

When we release what keeps us stuck — when we shift — doors begin to open.