Episode 328: Building a Business From Your Story: Why What You’ve Lived Through Is Already Enough with Shelby Perry
The Business Nobody Expected — Including Her
Building a business from your story doesn't always start with a business plan. For Shelby Perry, it started with a snowboarding accident, months of surgeries, and a forced stillness that turned into the most productive season of her life.
I'm Sarah Walton — business coach, podcast host, and someone who believes deeply that when women have more financial power, everyone around them benefits. This podcast exists to give you the honest, practical, and sometimes deeply personal conversations that help you build a business you actually want to run. This one with Shelby is exactly that.
Shelby is the founder of Eyehesive, a global, women-led platform dedicated to empowering people living with one eye. After losing her right eye in a snowboarding accident, she built a community, launched a physical product line of sleek adhesive eye patches, and is now hosting a retreat in Tulum — all while navigating sobriety, surgeries, recovery, and the very real doubt that comes with building something from nothing.
Here’s what we cover:
- How Shelby turned a life-altering injury into a thriving mission-driven business
- Why following your intuition is actually a strategy
- How she handles self-doubt and slow sales the same way she handled losing her eye
- Why your story doesn’t need to be the most dramatic one in the room, and
- What to do on the days you want to quit.
If you’ve ever wondered whether what you’ve been through is enough to build something real — keep reading, then hit play.
Watch the Full Episode
A Snowboarding Accident, a Deep Knowing, and the Business That Followed
On the last run of what had been a genuinely perfect ski weekend in Salt Lake City, Shelby caught a toe edge, brushed against a tree, and a branch caught her right eye. What followed were months of surgeries, a move back to San Diego, and a kind of forced stillness she hadn’t chosen — but that became the foundation for everything.
Before the injury, Shelby wasn’t an entrepreneur. She had no business background, no marketing experience, and no desire to go that route. Still, something shifted in the quiet of recovery.
“I had this feeling on my heart and a tap on my shoulder from something greater than myself that said, Shelby, this story is meant for something bigger. I just had this deep knowing in my bones that this story was really meant for something bigger.” — Shelby Perry
At the same time, she noticed something practical: through her surgeries, she couldn’t find eye patches that worked for her lifestyle. That gap became the seed for Eyehesive. So rather than a polished business plan, what launched her company was a combination of a deep knowing and a very real unmet need.
There’s one more piece of context that matters here. Right before the injury, Shelby had made a major life change — she had moved to San Diego during the pandemic to get sober. She had 10 months of sobriety when the accident happened. At the time, it felt like the cruelest possible timing. She was doing everything right, finally getting her life back on track, and then this. She shares now that this season, as hard as it was, became the foundation for everything that followed.
Building a Business From Your Story: One Intuitive Step at a Time
What strikes me most about how Shelby built Eyehesive is how completely it defies the hustle narrative most of us are fed. There was no big launch strategy and no overnight success. She started by sharing her story on social media like journal entries — raw, in real time, documenting what she was actually going through. Then came a blog with over 100 community stories. After that, a virtual conference. Then coaching. Then, four and a half years after the original idea, the physical product — the adhesive eye patches she wanted to create — launched on June 20th, 2025.
Eight months before we recorded this episode, she added one more thing: a retreat in Tulum, Mexico. The One Eye Era Retreat for all people who have lost an eye.
None of it came from a roadmap.
"There wasn't this target per se, but it was just this bigger knowing that I wanted to create something bigger. And I just kept following my heart … and allowing things to evolve as they go." — Shelby Perry
Beyond the vision, she also needed trust in her own timelines — not anyone else’s.
“You got to have a lot of trust with yourself and trust in the process and trust in the timelines.” — Shelby Perry
That’s not a passive statement. It took four and a half years to get those eye patches to market. She kept going anyway.
What Slowing Down Actually Made Possible
During recovery, Shelby spent hours in bed each day. Her body was working overtime — healing the remaining eye and adjusting to life with one. Because her energy was so low, she had almost no choice but to be still. She says now that this stillness was precisely when the most important questions got answered.
“What are you going to make of this? Are you going to let this take you down, or are you going to rise from this?” — Shelby Perry
That question is worth sitting with — not just after something devastating, but in the quiet seasons of business that don’t look productive from the outside. Often, the answer lives in exactly the stillness we spend the most energy trying to avoid.
Doubt, Slow Sales, and Why She Applies the Same Lens to Both
One of the most honest moments in this conversation is when Shelby admits that losing her eye was — in some ways — easier to work through than a slow sales week. The bigger adversity made the reframe feel more available. Smaller, everyday setbacks, though, are sneakier.
“I always try to use that same concept of ‘it’s not happening to me, it’s happening for me’ — and I have the power to step into my power in this situation, just like I did when I lost my eye.” — Shelby Perry
She’s equally clear about what this looks like in practice. The post that doesn’t perform. The email nobody opens. The launch that lands differently than planned. Right now, when small business confidence has been shaky for months, and the pressure to produce constant, visible results feels louder than ever — this reframe matters.
One quiet week is not the whole picture. One underperforming post is not the whole picture. Everything compounds over time, and the only way to let it compound is to keep showing up.
Your Story Doesn’t Have to Be the Most Dramatic One in the Room
This is the part I most want every woman entrepreneur reading this to hear.
Shelby works with people who want to build businesses from their stories. She also hears the same quiet internal voice constantly — the one that whispers: I haven’t been through anything that dramatic. My story isn’t serious enough. Someone else is already doing something similar. Who am I to share this?
Her answer is direct.
“We all have wisdom and gold and lessons from every experience we’ve ever been through.” — Shelby Perry
Even within her own community of people who have lost an eye, every story is different. Every single one reaches someone that another story never could. Because the way one person tells their experience will resonate for someone that no one else’s version reaches — even if the topic is exactly the same.
The comparison game is always available. There’s always someone whose story looks more dramatic, more polished, more visible. But that’s not a reason to stay quiet. That’s a reason to speak.
“If you really believe inside that you have a story that can help other people, and there’s a transformation or something of value that you can give — it is your responsibility to go out there and share it, to provide that service, to help people with that.” — Shelby Perry
What to Do on the Days You Want to Quit
Every conversation with a founder eventually gets here. I’m glad this one did.
Shelby talks about how podcasts have kept her going — not because they gave her all the answers, but because she heard one sentence from someone further along the path, and that was enough for one more day. One well-known entrepreneur mentioned casually that it took her five years to launch a single product. That one sentence gave Shelby permission to keep going. Six months later, the Eyehesive eye patches were live.
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t just go one more day.” — Shelby Perry
That’s it. That’s the whole thing.
The doubt is real. So is the fear. So is the overwhelm. On the days when all of that is loudest — one more day is a complete strategy.
Listen to the Full Episode
About Shelby Perry
Shelby Perry is the founder of Eyehesive, a global, women-led platform dedicated to empowering people living with one eye. After losing her right eye in a snowboarding accident, Shelby experienced firsthand the lack of support and adult-friendly solutions for eye loss. She turned that challenge into purpose by creating Eyehesive — offering sleek, functional adhesive eye patches and a thriving community focused on visibility, confidence, and connection. Shelby is passionate about building mission-driven businesses that combine innovation, advocacy, and community impact.
Connect with Shelby
- Website here
- Instagram: @eyehesive
- Facebook: Eyehesive
Related Episodes You'll Love
Episode 231: Finding Your Purpose After Hitting Rock Bottom with Jacki Semerau Tait: — Jacki’s story of losing her home and income — and building her way back to a life she actually wanted — speaks directly to what Shelby shares about using the hardest moments as the starting point for purpose-driven work. If you’re sitting with a story of your own right now, this episode is your next listen. Listen here
Episode 309: Scale Your Business Without Burning Out with Sarai Martinez — Sarai spent 20 years showing up in rooms where no one looked like her, building a beauty career across Fashion Weeks on three continents. Her conversation is about long-game persistence, representation, and what it actually takes to keep going when the path doesn’t open easily. Listen here
Episode 253: Ready to Reinvent Yourself? A Conversation With Anita Rombough — Anita’s conversation about purpose, reinvention, and listening to your inner voice is a natural companion to everything Shelby shares about trusting the nudge, even when you can’t see the whole picture. Listen here
Let's Keep This Conversation Going
If you’ve been sitting on a story — wondering if it’s enough, wondering if the timing is right, wondering if anyone needs to hear it — let’s talk. I offer free 15-minute consultation calls. We’ll look at where you are and see if working together makes sense.
Connect with Sarah
- Instagram: @thesarahwalton
- LinkedIn: Sarah Walton
- Free resources for you
- Join the Game On Girlfriend® community — subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube
Love This Episode?
If this conversation gave you a push to finally clear out those piles and do something with them, pass it along to a friend who has been putting off the same thing. Sometimes, just hearing that the first step is simpler than expected is all any of us needs.
About Sarah Walton
Sarah Walton is a business coach and the host of the Game On Girlfriend® podcast. Her mission is simple: to put more money in the hands of more women. She helps women entrepreneurs build profitable, sustainable businesses without burnout — working through both the mindset and the strategy sides of growth. Because when women have more financial power, they don't just keep it — they use it to take care of their families, support their communities, and build something bigger than themselves. Through her programs — including the Abundance Academy and The Art of Receiving — along with her online courses and one-on-one coaching, Sarah works with women who are ready to build profitable businesses and use that financial power to make a real difference in the world around them.
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