Running a business and homeschooling your kids is already a full plate, but what happens when you add an autoimmune condition like Hashimoto’s to the mix?
In this week’s feature, we dive into the story of Esther Yunkin — a registered nurse with 17 years of emergency care experience who now serves as a health coach helping women manage Hashimoto’s. Esther is not only a nurse and business owner, but also a homeschooling mom of four, navigating chronic health challenges while keeping her family, business, and self-care afloat.
If you’ve ever felt like your body can’t keep up with your vision, Esther’s story offers both practical strategies and deep encouragement.
🛑 The Early Signs We Ignore
Esther didn’t know right away that something was wrong.
Like many homeschool CEOs, she was used to juggling a lot: newborns, toddlers, weekend nursing shifts, homeschooling, and building her health coaching business. But one day, as she was reading aloud to her kids, she noticed she was slurring her words and fighting to stay awake.
That moment became her internal alarm bell.
At first, Esther assumed it was just normal mom exhaustion. She tried to fix her energy with better sleep hygiene, healthy routines, and pushing through fatigue. But after five long years of declining health, she finally got a diagnosis: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune condition affecting the thyroid.
💡 When “Pushing Through” Stops Working
Esther describes years of feeling frustrated, knowing something was off but having no name for it.
She says:
“I made slight improvements by prioritizing sleep and healthy habits, but the deep fatigue never lifted. I had to resign myself to needing a nap nearly every day — until I finally found the root cause.”
For Esther, the diagnosis was both a relief and a new challenge. Chronic health issues don’t disappear overnight, and she knew she needed to rethink how she approached work, homeschooling, and life.
Systems Save You on the Hard Days
One of the most inspiring parts of Esther’s journey is how intentionally she’s designed her life to work with her health limits, not against them.
Here’s how she sets herself up for success even on low-energy days:
✅ Independent Learning for Her Kids:
Esther has structured her homeschool routine so her kids can manage parts of their schoolwork independently, even starting this skill as early as kindergarten. This gives her space to rest when needed without feeling like the whole day falls apart.
✅ Clear Priorities in Her Business:
She’s chosen to prioritize her podcast and her health coaching work over trying to “do it all” on social media or chase every business task. She focuses on what moves the needle most, even if it means letting go of perfection or nonessential projects.
✅ Building a Support System:
Esther leans on her husband to share meals and housework and has incorporated AI tools to help streamline her work processes. She’s upfront about what she can and can’t do on any given day.
✅ Setting Boundaries:
She uses a mindset borrowed from farming:
“A farmer’s work is never done. There’s always another field to plow. You have to decide when to stop for the day.”
Esther has stopped working late into the night. She sets a time when work is done and honors that boundary.
Small Health Shifts That Make a Big Difference
You might be surprised by how simple some of Esther’s top health tips are:
☕ Reduce (or quit) caffeine.
It’s hard, but caffeine can raise cortisol (the body’s stress hormone), which worsens inflammation and autoimmune symptoms. Esther admits quitting caffeine isn’t easy, but the long-term energy improvements are worth it.
💨 Practice deep diaphragmatic breathing.
Taking just five to ten deep belly breaths before meals or bedtime can calm the nervous system, lower inflammation, and help reset your body into “rest and digest” mode. Esther teaches her clients this simple technique as a starting point for improving energy.
🌿 Start with one change at a time.
Trying to fix everything at once leads to overwhelm. Esther recommends focusing on one small, sustainable shift and building from there — whether it’s getting outside for morning light, improving sleep hygiene, or adding breathing exercises.
You Are Not Your Diagnosis
Perhaps the most powerful takeaway from Esther’s story is the mindset shift she teaches:
“You didn’t cause this. And you are not your diagnosis.”
So many women tie their worth to what they can do — how many tasks they check off, how much they produce, how perfectly they show up in business and family life. But chronic illness forces us to ask deeper questions about identity, capacity, and grace.
Esther reminds her clients:
“You are valuable because you’re you. Not because of what you accomplish.”
Leading Well When Life Slows You Down
When Esther has a flare-up, she doesn’t push through blindly. Instead, she leans on the systems she’s set up:
- Kids follow their independent learning plans
- Meals and household tasks shift flexibly
- Business routines account for lower-capacity days
It’s not about perfection — it’s about sustainability. And it’s a model every homeschool CEO can learn from, whether you’re facing health challenges or just the normal ups and downs of running a business and homeschooling at the same time.
Final Encouragement
If you’re navigating exhaustion, chronic illness, or the heavy weight of trying to do it all, know this: there is hope, there is help, and you are not alone.
Your worth is not tied to your productivity. Your business and your homeschool journey can still thrive — even if you have to slow down, simplify, or let some things go.
Esther’s mission is to help women with Hashimoto’s reclaim energy, hope, and healing.
🎧 Listen to the Full Episode
You can hear Esther’s full story and practical tips on the Homeschool CEO Podcast (available on all major platforms).
👉 Explore Esther’s resources and coaching at: Health with Hashimoto’s Podcast
👉 Connect with the Homeschool CEO Society for more stories, community, and tools to thrive in business and homeschooling.
