“Locked Out of My Business”: The Day I Learned What a Digital Identity Really Is

It was a Thursday. A typical morning. Until it wasn’t.

I reached for my phone to check a supplier email—dead. Odd. I’d just charged it. I tried turning it on. Nothing.

Panic didn’t set in until I remembered: that phone number is tied to my 2FA. For everything.

Gmail. Shopify. My bank. Even the password manager. Without that device, I was effectively locked out of my own business.

The Hidden Trap of “Convenient” Security

As a small business owner, you’re used to juggling everything—orders, customers, emails, marketing. So when it comes to digital identity, you want one thing: simplicity.

You use one password manager. One primary email. Maybe a single recovery phone number. Everything’s in one place. Convenient, right?

Until you lose access to that one place.