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Today, I want to take a moment to acknowledge the mentors that have changed the game for me in business and life.

It’s easy to think some people’s businesses are just working and they are thriving while others just don’t have what it takes or that magic that makes everything go through the roof. 

But the truth is, we are all a culmination of our experiences and often what looks easy and effortless on the outside for someone took years of self-development or introspection or a coach or mentor that supported that major transformation to take place.

So today I want to share the coaches and training that really impacted + influenced me and my work over the years to honor my lineage of teacher and also to peel back the curtain and show you what it sometimes takes to create a business you love.

Where it all began…

2002-2006 – I studied Psychology, Art + Eastern Religion at the University of Vermont and graduated at the top of my class. But I felt totally lost. (In 2005, I lived in India and studied Tibetan Buddhism, Tantric Buddhism, Vipassana Meditation – opened up to a whole new world and way of thinking. Learned about surrender, devotion and the unification of compassion + wisdom, and the masculine + feminine. I also worked on a youth farm to heal my relationship with food and my body. 

2006 – I was super depressed, anxious and confused. I hated my body. I had all the information to heal and change my mind but my mind, was controlling me. I prayed for an answer and got directed to Hawaii and WOOFing on a farm run by Myra Lewin of Hale Pule. I hopped on a plane. I was immersed in the world of ayurveda, meditation, energy work, and Raja Yoga. My life changed in an instant. My brain cleared, my body came into balance, I felt peace for the first time in my life. 

2006 – 2012 – I tried to ignore my dharma for a WHILE. I went into a super toxic 9-5 job selling beer. Climbed the ladder, managed the marketing department, taught authentic sales to a national sales team. I was more out of balance than ever before. During that time, I went to a retreat with Anjali Budreski and got the courage to leave my job. I told my mom. I took the leap and started managing the marketing department of a 20 million/year natural foods coop. I was getting closer. I learned about visioning from Zingerman’s and learned that yogic philosophy and business could work together (I started practicing manifestation even though I didn’t know what it was).

2012 – I convinced my boss to let me take paid leave and did my 200-hour yoga teacher training at Hale Pule on Kauai. I read the Bhagavad Gita and other texts that anchored my commitment to be a yoga teacher and do spiritual work in the world, but I wanted to make MONEY too so that I could leave my job – but how? I went back to be a support teacher for her TYY, and was introduced to Sarah Jenks by a friend – she was a “coach” – I became obsessed with this career path.

2012/2013 – I met Seane Corn – she said we think “who are we to change the world – but how dare you NOT?” What breaks your heart in the world, that is where your service lies. I decided I would help women overcome their struggle with food, and their body in a holistic way. 

2013 – I started B-School and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition while at my 9-5 at the natural foods store. I finally gathered the courage to invest in becoming a coach. I knew a LOT about nutrition from healing my own body and relationship with food but wanted to teach others how to do the same. I started my fledgling business and took on allll the practice clients. 

Late 2013 – I made my biggest investment yet – $4500 in a mastermind with in-person retreat with Jenny Shih. I began to embody the identity of an entrepreneur before I even left my job. I set up my business structures, launched my website, created my offers, and made the best connections with women I stayed in touch with for YEARS. I realized investing is not just about the content but the vibe – the community – and the bold leap into doing brave things. 

2014 – I leave my 9-5!! I took on waitressing jobs and marketing jobs, taught yoga and meditation, and hosted women’s circles… working as a Health Coach teaching women how to lose weight and heal their bodies using a combination of modern psychology, eastern philosophy, and holistic nutrition. 

2015 – I realized I knew a lot about online business but needed something more personalized and that would answer my specific questions. I enrolled in the CORE program through Holistic MBA with Stacey Morgenstern and Stacey Peters. This was HUGE – I went from a client here and there to filling my practice. I had my first $5k month!

2016 – I realized that my people knew about food but were not DOING the things they needed to be doing so continued with a Holistic MBA in their Transformational Coaching Method course. I learned about the psychology of habit change. I wove this together with yogic philosophy, meditation, surrender, and embracing the masculine + feminine aspects of effort and ease. My clients started seeing AMAZING results. I stopped working with women who didn’t have a spiritual practice. I launched my first group program: Light, Fit, and Free. 6 people joined, 2 were family members. 

Late 2016 – Just when I started to feel good in my business, my body, and my life EVERYTHING fell apart. I found out that my husband and partner of 11 years was having an affair and we went through the process of selling our house, untangling our relationship, and getting divorced. 

2017 – I moved to Hawaii. With a handful of clients. I was only making about $25k a year. I was in deep grief. I didn’t do any of the things the business gurus were telling me to do. I just showed up and served and cried and surfed. I leaned into my yoga and meditation practice (my roommates were students of my yoga teacher). I learned that what I was doing all along was manifestation. I honed this skill. I found the work of Amanda Frances when I googled Holistic Business Coach. I reached out to do 1:1. I got scared to invest in myself, but her work validated everything I felt and was doing with my clients. She was an expander who showed me that this could actually work – and to OWN my business background as sacred and holy too. (We even both signed everything xo! Check out her IG at @xoamandafrances). I launched Light. Fit and Free again, made $500. 

2018 – I heard about Joanna Lindenbaum through a client of mine who had a powerful experience with her at a retreat. Ever since Amanda Francis I wanted a coach but was TERRIFIED to invest. Her 6-month program was about $7k and I said yes – I thought I was going to throw up. I wanted to back out. I was FREAKING out but stretching myself like never before. I dived deep into her 1:1 work, her business building curriculum, her Sacred Depths coaching training, and learned how to facilitate deep work in groups with clients. I filled my 1:1 practice and launched AFE. I was making steady $5-$10k a month. (*I also invested in a Mastermind with a coach that was $3k and AWFUL.)

2019 – My business tripled by 2019 and I finally hit the six-figure mark. Business is at a high again, but I go through another breakup. I’m in deep grief. COVID hits. I go from splitting time in Hawaii and Vermont to living in Vermont full time. I am 35 and single. I want more than anything to be a mother. Instead of hoping it happens, I lean into what I know works. I invest in myself more than ever before: a peloton, a personal trainer, blonde highlights, a gorgeous apartment, good furniture, a great therapist, a relationship course, and work on manifesting my dream husband, life, and business. 

2020 – I spend my biggest investment yet – $10k to work with Danielle Leslie to automate The Aligned Female Entrepreneur and scale. My business doubled. I hit multiple six figures for the first time. I met my husband, Matt. (*I also spent $40k on Facebook ads and managers that were a flop.)

2021 – I get pregnant with my daughter Chloe. Just when business was going through the roof, I had no energy. I get married, move, and prepare for a baby, QUICKLY. I invest $10k in Haley Burkhead’s “Recurring Profit” course to continue to scale AFE without spending money on Facebook Ads. I have my first $30k month and save for a 5-month maternity leave in a matter of weeks. My 1:1s and mastermind are full but I need to shut it all down. I invest in Joanna’s help to figure out a plan.

2022 – I have Chloe. I started my business back up again. We made $17k in 3 days of coming back. Business is simple, streamlined, and automated. Life is good.

2023 – Pregnant again with second baby. Feeling uninspired, isolated, exhausted, and sick. Everything in me wants to curl up and hide, not put myself out there. But I remember the value of investing. I craft my vision to make a million dollars. I pray for my next mentor. I am guided by another client of mine (@whitneyevewellness) to Shoshanna Raven. Just when I think there is no way to be pregnant with a one-year-old and make my business grow, I join her mastermind and year-long immersion called Vortex. My biggest investment yet – $13k. My energy took a big leap – scaled to $20-$30k months working 3 days a week. Saved up for another maternity leave BUT this time I have a team and systems in place to have recurring income WHILE I am away – game changer!

Phew! There it all is. Wow.

So wild to see the ups and downs of building a successful business and how my business grew slowly, but when I invested in myself, it grew EXPONENTIALLY. That is the power of coaching and mentorship. It’s like a rocket ship that shortcuts your path and catapults your growth, leadership, and skill set in a short period of time – the income is the inevitable side effect. 

So that brings us to TODAY: I am automating and scaling The Aligned Female Entrepreneur  – the culmination of decades of study into psychology, energetics, and habit change with 10 years of investing in business mentors and coaches, testing the strategies in my own business and helping hundreds of other women do the same. I am also taking less 1:1 clients and moving my VIPS into my Aligned Earning Mastermind – which I am in LOVE with. 

In my work, I help women master their mindset, realign with their purpose, transform their bodies, relationships, and businesses from the inside out, and make more money than they ever imagined possible. 

It’s definitely been a wild ride to get here, but I wake up every day excited, energized and inspired by the women I serve. I have binders full of handwritten thank you cards from over the years seeing how much this work changes people’s lives.

I am so grateful for that younger me who kept going even when all the odds were against her and who had the courage to invest in herself and her dream.

And this is my wish for you… to not try to do it all yourself or piece it together years and years and years, but instead learn from my mistakes and slow growth: invest with the right mentor at the right time and develop the key skill sets that will get you where you want to go. 

This is the only magic bullet I know of.

Find the person doing what you want to do and pay them to help you do the same.

Collapse time.

Recreate yourself and your future.

Don’t choose between doing good work and making a great income.

Have everything you’ve ever wanted and SO much more. 

Trust all of your unique skills and stories and struggles are for a reason and even if it doesn’t make sense right now, you’ll look back on your life and see how it was all divinely orchestrated in your favor and that your greatest service lies in embracing ALL of you.

I love you.

P.S. Do you want to set up your profitable business foundation to bring in consistent $5-10K months? I’ve put together a free in-depth training for you! You can register HERE.