Chirp-chirp-chirp-cheeeeee! Chirp-chirp-chirp-cheeeeee!

That’s the sound of my daily 5am wake-up call courtesy of the cute lil’ bird squatting in the laurel bush outside my bedroom window.

I don’t mind waking up early, but her morning song is more fire alarm reverberating in a metal building than a pleasant woodland melody.

On Monday, her song jolted me awake from a series of stress dreams in which I was either:

(A) running late,
(B) searching for something I couldn’t find,
(C) trying to convince someone to listen to me, or
(D) ALL OF THE ABOVE

Part of me was grateful for the wake-up call, and part of me was full of FURY — that special flavor of rage that overtakes you when startled out of a vulnerable state of slumber. Just me??

Anyway, it was Monday morning after a week off for my birthday. My first week off to rest and relax since December. This year has been mega challenging for me. We recently returned from almost three months on the East Coast, supporting my husband’s parents after a series of medical crises turned their lives upside down.

We drove across the country — a long, six-day journey from Oregon to Virginia — so our elderly dog could come with us.

The long days on the road gave me time to reflect on the privilege of being self-employed and working virtually. Jonathan and I have intentionally created a life liberated from the constraints of 9-to-5 employment, and here was an opportunity to put that privilege to good use.

It was an honor to support them, and it was exhausting.

So, my birthday week of rest and relaxation was much needed… but I put too much pressure on the week to recharge my depleted batteries.

I had a vision of waking up Monday morning feeling 100% recharged.

It seemed like a reasonable expectation…

I mean, my week was a total delight! I only did things I wanted to do, took it slow, did just enough socializing to warm my heart without wearing me out, and felt my spark slowly sputtering back to life. Success!

I *wanted* to be back at 100% on Monday morning because I’ve missed being fully immersed and connected to my work.

But alas, feeling recharged and raring to go was not in the cards for me this week. (That’s true metaphorically and literally. The oracle cards I pulled on Monday said to expect less spark and more lethargy this week! Annoying.)

To add insult to injury…

I’ve found myself fantasizing a lot lately about shutting down my businesses and getting a job working for someone else.

OH NO! DANGER SIGN!

To be clear, I think it’s totally healthy to have an escape fantasy.

Imagining a quiet life working at the library, baking croissants, or working with a dream team of humans doing work you love (but aren’t responsible for) is a good way to let off some steam when the pressure of running your business feels like too much.

But there is a tipping point when the escape fantasy stops letting off steam and starts pulling you deeper and deeper into the abyss — a scary place with no wifi signal where no one cares about your work and there’s NO HOPE FOR YOUR FUTUUUUUUREEEE!

Wowza. That got dark real quick.

I’m sharing this because I have a feeling you have your own version of The Abyss and know what it’s like to feel stuck in low power mode, even when all you want is to get back to your creative, motivated, passionate self.

Many of my friends and clients are feeling similarly.

>> “Nothing is working and I feel like a loser.”
>> “Why am I not getting more new clients? I’m starting to panic!”
>> “Is it even worth trying when the robots are taking over anyway?”

All valid feelings and questions. And this week, I’m in it with you.

Here’s the pep talk I’m giving myself this week…

If you’re also riding the struggle bus on your way to The Abyss this week, I hope these words resonate for you. And if you’re in a great place right now, GREAT. We need you to hold down the fort of hopefulness and possibility while we descend into the darkness for a minute. We’ll return the favor when we inevitably swap positions in a few weeks.

I’d really love to know where you’re at right now.

Hit reply and share which of the following is true for you:

1. I’m on the struggle bus, too.
2. I’m feeling great right now.

You can copy/paste whichever feels more true for you. It’ll take 3 seconds and make me feel REALLY GOOD. And don’t you want to make me feel good????????

I jest. But for real, let me know what’s up for you.

Life is better when we’re connected to each other.

P.S. I’m sending this newsletter without proofreading because I can’t be bothered today. Let my typos remind you that I am human and no robots were involved in the making of this email.

What does spirituality have to do with your business?

Absolutely nothing.

Or…

Absolutely everything.

You get to decide.

We’re taught that business is about making money — that profit is the sole indicator of our success. The people who teach us how to make money wrinkle their noses at anything that smells remotely “woo”, wafting it away like a stale fart hovering around your face while you’re stuck on an airplane.

They dismiss the unseen and hyperfocus on variables they believe can be controlled. In their minds, control = certainty and certainty = safety.

Do these control tactics feel good to us? Not in the slightest.

Do we follow their advice anyway? Yep, because at the end of the day, we need money to survive in this world, and we’re scared that we won’t make any money unless we do it “the right way.”

Even though “the right way” slowly hollows us out, we shove our spiritual yearning to the side to do the soul-draining work of “building your business the right way”, which really means building your business separate from your intuition, nature, the unseen world, (insert whatever flavor of spirituality speaks to you here).

Our capitalist economy has strip-mined spirituality from our businesses by extracting the soul-nourishing connections that give our work purpose and meaning. What’s left is a plot of dried-out soil barely capable of producing enough to get by.

If your business is feeling a bit dried out — if you’ve lost your spark, your passion, or your connection to the deeper meaning that motivates you, this week’s message is for you.

I want to offer you a pathway to weave spirituality back into your business.

The word “weave” is important here. I’m not suggesting you abandon the business practices you rely on to make money. That would be reckless. I’m suggesting you continue doing what you’re doing while weaving spiritual connection into the tapestry of your work.

In this week’s Let’s Go Outside video, I share:

• My all-time favorite Rumi quote that inspired this journey
• Why your spiritual practice is your most important business strategy
• 1 simple suggestion to help you weave more grounded spirituality (or stinky “woo”, as the skeptics call it) into your money-making business

Here’s what I hope you’ll carry with you this week:​
​

• What you want also wants you. What you need is already moving in your direction. The only thing standing between you and it is the belief that you have to chase it down.
  ​
• The most rebellious thing a business owner can do in a capitalist economy is choose to pause, put your hands on the earth, and listen.​
  ​
• Your spiritual practices aren’t separate from your business practices. Sitting in patience, connecting with nature, seeking guidance from the unseen world — these are essential business skills.

How does this land for you?

What would change in your business if you stopped trying to force growth and success, and instead, let yourself sit, breathe, and open yourself to receiving what is truly meant for you?

Hint: Everything would change.

Reflection

1. Where in your business are you still running hard after what you think you want? What would it feel like to pause there and trust that what’s looking for you is also looking to find you?
   ​
2. What productivity conditioning have you inherited that makes patience feel dangerous or irresponsible? If you could shake that off, what becomes possible?
   ​
3. If you honored your spiritual practices as core business practices — sitting in patience, seeking guidance, listening to what wants you — how would your work change?

Ritual

Find a place outside where you can sit directly on the earth or grass.

Position your hands or feet on the ground and take five full breaths, feeling your connection to the land beneath you.

Then sit in silence for 10 minutes (or as long as feels right) without checking your phone or planning your next task.

Notice what arises — the sounds, sensations, and any quiet knowing that emerges.

Before you leave, place your hand on your heart and ask: What is looking for me right now?

Don’t force an answer; simply listen. Carry this question with you as you return to your work.

Brace yourself for a WILD idea…

What if being patient could help you achieve your goals faster (and with more ease) than being productive?

“Maegan, you’re being ridiculous! No one ever achieved a big goal in their business by sitting back and doing NOTHING.”

I respectfully disagree, imaginary internet friend.

The truth is, we’re BOMBARDED with messages telling us to be more productive every single day. We’ve been conditioned to believe that working hard is the only way to succeed as a business owner.

Ever heard the term “sweat equity”?

It’s the idea that you need to exert yourself to make your business grow — especially if you don’t have a mountain of money at your disposal to outsource all of the necessary tasks to someone else.

And because we’re ambitious individuals who really want (and often need) our businesses to succeed, we unconsciously play into the story that constant productivity is a requirement of being a good business owner.

In other words, we avoid patience like the plague because we’re afraid that being patient means we’re being lazy. We’re afraid that patience is a ruse we hide behind because we just don’t want to work.

Of course, this isn’t true!

As business owners, our livelihoods depend on our ability to take action, to sell our offerings, and deliver our services. We have to work, but that doesn’t mean that we have to be constantly pushing.

Knowing when to stop, when to pause, when to wait is a difficult but crucial skill to master if you want to be a deeply rested entrepreneur.

But first, we have to release the fear that being patient means we’re not taking any action at all. That’s ridiculous. Patience does NOT mean we’re being passive, and it definitely doesn’t mean we’re being lazy.

In a well-balanced business, a period of patience typically follows a period of action. By pausing and being patient, we’re simply giving our actions time to take root. It’s this pause that allows your work to flourish!

I know it feels counterintuitive, but the truth is, pausing after taking action supports the sustainable growth of our goals.

Farmers and gardeners are masters of this rhythm — they plant, and then they wait. They don’t keep digging up the seeds to check on them. This week, I’m taking you out to a real plot of farmland to show you exactly what active patience looks like, and how to bring that same rhythm into your business.

Click here to watch the full video.

If I had to boil this down to three things:

• Patience and passivity are not the same thing. Patience is an active choice to trust the process after you’ve done the work. Passivity is opting out of the work altogether. Small business owners constantly confuse the two, and it costs them inner peace.
  ​
• The belief that you must always be doing in order to succeed is a feature of hustle culture, not a law of nature. Farmers plant, then wait. Growth requires both action and rest.
  ​
• Aligning your business with natural cycles is a legitimate path to success. It may be slower than the exploit-and-grind model, but it is more sustainable, more peaceful, and more aligned with who you actually want to be.
  ​

How does this land for you?

Is there a place in your business right now where you’d benefit from practicing a little more patience?

Hit reply and tell me what’s on your mind.

Did you know I was born one month premature??

Of course not! Why would you know that?! Unless you’re my mom, who occasionally reads these newsletters. Hi, Mom! Thanks for birthing me!

But it’s true!

I was born one month early, which I guess was technically the first time I exhibited a behavioral pattern commonly known as chronic impatience.

Oof, it’s true.

My whole life, I’ve felt like my heart and soul are years ahead of my body.

In junior high, I was impatient to get to high school. In high school, I was impatient to get to college. In college, I was impatient to get to graduate school. In graduate school, I was impatient to finish school so I could start my private practice and FINALLY LIVE MY LIFE.

Unsurprisingly, the feeling did not go away when I started private practice.

It’s morphed into impatience around projects and goals — a fluttery feeling in my chest that whispered things like, “You’re falling behind!” and “You should be past this part already!”

Impatience bullied me into pushing myself past my limits. It convinced me to swim against the current of the river instead of relaxing into ease and flow.

Impatience wired my nervous system to respond to urgency and tricked my brain into thinking I was lazy whenever I stopped trying to force my way to success.

For the past 10+ years, I’ve been getting to know this impatient part of me.

I’ve learned that she’s not all bad. She’s eager to grow, create, and consume every morsel life has to offer. She looks like Ms. Pac-Man, chomp-chomp-chomping her way through the world.

It makes sense that the #1 message I get from therapists, guides, intuitives, friends, partners, and baristas is, “Practice a little patience, Maegan.”

But you know how it feels when someone tells you to be more patient when all you want is to move forward?

REALLY FREAKING IRRITATING.

Alas, learning to recognize when I need to practice patience has been necessary work for me over the past few years.

And now, it’s the topic for this week’s Let’s Go Outside video! Join me (and a lovely Japanese maple tree) as we explore the answer to the question:

When it comes to my business, how do I know when to push and when to be patient?

As a business owner, patience can feel scary. Right now, especially with so much economic uncertainty, the urge to hustle harder is louder than ever. I feel it too. But I’ve had to remind myself that pushing harder doesn’t actually move the timeline up.

The thing we want will not bloom on demand.

The most powerful thing you can do in business is learn to distinguish between when to take action and when to wait for conditions to align in your favor. (← I say way more about this in the video.)

Here’s what I want you to walk away with this week:

• Most of what determines your success is outside your control. You can take all the right actions and still be waiting on conditions, timing, or circumstances that no amount of forcing will speed up.
• Over-efforting is a signal, not a strategy. When something feels like you’re swimming upstream, that resistance is worth examining. It might mean the timing isn’t right yet, not that you need to push harder.
• Patience and passivity are not the same thing. Choosing to wait for the right conditions is an active, intentional business decision, and knowing when to hold still is a skill most entrepreneurs never develop.

I know it’s scary to slow down.

But I promise, slowing down is not the same as falling behind.

Next week, we’ll talk about how to stay active and intentional while you wait. This has been medicine for me as I’ve recovered from my own chronic impatience syndrome. Stay tuned!

For now, see if you can identify ONE project, goal, or dream that might benefit from your patience. Something you’re really stressed about or “working hard” on right now that simply isn’t ready to bloom.

Use the ritual and reflection suggestions below to work with it this week.

Reflection

1. Where in your business are you working hard at something that simply isn’t moving? What does that resistance feel like in your body?
   ​
2. Is the effort you’re putting in actually moving the needle, or are you staying busy to avoid the discomfort of waiting?
   ​
3. What would you do differently this week if you trusted that the right conditions were already on their way?
   ​
4. What would it mean for your business if patience were a strategy, not a weakness to be overcome?

Ritual

The Holding Object Ritual

Choose the one thing in your business that needs more patience right now. Then find an object to represent it.

Forage outside, find something around your home, or make something simple with your hands.

Place it somewhere visible — your desk, your altar, a windowsill.

This object is now holding that goal for you. You don’t have to carry it constantly. You don’t have to act on it today.

Each time you notice the object, let it remind you: you are still tending to this dream.

Attention is its own form of care. You are not abandoning it. You are trusting it to bloom when the conditions are ready.

Welcome back to another week of work.

How’s your energy today?

If you’re anything like my clients and me, your energy has been all over the place. One day, you’re feeling energized and productive, and the next, you arrive at work dead on arrival.

The most challenging part is that it feels impossible to predict when you’ll be raring to go and when you’ll feel like playing hooky to binge-watch Heated Rivalry for the third time.

So how do you run a business when your energy feels totally unpredictable?

Nature has the answer.

This week, I’m taking you outside to learn from the source.

Ready? Let’s go!

If you’ve been riding an energy rollercoaster lately — totally lit up and creative one day, exhausted and checked out the next — this episode is for you.​

This week, we’re looking to the chaotic threshold between winter and spring as a reminder that variability isn’t a flaw, it’s just how living things operate.

Here’s what nature is teaching us this week:

• Why the belief that your energy should be predictable is BS
• What seasonal thresholds teach us about creative cycles in business
• How to honor your fluctuating energy without making it a problem

RITUAL

Step 1. Check in with yourself

Before opening your laptop or looking at your to-do list, pause and ask yourself: where is my energy today? Don’t try to change it. Just name it. Expansive? Contracted? Somewhere in between?

Step 2. Look outside

Find a window or step outside for a moment. Notice what nature is doing today. Is it sunny, windy, cloudy, raining? Notice if there are parallels between what’s happening outside and what’s happening inside of you.

Step 3. Name your inner season

Ask yourself: “Am I feeling Spring energy or Winter energy today?” Write it down in one sentence. Something like: “Today I am in Winter mode — slow, quiet, and turning inward.”

Step 4. Adjust your expectations

Based on your season, name one thing you will do today and one thing you will let go of. Honor what’s real rather than what you think should be true.

REFLECTION

• When your energy dips this week, what’s your first instinct — to push through, or to honor your need for rest?
  ​
• When it comes to your business, in what ways are you expecting consistent output, steady motivation, and predictable creativity? Are those expectations working for you?
  ​
• When you’re in a high-energy, expansive Spring day, how do you care for yourself so you don’t burn through your reserves before the next contraction comes?

Don’t have time to read today? No problem.
Skip the email and listen to this 12-minute podcast episode instead.

I spent the weekend binge-watching Maid — a ten-episode series about a young woman named Alex clawing her way out of poverty, domestic violence, and a family lineage of untreated mental illness.

Alex’s life was hard. The kind of hard I’m grateful I’ve never experienced.

The truth is: I’m extremely privileged.

Even in my most stressful moments, I’ve always had a roof over my head, fresh food, and easy access to healthcare. With a little planning, I’ve been able to say yes to nearly every educational or coaching opportunity I’ve felt called toward. As a thin, upper-middle-class, able-bodied white woman, I face very few barriers to getting what I need, when I need it — and being treated with respect along the way.

Yes. I am extremely privileged.

And I waste way too much time feeling guilty about it.

That guilt shows up like this:

• Working more hours than are actually necessary…
  ​because having too much free time makes me uncomfortable.
• Refusing to pay for support…
  ​because why do I deserve help when so many people have none?
• Holding myself back in my business…
  ​because wanting more feels selfish when others are struggling.

This is true for so many of the women I work with.

We carry privilege and a hypersensitive empathy for the suffering of others. We don’t know how to hold both truths at once. So we spend our lives breaking our backs trying to make it “even.”

But how many people are we really helping when we’re walking around with broken backs?

We’re punishing ourselves for having privilege.

We feel guilty that — unlike Alex — we don’t have to search the sidewalk for spare change to put enough gas in the car to get to the job that doesn’t even cover childcare.

We hate that other people are suffering.

We hate not knowing how to fix it.

Over time, that guilt festers. It distorts our reality (“You can’t afford to pay for support!”) and contorts our bodies (“Get back to work! You need to do MORE!”). We become obedient cogs in the machine that’s harming all of us.

But the truth is this:

Your privilege isn’t a problem. It’s power.

When wielded consciously, your privilege can empower your mind and strengthen your body, enabling you to disrupt the machine altogether.

Because when you say…

• I’m taking some time off to recharge my batteries.
• I’m hiring support, so I’m not so exhausted and stressed out.
• I’m going to go bigger with my business so I can have more impact.

… you’re not just helping yourself. You’re putting a plan in motion that disrupts the status quo and makes the world a better place for all of us.

You can use your privilege to contribute to large-scale transformation.

And it starts by saying yes to yourself.

That can be hard for your inner martyr — the part of you that believes you’re not really doing good unless you’re suffering alongside the people you’re trying to serve. But we don’t need to suffer to be of service!

In fact, quite the opposite.

The more resourced you are, the more good you can do.

When you do the inner work to expand your tolerance for ease and abundance, you have more psychological and financial capacity to use your privilege well.

And yeah, that inner work is uncomfortable.

But not nearly as uncomfortable as Alex’s life.

I wish I could give my privilege to Alex — but I can’t. It’s mine.

And your privilege belongs to you.

You can ignore it, or you can cash it in for a chance to help transform the system. I’m not saying that will happen overnight. But the choices you make with your privilege today will shape the future.

And it’s okay if those choices make your life better, too.

You don’t need to feel guilty about that.

Remember, guilt keeps us busy.

And busy people don’t have the capacity to change anything.

If you want to be an agent of change, you have to step off the hamster wheel that keeps you trapped in stress, exhaustion, and overwhelm.

Which is why I’m so passionate about time off.

Taking space for yourself is the first step to harnessing your privilege for good. It allows you to see exactly what you need to heal, what you need to change, and what you need to create in order to live a more easeful life.

That’s what I want for all of us — more ease.

When you step away from the daily grind, you reconnect with the bigger picture. And when you allow yourself to consciously leverage your privilege in service of that vision, your ability to help others expands tenfold.

This is the big mission behind Sabbatical School.​

To help entrepreneurs create space to tend to themselves, clarify their visions, and find the courage to bust through glass ceilings, kick “the man” in the balls, and help create a world where everyone is taken care of.

That’s what a sabbatical is all about — intentional space for healing, dreaming, recharging, and creating radical change.

Right now, Alex doesn’t have the resources to initiate change. She doesn’t have the option to find more ease. And she definitely doesn’t have the luxury to take more time off.

But you do.

If you’re ready, I would truly love to have you in Sabbatical School.​

Early-bird enrollment closes tonight.

If money feels tight, join before midnight to save up to $500 with the early-bird rate. I genuinely want this to be accessible for you.

I know it’s scary. And I know you can do it.

Let’s use our privilege for good — for others and for ourselves.

Exciting news!

​Sabbatical School is officially OPEN!

If you’ve been craving real time off from your business — not a long weekend, not a “lighter week,” but real spaciousness — this is for you.

I built Sabbatical School because I kept meeting smart, capable business owners who were exhausted and convinced that taking a full month off was unrealistic, irresponsible, or simply not an option for them. (Lies!!!)

Here’s what went into bringing this program to life:

→ 8 years of personal sabbatical practice
​→ 6 years of coaching other people through sabbaticals
​→ 4 years of ideating on my vision for this program

Plus, three solid months of daily attention to create:

→ the Sabbatical School podcast mini-series
​→ the (very comprehensive) Sabbatical Playbook​
​→ the “What kind of sabbatical do YOU need?” quiz​

… and now, the Sabbatical School enrollment page.

Wow.

This has been a labor of love, and I am so excited to share it with you today.

Here’s what’s going to happen next:

Between now and February 5th, I’ll be emailing you more frequently to share practical lessons and resources about how to take transformative time off as a business owner.

Yes, I will also be inviting you to join me in Sabbatical School. That is my deepest desire, and I’m not going to bury that lede!

However, I believe that sales emails don’t have to be salesy. They can (and should) be rich, value-packed, and transformative in their own right.

If you want to learn more about how to…
​
​→ heal your relationship with time, energy, and productivity
→ organize your finances so you can pay yourself to take time off
→ use your time off in a way that makes your business better ($$$)

… I would love for you to stick around for these emails!

Even if you’re not interested in joining Sabbatical School.

By the end of this series, you will have a slew of new skills and ideas that you can implement in your business with or without my help.

And if you’re straight up NOT interested in receiving content from me about sabbaticals or transformative time off, you can CLICK HERE TO PAUSE ALL OF MY EMAILS UNTIL FEBRUARY 9TH. That’s when I’ll be back to regular programming. Take care of you, boo!

And now, here’s your first sabbatical lesson:

“I could never take a whole month off.” | How Solopreneurs (Like You) Are Actually Taking Sabbaticals

Listen Here (14 minutes)

I know, the idea of taking a whole month off when you’re the person wearing all of the hats in your business (and maybe in your family too) feels preposterous. Salacious! Maybe even downright offensive.

That’s exactly how you know this is something you should consider.

​This 14-minute episode explains what a sabbatical for small business owners actually entails (hint: it’s drastically different from traditional academic sabbaticals), why 4 weeks off is a magical sweet spot, and a simple first step to begin opening to the possibility of your own sabbatical, even if you’re unsure how it will happen.

Give it a listen. Let me know what you think.

And if you have any questions about Sabbatical School, hit me up right here. My inbox is always open to you.

If your inbox looks anything like mine today, it probably feels like a full-on tsunami of Black Friday emails.

>> Flash sales!
>> Last-chance offers!
>> 3,457 reasons to spend money right now!

Even when we know it’s coming, it can still feel like being washed out to sea.

Over the holiday weekend, I was really intentional about staying out of my inbox, because I knew what was coming. I opened it once (on Sunday, oops), took one look at the wall of sales emails, and immediately thought, “I don’t want to be here.”

Today, instead of asking you to buy something, I want to offer you a gift…

I recorded a guided meditation to help you recenter after the Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday frenzy and clarify your next steps for the rest of the year.

It’s designed specifically for this weird, pressurized three-week sprint between Thanksgiving and the December holidays.

What you’ll get from this meditation

In these 20 minutes together, I’ll help you:

1. Shake off the holiday frenzy and drop back into your body.​
   We start by noticing what’s happening in your physical body — the tension, fatigue, and overstimulation that tend to show up after a holiday + a weekend of consumer pressure.
2. Unearth clarity about what you need to be well this month.​
   Rather than letting the season dictate your pace, I guide you through a grounding visualization that helps you release what’s not yours to carry and listen for what you need to feel well, steady, and resourced in December.
3. Identify what truly matters in your business for the next three weeks.​
   This isn’t about hustling harder. It’s about getting clear on the few things that actually deserve your attention before you step away for your holiday break — and gently letting everything else go.

If your nervous system is tired of being sold to…

If you’re feeling both desperate for rest and stressed about everything you “should” get done before the year ends…

This meditation is my invitation to pause, breathe, and remember that you’re allowed to do this month differently.

Take a deep breath and enjoy the guided meditation here.​

Content Warning: This email includes stories about pet loss.

Well, hello again.

I’m back in your inbox after my Silent September hiatus.

The time away was… not what I expected.

Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect. I had a strong intuitive hunch that I needed to clear some space in August and September. I could feel intensity building in my life, and I didn’t want to bypass whatever was happening by doubling down on work and service—an old and familiar pattern.

So, I made the executive decision (because, reminder, that’s benefit numero uno of being self-employed) to Marie Kondo my to-do list for a few months and see what ripe summer tomatoes life wanted to lob in my direction.

I talked about my decision in the podcast mini-episode, “Giving Yourself Permission to Pause.” Check it out if you feel an intuitive nudge.

On August 18th, 10 days after I recorded that episode, my dog, Hank, died very unexpectedly of cancer.

We had no idea he was sick. He started acting a bit funny the week before. He had an ultrasound that diagnosed the cancer on Thursday, and we said goodbye to him the following Monday. It was emotional whiplash.

I didn’t share this before, but we lost my dog Joanie back in January. Honestly, I was just waking up from my grief haze from losing her. Then Hank died, and I got pulled back into the sea of sorrow by a crushing wave of grief. It felt like too much, too quickly.

A little backstory here…

Jonathan and I adopted three beagles between 2010 and 2015, when we lived in Texas. We didn’t realize at the time that the beagles were all around the same age. When you get a new dog, you don’t think about when they’ll die. You just think about how cute and fluffy and perfect they are and how damn lucky you are to have found them. But eventually, all of our stories end the same way. And unfortunately for us, that meant that one day, far, far into the future, we would likely experience a series of losses very close together.

Apparently, that time has arrived.

And it’s fucking terrible.

As a childfree couple, our beagles are our family. To lose them in such quick succession has been unmooring. I’ve been staring at a blinking cursor here for several long minutes, trying to find something positive to say, but there is nothing. The sorrow we feel is proportional to our love for them.

So, my Silent September was spent swimming in the waters of grief.

I took off the last two weeks of August (which was much easier to do since I’d already decided I wouldn’t publish new content in September). We booked an Airbnb in the forest for a family grief retreat with our remaining pup, Tripp—who, as irony would have it, is the oldest and most health-challenged of the beagle trio.

I spent hours each day sitting with the Salmon River, listening to the water, the land, and to the deepest voice within myself.

I feel a deep kinship with rivers. They are where I feel most at home and can hear my intuition most clearly. Earlier this year, I remembered that I grew up next to the river—the street was literally called Riverside Drive. Ha! It was a real “well, duh” moment. I laughed and laughed at myself for not having realized it earlier! The spirit of the river has always been an ally for me.

We spent the week talking, crying, laughing, snuggling with Tripp, watching the new season of King of the Hill, and being with nature.

It was exactly what it needed to be.

Then we came home and immediately started sharing our space with the contractors who were here to help us repair our flooded basement and leaky foundation. Weeks of jackhammering and digging and watching my mold-riddled future be carted off to the dump—symbols of this chapter of my life coming to a close.

Grief and sorrow are my loving companions in this moment.

I’m choosing not to turn away from the pain. I’m choosing to turn towards the sorrow with reverence, love, and gratitude. And while I’m still feeling the waves of disorientation that come with grief—accidentally deleting emails, forgetting to show up for appointments, finding nonsensical Post-It notes in the most random places—I’m also hearing and honoring the deeper truths being revealed to me through grief. Truths about who I am, what I’m meant to do, and what else I need to release as I begin the next chapter of my life.

To be present with your own evolution is the greatest gift.

To have the agency and resources to steer the ship of your life in whatever direction you feel called is the greatest privilege.

These are gifts for those of us who have chosen the challenging, liberating path of entrepreneurship. And it’s our duty to use them—for ourselves, and by extension, for the collective.

Many more thoughts to come. But for now, I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pictures—the beagles in the backseat of our car on our drive from Houston to Portland (which, btw, is the sweetest, quirkiest, loveliest “war-ravaged” city you’ll ever see) in April 2016.

To me, this photo is a reminder that new chapters are full of hope and possibility, and that all things—even the best, most amazing things—are impermanent.

Give everyone you love a big squeeze this weekend.

4-Step Process to Remove Inner Obstacles 

Last week, I introduced the Deeply Rested theme for May, Removing Obstacles and Finding Flow.

I want to honor the part of the entrepreneurial process that’s so easy to skip—the inner work of removing the obstacles that stand between you and your vision for your life and business.

In our May podcast episode, Nancy and I shared the four-step process we’re using to clear our obstacles this month. 

Here are the steps

Step 1: Identify Your Obstacles

Start by naming what’s standing between you and your vision.

Maybe it’s fear that your idea isn’t “good enough.” Maybe it’s scarcity whispering that there’s not enough time, money, or support for you to achieve your goals. Or maybe it’s perfectionism pumping you full of self-doubt and imposter syndrome. 

For me, the obstacles are limiting beliefs, financial fears, and old scarcity stories. (I share about this in detail in the episode.) 

Get radically honest about what blocks you’re carrying.

Step 2: Share Your Obstacles With Someone You Trust

As we discussed in the episode, inner obstacles grow heavier when we try to handle them alone. Transformative inner work is easier when we feel supported by people who love and respect us. 

But heed my warning! 

You need to choose your witness carefully. Ideally, you want someone who’s doing their own inner work, someone who can hold space without rushing to fix you or minimize your fear, someone who is not intimidated by your growth and success. 

Don’t share your obstacles with someone who will shut you down. You deserve people who will cheer you on and lift you up. 

Step 3: Prioritize Your Personal Healing Work

After getting honest with yourself and naming your obstacles, it’s time to do the inner work to heal and remove them from your system. 

Ask yourself: What’s one healing step I can take to loosen this block’s grip on my mind, body, and spirit? 

For example, Nancy is meeting with a financial planner for the first time, tending to her fears around money. I’m deepening my spiritual practice, anchoring myself in the voice of my intuition instead of the loud, anxious narratives of my mind. And together, we’ve created a Google Doc called “Our Doubt Lives Here” to name the fears and scarcity narratives that pop up when we’re trying to bring our big business visions to life (*ahem* more retreats). 

Clearing the way isn’t just strategic; it’s personal, soulful work.

What kind of support do you need to remove your obstacles? 

Therapy? Spiritual practice? Professional guidance? A new boundary? More time in nature? All of the above? 

Pick the next clearest step and get started. 

Step 4: Commit to Consistency

Let’s be real, you won’t remove a lifetime of blocks in a month. 

This inner work is a commitment, not a checklist. Be patient. Stay with it. Clearing your blocks takes time, and it’s time well spent.

Reflection

What is one obstacle you’re ready to name this month?

Hit reply and share it with me if you want a non-judgmental person (that’s me!) to witness you saying it out loud. 

And if you want to dive deeper, you can listen to the full conversation here: Removing Obstacles & Finding Flow [May 2025]

Together, we’re clearing the way for visions that flow, for businesses that nourish, and for lives that feel so much lighter.

P.S. Bonus survey!