EP2: My Journey Towards Alignment
===
Welcome to Becoming Aligned AF, a podcast about redefining success, finding your flow, and building a life that actually fits who you are.
We're ditching the "shoulds" and getting down to what feels unapologetically right. This isn't about fitting into anyone's version of success or settling for what's good enough. we're here to make moves that actually feel authentic to who we are.
This journey is all about clarity, confidence, and alignment so deep it makes you wonder why you ever settled for anything less.
We're diving into the messy, beautiful, and downright bold process of building a life and a business that not only look good on paper, but actually make you feel alive.
Consider this your permission slip to do things on your terms, intentionally, unapologetically, and with a little fire. Because when you're aligned AF, you're unstoppable.
So if you're ready to get real, break some rules, and design a life that actually feels like yours, Let's get to it.
Welcome to episode two, and episode two is all about my story and why I felt pulled to create a podcast around this.
For me, it started a few years ago. I'd always had a business where I was helping entrepreneurs in some way or another. And when the pandemic happened, it was really, truly my lifeline to the outside world. I dove headfirst into helping entrepreneurs create courses that really got results -not just for their students, but also for their businesses.
When the pandemic happened and we had to turn our businesses upside down, I was able to really step into focusing on helping small business owners find what their people really wanted and then help them create a journey to get there.
So after the pandemic hit, I was able to really step into focusing on helping small business owners find what they really wanted to teach and how to get their learners there as quickly and efficiently as possible.
And I loved it. I really did. It was so fulfilling to me to think of having a ripple effect on not just the people that I was working with, but also their learners, and so on.
And it was great while we weren't having really any social interaction, but that's where things got tricky.
After a few years, things started going back to normal, and I realized that I had a full time job and was running a business, both of which I wasn't really giving my full attention.
And I really do enjoy what I do in my full time job at Stanford. Only recently have I figured out that My true purpose Is to amplify others passions and messages, and I'm definitely doing that at Stanford as well.
I was just exhausted and burnt out. And it took me a while to figure out that I really needed to step back from something.
I made the realization that what I needed right then was not necessarily what I was going to need for the rest of my life. So I gave myself permission to make decisions for now. What do I need to get me through this period of burnout, to heal me, to bring me back to who I was?The things that I needed, really truly, were stability, and to put away my laptop at the end of the day So I started off on the hard journey of learning what an aligned life looked like for me, and how I could get there.
With the help of a few of my coaches, I was able to take a look at what really mattered to me and decided to put a pin in my business. It was probably the hardest thing that I've ever done, but also at the same time has led to one of the most rewarding periods in my life.
I'd naturally started having conversations with these brilliant women around me and realized that I was not alone. There were a lot of people going through burnout and having to make these hard decisions about their business, their life, their career, and so much more. And it's so present in our everyday lives that we don't even recognize it anymore.
I saw that women who were the most successful were the ones that stopped, and took a deep dive into what really made them happy. And like me, a lot of the people that I've talked to have realized that The path that they were on wasn't truly fulfilling because they were looking at someone else's standards of success.
And what happens when you adopt someone else's standard of success is that you get there and it just doesn't
feel fulfilling, because it's not.
At this point, I hope this is sounding a little bit familiar. I started to realize how alignment really has been the through line of everything that I've done.
Quite literally with graphic design, things look better when they're aligned. But also in education, when learning goals are defined and the educator creates a journey directly towards them, the learners are more successful.
And it wasn't easy, I'm gonna say it took years, probably at least two years of continuously working on myself to get where I am. But I realized that I wouldn't be able to even get anywhere near where I am if it wasn't for a community that surrounded me that really truly valued personal growth. I know that not everybody has that and so I really want to share my community with you.
I'm also thinking of this podcast as a grimoire. I don't know if you've read the book Grimoire Girl by Hilary Burton, but it really, truly has changed the way I think about legacy and what I want to leave for those behind me.
Whether it's a small business owner that I'm touching through my podcast, or someone that I have in my personal life, or maybe even my kids someday.
In the world of witchy women, a grimoire is the book of spells, or their magic book that contains instructions on how to perform magical rituals that are passed on from generation to generation. Hilary describes the pull to create a grimoire as asking herself the question, "If I was gone tomorrow, what would I want my children to know?"
Here's an excerpt from the preface that Hillary writes about what a grimoire is. "When we typically think of a grimoire, we picture witches harboring secrets. We think of that book with the fantastic eye in the movie Hocus Pocus that Bette Midler uses to conjure evil spells. We think of mysterious texts purchased in back alley stores and passed down through generations. And that's really not so far fetched.
Writing knowledge down so that it does not become lost was once a highly dangerous practice for women. How many stories have we heard about women in the 14th and 15th century Europe being tortured, burned, or hanged for their independence or wisdom?
A found grimoire could be a death sentence, so these books were not frivolous creations kept for sentimental purposes.
It was a tangible collection of a lifetime of learning. A woman would record what she'd been taught as a child and add to it throughout her lifetime. The fairer sex would learn from each other and cautiously trade remedies. To be imprinted in another woman's grimoire was an act of trust from both parties."
So in a way, I'm thinking of this podcast as recording the inspiration of the journey that I've gone through recently, but also adding in other women's stories.
Hillary writes " As I sit here working on this grimoire, I remind myself to be grateful for what my friends gave me. Intangible gifts that seeped down deeply into my identity. I will integrate them into my own hodgepodge of inheritance. I will insert them and the gifts from others that I've loved and lost into my grimoire.
My children will have these themes, ideas and habits and traditions passed down, not knowing where my friend's influence stops and I begin. It will have all melded into something that they can expand upon."
I've always thought that the community of entrepreneurs that I'm in is a little bit ahead of the curve when it comes to knowledge of what we're going through as a human collective. So the things that I'm reflecting on myself going through I'm starting to see in my friends that are outside of that community and that's what kind of made me want to bring this to the world and share what I've learned from so many different, very special women so that we can all rise together.
I really hope that this podcast has the power to create change, even if it's just by the tiniest little bit.
In the words of Hilary Burton, "hopefully this will be an inspiration for you to create your own grimoire, your personal source of everyday enchantment. This is a book, ( or podcast), about living so hard and with so much intention that your people see the shooting star in you. Let's burn bright."
I am so honored to have had you with me today on our journey to Becoming Aligned AF. I hope that this episode sparked some clarity, made you think, or even inspired a small shift towards the life that actually fits you. Remember, alignment isn't a one time destination. It's a practice: a series of small, intentional moves that get you closer to your own version of success.
If you're loving these conversations, make sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode. And if today's topic spoke to you, share it with a friend who could use a little nudge towards alignment too.
Alright, that's it for me. Catch you next time on Becoming Aligned AF. Until then, keep leaning into what lights you up.
