The Flourish Foundry Podcast
A podcast where women in business share their journeys, celebrating entrepreneurship, creativity, and resilience. Hosted by a passionate web designer and entrepreneur, this show connects like-minded women to inspire, collaborate, and grow together.
Each episode dives into the stories behind successful businesses, highlighting the challenges, triumphs, and strategies that empower women to thrive.
Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a seasoned business owner, or simply curious about the paths to success, this podcast fosters community and meaningful conversations with extraordinary women who are shaping their industries.
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The Flourish Foundry Podcast
005: Navigating Seasons of Waiting with Stephanie Heidel
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Feeling stuck in waiting? Wondering what God has for you in this season? You're not alone.
Join our conversation as we unpack what God is doing within Foundation Mindset despite the devastation of their retreat venue.
We hope you walk away from this episode built up and encouraged.
As mentioned in the show, here's what Stephanie is currently reading:
"Unoffendable" by Brant Hansen
"Just Do Something" by Kevin DeYoung
Connect with Stephanie:
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Music: "Great podcast intro (both short and long version included)" by Lundstroem. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Oftentimes we we just wait and wait for this perfect calling from the Lord and make sure, am I hearing you right? Am I doing the right thing?
SPEAKER_00Well, hi, I'm here with my mom, Stephanie Heidel. If you read the title of this episode, I'm sure you put two and two together. Um, well, go ahead and introduce yourself, tell us a little bit about who you are, your business, the title of your business, all that good stuff.
SPEAKER_02Hi, baby girl. I'm so excited to be on here. Um, and I'm so proud of you and all the cool things you've already accomplished in your young, young life. So um, in my old, old life, I have uh um, it's interesting because Abby and I are in a similar season as far as the length of a new business. Um, so that's really interesting because obviously we're in different age brackets um and different seasons of life in general, but I think that's um yeah, pretty a common thing, especially with women, because we just roll with the seasons we're in. But my business is called Foundation Mindset, and we have been around for a little over a year, and I host wellness retreats, which is a new and pretty darn fun job.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and it's wellness retreats for women.
SPEAKER_02Currently it's just for women, but I will tell you every time we've had the funniest things because all the women are like, we need this for couples, we need this, but right now the um you know the setup that we have is only for women.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and they are in Florida.
SPEAKER_02Yes, so I don't know yet. I'm letting you lead here where we're you know, so I'm not sure how much to say in each little blurp. This is my first podcast, y'all, so I hope I'm doing okay. But um, but yes, so it is at the beach, um, which I I feel like a wellness retreat needs to be in nature of some sort. And what I have available here, I live in Florida. Fabby um may not have, you know, I think mentioned that, but um, so the wellness retreats are on the water. Um, we have a really unique place that is on a very narrow part of an island so that we get the beauty of the sunrise on one side and the sunset on the other. Simply gorgeous.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, yeah, that's awesome. Um let's talk a little bit about you said that you've been in business just over a year. Walk us through what that first year has looked like because that first year can be all over the place for people. I know as an outsider looking in, I thought it was highly successful and way above and beyond the goals that you had set for yourself, but that's from my perspective. So I would love to hear how it was for you and your team because it's not just you've got other women that are also like rallying behind you, which is huge. You will get into that too. But um, yeah, tell us about the first year. How did you know it was time to get started? How long was this on your heart before you got started? All of those things.
SPEAKER_02So I've leaned on my team heavily to tell me that the first year was amazing and successful. So sometimes we, you know, I we we just kind of doubt our own things sometimes, but it is definitely a team of people. Um, that is the only way I think that I could have done something like this. I don't, it's been on my heart for a very long time and the hearts of the other team members. Um, but if it was just for me to push go, I don't think I would have had the courage to do that. Um, but talking to the other women in my life that were a part of this, it was we're like, this is the season, we're gonna give it a shot. And um, it just kind of unfolded a little bit organically.
SPEAKER_00Um fast too. Yes, it turned it was a very quick turnaround of hey, this is an idea to hey, this is happening in I want to say it was like four weeks. It was really fast.
SPEAKER_02It depends on where you consider the beginning because to go back probably 10 years, my sister-in-law, Abby's aunt.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, um that's true. You guys were talking about this for a while.
SPEAKER_02We were so probably 10 years ago, we've we kind of talked about something similar, not quite a um a retreat that you go away to, but we talked more about a retreat center, something more where you would go just for the day or for half of a day and and receive things that would fulfill your mind, body, and soul. Um, we've it's always been heavy on our heart to combine those things. Um, for my sister-in-law, nutrition is has been her biggest focal point. Um, mental health has been mine. And so together talking about this, you know, and and how the brain-gut connection and all of the things that are really critical for just a full life, especially as a woman. So we've been kind of talking about this for a while, but then she sort of uh she pushed go and um and on her on her road towards um you know nutrition and she started her business and um coaching women and in nutrition, and we kind of talked about that and said, hey, you know, let's maybe maybe this is the time. And then another uh good friend of mine who has her own wellness center actually, um, and she is a massage therapist, and so we talked about that, and so it kind of this whole quick four weeks was literally my sister-in-law Shiloh and I saying, you know what, let's talk to Paris, the massage therapist, and see what she thinks. And we kind of went met for coffee, and um, you know, I mentioned that she has her own Paris has her own wellness center. She did not at the time, at the time she had a massage therapy place, but that's all that was there was the massage therapy. Um, so we met her up for coffee, met up with coffee. I was like, hey, wild idea, but we're thinking about going to the beach house and hosting retreats. And what do you think? Would you be willing to, you know, team up with us and offer, we could offer a massage for the women? And she just was like, this timing is amazing because I am in the process of of opening a wellness center, and so she's like, This is exactly what's on my heart is combining all of the different modalities, and so everything just kind of lined up where it was on everybody's heart at the same time, which I don't think was a coincidence. Um, and yeah, it was a quick like, okay, when let's look at our calendars, when can we do this? And it just sort of um unfolded, and yeah, I believe that conversation was in October, and we had our first retreat in January.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, it was very fast.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So how did you find those first that first round of people for your first retreat? Because I think that is something that's daunting is finding your first client or first buyer, however you want to call them. But then once you see people actually needing what you have to offer, it kind of gives you momentum. So how tell us a little bit about how you found those first people and then what that did for you after, how you found people after.
SPEAKER_02That is a super great question because that was probably the most terrifying thing of all because sales is not my strong suit. So when I mentioned my team, I failed to mention a critical part of my team, and that is Abby. Because without this beautiful website that she designed for me, I don't think I would have had the courage to put my feelers out there and just say, hey, come to this retreat. I swear it's really pretty. Um, you know, so to have that website where I could then just send that, hey, check this out. Right. It kind of made it removed from myself. I felt like it was because it's a weird feeling to feel like you're just kind of selling yourself or bragging about yourself, right? But to just say, um, hey ladies, I'm trying this really crazy wild idea. Uh, you know, check out the website. And I the beginning, the first retreaters was literally just kind of texting all my friends and you know, posting it and just telling people, but it was horribly terrifying because I mean it just yeah, but it, but I was also at the same time, I was very excited about it. So I was able to say, hey, I have this amazing team, and I could sort of not really make it sound like it's about me, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Because you always promote everyone else and never your name, which I think is really special about Foundation Mindset because you you do so much to uplift all these other businesses. Because I mean, just to clarify for listeners, when we say team, it's really other solopreneurs, other women running their own business. You are not a schedule or anything like that. You're just taking their zone of genius really and pulling it in and putting them all together, yeah, and providing that for people all in one space.
SPEAKER_02So they're more affiliates than right. We're not a I don't have any employees, we're all these uh everyone's doing their own thing, right? All of these female entrepreneurs kind of coming together.
SPEAKER_00That's really cool, but kind of got us off track a little bit there. But um, yes, so your first retreat, you're texting all your friends, you're telling them about all of your other business friends and all the awesome things they're doing, and for you that comes a lot more natural to promote other people than yourself, yeah. But you kind of use that to your advantage with getting these women on the retreat. So, and the word is word of mouth marketing, it's not right. There is a word for your strategy that you use, and it worked well.
SPEAKER_02Oh, I called it scary, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Terrifying, I'm selling, yeah. No, um, I think that is a really hard part for a lot of women in business is selling yourself and selling what you have to offer because I mean, and you got nasty comments too. I remember in the early days, people online were not so kind. Um, and that was something difficult for you to deal with.
SPEAKER_02Um yeah, it actually it's funny because I realized with you saying that how much bigger I made because it actually was one nasty comment. One. And so, you know, you know, like I think back and by a stranger. I have no idea who this this person is, you know. And so yeah, it's funny how we can let those that one thing in a bucket of wow, this is so exciting, I'm so thrilled, and just this one comment and how heavy it would sit. So I've learned a lot in the past year of um through not only the experiences, but I'm you know, read a lot of books that have helped kind of um navigate some of those feelings of like, you know what, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna let one person's comment shake what the Lord might have for a lot of women um out there.
SPEAKER_00Is there any book specifically that you would recommend?
SPEAKER_02So what popped in my head when you talked about that comment is I and I apologize, I cannot think of the author's name.
SPEAKER_00Um we can link it in the show notes.
SPEAKER_02Oh, perfect. Okay, the book that I was just referencing was called Unaffendable.
SPEAKER_00Okay, Unaffendable. Because I know um the Mel Gibson book, Let Them, is really popular right now. Have you read that? I actually haven't read that many either. But I've been, yeah, that's my list. I've got to do a podcast on it, but I haven't read it. Okay, so you found your first round of retreaters through it was mostly people you knew, right? And then they kind of brought their friends to what happened after that.
SPEAKER_02So my brilliant husband, who is Abby's dad, who is also an entrepreneur, that he has the gift of selling. Um, he has that confidence and which I admire. Um, he mentioned, he said, what about these? Um, have you thought about offering them at fundraising events? I said, Oh, that's a really great idea, which I really loved that because guess what? I didn't have to sell it. The the auctioneer did, you know, like this is great. So all I had to do was put things in, you know, in writing and pictures, which I am more comfortable behind those things. Now, having said that, obviously at the retreats we have, which we haven't gotten into that about what the curriculum looks like there, but I am speaking at retreats, but that's in such a different and more comfortable setting. It's small, it's intimate. I don't have a problem with that. So, um, at any rate, so we started presenting these at a couple of different fundraising events, and that was where we started to have strangers, you know, which is which is great, and then started to get Google reviews and and got really excellent feedback.
SPEAKER_00So everyone was like, I needed this.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a lot of a lot of feedback that was extremely powerful.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's awesome. So we I'm curious for the audience to know a little bit about your background because you mentioned writing and pictures and how you really use that to your advantage in your messaging and your marketing, like you did really well with email marketing because you knew that you were great at writing. So give us a little bit of background before Foundation Mindset. What did you do before? Did you always want to be a business owner? Had you tried other businesses? Just give us some context.
SPEAKER_02I feel like I've always been that woman who has no clue what she wants to do. So I um taught fifth grade for a while. I taught um pre-K for a while. So I did when I was teaching um fifth grade, I did teach reading and writing. I have written a couple of children's books. Um the medical and wellness world has always been an interest of mine. Um it's funny, I'm scrolling back through the resume, and it's so random that I mean I could really bore your audience with all the different random jobs I've had. But I think probably the bigger takeaway, because I'm probably not alone in the random, like maybe this, maybe this is what God wants for me, maybe this. You know what? I think I'm called to be a teacher. Oh no, I think I'm called to be a children's book writer. Oh, maybe I'm called for this, maybe I'm called for that, you know, and so um I don't think I'm alone in that wit waffling. I think what is really cool is that you can do any of those things because um God puts all kinds of things on your heart and he does give us that free will. And I think um sometimes he is just like, hey, you know, go for it, which kind of brings me to um another book that I recently read, which is called Just Do Something. And I'd have to look up the author for that as well. Okay, so the Just Do Something book was pretty inspiring to me as well because it talked about how, you know, oftentimes we we just wait and wait for this perfect calling from the Lord and make sure, am I hearing you right? Am I doing the right thing? And one of the big focuses that the author makes in this book is that um, you know, God doesn't really care about your non-moral decisions, not in a way if he doesn't care about you because he cares about what you care about and he loves you wholly, but he is okay with you pushing go on a non-moral decision and and then staying prayerful, of course. That's key through all of that. And I feel like I just went off on a really random tangent for you in the answer of what is your background, yeah. Um, but but I'm hoping that that's kind of encouraging to know that um, you know, yes, you need there's certain skills to that you need to be able to do something, but the fact of the matter is God uses the most unlikely candidates because that's how he shows his glory. So I could list off a highly impressive resume, but I know for me personally, I'm less impressed with a highly impressive resume than I am someone that is just a conduit pointing pointing to the Lord, right? Because it's I don't I don't know. I feel like I'm struggling to verbalize this, but but you just think about all the people that God has has used over time and and it's it's the really wonky ones that he uses because that's what that's what where people connect and that's what points to him because yeah, I'm certainly not the most qualified person. I just happen to, the Lord decided to like just land things in front of me so that this what's possible. I mean, it's not by my own doing that we ended up with this beautiful spot to be able to have women in nature. And it's all God for crossing these amazing women into my life that have so much to offer at these retreats. And and honestly, there's he even allowed me to walk through some really dark times that I feel like helps me to then connect to others and be able to listen to other women and say, you know, you are not alone, my friend. Like um, yeah, it's sometimes in those darkest places that God really just is able to show off.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. I love what you said about often waiting for the right time to press go. And I think that's something I've experienced a lot, and seeing I mean, you've set the trajectory for my life completely different than what you were given. So the expectations that I have for myself are kind of starting at your year 40 versus, you know, I mean, you had 20 years of working the jobs that you didn't necessarily love, but provided for your family, you know, like you put in those years of doing what you had to do, and I mean you found joy in it as well. I'm not saying that, but just you know, you sacrifice what you needed to sacrifice and put in the time so that my sister and I could have the life that we do now. But then now I, you know, tag teaming in was fortunate enough to have a college education and have the platform to be able to kind of go to the workforce right away and what I wanted to do, and not with having to do what is necessary to put a roof over my head, which has its own scope of expectations and pressures and whatnot. But, anyways, all of that to say, I love what you said about waiting for the right time because I have found myself wrestling with that quite a bit, and um, like you mentioned, we're in similar timelines, but then different seasons for our businesses. So your year one moved very quickly and was highly successful. You know, every retreat was booked out, it was awesome. Like for lack of a better word, everything really went smoothly. You had all positive feedback, and then now, and we'll get into this part of your story, but now you're in more of a season of waiting and kind of wrestling again with that question of like, okay, well. The next step versus my year one, I had all this momentum, left my agency job, and then was met with waiting and waiting. And is this the right thing? And I applied to a million different jobs that I was more than qualified for, and every single door shut. And for me, I don't think that's a coincidence. I think that's just like God saying no. And if I would had been offered a job, I would have taken it. And he knows that. So of course I was told no over and over again because that's not what he had in store for me. And so I mean, I believe that there's nothing you can do to get off the you know, the larger will of God from your life. Like he gives us free choice, like you mentioned, and you know, not over-spiritualizing the manageable, you know, the things that you have said, yes, but at the same time, I strongly believe he closes doors because it wasn't the time. So all of that to say, I love what you said about that, and I strongly relate to that. And now we're in sort of opposite seasons, yet again, where you're back to waiting, and I'm now catching up on all of this momentum. And a large part of that for me is Bryson being back, and the whole deployment was a lot more difficult and draining than I anticipated. Which for me it's hard to not beat myself up for that, too. Because I'm like, well, of course I should have known that that was gonna be hard. Why didn't I know that was gonna be hard? Which I'm sure, you know, you and I are you're my mom. So obviously you you know what I'm saying, but um, yeah, now I mean we've I've rebranded Flourish Foundry. I totally understand what you're saying about the website thing being separate from yourself, and that's a large motivator behind why I switched from Abby Gwen Designs to Flourish Foundry because now it's this thing, right? Now it's like almost tangible, and like this is this box, and then this is my personal life box, and I can kind of separate the two, which for me is kind of necessary. Um, but yeah, I would love for you to share with us a little bit about what this year looks like within Foundation Mindset, what kind of happened on the in-between. So you were writing this high, and then bring us up to date with what's going on now.
SPEAKER_02I love what you said about kind of mentioning Bryson being out of town and it just women business, whoo, that's a whole nother thing. So this podcast, it where you tend to be focusing on female entrepreneurs, I think is a there's a huge need for these conversations because as women, we try to do everything all the time. We want to be the best girlfriend, the best mom, the best wife, the best business owner, the best cook, the best house cleaner, like all the things, all the things all the time. And I think we put a lot of pressure on herself. And although Abby just, you know, you just shared all these kind words of of of um my experiences in leading you to, you know, having having a better platform to start your life. But what she's so sweetly not mentioning is that I'm also a recovering perfectionist, which is probably making those things um that much.
SPEAKER_00I did inherit that too. And if you want to listen to the episode before this, you'll hear me unpack that. Um that conversation was completely about perfectionism being inherited from your mom.
SPEAKER_02There you go. I need to go back and listen to that one. I did not know that. That's funny. So I'm not disclosing any any top secret that's already been revealed. But yeah, so the point is as women, like we do have seasons, and I think we need to embrace those seasons and be okay with it. If it means a lull in your business, I think we need to reframe our thinking about that, right? Like, um, you know, it's just kind of how how we present our lives to ourselves. Like, okay, like you said, you know, maybe God shut this door, but thanks, God, because you probably shut this door because this was a season of rest for me, or this was a season of really um cultivating a relationship that's really important to me. Obviously, we all have to still put food on our table, so sure, you know, there's there's that. I'm not suggesting that we can all just willy-nilly do whatever we feel at the moment. That's not what I'm saying, but yeah, so I'm in um a complete opposite season of Abby of your business now because you have floodgates opening and now you're kind of okay, here we go. Which, you know, business is is which is awesome. Um we had a different kind of um, we had a literal flood. Yes. So we had uh two hurricanes hit our beautiful space, um, retreat space. So we are literally in a season of waiting and decision making because we're still in repair time. Um the island where the retreats are is a very small seven-mile island and it was just devastated. So not only the repairs on our on our own space, but the island as as a whole is kind of under construction right now. So not exactly the vibe for you know a rejuvenating, relaxation retreat. Um, so that was that kind of hit me real weird. Like, whoa, god, I I thought I was I thought I was smelling what you were cooking, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_00Like yeah, you're like, I thought I was on the right path, and then now it feels like I'm not. Yeah, because it was also the same timeline where I mean you got on this horrible horse accident, so you were personally injured. Because you're I mean, you have to feed yourself too, right? So yeah, I mean, you and dad had planned this trip for the two of you, it was for your birthday, it was for you to kind of I mean you connect well with horses and like have done equine therapy and things like that, so it was for you and for you to feed yourself, right? And then it ended on day one with both of you being airlifted out of the woods, so that happened, and then back-to-back hurricanes, it was a chaotic time, yeah. And then now it's just kind of been waiting and kind of again seeing what yeah, what sticks because you have different opportunities on the horizon and different options, like you don't have to do it at that location specifically, but it's just kind of wrestling with that, okay, what's next? So I guess maybe walk us through somewhat practically what that's looked like. So obviously, like you feed yourself with lots of personal development books and have lots of resources pouring into you too, but you've mentioned before of over spiritualizing the manageable. I love for you to walk us through, especially with the season that you're in, what it looks like to like give God control versus just making decisions um in like doing what you think is best for the business.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So it's kind of a hard thing to know, like, okay, God, are you like closing this door for me or or am I over-spiritualizing that and really like, hey, you know what? These things happen, and maybe it's maybe I'm supposed to push forward. And so there's the thought of do I find another retreat space in between, or do I just wait? Being able to distinguish when it's God shutting a door versus um, hey, I just need to make a different decision. Right, that's where it kind of keeps going back to that, like, you know, not just being prayerful in every decision. And I spend a lot of time in my prayer journal um just venting to the Lord. Yeah, he's fine with it. But um, but yeah, just a lot of like, oh, what do you want me to do? This and that, and he's I really have I'm in a season of of him kind of saying, hey, it it's okay, like remember what you're here for, right? Remember what I said. I said you're here to bring heaven to earth, right? You're here to make disciples, you're you're here to point others to him, right? And to bring glory to the kingdom. So that kind of takes pressure off of what exactly it is you're doing because you can bring glory to the Lord at the grocery store. And so kind of that kind of takes some pressure off of okay, if I'm in a season of waiting, it doesn't mean I'm in a season of nothingness.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02You know, I can still be bringing glory to the Lord, even if my business is kind of on a back burner. And I'll be honest, right now we're working to make repairs, but I'm also keeping my feelers out for the possibility of another space. I don't know. I don't, I'm in a season of I'm not really sure right now of if we'll get another space or if we'll just keep waiting for my original space to be ready again. Um yeah, it was it was definitely kind of strange and difficult to not over-spiritualize because I had um two fully booked retreats that I had to cancel and return, you know, the money for all of these women because the first one the hor we had the horse accident that Abby mentioned, and so I was in no, you know, no shape to do that. Right. So had to cancel that one, and then you know, um, we hadn't even we had another one scheduled shortly after that, and that's when those hurricanes hit, and I had to cancel that one. So it was just kind of okay, well, well, this is weird, right? You know, yeah. Um not sure, not sure what to to do with that. So seasons of waiting are are kind of weird, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00From the outside looking in, it's definit it's also weird for one, um, because you had all this momentum, and then it was just uncontrollable circumstances that stopped it and brought it all to a halt. And so I mean, I feel I'm calling you or texting you in person, like, hey, like every few months, I'm like, hey, what's going on, you know? Because I mean, like you said, like I built your website, I was there in the early days, obviously. So like I've watched the whole thing unfold, and so it's hard to see it all stop, especially with how positive the feedback was. Um, you know, I think I mean you took an untraditional approach to starting a business, and I think that's how a lot of past women operate. It's like like when I get into talking with female business owners, it's always like, oh, this led to this and this led to that. And you know, there's never this like this was my end goal, and I did XYZ to reach it. I think in all of my business college classes, it was like, you know, you've gotta do your research on the market, and that's how you're gonna figure out your pricing and your positioning and your target audience, and you know, there's all of these things to research before pressing go. And then I think as women were just like, I want to do this. Fortunately for you, that worked out because people were like, Yes, I need this. So, I mean, you didn't do this whole thought-out research project to figure out geographically how many people in the area you could serve at this one given location and yada yada. So, for that reason, it's kind of like, okay, well, it's not like we were dependent on that in the first place. Like, who's to say it wouldn't be just as successful on the other side of the state or you know, right across the street or in your own house? You've had people tell you you should host these retreats in your own house. And I also would like to mention you kind of do have a retreat on the horizon because my bachelorette party started with, hey, mom, my sister was saying this, like, hey, mom, can you come on my sister's bachelorette with me and watch my new baby? Which this whole season of Graham Graham has probably been your favorite season thus far. So, of course, she's like, of course, consider it done. Which there will likely be three newborns on the Bachelorette trip. So I don't know if she really shows any of that, but um that has evolved into hey mom, can you teach yoga? Because now she's doing her yoda certification. And hey mom, can you cook us every meal? Because I'm very picky with a particular, I won't say picky, I'm particular with what I eat, and so I don't want to be on this vendor of eating food that I don't normally eat right before my wedding day. So you kind of have a retreat on the horizon with that. Like and I say all of that, yes, it's funny, but also like the story is still the same of you had all of this, all these different careers, all this background to kind of bring you to the point that you're at today, and then it just finds you, like whether you like it or not, you just keep getting put in these positions of hey, we need you to lead us in this, yeah. And I think that's a powerful story for one, but also what you were saying of it's a lot more approachable for people, like you don't have this picture perfect. Yep, I got my degree in I don't even know what you would get your degree in in that, but psychology, yeah, whatever. Like, and you looked at that, you looked at getting your master's in psychology, and because you felt like, and I don't I mean I don't mean to speak for you, but I know you shared this with me that you felt like you needed that degree in order to be justified in doing what you do, so I think that would be an interesting thing for you to touch on too, if you you know want to go that far, but just that's something again. I think as women we struggle with of like, I'm not qualified for this. Right, I'm not, this isn't what I thought I'd be doing, or whatever the questions may be. So, how did you go from going, you know, you she literally guys applied and was accepted into a university for an online master's program. You went from doing all the work to get accepted to now doing a yoga certification. That is true.
SPEAKER_02That didn't happen. Um, and that is a really funny story, Abby, because um my therapist, highly recommend everyone have a therapist, by the way, um, even if it's just for a season, but I have an amazing one. And um, I can even put her stuff in the show notes if for anybody that's in the Tampa area because she is amazing, really awesome. But my therapist, I told her I said, you know, she knew about the retreats. She promoted the retreats for me and had has them in her clinic, actually.
SPEAKER_00Do you think you're her favorite client?
SPEAKER_02Oh, 100%. I'll definitely need to send her this podcast so she can thumbs up it. Right. Leave a review, Heather. Yes. So I'm telling, you know, Heather knows about the retreats. She knows exactly the curriculum that I've written, you know, for the retreat and what I'm doing. And I said, well, you know, I guess maybe I need to get kind of like the same degree as you, so that I'm I don't want to, you know, be outside of my scope of practice. And I'm telling her exactly what I'm doing. She said, You're not outside of your scope of practice at all. She said, Right, you're not providing therapy, you are not doing anything that you need, right?
SPEAKER_00Right. You're not prescribing people. Right.
SPEAKER_02Right. She's like, no, she said, everything that you're talking about is just experiential, which um, and you know, I may point somebody to a book or and as a matter of fact, and if anybody does need actual counseling, I do not provide counseling. If anyone needs counseling, um, because these are just these are just um, I don't these are well, they're just little chats that we have, right? But um, which, you know, you're perfectly allowed to chat, however you want to. But um, but if anybody does need actual, you know, counseling that that I always refer them to her at the end of these retreats. Like that's not something, you know, I I, you know, so long and short of it is she said basically, like, girl, why are you gonna put yourself through all that work? She said, There's so much, um, you have to do so much in the clinic to keep up with your certification. Um, and she's like, Do you ever want to work in a clinic? I was like, No, absolutely not.
SPEAKER_00And you would have to have you would have had to spend a lot of time in a clinic to get that certification. And you don't even want to do that.
SPEAKER_02And I don't want to do that. She's like, So you're gonna spend all this time doing something you don't want to do to have a letter behind your name that you think you might need.
SPEAKER_00That you don't need to have that, no one has asked you if you have. Oh, correct. Yes. That no one has been like, actually, I'm not gonna share this part of my life with you because you don't have a paper on the wall.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, right. Exactly. You're trying.
SPEAKER_00So yeah. Because people do, they naturally, I mean, all of my friends, all of my sisters' friends, they all come to you and just pour their lives out. Like that is just a gifting that you have that people will just talk.
SPEAKER_02That's so funny.
SPEAKER_00I mean that you know that stuff.
SPEAKER_02You've said it yourself, so but our retreats are are so much um, you know, broader than that. Like I sure bring in, yeah. I bring in experts that truly do have the right certifications, you know. Like we have a licensed therapeutic massage therapist, we've had licensed uh um yoga instructor that um is amazing. Yeah, she's a 500-hour amazing. So anything that requires that qualification, they absolutely have our nutritionist that I mentioned, my sister-in-law, is also an RN.
SPEAKER_00I mean, so you know Lynn is a nutritionist and she is getting her certification in that because there are she was offering one-on-one and yes, creating meal plans for people, things like that.
SPEAKER_02So but yeah, but I love what you said about things just find you, and and I think we can all take comfort in that because I think that's been your experience in business as well. Is like, hey, if this is it, it does it. I mean, I don't think we can take the thought process of things finding us to allow us to be complacent.
SPEAKER_00Sure.
SPEAKER_02Um, so you know, so I think it is it is a balance, but it is, I do think we can take comfort in like, hey, the Lord's gonna find you. You know, like you're you're fine, little lamb. He you know, he's he's gonna find you. If this is where he wants you, he's you're not gonna mess that up. You know, he's I love that you, I love that you said that. That's very, that's very comforting. Um, but yeah, and kind of like what we're doing in those seasons of waiting, like like Abby mentioned, I'm getting my yoga certification uh for funsies. But yeah, um, yeah, I think seasons of waiting can still be seasons of learning and seasons of growing. Waiting doesn't have to look stagnant.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah. And I think continuing your education is always a good thing. So I don't mean to just bash on Oh, I didn't further education. It's not that like your your yoga certification, like you don't really have a plan for it, but you're getting something from it for sure, and you know it's helping you in this season of waiting to not lose that momentum, I would say. Absolutely. And trying something new.
SPEAKER_02No, education obviously is there's that's never a bad thing, so yeah, definitely.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, I'm doing some further education on coding right now, and I mean a large part of my websites are that they don't have coding. There are times when it's necessary, or not really necessary, but they just like take the website to a different level. So I feel like it's my it's something that I could offer that's above what a client can do for themselves. Um is to add that extra bit of flair and personality. And a lot of times that does involve coding, but then in it, I'm like, ah, did I like make the right choice in doing this? Like I'm like, am I? You know, like, am I reinvesting into the business and myself or am I just like being frivolous? Like, for me, that's something that's really difficult is making that choice to further your expertise or just keep going with what you're doing. Like, uh kind of what you said earlier of like, I feel like I need to be the best in everything. Like, I'm like, no, I need to be like, I need to know as much as I can possibly know. Like, if there's any questions, like that's not good. Like, like I should know everything. And um, so I don't know if that you know sparks anything in you too, but just yeah, it's it's a weird balance for me of furthering education versus just knowing that you aren't good enough, yeah, like doing enough to serve your clients.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, waiting is hard, but I think that waiting is critical, and I mean, I know we're talking about not over-spiritualizing, but waiting is biblical. There are so many examples of waiting, of of Jesus showing us times of waiting. So, I mean, we're we're supposed to rest, we're supposed to wait. So, clearly there's wisdom in that.
SPEAKER_00Um, definitely. Um, I think it's very against the societal culture um right now to wait or to rest, and that's something I definitely struggle with. I mean, I try to give myself set tasks per day or have you know no social media on Sundays, whatever, but like there's all these different things within resting that I know would be helpful. One thing that is makes it a little bit difficult for me is Bryson's schedule is across the board. Like he will work a Saturday or Sunday, he works three 12-hour shifts, so and it changes and the hours change, and that makes it a little bit tricky for me because I don't know what it is within me, but if he's working, I feel like I need to be working, and so when he's working this overnight shift and I'm at home watching Netflix, I don't feel like I'm contributing anything.
SPEAKER_02We need to unpack that on another day.
SPEAKER_00Probably, probably, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels that way where it's like if I'm not going a hundred miles an hour all the time, then I'm not getting anywhere. But I have to take a step back and remind myself pretty much every week that actually taking the time off is more productive and is better for the business. But for me personally, I I definitely struggle with if I'm not working all the time, then I'm not working ever. Like I'm scared that I'm gonna I don't know. Part of it is I'm scared I'm gonna lose that momentum again because I was so fired up, and then Bryson left, and then I was just distraught and miserable and had no motivation whatsoever, and it felt so different than like who I know myself to be. Um, and that truly was just for the season because yeah, the second he came back and I knew he was alive, seriously, like I mean that was a legitimate fear. Like he was in the Middle East, and there were drones flying over all the time and getting bunkered down. Like it was scary, it was a scary time. So now that that's over, and I know that he's safe and well, and I, you know, I don't I don't know, maybe part of it is like I'm scared I'm gonna fall back into that of like not having the motivation, and that is such like a large part of who I know myself to be. And I talked about this in the episode prior of like even since fifth grade, like I've been a professional. Oh yes, yeah, like I talked about that parent-teacher conference, and how that's when we knew there was a problem. Um, but uh yeah, I say all that to I mean it kind of ties in again with the whole separating your business from your name thing, like it's just such a large piece of identity for me, and I think for you too. You're I don't want to say that I attribute my value to what I produced or my productivity, but it's definitely a slippery slope. And I know that you understand that.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. You're speaking my language right now because that's something like I I battle all the time is is being in these different seasons and being okay with it that season. Woo! That is not easy, but you're right, it's a societal issue, it's not just familial, yeah. Like we might have this little family of perfectionists, as you can hear, but it is a societal thing. People um want to sound busy. The busier you are, the more value you have, the more important you are. And it's not true, it's not true. It is a lot of things.
SPEAKER_00It is not sustainable. I mean, no, and again, we on this podcast primarily speak to women and for women, um, because it is a different experience. And like we've talked about a lot with seasons, like we also are cyclical, like we have cycles every single month. Like our energy isn't the same um day in and day out. So maybe for a man, maybe that every day waking up at 5 a.m. cold plunge, whatever, raw red meat, you know the person I'm picturing, but just like that insane level of training, maybe that is more sustainable for them. Like they might be able to last a little bit longer in that without getting burnt out, but as women, there's just no way. Like, that's just not how we were designed to operate. Like, we do need to sleep. Absolutely. Take a day off and do the and and that's a huge part of your business too. So you might even feel even more pressure to like get all the things right when you're literally telling women the tools to help them.
SPEAKER_02Promoting wellness, so I probably should be kind of well.
SPEAKER_00But then it makes it like a task, you know? Like it's such a weird balance when you know, like, yes, it's great, you have the tools and you know the tools, but then I've talked about this before too, like it very quickly becomes like a checklist item for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Like even something that I enjoy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, instead of giving yourself grace for I did this one thing, you know.
SPEAKER_00It's like now I know that this made me happy, I need to do it every day. Right? It's like that all or nothing mindset. Yeah, one thing that you and I have both talked about that's helped a little bit with that, just to not make this like a rant session, but somewhat practical for people is the menu concept. So instead of having this two-hour long morning routine that's not sustainable every day and then every season, deciding what your non-negotiables are, so like stripping it down to the bare bones, like, yeah, you gotta brush your teeth in the morning, but no, you don't need to swish coconut oil in your mouth for 20 minutes every day. Like, if then you know what I mean? Like, because it you seriously you can go down the rabbit hole, but oh absolutely, so I have to redo that every now and then of like okay, what are my absolute non-negotiables and then what are like the add-ons? Like, what could I do with I with a little bit extra time as an addition to that if I have the time and resource?
SPEAKER_02So yeah, I don't know if that's worked for you, but yeah, absolutely. Being being okay with where you are right now in this season. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Well, I have loved having this conversation with you. Thank you for taking the time to share a little bit about your background, your personal life, and I know it takes a lot to promote yourself for one, and to be vulnerable into a microphone. So I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Hey, this was awesome. I'm I'm honored to get to be on your podcast.
SPEAKER_00So you can connect with Stephanie on Instagram, on Facebook. She has an email list, she sends awesome emails. Um, and then her website. It's a little bit, you know, on pause for now, but I recommend connecting with her now so that you're the first one up to date when the new retreat schedule launches, uh, wherever that may be. Who knows? It could be in your backyard.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Stay tuned, but um definitely check out the website because at Abby, it's pretty awesome. She did such a beautiful job on the website. And um, yeah, so you'll kind of when you go on the website, you'll see a little bit of a like, okay, we're in a we're in a season of pause. Um, because you know, we did, and you know, I yeah, I've been kind of in a season of pause even even on sending the emails, but I probably should I probably should look back into that because it is I it is just a a pause season.
SPEAKER_00So and you do still have value to add and you can do that through your email. Ah, thanks, girl.
SPEAKER_02So stay tuned for my season of waiting to, you know, whatever the next season might look like.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you again.
SPEAKER_02Thank you.
SPEAKER_00Not ready to say goodbye? Me neither. Follow along on Instagram at flourish.foundry to stay connected day to day or join my email list for freebies, new episode updates, fun links, and more.