It is with great pleasure that I am (finally!) able to begin the next phase for Healthy Women Leaders. The delay is not because I was held under some contractual “don’t tell yet” deal, or working through some final terms as to what this next phase could be. In truth, this announcement is stamped with “finally” because I have finally finished working through my own shit.
After last year’s hectic run of 11 health-focused networking events, I felt like I hit a wall. I was totally enamored with the community of amazing women that we had developed, but I was starting to lag. I felt a lack of time, a lack of resources, and most uncomfortable for me, a lack of passion for what had been born purely out of my heart.
The truth is that my passion project had been overshadowed by my life commitments. I’m a working mother of two, with two businesses of my own. Things at my “day job” (though how can you ever call it that when it’s your own shop?) had been ramping up (check us out Ready Hatch), but required frequent travel with little notice. My family needs have always been strong and steady. My 13-year old has had a really rocky year and my 2-year old (who is home part-time with me) requires an enormous amount of attention. My husband works long hours (both at home and at the office) for his high-pressure, very demanding executive role at a tech start up. So between my family, my business, and travel, I was plagued with the painful feeling of not knowing where to turn next. And a result, HWL got put on pause. We didn’t hold any events. I didn’t write any blogs, I didn’t network, I didn’t promote. I let HWL just... exist. Things felt stagnant. I thrive with goals and purpose, but without knowing what to do next, I had to just chill in that uncomfortable waiting place. Ugh.
One of the reasons that I started HWL is to have a forum to preach self-care, to fight against overwhelm and our culture of “busy as a badge” and to encourage other women to know themselves. So I followed my own advice and went into recluse for a bit. And though it felt like shit, now that I'm on the other side I can clearly see that this was all OK. This is one of the cycles of life. Passion comes and goes, projects have an ebb and flow. You prioritize, you choose. You trek down the path that’s right for you at that moment, even if it’s rocky.
This happens to all of us, but knowing yourself enough to know when it’s time to go into hibernation (even if its just in one area of your world) will make all the difference. I didn't feel the passion that was needed to make HWL thrive, so I held off. Other things in my world took priority. It’s not comfortable when you are going through it, but being still and listening within can help you understand when it’s time to move to the next phase.
So, I started to work on clarity. I made an effort to open myself up in new ways, follow more of my spiritual intuition, meditate more, do more yoga, start to journal, and take time for myself. I scheduled coffee and lunch dates with some of my soul tribe. I listened to my boss babe friends share what was going on with their projects, and it helped inspire me to figure my shit out. It helped clear up that the cost of not moving forward was weighing on me more heavily than anything else. And in time, I felt the tides begin to shift. Excitement for the potential at HWL began to creep back in. It was time to restart.
The Healthy Women Leaders mission remains as strong as ever: We creates a community (online + in-person) that shares education and inspiration for women leaders to unapologetically prioritize their health and wellbeing, develop their personal power, and generally kick ass.
We are also going to be working on developing new content around healthy living, self care, and conscious leadership. As always, the thread through everything that we do is the critical importance of sisterhood and finding your tribe, or finding your teacher, or becoming a teacher for someone else. Women need other women, and we strive to create a forum that encourages new connections and new friendships, both personal and professional.
To begin with, we are rebooting our Outside Awe Summer Series of Events. We’ll be having one event each month: a happy hour hike in June, Standup Paddleboarding (SUP) in July, and SUP + Yoga in August. The summer, for me, is pure inspiration in itself, and I intend to be outside as much as possible.
With my newfound clarity, I’m now feeling really ready to begin again. I’m excited to feel this renewed sense of passion, and I’m excited to share it with you. Thank you for patiently waiting (even though you likely didn’t know you were). Now that HWL is back in my heart and at the forefront of my mind, I’m ready to do some cool new things, and I welcome you to stay tuned for what’s coming next.
