“Real Talk!” 4th Podcast Anniversary Special
with Amanda Pickering
To celebrate, I brought my COO, Amanda Pickering, to share the spotlight with me and talk about the realness of running an intuition-led, spiritual business.
People often share the highs and keep the lows to themselves. It can make you feel like you’re the only one who struggles with things.
I wanted to be real in this episode and share what it’s like to build a million-dollar brand and keep it going, even during a dark night of the soul.
Amanda and I talk all things inspired action, belief, and the secret saboteurs that can hide in your business.
I’d also like to say a special thank you to all my listeners, whether you’ve been with me for a while or are new to the Aligned & Unstoppable Podcast.
You are why I keep recording!
?WE’RE CELEBRATING! ?? As a special thank you to my listeners, everything in my online shop – including my journal and card deck – are 10% off for the month of April! Please use Promo Code “4YEARPODCAST” at checkout to save 10%!! (Offer expires 4/30/23) ?
- Meet Amanda! Her transformational health journey, following her intuition, and how she combines her feminine guidance with action.
- Inspired action and faith, how they work together to manifest your desires.
- The secret saboteur of your business (it’s not what you think!)
- Ways to shift things if they aren’t working out the way you want.
- My dark night of the soul and what helped me through it.
- The ingredients for success for healers, coaches, and leaders.
Click here to read the full transcript ‣‣‣
Emily: Listeners, warm welcome back to the podcast. I am so excited because you know what this is. It’s our anniversary. It’s my four years. How did I just do that? It’s like, you know, sometimes I have this, like out-of-body experiences where I just am such a dork, but that’s also who I am. So, thank you for accepting me.But it is our four-year anniversary of the Aligned and Unstoppable Podcast. So let’s play confetti, noises, and loud sounds, and clapping sounds. And I wanted to do something special for our anniversary. And so I wanted to invite my dear friend and colleague Amanda Pickering, to be on the podcast with me today for a couple of reasons. One, I love and adore her and she’s magical in my business. She is a goddess, an angel. But also, I call you like a priestess, Priestess Queen, like all of the night, like all of the things she’s all of the things all wrapped into this beautiful package.
Well, since I’m talking to you, I’ll talk to you directly. Since I wanted to invite you to be on the podcast because I adore you and because your presence in my life and my business has made such a positive impact and you have truly seen me in like, the darkest times coming into the light. And I wanted to kind of share that with my listeners because I think we often see people, hey, somebody who has a podcast that has four years behind it and a business that’s $1,000,000 brand, and we make up these stories that our head that like she’s fine. I’m the only one who struggles with all of these things.
And so I really wanted to take this time on this episode to pull back the curtain and have a really honest heart-to-heart with the listeners.
And, for anybody who doesn’t know Amanda, now, you get to know her a little bit, a little bit more. So before we dive into that, I want to really go into what it is, like what are the elements, what are the ingredients that make a business successful?
And this is for you specifically, if you are a coach, a healer, or a leader and you have been struggling, maybe you’ve had a business for a while and just not as successful as you want, or you’re wanting to make a career change or you’re just like something is not clicking and you feel like you’re the problem. That might not necessarily be entirely true. So before we get into all of that, I want to first kind of spotlight you, Amanda, and let’s give the listeners a little bit of background besides you being like one of my favorite people of all time. Maybe there are some other things that they would really enjoy knowing about you too. So, kind of let’s paint the picture of, you know, your background and your experiences professionally and what got you here today and why.
Amanda: Yeah. Well, first of all, thank you so much for having me. This is very exciting and also one of my favorite people on the planet. So as you can probably hear from my accent, I’m from the U.K. And, well, I started my kind of career in charity management. I did that for about nine years, supporting homeless people into accommodation and then left behind a complete career move into life coaching and health coaching.
After having a huge transformation with my health from being sick and depressed and anxious and chronic fatigue and adrenal fatigue and thyroid problems and all this, and it went on and on and on before I was even 18, and I was able to heal myself of every single one of those things through a variety of things, but very much like supporting myself holistically. And so I really wanted to show that and other people. So I did that for a few years. And then Spirit asked me to give it all up. And it was really hard, really scary, and I had no idea what was next. But over a period of about five months, I completely surrendered and ended up in a world that I didn’t realize my whole life had been preparing me for and was part of my natural skill set, which is what I kind of cool intuitive operations, which is taking my feminine energy of light, listening to spirit and hearing and seeing things. And you very much help me like acknowledge that in myself and very much having that innate, I guess you could call it a masculine container of operations and structure and goals. And the two kinds of married beautifully and I was really blessed to work in some incredible businesses.
And then one day a friend of mine, a mutual friend of ours, suggested that you and I talk, and we did. And that turned into me helping you bring the IEA Certification, Integrated Energy Alignment Practitioner Training to life. And I never left. It was meant to be a few months. And then we had a beautiful conversation where you asked me to come on to COO, and I guess the rest is history.
Emily: So that was really it. And thank goodness that you went through all of that, because that has given you such a broad perspective. You know, it’s one thing to just be a CEO, own a business is another thing to have walk the walk as a practitioner, as a coach had to struggle through the ups and downs and not having booking clients and in selling programs or not selling programs, and then having the experiences with other companies to see what other people are doing. And I can also say with birthing last year, the Integrated Energy Alignment Practitioner Training, you know, personally because you saw me every day. But you know, for folks who didn’t see me every day, it was something that was so 100% clear to me. Like Spirit gave me a download like X, Y, and Z is going to happen, and here’s the way it’s going to happen. And I was like, well, that’s really great and smart. Also, how do I do this? And so that’s where Amanda stepped in. It was figuring out how to orchestrate it so that these concepts and our practices and our quizzes and our coursework and our calls, like everything just worked and I also felt like giving up. You know, there were modules where I was like, I can’t – I couldn’t possibly. And I had these really negative thoughts, like, how could I possibly do this? And then I’m like, well, people pay me, so you better figure it out. And then I would snap back into it and I would deliver this like, outstanding course. And I’m like, holy crap, how did I even doubt myself?
And then I’m seeing our students like me and Amanda are seeing students week to week going from I have no idea what I’m doing here. I’m not even sure I should be here. To building their confidence week after week. Seeing clients, getting results, getting paid, increasing their rates. Like we’re seeing all this happening in front of our eyes. And both of us are, like, virtually high-fiving each other, like, Oh, my gosh. And we’re crying. They’re crying like, all these amazing things are happening.
And I mean, I’ve said it to you privately. I’ve said it to somewhat publicly as well. But I’m going to say to you on the podcast is that the Practitioner Training, the IEA Practitioner Training would not have birthed if it weren’t for you. My energy alone would not have made it happen. It just wouldn’t have. And I know that we were put together at the right time in the right configuration. It was like all the stars aligned for both of us in the way that it came through. And I’m so grateful that it did. And I also had the foresight. Then I was like, listen, I really like you, and if this works out, I’m just going to give you the heads up. I probably wouldn’t want to marry you forever. So just so you know, which is basically what happened.
Amanda: Yeah
Emily: But it was really cool to be there on that journey. And like I said, even from the shadow into the light, like birthing this program, it took that like that depth.
Amanda: It did.
Emily: It really did. And if you weren’t there, I know it wouldn’t. It wouldn’t. Wouldn’t be where it is today. We wouldn’t have now students who are graduates who are now coach and who are becoming coaches like it is evolving faster than we could have ever imagined. And so I want to kind of talk to the folks who again, they’re at that place where their coaches, their healers, their leaders, things are maybe not working the way that they could be.
And a couple of weeks ago, we had a really fun Q&A Call. Just like a lot of Q&A we hosted. And anybody, if you ever see an email blast, this is I’m doing life coaching, just like jump on it immediately. It’s so one of the women who join, her name is Alexia. She’s been in my community for a while. She had a question about, you know, what her right next step is going to be and what to do about it.
And you shared some really profound insights as far as, you know, what advice to give her. So and it was funny because I was like, I feel like Amanda needs to say something like it was like the Emily coaching call that I was like, I think I’m in. And when I get the mic over to you, I remember you saying you’re like, I wasn’t really sure what I was going to say until it came out of my mouth. And then like, you just dropped bombs and we were all like, Oh yeah, people are taking notes and even a lot it was like crying. It was like an amazing experience because it hit like, hit that nerve. It was like right to her heart.
So I want to start kind of there. Let’s pick up where we kind of left off with that and bring people into the fold. So when we were talking about the ingredients, what you feel it takes to have success in this kind of business, what have you seen has been the bigger stuff that’s been making a difference?
Amanda: Yeah, I mean, I’ve had such a privilege of kind of being on the inside of your business for a while and being on a lot of the calls with you. So I’ve seen a lot of this stuff come up. And like you say, from my previous experience of running my own businesses, it’s like a beautiful marriage. So I mean, with Alexia it was I think the question was around, like, how do I know the difference between like taking the next step out of, like blind faith and like kind of playing it safe. It was something.
Emily: Yes. Right. Yes, that’s right. Yeah.
Amanda: And I mean, if you know anything about me, I didn’t really actually probably introduce myself. I live in the UK. I have a husband, I have two dogs that my in life I live in Devon, which is in the middle of nowhere, and it’s like more houses than horses and cows and sheep than people. So if you got to say all of that, but one thing about me is like I’m a very straight shooter and I, I’m very practical, but I also live a life of faith. And so I loved this question, even though I didn’t know you were going to want me to answer it.
With so much of my life has been faith in manifestation, you know, like the house we live in now is a complete manifestation. We manifested it in the middle of COVID with like, no, you weren’t allowed to move anywhere. And everyone was telling us to settle for whatever, you know, and we would like visualize exactly what we wanted. My husband is here because of that. My dog is alive because of that. So I know of faith, but I think that’s often where we start of like we just trust. We just have faith. And that is such an essential ingredient. It’s not to make light of it, but faith without action isn’t, does nothing there. Right?
And I think that’s the part that we often miss. And I have this vision for my life. I know that I meant to do this, but like, there’s no inspired action behind it. An inspired action to me is actually like putting your face into motion. It’s saying, Well, I actually believe the thing that I’m seeing, right? So like when we manifested this house, we really wanted to take my water and everyone was telling us, you shouldn’t even be live. You can’t just take whatever you can cause.
Emily: Yeah
Amanda: I forgot to say we were homeless for four months in the middle of all of this. And we had the audacity to say what we want.
Emily: Yeah
Amanda: Like, take what we’re given. Right? But what we did is we actually went online and looked at houses, right? We didn’t just sit there visualizing together and talking about, like, what we want to see. We then actually went online and looked at houses. I contacted every agent and within like 50 miles of us, and we did the things we put one foot in front of the other. And low and behold, this house shows up.
Emily: Mm-hmm.
Amanda: Then we find out 70 people had applied to come to see it.
Emily: Wow.
Amanda: We’re both self-employed, so we’re like, at the bottom of the list, right? In terms of what a landlord…
Emily: Ideal.
Amanda: Right.
Emily: Right.
Amanda: But then we just took the next step where we said, okay, well, let’s go and see it. And then we applied and then like, we just went through all the stages and the house was always meant to be ours, but we had to take those steps first.
Emily: yeah
Amanda: So very much what I see like in entrepreneurial land is that we, we don’t take action. And then we wonder why things haven’t worked out. So that’s been like a huge piece for me that I have seen. And it’s this thing that I know you and I have spoken about this many times, this kind of age-old thing of like, you know, someone’s drowning at sea and they ask God to save them. And then the lifeboat shows up and it’s like, no, no, thank you. I’m good. I ask God to save me. And it’s like, we don’t always take, like, the thing that’s right in front of us because we’re expecting it in a different form.
Emily: Yeah.
Amanda: And I guess the last thing I’ll say on that is like, action is like the energetics signal to the universe that, like, we’re ready for what we are believing for. And if you don’t take action, then you’re not. You’re just there’s nothing that happens.
Emily: And if you see like to your point around, you know, I’m waiting for God to send so to save me, like if we are actively open to receiving this big manifestation, whatever it is, we should also be actively seeing everything as conspiring for us to create that thing in our lives so we really could start to say yes to things when they show up to us. You know, and I mean, back to the like manifest in the house that you’re in.
I’ve been in a similar situation and manifesting housing. My first marriage was ending. We were supposed to buy a house and we put down $12,000. We lost everything. They wouldn’t give our deposit back. I had six days to find an apartment in a very congested city, close, and I needed it to be with parking, with laundry and pet friendly and also clean, by the way. And the same thing. My people were like, just just take whatever. If you can’t take the dog, I’m like, I want like, just not take my left arm short. I’m not kidding you. So I was like, I don’t need a thousand of them. I just need one. And I think that’s the thing, is that people can overlook how simple it is. Like it’s not a million of these. It’s just the one.
And when you and Gustav got clear about what you wanted, you visualize it. Then you start to take action. They start to take the pieces to move forward. Like, okay, so maybe the odds are stacked against you. So what? What if it’s the perfect thing? What if we just look at it like it’s not going, but people get into the loop of like all the negative stories. And so let’s look at how we treat our business this way when we have, you know, a vision of making an impact and helping people and allowing them to do whatever we do, just helping them along the way, and we’re not making the impact that we’re looking to do.
And then we start looking on social and we start comparing ourselves to everybody else who’s out there and obviously way more successful and way easier for them. It’s easier for them because and we make all these other excuses for all these other things, and then we start to go, well, it’s not that way for me. And we start to create a plan B, So the plan B, I, I know we’ve talked about this endlessly too. I feel like the Plan B is also that secret saboteur. It is taking your plan A of I want to have this beautiful place in this location with water and X, Y, and Z included. And instead of saying I’ll take that and that by itself, instead, it would take you everyone else’s advice to just take anything that comes along your way. And so if you’re doing that, whether it’s for your house or for your business, and you’re saying, here’s a plan B, what if I do that?
Then you can see, like when we talk about housing, let’s talk to Amanda’s story, because I think it’s worthwhile to look at this example to see how specific we can be and when we’re not, what happens. So if you just said, okay, well, I know I really want this beautiful Narnia style living situation, to use your words. I want this beautiful Narnia living situation. But if I don’t get it because la la la la la la la la la la la la. Excuse, excuse, excuse. And I could just have the plan B. So see what already happens to my energy. It already totally deflates. Instead of being 100% into Narnia and Narnia alone and taking action, now all of a sudden there’s this, like, mystery question, door number two, and the energy is already depleted. And then I’m mostly focused in fear because I wouldn’t have a plan B and this extra opportunity if I didn’t have all that fear controlling me and saying this is the only other direction. And so if you have no more Plan B, then all your energy can actually go to the thing that you actually want.
But that’s what most people are doing, so they’re stuck with, I really want Narnia, but I’ll settle for this because I don’t think I can actually get Narnia because I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, I don’t have enough followers. I’m not whatever. And so we just settle at this lower vibration. And so then let’s say that you’re at this lower vibration and you’re trying to help people from this lower state.
Well, and they’ll keep it towards the housing, okay? I’m getting sidetracked because I’m making it about business, and I really want to keep it directed towards housing. So let’s say I really want to get a great house, except now I’m just not as energetically invested in it. So the energy that I’m putting out there into action. So all the things that Amanda’s now doing, she’s not just looking them up online. She’s going for visits, she’s applying, she’s going for a visit, and she’s going to the areas that she wants to live. If I’m not doing any of those things, my energy is not going to be anywhere near where hers is.
Let’s say we’re both looking for the same location. How about that? Me versus you. Let’s talk about taking action, aligned action. So we already know the ten things that Amanda has already done, if I’m thinking I want what Amanda wants, but I have a plan B, think about us, like on a race track. Amanda’s, like, so much further along already towards manifesting that because I still have this plan B kind of. Well, I don’t know. I’m going to self-sabotage the way I’m not going to apply for that thing because I probably won’t even get it anyway. So I’m not even going to put myself out there, let alone go take a look at the place. And so my chances of getting it are really slim to none.
So that’s like if we look at as far as like housing, how simplistic that is, not even business and the complexities of business. I love that you share the story because now we can kind of paint a picture. What happens when we have a plan B? So what are we going to say?
Amanda: There’s so much, there’s so much. Can we share on this show or no?
Emily: Well, yes, we do. Yeah. So I think that’s where it is. it encourages.
Amanda: Right. There’s so many things from what you said and I love this discussion so much for so many reasons. But I remember I used to be obsessed with Tony Robbins a long time ago, and I used to go I went to a lot of his conferences and stuff. One thing I remember him saying and that stuck with me is he said, If you want to take the island, burn the fucking boats and meaning, take away any chance of being able to go back because then you will take the island. Whatever is on the island, whatever is that is going to scare you, make you fearful. What are you going to do? You either have to take it and, you know, face it or you’re going to drown because you’re not in a boat anymore.
Emily: Yeah.
Amanda: And to me, I totally resonate with that because to me, a plan B is a complete energy leak. It is another signal that I say, I want this, but I kind of want that. Right. And I have always been a really big believer in like faith is about trusting in what you can’t see, obviously. But like like you just said, like coming back to housing. We were traumatized because I don’t know if I ever told you this, but before we got our dream house, we had another dream house and we were meant to move in, the day off day was like 8 p.m. and the landlord called us and we had nowhere else to go. It looked like a miracle. And he called us and said, sorry, I just in my gut, I didn’t feel this is right. And early the next morning we had nowhere to go. So we had this like massive disappointment and so everything. Visually and physically in evidence, wisely told us, is you just need to take whatever you’re given.
And we had and this is part of, I think, success as well as we had the guts and the grit to say hi and to your point of like there’s so much more like in business than there is in something as simple as housing. There is still this there’s we believed that we were worthy of that, right. We have that same belief of like, we don’t need one. This is one dream house, right? And we didn’t just come and see it. We came back two days later and we put our hands all over the gate and we just said we didn’t force it. We said, if this is for our highest good, let it work out. It is ours. And then we walked around and we got to know the area and we just like really fell into it and like claimed it as ours if it was for us. Right?
I truly believe rejection is protection. So I was like, well, the thing that didn’t work, I didn’t make it about me. There’s something wrong with me. Like I, I suck. Like I’m obviously rubbish at manifestation. That’s why this house didn’t work out. It was like, it’s protection. And you know what? The guy sold it six months later, so.
Emily: Wow
Amanda: He would have had to move out anyway.
Emily: Yes.
Amanda: And we got redirected to a place which we’d never even been to. And it turns out we’ve been here three years now and turns out it’s like heaven for us, right? So I bring all of that up because I truly believe, like you said, we had a plan B, none of that would have happened. And that is often what I see in online business owners is like, if things aren’t working out, there’s this. It’s very quick to just go to this other option. And like you said, you’re not splitting your energy 50-50. You know, you’re actually putting 80% of your energy to this. And then you don’t have the literally not just the physical energy, but the spiritual energy to put towards this thing. Right?
Emily: Right.
Amanda: So, yeah, that’s what I was saying.
Emily: I love that. And rejection is protection. Everybody write that down. Rejection is protection. And because sometimes take a hit and it’s just like we make it mean all these other things when it really doesn’t need to. The thing that has always helped me, especially with housing and every big decision I’ve ever made, is really this or something better. Like it’s either this or this is just opening that door to something even better that’s coming. So I’m open for this. But if it’s getting better and this O-M-G, yes, I’m so down, so then you can actually be like, happy. When the plan A that your focus 100% on doesn’t pan out because you know there’s part of us especially, you know, if you’re a homeowner and you’re buying a house like you know even if your offer is accepted on a house, it doesn’t mean it’s yours until the damn keys in your hand like that, so many things can happen.
And so, you know, for people who are homeowners, it’s not really that different than when you’re a renter. Like, it’s not necessarily yours until you know it’s absolutely yours. And so that’s where you have to really have that faith and, you know, use all these spiritual tools. I want to kind of switch gears into let’s talk about, you know, the Plan B and the lack thereof and what that can do for a business. Because, you know, like I said, and I wanted to pull the curtain back and I wanted to make this a little bit vulnerable about myself and about the business, because I feel like that’s also part why you guys are here and why you stick around because, you know, it’s no bullshit, it’s no fluff. And this is an honest place where you can check in with people who are going to tell you like it is. And it’s not just crystals and unicorns around here, although there are a lot of unicorns. And if you don’t like them, then you know where the door is. 🙂
Amanda: She really means that.
Emily: I do really mean that. I’m not even one of those like, sorry, not sorry. I’m not sorry. But truthfully, it’s like, you know, I got to a point where, you know, for the last year birthing the Integrated Energy Alignment Practitioner Training was a labor of love, and I literally had to shut down other I didn’t know why, I was shutting down my programs at the end of the previous year. I just knew I needed to.
And then I bought this program. So like I had that faith to know I’m always being guided. I had no idea. Not even like an ounce of like, I wonder about this certification idea. It was not on my radar, whatsoever. It wasn’t until I close my programs down at the end of November, early December, it wasn’t until the end of January where I downloaded the entirety of my program. And then we didn’t meet until the March, we didn’t meet until the March, and then I sold it in June and we started in July. So like basically the entirety of 2022, I shut down huge revenue streams.
Amanda: Yeah
Emily: To choose a brand new program that was not tested and proven.I was going through those motions right then and taking a huge risk. And by doing so, by the end of the year, I was at a place where I was in a contraction year and I’ve talked about this on previous podcast. It was a contraction year. Up until then, all of my years were like expand, expand 2x, 3x party time, get down.
And that was new for me to feel a contraction and to know I have a team of people who I pay them so that they can support their families. And I didn’t want to take anything away from my team. And that meant making sacrifices for myself and I sacrificed myself and other things so that I can make sure that everyone could keep all the lights on. And at this point, entering this year, we were at a crossroads where I said, all right, so I need help. Like we need to figure something out fast because we really like things need to change. And I have this incredible business. I have this incredible community. I am here for this one purpose, to spread this light and to do like activation to millions of people across the planet. And I don’t have a plan B, There is nothing else other than this for me. Like this is it. And we had this really kind of serious call. And I remember you saying, like, this is my only thing to I don’t have a plan B either. I’m here for it. I’m here for you. We’re going to do this.
And I remember it bringing me to tears because that was the first time that I really, truly felt like seen and held by anybody. And I felt it deeply like, even as I say now, like I’m tapping into like, the feelings that I felt and to feel like that I wasn’t alone and like, because I had felt like I’m the captain of the ship and we’re all doing the thing that Emily wants to do. But suddenly, like, I was the copilot and it wasn’t all on me anymore, and you basically gave me permission to take care of myself so that the business could run and I could take care of myself. Because I had been working so damn hard, I needed a break. And you saw that. I mean, we also had an awesome human design written by Aycee Brown, which also facilitated some of these choices. But through that, it was like you gave me permission to do the self-care that I really needed to do to take a break, to rest, to nurture myself and to get myself really back into a higher state. And I never felt afraid. I never felt worried. I was like, okay, Amanda’s got this. And we had this. I don’t know how was the time was like reality, but, like, it felt like the next day you woke up and you’re like, I had this amazing vision. Was it like, what was the actual timeline? I know…
Amanda: Those vision? I feel like I’ve had so many.
Emily: Like when you had the vision for and then like Gustav had the bread pudding thing that.
Amanda: oh, that was like sometime in Feb, like mid Feb.
Emily: Okay, So but like, from that conversation, maybe it was like a week maybe, or from when we were talking about like we got to turn things around.
Amanda: Yeah, it was like a few days.
Emily: It was a few days.
Amanda: Yeah.
Emily: Yeah. So I want to just kind of open up to the fact that, you know, this was like a dark night of the soul for me, like, for the business, for me. And I know that a lot of people have been feeling this climate of put your money where your mouth is. Walk your walk, sister. Like, get out there. You said you’re going to do this. Go do it. Let’s see. We’re going to stack all the cards up against you to see if you can still do it. And for me, I was like, Well, we better get out the bulldozer because I am only doing this. And also, but it also took you I couldn’t have just kept plowing away at it. I needed to actually step out so that I could recharge.
Amanda: Yeah.
Emily: And so, when Amanda said, you know, she uses her intuition for this feminine and masculine approach. What you did was you went into deep meditation and you started to channel and you channel some really powerful ideas. And essentially what birthed one of our most successful. For instance, I mean, in a recent, the recent past, one of the most successful workshops we’ve ever done. And when you’re like, here’s what’s going to be in like for a week, I was like, wait, what am I teaching again? And it evolved. And then all of a sudden I was like, here’s what I’m going to teach. Wait, the option is going to look like this. And here’s the thing is and we changed it, but it had this resurgence of energy. And now we’re at this place where we had some huge wins. And we’ve seen sort of like, the light has parted.
But I would love to kind of bring our listeners back into a little bit of like the spiritual practices that we also did to get to that place, because it wasn’t just Emily’s going to like leave the company and Amanda is going to run things like. Do you want to share a little bit of like the spiritual stuff that we did and what you did that really helped us to align for that level of success?
Amanda: Yeah. Yeah, I’d love to. And I think just before I go to that, I want to say that it – you explained it really well, but I think even then sometimes people get it couldn’t have been that bad. It was bad, people. It wasn’t. It was bad. It was really, a really challenging time. But the things that I saw you do that are part of what I believe successful people do is you always bettering yourself, you always back on yourself, and you’ve always said that. And I think a lot of people don’t. You have that belief, right, that like it’s going to work out. And I think that that’s both the belief in yourself and in spirit. And that’s why a lot of people need your work, is that they’ve got like a lot of subconscious programming and energetic ties and wounds that prevent them from having that belief. So that’s, that’s the first thing.
But then the second thing is even the days we were like, I literally can’t do this anymore. The next morning you’re like, messaging me. I’ve got an idea. She’s relaxed like you let yourself feel it. But you didn’t stay there, right? And I think it’s okay to feel we’re not telling people like you always have to be a high vibe. And it’s like it’s important to not spiritually bypass, but it’s also important to remember your mission. And you’ve always had a very clear reason for why you do what you do. And so I think that’s really important to say that.
But yeah, in terms of the spiritual tools, they all came out like we, you know, we both spent time in meditation separately and together. We both channeled together and just, you know, almost all our meetings. We have some form of whether it’s like just centering or whether it’s pulling cards. We pull cards a lot. You’ve got the pendulum out before. We’ve asked for guidance. We even brought my husband in once for that three-way session, which was awesome. And so we did so much like on the spiritual side. But also I would say, I mean, I see the physical as also spiritual, like you needed to the sounds crazy, but like you needed to go and play.
Emily: Yeah
Amanda: You needed to go and have fun. And I understand the feeling of like when everything in you is saying, I don’t have time for that. Like, you know, we got to make money, we got to do the thing. And it’s like, but you’re being called to do this because in the rest, is the growth, right? In the rest, is the healing. And that’s what you needed.
And so I know that some people might be listening to this thinking, Oh, it’s okay for you. You had someone to run your business. No, it wasn’t like, it was really hard for you to like, not because you didn’t trust me, but there’s so many things wrapped up in it, and it was hard to be like, I’m going to go and just like knith, will like, walk or go play with my dog or just be right.
Emily: Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda: And so that was a huge part of like you had to physically and energetically recharge. And in all of this, you were still running a business. So I think sometimes people think like when they’re in that place and they think that’s the difference between a hobby, kind of a, you know, coach or healer and like someone that sees it as the business is, you don’t just shut up, shut and be like, I need healing. I’m down. Like you having the healing on the side.
Emily: Right.
Amanda: I know you’re working with practitioners as well because you were also showing up and doing the coaching calls and running the certification and showing up for your membership. It wasn’t like you were like, I’m out there.
Emily: Right.
Amanda: And so I think that all of those things are really important, right? It’s like having that vision and having that belief, having that grit and using your spiritual tools, using that. I always say, like, we teach what we most need. I’m sorry. Yeah. We teach what we most need to learn. Right? And like, it’s so I’ve worked with so many people who are not in alignment with their own message. And I can say, like I’ve said this to you privately many times, like that is not you. You are like 100% integrity in alignment to what you preach is how you live. And I truly don’t believe you would have come out of this, if you didn’t use the very tools that you teach.
Emily: Yeah, I agree. And I appreciate you saying that. And that is true. It wasn’t that I was like just signing out. I was allowing myself a new identity.
Amanda: Yeah.
Emily: My identity last year was really working hard to birth something and to deliver it and to nurture it and to feed it like, a like I was birthing a baby and it literally took us nine months of gestation to birth. It was crazy, right? We’ll look back, like oh my gosh. And then I was probably in like postpartum, you know, of like it’s out and now I need to do what am I doing? And so I but also I was seeking out ways to heal. And the things that I had been doing. And you mentioned practitioner. So, I still got regular energy work, massage therapy.
I started to see a hypnotherapist. That was something that was brand new to me. And I felt that the reason why I chose hypnosis was because I had inner child wounds that had been resurfacing throughout like the recent past. And so I, I just asked a friend for referral, got the referral, made the appointment, loved it, started seeing this person. So her name is Kristen Dwan and I’ll probably have her on the podcast at some point.
But what I got back last week was a progress report from just five weeks prior. I had shared before hypnosis that I was feeling heavy, I wasn’t feeling in the flow. I wasn’t feeling very inspired and excited. I wasn’t feeling light. I was feeling anxious and stressed out and worried financially. And so she had me grade myself on a scale from 1 to 10 of how I was feeling those things in like ten more, I mean, 20 more, I don’t even know. And five weeks later, now this is me. I’m integrating. I’m doing all of my meditations every day. I’m going outside of nature, I’m eating healthy foods. I’m taking supplements. I am drinking water.
I’m like, I’m doing cold plunging. I started to do cold plunging, and the cold immersion and the hypnosis, I think, have completely started to transform me, plus the time away to play. And what I was using the hypnosis like twice a day, if not more, to five weeks in the future.
When we went back and I just kind of feel want to look back at what those numbers were. How are you feeling with these, this and this? And I was on like, you know, how do you feel with anxiety? I was like an eight out of ten. Then she says, how do you feel now? And I said I’m like a two. She’s like, what? How about in the flow? And I said, Oh, I feel like I’m like, of nine. And she’s like, you were two. Okay? Like, these are not just like small incremental shifts. These are enormous leaps.
And so what I want to share back to our initial point and your point about and having faith and having guts and grit is like I was down, but I wasn’t out and I was going to work on myself and play and work through the rejection and work through all the things that I felt like were stacked up against me because my vision and my faith was stronger than anything.
Amanda: Yes.
Emily: And, you know, as much as I could make excuses about, like, well, it’s the environment and people and money and their session. And that’s not true, because there’s people out there who are absolutely crushing it. And so I’m not the type of person who makes excuses. Like I can say, well, this is the climate and this is what we have to be. Innovative and use our intuition. Our intuition helps us to navigate. And so when we use all these spiritual tools, we can collaborate intuitively and, you know, and the end. And I have this amazing synergy that when we sit together in meditation and we channel, it’s like, I’m getting something, she is getting something, and we kind of build this like thing that we don’t know that we’re building. And all of a sudden it’s like, look what we made.
And, so I want to just share that is like. This is the nice podcast episode that I want to share of, like it can be this darker place and you can come through it, when you have this vision and you have this grit and there is no more plan B and you take the help when it’s handed out to you. And this is also about betting on myself. I bet on myself. But I also felt like in those dark times I was bullied here to be of service to other people. And so I didn’t make it about me in my own personal struggles, but I had to work on my own stuff, too. But so this is I think it’s kind of a darker, I don’t know, heavier episode to see like this side of the business. But I also think it’s really important for you to know, it just, it just is. And so, you know, I remember when I was first getting started, I had a hard time. When you’re first getting started, when you’re trying to get those first ten customers, those first 50 customers, those first hundred followers, an email subscribers, like that’s the steep side of the learning curve.
And for those folks who are at that place and you feel like giving up, I want you to hear my story because it doesn’t just get better. Once you’ve made a million dollars in your business and everything is just so much easier once you have 9,000 and 15 thousand followers and how many? I don’t know, 600,000 downloads. Like, it doesn’t get easier. The place where you’re at now, getting those first ten, those first 100. It’s the same grit and determination from that exact ladder point to the next huge ladder point, the bigger rungs. It’s that same you’re building that foundation when you can start to have blind faith and say, like what you said, like, burn the boats. You’re able to focus your energy on just one thing.
And so, you know, I think that’s what helped me attract you into my business, you know, that I was like, I know I’m here to serve this high level and that’s that. So the universe is like, here’s this amazing human that is going to help with all that. And I mean, I remember at some point, I remember what I was listening to or looking back, but I was like, oh my gosh, I’ve been praying for you since whatever time it was. I’m like, oh my gosh, you are the person I was praying for all that time. And it’s like we we’re so focused on like the future of what’s going forward in front of us that we don’t often take time to look back at, to see truly like the magic that we have manifested in like the Americans that are already in front of us. And that, you know, we know that line of like the things that you have today is what you prayed for, you know, years ago.
And is there something that you feel like you can say that about right now of like the practitioner you, the coach you, the person who is just like figuring it out, the person who lost their housing. Like what you have today. Is there something that you can say besides the house as well of course. But that’s something that you have today that you can say that you know for sure. You have prayed for years ago and you are like living your wildest dreams right now.
Amanda: Oh, so many things. I mean, you know this, but like the day that you messaged me and said, we need to take this to the next level. That morning I declared out loud for the first time, like, I want to work with more people like Emily. I literally said those words, I want more clients like Emily. And then that day you were like, hey, we need to talk. Like it was like, what? And I know that it was my willingness and audacity to say what I wanted of that through. I often feel like Spirit is literally like I have all these things for you. You just need to give me the signal that you were ready, right?
Emily: Yeah. Yeah.
Amanda: It’s like it’s, it’s there. Like when you have that belief system and I’ve had to work a lot on that. I am safe, I am protected. I’m everything is for me in this world. Like you attract those things to you, right? But like, you have to have that belief. So I really see like, experiences that like, I want to give it to you. I want you to just stay safe because that is absolutely. My husband, he’s my best friend. We’ve been married 13 years. I met him when I was 16. We didn’t get together for seven years and I always said, I will never marry that guy. But I was literally praying for my future partner and I didn’t know it was him.
But again, I think what’s so important I’ve learned I used to be so specific and now I’m glad to be specific and open like you. Like that’s my version of this or something better, right? Like, yeah, I’m like, there is so much out there for me and I can only see what I know. Like, there’s only like, I can only ask for what I can imagine, but what if there’s more, right? So I asked for what I could imagine in a in a husband. And then he walks through the door seven years later and it’s like, oh, yeah, it’s him.
Emily: Yeah
Amanda: Always been him. I just couldn’t see it before. So yeah, I mean, I could get and on but those are two right?
Emily: That’s how I felt about my husband actually I joke about that because I had a previous boyfriend before him that was like very aloof and kind of here or there. And I would make a list between boyfriends of like the attributes that I really found, like, what are really like my core values, what I’m really looking for here. And I always joke that Andrew, my husband, hit all of them except for being like over six feet tall like that. He just didn’t meet my requirements.
Amanda: Oh, I got that!
Emily: Yeah, you got that. Know exactly clear to me the height requirement. But are we really going to be…
Amanda: right, exactly.
Emily: But I’m only five foot two anyways, so it’s fine. But I think it’s really important that we are able to acknowledge where we’re at, you know, and like you mentioned, like not to be spiritually bypassing the hard and the difficult and the depth of where we need to go. I think from that place we’re planting the new seeds. We’re in that depth, we’re in that darkness, we’re in that hibernation period. But it’s only a period. And I think that’s one thing that, you know, nature has always repeatedly taught me is this is a cycle and this is not a permanent thing. And if we can ride out the season, there’s going to be another season after this and it’s going to get better. It’s going to get brighter. And so for anybody listening to this and you’re in one of those darker nights of the soul in one of those heavier seasons, I want this very vulnerable share. Hopefully, I don’t regret this. I haven’t regretted really having any of these podcast episodes.
But I mean, this is really sharing like my own struggles. And I and I hope that you can hear where I’m at. And, you know, Amanda and I have partnered up in this way to say like this faith is the driver, this vision is the driver, but it can’t be that alone. And so even on your darkest days, it’s important to focus on that faith and do the deeper work so you can keep delivering that message that only you can do. And it is not doing the world any service. When you create a Plan B and you oscillate between this or that, it’s like just be with you are joy, with your passion, with your purpose, with that vision. And keep praying to create whatever that is for you. And it doesn’t matter if you’re on your own or you have a team of people. Because if you have a team of people, I would almost say it’s a little bit harder because they have to be on board with your vision. And that’s the other thing I want – I mean, my other team members, Rio and Shaunah, aren’t here on the call right now, but. They are 100% in alignment with our vision.
Amanda: Yes.
Emily: And every single Monday, I set an intention and I sent an audio note to everybody to set an intention for us as a team collectively and individuals that we can serve on our highest level to raise the level of consciousness and bring harm to none. And they believe in the vision. They see the vision, they are cheering on the vision. And so, you know, I couldn’t do my work by myself. It would not happen. I wouldn’t make nearly half the impact that I’m making today, even a fraction. So it is the collective energy of my team.
But if you are a solo entrepreneur, trust yourself, trust yourself in the process. Would there be any closing words that you would have for folks that they’re on their own? Or if they are on the team to help them to stay in their vision, even if they’re having that sort of darker time.
Amanda: Yeah. I mean, I think what I would say is it’s kind of coming back to your dark night of the soul. And we’ve all had them right where one of the things that you did was you always took responsibility and you always said it wasn’t like a blame thing, but you would say. What am I doing or not doing? That’s not attracting the right people or not getting the results that we want, right? But yes, acknowledge what’s going on, but you always bring it back to yourself. And so I would say that as hard as it is, like, look inside, think if you’ve done all the things and this is actually come back to my coaching business, there were times where it was hugely successful. But a lot of the times it was not. And it was because I was doing all the external stuff. And it’s important. Like, I know how to basically do everything in an online business. However, I never looked at myself. I never dealt with my blogs. I never dealt with my core wounds, past life, and ancestral stuff, like I didn’t know how to.
And that’s why I love the work you do, because you have this beautiful marriage of both, right? Like the program we just released, The Accelerated Path is soul and strategy. And I think that’s so important. And so what I would say is like, don’t just focus on the strategy. Make sure you’re going in and you’re asking for guidance like also guidance. Ask what is it that I need and then take action.
Emily: Yeah
Amanda: Because I believe success is inevitable for everyone. And so if you’ve been given a calling and you feel like I’m meant to be doing this work in the world, then do this work in world. But sometimes you have to actually, like, deal with what’s going on to be able to If it’s fear of being seen, if it’s whatever it is, like deal with that so that you can serve the people you’re here to serve.
Emily: So smart. I love that it’s all about action. I mean, even when I think about like taking less of a front seat in the business, I’m taking action every day, doing the damn thing to make the changes and taking responsibility. That’s so smart. I think we could definitely keep sharing more. And I would love you know, I know we will be doing more live calls, more Q&A is more coaching calls. So if you guys, you know, resonate with this episode and you want to connect with me and Amanda outside of this episode, you can definitely find us on Instagram.
Obviously, on my website I will be doing some specials on my shop page because it is our four-year anniversary, so we’ll have that all listed on the podcast episode itself, so that you can get all kinds of meditations and classes and workshops so that you can take this work a little bit deeper.
And of course, the next thing we have coming up, really we’re going to be planning. So like you’re going to hear this first, we are going to be rolling out Intuition week again. We have not done Intuition Week for so long. We are so, so excited to bring Intuition Week back. It’s going to be back and better than ever, maybe with some really great new fresh stuff. So if you’ve done it before, this is a whole new time to do it again.
Plus, this season it’s a great time to just really open up your intuition, especially for your business again, coaches, healers and leaders. And then in June, we’ll be reopening the doors to the Integrated Energy Alignment Practitioner Training again. So if that is something that you’re excited about, it is the first and only energy-based training with a profit guarantee, friends.
So this episode is kind of like scratching the surface of how deep that work goes. You’re going to learn the energy work like I do, and then you’re going to learn the business work like I do and how to really marry the two of them. So both of those things are coming up. We’ll have everything on the show notes as well as on the podcast website.
Thank you, Amanda, for being my special guest today. This was such a big conversation. So thank you for your wisdom and your insights. You dropped some bombs on here. So thank you for joining me.
Amanda: Oh, you’re welcome. Thank you so much for having me.
Emily: All right, listeners, make sure you take a screenshot, tag me in your Instagram stories. Let me know what’s your biggest AHA was. Did this episode give you peace of mind knowing you’re not the only one struggling and that you know you can have faith and move on to the next place and just take some wind action? Let me know what came up for you. And as always, your reviews mean so much to me, so always leave a nice review over on your favorite listening platform after you’ve listened to this episode. And we’ll see you in the next episode. Thanks again. Lots of love to all.
Action Steps To Align Your Biz:
Take inspired action! After listening to Amanda’s stories about belief, trust, and taking action, I would love for you to listen to your own guidance and find those steps that take you toward your dreams too.
About Amanda
Amanda is COO of Emily Aarons LLC, and also provides operations consultancy to heart-centered, intuitive entrepreneurs.
She helps entrepreneurs bring their visions to life by supporting them to build strong and robust operations and systems within their businesses that create a container for increased impact and income.
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